How are the markets doing? Where are you at on the bailout deal?

OPEN THREAD.

Obama’s Speechwriter: A Baby Faced, 26-Year-Old White Guy 

So, Obama is really, really successful at reading a teleprompter, and delivering someone else’s words. A puppet, you might say. 

Then we learned that Obama was regurgitating words originally given by his friend Patrick Deval. Not once, but many times. 

And we not only learned about *borrowed* speeches but also borrowed phrases. 

“Sí Se Puede” or “yes we can” is from the United Farm Workers. 

 “Together we can” was the campaign slogan of Deval Patrick in 2006

“Fired Up! Ready to Go!” is from the NAACP in South Carolina, used by Jondelle Harris Johnson in the Civil Rights marches. 

“We are the ones we’ve been waiting for.” is a Hopi Indian saying, used by Alice Walker as the title of her book.

But now we learn that not only is Obama a puppet when it comes to giving speeches, but his foreign policy isn’t his either. I knew he had very little foreign policy experience, if any, but doesn’t he have to do anything?? A cast of 300 prepare him daily? Who are these people that are affecting our foreign policy? Shouldn’t they be running for office, or at least vetted, since they are doing all the work? 

A Cast of 300 Advises Obama on Foreign PolicyEvery day around 8 a.m., foreign policy aides at Senator Barack Obama’s Chicago campaign headquarters send him two e-mails: a briefing on major world developments over the previous 24 hours and a set of questions, accompanied by suggested answers, that the candidate is likely to be asked about international relations during the day.One recent Q. & A. asked, for example, whether Mr. Obama supported the decision by Iraq’s prime minister, Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, to include a timetable for American troop withdrawal in any new security agreements with the United States. The answer, provided to Mr. Obama with bullet points, was yes — or “a genuine opportunity,” as he put it in a speech on Iraq this week. Behind the e-mail messages is a tight-knit group of aides supported by a huge 300-person foreign policy campaign bureaucracy, organized like a mini State Department, to assist a candidate whose limited national security experience remains a concern to many voters.   

I do take some comfort in knowing that many are from the Clinton White House and from Hillary’s staff. (funny how Obama always wanted to distance himself from the politics of the past, and from the Clinton’s, but he always surrounds himself with people from the Clintons years.) 

I know all candidates, and all Presidents have advisors. I know they all have speech writers. But, if you take away Obama’s great speeches, and you take away his foreign policy advisors, what is left? Seriously. He has not accomplished anything. Nada. Zilch. And the LITTLE that he does do, now, (give speeches or comment on foreign policy) is totally scripted and provided by someone else. And when he speaks to groups like African Americans about taking responsibility, he is threatened with castration. And when he has taken a firm stance on an issue, he completely FLIPS and FLOPS on them - FISA, NAFTA, the surge in Iraq, campaign finance, guns, abortion… 

Well, I think we have a pretty good idea of what happens when Obama is left to his own devices. Here are some new ones: 

“Great” Moments in Presidential Speeches: Obama

Another Barack Obama Gaffe: A Civilian Army? (what is that all about??)

The Real Barack Obama, The Flip Flop Kid

The Obama Iraq Documentary: Whatever the Politics Demand

Barack Obama “Uh” Count 

And of course, the classics:

Obama VS. Robert Gibbs on the surge

Obama on Iran

 The Game of Expedience

Obama Just words - just speeches - just think

Obama on Lobbiest bill

Obama on the Race Card

Obama Claims He’s Visited 57 States

Obama on his dad and the flag?

Barack Obama Sees Dead People

Obama’s Memorial Day Gaffe

Obama in Sunrise 

Obama rally in Sioux Falls

Obama on Rezko

Obama Gets Afghanistan Language Wrong 

So, again I ask, is he just a puppet? A flip flopping, do nothing, know nothing, present voting, change jobs every two years, never having accomplished anything, hangs out with bigots, racists, and terrorists, gaffe machine, judgment lacking, slumlord buddy, vain, pandering puppet. 

What does he stand for, really? We thought he was very left. But now he is moving further and further to the right. We can’t look at his voting history, because it is very un-telling (130 present votes on tough issues- intentional, me thinks) We can’t look at his resume because it is very, very short - he has spent more time campaigning then serving in the Senate (146 days). And his state senate job was part time, meeting 55 days a year.  

Hell, we can’t even look at his birth certificate to know if he is who he says he is! We can’t even look to his books for information, because they are full of mistruths, and fictitious characters and situations.

I can’t figure out if he is super calculating and dangerous, or a puppet.  

But, who is controlling his strings? 

Published at American PUMA in Italy. 

Thanks to PPM for sending this cartoon to me via a political humor site. I wish I could credit the cartoonist, but can’t make out the fine print under the name “John Cole.” John Cole, wherever you are, this is great cartooning!

Then Ostertag warns his readers away from the “PUMA movement” because it “may indeed be a Republican troll operation.” No, Mr. Ostertag. Granted, there are a few groups out of HUNDREDS in the Just Say No Deal coalition that are pro-McCain, but that occurs with any large coalition and we here at No Quarter, as do most, strongly disagree with the few’s emphasis solely on McCain. We are pro-Hillary.

However, some of us are “sticking it to” the Democratic party at the moment for its ill-advised recent behavior, just as YOU are doing to Obama by withholding donations. You’re employing a tactic. So are we.

Frankly, I think you know that too, Mr. Ostertag, and perhaps you are worried that Obama’s supporters may take a look at JustSayNoDeal.com.

We support Hillary Clinton, who voted to protect MoveOn’s right to speech against Sen. John Cornyn’s amendment while Obama, although he was on site, hid away and didn’t vote. The irony: MoveOn has never been a friend to Sen. Clinton and has embraced Obama, who didn’t have Sen. Clinton’s courage to stand up for his own benefactors.

We support Hillary Clinton who has the endorsement of over 30 flag officers who want to get out of Iraq just as badly as you, but who know Hillary has the REAL knowledge of military and foreign affairs to carry it off, and who can speak coherently without having to hold two press conferences within two hours to clarify a clarification.

We support Hillary Clinton because she is for truly universal health care, the protection of Social Security, and saving Medicare (currently under frightening assault), while Mr. Obama’s advisers are pro-partial privatization. And Mr. Obama?

Mr. Obama seems more interested in wooing the religious right with an expansion of Bush’s faith-based initiatives rather than strengthening our existing, essential federal safety nets. I found a passionate statement at Sen. Clinton’s senate site on the pending cuts to Medicare — which have alarmed every health care provider across our nation — but not one word at Mr. Obama’s senate or campaign sites. We support Hillary because she knows much more, but also because she shows her convictions. Update: I note that Sen. McCain is being pressured by physicians’ groups to break the Republican minority stranglehold on the Medicare cuts, which will dramatically affect health care for senior citizens, who are reliable voters. (The Hill has a detailed article.)

Below, a video clip from last night’s CNN AC360 on “Hillary’s Holdouts”:

Transcript:

So, beyond those poll numbers, there’s the cash factor. Clinton supporters, from rank-and-file Democrats to major donors, don’t seem to be ponying up the money that the Obama campaign had hoped to see.

