David Corn

The bitter "bitter" debate is ridiculous.

No doubt.

I think it will hurt HRC more than BHO. This might just lock PA for him.

The pundits, reporters, staff and candidates can say anything about anything - they are the true elites - none of us common folks miss that.

How much more elite can an ex-first-lady multi-millionaire politician be? Elite sounds bad but it is just an expression.

The Reich-wing nuts want to use such words (liberal, elite, etc.) as pejoratives. It doesn't make it so and leaves one to ponder why any democratic candidate would be in lock-step with the GOP candidate in doing so?

Thanks

David:

Sorry, you're wrong.

You elitist Kool-aid drinking Obamabots in the media are completely out of touch!

Elite is a good thing.

I want the most elite person to hold the most elite position in our government.,

We have tried the opposite.

Jeez, the Reich-wingnuttia are as dumb as a box of rocks. Using elite as something bad is as dumb as saying something like "being educated is stupid."

So kool-aid or no, Obamabot or whatever petty name calling makes someone feel superior, they aren't. They are not right, they aren't even wrong. Koolaid and name calling does not an issue make.

Worse, when one devolves into Ad Hominem and personal attacks they have surrendered the point (if ever there was one)

"This isn't right. This isn't even wrong."
~ Wolfgang Pauli (1900 - 1958), on a paper submitted by a physicist colleague

The criticism of Obama's remarks about Pennsylvanians are indistinguishable from Republican criticism of Democratic candidates - that the democratic candidate is an elitist snob and by implication the Republican candidate is the guy you'd rather have a beer with. How's that been working out for us?

When Hillary has nothing, mude will substitute.

As hillary slides down she is determined to drag the entire party with her.

