OK, Michelle, Who Is "They"?

Michelle Obama on the use of her husband's middle name by his opponents:

Michelle Obama, who often has decried "the fear bomb'' that opponents have used against her husband for his middle name -- Barack Hussein Obama -- said in Canton, Ohio, today that it is happening again and shows why it's so important that he wins election as president.

"They threw in the obvious, ultimate fear bomb," Obama said today of her husband's 2004 Senate race. "We're even hearing [that] now. … 'When all else fails, be afraid of his name, and what that could stand for, because it's different.'"

     The senator's wife said that rivals use innuendo to play on fears. "Just as they're saying it now," she said.

But, she told about 200 supporters this morning at a restored theater in Canton, Obama won despite that "climate of negativity and doubt" in 2004. "We learned, number one, that when power is threatened by real change they will say anything to stop it," she said. "But we also learned that the American people can handle the truth."

OK, who is "they"?  Today's ChiTrib advised us that Alan Keyes, Obama's final Senate opponent, never used "Hussein":

...not even Alan Keyes in his most overwrought, spittle-flecked moments did it during his 2004 Senate run against Obama in Illinois.

...

"We warned him away from using the middle name," replied Bill Pascoe, Keyes' former campaign manager, when I checked with him to see if my colleagues and I had missed something when coming up empty after plumbing our memories and the news archives.

Pascoe told me he and former top Keyes consultant Dan Proft had steered him away with the admonishment that such a gambit would be "rude, uncivil, needlessly provocative and incendiary."

Well, maybe Jack Ryan dropped the ultimate fear bomb before a friendly (to Democrats) judge unsealed his divorce so the press could have a scandal with Jeri Ryan's "I need a payday" divorce allegations.  Jack Ryan left the Senate race in June 2004, but who knows?

Or could it have been one of Obama's primary opponents?  Perhaps a Lexis maven can help me out.  FWIW, the Chi Trib's archive first kicks out a "Barack Hussein Obama" in Dec 2006, criticizing Rush Limbaugh's use of "Barack Hussein Odumbo".  Hmm, Google might have missed that....

MORE:  "Hussein" is the ultimate fear bomb?  I thought the international community had him contained; isn't "Osama", Ted Kennedy's formulation of "Obama", much scarier?

Whatev.  Speaking of scary, let's just call the Senator from Illinois "He Who Must Not Be Middle-Named".

Comments

[clarice]

Bob Kerrey speaking for Hill was the first use I remember

[hit and run]

MichelleO:
it is happening again and shows why it's so important that he wins election as president.

I'd say she's got it about right.

Why is it so important to elect Obama?

The issues? Nope.
The economy? Nah.
Terrorism? Uh uh.
The War in Iraq? You kidding me?
Health care? Not even close.
Hope? Don't make me laugh.
Change? Now you're just being ridiculous.
Yes We Can? Just stop it.
They make fun of his middle name? Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding!

I'm sold.

[JM Hanes]

O.K. In an effort to derail this discussion as quickly as possible, let's hear it for TM's Women! And they're not even wearing their earmuffs!

[Ann]

From Rush today,

" I mean, you guys in the Drive-By Media harping on this middle-name stuff, you had Bob Kerrey out there four or five times pounding it, and then apologized for it some days later to keep the middle name out there."

Kerrey Apologizes to Obama Over Remark

[clarice]

Thanks. At the moment my self image is more like *ugh* Andrea Dworkin.

[JM Hanes]

Well you look fabulous from here!

[Ann]

JM Hanes, Now that there is Funny!

[clarice]

Thanks, JMH--But I always put on heavy makeup before posting.

[Ann]

JM Hanes, they should of added that terrorist loving lawyer from New York. I can picture her, unfortunately, but can't think of her name.

MO reminds me of all the reality shows that always have a self righteous black woman participating. Project Runway, Survivor, The You are Fired Show.....

I am almost afraid to post this because I will probably be called racist for pointing out self righteous black women,,,,Oh, well.

[clarice]

Lynn Stewart.

Omarosa.

[Ann]

Lynn Stewart.....Exactly!

Yes, Omarosa... another MO.

Clarice, it is sad that someone can't write about the comparisons in this environment. I think it would be healthy.

[Lesley]

"But I always put heavy makeup on before posting."

Clarice, you crack me up.

[JM Hanes]

LOL, clarice. I'm only sorry I couldn't provide this discriminating crew with all the ladies' middle names, because there probably wouldn't be enough makeup in the world to cover your sins if your self-image turned out to be a reflection of Angela Hussein Dworkin.

Saw Madeleine Albright on the Daily Show the other night. Apparently she's got a new book coming out called Memo to Hillary the President Elect: How We Can Restore America's Reputation and Leadership. No doubt Obama and McCain have already pre-ordered their copies. I'm sure this crowd will give her major props for her lapel pin though. No fellow traveler there, by golly.

[Sara]

Dear Michelle:

The following men who have been elected President of the U.S.A. are, more often than not, referred to by all three, or even four, of their names. Why are you so ashamed of your husband's name?

John Quincy Adams
William Henry Harrison
William Howard Taft
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Dwight David Eishenhower
John Fitzgerald Kennedy
Richard Milhouse Nixon
Lyndon Baines Johnson
James Earl Carter
George Herbert Walker Bush
William Jefferson Clinton

[JM Hanes]

Can't believe I forgot to announce the newly updated goalposts on Iraq when I was posting the most recent Pew Poll stats: War is too expensive!

[kim]

Gad, I hope Michelle continues to consider herself vital to her husband's election.
======================

[PeterUK]

"Thanks. At the moment my self image is more like *ugh* Andrea Dworkin."

Madam,you do yourself an injustice.You may be unseen,but you have a beautiful mind.

[capitano]

Mark Levin renamed him Barack "Milhouse" Obama...because he's too timid to buck the PC police.

[BumperStickerist]

Regarding the cost of the war, allow myself to quote myself from JOM, circa 2005

Speaking of which:

One thing left off the 'Cost of the War' calculations is the differential cost between the Blitzkrieg and the cost of Sitzkrieg.

