Obama still isn’t president in the south

Denying the Obamas American birth is just another form of racism
Andrew Sullivan

A naive person might believe that Barack Hussein Obama was born, as he has long said he was, in Hawaii to a young American mother and a distant father from Kenya. There are notices in two local papers and the certification of birth is filed in the state of Hawaii’s records.

An independent body — FactCheck.org — part of the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania, asked to see a copy of the original during last year’s campaign. FactCheck is non-partisan and takes all sorts of politicians’ claims to task. Here’s its take on Obama’s birth certificate: “FactCheck.org staffers have now seen, touched, examined and photographed the original birth certificate. We conclude that it meets all of the requirements from the State Department for proving US citizenship. Claims that the document lacks a raised seal or a signature are false. . . Our conclusion: Obama was born in the USA just as he has always said.”

You may be persuaded. Once I’d seen the short-form certificate online, verified by independent journalists and vouched for by state authorities, I was, too. But staggering numbers of Americans remain sceptical. In fact, a majority of Republican voters — 58% — either do not believe or are unsure that Obama is a natural-born American citizen. That means most Republicans believe Obama is constitutionally illegitimate in the presidency because the constitution reserves it for those born in America. The scepticism is — surprise! — concentrated in the south. In Virginia, a southern state that backed Obama last year, only 53% are sure Obama is legitimately president and 70% of Virginia Republicans either don’t believe he is an American or aren’t sure. A poll last week also found that many Republicans believe this issue has not received enough media attention.

What do they believe? The most common theory is that Obama was born in Kenya while his mother was visiting his father. The Hawaiian birth certificate exists, the sceptics claim, because Hawaii recognises as natural-born citizens those born to American mothers temporarily outside the United States. The only problem with that theory is the certificate would mention that fact and it doesn’t.

So Obama was born where all the evidence says he was: Honolulu. Why would a woman in her last month of pregnancy travel halfway around the world to deliver a child in a developing country and then bring him back home, even though he wouldn’t have had a passport? How would she get him into the United States unless someone at the border was in cahoots? “You couldn’t sell this script in Hollywood,” Robert Gibbs, the White House press secretary, told reporters last week.

Why does this story stay alive? Some, like me, didn’t understand the Hawaiian intricacies at first: we thought there was a single long-form certificate that could resolve the question. But, as FactCheck notes: “The Hawaii Department of Health’s birth record request form does not give the option to request a photocopy of your long-form birth certificate, but their short form has enough information to be acceptable to the State Department.” So Obama did all he could to make this go away.

Yet the conspiracists have only become more adamant. A slew of radio show hosts have fixated on the question; Lou Dobbs, CNN’s resident crank, broadcast several segments expressing doubt about Obama’s birthplace. Sean Hannity, a Fox News pundit, ran two reports on a soldier who refused to follow orders from Obama because he doubted his eligibility to be president. When Major Stefan Cook’s orders to deploy to Afghanistan were revoked, he and his lawyer took it as an admission on the part of the military that the president is not, in fact, a legitimate citizen by birth.

On cue, as Obama turned 48 last week, a Kenyan birth certificate popped up on the web. It was immediately exposed as a forgery based on a 1959 Australian birth certificate, but the pressure hasn’t let up. Obama’s legitimacy as president has been challenged in five lawsuits, all dismissed.

WorldNetDaily, the far-right website, has run countless editorials, letter-writing campaigns and billboard advertisements on the question. WND is a fringe web publication — but its fringe has, by some estimates, about 2m visitors a month.

Rush Limbaugh, the mega-chat show host, has raised the issue and Michael Savage, the rabid rightist, has said: “We’re getting ready for the communist takeover of America with a non-citizen at the helm.” Other, calmer Republican activists have denounced the so-called “birthers”. The cannier ones have argued that this issue has been drummed up by Democrats to discredit the Good Old Party (and it has). But it’s hard to accept that explains everything.

The bolder rightwingers have condemned the whole thing: radio star Michael Medved has called the birthers “crazy, nutburger, demagogue, money-hungry, exploitative, irresponsible, filthy conservative imposters”. But leading Republican politicians, aware of how powerful the conspiracy theory is among their supporters, have tried to avoid the issue. The Alabama Senator Richard Shelby, for example, told a town hall meeting last February: “Well, his father was Kenyan and they said he was born in Hawaii but I haven’t seen any birth certificate”, even though a resolution on July 27 — issued on the 50th anniversary of Hawaii’s statehood — declared Obama a citizen unanimously (with some Republican abstentions).

This is the silly season. But this silly story seems to me an indication of something more ominous. The demographics tell the basic story: a black man is president and a large majority of white southerners cannot accept that, even in 2009. They grasp conspiracy theories to wish Obama — and the America he represents — away.

Since white southerners comprise an increasing proportion of the 22% of Americans who still describe themselves as Republican, the GOP can neither dismiss the crankery nor move past it. The fringe defines what’s left of the Republican center.

The chilling implication is that a large number of Americans believe the president has no right to be in office and has fraudulently maneuvered himself there.

I hope the secret service is on alert. If we thought racial panic had ended with Obama’s election, the resilience of this story in key parts of the country is a helpful wake-up call.

Historic

THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release June 1, 2009
LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, AND TRANSGENDER PRIDE MONTH, 2009

- - - - - - -

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
A PROCLAMATION

Forty years ago, patrons and supporters of the Stonewall Inn in New York City resisted police harassment that had become all too common for members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community.

Out of this resistance, the LGBT rights movement in America was born. During LGBT Pride Month, we commemorate the events of June 1969 and commit to achieving equal justice under law for LGBT Americans.

LGBT Americans have made, and continue to make, great and lasting contributions that continue to strengthen the fabric of American society. There are many well-respected LGBT leaders in all professional fields, including the arts and business communities. LGBT Americans also mobilized the Nation to respond to the domestic HIV/AIDS epidemic and have played a vital role in broadening this country's response to the HIV pandemic.

Due in no small part to the determination and dedication of the LGBT rights movement, more LGBT Americans are living their lives openly today than ever before. I am proud to be the first President to appoint openly LGBT candidates to Senate-confirmed positions in the first 100 days of an Administration. These individuals embody the best qualities we seek in public servants, and across my Administration -- in both the White House and the Federal agencies -- openly LGBT employees are doing their jobs with distinction and professionalism.

The LGBT rights movement has achieved great progress, but there is more work to be done. LGBT youth should feel safe to learn without the fear of harassment, and LGBT families and seniors should be allowed to live their lives with dignity and respect.

My Administration has partnered with the LGBT community to advance a wide range of initiatives. At the international level, I have joined efforts at the United Nations to decriminalize homosexuality around the world. Here at home, I continue to support measures to bring the full spectrum of equal rights to LGBT Americans. These measures include enhancing hate crimes laws, supporting civil unions and Federal rights for LGBT couples, outlawing discrimination in the workplace, ensuring adoption rights, and ending the existing "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy in a way that strengthens our Armed Forces and our national security. We must also commit ourselves to fighting the HIV/AIDS epidemic by both reducing the number of HIV infections and providing care and support services to people living with HIV/AIDS across the United States.

These issues affect not only the LGBT community, but also our entire Nation. As long as the promise of equality for all remains unfulfilled, all Americans are affected. If we can work together to advance the principles upon which our Nation was founded, every American will benefit. During LGBT Pride Month, I call upon the LGBT community, the Congress, and the American people to work together to promote equal rights for all, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim June 2009 as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month. I call upon the people of the United States to turn back discrimination and prejudice everywhere it exists.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this first day of June, in the year of our Lord two thousand nine, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-third.

BARACK OBAMA

Confronting the Beast,,of Dogma

No wonder the agents of intolerance and keepers of the flames of rigid religiosity despise Barack Obama. His appearance at Notre Dame was a tour de force and a ritual slaying of the beast(Ignorance)!
Yes the man IS the Antichrist! All hail!


The Notre Dame Postmortem
By Sonia Tsuruoka • on May 18, 2009

After treading treacherous waters for weeks, President Obama averted the jaws of political pitfall and successfully defused much of the faith-charged controversy surrounding Notre Dame’s Sunday Commencement.

Then again, maybe “averted” isn’t the right word. No, put it this way: with rhetorical machismo that would make a Spartan shake in his cleats, Obama leapt off the parapet, confronted the beast, and served its twitching head on a platter to every off-campus rabble-rouser that dared litter the scene with “hate-baiting” and hyperbole.

