Why Would He Think That?

Obama gets annoyed by the oddest things.  This is from his "Wright is Wrong (Finally!)" press conference:

"And what I think particularly angered me was [Wright's] suggestion somehow that my previous denunciation of his remarks were somehow political posturing."

And why ever would Wright have thought that?  Here is the Pastor of Disaster telling Jodi Kantor of the Times about the circumstances behind Wright's disinvitation to the Obama campaign kick-off.  Her reporting included this:

Mr. Wright said that in the phone conversation in which Mr. Obama disinvited him from a role in the announcement, Mr. Obama cited an article in Rolling Stone, “The Radical Roots of Barack Obama.”

According to the pastor, Mr. Obama then told him, “You can get kind of rough in the sermons, so what we’ve decided is that it’s best for you not to be out there in public.”

In his follow-up, Wright unloaded:

I do not remember reading in your article that Barack had apologized for listening to that bad information and bad advice. Did I miss it? Or did your editor cut it out?

Ms. Kantor also printed the thoughts of the campaign spokesman:

Bill Burton, a spokesman for the Obama campaign, said the campaign disinvited Mr. Wright because it did not want the church to face negative attention. Mr. Wright did however, attend the announcement and prayed with Mr. Obama beforehand.

“Senator Obama is proud of his pastor and his church, but because of the type of attention it was receiving on blogs and conservative talk shows, he decided to avoid having statements and beliefs being used out of context and forcing the entire church to defend itself,” Mr. Burton said.

The statement itself sounds like posturing; if the explanation offered by Wright is accurate, he had every reason to believe it was.  The Obama people had seen this Rolling Stone article which presented an edited version of Wright's Ten Facts About America.  The full list, transcribed by Sweetness (or Light)  includes the AIDS conspiracy.

Tom Bevan has lots more about the circumstances under which Obama couldn't quite bring himself to say good-bye to Wright in early 2007.

Now, for everyone other than Wright, there are a number of questions raised by this, none of which have good answers for Obama.  First, was Obama's March speech just posturing?  Second, how could it have taken Obama six weeks (not to mention twenty years) to figure out that the Wright the rest of America saw in those news clips shouting "God DAMN America" was the real Wright?  Where is the judgment?  How can Obama have this nation's confidence in negotiating with foreign leaders or making senior level Administration appointments when he was so wrong about Wright for so long?

Comments

[Forbes]

TM: When you're the post-partisan candidate, as Obama presents himself, well then it's not possible for any of your actions to be motivated by political posturing, since, by definition, Obama has moved past that...

[Danube of Thought]

Obama's fecklessness on this issue over the course of the past year--wholly apart from his lengthy and close association with this low, racist knave--is going to be extremely troubling for him. Much of what he said in his most recent speech simply can't be squared with what he is known to have said and done since February of last year.

[Neo]

Speaking of the Philly speech, Jeff Emanuel notes that Obama is actually selling DVDs of the speech to raise money. Yep. At the same time he was attempting to finally disown Jeremiah Wright, he was peddling his speech refusing to disown him.

Sounds like the old politics

[clarice]

I'm glad Steve Gilbert is getting the credit he deserves. He was the first, too, to recognize that the Haditha Massacre was a propaganda ploy set up by the Baathists and promoted by Time magazine.He's a trus Blogohero.

[BumperStickerist]

Twenty Years is a Thousand Sundays ...

well thousand-ish, but the point remains.

I'd love to hear the question:

Senator Obama, during any of the one thousand or so sermons given by Reverend Wright were you paying attention?

[Walter]

I'd always thought the argument that people need 'experience' before running for the Presidency to be a bit weak. After all, what on this planet could really prepare someone for that job?*

Not to mention that the argument verges on laughable when advanced by a 1.33 term senator married to someone who had no national experience at the time of his election.

And McCain's lack of, shall we say, variety in his employers combined with little executive experience makes him a poor example for my side.

But there's a lot to be said for having the experience of being burned a few times by your associates (be they McDougals, Keatings, or Wrights/Rezkos/Ayers)** before you take them on the road in a national election.

*Who wants to make the argument that Johnson or Nixon, with their extensive resumes, were better than the relative neophytes Washington and Lincoln?