A hot war/occupation that costs us $5Billion per month and which has produced regime change, freed millions, cost the lives of nearly 2,000 soldies et cetera et cetera needs to be compared against the likely cost of 100,000+ stationed in Kuwait for the same period of time which would have produced neither the regime change or freed 25,000,000 (that's 25 m-m-m-million)people.

Since the terrorists are not too picky about borders, and the US presence in the Middle East would be a provocation let's figure that the soldier deaths due to IEDs would be about the same over the length of time needed for the UN team to verify that Saddam does not have any WMDs or programs that can quickly reconstitute said weapons.

There would, perhaps, be a lower frequency of deaths, but- since the troops would be in a more fixed location there could be a higher intensity of casualties per incident(e.g. one mortar round lands in cafeteria, killing dozens)

I don't know what the probable number would be ... but it's worth considering what would be necessary to ensure that Hussein complied with the UN regulations dating back a dozen years and what that would cost, both in terms of money and in terms of soldier's lives --- surely those who walk among the reality-based see the reality of that.

Posted by: BumperStickerist | August 11, 2005 at 11:51 AM

Also, the Reality of the Situation was that the UN had 17 inspectors to cover Iraq with a total of 53 who would get there eventually. Iraq is the size of California, and there were hundreds, perhaps thousands of sites to check. And Saddam was in power.

Plus it took over 75,000 troops stationed in Kuwait and a US Naval presence in the area to get Saddam to allow UN Inspectors in. It costs money to keep 75,000 troops in Kuwait and Naval assets on location.

Here's The Reality-based Situation in 2002

Given that the Democrats/Reality-based types plan on having THOUSANDS of lawyers on-call in any given state to investigate allegations of vote fraud, how do they figure that four dozen inspectors can accomplish anything substantial in a country run by Saddam?

At the end of the day, in Iraq, war is cheaper than peace, both in lives and money.

-

[clarice]

Thank you PUK. Well, I am feeling perkier today and what mental acuity I have had seems to be returning bit by bit as Chantix fades.
JMH Don't say a word..let McCain wait until the debate to explain to Obama how much of that expense is fixed--that is we have to pay military salaries whether the troops are abroad on a mission , acting as a relief convoy or hanging around the barracks waiting to play extras in some film by his friends and supporters.

[centralcal]

McCain (in a video at HotAir via FoxNews):

"...dispirited spirited campaign..."
"...conservative liberal Republican..."

Oh. Dear.

[Sue]

JMH,

Not just scary, as Ann said, but funny to boot. ::grin::

[The POW Warrior]

I think the scary part is that the Obama camp is making an issues out of it - Obama is obviously proud of his middle name ... that is what we should all be questioning.

Why should we consider his for the highest office in the nation if he wants to use his middle name as an election topic.

As much as I despise McCain - we don't get upset when someone refers to him as John Sidney McCain or refering to Hill as Hillary Rodham Clinton ... You can't have it both was Obama.

[MarkD]

Just call him Earl. He is, after all, the second coming of Jimmy Carter.

[steveaz]

I'd like it if Michelle Obama would explain just what it is that is so "scary" about the name "Hussein."

She is a very eloquent spokesperson for her husband (and the Democrat Party). She should be given a chance to explain why "Hussein's" presidential campaign needs to confront users of his birth-name so vehemently.

Really. I'm curious why the defensiveness, and how she'll word her explication.

[MayBee]

Have you all seen this about the Canada/Nafta Obamathing:

Earlier Thursday, the Obama campaign insisted that no conversations have taken place with any of its senior ranks and representatives of the Canadian government on the NAFTA issue. On Thursday night, CTV spoke with Goolsbee, but he refused to say whether he had such a conversation with the Canadian government office in Chicago. He also said he has been told to direct any questions to the campaign headquarters.

from The Campaign Spot

[GMax]

"There's a lot to do on Iraq because it's such a big hole we're dumping our money in,"

Quoting Harry Reid.

I think they quoted him out of context. I am sure he went on to say "And we so many other big holes we want to dump money in to try to buy some voters for this election, we can no longer afford to protect the American people."

[GMax]

And that poster left off Angie Harmon, a hottie to be sure...

[Bill]

Saw this somewhere. "John McCain has urged talk radio hosts and his supporters to refrain from calling Sen Obama "Barack Hussein Obama," but refer to him as "Barack Cougar Obama"

[anduril]

I'm pasting in Byron York's piece at The Corner--it's mostly la Michelle's own words:

Michelle Obama: "Don't Go Into Corporate America" [Byron York]

I have a new story today about Michelle Obama's visit to Zanesville, Ohio, where she met with a group of women at a local day care center. According to the U.S. Census, Muskingum County, where Zanesville is located, had a median household income of $37,192 in 2004, below both the Ohio and national averages. Just 12.2 percent of adults in the county have a bachelor's degree or higher, also well below the state and national averages. About 20 percent don't have a high school degree. Nevertheless, Mrs. Obama urged them to foreswear lucrative professions like corporate law or hedge fund management and go into the helping industry, even if the sacrifice is great:

As she has many times in the past, Mrs. Obama complains about the lasting burden of student loans dating from her days at Princeton and Harvard Law School. She talks about people who end up taking years and years, until middle age, to pay off their debts. “The salaries don’t keep up with the cost of paying off the debt, so you’re in your 40s, still paying off your debt at a time when you have to save for your kids,” she says.

“Barack and I were in that position,” she continues. “The only reason we’re not in that position is that Barack wrote two best-selling books… It was like Jack and his magic beans. But up until a few years ago, we were struggling to figure out how we would save for our kids.” A former attorney with the white-shoe Chicago firm of Sidley & Austin, Obama explains that she and her husband made the choice to give up lucrative jobs in favor of community service. “We left corporate America, which is a lot of what we’re asking young people to do,” she tells the women. “Don’t go into corporate America. You know, become teachers. Work for the community. Be social workers. Be a nurse. Those are the careers that we need, and we’re encouraging our young people to do that. But if you make that choice, as we did, to move out of the money-making industry into the helping industry, then your salaries respond.” Faced with that reality, she adds, “many of our bright stars are going into corporate law or hedge-fund management.”

