Better Never Than Late

“I make this decision with sadness. This is where I found Jesus Christ, where we were married, where our children were baptized. We are proud of the extraordinary works of that church.”

-- Barack Obama on his alleged sadness over leaving Trinity United Church of Christ

Obama Leaves Church That Drew Wide Criticism

By MICHAEL POWELL

ABERDEEN, S.D. — Senator Barack Obama has resigned his membership in Chicago’s Trinity United Church of Christ, which he attended for nearly two decades, following months of controversy about pastors and their political views.

Mr. Obama said he and his wife, Michelle, wrote a letter on Friday to the church’s pastor, the Rev. Otis Moss, explaining that their estrangement from Trinity took root in controversial remarks by the church’s former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr., who once was Mr. Obama’s spiritual guide.

“Our relations with Trinity have been strained by the divisive statements of Reverend Wright, which sharply conflict with our own views,” they wrote. “These controversies have served as an unfortunate distraction for other Trinity members who seek to worship in peace, and have placed you in an untenable position.”

But at a news conference after a town-hall-style meeting here on Saturday, Mr. Obama sounded pained as he confirmed his decision to leave the place he had considered his spiritual home. A sermon by Mr. Wright, a longtime pastor at the church, even provided the phrase — “the audacity of hope” — that became Mr. Obama’s campaign theme and the title of his latest book.

“I make this decision with sadness,” Mr. Obama said, speaking in subdued tones as he stood before a bland background. “This is where I found Jesus Christ, where we were married, where our children were baptized. We are proud of the extraordinary works of that church.”

Mr. Obama rejected suggestions that he denounce the church, which is one of Chicago’s largest and most socially active black churches, with a wide array of respected social programs. Several of the most prominent black theologians in Chicago attend the church.

“I’m not denouncing the church and I’m not interested in people who want me to denounce the church,” he said in response to a question. “It’s not a church worthy of denouncing.”

He said that his resignation was not a matter of political convenience, but rather that he had reached the point where neither he nor Trinity’s pastors and congregants could worship in peace. He noted that reporters now pored over sermons and that some had called sick members at home to ask about the church.

Not a matter of political convenience? Please. Does anyone really believe that? And here we all thought Hillary was the real liar.

Day 2

Presidential candidate Ron Paul drew a respectable sized crowd to his early morning rally behind the Mayo Civic Center.

Rep. Ron Paul is a subdued but compeling speaker. Far from alarmist, his dire warnings about the inevitable consequences of rampant Washinton spending are factual and reasoned. The congressman loses me on foreign policy, however, since I am not an isolationist.

Ron Paul supporters are a fascinatingly balanced cross section of age, gender and background.

Portrait of real diversity.

Off with their heads! Campaingning against the six "bipartisan" RINOS in St. Paul.

Newly elected Olmsted County GOP Co-chair Bruce Kaskubar

DFL hacks posing as "special interest" supporters of Senator Norm Coleman complete with oversized "thank you" cards. They got a little peeved when I asked them if they objected to challenger Al Franken's negligent attitude toward paying workers' compensation and taxes.

I doubt the "special interests" will come back next Saturday to thank DFLers for their support. After all, everyone knows that liberals are not beholden to special interests. Such hypocrites.

Norm addresses the convention after being endorsed by acclamation:

" I didn't just arrive in the latest plane to run for office."

"The heartland of America has a response to Senator Obama: we don't 'cling' to our faith, we cherish it."

"God has blessed America. We are the land of the free because we are the home of the brave."

"The ideas that really help people don't come from Washington."

"When it comes to helping people, we don't need an ideologue or a a divider."

"People want problem solves not angry sloganeers."

"For those who tout Canadian-style health care, we pose a challenge: show us the Mayo Clinic of Canada."

"What part of 'We are committed to the destruction of Israel' don't Democrats who want to negotiate with terrorists understand?"

"Hope, faith and optimism are in America's DNA."

Senator Coleman has stood up for little Wyatt in his battle with cancer.

Roz and Linda cheer for Norm.

Making inroads in the Somali community. The Somalis I know are quite conservative. Some of their young have sold out to the DFL but the core of the community have maintained their traditional values of family, hard work and personal responsibility, which is not the DFL platform.

Go Norm!

Minnesota Republicans Ready to Rumble

Nobody gives a rally speech like Senator David Senjem.

"Minnesota Republicans are ready to rumbleeeeeeeeeeee!"

"We have a presidency to win."

"The future of American depends on us."

Norm is the star of the show.

Senator Norm Coleman presses the flesh prior to speaking before the delegates.

Coleman charms the press




Brian Davis (center), his lovely wife Lori and campaign manager Brad Biers

First Congressional District candidate Dr. Brian Davis addresses the convention.

Barb Davis White is the GOP endorsed candidate for the Fifth District Congressional seat now occupied by anti-American DFLer Keith Ellison.

