Fausta's blog

While there are lots of interesting posts about Obama and all the rest of the Rezko, and some Republicans are total morons, today I probably won't be posting on American politics.

You can say that, at least for today, I'm "up to here" with all the bs.

Look at it:
The 2-year long Presidential campaign is a thudding bore. No matter the facts, the media is intent on bringing about Obamatopia (Ed came up with Obamatopia). Hillary's not throwing the towel until there's blood on the Convention floor. McCain's embraced global warming. Worst yet, there's an excruciating five and a half more months of this stuff to endure, and then the politicians will start on the 2012 campaign.

Peachy, isn't it? Just thinking about it makes you warm all over, doesn't it?

Then you have four judges in California overturning the law and the statewide initiative approved by the voters in 2000 (both of which had defined marriage as limited to unions between a man and a woman). Reason enough for Baldilocks to leave California - but don't come to New Jersey, Baldilocks, because where California goes, NJ follows. Forget about Seattle, too.

It's enough to make a woman want to go out and buy some nice shoes to take her mind off things. Even today's horoscope for Virgo says so:

Buy something that makes you feel stylish, now that the Moon is in your 2nd House of Self-Worth. Taking extra time to look good allows you to feel good, too. This can seem like a superficial indulgence, but when you see yourself in a more flattering light, you're likely to be more confident on every level.

Since I only own one house, I'm not sure where my 2d House is, but shoes are always good retail therapy. All the same, you can be assured that my Self-Worth is doing very well, thank you.

Luckily there's NeoNeocon's grandma to read about and another of The Anchoress's Q & A sessions (which does include a bit of politics).

Of course there's always food: In this morning's podcast Siggy and I will be talking about food - join us at 11AM Eastern


Speaking of food, now that polar bears are in the endangered species list, GM has the list of Top 10 Uses For Polar Bear Fat, and Flip's got The Lumbering Delicacy: Tasty Polar Bear Recipes.

Yum!



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Labels: Barack Obama, Democrats, Election2008, Hillary Clinton, John McCain, politics, Republicans

This morning McCain gave speech in Ohio regarding what he believes the US would look like in 2013 after his first term. "By 2013 we would have won in Iraq: Malaki government would have won, sporadic attacks in Iraq but Iraqi government has taken over and American troops are out of harm's way and we'll have American troop presence arrangement similar to the one in Korea. Functioning and working Iraqi military."

Mc Cain would be glad to have a debate with Clinton & Obama as to whether we're winning now. The surge has worked and continues to work. We will not announce a date for withdrawal and will not have chaos and genocide.

Jennifer Rubin: Lebanon, and Pres. Bush saying the Democrats are for appeasement
"First of all Pres. Bush wasn't talking about Obama. There are may instances of appeasement in the 20th Century and before.
It's very clear that it's a highest degree of naivete and inexperience to assume that face to face talks with Iranians, a terrorist nation, who are developing nuclear weapons and pose a threat to the region and Israel.
Hezbollah has never had the slightest intention of giving up their weapons. If Sen Obama wants to sit and talk with Iran, what is it he wants to talk about. The belief that this would have to be done in a face to face situation, which enhances Iran's prestige, shows that Obama doesn't have the experience."
McCain wants to debate Obama on that point.

Michael Goldfarb: What do you think the nature of the conversation would be with Iran?
McCain would set three preconditions:
Would have Iranians renounce their intention to wipe Israel off the map.
Abandoning their ambitions to nuclear weapons
Would have to stop exporting explosive devices into Iraq.
Then meaningful negotiations would take place if they also stop their sponsorship of terrorist negotiations. The Iranian ambassador in Bagdad has not signalled any intention of meeting these preconditions to Ambassador Crocker. If you sat down across the table you would enhance their prestige and influence in the region.

Jim Gerarghty: NYTimes article saying that Obama wouldn't but how do you hold MYT accountable when they cover for Obama?
"I don't know - when Obama said he'd negotiate the NAFTA, which make Canada say they'll sell their oil to China, while in NC he said he's a free trader. There's not only inconsistency but contradiction in what Obama says."

Doug Lambert: "Doing what is doable" - has McCain been talking to Newt?
He has talked and read a couple of his books. Would be pleased to have conversations with Newt because he has great ideas and was the architect of Contract With America.

Question on nuclear power:
"Most problems are of our own making because of Carter's reprocessing ban and 3 Mile Island. We haven't found a place to store it. I intend to fix all those things and wants to encourage pure research and development in all areas, including cars who give 100 miles per gallon."

Erin Conteki: why did he decide to announce his troop withdrawal timeline - why 2013?
"Apparently you didn't read or understand - We are withdrawing troops to pre-surge levels. I know we're going to win. With victory comes withdrawal of troops. 2013 is the end of my first term. Will withdraw troops at that point with the advice of Petraeus and conditions on the ground. We are not announcing a date for withdrawal."
Plans to take care of troops when they come home?
Every veteran organization has recognized McCain for his support to the troops and their mission. McCain wants to encourage retention in the armed forces, increasing educational plans, and other.

