Pretendidential Sneakitude

I’ve heard the leadership style of Pretendident Black Whosayin Yomama referred to as “11th Dimensional Chess on Pluto.”  I call it, “wimpitude.”  For those hopium hooked Kool Aid addicts impressed with the Waffler’s habit of saying one strangely enticing, yet ultimately, incomprehensible thing and doing another, polar opposite, incomprehensible one, the Celebritician’s “hardball with clean hands” approach seems Solomonaic.  To rational people, his TelePrompTer read doublespeak is infuriating.  And, it pisses people off, too.

Basically, Obama’s style is to try to get his goals accomplished without revealing what they are, by getting other people to do the dirty work.  He imagines himself Godfather-like; “send Clemenza out to get Paulie and the cannoli, but make sure nothing comes back to me but dessert.”  Thus, his interminable, ubiquitous speeches sound like wire tapped phone calls between the Capo and his henchmen, “tell the guy to do the thing, but, if it gets done, he didn’t go it, and we never had this conversation, capice?”

Obama Kicks Holder To The Curb, Kinda

President Black Obama, the man who only discusses the issue of race directly when it comes to distancing himself from criticism regarding his church attendance, or chastising black people for being irresponsible to curry favor with racially insecure whites,  kicked his Attorney General, Eric Holder to the curb for calling America “a nation of cowards” when it comes to the subject.  From the New York Times:

“I think it’s fair to say that if I had been advising my attorney general, we would have used different language,” Mr. Obama said in a mild rebuke from America’s first black president to its first black attorney general.

More diversionary, race-baiting, media hype, anyone?  It bears mentioning that Obama did not disagree with the content of Holder’s statement, only the language.

“We’re oftentimes uncomfortable with talking about race until there’s some sort of racial flare-up or conflict,” he said, adding, “We could probably be more constructive in facing up to sort of the painful legacy of slavery and Jim Crow and discrimination.”

Obama: The Boneheaded Screw-Up

Hey, I can spot a trend when I see one.  Whenever now-President Black Obama wants pity, sympathy and absolution, he calls himself a “bonehead” or a “screw-up.”  When he wants to divert attention from his “boneheaded screw-ups” he calls them “distractions.”  Both of these terms are signals to his defenders in the mainstream media and blogosphere to pick up the torch and light the way to forgiveness.  It’s been going on for at least two years, and so far, it works like a charm.

In December 2006, the Washington Post quoted Obiteme admitting that his cozy land deal with Tony Rezko was a “boneheaded mistake:”

“There’s no doubt that this was a mistake on my part. ‘Boneheaded’ would be accurate,” Obama said in a telephone interview Friday. “There’s no doubt I should have seen some red flags in terms of me purchasing a piece of property from him.”

Of course, in December of 2007, FactCheck completely absolves him of any wrongdoing, as have many other sympathetic news sources since.  Once Hillary Clinton raised the slumlord’s name in conjunction with The Chosen, she was predictably slammed for blasting He Who Had Been Exonerated, since Obama had given Tony’s campaign contributions to charity, for goodness sakes.  By the time Rezko went to trial, the whole thing was an unfortunate “distraction.”

When a March 2007 New York Times article broke the news that Obama was involved in a couple of questionable 2005 stock deals,  My.BarackObama.com, now Organizing for America, quickly pooh-poohed the idea, then Media Matters “thoroughly debunked the whole thing at least twice, and to be fair, Obie didn’t say it was a “mistake,” “boneheaded” or otherwise, nor did he call it a “distraction.”  He and his camp hadn’t gotten the bit down at that point, so he just said “he didn’t know.”  From the New York Times:

“At no point did I know what stocks were held,” Mr. Obama said. “And at no point did I direct how those stocks were invested.”

Good enough, Senator.  Poof! story be gone!   Many other boneheaded moves have come and gone since then; in October, Oboyhe’spresident admitted that the biggest one of all was his off-the-cuff put-down of, pretty much, white America during an April primary fundraiser in San Francisco, even though, it wasn’t really his fault.  Again, with the New York Times:

“That was my biggest boneheaded move,” Obama told me recently. We were sitting across from each other on his plane, the one with the big red, white and blue “O” on the tail, flying some 35,000 feet above Nebraska. “How it was interpreted in the press was Obama talking to a bunch of wine-sipping San Francisco liberals with an anthropological view toward white working-class voters. And I was actually making the reverse point, clumsily, which is that these voters have a right to be frustrated because they’ve been ignored. And because Democrats haven’t met them halfway on cultural issues, we’ve not been able to communicate to them effectively an economic agenda that would help broaden our coalition.”