Which, of course, leads us to the most important question of the evening:

Would Alan Keyes like some ice for that third degree…burn?

As always, Obama settled the match without a drop of blood spilt. His strategy was subliminal: to subdue extremist beliefs on both sides of the fence by his advocacy of “middle-ground” politics and refusal to “shy away from things that are uncomfortable.”

As Winston Churchill once said, “A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.” And seize the opportunity Obama did, delivering a remarkable, no-holds barred address that discretely confronted – and conquered – the controversy surrounding the afternoon Commencement.

Yet the sensitivity with which Obama met his most recent ideological hurdle is largely representative of his own persona. He was clever, calculated and courageous, with an undeniable political swag that engaged Notre Dame students and faculty members on common religious ground.

To the probable chagrin of his right-wing counterparts, Obama emphasized the fact that all pro-lifers were not “ideologues” deserving of political dismissal. And it is here the President was careful to draw a clear distinction between the coherent on-campus protests of Notre Dame students (sans fetal pictures), and the demagoguery of far-right extremists in the media.

Watching the address brought me back to the primaries, where “Change you can believe in”, seemed like little more than hogwash poetry. But to media’s most seasoned political analysts, Obama’s uplifting slogan was nothing short of a political coup d’état, a declaration that shook — and eventually toppled – the crudest aspects of Cheney and Rove’s neo-con establishment.

Similarly, Obama’s call for “Open hearts, open minds, [and] fair-minded words,” challenged the tactics of people like Randall Terry who believe Obama’s stances on abortion make him “the adversary…of the global common good,” and Alan Keyes, who believes that the honorary degree being given to Barack Obama “not only honors evil [but] exalts and worships it.”

To that end, I disagree with the premise of many off-campus protests.

Take, for instance, the controversy surrounding Notre Dame’s decision to award Obama an honorary degree. Bill Donahue, President of the Catholic League, recently opined that Notre Dame giving Obama an honorary degree “would be like Howard University giving David Duke a degree in racial politics.”

But according to Larry Marsh, a former Notre Dame faculty member, that simply isn’t true. In his involvement with the Notre Dame Honorary Degree Committee, Marsh cites the body was glad to recommend (and eventually award) a Jewish scholar with an honorary degree.

In Marsh’s own words,“How can it be ok to award an honorary degree to a person who does not recognize the divinity of Christ, but not ok to award one to someone who might have a different conception about conception? Why should Christ’s divinity have to take a back seat to the disagreement over when a fetus becomes a child?”

Second, it’s important to emphasize that the President has no direct jurisdiction over a woman’s right to choice – this issue is a judicial precedent under the control of the Supreme Court, that, in the following years, will evaluate its constitutional legitimacy independently from the Oval Office.

Of course, the logical argument used by Catholic protesters on Notre Dame’s campus — and pretty much all pro-lifers — is that the President can influence Supreme Court decisions through new court appointments, should a replacement be necessary. That’s true. Of course, it’s also true that their argument is pretty much identical to the one used by disgruntled pro-choice advocates during the Bush Presidency, all of whom took to hysterics at the notion of a conservative court appointment.

Interestingly enough, the nightmare of many pro-choicers was soon realized in the appointment of Chief Justice Roberts — and as liberals know full well, utter chaos ensued. A day after the seasoned justice was sworn into office, Roe v. Wade was reversed, millions of teenagers became underage parents, America degenerated into violence, and locusts rained down from the sky into the streets of Washington. Then, seven Orc-like horsemen stormed the Capitol and delivered the Apocalypse. The end.

We all know this series of events never transpired. In fact, even the reversal of Roe V. Wade didn’t come close to becoming a reality under the watch of a conservative Chief Justice appointment. And therein lies two harsh truths:

For one, it will take more than a new Supreme Court appointment to challenge judicial precedent, regardless of his/her ideological slant. Since the landmark 1973 decision, conservative Presidents have only halfheartedly suggested that the Court “reconsider” the case, if at all.

Similarly, conservative Justices seated on the Supreme Court have been wary about any reversal; Chief Justice Roberts, though personally pro-life, has been careful to exercise judicial minimalism — the emphasis of legal precedent and decline of judicial activism — in order to preserve the status quo. Even if Obama were to suddenly cast off his liberal leanings, adopt a pro-life platform, and, like Bush Jr., appoint a conservative Justice to the Court, there would be no indication that any reversal of judicial precedent would take place at all.

And why?

Because regardless of what pro-lifers and feminists have come to believe, abortion is, in large part, a wedge issue; comparatively speaking, it has little to no sweeping national consequences. To that end, I have always been indiscriminate; any one-issue voter who concerns themselves solely with the matter of abortion — whichever end of the spectrum they occupy — will likely irritate me, regardless of my own political and religious inclinations.

With the US embroiled in two critical overseas wars and the greatest economic crisis since the Great Depression, it baffles (and vexes me) that anyone would preoccupy themselves with an issue so comparatively inconsequential. Sure, it’s possible to cook up an impassioned argument against “moral decay” but these qualms should not, in any instance, supersede government’s primary concerns : the economy and state of US foreign affairs.

In short, I applaud Obama’s fearless political dialogue regarding a subject that has proved untouchable for dozens of Democratic politicians. Well played, Mr. President, well played.

Source Scoop 44

Bishop John D'Arcy not a fan..

American Demagogue

Rush Limbaugh Calls for Obama to Fail, Conservatives Applaud!

Yes in other words they WANT a worldwide Depression and the Collapse of the United States, Traitors and demagogues every last one.

Where is our American Tarpeian Rock?

When will American Politcos come to the realiztion this toxic man is a 21st century Joseph McCarthy? An Oxy Contin swilling, Viagra by the gross,sexual tourist who is a pompous overinflated gas bag.

Rush represents intellectual vigor in the Conservative movement?
Ane Rand and William F Buckley were Conservatives ideological and philosophical trailblazers.

Any wonder Conservative ideology is so discredited?

Rush Limbaugh Calls for Obama to Fail, Conservatives React

byJonas Oliver
Appearing as the keynote speaker on the third and final day of the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, D.C. on Saturday, conservative talk radio host Rush Limbaugh rallied conservatives with a pointed attacks on the Obama administration, not the least of which was his explanation of why he hoped Barack Obama would fail.

"Let me add a caveat here. My friends, I know what's going on. I know what's going on. We're in the aspects here of an historic presidency. I know that. But let me be honest again. I got over the historical aspects of this in November. President Obama is our president. President Obama stands for certain things. I don't care, he could be a Martian. He could be from Michigan, I don't know -- just kidding.

Doesn't matter to me what his race is. It doesn't matter. He's liberal is what matters to me. And his articulated -- his articulated plans scare me. Now, I understand we can't say we want the President to fail, Mr. Limbaugh. That's like saying -- this is the voice of the New Castrati, by the way, guys who have lost their guts. You can't say Mr. Limbaugh that you want the President to fail because that's like saying you want the country to fail. It's the opposite. I want the country to survive. I want the country to succeed," Limbaugh ranted to wild applause and cheers on Sunday night.

Addressing Limbaugh's comments over the weekend, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel told Bob Schieffer on Face the Nation that Rush Limbaugh has become the voice of the Republican party.

"He is the voice and the intellectual force and energy behind the Republican party. He has been up front about what he views and hasn't stepped back from that which is he hopes for failure. He said it. I compliment him for his honesty but that's their philosophy that is enunciated by Rush Limbaugh. I think that's the wrong philosophy for America."

On Monday however, RNC Chairman Michael Steele took a different tack with respect to Limbaugh's role within the GOP.

According to U.S. News & World Report, when Steele appeared on D.L. Hughley's CNN program on Saturday night the RNC chairman addressed Limbaugh's stated desire that Barack Obama fail, saying: "So let's put it into context here. Let's put it into context here. Rush Limbaugh is an entertainer. Rush Limbaugh, his whole thing is entertainment. Yes, it's incendiary. Yes, it's ugly."

Steele's comments were echoed by House Republican Whip Eric Cantor who also sought to distance the party faithful from Limbaugh's comments, by saying"Nobody-no Republican, no Democrat-wants this president to fail, nor do they want this country to fail or the economy to fail," reports U.S. News and World Report.

DeWayne here no folks Rush Limbaugh is not an entertainer, he is an American Demagogue!

Bipartisanship? Hell No!

Franklin Roosevelt didn't get it or want it! Then as now Republican obstructionists and zealots were willing to sacrifice the middle class to serve their corporatist masters. President Obama needs to learn to use his power and that of a Democratic Congress to enact his mandate.

