This is the Republican mantra. Make no mistake about it.
All the cogs are beginning to turn and don't forget they are very good at what they do. They have been at this for a very long time and they do this for what in their minds are principled reasons but, the soldiers also know that there are millions to be made and vast new avenues for networking for future deals. Add it all up and there are plenty of reason for the McCain team to start unbolting the kitchen sink.
One sure sign that the time has come is that Harold Simmons, the Texas billionaire and McCain campaign fund raiser, has started a non-profit group called American Issues Project to finance ads against Obama. Yep, same guy who funded ads attacking John Kerry's military service in 2004.
With this kind of horsepower it's no wonder that they can put the Democrats in a defensive posture which for all intents and purposes is them "driving the debate." The Obama camp takes the logical step by looking at what the Kerry campaign did wrong, then launches counter attacks and guess what--they look defensive. This is why the Carville's and Gergan's and Buchanan's of the world keep begging for red meat. The Obama camp needs to take it to the enemy. They need to abandon the "above the fray" mentality that the American people object to dirty politics. The bottom line is that the America People don't somehow live outside of the boundaries of human nature. And if your losing, human nature says bring out the biggest guns you got.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Friday, August 22, 2008
Dear Sen. Obama
Your first momentous decision, the selection of Sen. Biden for your running mate is for me enormously fulfilling. Shamelessly I must mention that I made this hopeful prediction on June 12, 2008. I gave my reasons at that time. How you exactly came to this decision, we may never know for sure but if you can keep up the good decisions, I'll make another prediction, you just might become the next President of the United States. Btw, the best line of the event in Springfield was Senator Biden saying, "These times require more than a goor soldier, they require a wise leader." All the pieces are in place, now make it reality.
Monday, August 18, 2008
You Never Stop Earning Trust
There are a lot of addictions out there and not too many people would argue that one of them is an addiction to trust, but I'm going to risk the wrath of God himself and stick my neck way out there and ask, why are we going to give Rev. Rick Warren a pass on what happened at his "Saddleback Civil Forum?" To start, it was rather confusingly billed as an encounter of some kind between Sen. Obama and Sen McCain.
If you don't know, to save me a lengthy explanation please Google "Cone of silence."
Warren, with his squeaky clean persona promised fairness in the design of this event and in his failure furthered the idea that extending unlimited trust even to his group comes with peril.
Warren has spent most of the day defending himself and in my opinion not very well. In each interview, when asked why Sen. McCain was in fact not in the sound proof room (cone of silence) for all of Sen.Obama's questioning period, he gave answers which were purposefully evasive.
He quickly, and with Warren style charm redirected the questioners by saying these were bogus charges because the secret service was with McCain in the motorcade and when he did arrive he entered a sound proof room, with Saddleback security staff present.
Then he incredulously discounted an examples of a rumor about a monitor in the green room by saying it was disconnected two days earlier by his staff. These are clever responses that in my opinion are crafted. They dodge the issues and redirect the conversation in a hospitable direction. These are classic examples of verbal dances that are designed to make petty the accusation and simultaneously damage the credibility of the accusers.
Then he worked to place the idea that if anything, Sen.Obama had the advantage because by McCain being late Obama received a tip off on a question about relief for orphans he had planned to give both of them. This attempt appears to try to compensate which only continues to incite suspicion. It's also like not having to cook tonight because your house just burned down.
When asked if McCain could have heard anything in the car, Warren responded, not a chance because the secret service would have reported it, and in a beyond everything else manner, Warren places high value on McCain giving his word on the issue. Maybe civil but not a luxury one should blindly extend to a politician especially during an election.
I don't believe that much if anything was answered about the fundamental questions here and I know this because I still have them. Why was McCain late? Warren said that there was an agreement reached between all parties. Considering the event design, wasn't this an important part of the agreement? How late was McCain? Why would one believe that the secret service is responsible to monitor such things? With today's technology shouldn't it be acknowledged that McCain was at least able to receive improper information? Instead impropriety was simply represented as preposterous. I realize that the imagination can run wild here but the lack of rules creates suspicion about everything including the coin toss that determined who would go first. A smart caller asked the question on CNN's Larry King show and amazingly Warren answers that it was done a month ago with his staff without the candidates present. I realize that we are talking about a church here but I'm sorry, I don't like going for this ride without the assurance of a little proof.
