Here is a report about Obama from a black columnist. He definitely brings a different light to this newly minted politician.
Ken Blackwell - Columnist for the New York Sun
It's an amazing time to be alive in America. We're in a year of firsts in this presidential election: the first viable woman candidate; the first viable African-American candidate; and, a candidate who is the first front running freedom fighter over 70. The next president of America will be a first.
We won't truly be in an election of firsts, however, until we judge every candidate by where they stand. We won't arrive where we should be until we no longer talk about skin color or gender.
Now that Barack Obama steps to the front of the Democratic field, we need to stop talking about his race, and start talking about his policies and his politics.
The reality is this: Though the Democrats will not have a nominee until August, unless Hillary Clinton drops out, Mr. Obama is now the frontrunner, and its time America takes a closer and deeper look at him.
Some pundits are calling him the next John F. Kennedy. He's not. He's the next George McGovern. And it's time people learned the facts. Because the truth is that Mr. & gt; Ob ama is the single most liberal senator in the entire U.S. Senate. He is more liberal than Ted Kennedy, Bernie Sanders, or Mrs. Clinton. Never in my life have I seen a presidential frontrunner whose rhetoric is so far removed from his record. Walter Mondale promised to raise our taxes, and he lost. George McGovern promised military weakness, and he lost. Michael Dukakis promised a liberal domestic agenda, and he lost.
Yet Mr. Obama is promising all those things, and he's not behind in the polls. Why? Because the press has dealt with him as if he were in a beauty pageant.
Mr. Obama talks about getting past party, getting past red and blue, to lead the United States of America. But let's look at the more de fined strokes of who he is underneath this superficial 'beauty.'
Start with national security, since the president's most important duties are as commander-in-chief. Over the summer, Mr. Obama talked about invading Pakistan, a nation armed with nuclear weapons; meeting without preconditions with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who vows to destroy Israel and create another Holocaust; and Kim Jong II, who is murdering and starving his people, but emphasized that the nuclear option was off the table against terrorists - something no president has ever taken off the table since we created nuclear weapons in the 1940s. Even Democrats who have worked in national security condemned all of those remarks. Mr. Obama is a foreign-policy novice who would put our national security at risk.
Next, consider economic policy. For all its faults, our health care system is th e stro ngest in the world. And free trade agreements, created by Bill Clinton as well as President Bush, have made more goods more affordable so that even people of modest means can live a life that no one imagined a generation ago. Yet Mr. Obama promises to raise taxes on 'the rich.' How to fix Social Security? Raise taxes. How to fix Medicare? Raise taxes. Prescription drugs? Raise taxes. Free college? Raise taxes. Socialize medicine? Raise taxes. His solution to everything is to have government take it over. Big Brother on steroids, funded by your paycheck.
Finally, look at the social issues. Mr. Obama had the audacity to open a stadium rally by saying, 'All praise and glory to God!' but says that Christian leaders speaking for life and marriage have 'hijacked' - hijacked - Christianity. He is pro-partial birth abortion, and promises to appoint Supreme Co urt ju stices who will rule any restriction on it unconstitutional. He espouses the abortion views of Margaret Sanger, one of the early advocates of racial cleansing. His spiritual leaders endorse homosexual marriage, and he is moving in that direction. In Illinois, he refused to vote against a statewide ban - ban - on all handguns in the state. These are radical left, Hollywood, and San Francisco values, not Middle America values.
The real Mr. O bama is an easy target for the general election. Mrs. Clinton is a far tougher opponent. But Mr. Obama could win if people don't start looking behind his veneer and flowery speeches. His vision of 'bringing America together' means saying that those who disagree with his agenda for America are hijackers or warmongers. Uniting the country means adopting his liberal agenda and abandoning any conflicting beliefs.
But right now everyone is talking about how eloquent of a speaker he is and - yes - they're talking about his race. Those should never be the factors on which we base our choice for president. Mr. Obama's radical agenda sets him far outside the American mainstream, to the left of Mrs. Clinton.
Posted by cottonjim on :
More propaganda....... they think we are sheep. Ba Ba Bull Chit..
Posted by SeekingFreedom on :
What part of it is untrue, Jim?
Posted by cottonjim on :
I didn't say any of it was, I just said it was propaganda....... that's all. It comes from both sides, heaven forbad we make our own decision without party BS
Posted by T e x on :
quote:Originally posted by SeekingFreedom:
What part of it is untrue, Jim?
Which part is true?
