Williamette, Oregon Weekly’s HILARIOUS/Scary Portrayal of Obama

This has got to be the most over the top portrayal of Obama that I have ever seen. You will either laugh like crazy…or be alarmed at how seriously cultish Obama acolytes have become!!! This makes me want to run FASTER and FURTHER away from this crowd!

Willamette Week offered this up to its readers as part of its endorsement of Obama.

Notice that the editorial, in closing, goes to the “character thing” instead of the issues.

But this isn’t really about specific issues. It’s about character, the ability to motivate, the skill to restore our position overseas and the wisdom to speak to us as adults about the challenges we face as, well, adults. Obama has demonstrated all of these talents during the campaign, and we’re throwing our lot in with him. We hope this state’s Democrats do so as well.

Sad, if the picture that accompanies this drivel weren’t so… funny… scary…both?

****

Hat tip to rodham44 who posted the link to this over at the Taylor Marsh site.

Obama’s May 20 Bash: A Cynical Replay of Election Night 2000 (with update)

Think not??

I’ll take you back to that fateful night in a moment.

But first, listen to strategist David Axelrod on WCCO, the CBS affiliate in Minneapolis, MN the night of the May 8 Indiana and North Carolina primaries. (The video is the top left “thumbnail” located just above the video player in the event the current news plays rather than the Axelrod video; you will also have to endure a short Coldstone Creamery ad).

http://wcco.com/national/obama.victory.plan.2.719166.html

He talks about the “inside baseball” of the delegate situation, then pins Clinton with the upcoming “train wreck” which will happen if she stays in the race until the upcoming Rules Committee meeting. Then he gets on his high horse and indignantly proclaims that “the IDEA of Hillary Clinton contesting the validity of Obama’s DECLARATION as the nominee of the Democratic Party is really a near nightmare and for Obama it’s is just a thorn in his side” at a point where he should be focusing McCain. (This after admitting that neither candidate has the delegates to win outright (but he as the “majority” of them, Axelrod rationalizes) and that Obama himself hasn’t sealed the deal because of his own primary loses. The whole situation is really a great inconvenience and indignity being put in Obama’s way. Horrors if voters in the remaining states are allowed to actually express their preferences!

Now, let’s go back to Election Night 2000. This should refresh your memory:

Bush Cousin Calls Presidential Election

by Michael I. Niman
Special to Buffalo Beat (December 14^th, 2000) - AlterNet Syndication (December 14th, 2000)

The US presidential election was a celebration of the triumph of media over matter.

To an objective observer, two facts are clear: Gore won the nationwide popular vote, and according to a recent Miami Herald analysis, he was also in all likelihood the favorite of Florida voters as well.

George W. Bush’s claim to victory initially had a shaky basis in objective reality. The Florida race, or even the national race, was a statistical dead heat — a tie. There was no clear winner. Factor in the bizarre antiquated 19^th century vote tabulating technology used in much of the US and the wide margin of error inherent with these machines, and the difficulty of determining a winner was clear.

For most Americans, and for much of the global television audience, however, Bush was always either the presumed “winner” or at the very least, the likely winner. Al Gore was always seen as trying to either “catch-up” to Bush, or “overturn” the Bush victory. The Bush claim to victory always had the veneer of legitimacy while the Gore claim effused a certain stench.

This perceived Bush victory, the perception that the horse race finally boiled down to one stallion breaking through the finish gate, was a network news fabrication. We saw it on TV. The networks called the election for George W. Bush, projecting him the winner — in effect declaring him the President Elect. CBS News’ Dan Rather boldly told us late on election night, “Sip it, Savor it, cup it, photostat it, underline it in red, press it in a book, put it in an album, hang it on the wall — George W. Bush is the next president of the United States.” The networks anointed a President and no recount of actual votes will ever be able to undo that coronation.

At 2:16 AM John Ellis, called the election for his first cousin, George W. Bush. Ellis, a free-lance political consultant, had been enlisted by FOX News to head their “decision desk” on Election night.

Dr. Niman continues:

By calling the election for his cousin when he did, Ellis proved instrumental in turning Bush’s loss in the popular vote into an apparently righteous struggle to gain the presidency. With a constitutional crisis looming on the horizon, pundits called for Gore, and not Bush, to be a “patriot” and concede. In a fair count, without shenanigans or election irregularities, the Miami Herald estimated Gore would have won Florida by 23,000 votes. The Bush strategy all along was to prevent a recount and run out the clock — which he succeeded in doing, eventually winning the state and the presidency by a few hundred votes. The strategy only worked because Ellis coronated him the winner.

