Newsweek To Obama: Just Say Anything

Evan Thomas of Newsweek has advice for Obama on how to deal with the race issue - just say anything:

It would help to be seen venerating your white mother and grandparents as well as your black father. Your mother is a sympathetic figure, fighting to raise a child out of poverty.

Well, it's a bit late to venerate grandma, who was last seen being tossed under the bus as a deplorable racist, just like Jeremiah Wright.

Ands as to mom heroically raising Obama from poverty - please.  It has been widely reported that Obama's mother raised him while on food stamps.  The inconvenient truth may be that she did this while enrolled in college and relying on her parents in Hawaii.  This is from TIME:

When her son was almost 2, Ann returned to college. Money was tight. She collected food stamps and relied on her parents to help take care of young Barack.

Of course, a different version also appears in TIME; this is Obama himself chatting with hagiographer Joe Klein:

"I had to reconcile a lot of different threads growing up—race, class," he told me. "For example, I was going to a fancy prep school, and my mother was on food stamps while she was getting her Ph.D."

The Times profile of Stanley Ann Dunham Soetoro includes this:

By 1974, Ms. Soetoro was back in Honolulu, a graduate student and raising Barack and Maya, nine years younger. Barack was on scholarship at a prestigious prep school, Punahou. When Ms. Soetoro decided to return to Indonesia three years later for her field work, Barack chose not to go.

What to believe?  Well, food stamps were a pilot program under Kennedy from 1961 to 1964; the states and counties involved did not include Hawaii in an August 1962 expansion, as per this NY Times clip.

The program expanded to 41 states in October 1964; I don't know that Hawaii was included even then, but Barack would have recently turned three, not "almost two" as described in the initial TIME passage.  However, since she was in college until 1967 (when she left with her new husband to Indonesia), I suppose that, contra Barack, she might have been on food stamps in 1965 or later.  That said, the program underwent major expansions in 1973 and 1974, which coincides with Ms. Dunham Soetoro's return to the US.  From Wikipedia:

Agriculture and Consumer Protection Act of 1973 (P.L. 93-86, August 10, 1973) required States to expand the program to every political jurisdiction before July 1, 1974;...

Well.  Whether she was relying on food stamps and her parents while putting herself through college or collecting food stamps while Barack went to prep school in Hawaii (eventually living with his grandparents), this is not exactly the "up from poverty" story most people associate with food stamps.  But Evan Thomas of Newsweek is impressed!

Comments

[clarice]

Whatever the truth, Thomas is wrong. Brocko's been running on his bio (whatever it is) for far too long. At some point even those media with trembling legs for Brocko will start to wonder what he substantively stands for and he'd better have much better answers than he's been offering to date.

[Danube of Thought]

Nobody really knows this guy, and come November the electorate will not hand the presidency to someone they do not feel they know.

[Elliott]

Speaking of saying anything, quoth Howard Guttman a Democratic strategist and Obama supporter on Fox: "...Senator Obama had the judgment to vote against the war..." [emphasis added]

The level of Guttman's affiliation with the Obama campaign was not clear. According to this report, there is a Howard Guttman serving as an advisor to Obama on Middle Eastern policy.

[MikeS]

My advice for Obama on the race issue is, "Stop being prejudiced against white people. Apologize and beg for their forgiveness. Apologize to your Grandma for being such an ungrateful turd."

[capitano]

Evan Thomas subtext advice to BO:

The MSM can probably deliver even more than the usual 15-20% for you as a Democrat candidate, but you really need to run out the clock 'cause folks are starting to catch on that you have big gaps in your education and experience.

We'll try to blame it on racism, but the plain truth is average American voters are beginning to believe you don't really support the U.S. Fact is that if you weren't Black they'd still distrust you -- Jeremiah Wright just gave them something to focus on. So don't count on the race issue helping you -- the general election is a secret ballot, not a caucus -- voters aren't likely to be intimidated by their neighbors into voting for you out of some misguided sense of guilt. Just sayin'.

[PeterUK]

"I was going to a fancy prep school, and my mother was on food stamps while she was getting her Ph.D."