**I'd put Blumenthal in there too, if I had any confidence I'd spell his name correctly.

[Porchlight]

Sorry if this was already linked - bgates (commenting at Volokh) gets some love from Jim Geraghty:

"My favorite comment in a while"

Congrats bgates. I am not surprised that others admire your excellent comments. :)

[Cecil Turner]

That one was particularly good. "Tens of thousands of minutes"? Loved it.

[TMF]

Haha- that comment is indeed excellent

Snarky, yet eloquent, and abundantly TRUE

[Jane]

You rock BGates!

[Gmax]

Apparently Sad has reached epidemic status on the left side of the blogosphere. Its even invaded Kosland. Read this and laugh:

I just watched Barack throw someone who has been a huge part of his life overboard because a bunch of white-bread advisors told him he had to.

And why? Because white America was freaked out by a black preacher!

I thought Barack was going to lead us past that. I thought he was bigger than that. I thought he was different.

But NNNOOOOOOO! Now he is engaged in the worst kind of pandering. He has told us, in no uncertain terms, that he is no different than the Clintons: anyone who interferes with what you are doing gets thrown to the wolves.

And Barack didn't stop there. He threw every black man, woman and child overboard too! What Rev Wright has to say is what every black American believes: that racism is alive and well and living in white middle class America.

Unfortunately, Barack has decided that he doesn't need black votes to win. I'm sure he was told by his white advisors that "black folk" will support him anyway. So why not come out and disrespect the whole community. Barack didn't transcend black-white politics; rather he chose to become white!

All because some white folks on CNN were appalled that Rev Wright didn't shuffle in and say "yes massa".

I cannot believe we Progressives have found ourselves here...and I am sure I will represent a minority view of these events. There is still a lot of hope for Barack among my friends in the local party. These younglings are great to work with, but they also don't have the same battle scars I do...and which Barack just ripped open.

I've been saying for awhile that I thought Barack would likely lose in November. Now I am wondering if I don't HOPE he loses!

I am just so heartbroken over this whole situation...I really thought we had found someone special. Turns out we've just found another politician.

Pretty sad...

[PeterUK]

Why do these people want to be "lead"? Why not elect someone to do a bit of presidenting,mind the store and keep things ticking over?

[SteveMG]

It seems to me at this point that unless someone can point out how these friendships or associations affected Obama's public policy views (or will - future tense), all of this is just repeating much of the same history.

At that point, it sounds more like piling on and less like helping us elect a President.

Obama's clearly too green and inexperienced to be President. Not too mention far too statist and liberal (for me; I was a McCain guy when he had 2% support, i.e., me and someone else). But I think that fundamentally he's a decent man who was trapped by history and events; some of that set by himself and some of it set by others.

Again, I'd welcome suggestions on how this relationship - borne out of ambition and, yes, indicative of some questional judgment (there's an understatement) - affects his views on policy.

[MikeS]

someone can point out how these friendships or associations affected Obama's public policy

These folks seem to share the idea that American exceptional ism, the free market, capitalism, and the U.S. military are to blame for much of what is wrong with the world. I think each of those ideas is wrong headed and just plane backward.

How could a President who held those beliefs prevent them from affecting policy?

[MikeS]

policy cont.
Of course just disowning those individuals won't solve the problem. Obama would have to disown those ideas.

[Danube of Thought]

Very difficult, and very unnecessary, to say how his associations affect his views on public policy. It's legitimate to infer that he associates principally with like-minded people with whom he is comfortable, and that's enough to call into question what his judgment might be on almost any issue of public policy you can name, regardless of all the position papers in the world.

[SteveMG]

These folks seem to share the idea that American exceptional ism, the free market, capitalism, and the U.S. military are to blame for much of what is wrong with the world.

Yes, Mike, but do you seriously believe Obama embraces them? Afer all, among other items, Obama apparently wants to send the military into the NWT in Pakistan. That's not an indicator of someone who mistrusts the use of American military power.

Indeed, he's a man of the left. But the hard left? Nowhere in his speeches, for me, is there a hint of such a harsh view of America.

Yes, speeches are speeches are speeches.

If the view is that his words are disingenuous, there's nothing that I can say otherwise.

I just can't believe - although I'm open to persuasion - that he is kin (ideologically) to the Ayers and Wrights of this world.

[SteveMG]

Very difficult, and very unnecessary, to say how his associations affect his views on public policy

I disagree.