Weeks later, Ellis’ former colleague, Bill Kovach, while defending Ellis’ integrity as a journalist, reported that Ellis had been in telephone contact with both Jeb and George W. Bush on election night prior to his making the election call. Even Kovach admitted this was improper.

It’s a clear a conflict of interest for a presidential candidate’s close and loyal first cousin, the nephew of a former U.S. President, to end up in a position to call the election for the U.S. national media?

So, now in 2008 we have Axelrod shooing away voters and starting his blitz to convince everyone that Obama is the winner with the full co-operation of the media, just like the events of Election Night 2000 which were started on FOX and then picked up by the rest of the crowd. The above video shows the first salvo in the ensuing bandwagon that has become the main message for our consumption since May 8, the night of the Indiana and North Carolina primaries.

Then there is the Democratic Party itself. While not displaying a true “conflict of interest” isn’t it nonetheless throwing its weight and manipulations around in favor of one candidate, Obama? When have you ever seen a party coddle one candidate like they are now doing with “The One”?

We also see superdelegates come out every time Obama makes a mistake or loses a debate or a primary to bolster him.

Doesn’t all this manipulation seem so much like we’ve seen before, but particularly, now so blatant this time around as it was on Election NIght 2000???

And May 20 will be the culmination point of this “coronation.” In the meantime, Hillary Clinton is being pilloried as being divisive and her key voters–working-class Americans, older voters, rural voters, and women (and if you’re an OLDER woman, God help you)–are being thrown under the bus. Having a real contest where real people vote is now an anathema to the party and the media.

And what about the media? After the 2000 debacle,

The networks engaged in much public hand-wringing in the weeks that followed the elections. Anyone who remembers a rueful Dan Rather saying,”If you’re disgusted with us, frankly I don’t blame you,” or who saw network executives go to Capitol Hill to explain themselves to Congress could reasonably have assumed that steps would be taken to ensure that such a debacle would not happen again. Network executives later acknowledged that cross-checking the VNS data with the AP’s numbers would probably have prevented the incorrect call of Florida for Bush, and they promised to make certain that a single source with bad information could never again create a media-wide failure like election night 2000. (From: The American Prospect, Publication Date: 01-OCT-04: Idiot boxed: one big reason Bush won Florida? Television (prematurely) said he did. By 2001, red-faced network news honchos promised big changes for 2004. Now we’re here. And guess what?)

Well, of course, nothing changed in 2004 as Kerry was slurred with the description of being “French.” (Among other things!)

At the start of this campaign season, media voices again solemnly proclaimed that they were really going to report fairly and wouldn’t be “GOR-ing” anyone like they’d done in the past, since this was such a vital election.

But, as we can see, this time around, we’ve had Edwards ignored out of the race and Clinton showered with negativity, misogyny and very little coverage of anything positive in her campaign.

The terrible difference this time, however, is that her own party has decided to join the media in their strategy of death by a thousand cuts.

Remember this, older, working-class, women, and rural voters when the media and Obama tell you that he is VICTORIOUS on May 20. Remember that you’re really NOT on the guest list for this coronation bash…

UPDATE

One of the “related articles” that has popped up under my post is from Business Week, November 30, 2000.

If this doesn’t sound like deja vu all over again….imagine referring to Gore’s fight to get the votes counted as “pigheadedness.” I suppose that description applies to Clinton as well…oh, no, she’s worse! She’s divisive and not noble enough for Teddy K….And see how cowardly the Dems were and still are??? And what can you say about the media? Nothing good…

But by attenuating the election, the Vice-President is walking a fine line between perseverance and pigheadedness. The unspoken fear of some congressional Democrats is that if Gore lingers too long in the land of chad, voters will turn on them in much the same way they turned on Bill Clinton’s impeachment tormentors in the GOP-controlled House of Representatives. The backlash could undermine Hill Democrats’ plans for hog-tying President Bush and gliding to big gains in the 2002 midterm elections. After all, no one wants to be branded a member of the Sore Loser Party.

My Local NM Superdelegate Steadfast for Clinton, Udall Silent; Breakdown on NM Count

I woke up to some good news today as the paper reported that my local superdelegate, Mary Gail Gwaltney, is sticking with Clinton for as long as the latter stays in the race.

Gwaltney states that:

… her support for Clinton is steadfast. She said she thinks the race, if it comes down to superdelegates’ votes, should be decided in Denver at the party’s national convention in August. She noted the superdelegate endorsements aren’t set in stone until then.

“Anybody can change,” she said. “I can change.”