What she doesn’t mention is that the helping industry has treated her pretty well. In 2006, the Chicago Tribune reported that Mrs. Obama’s compensation at the University of Chicago Hospital, where she is a vice president for community affairs, jumped from $121,910 in 2004, just before her husband was elected to the Senate, to $316,962 in 2005, just after he took office. And that does not count the money Mrs. Obama receives from serving on corporate boards. She would have been O.K. even without Jack’s magic beans.

Mrs. Obama also bemoaned the amount of money she has to spend — nearly one-third of the median household income in Zanesville — on piano, dance, and other lessons for her two children. But she was grateful for the concern her husband's supporters have shown for her. "Everywhere I go, no matter what, the women in the audience, their first question for me is, 'How on earth are you managing it, how are you keeping it all together?'" she told the women.

[MayBee]

She talks about people who end up taking years and years, until middle age, to pay off their debts. “The salaries don’t keep up with the cost of paying off the debt, so you’re in your 40s, still paying off your debt at a time when you have to save for your kids,” she says.

Here's one way the people who want to raise taxes really, really bug me.
Michelle Obama seems sympathetic to people who are working and just want to save money for their kids. Why is everyone else who keeps you from taking home money at fault, but not the government?
Corporation not pay you enough? Bad
College loan charge too much? Bad
College costs too much? Bad
Government takes a chunk of your paycheck? Good

[Neo]

Stick and Stone may break my bones,
but names will never hurt me.

The pedaling of "fear of fear" is even sillier than the original "fear".

[anduril]

OT? OT? OT? OT?

Highly recommended (by me) is Take My Wives, Please: Polygamy Heads West, re the impact of Islamic polygamy on the West. Hint: the impact is negative.

[Appalled Moderate]

Michelle seems to be rivaling Teresa Heinz-Kerry for propensity towards making unfortuante remarks. Has she been taking lessons from Bill?

[boris]

'How on earth are you managing it, how are you keeping it all together?'

Yeah I get that a lot too. "boris, how do you do it, hold a job, play guitar, keep up with all the CSI TV shows and STILL find the time to have a beer?"

It's a blessing and a curse I tell them.

[Patrick R. Sullivan]

Meanwhile, George Walker Bush merely reduced the middle class tax burden to historically low levels:

The CBO data show the impact of the 2001 and 2003 tax legislation on households ranked by adjusted income, and divided into fifths and other percentile groupings.

In 2005, the CBO data indicate that in the middle fifth, the total effective tax rate -- the share of federal taxes as a percent of income -- was 14.2 percent, while the effective individual income tax rate was 3.0 percent. These figures compare to 2000 levels of 16.6 percent and 5.0 percent, respectively. Between 2003 and 2005, the total effective tax rate for the middle fifth edged up, but still remained far below the levels of the previous 24 years.

[MayBee]

heh, boris!

We’ve got family structure,” she says. “So I tell people don’t cry for me.”

Oh, she did not say that.

[Ranger]

Well, since CTV has a new report out confirming their earlier reporting about Obama telling the Canadians he doesn't really mean what he's been saying about NAFTA, maybe everyone should just start calling him Barack Doubletalk Obama.

[MayBee]

Ranger- isn't it curious? The denial about talking to the Canadian Embassy was pretty surgical, I suppose. It was a consulate.

[GMax]

Boy Michelle did not turn down the property tax abatement on that big fancy house. Something like 8 year of reduced taxes on the minimansion, and it required them to jump thru some hoops to keep it and guess what they jumped and jumped. HMMM

She left a name law firm and was making 121K a year before the raise which tripled her income and and she is whining about low rate student loans and piano lessons?

Democrats are the least discerning beings on this planet. These day care moms should have filleted her.

[anduril]

And, GMax, don't forget:

And that does not count the money Mrs. Obama receives from serving on corporate boards.

It's all part of the racial spoils system--for the anointed, that is.

[Ranger]

So, what should the Meme for this be?

Barack Lied, People Cried!

The Audacity of Lies!

Barack, by thine actions we shall know thee!

[GMax]

Is it worse to flip flop on your positions, like Kerry did or outright lie? I would think at least with flip flopping you have a chance to explain you legitimately changed your mind after considering additional info. But when you say one thing to your supporters, another to the likely impacted group, get called on it and deny it, I dont see how you come off as anything but a panderer who will say anything to get elected, and worse a liar who is not to be believed.

But I guess if you got hope and change going for you, a little lying doesn't hurt, right?

[GMax]

Meanwhile McCain is onboard with Jim Demint pork amendment. If the GOP incumbents get onboard with this, they can ride this a whole lot further than the Democrats rode their culture of corruption shtick. Nobody but guys like Booby Byrd like pork. Its got to have 70% to 75% voter support. A clear distinction to make for the parties.

[kim]

There is an interesting dynamic with these two. They bellow hope for change and project resentment enough to want to get even.
=================================

[GMax]

Is it just me or does it seem like the Chicago Sun Times, the paper that should know Obama the best, really does not care for the chap? Exhibit 1, Steve Huntley writes a column today that eviscerates Obama on his Iraq fiasco of this week. He calls Obama's policy "confused". That is probably charitable. But when your friends in the MSM are firing off at you, it cant be a good sign.

[anduril]

There is an interesting dynamic with these two. They bellow hope for change and project resentment enough to want to get even.

"Hope" "Change"? Translation: where's ours?

The Rev Wright told them, God helps those who helps themselves. They've been helping themselves, but they want more.

[clarice]

You can bid on Ebay for a new middle name for BHO.
Barak Milhouse?

[Ranger]

The other illuminating thing about this Canada flap is just how clueless Obama (and/or) his team are on the realities of international politics. Did everyone involved in this just forget that the Conservatives are the governing party in Canada? Did it not occur to them that members of the Consirvative Party government might want the Republicans to keep the White House? Did it not occur to them, that given those political dynamics in Canada, this whole thing wouldn't be leaked to the press sooner or later?

[anduril]

GMax, my brother sent me an item yesterday that I should've linked--I only referred to it obliquely. It went into some detail about how and why the press--the actual campaign reporters--like McCain and how they continually get stiffed by Obama, who keeps them strictly at arms length.

