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.
===============================

[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.
=============

[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?

[SteveMG]

and Kennedy did

And how exactly did that Khrushchev-Kennedy meeting in Vienna go?

Khrushchev told Kennedy, "Force will be met by force. If the US wants war, that's its problem." "It's up to the US to decide whether there will be war or peace." "The decision to sign a peace treaty is firm and irrevocable, and the Soviet Union will sign it in December if the US refuses an interim agreement."

To this, Kennedy replied, "Then, Mr. Chairman, there will be a war. It will be a cold, long winter

Kennedy had the courage to stand up to Khruschev. I'm doubtful that Obama has the same character trait.

Especially since he's never shown it before.

[Porchlight]

Happy Birthday, Sara! And good morning all. Glad that crazy night is over. I am here to eat crow for Appalled's sake - I was totally surprised by the IN results and was also completely wrong on NC.

I can predict with some hope of success, however, that I will never watch another Obama speech again. It's "text of remarks" only from now on for me. Yuck.

[SteveMG]

Let's see: Obama cites (implicitly) Yalta, the Vienna Summitt and Truman creating the Truman Doctrine and NSC-68 (the US containment policy) after the failed negotiations with the Soviets.

I'm not sure its too smart to cite these example as successful endeavors in the diplomacy.

[centralcal]

Happy Birthday, Sara.

Well, that was an interesting night. Did Hillary channel Scarlett before going to bed -- "Tommow is another day" --?

[Ranger]

An interesting compare and contrast: Obama's victory speach last night to his response to McCain on judges.

Victory Speach: National Unity! Reject the politics of division!

Judges: http://volokh.com/posts/1210112195.shtml>Class Warfare!

Barack Obama has always believed that our courts should stand up for social and economic justice, and what’s truly elitist is to appoint judges who will protect the powerful and leave ordinary Americans to fend for themselves.

Obviously, there are people who are not invited to the "Unity!" party.

BTW, werent FDR, Trueman, and JFK all considered "warmongers" in their time by the educated elite?

Bonus question - Didn't FDR openly violate the neutrality act by initiating Lend-Lease (technially legal, but obviously against the spirit of the law) and organizing US mercinaries (the Flying Tigers) to fight where congress would not authorize military action?

People do seem to forget that thanks to FDR there were US pilots flying combat missions against the Japanese months before Pearl Harbor. Is that the kind of dialog that Obama wants with our adversaries?

[HoosierHoops]

Well i had it completely backwards..
I picked obama 51% HRC 49% yesterday in Indiana.
I'm also the guy that picked Fred Thompson as the GOP nominee.
To whom do I turn my pundit card back too?

[Ranger]

And let us also remember that the Korean War was a direct result of Truman's failure to clrearly articulate to our adversaries where we would fight or when. I really don't think that is the model of diplomacy Obama wants to draw attention to, even if he does plan on following it (see his statement that threatening massive retaliation against Iran if they nuke Isrial was "unhelpful" to the situation).

[cathyf]

Happy b-day, sara! As Eeyore ("don't worry about me; nobody ever does") would say, "Many happy returns of the day!"

[Jane]

It seems we all had it wrong (except Appalled if I read that correctly) - including Hillary.

So why? Is it because of the black vote, or is something else happening. I don't think Obama is resonating more - at least he's not around here. Could it be that Hillary is resonating less? Anyone have a bead on it?

[Appalled]

Thanks Porchlight, though I thought Hillary's margin in Indiana would be wider.

This is the first time in a while Hillary has come down on the wrong side of the expectations game. I wonder if that will give the opportunity for the superdelegates to run to Obama and put this thing to bed, so that the media can't start a new narrative after Obama gets creamed in West Virginia. We'll see.

[clarice]

Drudge reports Hill just lent her campaign another $6.4 million.

[section9]

People have decided that Hillary is over.

In Indiana, I suspect that the Cook County organization decided to cross over into Lake County and lend a hand. The Dead walked by Night. Trust me on this.

Any way you look at it, it is all falling action now.

[clarice]

Well, I agree section9--I am very suspicious of the Lake County vote tally.

[kim]

C, a sprat to catch a whale.
=================

[davod]

TR won the Nobel Prize for mediating in a dispute the US was not part of.

The US had an embargo on Japan as a result of Japan's policies in China.

Most politicians, regardless of party, rely upon voter ignorance.

[MayBee]

Happy Birthday, Sara!

[MayBee]

Obama said God Bless America and that he LOVES this country.
He's catching on! (maybe he's reading JOM)

[pst314]

"I believe in our ability to perfect this nation"

Perfection? Sounds rather utopian. And we all know track record of utopian ideologies.