If George Bush could impose a 6 year one party Dictatorship of the plutocracy despite failing to win the popular vote in 2000, Barrack Obama can certainly claim MANDATE and tell the Republicans,,
Go away and eat your young its ALL YOUR GOOD FOR!
DH

Bipartisanship No, Working Majority Yes

From the Intrepid Liberal Journal
14 Feb 2009 12:05 PM CST

In the grown up world, honorable and reasonable people may initially disagree but eventually compromise upon a collective review of empirical evidence. It was in this spirit, that the nascent Obama administration reached out to Republicans with respect to their proposed American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, which finally passed both houses of congress yesterday.

Unfortunately, most Republican politicians are neither honorable nor reasonable. Instead, most Republican politicians are predatory conservatives dedicated to establishing a permanent corporate theocratic plutocracy. As far as they’re concerned, the 2008 election is merely a temporary setback and attempting bipartisanship with this crowd resulted in legislation far less bold than most economists hoped for.

Hence, it is in the spirit of admiration and support that I urge this new administration to absorb the following lesson: Bipartisanship No, Working Majority Yes. President Obama is a quick study and has likely absorbed this lesson for himself. Indeed, I recall him often using the phrase “working majority” during the campaign. Nonetheless, it is instructive for both liberal activists as well his administration to always keep this simple phrase on the front lobes of our brains. Repeat after me: Bipartisanship No, Working Majority Yes.

This phrase is especially pertinent to the United States Senate. Senators are divas with parochial interests, outsized ambitions and a Constitution that empowers their narcissism. Hence, the only language these people truly understand is leverage with a proper dosage of ego massage. They know that any one of them has the power to hold any piece of proposed legislation hostage to their whims.

Indeed, senators sometimes behave as if they have the power of little Anthony Freemont in the classic Twilight Zone episode “It’s A Good Life.” Like that little boy, one can just imagine Republican minority leader Mitch McConnell, fantasizing about wishing supporters of universal healthcare into a cornfield never to be seen or heard from again. That is the mentality we’re dealing with.

The upside however is there will always be enough politicians prepared to bargain in order to elevate their own importance, demonstrate independence and serve the interests of their constituents. With respect to the stimulus legislation the three so-called Republican moderate senators were Pennsylvania’s Arlen Specter and Maine’s Olympia Snow and Susan Collins. Connecticut’s “Independent” Republican patsy Joe Lieberman and conservative Nebraska Democrat, Ben Nelson, also joined those three in bargaining with the Obama administration, the Senate majority and the House of Representatives.

Had President Obama initially proposed legislation far bolder they still would have bargained, a filibuster majority still would have been achieved and the end result would have been far superior to the legislation that ultimately passed. Next time around it may be a different group of Republican senators and recalcitrant Democrats doing the bargaining, perhaps related to geographic interests. As long as President Obama’s political standing remains high, it will always be possible to cut deals on favorable terms with a rotating group of senators because their relevance depends upon it.

Hence, a working majority will always be ripe for plucking even without a filibuster proof majority. And even if we had sixty Democratic senators a few of them would threaten denying a filibuster proof majority to promote their independence and get what they want. At the end of the day, bipartisanship has nothing to with it. Leverage, enlightened self-interest, service to constituents or contributors and political survival are everything. There is no love in politics. Only leverage, respect and fear.

The appropriate posture is to treat reluctant politicians with symbolic respect, bargain hard for every penny and compromise from a position of strength. That is the best way to maximize potential of a working majority going forward while simultaneously maintaining broad public support. Sometimes, operating a working majority will require President Obama to demonstrate toughness, walk away and threaten vetoes if a few senators opt to behave like Anthony Freemont in the name of bipartisanship.

Barack Obama is an impressive human being with many admirable qualities. Indeed, Obama represents an ennobling change of pace after George W. Bush’s insipid indecency. He is learning however that governing is delicate balance requiring the dual personalities of Mahtatma Ghandi and Don Vito Corleone. If anyone can achieve that delicate balance it’s this president. Nonetheless, we must remain vigilant and toughen his hide.

Bipartisanship No, Working Majority Yes.

Repost from Robert Ellman

The Revolution will start at Woolworths

A Lunch Counter,A Gay Bar,The Potemkin uprising, An Ancient French Prison,A Boston Commons.

What do the places above have in common?

They were all places where a Revolution began.

A Revolution begins on the streets, not in Congress or Parliament. Unless controlled and guided by sane men and women they can become messy and bloody, violence can sap and fritter away the valid reasons for revolution. The difference between the American and French revolutions is forever the best example of divergent paths, one into Liberty, the other Mob Dictatorship.

Yet both were born from righteous indignation and revolt against Tyranny!

The Greensboro sit ins were the beginning of a Social Revolution, they forced Americans to change their minds, always a fearful anxiety ridden process for a Conservative,Puritanical America which worships at the alter of the Status Quo.

Its almost like Americans born of revolt have an instinctual fear of Revolution.
Which is why we will collectively perpetuate injustice, to just the point of armed or violent insurrection before reluctantly and defiantly giving a little ground.

Don't believe the Greensboro lunch counter sit ins qualify as true revolution?

In 1960 A Black citizen was banned from most public accommodation, service in restaurants,not allowed to vote in most of the south, not allowed to marry freely a person of his or her choice.

In almost every measure men and women who were classified as partially human at the birth of the nation were still not Full Citizens, yet they paid the same taxes,served in the armed forces to defend our nation, to preserve Liberty denied them at home.

In 2009 A Black man was sworn in as President of The United States, pledging to preserve,protect and defend the Constitution that once denied his people their basic humanity, on the Bible that the Great Emancipator Abraham Lincoln used in the darkest hours of our Republic pledging to preserve an idea, a hope that all men are in fact created equal.

The little lunch counter at Woolworths was the spark one of many that made Barrack Obama possible.

And you know what?

George Wallace, Jesse Helms,Strom Thurmond all the old fearful segregationists knew this instinctively! Which is why Dogs,batons and fire hoses met singing chanting protesters on the Selma Bridge.

Thank God they weren't mowed down with Tank Fire, massacred at the point of a rifle.

Then our revolution may have taken on a French character la liberté ou la mort!

DeWayne Helms

From Wikipedia:
The Greensboro sit-ins were an instrumental action in the African-American Civil Rights Movement, leading to increased national sentiment at a crucial period in American history.

On February 1, 1960, four African American students – Ezell A. Blair Jr. (now known as Jibreel Khazan), David Richmond, Joseph McNeil, and Franklin McCain – from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, a historically black college/university, sat at a segregated lunch counter in the Greensboro, North Carolina, Woolworth's store.

This lunch counter only had chairs/stools for whites, while blacks had to stand and eat. Although they were refused service, they were allowed to stay at the counter. The next day there was a total of 28 students at the Woolworth lunch counter for the sit in. On the third day, there were 300 activists, and later, around 1000.

This protest sparked sit-ins and economic boycotts that became a hallmark of the American civil rights movement.
According to Franklin McCain, one of the four black teenagers who sat at the "whites only" stools:


Some way through, an old white lady, who must have been 75 or 85, came over and put her hands on my shoulders and said, 'Boys, I am so proud of you. You should have done this 10 years ago.'



In just two months the sit-in movement spread to 15 cities in 9 states. Other stores, such as the one in Atlanta, moved to desegregate.

The media picked up this issue and covered it nationwide, beginning with lunch counters and spreading to other forms of public accommodation, including transport facilities, art galleries, beaches, parks, swimming pools, libraries, and even museums around the South. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 mandated desegregation in public accommodations.

In 1993, a portion of the lunch counter was donated to the Smithsonian Institution. The Greensboro Historical Museum contains four chairs from the Woolworth counter along with photos of the original four protesters, a timeline of the events, and headlines from the media.

Several documentaries have been produced about these men who sparked the sit in movement, including PBS' "February One."

The sit-in movement used the strategy of nonviolent resistance, which originated in Gandhi's Indian independence movement and was later brought to the Civil Rights movement by Martin Luther King.

This was not the first sit-in to challenge racial segregation. As far back as 1942, the Congress of Racial Equality sponsored sit-ins in Chicago, St. Louis in 1949 and Baltimore in 1952.

In a pre-cursor to the Woolworth sit-ins, on June 23, 1957, seven students organized by a local pastor were arrested in Durham, North Carolina at the Royal Ice Shop for staging a sit-in in the "whites only" section. After being convicted in North Carolina courts, the seven appealed their case all the way to the United States Supreme Court, which refused to hear their case.