[GMax]

I am fearful that the situation in Gaza is about to explode. Israel will not make the same slow and incremental mistake they did in Souther Lebanon and their defense minister is talking about a "shoah". those of you who speak some Hebrew may take a second to translate for us. My limited understanding is that the Defense Minister is threatening a major ass kicking that would not soon be forgot.

Of course Hezbollah may try to take advantage of the situation in the South to stir up something in the North.

If you are the pro Palestinian candidate, you have got to be staying up late trying to figure out a way to walk the tightrope so that even more American Jews dont throw up their hands in disgust with you.

[clarice]

"Shoah" is another word for holocaust, and I'm afraid he was not describing Israel's plan for its neighbors, but the reverse.

[PeterUK]

May I respectfully suggest
Barrack "Hallelujah" Obama ?

[MayBee]

Ranger- no, because I think they truly believe every country hates Bush.

[rogera]

In the event Senator Obama wins the general in November, will he then say, on January 20, 2009, "I, Barack Hussein Obama, do solemnly swear to....?"

[Ranger]

And one more thing... Did the Obama campaign think they could lie to the Canadian press the way they do to the US press and get away with it? An American paper or TV network may have just slunk away with their tail between their legs as the price of getting a Dem in the White House, but the Canadian press has no such vested interest in the election outcome.

[Porchlight]

If you are the pro Palestinian candidate, you have got to be staying up late trying to figure out a way to walk the tightrope so that even more American Jews dont throw up their hands in disgust with you.

If you're even clued in enough to realize there's a tightrope needing walking. Given the lack of foreign policy smarts Obama and his campaign have displayed thus far, I'm not convinced that's the case.

[Neo]

Adam Gadahn, the bonehead Californian who joined al-Qaida in 2003, went missing on Jan. 29 at exactly the same time a Predator drone fired the missile killing Abu Laith al-Libi, al-Qaida’s chief in Pakistan.

On the wrong side of a Predator drone's missile, his quest for gore and glory over.

[GMax]

"I don't think it's appropriate to go to Ohio and tell people one thing while your aide is calling the Canadian ambassador and telling him something else," McCain said, referring to Obama. "I certainly don't think that's straight talk."

On Thursday, the Canadian embassy in Washington issued a complete denial.

"At no time has any member of a presidential campaign called the Canadian ambassador or any official at the embassy to discuss NAFTA," it said in a statement.

But on Wednesday, one of the primary sources of the story, a high-ranking member of the Canadian embassy, gave CTV more details of the call. He even provided a timeline. He has since suggested it was perhaps a miscommunication.

Dont discount the fact that CTV has stations in Western Ontario that surely reach Michigan audiences.

I am sure CTV does not like their own reputation smeared, so they are rightly defending themselves on exactly what went on.

Harper is now saying that Canada might like to have a few things changed in the agreement too if it is going to be opened up for renegotiations. Funny how that works, when two sides sign an agreement they expect the other one to uphold the agreement. But someone we are not hearing about a global test on this situation.

[GMax]

someone = somehow

[glasater]

Anduril--per your link above @ PJM--I found myself a little horrified laughing at a story about murder.

[ben]

I suppose he could be like Harry S. Truman, Barack H. Obama and be done with it...and if runs into trouble with the remaining names eventually B.H.O., the first acronym President in the history of the U.S.

[MayBee]

On Thursday, the Canadian embassy in Washington issued a complete denial.

"At no time has any member of a presidential campaign called the Canadian ambassador or any official at the embassy to discuss NAFTA," it said in a statement.

Gmax, that's the surgical denial I was talking about although I was thinking it came from Obama's camp.
Note that it seems not to be a lie, but not the whole truth either. Goolsbee spoke with the Consulate.

[glasater]

Boy--talk about buttoned down campaign management. Everything (almost) has to go through BHO and his minions.

[anduril]

glasater, my wife works for a private boys school. Many Muslims send their sons to the school for the single sex education (and their girls to a related girls school), despite the Catholic character of the school. There are a number of western women married to Muslim men among this group--this is not an uncommon situation: they find out after converting that they're part of a harem, sometimes on an international scale. Some of these Muslims are highy westernized and not bad people, but western women who get into this culture are stoopid--they're cruisin' for a bruisin'.

[anduril]

glasater, would this be a solution: legalize polygamy but make the homicide justifiable?

[anduril]

Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai went as far as threatening a "shoah," the Hebrew word for holocaust or disaster. The word is generally used to refer to the Nazi Holocaust, but a spokesman for Vilnai said the deputy defense minister used the word in the sense of "disaster," saying "he did not mean to make any allusion to the genocide."

"The more Qassam fire intensifies and the rockets reach a longer range, [the Palestinians] will bring upon themselves a bigger shoah because we will use all our might to defend ourselves," Vilnai told Army Radio on Friday.

[GMax]

Clarice

Is there more than one meaning of Shoah? Here is the quote. Surely the Def Minister is not threatening a Holocaust on the Palestinians, given the proclivity in the International community to dump on the Israelis for the kind of common sense defense measures that if it were in their own country would be seen as lukewarm half measures.

"The more Qassam fire intensifies and the rockets reach a longer range, [the Palestinians] will bring upon themselves a bigger shoah because we will use all our might to defend ourselves," Vilnai told Army Radio on Friday.

[GMax]

OOPs x posted with Anduril

[anduril]

GMax, here's the link to the article I quoted--my entire post was a quote:

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/959532.html

[Pofarmer]

Is there anybody following Barak's soldier story? Last I saw it looked, well, made up.

[Pofarmer]

Is there anybody following Barak's soldier story? Last I saw it looked, well, made up.

[clarice]

I know of no other meaning. I take it he's waning the Carterlike Olmert response to the first attacks will not be repeated if Israel is attacked by Hezbollah again.Given that Hezbollah has nestled itself into civilian communities in Lebanon significant civilian deaths seem inevitable in any meaningful response.

[clarice]

**waRning****

[glasater]

Anduril--I'm a little bit of a female chauvinist so I tend to place more responsibility on women and the choices they make.