Otherwise, we have to admit that Bush's association with Ken Lay tells us something about Bush.

Or McCain's association with Hagee.

Et cetera.

They may tell us something about his personal judgment - his character - but I'm looking for more than just examination of his character alone.

Yep, that's important; but not enough to continue with this endless looping of Wright's greatest hits or Ayer's biggest bombs.

So to speak.

[PaulL]

Mary Mitchell's column, linked to at RealClearPolitics, is quite an enjoyable read. She's quite mad at Obama for throwing the Black Church under the bus just to get white votes.

[MikeS]

But the hard left?
I don't know how far left he is. If we had a Manchurian Candidate he would likely make ambiguous proposals and play down his extremism.
The idea of increasing the capital gains rate to punish people or to 'promote fairness' seems pretty extreme.

[Pofarmer]

Yes, Mike, but do you seriously believe Obama embraces them?

Absolutely. If he didn't he could just say so, but he won't.

Afer all, among other items, Obama apparently wants to send the military into the NWT in Pakistan. That's not an indicator of someone who mistrusts the use of American military power.

That's just leftist gobledy gook about the "Real War on Terror"

In short, no, I don't beleive a single word Obama says, and I don't beleive our enemies will either.

[RichatUF]

going ot for a minute...

With friends like these does BHO have any enemies?

[Pofarmer]

a Democratic strategist told me Monday night. "But that's certainly better than the subtext being that Obama is an angry black man, because if he's an angry black man, then he simply cannot win, period."

How about an ordinary black man married to an angry black woman?

[clarice]

bgates, that was ab-so-lu-tely fab-u-lous!

[MikeS]

I think Bush did pay a price for his relationship with Ken Lay.

I also think it's Obama's obligation to explain what he believes and what he disagrees with his friends about. I mean specifically. This, "I don't agree with recent controversial statements," doesn't satisfy me.

[Rick Ballard]

How does marxism inform BHO's policy positions?

It depends upon how one interprets his policy gargle. Here is part of the carp on his site regarding jobs.

The Obama plan will increase funding for federal workforce training programs and direct these programs to incorporate green technologies training, such as advanced manufacturing and weatherization training, into their efforts to help Americans find and retain stable, high-paying jobs. Obama will also create an energy-focused youth jobs program to invest in disconnected and disadvantaged youth.

Does anyone care to play "Where's the private sector?"

Or this one:

Obama will create a federal Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) that will require 25 percent of American electricity be derived from renewable sources by 2025, which has the potential to create hundreds of thousands of new jobs on its own. Obama will also extend the Production Tax Credit, a credit used successfully by American farmers and investors to increase renewable energy production and create new local jobs.

I'd like to hear BHO define "renewable energy". Is he talking about biofuel BS?

At any rate - he does not identify any targets, neither in costs nor in actual job numbers. His only specified number concerns a federal mandate imposed upon the entire economy, which would have the effect of driving energy costs right through the roof. Nary a word on the nuke plants which would achieve the energy independence which could prove very useful over the next fifty years.

[Danube of Thought]

Bush's "association" with Ken Lay was incidental at best--they had no professional or personal relationship of any kind. McCain's with Hagee is scarcely more than that, and in any event Hagee is no Wright and no Weeks, and has never denounced this country that I am aware of.

Bush's and McCain's associations as a whole, however, do indeed tell us something about them, as is true with just about everyone. Obama's are extremely troubling to many people because they simply do not seem to include anyone who is not leftist or extreme leftist. If McCain's associations trouble you, by all means don't vote for him. But don't deny that they tell you something about him.

[clarice]

Ah,Rick, that fabulous left- wing- snap -your- fingers- and- it -will- be- done thingy. Love it. I suppose the fine print includes killing the technicians and managers for sabotage when the goals aren't met.

[Danube of Thought]

Obama also proposes to require that the value of pi be set at an even 3.0, in order to make it easier to calculate circumferences and stuff like that.

[Ann]

Does anyone want to partake in a snarkfest for Hillary on O'Reilly and/or Michelle on Larry King?

I just saw O'Reilly beating his chest about his interview with Hill.
Sometimes he is so irritating. He was aglow that he made Hill answer questions about O and Wright. Can you believe that.

I bet the Clinton people are laughing about how they played him!

[boris]

in order to make it easier to calculate circumferences

In short there's simply not a more congenial spot for happy ever aftering than here in Obamalot.

