So!
There is a lot of discussion and speculation whether Barack Hussein Obama is, was, or has been a Muslim. There is some evidence based on his Kenyan birth certificate, the fact that his father was a Muslim, that he may have attended a Muslim school in Indonesia, some statements from his half-brother Malik Obama, and so on.
Obama himself vehemently denies this. He and his campaign characterize this as scurrilous, intent on derailing his quest for the White House. When on a 60-Minutes segment Hillary Clinton was asked as to whether Obama is a christian, she replied - I think he is a christian, as far as I know. For this equivocation she was roundly excoriated; as if she is supposed to know Obama's religious beliefs for a certainty.
On the other hand, Obama makes a big deal about his extended family which is comprised of people of many religions, many nationalities and many cultures. He likens it to a sort of United Nations gathering. He implies that it is alright for one to be a Muslim, and/or an Indonesian, ...
But not for himself. He takes umbrage at being suspected/insinuated of being, or has been a Muslim.
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Monday, June 9, 2008
The Presumptuous Nominee
So between now and the Democratic National Convention in August, Sen. Barack Obama will be referred to as the presumptive nominee of the party. Funny, I always thought of him as being presumptuous. And arrogant to boot, in the way he and his campaign treated Sen. Clinton; stacked on one side with his lone speech at a small gathering (which had to be re-enacted later for television commercials) in the kindergarten years of his political life, against a lifetime of involvement in the poor people's, children’s and women’s causes by Sen. Clinton, as well as her eight years as the First Lady, and eight years representing the state of New York. By the way, she won her reelection to the senate with a comfortable margin, lest anybody think that her first election was fluke, coming so quickly on the heels of her husband’s of two terms, a rare feat in recent democratic fortunes.
And today to that list of adjectives defining the freshman senator, I would add the adjective – over-confident.
He wins the democratic contest in say Alaska, and thinks Alaska is in play. He wins against Sen. Clinton in Mississippi, and thinks that that state is in play too. Heck, if you pit two donkeys against each other in Mississippi, or Alabama, or any of the 57 states he visited (or is the correct count 59?) one of the donkeys has to win, but it would be wrong to think that that by itself confers invincibility on the winning donkey, against the republican elephant in November. And that doesn’t take into account what other bitter statements might come to light between now and then.
Ex-Mayor Willie Brown of San Francisco was on TV today exuding confidence. Asked what may be Obama’s weakness, he says – he has none, he is perfect. Asked if Obama would try to mend fences with disgruntled (read – bitter rural people who cling to their guns and church) democrats who voted heavily for Sen. Clinton, he says Obama doesn’t need them; his is going to be a revolutionary campaign and election.
One wishes such confidence in one’s supporters. However, there have been many instances of late, when the sophomore senator had to explain (a synonym for apologize in political speak) his statements. The opposition research people of both parties have good and long memories, but they don’t rely on their memory. They keep copies, transcripts, video clips, and brandish them at a moment’s notice. They don’t consider it ill mannered to feature these prominently in grainy video commercials.
It is difficult for a party to retain the White House after eight years; especially eight disastrous years, the occupant arguably vying for the dubious distinction of “Worst President Ever”. If there is a single area in which George Bush managed to have a modicum of success, it eludes me. Foreign, Domestic, Religious, and Economic – he had the reverse Midas touch. He has alienated his friends, and infuriated his enemies. A John McCain aspiring for the presidency feels obliged to disinvite his party’s standard bearer to his political events. The ignominy of it all!
That is the situation facing the democratic nominee. She ought to have been able to file the nomination papers, and take a vacation during the summer months, and come back after Labor Day to review the situation, and take another vacation. She could have learned about her resounding victory on the Internet on some cruise ship.
But no. McCain has managed to make a contest of it, thanks to Sen. Bonehead reveling in his press attention. RealClearPolitics recently showed Hillary Clinton beating John McCain, and John McCain beating Barack Obama. But the Obamaniacs don’t see it that way. They see that Obama having defeated Clinton using the trifecta of Caucuses, disproportionate delegate representation, and wimpy Super Delegates (none of which are featured in the General Election), they come to the conclusion that voilà , Obama beats McCain.
Those whom the gods wish to destroy they first make mad. Obamaniacs are certainly mad with their perceived power, their notion of invincibility, and an air of arrogance of infallibility.