There have been a number of significant Obuhbuh “distractions” in our shared journey to now, however, most did not need to rise to the level of “boneheaded mistakes” in order to be dismissed.  Rev. Jeremiah Wright was a “distraction,” ACORN was, too, but not visiting the troops during his whirlwind Rock Star Tour (yeah, baby) was not a mistake, but, the controversy about it was, you guessed it, another damned “distraction.”  The New Yorker’s Ray Lizza piece criticizing Obama was not a distraction, the cover was, one that benefited CampO; it served to divert attention from the story inside.  What we have all learned is that “distraction” is a dirty word, and it displeases the High and Mighty One to have to use it.  Even his wife knows better than to be one.

The right wing has long been on to Obuti’mcute’s hijinks.  Over, and over and over again they have bitched and moaned about the Boy King’s ability to rise above scandal and ineptitude with the complicity of a media corps of fellating fluffers, by merely looking down his nose at them as they observe his wonderfulness from their crotch-level POV.  And, as with any lie oft-repeated, the effects have trickled down to the rank-and-file wannabe fluffers of the blogosphere, all too eager to seek entree into the sphere of His Holiness’ orbit, if only they prove themselves worthy enough to drop to a knee without pads on a moment’s notice.

So, when the Blagodrama hit it was…a distraction.  And, when Tom Daschle realized he was becoming a dreaded “distraction” he couldn’t beat feet to the media to announce his withdrawal fast enough.  One must never, ever be a “distraction,” to do so would be “boneheaded” indeed.  For, the Obamessiah would become “pisseth.”  Only he knows when a mistake becomes “boneheaded” enough to be a “distraction” that he has to admit he “screwed up,” and when he does, he’ll look down his nose at the fluffer du jour, and, as soon as they’re done, they’ll let the rest of us know.

See the pattern, now?

Dems Pimping Faith

Barack Obama has been pimping faith, any faith, for political power since the beginning of his professional career as a community organizer.  Early on he made a conscious, callous decision to use the pulpit, any pulpit, to attempt to mobilize people into action.  This is not a secret, it has been documented repeatedly, yet it has been marketed as most things Obama have been, it is what it is, but it means anything you want it to.

Until recently, when Barack Obama touted his Muslim family members and growing up in a Muslim country on Al Arabiya TV, associating the word, “Muslim,” or anything that might possibly remotely hint at a relationship of any sort between Obama and anything Islamic, including his given name, was considered a completely out of bounds “smear.”  Even when he himself slipped up and referred to his “Muslim faith,” specualtion about the nature of the slip and what it might mean, was treated as being highly offensive and unfair to the “Christian” man.  The “Christian” man who, as far as anyone knows, has never been baptized, (if anybody has any evidence showing he has, I’ll apologize) who could divorce himself from his church and “pastor who brought him to Jesus” when it became politically expedient to do so, and has used every one of his rare church visits in the last 2 years of campaigning and being elected to the presidency as a photo-op, skillfully talks the Christian talk without being expected to walk the Christian walk.

In 1990 Obama wrote:

“Nowhere is the promise of organizing more apparent than in the traditional black churches. Possessing tremendous financial resources, membership and – most importantly – values and biblical traditions that call for empowerment and liberation, the black church is clearly a slumbering giant in the political and economic landscape of cities like Chicago. A fierce independence among black pastors and a preference for more traditional approaches to social involvement (supporting candidates for office, providing shelters for the homeless) have prevented the black church from bringing its full weight to bear on the political, social and economic arenas of the city.”

From Dream To Reality

As we near the completion of the politically motivated, Madison Avenue designed, stage managed transition from the Civil Rights Era of Dr. Martin Luther King to the myth of reality that is “post-racial” America’s eager embrace of fantasy as political policy represented by the passage of a proverbial torch-of-the-day to the Man Who Would Be Whoever He Need Impersonate at the moment for approval, perhaps a bit of reflection is in order.  As the mainstream media and internet bombard us with flowery, yet often illusory reportage of a nation united in celebration of triumph over its problems of its own making, having collectively overcome challenges only conquered through individual prevail, honest introspection might prove beneficial.