One would have thought that a Ph.D would have enough sense to subsist on something more nutritious and substantial that food stamps.or perhaps she was smoking them? Was the anti-McDonalds movement active in those days?

[Lesley]

The Evan Thomas & Co. memo gave me the creeps. It tells Obama he "cannot pretend to be something he is not" and then goes on to give Obama all kinds of tips as to how he can fake it (just incase he's exactly what some voters fear he is).

[Porchlight]

Lesley, I was typing something similar and you beat me to it. I like how Obama isn't advised to plain old venerate mom and grandparents, just to "be seen" doing it. As always with Dems, it's "all about the framing."

I wonder if Kerry thinks he got rooked and only got 10 points out of old Evan instead of his promised 15.

[Sue]

It is going to be a tough year for republicans, including the pseudo-republican, McCain. Unless Obama is caught in bed with another man, he is set to be president of the US. I don't even think a dead girl would do it this time.

[MayBee]

I really like McCain, but I agree with Sue. I don't even think another man would do it, because nobody is even listening to Obama anymore. They are too busy imparting on him what they want him to be.

Look at how the lefty blogs are praising his absolutely boilerplate graduation speech from this weekend. Look how many people are actually pretending his foreign policy blunders are forming a sensible Obama Doctrine.
He'll win because he isn't him at all, he is whatever people have been waiting for.

[Sara]

I disagree. If Obama is nominated, I think he'll end up with about 33-35% of the vote, if Hillary is nominated, I think she'll do slightly better with about 42-45% of the vote.

[Pagar]

IMO, America elects Obama only if all of the Democrats Agree

"The Communist Takeover Of
America - 45 Declared Goals"

"15. Capture one or both of the political parties in the United States."

[Jane]

Word in from the geriatric world: My mother, a dyed in the wool liberal, ex-teacher, cannot quite wrap her head around Oporkma and is leaning heavily toward McCain.

Some of the Hillary demographics, and maybe all of them, are not coming around as planned.

He is toast.

[DebinNC]

The two Time's puff pieces on Obama above are from April and May. There was another one about his mom in March which includes:

"Ann's [Indonesian] husband visited Hawaii frequently [between 1971-1980], but they never lived together again. Ann filed for divorce in 1980. As with Obama's father, she kept in regular contact with Lolo and did not pursue alimony or child support, according to divorce records."

If she sought food stamps and other gov help while married to Mr. Soetoro, it likely wasn't out of necessity, as everything I've read about "Lolo" describes him as a kind and successful fellow who, unfortunately, married a self-absorbed woman who seems to have continually pursued her own dreams at the expense of others left in her wake.

[clarice]

Jane, sounds like your mother and mine have both come around..

[ben]

"..Senator Obama had the judgment to vote against the war..." [emphasis added]"

Actually this is true. Obama voted against the war on an nightly MSNBC Internet poll conducted sometime during 2003.

[Danube of Thought]

I see the two-party vote as about 53-47 McCain.

[ben]

"He'll win because he isn't him at all, he is whatever people have been waiting for."

I think this was true six months ago. Now he is what most liberals have been waiting for. There is a big difference.

[Porchlight]

The media coverage is discouraging to be sure, but the polls are not. If Obama truly had this tremendous advantage I think we would see him well ahead in the head-to-head polls by now. Instead we're seeing McCain competitive in blue states like PA, MI and WI.

One thing that does concern me about Obama is the potential youth vote. Yeah, I know, it never shows up, but this year may be the much-waited-for exception. My sense is that registering in time and then actually making it to the polls on Election Day is going to prove too much for the majority of Obama's young swooners, but I could well be wrong. And I'm worried that young voters may be undersampled in conventional telephone polls b/c they aren't as likely to have a landline.

Jane I think has mentioned the similarities between the Obama and McGovern coalitions. Did the youth vote fail to show up for McGovern, or did it show up and he lost anyway?

[ben]

"I see the two-party vote as about 53-47 McCain."