If it was OK for Bill to say it in 1991, it should be repeated in 2008.

~~~~SHOCK POLL~~~

Clinton takes 20 pt lead in PA~

April 14, 2008 - Pennsylvania Democratic Primary Preference

Pennsylvania
Democrats Mar
7-8 Mar
26-27 Apr
5-6 Apr
11-13

Clinton 52% 51% 45% 57%
Obama 41% 39% 45% 37%
Someone else 1% 2% 4% 2%
Undecided 6% 8% 6% 4%

Hillary Clinton leads Barack Obama 48% to 44% among men (45% of likely Democratic primary voters). Among women, Clinton leads 64% to 31%.

Clinton leads 64% to 29% among white voters (82% of likely Democratic primary voters). Obama leads 79% to 18% among African American voters (14% of likely Democratic primary voters).

Clinton leads 52% to 43% among voters age 18 to 49 (50% of likely Democratic primary voters) and Clinton leads 62% to 31% among voters age 50 and older.

10% of all likely Democratic primary voters say they would never vote for Hillary Clinton in the primary and 24% of likely Democratic primary voters say they would never vote for Barack Obama in the primary.

23% of likely Democratic primary voters say that excessive exposure to Obama's advertising is causing them to support Clinton.

For details, click on the R or D for each state in the column on the left under 2008 Presidential Polls.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Looks like Obama is the one who is going to end up bitter, cuz he just gave the election to Hillary!

Terrorist’ link puts Barack Obama under fire

Another dubious contact is dogging the Democrat hopeful

Sarah Baxter from the Sunday Times

A PAST association with a former terrorist has returned to haunt Barack Obama as the battle for the Democratic presidential nomination nears its end game.

Republicans are turning on Obama for his connection with William Ayers, once a member of the Weather Underground, a terrorist group that bombed the Capitol, the Pentagon and the State Department in the 1970s.

Ayers was loosely involved in Obama’s election as an Illinois state senator in the late 1990s, when he was introduced to local activists at a meeting in his house. He also donated $200 to Obama’s reelection campaign in 2001.

Obama served with Ayers on the board of the Woods Fund, a philanthropic foundation, for three years and shared a platform with him at two academic conferences.

Republicans believe they have found new evidence that Obama lacks judgment and patriotism just as the controversy over the Rev Jeremiah Wright, his pastor, who said, “God damn America”, is dying down.

The Weathermen, a small band of extreme leftists who got their name from lines in a Bob Dylan song - “You don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows” - conducted a bombing campaign against targets such as police headquarters, prisons and courthouses for three years to “bring the [Viet-nam] war home”.

Two police officers were killed in 1981, when members of the Weathermen and Black Liberation Army stole $1m from an armoured car. It was their last action.

Ayers, 63, turned himself in to police that year, when charges against him were dropped because of mishandled FBI surveillance. He is now a professor of education at the University of Illinois in Chicago and is admired in progressive political and educational circles.

He wisely remained silent as stories about his connection with the 46-year-old presidential candidate began to circulate - until he was goaded into the open last week by repeated taunts from Sean Hannity, the conservative Fox News television host, who described him as an “unrepentant terrorist”.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Wow, just like Jimmy Carter, this guy loves terrorists!

Too many Obama ads?

Some voters were complaining in Texas that Sen. Barack Obama was saturating the airwaves with commercials. Even supporters grumbled they couldn't click through the channels each night without seeing a flood of his ads.

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton has repeatedly said her rival is outspending her, and she's using his ad spending in Pennsylvania to raise money on her Web site.

She may have public opinion on her side, as a new American Research Group poll gives Clinton a whopping 20-point lead over Obama in Pennsylvania in part because of his many ads.

Notable in the poll summary is this tidbit:

23% of likely primary voters say that excessive exposure to Obama's advertising is causing them to support Clinton. This compares to 19% of likely primary voters in Ohio who said that excessive exposure to Obama's advertising in that state caused them to support Clinton. Too much advertising can harm a campaign.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Like in sports, it seems Obama peaked too early and now is a burn out~

Snob-ama slight a big-time error

Who's Elitist and Out of Touch?

Hillary Clinton recently called Barack Obama an elitist and said that he was "out of touch" with every day people. Let's look at Clinton's résumé.

Wellesley College and Yale Law School
Partner in the Rose Law Firm

Six years on the Board of Directors of Walmart

Twelve years as First Lady of Arkansas

Eight years as First Lady of the United States

Seven years as United States Senator
$109,000,000.00 income for President and Senator Clinton since they left the White House
Now that's pretty elite.

Think about Hillary Clinton's last 27 years in terms of doing every day things and being in touch with every day people.

She has had housekeepers, aides, and other staff to do the "common things" that most wives and working mothers do every day

It's doubtful that Hillary Clinton did her own grocery shopping during these years (except possibly as a campaign promotion)

Cooked dinner or baked cookies? Not likely in the last 27 years although Hillary Clinton did attend a lot of fancy state dinners

Ironed a shirt or a blouse? Doubtful that Hillary Clinton has even seen an iron in the last 27 years, or a washer and dryer for that fact

Soccer Mom with all that being a soccer mom includes? Hillary Clinton doesn't have a clue as to what that means

People are oftened shocked to hear about Obama's proposed Global Welfare Program.

REUTERS ^ | Feb. 13, 2008 | Sarah Schaerr Norton

WASHINGTON, Feb. 13 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Accuracy in Media editor Cliff Kincaid disclosed today that a hugely expensive bill called the "Global Poverty Act," sponsored by Democratic Senator Barack Obama, was quickly passed by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday and could result in the imposition of a global tax on the United States. Kincaid said that the major media's cover-up of the bill, which makes levels of U.S. foreign aid spending subservient to the dictates of the United Nations, demonstrates the media's desire to see Senator Obama elected to the presidency.

In a column posted on the AIM web site, Kincaid noted that Senator Joe Biden, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, was trying to rush Obama's "Global Poverty Act" (S. 2433) through his committee without hearings. The legislation would commit the U.S. to spending 0.7 percent of gross national product on foreign aid, which amounts to a phenomenal 13-year total of $845 billion over and above what the U.S. already spends. It was scheduled for a Thursday vote but was moved up a day, to Wednesday, and rushed through by voice vote. Kincaid learned, however, that conservative Senators have now put a "hold" on the legislation, in order to prevent it from being rushed to the floor for a full Senate vote.

