Campaign Updates for 7/23/08
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Foreign press: All Obama, all the time (Politico)
Lack of access hasn’t stopped the ink from flowing world-wide, as reporters flock to foreign capitals for this week’s five-country tour.
Karen Hughes Alert: For Obama, a royal ride to the airport (On Politics, USA Today)
From the tarmac at Queen Alia International Airport in Amman, Jordan, USA TODAY’s Kathy Kiely just checked in to say that on his way out of town Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama had a truly royal chauffeur. King Abdullah was behind the wheel.
Obama Quest - Bethlehem (video, The Daily Show)
Barack Obama makes a short visit to the manger in Bethlehem where he was born.
Karen Hughes Alert: Palestinian makes Obama bagel for candidate visit
RAMALLAH, West Bank - Palestinian baker Nasir Abdul Hadi is so grateful Barack Obama is making time to visit the West Bank that he has named a bagel after him.
Dog Bites Man Dept.: Obama arrives in Israel, says he’ll strengthen US-Israel ties (On Politics, USA Today)
USA TODAY’s Kathy Kiely, traveling with Barack Obama, reports that the Democratic presidential candidate has arrived at Ben Gurion airport inTel Aviv. He exited the plane just before 11 p.m. local time and in a brief statement said he wanted to reaffirm his commitment to maintaining strong U.S.-Israel ties. “The most important idea for me to reaffirm is the historic and special relationship between the United States and Israel,” he said. That relationship would be “not only continued but actually strengthened in an Obama administration.”
Obama Without a Teleprompter (by SusanUnPC at No Quarter)
Washington Post: “OBAMA: Well, let me — let me be absolutely clear. Israel is a strong friend of Israel’s. It will be a strong friend of Israel’s under a McCain government — administration. It will be a strong friend of Israel’s under an Obama administration. So that policy is not going to change.”
Obama is saying the wrong things about Afghanistan (by Juan Cole, Salon)
He hit the right notes during his swing through Iraq, but his plans for that other war could mean trouble.
Bild: Barack Obama Bans Protest Signs in Berlin (by Uppity Woman at No Quarter)
It seems George Bush Barack Obama is up to his old control tricks even in countries he visits. So much for Foreign Relations and setting the example for Democracy. But the important thing is CNN and MSNBC won’t have to stage their video shots when they show America how much The Plastic Jesus is totally worshipped in Europe during his Tour de Farce. “Barack Obama Verbietet Protest-Plakate In Berlin “
McCain raises money off Obama’s trip (Politico)
John McCain, resigned to what an adviser memorably called “table scraps” of news coverage this week, has blasted a fundraising e-mail to supporters arguing that the press has “a bizarre fascination with Barack Obama.” The e-mail has the blunt subject line: “The media is in love.” Grammatically, it would be “the media ARE in love,” but his point is clear that news organizations are overdoing it in their expensive, extensive coverage of Obama’s weeklong swing through the Middle East and Europe.
Daily Show on press idolatry: Call him ‘Barack Oboner’ (Raw Story)
Within moments, the whole cast of reporters were declaring a phallic affection of the presumptive Democratic nominee, at Rob Riggle’s declaration that, “Barack Obama … Kinda gives me a boner.”
Click through to watch the video.
Not all of the coverage is positive, says Bag News Notes:
The Trip : I Say Energetic, You Say Flat
Click through to read the analysis of this photo and others.
Exposing Bush’s historic abuse of power (by Tim Shorrock, Salon)
Salon has uncovered new evidence of post-9/11 spying on Americans. Obtained documents point to a potential investigation of the White House that could rival Watergate.
But will any members of the Bush administration ever suffer the consequences of their illegal activities?
Obama Adviser Cass Sunstein Rejects Prosecution of “Non-Egregious” Bush Crimes (by Jonathan Turley)
With many Democrats still fuming over the refusal of Democratic leaders like Speaker Nancy Pelosi to allow even impeachment hearings into detailed allegations of crimes by President Bush in office, close Obama adviser (and University of Chicago Law Professor) Cass Sunstein recently rejected the notion of prosecuting Bush officials for crimes such as torture and unlawful surveillance… The exchange with Sunstein was detailed by The Nation’s Ari Melber. Melber wrote that Sunstein rejected any such prosecution: “Prosecuting government officials risks a ‘cycle’ of criminalizing public service, [Sunstein] argued, and Democrats should avoid replicating retributive efforts like the impeachment of President Clinton — or even the ‘slight appearance’ of it.”
