Don't Know Much About History...

Obama wins North Carolina, concedes Indiana, calls for unity. 

Here is a transcript of his speech: this detail struck me:

I trust the American people to understand that it is not weakness, but wisdom to talk not just to our friends, but to our enemies, like Roosevelt did, and Kennedy did, and Truman did.

Obama's supporters are too young to know any of this, but Roosevelt led the United States in the war against Hitler; the Allied policy was unconditional surrender, so there was very little for Roosevelt and Hitler to discuss, and in fact, the two did not meet at all (but they did exchange correspondence before the war).

So my guess is that Obama is thinking of the Yalta Conference with Churchill and Stalin as talking to "our enemies", although of course we were still allied with the Soviet Union against Germany and Japan at that point.  Beyond that, is the Yalta Conference something Obama and his advisers view as a success worthy of emulation?  Puzzling.

HE'S KIDDING?   Maybe Obama's team is finally realizing they have a Michelle problem;from Obama's speech:

I believe in our ability to perfect this nation, because it's the only reason I'm standing here today. I know the promise of America, because I've lived it. Michelle has lived it; you have lived it.

It is the light of opportunity that led my father across an ocean. It's the founding ideals that the flag draped over my father's coffin stand for. It is life and liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

It's the simple truth I learned all those years ago when I worked in the shadow of all those shuttered steel mills on the south side of the Chicago, that, in this country, justice can be won against the greatest odds, hope can find its way back from the darkest of corners.

And when we are told that we cannot bring about the change that we seek, we answer with one voice: Yes, we can.

"Michelle has lived it"?  Any reasonable person would say that Michelle has lived the American dream, but I am not talking about a reasonable person - I am talking about the woman who whines about loneliness and crushing college loans every time she speaks.  Well, maybe they will gently ask her to go to re-write and try to find something to smile about.

ERRATA: "It's the founding ideals that the flag draped over my father's coffin stand for" - shouldn't that be "grandfather"?  Presumably granddad was entitled to a military funeral; dad was off in Kenya IIRC, probably not with an American flag.

Comments

[kim]

Worth checking out that slip. Maybe his father was buried with the flag. Maybe he called his Grandfather, Father. Convenient patriotism he's found, yes he could. Got good pollsters, that one.

Who done in Dean? On the bikepath, with a jist of wrath.
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[vnjagvet]

Tom, I think you picked up on the key phrase of BHO's NC speech. It is his attempt to move back into the aracial posture that he started his campaign with to such eyepopping effect in Iowa, etc.

His primary appeal then was that he was undeniably of both one-half black and one-half white heritage. Essentially aracial.

Very much like that most appealing of all sports figures, Tiger Woods, who identified himself as "caublasian".

RW, Bill, and their minions used the "Wright stuff" and other racial issues to force BHO into identifying with and defending his black self over his white self and abandoning his aracial persona.

I so doing, he alienated the white male ethnic voters, and RW picked them up. Unless he is able to reclaim a significant percentage of that white male ethnic vote, he's cooked in the general election.

[MeTooThen]

TM,

It is so over.

It is now all Barack Hussein Obama all of the time.

The Narrative lives!

And so we wait.

It will be relentless.

And it will be Everywhere.

Their Time has come.

And They are The Ones They have been waiting for.

Hillary! will now begin her slow exit.

And their will be much rejoicing!

Or not.

In any case, get ready.

It's coming!

Change!

Enjoy!

[MeTooThen]

vnjagvet,

Were it only so.

Barack Hussein Obama will be cookin'!

Not cooked.

All of those TalkLefties who wail and gnash, and cry that they will never vote for Barry, are just preening for the camera.

No, they will all vote for him.

Not just The Believers.

And by the time The Deciders get through with John Sidney McCain III, he'll look like the worst part of a BusHitler!/Dole ticket.

Just sayin'.

[Rick Ballard]

I wonder if he's talking about Truman's emissaries talking with the enemy on the fantail of the USS Missouri or Eisenhower dictating terms to Jodl or other emissaries talking with the Chinese and Norks at the end of the Korean War? He should try to be more specific.

[bgates]

Maybe he was talking about Teddy Roosevelt, Teddy Kennedy, and...Truman Capote?

TR won a Nobel Peace Prize, so you know he was a great humanitarian. Teddy K didn't just talk to his enemies, he got an education bill passed with them. And of course, Truman Capote made a lot of money by ingratiating himself with cold-blooded murderers and writing a story about it that was less true than he had claimed. Hard to imagine a man closer to the heart of the modern Democratic party.

[kim]

v, true, but McCain can't possibly use the Clinton strategy; however, he can make Obama defend the honkey bomber, and his whiteness. The Ayers are outed.
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[MeTooThen]

TM,

By the way, and a bit OT...