Rev. Martin Luther King was a man of unwavering principle.  He did yield to expediency, he was not satisfied with the appearance of victory.  He did not subscribe to the “by any means necessary” philosophy; he did not sacrifice his principles in his quest for equality through non-violent means, often under pressure to do so.  In his “Remaining Awake Through A Great Revolution” speech at the Episcopal National Cathedral, Washington D.C.  March 31, 1968, he spoke about the personal cost of his opposition to the Viet Nam war:

One day a newsman came to me and said, “Dr. King, don’t you think you’re going to have to stop, now, opposing the war and move more in line with the administration’s policy? As I understand it, it has hurt the budget of your organization, and people who once respected you have lost respect for you. Don’t you feel that you’ve really got to change your position?” I looked at him and I had to say, “Sir, I’m sorry you don’t know me. I’m not a consensus leader. I do not determine what is right and wrong by looking at the budget of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. I’ve not taken a sort of Gallup Poll of the majority opinion.” Ultimately a genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus, but a molder of consensus.

On some positions, cowardice asks the question, is it expedient? And then expedience comes along and asks the question, is it politic? Vanity asks the question, is it popular? Conscience asks the question, is it right?

There comes a time when one must take the position that is neither safe nor politic nor popular, but he must do it because conscience tells him it is right. I believe today that there is a need for all people of goodwill to come with a massive act of conscience and say in the words of the old Negro spiritual, “We ain’t goin’ study war no more.” This is the challenge facing modern man.

As Barack Obama prepares to inherit Dr. King’s legacy by popular demand, the question must be asked, by what criteria does he qualify to do so?  Is a man who wants to end one war only to start another, who achieved his personal goal of the presidency through questionable practices, who has manipulated public opinion in order to justify his manipulation of the public, who pledges convenient allegiance to race and religion, really worthy of of Dr. King’s legacy?  By what measure does he inherit “The Dream?”  More compellingly, when did Dr. King express a desire to see a black president as evidence that his work had been done, his goals had been reached, his dream had been fulfilled?

He did not.

Ever.

No matter what those promoting the man ascending to the leadership of the free world on his shoulders tomorrow say.

Speeding To Hell In A Handbasket Strapped Under The Bus

Wheeeee!  Ever since I was a kid, I’ve loved to spin.  Shoulda been a journalist.  Or an Obatician, but nah, that sounds like a doctor who only delivers little Baracks.  I shudder to think.  Even though, it would be kinda cool to be a Mainstream Media Barackaspinner, (talk about redundant) I could make stuff up about him and pretend like it was true and nobody would say anything.  Anyway, a love of spinning would come in handy for just about anybody, since the drivel the professional spinners spin is almost comprehensible only when you’re already dizzy.

Where to begin?  Well, I could start with this obsession pseudo-journalists with unnatural attractions to Barack Obama seem to have.  Maybe it’s their natural response to his feminine side, recently discovered by Ms. Magazine, but, whatever the reason, they just seem to feel compelled to pledge their assistance to the President-In-Distress.  Whether he falters or not.  First, there was He of the Wet and Tingly Leg, who not only soars to on-air orgasmic heights at the mere sound of the object of his affections’ voice, but was moved to declare his need to prostrate (prostate?) himself at his true love’s feet, if ever necessary.  It’s his job, after all.

Maybe it’s not about Barack(a) Obama, maybe Joe Scarborough spikes his guest’s coffee with truth serum or scotch or something that makes them confess their darkest fantasies, but not to be outdone, and to prove that Obama man-love is post-racial, Tavis Smiley also declared his undying love on Morning Joe; and he seemed to be highly insulted that anyone would dare question such a thing:

Of course, how could anyone, male or female, not love a (wo)man who wears his misogynist-stomping SuperUniform under his(her) daily business attire?  Sexxxxaaaayyy.

In other news on this side of the looking glass, the Obacrats just can’t help doing everything they can to make even their staunchest supporters scratch their heads and go, “Huh?  Who the fuck elected these guys?”  While the God-fearing Obamessiah, who has only been to church once since he kicked his former pastor under the bus, and that was to diss all the black men white people write about now who are inspired by, but too lazy and irresponsible to be like him, scampers above the turbulent waters of corruption that sustain his hometown, his acolytes continue to stumble and bump into each other like blind men in broad daylight.

His own party is pissing on his stimulus package and questioning his judgment out of one side of their mouth, while they pledge to do as much as Mathews/Smiley for him out the other, while at the same time, the Governor They Love To Hate has got them so tied up in knots they can’t even find their right hand to see if it’s doing what the left hand obviously is – playing pocket pool.  From Politico:

Democrats angry over the botched handling of the Roland Burris imbroglio are putting the blame on Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Majority Whip Richard J. Durbin and President-elect Barack Obama — even as new legal developments in Illinois throw the issue back to the Senate again.