Last question, work towards bipartisanship if elected - which positions would he appoint Democrats?
"I don't identify specific posts; what we do is find the best and the brightest and if the person is the most capable, then we appoint them so they can inspire others."



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Labels: Election2008, John McCain, politics, Republicans

Doug Ross has an excellent post that you should read: GOP 2.0 - resuscitating the brand, and he illustrates:

Labels: Election2008, politics, Republicans

UPDATE
You can listen to the podcast here
Black & White On the Grey Matters


Richard of Hip Hop Republican, and Alfonzo, the guy in the Black and White on the Grey Matters join us at 11AM today.

Chat's open at 10:45AM and the call-in number is 646 652-2639. Join us!

Labels: Blog Talk Radio, podcasts, politics

The folks at the NYT must have ignored the Obama campaign denials of his Muslim origins: Today's Edward Luttwak's op-ed piece, President Apostate? clearly states,

But it is a mistake to conflate his African identity with his Muslim heritage. Senator Obama is half African by birth and Africans can understandably identify with him. In Islam, however, there is no such thing as a half-Muslim. Like all monotheistic religions, Islam is an exclusive faith.

As the son of the Muslim father, Senator Obama was born a Muslim under Muslim law as it is universally understood. It makes no difference that, as Senator Obama has written, his father said he renounced his religion. Likewise, under Muslim law based on the Koran his mother's Christian background is irrelevant.

Of course, as most Americans understand it, Senator Obama is not a Muslim. He chose to become a Christian, and indeed has written convincingly to explain how he arrived at his choice and how important his Christian faith is to him.

His conversion, however, was a crime in Muslim eyes; it is "irtidad" or "ridda," usually translated from the Arabic as "apostasy," but with connotations of rebellion and treason. Indeed, it is the worst of all crimes that a Muslim can commit, worse than murder (which the victim's family may choose to forgive).

That is serious enough, but it's also not simply an accident of birth: Obama was a practicing Muslim for many years. Daniel Pipes (via LGF) explains Barack Obama's Muslim Childhood:

Obama's Indonesian family: His stepfather, Lolo Soetoro, was also a Muslim. In fact, as Obama's half-sister, Maya Soetoro-Ng explained to Jodi Kantor of the New York Times: "My whole family was Muslim, and most of the people I knew were Muslim." An Indonesian publication, the Banjarmasin Post reports a former classmate, Rony Amir, recalling that "All the relatives of Barry's father were very devout Muslims."

The Catholic school: Nedra Pickler of the Associated Press reports that "documents showed he enrolled as a Muslim" while at a Catholic school during first through third grades. Kim Barker of the Chicago Tribune confirms that Obama was "listed as a Muslim on the registration form for the Catholic school." A blogger who goes by "An American Expat in Southeast Asia" found that "Barack Hussein Obama was registered under the name 'Barry Soetoro' serial number 203 and entered the Franciscan Asisi Primary School on 1 January 1968 and sat in class 1B. ...Barry's religion was listed as Islam."

The public school: Paul Watson of the Los Angeles Times learned from Indonesians familiar with Obama when he lived in Jakarta that he "was registered by his family as a Muslim at both schools he attended." Haroon Siddiqui of the Toronto Star visited the Jakarta public school Obama attended and found that "Three of his teachers have said he was enrolled as a Muslim." Although Siddiqui cautions that "With the school records missing, eaten by bugs, one has to rely on people's shifting memories," he cites only one retired teacher, Tine Hahiyari, retracting her earlier certainty about Obama's being registered as a Muslim.

Koran class: In his autobiography, Dreams of My Father, Obama relates how he got into trouble for making faces during Koranic studies, thereby revealing he was a Muslim, for Indonesian students in his day attended religious classes according to their faith. Indeed, Obama still retains knowledge from that class: Nicholas D. Kristof of the New York Times, reports that Obama "recalled the opening lines of the Arabic call to prayer, reciting them [to Kristof] with a first-rate accent."

Mosque attendance: Obama's half-sister recalled that the family attended the mosque "for big communal events." Watson learned from childhood friends that "Obama sometimes went to Friday prayers at the local mosque." Barker found that "Obama occasionally followed his stepfather to the mosque for Friday prayers." One Indonesia friend, Zulfin Adi, states that Obama "was Muslim. He went to the mosque. I remember him wearing a sarong" (a garment associated with Muslims).

Luttwak explains the security issues:

Because no government is likely to allow the prosecution of a President Obama — not even those of Iran and Saudi Arabia, the only two countries where Islamic religious courts dominate over secular law — another provision of Muslim law is perhaps more relevant: it prohibits punishment for any Muslim who kills any apostate, and effectively prohibits interference with such a killing.