Did you read or see Rosie on Today finding it in her heart and mind to agree with the Rev. Wright.

You cannot make this stuff up.

Yet, FDR met with his enemies.

And so it goes.

[Buford Gooch]

Mr. Obama still has a problem, and it isn't a small one. He won in the first few caucuses and primaries when he was the above mentioned "aracial" candidate. However, since he has become better known, he can't come close to winning the white voters in the *Democrat* primaries. How in the world is he going to win the independents and Republicans without having a 35% Black voting block? The Clinton effectively labeled him the "Black" candidate, and he will never be able to go back, no matter how hard the MSM pushes.

[MeTooThen]

Kim,

On the contrary.

Ayers is emblematic of The Narrative.

And can anyone wonder why Barry is getting 80% of the college-age vote?

No, standing on the American Flag is patriotic!

Likewise, blowing up federal buildings.

Unless it's not.

In any case, Ayers is an asset to the campaign for Hope and Change!

Give Peace a Chance!

[Elliott]

TM,

I was similarly struck and should probably go on record that I am fully in favor of any representative of the United States meeting with anyone for the purpose of accepting an unconditional surrender.

It looks like Obama may have been too early to congratulate Clinton with respect to Indiana. I'm thinking that, should he prevail there, we can have an ad that starts with that concession and proceeds to imagine remarks of President Obama, such as, "I'd like to congratulate the Islamic Republic of Iran for their willingness to abandon the pursuit of nuclear weapons and cease their sponsorship of terrorist organizations."

[vnjagvet]

Only 28 Percent of Lake County is in. That 28% went 75/25 for BHO. It does not look good for RW. She is now only ahead by 20k votes out of more than 1.0MM cast.

The (fifteenth) stake has been driven through the RW's heart. This may be the last one for 2008.

But Richard Nixon was raised from political death only a few years after he delivered his "last press conference".

[JB]

Depressing night, to be sure. Obama appears virtually teflon. The exits show Operation Chaos was a minor factor in Indiana - Republicans 51-46 for Clinton.

America is determined to elect this Marxist clown come hell or high water. God help us all.

[Elliott]

I must say Obama's speech disturbed my usual Senecan aequanimity of mind and spirit.

I did not have a positive response to the content, but from a rhetorical perspective felt it was well delivered and in places very powerful, especially the conclusion to the workers' paradise portion of the address (the kind of America I believe in, you believe in, IIRC).

But the man truly has no sense of irony. In one breath, he envisions and denounces the devious and distracting stratagems sure to be employed by "the other side" and promises his campaign will never descend to this level. In the next, he mischaracterizes McCain's statement on the economy.

He continues to hold himself out as the only one who can work across party lines, but a look at the records of the two shows that McCain has done this on a greater number of and more significant issues (CFR, Gang of 14, Comprehensive immigration reform). Additionally, I don't believe McCain has criticized any of the Democrats with whom he has collaborated in order to downplay his association with a domestic terrorist.

[Sara]

Did you see that blurb today about Michelle not even having the scores to get into Princeton as an affirmative action enrollee and that she got there on her star basketall athlete brother's coattails who she followed to the university.

[clarice]

The slowness of the Lake County count will certainly add fuel to any Clinton supporters' view that Obama stole the nomination in Gary if she loses Indiana.
Just saying....

[vnjagvet]

Now 57% of Lake County counted RW is down to a 15k lead. It appears she may win by a microscopic gnat's ass if she wins at all.

[Barry]

McCain received 73% of the NC vote. Not a good sign for Rep's.

[MeTooThen]

clarice,

Spend a moment with the TalkLefties.

Already there is a lot of conspiracy in the air.

Don't try to comment there though.

You will be disappeared.

True, this.

[clarice]

No, thanks MTT, but I am sure that's the feeling. In this instance, it may not be utterly unwarranted. Fox was laughing about why it took so long. At a minimum it was designed to deny Hill the opportunity to proclaim her win.

[JM Hanes]

What a relief! I hadn't noticed the new thread and thought everyone had abandoned ship right when things began to get interesting! Of course, if my luck holds, this will probably be the last post of the night.

[Topsecretk9]

Posted by: clarice | May 07, 2008 at 12:47 AM

I concur.

[Topsecretk9]

Clinton 16,609 with 95% PRECINCTS reporting - according to Drudges #'s

[Topsecretk9]

op, she's gone up to 22, 089 with 99% reporting

[vnjagvet]

2% squeeker. Wolf Blitzer, "a win's a win".

I don't think the rest of dem punditry will be so charitable.

She's done.

[JM Hanes]

CNN calls it for Hillary. And we were there, TSK9!

[JM Hanes]

Yet another fellow traveler, vnjv!

[Topsecretk9]

yes we were JMH!