Democratic sources say that Reid and Durbin underestimated the storm that would be caused by their attempt to deny a seat to a 71-year-old African-American.

“Reid operates in this tight, little circle with Durbin and [Sen. Charles] Schumer and [Sen. Patty] Murray,” complained one veteran Democratic senator, granted anonymity to speak candidly. “He needs to talk to more people, and maybe these kinds of situations won’t occur again.”

Other Democratic insiders put some of the blame on Obama, complaining that he kept his distance from the Burris controversy then jumped in at the end to claim the mantle of peacemaker — much as he did in the flap over Sen. Joe Lieberman’s support of Republican John McCain’s presidential bid.

“A lot of people were pissed” with how the Burris situation was handled, said a Democratic source involved in the discussions.

Doesn’t seem likely that anybody’s going to get un-pissed any time soon either.  Even though the fact that Blago’s pick should be seated is a no-brainer since he’s still the governor and even if he is impeached it doesn’t invalidate anything he did before he’s inevitably convicted, and nobody in their right mind would even want to come close to suggesting such a thing, Dick Durbin seems confused enough to…suggest such a thing.  Hanging his hat on a technicality already invalidated by the Illinois Supreme Court, namely that it matters not whether petulant Ill. Sec. of State Jesse White signs Burris’ hall pass, Durbin insists on standing behind his line in the sand.  From AP-Yahoo News:

U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin said Friday that Roland Burris should not be seated in the U.S. Senate because he has failed to get the secretary of state’s signature on his appointment to replace President-elect Barack Obama in the chamber.

edit

Durbin noted that if Blagojevich is convicted at his state Senate impeachment trial, he will no longer be the governor and Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn will take over.

“I think it’s best to suspend activities in the filling of that vacancy until that impeachment trial in the Illinois Senate is concluded,” Durbin said. He said Quinn could “then have the authority to make this appointment in a clean, legal way and make his recommendation and his appointment known to the United States Senate.”

Gee, I’m not a lawyer, but, I wonder which law allows the Senate to suspend a sitting Governor’s powers?

So, as the wheels on the bus go ’round ‘n ’round, and the spinners continue to spin, the country barrels headlong to hell in that handbasket, fickle Supergirl-In-Chief hides in an undisclosed phone booth trying to decide which outfit to wear.

Where’s the Hispanic Love, Huh?

First, it was black people ranting and raving to anybody who would listen that now was the time that it was absolutely, positively, super-duper imperative that we elect a black man, any old black man, over some chick, because of the nation’s shameful treatment of African Americans in the past, as opposed to the chivalrous consideration traditionally afforded women.  Not only was it a “chicken and egg” kind of good thing that any old black man just happened to be running, it was serendipitous that the pent up longings of an entire ethnic group (unfortunately, not minus the half disparaged in the latter portion of the following phrase) could be so succinctly expressed: “Bro’s before ‘ho’s.”  If that ain’t poetry, I’m not a one-legged, screaming tree duck.

In a stunning display of man-lovin’-man solidarity, the “bro” indeed beat the “‘ho” as well as the “cunt.”  A two-fer!  American has sure come a long way, baby.

Once the Brother-in-Chief had dispatched the pesky breeders, it was time for other brothers in Congress to flex their pecs and demand that their numbers not decrease with the ascension of the Big, Black Cock of the Walk to the  Big White House, no matter what.  “Yeah, bruh,” said they,”we feel you on the ‘Governor played your ass’ thing, but that sounds like a personal problem, so man, you got to suck it up and let his equal opportunistically appointed knife in your back stand, or we gon’ have to pull a “Rev. Wright” and come after your ass.  Either that or a “Jesse Jackson,” your call.”

And, lo and behold, (I’ve always wanted to use that in something) before the Black Moses of the Joshua Generation (okay, so it’s not Biblically accurate, it rolls) could cry, “Et tu, Bay-bay?”  there was a new disadvantaged, historically disenfranchised group of disgruntled males to deal with (all females had been eliminated from the equation once the “elect the sister-’ho, Cunt” non-resistance had essentially allowed itself to be effectively put down.)  From Politico:

National Latino leaders vowed Sunday to press President-elect Barack Obama to nominate another Hispanic to the Cabinet post vacated by New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, a leading light in the Latino community who caused “great disappointment” with his decision to withdraw from consideration.

Within hours of Richardson pulling his name for secretary of commerce, the head of the League of United Latin American Citizens had compiled a list of 10 Latino elected officials and corporate CEOs that would be offered to the Obama transition team. The list included Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-Calif.), who turned down the U.S. trade representative post, Albuquerque Mayor Marty Chavez and Miami Mayor Manny Diaz.

