Politics Archives
This is a very large file. For the full smaller digest version, click here.RightMarch plans (possibly ineffective) anti-illegal immigration rally at Democratic Convention
The group RightMarch is planning a "massive" rally at the Democratic Convention next month to protest illegal immigration. It "will feature dozens of prominent speakers and leaders in the fight for border security". And, it probably won't have much of an impact:
Imagine -- 35,000 people, including 15,000 reporters, hearing YOUR message AGAINST illegal immigration, LOUD AND CLEAR!
The vast majority of reporters won't care. Most of those who do will just feature it as a sidenote. Perhaps a few will write biased reports. Obviously, they need to be somewhat nice to the press just in case, but they also have to realize that the press is more or less in the enemy camp.
However, if they get enough people it might send a bit of a message to the conventioneers, but probably not much: they'll soon forgot it.
If Right March wants to have an impact, they should try to get into the convention and ask candidates and DNC officials difficult questions on video, and then upload their responses to video sharing sites. Sending a clear message that supporting illegal immigration is a career limiting move will have a far greater impact than even a "massive" rally. If someone's willing to go to Denver to attend a rally, then surely reading a question off a card shouldn't be that difficult, right? Attendees can repurpose the questions here, call Obama on this, this, this, or this, or use one of these questions already in printable form. For extra credit, they could videotape interactions with MSM reporters and present them with specific examples of their biased reporting.
Dick Morris: McCain should stress that Obama's healthcare plan covers illegal aliens
Former Vicente Fox payee Dick Morris has previously stated that one of John McCain's key talking points should be that Barack Obama's universal healthcare plan covers illegal aliens. He has a point, but as he himself admits McCain is probably too wimpy to mention that out of the misguided belief that - since the NCLR would disapprove - he'd hurt himself with the largely mythical Hispanic vote. From his latest:...Obama has said, proudly and often, "I am going to give health insurance to 47 million Americans who are now without coverage." But are they "Americans?"
That 47 million statistic includes illegal immigrants - who virtually all lack insurance. In fact, about one in four of those lacking insurance is here illegally. And they are, by far, the group most in need of health insurance...
...But do we really want to give them federally paid coverage equal to what US senators get, as Obama proposes?
... Covering illegals adds dramatically to the cost of any program - and would encourage more folks to enter America illicitly.
Obama's plan will likely have a horrific effect on some local health-care systems...
...But now [illegal aliens would] be eligible for the entire range of medical services, all free of charge. That would trigger severe rationing: bureaucrats deciding who gets to see an oncologist, who can have an MRI - and even who can have bypass surgery and who'd die for lack of it...
Shaun Casey, Barack Obama's faith advisor, supports illegal immigration, engages in false compassion
No big surprise there. Late last month, the Barack Obama campaign hired Shaun Casey - a professor at Washington DC's Wesley Theological Seminary - as a religious affairs advisor. His exact title varies from report to report, but he'll be leading their outreach to evangelicals. And, he'll be stressing leftwing to far-left topics. See the complimentary profile here, with negative information provided here including the fact that he's a visiting fellow at the Center For American Progress.And, back on September 4, 2006 he offered a stock leftwing justification for bad public policy in "Jesus Was An Illegal Immigrant" (faithfuldemocrats.com/content/view/104/108).
I left the following comment a few weeks ago under the title "Shaun Casey's false compassion":
Shaun Casey is deeply confused, he's engaging in false compassion, and if he had his way the situation would be far worse for everyone involved.
Deporting illegal aliens isn't like infanticide, it's simply returning people to their home countries. And, returning illegal aliens to their home countries - provided it's done in accordance with our laws and with generally accepted standards - is the best thing for all concerned.
By enforcing our laws, we'd raise wages for our own low-wage earning citizens, our own citizens wouldn't be prevented from going to college because an illegal alien was given their spot or discount, and, among many other benefits, we wouldn't have to listen to people like Shaun Casey trying to hide his support for illegal activity behind a highly questionable interpretation of the Bible.
And, that would work wonders on Mexico and other sending countries. Rather than trying to profit by sending us people, Mexico would be forced to take care of their own people. Those illegal aliens who returned home would press for reforms and would help build up Mexico rather than the current situation where large parts of their countryside have been emptied. And, since many fewer would try to cross the desert, many fewer would die while trying.
I urge the reader to think everything through, and hopefully the reader will see that if we follow Shaun Casey's advice, we'll just make the situation even worse.
Ethnocentric Lionel Sosa working for John McCain (money from Mexican government?)
Lionel Sosa is an extremely ethnocentric GOP advertising consultant who worked on George W. Bush's presidential campaigns. Last year, he crossed over and supported Bill Richardson because, as he said at the time, "Blood runs thicker than politics".
Now, he's switched back and is working for John McCain:
Sosa, the son of Mexican immigrants, said his San Antonio-based team is editing a five-minute video and a series of 30-second television spots featuring McCain. They're also taping testimonials from Hispanics who know McCain, including Frank Gamboa, his Mexican-American roommate at the Naval Academy.
The ad discussed here might be one of those.
Flashback to January:
[Casey Wian reports] Lobbying groups for the U.S. construction, agriculture and other industries with large illegal alien work forces are funding a series of pro-amnesty TV ads scheduled to air after this year's presidential conventions. And Mexican funding for the ad campaign is quote, "a very, very strong possibility", says the executive director of matt.org [Lionel Sosa], Mexicans and Americans thinking together. It is hoping to raise $100 million for the ad campaign.
A good question for townhalls or conference calls would be whether McCain's videomaker is also getting funding from the government of Mexico to push their agenda inside the U.S.
John McCain isn't listening to you, but there's something you can do
Imagine for a moment life without the Internet. Imagine that your only source for information was the MSM, government officials, politicians, lobbyists, screened voters at townhall meetings, and protective staffers with their own agendas. That's a very close approximation to the knowledge base of John McCain:
"I am learning to get online myself, and I will have that down fairly soon, getting on myself. I don't expect to be a great communicator, I don't expect to set up my own blog, but I am becoming computer literate to the point where I can get the information that I need." Asked which blogs he read, he said: "[Press secretary] Brooke [Buchanan] and [senior adviser] Mark [Salter] show me Drudge, obviously. Everybody watches, for better or for worse, Drudge. Sometimes I look at Politico. Sometimes RealPolitics."
Does anyone expect "Brooke" or "Mark" to show McCain any of the thousands of posts or comments pointing out issues with the National Council of La Raza, immigration "reform", or all the rest? The link above has a round-up of "liberals" mocking McCain, but the far more important issue is that he's cocooned and is unable to research or direct others to accurately research groups like the NCLR. In brief, McCain isn't listening to you.
Since McCain won't come to the information, we have to take it to him by going to his public appearances, asking him tough questions about his policies, and then uploading his response to video sharing sites.
Barack Obama at National Council of La Raza convention (ICE as terrorists)
Barack Obama spoke at the National Council of La Raza convention earlier today. See below for more on the NCLR. BHO's prepared remarks are here.
BHO said many of the things he's said before; apparently his scriptwriters engaged in a lot of copy-and-paste. And, of course, he said many things that once again show he's not qualified to be president:
The system isn't working when 12 million people live in hiding, and hundreds of thousands cross our borders illegally each year; when companies hire undocumented immigrants instead of legal citizens to avoid paying overtime or to avoid a union; when communities are terrorized by ICE immigration raids – when nursing mothers are torn from their babies, when children come home from school to find their parents missing, when people are detained without access to legal counsel.
He's referring to lawful, necessary activities by Immigration and Customs Enforcement as "terroriz[ing]"? And, he's repeating the lie he told earlier (the "babies" bit). Since much of that part was repurposed from his LULAC speech, see the last link for a discussion of the rest.
And, there's this:
By living up to the ideals that this organization has always embodied – the ideals reflected in your name – La Raza, the people. I'm told that the original phrase was "La Raza Cosmica" – the cosmic people – a term big enough to embrace the rich tapestry of cultures, colors and faiths that make up the Hispanic community. Big enough to embrace the notion that we are all part of a greater community – that we all have a stake in each other; that I am my brother's keeper, I am my sister's keeper; and we rise and fall together as one people.
Whatever it's origins, "raza" means one thing nowadays, and Obama isn't "raza" (note the use of the word "we"). That's not as bad as going to a Bund meeting in the 30s and misunderstanding "das Volk" or similar, but it's close. The idea that the NCLR and the phrase "raza" is anything other than racially exclusionary is incredibly stupid, and dangerously so.
And, for yet another disqualifier, he shows he doesn't understand democracy and the concept of free speech:
The 12 million people in the shadows, the communities taking immigration enforcement into their own hands, the neighborhoods seeing rising tensions as citizens are pitted against new immigrants... they're counting on us to stop the hateful rhetoric filling our airwaves – rhetoric that poisons our political discourse, degrades our democracy, and has no place in this great nation.
BHO would try to drive speech he (and the NCLR) consider "hateful" off the airwaves; he's singled out Lou Dobbs by name in the past, and the NCLR and those linked to them have likewise targetted Dobbs, Glenn Beck, and Bill O'Reilly. If he becomes president, he'd take actions to drive them off the air.
About the NCLR: they're a far-left organization that supported giving a break to those who engage in identity theft, they gave an award to a vile racist, their leaders frequently mislead, and they have links to and fund extremists. And, Karl Rove spoke at their 2006 event. And, there's more.