With mixed feelings I expect Warren will escape further scrutiny because everyone seems to love this man and by all accounts he has done more for his fellow human beings than any thousand others. And it is hard for me to suspect that this was planned. But his answers were given like a politician instead of a pastor and if nothing else it exemplifies the importance of the separation of church and state.
The politics of the state is a contaminant that if allowed to seep into faith based organizations, will destroy them as it has in many other examples around the world. Unfortunately the same can hold true in the reverse. The founding fathers were well aware of this and took appropriate measures.
Warren says he believes in this separation but re-entwines the two with talk of individual world views that are part and parcel in the equation. It's like just wanting a little protectionism from world market capitalism. In simpler terms, it's flirting with disaster.
In my last post I spoke about the exact players in the McCain campaign staff who were front and center during this controversy. I think you know whether or not I believe this crew is capable of carrying out something this devious. But because of what appeared to be loose rules I can't know the truth and likely will never know it so I hold nothing against McCain for this.
But I do know that if Rev. Warren is going to continue to play a role in the election of my president he had better get his act together because this was harmful and an early sign of the hubris that has spelled doom for many of his kind before him.
If you don't know, to save me a lengthy explanation please Google "Cone of silence."
Warren, with his squeaky clean persona promised fairness in the design of this event and in his failure furthered the idea that extending unlimited trust even to his group comes with peril.
Warren has spent most of the day defending himself and in my opinion not very well. In each interview, when asked why Sen. McCain was in fact not in the sound proof room (cone of silence) for all of Sen.Obama's questioning period, he gave answers which were purposefully evasive.
He quickly, and with Warren style charm redirected the questioners by saying these were bogus charges because the secret service was with McCain in the motorcade and when he did arrive he entered a sound proof room, with Saddleback security staff present.
Then he incredulously discounted an examples of a rumor about a monitor in the green room by saying it was disconnected two days earlier by his staff. These are clever responses that in my opinion are crafted. They dodge the issues and redirect the conversation in a hospitable direction. These are classic examples of verbal dances that are designed to make petty the accusation and simultaneously damage the credibility of the accusers.
Then he worked to place the idea that if anything, Sen.Obama had the advantage because by McCain being late Obama received a tip off on a question about relief for orphans he had planned to give both of them. This attempt appears to try to compensate which only continues to incite suspicion. It's also like not having to cook tonight because your house just burned down.
When asked if McCain could have heard anything in the car, Warren responded, not a chance because the secret service would have reported it, and in a beyond everything else manner, Warren places high value on McCain giving his word on the issue. Maybe civil but not a luxury one should blindly extend to a politician especially during an election.
I don't believe that much if anything was answered about the fundamental questions here and I know this because I still have them. Why was McCain late? Warren said that there was an agreement reached between all parties. Considering the event design, wasn't this an important part of the agreement? How late was McCain? Why would one believe that the secret service is responsible to monitor such things? With today's technology shouldn't it be acknowledged that McCain was at least able to receive improper information? Instead impropriety was simply represented as preposterous. I realize that the imagination can run wild here but the lack of rules creates suspicion about everything including the coin toss that determined who would go first. A smart caller asked the question on CNN's Larry King show and amazingly Warren answers that it was done a month ago with his staff without the candidates present. I realize that we are talking about a church here but I'm sorry, I don't like going for this ride without the assurance of a little proof.
With mixed feelings I expect Warren will escape further scrutiny because everyone seems to love this man and by all accounts he has done more for his fellow human beings than any thousand others. And it is hard for me to suspect that this was planned. But his answers were given like a politician instead of a pastor and if nothing else it exemplifies the importance of the separation of church and state.
The politics of the state is a contaminant that if allowed to seep into faith based organizations, will destroy them as it has in many other examples around the world. Unfortunately the same can hold true in the reverse. The founding fathers were well aware of this and took appropriate measures.
