Hillary's "white Americans" comment causing a quick firestorm

In another bad sign for Hillary Clinton's sinking campaign, the blogosphere is all over her racially divisive comments to USA Today about her white support (read alvernon90's diary), and the verdict is not good. The broad consensus is that Hillary's comments are clearly deepening rifts in the Democratic party and hurting the party's chances in the fall. Are you listening superdelegates?

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Geraldine, come on.

Do these people (all politicians of all stripes) know when they start slogging through the muck they don't exactly come out spotless themselves? Always, always, always the purely personal insult and attack is a hallmark of extreme weakness on the part of the one doing it.

And if it is perceived that they speak on behalf of another candidate, even unofficially but simply perceived as being on "the other guy's side," they sure do leave an embarrassing stink in their wake that threatens to overwhelm their would-be leader's own message.

Today, Ms. Ferarro successfully weakened the Hillary Clinton campaign by standing up as a Hillary Clinton supporter to say she thinks Barak Obama is where he is because he's black. She thinks Barak Obama would not be running for President if he was a white guy.

And now Geraldine is parsing and re-parsing and re-shaping her remarks into a noble battle over freedom of speech. Geraldine, honey, certainly you have a right to hold any political view and share your opinions and especially to share your opinions about any politician.

The only people at this point who have a righteous motive for wanting to shut you up are the wise heads (if there are any) in the Hillary campaign.

Because, you see, just because you have the right to say something stupid doesn't always mean you should say it. Not if you care about the impression you make on behalf of the candidate you hope you are helping because remarks like that are like using a big fat crayon to draw a circle around your candidate and then a big fat arrow pointing to her with the caption, "This candidate is in trouble so let's try something desperate."

The more you throw the muck, the more you get on yourself and your candidate.

What you did was really, really dumb. Poor Hillary. With friends like you...

READ THE NEWS ARTICLE HERE.

Barak Obama TV

PLEASE NOTE: Internet Explorer may not automatically display the contents of Google Gadgets and IE users might have to click on the blank space (inside an iframe) and hit "Refresh" before you can enjoy the gadget.

You Got to Love This Debate Moment

GO HERE to relive the magic moment when Hillary and Barak were zapping each other (although, I do believe Barak had the best "zap" -- heh heh, Hillary, so you were a corporate lawyer on the Board at Walmart?)

Fight the Lies, Part Deux

As a follow-up to my post below, "Fight the Lies..."

Obama takes on question of faith

COLUMBIA, S.C. - Barack Obama is stepping up his effort to correct the misconception that he's a Muslim now that the presidential campaign has hit the Bible Belt.

...Obama tried to set the record straight from an attack circulating widely on the Internet that is designed to play into prejudices against Muslims and fears of terrorism.

"I've been to the same church — the same Christian church — for almost 20 years," Obama said, stressing the word Christian and drawing cheers from the faithful in reply. "I was sworn in with my hand on the family Bible. Whenever I'm in the United States Senate, I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America. So if you get some silly e-mail ... send it back to whoever sent it and tell them this is all crazy. Educate."

Obama is referring to a debunked chain e-mail circulating widely on the Internet that suggests he is hiding his Islamic roots and may be a terrorist in disguise. It says he was sworn into the Senate on the Quran and turns his back on the flag during the pledge.

There are some truths in the e-mail's details. Obama's middle name is Hussein. His father and stepfather were Muslim. And he spent part of his childhood in Indonesia, a largely Muslim country. But he attended secular and Catholic schools, not a radical madrassa.

His campaign has been pushing back against the false rumors all year. His aides decried an incorrect news report that Obama was educated in a Muslim madrassa and a section of his Web site is devoted to correct that and other false rumors circulating on the Internet.

But they are stepping up the effort now that the campaign has hit South Carolina and soon turns to other southern states where religion is so important to voters. The campaign distributed an open letter from seven Jewish senators this weekend condemning the attacks; aides are planning an event this week to respond directly to the e-mails; and campaign representatives blanketed South Carolina churches Sunday with literature that touted Obama's Christian faith.

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The campaign of lies against Barak Obama reveals the desperation and fear felt by his opponents. To have to resort to such ridiculous lies... have they nothing of substance of their own? Nothing to recommend themselves? No truth of their own to say, "Here, this is why you should vote our way..."

Say, what??? BOTH Hillary and Barak won in Nevada?

So Hillary "won" the Nevada primary? But, she got only 12 delegates to Barak winning 13. Huh? So how does that make her the winner?

READ MORE HERE

Fight the Lies

I was discussing on political messageboards this lame-o attempt at smearboating Barak Obama a very, very long time ago. I thought this had been thoroughly debunked... a very, very long time ago.