[Curly Smith]

"wisdom to talk to our enemies, like Roosevelt did, and Kennedy did, and Truman did."

You don't suppose Obama was talking about the Communist Infestation at the State Department and other agencies do you? My guess is "no" since Obama wouldn't consider Communists to be enemies, so he's probably talking about Conservatives and other advocates of smaller government, freedom, liberty and national security.

[Danube of Thought]

As I recall, Truman sent a number of emissaries to chat with his enemies on the scaffold.

[Ranger]

"I believe in our ability to perfect this nation"

I think his phrasing here shows that he really doesn't get what the founders were talking about. The actual phrase they used was "more perfect", as in "in order to form a more perfect Union." It is about always striving to make the union better, but never believing that you have actully "perfected" it. The term "perfect this nation" sounds much more rooted in Hegalian romantic ideas, which of course is the root of both Marxism and Fascism. When I hear someone using this terminology, I begin to wonder who they think needs to be "cleansed" from "the nation" in order to achieve that "perfection."

[Anon]

"It's about securing your portion of the American Dream".

There's something about the word portion in there that I don't like. My portion, eh? I suppose I should take my beggars' bowl up the the trough and ask for some more, please?

Anyway, be afraid, be very afraid. THE FORCE is strong with this one.....

[Anon1]

OOPs, the above comment re: THE FORCE should be ANON1. Silly, I know, but that's what I've decided to call myself in this *portion* of the blogosphere.

[MayBee]

I found this line odd:
You know, when this campaign began, Washington didn't give us too much of a chance.

We hear about "them" moving the bar all the time, but in this case Obama actually named his nemesis: Washington.
When did "Washington" not give them too much of a chance to win the election? Who in Washington?

[Ranger]

New idea for a campaign spot: A History Lesson For Barack.

Barack Obama says we must have "wisdom to talk to our enemies, like Roosevelt did, and Kennedy did, and Truman did."

But how exactly did these presidents "talk to our enemies"?

When Roosevelt identified Nazi Germany as America's enemy, he didn't call a summit, he gave arms to Hitler's enemies to enable them to carry on the fight.

When Roosevelt identified Imperial Japan as America's enemy, he didn't call a summit, he established and ecnomic embargo organized the Flying Tigers to enable Japan's enemies to continue the fight.

Truman refused to negotiate with either Germany or Japan, demanding unconditional surrender from both, and using nuclear weapons to force Japan to surrender.

Truman promised to use nuclear weapons to defend Western Europe and Japan, and sent US troops to defend South Korea against Communist agression.

Kennedy authorised an invasion of Cuba and sent US troops to Vietnam to resist Communism.

When Barack Obama says we need to talk with our enemies, he seems to be confusing Roosevelt, Kennedy, and Truman with Jimmy Carter, who talked for months with the Iranians while they held our diplomats hostage, and never achieved their release while he was in office.

[boris]

Obama would be another Jimmuh Carter or worse.

[LindaK]

In watcfhing Obama's speech last night, I couldn't help thinking that it was a pastiche of Reagan, Truman, Mother Teresa, JFK and FDR all rolled up into a powerful PR message. If you had no historical context you might just believe it. Also noted the sparsity of black adorers in the audience. I thought that demographic carried NC. Just wondering.

RW is loaning herself $6.4 mm. The fun/agony continues.

[MayBee]

The college student I met in Iowa who works the night shift after a full day of classes, still can't pay the medical bills for a sister who's ill...

She needs us to stand up to those insurance companies and pass a plan that lowers every family's premiums and gives every uninsured American the same kind of coverage that members of Congress gives themselves. That's why I'm running for president of the United States of America.

This is a doozy. A college student working the nightshift to pay for college AND her sister's medical bills. That is a burden indeed.
I don't understand how this magical lowering of everyone's premiums comes about, especially if it includes insuring the already sick like this poor college student's sister. I agree our insurance system is a mess, but I need this spelled out for me, Barack!

The man I met in Pennsylvania who lost his job but can't even afford the gas to drive around and look for a new one, he can't afford four more years of an energy policy written by the oil companies and for the oil companies, a policy that's not only keeping gas at record prices, but funding both sides of the war on terror and destroying our planet. He doesn't need four more years of Washington policies that sound good, but don't solve the problem. He needs us to take a permanent holiday from our addiction from oil by making the automakers raise their fuel standards, corporations pay for their pollution, and oil companies invest their record profits in a clean energy future

If he can't afford to drive around to look for a job, can he afford a new car with higher CAFE standards? Can he afford to wait for that car to be produced? Why doesn't he buy a SMART car now?