At the very least, that would complicate the security planning of state visits by President Obama to Muslim countries, because the very act of protecting him would be sinful for Islamic security guards. More broadly, most citizens of the Islamic world would be horrified by the fact of Senator Obama's conversion to Christianity once it became widely known - as it would, no doubt, should he win the White House. This would compromise the ability of governments in Muslim nations to cooperate with the United States in the fight against terrorism, as well as American efforts to export democracy and human rights abroad.

A Backfive said,

There are security issues as well as the idea for many that America is run by a Muslim apostate. It doesn't matter if they are wrong, perception is reality.

Would Muslim regimes even sit with a President they consider an apostate?

More links and commentary at Memeorandum, Gateway Pundit and Instapundit.

UPDATE
Ali Eteraz says that Obama is right to say he had no religion until he became a Christian.

Special thanks to SamK who emailed me the NYT article.


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Labels: Barack Obama, Democrats, Election2008, Islam, politics

Obama: "McCain has lost his bearings."


McCain: Bearings just fine, thanks:


Lieberman: "I just want to report that this morning I personally checked John McCain’s bearings. He has not lost any of them. They are all in really great shape."


Obama's been visiting 57 states:

Guam, Puerto Rico, the District of Columbia, Chicago's south side (which apparently has closed steel mills if you believe his wife), New York City, and the people's republic of Seattle.

Along with the state of confusion.

He probably stayed up late because of some 3 AM call.

His staff hasn't allowed him to visit Alaska and Hawaii, but I'm throwing those two just in the interest of fairness. After all, last week he didn't know what month it was.

Flashback to Heinz 57's shifting bar.

Special thanks to Larwyn.

UPDATE
Via anonymous in the comments section, Obama’s 57 States & other lessons
--------------------------------------------------------------------
I'm heading to the big city to see Macbeth, so blogging will be light. Here is the NYT's slide show of the production along with Patrick Stewart's comments.

While I'm out, bee-have!



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Labels: Barack Obama, Democrats, Election2008, John McCain, Patrick Stewart, politics, Republicans

New DNC Ad Includes Fahrenheit 9/11 Footage: Media Lizzy has the details; she includes two clips,
New DNC ad

Farenheit 9/11 trailer


As Lizzy said,

If there was any lingering doubt over which branch of the Democratic Party will drive message in the General Election campaign - it has been removed.

Looking forward to seeing Michael Moore sitting next to Jimmy Carter at the presidential booth in Colorado...



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Labels: Democrats, Election2008, politics

You knew this was coming, did you?


Ed Morrisey transcribed it for your reading pleasure:

"We're going to need to see who is going to be the strongest candidate against Senator McCain. And I believe that is Senator Obama with his emphasis on change and bringing people together, a fresh voice internationally, somebody that is able, in my judgment..to bring... at least I just got back from Latin America, from Venezuela, where he has enormous support, where people really want to see a change in American foreign policy and they see Obama as that agent of change."

As Ed points out, the only Venezuelans Richardson met were Chavez and his cohorts:

In other words, Richardson just delivered the Hugo Chavez endorsement.

In other Obama news, here are the six YouTube videos of Wright's toxic statements at the National Press Club. Glenn Reynolds has a word of advice and a photo for Rev. Wright.

As for the Rev. Wright, Richardson and Andrew Sullivan are on the same page (maybe they were reading from the same page?) when they say that Wright isn't running for office. Sullivan:

Obama needs not just to distance himself from Wright's views; he needs to disown him at this point. Wright himself, it seems to me, has become part of what Obama is fighting against: the boomer, Vietnam era's obsession with its red-blue, white-black, pro and anti-America fixations. That is not what this election needs to be about; and Wright's massive, racially divisive and, yes, bitter provocation requires a proportionate response.

Obama's not about to do that.

Sullivan doesn't believe that Obama shares in Wright's beliefs.

I have to disagree. Obama's been hearing Wright preach this for decades, and he has a long list of hateful friends.

Of course, one can't also discount this possibility: Is the Stage Being Set For the All-Time Sister Souljah Moment?

After all, Obama already threw grandma under the bus.

UPDATE
Robert Stacy McCain compares Obama's Wright problem to George McGovern's Eagleton dilemma.



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Labels: Barack Obama, Democrats, Election2008, politics

Coalition of the Swilling has the story:

Rather than do something silly like, say, cut waste in Trenton or perhaps not add thousands of people to the state payroll our glorious bloated bureaucracy has instead chosen to charge people for what they already pay for.

Asbury Park Press has the details: As times change, so may NJ's free rural state police patrols

TRENTON — New Jersey State Police have patrolled the state's rural areas for 87 years at no extra cost to smaller towns that never created police departments.

In fact, the law that created the state police agency stated it would "primarily'' be used to protect rural areas.

But times have changed, and free rural New Jersey state police patrols may soon end.

As the state grapples with chronic state budget woes, Gov. Corzine has proposed requiring municipalities that get free state police patrols to pay a quarter of the estimated patrol cost to raise $20.5 million for the cash-strapped state.