MCCAIN: 'HILLARY CAN STILL PULL IT OFF';
SENATOR PREFERS CLINTON CONTEST
Mon Apr 14 2008 10:46:19 ET

**Exclusive**

Republican presidential hopeful John McCain has confided to his inner circle that Hillary Clinton may yet be the Democratic nominee, the DRUDGE REPORT has learned, a development the senator from Arizona would personally welcome!

"Look, I know something about long odds, they had me written off last summer," McCain explained over the weekend, according to a top source.

McCain would prefer to go up against Clinton in the general election, insiders reveal.

He has instructed his campaign staff to "chill out" on countering Hillary Clinton's torrent of claims and promises as primary voting comes to an end over the next 6 weeks.

McCain made the tactical decision to downplay Clinton's tale of Bosnia sniper fire, leaving some McCain staffers frustrated and perplexed.

Instead, the critical focus has been on Barack Obama. McCain's official website features 14 press releases taking on Obama since the first of the year, only 3 for the former first lady.

*****

I guess McSame would know who is easier to beat, eh?

I guess McSame would know who is easier to beat, eh?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So do the people of PA which is why they're saying no to Obama~~

Obama's Deceptive Anti-Oil Ad: 'I Don't Take $ From Oil Companies

Newsbusters.org ^ | 4/13/08 | Warner Todd Huston

Barack Obama has been airing a shamelessly anti-business TV ad in Pennsylvania for a while now. In the ad Obama himself, in his own voice, makes the claim that he doesn't "take money from oil companies." But there is a two-fold deception in this claim that Obama doesn't tell his sycophantic fans. So where is the media to pounce on these cynical deceptions? They’re nowhere to be seen.

Recently I saw the ad where Obama claimed he didn't take contributions from oil companies and the claim struck a chord in my memory. I was under the impression that oil companies could not legally donate to a campaign at all. So, I did some checking and it seems that FactCheck.org did an entire page on Obama's deceptive Pennsylvania ad.

Here is the transcript of the Obama ad:

"Since the gas lines of the ’70s, Democrats and Republicans have talked about energy independence, but nothing’s changed -- except now Exxon’s making $40 billion a year, and we’re paying $3.50 for gas. I’m Barack Obama. I don’t take money from oil companies or Washington lobbyists, and I won’t let them block change anymore. They’ll pay a penalty on windfall profits. We’ll invest in alternative energy, create jobs and free ourselves from foreign oil. I approve this message because it’s time that Washington worked for you. Not them. "

Yet, as FactCheck.org reminds us, it has been illegal for the last 100 years for an oil company to directly donate to a political campaign. So, while it is technically correct that Obama isn't taking money from oil companies, it is ALSO true that neither is anyone else! Yet, here is Obama saying he doesn't take oil money as if he has made a conscious decision to refuse their support. Someone who does not know that oil companies are barred by law from donating to politicians might easily be led to imagine that Obama is standing up against Bigoil with this ad. It is truly deceptive.

But, there is also another deception, one of omission, in Obama's ad. Again, FactCheck.org reveals the reality that two of Obama's biggest "bundler" donors are executives at oil companies. "Two of Obama's bundlers are top executives at oil companies," FactCheck.org says, "and are listed on his Web site as raising between $50,000 and $100,000 for the presidential hopeful."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Seems the people (blue collar America) wants more from a president than a one word wonder (hope)

Voters Disagree With Obama's Comments

Demeaning Small Town America

Dont Tell Me I Cling To Religion And Guns Because I'm Bitter.

By California Yankee

Rasmussen reports finds that 56% of voters nationwide disagree with Obama’s statement that people in small towns “cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations." Only 25% agree with Obama and 19% are not sure.

Rasmussen confirms what many of us have been saying -- this is a bigger problem for Obama in November:

Partisan and ideological differences suggest that the comments are more likely to be a factor in the General Election than in the Primaries. A plurality of politically liberal voters—46%--agree with Obama’s statement while 33% disagree. Moderate voters take the opposite view and disagree by a 51% to 27% margin. Seventy-four percent (74%) of conservatives disagree with Obama’s statement, only 12% agree.

Democrats are fairly evenly divided—34% agree with Obama and 43% disagree. Generally, Obama supporters agree with him while Hillary Clinton’s supporters disagree.

Republicans overwhelmingly disagree with the statement and unaffiliated voters disagree by a two-to-one margin.

Voters under 30 are evenly divided on Obama’s statement while their elders strongly disagree. Fifty-three percent (53%) of African-Americans agree with Obama’s statement while 29% disagree. White voters disagree by a 3-to-1 margin.

Forty-five percent (45%) say that Obama’s comments reflect an elitist view of small town voters. Thirty-seven percent (37%) disagree. Republicans overwhelmingly say that the statements are elitist and most Democrats disagree. Among unaffiliated voters, 40% say they represent an elitist view while 34% disagree.

Must be a slow day at the gas-n-sip.... here's a video update on the exploits of Diaper Dave, still representing the people of Louisiana in the US Senate and the Republican party with great 'distinction'

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88l3H0QyoZI

Carter and Gore to End Clinton's Bid? [The Scotsman]

DEMOCRAT grandees Jimmy Carter and Al Gore are being lined-up to deliver the coup de grâce to Hillary Clinton and end her campaign to become president. Falling poll numbers and a string of high-profile blunders have convinced party elders that she must now bow out of the primary race. 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. "They're in discussions," a source close to Carter told Scotland on Sunday. "Carter has been talking to Gore. They will act, possibly together, or in sequence." An appeal by both men for Democrats to unite behind Clinton's rival, Barack Obama, would have a powerful effect, and insiders say it is a question of when, rather than if, they act.

HRC has lost. The rest is just going through the motions.

Clinton Heckled For Obama Slam

ABC News' Eloise Harper Reports: Sen. Hillary Clinton spoke to the American Manufacturing forum in Pittsburgh, Pa., Monday, saying she wanted to focus on solutions and the problems Americans are facing -- but the New York senator did manage to squeeze in a slam towards her Democratic opponent Sen. Barack Obama.