[Ann]

Oops..I meant to applaud bgates, too. Clapping hands here over the Mitt Romney comparison.

[Danube of Thought]

There are two people on Fox News Channel I can't stand, Shepard Smith and O'Reilly. The latter is a bullying blowhard and an ignoramus.

[Rick Ballard]

Clarice,

He stinks of statism. It oozes from him like pus from a bad infection. He has no grasp whatsoever of the ability of the free market system to resolve problems through innovation. Nor does he show a glimmer of appreciation for the fact that job creation is not going to be a problem for at least a decade.

I thought Kerry the most ignorant candidate to ever have been nominated by either party. BHO will beat him by a mile though, if the Dems are dumb enough to put him up.

[Ralph L]

weatherization training, into their efforts to help Americans find and retain stable, high-paying explosives.

[JB]

"Again, I'd welcome suggestions on how this relationship - borne out of ambition and, yes, indicative of some questional judgment (there's an understatement) - affects his views on policy."

We don't elect a set of policies; we elect a man. It's impossible to fully predict which issues and challenges a president will face in office. Obama is, at worst, politically tying himself to certain stated policies; he isn't tying himself to political centrism or moderate leftism.

The issue is Rumsfeld's "unknown unknowns".

What would Obama do? His associations suggest reason to fear.

Do you trust Obama the man? I sure don't.

[Ann]

Well, so far, Hill is going to regulate Big Oil and Insurance Companies for moral reasons. She is going to make us all accountable by making our health records electronic so they can spy on us.

She sure is pretty in pink, but her thighs are rubbing up against each arm of the chair. :)

[clarice]

Yes, Rick, the stench of statism. And while we're on it, I want to suggest he's probably not so brilliant, that his ethnicity and background was something that would appeal to admissions officers and that carried him to Columbia and then Harvard.

DOT, I can't stand those two either, but it's worth paying attention to O'Reilly because he has a huge , loyal audience and he is an opinion shaper.

[Rick Ballard]

RalphL,

I was wondering if that "weatherization training" was going to be under Ayers' auspices.

I'd like to hear BHO explain "weatherization". It does have a meaning but I don't believe BHO has even a minimal clue as to what it might be.

[JB]

Like I posted once, here's the imaginary leap for one to take: an Obama in his 50s with a good three decades of Carteresque ex-presidential adventurism on behalf of ...well, the same anti-American scum he has hung out with his entire life.

Worrisome enough? It is to me.

[Pofarmer]

Nor does he show a glimmer of appreciation for the fact that job creation is not going to be a problem for at least a decade.

One of the reasons a coal fired plant not too far from me is being delayed is lack of sufficient labor. If you can't find a job right now, you're unemployable. It's simple as that. No amount of training is going to help you.

[Danube of Thought]

Can we all try to imagine an incisive "60 Minutes" episode inquiring into "job training?" What is it? Who trains whom, and to do what? Who gets paid, how much, and for what?

This report could of course be laced with success stories of guys who previously had no chance to get a job, then got job-trained, and are now bringing home mucho bacon and supporting a family. These guys would reminisce fondly about their trainers, and what it was they learned from them, and how this training altered their lives permanentyl for the better.

Let's see--Scott Pelley? Lesley Stahl? Maybe Steve Croft himself could let these folks fill us in on the wonders of job training...

[SteveMG]

We don't elect a set of policies; we elect a man

So, the policy views/stances of the candidate are meaningless to you?

I don't think you mean this.

Second, you're correct about the unknowns. There will be issues or crises that the next President faces that we can't foresee today. So, we look at their past judgments, their past policy views (broadly speaking) to ascertain (guess really) how they'll react.

Again, if we wish to continue to raise the Wright/Ayers issue other than to indicate that it shows poor judgment (a fair point as Tom indicates above), critics will have to expand their argument.

E.g., the association of Obama with these radicals tells us what about his policy views (present and future)?

[boris]

association of Obama with these radicals tells us what about his policy views

What about them? They, who despise us capitalists war mongers, like Obama just fine.