"We are getting ready to take the Fifth District back!"

"Government must stop spending like drunken thieves. I refuse to offend sailors."

"America will have peace again when she is strong from the inside."

"I believe people want more, not less, freedom."

Barb brought the house down with her fiery conservative speech.

The Minnesota GOP LOVES Barb Davis White.

House Republican Leader Marty Seifert :

"It's not about the next election, it's about the next generation."

Senator Norm Coleman introduces the keynote speaker for the evening, Oklahoma senator Tom Coburn

Keynote speaker Oklahoma Sen. Tom Coburn

"America's greatest challenges are radical Islamic terrorism and an unsustainable fiscal course."

"It's time we make a decision about spending priorities and stop stealing from our children and grandchildren."

"Republican ideas are the best ideas and actions must follow words."

"Speak the truth, even at your own risk."

"The more government we have, the less freedom we have."

More Racist Reverend Trouble for Obama

"She just always thought that, 'This is mine. I'm Bill's wife. I'm white.' ... And then, out of nowhere, came 'Hey, I'm Barack Obama." And she said, 'Oh damn, where did you come from? I'm white. I'm entitled. There's a black man stealing my show. She wasn't the only one crying. There was a whole lot of white people crying."

--Rev. Michael Pfleger, pastor of the predominantly black Saint Sabina Roman Catholic Church and Barack Obama supporter during a sermon at the Illinois senator's Trinity United Church of Christ last Sunday.

Obama distances himself from another clergyman
By CARYN ROUSSEAU, Associated Press Writer

CHICAGO - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said Thursday that he was "deeply disappointed" by a supporter's sermon at his church that mocked Hillary Rodham Clinton.

The Rev. Michael Pfleger, a Chicago activist, also apologized for last Sunday's sermon at Obama's church, in which he said Clinton's eyes welled with tears before the New Hampshire primary because she felt "entitled" to the Democratic nomination and because "there's a black man stealing my show."

In video circulating on the Internet, Pfleger said the former first lady expected to win the nomination before Obama's sudden popularity.

Obama's response was as swift, meaning he didn't wait twenty years to disavow a prominent supporter's racist words this time, as it was disingenuous.

"As I have traveled this country, I've been impressed not by what divides us, but by all that that unites us. That is why I am deeply disappointed in Father Pfleger's divisive, backward-looking rhetoric, which doesn't reflect the country I see or the desire of people across America to come together in common cause."

It looks like Obama thinks it's safe to not be Black again.

The obligatory non-apology apology from Rev. Pfleger's followed.

"These words are inconsistent with Senator Obama's life and message and I am deeply sorry if they offended Senator Clinton or anyone else who saw them," Pfleger said.

"If" they offended Clinton or anyone else? Please!

The Clinton campaingn pounced on Pleger's sermon.

"Divisive and hateful language like that is totally counterproductive in our efforts to bring our party together and have no place at the pulpit or in our politics," the campaign said in a statement. "We are disappointed that Senator Obama didn't specifically reject Father's Pfleger's despicable comments about Senator Clinton, and assume he will do so."

Wait. Isn't that the same Hillary who publicly courted the votes of "hard-working Americans, white Americans a few weeks ago? I'm confused.

I have said it before and will say it again. The Democrats are the party of racism, bigotry and intolerance.

.

Conspiracy Theory

"She will win the general election if you nominate her. They're just
trying to make sure you don't."

-- Bill "Just Because You're Paranoid It Doesn't Mean They Are Not After You" Clinton on the conspiracy theory that "they" don't want Hillary to win the liberal Democratic nomination for President of the United States.

Bill Clinton says wife is victim of a ‘cover up’

From CNN Associate Political Editor Rebecca Sinderbrand

(CNN) — Former President Bill Clinton said that Democrats were more likely to lose in November if his wife Hillary Clinton is not the party’s presidential nominee, and suggested some people were trying to “cover this up” and “push and pressure and bully” superdelegates to make up their minds prematurely.

"I can’t believe it. It is just frantic the way they are trying to push and pressure and bully all these superdelegates to come out,” he said at a South Dakota campaign stop Sunday, in remarks first reported by ABC News. “'Oh, this is so terrible: The people they want her. Oh, this is so terrible: She is winning the general election, and he is not. Oh my goodness, we have to cover this up.'"

The former president added that his wife had not been given the respect she deserved as a legitimate presidential candidate. "She is winning the general election today and he is not, according to all the evidence,” he said. “And I have never seen anything like it. I have never seen a candidate treated so disrespectfully just for running.”

“Her only position was, ‘Look, if I lose I'll be a good team player. We will all try to win — but let's let everybody vote, and count every vote,’" he said.

The former president suggested that if the New York senator ended the primary season with an edge in the popular vote, it would be a significant development. "If you vote for her and she does well in Montana and she does well in Puerto Rico, when this is over she will be ahead in the popular vote,” said Clinton.