UPDATE: This post was augmented from when it originally referred to the imperfect live-blog here: mydd.com/story/2008/7/13/15348/3308
Barack Obama's "civilian national security force" (????)
Back on July 2, Barack Obama read his "public service" address, and it contained this line that hasn't received much notice:
"We cannot continue to rely only on our military in order to achieve the national security objectives we've set... We've got to have a civilian national security force that's just as powerful, just as strong, just as well funded."
What the Sam Hill? There's nothing at his Service page (barackobama.com/issues/service) discussing anything near such a program. He wants to increase the size of Americorps, create a "Homeland Security Corps", create other specialized groups, and give more power and equipment to the Reserves and Guard. But, considering that the U.S. military budget is nearly half a trillion dollars and they've got bunker busters and nuclear submarines and things like that, one might expect some sort of inkling of a plan.
And, of course, there's the creepy nature of his proposal, but nothing new there.
UPDATE: VOA News also has the BHO quote here. You can hear the quote at around the 16 minute mark of the video below. As discussed here, the quote is missing from the remarks as prepared for delivery as printed in the Denver Post and the WSJ. Why he'd say something in his speech that was different from the prepared remarks isn't clear, and it will be interesting to see which version the campaign puts on their website, if they ever do put it on their site.
John McCain's Hispandering gets even worse ("God's Children", Tancredo)
John McCain is a sleazy panderer, but he's now shown he can do even worse. The same ad McCain released on Memorial Day - commemorating the service of Hispanics and none others - has been re-released under the title "God's Children". The video is below, and if anyone sees any differences between the two versions leave a comment.
Everything that was wrong about the earlier ad is still wrong, but the new title makes it even worse. And, thanks to a "review" from either John Broder or Larry Rohter of the NYT (link) I noticed that the ad features this:
At one point, Representative Tom Tancredo of Colorado, a leading opponent of liberalized immigration laws, sits poker-faced as Mr. McCain praises the contributions of Hispanics to the armed forces and American life.
People who support our laws and who oppose ethnic nationalism really irk McCain, don't they? Also, needless to say, whichever NYT hack penned the "review" they failed to note how disreputable the ad is, and they also pretend that McCain has an "emphasis on legal immigration" when he's uttered statements in favor of illegal immigration and supports a massive amnesty for illegal aliens.
Barack Obama: "I ended up loving Texas!... It is fun to be in Fargo" (Jeff Zeleny/NYT)
The exact motivations for the Jeff Zeleny/New York Times article "As America Learns About Obama, He Returns the Favor" (link) aren't clear. I don't know whether he thinks he's doing him a favor, or whether his bosses have realized that BHO needs more experience before being selected for something and are trying to get him to withdraw from the race. However, in the recount of his travels across the U.S. - mostly to places he's never been before - he comes off sounding - pardon me - a bit "special". And, also more than a bit foreign:
"A place that I’ve come to love, which I did not expect until this campaign, is Texas... I ended up loving Texas! I've been struck by how many beautiful places there are in the country that you don't necessarily think of as beautiful. Pittsburgh, for example, is a really handsome town with the rivers and the hills... ...It is fun to be in Fargo. But it doesn't look like it does in the movie... [he's fast with the facts, too:] Oregon actually is the size of Great Britain, except it has 3 million people and Great Britain has 80 million... You pick up facts like that, and you realize again how lucky we are... [other quotes and interesting Zeleny comments]... ...I will make it to Alaska at some point, but maybe after I'm president. I can't wait."
I've never been to Pittsburgh but I'll take BHO's word for it that it isn't as bad as people say.
Barack Obama wants a bilingual, English-Spanish U.S. (+more American bashing)
One of Barack Obama's most shocking statements was issued earlier today at a high school in Powder Springs, Georgia, where he said, among other things, the following (link):
"We live in a global economy. And, you know, I don't understand when people are going around worrying about, 'We need to have English- only.' They want to pass a law, 'We want English-only'... Now, I agree that immigrants should learn English. I agree with that. But understand this. Instead of worrying about whether immigrants can learn English - they'll learn English - you need to make sure your child can speak Spanish. You should be thinking about, how can your child become bilingual. We should have every child speaking more than one language."
While I have no doubt that his supporters will spin that statement in ever more creative ways, the bottom line (in our universe) is that Barack Obama is calling for a bilingual English-Spanish U.S. In the unlikely event that he becomes president, it's not difficult to imagine him pandering by pushing for funding for programs designed to teach Spanish rather than just programs not specific to one language.
Which brings us to a replay of BitterGate, with him also saying this:
"It's embarrassing when Europeans come over here, they all speak English, they speak French, they speak German. And then we go over to Europe and all we can say is 'Merci beaucoup.'"
Per the article, he said that for "comic effect", but somehow I'm not laughing.
UPDATE 4: See the extended entry for an example of the useful idiots who aren't even aware they're assimilating to immigrants rather than the other way around.
UPDATE 3: Obama has "clarified" his remarks by disingenuously suggesting that he only said Americans should learn foreign languages (link):
I said something the other day down in Georgia, and the Republicans jumped on this. I said, you know, absolutely immigrants need to learn English, but we also need to learn foreign languages... This is an example of some of the problems we get into when somebody attacks you for saying the truth, which is we should want children with more knowledge. We should want our children to have more skills. There's nothing wrong with that! It's a good thing...
Unfortunately, there were apparently no real reporters around to call him on misrepresenting his own comments. See this for a related discussion.
UPDATE 2: As expected, BHO's supporters are mischaracterizing his remarks, pretending that he just wants Americans to learn other languages. But, that's not the only thing he said. He wants parents to make sure that their children learn Spanish. He singled out one language, and if he had said they should learn French, people would wonder what he meant. But, because he mentioned Spanish, everyone knows exactly what he means: he wants citizens to assimilate to immigrants, even if he gives lip service to the reverse process.
A press release from US English is here. And, last month Rasumssen Reports did a telephone survey (link):
Eighty-three percent (83%) place a higher priority on encouraging immigrants to speak English as their primary language. Just 13% take the opposite view and say it is more important for Americans to learn other languages... [in different surveys] Among those angry about immigration, 59% believe most government officials encourage immigrants to retain their home country culture... 77% of Americans believed that employers should be allowed to require employees to speak English while on the job... 65% of voters now believe election ballots should only be printed in English. Thirty-two percent (32%) say they should be printed in both English and Spanish... 54% of voters say it is more important to encourage all immigrants to embrace American culture than it is to reduce the number of immigrants. Just 36% take the opposite view and say reducing immigration is a higher priority... Only 26% believe that every American should be able to speak at least two languages...
UPDATE: I replaced the original link with one with a longer transcript. And, here's video:
UPDATE 4: The comments on a post by "smintheus" (dailykos.com/story/2008/7/14/104027/288/892/551357) help show a) how an echo chamber leads to unchallenged and thereby occasionally false statements, b) how BHO's supporters are willing to mislead about his comments and the complaints about them, and c) Americans assimilating to immigrants instead of the other way around.
"smintheus" starts out by pretending that BHO's comments were just about learning new languages, and at the end says "Many right-wingers just skipped what Obama actually said and declared that he wants to forcibly indoctrinate their children in Spanish, or make Spanish the official language of the US." There's a subtle difference between that misstatement of concerns about BHO's comments and the actual concerns outlined above: what Obama said would lead to a bilingual U.S. No one's said he wants to make Spanish *the* official language, but his comments above could lead to him making it one of them. And, it certainly is possible that he'd want to forcibly make Spanish a requirement, but he's only so far made it his personal opinion and hasn't yet come up with a proposal.
And, the comments show Americans assimilating to immigrants:
"...I live in California. I was recently layed off from my jog as a paralegal because my boss retired. There are a lot of Spanish speaking people here in Sonoma County. I just spent $200+ for Spanish learning CD's..."
And:
"...I am in Mexico right this very moment, learning more Spanish to use in my job. Oh, and I will get a multi-thousand-dollar per year biingual stipend, which doesn't suck at all..."
And:
"If I didn't know Spanish... I'd have had a bitch of a time communicating with the movers who loaded my apartment onto a Budget truck last week. The job got done right only because my Spanish was marginally better than their English."
Obama gives interview to Access Hollywood; MSM pretends they do real reporting
Barack Obama gave an interview to Access Hollywood over the weekend, which was shown on their show as well as the Today Show. He and his family were apparently asked a series of puffball questions (by certified babe Maria Menounos), and they presumably answered with puffball answers.
And, needless to say, this has given the MSM yet another self-inflating, myth-building chance to pretend that they do real reporting and ask real questions.
From the Los Angeles Times' Leslie Hoffecker (link):
Every day, the presidential candidates face probing questions about their plans and policies from the reporters who travel almost everywhere with them. On the weekends, they're grilled by the moderators of the Sunday talk shows. So it must have been a real change of pace for Barack Obama when he sat down in Butte, Mont., over the Fourth of July weekend with "Access Hollywood."
From the Chicago Tribune's/Baltimore Sun's Mark Silva (link):
Considering the range of questions from traveling reporters that the presidential candidates face, and the grilling of moderators on the Sunday morning talk shows, Access Hollywood arrives as a real media vacation.
From ABC News' Jennifer Parker (link):
A hard-hitting interview on Obama's plans for Iraq or the economy, it's not.