That could be on the money. Most polls, even those who show Obama ahead, have him in the mid to upper 40's. So where do the 10-15% non declared voters go? A case could be made that Obama's pool of voters has already declared their preference. By now either you like him or you don't, while McCain should still be able to make some inroads among frustrated conservatives (who will stay home or vote for Barr but not Obama) and independents and conservative Dems (who have probably already decided they don't like Obama, but are not sold on McCain). I think a ceiling of about 46% is about right for Obama. Time will tell.

[Jane]

Porchlight,

I don't really know. I was sure til the end he would pull it out, despite all the predictions. My guess is that the youth vote didn't show up, but we had no internet then, and it never occurred to me to track it. Like the Obama people I was in my own little world, with the help of whatever chemicals were close by.

Others may have been less shrouded in a fog, and know more.

[ben]

Another point about Obama. Did he peak too early? I don't see him gaining traction, I see him protecting his lead and trying desperately not to lose momentum. Is Obama better off than before Wright-Ayers-ClingtoGodandGuns, etc.? He is on the defensive on more issues than on offensive. I see the general now more as a classical conservative vs. liberal agenda like Bush vs. Gore and Bush vs. Kerry than the Second Coming vs. Mere Mortal. Obama is now a black liberal rather than a black knight on a white horse.

[kim]

Part of the bitterness of the Democratic civil war is buyer's remorse.
==========================

[capitano]

Need more proof that Obama doesn't understand America?

Here's a critique of what he said today:

Barack Obama must be the most gaffe-prone politician in memory. Today, he delivered a Memorial Day speech in New Mexico. After greeting the local Democratic Party dignitaries, he began:

On this Memorial Day, as our nation honors its unbroken line of fallen heroes -- and I see many of them in the audience here today -- our sense of patriotism is particularly strong.

Memorial Day honors those who have died in our nation's military service. Is it possible that Obama does not know this? Sometimes the things that come out of his mouth defy understanding.

He went on to deliver a partisan speech. Doesn't understand Memorial Day, doesn't understand America, isn't qualified for leadership.

[Porchlight]

Jane, I googled a bit and found this Jonah Goldberg piece on the no-show youth vote in 2004. He says McGovern won young voters 52-48 - not as overwhelmingly as predicted.

I still worry that this year may be the exception, or that just a few points in Obama's direction can make the needed difference. But either way, it's good to have a reminder of past "youth vote" follies.

[Porchlight]

On this Memorial Day, as our nation honors its unbroken line of fallen heroes -- and I see many of them in the audience here today

Obama sees dead people?

[Danube of Thought]

If he really saw many fallen heroes in the audience, heaven help him.

I agree with Ben about what the polls seem to be saying. His unfavorables now are up around 50% at Rasmussen (about the same as McCain's, unfortunately), and that's up a great deal over three or four months. It's not just Rev. Wright (I don't think Ayers means much), it's the fact that you can't run on empty indefinitely. I don't think he's wearing particularly well, and I don't expect him to improve in that regard. Quite the contrary.

Of course I've been wrong a lot, but usually on the side of pessimism...

[Sara]

What is going to do Obama in is the cumulative effect of all his gaffes and lies. It won't be any one issue for all voters.

Obama’s Documented Lies: 50 and remarkably still growing

[kim]

It was just brainless pandering to the 'heroes' in the audience. Please, God, a little more brainful pandering; we've still got over five months to go.
=============================

[PaulL]

I wonder what Goldberg's source was for the claim of youth vote going 52% to 48, McGovern over Nixon. That's not the way I remember it. I remember it as McGovern losing even the youth vote.

From Craig W. Cooper:
****George McGovern created feelings in voters that could only be resolved by rejection. McGovern found himself the underdog on all issues from Vietnam, to crime, to bussing, and eventually he even saw the loss of the youth vote that had been part of his strategy to upset Nixon. After the GOP Convention, voters under thirty had switched from approving McGovern by a 48 percent to 31 percent margin, to approving of Nixon by a 61 percent to 36 percent margin. Without the youth vote McGovern's chances of winning had been markedly reduced and Nixon's chances of a landslide had received another boost.****

Cooper's numbers on approval ratings were from Gallup Sept 1972.