She is also quoted as saying that Clinton has the “stamina and the will” needed as a leader.

I’m so glad Gwaltney mentioned these qualities, because Obama, while he might have the will, doesn’t look particularly strong when it comes to stamina. As long as things are going his way, he’s bright as a penny, but it’s horror show time if he has to confront serious questions or has to debate. He also mispeaks about where lakes are and the number of states in the union, which doesn’t give me much confidence in his ability to actually do the job of President. But, of course, he will have advisers, just like Bush has had advisers…

The story also details the total number of delegates that Obama and Clinton have:

Obama gained endorsements from 21 superdelegates since Tuesday, adding his count to 276, according to The Associated Press. Meanwhile, Clinton picked up two superdelegates, leaving her with 271.5.

I’m not sure how you get .5 delegates, but whatever. What strikes me that while the shrieking and demands for Clinton to get out of the race grow louder, she’s only 4.5 superdelegates behind Obama.

The story also reports that out of a total of 12 superdelegates from NM, Clinton has the support of 6, while Obama has 4. (There are also 36 “regular” delegates from NM.) Obama’s 4 include the big poohbah Bill Richardson, Sen. Jeff Bingaman, Fred Harris (former DNC chair, and Brian Col n, the state party chairman. Another supporter is an “add-on superdelegate” appointed by Col n. She is Laurie Weahkee, a Native American woman; she issued the following syrupy statement:

Obama has proven that he can campaign in a difficult environment and still inspire thousands of new voices to take part in the democratic process. As a Native American woman, I’m proud to support Obama, and I ask all of us to now join together and start building the movement for victory in November.”

If she thinks this has been a “difficult environment” what about what comes down if he is the nominee? Are these people on the planet??? Has any candidate ever been so enabled and coddled by this party??

Meanwhile, one super remains silent…Rep. Tom Udall, who is uncommitted and “too busy” to make a decision as he runs for the U.S. Senate. It’s interesting that Udall is holding back since he is deemed a strong “progressive.” Maybe he can tell that Obama is blowing a lot of smoke. Good for Udall for not committing!!

Germany Marks 75th Anniversary of Book Burnings

In 1933 the Nazis conducted book burnings in Berlin. Watch this video from the BBC, then reflect upon the all the pressures in this country aimed at halting the Democratic primary process.

Nazi Book Burnings Remembered

As a former librarian, this video really strikes a chord. (And hats off to all librarians who continue to fight for the freedom of all people who want to borrow a book without their privacy being invaded by the current Administraion.)

WHOA! Obama Knows Nada About the U.S. States, Either! (and I’m not talking about the Great Lakes….)

After writing about all the foreign policy issues Obama is probably not prepared to face, this pops up!

Apparently, Obama thinks there are 59 states in the union!

Here’s the video:

OK, so maybe he’s tired….but he’ll be more tired if he makes it to the White House.

Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton looks fresh as a daisy….

Does this guy really have what it takes to survive a general election campaign and take the pressures of the Presidency? Just asking….

Today’s Foreign News that Obama Probably Doesn’t Know a Thing About…

Who can forget that interview way back in 2000 when George W. Bush was asked who was heading Pakistan? Bush dismissively answered that it was some general and that it didn’t matter if he couldn’t recall the name, because he would be surrounded by advisers who knew all this stuff.

Were you impressed then? I sure wasn’t and I’m not impressed with Obama’s “expertise” on foreign policy either. His policies and some speeches may in large part come chapter and verse straight from the party platform and he can buddy all he wants with Jimmy Carter…but that sort of “foreign policy by association” doesn’t cut it with me, especially after seeing Bush and Cheney in action. Spending a few years in Indonesia as a kid, having a dubious relationship with Odinga in Africa, and never having the curiosity to explore Europe doesn’t count either.

So, when I ask if Obama knows the name of the current Japanese prime minister it’s because I want to see his ATTITUDE when he answers. Is he going to act like Bush?

I wake up to the BBC World Service news every morning via shortwave radio and in about 5 minutes I learn more than I could ever learn from the American media. Today was a BIG NEWS DAY on at least 3 fronts–Russia, Lebanon, and, yes, Japan. Having followed a lot of the related news while churning out the World Media Watch for Buzzflash for quite a few years, the stories I heard really woke me up, fast! Because the spectre of Obama (or McCain) reacting to some of the situations reported gave me a kick in the gut.

Right off the bat, there’s Russia’s little parade that was held today. For the first time since the demise of the Soviet Union, military hardware has been featured in Moscow’s Victory Day parade.