On August 19, 1958, the Oklahoma City NAACP Youth Council began a six-year long campaign of sit-ins at segregated lunch counters, restaurants, and cafes in Oklahoma City. The Greensboro sit-in, however, was the most influential and received a great deal of attention in the press.
Off Campus - Into Movement

Greensboro Sit Ins

Obama's Vindication of Thomas Paine

Thomas Paine is the unsung hero of the American Revolution, the man who first inspired the total break with the Untied Kingdom in his pamphlet Common Sense. He gave voice to what heretofore had been unmentionable, a clean and irrevocable independence from England.

Yet Paine would be ostracized and shunned later in life for his strong advocacy of real liberty and freedom for all Citizens of the New Republic. Soon as in most Revolutions one group, Southern Men of Property, the Dixie Aristocracy co-opted and hijacked the American Revolution.

No surprise then that today in 2009 Barrack Obama would borrow so heavily from Americas most famous Radical of the Revolution, the man who so horrified those who would declare a black man sub human fit only to be counted as three-fifths of a human being, and only for the purpose of granting the Southern Counter revolutionaries a greater share of the seats in Congress.

Thomas Paines ideas have a definite place in President Obamas poltitics.

I wonder if he shares Paines Deist view of Religion. I sure hope that would be REAL CHANGE!

DeWayne H


"I stand here today as hopeful as ever that the United States of America will endure, that it will prevail, that the dream of our founders will live on in our time."

Barack Obama, 18 January 2009

by John Nichols on 01/20/2009

President Barack Obama swore on Tuesday to protect and defend a Constitution that was not written in anticipation of his presidency--that was not, in fact, written in anticipation of his citizenship.

And that is where we should begin to measure the historic turning that has taken place this day.

The American experiment began with its promise constricted by the narrow vision of Virginia plantation owners who saw an African-American as three-fifths of a human being--and that scant measure only for the purpose of granting the South a greater share of the seats in a Congress that would for the better part of a century be all white, all male and all of the propertied class.

America was founded on the original sins of human bondage and violent discrimination.

Barack Obama's inauguration does not erase that history. As W.E.B. Du Bois told us, "One is astonished in the study of history at the recurrence of the idea that evil must be forgotten, distorted, skimmed over...We must forget that George Washington was a slave owner... and simply remember the things we regard as creditable and inspiring. The difficulty, of course, with this philosophy is that history loses its value as an incentive and example; it paints perfect man and noble nations, but it does not tell the truth."

Obama's inauguration turns the tables on the founders.

Those who proposed and accepted the Constitution's initial compromises, have been put in their place--not dismissed, but confirmed, finally and unequivocally, as having possessed a vision insufficient for the America that would be.

That goes for Jefferson, Madison, even for Washington (Obama's "man who led a small band of farmers and shopkeepers in revolution against the army of an Empire")--all the "good guys" who were not good enough to reject the crude calculus that in the words of Du Bois "classed the black man and the ox together."

Yet Obama speaks, often and favorably, of the founders, describing them in Philadelphia just days before his inauguration as "that first band of patriots... who somehow believed that they had the power to make the world anew."

The reference to making the world anew was borrowed--imprecisely-- from one of founders. Thomas Paine called his comrades to the revolutionary cause with the cry: "We have it in our power to begin the world over again. A situation, similar to the present, hath not happened since the days of Noah until now. The birthday of a new world is at hand, and a race of men, perhaps as numerous as all Europe contains, are to receive their portion of freedom from the event of a few months."

Obama quoted frequently from Paine, and particularly from Common Sense, during his campaign for the presidency. And he did so, again, on Tuesday, referencing Paine in a speech that spoke of a "return to these truths" of the American experiment.

So let us mark this day with remembrance, of who we are and how far we have traveled. In the year of America's birth, in the coldest of months, a small band of patriots huddled by dying campfires on the shores of an icy river. The capital was abandoned. The enemy was advancing. The snow was stained with blood. At a moment when the outcome of our revolution was most in doubt, the father of our nation ordered these words be read to the people: "Let it be told to the future world...that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive...that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet [it]."

That line is from Paine's The Crisis, which George Washington did, in fact, have read to the troops in the most difficult days of the revolutionary struggle.

From that reference, on Tuesday, Obama continued:

America. In the face of our common dangers, in this winter of our hardship, let us remember these timeless words. With hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents, and endure what storms may come. Let it be said by our children's children that when we were tested we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God's grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations.

It was right that Obama turned to Paine.

When the Pennsylvania Assembly considered the formal abolition of slavery in 1779, it was Paine who authored the preamble to the proposal.

Paine's fervent objections to slavery led to his exclusion from the inner circles of American power in the first years of the republic. He died a pauper. Only history restored the man--and his vision.

And on this day, this remarkable day, Thomas Paine is fully redeemed.

Paine, to a greater extent than any of his peers, was the founder who imagined a truly United States that might offer a son of Africa and of America not merely citizenship but its presidency.

Barack Obama is wise to associate himself with the better angels of our history, including the architects of our republic who, for all their imperfections, issued--as the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. noted on another crowded day in Washington--"wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence" and in so doing "(signed) a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the 'unalienable Rights' of 'Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.' It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note, insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked 'insufficient funds.'"

"But," concluded King, "we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt."

The bank of justice, unlike those of Wall Street, has proven to be solvent.

Our new president--and we the people--do well to recognize those who signed the promissory note.

But that does not mean that we should presume that the founders were all equally wise, or equally good.

It was Paine, the most revolutionary of their number, who proved to be the wisest, and the best, of that band of patriots--for his time, and for this time.

Today belongs to Barack Obama.

But it also belongs to Thomas Paine.

When our new president says that his election proves "the dream of our founders is alive in our time," it is Paine's dream of which he speaks.

That dream may not be fully realized. But it is alive--more, indeed, today than at any time in the history of a land that might yet begin our world over again.

Presidential Inauguration

The Inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States of America.

In this Internet Age change comes to whitehouse.gov while he gives his inaugural address.

And yes the White House now has an Official Blog! If John Kennedy was the first Television President, Barack Obama is our first Web President!

A lot of commentary and analysis on the web I will post some of the most insightful and the best photos from this Historic Day.

The White House Blog

Tuesday, January 20th, 2009 at 12:01 pm

Change has come to WhiteHouse.gov

Welcome to the new WhiteHouse.gov. I'm Macon Phillips, the Director of New Media for the White House and one of the people who will be contributing to the blog.

A short time ago, Barack Obama was sworn in as the 44th president of the United States and his new administration officially came to life. One of the first changes is the White House's new website, which will serve as a place for the President and his administration to connect with the rest of the nation and the world.

Millions of Americans have powered President Obama's journey to the White House, many taking advantage of the internet to play a role in shaping our country's future. WhiteHouse.gov is just the beginning of the new administration's efforts to expand and deepen this online engagement.

Just like your new government, WhiteHouse.gov and the rest of the Administration's online programs will put citizens first. Our initial new media efforts will center around three priorities:

Communication -- Americans are eager for information about the state of the economy, national security and a host of other issues. This site will feature timely and in-depth content meant to keep everyone up-to-date and educated. Check out the briefing room, keep tabs on the blog (RSS feed) and take a moment to sign up for e-mail updates from the President and his administration so you can be sure to know about major announcements and decisions.

Transparency -- President Obama has committed to making his administration the most open and transparent in history, and WhiteHouse.gov will play a major role in delivering on that promise. The President's executive orders and proclamations will be published for everyone to review, and that’s just the beginning of our efforts to provide a window for all Americans into the business of the government. You can also learn about some of the senior leadership in the new administration and about the President’s policy priorities.

Participation -- President Obama started his career as a community organizer on the South Side of Chicago, where he saw firsthand what people can do when they come together for a common cause. Citizen participation will be a priority for the Administration, and the internet will play an important role in that. One significant addition to WhiteHouse.gov reflects a campaign promise from the President: we will publish all non-emergency legislation to the website for five days, and allow the public to review and comment before the President signs it.

We'd also like to hear from you -- what sort of things would you find valuable from WhiteHouse.gov? If you have an idea, use this form to let us know. Like the transition website and the campaign's before that, this online community will continue to be a work in progress as we develop new features and content for you. So thanks in advance for your patience and for your feedback.