I hear gay Eskimo American men and teetotaling Native American guys are starting not to feel the Obalove, either, and are thinking of forming an intra-state wheelchair ice basketball tournament and clambake in protest.  Okay, they’re not; I made that up, but, with the way things are going could such a thing be far off?

Oh, and that “brother” the Guv’nuh and the Blackacrats are using as a human political football against the Obamassah’s Plantation team?  They done “sent da dogs” after his ass:

Capitol Fax reports on the ongoing Springfield sideshow: ” The [House impeachment committee] has also issued a subpoena that was served Saturday on Roland Burris, the governor’s controversial choice to fill Illinois’ vacant U.S. Senate seat. The order compels Burris to testify Wednesday.”

Burris may not make it that day, as he’s expected to be in D.C., and last night gave a combative talk in which he said, among other things, “They can’t deny what the Lord has ordained.”

“I gets weary, and sick of tryin’…”  Anybody know that song in Spanish?  Maybe by a girl group?  Wasn’t it written by a white guy?

Never mind, I’m just a girl, what the hell do I know?

What’s Next, Levitation?

The Obamessiah already walks on water, and if the mainstream media has it’s way, after Blagogate blows over, if it does, the Teflon TelePrompTer Reader will probably ascend to Washington in a golden chariot on Inauguration Day.  What else would be left?  According to the keepers of the Book of Barack, he is above the corruption that taints every other denizen of the city from which he hails, he has no peer, he is immaculate.

That he tends to lie when confronted is of no consequence.  He said he didn’t hear any fiery sermons from his longtime former pastor, until he admitted he did, even though the day he announced his candidacy for president, he dis-invited said pastor because he could “get kind of rough in sermons.”  When accused of being too liberal after an old questionnaire surfaced, Obaliar said he didn’t fill it out, even though it had notes in his handwriting all over it.  Of course, Selma did not “get him born,” and John Kennedy did not airlift his daddy.  Bill Ayers is more than a “guy in his neighborhood,” he returned campaign contributions he didn’t get from the friend he didn’t know or help in any way, and he didn’t sign up for the draft out of high school.

Yet, the Obapresent One can do no wrong.  He says he’s not involved in the current Blagojevich mess and we’re just supposed to take his word for it.

“I have never spoken to the governor on this subject,” Obama said Thursday, announcing his picks for top aides on health care issues. “I’m confident that no representatives of mine would have any part of any deals related to this seat. I think the materials released by the U.S. attorney reflect that fact.”

And yet, the Blagorezkobama ties have been bandied about for a long time.  Jan. 9, 2008:

With Antoin “Tony” Rezko’s federal corruption trial looming, Gov. Rod Blagojevich on Tuesday tried to deflect the heat he’s been getting over his former adviser and top fundraiser by pointing out he’s not the only politician who has received help from Rezko.

Blagojevich ticked off a list of elected officials who also have ties to the indicted developer. While not naming them, he made reference to everyone from Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama to House Speaker Michael Madigan, his political nemesis, and Madigan’s daughter, Atty. Gen. Lisa Madigan.

The Washington Post points out that the Senate seat sale is no the only issue currently under investigation:

A footnote to the 76-page criminal complaint and affidavit charging Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D) with soliciting bribes confirms what has long been rumored — that a former longtime friend and fundraiser for President-elect Barack Obama is talking to federal prosecutors in hopes of a reduced sentence.

Antoin “Tony” Rezko’s offer to provide authorities with evidence of others’ wrongdoing is “not complete,” and prosecutors are working to corroborate the claims he has made so far, the footnote said.

The Los Angeles Times tells us that, for some strange reason, Rezko’s sentencing date has been extended, even though he has recently requested otherwise:

Now, why would a judge extend the period before sentencing when the convicted prisoner expressed a desire to get on with prison? Without a new briefs deadline, the expedited Jan. 6 sentencing could now be pushed back further.

Because Rezko, in the hopes of reducing his sentence, is singing in his cell about Blagojevich and maybe others. He’s not done with his song repertoire and the feds haven’t fully checked out his information to determine how grateful to be in sentence-seeking.

So, maybe, just maybe, Obama is not lying about his involvement, or lack thereof, in the Senate seat sale, though Truthteller over at No Quarter makes a pretty darned good case that he is.  Be that as it may, perhaps the reason Patrick Fitzgerald prevented Blago from actually committing the crime before King Obama’s coronation has more to do with things he is involved with.  Could Blago’s pittance of bail in a rather ambiguous case, coupled with Rezko’s finding his singing voice have anything to do with the Obama house deal, or the kinds of things Evelyn Pringle outlined months ago and were regularly featured on The Real Barack Obama website and referenced on Cannonfire?