[RichatUF]

GMax-

...with flip flopping you have a chance to explain you legitimately changed your mind...

"I was for it before I was against" doesn't seem like a winning argument with BHO's NAFTA gaff. Isn't it a bit presumptuous of his economic team to be sending emissaries to Canada (or at least their their consulates) before he even has the nomination locked up.

[GMax]

Not that presumptuous for a movement candidate clearly believing his own bullshit.

Besides if they go to the Consulate, they can hopefully head off a strong denunciation by the Canadian government, and look like they are trying to create problems with our largest trading partner.

I dont think they factored in Jack Layton with his far lefty party coming out publicly about wanting to get rid of NAFTA too.

Gee if Prog Socialists on both sides of the border dislike the policy, voters are going to assume its a pretty good policy and the the Democrats are just pandering and puppeteering for the Unions Bosses pulling their strings.

Can anyone advising Obama explain that the farther left you go in the Primary, the harder it is to get back to the center to be able to win a National election? Is it that hard to understand for a Harvard Law School grad?

[Pofarmer]

Is any more coming out about Barak Hussein's anonymous Captain story?

[Pofarmer]

Whoops, I see my earlier posts mysteriously appear.

Weird.

[Ann]

Rich, It makes me worry more about his emissaries to Damascus.

[glasater]

OK--This is long but it is from John Fund's Political Diary and refers to BHO and Nafta--
Can't do a link.

"Is Barack Obama climbing out so far on his campaign's left wing as to court a potential political crash as his party's nominee?

Mr. Obama used to make soothing, moderate noises on the economy, well aware that projecting an image as a wild-eyed populist could hurt him with independent voters in the fall. But in the heat of the Texas and Ohio primaries, he has thrown restraint aside and joined Hillary Clinton in a jihad against globalization.

Most infamously, Mr. Obama paired his endorsement by the anti-trade Teamsters Union with a pledge to block "open trucking" with Mexico, by which cargo vehicles can easily cross the border without transferring their shipments to U.S. trucks.

As for NAFTA, which has proven a boon to many border areas of Texas, Mr. Obama now claims that the agreement with Mexico cost "millions of jobs" and says he wants to renegotiate the treaty. On the outsourcing of U.S. jobs overseas, Mr. Obama has come up with a Rube Goldberg plan to levy lower corporate taxes on firms that become "patriot employers" and keep jobs in the U.S. "What he is effectively saying is that companies that offshore jobs are unpatriotic," economist Gary Hufbauer told the Financial Times. "This is serious language."

It may also be serious politics. John McCain advisers believe that Mr. Obama's "stop the world" rhetoric combined with his designation as the most liberal senator by the National Journal magazine give them an angle to appeal to business owners and workers in export industries. "The only Democrat to win the White House in the last generation was Bill Clinton, who was moderate on trade," says one McCain adviser. "If Obama wants to try trade extremism instead as a campaign tactic, that's a battlefield we will be happy to meet him on."

Advisers to Mr. McCain believe that Mr. Obama would present a juicy target as nominee. "We see him as a classic liberal whose proposals come straight out of the 1970s," says Douglas Holtz-Eakin, senior McCain adviser. "It is hard to understand his stance on trade. Access to the U.S. market is a vital element of our foreign policy."

[MayBee]

So yesterday we learned from Obama that:

Renegotiating NAFTA doesn't really mean renegotiating NAFTA with Canada.

Pulling troops out of Iraq doesn't really mean removing troops that can kill alQaeda out of Iraq.

I also heard Dr. Susan Rice say that while Obama would meet foreign leaders "without precondition", the meetings would be "carefully planned".

It was an interesting day.

[GMax]

This seems to be getting pretty specific, and we both sides default to "No Comment" you can be assured that if they really thought "Bullshit" they would not be holding back from saying anything.

ABC News' Jennifer Parker spoke to Goolsbee, a University of Chicago economics professor, Thursday who would not confirm or deny that he had a conversation with Georges Rioux, the Canadian Consulate General in Chicago. Rioux, in meetings this week in Ottawa, would also neither confirm nor deny any conversation took place. Both men did say that they know each other.

[RichatUF]

GMax-

Can anyone advising Obama explain that the farther left you go in the Primary, the harder it is to get back to the center to be able to win a National election? Is it that hard to understand for a Harvard Law School grad?

Maybe they will see it in a dream or bring some tablets down from the mountian. I was looking over some Fed papers on NAFTA and (a skimming and eyeballing warning here) it looks to me that for the auto parts supplier industry (which seems to be the cause of the biggest dislocations in Ohio) that NAFTA has had the effect of sending the more high end production to Canada and the low end production to Alabama. Maybe BHO's new campaign theme for Ohio could be "Blame Alabama!"

[Anon]

Ha!

See what talking with the enemy get's you Obama.

Canada-playing hard ball.

Ya-baby!

Man did he Obama the geo-political wheeezzzaard forget who won the last election in you know Canada?

Burned ya baby rrrreeeealll gooood.

Now- see how Canada bitch slapped ya?

How do you think Kim Jongster, and some other toughies are going to do ya?

[Ann]

Speaking of Michelle Omarosa Obama, we also have Hillary Boo Hoo Clinton saying "It's hard being a woman out there". (from Malkin/ABC)

In an interview with ABC News’ Cynthia McFadden to air on this evening’s “Nightline,” Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., says it’s tougher for her to run as a woman than it is for her male opponent.
Asked why she thinks so many women may be feeling sorry for her, Clinton said, “I think a lot of women project their own feelings and their lives onto me, and they see how hard this is. It’s hard. It’s hard being a woman out there. It is obviously challenging with some of the things that are said that are not even personal to me so much as they are about women.
“And I think women just sort of shake their head,” Clinton continued. “My friends do. They say, ‘Oh, my gosh, this is so hard.’ Well, it’s supposed to be hard. I’m running for the hardest job in the world. No one has ever done this. No woman has ever won a presidential primary before I won New Hampshire. This is hard. And I don’t expect any sympathy, I don’t expect any kind of, you know, allowances or special privileges, because I knew what I was getting myself into.
“Every so often I just wish that it were a little more of an even playing field,” she said, “but, you know, I play on whatever field is out there.”