Warren says he believes in this separation but re-entwines the two with talk of individual world views that are part and parcel in the equation. It's like just wanting a little protectionism from world market capitalism. In simpler terms, it's flirting with disaster.
In my last post I spoke about the exact players in the McCain campaign staff who were front and center during this controversy. I think you know whether or not I believe this crew is capable of carrying out something this devious. But because of what appeared to be loose rules I can't know the truth and likely will never know it so I hold nothing against McCain for this.
But I do know that if Rev. Warren is going to continue to play a role in the election of my president he had better get his act together because this was harmful and an early sign of the hubris that has spelled doom for many of his kind before him.
Saturday, August 09, 2008
McCain, A Campaign Reformer?
I've purposefully steered clear of politics for a while to clear my head before the final stretch. While the Democratic primary got a bit surly toward the end with it's Democrat style pillow fights, what's coming will make these skirmishes look like Haight/Ashbury before the summer of love.
The "Brittany/Paris" add gave a glimpse at where it's headed.
Whether or not you think a President McCain administration will be an extension of the Bush administration, we can be sure of one thing, the guys who are trying to put him there are from a Pedigree that stretches back to the Nixon Administration.
All you have to do is look at Senator McCains top people to realize that from the beginning of his campaign he has utilized the same kind of players that Republicans seeking the presidency have gone to since Donald Segretti was hired to conduct his "dirty tricks" campaign against Democrats in 1972. Segretti was convicted of distributing forged campaign literature and other types of "ratfucking" as he crudely referred to his duties.
Astonishingly in 2000 he served as co-chair of Senator McCain's presidential campaign in Orange County, California.
Guess who is commonly considered a protege of Segretti ? None other than Karl Rove.
McCain has shuffled the deck to assuage periodic rises in criticism but he continues to return to the tried and true dirty pool solutions to his political problems.
His latest addition and likely responsible for the Brittany/Paris add is Karl Rove protege Steve Schmidt. He was along for the ride with Rove as he ran President Bush's Re-election campaign in 2004. He was an exclusive member of the "Breakfast Club" as it was known.
He was also a White House strategist in charge of the U.S. Supreme Court nominations of Samuel Alito and John Roberts and worked on the Schwarzenegger campaign in 2004 and was a top aide to Vice President Cheney.
Then there is Charles R. Black Jr. who most recently and quite famously said that a terrorist attack would help his candidate, Senator McCain.
His relationship with Karl Rove started with a dust-up over leadership of the College Republicans way back in 1972. None other than RNC chairman George H.W. Bush had to step in and ruled in favor of Rove. Black also met the notorious Republican attack dog and Karl Rove associate Lee Atwater at that time and later hired him for the Reagan campaign. Black worked on the George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush campaigns as well.
Who is he? He's a lobbyist extraordinaire who's done work for a long list of unsavory clients including dictators and other regimes around the world. He has a reputation for being a tough guy as colleague Roger Ailes said, " Charlie's the kind of guy who if he came home and found somebody making out with his wife on a rainy day, he'd break his umbrella and ask him to leave, then have him killed a year later. Lee Atwater would blow the house up."
How he was able to stay on after McCains recent campaign lobbyist purge is a mystery but it highlights just how inadequate election rules really are.
His relationship with Ahmed Chalabi, a champion of the Iraq war, is laced with controversy. He received hundreds of thousands of dollars from the U.S for consulting with Chalabi. One can only wonder what that money bought.
Next there is Richard "Rick" Davis. Again a puzzle as to why McCain allows this super lobbyist to continue. Davis watched first hand in 2000 as his candidate, Senator McCain, was smeared by the the Bush Campaign in South Carolina. He knows the game well although seemingly less inclined to go dirty, which may explain the acquisition of Schmidt.
But his hands are are not much cleaner. Though it's said he is on leave from his lobbying firm and doesn't currently receive a salary, he has made plenty off his relationship with McCain and if he can put him in the White House he'll make plenty more.
Another recruit from the Bush Administration, Greg Jenkins, was recently sued by the ACLU for removing peaceful protesters from a McCain appearance in Denver, Colorado. Finally the lovely and talented Nicolle Wallace who also worked closely with Rove as President Bush's communication director and before that Jeb Bush's press secretary. Wallace can be summed up with her primary goal which is to be aggressive and drive the debate in the campaign. Unfortunately anything goes in that pursuit.