“And they're trying to get her to cry uncle before the Democratic Party has to decide what to do in Florida and Michigan” – which the party would need to do “unless we want to lose the election. "

Bill Clinton's mind is the real "fun house." It is a convoluted, paranoid little place filled with imaginary dialogues and plots to deny his wife the presidency of the United States of America, which everyone knows is Hillary's birthright. What a sorry, pathetic little man.

Hillary Implies She is Staying in the Dem Race in Case Obama is Assassinated

"We all remember Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in June in California. I don't understand it."

-- Hillary "The Undertaker" Clinton on why she won't quit the race for the Democratic nomination.

I must admit I have underestimated the depths to which Hillary will sink in her megalomaniacal crusade to become President of the United States.

Now Hillary has raised the specter of a possible political assassination in order to justify sticking to her campaign. "Hey, you never know. Obama could get shot. I'll stick around just in case somehow he does," is the gist of what she said during an interview with the Argus Leader's Editorial Board yesterday. See the video and a partial transcript here.

This is not the first time Hillary has justified staying in the race in spite of insurmountable mathematical odds. Back in March she used the same argument almost verbatim to Time magazine.

TIME: Can you envision a point at which--if the race stays this close--Democratic Party elders would step in and say, "This is now hurting the party and whoever will be the nominee in the fall"?

CLINTON: No, I really can't. I think people have short memories. Primary contests used to last a lot longer. We all remember the great tragedy of Bobby Kennedy being assassinated in June in L.A. My husband didn't wrap up the nomination in 1992 until June. Having a primary contest go through June is nothing particularly unusual.

Hillary's statement is particularly troubling given the number of Clinton associates in Arkansas who have died under suspicious circumstances. She should be careful. Some may think that she was subliminaly ordering a hit on the Illinois senator.

Hillary's apology was pathetic and completely missed the point. Read it if you can stomach it:

“Earlier today I was discussing the Democratic primary history and in the course of that discussion mentioned the campaigns that both my husband and Senator Kennedy waged in California in June 1992 and 1968 and I was referencing those to make the point that we have had nomination primary contests that go into June. That’s a historic fact.

The Kennedys have been much on my mind the last days because of Senator Kennedy and I regret that if my referencing that moment of trauma for our entire nation, and particularly for the Kennedy family was in any way offensive. I certainly had no intention of that, whatsoever. My view is that we have to look to the past and to our leaders who have inspired us and give us a lot to live up to, and I’m honored to hold Senator Kennedy’s seat in the United States Senate from the state of New York and have the highest regard for the entire Kennedy family.”

This is yet another example of the tiresome I-regret-everyone-misunderstood-what-I-said "apologies" politicians are fond of giving. The point was not that Hillary may have inadvertently offended the Kennedy family by "referencing that moment of trauma," meaning Bobby Kennedy's assassination. The problem is she meant to say that Obama may get killed like RFK was and that if it happens, she will be there to take the mantle of the Democratic nomination.

Michael Goodwin from the Daily News may have said it all in his column today:

We have seen an X-ray of a very dark soul. One consumed by raw ambition to where the possible assassination of an opponent is something to ponder in a strategic way. Otherwise, why is murder on her mind?

It's like Tanya Harding's kneecapping has come to politics. Only the senator from New York has more lethal fantasies than that nutty skater.

and

Giving voice to such a vile thought is all the more horrible because fears Obama would be killed have been an undercurrent to his astonishing rise. Republican Mike Huckabee made a stupid joke about it recently. Many black Americans have talked of it, reflecting their assumption that racists would never tolerate a black President and that Obama would be taken from them.

Clinton has now fed that fear. She needs a very long vacation. And we need one from her.

Say good night, Hillary. And go away.

WCCO meteorologist: Global warming 'extremism' uses 'squishy science'
PAUL WALSH, Star Tribune

Longtime WCCO-TV meteorologist Mike Fairbourne says that the environmental movement is practicing "squishy science" when it ties human activity to global warming.

Fairbourne's assessment Monday came on the same day that the Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine appeared before the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., and announced that it has the signatures of more than 31,000 scientists -- including Fairbourne's -- who agree that the human impact on global warming is overblown.

Fairbourne, who joined WCCO in 1977 and has been a meteorologist for 40 years, said that while there is no doubt that "there has been some warming" of global temperatures in recent years ... there is still a pretty big question mark" about how much of that warming is from human activity.

"Do we need to be wise stewards [of the Earth]? Absolutely," Fairbourne said. "Do we have to pin everything that happens on global warming? No, we need to have cooler heads." Fairbourne said he signed the institute's petition about five years ago. The group said that hundreds of meteorologists are among the signees.

The petition says:

"We urge the United States government to reject the global warming agreement that was written in Kyoto ... and any other similar proposals. The proposed limits on greenhouse gases would harm the environment, hinder the advance of science and technology, and damage the health and welfare of mankind.