At any rate, it probably doesn’t matter if Fitzgerald is trying to flip Blago to corroborate something Rezko has against Obie.  No matter what might turn up, the Obamessiah will simply rise above it.  He and the keepers of the Book of Barack will see to it.

Dizzy Blondes At The Gates Of Hell

Ya gotta love Rev. Jeremiah Wright, bless his heart.  I’m not kidding, ya gotta love him ‘cuz he won’t go away and stay gone so you can forget him.  Like the proverbial bad penny, he keeps popping up, as full of piss and vinegar as ever.  The Good Reverend was back ridin’ dirty in the Trinity United pulpit, celebrating the church’s 47th anniversary this Sunday, full of forgiveness for his wayward child’s “bad decision” to distance himself from his Unca Jerry…

“The hatred of the media and the haters in politics may have caused him to distance himself from us, but the love of Christ will never allow me to distance myself from him,” Wright said of Obama. “I can no more disown him than I can disown any other child of mine who makes [a] bad decision. He made a bad decision, but he’s still my child.”

…and invective for his enemies:

“Jesus said upon this rock I will build–listen to the promise–my church,” he said. “And the gates of Hell–listen to the promise–the gates of Hell–neither ABC nor CNN–the gates of Hell–neither Hannity nor O’Reilly–the gates of Hell–neither Time, Time magazine, Chicago Sun Times, Chicago Tribune … the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it. Nothing will be impossible with God.”

But it was “dumb broad,” Elizabeth Hasselback’s ignorance of history that really got Wright ticked:

He implied that his previous use of derogatory language to describe Italians in a past sermon referred to the Roman oppression Luke condemned.

“Emperor Augustus in Rome–that’s in Italy, dizzy blond on the View,” Wright said, presumably referring to conservative television personality Elisabeth Hasselback, who has railed about Wright on the ABC daytime talk show.

Obviously, Hasselback could use a few pointers from “Jeremiah the Historian” who made a point to commemorate the Japanese civilians who died at the hands of America’s predatory military:

At the 11 a.m. service, Wright belittled “baby milk believers,” who, he said, suffer a delusion that politics don’t belong in the pulpit. He pointed out that “Luke the evangelist, not Wright the radical” lambasted the oppressive policies of the Roman government in the Gospel story that recounts Jesus’ life.

“Any preacher who dares to point out the simple ugly facts found in every field imaginable is demonized as volatile, controversial, incendiary, inflammatory, anti-American and radical,” Wright said, taking time out to note the thousands of Japanese civilians who died 67 years to the day when American warplane dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima. (Actually, Dec. 7 marks the day when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor.)

Say what you will, he’s always entertaining.

Btw, ABC News is reporting that John McCain quite possibly blew the election by adhering to some sort of “politics as gentlemanly debate” code of ethics, and refusing to even show an ad going after Wright during the campaign.   While I’m not sure a concentrated effort to discredit Obama via Wright would have turned the tide, I’m still pissed about all the good Wright rants McCain deprived us of.

Obama: He Is The Change, The Light And The Way

Like many people, I was skeptical, and a little offended, when Barack Obama insisted upon anointing himself the Obamessiah by repeatedly invoking phrases like “a light will shine down,” and “the oceans will rise,” etc., but it seems that many in the black community, even some in the clergy, bought that crap believe that he is indeed divinely inspired, ordained by God, or even possibly fully divine himself.  According to the Dallas Morning News, Larry Younginer, while not a clergyman, still went to his suburban Atlanta church the day after His Preciousness’ ascension to the presidency, and offered this prayer to the congregation:

“Lord, we have again come to you in prayer, and you have heard our cries from heaven, and you have sent us again from the state called Illinois, a man called Barack to heal our land,” said Younginer, a 62-year-old retired information systems worker at Coca-Cola in Atlanta. “We pray that you will build a hedge around him that will protect him from those who would do him harm.”

Despite the fact that the Obamessiah has not attended church on a regular basis, if at all, since he threw the pastor who “brought him to Jesus,” and who may or may not have baptized him, under the bus along with all the other inconvenient members of his flock, including the minister who some call the first viable black candidate for president, and his grandmother, the Morning News article is full of quotes from the faithful, many of whom see a direct line from Jesus through Martin Luther King to The One:

King’s sister, Christine Farris, would not say that Obama was sent by God. But she said she believes that, like her brother, Obama has a divine order from God and he has prepared himself to follow in the direction he believes God would ordain.