And today to that list of adjectives defining the freshman senator, I would add the adjective – over-confident.
He wins the democratic contest in say Alaska, and thinks Alaska is in play. He wins against Sen. Clinton in Mississippi, and thinks that that state is in play too. Heck, if you pit two donkeys against each other in Mississippi, or Alabama, or any of the 57 states he visited (or is the correct count 59?) one of the donkeys has to win, but it would be wrong to think that that by itself confers invincibility on the winning donkey, against the republican elephant in November. And that doesn’t take into account what other bitter statements might come to light between now and then.
Ex-Mayor Willie Brown of San Francisco was on TV today exuding confidence. Asked what may be Obama’s weakness, he says – he has none, he is perfect. Asked if Obama would try to mend fences with disgruntled (read – bitter rural people who cling to their guns and church) democrats who voted heavily for Sen. Clinton, he says Obama doesn’t need them; his is going to be a revolutionary campaign and election.
One wishes such confidence in one’s supporters. However, there have been many instances of late, when the sophomore senator had to explain (a synonym for apologize in political speak) his statements. The opposition research people of both parties have good and long memories, but they don’t rely on their memory. They keep copies, transcripts, video clips, and brandish them at a moment’s notice. They don’t consider it ill mannered to feature these prominently in grainy video commercials.
It is difficult for a party to retain the White House after eight years; especially eight disastrous years, the occupant arguably vying for the dubious distinction of “Worst President Ever”. If there is a single area in which George Bush managed to have a modicum of success, it eludes me. Foreign, Domestic, Religious, and Economic – he had the reverse Midas touch. He has alienated his friends, and infuriated his enemies. A John McCain aspiring for the presidency feels obliged to disinvite his party’s standard bearer to his political events. The ignominy of it all!
That is the situation facing the democratic nominee. She ought to have been able to file the nomination papers, and take a vacation during the summer months, and come back after Labor Day to review the situation, and take another vacation. She could have learned about her resounding victory on the Internet on some cruise ship.
But no. McCain has managed to make a contest of it, thanks to Sen. Bonehead reveling in his press attention. RealClearPolitics recently showed Hillary Clinton beating John McCain, and John McCain beating Barack Obama. But the Obamaniacs don’t see it that way. They see that Obama having defeated Clinton using the trifecta of Caucuses, disproportionate delegate representation, and wimpy Super Delegates (none of which are featured in the General Election), they come to the conclusion that voilà , Obama beats McCain.
Those whom the gods wish to destroy they first make mad. Obamaniacs are certainly mad with their perceived power, their notion of invincibility, and an air of arrogance of infallibility.
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Serendipitous Obamination
By his entry into the race for the democratic nomination for the president, knowing all the frenzy it whips up, and cognizant of all the skeletons in his closet (Wright, Pfegler, Michelle, Rezko, ...) Obama has managed to transform a democratic cakewalk in this presidential year, into a hotly contested race, with a decent shot for the republican candidate, John McCain.
It is pretty much agreed that he will get the nomination. The black people, and the misguided white people, have together denied the nomination to Hillary Clinton who spent a lifetime in the political arena, and gave it to the political neophyte who makes his inexperience his qualification, his lone speech in the kindergarten years of his political years as his flagship achievement.
At this point, the nomination is worth as much as John Garner's celebrated pitcher. Obama as the candidate will certainly lose to McCain, his inexperience glaringly apparent. He has alienated wide swaths of traditional democratic voting blocks, with his asinine comments.
If by some miracle, the Super Doofuses see the light, come to grips with the unelectability of this not-ready-for-prime-time Snake Oil Salesman of a candidate, and nominate Hillary Clinton as the party's nominee, she too will have a tough problem, with a big traditional democratic voting block, the blacks, sitting out feeling they wuz robbed!.
This is the double whammy facing the Democratic Party this year; thanks to Obama's entry into the race.
He may have entered the race with a view to increase his visibility, position himself for a better political future. As dumb luck would have it, his campaign caught on, and he didn't have the sense to put a brake to it. He let it race forward with abandon. And put the party in a pickle. He should have had some adult supervision.
McCain wouldn't last more than a term, if that. I am afraid we are going to be faced with the prospect of his Veep being the republican nominee, four years from now.
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