Sunstein did add that “egregious crimes should not be ignored,” according to one site… It is entirely unclear what that means since some of us take the views that any crimes committed by the government are egregious. Those non-egregious crimes are precisely what worries many lawyers who were looking for a simple commitment to prosecute crimes committed by the government… The main concern with Sunstein’s reported comment is how well they fit within the obvious strategy of the Democratic party leaders: to block any prosecution of either President Bush or his aides for crimes while running on those crimes to maintain and expand their power in Washington. The missing component in this political calculus is, of course, a modicum of principle.
Is this another flip-flop? See below.
Apr 14, 2008: Obama would ask his AG to “immediately review” potential of crimes in Bush White House (by Will Bunch at Attytood)
Obama sent a clear signal that — unlike impeachment, which he’s ruled out and which now seems a practical impossibility — he is at the least open to the possibility of investigating potential high crimes in the Bush White House.
I tried and tried and tried to tell people that Obama is nothing but an accommodationist for the corporatocracy, and I should know because he’s my senator. Not only would nobody listen, I was vilified and hounded for telling the truth about him.
Anti-Obama doc to premiere on DNC eve (Politico)
Provocateur is expected to recycle the “greatest hits” of cable TV clips that damaged Obama’s candidacy.
“Hype: The Obama Effect”– The Movie (by Uppity Woman at No Quarter)
Citizens United Productions is baaaaackkkk. And they are about to release a film entitled “Hype: The Obama Effect“. Based on what I have seen on the internet, I expect they will need a police presence in the theaters because Obama supporters don’t like their Plastic Jesus being criticized… The Chicago Kneecapper is going to get Kneecapped a few times before November. In some quarters, they call this Poetic Justice. Public Release Date: September 1, right after Obama gives his “I am MLK, JFK and Jesus Of Nazareth” speech to a screened audience–with protestors far enough away to ensure they don’t interfere with the worship ceremony. Suffer unto me the Little Suckers. All I want to know is, where do I go to get the popcorn concession license?
Click through to watch the ad video. If you wanted Obama to be the Democratic candidate because you thought there would be too many attacks on Hillary, you have seriously underestimated the right wing.
CNN Highlights Racist Writings To Argue That An Obama Presidency Could ‘Hurt Black Americans’ (Think Progress)
[Tuesday], CNN’s John Blake has an article titled, “Could an Obama presidency hurt black Americans?” In the piece, Blake notes that some commentators — including African-Americans, whites, Latinos, and conservatives — warn that “an Obama victory could be twisted to suppress the push for racial equality.” One of the white commentators Blake cites is Steve Sailer… It’s unbelievable that CNN would use Sailer, who, as Jesse Taylor notes, is more than just a conservative pundit. He has repeatedly made racially insensitive remarks.
Click through to read some of the remarks in question. If you thought Obama should be the Democratic candidate because the right wing wouldn’t, or couldn’t, attack him on the basis of race, you have seriously underestimated the right wing. Again.
Nas to deliver 600,000 signature petition protesting Fox News’s attacks on African-Americans. (Think Progress)
At 2 PM [Wednesday], rap star Nas will deliver a petition — organized by Color of Change and Move On.org and signed by 600,000 people — to Fox News’s Manhattan headquarters, calling on the network to “stop its racist smears against the Obamas and other Black Americans.”
So when will we see the MoveOn/NOW petition demanding that MSNBC stop its sexist attacks on at least one female candidate? Or one demanding that rap stars stop denigrating women in their raps? And when will ColorOfChange apologize for calling Hillary Clinton a racist, simply because she observed the truth, that the demographic group known as “white” people were voting for her? And when will ColorOfChange apologize for threatening violence if the DNC tried to be fair in applying the rules to the primary election? See below.
May 9, 2008 ColorOfChange Leader Accuses Clinton of ‘Race Baiting’ (The Trail, Washington Post)
There was yet another sign of racial disharmony in the Democratic Party today, as the leader of the influential black online advocacy group ColorOfChange.org lashed out at Hillary Clinton, calling her claim to owning the white, blue-collar vote “race baiting.” “The politics of division now seems to be her core strategy” to overcome Barack Obama’s lead in the primary, said James Rucker, a co-founder of ColorOfChange who once worked for the liberal advocacy group MoveOn.org… ColorOfChange, which has 400,000 members and relies on a large network of black bloggers to spread its message, recently circulated a petition warning the Democratic party that adopting rules that would allow Clinton to overcome Obama’s lead “could be the worst mistake the party has ever made.”
Don’t tell me they didn’t mean violence. Donna Brazile explicitly said so on national television: “There will be blood” (This Week 4/27/08, video, at 10:53). And there were Tom Hayden’s words on NPR, “If there were the theft of a nomination, if that was the perception of the Obama supporters, then probably there would be a ‘68 scenario.”