This is just a sample of the people who survived the shake-up of the McCain election staff. Imagine the conflict of interest for those who were let go.
The bottom line is that the McCain election crew is a who's who of lobbyists and operatives who thrive in a sham world where perception is reality and in the end having all to do with getting their hands on your tax dollars. They do it the only way humanly possible, without conscience.
It's an especially awkward duplicity when you consider Senator McCains projected image as an election reformer.
The "Brittany/Paris" add gave a glimpse at where it's headed.
Whether or not you think a President McCain administration will be an extension of the Bush administration, we can be sure of one thing, the guys who are trying to put him there are from a Pedigree that stretches back to the Nixon Administration.
All you have to do is look at Senator McCains top people to realize that from the beginning of his campaign he has utilized the same kind of players that Republicans seeking the presidency have gone to since Donald Segretti was hired to conduct his "dirty tricks" campaign against Democrats in 1972. Segretti was convicted of distributing forged campaign literature and other types of "ratfucking" as he crudely referred to his duties.
Astonishingly in 2000 he served as co-chair of Senator McCain's presidential campaign in Orange County, California.
Guess who is commonly considered a protege of Segretti ? None other than Karl Rove.
McCain has shuffled the deck to assuage periodic rises in criticism but he continues to return to the tried and true dirty pool solutions to his political problems.
His latest addition and likely responsible for the Brittany/Paris add is Karl Rove protege Steve Schmidt. He was along for the ride with Rove as he ran President Bush's Re-election campaign in 2004. He was an exclusive member of the "Breakfast Club" as it was known.
He was also a White House strategist in charge of the U.S. Supreme Court nominations of Samuel Alito and John Roberts and worked on the Schwarzenegger campaign in 2004 and was a top aide to Vice President Cheney.
Then there is Charles R. Black Jr. who most recently and quite famously said that a terrorist attack would help his candidate, Senator McCain.
His relationship with Karl Rove started with a dust-up over leadership of the College Republicans way back in 1972. None other than RNC chairman George H.W. Bush had to step in and ruled in favor of Rove. Black also met the notorious Republican attack dog and Karl Rove associate Lee Atwater at that time and later hired him for the Reagan campaign. Black worked on the George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush campaigns as well.
Who is he? He's a lobbyist extraordinaire who's done work for a long list of unsavory clients including dictators and other regimes around the world. He has a reputation for being a tough guy as colleague Roger Ailes said, " Charlie's the kind of guy who if he came home and found somebody making out with his wife on a rainy day, he'd break his umbrella and ask him to leave, then have him killed a year later. Lee Atwater would blow the house up."
How he was able to stay on after McCains recent campaign lobbyist purge is a mystery but it highlights just how inadequate election rules really are.
His relationship with Ahmed Chalabi, a champion of the Iraq war, is laced with controversy. He received hundreds of thousands of dollars from the U.S for consulting with Chalabi. One can only wonder what that money bought.
Next there is Richard "Rick" Davis. Again a puzzle as to why McCain allows this super lobbyist to continue. Davis watched first hand in 2000 as his candidate, Senator McCain, was smeared by the the Bush Campaign in South Carolina. He knows the game well although seemingly less inclined to go dirty, which may explain the acquisition of Schmidt.
But his hands are are not much cleaner. Though it's said he is on leave from his lobbying firm and doesn't currently receive a salary, he has made plenty off his relationship with McCain and if he can put him in the White House he'll make plenty more.
Another recruit from the Bush Administration, Greg Jenkins, was recently sued by the ACLU for removing peaceful protesters from a McCain appearance in Denver, Colorado. Finally the lovely and talented Nicolle Wallace who also worked closely with Rove as President Bush's communication director and before that Jeb Bush's press secretary. Wallace can be summed up with her primary goal which is to be aggressive and drive the debate in the campaign. Unfortunately anything goes in that pursuit.
This is just a sample of the people who survived the shake-up of the McCain election staff. Imagine the conflict of interest for those who were let go.