[troy mcclure]

Actually, Danube, you're not exactly right about Lay, they did have a business relationship back in the 80s; he and Boone
Pickens were the only ones who struck oil in Texas in the 80s. He did have a personal relationship that was struck back in the 70s, when Lay worked at the Interior Dept.
It was precisely, that reason, that when
the extent of the fraud at Enron was seen
he didn't intervene, because he saw it as
a personal betrayal. Unlike other interested parties like Fmr Treasury Secretary & Future CitiCorp honcho Robert Rubin, who had provided the capital for the the merger of HNG and TIN that became Enron
and selected Ken Lay as chairman (re; Landon
Thomas article in New York Magazine, that's
been referred on more than one occasion.

[Porchlight]

E.g., the association of Obama with these radicals tells us what about his policy views (present and future)?

SteveMG,

I guess I'm not understanding you. It tells me plenty. I take these associations as shorthand for a worldview. For example, if I meet someone who uses the term "social justice" in casual conversation, I don't really need to know their views on fiscal policy to know that we aren't likely to agree.

Similarly, with Obama, the fact that he chooses to run in "social justice" circles and chooses to attend a church with a lefty nutjob preacher tells me that I'm not likely to agree with his policy prescriptions either. If a person chooses the Ayers-Dohrn home as a launching pad for his political career, what sort of policy views is that person *likely* to hold? I think you might be overthinking this.

What about them? They, who despise us capitalists war mongers, like Obama just fine.

Good point, boris, much stronger than mine.

[Elliott]

bgates,

That was excellence in commenting.

Ann,

She sure is pretty in pink, but her thighs are rubbing up against each arm of the chair. :)

Fortunately for her, the electorate has been more accepting of plus sized candidates than the judges on top model. I thought her makeup was a bit much, though.

[JB]

"We don't elect a set of policies; we elect a man

So, the policy views/stances of the candidate are meaningless to you?"

Of course, not, Steve, that policies matter goes without saying; however, we do not automatically give the benefit of the doubt to Candidate X with a given set of policy positions. His background, record, and associations inform our judgement whether to grant that benefit of the doubt. It is simply too easy to reverse oneself once in office (especially with a fawning media), or, as I mentioned above, reveal one's true colors when facing unforeseen circumstances.

[Soylent Red]

I'm watching MO.

If you take the phrases "you know", "sort of", and "focus", she wouldn't be able to speak.

She also has deep scowl lines which make her look pissed off all the time. She also has an underbite. She's bulldoggy.

[Danube of Thought]

A Mr. McClure says of Bush's relationship with Mr. Ken lay that "...when the extent of the fraud at Enron was seen
he [Bush] didn't intervene, because he saw it as a personal betrayal."

Didn't intervene? Great Scott, man, what more intervention could you ask than the following:

"On Dec. 2, 2001, Enron filed for bankruptcy protection in the biggest case of bankruptcy in the United States up to that point. (WorldCom's collapse would later steal that dubious honour.) Roughly 5,600 Enron employees subsequently lost their jobs.

"The next month, the U.S. Justice Department opened its investigation of the company's dealings, and Ken Lay quit as chairman and CEO. Hundreds of charges would eventually be laid - and 19 former executives would either plead guilty or be convicted for their part in what would become known as one of the biggest frauds in American history."

Nineteen Enron executives are now convicted felons, and yet Bush "didn't intervene?" What power of intervention do you understand any president to have, other than vigorous prosecution of wrongdoers?

Can we imagine President Obama prosecuting, say, Mr. Ayers? I am moved to considerable doubt.

[Elliott]

Pastor of Disaster

Superb, TM.

[Pofarmer]

Just an interesting aside.

Ken Lay was the commencement speaker at my College graduation.

[Ralph L]

DoT, I think he meant Bush didn't intervene in Lay's favor.

[Ann]

Hi Elliott,

I know, I was just showing my complete loathing of her. I am not normally so catty, but when it comes to the RW I can't help myself.

Soylent,

I just turned CNN on and you are so bulldoggy right. Seems she can't say anything but Move Forward, Turn the page, Move the ball forward.. etc. Bark Bark! (Ok, I admit at being catty. :) )

When are you going to tell us about Colin Powell?

[JM Hanes]

Missed the O'Reilly Clinton tete a tete, but I'm here for the snark on Michelle Obama, complete with Kennedy window dressing, who is apparently part of the Anderson Cooper soft focus ladies' night programming starring Ed Rollins as token male.