Her remarks were received poorly by the audience and instead of eliciting applause, Clinton was jeered when she brought up the subject.

[...]

In the process of their search-and-destroy mission against Barack Obama, the Clintons have pursued a strategy that at times seems deliberately aimed at undermining Obama’s credibility if he becomes John McCain’s opponent — heresy in the view of an increasing number of the Clintons’ former suppporters and aides, a suprising number of whom now back Obama.

The choice ahead -– in Pennsylvania, and the remaining primary states, and for the super delegates, and perhaps even the arbiters of a deadlocked convention -– is clear enough at this point, at least in terms of what the 2008 Clinton campaign is about: the Clintons — plural. Theirs is a campaign for Restoration to the White House, not simply the election of Hillary Clinton. Theirs is, has always been, a joint enterprise, a see-saw routine in which the psyches and actions of each balances the board according to the personal dynamics of the moment.

A long-time associate of the Clintons, with whom Hillary has consulted in their quest to return to the White House, said early in her campaign: “She has a very plausible case for president. She had an eight-year super-graduate course in the presidency, a progressive platform…” He paused, and added: “[But] I’m not sure I want the circus back in town.”

That is what the Hillary for President campaign has become: the whole Clinton three-ring circus, with little evidence that moving back to the White House will alter that most basic fact.

– Carl Bernstein, 360 Contributor and Author of “A Woman In Charge: the Life of Hillary Rodham Clinton“

(ac360)

Obama Endorser Lee Hamilton Disagrees With Senator On Troop Withdrawal, Trade

Huffington Post April 11, 2008 04:37 PM

Former Rep. Lee Hamilton, one of the most respected foreign policy minds in Washington and a supporter of Sen. Barack Obama acknowledged on Friday, that on at least two major international issues, he is in disagreement with his candidate of choice.

Speaking on MSNBC, the Indiana Democrat and 9/11 Commission chair, said he did not support "target dates" for a withdrawal in Iraq -- a position that both Obama and his primary opponent, Sen. Hillary Clinton, back.

"I do think there is a shallowness in the political discussion about Iraq, on both sides really. When they talk about success, improvement, progress, victory, it's all undefined or ill defined. When the Democrats talk about withdrawal, they're not too specific, either," said Hamilton. "The process of withdrawal is a very complex matter. I'm not a great fan, incidentally, of target dates, in foreign policy as a rule and in Iraq's specifically. I am a fan, however, of what you'd call a responsible exit from Iraq."

Sens. Obama and Clinton have called for the withdrawal of one to two combat brigades per month over the course of 16 months -- by definition, a target date. Clinton would leave a residual force in Iraq to guard against any terrorist threat and support U.S. interests. Obama would keep some troops in the country to protect the American embassy and diplomats

Meanwhile, on the Colombia Free Trade Agreement, Hamilton again finds himself at odds with both Democratic presidential candidates.

"I favor the Colombia Free Trade Agreement," said Hamilton. "Trade, unfortunately in the political world, especially in the Democratic political world has become a symbol of globalization. And globalization generally is a very good thing, from my point of view. But there are winners and there are losers in globalization. So the whole trade debate, I think, is kind of an unreal debate and it's a symbol for globalization."

Both Obama and Clinton are against the Columbia agreement, citing poor human rights and labor standards in that country, as well as job losses at home. Former President Bill Clinton - who was paid $800,000 for four speeches by a group that supports the measure - and former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, who is close to Obama, back the agreement.

DEMOCRAT grandees Jimmy Carter and Al Gore~~

That's funny!

here's a video update on the exploits of Diaper Dave, still representing the people of Louisiana in the US Senate and the Republican party with great 'distinction'

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Slow day at the State Mental Hospital~~

The Other Obama

Wall Street Journal ^ | April 14, 2008 | Masthead Editorial

This has been a long Presidential campaign, but often usefully so. The Democratic Party fight is helping us learn that there's more to Barack Obama than the eloquent, post-partisan, disciplined purveyor of "hope" that he typically projects.

There's also the Barack Obama who attended Rev. Jeremiah Wright's ("God d--- America") church for 20 years, the one who emerged from the Chicago Democratic machine with friends like Tony Rezko, the one with the most liberal voting record in the U.S. Senate, and now we learn the one with a Harvard-eye view of American angst.

At an April 6 fund-raiser in San Francisco, this Obama explained to his non-blue-collar donors: "You go into these small towns in Pennsylvania and, like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing's replaced them. And they fell through the Clinton Administration, and the Bush Administration, and each successive Administration has said that somehow these communities are gonna regenerate and they have not. And it's not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations."

As political psychoanalysis, this is what they believe in Cambridge and Hyde Park. Guns and God are the opiate of the masses, who are being gulled by Karl Rove and rich Republicans. If only they embraced their true economic self-interest, these pure saps wouldn't need religion and they wouldn't dislike non-white immigrants.

Mr. Obama's unreflective condescension is reminiscent of the famous 1993 Washington Post article that described evangelical Christians as "poor, undereducated and easy to command." And the fact that he said it so naturally in front of a San Francisco...

This is Mr. Obama's inner Mike Dukakis...

Gov. Rendell: Media Biased Toward Obama

Monday, April 14, 2008 12:38 PM

By: Newsmax Staff Article Font Size

Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell said that media in the U.S. have abandoned any pretense of neutrality in the Democratic presidential race and are heavily biased toward Barack Obama over Hillary Clinton.

In an interview with Britain’s Financial Times, Rendell — who has endorsed Clinton in the upcoming Pennsylvania primary — said the bias against the former first lady is the worst instance of favoritism “I have seen in my 31 years in politics.”

He added: “The media has drunk the Kool-Aid with Obama … They have fallen in love with the message and the messenger…

“They don’t even pretend to be objective. The media dislike the Clintons and harbor a lot of resentments against them.”

Rendell, a Democrat, cited an instance when an NBC reporter confessed he found it hard to remain objective given Obama’s “infectious” appeal.