Up close tonight, why they’re holding out. Here’s 360’s Joe Johns.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOE JOHNS, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, the picture of Democratic unity, they are scheduled for three fund-raisers together in New York this week. But when it comes to campaign cash, this political kumbaya might have its limits.

Some fund-raisers for Hillary Clinton are pressuring the Obama campaign to honor her policy positions and her campaign debt. They want her name placed in nomination at the Democratic Convention. And they are balking at writing checks for Obama.

LYNN FORESTER, MAJOR CLINTON DONOR: I certainly know there are lots of people who are withholding their money.

JOHNS: Businesswoman Lynn Forester launched a Web site bringing Clinton supporters together to pressure Obama. She is one of the so- called HillRaisers, who brought in at least $100,000 each to Clinton. She hasn’t given money to Obama, and hasn’t decided whether she will.

FORESTER: This is a hard decision for me personally, because, frankly, I don’t like him. I feel like he is an elitist. I feel like he has not given me reason to trust him.

JOHNS (on camera): It’s hard to say how many big donors might balk when it comes to Obama. Some political observers expect gushers of money by Election Day. But, if you were looking for early leading indicators that most of Clinton’s deep-pocketed supporters are throwing open their wallets for the presumptive nominee, we’re not seeing them.

(voice-over): The Center for Responsive Politics and “The Wall Street Journal” crunched the numbers from May, when Obama was wrapping up the primary. About 115 people who donated at least $1,000 to Senator Clinton were making their first big donations to Obama.

But here’s the twist. Roughly the same number of former Clinton donors were making large donations to John McCain.

(on camera): So, what’s the problem? Some say Obama is shifting positions. Some say Hillary Clinton should get a large role in both the convention and the fall campaign. And some of those die-hard Clinton supporters say they are angry because of the perceived sexism in the coverage of their candidate.

REP. DEBBIE WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (D), FLORIDA: So we need to address that issue, but we need to not take it out on Barack Obama, because it was not his fault.

JOHNS (voice-over): Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida spent the last two days in New York, talking to disaffected Clinton supporters. She says the answer is simple.

SCHULTZ: It’s not unexpected that they count just automatically shift over to Obama, because they’re not the typical Democratic supporters that just automatically shift over. They need to be wooed. They need to be, you know — they need to be, um, won over.

JOHNS (on camera): Barack Obama needs to show them some love?

SCHULTZ: He does.

JOHNS (voice-over): The Obama campaign says it fully expects the Hill-raisers to come around and won’t comment on the charges of sexism in the primary race. Needless to say, John McCain isn’t exactly cooling his heels here. He’s trying to lure Clinton supporters into his camp. He needs all the help he can get.

Joe Johns, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NOW, the statement from Sen. Clinton’s senate Web site on the Medicare cloture vote. There is no statement from Sen. Obama’s senate or campaign site.

June 27, 2008

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton on Vote on the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act

WASHINGTON, DC—Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton today issued the following statement on the failure of the Senate to pass a Medicare bill that would have stopped a cut in payments to physicians and provided other improvements to Medicare:

“Once again, Senate Republicans have stood in the way of improving health care for some of our nation’s most vulnerable citizens. The bill blocked last night would not only have prevented a 10.6 percent cut in payments to physicians who care for the 44 million seniors and people with disabilities on Medicare, but also would have made improvements in preventive care and for low-income beneficiaries. The bill also contained important provisions that I have long championed to advance electronic prescribing and our ability to measure the quality of care that patients receive. As the Senate begins its efforts to ensure that every American has access to high quality, affordable health care, it is critical that Republicans put politics aside to make the necessary improvements in the healthcare system. Passage of this Medicare legislation is an important first step and one that I hope my colleagues will support in the future.”

###

I have zero compassion for them. Anyone who supported Obama after March 2008 is clearly either a delusional Obama cultist or a head in the sand idiot. This one is on you.

You had better more experienced choices, say Senator Joe Biden. You had better more principled candidates who live their convictions, say Representative Dennis Kucinich. You had a reform-minded committed populist, say former Senator John Edwards. And then you had Hillary Clinton who despite some flaws encompassed all the best qualities of the aforementioned. You dug the Democratic Party’s grave, now wallow in it for all I care.

For months, countless voices of reason have pointed out time and again, Obama is an empty suit (the above cartoon is from March 2007 so don’t act surprise that Obama is devoid of substance). Obama is a fraud. He lacks experience. He has no relevant qualifications. He has no conviction other than his own political welfare.

His past behaviour is troublesome. He threw Alice Palmer and four others off the ballot. His rise through the labyrinth of Chicago politics took him down some worrisome alleys and forged alliances with a cast of characters include Louis Farrahkan, the Reverend Jeremiah Wright, the Reverend James Meeks, Antonin Rezko, Rashid Khalidi, William Ayers, and Bernardine Dohrn. Now he pals around with Donnie McClurkin, Father Michael Pfleger, and Jodie Evans.

For months committed liberals like Paul Krugman, in column after column, demonstrated how his proposals weren’t that progressive or even centrist. I’ve grown hoarse pointing out Obama’s lobbyist connections and his ties to the oil, gas, coal and nuclear industries.

At every opportunity I get, I bring up the fact Senator Obama voted for the Bush-Cheney Energy Policy. The Washington Post called it “a piñata of perks for energy industries.” John McCain did not vote with his party. Hillary Clinton did not cross the aisle.

But you would not listen. You were mired in a speech that Obama gave in 2002. I hope that speech keeps you warm the next four years because that’s is the extent of his progressive record, a speech. His real record is far more centrist (that reach out across the aisle and ream someone kind of record), or perhaps corporatist is a better choice of words. Six billion dollars in subsidies to the oil & gas industry and $12 billion in subsidies to nuclear power industry.

One has to wonder if he photocopied his energy plan from Dick Cheney and Charles Grassley. His health care plan is a misnomer, it’s an insurance plan. The beneficiary is the insurance industry.

His votes in the Senate were more pro-Bush than Hillary’s, than Biden’s, than Dodd’s, than Edwards’. Progressive Punch ranked Obama the 42nd most progressive member of the Senate. There are 49 Democrats and one Socialist and one “Independent” in the Democratic Caucus. Forty-second out of 51. Funny how that is. Laughing yet?

Now, you are upset that he is backtracking. News flash: he says what he thinks will please his audience at the moment and then he does whatever he thinks will advance his career the most. And what a career it is. Zero legislative accomplishments. Zip. Name one. He has missed 42% of the votes in the Senate this year. Over the comparable period, Hillary missed 30%. That’s over a quarter more votes missed. Not trivial and by design. He and his handlers don’t want him to have a record to run on.

You think his vote on FISA was shocking. Really? He is the candidate of corporate interests, the candidate of the anti-Clinton Democratic establishment. You’re voting for Obama but getting Tom Dashcle. There’s a winner for you. You’re voting for Obama and getting Jesse Jackson, Jr. Another soulless Chicago politician. As a bonus, tack on Dick Durbin. But wait there’s more. Act now and we’ll throw in out-of-touch effete liberals– John Kerry and a gasbag to boot — Bill Richardson. But wait, there’s more you also get master advertising guru David Alexrod. Think of it as the DNC’s special gift to to you.