The jokers above and all their friends in the MSM wouldn't know a tough question if it fell on their heads, and have no interest in asking anything even remotely difficult.
It would be incredibly easy for regular citizens to make the MSM look incredibly bad by simply going to campaign events and asking the questions "reporters" are too corrupt to ask. Unfortunately, few are willing to do that, but hopefully that will change.
Barack Obama's LULAC speech (another lie; overload!)
Barack Obama spoke to the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) earlier today. Some of his remarks were already covered here. The facts the MSM won't tell you about LULAC are here. A pre-convention BHO lie is here. However, there's much more. In fact, too much, but I'll try.
Thank you, Mayor. And thank you for what you do every day as one of America's finest mayors. At heart, what Mayor Villaraigosa is doing today is the same thing he was doing as a fifteen year old when he volunteered to take part in a grape boycott led by Cesar Chavez - he's fighting to make this country more equal and just. And he is a shining example of what we can achieve when we build a government that reflects the diversity of the United States of America.
Antonio Villaraigosa is little more than a sleazy, self-centered racial demagogue. He's one of our finest mayors only in the sense that, in some ways, he's not as bad as Marion Barry.
That's something I want to talk about because I'm told that today's theme is "diversity in government." So I've been thinking about why that's important and about what it means to have a government that represents all Americans. It's not just about making sure that men and women of every race, religion, and background are represented at every level of government - though that's a critical part of it. It's not just about sending a message to our children that everyone can lead and everyone can serve - although that too is important. It's about making sure that we have a government that knows that a problem facing any American is a problem facing all Americans.
BHO is calling for quotas well beyond even affirmative action. And, what exactly does he mean by "represented"? Is that in the same sense that LULAC "represents" Latinos? And, as their various proposals make clear, groups like LULAC, NCLR, and so on are only concerned about their own "communities", which conflicts with the last sentence.
...When Hispanics lose their jobs faster than almost anybody else, or work jobs that pay less, and come with fewer benefits than almost anybody else, that isn't a Hispanic-American problem, that's an American problem.
"Almost" is an interesting qualifier: which group loses jobs at a faster rate? And, the problem Obama identifies is related to massive immigration. It's a problem he's helped cause.
When 12 million people live in hiding in this country and hundreds of thousands of people cross our borders illegally each year; when companies hire undocumented workers instead of legal citizens to avoid paying overtime or to avoid a union; and a nursing mother is torn away from her baby by an immigration raid, that is a problem that all of us - black, white, and brown - must solve as one nation.
Illegal aliens aren't living "in hiding"; BHO appeared at an event where tens or hundreds of thousands of them marched through our streets. And, whatever situation they're in is because of choices they made; they won't be "living in hiding" if they return to their home countries. BHO could work to secure our borders, but instead those on his side constantly work to reduce all forms of enforcement.
As for the "nursing mother is torn away from her baby", that's yet another in the long line of Barack Obama lies. The baby was already in the hospital when the raid occurred.
If you assume that Barack Obama is just a crooked politician, everything he says makes perfect sense.
Elderly librarian ejected from John McCain event! (Don't worry about the details; ProgressNow)
Denver, Colorado's ProgressNow - a group linked to both the Democratic Party and multi-millionaire illegal immigration supporter Jared Polis - is pushing the story of a poor, helpless, 61-year-old part time librarian who was arrested before a John McCain event just because she was holding a sign saying "McCain = Bush" (progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/al/Cqyh).
Except, of course, there's more to it.
The "librarian" (Carol Kreck) works part-time for an "education think tank" (link). I haven't been able to determine which group that is, but it screams "Polis or affiliated" group to me. She's also a former Denver Post reporter (apparently under the name Carol Bell), so she's not a civilian either. There's also the question of whether she was on public or private property and whether they had a right to complain about the sign since no one else was allowed to have one. See the comment from someone who claims to be from Progress Now disputing the Denver Post's take, but for now I suggest putting this in the "Agitprop" category rather than the "Violation of First Amendment" category.
UPDATE: Per this:
It was Sen. John McCain's staff who asked security at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts to remove people holding protest signs at the venue — not U.S. Secret Service agents, who were not involved in Carol Kreck's ouster from the galleria... A previous federal appeals court decision determined that the galleria area where Kreck was standing is not necessarily a public spot and that protests can be curtailed there...
The "victim" herself weighs in here. She implies without offering any evidence that the Secret Service is lying. She also says - surprise - the ACLU is on the case.
Video of the arrest:
Barack Obama lies yet again (uninsured Hispanics, healthcare for illegal aliens)
Barack Obama seems to think that just pandering isn't enough, he has to lie while doing it. The latest example is a quote relating to his appearance at the LULAC convention [1]:
"I want to stop talking about the outrage of 15 million uninsured Hispanics in this country, the largest group of the uninsured in the U.S., and start actually doing something about it."
Obama lied about yet another statistic; in 2006 there were 21.2 million non-Hispanic whites who were uninsured (link). Unless we're doing ObamaMath, 21.3 million is greater than 15.3 million. And, since the Census Bureau also counts illegal aliens that implies that Obama wants to extend insurance to illegal aliens as well.
There is, however, one other explanation: unlike the U.S. Census Bureau, BHO doesn't perceive non-Hispanic whites as a "group". In his mind, only Hispanics, Asians, and blacks are distinctive "groups". See, for instance, this example of Barack Obama's racial demagoguery.
So, Barack Obama either lied, or he's more in the Al Sharpton/Jesse Jackson mold than many are willing to admit. I'll leave it up to his supporters to decide which it is.
READING COMPREHENSION UPDATE FOR OBAMA SUPPORTERS: It's true that there are more Hispanics as a percentage of their group who are uninsured than a similar statistic for non-Hispanic whites, but that's not what BHO said. However, if you'd prefer that explanation, then there's a third choice. With that choice, BHO was simply being egregiously misleading. Would that work better for you?
[1] hispanicbusiness.com/news/2008/6/6/2008_lulac_national_convention_hosted_at.htm
Obama, McCain, Clinton at LULAC convention (illegal immigration supporters; reconquista quote)
Barack Obama, John McCain, and even Hillary Clinton will all be speaking at this year's convention of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), an illegal immigration-supporting group that was once patriotic but has since been radicalized. As shown by the attendees discussed below, the convention will be a nexus of those who do not support what's in the best interests of the U.S. For example, here's a 2007 quote from their national treasurer Jaime Martinez, who'll also be appearing at one of their workshops:
"We must not sell out, and we must fight for the rights of our people that have been here! ...This is our land and we're going to fight for just and humane comprehensive immigration reform!... ...We did not cross the border, the border crossed us."
Needless to say, such sentiments are straight out of Reconquista 101, and both candidates (and Hillary) should be asked why they're speaking to such a group. Please go to one of their public appearances, read that quote, and then ask them to renounce LULAC.
McCain will appear at their "Diversity Luncheon" tomorrow; the "Open Dialogue with Obama" will be later that day. Hillary will speak on Friday. On Wednesday there's an invitation-only Ohtli Reception; whether that's related to the Mexican government's awards with the same name isn't known. Others attending include Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez and Labor Secretary Elaine Chao.
Their president Rosa Rosales says:
"We are at a turning point for both Latinos and our country's leadership. This is the Latino summer."
On an ominous note, they want to increase the numbers of Latinos working for the federal government. While that might initially seem to be a worthy goal, their actual goal is to embed those who sympathize with their agenda in positions of power [1]:
In partnership with the OPM Management Development Center and the Graduate School, USDA, [LULAC's Federal Training Institute] offers workshops that enable mid and senior level government employees to enhance their leadership competencies skills that develop the Executive Core Qualifications required for entry to the Senior Executive Service...
Their workshops include the following:
* "Election 2008: Mobilizing the Latino Vote", featuring Rep. Mike Honda of the DNC and Mike Duncan of the RNC.
* "The Media Objectivity in Covering Immigration". Mentions "Lou Dobbs, O'Reilly and Glenn Beck"; Ray Suarez of PBS has been invited to moderate. Showing their objectivity, all four panelists will presumably support illegal immigration.
* "Global Warming and its Consequences for Latinos": "Panelist will address why the Latino population is overwhelming vulnerable to this phenomenon..." No, really.
* "Supersize Me: Strategies for Growing Council Membership": features Jaime Martinez, the source for the quote used at the start of this post.
* "Immigration: Redefining the Debate". Senator Bob Menendez and Rep. Xavier Becerra have been invited. Those who've confirmed their presence include "Mauricio Farah, Quinto Visitador General, La Comision Nacional de Derechos Humanos de Mexico", Frank Sherry from America's Voice, Tamar Jacoby of Immigration Works USA, and Lori Wallach from Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch.
* "High Powered Latinas and the Challenges They Face" featuring someone from the U.S. Army together with Dolores Huerta and Lydia Camarillo of the Southwest Voter Education and Registration Project.
UPDATE: McCain's remarks are here. Noting any difference between that and his previous speeches is left as an exercise. And, America Blog contributor Joe Sudbay was refused a press pass (americablog.com/2008/07/no-live-blogging-of-mccain-and-obama.html) despite being a LULAC useful idiot. He thinks it's because they don't understand new media, but I wouldn't be surprised to learn that they got the wrong impression about that domain name.