[troy mcclure]

Thank you, Ralph L. should've been clearer; didn't bail out Enron. Of course, much like
Morris Davis's 'beloved military tribunals'
by the time the case where judged and sentences were pronounced; Lay was dead; thus voiding the conviction. I was being
sarcastic on that second point.

[JB]

"Can we imagine President Obama prosecuting, say, Mr. Ayers? I am moved to considerable doubt."

Let's ask a related question: WWOP?

Whom Would Obama Pardon?

[MayBee]

E.g., the association of Obama with these radicals tells us what about his policy views (present and future)?

I'd go back to his comment at the Texas debate, where he said he didn't want a foreign leader's opportunity to meet with the US President to be seen as a prize, and he didn't want the US to look like it held itself above other countries.

He said that back when I liked him, and it was a bit of a turning point for me.
I would give anything to find any written or spoken word or utterance that he gave about 9/11 or the war in Afghanistan at the time they happened. He was already in public office and just 3 years out from his keynote speech, yet I've never seen a quote from him. Was he one that believed we should treat it as police action? Go after just alQaeda and not the country of Afghanistan? I don't know.

I do worry about how he sees America's place in the world. Ayers and Wright don't soothe me, and he hasn't said a lot that does.

[Porchlight]

Aw, is Hillary considered plus-sized? I hope not. She looks to have quite a normal size and shape to me. Hips slightly wide, ankles unfortunately so, but fairly slim through the shoulders, chest and waist. Frankly I think she can be quite attractive, when she and her hairstylist are in a good mood. I wouldn't mind having her eyebrows.

They probably put her in a narrow chair on purpose.

/hillary fan mode off

[JM Hanes]

I note with amusement that CNN started recycling out of context clips of interviews, before the interview even aired in its entirety.

Oh Lord, it's like CNN decided to run the Obama version of McCain's biography tour.

[centralcal]

Oh brother. RW on O'Reilly, which I was only able to see 2 minutes of. Went and had dinner, caught Michelle, ma belle, with Su-zahn Mahl-voh and Caroline Kennedy. Michelle is not an attrctive woman - when she speaks, or when she is silent.

But, it is not how she looks on the outside, so much as what she reveals about her insides when she speaks.

I give points to Hillary - our very own RW - for honestly portraying who she is.

[Thomas Collins]

Anyone hear the rumor that B_O is anointing Billy Graham as B_O's new spiritual advisor?

TOUNGUE FIRMLY PLANTED IN CHEEK!

[Larry]

The latter is a bullying blowhard and an ignoramus. Posted by: Danube of Thought | April 30, 2008 at 07:57 PM While the former is merely an ignoramus.

[JM Hanes]

Thomas Collins:

The truth may be even stranger. Per Gateway Pundit, it looks like none other than Father Michael Pfleger has been mediating between Obama and Wright.

[JB]

"I'd go back to his comment at the Texas debate, where he said he didn't want a foreign leader's opportunity to meet with the US President to be seen as a prize, and he didn't want the US to look like it held itself above other countries."

Gotta be "fair", damn the consequences. Sound familiar?

[Danube of Thought]

Sorry, Troy McClure, I misunderstood your point--my bad.

But I doubt there's much Bush could have done to intervene favorably to Lay, as a practical matter--and for good reason.

In any event, we can't impute to Bush any particular belief by reason of whatever association he may have had with Ken Lay. I think we can impute to Obama a great deal about his beliefs in light of his decision to consort with Wright for twenty years; get married by him; have his children baptized by him; pray privately with him on the morning he was to announce his candidacy for the presidency; and to decline to renounce him even in light of his most outrageous comments, up until it became political suicide not to do so.

[Ann]

"/hillary fan mode off" ... Loved that Porchlight. I continue to be amazed at how well Hill looks. You would think meanness and rot would start to show on her face by now. :) But then again, she is a masterful witch.

It is official, we must move forward according to Ms. Huff and Puff. It is the media's fault.

[Porchlight]

You would think meanness and rot would start to show on her face by now.

Ann,

Not to mention exhaustion! But she shows at her best in "fighter" mode, a mode we were treated to many times during the Clinton years. I do still recognize that she is still a calculating machine and repulsive power seeker. I haven't fallen for her that bad. ;)

[Barry]

Obama will create a federal Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) that will require 25 percent of American electricity be derived from renewable sources by 2025, which has the potential to create hundreds of thousands of new jobs on its own.