Posted by CashCowMoo on :
One thing is for sure....anyone remember CMKX and urban casavant? He sure told everyone what they wanted to hear and to this day...in May 2008 after everything that went down and still is...people....sheeple...still are in paltalk worshipping urban saying him and the master are going to give them millions.
So...my point is I like the way obama talks, but I bet hes so good he can get anyone to believe in him without taking any facts or any voting history into consideration.
Im not saying I like or DONT like him....I think he is good for being fresh, and he does want change....but change to WHAT? what will it be?
Posted by T e x on :
what's true?
unless he's very, very careful...he'll be killed.
You don't make these kinds of waves, in this country, without becoming a target.
Obviously, the most stable platform at this point is Obama as prez, Billary as vice-prez.
That way, we've got the potential for all this change we've been hearing about, with Bill as back up.
YAY half-blacks! YAY women! YAY previous experience!
Posted by Propertymanager on :
quote:Which part is true?
All of it.
quote:Im not saying I like or DONT like him....I think he is good for being fresh, and he does want change....but change to WHAT? what will it be?
To socialism, of course. That's what he's all about - government control of just about everything.
Posted by jordanreed on :
lol...
Posted by The Bigfoot on :
George McGovern (paraphrased from Wikipedia)
WW2 Veteran
Known for opposing Vietnam and criticism of President Johnson's (Democrat) Vietnam policies and his fellow senate members for failing to support an amendment to withdraw troops in 1970.
Reformed the democratic nomination process giving more significance to state primaries and caucuses and limiting the role of officials in the nomination process.
Supported ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment.
Wanted a 30% reduction in Defense spending.
Ran on a populist message when nominee for President in 1972.
Lost his fist Vice Presidential choice after revealed Eagleton had been treated for depression with electric shock therapy. This forced Eagleton out and made McGovern look indecisive.
Was labeled the candidate of "amnesty, abortion, and legalization of pot" after a Novak report quoting an "unnamed senator" who was identified as Eagleton after his death. McGovern rebutted that the quote was manufactured but the label stuck.
Authorized military action during Iran hostage crisis.
Lost his senate seat in Regan revolution. Ran for president again in '84 as a comeback but derailed quickly.
Posted by The Bigfoot on :
Besides...can anyone tell me of a scenario where a nuke might actually help in a fight against a group that operates in cells of 10-12 members dispersed widely throughout a population?
Posted by The Bigfoot on :
...Strongest Healthcare system in the world??? That's debatable. Most expensive...that would be more appropriate.
quote: In an interview on Fox News Sunday, Obama said, "On an issue like partial-birth abortion, I strongly believe that the state can properly restrict late-term abortions. I have said so repeatedly. All I've said is we should have a provision to protect the health of the mother, and many of the bills that came before me didn't have that."
quote:For all its faults, our health care system is th e stro ngest in the world.
You MUST be kidding...
Posted by Machiavelli on :
quote:Originally posted by T e x:
quote:For all its faults, our health care system is th e stro ngest in the world.
You MUST be kidding...
Russian friend of mine that i chat with online told me that Russia's healthcare system under the USSR was a very strong system and now that it's privatized it is in chaos... I did my own indie research on the internet about it and she's right...
Posted by The Bigfoot on :
quote: McCain rejects endorsement of a second controversial pastor Posted: 10:01 AM ET
From CNN Associate Political Editor Rebecca Sinderbrand
(CNN) — Hours after his rejection of Pastor John Hagee’s endorsement, John McCain rejected the backing of Pastor Rod Parsley, who said that Islam was a “conspiracy of spiritual evil.”
"I believe there is no place for that kind of dialogue in America,” he told the Associated Press. “And I believe that even though he endorsed me, and I didn't endorse him, the fact is that I repudiate such talk, and I reject his endorsement."
The decision to cut off Parsley could have the bigger impact on the presidential race: in 2004, the Ohio pastor was a major figure in an unprecedented evangelical turnout operation that helped an anti-gay marriage ballot initiative pass overwhelmingly, and which was widely believed to have helped President Bush carry the critical swing state state – and the presidency — by a slimmer one.
The leader of the World Harvest Church in Columbus also founded the Center for Moral Clarity — an organization which has held that adultery should be treated as a crime – during the last presidential cycle.
Your pastor by any chance PM? Posted by The Bigfoot on :
bump
Posted by SeekingFreedom on :
Did you ok that bump with our European posters, Big?