"There is no convincing scientific evidence that human release of carbon dioxide, methane, or other greenhouse gases is causing or will, in the foreseeable future, cause catastrophic heating of the Earth's atmosphere and disruption of the Earth's climate.

"Moreover, there is substantial scientific evidence that increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide produce many beneficial effects upon the natural plant and animal environments of the Earth."

The institute and its petition have been widely challenged over the years by numerous mainstream scientific voices. For example, the National Academy of Sciences has rejected the petition's contentions, saying that "greenhouse warming poses a potential threat sufficient to merit prompt responses. Investment in mitigation measures acts as insurance protection against the great uncertainties and the possibility of dramatic surprises."

Fairbourne, a University of Utah graduate, said he has talked "to a number of meteorologists who have similar opinions" as his, adding that he is concerned about "the extremism that is attached to the global warming."

He noted that in the 1970s "we were screaming about global cooling. It makes me nervous when we pin a few warm years on squishy science."

As for the melting polar ice caps, Fairbourne said there are "other things going on -- ocean currents, changes in salinity -- other things not related to carbon dioxide going into the atmosphere."

Asked why there has been so much momentum toward connecting human activity and global warming, Fairbourne said, "They're doing it for a lot of reasons; some may be scientific, but most of them are political. We need to be calm and look at scientific evidence and evaluate it."

Apparently, the debate about global warming is not over, as Al Gore and his minions are fond of stating. There is plenty of rational, scientific dissent over the extreme and politically motivated push to beat America back into pre-Industrial Revolution days.

Strib: Good News, Bad News

"Smalley" won't be smiling for long

Poll: Good news for Coleman, bad for Franken

The Republican Senator appears ahead of all DFLers. Franken's tax woes seem to have weakened him, and he did as well as Ceresi.

by Kevin Diaz

Republican Sen. Norm Coleman holds a seven-point lead over his DFL challenger Al Franken, who appears to have been weakened by his recent tax problems.

A new Star Tribune Minnesota Poll also shows that Mike Ciresi, the DFL trial lawyer who dropped out of the race in March for lack of support from his party's delegates, runs just about as strong against Coleman as Franken does.

Coleman enjoys a commanding 15-point lead over lesser-known Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer, who is facing Franken in next month's DFL endorsing convention.

The telephone survey conducted last week shows Coleman attracting the support of 51 percent of registered voters, compared with 44 percent for Franken. In a hypothetical contest between Coleman and Ciresi, Coleman wins 51 percent to 43 percent. Against Nelson-Pallmeyer, Coleman's edge is 53 percent to 38 percent.

Franken's campaign is in the tank. Thanks to his workers' comp and tax evasion troubles as chronicled here , here and here. The Strib piece confirms this.

Franken, a former "Saturday Night Live" star known nationally for his satirical attacks against Republicans, goes into the summer with 39
percent of all poll respondents saying they have an unfavorable impression of him. That's higher than the 33 percent who view him favorably.

Michael Brodkorb of Minnesota Democrats Exposed is doing a wonderful job of keeping the heat on Franken for his lies regarding when he moved to Minnesota and how much he knew about both his worker's comp and tax troubles. Go to MDE for more information.

Remember Mary Jo

Mary Jo Kopechne: July 26, 1940 – July 18, 1969

Ted Kennedy not in immediate danger; seizure cause sought

By Peter Schworm and Matt Viser, Globe Staff

Senator Edward M. Kennedy was hospitalized today after suffering a seizure, triggering shock in the political world and drawing an outpouring of support from across the nation and the ideological spectrum.

The 76-year-old Democrat, a tireless advocate for liberal causes and the surviving patriarch of the storied Kennedy political dynasty, was talkative and joking with family members this afternoon, friends and associates said. His condition was considered serious, they said, but his life did not appear to be in imminent danger.

It's just too bad Mary Jo Kopechne cannot be said to be "joking with family members this afternoon," since on July 18, 1969, Senator Ted Kennedy's drunken reckless driving took the life of campaign aide Kopechne.

Here's a sketch of the position of Mary Jo's body according to a description of the recovery diver John Caraar. It has been spectulated that Kopechne may have lived for as long as two hours after the car she and Kennedy were in careened over the Lake Chappaquiddick bridge.

Here's Kenedy's car as it was removed from Poucha Pond.

Mary Jo Kopechne's gravesite

Visit http://www.ytedk.com/ for an exhaustive profile on Ted Kennedy's cowardice.

If the Shoe Fits ...

“Some seem to believe that we should negotiate with the terrorists and radicals, as if some ingenious argument will persuade them they have been wrong all along. We have heard this foolish delusion before. As Nazi tanks crossed into Poland in 1939, an American senator declared: 'Lord, if I could only have talked to Hitler, all this might have been avoided.' We have an obligation to call this what it is — the false comfort of appeasement, which has been repeatedly discredited by history.”