The bottom line is that the McCain election crew is a who's who of lobbyists and operatives who thrive in a sham world where perception is reality and in the end having all to do with getting their hands on your tax dollars. They do it the only way humanly possible, without conscience.
It's an especially awkward duplicity when you consider Senator McCains projected image as an election reformer.
Wednesday, August 06, 2008
Some Thoughts On Hope
Slow but sure our paths wear deep. The more traveled the more appealing until new paths, we no longer seek. Narrow becomes the trough that shadows dim the way. Once aimless, those who follow trade tomorrow for today. Few step up to take a stance. Treasure brinks existence until courage breaks the trance.
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Examine This
As someone who favors the "examined life" approach to dealing with their time here on earth, I must say that deciphering the raw data can sometimes be a real chore. Here is a sample of the things that are rattling around upstairs from the week gone by.
I was doing some work in a sort of generic middle class neighborhood (in California this means your likely broke because it cost so much to buy your house) when I met Tom. He's a friendly and folksy 70 year old fellow, an Illinois transplant back 47 years . He's a chipper early riser, sans coffee; you know the type.
We were sort of talking about his pleasant demeanor in a round-about way when he offered an example of the alternatives. His neighbor, a nasty curmudgeon, who still harbors ill feelings toward Japanese people due to his participation in WWll, got his comeuppance recently.
It seems his neighbors feelings were a little deeper than perhaps normal for so many years after the fact considering all that has transpired. Tom said that over time he actually ran off his Japanese neighbor with his nastiness, "yeah, they just finally moved because they couldn't take it any longer and it was a shame because they were good neighbors, and they kept there place up real nice."
Well the nasty guy swelled with pride for his deed until last week. It seems that the four young men who bought the house quickly started doing what young men do like party around the clock, play loud music, take up all the parking spaces and not water or mow the lawn. It took a little while but this week Tom said nasty guy came over to complain to Tom about the new neighbors and said, "jeez, I wish the Japs hadn't moved now."
There are a lot of thoughts that come to mind, like maybe a Karmic boomerang coming back around and hitting old nasty one square in the chops. But Tom, being a real decent sort of guy, reduced it to a nice and basic moral level and said he thinks maybe old McNasty might stop hating Japanese, but at least he learned that things could always be worse.
Over the period of a few days it became clear that Tom lived his life by a set of moral guidelines. Right down to making sure that the construction debris was properly disposed of. He said, "this old planet of ours can't take much more abuse."
Now this comes in contrast to another debris disposal situation that came up with another customer. This one is a well off guy (seriously well off) who suggested I drive somewhere and dump his old doors down some street somewhere in effort to avoid the 65 dollar transfer station fee. This is the same guy who earlier said, "the way they fix the tax problem in this country is to figure out how to make guys like me pay their fair share." He is full of self serving ideas and doesn't appear to follow any particular moral code except for his Christan beliefs which seem to dwell on the Book of Revelations and the coming end of the world. Let's just say his strike zone is a lot wider than Toms.
Later on in the week in another well-to-do neighborhood passing temporary signs to a horse show and stuck in a Mercedes and BMW traffic jamb, I was listening to a NPR radio story about a man in Newfoundland who, because the fisheries are so depleted, now catches small ice bergs. (They call them bergie bits!) He then melts them and sells the water to someone in Texas who sells it again for it's purported health benefits for a ridiculous amount of money.
I drove on noticing that the folk in this neighborhood don't own non-purebred dogs and they hire people to walk them. When looking to park I noticed that the trees on side of the street each had a little sign on them that said, "caution trees dripping sap." Taking my lesson from Tom I looked for the good in it and will only say, I guess it doesn't get anymore civilized than that.
Then there was a grand old lady who I do work for who told me more stories about her friendship with Anna Mahler and how she once gave a Judy Collins album to Julio Cortazar who visited her at her (rather unique) home. She also told me about the mother of a woman she knows who scolded Albert Einstein for bringing a lit pipe into her house. She says, "he then childishly snuffed the pipe out in his coat pocket, can you imagine?" with a big laugh.
Back to NPR and a story about a couple who decided to have sex for one hundred and one days in a row and write a book about it. And politics? I didn't even get there. It is an odd life we live isn't it.
