I Guess Maybe They WEREN'T Paying Attention

Last night after watching some good NFL football I started to peruse some of the better liberal websites. All was quiet for awhile but then later on in the evening I started seeing several posts pop up discussing reports that President Elect Barack Obama was going to include something like $300 billion dollars in tax cuts in his economic stimulus plan. What weirded me out was that most if not all of the posts were diatribes against Barack Obama for cutting taxes. One jerk off even used the term "douchebag" to describe him.

Now the reason I was weirded out was because I could have sworn Obama had been talking about giving middle class tax cuts for the last year or so. Hell wasn't that what the whole "socialist" meme was all about? So I decided I needed to read these reports and see what the fuss was all about. I saw where this move was being sold as a way for Obama to gain bipartisan support for the bill because the Republicans would like the tax cuts. For about half a second I understood why people were getting pissed off but then I thought on it a little more.

First of all Obama DID promise middle class tax cuts damn near from jump street so they shouldn't have been a surprise. Second of all it came off to me like Republicans were framing the story this way because it plays into the meme that Democrats NEVER want to cut taxes and would only do so to appease the "fiscally conservative" Republicans. And last but not least the Wing Nut Wall Street Journal story about it all of a sudden low balled the overall cost of the stimulus plan to below $800 billion. But just a few weeks ago when they were slamming the idea of spending on infrastructure as economic stimulus didn't they estimated the plan at $1 trillion dollars or more? Thats a huge difference because the new story would have you believe that tax cuts would make up almost half of the stimulus plan. But their earlier assesments would have it more around 30%. After thinking it through I smelled a rat. For that reason I was highly anticipating today's press availablity by Obama just to see what he had to say about it. Lets check him out.

You can fast forward to 5:38

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Yeah, what HE said!

Now I have just about had enough of this hand wringing, hair on fire mentality of so many people on the left now. Its almost like the Republicans won't even have any work to do for the next four years because the liberals and progressives will handle all the attacking of President Elect Obama. Its almost like we all have PTSD from the Bush years and now we are so used to pushing back on any and everything that we don't recognize friend from foe. I have said it once I will say it again, can we PLEASE wait for the man to get in frikkin office and actually DO something before we start tearing him down? Thanks in advance.

Blagogate Shmagogate, Americans Aren't Buying It

Despite the best(worst) efforts of the RNC, FoxNews and Joe Scarborough, it turns out that not only has the Blagojevich scandal NOT hurt President Elect Barack Obama's image, but according to a new CNN poll his approval numbers actually went UP!

Eighty-two percent of those questioned in a new CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll released Wednesday morning approve of the way the Obama is handling his presidential transition. That's up 3 points from when we asked this question at the beginning of December. Fifteen percent of those surveyed disapprove of the way Obama's handling his transition, down 3 points from our last poll.

The 82 percent approval is higher than then President-elect George W. Bush 8 years ago, who had a 65 percent transition approval rating, and Bill Clinton, at 67 percent in 1992.


"Barack Obama is having a better honeymoon with the American public than any incoming president in the past three decades. He's putting up better numbers, usually by double digits, than Bill Clinton, Ronald Reagan, or either George Bush on every item traditionally measured in transition polls," says CNN Polling Director Keating Holland.

The poll also suggests that the public approves of the President-elect's cabinet nominees, with 56 percent of those questioned saying Obama's appointments have been outstanding or above average, with 32 percent feeling the picks have been average, and 11 percent saying Obama's choices have been below average or poor.

That 56 percent figure is 18 points higher than those who said then President-elect Bush's cabinet appointments were outstanding or above average and 26 points higher than those who felt the same way about then President-elect Clinton's nominees.

Probably the most exciting aspect of the poll is that it shows that the more Republicans baselessly attack, the more the public will flock to Obama. Which makes this post exposed by kos on the National Review Online website even more insightful:

Rod Blagojevich, $1 trillion "fiscal stimulus", Harry Reid, expiring tax cuts, Nancy Pelosi, socialized health care, Charlie Rangel, reinstitution of the oil drilling ban, Joe Biden, liberal judicial nominees, Al Franken (maybe), nuclear Iran, John Murtha, car czars, Dennis Kucinich, PC culture, Chris Dodd, entitlement explosion, Barney Frank, entitlement implosion, Barbara Boxer, card check, the Clintons, Russian adventurism.

If Republicans can't come back in 2010 they should be sued for political malpractice.

Notice how the NRO poster never mentions anything having to do with Republicans solving problems. He is still holding hard and fast to that notion that all Republicans have to do is attack Democrats on big government and corruption issues and the country will just be handed back to them. Well I say more power to him. Please keep up the attacks, lies, and smears. Obviously they have worked so well for you over the last two election cycles.