THE TITLE BOUT (by Lynette Long)
Don Fowler, the former head of the DNC sent a letter to Democratic leaders and major contributors this week urging party unity… To illustrate that Clinton supporters are sore losers, Fowler compared the Democratic Primary to men’s basketball and men’s tennis… If sports were the metaphor of choice, the Democratic Primary is more like boxing than tennis or basketball. One could equate the primary to the World Heavyweight Boxing Championship. The two fighters in the ring, Senator’s Clinton and Obama, went the distance, 15 rounds, or in this case 52 primaries, but neither candidate scored a knockout blow.
The fight will be decided by decision. The judges in this fight are the superdelegates and they will announce their decision at the Democratic Convention. There is one caveat however. These superdelegates are not impartial and both a carrot and a stick have been used to get them to declare for Obama. Many superdelegates have had large sums of money donated to their campaigns by Barack Obama under the guise of the Hope Fund or the Hope Pac. Others have received warnings that the DNC will not support their next campaign if they do not support Obama and still others have had death threats from the African American community.
Wednesday: Dignity? (by riverdaughter at The Confluence)
Reader D. sent me this last night: “…Remember the Women Count Pac? The one that did the fabulous ads for Senator Clinton? I remember back in the my naïve days when I thought I knew what movements were about when I extended my hand for membership and sometimes with my precious few donation dollars after the Hillary donations and travel… They sent out an email yesterday asking for people who want to be informed and attend a “Platform Listening Meeting” in my area. How cool, eh? Not so much… [W]hen you click to find your area – guess what website opens for you to choose your area? That’s right – the selected one.”
The problem is that these regional platform forums shouldn’t be held at all in this manner. Since when did Obama own the Democratic party’s platform? What we *should* be doing is asking this question over and over again at theses forums: “Who died and made you God of the Democrats?” Will Bower and I got a quite different kind of letter from Hillary Clinton. In it, she asks for our input on what concerns us most and she is asking for it in current terms not for future contemplation. You can add your input at HillPAC here. I’m assuming that she doesn’t have to go to one of these Platform Listening Tours or whatever to get them to pay attention.
Obama supporters for universal health care (by DCblogger at Corrente
Calling all Obama supporters, because health insurance isn’t health care, a group of health care advocates are organizing on Obama’s site. SiCKO (Universal Health Care - HR 676)
OBAMA, THE DEMOCRATIC ‘WAR PRESIDENT’ (by Eric Margolis, Foreign Correspondent / Defense Analyst & Columnist)
CALGARY - Barack Obama wants to withdraw US troops from Iraq and send them to Afghanistan, which he calls the real front on the `war on terror.’ He also has repeated threats to attack Pakistan `if necessary.’… It is distressing to see Obama succumb to the blitz of war propaganda over Afghanistan and adopt George Bush’s faux terminology of terrorism. Before Obama urges widening America’s war there, he should consider [click through for a list of Margolis’ caveats].
Antiwar activists split over Obama’s troop plans (McClatchy)
WASHINGTON — Barack Obama’s plan to build up U.S. forces in Afghanistan while keeping perhaps 50,000 troops in Iraq has triggered a deep rift among antiwar activists, a reminder of the difficult tasking facing the presumptive Democratic nominee as he tries to broaden his appeal.
Maybe they should start another protest group at My.BarackObama.com. Pretty soon, there will be nothing BUT protest groups on that website.
Obama ‘more left’ than a socialist: McCain
WASHINGTON (AFP) - Republican White House hopeful John McCain said Friday that his Democratic rival Barack Obama is further to the left than the only Socialist US senator.
If only he were either “left” OR a socialist. Unfortunately, he’s an accommodationist to the corporatocracy.
Novak Says He May Have Been Used (Political Wire )
Robert Novak told Fox News that his report [Monday] about Sen. John McCain naming his running mate this week may have been “a dodge” by the campaign to steal some attention from Sen. Barack Obama. Novak said he got the tip from a “very senior McCain aide” and that the campaign “suggested I put it out.” Now he feels he’s been used and that it’s “pretty reprehensible.”
Novak has made a very good living for very many years from being “used”.
McCain Falsely Claims The Surge ‘Began The Anbar Awakening,’ But CBS Doesn’t Air It (Think Progress)
During an interview with Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), CBS Evening News host Katie Couric noted that Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) said recently that “there might have been improved security [in Iraq] even without the surge” and asked McCain, “What’s your response to that?” After first calling Obama’s claim “a false depiction of what actually happened,” McCain proceeded to falsely claim that the surge “began the Anbar awakening“…But in a puzzling move, the CBS Evening News did not actually televise McCain’s false claim tonight. As MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann reported, “CBS curiously, to say the least, left it on the edit room floor. It aired Katie Couric’s question, but in response, it inserted part of McCain’s answer to another question instead.”
Click through for a link to the entire answer on video.
Lots more really good stuff at MakeThemAccountable.com.
MakeThemAccountable.com