Obama is the designated one, the annointed one, but you satistified yourselves with silly speeches and satiated yourselves with empty platitudes galore. You went for the hip and the flash, a no-hit wonder who hasn’t even come to bat yet. He moves from one on deck circle to another never fully entering the game.

Instead you left the ace of the Democratic Party in the dugout. You fools. Stop your crying and either attempt to salvage the situation or prepare yourselves for a McCain Presidency which from my point of view is preferable to an Obama one. Better the devil that I know than the devil that I don’t. I know what to expect from McCain.

But how can I trust that shiftless soulless hypocrite who with each passing day changes yet another of his positions? It’s backtracking with Barack. So far he’s trampled on the Fourth Amendment, a women’s right to choose, the health care of all Americans and now the cornerstone of what brung him to the dance in the first place, that magical speech in 2002 that had to be re-recorded so it could be replayed again and again and use your opposition to a fruitless war as his springboard to power.

So it is with incredulity that I read this silliest of wanking posts by Ian Welsh on Firedoglake entitled “Turning Obama Into A Punchline: How Democrats Can Lose.” He was mockable from the start and his supporters perhaps even more.

I still can’t forget that kid in Ohio who thinks Obama is infallible. Papa Obama the First. News flash — Obama is a joke. He isn’t just a punchline, he is one of those clown punch bags. He may come back up but he just gets walloped down again. The funnier part is that it is largely self-inflicted so far. The GOP has yet to get its licks in.

His post and selected comments below the fold.

Once upon a time there was a candidate who was 17 points ahead of his foe. The election, it seemed, was his.

His name was Dukakis, and he lost that election to George Bush, Sr.

Or, more accurately, he lost it to Lee Atwater, Rove’s mentor. By the time Atwater got through with him, Dukakis wasn’t even a respected politician anymore, he was a punchline.

In 2000 Rove ran Bush as a “compassionate conservative” and smeared Gore as a liar, the man who’d “invented” the internet. The fact that Gore had never said that didn’t matter. In 2004 Kerry, an actual war hero, was smeared as a coward by the Swift Boat Veterans for “Truth” and by the time they got through with him, the man who’d taught Swift Boaters that the way to respond to an attack was to turn into it, was branded a coward, not a hero.

Republicans try and run elections based on “character” and when they manage it they generally win. When the election turns on something else, such as hope, the economy and health care in ‘92, they lose.

Today McCain promoted a new campaign manager, Steve Schmidt. Schmidt has been pushed, hard, by Karl Rove. He worked for the Governator’s reelection, and he also worked for Bush’s reelection in 04. Schmidt understands both parts of the Republican two-step — how to take away the scary parts of Republicanism, which he did for the Governator, who ran on a number of rather liberal policy plans; and how to destroy the opponent.

McCain isn’t going to win this election by playing nice. The natural momentum of the time favors Obama, because the Republican brand is badly damaged. The appointment of a Rovian disciple shows that the Republicans get this, and they’re ready to intensify their strategy.

Folks act as if negative campaigning doesn’t work, but this is a myth. It works, and it works well. All it is is reverse branding — branding your opponent for him. Schmidt will be looking for the opportunity to brand Obama as effete, weak and unprincipled. Obama’s actions of the past couple weeks, his “run to the center” in which he has suddenly realized he didn’t mean what he said in the primaries is playing into this narrative.

As with almost all Democrats Obama doesn’t seem to get that strength isn’t about what you vote for (national “security”), it’s about how you act. Stand strong on a principle and people will admire that even if they disagree with it. Be seen to flip like a weathervane and even if people wind up agreeing with you, they’ll despise you. Being strong, appearing strong, is about having principles, about taking a stand, not about talking tough.

Now, certainly McCain has no principles to speak of, having thrown his few remaining scruples out the door over the last couple years to court the conservative base, as when he voted for torture.

But, as we all know, the media prefers Republicans on character issues. The Swift Boaters were liars, their lies were proved at the time, but they were never effectively rebutted by the press. In 2000 the press likewise repeatedly failed to call Bush out on his many lies, indeed Paul Krugman, who tried, was expressly forbidden to use the word “lie” by his editors.

So the McCain campaign is going to try and define Obama. Republicans defined Dukakis, they defined Gore, they defined Kerry. Only with Clinton did they fail. At the same time, I expect Schmidt to push the McCain maverick brand more seriously and start backing away from the right wing base on a couple of key issues. (Torture, for example, is a place where McCain appears to be attempting to claim he is different from Bush, despite his vote for it.)

Muddle the difference on some key stands, define your opponent, make the election about character and not about policy. Obama has made this easier. It can’t really be about health care since Obama is not for universal care, and it’s harder to make it about the economy after changing his position on NAFTA.

So what Obama’s got left is “I’m not George Bush. And I am change.” If he can define McCain as Bush, he can still win it. But remember, historically elections that have come down to being about character have favored Republicans. And as Obama decides to be all things to all people, and nothing to anyone, I hope he isn’t walking into a trap whereby in simply defining himself as “hope” and “change” and “not Bush” he’s leaning on some slender reeds, easily broken by the avalanche of mud soon to come his way.

Lee Atwater is dead, but the style of politics he perfected hasn’t changed.

And sometimes the more things change, the more they stay the same.

You’re deluding yourselves by thinking that McCain is defining Obama. Obama is doing it all on his own. Obama is defining himself with every word he utters on FISA, capital punishment, on Iraq, on abortion, on his own naivete. His own backtracking is blazing a fiery trail as if it were naplam.

His candidacy is, as we speak, failing to gain traction. So far his own saving grace has been that McCain too has failed to gain traction. It’s a comedy of errors or perhaps a Greek tragedy. Either way, there is plenty to mock but not much to laugh at.

But you will see McCain run as some cross between a Ford Republican and Reagan Republican. You are beginning that change now. McCain is taking energy policy, Obama is talking flag pins. And when Obama does try to talk policy, he ends up “revising” earlier statements. Not too clever this very junior Senator from Illinois. Obama is on his way being defined as well, let’s just say he is part Carter, part Dukakis and part Kerry and all Barack and not one iota of Clinton.

He is unelectable even before the 527s get started. Those will point to the Reverend Wright. How does he run from a twenty year association with Reverend Wright? The Wright of 1991 is no different than the Wright of 2001 or 2008. He’s the same man and the tapes are ready to go. Twenty years of Barack at Trinity ready to hit your television screens.

How does he run from William Ayers, an unrepentant terrrorist? How does he run from Jodie Evans, a wealthy divorcee who thinks it’s funny to sabotage Army recruiting centers?

How does he run from that Bush-Cheney Energy Policy vote? Or his countless oil and gas connections? He is in the uneviable position of being attacked from both the left and the right and some of the center to boot. He has his cult and his handlers. That may be all he has in the end. Don’t look now but Ralph Nader has been polling since June in the 4% to 6% range. If he gets up to 10%, he is in the debates.

Now for the plight of the Obama Crowd, a few select comments from Firedoglake:

I like your thinking. Maybe I’ll send a check to HRC and JE. Keep the options open.

Sending a cheque to JE is pointless. Sending a cheque to HRC is nice because we need to retire her debt but the real problem is the DNC. You need to act to stop the coronation in Denver. Talk to a PUMA.