[Pagar]

"don't think Ayers means" IMO Ayers and his fellow anti-American educators are the only reason why supposedly educated Americans are voting for Obama. I would be willing to bet that every one who claims to be educated, who votes for Obama has had a Ayers type professor in their educational background and believed what they were taught.

[MarkO]

BHO is that guy at the bar who seems to have the ability to make women think he is exactly who they are imagining him to be. The less they know about who he really is, the more likely it is that he will win them over.

Time is not on his side.

[narciso]

All the 'cool' youth of the period; were for McGovern. But if you lived in Southie, or Wilkes Barre, or Omaha, Nebraska. you were less likely to be disposed to him.
If you lived in the Southern states, even
less likely. Because he had become the voice
of the radicals, he had always been liberal;
but he like Fulbright, Church, Symington, et al had voted for Tonkin Gulf; I guess it was a case of 'voted for. . .' He was the candidate of acid, (favoring marijuana
legalization)abortion (pre 1973; with all its social implications), and amnesty, ratifying the draft dodger's sanctimonious
ness; and hypocrisy (the likes of Fallows,
Kinsley, Wenner, even Abbie Hoffman were unlikely to have to make the choice of Vietnam) Back in the day, even Pat Buchanan, according to transcripts of his Watergate committee hearing; was eager to expose McGovern's affinity with left elements like the PLO.The ringmaster of those elites, "Pinch" Sulzberger, made his feelings about fellow Americans very clear while at Tufts; as did Jennings and Safer's preference over the North Kosanese scoop over the safety of American troops. The only reason that I caution whether McCain would recreate the '72,'84,&,88 trends is the self pitying nature of those conservatives, who bared the souls to the New Yorker's George Packer; didn't they learn anything from their experience with
Vanity Fair's David Rose. Their excessive caterwailing about immigration (that neither Bush nor McCain ever ran on)naivete
about excessive social spending(did they forget about Gingrich the Grinch in '95-96, the OKC tie-ins to the Contract with America) Apparently, the close call with Clinton's irresponsible policy; shows for some of them; paraphrasing Santayana, that hey need to repeat history in order to learn from it. Sadly unlike the 18th Brumaire, it will not be comic thisa time around.Ironically, the Nixon redoubt was temporary; the Burger court delivered abortion with slightly less fanfare than Dred Scott did to 1850s America; sparking a long running kulturkampf. Watergate, undermined Nixon's liberal socialapproaches (wages and price controls, and the
subsequent inflation did more to sink Nixon than any campaign irregularities) and prompted the slow death knell of foreign policies like detente. Carter, the Southern nuclear engineer, delivered as much of the
McGovern agenda in embryo; including the
insouciance about drugs; typified by his own pill popping advisor, Peter Bourne. Lake, the prima donna last seen acting out over Cambodia; let loose the twin demons of the Ayatollah and the Sandinistas, as chief of State's planning Department. The former sparked conflicts from Riyadh to Kabul and everywhere in between, the latter the bloody decade in Central America. He'd
likely do more of the same as Obama's nylon
chancellor. Christopher, the Justice Dept's
military liason in '68, expanded his incompetence (see Lake)During his second round at State, his fecklessness led to Bosnia becoming the rallying cry for the likes of KSM, Zawahiri, the Mecca twins, et al. (Great legacy, eh Chrissie)

The oil embargo, was the Wahhabi ulema's little going away present for Nixon to show him 'that no good deed goes unpunished the affrontery of defending Israel; the current oil price bubble, seems focused along those same lines; to punish us for defending the heretical Shia of Iraq, in their backyard.
I fear it may succeed with noxious consequences we may rue for a generation.
If we're really lucky, the House of Saud can fall on his watch; that couldn't possibly go wrong could it. crime rates, inflation spiking, can disco being introduced be far behind; along with the banning of the death penalty and UK style
gun regulation be far behind. The world glimpsed in 'Death Wish' and "the Dirty
Harry films' beckons, like a deathwish.
You know if they had been smart; the Democrats would have run a Warner a Webb even a Bredesen; a plausible trojan horse, but this is Howard Dean's party we're talking here. God, he makes me miss the rhetoric of Terry McCauliffe. It is this kind of verbal pointilism that offers a
degree of hope.