Vnj. NoQuarter is elated!

[vnjagvet]

Yep. To the bitter end. I will not be up to see the early shows, though:)

Night ladies.

[Topsecretk9]

and Talk left

Update: CNN finally calls Indiana for Hillary. 51 to 49% with 99% in. A win is a win, tonight is a split decision between NOrth Carolina and Indiana. John King says it will be roughtly a 50/50 split of the delegates.

JMH - Jerralyn liked "a win's a win"

[Topsecretk9]

nighty V

[MikeS]

I must say Obama's speech disturbed my usual Senecan aequanimity of mind and spirit.
Yes, I know what you mean. The guy harshes my mellow every time he speaks.

[Sara]

Heck of a way to celebrate my birthday!

[Jim Miller]

One nice symbolic touch: Obama easily won Buncombe County in North Carolina. Seems appropriate, somehow.

[Topsecretk9]

Happy Birthday and early Mother's Day too Sara.

[JM Hanes]

CNN has some nifty little maps. As you move your cursor across this NC Dem Primary map , it shows you the county by county vote totals. We have a lot of military installations, Coast Guard at Elizabeth City, Marines at Camp LeJeune and elsewhere, Air Force at Seymour Johnson & Pope AFB, and the Army at One of The Largest Military Complexes in the World (a.k.a. Fort Bragg). I checked the stats for those counties and was interested to discover that every one of them picked Obama over Hillary. Don't know what it means though.

I did a quick sweep of the Republican map, out of curiosity to see where Mike Huckabee picked up the most support, and then checked to see how Ron Paul stacked up. I'm embarassed to report that I apprarently live in a Ronulan hot spot! He pulled in a full percentage or two more here than he garnered in any of the contiguous counties.

Happy Birthday Sara!!!

[JM Hanes]

Interesting headline on the Drudge link to these ABC stats: 22% vote against McCain in Indiana! We're not exactly chopped liver in NC at 24%. It's going to be a long hard slog to November. I'm thinking of giving up politics for the summer.

[JM Hanes]

So Goodnight already, and Good Morning Jane! Left the coffee maker in standby mode over on the counter for you.

[Elliott]

Happy birthday, Sara!

[Elliott]

and Good Morning Jane!

Seconded, with much feeling.

My predictions ended up wildly off the mark, but Doug Schoen on Hannity and Colmes seemed to be thinking along the same lines as I was a couple of weeks ago, as he suggested that Obama may have to offer Hillary the VP spot. What do you think, Jane?

[Sara]

Thanks everyone. The grandbabies are here busy NOT keeping a secret about the PARTY in the works, where we are going to have "bointee hat" and "bay" "bin ta tay on ta tonnee," which is 23 mo. old speak for pointy hats and play pin the tail on the donkey. Oh and I get to "boh ou ta tans" which I think is blow out the candles or so a very puffed up and superior 4 year old informs me in a way that said, "sheesh Granny don't you know anything?"

I'm going to love every minute.

[Paul Zrimsek]

The only other enemies I can think of that FDR talked to were Badoglio in Italy and Darlan in Vichy North Africa-- but here again, these were basically surrenders enforced by previous US military action (and the deal that left Darlan in power is even less of a feather in FDR's cap than Yalta).

Good to know, though, that if bin Laden turns up in Pakistan that Obama will go in to negotiate with or without Musharraf's permission.

[PeterUK]

"It is the light of opportunity that led my father across an ocean."

It's the same thing that leads young people to Bali.

[Pagar]

"I was similarly struck and should probably go on record that I am fully in favor of any representative of the United States meeting with anyone for the purpose of accepting an unconditional surrender."

I can't imagine any enemy of the United States thinking that they are going to have to surrender if Obama becomes President. More likely they will want to meet to accept all his concessions to them. Just look at the Teamsters, got everything they wanted, gave up nothing.

[clarice]

Happy Birthday,Sara.

[PeterUK]

"hope can find its way back from the darkest of corners."

Bad metaphor,a Freudian lapse?

[PeterUK]

Sara.
Happy Birthday kid.

[Jane]

Thanks for keeping the seat warm everyone -in this endless loop we reside in, and Happy Birthday Sara - hope it is the best ever.

The coffee is great. The sun is shining, and somewhere Michelle is whining.

Let the fun begin!

[Soylent Red]

Happy Birthday Sara.

[Paul Zrimsek]

Further historical note: FDR blew his big chance to talk to our enemies when the Japs occupied Indochina and he cut off their oil in retaliation. Failed policies of the past!

You make the call: is Obama's pledge to unite all Americans behind a common purpose a Typical Distraction from his list of various Americans he's planning to fight against? Or is his list of various Americans he's planning to fight against a Typical Distraction from his pledge to unite all Americans behind a common purpose?