"These are difficult times, and the decisions and choices we must make are difficult,'' state Attorney General Anne Milgram said.

Of course, reducing the bloated state bureaucracy would never cross their minds, would it?

Labels: Democrats, Jon Corzine, New Jersey, NJ, politics

Ed Morrissey has it right: the Dems have no sense of humor left in them.

One of their guys (DNC director of research Mike Gehrke) has been reprimanded for twittering this:

"Mike is twittering: You know what you call someone who digs up dirt on John McCain? An archeologist."

I kid you not.

Someone in the DNC repeats a Leno joke and gets reprimanded. Unbelievable.

TigerHawk gets to the root of the problem:

The problem, of course, is the hideous identity war going on within the Democrats. With each of the Obama and Clinton campaigns applying the unnatural standards of corporate diversity training to the other while spinning furiously to induce people to vote on the basis of the color of their skin or the contours of the genitalia, any joke that can be contorted into grounds for outrage has been. The Democrats have become even more anti-humor than they are anti-war, which tells you what we are in for if they capture the White House. If you think our "national conversation" is stilted and hyper-sensitive now, just wait until the donks control every branch.

Let's add to that the groaning and gnashing of teeth we're going to get once their economic policies and global warming hairshirts get handed out.

UPDATE
Check out Porretto's excellent screed, Cause people.



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Labels: Barack Obama, Election2008, Hillary Clinton, John McCain, politics

I joined Sen. McCain's bloggers' call this morning, which he did while waiting to board an airplane.

He first started by talking about his recent speeches, and restating his proposed tax cuts while contrasting them to Obama's proposed increases in capital gains tax rate and the cap on wages subject to social security taxes: "Anybody who wants to raise taxes during hard times is lacking in understanding of economics."

He also praised Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal, who he visited yesterday. I didn't have a chance to ask questions (as it turns out both Michael Goldfarb and Jim Geraghty asked the question I had) so I'm linking to the posts of the bloggers who did. most of the comments had to do with the North Carolina ad, and Bill Ayers.

Hugh Hewitt asked what obligation does Obama have

to address the details of his association with Ayers/Dohrn, and what obligations the media had to push for that explanation.

McCain responded by again blasting Obama's comparison of Ayers and Coburn, and said an apology from Obama was necessary as Coburn actually works to save lives and Ayers had worked to take them. He repeatedly referred to Ayers as an unrepentant terrorist, and expressed surprise that there hasn't been more discussion about the comparison, or about what an unrepentant terrorist which is what Ayers is. McCain said that Obama had to repudiate Ayers and apologize for ever having had anything to do with an unrepentant terroist. McCain noted that Ayers brags about his organization and is unrepentant about his past, so that Obama can try and persuade the American people or perhaps he can make a case that Mr. Ayers made some contribution, but it was a terrorist organization, and that the media ought to be discussing it.

Michael Goldfarbasked McCain about the North Carolina ad. Jim Geraghty posted the conversation:

"It's just not the tenor of the kind of campaign I want to run. I understand the discussion of Rev. Wright, and he has brought this up by doing media appearances, but there are differences that are mad... There are many differences between our parties and differences between myself and Senator Obama, and I want this race to be about those differences.

McCain mentions Cunningham, and how that too wasn't in keeping with the kind of campaign he wants to run.

Q: Competing hard in California? Strategy for that?

"I intend to compete in California. I'm a western senator. I understand the issues in a state like that - land, water, the environment. I'm going to travel the state extensively. It cannot be written off again. Gov. Schwarzenegger has proven that as a Republican, even if you have different views, you can win that state."

Q: Your thoughts on Maliki's operations in Basra.

McCain notes that Maliki went down there himself. "They had setbacks and had desertions, and we had to provide support. But in last several days, with limited American support, the Iraqi army has taken over whole city of Basra. [Maliki's] actions seem to have united the government more... The entire Iraqi government said that any group that bears arms against government - and that's basically Sadr and his army — will not be allowed to partake in next elections... I'm rather pleased. This incident exposed some weaknesses, but they sent a new general and established government control."

Geraghty's own question, also on the North Carolina ad,

I asked a follow-up on the North Carolina ad, asking the senator whether his position was that voters could take Obama's relationship with Jeremiah Wright into account in their voting decision, but that he didn’t feel it was an appropriate issue to run ads on.

McCain: Voters can take into account any issue they feel Is relevant to themselves; I certainly have no control over that. But I have my agenda, and I think this ad is offensive to some and I would like it taken down. I want the best kind of campaign and most positive kind of campaign.

McCain reiterated that he can’t control the N.C. GOP, but he can ask them to take it down.