UPDATE 2: Here's a discussion of Barack Obama's remarks. He was introduced by L.A.'s own Antonio Villaraigosa (link). And, corporate sponsors included Denny's, Google and Fannie Mae (link). Those at the "Patron" level got a "Web Link", something that Google might frown on.
[1] lulac.org/events/fti08.html
[2] lulac.org/events/convention/workshop08.html
Barack Obama's "Global Poverty Act" (S. 2433, United Nations, global tax?)
Need further proof that the Barack Obama candidacy is just an elaborate practical joke? Consider this February story:Sen. Barack Obama, perhaps giving America a preview of priorities he would pursue if elected president, is rejoicing over the Senate committee passage of a plan [the "Global Poverty Act", S.2433] that could end up costing taxpayers billions of dollars in an attempt to reduce poverty in other nations...The House version is H.R.1302 (link), introduced by Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA). From the Obama bill text (link):
It would demand that the president develop "and implement" a policy to "cut extreme global poverty in half by 2015 through aid, trade, debt relief" and other programs...
The [Struck out->] United Nations [<-Struck out] Millennium Development Goals include the goal of reducing by one-half the proportion of people worldwide, between 1990 and 2015, that live on less than $1 per day, cutting in half the proportion of people suffering from hunger and unable to access safe drinking water and sanitation, reducing child mortality by two-thirds, ensuring basic education for all children, and reversing the spread of HIV/AIDS and malaria, while sustaining the environment upon which human life depends.The "Struck out" bits are at the last link above; why they're removed some instances of "United Nations" isn't entirely clear.
What's worrisome also is that even though the bill supposedly only requires us to meet the poverty-related Millennium Development Goal, the other Goals are even more worrisome:
...that declaration commits nations to banning "small arms and light weapons" and ratifying a series of treaties, including the International Criminal Court Treaty, the Kyoto Protocol (global warming treaty), the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, and the Convention on the Rights of the Child.See the last link for much more.
The Millennium Declaration also affirms the U.N. as "the indispensable common house of the entire human family, through which we will seek to realize our universal aspirations for peace, cooperation and development."
Jeffrey Sachs, who runs the U.N.'s "Millennium Project," says that the U.N. plan to force the U.S. to pay 0.7 percent of GNP in increased foreign aid spending would add $65 billion a year to what the U.S. already spends. Over a 13-year period, from 2002, when the U.N.'s Financing for Development conference was held, to the target year of 2015, when the U.S. is expected to meet the "Millennium Development Goals," this amounts to $845 billion. And the only way to raise that kind of money, Sachs has written, is through a global tax, preferably on carbon-emitting fossil fuels...
Barack Obama campaign bans user blog with Obama's own quotes (see disclaimer)
Someone created a user blog at my.barackobama.com and posted quotes from Barack Obama's book "Dreams of my Father". The blog was deleted in short order; details here. (Yes, her).
Now for the disclaimer: it's hard to follow the post, so it isn't clear what text is from where; and, the user may have engaged in other activities that caused his account to be pulled; and, I haven't confirmed whether the given quotes appear in the book.
Perhaps someone could do this in a better fashion by simply repurposing BHO's quotes into blog posts then, being careful to not engage in abusive activities, see if the blog could be deleted just for its contents.
In Colombia, John McCain calls for "hemispheric free trade agreement"
On his swing through Colombia en route to Mexico, John McCain among other things promoted NAFTA, supported the U.S.-Colombian Free Trade Agreement, promoted "free" trade in general, and said "I would like to see a hemispheric free trade agreement" (link). Presumably the "hemispheric" plan would be along the lines of the Free Trade Agreement of the Americas, although just going straight to the North American Union might be in the back of his mind.
Bear in mind that Barack Obama is no great shakes on this issue. While he supposedly opposes the Colombia FTA, he also admitted to being misleading about NAFTA and he supports Bush's SPP, a joint venture between Canada, Mexico, and the U.S.
It begins: FireDogLake wants readers to go to politicians' public appearances
The Netroots/Nutroots is doing something that will hopefully lead to something that I've been pushing for almost two years: regular citizens going to public appearances by politicians and asking them tough questions rather than the puffballs lobbed by the MSM. FireDogLake's Blue America PAC hosts a page where you can search for public appearances or protest/flier distribution activities in your area: action.firedoglake.com/page/event/search_simple
They want their readers to input events and [1]:
use it to coordinate a meeting with a Senator or Representative, and then publish a notice so that other folks can also get involved. Or track public appearances of elected officials in local venues. Or put together a planning meet-up to come up with ideas to educate the public on FISA-- like leafletting or showing up at parades with signs... We've been collecting some information about public appearances for elected officials -- especially for Senators so that we can take immediate action on FISA.
Like as not, if their readers do anything most of them will stage lame demonstrations instead of asking tough questions and then uploading video of the responses. But if some of them do the latter, that might encourage those who oppose massive/illegal immigration to follow suit.
[1] firedoglake.com/2008/07/02/
fisa-blue-america-launching-a-tool-to-help-you-organize-in-your-own-community
Barack Obama wants Clean Energy Corps to fight global warming; was it my idea?
Barack Obama's speechwriters continue their sales job, today giving BHO a speech to read about public service. And, on his site you can find a "Plan for Universal Voluntary Public Service" (barackobama.com/issues/service), where he informs us that "this will be a cause of my presidency". I can hardly wait!
Further:
Obama will expand AmeriCorps from 75,000 slots today to 250,000 and he will focus this expansion on addressing the great challenges facing the nation. He will establish a Classroom Corps to help teachers and students, with a priority placed on underserved schools; a Health Corps to improve public health outreach; a Clean Energy Corps to conduct weatherization and renewable energy projects; a Veterans Corps to assist veterans at hospitals, nursing homes and homeless shelters; and a Homeland Security Corps to help communities plan, prepare for and respond to emergencies.
Surely it must be a coincidence that back in April I uploaded the video "Green Pioneers: stop global warming & safeguard environment!" which is, unbeknownst to some Youtube viewers, a satire:
If anyone has a blog at Obama's site, let me suggest seeing how many Pioneers features you can propose as part of his plans without anyone catching on.
Democratic Convention protesters will be behind wire, so they can be seen and heard
Good news! Protesters at the upcoming Democratic Convention in Denver in August will be fenced in behind wire, so they can be seen and heard. Authorities are still trying to decide whether chicken or chain link wire will be used, but in any case free speech is alive and well, rest assured of that!
But, seriously. In a move that's partially good but in no way makes up for their support for illegal activity, the ACLU is suing Denver and the U.S. Secret Service over the restrictions. If there must be fencing, it should be in an area where those attending the convention can, you know, actually see the protesters and receive handbills from them.
While the name of the umbrella group conducting the protest (Recreate 68) isn't exactly a good sign, and some of the groups are no doubt planning for violent activity of some kind, dealing with that in the normal way is far preferable to putting free speech in a cage.
I note also that the Party hacks (aka bloggers) who are selected to cover the Convention will largely ignore that side of things and will simply do what they're told. See this from 2004.
Eli Saslow/WaPo lies in support of Barack Obama
Eli Saslow of the Washington Post lies in support of Barack Obama while giving him a front page advertisement in the story "In Flag City USA, False Obama Rumors Are Flying" (link). Consider this:
On the television in his living room, Peterman has watched enough news and campaign advertisements to hear the truth: Sen. Barack Obama, born in Hawaii, is a Christian family man with a track record of public service. But on the Internet, in his grocery store, at his neighbor's house, at his son's auto shop, Peterman has also absorbed another version of the Democratic candidate's background, one that is entirely false: Barack Obama, born in Africa, is a possibly gay Muslim racist who refuses to recite the Pledge of Allegiance.
What Saslow identifies as the "truth" has not been proven. It's certainly extremely likely that BHO was born in Hawaii, but the recent birth certificate issue shows that that is still an open question. Yet, Saslow calls that the "truth", and Saslow is therefore lying.
Further, while BHO does practice the Christian religion that doesn't rule out him being, having been, or being considered by some to still be a Muslim. What religion someone practices can be proven, but what religion they actually are is something only they can tell. That's certainly a fine point, but one that credible reporters would make.
Likewise with the gay rumor: Larry Sinclair's charges have not been disproven, they're just very highly unlikely.
As for the racist bit, that again cannot be proven since no one knows what BHO truly believes. While he personally might not be racist (despite saying some interesting things in one of his books), he's certainly associated with at least one person who is, Reverend Wright.
Saslow moves from lying to smearing in this bit:
But with their pride came a nasty undercurrent, one that Obama's candidacy has exacerbated: On College Street, nobody wanted anything to change. As the years passed, Peterman and his neighbors approached one another to share in their skepticism about the unknown. What was the story behind the handful of African Americans who had moved into a town that is 93 percent white? Why were Japanese businessmen coming in to run the local manufacturing plants? Who in the world was this Obama character, running for president with that funny-sounding last name?
The first example begs for a real reporter. Was there any validity to their concerns? The second attempts to call those who oppose selling American factories to the Japanese xenophobes or similar; Saslow is trying to "enforce" the Beltway establishment's support for "free" trade. The last example wraps it all together, trying to portray those concerned about Obama as racist xenophobes.