He also joked that Keith Olbermann of MSNBC “has to be on the Obama payroll” and that MSNBC is the “Obama campaign’s official channel.”

The Obama camp disputes allegations of media bias and points to the press’ harsh scrutiny of his relationship with controversial Chicago pastor Jeremiah Wright, the Times reported.

But Rendell maintained that the media are far more forgiving of Obama’s mistakes than Hillary’s

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And now you can add David Corn to the list of Keith Olbermanns

April 14, 2008
Categories: Primary Calendar

A DNC picket line

My colleague John Bresnahan emails that there are 50-60 union members from Florida and Michigan picketing outside DNC headquarters right now.

They're complaining that the DNC's refusal to seat Florida and Michigan delagates will prevent dozens of union members who are delegates from attending the convention, and they want DNC Chairman Howard Dean to resolve the dispute.

Mike Williams, a Florida union member, compared the DNC's refusal to seat the delegates from those two states as similar to when a company locks outs striking union employees.

"We're getting locked out," said Williams as he and the other union members pickteted the DNC. Williams estimated that as many as a dozen building trade union members, and 30 union members overall, would be part of the Florida contingent to the Democratic convention

New York Magazine Asks ‘Is John McCain Bob Dole?’

[...]

Republicans cite deeper, more worrying commonalities between McCain and Dole. “You’d fly around with Dole in 1996 and try to talk message, and all he wanted to know was who was going to be up onstage with him at the next event,” recalls an operative who worked for Dole in his pre-Viagra days. “Same deal now with McCain. He has no message outside of Iraq. What’s John McCain’s health plan? What’s his tax plan? What’s his high-tech plan? No one in a million years can tell you.”

*****

No, Bob Dole was young and vibrant comparitively. I guess McSame is the grandpa Dole, like grandpa Simpson to Homer. . . .

Obama bomb dropped

Huffington Post

When Tony Rezko held a reception at his home for Iraqi-born billionaire Nadhmi Auchi on April 3, 2004, White House hopeful Barack Obama and his wife were also there, Stuart Levine testified just now at Rezko's trial.

Auchi is the man who provided Rezko a $3.5 million loan that Rezko did not disclose to the court -- resulting in his January arrest.
"Mr. and Mrs. Obama were there, were they not?" Rezko lawyer Joseph Duffy asked.
"Yes, sir," Levine said.
Obama and his aides have said Obama has no recollection of ever meeting Auchi.
Rezko invited Levine to the reception after the two met up with each other during a family vacation in Puerto Vallarta. Rezko had to leave early to arrange for the reception, Levine testified. So Levine offered to rent a larger jet and fly Rezko's wife and children back to Chicago. That night, they all attended the reception.

The reception was aimed at getting Auchi interested in investing in Illinois, Levine said.

Levine testified that Lt. Gov. Patrick Quinn.
"The governor was no-show?" Duffy asked.
Levine: "I don’t know that he was a no-show. I seem to recall..."
Duffy: "Was Gov. Blagojevich present?"
Levine: "Uh, no sir."

That reception has raised questions over whether Auchi should have been allowed into the United States because of legal problems he's faced overseas. Auchi, who lives in London, was named one of the wealthiest men in the world by Forbes Magazine.

This is a different reception than one held at the Four Seasons Hotel, where Blagojevich was present.
Here's the Sun-Times story on the Rezko-Auchi relationship and the hotel reception:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Amazing how Obama has hood winked you Cornnuts into giving him blind support. Even after the facts come out and show that he's lied to cover-up his association with slum lord you cornnuts like Pand O Nial still make excuses for him~~~~~

IA sure hopes global warming will makes its way to them soon~~

Cold Temperatures Freeze Gardening Season
By Mark Geary, Reporter
By Mark Geary

MARION – All of this cold weather is freezing the start of the gardening season. Now, outdoor fans are eager for a warm-up.

"I'm 71-years-old and I've never seen spring come this late," Robert Ciesleck said.

Ciesleck and his family look forward to gardening together every spring. This year, they're not sure when they're going to be able to get their hands dirty.

Our elections are dominated by the same tired personality script, trotted out over and over and over. Democrats and liberals -- no matter how poor their upbringing, no matter how self-made they are, no matter how egalitarian their policies -- are the freakish, out-of-touch elitists who despise the values of the Regular Americans. Right-wing leaders -- no matter how extravagantly rich they are by virtue of other people's money, no matter how insulated their lives are, no matter how indifferent their policies are to the vast rich/poor gap -- are the normal, salt-of-the-earth Regular Folk. These petty, cliched storylines drown out every meaningful consideration and dictate our election outcomes, and they are deployed automatically.

It doesn't matter what the candidates actually say or do. The establishment press just waits for the right episode and then reflexively and eagerly fills in the gaps in the shallow script -- the script with which they are intimately familiar and which serves as their only framework for talking about and understanding political disputes.

-- Glenn Greenwald

President Bush often argues that history will vindicate him. So he can't be pleased with an informal survey of 109 professional historians conducted by the History News Network. It found that 98 percent of them believe that Bush's presidency has been a failure, while only about 2 percent see it as a success. Not only that, more than 61 percent of the historians say the current presidency is the worst in American history.

98% of historians aren't wrong.

(americablog)

Barack Obama had a message this afternoon for John McCain and the Republicans who want to call him "out of touch" for his remarks about bitter small town voters: Bring it on.

The Democratic front-runner said that if he had the Bush administration's failed policies on his back, he'd be looking for something else to talk about, too.

Obama said while he "may have made a mistake in the words I chose," Republicans have made much bigger mistakes in policies that have hurt Americans. Bush's economic policies are not only out of touch, he said, but they "put our economy out of whack."

"That's a debate I'd be happy to have," Obama told the Associated Press annual meeting in Washington, where McCain hit Obama's comments earlier today. "That's a debate we have to have."

*****

No doubt, the debate between McSame and Barack will rock. I predict BHO will bring our the best of McSame - the best of his policies, the Bush years and will show the American public the temperment of his opponent.

Done deal

Bush's economic policies are not only out of touch, he said, but they "put our economy out of whack."