-- President George W. Bush during a speech to the Israeli Parliament to thunderous applause on the occasion of the Jewish nation's 60th anniversary

Bush Speech Criticized as Attack on Obama
By SHERYL GAY STOLBERG
Published: May 16, 2008

JERUSALEM — President Bush used a speech to the Israeli Parliament on Thursday to denounce those who would negotiate with “terrorists and radicals” — a remark that was widely interpreted as a rebuke to Senator Barack Obama, the Democratic presidential contender, who has argued that the United States should talk directly with countries like Iran and Syria.

Mr. Bush did not mention Mr. Obama by name, and the White House said his remarks were not aimed at the senator, though they created a political firestorm in Washington nonetheless.

It didn't take long for Obama and his sycophants to start whining about President Bush's statement.

"It is sad that President Bush would use a speech to the Knesset on the 6Oth anniversary of Israel's independence to launch a false political attack. It is time to turn the page on eight years of policies that have strengthened Iran and failed to secure America or our ally Israel. Instead of tough talk and no action, we need to do what Kennedy, Nixon and Reagan did and use all elements of American power -- including tough, principled, and direct diplomacy - to pressure countries like Iran and Syria. George Bush knows that I have never supported engagement with terrorists, and the President's extraordinary politicization of foreign policy and the politics of fear do nothing to secure the American people or our stalwart ally Israel."

-- Barack "Thin-Skinned" Snob-ama , The Appeaser, on President George W. Bush's speech before the Israeli parliament today.

Why is Barack so defensive? Why assume that the president was talking about the Illinois senator's naïve, senseless and dangerous stated position that he would negotiate with the likes of Kim Jong "Mentally" Il and Mohamoud Ahmadinejad? Or is he trying to posture now that it has been widely reported that the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas has endorsed his presidential bid?

The Bitter One seems to forget that Jimmy Carter, who will soon endorse his candidacy, has been openly meeting with Hamas terrorists. Could it be that President George W. Bush was referring to the malaïse president's stupid attempts to pacify terrorists who have sworn to destroy Israel? Snob-ama is not the only one in his party who favors playing nicey-nice with cutthroats.

“President Bush’s comparison of any Democrat to Nazi appeasers is offensive and outrageous, especially in the light of his failures in foreign policy. This is the kind of statement that has no place in any presidential address.”

-- Hillary "In it to Win It" Clinton's self-righteous response to President George W. Bush's statement on her party's truly offensive and outrageous penchant to appease those who would do American and Israel harm.

Speaker of the House Nancy "Stretchy" Pelosi has labeled the President's statement on her party's appeasement nature "beneath the dignity of the office [of President of the United States]." Don't forget that this is the same woman that went to Syria, a known state sponsor of terrorism, for tea with President Bashar al-Assad.

Far from being "a false political attack," as Snob-ama put it, the President's statements are a true reflection of the appeasement mindset of the liberal Democratic Party.

Those who believed Hitler could be appeased learned the hard way that he took advantage of their naivete and cowardice to steamroll and enslave most of Europe and North Africa. While the world stood by, Hitler enacted "The Final Solution" and upwards of 6 million Jews were gassed and incinerated.

Appeasing dictatorships such as North Korea, Iran and Syria as well as terrorist groups such as Hamas will have a more deadly effect, however. They don't want to subjugate or conquer, their stated goal is to "obliterate" (Hillary's word) America and Israel.

And the Democratic Party stands ready to facilitate their goals much like most of the nations of the world did with Hitler prior to World War II.

The Final Nail in Hillary's Coffin?

Ebony and Ivory ticket?

Edwards Endorses Obama in Democratic Race

(Reuters) - Former Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards has endorsed Sen. Barack Obama in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Edwards ended his second bid for the White House in January after failing to win any of the early state nominating contests.

Edwards' endorsement is neither earthshaking nor courageous or he would have stuck his neck out for Obama long ago. Besides, I'm sure Edwards had Elizabeth's permission to do so now that it's safe. Watch Obama starting to echo the same phony populist drivel as Edwards starting today.

Snob-ama has now been endorsed by the two halves of the losing ticket of the 2004 presidential election. Senator John Kerry endorsed Obama's candidacy back in January.

The kiss of death?

What are the odds that the two elitist millionaire liberal politicians who suffered a humiliating defeat at the polls four years ago would endorse the Illinois senator's bid for the presidential nomination of their morally bankrupt party?

I almost feel sorry for Hillary. There is no gracious way to bow out of the race at this point. It's going to be a slow death until she has to do so. Even then, I doubt she will concede defeat in any sincere way. I wouldn't be surprised if she decided to "suspend" her campaign or some such nonsense.

Change!