I was doing some work in a sort of generic middle class neighborhood (in California this means your likely broke because it cost so much to buy your house) when I met Tom. He's a friendly and folksy 70 year old fellow, an Illinois transplant back 47 years . He's a chipper early riser, sans coffee; you know the type.
We were sort of talking about his pleasant demeanor in a round-about way when he offered an example of the alternatives. His neighbor, a nasty curmudgeon, who still harbors ill feelings toward Japanese people due to his participation in WWll, got his comeuppance recently.
It seems his neighbors feelings were a little deeper than perhaps normal for so many years after the fact considering all that has transpired. Tom said that over time he actually ran off his Japanese neighbor with his nastiness, "yeah, they just finally moved because they couldn't take it any longer and it was a shame because they were good neighbors, and they kept there place up real nice."
Well the nasty guy swelled with pride for his deed until last week. It seems that the four young men who bought the house quickly started doing what young men do like party around the clock, play loud music, take up all the parking spaces and not water or mow the lawn. It took a little while but this week Tom said nasty guy came over to complain to Tom about the new neighbors and said, "jeez, I wish the Japs hadn't moved now."
There are a lot of thoughts that come to mind, like maybe a Karmic boomerang coming back around and hitting old nasty one square in the chops. But Tom, being a real decent sort of guy, reduced it to a nice and basic moral level and said he thinks maybe old McNasty might stop hating Japanese, but at least he learned that things could always be worse.
Over the period of a few days it became clear that Tom lived his life by a set of moral guidelines. Right down to making sure that the construction debris was properly disposed of. He said, "this old planet of ours can't take much more abuse."
Now this comes in contrast to another debris disposal situation that came up with another customer. This one is a well off guy (seriously well off) who suggested I drive somewhere and dump his old doors down some street somewhere in effort to avoid the 65 dollar transfer station fee. This is the same guy who earlier said, "the way they fix the tax problem in this country is to figure out how to make guys like me pay their fair share." He is full of self serving ideas and doesn't appear to follow any particular moral code except for his Christan beliefs which seem to dwell on the Book of Revelations and the coming end of the world. Let's just say his strike zone is a lot wider than Toms.
Later on in the week in another well-to-do neighborhood passing temporary signs to a horse show and stuck in a Mercedes and BMW traffic jamb, I was listening to a NPR radio story about a man in Newfoundland who, because the fisheries are so depleted, now catches small ice bergs. (They call them bergie bits!) He then melts them and sells the water to someone in Texas who sells it again for it's purported health benefits for a ridiculous amount of money.
I drove on noticing that the folk in this neighborhood don't own non-purebred dogs and they hire people to walk them. When looking to park I noticed that the trees on side of the street each had a little sign on them that said, "caution trees dripping sap." Taking my lesson from Tom I looked for the good in it and will only say, I guess it doesn't get anymore civilized than that.
Then there was a grand old lady who I do work for who told me more stories about her friendship with Anna Mahler and how she once gave a Judy Collins album to Julio Cortazar who visited her at her (rather unique) home. She also told me about the mother of a woman she knows who scolded Albert Einstein for bringing a lit pipe into her house. She says, "he then childishly snuffed the pipe out in his coat pocket, can you imagine?" with a big laugh.
Back to NPR and a story about a couple who decided to have sex for one hundred and one days in a row and write a book about it. And politics? I didn't even get there. It is an odd life we live isn't it.
Thursday, July 03, 2008
How about a Poem
It seems the worst thing you can do when drawing a blank is to amble through the thoughts of those who don't seem to be as stuck as you. In fact it is so corrupting that like television, sometimes I must swear off the internet for a period of time. How long? Until I can see clearly again. For now I'm trying some poetry.
I stayed in
for a pounding rain,
timed flash to thunder
in a hurricane.
Doors ajar
struck with fear,
fury and darkness
move far to near.
Beneath a dinosaur,
path unaligned,
will it touch down
is now the time.
Brilliant light,
fraction of time,
clapping resound,
a foot hit the ground.
Now wait,
and wait more?
Where is
the dinosaur?