Jennifer Rubin

I asked about Hamas’s endorsement of Barack Obama. McCain bluntly responded, "It's clear who Hamas wants to be the next President of the United States." He continued “" will be Hamas' worst nightmare" and said that he "ever expects" to hear a Hamas official say they want him as President. On the subject of Bill Ayers, McCain displayed none of the hesitancy he has shown about discussing Reverend Wright. He said he was "a bit surprised" the media had not made more of Obama's association with "an unrepentant terrorist" and Obama's equation of his relationship with Ayers to his friendship with Senator Tom Coburn. McCain said he was "offended" by the latter and that a "repudiation and apology" are due from Obama to the American people.

Ed Morrissey posts,

Obama withdrew from a debate in North Carolina. Would he be willing to have a "conversation" with Hillary instead? McCain says it's inappropriate until the Dems have a nominee.

Sen. McCain is going to visit with Huckabee in Arkansas, then travels to Florida, and will get on the bus with the media.

Sean Hackbarth and Ace also posted on the call.



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Labels: Election2008, John McCain, politics, Republicans

Dr. Krauhammer asks in his article, Obama's 'Distractions'?

How does one explain campaigning throughout 2007 on a platform of transcending racial divisions, while in that same year contributing $26,000 to a church whose pastor incites race hatred?

Dr Krauthammer gets to the heart of the matter (emphasis added):

What is Obama to do? Dismiss all such questions about his associations and attitudes as "distractions." And then count on his acolytes in the media to wage jihad against those who have the temerity to raise these questions. As if the character and beliefs of a man who would be president are less important than the "issues." As if some political indecency was committed when Obama was prevented from going through his latest -- 21st and likely last -- primary debate without being asked about Wright or Ayers or the tribal habits of gun-toting, God-loving Pennsylvanians.

Many of us who voted for Bill Clinton the first time learned the hard way that the character of a man who would be president is a crucial matter.

I would even venture to say that is possibly the main reason why so many Democrats are in Obama's camp, instead of Hillary's: they learned from the Clintons that the Clintons are not to be trusted.

Character and personal beliefs permeate every action and decision a person makes. They are not "distractions". To the contrary, they are signposts directing you to what road they will take.

--------------------------------------------------------------------
Don't miss today's podcast at 11AM Eastern. The morning's going to be busy, but there will be more posting later.



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Labels: Barack Obama, Democrats, elections, politics

The Obama affiliation with Weather Underground unrepentant ex-terrorists Bernardine Dohrn and Bill Ayers was the big story yesterday at a lot of blogs. I intentionally waited to post on it today because we should be paying attention for more than one news cycle.

Powerline Blog: The friends of Barack Obama, part I

It turns out that we don't have to go back as far as 2001 to find that Obama's friends are as unrepentant as ever. Just last year, Ayers and Dohrn attended a reunion--no kidding--of what must have been the tiny remnant of SDS members who still haven't figured out that they were wrong about everything. Listen to what Bill Ayers, who hosted Barack Obama's first fundraiser, has to say about the United States.

Go to Powerline to listen. Part II has more. Keep in mind that those clips are from a reunion in November 2007.

Marathon Pundit has much more in Ayers and Dohrn, starting here: Broadway Baby and Weather Underground. Follow the links.

Dohrn is now a law professor at Northwestern University. Her husband Ayers is an education professor at the University of Illinois.

Siggy points to this article: Obama's Real Bill Ayers Problem
The ex-Weatherman is now a radical educator with influence (emphasis added)

Barack Obama complains that he's been unfairly attacked for a casual political and social relationship with his neighbor, former Weatherman Bill Ayers. Obama has a point. In the ultraliberal Hyde Park community where the presidential candidate first earned his political spurs, Ayers is widely regarded as a member in good standing of the city’s civic establishment, not an unrepentant domestic terrorist. But Obama and his critics are arguing about the wrong moral question. The more pressing issue is not the damage done by the Weather Underground 40 years ago, but the far greater harm inflicted on the nation's schoolchildren by the political and educational movement in which Ayers plays a leading role today.
...
Chicago's liberals have chosen to define deviancy down in Ayers's case, and Obama can't be blamed for that.

What he can be blamed for is not acknowledging that his neighbor has a political agenda that, if successful, would make it impossible to lift academic achievement for disadvantaged children. As I have shown elsewhere in City Journal, Ayers's politics have hardly changed since his Weatherman days. He still boasts about working full-time to bring down American capitalism and imperialism. This time, however, he does it from his tenured perch as Distinguished Professor of Education at the University of Illinois, Chicago. Instead of planting bombs in public buildings, Ayers now works to indoctrinate America's future teachers in the revolutionary cause, urging them to pass on the lessons to their public school students.