Later today, we’ll put up the video and the full text of President Obama’s Inaugural Address. There will also be slideshows of the Inaugural events, the Obamas’ move into the White House, and President Obama’s first days in office.



WASHINGTON (CNN) – Could an African-American President be the one who finally ends the cultural civil war that has been roiling American politics since the 1960s: liberal versus conservative, red versus blue, Democrat versus Republican? Both Bill Clinton and George Bush set out to end it. Clinton was "new Democrat." Bush was the compassionate conservative and the uniter. Both got trapped in the culture wars and ended up leaving the country more divided than ever. Clinton and Bush were the bookend Presidents of the Baby Boom generation.

Obama is technically a Baby Boomer – he was born near the tail end of the Baby Boom. But his approach and philosophy look beyond the Baby Boomers’ experience. He wrote in "The Audacity of Hope" about his desire to move beyond "the psychodrama of the Baby Boom generation –- a tale rooted in old grudges and revenge plots hatched on a handful of college campuses long ago."



Big goals, and a clear departure from the past

Posted: 12:27 PM ET

WASHINGTON (CNN) — The call to unity is very much Obama’s trademark –- reaching across barriers, ending "the recriminations and worn-out dogmas." That’s what he means by changing politics in Washington. And right away, he addresses some clear departures from the Bush approach.

The choice between safety and ideals is false, he says. Without a watchful eye, the market can spin out of control. There's a clear acknowledgment of the global warming crisis ("the way we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet.")

He's one of the few modern Presidents who has reached out to "non-believers" as well as Christians, Muslims, Jews and Hindus.

"The world has changed, and we must change with it." His theme of "change" carried him through the campaign. Voters saw it as change from Bush. Now he is using it to call for big policy changes, calling this "a moment that will define a generation" — very much like Kennedy in 1961.

"Remaking America" — no small ambition, starting with the literal reconstruction of our infrastructure. He has "big plans" –- and a big crisis that can help him carry them through.

But still, there's an overriding realism. His answer to the old partisan debate: "The question is not whether our government is too big or small, but whether it works." It’s the pragmatist’s answer. Does it work?

Dr King said it might take 40 years. It's been 45 years, I can wait another hour

Ronald Brisbon
Washington resident

Obama: Challenges will be met
From The Daily Scotsman;


President Barack Obama warned of "gathering clouds and raging storms" today.

But he also delivered a message of hope as he was inaugurated as the first black President of the United States.

He said: "Every so often the oath (of office) is taken amidst gathering clouds and raging storms".

At such times America had to remand true to our founding document", he said.

And he added: "Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real.
"They are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this, America – they will be met."

Describing the challenges ahead, he said: "That we are in the midst of crisis is now well understood.

"Our nation is at war, against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred.

"Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age.

"Homes have been lost; jobs shed; businesses shuttered. Our health care is too costly; our schools fail too many; and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet."

But he said people had chosen "hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord".

President Obama said: "On this day we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the worn out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics."

Evoking the pioneering spirit of America, Mr Obama said that it was the "risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things" that had carried America "up the long, rugged path towards prosperity and freedom".
He said: "Time and again these men and women struggled and sacrificed and worked till their hands were raw so that we might have a better life."

He went on: "Starting today we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of America."

The economy, he said, needed "bold and swift" action to create jobs and stimulate growth.

He also called for a need to restore "the vital trust between a people and their government".

In a bid to rebuild America's standing oversees, Mr Obama said: "To all other peoples and governments who are watching today, from the grandest capitals to the small village where my father was born, know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity, and that we are ready to lead once more."

He added that earlier generations of Americans had faced down fascism and communism "not just with missiles and tanks, but with sturdy alliances and enduring convictions".

He said: "Power alone cannot protect us."

The US would "begin to responsibly leave Iraq to its people and forge a hard-earned peace in Afghanistan".

President Obama said his country would work to lessen the nuclear threat and "roll back the spectre of a warming planet".

As a country "shaped by every language and culture" the President vowed to "play its role in ushering a new era of peace".

Mr Obama continued: "Our challenges may be new. The instruments with which we meet them may be new. But those values upon which our success depends – hard work and honesty, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism – these things are old. These things are true. They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history."

As such, he called for a "return to these truths".

Obama sworn in as 44th U.S. president

The Los Angeles Times

The capital is crowded with color and celebration as the nation's first black president takes office. Despite the challenges of wars and a foundering economy, he rides a wave of optimism.

By Cathleen Decker
9:06 AM PST, January 20, 2009

Reporting from Los Angeles -- Barack Hussein Obama was sworn into office as the nation's 44th president today, assuming leadership of a nation riven by war and economic despair but embracing the improbable ascension of a first-term Illinois senator as the nation's first black chief executive.

With his hand on a Bible used by Abraham Lincoln more than a century ago, Obama repeated the 35-word oath before a rapturous and massive crowd, supplemented across the country with separate, if just as boisterous, celebrations. Minutes before Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. ushered Obama into office, former Delaware Sen. Joseph Biden became the nation's new vice president with the assistance of Associate Justice John Paul Stevens.

The day unfolded with the nation invoking the familiar rituals of a peaceful change in power, although history hung in the air. On the stand as Obama took the oath were members of the Supreme Court, Congress and family and friends of the incoming leaders.

After formally becoming president, Obama was due to deliver an inaugural address that will warn Americans of difficult days ahead and call for a new spirit of bipartisan sacrifice to solve the varied problems facing the country -- themes familiar from Obama's long trek to the White House.

Obama and his wife, Michelle, and Biden and his wife, Jill, began their day by attending services at St. John's Episcopal Church, the traditional destination for an incoming president, located across Lafayette Park from the White House.

Then they traveled to the president's residence for coffee with outgoing President Bush and Vice President Cheney, along with House and Senate leaders. Bush and his wife, Laura, met the Obamas at the north portico, where they embraced and exchanged greetings. The group later caravaned to the Capitol for the swearing-in ceremony, charting a reversal of the path that Obama's inaugural parade will take as it kicks off later today.

Obama woke this morning to a city overwhelmed with revelers. Suburban parking lots for the city's subway system were filled before dawn, and masses of people thronged on foot toward entrances to the National Mall. With hours to go before the ceremony, the Mall was packed from the Capitol west to the Washington Monument, and overflow crowds spilled onto the grounds of the Lincoln Memorial as well.

Yet concerns that the crush of people would prompt security crises, massive traffic tie-ups and cellphone network implosions were largely unrealized in the early hours. The crowds were docile, if cold, and temperatures were expected to top out in the 30s.

The day ushered out the eight-year presidency of George W. Bush, who came into office vowing to unite the country and led the nation through the tumult of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, only to founder over an ill-managed war in Iraq, lengthening battles in Afghanistan and a downward-spiraling economy.

But the bracing turnover was cultural as much as political, as the nation grasped the import of November's election again: After 220 years, for the first time it was not a white man taking the oath of office. The facts of Obama's parentage -- he is the son of a Kenyan father and a white Kansas-born mother -- rippled across the inauguration platform and the assembled crowd, both more diverse than at past inaugurations.

From black Americans who had lived through the civil-rights era and who had never presumed they would see such a day as this, to Americans whose experience of discrimination is limited to history books, Obama's journey has evoked strong emotions and echoes. He took the oath of office with a view westward toward the Lincoln Memorial and its great marble likeness of the president who freed America's slaves. The steps of the very same memorial welcomed, in 1939, black contralto Marian Anderson after she was refused entrance to Constitution Hall, and in 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. for his "I Have a Dream" speech. On Sunday, at the first of the inaugural festivities, a concert at the Lincoln Memorial, Obama sat there as president-elect, his dream realized.

Before the swearing-in, Nelson and Tina Daniel stood in the shoulder-to-shoulder crowd at the foot of the Washington Monument, halfway between the Lincoln Memorial and the Capitol. The Los Angeles residents had staked out their position at 5 a.m.

"This is big history," said Nelson Daniel, a 63-year-old African American. "Once-in-a-lifetime experience. My mother and grandparents dreamed of it. I have a chance to witness it for them."

Also in the crowd was Gloria Washington-Lewis Randall, an African American from Alabama who spent 2 1/2 weeks in jail for participating in a civil-rights demonstration in 1963. Now, at 62, she watched the ceremonies via one of the giant viewing screens set up on the Mall.

"I'm totally ecstatic," she said. "You don't really notice the cold out here. It's a warmness that's coming up. Because no more will we be called black or white. We'll be called Americans."