Yet, it is Younginer who seems most eager to play the role of proselytizer to the Star, comparing him to the Biblical John and Abraham as well as MLK and Jesus.  And, he wasn’t finished:

Obama’s positive message during the campaign was a signal that he had been anointed by God, Younginer said. And, he added, God put events such as Sen. Hillary Clinton’s defeat in the primaries, the economic crisis and Sen. John McCain’s selection of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his Republican running mate in place so that Obama could win the presidency.

Rev. Joseph Lowery, who founded SCLC with Rev. King, seems to agree:

“I felt it in my bones that this was what God wanted,” Lowery, 87, said of his civil rights work. “We were called by God to preach the word and to minister. Obama was not called to preach, but he was called to lead.”

Well, I guess it’s a good thing that God’s on Obie’s side since he is the “change” we’ve been told that “now is the time” we’ve been waiting for.  If that’s the case, though, doesn’t that mean his work is done?

Mr. Obama’s Very Most Important Announcement

The New York Times Caucus blog is reporting that President-elect In Taining, Barack Obama made his very most important staff announcement today.  He’s making Jon Favreau, his speechwriter,  not the actor, move to the White House:

In his latest round of White House staff announcements, Mr. Obama said Wednesday that he was naming Jon Favreau as his director of speechwriting. Mr. Favreau, 27, has had a hand in practically every speech that the president-elect has delivered over the last four years, following Mr. Obama from his Senate office to the presidential campaign.

“Had a hand?”  Where?  Up his bu In his back?  Oh, the “TelePrompTer in the boudoir” jokes I could write!  But, alas, I’ll restrain myself (this time,) and just move the story along.  The Caucus gently tries to lay to rest the notion that the Really Wannabe President writes his own speeches:

While legend has it that Mr. Obama writes his own speeches longhand on a legal pad, a better historical account will show that he offers input and Mr. Favreau crafts them.

No, history will show that publications like the New York Times make stuff up to try to make Barack Obantos appear to be qualified.  Gotta try to justify those baseless endorsements somehow.  In other news, with food stamp use nearing a record-high, the Obamessiah and his family took the photo-opportunity to feed the hungry.

After holding his third press conference in as many days, President-elect Barack Obama, his wife, Michelle, and their two daughters volunteered at a South Side parish that operates a food bank every Wednesday.

No mention was made in the article of the congregants’ reaction when His Preciousness multiplied the loaves and fishes and changed the water to wine, however.  He did allow supplicants to “call me Barack” after they kissed his ring.

Lastly, but not leastly, the image above is the one that inspired Rev. Jeremiah (Uncle Wackadoodle) Wright’s “Audacity of Hope” sermon, that in turn inspired Barack Obama to write a book, which then inspired easily impressed voters to lose their minds and elect an inexperienced slacker guy who has been forced to admit to all those nervous about his “business as usual” appointments, that he is the change they’ve been waiting for, not the other way around.

“What we are going to do is combine experience with fresh thinking,” he said. “But understand where the vision for change comes from. First and foremost, it comes from me. That’s my job.”

Yeah, Obie, but how’re you gonna make ‘em listen?  Pout?  Tell Mommy?

That one might work.

Church Of The Holy Workout

Seems that every church in Washington D.C. is eagerly anticipating the increased prestige and revenues associated with President-elect Barack Obama’s decision as to where he and his family will worship once he takes office.  Cynical?  Perhaps.  But according to an AP-Yahoo (whose CEO, Jerry Wang is stepping down, btw) News article, since resigning from Trinity United Church of Christ in return for four of Hillary Clinton’s delegates, Obama has not attended any church he wasn’t slamming black fathers in, preferring instead to go to the gym:

Obama has attended church sparingly in the past several months. Since winning the election, he has spent Sunday mornings at the gym. Many Washington-area churches hope that will change after he is inaugurated.

Why anybody would expect that the Obamessiah would deign to go to church when he could spend his Sunday mornings worshiping himself, and Michelle and the kids could sleep in, is beyond me.  Besides, there was no more political advantage to be gained by regular church attendance once the Rules and Bylaws Committee essentially handed him the nomination on May 31, so why go?  And anyway, AP-Yahoo says some presidents don’t go to church at all:

Or he could choose, as many presidents have done, not to attend services at all. President George W. Bush, for instance, has only infrequently attended services in Washington, occasionally going to St. John’s.