[Porchlight]

I wonder what Goldberg's source was for the claim of youth vote going 52% to 48, McGovern over Nixon. That's not the way I remember it. I remember it as McGovern losing even the youth vote.

PaulL,

Thanks for chiming in with this. I can't find anything to support the 52-48 number Goldberg used. Karl at Protein Wisdom has a post on this topic today that says McGovern lost the youth vote, but the report he links doesn't give the numbers (or at least I didn't find them). So Goldberg could have been mistaken.

Karl also notes that by the end of May 1972, McGovern was already down 19% in the polls. He thinks this year looks more like 1976. Let's hope McCain proves nimbler than Ford, if so.

Kinda frustrating that these numbers aren't easier to find. I really need to plunk down the cash for the Barone Almanac.

[Rev. Dr. E Buzz Miller]

So the liberal media is really worried about the sanity of Johnny Mac with Barry's upbringing a case study out of a sociology text?

Will Newsweek ever tell us who the hell this Barry Obama is? I mean, are we supposed to just take him at face value and give him the Presidency because he is black and also, because he's black?

Whew, this is getting very weird.

[ben]

"You know if they had been smart; the Democrats would have run a Warner a Webb even a Bredesen"

Yeah or a Bayh....but Democrats aren't smart. Even Bill Clinton was an accident, ended up competing against such tough opposition as Tsongas and Jerry Brown and then had Perot as wingman. Democrats love nominating the McGovern, Mondale, Dukakis, Gore, Kerry and Obama types. A long line of losers, hopefully to keep growing.

[clarice]

narciso --what a felicitous phrase,"verbal pointilism ".

[Sara]

Ouch!

Hugh Hewitt writes:

Obama Melt

Powerline's John Hinderaker details Senator Obama's, er, memorable Memorial Day speech.

It is difficult not to conclude that Senator Obama has developed his reputation as a powerful orator and skilled politician in a protected media environment and in races against candidates that were deeply flawed.

But with his nomination assured and the most important job in the world on the line, the criticism-free zone in which Obama has long prospered simply cannot be sustained, and even MSM's many accommodations cannot camouflage the gaffe parade that is Team Obama from top to bottom. The litany of stock responses from the left's library conveys that the senator really hasn't spent much time thinking through the issues that face the country, and his unpreparedness is both breath-taking and discomforting, even to his supporters. "Rolling the dice" with an untried rookie might be something a desperate NFL franchise might try with a quarterback, but the world cannot afford to have its only superpower turned over to a completely unqualified and wholly inexperienced lightweight.

[Elliott]

Porchlight,

Have you used it before? If not, I'd recommend checking it out from or browsing through it at either the university library or a departmental library to see if you'd get much use out of it. It is most useful for its descriptions of all 435 congressional districts.

While having all that background information in one place and at one's fingertips can be quite advantageous, I found it got a bit mind numbing after a while:

Stretching from the [local geographical feature] to the [local geographical feature at the other side of the district], [name of State's] fourth congressional district exemplifies key trends in American politics.

The [booming growth/continuing decline] in [the local industry] has led to a significant shift in the composition of the electorate. The [homogenous/sleepy/industrial] community of a few years ago, has given way to [a diverse mix/a bustling ex-urban mecca/ghost town] and the changes have brought significant changes in the political climate, most notably in [_____________].

Michael Barone and his work are both first rate, but in the Almanac he's hardly revealing the arcana mundi.

[JM Hanes]

Instapundit linked to this analysis by Paul Lukasiak -- who, IIRC, did some fermenting here in the past. He's posting on Taylor Marsh's blog this time around. He points out that between Feb. and May, the only place Obama has actually picked up support, not lost it to Clinton, is among African-Americans. Caveats may certainly apply, but Lukasiak works the stats a couple of different ways, and if his numbers are solid, that's pretty amazing.

[J. Peden]

Is the Dems' method of running a political campaign based upon an advertising-campaign model a wining strategy?

I don't think so, because most people do not buy the product, no matter what it promises. Instead, just enough people do buy the product to make the campaign's particular product profitable - which describes a niche, but no more.