According to Obama, we can't just eat, drive or do whatever we want without clearing it with them first. Posted by bond006 on :
If our health care is so great why are we ranked 37th in the world?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The World Health Organization's ranking of the world's health systems. Source: WHO World Health Report - See also Spreadsheet Details (731kb) --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rank Country
1 France 2 Italy 3 San Marino 4 Andorra 5 Malta 6 Singapore 7 Spain 8 Oman 9 Austria 10 Japan 11 Norway 12 Portugal 13 Monaco 14 Greece 15 Iceland 16 Luxembourg 17 Netherlands 18 United Kingdom 19 Ireland 20 Switzerland 21 Belgium 22 Colombia 23 Sweden 24 Cyprus 25 Germany 26 Saudi Arabia 27 United Arab Emirates 28 Israel 29 Morocco 30 Canada 31 Finland 32 Australia 33 Chile 34 Denmark 35 Dominica 36 Costa Rica 37 United States of America 38 Slovenia 39 Cuba 40 Brunei 41 New Zealand 42 Bahrain 43 Croatia 44 Qatar 45 Kuwait 46 Barbados 47 Thailand 48 Czech Republic 49 Malaysia 50 Poland 51 Dominican Republic 52 Tunisia 53 Jamaica 54 Venezuela 55 Albania 56 Seychelles 57 Paraguay 58 South Korea 59 Senegal 60 Philippines 61 Mexico 62 Slovakia 63 Egypt 64 Kazakhstan 65 Uruguay 66 Hungary 67 Trinidad and Tobago 68 Saint Lucia 69 Belize 70 Turkey 71 Nicaragua 72 Belarus 73 Lithuania 74 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 75 Argentina 76 Sri Lanka 77 Estonia 78 Guatemala 79 Ukraine 80 Solomon Islands 81 Algeria 82 Palau 83 Jordan 84 Mauritius 85 Grenada 86 Antigua and Barbuda 87 Libya 88 Bangladesh 89 Macedonia 90 Bosnia-Herzegovina 91 Lebanon 92 Indonesia 93 Iran 94 Bahamas 95 Panama 96 Fiji 97 Benin 98 Nauru 99 Romania 100 Saint Kitts and Nevis 101 Moldova 102 Bulgaria 103 Iraq 104 Armenia 105 Latvia 106 Yugoslavia 107 Cook Islands 108 Syria 109 Azerbaijan 110 Suriname 111 Ecuador 112 India 113 Cape Verde 114 Georgia 115 El Salvador 116 Tonga 117 Uzbekistan 118 Comoros 119 Samoa 120 Yemen 121 Niue 122 Pakistan 123 Micronesia 124 Bhutan 125 Brazil 126 Bolivia 127 Vanuatu 128 Guyana 129 Peru 130 Russia 131 Honduras 132 Burkina Faso 133 Sao Tome and Principe 134 Sudan 135 Ghana 136 Tuvalu 137 Ivory Coast 138 Haiti 139 Gabon 140 Kenya 141 Marshall Islands 142 Kiribati 143 Burundi 144 China 145 Mongolia 146 Gambia 147 Maldives 148 Papua New Guinea 149 Uganda 150 Nepal 151 Kyrgystan 152 Togo 153 Turkmenistan 154 Tajikistan 155 Zimbabwe 156 Tanzania 157 Djibouti 158 Eritrea 159 Madagascar 160 Vietnam 161 Guinea 162 Mauritania 163 Mali 164 Cameroon 165 Laos 166 Congo 167 North Korea 168 Namibia 169 Botswana 170 Niger 171 Equatorial Guinea 172 Rwanda 173 Afghanistan 174 Cambodia 175 South Africa 176 Guinea-Bissau 177 Swaziland 178 Chad 179 Somalia 180 Ethiopia 181 Angola 182 Zambia 183 Lesotho 184 Mozambique 185 Malawi 186 Liberia 187 Nigeria 188 Democratic Republic of the Congo 189 Central African Republic 190 Myanmar
Posted by SeekingFreedom on :
The World Health Organization's ranking of the world's health systems. Source: WHO World Health Report
This WHO, unlike the way cool The Who, has many reasons to rate us lower than we should be. Not saying we're the best...but we're below France AND Canada...wow!
Posted by T e x on :
Our system is, in a word...horrible; literally, full of horrors.
Posted by The Bigfoot on :
quote:Originally posted by SeekingFreedom: Did you ok that bump with our European posters, Big?
According to Obama, we can't just eat, drive or do whatever we want without clearing it with them first.
ok...my turn to bite...eh? What choo talking about Willis?