Hillary Owns the Liberal White Vote

Clinton Beats Obama Handily in W. Virginia

By PATRICK HEALY

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton won a lopsided victory on Tuesday over Senator Barack Obama in the West Virginia primary, where racial considerations emerged as an unusually salient factor. Mrs. Clinton drew strong support from white, working-class voters, who have spurned Mr. Obama in recent contests.

The number of white Democratic voters who said race had influenced their choices on Tuesday was among the highest recorded in voter surveys in the nomination fight. Two in 10 white West Virginia voters said race was an important factor in their votes. More than 8 in 10 who said it factored in their votes backed Mrs. Clinton, according to exit polls.

With Mr. Obama solidly ahead of Mrs. Clinton in the delegate fight, the West Virginia results are unlikely to hurt Mr. Obama’s chances of winning the nomination. A strong Clinton victory in another general election battleground state like her victories in Ohio and Pennsylvania could raise fresh questions about Mr. Obama’s ability to carry swing states in a contest against Senator John McCain.

With 64 percent of the precincts reporting, Mrs. Clinton had 65 percent of the vote and Mr. Obama had 27 percent. John Edwards, who pulled out of the race but whose name remained on the ballot, had 7 percent.

The surveys showing a strong racial component in the West Virginia voting suggest that Mr. Obama would face pockets of Democratic resistance if he becomes the first black nominee of the party. Although he has argued that he could broaden the Democratic base in the fall, given his popularity with independents and strong showing in traditionally Republican states like Colorado and Virginia, the Clinton camp has pointed to his modest support from white voters and blue-collar workers as weak links for him.

Obama supporters accused Mrs. Clinton of playing the race card last week when she said she had more support among “white Americans” than he did. However blunt she was, white and financially struggling voters in West Virginia and in Kentucky, which votes next week and which Mr. Obama has all but conceded, have become a major force keeping her in the race.

Hillary's overwhelming victory in West Virginia would have been meaningless were it not for its disturbing racial aspects. It would seem that "hard-working Americans, white Americans" voted for the NY Senator in overwhelming numbers.

Patrick Healy's report could have been titled "Hillary Owns the Liberal White Vote." I chuckled when he wrote that Obama would face "pockets of Democrat resistance" if he is nominated. Why not simply admit that there is racism in the Democratic Party? But then again, why state the obvious?

Bob Herbert: Clintons "Deficient in Grace and Class"

“I can’t believe Senator Clinton would say anything that dumb.”

-- Congressman Charles Rangel (D-NY), a supporter of Hillary Clinton's Democratic presidential nomination bid until now on the New York senator's statement that "hard-working Americans, white Americans" support her candidacy as opposed to Barack Obama's.

New York Times op-ed columnist Bob Herbert, who is Black, has apparently had it with both Clintons.

"Seeds of Destruction," Herbert's most recent column, is a scathing indictment of "the kind of poisonous rhetoric that Senator Clinton is using now" - a reference to Hillary's recent statement that “hard-working Americans, white Americans” are flocking to her candidacy. Herbert's response is right on the money.

I don’t know if Senator Obama can win the White House. No one knows. But to deliberately convey the idea that most white people — or most working-class white people — are unwilling to give an African-American candidate a fair hearing in a presidential election is a slur against whites.

Herbert then unloads on the Clintons, Hillary in particular, regarding how they squandered the fresh start they got after the Lewinsky scandal.

Instead, a huge scandal erupted when it became known that Mrs. Clinton’s brothers, Tony and Hugh Rodham, had lobbied the president on behalf of criminals who then received presidential pardons or a sentence commutation from Mr. Clinton.

Tony Rodham helped get a pardon for a Tennessee couple that had hired him as a consultant and paid or loaned him hundreds of thousands of dollars. Over the protests of the Justice Department, President Clinton pardoned the couple, Edgar Allen Gregory Jr. and his wife, Vonna Jo, who had been convicted of bank fraud in Alabama.

Hugh Rodham was paid $400,000 to lobby for a pardon of Almon Glenn Braswell, who had been convicted of mail fraud and perjury, and for the release from prison of Carlos Vignali, a drug trafficker who was convicted and imprisoned for conspiring to sell 800 pounds of cocaine. Sure enough, in his last hours in office (when he issued a blizzard of pardons, many of them controversial), President Clinton agreed to the pardon for Braswell and the sentence commutation for Vignali.

Hugh Rodham reportedly returned the money after the scandal became public and was an enormous political liability for the Clintons.

Both Clintons professed to be ignorant of anything improper or untoward regarding the pardons. Once, when asked specifically if she had talked with a deputy White House counsel about pardons, Mrs. Clinton said: “People would hand me envelopes. I would just pass them on. You know, I would not have any reason to look into them.”

It wasn’t just the pardons that sullied the Clintons’ exit from the White House. They took furniture and rugs from the White House collection that had to be returned. And they received $86,000 in gifts during the president’s last year in office, including clothing (a pantsuit, a leather jacket), flatware, carpeting, and so on. In response to the outcry over that, they decided to repay the value of the gifts.