Do’h! We cudda hadda John Edwards!

Yeah. But you let a stupid $400 haircut story in the media undo him.

I’ve given up on aristocrats, and I’ve quit donating as a general policy.

Though I will seriously consider giving funds to a good effort to primary any Blue Dog-type.

Yeah, well Clinton was the working class Democrat. So was Edwards. So was Kucinich. And Biden wasn’t bad either. Choices you had. Even as late as May.

And thereby hangs the tale. Because I expected integrity from Barack Obama. I expected at the very least that he would be a fierce defender of the Constitution. Remember the “taught constitutional law” meme? He had my loyalty (okay, trickle down loyalty from Gore and then Edwards) and he has some of my money. There will be no more money (he doesn’t need it — he can afford to cover Hillary’s losses) and the loyalty thing is in limbo. And I’m a staunch Dem.

This is not looking good.

You wouldn’t listen to reason. Anyone who would throw five people off the ballot, as he did in his first state senate race, cannot be expected to be a Defender of the Constitution, can he? Anyone who arranges to get pundits thrown off CNN because he didn’t like their coverage cannot exactly be called a civil libertarian, can he? Integrity? From Barack Obama? Based on what? The way he handled the Reverend Wright? The racist card he has played throughout this campaign? His misogynistic remarks? His complete disrespect fof the success of the Clinton Administration? And yet he praised Ronald Reagan? Integrity?

And as Obama decides to be all things to all people, and nothing to anyone.

Nail on the head. We have a winner, ladies and gentleman. I have been saying this since January. It was evident then and it has been parcel post part of his campaign throughout. Did you just wake up from a six month hibernation?

I wrote to the Obama camp that I will not donate to someone who does not fight for the Constitution of the United States of America. (FISA, supporting church charity.) Not that I think letters, e-mails, faxes or phone calls are having any impact on any of the Dems. I don’t see Pelosi/Reid/et al. taking any notice of their base, and I don’t see Obama wising up. I despair, but I think McCain will slip through. Sad for all of us.

Sad. Yeah, that’s the word. Sad. You’re despairing? Despair if he becomes President. That’s truly what must be avoided. When we have reached the point that John McCain is the sane choice, I am afraid despair is pointless. That line was crossed long ago.

FISA anyone?

Obama’s new rush to destroy the Separation of Church and State isn’t going to help much either. If there is a plausible challenge to him in 2012, he might be a one-termer. Historic, but a single.

He’s getting the 3P’s down…Pander, Prevaricate and Pirouette.

He’s your man, not mine. I have opposed him from day one and will continue to do so because he’s dangerous. Obama is nothing but duplicitous.

Be seen to flip like a weathervane and even if people wind up agreeing with you, they’ll despise you. Being strong, appearing strong, is about having principles, about taking a stand, not about talking tough.

Let’s see now, who had principles? What was her name? Experienced too. Tough as nails. Wouldn’t quit until the DNC told her to shut up and get on board. Now, what was her name again?

Obama wasn’t my first choice, but as the primary campaign progressed, he grew on me (mostly by treating the electorate as grown-ups instead of fearful children).

Now, I want a do-over. The FISA capitulation was bad enough, but now he’s walking back his commitment to get out of Iraq? What is wrong with him? Did someone kidnap David Plouffe and replace him with Mark Penn?

Treating the electorate as grown-ups? What, by telling fairy tales in the land of hope and change? By telling you that you were the ones you had been waiting for. That was shameless flattery. Also out of Lenin’s playbook.

Clinton treated you as an adult. Edwards treated you as an adult. Obama treated you as a toy, a piece of silly putty that he could mold into his own legion of toy soldiers marching onto Washington to defeat the evil lobbyists who form his very own shock troops. It’s like watching an episode of Star Wars.

You have been deceived. You have been lied to. Wake up and doing something about it.

What’s wrong with Obama? How long have you got? I have written volumes. So have others far more learned than I. But you preferred to believe that a speech by an Illinois State Senator mattered more than the hard work of US Senators who faced tough decisions or who actually realized that telling the American people we can just waltz out of Iraq and leave it in a vacuum would be to mislead them.

Senator Biden, who is likely the most knowledgeable US Senator on both sides of the aisle on Iraq, told us that Obama didn’t have a plan, he had a dream.

Senator Clinton had the endorsement of nearly 40 retired top members of the US Armed Forces, including two former Chief of Staffs because they knew she understood what it would take to do the groundwork so we can exit Iraq.

Ambassador Joe Wilson wrote op-ed after op-ed praising Clinton for her approach. In return, you vilified him. And he broke the goods on Cheney.

There are no words that can describe the utter disgust I feel towards many of Obama supporters. Those that engage in tactics that aim to suppress dissent by shutting down websites nefariously or spreading misinformation about the membership of PUMA are nothing but vile worms living off their own manure.

I have long recognized that my political views put me in a minority- and that no candidate will win by espousing what I believe- so I try to support the person who will do the least harm.

Well unless you are willing to consider Nader, you’re likely talking about McCain at this point as the person who will do the least damage. Obama can not be trusted and then he lacks all relevant experience and that in and of itself is eminently dangerous.

His comments on Jerusalem at AIPAC would have set off riots in the Middle East and put both American lives and interests across the globe in jeopardy had he been President at the time. Words matter. Nuance matters. Precision is important and now he’s puzzled by how the media reads his every word. Unless you want to be the Hugo Chavez of the United States who spouts like some uncontrollable geyser, words need to be measured. But Obama is such a panderer that off the cuff he will fly and into the abyss we will go.

All the people who are disappointed in Obama need to remember on thing - if you remember nothing else about him. He is a student of George Lakoff.

For those of you who don’t know what that means, it is simply, George Lakoff is a specialist in the cognitive science of linguistics. In English, he studies ’framing’ and how it works.

In the instance being worried about today (faith-based initiatives), everyone (including me) has heard this term over and over for the past 7 or so years, and have become very familiar with the Bush version of this. It is a failed policy whereby the Rethugs dismantle a government program that was doing an adequate job, in favor of some crony religious program that is marginal at best, and outright corrupt at its heart at worst.

Along with this, the Rethugs dismantled social safety net programs leaving these so-called faith-based organizations to pick up the entire load, something they were never qualified for, nor were capable of doing on the scale of need. So we hear the words - faith-based initiative - and immediately all this crap comes to mind. Along with the erosion in the line of separation between church and state.

Let me propose a ”Lakoff transformation”. First, listen to Obama’s speech. And I mean REALLY listen. Don’t just read the headlines, here or anywhere else because they all have as a subtext the Bush definition.

Second, let’s lose the descriptor - faith-based initiative. What Obama is proposing is a PARTNERSHIP between the government and private institutions to get a job done. He is proposing that the government will keep its ongoing programs and work to make them better. And will work as a PARTNER with other organizations to help address needs that may be better suited to these particular organizations or for which these organizations may have a better track record of success. He proposes to LEARN from these organizations and figure out ways to help the government agency do a better job so that all persons needs are met. Yes, some of these organizations are religious - but the appropriate guidelines are in place - they just need oversight, accountability and enforcement, something that has also been completely missing under Bushco, and which Obama says he will make the Office in charge do its job.