Then, Saslow moves into MoveOn mode:
Like most of his neighbors, he dislikes McCain for his stance on the Iraq war and would like to cast his vote for a president who will bring the troops home. But on a recent visit to his son's auto shop, Peterman overheard misinformed customers talking again about a Muslim in the White House.
The implication is that BHO would, unlike McCain, "bring the troops home". That isn't necessarily true, and as stated above no one knows whether BHO is really a Muslim and thus those customers weren't necessarily "misinformed".
Saslow also provides a section called by him or an editor "The Truth Squad":
So far, those who have pushed the truth in Findlay have been rewarded with little that resembles progress. Gerri Kish, a 66-year-old born in Hawaii, read both of Obama's autobiographies. She has close friends, she said, who still refuse to believe her when she swears Obama is Christian. Then she hands them the books, and they refuse to read them. "They just want to believe what they believe," she said. "Nothing gets through to them."
Of course, they aren't necessarily pushing "the truth", but presumably things that are objectively true together with unprovable things that align with BHO's version of events. As for the books, Saslow is counting on no one having read them.
Democrats to simulcast entire convention in Spanish
Per this we're informed that the Democratic National Convention will simulcast their entire event in Spanish. The event will be held in August in Denver, Colorado. Damon Jones from the Convention says:
"Spanish is the primary language for more than 35-million people in our country and more than 300-million people around the world. So, we think it's a great message to share and a great step forward at being as inclusive as possible."
Needless to say, by being "inclusive" they're being exclusionary in some ways: they're helping reduce assimilation and encouraging ethnicity-based political power. They probably also want to "reach out" to potential immigrants or illegal aliens in Latin American countries; when they get here they'll remember who to vote for. And, needless to say, almost all of those who are eligible to vote have or are required to have a command of English.
This is yet another in the long line of sleazy Democratic Party positions, but there really isn't much to do about it specifically. The concentration should be on discrediting individual politicians based on their lies or policy failings.
Deval Patrick trying to give tuition breaks to illegal aliens; help discredit him
Massachusetts governor (and Barack Obama quote source) Deval Patrick is back to supporting giving the in-state college tuition rate to illegal aliens (link). He considered trying to sneak it through without getting their legislature involved in January. This time around it's part of a larger proposal, the "Readiness Project", and he says:
"It makes good sense for us economically, and for me it's just a matter of simple justice... We don't say to these kids they can't go to state colleges and universities; they can go. What we say to them is that they have to pay a different rate from the kid who sat across the aisle from them all through middle school and high school."
If anyone wants to do a good turn, go to one of his public appearances and point out to him that, due to limited resources, any slot or discount given to an illegal alien is one that was taken away from a U.S. citizen. He wants to provide foreign citizens who are here illegally with "simple justice", but he doesn't want to give the same to his own fellow citizens. Get his response on videotape, and then upload it to video sharing sites.
Commission on Presidential Debates releases sham debate proposal
The Commission on Presidential Debates has released their plans for three debates, one in the townhall format, and the other two in a sit-down format. The latter format would negate Barack Obama's height advantage over John McCain. Unfortunately, that format would also result in yet another sham debate:
The proposed debates also would feature a more open format to encourage the candidates to talk more to each other directly. The debates would be broken into eight 10-minute-long segments, each devoted to one issue. The moderator would pose an opening question, then prompt the candidates to discuss it themselves.
Those would be a sham because there are topics on which McCain and BHO agree, such as immigration. If the moderator asks about the latter topic, they'd spend ten minutes just agreeing with each other. And, since they agree on the topic, the moderator might not ask about it at all.
What we need are policy debates, in which subject matter experts from across the spectrum would be allowed to ask the candidates a series of questions designed to point out the flaws in their plans. An expert who's willing to ask "prosecutorial-style" questions on immigration of either candidate could have a devastating impact on their chances, so don't expect the candidates, the Parties, the MSM, or the CPD to be interested.
Links to coverage of past "debate" are in this post, with more here, here, and here.
Is Bob Barr changing his immigration position, or just confused, or intentionally trying to confuse?
I don't know, you tell me based on this fundraising solicitation - thankfully deprived of actionable links - in which he complains that if John McCain or Barack Obama win they'll push amnesty. He also stresses border security. In fact, he stresses it so much, and to the exclusion of coming out foursquare against any form of amnesty no matter what it's called, that until I hear an actual detailed plan on what he intends to do I'm going to assume that Bob Barr's position on immigration is still the same.
Paul Waldman wins the BOSA! (Barack Obama Sycophant Award)
Congratulations to Paul Waldman of Media Matters for America, who's just now won the BOSA, also known as the Barack Obama Sycophant Award, the Toady, the Yglesias, and other names too numerous to mention!
Last seen here calling the NAFTA Superhighway a myth and then admitting that it exists in one form, Waldman contributes to the American Prospect's TAPPED. BOSA judges "tapped" the following excerpt from this post as one of the reasons for the award. Referring to BHO, Waldman says:
He has always presented himself as the embodiment of what we all want America to be: inclusive, future-oriented, moving beyond our differences to embrace what binds us together. So patriotic talk isn’t something he has recently embraced, it’s actually at the heart of his narrative, which has been consistent from day one.
Now, that's sycophancy!
But, the judges also awarded him the Smithers Tassle to go with the main award for the article "McCain's Desperate Debate Gambit":
John McCain knows his campaign is in trouble, and so he's trying to pressure Barack Obama into a long series of town hall meetings. But speeches are the real way the president appeals to the public.
That whole participatory democracy thing where we press our politicians on their lies was getting so old. Much better to just sit there and listen to Barack Obama read a script someone else has written rather than trying to ask him about his frequent lies and misleading statements.
It will be difficult for others to achieve the level of sheer sycophantic slaggishness that Waldman has, but many others will surely try in the near future.
Barack Obama patriotic, ad says
According to a new ad from the Barack Obama campaign (link), he was brought up with "values straight from the Kansas heartland", including "love of country". Out with the "Black Values System", in with the "Kansas Values System"!
And, some might even buy it, even those bitter folks clinging to guns, religion, and anti-immigrant sentiment.
While I'm sure that BHO is mostly patriotic, I'm also sure there are areas where - like president Bush - he's a bit more squishy. For instance, supporting Bush's SPP isn't exactly patriotic. Supporting massive illegal immigration isn't too patriotic either.
Obama accuser Larry Sinclair arrested; very questionable celebration follows
Larry Sinclair is a currently Duluth-based man about town with a long rap sheet (link) who claims that he had homosexual sex with Barack Obama in 1999 (link). At the same time, Sinclair claims that - after he gave him the money to go run for it - he used powdered cocaine and BHO smoked crack. There are several problems with the story, and, while I consider it certainly possible to have happened, I don't think it's likely at all.
Earlier today, Sinclair appeared at the National Press Club to tell his tale and was arrested afterwards by officers from Washington, D.C. police, apparently as a result of U.S. Marshals showing up with a warrant.
The question then becomes, why wasn't he arrested before? Has he been in hiding, or were they just trying to send a message? And, what sort of people would celebrate the arrest of someone who makes inflammatory and almost certainly false charges against a political candidate? Barack Obama supporters, that's who. See the comments here or at firedoglake.com/2008/06/18/larry-sinclair-arrested-at-press-club.
Larry Sinclair is hardly a political prisoner, but the arrest at the press conference has quite a political flavor to it. It also has its comedic moments; for those, see Dave Weigel of Reason Magazine: reason.com/blog/show/127093.html (He also - for once - asked a question).
NAFTAGate 2: Barack Obama backs off NAFTA opposition, admits being deceptive
From this:In an interview with Fortune to be featured in the magazine's upcoming issue, the presumptive Democratic nominee backed off his harshest attacks on the free trade agreement and indicated he didn't want to unilaterally reopen negotiations on NAFTA.In other words, he was intentionally being misleading about his position on the trade deal. This shouldn't be surprising considering the first round of NAFTAGate, and also considering that BHO supports Bush's SPP.gov, aka "NAFTA on Steroids". He even spoke in code when coming out for that secretive and highly questionable Bush trade scheme. The fact that BHO supports Bush's SPP has, as far as I know, never been mentioned by anyone except me and Obama.
"Sometimes during campaigns the rhetoric gets overheated and amplified," he conceded, after I reminded him that he had called NAFTA "devastating" and "a big mistake"...
Does that mean his rhetoric was overheated and amplified? "Politicians are always guilty of that, and I don't exempt myself," he answered...
Related to BHO's latest admission, The Nation's John Nichols isn't happy (thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/330911), but he also offers this questionable bit:
If Obama takes the economic issue that white working-class voters best understand off the table, he creates a huge opening for McCain in states such as Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin.If he'd said "one of the... issues", that would be correct. However, illegal immigration is a related issue that probably resonates more loudly, but it's one that The Nation supports.
John McCain wants townhall meeting with Barack Obama "in front of La Raza" (NCLR convention)
Both John McCain and Barack Obama will be speaking at the National Council of La Raza convention in July, and McCain has proposed to BHO that they square off at a townhall meeting at the extremist-funding and -awarding racial power group's event (link). Says McCain:
"There is a meeting in California of La Raza... Both of us have accepted invitations. I say that we have a town hall meeting together in front of La Raza. I think that the people will be far more informed and in some ways, entertained if we had that format."