Indeed, the education department at the University of Illinois is a hotbed for the radical education professoriate. As Ayers puts it in one of his course descriptions, prospective K–12 teachers need to "be aware of the social and moral universe we inhabit and . . . be a teacher capable of hope and struggle, outrage and action, a teacher teaching for social justice and liberation." Ayers's texts on the imperative of social-justice teaching are among the most popular works in the syllabi of the nation’s ed schools and teacher-training institutes. One of Ayers's major themes is that the American public school system is nothing but a reflection of capitalist hegemony. Thus, the mission of all progressive teachers is to take back the classrooms and turn them into laboratories of revolutionary change.
...
Ayers's influence on what is taught in the nation's public schools is likely to grow in the future. Last month, he was elected vice president for curriculum of the 25,000-member American Educational Research Association (AERA), the nation's largest organization of education-school professors and researchers. Ayers won the election handily, and there is no doubt that his fellow education professors knew whom they were voting for. In the short biographical statement distributed to prospective voters beforehand, Ayers listed among his scholarly books Fugitive Days, an unapologetic memoir about his ten years in the Weather Underground. The book includes dramatic accounts of how he bombed the Pentagon and other public buildings.

AERA already does a great deal to advance the social-justice teaching agenda in the nation’s schools and has established a Social Justice Division with its own executive director. With Bill Ayers now part of the organization's national leadership, you can be sure that it will encourage even more funding and support for research on how teachers can promote left-wing ideology in the nation's classrooms—and correspondingly less support for research on such mundane subjects as the best methods for teaching underprivileged children to read.

This is a particularly harmful waste of school hours for underprivileged children who need a strong and rigorous school curriculum since school is most likely the only place where they would learn literacy skills, without which they can not progress: Betsy asks,

Think of the problems that we have today in teaching literacy and basic math skills. Would any of those problems be ameliorated by teaching "social justice and liberation?"

Also via Siggy, At NPR

The issue, though, isn't what Ayers thought then; it's what he thinks now.

Read Ayers' memoir, Fugitive Days, which was published — in actual horrific irony — on Sept. 10, 2001. Though I have to admit it's pretty well written, it's filled with more paternalism ("A squad of cops in Cleveland had dragged Black men from a motel and shot them down in cold blood, and now we would, I thought, even the score.") and romanticism of what were ultimately terrorist acts. Ayers was also quoted in 2001 saying that he has no regrets for his past actions, but rather he feels that "we didn't do enough." Take a gander at his Web site and see if you find contrition or self-aggrandizement.

What someone did 40 years ago — within reason — should not damn that person forever. But that's assuming offending individuals pay their debt to society and repent. Ayers has done neither.

I genuinely hope Obama's got as much distance as humanly possible between himself and Ayers, and that Ayers is just, as Obama said in the debate, "a guy who lives in my neighborhood."

Some neighborhood: There are Auchi, Rezko, and terrorist fundraisers, too.

Obama, Auchi, Rezko Timeline? A Conspiracy? Don't forget to check Rezkorama for developments on that case.

Terrorist fundraisers for Obama. Roundup and more at Stop the ACLU, visuals by Doug Ross.

Gateway Pundit links to videos:


The distractions? Or the reality?


Rick Moran asks, Is Obama in trouble?. Well, from looking at all the above, he ought to be.

Special thanks to Larwyn for the links.


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Labels: Barack Obama, Democrats, education, Election2008, politics, terrorism

Via Hip Hop Republican, a great guy [language alert]
Black & White on the Grey Matters 2 (War)


Listen to the whole thing. (If the video's not working here, go to Hip Hop Republican)

Labels: Iraq, politics, Republicans

...but I'm older than
1. Remote-control operated ceiling fans
2. The internet
3. [Heinz] Ketchup in plastic bottles
4. MTV
5. The iPhone
6. Adrien Brody


But enough about me (at least for now). Here's what got me started:

Baseball Crank points out that this beaut was produced by Left-wing, Soros-funded* interest group "America Coming Together", who are too young to notice their patron's 78. Money is ageless.

Hey, it's Chuck Norris time! (Yes. Chuck was all for the Huckster. But the jokes go on.)

John McCain is so old that when he was born, Obama's neighbor and donor William Ayers hadn't tried to kill anyone with a bomb yet.

When John McCain was born, Hamas hadn't yet been founded, nor praised Barack Obama.

John McCain was born in those long ago days when if you went into church, you could count on the pastor saying "God bless America!"

Lone Star Times started it:

John McCain is older than politicized CIA agents distorting a National Intelligence Estimate on Iran's nuclear program because they don't like the President's (i.e., their boss') policies.

While the twenty-somethings don't have much to think about in terms of the issues, McCain is reminding the grown-ups that it's up to the grown-ups, not the government:

My friends, Americans change things. We always have. We don't hide from problems or mistakes or history. We change things and we make history. Hope in America is not based in delusion, but in the faith that everything is possible in America. The time for pandering and false promises is over. It is time for action. It is time for change; the right kind of change; change that trusts in the strength of free people and free markets; change that doesn't return to policies that empower government to make our choices for us, but that works to ensure we have choices to make for ourselves. For we have always trusted Americans to build from the choices they make for themselves, a safer, stronger and more prosperous country than the one they inherited.

Of course, that kind of talk won't appeal to the infantile.