So class is not a Clinton forte.

Herbert ends the column/indictment with the following jewel of enlightened punditry:

The Clintons should be ashamed of themselves. But they long ago proved to the world that they have no shame.

Ya think? We "Clinton haters" told you so back then, Bob. You weren't listening, were you?

I can't help but wonder if Herbert was one of those MSM types who ran cover for the Clintons at the time but feign outrage over Bill and Hillary's known and well-documented wrongdoing now that the former first couple find itself at odds with the Black establishment.

Obama's Belated Denunciation of Rev. Wright: Courage or Hypocrisy?

Photo by highkey

A recent letter to the editor of the Rochester Post-Bulletin elicited an online response that got me thinking about the kind of politician Illinois senator and presumptive liberal Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama really is. The letter, which you can read here, argues that scrutiny over a two-decades long association with Reverend Jeremiah Wright, the Illinois senator's racist, anti-American and anti-Semitic pastor, is a legitimate issue when considering Obama's fitness to become President of the United States of America.

The very first online response was an angrily disingenuous attempt to compare Obama and Wright's association, some would even say "partnership," with Pastor James Hagge's endorsement of Senator John McCain. The comparison is flawed and easily dismissed.

Obama only "had the courage to denounce the words and statements of Wright that he doesn't believe in," as stated by the online responder, long after his pastor had become politically radioactive. Oprah bolted from the same church on her own way back once she realized what a piece of work Wright really is. Now, that's true character.

The Rev. Wright is right about one thing: Obama is a politician. While he benefited politically from his association with his pastor, Obama said and believed Wright could do no wrong. As soon as Wright's racist, anti-American and anti-Semitic views came to light, Obama belatedly and unceremoniously threw the man who supposedly led him to Christianity, officiated at his wedding and baptized his children, under the proverbial bus.

At first, Obama could no more renounce Wright than he could the Black community. Now it's, "Jeremiah Who?"

Barack Obama is a coward, an opportunist and a hypocrite. As such, he is a fitting liberal Democratic presidential nominee.

Sorry, Hillary, this is not the Year of the Crook. Good luck in 2012, honey.

Liberal Democrat Bigots in Their Own Words

“I have a much broader base to build a winning coalition on ... Senator Obama’s support among working, hard-working Americans, white Americans, is weakening again, and how whites in both states who had not completed college were supporting me.”

-- Frau Hillary Klinton in an interview with USA today on Wednesday on her strength among white voters in Indiana and Pennsylvania.

It looks like Hillary would not be a great facilitator for the Diversity Council workshop on "white privilege."

"We cannot win with egg heads and African-Americans. OK, that is the Dukakis Coalition, which carried ten states and gave us four years of the first George Bush."

-- Democratic operative and Clinton sycophant Paul Begala to political consultant Donna Brazile last Tuesday on CNN waxing eloquent about what it takes (or doesn't) for liberals to win the 2008 presidential election.

I'm not sure liberals quite understand the meaning of the words that have been coming out of their mouths. The Democratic contest for the party's nomination has inadvertently exposed the racism and sexism that reside in the liberal heart.

Community Indoctrination

When I think about community education I think about classes or workshops that bring a community together. Apparently I was wrong. Please note the following description of a community ed class to be offered in less than two weeks here in Rochester. It is titled "Be Informed and Become a Voice in Your Community."

If race doesn't exist biologically, why shoul it matter? This final episode focuses on how our institutions and policies have quietly advantaged the white race at the expense of others.

From citizenship laws to federal housing policies, the advantaged position of the white race has been promoted and maintained by a long history of inequality. Until we address the legacy of historical discrimination, the dream of equality remains out of reach. Film followed by discussion.

You'd think that such a workshop would be taught by Barack Obama's long time pastor, the racist, anti-American and anti-Semitic Reverend Jeremiah Wright. You'd be wrong. Instead, the anti-White community education class, though they'd prefer to call it "white privilege workshop" is "[c]osponsored with Diversity Council" and taught by Diversity Council staff.

Now, I'm married to a White woman. Her family embraced me without reservation. I call my in-laws "Mom" and "Dad." My children are of mixed heritage. I'm talking Cape Verdean, Portuguese, Brazilian, Irish, British, German, Swedish and who knows what else. Most of my friends are White. Really.

Notice the conspiracy theory slant. Our institutions and policies have "quietly advantaged (I think they mean "advanced") the white race." It reminds me of an old Eddie Murphy skit on Saturday Night Live. In it, Murphy set out to prove that Whites "quietly" exclude Blacks. Makeup artist turned him into a White male and off he went. He boarded a bus where a couple of Black people were. As soon as they got off, party music started playing and champagne was served.