A counterpoint to the enthusiasm greeting Obama was the grim reality facing the new administration. Obama inherits the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, anti-American sentiment around the globe and, at home, the harshest economic crisis since the Great Depression. Much of his transition was spent trying to infuse optimism that his proposals will work, while simultaneously warning Americans that recovery will take years, not months.

Obama's improbable journey began less than two years ago when, with what even he acknowledged was "a certain presumptuousness," he announced his candidacy for president in a speech in Springfield, Ill., Lincoln's adopted hometown. At the time, Obama had served only two years in the United States Senate.

Few gave him strong odds at the beginning of his quest. Hillary Rodham Clinton was the front-runner and all-but-certain nominee, but as the pre-primary polling gave way to the sentiments of actual voters, her veneer of inevitability cracked. Obama's campaign was built on soaring rhetoric and substance -- his early opposition to the Iraq war contrasted sharply with Clinton's vote for it.

Less measurable early on -- but ultimately more potent -- was his emotional reach among voters who wanted to turn a page on the divisive politics that many felt Clinton personified. On their backs, and on the backs of young voters whose eventual turnout was suspect until election day, Obama built a stunning, tech-savvy organization. His campaign appearances in the general election regularly drew numbers unseen in past campaigns -- 100,000 in St. Louis, 90,000 in Manassas, Va., 75,000 in Kansas City, Mo.

Obama upended the race with a smashing victory in the first contest, the Iowa caucuses, but Clinton came back days later to win in New Hampshire, setting up a grinding primary contest that would last until she relented in June. Like Biden, himself a candidate in 2008, Clinton would find a place in the Obama Administration hierarchy, as the designated secretary of State.

The general election saw Obama trounce Arizona Sen. John McCain, who fought against a sweeping Democratic voter registration effort but ultimately fell under the weight of the economic downturn. McCain also suffered from the election's anti-Republican cast; the party lost seats in the House and Senate, and Bush leaves office for his Texas retirement with a positive approval rating at less than three in 10 Americans.

Obama, by contrast, has strengthened his hand since election day. Several polls have placed the percentage of Americans who say they feel optimistic about his tenure at more than seven in 10, well above his 53%-46% margin over McCain.

The inaugural festivities opened Sunday with the star-studded concert at the Lincoln Memorial, where Obama invoked an optimistic yet sober approach.

"There is no doubt that our road will be long," Obama said. "That our climb will be steep. But never forget that the true character of our nation is revealed not during times of comfort and ease, but by the right we do when the moment is hard. I ask you to help me reveal that character once more."

On Monday, Obama, Biden and their families took part in several community-service events to commemorate the King holiday. Obama toured a shelter for homeless teenagers, demonstrating his technique as he took up a roller to coat a wall with "Laguna blue" paint. At his next stop, where local service groups were working on projects to benefit American troops, Obama returned to the notion that all Americans will have to pitch in to restore the nation's momentum.

"I am making a commitment to you as the next president that we are going to make government work," he said. "But . . . government can only do so much. If we're waiting for someone else to do something, it never gets done."

Obama's last night before assuming the presidency was spent at three dinners meant to reinforce his message of bipartisanship. They honored McCain; former Secretary of State Colin Powell, a Republican who had endorsed Obama before the election; and Biden.

"We'll see you tomorrow," Obama said to huge applause.

Today dawned, and the Mall swarmed not only with security forces -- seen and unseen -- but also those who seized on the inauguration as their personal ticket out of economic malaise. T-shirts, knit caps, key chains, pencils, coffee mugs, American flags, all decorated with Obama's face, were being vigorously hawked across the district. The chaotic display competed with the formal red-white-and-blue bunting that draped the graceful old Capitol, the stately backdrop for the drama.

cathleen.decker@latimes.com

Richard Simon in Washington contributed to this article.

New President, New Limousine

Who Will Obama Choose?

Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius is my Psychic guess!

We will see in the next day or so and Barack Obama will have to choose by Saturday since a campaign event with his new Vice-presidential choice is planed at the Illinois State Capitol.

This is more a hunch than a guess and let me explain why.

Hilliary Clinton polled 21 million votes in the Democratic Primaries and you do not snub the millions who voted for a WOMAN with a safe dull white male.

Not when you profess to be the candidate of change!

Joe Biden is not change!

So what about Hillary? Not a chance Bill put the kibosh on that with public contempt for Obama and its rumored Obamas wife absolutely detests Hillary Rodham Clinton.

And who needs Hillary anyway, she is divisive and polarizing and comes with considerable baggage otherwise known as no. 42!

Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius is popular in a GOP dominated Kansas and brings a Governors perspective and balance to the ticket.



A long shot in my opinion will be Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine.

One other prediction if Obama chooses Sebelius John McCain will be under considerable pressure to choose an "exciting" and "unconventional" vice-president.

After all If A Black man and White woman are running for President how will John McCain and Mitt Romney look to America?



Like last century's power couple!

If Obama goes with the SWG (Safe White Guy) he will squander his best chance for change and election.

McCain would then surely pick Mitt Romney for V.P, since Obama will have given him the political cover to play it safe. Sure a signifigant number of Christo-Fundys will refuse to vote for a Mormon but they wouldn't vote for a Goldwater-Non Social Con Maverick anyway!

Just my two cents!

We Have a Nominee

At least according to Matt Drudge on the right and Tim Russert & George Stephanopoulos on the left. Former Clinton Communication director Stephanopoulos calling for Hilliary to step aside must have stung.

The political reality is Sen Clinton needed a knock out win in both Indiana and North Carolina, she did not get one. She lost N.C. by a landslide and eked out a 1.5 point victory in Indiana. She will finish the night farther behind Obama in the delegate count. As Russert said above "it aint going to happen"

Late word tonight Hilliary and Bill have once again reached into their personal fortune to pay overdue campaign bills and more important...

All media appearances have been canceled for the rest of the week.



Sometimes a Perfect Storm arises and you find it impossible to prepare for, truly a sad end for the "presumptive nominee" You have to give Sen.Clinton credit she ran a great campaign unfortunately the candidate was not that popular.

And she had the bad luck to be running against a "media superstar".

What about Indiana where Clinton won a squeaker, do you know how she won?

Votes form Rush DITTO heads the drones who do what ever Limbaugh orders,,

Limbaugh has been urging right-wingers to vote against Obama

1. There really has never been any question that Senator Clinton would win Indiana, where she has the support of Senator Evan Bayh’s political operation and the demographics heavily favor her. But we saw today that perhaps her strongest asset was that Republicans believe she’ll be an easier opponent to beat in November.

2. Right-wing radio host Rush Limbaugh has been urging his listeners to cross over and vote in the Democratic primary in Indiana to help Clinton’s chances at becoming the nominee.

3. Reports from Indiana polling places confirmed that record numbers of Republicans were taking Democratic ballots to vote against Obama. And Limbaugh himself bragged about the success of his effort on his radio show today.

Republicans are desperate to face Clinton, because they know Obama will be harder to beat

4. Let’s be very clear: the Republicans want to face Senator Clinton in November, because they know that Senator Obama will be a stronger nominee for the Democrats, and will help Democratic candidates down the ballot. Republicans are so scared of Obama that they’re actually skipping their own primary to vote against him.

5. That’s a stunning testament to the threat that Obama will pose to Republicans come fall.

6. If I were the Clinton campaign, I don’t think I’d be celebrating too hard tonight. Winning a state on the strength of voters who want to see you defeated isn’t exactly the kind of win you want—or the message you want to send to superdelegates.

7. This afternoon, top Clinton advisor Harolk Ickes said that if Barack Obama were the nominee, there might be a so-called “October surprise” that would hand the election the Republicans. Using this kind of fear tactic is simply beyond the pale—and a total distortion.

8. To suggest that Clinton would somehow offer less risk of an October surprise—at the same time as Republicans are actively working to see her nominated—is certainly curious.

Not the tactics Democrats want to see for sure but...

9. leaving that aside, this simply isn’t the kind of tactic that Democratic voters and superdelegates want to say. As President Bill Clinton himself said a couple of years ago, “if one candidate's appealing to your fears and the other one's appealing to your hopes, you better vote for the person who wants you to think and hope.”

Right Bill which is why Barack Obama will be the nightmare candidate for Republicans this fall. (DH)

UPDATE: from the America Blog

BREAKING: Wesley Clark reportedly called Hillary tonight, urging her to drop out
by · 5/07/2008 02:13:00 AM ET · Link

We've just been told that General Wesley Clark, a strong Clinton supporter and fellow Arkansan, called Hillary tonight to tell her it's over.