Obama’s Political eGFR…Calling Dr. Dean…

As most people know (or should know), there are all sorts of numbers that are indicators of a person’s health status. For example, as an indicator of cardiac health, if you have a cholesterol reading of 200-239 you are “borderline high” and may need treatment. Blood pressure has equally clear numbers in terms of what’s normal or what needs treatment.

But when it comes to the kidneys, things get murky, especially for general practitioners who look at the numbers and miss what’s really going on. In fact, kidney organizations have now raised a warning about how certain numbers which appear normal in routine blood tests, specifically serum creatinine levels, can mask a loss of 50% of kidney function!

In the last few years, a new number has appeared on basic blood test reports. It’s a computed figure based on other test results which turns out to give a very good estimate of kidney function. It’s called the eGFR (estimated Glomular Filtration Rate).

It turns out that many general and internal medicine practitioners don’t understand eGFR numbers. A level of 50 mL/min, which is only 10 units below the low end of the normal range level of 60 mL/min, is NOT OK. It’s not a “slight” difference, as one of my doctors commented to me. A level of 50 mL/min means that one’s kidneys are working at 50%…which translates into moderate kidney failure and needs watching and measures to be taken to preserve the function that is still left. Without proper care and diet modifications, a person with this level of function could wind up on dialysis or waiting for a kidney transplant as the percentage of kidney function drops.

How does this relate to Obama? Well, on the surface he looks in fine shape in terms of delegates pledged. He’s got the DNC helping him out by refusing to count the votes in FL and MI. He’s got lots of big names coming out to endorse him every time he loses a primary or flubs a debate. He certainly has the Mainstream Media pushing him along since they are loaded with pundits speaking out against Clinton and, and the same time, refusing to delve into Obama’s experience and relationships with any real seriousness. On the surface, it looks like his political serum creatinine is safely in the healthy range.

But all this masks what is really going on. Under the surface there is damage.

Call the DNC TOLL-FREE–They Are Taking Comments…Here’s What I Told Them…

I just got off the line with the DNC. A very sweet woman named Lisa Burgess took my comments…I could hear her typing in the background. (The number is at the end of this post.)

Several times during my polite, but very intense tirade on the DNC and this primary season, she told me that she could “really understand.” I think she must be “really understanding” a lot these days…

I first took apart the DNC for their handling of MI and FL and explained that I believed Obama was being “enabled.” I said he was a big boy and had taken his name of the MI ballot by his own decision and that he had held a press event and had ads spilling into FL–it was HE that BROKE THE RULES. I said that the party was disenfranchising voters to fix things for HIM!

I told her that that the party was at fault for not vetting him, but that he was ALSO at fault for not following his own statement about how he wasn’t going to run. I faulted him on his EGO that allowed himself to be “massaged” into running (I was being kind).

I told her that this seemed to be a personal vendetta against the Clintons. I told her I was a woman pushing 60 who had lived through it all and was being INSULTED by Obama and the media’s misogyny…Obama’s snide looks and his wife’s snotty comments about the Clinton marriage were ticking me off. I said I had never heard Obama call off his supporters holding sexist signs at the recent JJ Dinner in NC. Where was his leadership on that? I asked where the party was on statements made by the media that were sexist?

I said that Kerry’s influence on all this was a giveaway–the man who wouldn’t fight for the votes in OH in 2004 and left Edwards out there hanging. I said that I had been an Edwards supporter and that I knew the party had gone corporate and that Clinton and Obama were on that page…and it was sad that Edwards was drummed out of the race.

Then I got to the subject of a “unity” ticket. I said Obama didn’t deserve to be on the ticket if Clinton were the nominee because he would drag her down! His associations with Wright and Ayers would be the lightning rod of the campaign…FOX and YouTube were already doing their thing…

I also told here that the party was OUT-OF-TOUCH and if they shoved this guy at me, I WOULD NOT VOTE FOR HIM. This would be the first time I would not vote because 1) I was sick of enabling the party’s stupidity especially if it failed to seat MI and FL as is (no “splitting votes” to further enable Obama) and 2) it was my way of protesting and I didn’t feel compelled to vote for a machine that had insulted my intelligence.

Then I said that the “enabling” of Obama via endorsement by delegates every time he got in trouble was the stupidest thing I had ever seen, that I thought these people were INSANE and inept.

I told her, that in contrast, I was REALITY-BASED!

My final salvo was that I was about to “de-register” from the party and that there was no more money coming from me. Dean et al had proven to be a huge disappointment and the Democratic Party was no longer “my party.”