I think that we are all too quick to dismiss and feel bad about Obama’s supposed policy direction changes, when they may not be that at all. Or they may be policy direction changes that are going in an entirely new direction than the one we are thinking about. Lakoff says this is the trouble with our language - we tend to develop a ’frame’ around a word or phrase when we first encounter it. That frame gets imprinted on our brains, and then we have to work really hard to actually think ”outside the frame” for a new and better context.

Next time you hear that Obama did XYZ using language that feels/seems bad - try this exercise. Replace the objectionable frame with another word that describes the action being taken - as I did using the word ’partnership’, and then look at the issue again. We may all be surprised - in a good way.

What Obama is proposing is a PARTNERSHIP between the government and private institutions to get a job done? What Obama is propsoing is a giveaway of taxpayer money to private institutions that proselytize. Government is in the business of assisting people in their lives. Churches are in the business of saving souls. The two are not complimentary. There is a Constitutional separation between Church and State. Your framing is blind acceptance of utter folly.

The kool-aid is strong in this one. Anyone who supports him now is blind to the dangers that Obama poses to civil liberties and human progress. And blind men are at their blindest when they suddenly think that they can see.

See you in 2012, if we get there.

__________

From my blog, By The Fault.

On July 3, Barack Obama revealed once and for all that he has run a fraudulent campaign in his attempt to secure the Democratic nomination for President. The foundation of Obama’s campaign had been his claim that he was the anti-war alternative in his opposition to Bush’s war in Iraq.
 
Now, in a North Dakota campaign event, Obama has declared that he will consult with the generals and “refine his position” on the Iraq war. The Washington Post headlined: “Obama May Consider Slowing Iraq Withdrawal.” But the real message is clear: Obama is moving rapidly away from his earlier 11-month or 16-month timetables for withdrawal and towards full support for endless war, conflict, violence, and bankruptcy in Iraq.
 
Samantha Power had confessed Obama’s doubletalk on Iraq months ago. The handwriting is now on the wall: Obama will soon go to Iraq, meet with General Petraeus, and then announce his Baghdad road conversion to a policy of open-ended military occupation, oblivious to the immense human costs.
 
Soon there will be no difference at all between Obama and McCain on the Iraq war, and the Democratic Party will have missed yet another historic opportunity to help the American people end Bush’s and Cheney’s failed Neo-Conservative policies. McCain is exploiting Obama’s radical shifts in position as examples that Obama has no principles, but only opportunism and expediency, and that his much-touted soaring words mean absolutely nothing.

We Democrats now have our last chance to reflect: do we really want to give our nomination to this little-known newcomer who solicited support as a peace advocate, but has now unmasked himself as being a candidate with positions closer to McCain on Iraq?

OBAMA BETRAYS DEMOCRATS ON FISA, NAFTA, CAMPAIGN FINANCE, THE DEATH PENALTY, AND MUCH MORE

From the instant that he felt that the Democratic nomination was in his hands, Obama has moved relentlessly to the right in a breathtaking, stunning exhibition of cynicism, duplicity, and fraudulent campaigning. Everything he stood for has been thrown overboard, and Obama has broken his verbal contract with his own core voters and donors.
 
Obama promised to stop Bush’s assault on the Constitution and civil liberties, and end illegal wiretapping. Now, Obama will vote for the Republican leaning compromise on the FISA bill, including immunity for the telecoms – something only yesterday he promised the Democrats who supported him he would filibuster.
 
Obama raised money from grassroots Democrats on the premise that their small donations would allow him to be free of the corrupting influence of big money, big business, and special interests, but he has now broken his promise by opting out of public financing for his fall campaign, junking the cause of political reform he claimed to champion.
 
In Ohio and Pennsylvania, Obama posed as a critic of free trade sellouts like NAFTA, CAFTA, and WTO, specifically telling voters that voting for Hillary Clinton would be voting to support NAFTA. Now Obama has told Fortune magazine that he is a great friend of free trade and the “market.”
 
Obama now openly supports the death penalty, more of Bush’s faith-based theocratic subsidies, and the “merit pay” assault on teachers. He wants to cut the corporate income tax, and he now opposes attempts to curb hand gun violence.
 
In a most glaring betrayal to his contract with the Democratic base, Obama’s current team of economic advisers suggests that he will soon come out for the partial privatization of Social Security, camouflaged as “entitlement reform.”
 
In short, Obama intends to betray not just his own basic commitments, but the historical foundations of the Democratic Party going back to Franklin D. Roosevelt. The modern Democratic Party was built on the New Deal Democrats, a party of shared responsibility, and a contract to be the voice and champion of working class Americans.
 
Obama’s “new coalition” dismantles the REAL Democratic Party and replaces it with an elite party of Neo-Liberals, stealing the mantle of FDR.

SENATOR CLINTON MUST BE OUR NOMINEE

DEMOCRATS DID NOT VOTE FOR THE OBAMA WHO HAS BEEN

RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT AFTER JUNE 3RD

If Obama imitates McCain on so many issues, the November election will come down to a choice between two individuals, and a fraudulent Obama will not fare well against war hero McCain, who is seen by voters as a straight shooter.
 
McCain will point out that voters cannot trust the disingenuous Obama, and on that, McCain will be correct. Fortunately, Obama has tipped his hand by dropping his mask too soon: there is no Democratic nominee until the Roll Call of the States on August 27, 2008 in Denver.
 
We are not calling for some futile and self-defeating gesture – we are pointing to the path that leads to victory.
 
With Senator Clinton, we have a superior, battle-tested, and winning candidate who is waiting in the wings, ready, and willing to take over. Clinton would be a reliable leader on the issues that have built the Democratic Party.  She has stood firm on her positions — past and present — even when it is not politically expedient. 

The lesson is clear: the Democratic Party cannot win back the White House without the support of the New Deal Democratic base and their ideals.
 
The Democratic Convention in Denver must put forth a candidate that represents the values of the Party of FDR and that will win the hearts, minds, and votes of Democrats in November.
 
The Barack Obama running after June 3rd is not that candidate.
 
We must have an open convention in Denver — not a thoughtless coronation — so that we can seriously deliberate the far-reaching choices the party must make in this time of war and economic depression.

175 PATRIOTS CAN SAVE THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY
BY NOMINATING THE TRUER DEMOCRAT

The fate of the United States — and the future of the Democratic Party – now rests with a minimum of 175 Democratic delegates who must now exercise their mature political judgment in the service of their country, and turn away from Obama to support Senator Clinton.
 
As of now, Obama has about 2229.5 delegate votes, with 1766.5 pledged delegates and 463 super delegates.
 
Clinton has 1896.5 delegate votes, with 1639.5 pledged and 257 super delegates.
 
Shift just 175 delegates from Obama to Clinton, and Obama’s power grab comes to a halt.
 
There must be no nomination of Obama on the first ballot. Once Obama has failed to secure the nomination on the first ballot, the party will be able to reflect on who the nominee ought to be, based on the experiences of June, July, and August.
 