No doubt true. After all, it will take thousands of you poor souls pedalling those generators just to keep All Gores swimming pool heated.

[MikeS]

I don't know what Obama's bad judgment and disreputable associates tells me about his potential policy decisions. It has lessened my opinion of him.

Of course I was never going to vote for him anyway, but now I'm really really not going to vote for him.

[JM Hanes]

Most of Michelle's answers were so utterly bland and predictable. I think the biggest surprise was hearing what's-her-name in the anchor chair describe her as tough.

I was trying so hard not to doze off I almost missed Michelle saying that the more people get to know Obama the better he'll do because "with time comes familiarity and growth."

My pick for the next best context-free clip, however, is when she said that things will start looking up for Obama when voters "come out of the muck and are ready to embrace truth."

[Thomas Collins]

Thanks for the info on Father Pfleger, JM Hanes. Even Tom Wolfe couldn't write a novel with all these characters.

OK, I know everyone is serious, but indulge me one more diversion. When the movie is made, who plays Rev. Wright? I say Little Richard!

[Soylent Red]

Now Barry...don't be bitter.

Obamessiah is going to cure America's growing energy needs by drilling into our dreams and harnessing the power of love.

/moonbeams and sugarplums

[Soylent Red]

I say Little Richard!

Danny DeVito. In blackface.

[Ann]

Cent had a great line too:
"Michelle is not an attractive woman - when she speaks, or when she is silent". LOL

OK Ladies, who made the scarf Caroline Kennedy was wearing? I want one for Mother's Day.

[JM Hanes]

I vote for Eddie Murphy, playing a white guy in blackface.

Ann:
I was too busy wondering if Caroline had had a nose job to notice her scarf, but I'll try to pay attention when the interview loops around, for the nth time before the midnight hour.

[ben]

I think Obama should strongly counter attack and point out Hillary's connections to Bill Clinton.

[Soylent Red]

I retract my previous vote for Danny Devito. I am a fool because the answer is so obvious...

Whoopi Goldberg

[JM Hanes]

Ann:

I'm guessing Hermes.

[JB]

"My pick for the next best context-free clip, however, is when she said that things will start looking up for Obama when voters "come out of the muck and are ready to embrace truth."

Here's the context:

"...Barack Obama will require you to work. He is going to demand that you shed your cynicism. That you put down your division. That you come out of your isolation. That you move out of your comfort zones. That you push yourselves to be better. And that you engage. Barack will never allow you to go back to your lives as usual; uninvolved, uninformed."

[Ann]

Well, the one thing MO said that was true is that we want someone honest. So who do we vote for?

JM Hanes,

"I was too busy wondering if Caroline had had a nose job to notice her scarf" I wish their was something bigger and better than LOL to show my delight at that snark.

[Ann]

"I'm guessing Hermes" JMH

Yeah, that was my first guess, too. So I will make that my Mother's Day/Birthday gift. :)

[ben]

Eddie Murphy can play Obama, Wright and Michelle. Robin Williams could play Hillary.

[Ann]

Whoopi Goldberg

Posted by: Soylent Red | April 30, 2008 at 11:26 PM

That is perfect!

Whoopi on Wright

"To sabotage the first black president is outrageous."

[bgates]

Wow, what a nice thread to come in to. Thanks, guys.

Realistically, a movie about the O Drama could be made in Hollywood only if it showed their reconciliation, victory, and puppies for everybody. In the real movie, I say Will Smith as Obama and Denzel Washington for Wright.

Of course, any movie needs villains. Meryl Streep at her iciest for Hillary; the only major supporting role left is the new anti-Christ of the Democratic party, Bill Clinton. Hollywood would want a big, heavy, menacing southerner:

Fred Thompson.

[TexasToast]

Wow. The cynicisnm is breathtaking.

[ben]

Can you be cynical if you were a non-believer to start with, or only if you drank the Koolaid?

[Soylent Red]

Toast:

Could I borrow a cup of HopeyChangey? I'm whipping up a batch of Dreamy Dream(of my Father) pancakes and I'm fresh out.

I'm going to serve them at my next grassroots planning meeting down at the student union because you can see the miraculous face of Obamessiah in every one.

[JB]

"Wow. The cynicisnm is breathtaking."

Yes, but enough about BHO's latest speech.