[PeterUK]

Amongst those "who's name shall not be spoken" are of course demons.

[hit and run]

So Obama has pissed off the Canadians, eh. What a hoser.

You know how the Democrats belly-ache about Bush squandering the mythic good will the US had after 9/11?

Child’s play.

Obama can pre-squander good will with our next door neighbors, even if he doesn’t mean it.

Obama's Foreign Policy: The doctrine of pre-emptive squandering

[centralcal]

Michelle Omarosa Obama

I like it, Ann! I really, really, like it!

[anduril]

The neocons over at Powerline have a disturbing post re McCain. McCain is clearly a guy for whom all criticism is intensely personal:

Brad Smith responds to Senator McCain

I was intrigued by Paul's account of the blogger conference call with Senator McCain yesterday. Senator McCain justified his refusal to shake the hand of former FEC Commissioner Brad Smith on the ground that Professor Smith had engaged in attacks on Senator McCain's character.

Checking out Smith's 2001 book on the problems with campaign finance regulation -- Unfree Speech: The Folly of Campaign Finance Reform -- Professor Smith's comments on Senator McCain and the then-proposed McCain-Feingold reform bill, one finds only Professor Smith's reference to McCain's "minimal" role in the Keating Five scandal and criticism of the bill itself. A Google search on Brad Smith on John McCain similarly turns up nothing personal in nature. Professor Smith's consideration of John McCain as a presidential candidate is accessible here.

I called Professor Smith this morning to ask him for a comment. Professor Smith was mystified and amused. He said he laughed out loud when he read Senator McCain's comments, viewing them as a projection of Senator McCain's treatment of him. He recalled having criticized Senator McCain's understanding of the issues implicated by campaign finance regulation, but nothing aimed at Senator McCain's character.

He noted that he has been quoted a number of places, including an Arizona Republic article, characterizing Senator McCain as a hero. Indeed, he said, he largely identifies with Senator McCain by virtue of his own temper and his sympathy with him on a number of issues for which he has taken flak from conservatives, among them immigration reform and the Gang of 14.

He added that since 2004 he has been criical of matters related to the Reform Institute (discussed in George Will's column) for the creation of the same appearance of corruption for which Senator McCain excoriates others. One of the themes of Professor Smith's critique of campaign finance regulation is the creation of the appearance of ethical dilemmas for their proponents.

As to the incident recounted by Will, Professor Smith added that he approached Senator McCain in part because the occasion was public and conducive to cordiality. He quoted Senator McCain as saying: "You're a bully and a coward. You have no regard for the Constitution. I'll be civil to you but I won't shake your hand."

Professor Smith offered one additional bit of armchair psychology. He wondered whether Senator McCain resented him because he can't do anything to him. I personally think the problem is a bit bigger than that, including a form of intellectual laziness on one of Senator McCain's key issues. At the least it represents conduct unbecoming a man of Senator McCain's stature.

[maryrose]

If Hil can't stand the heat-get out of the kitchen.
P.S. Stop the whining!

[Anon]

Watch this video of Michelle Obama's Wisconsin speech taken by Ann Althouse.

Michelle Obama uses the rhetorical "they" style from about the two minute mark to the six minute mark.

In it she says something to the effect-"they" said Barack couldn't rasie money, "they" said Barack couldn't organize, "they" said he couldn't win Iowa, then "they" said New Hampshire was wehat really mattered.

She even blamed pollsters?

The pollsters that had him leading in NH and CA-is she kidding?

If the "they" she means is the media picking on Obama-that is spin to the nth degree.

It looks like her audience bought the victimization of Obama's chances by the media hook, line and sinker.

Even Althouse didn't notice.

link

[GMax]

In reading Hward Wolfson comments today, its clear that Hillary does not intend to get out of the race even if they dont cary both Texas and Ohio.

And he is turning up the heat on Rezko which is a play they should have made six moves ago.

I think their new strategy is to keep it close, and let the Rezko sleaze become better understood with the focus of his corruption trial underway.

Once the superdelegates see Obama is damaged goods, they put Hill over the top.

Hide and watch.

[RichatUF]

Maybee-

I also heard Dr. Susan Rice say that while Obama would meet foreign leaders "without precondition", the meetings would be "carefully planned".

His language about "without precondition" has been gnawing at me. Is he trying to turf some "secret plan" and his own "Nixon goes to China" moment? Given the make up of his foreign policy team this has been for me the most frightening aspect of his campaign so far.

I could imagine a BHO foreign policy which makes nice with Iran (by dropping them off the State Sponsor of Terror List and reducing embargo and travel restrictions) and throws Israel under a bus (maybe forcing them to put their assumed nuclear weapons program under an IAEA microscope or other military aid restrictions).

I'm not sure how he would be able to move the Iranians seeing as how US forces in Iraq would be leaving during his administration anyway. All the Iranians would have to do is keep talking until US forces are gone.

Seems we have seen this script before with Pres. Clinton and Arafat and that policy was less than successful (or US policy regarding NK).

[bgates]

He quoted Senator McCain as saying: "You're a bully and a coward. You have no regard for the Constitution...."
To which the response can only be, "Then you're a better man than I am, Senator - no one would ever call you a coward."

[bgates]

In it she says something to the effect-"they" said Barack couldn't raise money, "they" said Barack couldn't organize, "they" said he couldn't win Iowa, then "they" said New Hampshire was what really mattered.
Maybe she's talking about the New York money people. You know - the Red Sea pedestrians.

[MikeS]

So Obama has pissed off the Canadians, eh.

And the Pakistanis, but he is in tight with the Iranian Moolahs.

[Patrick Tyson]

GMax—

You're beating a dead horse.

Clinton's "brain-trust", one and all from the looks of it, should, just on the basis of what they've done for her, never be allowed anywhere near a campaign again. I'm very pleased, personally, that she asked for and got their help.

[clarice]

I only wish she'd asked and paid for Schrum's help, too.
O's response to McCain's AQ in Iraq remark was petulant and stupid. I suspect he's never really been called to account for his fabulousness before. If this is his style McCain can chew him up in the debates provided he can cool his own too sensitive afterburners.