Senator Clinton is pledged to an orderly, sane, and secure pullout. Clinton wants mandatory universal health care and a freeze on foreclosures.  She wants to shift the federal gasoline tax away from motorists, truckers, and farmers and towards the Oil Industry.

Obama is on the wrong side of all of these issues.
 
Hillary Clinton is and has always been on the side of traditional Democratic Party values.

We want a president from the Democratic Party, not from a small group of elite, libertarian Neo-Liberals. Lexington and Concord were started by a few dozen farmers.
 
Does the Democratic Party still have 175 patriots with the courage to take a stand?

PUMAS URGE YOU TO BRING TO AND END WHAT HAS BEEN A MOST FRAUDULENT CAMPAIGN

We are PUMAs — Democrats who reject an automatic proxy vote.
 
Instead, we are fighting for real Democratic Party values and the future of the party we love and still claim as our own.
 
We call on the delegates to the Denver convention to search their consciences, their experiences in past elections, and their own common sense. 

Our party has had enough of defeat and retreat. We must not allow the DNC to impose on us yet another losing General Election candidate.
 
Obama’s anemic poll numbers already foreshadow defeat in November, and his continuing sellout on the issues is only making matters worse.
 
We urge you to reconsider your vote for Obama, and to instead vote for Senator Clinton — the strongest candidate, the people’s choice in the popular vote, and the candidate who has and will continue steadfastly to represent the core pillars of the Democratic Party. 

Vote to seat Michigan and Florida at full strength as elected in the January primary. Organize your fellow delegates to block Obama.
 
Vote for Clinton, for victory in November, and for an end to the long nightmare of the Iraq war. 

Will Bower (in cooperation with other PUMAs)
PUMA / Just Say NO DEAL
PUMA08.com

June 4, 2008: Obama goes to the pro-Israel lobby, AIPAC and talks about his (new found) support for Israel. In fact, he contravenes US Policy in his desire to pander to the Israeli lobby. From the CNSNews article, “Obama Departs From U.S. Policy,” he says:

“Let me be clear,” Obama told America’s largest pro-Israel lobby, AIPAC, on Wednesday. “Israel’s security is sacrosanct. It is non-negotiable. The Palestinians need a state that is contiguous and cohesive and that allows them to prosper. But any agreement with the Palestinian people must preserve Israel’s identity as a Jewish state, with secure, recognized and defensible borders. Jerusalem will remain the capital of Israel, and it must remain undivided,” he said in comments widely viewed as intended to win the hearts of Jewish voters.

Well, that’s just jake - he has just ceded Jerusalem to Israel. I wonder how the Palestinians feel about that??

“This statement is totally rejected,” Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas was quoted as saying.

“The whole world knows that holy Jerusalem was occupied in 1967 and we will not accept a Palestinian state without having Jerusalem as the capital of a Palestinian state,” Abbas said.

I see. They aren’t happy! What a big surprise - Obama continues winning hearts and minds abroad. Ahem.

Oh, here’s a good one - Campaign Finance Reform.

On June 20th, Obama decided to do a 180, and has decided public campaign financing reform might not be the way to go after all!! Oh, and in making this decision, he violated previous statements that should he be the Democratic presidential candidate, he would meet with Senator John McCain to push for public campaign financing. Uh, no. Didn’t bother to have that conversation. What a guy.

This one is big - FISA. You know, the bill that would grant retroactive immunity to the big telecoms, and expand spying powers for the president. Now that Obama thinks he is going to BE president, he wants all the bells and whistles he can get! This is what he said, from the Washington Post:

“It is a close call for me,” Obama told reporters. But he said the addition of the “exclusivity” provision giving power to the secret court, along with a new inspector general role and other oversight additions, “met my basic concerns.” He said the bill’s target should not be the phone companies’ culpability, but “can we get to the bottom of what’s taking place, and do we have safeguards?”

And for some bonus coverage, and this will be a big, huge shock to everyone (not), look who else switched positions?!?!

The Illinois senator’s reversal on the issue has angered liberal groups, but Obama told reporters at a news conference this afternoon that he was satisfied with changes made to the original bill, including a provision that gives a secret court, rather than the White House, the final say on spying procedures. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer also switched sides on the legislation, for the same reasons as Obama.

Uh, ya THINK?? Yes, it pissed off liberal groups - most of us who consider ourselves liberal have been opposed to these changes for quite some time! And we were all pretty vocal about our disgust with President Bush for wanting them. So, Obama said what he had to say to whichever group it was he had to say it on FISA, then he does this little end-run, “Oh, but they have assuaged my concerns, and it isn’t the big phone companies’ problem anyway that they broke the law.” Again, the self-proclaimed Constitutional scholar at work. (Hmmm - I wonder what he means by “Constitutional”? I’m starting to think as in daily constitutional in which changing his policy positions is considered par for the daily course.) Clearly, LOGIC is not his strong suit…

Just a few short days later, Obama is jumping on the Gun Bandwagon, applauding the decision of the Supreme Court on June 26 to support gun ownership. Do I even need to say that he opposed it before he was for it (Political Radar: Obama Camp Disavows “Inartful” Statement? Oh, wait - check that, he was opposed to it when he was in IL, but when he was debating Hillary, he didn’t know WHAT he thought about the DC gun ban because he just didn’t know that much about it, he said, hadn’t seen all of the information on it or anything. Gee - wonder when he got the time to read everything that now allows him to AGREE with the decision?! Yeah, right (for more on this, check out the video from Fox News currently at NoQuarterUSA.net).

Good grief, I am getting DIZZY with all of this spinning around by Obama!!

Whew. Okay, just one more - not because there aren’t more, but really - isn’t all of this making you have vertigo?? Well, this one I think is just perfect - really. It just encapsulates the moral fiber (LOL) of Obama. And as a previous member of this organization, it could not happen to more deserving people who chose to endorse this guy with a very limited number of actual members, and allowed people who were NOT members to vote on this decision…Are you with me? Yep, Move-On.Org! That’s right - they endorsed Obama pretty early on amidst numerous reports of ballot stuffing (oh, now there’s a surprise, too, right?? Uh huh.), and based on approximately 10% of their entire membership - meaning in numbers, not actual members. Anywho, he swatted MoveOn for their ad regarding General Petraeus
recently. (When the vote came up about the ad, he was nowhere to be found, of course, though he had voted on another matter that very day. Whatever. Typical.) Obama slammed 527s in general, even though they have been helping HIM out. No doubt, he is trying to set it up so he won’t be Swiftboated, but it is only Swiftboating when it isn’t true!! Anyway, I wonder how all of those MoveOn members feel now that they have been thrown under the bus? Couldn’t happen to a more deserving organization, if you ask me.

I should add, there is the whole Faith Initiatives thing, though I am not sure he has actually changed his mind on that. Given that TUCC has apparently been the beneficiary of that program, you see, it makes some sense that he is all about it. BUT - for Constitution-loving Americans who believe in the separation of Church and State, the whole program has been a HUGE issue. That Obama wants to continue it, and INCREASE its depth and breadth, is pretty darn surprising (this whole issue has been dealt with a lot here at No Quarter, including one of my posts, so I’ll spare you any more from me on this).