Posted by Lockman on :
Does France include all of the muslim immigrants in there health care.
It's not really fair to compare the USA to countries a 16th of our size. Has anyone analized the French system to see if it would in fact work in an open society such as the USA?
Posted by glassman on :
quote:Originally posted by SeekingFreedom: The World Health Organization's ranking of the world's health systems. Source: WHO World Health Report
This WHO, unlike the way cool The Who, has many reasons to rate us lower than we should be. Not saying we're the best...but we're below France AND Canada...wow!
actually? one of the reasons we rank so low is the number of people that die from going to the hospital... it's more than people dying from car accidents... and these deaths are preventable accidental deaths, not from what they went to the hospital for...
the problem has gotten so bad that Medicare in several states is now refusing to pay for any costs associated with care provided as a result of "providers" mistakes...
Medicare Refuses to Pay for Hospital Errors
Posted on: Tuesday, 19 February 2008, 18:05 CST
WASHINGTON - It's a new way to push for patient safety: Don't pay hospitals when they commit certain errors.
the Cato Intitute (a non-profit think tank with strong libertarian leanings) did a study contradicting the WHO finding, but even their conservative re-evaluation had a difficult time rating the US above France or Canada.
the CATO findings agrued that the WHO study was too heavily weighted against the US because it actaully measured how many people received abysmal (or no) medical treatment..
To account for the quality of care received by the worst-off, the index could include a factor that measures health among the poor, or a health care system’s responsiveness to the poor. Alternatively, a separate health performance index could be constructed for poor households or members of disadvantaged minorities.
Using the OA ranking, the U.S. rank could range anywhere from 7 to 24. By comparison, France could range from 3 to 11 and Canada from4 to 14. T Posted by Lockman on :
I guess if you need medical attention you should get on a plane and go to France or Canada.
Do France and Canada have the best Doctors and hospitals or is it just that you don't pay out of pocket? Oh wait they do pay and very hansomely from what I've heard.
Posted by SeekingFreedom on :
ok...my turn to bite...eh? What choo talking about Willis?
now that you bring it up? that's another reason we are low on the list... LOL.. they look at things like the overall health of the population, you know, things like frequency of obesity and diabetes...
Today, one in four hospitalized patients is outfitted with a urinary catheter. The tubes trigger more than half a million urinary tract infections a year, the most common hospital-caused infection.
Yet many patients don't even need catheters - they're an automatic precaution after certain surgeries - and many who do have them for days longer than necessary. Why? The University of Michigan reported the first national study of catheter practices last month, finding nearly half of hospitals don't even keep track of who gets one.
why do people who don't need catheters get them? or why EVERYBODY seems to have high cholesterol of one type or another? there's one simple answer to that: $
ever wonder why the TV ads give you a laundry list of symptoms to describe to your doctor so you can ask for their medicine?
specific kinds of psychosomatic symptoms found among Victorian-era women in America and western Europe which have largely disappeared. Anthropologists have noted that culture plays an important role in which particular somatic expression results from a given internal psychological experience.
power of suggestion? nah couldn't possibly be that:D
Posted by The Bigfoot on :
Not even worth replying to. Posted by SeekingFreedom on :
I thought it was a joke myself until they ran the clip on the evening news. I really wonder if he really gets the whole sovereignity thing at all.
Posted by T e x on :
quote:Originally posted by SeekingFreedom: I thought it was a joke myself until they ran the clip on the evening news. I really wonder if he really gets the whole sovereignity thing at all.
what *are* you going on about?
Posted by SeekingFreedom on :
I'm not sure I'm cool with our future president making policy based on whether the other countires are 'ok' with it. Especially when it comes to home temperature (already getting close to being regulated in cali) or vehicle choice (already mandated for higher gas mileage in the next few years) or how much we choose to eat in one sitting (guess no more thanksgiving feasts).
Posted by The Bigfoot on :
Common SF!!!!
I thought you were interested in debate??? You've spun this statement so hard you had to use a centerfuge to get to that result!
Posted by SeekingFreedom on :
What spin?
Although I actually do use centrifuges to mold liquid polyurethane at work. TMI I guess.
I would love to hear what you think he meant by it.
He is as much as saying that we have to change our lifestyle (for the worse) to make other countries happy.
How did you take it?
Posted by The Bigfoot on :
Really? You use centrifuges at work? Weird.
The man is talking about the 25% (1/4) of the worlds non-renewable energy resources that we use when we have a population that makes up 3% (1/33)of the worlds population. Translation is that type of disparity is going to breed resentment. We all know this is true (if you have been out of the country anyway.)