[Anon]

I gotta feeling it's a lot like Rick's mirror idea-

The 'they" is whoever the audience wants to fill in the blank.

Probably got some nutters in that audience going the "they" that killed JFK.

On that note why aren't they worried about Condi Rice and Clarence Thomas?

Why aren't they dodging bullets?

Well JC Watts is in Norman Oklahoma territory, why isn't he hitting the gound rolling and dodging bullets?

I can already imagine the Greenwald/Kos response to this-

"They Don't Shoot their Uncle Toms.."

Oh and by the way that ain't racist...that Uncle Tom lable.

Gawd who can keep up with the double standard-which leads back to the double talk of Obama-now on Iraq and NAFTA he's got people exhorting you to not believe him.

The wiser Democrats.

So now the important planks of any Presidential campaign foreign policy and global economy is predicated on "Don't believe him".

You know they are like the Priests of Obama-only they can know the true meaning of his words.

[Anon]

Rich-

I think Nixon took three years to plan and negotiate the trip to China, and that Sino triangulation of Russia was a good option at the time.

[MayBee]

Here is what Susan Rice said on Tucker. Everyone really should read the whole transcript.

Part of that‘s correct. Why wouldn‘t we attach a precondition to meeting with people who hate us? Why not get something out of that?

RICE: For the same reason that Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan and John F. Kennedy didn‘t. They all negotiated with our adversaries—China, the Soviet Union—and we‘ve made some progress in fact. This notion of George Bush‘s, and it‘s really unique to him, that somehow we are rewarding our adversaries by sitting down and engaging in tough-minded, well-prepared negotiations is one of the many products of his failed presidency.

If John McCain wants to take his foreign policy advice from the most disastrous president in our lifetime, that‘s his prerogative, but Barack Obama is not going to do that.

CARLSON: But doesn‘t a meeting with the American head of state have value? It‘s a commodity, it‘s worth something.

RICE: It is a means to an end. If it means to.

CARLSON: But is it also worth something?

RICE: It is a means to an end, Tucker. That—first of all, these negotiations would be well planned. But we‘re not going to take the view that the Bush administration has taken that if—that the—we‘re only going to negotiate with our adversaries after they do what we—what it is we seek to accomplish in negotiations.

That‘s the position we‘ve taken with Iran. We won‘t sit down and talk with you until you‘ve ended and suspended your nuclear program, which is, of course, what we need them to do. That‘s counter-productive. That assume—that ensures that we‘ll never have direct dialogue with Iran. Whereas they are continuing their nuclear program unabated, we‘re having trouble getting sanctions, which we need to push forward on, and we are therefore losing because time is on the Iranian side.

Tell me she isn't just playing word games there. Also, she seems to acknowledge that the Iranians have a nuclear program.

[MayBee]

Here is a link that Dr. Susan Rice and her merry band of no-preconditioners may want to read:

Many of the new documents, held in the files of the Nixon Presidential Materials Project at the National Archives, were declassified in April 2001. Others were declassified in 1998 when the State Department released the Policy Planning Council files of Kissinger adviser Winston Lord (later U.S. ambassador to China). The new releases make it possible to publish for the first time the record of conversations between national security assistant Henry Kissinger and premier Zhou Enlai during Kissinger's second visit to China in October 1971. Also published for the first time is the record of deputy national security assistant Alexander Haig's rather difficult talks with Zhou Enlai in January 1972, during Haig's visit. [snip]

and for added "improving our standing in the world goodness, a little glimpse of what meeting with a non-ally might mean to a ally:

The collection opens up with State Department documents illustrating one of the adverse consequences of Kissinger's secret visit in July 1971. In their quest for rapprochement with Beijing, Nixon and Kissinger had taken Japan by surprise--there had been no attempt at advance notice, despite previous understandings that Washington and Tokyo would coordinate any decisions on innovations in China policy. With the U.S. devaluation of the dollar and import surcharges of August 1971, the U.S. China initiative was one of the "Nixon Shokku" that soured U.S-Japan relations for years to come.

[ben]

I had a nightmare last night....there was a nuclear crisis in the middle of the night and Hillary Clinton answered the phone...

Fact is, I am sorry she used that theme for her new ad against Obama...it would have been a really good ad for someone actually qualified like McCain to run against Obamamessiah.

If you haven't seen the ad yet...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M70emIFxETs

[RichatUF]

Got a question for the JOMers here and sorry that I'm a bit longwinded-

Looking at Jane's morning link about the costs of the Iraq War got me thinking about a project I wanted to do a while back. Stiglitz's paper (the basis of the article) includes an Iraq War premium oil cost component [$5 on his conservative est and $10 on his moderate est].

Anyway, I have been noticing some screwy trading in the oil market and wondred if anyone knows of a way to trace at least where some of these trades are originating [Cayman Islands, Lux, Lichten, etal].

One would think that with the Iraq War going better (fewer deaths, fewer bombings, and increasing production in Iraq) the oil cost component would decrease; however, the cost has been going straight up (with a few hiccups) to $102 and I'm curious if there isn't some gaming of the system going on here like what happened during the California power deregulation crisis or similiar to the Hunt Brothers trying to corner the silver market...

I'm curious if such a thing would even be possible or if I'm being paranoid?

[GMax]

Patrick

You are certainly entitled to your opinion as well as I am.

I did not say its a successful strategy, but Wofson has been easy to read and this one is pretty plain. Ohio is enought to soldier on. Personally I like Hillary writing, running and paying for ads that disembowel Barack. She should get encourage for doing so, it lessens the money advantage he has.

[Anon]

Maybee -

There they go again. Stuck in the past.

Because Nixon talked to China -we will talk to Iran.

Since when was Nixon the Democratic role model?

Hell what was Watergate about again?

[Anon]

ben-

NORAD would be pissed.

Does she take that long to answer the bleepin' red phone?

[ben]

She might have thought it was Bill calling again to say he was going to sleep over at a friend's house.

[MayBee]

Anon, heh

Because Nixon talked to China -we will talk to Iran.
Since when was Nixon the Democratic role model?