But back to the numbers, who would have thought that a man who was being framed as a Marxist, Socialist, babykiller just a little more than a month ago would now be enjoying the support of over 80% of Americans? Its a testament to the way Obama has run his ship, both before the election and after, that he has obviously won a lot of his earlier detractors over. Thats not to say that he will keep the high approval rating after taking office, but at least its an indication that people are wiling to give him a fair chance IMHO. And thats definitely a step in the right direction for the country.


Keep handling it YOUR way Mr. President Elect

Obama Is The Anderson Silva Of Political Jui Jitsu UPDATED

So we are in day 5 of the meltdown over the Rick Warren pick to do the invocation at the inauguration. Now to be clear once again I will reaffirm my disdain for Rick Warren. Not only is he a homophobe, but he is also a bald faced liar when it comes to Prop 8. I think there is something in the Ten Commandments about bearing false witness but I digress. There has been outrage directed at President Elect Barack Obama however that I believe is way over the top. Besides that there has been, in my opinion a wrong headed analysis but some on the left who have concluded that the choice of Warren does nothing for Obama politically. Well I have to call bullshit on that. I don't personally feel that the choice of Rick Warren is purely politically as Obama has given him praise during the campaign and they have some common interests including climate change and AIDS relief issues. But on the political level I don't think anybody can honestly argue that this is a bad move. Its actually a great move politically if you ask me and allow me to explain.

The plain and simple truth is that Obama has a much better chance of picking up evangelical votes with this pick than he does losing LGBT votes. If you want to look at this through a purely political lens its actually brilliant no two ways about it. Exit polls showed that he garnered 70% of the LGBT vote. How much higher a percentage could he possibly get from that constituency? But with evangelicals he only garnered about 30% of their votes and he has a whole lot of room to grow. The truth is whether we like it or not LGBT folk won't be voting Republican any time soon. Now maybe they stay at home but I am not buying it. Most of them aren't single issue voters and if Obama gets the economy back on track, gets us out of Iraq, and repeals DADT I can't see them risking letting Sarah Palin or Mike Huckabee both of which are TRUE gay haters come to power in 2012.

But with evangelicals you have to remember that there was a substantial bunch in the group that believed and perhaps still do believe that Obama is a muslim marxist socialist who kills babies and eats them for breakfast. We laugh but I have had to have heated arguments over people who were so caught up on the faux born alive scandal that they literally acted as if Obama was in a hospital some where with a hammer. And yet he still got almost 30 percent of that vote. And giving Rick Warren a platform at the inauguration is another thing that is going to make their head swirl about Obama. They are already amazed that he didn't name Bill Ayers as his Secretary of Defense. They are already amazed that Rev Wright isn't his Secretary of State. So now that he actually reached out to an evangelical who he clearly doesn't agree with on many issues he is going to at least make them question all of the beliefs they had about him pre election. And if he comes through on most if not all of his campaign pledges then many of those evangelicals are going to vote their best interests in 2012 rather than voting their fears.

Evangelicals are not some hive mind that are totally inflexible. The fact that many religious leaders are now coming out and saying that voting for a candidate that is pro choice is not a mortal sin shows that there is room for compromise IMHO. And whether people understand or get it or not, Rick Warren's followers are not just evangelicals. There are plenty of people who would never classify themselves as evangelical and might not even go to church who think his "Purpose Driven Life" books are the best books they have ever read. Hell I have a two different copies of the book here at my house that were both gifted to me for Christmas two years ago. Do you think that made me vote for McCain?

The real question in a political lens is this, do you try to reach out to a group of over 20 million who has bought books from this man and respect him and his opinions or do you try to reach out to a group that you already have over 70 percent support from and whom your opposition consistently and repeatedly villifies? I think the answer to that question is a no brainer.

Besides that think about what one of his potential rivals in 2012 has said about the Warren pick. Lets take MIke Huckabee.

HUCKABEE: Well, it’s ridiculous for people to be upset with Rick Warren. He’s one of the most influential spiritual leaders of this generation. I’ve known Rick for over 30 years. We were actually in seminary together in Ft. Worth, Texas, back in the mid-1970s. He is today what he always has been, and that’s a humble, gracious, thoughtful, very intellectual capable person. I think it’s a wonderful thing that Barack Obama reached out to him. I thought it was a tremendous expression on Barack Obama’s part. I’m proud that Rick Warren is going to do it and I think that people ought to recognize…look, that’s part of what being religious is all about. You have strong convictions and nobody is going to have a religious leader who is in agreement with everybody.

Now as the rival who is most likely to bring culturally conservative issues into the race for President in 2012 don't you think its going to be pretty hard for Huckabee to paint Obama as a radical after that kind of praise? Better yet between now and then you will have people like Sean Hannity who will HAVE to defend the choice of Warren to do the inauguration because he has aligned himself with Warren's views. So once again the hypocrisy will be on record for use four years from now.

As a more immediate political motive has anybody else noticed how the whole faux Blago Gate scandal wrt President Elect Obama has pretty much fizzled since the Warren choice came to light? Ask yourself a question, why was that information made available before the new year when they knew it would spark some controversy? Hmmmmm.