Next, Murphy, still disguised as a White male, went to a bank. A Black man ahead of him failed to secure a loan to start a business even though he had an excellent education, a good paying job, no debts and enough assets to secure the loan. Frustrated, the Black man leaves the banker's office. In comes Murphy in White makeup. He tells the banker that he wants a loan, has no business plan, no education, no job and no assets. He's given the loan anyway. On the spot. In cash. The Diversity Council staff would most likely watch the Murphy skit and call it a documentary.

It's my understanding that the Diversity Council goes into schools to teach children how privileged and exclusionary White people have always been. I cannot speak for White children who hear this drivel, but I will shield mine from being indoctrinated into the philosophy that half their heritage is somehow evil. Stereotyping is wrong. Period.

Racism sickens me whether it is promoted by Black supremacists like Obama's Reverend Wright or self-loathing White people.

Chaos! II

Obama won North Carolina. Decisively. Even though CBS has called the Indiana contest for Hillary, the other networks are seeing it as too close to call.

This has not been a good night for Hillary to be sure. It's going to be difficult to spin a possible razor-thin victory in Indiana as a justification for the New York senator to stay in the race for the Democratic Party presidential nomination. But then again, Hillary is shameless. Watch as more superdelegates line up behind Obama starting tomorrow. If not sooner.

Even as I type this, Hillary is on TV giving a "victory" speech. What is it going to take for this woman to realize the party establishment doesn't want her and that the MSM have embraced Obama? Is Hillary's megalomania of such magnitude that she is willing to take the Democratic Party down if she is not nominated? Or is it coronated?

Surely Hillary is hanging her nomination chances on Michigan and Florida. As tempting as it may be for liberals to cheat by changing the rules, they can't afford the voter outrage and the PR nightmare that would surely follow if they were to seat the two delegations as they are currently. The truth is, Hillary is running out of options.

Salon.com is downplaying Rush Limbaugh's "Operation Chaos," the über radio talk-show host's effort to cause, well, chaos in the liberal nomination contest. Limbaugh has been urging Republicans to either register as Democrats or cross party lines and vote for Hillary Clinton in the primaries so as to keep the battle between the New York senator and Barack Obama going for as long as possible.

It seems to be working swimingly.

11:58 p.m.Update: Hillary's Indiana Lead Shrinking, Advisers Despondent

Clinton advisers acknowledged that the results of the primaries were far less than they had hoped, and said they were likely to face new pleas even from some of their own supporters for her to quit the race. They said they expected fund-raising to become even harder now; one adviser said the campaign was essentially broke, and several others refused to say whether Mrs. Clinton had loaned the campaign money from her personal account to keep it afloat.

The advisers said they were dispirited over the loss in North Carolina, after her campaign — now working off a shoestring budget as spending outpaces fund-raising — decided to allocate millions of dollars and full days of the candidate and her husband in the state. Even with her investment, Mr. Obama outspent Mrs. Clinton in both states.

Six hours after the polls closed in Indiana, the race remained too close to call. Results from Lake County — home to the city of Gary, just across the state line from Chicago — had not been reported. The delay meant that Mrs. Clinton did not appear on television until well after Mr. Obama, allowing him to put his stamp of victory on the evening.

Developing ...

12:45 a.m.: Hillary wins Indiana by the slimmest of margins. With 100% of precincts reporting, Hillary got 50.9% of the vote to Obama's 49.1%. That's a 1.8% difference, whereas the North Carolina results were more decisive for Obama: 56.2% to 41.5%.

Don't you quit on me now, Hillary. Operation Chaos must go on.

Going Down

Here's a little something from The Hill , with a hat tip to Michael Brodkorb from Minnesota Democrats Exposed, while we wait for the Rochester Post-Bulletin to catch up on Franken's troubles:

A new SurveyUSA poll shows voters are turned off by Democratic Senate candidate Al Franken’s recent tax problems.

The 500-person survey showed 59 percent of people say Franken’s tax issues make them less likely to vote for him. Franken failed to pay for workers’ compensation insurance for his personal corporation and to pay income tax in 17 states since 2003.

Just 31 percent said the problems made no difference.

More than half, 51 percent, said Franken should withdraw from the race, while 38 percent said he should stay in.

Another SurveyUSA poll of 700 adults showed Sen. Norm Coleman (R) reopening his lead over Franken, 52-42. Franken had narrowed the gap in recent months to near-even.

Franken had the support of 67 percent of Democrats, while Coleman received 99 percent of Republicans. Franken maintained a sizable edge among independents, though, 57-33.

Franken campaign manager Andy Barr said the campaign would rather ask whether voters “would be more or less likely to vote for Norm Coleman if they knew that he’d spent six years selling them out to help his special interest donor friends. My guess: less. But we’ll find out.”

Attorney Mike Ciresi, who dropped out of the Democratic race earlier this year, is weighing whether to get back in now that Franken’s campaign has stumbled.

— A.B.