IIRC, Barack met this guy at a bar during the NCAA tourney. Apparently this guy could afford to drive the the bar and could afford to buy drinks at the bar, but can't afford to drive to job interviews.

What does he mean by funding "both sides" of the war on terror?

[clarice]

Ranger--why not send that as a blog to [email protected]? Tell Lifson I sent you.

[RichatUF]

Happy Birthday Sara!!!

Jane-

So why? Is it because of the black vote, or is something else happening. I don't think Obama is resonating more - at least he's not around here. Could it be that Hillary is resonating less? Anyone have a bead on it?

Curious. Belmont had a point after Wright's NPC preformance that I don't think got much attention. He called it a putsch-Wright (as the standin for the Obama campaign) raised the Jolly Roger over the DNC daring the superdelegates to defect to Clinton and deny the nomination to Obama (in classic protection racket form). Don't really know, but thought it was a pretty good take.

Have to say that I'm a bit stunned by the results yesterday and figure that if the RW really had some dirt on BHO she would have used it by now. Time will tell...

[OMG]

Didn't Roosevelt and Chamberlain talk to Hitler up until the time he had all of Europe and London was burning?

Truman talked to the Japanese until they bombed Perl Harbor and the he talked with a pair of nukes.

Kennedy talked us into the Vietnam war and his successor LBJ talked until the NVA had built up enough supplies to launch TET.

I love BHO's analogies. Too bad most Americans haven't learned enough history to see through them.

[MayBee]

Perhaps Barack is thinking of the message FDR sent to Japan via Jimmy Doolittle.

[Patrick R. Sullivan]

I believe in our ability to perfect this nation....

That, in a nutshell, is what's wrong with Obama (and even more so with his wife). The perfect is the enemy of the good.

Nothing humans do is perfect, and attempting to be perfect is guaranteed to fail.

[glasater]

Here is Jay Cost's take on last night's elections.

Brocko is gaining strength in the black vote and the Wright episode seems to have helped rather than hurt.

[Patrick R. Sullivan]

When Truman did try talking with Stalin, it was a disaster. After Churchill's Iron Curtain speech, he sent a letter--in care of our Ambassador, Walter 'Beadle' Smith--to Stalin apologizing and inviting Stalin to come to Missouri and deliver a rebuttal with Truman sitting alongside him.

Smith wrote about it in his memoir, and Stalin didn't respond at all graciously. Instead, smelling weakness, he berated Smith for siding with imperialism. And Eastern Europe suffered four decades of oppression in the wake.

[MikeS]

This is another one of those ideas based on Obama's magical abilities.

Obama proposes unconditional, face to face, head of state meetings. He is not proposing back channel negotiations, or formal diplomatic contacts, or even high level diplomatic contacts, but unconditional President to president/dictator meetings.

The reason for these face to face meetings is not, for example, that Obama thinks that 6 years of Iran talking to Russia, China, France and Germany about it's nuclear program failed to convey our position. The reason because in face to face meetings is where he can exercise his magical abilities to transcend and overcome, unify, and to finally get Amadinijad to 'change his mindset' and possibly even 'heal his soul.'

[Chris]

Seek and Clarice,
Regarding Lake County, very suspiscious indeed. The mayor of Hammond, IN was on CNN casting aspersions on Gary, IN. Bob Beckel on Fox last night relayed an anecdote that should send chills down your spine. Was talking about a prior campaign where he called the registrar's office in Gary and asked what was taking so long. The election official told him that he, Beckel, was the cause of the hold up. Something along the line of, "There's no hold up, we're just waiting on you to tell us how many votes you need."

Beckel actually said that. I think he said it was during a primary as well. Is it any wonder the Dem's are always accusing their opponents of election fraud? It's standard fare for them.

[Porchlight]

So why? Is it because of the black vote, or is something else happening. I don't think Obama is resonating more - at least he's not around here. Could it be that Hillary is resonating less? Anyone have a bead on it?

I don't think it represents an uptick in Obama support. I think it was a combination of election fatigue ("let's get this over with") and demographics less favorable to Hillary. I'm also guessing that proximity to Chicago had more influence on the Indiana results than was predicted, and in more than one way.

[Martin Gale]

D-Day: War's over, man. Wormer dropped the big one.
Bluto: Over? Did you say "over"? Nothing is over until we decide it is! Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? Hell no!
Otter: Germans?
Boon: Forget it, he's rolling.