But no closer comes
peril this day,
relieved so
that fate had it's way.
The journey over,
pleased how all fared,
I step through the door,
breath the sweet sweet air.
I stayed in
for a pounding rain,
timed flash to thunder
in a hurricane.
Doors ajar
struck with fear,
fury and darkness
move far to near.
Beneath a dinosaur,
path unaligned,
will it touch down
is now the time.
Brilliant light,
fraction of time,
clapping resound,
a foot hit the ground.
Now wait,
and wait more?
Where is
the dinosaur?
But no closer comes
peril this day,
relieved so
that fate had it's way.
The journey over,
pleased how all fared,
I step through the door,
breath the sweet sweet air.
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Guess What, Another Obama Smear
Thanks, Jake Tapper of ABC news for getting to the bottom of the latest Obama's a Muslim smear. This is especially noble because you don't strike me as an Obama supporter. You could have ignored this story but instead you did your journalistic duty and set the record straight.
Quickly, the story goes like this. The Jerusalem Post reported, Barack Obama's half brother Malik said Thursday that if elected his brother will be a good president for the Jewish people, despite his Muslim background. As you can imagine it soon showed up on conservative and other blogs who ran with the Muslim background aspect of the report and then it found it's way to Fox news on June 16th. Brit Hume said, "Barack Obama is a practicing Christian, married in a Christian church, whose children were also baptized in that church. His campaign has emphasized his faith in part to dispel what the campaign calls an online smear campaign which contends among other things that Obama was raised a Muslim. There is even a statement on his official campaign website reading quote, Obama has never been a Muslim, and is a committed Christian. But Obama's half brother is not so sure. Malik Obama tells the Jerusalem Post that, if elected his brother will be a good president for the Jewish people, despite his Muslim background."
The problem is that Malik Obama never said that. ABC news got a hold of the audio interview and there was no such thing said. The Jerusalem Post has removed the story from it's website.
I'm not exactly sure why I feel so compelled to stick up for Barrack Obama, especially when I see him smeared. I think that part of it is that in the past it seemed that if one politician didn't come through then the next one probably possessed a similar set of skills and all the other attributes, that in my eyes, this country stands for. But now so much has changed and the stakes are much higher. At the same time the probability has never seemed lower that someone could rise through the ranks with the important qualities necessary to improve things.
I view Jon McCain as a good man but I am not sure he comprehends the degree of the problem. Regardless of which patriotic coat you wear most would agree that the U.S does not hold the same place of power it previously did. World wide envy has resulted in the closing of the gap. After all haven't we been in the business of spreading our secrets to success like democracy, human rights and capitalism so the world could catch up? Well it's happening and I don't think the old guard likes it much.
In these marketplaces things are far more efficient these days and the smart guys are the ones who know that strength means something different than it once did.
Quickly, the story goes like this. The Jerusalem Post reported, Barack Obama's half brother Malik said Thursday that if elected his brother will be a good president for the Jewish people, despite his Muslim background. As you can imagine it soon showed up on conservative and other blogs who ran with the Muslim background aspect of the report and then it found it's way to Fox news on June 16th. Brit Hume said, "Barack Obama is a practicing Christian, married in a Christian church, whose children were also baptized in that church. His campaign has emphasized his faith in part to dispel what the campaign calls an online smear campaign which contends among other things that Obama was raised a Muslim. There is even a statement on his official campaign website reading quote, Obama has never been a Muslim, and is a committed Christian. But Obama's half brother is not so sure. Malik Obama tells the Jerusalem Post that, if elected his brother will be a good president for the Jewish people, despite his Muslim background."
The problem is that Malik Obama never said that. ABC news got a hold of the audio interview and there was no such thing said. The Jerusalem Post has removed the story from it's website.
I'm not exactly sure why I feel so compelled to stick up for Barrack Obama, especially when I see him smeared. I think that part of it is that in the past it seemed that if one politician didn't come through then the next one probably possessed a similar set of skills and all the other attributes, that in my eyes, this country stands for. But now so much has changed and the stakes are much higher. At the same time the probability has never seemed lower that someone could rise through the ranks with the important qualities necessary to improve things.