~~~~~~~~~~~~

And all this time I thought that the (Dem saving grace) minimum wage increase was going to save us from this mess~

Obamas answer- tax us out of recession-ya hoo can't wait until that debate!

New Florida Poll: McCain crushes Obama by 15 points

Monday, April 14, 2008 12:28:43 PM ·

New Rasmussen Florida poll: McCain 53 Obama 38 McCain 44 Clinton 45 The battle over Florida’s convention delegates may be taking its toll on Barack Obama’s prospects in the Sunshine State. For the second time in three months, John McCain enjoys a double digit lead over the Democratic frontrunner.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Obama is going to get crushed!

Obama Allies Avoid Trying to Explain Most Controversial Part of His Remarks

Jake Tapper ABC
April 13, 2008 5:51 PM

As Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., and his allies have locked into damage control mode and attempted to explain his controversial remarks about small-town Pennsylvanians, they've attempted to focus their pushback away from the most controversial part of his remarks to an elite crowd at a San Francisco fundraiser.

Obama told the crowd: "You go into some of these small towns in Pennsylvania, and like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing's replaced them. And they fell through the Clinton administration, and the Bush administration, and each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are gonna regenerate and they have not. So it's not surprising then that they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion, or antipathy to people who aren't like them, or anti-immigrant sentiment, or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations."

While the description of small town Pennsylvanians as "bitter" is certainly impolitic, many political analysts say it's what follows that adjective that is potentially so alienating -- the notion that small town folks "get bitter" after which "they cling to guns or religion, or antipathy to people who aren't like them, or anti-immigrant sentiment, or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations."

But Obama allies are trying to focus on the "bitter" part alone.

What was it that one had with bitters? Gin?

Zombie

2 1/2 oz Angostura white rum
1 oz Angostura gold rum
1/2 oz Apricot Brandy
1 oz Pineapple juice
1 oz Lime Juice
1 oz Orange juice
1/2 oz Grenadine Syrup
3 dashes Angostura® aromatic bitters

Method: Shaken
Glassware: Highball


Mai Tai

2 oz Angostura dark rum
1 oz Angostura lime juice
1/2 oz Orange Curacao
1/2 oz Orgeat (almond) syrup
1 oz Pineapple juice
1/4 oz Sugar syrup
5 dashes Angostura® aromatic bitters

Method: Shaken
Glassware: Highball
Garnish: Cherry & orange slices

"The bitter "bitter" debate is ridiculous."
--David Corn

Ridiculous but not humorous. Monday Night Funnies will get you there.

"Speaking of Hillary, big day in Washington. General Petraeus, the top general in Iraq, testified on Capitol Hill today, and he was questioned by Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. That's right, Obama and Clinton both had the same question for Petraeus -- 'Are you, by any chance, a superdelegate?'"
--Conan O'Brien

"Did you see what's going on with the Olympic torch? A lot of protests. It arrived in San Francisco today on its way to China. The Chinese that were traveling with the torch were stunned by the number of protesters. They have never seen this many protesters alive."
-Jay Leno

"Yeah, more problems for Hillary. For the second time in just a a couple of days, Hillary dropped a phony story from her stump speech. I guess she was going around telling these health care stories, and then a hospital today said it is not true. This story is not true. Turns out, Hillary did not discover penicillin. ... and did not invent the polio vaccine."
-Jay Leno

"I saw a political expert on TV today, and he said the Pennsylvania primary -- that's the big one with Hillary and Barack -- he said it will likely come down to which candidate wins the white, male vote. Oh, that's a relief. Maybe white men can finally have a say in how this country is run for a change."
--Jay Leno