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Labels: Election2008, John McCain, politics, Republicans

In today's podcast at 11AM Eastern, we'll talk to Congressman Jeb Hensarling, Rep. TX, about his proposed Bloggers' Bill of Rights, the Blogger Protection Act of 2008, which would give bloggers permanent protection from FEC campaign laws when linking to campaign Web sites or editorializing about candidates. As Bill Hobbs explains,

The FEC granted bloggers protection two years ago from regulations that potentially could have defined bloggers' linking to a campaign Web site or editorializing about a candidate a campaign contribution or expenditure. Hensarling's legislation would make those regulatory protections statutory.

Here's what his office has to say on the Bill:

Two years ago, the Federal Election Commission (FEC) issued regulations that protected bloggers from being hampered by certain campaign finance laws. Under these regulations, bloggers cannot be considered to have made a contribution or expenditure on behalf of (or in opposition to) a candidate simply because they link to campaign websites or write about the positions of federal candidates. Additionally, blogs are treated as any other publication under the general media exemption from most campaign finance restrictions. Without such protections, bloggers could be subject to various limitations and reporting requirements under campaign finance law.

But these blogger protections are just regulatory—they are not in statute. As you may know, regulations can be changed without congressional action, and there’s no telling what a future FEC might decide to do. Furthermore, the FEC is currently defunct because of vacancies and a lack of quorum. Therefore, we shouldn’t put the freedom of bloggers in the regulatory hands of the FEC. Congress should protect them in law.

If Congressman Hensarling has time, we'll also touch on the spending limit amendment.

Chat's open at 10:45 and the call in number is (646) 652-2639. Join us!




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Labels: bloggers, Congress, politics

I was riding the train to New York this morning and came across this front-page article in the NYT: Former Mayor Guilty of Fraud in Newark Sales

Fifteen hundred words, front page news. Not one mention of Sharpe James's party affiliation.

Only in the timeline does the NYT bother to mention "While serving his fourth term as mayor, Mr. James is chosen by Democratic leaders to complete the unexpired senate term of Winona Lipman, who had died."

The Times is not alone in its omission: The Star Ledger's 1400 word article couldn't, either.

UPDATE, Sunday 20 April
GUILTY: Tamika Riley is Former Newark Major Sharpe James Mistress



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Labels: corruption, Democrats, NJ, politics

According to Chris Stephen of the Scotsman (via the Baron), It's Obama, stupid: Carter and Gore to end Clinton bid. Apparently

Former president Carter and former vice-president Gore have already held high-level discussions about delivering the message that she must stand down for the good of the Democrats.

My initial reaction was that I highly doubt that Carter, whose administration was a case study for wussiness and buckling under pressure, and Gore, who could have forced Bill to do the honorable thing and step down when impeached but didn't, have the gonadal fortitude to finally stand up to the Clinton machine after all these years.

Stephen mentions,

Both Carter and Gore occupy the rarefied position of elder statesmen – in addition to their White House past, both are winners of the Nobel Peace Prize, giving them additional gravitas to carry the party with them.

Gravitas, schramitas. Nowadays the Noble Peace Price is the Norwegian Badge of Uselessness, which fits those two to a "t".

BUT, if they have the entire Democrat party behind them, yes, they might:

But the party's top brass have concluded her further participation in the race can only harm the party as Republican nominee John McCain strives to take advantage of her increasingly bitter battle with Obama.

After all, Nancy - who never ceases to amaze and entertain - is on their side:

The campaign to force Clinton to make an early exit is being masterminded in Congress, home to the most influential of the superdelegates. Senate Leader Harry Reid and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi have called on superdelegates to hold an unofficial congress in early June to anoint a winner, rather than waiting for the convention in Denver.

Pelosi has drawn withering fire from the Clinton camp for saying that these superdelegates must follow the national vote, with Clinton insisting that they should "vote with their conscience".

As if Nancy knew what "voting with a conscience" meant.

Unfortunately for the lot of them, Obama's managed to step neck-deep in doo-doo by insulting the Pennsylvania wahoos who from now on will have to clamor for his help

in order for BHO to retain that lead he's worked so hard to lose.

While Al and Jimmy ponder the alternative use of their energies, folks at the New Republic are saying that a Clinton Campaign Further Strengthens the Democratic Party.

Months ago I said during one of Ed Morrissey's after-debate podcasts that Hillary wasn't going to give up until after there was blood on the Convention floor. So far she hasn't disappointed.
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This week's WSJ's Five Best Books, on Popes' lives, selected by Rev. Jay Scott Newman:



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Today's shoes: Clark's Artisan Anissa
When I was fourteen and grew up to be 5'9" I wanted to continue growing until I was 6'. I stopped before that point, but these make it possible. At the same time it's a very comfortable shoe even when you spend all day walking. I got them last summer but they're still available.

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Pat has the Carnival of the Insanities, so please check it out.



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Labels: Barack Obama, Barak Obama, Democrats, Election2008, politics

By definition, if we weren't, we would see the light instead of actually hearing what he says.