The very first sentence is about how we can't tell them not to grow. We can't tell who not to grow what? He is talking about how we don't have the right to tell other countries not to use more non-sustainable energy resources until we curtail our own appetite.
It has nothing to do with making sure the EU 'oks' his policies before they are enacted. That is spin. As is that whole YouTube video for not including the point of the speech but only picking up where they could turn it into something inflammatory.
Posted by SeekingFreedom on :
If they are unhappy with our consumption, Big, they need to stop whoring out their resources. If they don't want our money, don't take it. If they do, then it's a simple transaction and seller's remorse is simply unbecoming of them.
Posted by glassman on :
quote:Originally posted by SeekingFreedom: If they are unhappy with our consumption, Big, they need to stop whoring out their resources. If they don't want our money, don't take it. If they do, then it's a simple transaction and seller's remorse is simply unbecoming of them.
be careful what you ask for.
Posted by SeekingFreedom on :
I try to be. How fast do you think we'd increase both drilling locations and refinery capacity if our current oil arteries were being cut back or off?
Glass half full and all that.
Posted by glassman on :
quote:Originally posted by SeekingFreedom: I try to be. How fast do you think we'd increase both drilling locations and refinery capacity if our current oil arteries were being cut back or off?
Glass half full and all that.
watch how fast we do switch to alternative fuels now that it's been decided that we will...
keep in mind that in '00 we were already well on our way to developing fully operational electric cars that worked. i saw 'em all over the UC Riverside Campus being tested by the Maintenance Dept. as well as the Physics Dept. Toyota and Ford both provided them, but "something changed" in '01...
hint: The Cheney Energy Task Force
look at Brazil's response to the OPEC oil embargo of the '70's (yeah we already HAD our oil artery cut once)
the fact is? refining capacity COULD have been increased any time..
the environmental laws do not prohibit building them.
Posted by SeekingFreedom on :
watch how fast we do switch to alternative fuels now that it's been decided that we will...
The current speed with which we're adopting these new technologies is exactly what concerns me.
The rush into biofuels is what is currently causing the increase in world wide food prices as well and the soon to be felt meat shortage. We're burning our food to produce a net-negative amount of energy.
The Hydrogen is the one I like the best so far, but it still has safety concerns about the infrastructure needed to insure safe storage of the gas as well as refueling processes. The other concern is the amount of electricity needed to produce the gas from the water.
The electical concern is even greater with the electric car you mentioned. The amount of energy needed to supply all, or even the majority, of cars on the road is enormous. It has to come from somewhere.
Wind, Hydro, and Solar power are very promising but not at the point where they can replace the current supply sources to accomodate the current and future needs.
Neccessity is still the Mother of Invention. Increase the need...increase the innovation to satisfy it.
Posted by glassman on :
We're burning our food to produce a net-negative amount of energy.
you can thank Bush for that...
The rush into biofuels is what is currently causing the increase in world wide food prices
not provable... i see nobody using Rice for ethanol... something else is going on...
Hydrogen is much more manipulable than you have been led to beleive...
it can be produced anywhere there is sunlight.
Posted by The Bigfoot on :
Yep,
Hook up a couple solar panels and use electrolysis to separate the hydrogen from oxygen in a tank of water and you have your fuel source for your hydrogen cell.
Every home in America could be energy independant (the northern states would likely need reserve tanks for winter months.)
I am still willing to believe that manufacturing a good cost effective cell is still in the works but I get the feeling the bigger players are holding back trying to find a way to control the market before mass production starts. Keeping people on the grid is important to the power players.
And SF...there is no room within you for criticism of a man who eats himself into corpulence?
Posted by SeekingFreedom on :
And SF...there is no room within you for criticism of a man who eats himself into corpulence?
You making fun of fat people, Big? ARE YOU!?!?!
Just kidding. Of course there is something to be said for advocating healthy eating habits, but that's a domestic issue. The rest of the world doesn't need to worry about us on that front. Thanks though.
And on the SUV part, I live in Utah and for several months of the year if you don't have some form of 4 wheel drive you're taking your life into your own hands. My SUV is neccessary to my family's safety. I'm not giving it up no matter how many Europeans hate me.
Hook up a couple solar panels and use electrolysis to separate the hydrogen from oxygen in a tank of water and you have your fuel source for your hydrogen cell.
Every home in America could be energy independant (the northern states would likely need reserve tanks for winter months.)
If that's true and it's safe for my kids to be around, sign me up.
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