To be honest, if his idea of 'without preconditions' is 3 years of behind-the-scene meetings and negotiations leading up to a presidential visit, I'm all for it.

OTOH, how does Obama know we aren't doing something similar right now?

[Anon]

Oh jeez LOL!

How long does she let it ring?

It's 3:00 am- Damn it it's Bill again asking if he can sleep over.

ben thanks for that link-too funny.

[Anon]

Another thing-

It's 3:00 am and she's got her suit on and her glasses, complete with make up on and her hair "did".

[MikeS]

I'm having trouble understanding Barack's desire to meet with Amadinijad and Kim Jong Il.

Is the goal to have a meeting, or is there another goal and the meeting is the plan to achieve it?

[Anon]

Maybee-

Obama's all knowing. Accept the order that is Obama or some such nonsense.

Gawd I read the beginning of that transcript you linked too.

Did you see where she corrected Tucker for political correctness points.

He was asking her about having armed men-and she interjects-

"Or women!"

So now Obama is going to pull out US troops but he is going to leave women behind in the field.

I gotta headache.

At least they might let them have guns-so that's something.

[RichatUF]

Maybee-

Tell me she isn't just playing word games there. Also, she seems to acknowledge that the Iranians have a nuclear program

I saw a clip of that interview last night and she just couldn't help herself with the progressive feminist cant and Tucker nailed her on it. Agree on the word games-they have already taken military action off the table, sanctions don't matter all that much, and I don't think BHO could be bothered to register his vote on the IRGC bill (though he might have said he would have voted no).

Well-planned-does she mean that the lunch menu during the surrender negotions would be halal?

Pres. Clinton made a weepy near apology to Iran in 1998 (along with a host of other things he could do with executive orders-dropping them off the major narcotics trafficker list being the biggest I remember)before he asked them gently for their help regarding the Khobar Towers bombing. They have been heretofore uncooperative.

[Anon]

Cripes here it is-

RICE: You have to have people who are capable of doing targeted counterterrorism operations.

CARLSON: Right. OK. But so.

RICE: You can do that in a variety of ways.

CARLSON: OK. OK. But they‘ve got to be armed men out to kill people.

RICE: Or women or.

CARLSON: That‘s not the same.

RICE: Or whatever. But the point is.

CARLSON: Are you going to put women in the field teams now?

[I'm off to go search my cabinets for some Thunderbird.]

[ben]

The world's greatest superpower is not the United States ... or Russia ... or China, says Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. "It's Iran".

"Today the name of Iran means a firm punch in the teeth of the powerful and it puts them in their place," the president said in an address broadcast live on state television, AFP reported.

The Iranians have self-promoted themselves even before Obamamessiah showed up with his hat in hand and bearing gifts.

[hit and run]

Can someone ask Obama...if he were president in 2003, would he have met with Saddam Hussein without preconditions (but ample preparation)?

No. I'm not gonna conjure up a dialogue where they joke about having the same name.

[ben]

I can see Obamamessiah's opening statement to Iran.."huh, I have pulled out of Iraq, I am not funding weapon systems, I am scrapping my nuclear arsenal and I d'ont believe on a war on terror. But I want you to disavow wiping Israel off the map, I want you cease making nuclear weapons and I want you to stop funding Hamas".

It's amazing nobody else has thought of such persuasive strategy.

[Rick Ballard]

"At least they might let them have guns-so that's something."

Nope. Guns send the wrong message.

Only round end emory boards will be allowed - the objective is to wear them down peacefully.

[Patrick Tyson]

GMax—

In my opinion, her ads are probably helping him. In my opinion, Wolfson is saying nothing that'll he'll have to stand by next Wednesday (as he shouldn't) regardless of how things go on Tuesday. In my opinion, she lost the nomination on the day Virginia, Maryland and DC voted.

I'm wouldn't mind seeing some updated comments on the likely outcome at the district level in Texas or some like the ones that preceeded Wisconsin on Ohio if you're of a mind.

[Patrick Tyson]

Boy, I really went wild with the apostrophe and extra letters there. Edit! Scratch 'll after that and 'm after I.

Back to where I belong...crunching numbers.

[ben]

I think its beyond delegate counts now...perception is the key...Hillary wants "comeback" headlines, it's all she can hope for... those headlines would probably get her to the convention, and she can always hope Obama will step on one of the landmines strewn around on his fast-track path from community activist to messianic Presidential front-runner.

New Fox Poll...Hillary up by 8 in Ohio, only down 3 in Texas...where's the popcorn?

[PeterUK]

Mr Ballard,
That sounds like a job for the Manicurist's Mounted Division and the Long Range Hairdressing Group.If you really want to put the wind up them send the 2Nd Airborne Oral Hygene Division.

[MikeS]

Since 1979 Iran has proven to be hard to influence.
Bill Clinton famously tried groveling when he was President. That didn't seem to work.

It seems that they were influenced to release our Embassy hostages in 1981 and they were influenced to stop their nuclear weapons program in 2003. I wish we could figure out why. Maybe that's what Barack's meeting will be about.

[Sue]

I saw an article today that said 3% of republicans have crossed over to vote for Obama to stop Hillary. I want you guys to know I voted today. In the republican primary, not the democratic primary. I am not part of the 3%. ::grin::

[Sue]

Oh, the point of my post goes back to Ben's post. Republicans monkeying with the primaries is the difference Hillary is behind.

[ben]

Well we know why in 1981 for sure...Reagan was going to bomb them back to the stone age. Without preconditions.

[ben]

Sue, interesting point, but Rush Limbaugh is actually asking Texan Republicans to vote for Hillary to keep the show on the road.

[MikeS]

1981, yes I agree with that but what happened in 2003 that could have influenced Iran?

[Rick Ballard]

"That sounds like a job for the Manicurist's Mounted Division and the Long Range Hairdressing Group."

Mr Uk,

Are they part of the Queen's Queens Corps? The "that's no kilt, that's a skirt" fellas?

NTTATWWT, of course.

[Poste]

MikeS, I think the verdict is still out on whether they really stopped in 2003...is that really definitive?