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Saturday, May 10, 2008
Obama's HopeIs that the campaign is fought on his turf, not McCain's: Barack Obama began sketching the outlines of his expected presidential contest against Republican John McCain on Saturday, saying the fall election will be more about specific plans and priorities than about questions of political ideology or who is more patriotic. Hey, if I were Barack, I'd not want the campaign to be fought over who is more patriotic, too! Labels: Barack Obama, John McCain
Yes, Obama Said He Would Meet Ahmadinejad UnconditionallyThe New York Times attempts a rowback for Obama: “Senator Obama wants to sit down and have negotiations and discussions with the person who just yesterday called Israel a quote ‘stinking corpse,’ ” he said, referring to Mr. Ahmadinejad, and “who continues to advocate quote ‘wiping Israel off the map.’ ”
Susan E. Rice, a former State Department and National Security Council official who is a foreign policy adviser to the Democratic candidate, said that “for political purposes, Senator Obama’s opponents on the right have distorted and reframed” his views. Mr. McCain and his surrogates have repeatedly stated that Mr. Obama would be willing to meet “unconditionally” with Mr. Ahmadinejad. But Dr. Rice said that this was not the case for Iran or any other so-called “rogue” state. Oh, well, excuse us; we have just taken Obama at his word: QUESTION: In 1982, Anwar Sadat traveled to Israel, a trip that resulted in a peace agreement that has lasted ever since.
In the spirit of that type of bold leadership, would you be willing to meet separately, without precondition, during the first year of your administration, in Washington or anywhere else, with the leaders of Iran, Syria, Venezuela, Cuba and North Korea, in order to bridge the gap that divides our countries?
COOPER: I should also point out that Stephen is in the crowd tonight.
Senator Obama?
OBAMA: I would. And the reason is this, that the notion that somehow not talking to countries is punishment to them -- which has been the guiding diplomatic principle of this administration -- is ridiculous. Labels: Barack Obama, Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, New York Times
Friday, May 09, 2008
What Do They Have In Common?Andrew talks about the Obama internet phenomenon and compares it to two other candidates: Obama and Paul are the result of the unfolding Dean revolution in internet politics. But what Obama has done is use the power of the web to organize on the ground more effectively than any candidate in history. So far, the non-Paul right has been pretty clueless. Yep, he's comparing Obama to Ron Paul and Howard Dean, two guys who got tremendous buzz and who lost horribly.
Tuesday, May 06, 2008
Monday, May 05, 2008
Tonight I'm Gonna Party Like It's 1968!Here's an amusing set of reminiscences of that tumultuous year. My favorite bit is Stefan Kanfer's encounter with Mark Rudd: Rudd had two expressions, blank and furious, and the first now appeared. “In the 1930s,” I shouted over the increasing crowd noise, “there were all sorts of insurrectionists who promised a New World, come the Revolution. You know what? The Revolution never arrived. A little later, the marchers abandoned their cause and wound up with real jobs. And they were damned glad to get them. Read some history now and then.”
“Never!” declared Rudd. It was unclear whether he meant getting a job or reading a book. “Never!” His admirers joined in, “Never! Never!” They crossed the street, broke the few intact windows, yelled at the cops, and started marching around the block urging student action, beginning with a refusal to attend classes. “Strike!” they shouted, like the chorus in a Clifford Odets play. “Strike! Strike!”
Is This The Real Reason Barack Won't Wear A Flag Lapel Pin?Because if he did, Bill Ayers would step on him? But let's remember, he's a mainstream Chicago liberal, just like Barack! Here's the original photo, along with the text. Get this bit of nonsense: In 1970, a bomb that was apparently being built in a Greenwich Village townhouse, occupied by at least five members of the Weatherman, accidentally exploded—killing three of the group, including Ayers's beloved Diana Oughton. In Fugitive Days, Ayers tries to imagine what happened. Maybe Diana tried to stop the others from their path? Maybe they all drank too much coffee and smoked too many cigarettes?
Maybe Diana saw that this bomb, packed with nails and screws, would have exacted a heavy human toll if it had ever reached its destination—a New Jersey military base. Could she have, in a gesture of sacrifice, crossed the wires herself? "I'll never know what happened," he says. "That's the price I have to pay. And maybe they were smoking too much dope. One thing I noticed from the Weather Underground documentary of a few years ago was that everybody tried to divorce themselves from the group at the townhouse, as if this was some splinter group. Undercutting this narrative is the fact that Ayers' girlfriend was there. And the notion that she sacrificed herself nobly to save lives at Fort Dix is ridiculous; it's painting a happy face on a woman who had planned to murder others but was incompetent enough to only kill herself and two other fruitcakes.
According to the article:  Obama's daughters, Sasha and Malia, did skate—tentatively but adorably. Obama and his wife, Michelle, walked alongside while a ring of photographers and cameramen captured the scene. At one point, Obama's youngest, 6-year-old Sasha, skated a short nervous distance into her father's outstretched arms. If the point of the scene was to make the candidate look just like any other (well-dressed) Indiana father out on a Saturday night, then campaign strategists got what they wanted. Actually what they got looks way too much like John Travolta getting out onto the dance floor. Yes, he's hot and he knows it. Weird. Is this the kind of stuff we'll be seeing out of him instead of the baseball and football throws on the tarmac that Kerry amused us with? He doesn't look like any other well-dressed Indiana father on a Saturday night, he looks like he's auditioning for America's Next Top Model.
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