More from fellow wahoos Don Surber and Powerline.
h/t Larwyn.

UPDATE
Beth BSC smacks down cryptomarxism: Barack Obama to Middle America: You Are a Bunch of Hillbillies

Beth MVRWC has the SNOBama poster

Yeah, it's like a perfect storm of phoniness from superior beings.

More
The Washington Post put the biggest political story in weeks on page 4.



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Labels: Barack Obama, Barak Obama, Election2008, politics

Via Sam, That awful economy

Labels: economics, economy, politics

James asks, Why Beautiful Women Marry Less Attractive Men?
UPDATE
Why women live longer than men: a photo essay

Obi's Sister has unkind things to say about Nancy, too

I find that your rejection does not meet my needs at
this time.

A fool and his money... A nude photograph of France's first lady, Carla Bruni, has been auctioned for $91,000. Related: The Sarkozy effect.

Age rage!

Former Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi: Only "Retards" Would Vote For Italy's Left

Why people donate to bloggers.

All in good time, my dear

Real 911 calls

"Teenage" America says "yeah, whatever."

Bonus
The very rich don't dress well, via The Baron. Don't they have a Neiman Marcus or a Bergdorf's in SF?
Via Alcibiades, Barack Obama, jedi master



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Welcome to the Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean.

If you would like your posts to be included in the Carnivals, please email me faustaw2 "at" gmail "dot" com.

This week's big story:
Last Saturday Colombia fired top Clinton aide Mark Penn's firm over apology (emphasis added):

The Colombian government said Saturday it has fired Mark Penn's public relations firm after the chief campaign strategist for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton apologized for meeting with Colombian officials pushing a trade deal with the U.S.

Then Penn resigned/ was pushed out of the Clinton campaign:

"Sources said that the Clintons were angry to learn about Penn's work, especially because they had been told that Penn had recused himself from controversial clients and would restrict his private work."

Ironically, "Penn also was regarded by many in the campaign as too self-serving."

Spanish-language blog of the week:
El opinador compulsivo, via Judith


THE WEEK IN LATIN AMERICA
CULTURE
Julio Cortázar: the Poetics of Exile

ARGENTINA
Via Gates of Vienna, Iran: Ahmadinejad thanks football legend for his support

La Evita Segunda

How Argentina screws the farmers

The Kirchners self-induced farm crisis

Argentina: Create a distraction and claim the Falklands… again

BOLIVIA
Evo Morales no descarta aplicar el Estado de Sitio contra las autonomías departamentales (bilingual post)

BRAZIL
Colombian drug lord sentenced in Brazil

In Portuguese, Chegam ao Rio mais médicos para ajudar no atendimento a doentes com dengue

Rice's relocation of envoys praised, panned

COLOMBIA
Colombian President Uribe Blasts Barack Obama

Obama Vows Opposition to Colombia Trade Deal

Colombia to Penn: You're Fired Colombia Terminates PR Contract

Colombia's Budget Gap Ended 2007 Close to Target, Zuluaga Says

FARC gets FARCed

COSTA RICA
Los nexos entre políticos de Costa Rica y las FARC complican al gobierno de Oscar Arias

CUBA
Cuba takes a step from the shadows

Cuba tries micro-capitalism

Prisoner of Conscience vs. Political Prisoner

ECUADOR
Ecuador's Bond Yields Fall Below Venezuelan Yields

MEXICO
An Absolut-ly Outrageous Ad in Mexico City

PUERTO RICO
PR Politico's webpage on Gov. Acevedo's indictment

VENEZUELA
Beti's Baby

Hugo Chavez Nationalizes Cement Industry, Eats Sandwich Bigger Than His Own Head

Venezuela 'to tax oil windfall' Hugo taxes his own oil profits

I'm sure there is nothing to it...

Venezuela cements its economic doom

Portrait of Hugo while visiting Brazil.

Milking Venezuela, literally! Chavez buys Los Andes

Chavez's new decision making tool: Managemeny by hearsay

Special thanks to Maria, Larwyn, Maggie, and Siggy for their support.



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Labels: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Carnival of Latin America, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Democrats, Ecuador, Election2008, Hillary Clinton, Latin America, Mexico, politics, Puerto Rico, Venezuela

Teresa Heinz has been speaking in public, and therefore has come up with a a doozy or two on Obama, but the one that caught my attention is (drumroll, please),

"The irony is that's what's going on for regular folks in this country," she said. "The truth of the American experience today for many regular folks is that folks are trying to reach a bar that just keeps moving."

Mrs Kerry could not be reached to clarify whether she meant this bar, or the cash bar, but only in America is a millionaire Ivy League graduate Senator referred to as "underdog".

In other Obama news, Geoffrey P. Hunt looks at Obama, the Pardoner, and his Tale.

UPDATE
Whoa!

(h/t Larwyn)


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Labels: Barack Obama, Election2008, John Kerry, politics