Bear in mind, this is just JUNE. I know there are more, and feel free to add them in the comments. I just can’t take it anymore. My head is already about to explode. I can just imagine - and I know you can - what the MSM and bloggers would be saying if Clinton had made all of these flip flops in just ONE month!! In some ways, it gives me hope - if he keeps this up for the next 7 weeks or so, who KNOWS what might happen at the Convention? You just never know!

Which church is the PAC referring to? “God damn Amerikkka,” anyone? And what about those radical, racist religious leaders he hung out with, regularly, in Chicago for over 20 years — from Father Michael Pfleger to Rev. Jeremiah Wright, both of whom are close to Minister Louis Farrakhan?

And will any evangelical buy into Obama’s all-out campaign to prove he’s a devout Christian? Especially with his strong voting record on abortion and long association with Planned Parenthood (which, it is claimed, instructed him how to vote)?

Or that he voted “present” on two Illinois senate bills on teaching “respect” in schools and on prohibiting sex shops near schools and places of worship?

From my December story, quoting a New York Times article:

Mr. Obama was also the sole present vote on a bill that easily passed the Senate that would require teaching respect for others in schools. He also voted present on a measure to prohibit sex-related shops from opening near schools or places of worship. It passed the Senate.

In both of those cases, his campaign said, he was trying to avoid mandates on local authorities.

In “Barack Obama Radio Spot Hits Christian Radio,” CBN Network’s Brody File column reports that the PAC is running this radio ad on James Dobson’s home turf in Colorado Springs, Colorado (!).

Now playing on Christian radio: Barack Obama!

The Brody File has learned that the Matthew 25 Network which is a religious political action committee supporting Obama has put together a radio ad in which Obama’s faith is highlighted. And get this….they are airing it on Christian radio in Colorado Springs, the home to James Dobson and Focus on the Family.

Part of their release, sent to The Brody File, is below:

The Matthew 25 Network today launched an initial radio ad campaign to reach Christian voters with Obama’s positive message of how faith informs his life and enhances dialogue in the public square.

The ad entitled “From his Heart,” comes on the heels of Senator Obama’s historic speech earlier today about the instrumental role faith communities play in caring for the “least of these” in our society and the importance of public partnerships with faith-based programs that have proven track records.

The Matthew 25 Network ad will first run in Colorado Springs, CO, home of James Dobson who garnered much media attention last week for attacking Senator Obama’s faith. The group will run run ads in Ohio, Michigan, Virginia, and other swing states.

Here is the script version of the radio ad:

Narrator: You know it’s an election year when certain people start grabbing headlines by attacking the faith of Presidential candidates. With all these stones being cast at Senator Obama, it can be hard to know what to believe. But in Luke, Jesus taught us that we must listen to what a man says because “out of the overflow of his heart, his mouth speaks.” So here are words from Senator Obama’s heart:

Obama: “I think we make a mistake when we fail to acknowledge the power of faith in people’s lives” “kneeling beneath that cross on the South Side, I felt that I heard God’s spirit beckoning me. I submitted myself to His will, and dedicated myself to discovering His truth.”

Narrator: Paid for by Matthew 25 Network, Matthew 25.org is not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee. Matthew 25 Network is responsible for the content of this ad because we think it’s time for a better Christian witness in politics.

Dr. Richard Land, Chairman of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Association, was a guest on Just In with Laura Ingraham, her new Fox News show that airs weekdays at 5 p.m. ET.

Dr. Land pointed out that, no matter how much Obama pounds on the point that he’s a good Christian, his pro-abortion stand will be a certain deal breaker for evangelicals.

:::::::::

There’s something else that bothers me. Obama, by hammering on his insistence that he is a Christian, is also insulting Muslims. As I wrote recently:

To be clear: We at No Quarter have no concerns about Barack Obama having had a Muslim background; given the circumstances of his childhood, living with a stepfather in Indonesia who was Muslim as well as having relatives in Africa who are Muslim, it is simply a part of his background, and probably a plus to be exposed to the faith, although he was for the most part rather young to assess it.

Our issue is with Obama’s failure to be frank about his life history and — worst of all — his appearance of running from any past associations with Muslims, as if being evasive would protect him from voter concerns in an age of the Internet and 24/7 news. Instead — by insisting repeatedly that he is solely a “committed Christian” and has “never been a Muslim” — Obama may be insulting Muslims worldwide who are surely puzzled why he hides this past. Further, his obfuscations lose him credibility among voters who seek honesty and forthrightness in their presidential candidates.

Obama seems unable to grasp what most mature people understand: That hiding the simple truth damages one’s reputation far more than the fact that is being hidden.

We get it, Barack. We do. You’re desperate to kill the rampant rumors that you were or are a Muslim, or ever had any associations with any Muslims. But, the saying, “He doth protest too much,” applies here.

But this is going to backfire, I predict, because Obama’s positions on abortion and his astonishing voting record in the Illinois senate are going to come out, and NO devout Christian will vote for him.

Okay, Okay, I’ll get to the point: Obama wants to continue the Faith Based Initiatives Program, and EXPAND the amount of federal dollars GOING to the organizations involves in it. But wait - it gets better! He wants to allow them to HIRE and FIRE on the basis of RELIGION!!!

You read that right — this self-titled Constitutional scholar wants to allow YOUR tax paying dollars to go to faith-based initiatives, allowing them to decide if the person is religious enough, their KIND of religious, and to dismiss them should they decide the employee’s belief system does not match closely enough to the organization. Hold on, there is even more! According to the AP Article, “Obama TO Expand Bush’s Faith-based Programs“:

Obama proposes to elevate the program to a “moral center” of his administration, by renaming it the Office of Community and Faith-Based Partnerships, and changing training from occasional huge conferences to empowering larger religious charities to mentor smaller ones in their communities.

Pay attention to that name change, so that you KNOW he is talking about faith-based programming using federal dollars in the future.

In a further pander to Evangelical Christians, Obama said,

“In time, I came to see faith as being both a personal commitment to Christ and a commitment to my community; that while I could sit in church and pray all I want, I wouldn’t be fulfilling God’s will unless I went out and did the Lord’s work,” he was to say.

Huh. I wonder if he thinks the “Lord’s Work” includes character assassinations, and vote stealing??? Those two look mighty close to breaking a couple of Big Ones to me, but, hey, what do I know? But I digress…

You are going to LOVE this next quote! In it, he throws together a bunch of issues facing us, ending with a quintessential Naval metaphor (get it?):

“The challenges we face today, from putting people back to work to improving our schools, from saving our planet to combating HIV/AIDS to ending genocide, are simply too big for government to solve alone,” Obama was to say, according to a prepared text of his remarks obtained by The Associated Press. “We need all hands on deck.”

Why, yes we do. To make sure you never become president!

Ironically, it was just the other day that Obama sent out Mrs. Obama to shore up his support among - Wait for it - GAY groups!! No, I am not kidding, and I am not making this us. (For those of you who might be unaware, Evangelical Christians, certainly those affiliated with organizations like James Dobson’s “Focus on the Family,” are not too keen on gay people. They kinda think of us as big ol’ sinners, to cut to the chase!) According to the article,

Barack Obama will fight for equal rights for gays just as he fought to help working-class families overcome poverty, the Democratic presidential hopeful’s wife told a gay Democratic group Thursday.