In addition to our source, the king of the pundits, Mark Halperin, drops a tantalizing hint that something might be up with Clark:

"The biggest question: Will any of her supporters (including Wes Clark) say publicly or privately she should quit?"

We like General Clark here at AMERICAblog, and have a bit of a history with him. So we hope what we're hearing is true. But the general better watch it - this could be his most dangerous mission to date. When you take on the Clintons, the sniper fire is real.

My observation Gen Clark want to be Obamas V.P. good counter punch to McCain get a respected General on Obamas ticket.

Obama The Undisputed Frontrunner

The battle for the Potomac States is over and Barack Obama swept the field, winning Maryland,the District of Columbia and Virginia. With his wins over the weekend Obama has an 8 state winning streak. In one week since he tied on Super Tuesday he has become the Tsunami of 2008 sweeping against and over the immovable object that is Hilary Clinton!

The poll results in Virginia and Maryland must we deeply worrying to Clinton, Obama in Maryland carried the White Male,Black,Latino,Catholic and Women's vote! In Virginia a state that a week ago was considered favorable to Clinton, Obama won with a 2 to 1 landslide.

Hillary Clinton seems stunned she shed another campaign staffer even as the departure of Manager Solis on Sunday damaged her standing with Latino voters in Virginia and Maryland. Senator Clinton has declared Texas and Ohio with nearly 444 delegates on March 4th a Firewall she must stop Obama there! She said it folks!

In her CBS interview Saturday night Hillary seemed to rule out a VP slot to Obama, saying she can live with defeat and a return to New York state.
What a letdown I am sure from just 7 days ago.

I guess it aint over till the former First Lady sings,,,
But Obama is warming up that New Orleans Jazz band to play,,,
The New Second Line!


Democrats

Barack Obama
22 states, 1,223 delegates

Alabama, Alaska, Colorado, Connecticut, DC, Delaware, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Carolina, Utah, Virginia, Washington state

Hillary Clinton
12 states, 1,198 delegatesArizona, Arkansas, California, Florida, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma, Tennessee

2,025 delegates needed for nomination. Source AP (includes all kinds of delegates)

On the Republican side John McCain continues to win states while many Conservatives continue to vote for Huckabee, but he has almost no numerical chance of catching McCain. Huckabee will stay in the race long enough to ensure a vice-presidential slot.

Republicans

Mike Huckabee
8 states, 241 delegates

Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Iowa, Tennessee, West Virginia, Kansas, Louisiana

John McCain
16 states, 821 delegates

Arizona, California, Connecticut, DC, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Virginia, Washington state

Mitt Romney
11 states, 288 delegates

Campaign suspended
Alaska, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, North Dakota, Wyoming, Utah
1,191 delegates needed for nomination. Source: AP (includes all kinds of delegates)

This video was posted a while ago but it sums up the "friction" that would later erupt in South Carolina between the Clinton and Obama camps. A Hilarious video argument between 2 "partisans" One a young white female and a young black man. Enjoy and watch to the end!

written by: Ben Donovan & Lisa Donovan
Jordan Peele as the Obama supporter
Lisa as Hillary supporter



UPDATE;Just added Hillary and Obama 2, it is a riot!



Hands down the Best political ad so far this year! The Ad illustrates if Obama can play up Clintons divisive personality what will the Republicans make of her in a general election?

Hillary Is losing the race and The Obama Factor

UPDATE; Sunday Feb 10,2008.
Obama adds Maine to his Saturday wins in Washington, Louisiana and Nebraska, Clinton campaign manager out!
Story at the bottom of this post.

I said I would follow up on Super Tuesday with a post on Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, here it is and I am making a prediction right now,,I think Hillary has lost this race for the Presidency.

It has taken a few days from Super Tuesday to make sense of just what Barack Obama has accomplished. After nearly a year of spirited battle in the biggest contest so far, 24 states voting nearly 10 and a half million Democratic votes cast and Hillary Clinton managed a tie!

That is a crushing defeat, she should have been able to seal her triumph Tuesday, instead the young upstart from Chicago matched Clinton nearly vote for vote (less than a 100,000 votes difference) and Obama in the end beat her in the Delegate count by 796 to 794. Sen. Obama won the popular vote in 13 states Tuesday, while Clinton won in eight states and American Samoa. In the overall race for the nomination, Clinton has 1,055 delegates, including separately chosen party and elected officials known as super delegates. Obama has 998. More about the super delegates in a moment, they are going to decide this race.

No mistake folks this is a defeat for Clinton by Wednesday Hillary had to loan her campaign 5 million( and her staff is unpaid) while Obama raised 7.1 million on Tuesday in addition to 30 million in January!

Bill Clinton's polarizing presence in South Carolina (a state she was fated to lose) caused untold damage to the Clinton's reputation among Black voters.
Her attitude has not helped either, she has practically called Blacks disloyal for supporting the first serious black Presidential challenger! Implying after all we have done for you people you Owe me!

How sickeningly condescending can you be!

Black voters are not buying it and neither are the under age 40 voters of all races flocking to the Obama campaign.

Hilliary is even losing the white male vote while retaining women of her generation. More important even some of her Tuesday victory's are suspect. She won in California based on absentee votes (they started sending in ballots Jan 6) but at the polls in California on election day she lost, indicating a late surge for Obama.

Bill Clinton has been muzzled and now sounds apologetic about South Carolina and one thing we know about Bill is he NEVER apologizes! The dust up by the Hillary camp over David Shuster at MSNBC and his comments about Chelsea Clinton (out of line but the Clintons have been too protective the "girl" is now 27) show a campaign staff on the razors edge, grasping at straws, anything that might deflect the press from the real story from the Clinton Camp.
And what is that story?

Fear

Fear that she will lose this race.

Once inevitability flows to a candidate a wave builds, Obama has stalemated Clinton and the next two states are swinging rapidly in Barack Obamas favor!

Super delegates 20% of delegates to the convention are given to Democratic politicos,Governors,Senators,Congressmen,Legislators Mayors people who have won elected office. Most years they vote for the clear winner or the inevitable canidate. Well into January most were leaning as you would expect Clinton's way. Here is the problem for Hillary since Tuesday they are starting to hedge and they are being courted by Obama's people with the line.

Obama is the inevitable candidate.

Is it working?

Obama and Clinton, are competing for 161 delegates Saturday in Washington state, Louisiana, Nebraska and the Virgin Islands, followed by Maine caucuses with 24 delegates on Sunday.
Obama won the last-minute endorsement Friday of Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire, the female governor of the state. Both candidates had courted her, Obama speaking with her four times.

"He is leading us toward a positive feeling of hope in our country and I love seeing that happen," she said. Washington's senators, both women, back Clinton.

In strongly Republican and sparsely populated Nebraska, Obama spoke to the huge crowd at an Omaha arena Thursday, exhorting: "You're here because you don't want to just be against something. You want to be for something.

Chris Slaughter, 20, heard the speech and said: "He's a once-in-a-generation candidate."

Obama was the only candidate campaigning in all four states.

Clinton told a spirited rally of 5,000 supporters at a Seattle cruise ship terminal Thursday night that she's "a fighter and a doer and a champion for the American people." She also planned to campaign in Maine.

Clinton and Obama both have an eye on the round that follows - the trio of races Tuesday in Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia - and the New York senator in particular was gearing her campaign toward the high stakes primaries in Ohio and Texas on March 4.

Obama is expected to win in Louisiana and Maryland and D.C. and fight Clinton to parity in Washington state. That leaves Ohio and Texas, Hillary may not do well in Texas except among Latinos who don't particularly care for Obama. The Clinton's have high negatives in Texas among white democrats. Ohio like 2000 & 04 will be a battleground, racially polarized it may be again at best a draw for Clinton.

My Conclusion, there is no way the party establishment wants a brokered backroom convention, not in the 21st century! The super delegates will be under extreme pressure to end this race now and award their votes to Senator Obama.

The next few primary's are very critical, pulling even again will surly finish Hillary Clinton's presidential race.

Can she lose gracefully, a women who has been thinking of this run since Bill was in the White House?

That is the question the always perceptive Peggy Noonan (former Reagan speech writer)
asks. If you are a Clinton supporter you won't like the answer.

I firmly believe Senator Barack Obama will be the Democratic candidate for President.

And the Next President of the United States.

It is Inevitable!