There's a difference between the NCLR and "la raza", with the latter referring to all people of a specific racial background. McCain's use of a short version of their name is more than a bit questionable, considering that not all who would be considered "raza" agree with the NCLR. It's also questionable if we just use English in his statement:
"There is a meeting in California of The Race... Both of us have accepted invitations. I say that we have a town hall meeting together in front of The Race. I think that the people will be far more informed and in some ways, entertained if we had that format."
Ross Perot is back, and he's got charts!
Ross Perot has a new site called PerotCharts.com (h/t David Broder, link). Watch the Larry King schedule for impending appearances. The charts on the site are related to and in part derived from the work done by former Comptroller General David Walker, who resigned earlier this year in order to better warn about runaway spending and deficits. Perot says he's not getting back into politics. Unfortunately, it doesn't appear that immigration issues are discussed at the site, but perhaps that will change.
Barack Obama bill: global warming K-12 education, "national information campaign", i.e, propaganda
Almost a year and a half ago I created a satirical petition called "Require Global Warming Classes in All Public Schools" (link). A couple months ago I created a video with a similar theme.
From my humor to Barack Obama's seriousness, as a month ago he sponsored a bill called the "Climate Change Education Act" (S. 1389, link). Despite what this says, it doesn't seem to 'establish mandatory "climate change education"', but it comes close to that and in some ways it's even worse:
Congress finds that... greenhouse gases are accumulating in the atmosphere, causing global temperatures to rise at a rate that poses a significant threat to the economy and security of the United States, to public health and welfare, and to the global environment... there is scientific consensus that human activities are the major cause of atmospheric greenhouse gas accumulation... The Director of the National Science Foundation shall establish a Climate Change Education Program to... apply the latest scientific and technological discoveries to provide formal and informal learning opportunities to people of all ages, including those of diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds... The Climate Change Education Program shall include... a national information campaign to disseminate information on and promote implementation of the new technologies, programs, and incentives described [earlier in the bill]... a competitive grant program to provide grants to States, local municipalities, educational institutions, and other organizations to... create informal education materials, exhibits, and multimedia presentations relevant to climate change and climate science... develop climate science kindergarten through grade 12 curriculum and supplementary educational materials...
It doesn't take a weatherman to tell you how this would turn out: a massive propaganda effort designed to push just one theory, even if that theory is disputed by some. In other words, U.S.-style Lysenkoism.
Lou Dobbs not running for governor of New Jersey "right now"; Frank Sharry starts fake site; Nicole Gaoutte/LAT promotes
Lou Dobbs is rumored to be considering running for governor of New Jersey, but in a voice mail message to an NJ newspaper he denied it (link). Note, however, that he said he wasn't "considering anything right now", so that might change. Needless to say, such a rumor is like waving a red flag to corrupt bulls who support illegal activity.
In response, Frank Sharry of America's Voice has started a take-off site: dobbsforgovernor.com
Nicole Gaouette of the Los Angeles Times promotes that site here, under the inflammatory title "America's Voice to Lou Dobbs: You're a loser!":
Some sample campaign positions: 1. Build a Fence Around New Jersey; 2. Build like the biggest fence ever built around New Jersey; 5. Deport the Statue of Liberty back to France. Visitors to the site can submit their ideas -- in English only -- for a Dobbs campaign slogan contest. The winner will be printed on T-shirts that activists around the country will be able to buy online. The point, says America's Voice in this press release, is to shed light on "Dobbs and pundits like him, who think they can stir-up waves of anti-immigrant hysteria and ride them all the way to the statehouse, the White House or the Governor's mansion."
The site is also noted/promoted depending on your perspective here:
outsidethebeltway.com/archives/2008/06/lou_dobbs_for_governor
Before the Sharry site was announced, Think Progress offered a muted notice; their commenters supply the bile:
thinkprogress.org/2008/06/12/will-lou-dobbs-be-the-next-governor-of-new-jersey
Note that at the first link, a comment from "louie08" says "Hey I found this site" and provides a link to the Sharry site; at the ThinkProgress link "jlocke" says the same thing. A search of their site shows no previous comments from that user, although that doesn't mean that "jlocke" signed up just to post that comment. Or anthing like that!
Ron Paul suspends presidential campaign; how supporters could actually have an impact
Ron Paul has suspended his presidential campaign and will be transferring $4.7 million in donations to a new group to be called "The Campaign for Liberty". They'll be engaging in online advocacy via videos and blogs and supporting other candidates for office (link).
And, per reason.com/blog/show/127008.html, they'll be encouraging his delegates not to support John McCain but, in the words of spokesman Jesse Benton, to "become a positive presence on the convention floor."
As for 20,000 volunteer precinct leaders, Benton says they'll train them after which - wait for it - "we can take over the country".
With what, a blimp? Hanging "Google Ron Paul" signs off freeway overpasses?
Sorry, that's going to be even less effective than it was before.
A very effective technique that Ron Paul supporters could use would be to help discredit John McCain and Barack Obama by pointing out their lies and misleading statements and the obvious flaws in their policies. The less support they have, the more that will be available for Ron Paul.
The best way to do that is to go to a McCain or Obama appearance and ask them tough questions, then upload their responses to video sharing sites. If Obama is called on one of his lies and doesn't have much of a response, that's going to get hundreds of thousands or even millions of views, and it will have a major impact on the race.
That doesn't guarantee that Ron Paul will get votes out of the deal, but anything that reduces support for his opponents will increase his influence. Then again, who knows? If a question makes McCain look very bad, many people might look to Ron Paul as an alternative.
And, asking tough questions will also help discredit the mainstream media, showing large numbers of people just how weak the MSM's questions are.
Are you ready to get out there and ask tough questions? Here's something you can press McCain on. And, here are three questions for Obama. The last link is available in printable form, so even if you don't want to ask him personally, you can make copies and hand them out before his events.
Barack Obama, the Chicago politician (moves DNC)
Barack Obama is moving parts of the Democratic National Committee ("DNC") to Chicago. While it's a wonderful town aside from being flat as a pancake, it's known for very dirty politics (in U.S. terms). So, Obama should fit right in.
Per this, "Obama's senior staff will largely take over the coordination of national campaign efforts and state-level efforts... Democratic field operations, constituency outreach and political operations will become one integrated operation under the plan, with the central brain trust in Chicago, explained the DNC source..." Howard Dean's 50-state scheme is also disfavored by the new leaders.
Jake Tapper "news" is two months old; ABC News deletes comment pointing that out
For an unknown reason, on June 10, 2008 Jake Tapper of ABC News posted an entry entitled "Dragged Kicking and Screaming, Tancredo Will Pull Lever for McCain". The reader might remember that from a couple months ago, yet Tapper posted it like it happened just recently and with no acknowledgement that it was old news (link). The Tancredo quote referencing Hillary Clinton as a contender should have been a clue, but I guess Tapper needs all the help he can get. Note also that the earliest comment on the entry is from June 10, and that it's currently in their "Recent Posts" sidebar item.
I left the following comment, which was deleted. Note that I used the name "TLB" and with a link to this site. It can't just be because I used a link, since someone else whose comment remains on the page has a link, and surely they must know that since there are nofollow tags on the links there's no "danger" in letting people put links there, right? So, I'm forced to conclude that ABC News doesn't want people to know that Tapper is serving up old news.
Here's the shocking comment that ABC News doesn't want anyone to see:
Perhaps someone should tell Tapper that the linked article is from two months ago. Someone should also tell him that Barr's position is more or less the same as McCain's.
Previously:
ABC News' Political Radar edits comments without notice
Barack Obama VP vetter Jim Johnson tied to more than Countrywide (CFR, Bilderberg, Trilateral Commission)
From this:
Jim Johnson, the disciplined, discreet and obsessively meticulous vice presidential vetter for Barack Obama, is a stalwart of the Washington establishment... In the mid-1990s, he headed up a power trifecta: mortgage giant Fannie Mae, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and the Brookings Institution... Yet despite Johnson’s legendary fastidiousness, his high-profile campaign role has suddenly exposed him to questions about his financial dealings. The questions range from his relationship with the embattled CEO of mortgage lender Countrywide Financial to his more recent oversight roles on various corporate compensation committees that approved hefty executive pay packages... On Saturday, the Wall Street Journal reported that Johnson received at least $7 million worth of home loans from Countrywide through an informal program for friends of company CEO Angelo Mozilo that offered rates below the market average. At least four of the loans were issued while Johnson was employed either as the CEO or an outside consultant for Fannie Mae...
Obama was asked about this and gave an answer that even Jake Tapper couldn't spin his way (link).
But, there's much more to him. Even the WaPo admits that he's a "member of exclusive clubs such as American Friends of Bilderberg, the Trilateral Commission and the Council on Foreign Relations."
Barack Obama is truly the candidate of change.
More on the current Bilderberg meeting here, here, and elsewhere at that site; there was speculation that Obama and/or Clinton secretly attended one of their meetings but that hasn't been confirmed.
Barack Obama, John McCain to speak at National Council of La Raza convention (+Villaraigosa)
The annual National Council of La Raza convention - to be held July 12 to 15 in San Diego - will be a star-studded affair. We already knew that John McCain was going to speak to them, now comes the not-so-surprising word that Barack Obama will also make an appearance (link). Another attendee will be Los Angeles mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.
See the first link for some of the reasons why McCain - and even the others - should give the "National Council of The Race" the cold shoulder, and if anyone wants to do a public service please go to one of McCain's events and point out some facts about the group and then ask him to reconsider.