So I think the Dems have confused their ability to find a niche for its niche product with an ability to appeal to the common sense of free people in general, which, lacking, would have otherwise already made everyone bankrupt, and the U.S. already Communist.

[narciso]

Some things are so obvious even PaulLukasiak
knows it's true. We'll forget he really does think the Rather AWOL story was true; the beauty is, it doesn't matter, they're steering not away from the iceberg but through it. The only question is whether those diehards in the GOP will go the Spartan root and turn to Barr on the libertarian slot. They turned down Tucker and Mike Gravel, the libertarians have matured somewhat; they're up there with the
Prohibition Party in terms of viability now.

[J. Peden]

I would say that this Lukasiak is one of the most stupid people I have ever encountered, except that it would give him entirely too much credit.

He should meet my ex-wife if he really wants to establish his credentials. My money's on her.

[glasater]

I think Ron Paul is the real 'libertairian" and Bob Barr isn't going to replace him in that venue.

The one thing that keeps my spirits up somewhat is that BHO wants to raise the cap on social security. If one is self employed--that's an additional fifteen per cent added to your original tax liability.
The boomers getting close to retirement in six or seven years aren't going to appreciate shelling out what would amount to a ton of money.
There are 'way more boomers than that 'youth' vote we all worry about.

[Sara]

Here is another reason I'm not nearly as concerned about a dem. victory as some. With these types of numbers, I doubt the dems have a real chance.

Via Blogs for Victory:

Rasmussen:

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that 62% of voters would prefer fewer government services with lower taxes. Nearly a third (29%) disagrees and would rather have a bigger government with higher taxes. Ten percent (10%) are not sure…

…Republican voters overwhelmingly prefer fewer government services—83% of the GOP faithful hold that view while just 13% prefer more government involvement. Democratic voters are evenly divided on this question: 46% prefer more government services, while 43% prefer less government services.

Not surprisingly, conservative voters like less government while liberal voters favor a bigger government. Fifty-seven percent (57%) of politically moderate voters prefer smaller government. A separate survey found that most adults (56%) are worried that the next president will raise taxes too much.

Sixty-two percent (62%) of voters think American society is generally fair and decent. Twenty-seven percent (27%) think it is unfair and discriminatory. Those numbers have become slightly more positive over the past month.

[JM Hanes]

"Some things are so obvious even PaulLukasiak knows it's true."

LOL! Barr has an excess of baggage, though, don't you think? "Libertarian Party" seems like something of an oxymoron, which may be why they have such a hard time with traction.

Finally got around to reading - or gagging over -- Evan Thomas as Obamentor. If we're talking stats, I'm not sure he's sensible enough to put a reliable number on the media edge for Dems. This looks like the article's raison d'etre:

It's also important for you not to play the race card yourself. You can't imply, or be seen to imply, that anyone who criticizes you is a racist, closeted or otherwise.

Let the media do that for you! As if to make just that point, Thomas spends most of his 2200+ words proving himself up to the task -- so singlemindedly, in fact, that this little caveat comes across as a complete non sequitor:

Your mission [should you choose to accept it! - ed.] is to not wind up like Kerry, who ended up losing the rural vote by 20 points.

Hillbillies, racists, whatever, Thomas is lookin' at you, Appalachia. The "disturbing pockets" of fearful old Jews are almost an afterthought. I can't imagine why "the message of change, of a new world order" based on charismatic leadership and a lot of unstated assumptions might strike those folks as "unsettling," can you?

I wouldn't be surprised if Thomas even managed to offend Obama with this anodyne, patronizing, tripe. With the exception of suggesting that Obama actually campaign in Appalachia, Thomas doesn't suggest a single thing in his desultory mash-up of small bore remedies that isn't already emblematic of Obama's campaign.

[JM Hanes]

If Peggy Noonan were a guy, she'd be Evan Thomas.

[SAM]

I need to visit here more often when I get down about McCain's chances. I just don't get Obama's appeal AT ALL. Without prepared remarks on a teleprompter, Obama is a trainwreck. And even with prepared remarks--as in the Philadelphia speech so many swooned over--I never heard such bunch of rhetorical nonsense in my life. Intellectually, he has trouble with timelines, and he has trouble drawing appropriate analogies. Jeremiah Wright and his grandmother are moral equivalents? I hope he's not expecting a birthday card.