Would Hilliary accept a Vice Presidential slot?
Hillary swallow her pride and accept second place? Obama would likely accept her so it will be her call.
If not John Edwards will be the likely V.P.

DeWayne H

Can Mrs. Clinton Lose?
By PEGGY NOONAN
February 8, 2008;

If Hillary Clinton loses, does she know how to lose? What will that be, if she loses? Will she just say, "I concede" and go on vacation at a friend's house on an island, and then go back to the Senate and wait?

Is it possible she could be so normal? Politicians lose battles, it's part of what they do, win and lose. But she does not know how to lose. Can she lose with grace? But she does grace the way George W. Bush does nuance.

She often talks about how tough she is. She has fought "the Republican attack machine" that has tried to "stop" her, "end" her, and she knows "how to fight them." She is preoccupied to an unusual degree with toughness. A man so preoccupied would seem weak. But a woman obsessed with how tough she is just may be lethal.

Does her sense of toughness mean that every battle in which she engages must be fought tooth and claw, door to door? Can she recognize the line between burly combat and destructive, never-say-die warfare? I wonder if she is thinking: What will it mean if I win ugly? What if I lose ugly? What will be the implications for my future, the party's future? What will black America, having seen what we did in South Carolina, think forever of me and the party if I do low things to stop this guy on the way to victory? Can I stop, see the lay of the land, imitate grace, withdraw, wait, come back with a roar down the road? Life is long. I am not old.
Or is that a reverie she could never have? What does it mean if she could never have it?

We know she is smart. Is she wise? If it comes to it, down the road, can she give a nice speech, thank her supporters, wish Barack Obama well, and vow to campaign for him?

It either gets very ugly now, or we will see unanticipated--and I suspect professionally saving--grace.

I ruminate in this way because something is happening. Mrs. Clinton is losing this thing. It's not one big primary, it's a rolling loss, a daily one, an inch-by-inch deflation. The trends and indices are not in her favor. She is having trouble raising big money, she's funding her campaign with her own wealth, her moral standing within her own party and among her own followers has been dragged down, and the legacy of Clintonism tarnished by what Bill Clinton did in South Carolina. Unfavorable primaries lie ahead. She doesn't have the excitement, the great whoosh of feeling that accompanies a winning campaign. The guy from Chicago who was unknown a year ago continues to gain purchase, to move forward. For a soft little innocent, he's played a tough and knowing inside/outside game.

The day she admitted she'd written herself a check for $5 million, Obama's people crowed they'd just raised $3 million. But then his staff is happy. They're all getting paid.

Political professionals are leery of saying, publicly, that she is losing, because they said it before New Hampshire and turned out to be wrong. Some of them signaled their personal weariness with Clintonism at that time, and fear now, as they report, to look as if they are carrying an agenda. One part of the Clinton mystique maintains: Deep down journalists think she's a political Rasputin who will not be dispatched. Prince Yusupov served him cupcakes laced with cyanide, emptied a revolver, clubbed him, tied him up and threw him in a frozen river. When he floated to the surface they found he'd tried to claw his way from under the ice. That is how reporters see Hillary.

And that is a grim and over-the-top analogy, which I must withdraw. What I really mean is they see her as the Glenn Close character in "Fatal Attraction": "I won't be ignored, Dan!"

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mr. Obama's achievement on Super Tuesday was solid and reinforced trend lines. The popular vote was a draw, the delegate count a rough draw, but he won 13 states, and when you look at the map he captured the middle of the country from Illinois straight across to Idaho, with a second band, in the northern Midwest, of Minnesota and North Dakota. He won Missouri and Connecticut, in Mrs. Clinton's backyard. He won the Democrats of the red states.

On the wires Wednesday her staff was all but conceding she is not going to win the next primaries. Her superdelegates are coming under pressure that is about to become unrelenting. It was easy for party hacks to cleave to Mrs Clinton when she was inevitable. Now Mr. Obama's people are reportedly calling them saying, Your state voted for me and so did your congressional district. Are you going to jeopardize your career and buck the wishes of the people back home?

Mrs. Clinton is stoking the idea that Mr. Obama is too soft to withstand the dread Republican attack machine. (I nod in tribute to all Democrats who have succeeded in removing the phrase "Republican and Democratic attack machines" from the political lexicon. Both parties have them.)

But Mr. Obama will not be easy for Republicans to attack. He will be hard to get at, hard to address. There are many reasons, but a primary one is that the fact of his race will freeze them. No one, no candidate, no party, no heavy-breathing consultant, will want to cross any line--lines that have never been drawn, that are sure to be shifting and not always visible--in approaching the first major-party African-American nominee for president of the United States.

He is the brilliant young black man as American dream. No consultant, no matter how opportunistic and hungry, will think it easy--or professionally desirable--to take him down in a low manner. If anything, they've learned from the Clintons in South Carolina what that gets you. (I add that yes, there are always freelance mental cases, who exist on both sides and are empowered by modern technology. They'll make their YouTubes. But the mad are ever with us, and this year their work will likely stay subterranean.)

With Mr. Obama the campaign will be about issues. "He'll raise your taxes." He will, and I suspect Americans may vote for him anyway. But the race won't go low.

Mrs. Clinton would be easier for Republicans. With her cavalcade of scandals, they'd be delighted to go at her. They'd get medals for it. Consultants would get rich on it.

The Democrats have it exactly wrong. Hillary is the easier candidate, Mr. Obama the tougher. Hillary brings negative; it's fair to hit her back with negative. Mr. Obama brings hope, and speaks of a better way. He's not Bambi, he's bulletproof.

The biggest problem for the Republicans will be that no matter what they say that is not issue oriented--"He's too young, he's never run anything, he's not fully baked"--the mainstream media will tag them as dealing in racial overtones, or undertones. You can bet on this. Go to the bank on it.

The Democrats continue not to recognize what they have in this guy. Believe me, Republican professionals know. They can tell.

DeWayne here above I was talking about Fear and Inevitability, look below and tell me what you think. The Republicans have a lot to worry about this November and Karl Roves dirty tricks bag will prove useless against Obama. McCain can beat Hillary Clinton but he cannot win against Barack Obama!

We have met the next Ronald Reagan and John Kennedy and he is Black and a Democrat!

The New Kennedy

The Noble Patriot

After Losing New Hampshire(he had won Iowa) Barack Obama gave a concession speech.
Only this was not a "concession" but a call to arms! A Masterful performance and any Republican that says this is all flash and no substance, nothing to worry about, well the voters will not care anymore than the last time we had such a stark choice!



Remember the last time Flash,Youth and Inexperience won out over the Establishment guy? 1960 48 years ago.



Update; Sunday February 10

Maine caps Obama Weekend Sweep
Obama Takes Delegate Lead With Wins In 4 States; Clinton Manager Steps Down

(AP/CBS) Illinois senator Barack Obama finished a series of weekend primary and caucus contests undefeated as he bested Hillary Clinton in Maine today, according to CBS News estimates.

Obama’s victory in the Maine caucuses follow on the heels of his Saturday sweep in which he won Louisiana’s primary contest as well as caucuses in the states of Washington and Nebraska.

His winning margins ranged from substantial to crushing. In Maine, he led 59 percent to 41 percent with 87 percent of the precints reporting. In Louisiana, Obama defeated Clinton, 57 percent to 36 percent. He won in Nebraska by a 68 percent to 32 percent margin and in Washington 68 percent to 31 percent.

Obama's victory in Maine -- and the ease with which it came -- actually exceeded expectations, even though he swept the caucuses held on Super Tuesday. Clinton had the backing of the state's governor, John Baldacci, and its proximity to New Hamsphire and Massachusetts, both of which Clinton has already won this year, led some analysts to expect a close race.

Even Obama's own campaign said they didn't expect to win Maine, according to a document the campaign said was accidentally leaked earlier in the week.

In the delegate chase, Obama has pulled ahead of Clinton, even when the support of uncommitted super delegates is figured in. According to CBS News estimates, Obama holds a razor-thin lead with 1,134 delegates overall to 1,131 for Clinton.

The results in Maine came in the wake of a shake-up on the Clinton campaign. Sunday afternoon, Clinton campaign manager Patti Patti Solis announced she was stepping down from that post. She will be replaced by senior advisor and longtime Clinton confidant Maggie Williams.

Campaign spokesman Mo Elleithee said Solis Doyle was "not asked to step down," reports CBS News' Fernando Suarez. Elleithee said the change in leadership was not due to this weekend's losses.