[James]

Rather than assuming that Roosevelt's enemies were the only ones people tend to know of during that time period, I believe the reference to Roosevelt was pointing to the Good Neighbor Policy enacted in 1933. While Roosevelt was in communication with most of Europe, the major concern at the time for America was all of the controversy in the Caribbean states and Latin America as a whole, some of whom we were bombing and others occupying.

But maybe I am too young to know that.

[bgates]

So when Obama says "talk to our enemies, like Roosevelt did", he means Mexico and Haiti were our enemies? Who was he talking about for Truman, the steel industry?

[bgates]

Rather than assuming that Roosevelt's enemies were the only ones people tend to know of during that time period
Why would the Great Orator give a speech that relies on people not assuming he's talking about "the only thing people tend to know of"?

[Pofarmer]

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

What to hell does that mean??? He doesn't say ANYTHING, and when he does say something he screws it up.

[MayBee]

Obama will talk to Mexico!

[Rick Ballard]

"I think his phrasing here shows that he really doesn't get what the founders were talking about."

Ranger,

I'm sure he does. I'm just as sure that your observation concerning Marxist cant is 100% correct. The Marxist cant is a form of code speaking that warms the void where a heart should be within the hollow chests of the bien pissants who form the core of his support (vide Kathy doing a strenuous bit of code talking in this thread yesterday).

Although 'Red' Obama has tried very hard to downplay his association with the terrorist (and, IMO, traitor) Ayers, that association is consonant with his entire life experience, from red diapers to this morning. The "unknown unknown" going forward is whether the NEA educrats have succeeded in dumbing down the electorate to the point where a fire engine red (to me, at any rate) Copperhead can sway a majority with empty words backed by an absolute lack of actual accomplishment.

The other critical factor is the weakness of John McCain, who is somewhat less inspirational than either Gerald Ford or George H. W. Bush (again, IMO).

I believe BHO to be eminently beatable but I certainly admit the possibility that McCain doesn't have what it takes to do so. It's going to be an 'interesting' (in the Chinese curse sense) election.

[hit and run]

OT: Productivity in the news

WASHINGTON - Worker productivity rose by a better-than-expected amount in the first three months of the year while labor cost pressures eased.

The Labor Department reported Wednesday that productivity, the amount of output per hour of work, increased at an annual rate of 2.2 percent in the first quarter. That was slightly higher than the 1.5 percent increase which had been expected.

I Blame Credit Bush TM

TM's productivity in the first quarter single-handedly accounts for this rise.

[MikeS]

Why would the Great Orator give a speech that...

To most people an Obama speech is like a episode of Seinfeld, It's about nothing.

However, to those special people who can understand him, those speeches are really about a golden age of wonderfulness and perfection.

[pst314]

It's interesting that Obama makes a big point of how he will "talk to" America's enemies, and yet he will "require" Americans to get with his program. ("And 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.")

[JM Hanes]

Chris:

That's why it's always fun to watch Beckel. Same reason I always enjoy hearing Ed Rendell's take on things. They're partisan to the core, but they don't just sit there reciting the latest talking points. Beckel said he contacted a former mayor, asked when they were going to call the vote, and the mayor said "As soon as you tell me how many votes you need."

When CNN finally got the Gary mayor on the line last night, John King asked him every way from Sunday why their votes weren't being reported out like everyone else's in the state, and the mayor just kept repeating that they were swamped with 11,000 absentee ballots. If you're going to muck around with the numbers, I expect that's where you'd probably do it, but I think it would be hard to manage.

It seems more likely that the Obama folks figured Hillary was going to win Indiana by a much larger margin, and just wanted (or arranged!) to push her victory speech out of prime time into the wee hours of the morning so that Obama could dominate the air waves. It looks like he had already planned to congratulate Hillary on her win, since he did it before anybody (but CBS?) called the Indiana contest. I think his campaign had decided to play a NC win as the nomination clincher, and use it to jumpstart the general election -- complete with a nod to the the need for party unity. Lake County kept Hillary from taking center stage and stepping on those victorious toes. If she'd had the kind of win everyone was expecting, the spotlight -- and the momentum -- would immediately have shifted back her way.

Axelrod's operation puts Bob Schrum to shame. If Obama were a more substantial candidate, he'd probably be trouncing John McCain in the national polls right now.

[MikeS]

he will "require" Americans to get with his program.

Don't forget, Michelle doesn't like the way we raise our children to be little doubters. Doubt and disbelieve will go on their permanent record when Obama reigns.