"Republican Senator David Vitter, remember him? Remember the guy who admitted he was having sex with a prostitute? Remember, he thought that was all over? Well, he's back in the news again. It looks like he may be forced to testify in the case of the DC Madam. That's not good for your reputation, huh? You're testifying in a prostitution case as an expert witness. ... That's got to make for some interesting chit-chat with the wife over the breakfast table, huh? 'Oh, honey, good luck in court today with your little whores.'"
--Jay Leno

"Hillary Clinton's senior campaign adviser, a guy named Mark Penn, has left the campaign. Apparently, he was coming under some heavy sniper fire."
--Jay Leno

"No, as her campaign strategist, Mark Penn is widely credited with catapulting Hillary from her virtual shoe-in to second place."
--Jay Leno

"Last week, John McCain visited his old school. In high school, he studied Latin. Did you know that? Well, he had to, that was the only language spoken."
--Jay Leno

"John McCain is now crisscrossing the United States campaigning. Or, as they're calling it, Antiques Roadshow."
--Jay Leno

"He's an honest guy. McCain said last week he doesn't understand the economy as well as he should. In fact, did you hear his plan to save energy? Clap-on, Clap-off."
--Jay Leno

Jon Stewart: Another competition is heating up... But who would win the day? The first rule of exploitation: location, location, location. Barack Obama gave his speech on that day in Indiana, where Robert Kennedy gave his famous speech the night of the assassination. It's impressive historically, but not so much proximity-wise. He only gets 10 points. Hillary Clinton was at the church King spoke in the night before. Strong, but John McCain -- bam, bullseye. 50 points. He gave his Martin Luther King Jr. speech beneath the balcony where King was shot
on screen: McCain speaking with a black man holding an umbrella over his head.
Stewart: But, then again, how many points do you lose when you give the speech while a black guy is holding your umbrella?"

Jon Stewart: Not smart, Senator McCain. And may I say, Senator McCain's entrance into the city of Memphis was no more impressive
on screen: McCain's Straight Talk Express bus covered in a Confederate flag.
Stewart: And that bumper sticker, I mean, come on
on screen: bumper sticker reading 'My Kid Is An Honor Student At An All White Separate But Equal School'.
Stewart: I guess what I'm saying is, you're losing the minority vote." --

"I feel for John McCain. He has a tough road to hoe now. He's trying to distance himself from George Bush. First off, by completing sentences with punctuation."
--Bill Maher

"McCain came out this week with a list of 20 possible running mates. He would not reveal the names of all of them, but he said they all share certain traits, like knowing CPR. ... He said he wants someone who is ready take over on day two."
--Bill Maher

"John McCain has not been using Secret Service protection. He's the only one. He's not using it. See, apparently, he has Life Alert."
--Jay Leno

"President Bush is in Europe right now. Today, he met with Romanian Prime Minister Popescu-Tariceanu. Or, as Bush calls him, Pop Tart."
--Conan O'Brien

"John McCain says he has 20 names on a list of possible vice presidential candidates. Unfortunately, most of the names on the list are characters on 'Matlock.'"
--Conan O'Brien

"We have the Italian Stallion on the show tonight -- Hillary Clinton, ladies and gentleman. As you know, in Philadelphia the other day, Senator Clinton said she is a lot like Rocky Balboa from the movie 'Rocky.' Is that a good idea? Don't we already have a president like Rocky? I mean, isn't eight years of a guy who talks like he's been hit in the head too many times enough?"
--Jay Leno

"John McCain said he's putting together a list of possible vice presidential candidates. In fact, yesterday, McCain said he had 20 names on his vice presidential list. And today, he had to cut it back to 18 when he found out Calvin Coolidge and Woodrow Wilson are already dead."
--Jay Leno

"Are you familiar with the Hillary Clinton 3 a.m. phone call commercials that she's been running during her campaign? The idea is, the phone rings at 3 am, oh my God, who do you want to be the president. Well, she's got another one of those. The phone rings and it's 3 am. Hillary answers the phone. She picks it up and she says, 'Stop bothering me, President Obama.'"
--David Letterman

Better than the Funnies: LBH's fascination with Gallup polls

Gallup Poll: Democrats Love McCain
Posted by: LBH March 27, 2008 1:20 PM

Today's Gallup Poll Daily tracking update finds Barack Obama with an eight percentage point advantage over Hillary Clinton ....
But wait, McSame leads them both in the same poll
Posted by: LBH March 28, 2008 1:54 PM

Worsening Gallup polls reveal Obama's pastor problem
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It's all about the polls friends and Obama is slipping big time!
Posted by: LBH March 20, 2008 1:31 PM

"Gallup poll has been consistently wrong since 2004~"
Posted by: LBH April 11, 2008 6:13 PM

Oh, there's lots more where those came from; but even Google can't take the homeschooler's Zombie Chow.

Almost an entire week burned by the Clinton camp over comments that have forced them to label other superdelegates as elitist.