[bgates]

The above warning about cynicism comes to you courtesy of a partisan of the side that likes to claim
Bush lied to start a war to enrich his oil business cronies,
desire for border control springs from racism,
desire for tax cuts stems from hatred for the poor,
and in short Republicans know Democratic policies will work as advertised and promote longer life, greater wealth, public comity, and environmental cleanliness, and we oppose those policies from sheer spite.

If you were just talking about my suggestion for portraying Bill Clinton, hey, Hollywood is a cynical town. Typecasting's a bitch.

[Ralph L]

I say Will Smith as Obama and Denzel Washington for Wright
I would reverse those: Denzel always plays it cool. Travolta was a perfectly greasy Bill C in Primary Colors to me, because I've never liked Travolta, either.

[Elliott]

The NYT takes us behind the scenes:

Late Monday night, in the Carolina Inn in Chapel Hill, N.C., Barack Obama’s long, slow fuse burned to an end. Earlier that day he had thumbed through his BlackBerry, reading accounts of the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr.’s latest explosive comments on race and America. But his remarks to the press this day had amounted to a shrug of frustration.

Only in this hotel room, confronted with the televised replay of the combustible pastor, did the candidate realize the full import of the remarks, his aides say. At the same time, aides fielded phone calls and e-mail from uncommitted superdelegates, several demanding that the candidate speak out more forcefully.

As Mr. Obama told close friends after watching the replay, he felt dumbfounded, even betrayed, particularly by Mr. Wright’s implication that Mr. Obama was being hypocritical. He could not tolerate that.

If one tires of this distraction regarding his judgment, there's always his ethics.

[Ralph L]

At the Carolina Inn: so they're blowing all those campaign contributions from poor, inspired college students on fancy hotels.

[bgates]

Ralph, I figured if Washington could play Malcolm X, he could do Wright. Besides, he doesn't have the ears for Obama.

I agree Primary Colors had a pretty good portrayal of Bubba. Hey, you don't suppose we could reuse that title for an Obama picture?
...no, I guess not.

[JM Hanes]

TexasToast:

You want to talk breathtaking? Daniel Henniger via Real Clear Politics poses a rather different question than TM did, but the sad answer is no kinder to Obama:

This week we learned the limit of a dream in American politics. At Barack Obama's darkest hour, not one prominent ally came forward to support him. Everyone abandoned Everyman.

No prominent black clergyman came forth to make even the simple point that Jeremiah Wright's notion of the "black church" is but one point on a spectrum of faith. Rev. Wright, now written off as a virtual nut case, got more support from black clergymen than did Obama.

Barack Obama was bleeding by Monday and needed cover. Where, when he could have used them, were Obama's oh-so-famous endorsers: Jesse Jackson, Ted Kennedy, Oprah, John Kerry, Chris Dodd, Patrick Leahy, Tom Daschle, Amy Klobuchar, Claire McCaskill, Jay Rockefeller, John Lewis, Toni Morrison, Roger Wilkins, Eric Holder, Robert Reich, Ted Sorenson, Alice Walker, David Wilhelm, Cornel West, Clifford Alexander, Donald McHenry, Patricia Wald, Newton Minow?

It's possible, of course, that Henniger might have missed a lonely voice or two in the great media maelstrom, but when it comes to cynical positioning, I don't think you can beat the Democrats in this election round.

[Jane]

Oh dear, the latest polls show RW beating BO by a nose in North Carolina. What will the Superdelegates do?

Meanwhile Hill declares she will sue OPEC to lower gas prices. I wonder if the lawyer will take that on a contingency basis?

Good Morning everyone, there is frost on the pumpkin here, but we will get thru it!

[MayBee]

At the same time, aides fielded phone calls and e-mail from uncommitted superdelegates, several demanding that the candidate speak out more forcefully.

I suspect it was this, much more than the tv replay of the event, that spurred Obama to action.

[Elliott]

Concerning the events at the Carolina Inn:

Baracky Rezkoon checked into his room
And saw Jeremiah spewing bile
Baracky had come not intending to shun
For he hadn't moved past denial
His pastor it seems had upset his schemes
By preaching a gospel quite zany
His church he did fill but his sermons were shrill
And the super dels said he was crazy

[clarice]

JMH That article made a very interesting observation. Thanks for citing it.

[Walter]

there is frost on the pumpkin here,

You live near Tim Russert?