Recalling his past work as a community organizer to help struggling families, Michelle Obama said he would take the same approach as president.

HAHAHAHAHA!! Obama is going to help the LGBT Community the same way he has helped those folks during his Community Organizing days? Those people without heat and all of that in the Southside of Chicago? That’s how well he is going to do for US? Oh, WHEEEEE!!!!

Believe it or not, there is still more.

Touting her husband’s record pushing for workplace discrimination legislation as an Illinois state senator and his support of civil unions, Obama noted her husband also had brought a call for equality to conservative groups, telling churchgoers they need to combat homophobia in the black community.

His workplace discrimination legislation? As in what, PUSHING for workplace discrimination?? As Uppity Woman pointed out in her excellent piece, “Sexist Obama Pays His Female Staff Less Than The Males” in No Quarter, Obama is not exactly a prince in the Sexual Equality department, certainly in the realm of equal pay for equal work. It is more like the Sexual INequality department. Just freakin’ spare me.

Okay, sure - he can tell conservative churches that they need to stop attacking LGBT people, and do more about HIV/AIDS, but when one of his BFFs is Senator Rev. James Meeks, a blatantly ANTI-GAY activist, and when he campaigns with Donnie McClurkin, a noted ANTI-GAY activist, it is just a little hard to take this seriously. He can SAY whatever he wants to say, but his ACTIONS clearly indicate otherwise. There is a world of difference between Senator Clinton’s relationship with the LGBT community and Obama’s - Clinton actually HAS a relationship with the LGBT community!! Just sayin’.

Oh - and no doubt, what Michelle Obama also said during this speech is just gonna PISS Donna Brazile off:

Michelle Obama also drew a connection between the struggles for gay rights and civil rights.

“We are all only here because of those who marched and bled and died, from Selma to Stonewall, in the pursuit of a more perfect union,” she said at the event, held days before the anniversary of the 1969 Stonewall riots between gays and New York police, and the city’s annual gay pride parade.

“The world as it is should be one that rejects discrimination of all kinds,” she said.

Whooey, is that ever gonna make Donna MAD!!!! Remember, Howard Dean got into some hot water (as in, faced a law suit) because of his firing of a gay man. In an article in the Washington Blade, regarding choosing Civil Rights delegates for the National Convention in August, and including gay people in the Civil Rights contingent to that convention,

Dean said some “influential individuals” within the DNC Black Caucus, such as Donna Brazile, opposed the plan because it was seen as “an affront to the civil rights movement.”

All righty. I bet Ms. Brazile might just have a little chat with Michelle on this. How dare she go against Donna’s party line?!?!

Apparently, though, the 200 - 300 people there drank the Cult Aide - they raised over $1 million for him. I am going to make an unsubstantiated guess and say they MUST have been Log Cabin Republicans!! How else to explain it?! I certainly can’t any other way. This man has done ZERO for our community - ZERO, actually, he has done NEGATIVES for our community, and while John McCain probably isn’t going to be winning any GLAAD or HRC awards any time soon, neither is Obama. Oh, wait - someone DID win the HRC award, and coincidentally, her initials are HRC!!! But why bother with trivialities?!?!

Anywho, it sure will be interesting to watch the hoops Obama will jump through as he tells every single group, no matter how much their varying beliefs/realities may be diametrically opposed, that he supports THEM, and will do everything possible for THEIR agendas. I guess this just highlights - again - the importance of the PUMA and Just Say No Deal coalitions, to point out Obama’s bald-faced lies, flip flops, pandering, and frightening policies. Speak out, speak loud, and expose this charlatan for who he is! Power to the PUMA!

And for your viewing and listening pleasure, if our politicians want to know what the people want, check out this video by Martina McBride:

[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=rGMNPjlTa7s[/youtube]

===========

See my earlier stories on the similarities between Bush and Obama:

Another Bush/Obama Similarity…, June 22, 2008

“Slack Like Me”, June 17, 2008

Politico.com, July 1, 2008: “Obama to scrap Bush’s faith-based office“

Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) plans to slam President Bush’s faith-based program as “a photo op” and a failure on Tuesday, and says he would scrap the office and create a new Council for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships that would be a “critical” part of his administration. [...]

Anticipating criticism from the left, Obama said: “I believe deeply in the separation of church and state, but I don’t believe this partnership will endanger that idea. …

Just how faith-based must Americans become? It’s bad enough to have have the Democratic leadership undemocratically hand-pick an unqualified, inexperienced candidate in whom we are just supposed to “believe.” Now this candidate is going to “expand Bush’s faith based programs,” the A.P./Yahoo reports. (Memeorandum.com is tracking blog posts.)

Plenty of us may be praying in the next four years, but must it be on the job too? Oh wait! Obama was in Ohio when he announced his faith-based initiatives yesterday. You remember Ohio, don’t you? Where Hillary demolished Barack by double digits? Which means, to Barack, that much pandering must be done to win over the voters who rejected him on March 5th. But this much pandering?

… Obama’s support for letting religious charities that receive federal funding consider religion in employment decisions could invite a storm of protest from those who view such faith requirements as discrimination.

Guess who rails against federal funding of faith-based initiatives: Obama’s entire primary base of far-left liberals.

You know. The Kossacks. The Move-On devotees. The civil libertarians. The Glenn Greenwalds.

Actually, me too. Government aid programs should have no tie-ins to any religion of any kind. Imho.

I realize Obama needs to pander in the Midwest where he did so poorly, particularly in key states like Ohio where those Midwest “typical white people” rejected him in the primaries.

I listened to Keith Olbermann’s “Special Comment” last night advising Obama on how he should speak out about and vote on FISA.

Olbermann is desperately trying to keep you on the right course on FISA, Barack. The first-class ketchup addict, his MSNBO pals, and the reverential media are willing to tap dance on the head of a pin to help you get elected. But, eventually, even they, perhaps, will reach their limits (one hopes).

Yesterday, alone, Barack threw MoveOn.org and Gen. Wesley Clark under the bus. Sadly, it’s doubtful that the MoveOn devotees will catch on to Obama — even while he “goes along to get along” on every policy matter they care deeply about, including Bush’s funding of faith-based charities. As I wrote yesterday, the only time Obama will have his hand out to MoveOn is when they have a check in theirs.

Obama knows it too. He can abuse MoveOn between now and November, and those gullible people will still plaster his photo on their home page and beg their membership to donate to him.

He’s already thrown so many before them under the bus, as our cartoonist PatRacimora noted on May 3, 2008:

Once again, he’s thrown his hardcore allies under the bus solely for the sake of winning.

PatRacimora gave Obama’s supporters some good advice in late May: “Be careful. You still IN the bus may well be next.”

Ironically, it was Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Obama’s 20-year “close adviser” — like “an uncle to me,” Obama once said — who, after he got thrown under the bus, noted bitterly that Obama is just a typical politician.

Rev. Wright saw through Obama. Finally. Will the rest?

Now let us pray:

When, Oh Lord, when will my brothers and sisters see the light about this rock-star idol? I beg you, Almighty One, deliver us from this false prophet.

Before it is too late. …

Which would be the fourth week of August, 2008.