Step 1: Cut off nose
Step 2: Spite face

And all of these strategic blunders WITHOUT the benefit of the political wit and wisdom of Mr. Mark Penn. It's like they don't want to win. Like Leno says, they went for sure-fire shoo-in, to second place with Obama kicking azz and taking names.

All of this talk about PA working class voters and who brought the issue to the forefront? Obama. Who is benefitting from it? Obama.

An entire week of polling and 6 out of 8 polls show a 6-point lead or less for HRC. The other two are at 10 and an outlier at 18 points.
Source: RCP http://tinyurl.com/2hykg3

With a week to go. HRC has nowhere to go but up. She needs a miracle.

lol

No tags AND an ascii text filter. This blog spirals downward. Too bad.

I wrote and rewrote a comment on the REZKO nonsense. Something in the article is getting it blocked. Too bad. Meanwhile the words of a drug addicted liar (Levine? LBH?) go unfiltered. Hmmm.

Today during his appearance at the Associated Press’s annual meeting, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) was asked if he was “open to diverting troops from Iraq to Afghanistan” in order to catch Osama bin Laden.” McCain replied, “I would not do that unless General Petraeus said that he felt that the situation called for that.” Watch it:

http://www.youtube.com/v/GnGzfyTFwoM&hl=en

But as the Army Times points out, Petraeus has nothing to do with the decision to move troops to Afghanistan:

Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain of Arizona may not have been paying the closest of attention last week during hearings on the Bush administration’s Iraq policy. […]

Petraeus, however, made clear last week that he has nothing to do with the decision. Testifying last week before four congressional committees, including the Senate Armed Services Committee on which McCain is the ranking Republican, Petraeus said the decision about whether troops could be shifted from Iraq to Afghanistan was not his responsibility because his portfolio is limited to the multi-national force in Iraq.

*****

I can't wait for the debates!

no tags does SUCK!

More than one or two url's will stop the post.

UGH!

Why? Nobody knows and nobody bothers to tell us useless bloggers anything.

Maybe there is just too much traffic?

PRINCETON, NJ -- Barack Obama, who has come under attack by his presidential rivals for describing small-town voters as "bitter," seems to be weathering the storm to this point as far as voters are concerned. He maintains a 10 percentage point lead over Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination, 50% to 40%, according to the latest Gallup Poll Daily tracking.

Boston Herald Prints My Fake News as Real News

On Sunday, HuffPo published my story, Cheney Challenges Hillary to Hunting Contest.

The Boston Herald, apparently believing the story to be true, published it as a straight news story. Read the account of it here.

The Herald, realizing that it's bad to publish fake news as real news, published this highly understated correction (after pulling the story off their website):

An article in today's Herald regarding comments purportedly made by Vice President Dick Cheney was inaccurate and should have noted that it was based on a blogger's satire and was not provided by the Associated Press.

Andy Borowitz is a comedian and writer whose work appears in The New Yorker and The New York Times, and at his award-winning humor site, BorowitzReport.com. He is the host of "Countdown to '08" at the 92nd Street Y on Tuesday, May 13 at 8 PM with his special guests Calvin Trillin (The New Yorker), Susie Essman (HBO's Curb Your Enthusiasm) and Jonathan Alter (Newsweek, MSNBC). For tickets, go to 92y.org.

****

Too funny, once in while the M$M are good for a chuckle.

Capt,

The "Herald's" redeeming factor, for me, was always that it was printed with a left-handed fold, allowing folks to hang onto the subway strap with one hand while still reading.

Oh, and the Sports Headlines were always on the BACK page, so you could read, TOO!

-T

Obama tried albeit somewhat unsuccessfully to answer a question in a heartfelt way that like Negros of slavery time who also turned to Religion & Music due to oppression and hard times and that small town America has very little to look forward to and so too turned to religion and hunting as a normal outlet and sometimes blamed their plight on immigrants! This excercise in "honest" judgment has been blown out of all proportions and taken up by Hillary & McCain and some in the Media to exploit for political gain, albeit with dishonesty and distorted statements to demean Obama for being honest. We have to asks ourselves as Americans "would we rather have politicians that lie to us or ones that tell us the truth no matter what?" Hillary's current assertion that her father taught her to "shoot ducks" behind the cottage that her grandfather built on Lake Winona as a little girl smells alot like "Bosnian Sniper Fire!" And, now we have Bill Clinton going around with his current False take on "bitterness" as another example of another -- excuse my blatantness -- "lying politician", with the following performance...

B. Clinton "[s]ays at campaign railly in Corydon, Indiana that throughout seven stops in North Carolina, 'Everywhere I go there are all these people with signs, saying I’m not bitter - I’m not bitter.' ABC’s Sarah Amos says his comments were well-received but 'not entirely accurate.' For instance, she says there were no signs at his rallies saying 'I’m not bitter,' as he claimed." -- This political couple has No Shame!

However, in light of the current fire storm and questionning and psychoanalyzing about the "bitterness" of small town America, maybe Obama has done us some good and we can finally bring or shed some light on just how bitter (or not) we really are and better yet -- the "Root Cause"!