That aside, I get concerned about the "conservatives" who don't find McCain Reaganesque enough for them. I just hope (and I'm now praying too) that Dick Morris is write: Jeremiah Wright is the most powerful get-out-the-Republican-vote-for-McCain ad available.

I hope all of you had a great Memorial Day (not Veterans Day) weekend.

[PeterUK]

One in ten believe Obama is a Muslim.Exactly why they believe Barack Hussein Obama is a Muslim I do not know,but nonetheless one in ten voters believe Barack Hussein Obama is a Muslim.

[Pagar]

Peter, this article may give some clues.
Link

" March 12th -- Was Iowa Republican Rep. Steve King on the mark last week when he asserted Islamic terrorists would rejoice if Obama becomes the next U.S. president?

What do the terrorists think about these policies? Well, journalist, Aaron Klein, recently asked them:

Ramadan Adassi, leader of the Al Aqsa Brigades terror group in the West Bank's Anskar refugee camp, pointed to Obama's rise to stardom as "an important success. He won popularity in spite of the Zionists and the conservatives."

Abu Hamed, leader of the Al Aqsa Brigades in the northern Gaza Strip, explained the Democrat candidates' anti-war positions "prove that important leaders are understanding the situation differently and are understanding the price and the consequences of the American policy in Iraq and in the world."

Muhammad Saadi, a senior leader of Islamic Jihad in the northern West Bank town of Jenin, said talk of withdrawal from Iraq makes him feel "proud."

"As Arabs and Muslims we feel proud of this talk," he told me for my book. "Very proud from the great successes of the Iraqi resistance. This success that brought the big superpower of the world to discuss a possible withdrawal."

Abu Abdullah, a leader of Hamas' military wing in the Gaza Strip, was more direct: The policy of withdrawal, he stated, "proves the strategy of the resistance is the right strategy against the occupation."

What about dialogue with America's enemies, such as sit-downs with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that Obama has so fervently advocated?

Muhammad Abdel-Al, spokesperson and a senior leader of the Popular Resistance Committees terror group, recently explained to me U.S. willingness to negotiate and initiate dialogue "shows the Islamic resistance is bringing the giant [America] to is knees."

"It would be a great achievement complemented by more and more dead American soldiers they will carry in coffins to the U.S.," said Abdel-Al."

[PeterUK]

"On this Memorial Day, as our nation honors its unbroken line of fallen heroes -- and I see many of them in the audience here today -- our sense of patriotism is particularly strong."

That is the equivalent of standing on a stage in New York and saying "Good evening Cleveland".It is obvious that the significance of Memorial Day is meaningless to him.Anyone who has been in an Australian Returned Servicemen's club when they recite
"At the going down of the sun and in the morning we will remember them".
Knows the emotion of the moment is overwhelming. Obama is a flip empty suit.

[clarice]

jmh, I thought Paul's name was familiar but couldn't place it, but I did think the stats in his article were quite remarkable.In fact, I blogged that piece because it was so striking.
As for the pockets of old Jews, I'm one of them--in fact one of them who tracked down people who aided the Nazis so I know a thing or two about WWII and this empty suit and the absurd public reaction to him does frighten me.

[Soylent Red]

There are 'way more boomers than that 'youth' vote we all worry about.

glasater is right on this point. Just wait until they proglodytes start harping on McCain about his age.

Not going to sit well with the Hoody Doody set.

[kim]

p. luk is a fellow plamaniac. I tangled with him at Marci's til I was banned. Most recently I tried to convince him et al last May at the Belgravia Dispatch that the Anbar Awakening was for real.

Yesterday I got banned at Climate Progress, a CAP/Soros funded climate site run by Joe Romm, for filling up the threads with 'short, sometimes unintelligble, disinformational' comments.
=======================================

[kim]

Heh, like this one.