John McCain still skates on Juan Hernandez issue, again (Matt Lewis)
On a conference call today (link via this), Matt Lewis of Townhall asked John McCain about his Hispanic outreach director Juan Hernandez, a former cabinet level official with the Mexican government who worked directly with Vicente Fox. He's also appeared on several cable TV shows promoting a "free flow" of people between the U.S. and Mexico, and more or less promoting Mexico's agenda.
Unfortunately, Lewis asked an extremely weak question:
Can I ask you about Juan Hernandez, not so much about Townhall where I write, but a lot of conservative bloggers have a lot to say about him... You never know what is accurate, but from what I read he has some very controversial things to say...about Mexico first, about essentially having a completely open border....Are we getting misinformation? or What is the disconnect there? Why are you taking advice from someone if he has made these outlandish comments?
McCain's response included:
I would be glad to examine any statement from any supporter of mine... I don't even know if he is quote or what he has specifically... I'll be glad to look at it... I'll be glad to look at anything anybody has said that may be offensive or wrong. But I may have disagreements with an issue with lots of people... and if we have strong enough disagreements, I will ask them to withdraw their support.
Certainly, I understand how one might want to pretend to stammer and ask it in a sly way, but Lewis did not cover the fact that Hernandez used to work for the Mexican government.
In addition to mentioning that major issue, the natural follow-up is to now read back some of Hernandez' statements and directly ask McCain whether he "strongly" disagrees with them or not:
"he said this, do you strongly disagree or do you agree?"
"OK, he also said this. Do you strongly disagree or do you agree?"
Note that McCain hasn't even promised to look into Hernandez' statements on his own: he expects others to point them out to him. Based on McCain's slippery responses to most questions, the questioner would have to spell out that they're asking a specific question about whether there's a disagreement and that they expect a specific response to the question.
Related:
John McCain vows: no foreign agents on campaign team (Juan Hernandez?)
McCain campaign dodges Juan Hernandez question; denies Heath Shuler charge
John McCain's Juan Hernandez almost gets MSM attention (Eunice Moscoso, WashTimes, Marc Ambinder)
John McCain asked about Juan Hernandez, doesn't denounce his views
Barack Obama: Narcissistic Personality Disorder? (McCain denies his accomplishments)
Barack Obama's speech announcing that he's the Democratic Party's nominee is here. Admidst all the puffery and empty promises - probably written by someone else - this stands out:
I honor [John McCain's] service, and I respect his many accomplishments, even if he chooses to deny mine.
Ohhhkay. While being the first black presidential candidate is certainly an accomplishment, I'm having trouble locating any other standout accomplishments under his name. And, yes I've seen the list of bills he was involved in. I've also noticed problems with at least a couple of those bills and I'm sure there are issues with some or most of the others.
Now, certainly, making speeches from Arizona on one coast to Maine on the other (where ever that is) and all the other 55 states is grueling. But, Obama's current roles were basically handed to him by party elders, failures of his opponents, and the corrupt mainstream media.
The upside to such personality types from our perspective is that they're prone to cracking when faced with tough questioning, something that Obama has not yet experienced.
If anyone would like to do a public service, get out there and ask Obama some tough questions, then upload his response to Youtube and other video sharing sites. For instance, call him on this recent lie.
UPDATE: Constant joke Andrew Sullivan's take is a tad different:
andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2008/06/this-moment-1.html
To the best of my knowledge it's not a self-parody:
...It was also rhetorically more powerful than McCain - not by a small amount but by a mile. Put McCain's speech against Obama's - and this was a wipe-out. Not a victory. A wipe-out. Rhetorically, they are simply not in the same league. And if the contrast tonight between McCain and Obama holds for the rest of the campaign, McCain is facing a defeat of historic proportions.
Barack Obama clinches nomination; hello, President John McCain! (predictions!)
Get used to saying "President John McCain", because Barack Obama has supposedly clinched the Democratic nomination.
Assuming a matchup between McCain and Obama, I predict that BHO has a 0.1% chance of being elected our next president. Further, I predict that McCain will win by at least 10 points. (And, I've been saying that since at least early March, by the way: reason.com/blog/show/125627.html).
What's going to happen is that even more "interesting" connections and statements are going to be released, but we might need to wait until October for that. While to a certain small extent racism and opposition to someone named "Barack Hussein Obama" will play a part, the large opposition to BHO will be because he's a far-left loon who's even worse than John Kerry. Millions of people will wake up to the fact that he's simply a Chicago politician who's been pushed by the media.
And, millions will vote for McCain not because they support him but in order to keep Obama out of office.
Bob Barr won't be a factor because there's little of interest to most Americans to separate him from McCain. McCain's support for foreign expeditions only resonates with leftwing Democrats; he will be sold - effectively so - to most everyone else as a patriotic supporter of our military. On immigration, Barr might be even worse than McCain. Even some libertarians won't vote for Barr due to his past statements and actions. So, he won't be a factor.
BHO being the candidate could serve the interests of some Democratic leaders who might want a GOP president in order to better maintain their power. When he loses, it will also make a Hillary run in 2012 much easier. And, perhaps BHO has been pushed by the MSM because they know he's the weaker candidate and they know that McCain would be better for business.
There are only a couple things that could change the outcome at this point:
1. BHO's problems become evident in the next month or two and Hillary - or even Al Gore - is brought in. That has a fair chance of happening.
2. If a pro-American, Ross Perot-style candidate such as Lou Dobbs enters the race. That doesn't have much of a chance of happening.
Brave: Bob Barr denounces two on extreme fringe
Showing intense, heroic bravery, Libertarian Party candidate Bob Barr has denounced two white nationalists who endorsed him, including one who is just a commenter on a message board (reason.com/blog/show/126790.html). Barr's campaign manager says:
The Barr campaign is not going to be a vehicle for every fringe and hate group to promote itself. We do not want and will not accept the support of haters. Anyone with love in their heart for our country and for every resident of our country regardless of race, religion, nationality or sexual orientation is welcome with open arms... Tell the haters I said don't let the door hit you on the backside on your way out!
While the message is largely commendable, there are a few minor sticking points.
1. The definition of what a "hate group" is seems to be quite fluid, and the definition seems to end up being "whoever opposes the ADL, SPLC or allied groups". By using that phrase, Barr is allowing the far-left to define what is and what isn't acceptable. Barr is playing on their field by their rules using their ball instead of pointing out how crooked their game is.
2. Denying that they're going to be a "vehicle" for such groups plays into the perception that they were previously considered to be a "vehicle", or that the Ron Paul campaign served in that capacity.
3. This opens the door to examining everyone else who endorses Barr or gives him money. (The fact that there will be few of both makes examining them easier).
4. When faced with a far-left group (e.g., the National Council of La Raza) that isn't as overtly racist and that's only "mainstream" because they're considered to be so by those in power, Barr's response would almost certainly be much less brave. In fact, it's not difficult to imagine Barr being like McCain and speaking to their convention.
UPDATE: For an example, back in 2006 Randy Graf of Arizona was endorsed by David Duke, which Graf denounced. No matter how many times he denounced it, the Dems continued to use it against him, with the Arizona Democratic Party even starting an inaccurate smear site. In conjunction with the denunciation, Graf should have viciously attacked the other side and worked to discredit them to the greatest extent possible, and that's the same thing Barr should be doing.
However, Barr has amply demonstrated that he's simply a mainstream hack who's running a vanity campaign. And, since I suspect that the goal of the campaign is something like helping him to sell books, don't expect him to rock the boat.
UPDATE 2: I'm sure it was clear to almost everyone, but for those not in the loop, the "Brave:" and the "intense, heroic bravery" bits were sarcasm, with the former being a takeoff on Fark tags.
Hillary Clinton frog punching allusion confuses excitable Andrew Sullivan
Most people agree that the three lowest forms of comedy are sarcasm, stand-up, and making fun of Andrew Sullivan. The latter is also rather difficult since he makes a lot of posts, and all of them are pretty stupid.
However, just to fulfill our quota, consider a recent one where Ever Excitable Andy highlights this interview:
ABC News' Eloise Harper Reports: Facing an increasingly improbable candidacy for the White House, Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., showed no signs of stopping on the trail in South Dakota and cited an old Arkansas, saying in an off-handed reference to her campaign: "you can't tell how far a frog will jump until you punch him."
Sully's post on the interview consists entirely of that quote, her name linked to the interview, and the title "Weirdest Campaign Quote Of The Day" (andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2008/05/weirdest-campai.html).
As for what exactly he thinks of the quote we aren't informed, but it's probably not too good. He probably doesn't understand or have much interest in "down home" sayings such as that, nor do many other Obama supporters, partially explaining his results in certain states.
Nor does Sully probably understand where it probably came from: "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" by Mark Twain. Consider this excerpt:
He ketched a frog one day, and took him home, and said he cal'lated to educate him; and so he never done nothing for three months but set in his back yard and learn that frog to jump. And you bet you he did learn him, too. He'd give him a little punch behind, and the next minute you'd see that frog whirling in the air like a doughnut--see him turn one summerset, or maybe a couple, if he got a good start, and come down flat-footed and all right, like a cat.
So much for Sully's book lernin'! Oh well, he's heading back to Europe anyway, let them deal with him.