Now that he’s been elected, a lot of people, especially black Christians, will be expecting a little something in return for their support:

Churches in the nation’s capital have started extending invitations to President-elect Barack Obama and his family, touting their African-American roots, their ties to presidents past and to Obama himself.

While any number of Christian churches of all denominations are launching an all out public relations assault for the president-elect’s attention, they acknowledge there may be pitfalls associated with his attendence:

“I’m sure he’s going to be careful. He got burned,” Balmer said, referring to the Wright controversy. “He probably will be a little bit cautious with whom he associates.”

Pastors at D.C. congregations said they understand that their own words would be scrutinized more closely if the First Family were sitting in the pews, but universally said they wouldn’t change what they preach.

“I hope that I am deliberate and thoughtful about what I say every Sunday,” Snyder said.

He got burned?  Wright burned Obama?  Who sought who out?  Who brought scorn and ridicule on whose life’s work?  Who disowned who?  Why are Columbia University religious history professors like Randall Balmer re-writing history this way?  Are these eager-beaver preachers sure they want to compete with a guy who can make “lights shine down” and “oceans rise?”  Who will they be asking their congregants to pray to, “Our Father, Who art in Pew 54?”

Obama Friends Crawling Out From Under The Bus

Many of Barack Obama’s “former” friends who had been shoved under the proverbial bus for appearances sake, obviously now feel comfortable enough to crawl out from under, now that he has been elected.  Seeming none the worse for wear, Louis Farrakhan, William Ayers and Jeremiah Wright, loquacious all, are delightedly spewing forth long pent-up words of praise and frustration.  The Chicago Sun-Times is reporting that Minister Farrakhan spoke glowingly about the new president-elect, who he once called “the Messiah,” and explained his recent reticence:

“For nine months, I kept quiet because I saw that the good words that I spoke about this beautiful young man at our Saviours’ Day convention and the way they were misused,” Farrakhan said of Obama. “I decided it would be better for me to just be quiet rather than be drawn into the controversy that was swirling around his pastor, Father Pfleger, and others.”

Farrakhan then added with a smile, “I feel freer today to say the things that are in my heart.

William Ayers, the “unrepentant terrorist” (say it with me) obviously feels pretty free now, too, according to the Washington Post.  The day after the election, Ayers complained to WaPo that Obama’s opponents were trying to turn him into a “cartoon character,” even though he and Obama are “not that close.”  And they most certainly do not “pal around.”

“Pal around together? What does that mean? Share a milkshake with two straws?” Ayers said in his first interview since the controversy began. “I think my relationship with Obama was probably like thousands of others in Chicago. And, like millions and millions of others, I wish I knew him better.”

Poor Bill.  How well can you get to know a guy you share office space with, huh?  And it must be hard to sit idly by while your good name is being besmirched by both the “liberal media” and the Republicans.  Especially if you’re innocent:

“I didn’t do anything. It’s all guilt by association. They made me into a cartoon character; they threw me up on stage just to pummel me,” Ayers said. “I felt from the beginning that the Obama campaign had to run the campaign and I had to run my life.”

Seems old Bill is making up for lost time, when it comes to the spotlight, though.  On Friday, he attended a Northwestern University appearance of Rev. Jeremiah Wright, who was speaking at the university’s first “State of the Black Union” in Cahn Auditorium.  It was a make-up date for Wright, who had been dis-invited last spring when the school rescinded it’s offer to issue Wright an honorary degree.  Much like Obama dis-invited Wright to his coming-out speech.   Anyway, Ayers, obviously scarred by Tom and Jerry during a troubled childhood, repeated his “cartoon” characterization comments to reporters at the event:

“Both Rev. Wright and I were brought up as cartoon characters in this campaign because disinformation and dishonest news,” Ayers said. “I did not suffer as much as he did, but we both got out of it with a certain amount of dignity.”

The Chicago Sun-Times says Wright’s speech was uncontroversial, yet their headline screams, “Wright Rips Media in NU Talk.”  The article claims Wright lead off his remarks by “criticizing” the media, then immediately quotes Fox News:

In a recent interview with Fox News, he said he’d been asked if he thought the media had treated him unfairly. His response, he said, was, “Ray Charles could see that.”

Other people under the bus, like Jesse Jackson and Father Michael Pfleger, are probably still going to have to stay there, and though Ayers, particularly, seems blind to the reality, there’s no guarantee that he, Farrakhan, and Wright are going to be allowed to stay out.   Maybe that’s what Rev. Jesse was crying about.  Maybe he’s the only one who knows the truth.