They bet on the carbon,
They bet on the fear.
If they'd bet on Old Soleil,
They'd be free men, today.
================

[Neo]

Every American should be exposed to this kind of poverty .. including those in real poverty who would most enjoy it.

[Neo]

Exactly why they believe Barack Hussein Obama is a Muslim

I think it has something to do with the perception that Obama wears Christianity like a "Edgar suit"

Kay: Imagine a giant cockroach, with unlimited strength, a massive inferiority complex, and a real short temper, is terror-assing around Manhattan Island in a brand-new Edgar suit. That sound like fun?

[PeterUK]

Sorry Neo,I copyrighted that one for Gordon Brown,he has the face movements as well.

[JM Hanes]

Clarice:

I was being sarcastic about not being able to think of any reason a "new world order" might bother Jews!

It seemed so clear when I wrote it late last night....

[clarice]

jmh, I knew you were being sarcastic, but youwere also accurate. Been there, suffered that, not interested in more new world orders, thanks.

[Porchlight]

If not, I'd recommend checking it out from or browsing through it at either the university library or a departmental library to see if you'd get much use out of it.

Thanks, Elliott. I suspect you're right, and I can easily grab it from the library. Part of me would enjoy seeing it sitting on my desk, but as much as I admire Barone, I don't really have a need for that level of arcana.

[kim]

One difference in the 'Hope for a Change to a New World Order' of eighty years ago and the one of today is that there was severe suffering back then; today, who's suffering? The engine of totalitarian horror Obama wants to throttle up has no one to shovel coal.
==================================

[glasater]

In line with the later comments on this thread that have gone a little far afield from TM's original post--I wanted to plug a review by Spengler that was a pretty interesting read.

This excerpt is from the review.

"Life and death to the ancient Hebrews were a moral conditions more than medical one, the authors explain. Enslavement and looming cultural extinction were felt as the grave, as was childlessness. National redemption and the covenantal promise of continuity of Abraham's line were a restoration of life, a resurrection in the earliest stirring of Hebrew religious sensibility. The modern materialist view of life and death, the authors remind us, has little in common with the way in which ancient readers of the Bible understood existence.

One might go farther, and assert that the Biblical understanding of life and death still prevails today among most of the world's six billion souls. The materialism of modern political science sadly misjudges the demands of the human heart. Nations are willing to fight to the death because their national life already has become a living death, in just the way the Bible saw it. In their hearts they already have gone down to Sheol, and the world holds no greater terror for them than what they live each day. "

[Appalled]

TM:

According to the newpaper, West Hawaii Today, in their three part snooze-inducer on the Hawaii Food Stamp program:

The earliest origins of the Hawaii Food Stamp Program began as a pilot project in 1961. It was then authorized as a permanent program in 1964. Expansion of the program occurred most dramatically after 1974, when Congress required all states to offer food stamps to low-income households, said Lillian Koller, director of the state Department of Human Services.

Source:

http://www.westhawaiitoday.com/articles/2007/12/02/local/local01.txt

Beware, you have to register.

[narciso]

Another inconvenient fact, is the turnabout by Dr. Fadl, and Sheik Salman Al Oudah against jihadism conducted on civilian targets; at least based on their failures
in conducting the Salafi campaign in Iraq
much as it had occurred in Algeria in the 1990s; which should have been a warning sign for the Salafi/Wahhabi. I was aware of Al Oudah, long before I heard of Bin Laden, which was not a coincidence; as one inspired the other. Both along with Mr. Akef of the Moslem Brotherhood,have decided that at least for the time being; the ballot is better than the car bomb or the suicide vest The fact that this comes from two authors who wrote a long overwrought op ed designed to disabuse us of our goals in Iraq in Mother Jones is just icing on the cake (which they refuse to acknowledge; but as I say small steps):
href*<http://www.tnr.com/politics/story.html?id=702bf6d5-a37a-4e3e-a491-fd72bf6a9da1&k=>
Of course, McClellan's half remembered musings about what he thought he heard; makes the news stories for the next while.
I'm beginning to think that between Ma
Strayhorn and Papa Barr's Lyndon centric
conspiracy theories, there's something wrong with tha family.

[kim]

I daresay you don't take that measure lightly, n.
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