Janet Napolitano meets with Vicente Fox, discusses immigration
Earlier this week, Arizona governor Janet Napolitano met with Vicente Fox to discuss immigration matters. Two Mexican newspaper reports are linked from here, and neither go into much detail on what was discussed, and, while the conversation was supposedly friendly but "firm", it's not difficult to imagine that the two leaders saw eye to eye on lots of things. There's certainly nothing wrong with a governor meeting with a former president of another country, but the question is whether Napolitano was representing the interests of the majority of Arizonans or simply the interests of those who profit from massive immigration such as businesses and the Democratic Party.
Fox also mentioned again a joint venture between his "Fox Center" and the Rand Corporation.
Chris Bowers/Open Left promotes John McCain "Googlebomb"
Chris Bowers of Open Left has started a project called "Searching for John McCain" in which he wants bloggers and others to create a "Googlebomb" designed to get MSM articles that have negative information on John McCain to the top of that search engine's results: openleft.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=6044
The approach is supposedly more sophisticated than his similar effort of a couple years ago, in that he's selected nine articles that people can link.
However, there are a few things he forgot to mention. Such as the fact that Google will probably take this into account since there are only nine articles involved and the results could be modified to keep those in their current location through some means. In any case, Google probably has filters in place that recognize blatant attempts to skew their results, as can be seen in the comments left at the Open Left link.
And, he wants people to link McCain's name in comments, but what he doesn't realize is that most sites put nofollow tags on links in comments or elsewhere, as I well know. So, in those cases that might be counter-productive, leading to the pages where those comments are left having a higher rank than the ones Bowers wants. Note that Open Left and (last I checked) MyDD.com are two sites that don't use nofollow tags, so if anyone has an account there they could take advantage of that.
And, while large numbers of people are no doubt searching for "John McCain" right now, many more are searching for his last name plus a certain topic, and the like. Those are less competitive, and someone searching for things like that want specific information that they might be using in a decision. Bowers offers nothing for those people.
Now, there's certainly the risk that someone from his side will read this and modify Bowers' grand scheme, but this site doesn't support McCain in the first place and in the second those who oppose Obama can play the same game, only better.
For instance, a search for obama immigration has that post in 34th place, and with a few links - with varied link text such as obama immigration position or barack obama on immigration - it could go higher and I'd respond by putting even more negative information in that post.
Sadly, a search for questions for obama only gets that page at almost 200th place, but with more links - and once again with varied link text - it could go higher.
So, let's all start to link, and if Obama opponents take my advice they should be much more effective that Bowers would like.
John McCain commemorates Memorial Day by Hispandering
For Memorial Day, the John McCain campaign has released the following video to Youtube and on his site [1]. Rather than commemorating all veterans, McCain has focused on one group: Hispanics. From the script:My friends, I want you, the next time you're down in Washington, D.C., to go to the Vietnam War Memorial and look at the names engraved in black granite. You'll find a whole lot of Hispanic names.Obviously, you'll find a whole lot of names of different backgrounds, but I guess they aren't special.
When you go to Iraq or Afghanistan today, you're going to see a whole lot of people who are of Hispanic background.McCain is smearing those who oppose his un-American schemes; I think we already knew they were "God's children". That doesn't mean that granting a huge amnesty is good public policy. And, it ignores the negative impact of massive immigration from mainly one country. In cases like this, McCain sounds like the worst sleazy, ethnocentric, race-baiting, multiculturalist Democrat.
You're even going to meet some of the few thousand that are still green card holders who are not even citizens of this country, who love this country so much that they're willing to risk their lives in its service in order to accelerate their path to citizenship and enjoy the bountiful, blessed nation.
So let's, from time to time, remember that these are God's children. They must come into country legally, but they have enriched our culture and our nation as every generation of immigrants before them...
[1] johnmccain.com/Informing/News/PressReleases/
Read.aspx?guid=6d9d37e4-ece7-4352-bc9a-f5bc3ce316d7
Bob Barr nominated as Libertarian Party presidential candidate
The results 0.2% of the country have been waiting for are finally in: Bob Barr has been nominated as the Libertarian Party's presidential candidate. It's unfortunate that the loons at the LP couldn't have nominated someone entertaining.
Now that it's apparently official, this means that Bob Barr can finally get a sane immigration position that would be different from John McCain's. Probably only around half of libertarians support loose borders, and there are so few of them that he could afford to turn his back on them knowing he'd get many more votes out of the deal. If he did that he could get a significant portion of the disaffected GOP vote and perhaps some independents as well. As it is, there's very little salient to differentiate himself from McCain or even Clinton/Obama. It's possible to make very good points regarding immigration and it would be possible for him to completely discredit his opponents on this issue. But, to do that he has to be unlike Tom Tancredo or Ron Paul: he has to directly attack his opponents on immigration and forcefully point out how they're wrong. That might even include sending campaign workers to his opponents' appearances to ask them difficult questions, but at the very least it would include press releases and the like pointing out their lies and misleading and incomplete statements.
However, based on observing his statements and how his campaign operates and the fact that he appears to be little more than an establishment hack, I don't think he has the ability to understand any of that.
UPDATE: Not so fast, as some state delegations might be considering nominating someone besides Barr (reason.com/blog/show/126680.html). And, for this hour's laugh about libertarians, Massachusetts party chair George Phillies says, in all seriousness and referring to Barr's support for the Defense of Marriage Act keeping Wiccans out of the military:
"My delegation is majority pagan."
Dana Milbank/WaPo misleads about Barack Obama links
Dana Milbank of the Washington Post - last seen here lying about Tom Tancredo - offers "Obama as You've Never Known Him!" (link), a sleazy slab of mockery attempting to portray those who have legitimate questions about the various links Barack Obama has as believers in UFOs.He discusses a meeting yesterday conducted by Cliff Kincaid and attempts to claim that all the points raised were "implausible accusations", such as this:
The smoking gun? Obama's "mentor" during his teens, according to Kincaid, was "a key member of a Soviet-controlled network that was sponsored by Moscow and active in Hawaii."Now, read the Kincaid article on that mentor:
These accusations fall somewhere between guilt by association and guilt by invention, but the accusers were just getting started.
through Frank Marshall Davis, Obama had an admitted relationship with someone who was publicly identified as a member of the Communist Party USA (CPUSA). The record shows that Obama was in Hawaii from 1971-1979, where, at some point in time, he developed a close relationship, almost like a son, with Davis, listening to his "poetry" and getting advice on his career path. But Obama, in his book, Dreams From My Father, refers to him repeatedly as just "Frank."Some of the claims made at the meeting might indeed be out there, but that one certainly isn't. Milbank is simply a hack who can't even use a search engine to verify claims and instead thinks mockery - rather than real journalism - will carry the day. At the WaPo he's right, but not elsewhere.
The reason is apparent: Davis was a known communist who belonged to a party subservient to the Soviet Union. In fact, the 1951 report of the Commission on Subversive Activities to the Legislature of the Territory of Hawaii identified him as a CPUSA member. What's more, anti-communist congressional committees, including the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), accused Davis of involvement in several communist-front organizations.
Bob Barr for President Watch (Stephen Gordon, are you listening?)
On April 9, 2008 I sent an email to Stephen Gordon asking him to provide me with Bob Barr's full immigration position since that listed on his site is quite sparse and in interviews he hasn't been pinned down on specifics. Gordon said that Doug Bandow would be coming up with that position for Barr, but as of post time I have not heard back from either.
On May 17, 2008 I sent another email to Gordon asking whether I could interview Barr about this topic, and, once again, as of post time I have not heard back on that.
Well, off to watch some paint dry...
Obama Oregon rally was preceded by free concert from Portland band The Decemberists
Some forms of MSM deception are so gross you have to wonder why they'd put their reputations on the line. I guess they're playing a numbers game, assuming that they'll be able to fool many more people than learn the truth.
Today's egregious example involves the big Obama rally in Portland, Oregon on May 18 which supposedly somewhere around 75,000 people attended. What many or most news sources forgot to tell you was that his appearance was preceded by a free, 45-minute concert from the local indy band The Decemberists; for comparison purposes their most-viewed videos on Youtube have 407,110; 177,447; and 141,218 views. And, here's a video from the event itself: link.
Details on this here and here:
newsbusters.org/blogs/robert-knight/2008/05/20/
free-concert-popular-band-preceded-obama-s-big-rally
If you want to do something about this, search for news reports on the rally that didn't mention who was the opening act. Then, contact their public editors or just call up the reporter directly and ask them why they didn't reveal that material fact. The same can be done with bloggers, simply by leaving a comment.
UPDATE: To make it clearer, I'm not suggesting that everyone was there because of the band. I'm suggesting that their appearance - as well as the fact that it was a sunny day - played a role. And, the MSM as well as others who discussed the rally should have disclosed that their apperance did play a role.
IT'S GETTING CROWDED UNDER THE BUS UPDATE: The Decembrists join Obama's grandmother, Reverend Wright, and a host of others under the bus as "liberals" are now trying to claim that the band could only, in the words of one of those commenting, draw a crowd of 750. For an example, let's turn to paid hack Matt Yglesias (matthewyglesias.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/05/jim_geraghtys_revenge_song.php):
By now you've heard all about Barack Obama's radical pastor and secret Allah-worship, but Jim Geraghty's got the scoop about Obama's secret association with Portland-based indie rock b