I view Jon McCain as a good man but I am not sure he comprehends the degree of the problem. Regardless of which patriotic coat you wear most would agree that the U.S does not hold the same place of power it previously did. World wide envy has resulted in the closing of the gap. After all haven't we been in the business of spreading our secrets to success like democracy, human rights and capitalism so the world could catch up? Well it's happening and I don't think the old guard likes it much.
In these marketplaces things are far more efficient these days and the smart guys are the ones who know that strength means something different than it once did.
Friday, June 13, 2008
Missing Tim Russert
I'm crushed. I'm not sure there is anyone beyond who I know and love whose death could rattle me more than Tim Russert's. I adore him, and having tea with him every Sunday morning was pure pleasure.
There is no replacement. The bull pen is empty. The TV journalism reservoir is nearly dry.
I do get the vast majority of my news from the print guy's. The Warren Strobel's or Jonathan Landay's of the world keep me informed, but Sunday morning the television is king. It's a mindless sort of intravenous way to be royally fed the news.
So, looking forward, who will those people of interest meet with each weekend? There is Andrea Mitchell, whom I deeply respect, yet still insufficient for the role. Chris Mathews? His looming threat of running for political office turns me off. Who's left? Who has the footwork to dazzle a guest into parting with information that reveals more than their projected self? I can't come up with a single name. The extra sleep will do me some good.
Mr. Russert, may you be a half hour in heaven before the devil knows your dead.
There is no replacement. The bull pen is empty. The TV journalism reservoir is nearly dry.
I do get the vast majority of my news from the print guy's. The Warren Strobel's or Jonathan Landay's of the world keep me informed, but Sunday morning the television is king. It's a mindless sort of intravenous way to be royally fed the news.
So, looking forward, who will those people of interest meet with each weekend? There is Andrea Mitchell, whom I deeply respect, yet still insufficient for the role. Chris Mathews? His looming threat of running for political office turns me off. Who's left? Who has the footwork to dazzle a guest into parting with information that reveals more than their projected self? I can't come up with a single name. The extra sleep will do me some good.
Mr. Russert, may you be a half hour in heaven before the devil knows your dead.
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Obama-Biden Ticket
Just going to rattle off some stuff here because I don't have much time. Senator Obama, I predict, will convince Senator Joe Biden to become his running mate. How's that for a prediction. Maybe wishful thinking but there is a radiating simpatico there that I can't ignore. There is a no-nonsense directness they share that appeals to me. I may be repeating myself but there is an old Italian saying that goes something like, "between to say and to do is half an ocean." I see them, shirt sleeves rolled up, filling and placing the sand bags trying to save the town rather than working hard to avoid work like so many do. That's my dream ticket anyway.
Next, Garrison Keillor of Prairie Home Companion fame who I admire, endorsed Senator Obama. Great news.
And finally a little joke. Funny to me anyway. I was in a local plant nursery yesterday and was waited on by my favorite Brooklyn, New York born clerk. One of those guy's who just puts a smile on your face when you see him. We were talking about this and that when I spotted some containers with some live snails inside that were for sale. I asked him about them and he said, " yeah, ya put dee's in da god'n and day eat da bad snail eggs, and da debris and udder stuff." He seemed a little strained having to explain this to me which green-lighted me to bust him a little bit so I said, wow you know a lot about these, you have some at home? They eat debris? and he says, yeah, da bree cheese. He claimed it with a high five and we laughed.
Next, Garrison Keillor of Prairie Home Companion fame who I admire, endorsed Senator Obama. Great news.
And finally a little joke. Funny to me anyway. I was in a local plant nursery yesterday and was waited on by my favorite Brooklyn, New York born clerk. One of those guy's who just puts a smile on your face when you see him. We were talking about this and that when I spotted some containers with some live snails inside that were for sale. I asked him about them and he said, " yeah, ya put dee's in da god'n and day eat da bad snail eggs, and da debris and udder stuff." He seemed a little strained having to explain this to me which green-lighted me to bust him a little bit so I said, wow you know a lot about these, you have some at home? They eat debris? and he says, yeah, da bree cheese. He claimed it with a high five and we laughed.
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