Obama Clinches Nomination

[Adam Gamradt]

I'm actually impressed. A man with a realistic outlook on foreign policy and a sense of humor to boot. That's pretty much the polar opposite of Rumsfeld and "Condi," which is a little bit o' change I could go for.

Winnie the Pooh is realistic?

What's next Bert and Ernie for Department of Defense?

Would it be any better if he were to reference Aesop instead of Milne?

[Steno]

I personally think all this "change" talk is garbage, because either candidate is going to change tack from George Bush. The question, however, is how much. Whoever is presenting the furthest departure from the last 8 years come November will get my vote, and despite this incident, that man still appears to be Obama.

Make sure you get your Disneyworld Tickets now before the rush.... It appears that Obama will be conducing his foreign policy cabinet meetings there:
Paging Winnie the Pooh

Change we CAN believe in! LOL..... You can't make this stuff up.

Sonny, try and look past that macho, rugged individualist exterior of yours and understand that it is a metaphor.

Metaphor (n): a figure of speech in which a term or phrase is applied to something to which it is not literally applicable in order to suggest a resemblance, as in “A mighty fortress is our God.” Compare mixed metaphor, simile (def. 1).

Just in case anyone needs it.

[Jac Coyne]

But the underlying gist of the story has NEVER been disproved

Dan-o, hope the summer is going well up on the Gold Coast. With that said, I'm not sure if we want our test for accurate journalism to be, 'Well, it hasn't been disproven. Count it as fact!" It's this type of quasi-logic that has sprung up all the "Twin-towers-brought-down-by-Guiliani" nutters. And freed O.J.

Brief synopsis: Rather made up facts about Bush. Got fired. Swift Boat Veterans for Truth illuminated the facts. Kerry lost. Questions?

On a brief aside, you can be outraged at my man, T. Boone, if you want, but Kerry could have nullified the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth in five minutes if we are to believe everything coming out four years later, but, oddly, didn't. Why? Seriously. Why?

Also, just to touch on the whole "Murtha being attacked" thing, it was Murtha who was the attacker, and it appears now he'll have to answer for it:

http://wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=67434

Before I sign off, I want to apologize to Adam. The opening of my last post was too snarky and inappropriate for the type of open and frank discourse we've had here. I'll try to be better.

[laxfan25]

Here is a quote that the speaker won't have to run from or flip-flop on...

On October 7, 2002, in Cincinnati, Ohio, George W. Bush delivered the defining speech of his Presidency. In the face of “clear evidence of peril” from a regime harboring terrorists and weapons of mass destruction, he declared, “we cannot wait for the final proof—the smoking gun—that could come in the form of a mushroom cloud.”

Five days earlier, a forty-one-year-old Illinois state legislator had given a momentous speech of his own, although few recognized it as such at the time. “I don’t oppose all wars,” Barack Obama told a few hundred Chicago protesters, adding:

I know that even a successful war against Iraq will require a U.S. occupation of undetermined length, at undetermined cost, with undetermined consequences. I know that an invasion of Iraq without a clear rationale and without strong international support will only fan the flames of the Middle East, and encourage the worst, rather than best, impulses of the Arab world, and strengthen the recruitment arm of Al Qaeda. I am not opposed to all wars. I’m opposed to dumb wars.

New Yorker 6/30/08

I'm comfortable that a man with this kind of forethought may very well be our next President.

[Jac Coyne]

Too late. He's been running from that for years.

"I believe that U.S. forces are still a part of the solution in Iraq. The strategic goals should be to allow for a limited drawdown of U.S. troops, coupled with a shift to a more effective counter-insurgency strategy that puts the Iraqi security forces in the lead and intensifies our efforts to train Iraqi forces.

"At the same time, sufficient numbers of U.S. troops should be left in place to prevent Iraq from exploding into civil war, ethnic cleansing, and a haven for terrorism."

Even The Black Commentator said he was worse than Kerry when it comes to flip-flopping.

In a masterpiece of double-speak before the prestigious Council on Foreign Relations, November 22, the Black Illinois lawmaker managed to out-mush-mouth Sen. John Kerry - a prodigious feat, indeed.

http://www.blackcommentator.com/161/161 ... _iraq.html

I understand he's the Democratic Messiah, but he's still a politician.

[StrykerFSU]

Jamie Kalven, a longtime Chicago housing activist, put it this way: "I hope there is not much predictive value in [Obama's] history and in his involvement with that community."

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/06/27/grim_proving_ground_for_obamas_housing_policy/?page=full

Grove Parc has become a symbol for some in Chicago of the broader failures of giving public subsidies to private companies to build and manage affordable housing - an approach strongly backed by Obama as the best replacement for public housing.

As a state senator, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee coauthored an Illinois law creating a new pool of tax credits for developers. As a US senator, he pressed for increased federal subsidies. And as a presidential candidate, he has campaigned on a promise to create an Affordable Housing Trust Fund that could give developers an estimated $500 million a year.

But a Globe review found that thousands of apartments across Chicago that had been built with local, state, and federal subsidies - including several hundred in Obama's former district - deteriorated so completely that they were no longer habitable.

Grove Parc and several other prominent failures were developed and managed by Obama's close friends and political supporters. Those people profited from the subsidies even as many of Obama's constituents suffered. Tenants lost their homes; surrounding neighborhoods were blighted.

Interesting reading. The Boston Globe article goes on to detail the role that many of Obama's closest advisers and associates; including Valerie Jarrett, Cecil Butler, Tony Rezko, and Allison Davis; had in mismanaging Chicago's low income housing as well as the vast amounts of money they and their companies received from public subsidies. Some of that money also ended up in Obama's campaign funds. As a young lawyer, Obama defended companies that were accused of negligence.

If taxes are going to be raised to support the lower economic class, I sure hope that the revenue will be better managed and it will actually get to those it is intended to benefit.

[jayjaciv]

So Cliff is mad because Barack Obama took campaign contributions from people who can't manage a public housing project. Clearly a sin.
And Jac is mad because Barack Obama was against the war; but now that it has already begun he realizes it needs to be managed intelligently instead of the way it's been managed up to this point.
And instead of quoting ultra-conservative rags we're now quoting ultra-liberal rags...and continuing to vilify wikipedia.
Am I getting this right?

I'm mad that when Mr. Obama is president he won't be nearly as easy to criticize as GWB. "Takin' all the fun...outta the job."

[StrykerFSU]

So Cliff is mad because Barack Obama took campaign contributions from people who can't manage a public housing project. Clearly a sin.

Not mad at all and the issue goes far beyond campaign contributions. The legislative record for a man with a short period of elected service is of crucial importance for those of us who aren't sure what he brings to the table. Interestingly, Sen. Obama supported and continues to support the (semi)privatization of low income housing management despite proven failures within his former district. Many people got rich while tenants are left to fend for themselves against the cold of winter and their furry neighbors but apparently he had no idea. Millions of dollars were spent to provide adequate shelter for his constituents but no service was provided. Did you watch the video? How are the ramifications of his policies as a state legislator not relevant when he is running for the highest office in the land?

[exasperated]And can someone please tell me what sources I am allowed to use on here?[/exasperated]

[Jac Coyne]

[exasperated]And can someone please tell me what sources I am allowed to use on here?[/exasperated]

Kind of funny we get called out by name about sources from an anonymous poster.