*****

The very pleasant Lisa sighed one more time, muttered she “really understood” and wished me a good day.

I wished her a good day, too.

And fingers crossed that it WILL be a good day in IN and NC for the me and the “reality based” among us!

PS–HERE’S THE TOLL-FREE NUMBER TO THE DNC!

1-877-336-7200

Is FOX Drifting into MSM Spin and Beginning to Bash Clinton???

Yesterday I commented on Kondracke and Barnes’ discussion on FOX about the primary situation for Hillary which sounded an awful lot like the Mainstream Media spin….

This afternoon I happened to go into the kitchen where my mother was listening to Hannity on the radio. He was talking about the “nuclear option” involving Clinton’s team pushing to count the MI and FL primary votes.

My mother thought Hannity was “quoting” someone…but I’m pretty sure that by the time I heard what Hannity was saying, he was not longer quoting. I got the distinct impression that he was trying to paint Clinton as trying to “steal” the nomination. He was talking about breaking the famous RULES…

Now, sometimes Hannity does one thing on the radio and another on TV. Contradictory approaches (like today’s radio bit versus a segment on the TV show about William Ayers stomping on an American flag) at the very least causes a lot of confusion. But after a lot of negative stuff on Obama, injecting a bit of misleading negative coverage about Clinton just before tomorrow’s primaries makes me suspicious.

We know that we can’t trust anyone connected with FOX and I’m speculating that now, just before the Indiana and North Carolina primaries, it’s time for this crew to support their guy Obama again. Clinton has been doing well (although the Gallup tracking poll shows a bit of bump for Obama lately). Would it surprise you if they wanted to help any trend to Obama to continue in these two states, who must have plenty of listeners who are Democrats? Nothing like bringing up “stealing” a nomination again…even though the facts about Obama’s own actions re: FL and MI suggest HE is the one the party is HELPING by ignoring those votes so far. Hannity didn’t mention THAT part of the story…

FOX folks must be salivating over the prospect of Obama being the nominee. They’re also revving up their derision toward the Democratic Party (much of it deserved) and waiting to pounce.

Frankly, I don’t think they can wait for Obama to get the nomination. Slinging a bit of mud at Clinton on the radio at this moment may be part of the FOX plan. Let’s face it, how can they possibly let all that Rev. Wright video go to waste??

Of Root Canal, “Delegate Drift” and Tuesday, May 6

Well, I’m on heavy antibiotics until I go for a root canal procedure on Tuesday afternoon. I unwittingly delivered the final insult when I took off my nightguard at 5 AM and neglected to put it back in my mouth. By the time a re-awoke at 6:30, the teeth-grinding damage was done, for once and for all. The swelling started and off to the dentist I went for the bad news.

Which reminds me of the primary season. Is Obama facing root canal in the upcoming primaries?

Every time he says something inane or insulting to half the population or loses a primary, the poobahs come out to ENDORSE him to try to divert attention from the damage he’s caused. For awhile it works, but then something else comes up. The nightguard is left off for awhile and OUCH…more damage is done.

Now we are waiting for Indiana and North Carolina. I happened across FOX last night and caught Fred Barnes and Mort Kondracke sounding very MSM. Oh, Obama would probably win the nomination…Hillary must win Indiana BIG and lose NC SMALL and MAYBE that will stop the “delegrate drift” toward Obama; of course, if she wins BOTH, well, that MIGHT shake things up and freeze the movement of delegates.

Lately, “drifting delegates” seem to be mystically tied to saving Obama’s butt. Clinton has picked up some, too, but you don’t hear about them much. Maybe it’s a good thing, because poor Gov. Mike Easley in NC, a high-profiler if there ever was one at this particular moment, endorsed Clinton and was booed at the JJ Dinner a couple of nights ago. Obama supporters again showed their lack of class or is it just a large display of immaturity?

FOX has been cautiously praised for their campaign coverage lately because it seems “fairer and more balanced” than other media outlets…But Kondracke and Barnes pulled the same old stuff during their discussion, notably when they talked about Joe Edward, former DNC Chair, and even showed a clip of his statement in which he switched to Obama. Did they mention the long list of former DNC Chairs who endorsed Clinton? Nope, they didn’t. I will give them credit, however, for showing a picture of Andrew with his glasses on, in which he looks a great deal like Mr. Limpet. And how appropriate THAT image is!!

Well, it must be fate that root canal is scheduled for the same day as the IN and NC primaries…nothing like cramming in all the suffering into one big package! On the other hand, if I’m drugged with painkillers, maybe I can get through election night with relative ease…