Apparently not. Perhaps the smear is being resurrected in time for that superbad Tuesday primary.

The problem for Mr. Obama's campaign is this go-round is not being openly touted as the rabid extreme right-wing cause du jour but instead is snaking its way through "decent Christian America" -- by email and through prayer forums and at church meetings.

The underlying message is that if you are a Christian, you must do your Christian duty to turn back the Moslem hordes from taking over our Christian nation's halls of leadership. And that means voting against Barak Obama.

As we saw with the Smearboat liars vs. John Kerry, even if you go to the source and discover the actual truth, if it does not suit your agenda, a lie may be substituted in place of reality. I don't think I probably would have voted for Kerry, anyway (yes, he does look like Herman Munster but that's not why I wouldn't have voted for him). But, the lies and disgraceful way the Smearboat liars attacked the patriotism and sacrifices made of all who were actually on those boats with Kerry was one of the most "bottom-feeding moments" in American politics.

Until now.

Now the same old long-stale debunked bullsh*t about Barak Obama having attended a madrassah school and being a secret Moslem and part of a wahhabist Moslem conspiracy to take over America is raising a fresh stench among apparently unsuspecting victims.

They are unsuspecting because it is being fed to them through genuinely decent channels. Why would they NOT trust it?

And that's what should have Barak Obama and his campaign people worried. These are the decent family-values folks now who are being thinned out of the Obama ranks because they are being fed this diet of lies from sources they trust.

And how do I know about this quiet resurrection of the same old lies? Because one of my dearest friends, as honest and true as a human can be, forwarded the old fake email from the fake Yalie telling the same old fake crap that was exposed as lies so very long ago.

She is "concerned." And she is decent. She is NOT a liar and not one to engage in smearing innocent people. And she forwarded that email to me.

Like me, she is also disgusted with the Washington "establishment." And we were both despairing, hoping that somebody decent would show up in the political game who would represent our basic values. I believe, so far, Barak Obama is the closest match and I am an Independent and quite party-neutral.

My friend has now crossed Barak Obama off her list. And she's not a stupid person.

How many more will fall victim to the lies and will America endure even more years of nightmare because of a smear?

How do you put a lie to rest? The answer is, you can't. You can confront it, however. You must confront it. At every opportunity.

If you see a lie headed your way, don't be complacent. Confront. Confront. Confront. What America is going to be for future generations must be protected from the liars.

You're the soldiers, America. Fight the lies.

RESOURCES FOR THIS POST:

I won't reprint my friend's email because that would be a violation of her privacy, but you can read the lying lies put forth by the non-existent Yale staffer here (source: The Yale Daily News - apparently, they do not appreciate someone pretending to represent any official position from Yale in order to spread the cow manure). Do note their link to the Snopes.com page debunking the fake missive.

I urge you to also have a look here at one blogger's response to this same smear.

O'Reilly Bashes (Yes, Physically) an Obama Staffer

Fox's O'Reilly gets pushy at Obama event

The above linked story goes into detail of how O'Reilly, the Faux News blowhard, showed up at a Barak Obama event and muscled his way around the Secret Service security barricade to get at Senator Obama and when he was stopped by one of the Senator's staffers, he physically assaulted the staffer.

O'Reilly is damn lucky he didn't get wrestled to the ground or pepper-sprayed or handcuffed. What an ass.

From the article:

..."Then he grabbed me with both of his arms and tried to push me out of the way," Nicholson said after the campaign agreed to make him available to reporters.

...The scene was hard to miss. O'Reilly is about 6-feet-5-inches tall. Nicholson is 6-feet-8-inches tall.

"I told him, 'Sir, I would appreciate it if you wouldn't shove me anymore.'
"He called me 'low class.' He was pretty upset."

Secret Service agents assigned to protect Obama ordered O'Reilly back behind the barricade.

..."I've never seen a member of the press lay hands on a staffer before," he said.

Obama, Huckabee sweep to Iowa victories

DES MOINES, Iowa - Sen. Barack Obama swept to victory in the Iowa caucuses Thursday night, pushing Hillary Rodham Clinton to third place and taking a major stride in a historic bid to become the nation's first black president. Mike Huckabee rode a wave of support from evangelical Christians to win the opening round among Republicans in the 2008 campaign for the White House.

Obama, 46 and a first-term senator from Illinois, told a raucous victory rally his triumph showed that in "big cities and small towns, you came together to say, 'We are one nation, we are one people and our time for change has come.'"

Nearly complete returns showed the first-term lawmaker gaining 37 percent support from Iowa Democrats. Former Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina appeared headed for second place, relegating Clinton, the former first lady, to a close third.

MORE HERE...

What ALL other candidates of any party need to address now is the magnetic attraction Barak Obama has with the American people and the REASONS FOR IT. Here's a hint: People regard Mr. Obama as a family man who speaks for REAL family values -- not the kind of "family" values that the Republicans push that entails sex scandals and blatant corruption and a crazy man who wants to be Emperor of the World occupying the Oval Office -- and not the slick political machine that is the now stopped-dead-in-its-tracks Clinton "juggernaut."

The just plain folks of America, especially those of independent mind, those who cherish real family values are sick unto death of the stinking pile of shit that our government has become.

Americans are going to vote for the candidate they believe actually cares about their family and the struggles that most working families must face on a daily basis.

Oh, the reality may very well be that Barak Obama is as heartless as the rest of them but that's not what he represents. And people will vote for the representation.

Clinton holds lead as Romney slips in Iowa

Interesting. See post below that proclaims Obama beating Clinton by a handy margin.

link to this article

Poll: Obama, Huckabee leading rivals

DES MOINES, Iowa - Presidential contenders rang in the 2008 election year with near-constant campaigning on Monday as a poll showed Democrat Barack Obama and Republican Mike Huckabee leading their rivals with three days remaining before the Iowa caucuses.

The poll by the Des Moines Register showed Obama, an Illinois senator, with the support of 32 percent of those surveyed, compared to 25 percent for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York and 24 percent for former Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina.

Among Republicans, Huckabee, a former Arkansas governor, had the backing of 32 percent of those surveyed, and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney had 26 percent.

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Obama pulls ahead for Democrats in Iowa Poll

I think we are seeing a contest between Obama's "positives" versus Clinton's "negatives." Obama's main positive point is that he makes a good showing for himself as an advocate of the American family because he, himself, is a family man and treasures his loved ones. Every time he talks, this comes through and it makes people take notice of this guy.

Hillary's main negatives are that she is thought of as almost a carbon copy of George Bush when it comes to Iraq and that a vote for her is a vote for George Bush's policies and the country is sick unto death of that.

She's also got a huge negative in being thought of as a major player in the Slime Machine of American Politics. She's not much more than pond scum when it comes to that and the only thing beneath her are the scum who have actually been convicted of corruption. Never mind that they're Republicans - all pond scum is starting to look alike anymore.

If Obama gets caught with a mistress or Hillary can vault herself out of the pond and show clear evidence of having a conscience, then things may change.

Unfortunately for Obama, his JFK-esque fresh image also makes the average person wonder if he's a bit too pure for Washington and world politics. Once there, could he kick ass?

Anyway, have a peek at what the Des Moines Register has t o say:

Barack Obama has pulled ahead in the race for Iowa's Democratic presidential caucuses, while the party's national frontrunner Hillary Clinton has slipped to second in the leadoff nominating state, according to The Des Moines Register's new Iowa Poll.

Despite the movement, the race for 2008's opening nominating contest remains very competitive about a month before the Jan. 3 caucuses, just over half of likely caucusgoers who favor a candidate saying they could change their minds.

...The lead change appears after weeks of increasing criticism of Clinton by Obama and Edwards about her position on U.S. policy toward Iran and questions of her candor.

Meanwhile, Clinton has recently begun accusing Obama of inexperience and criticizing his proposal to expand health insurance coverage.

The poll shows what has continued to be a wide gap between the top three candidates and the remainder of the field.

READ MORE OF THE ARTICLE HERE

Colin Powell on Barak Obama

From GQ's new interview with Colin Powell:

You've met with Barack Obama a couple of times and given him advice. Is it possible that you will support him?
I will give advice to any of the principal candidates. I've met with others, including John McCain and Rudy Giuliani. Barack called me and came by, and we had a long talk. Right before he decided to run, we talked again about the presidency and the type of decisions and problems that come in the middle of the night. I think he's a very impressive man, I think he's very smart, and I think he's going to be a formidable candidate.

Do you think he'd be a good president?
I don't want to start saying who would be a good president and who wouldn't. I will say that I don't see any among the major candidates who I think is unqualified to be president.

Would you be tempted to support Obama, even though he's a Democrat, because he would be transformational?
He is transformational because he is a black man who has become one of the leading candidates of a major party. That is exciting. It's transformational. But am I going to support him? I am going to be for who I think is the best person. Not the best Republican, not the best Democrat, not the best black guy or the best woman. I'm going to try to figure out who could best serve this country. And that's who I will be voting for.

Read the full interview here