Now I will reiterate that yes Rick Warren is a bigot and yes I understand why people are upset about him giving the invocation. But you can't possibly convince me that this is a bad move politically. The invitation of Rick Warren to do the invocation is setting Obama up to do give a rear naked choke to his Republican opponents in 2012.

Update: Don't faint but even Pat Robertson has weighed in with support for President Elect Obama. From thinkprogress

Despite having “grave misgivings about him” earlier, Robertson said he now lauds Obama for picking a “middle-of-the road Cabinet.” “I’m very pleased so far,” he concluded

Keep It Moving, Nothing To See Here

The Blagojevich report from President Elect Barack Obama has finally been released. Nothing juicy has been extracted so far from the talking heads and it seems that true to Obama's word nothing improper was documented. Rahm Emanuel did talk to Governer Blagojevich once or twice but there was never any quid pro quo. One thing I did find interesting was that President Elect Obama did actually float Jesse Jackson Jr's name as one of four people who would make a good appointment to his vacated Senate seat. This was interesting because right after the Blagojevich scandal broke many people were trying to posit that Obama didn't want Triple J to get the Senate seat and had some how snubbed him.

From Karen Tumulty of TIME's Swampland Blogs post on the report.

Between the time that Mr. Emanuel decided to accept the position of Chief of Staff in the White House and December 8, 2008, Mr. Emanuel had about four telephone conversations with John Harris, Chief of Staff to the Governor, on the subject of the Senate seat. In these conversations, Mr. Emanuel and Mr. Harris discussed the merits of potential candidates and the strategic benefit that each candidate would bring to the Senate seat. After Ms. Jarrett removed herself from consideration, Mr. Emanuel – with the authorization of the President-Elect – gave Mr. Harris the names of four individuals whom the President-Elect considered to be highly qualified: Dan Hynes, Tammy Duckworth, Congresswoman Schakowsky and Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr.

There was one caveat that Obama and some of his staff including Emanuel and Valarie Jarrett were interviewed last week by U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald but it appears that there it was just an informal deal.

I am sure that there will be some "clouds" that are formulated by the FoxNews folk and Joe Scarborough over the report but it appears that after having had the report vetted by U.S. Attorney Fitzgerald it truly appears that this is much adieu about nothing.

The Tangible Power Of Change

There is now in this country a concerted effort being made to revise the history of the President George W. Bush and his administration. In some kind of ham handed Orwellian manner Bush officials and operatives are trying to sell the last 8 years of being full of peace, prosperity, and security and they are trying to sell Bush as a strong, competent leader. Well good luck with that. Unfortunately for them we aren't living in Orwell's 1984 and there are external clues that we can consider that aren't subject to any revisionist history in this country. One of the most notable examples is the disdain that the international community has had for George Bush and the contrast in their willingness to actually work with incoming President Elect Barack Obama. In the Washington Post today we find an article about the member nations in the E.U. who are eager to work with Obama on closing GITMO by offering some of the prisoners housed there asylum in their country. From the article.

European nations have begun intensive discussions both within and among their governments on whether to resettle detainees from the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, as a significant overture to the incoming Obama administration, according to senior European officials and U.S. diplomats.

The willingness to consider accepting prisoners who cannot be returned to their home countries, because of fears they may be tortured there, represents a major change in attitude on the part of European governments. Repeated requests from the Bush administration that European allies accept some Guantanamo Bay detainees received only refusals.

The Bush administration "produced the problem," Karsten Voigt, coordinator of German-American cooperation at the German Foreign Ministry, said in a telephone interview. "With Obama, the difference is that he tries to solve it."

snip

"I believe the new administration will have the conditions to create a new dynamic of cooperation," Amado said. He noted that when he first raised the issue of Guantanamo Bay at a meeting of E.U. foreign ministers about seven months ago, some countries resisted assisting the Bush administration.

Note that last line. There were countries in the EU who didn't want to offer asylum to detainees in GITMO, not because they didn't want to help America, but instead because specifically they didn't want to help George Bush. There is a running meme pushed by conservative pundits and talking heads that history will be kind to President Bush. Well someone should tell them that history isn't just written in this country anymore. No matter how many false platitudes are showered upon President Bush, no matter how many self serving books are written about President Bush, no matter how many talking heads get on the Tee Vee and gloss over war crimes for President Bush, the world will not forget what a failure his presidency was. His legacy will not only haunt him for the rest of his life, but also will haunt our nation until we can rebuild our reputation around the world. Thankfully, our election of President Elect Obama seems to be a good first start.

Damn Is There Anybody Who ISN'T Disappointed In President Elect Barack Obama?

Now according to The Hill the Congressional Black Caucus has weighed in with their two cents.

“Did the African-American community probably expect more appointees at that level? Probably so,” said Rep. Danny Davis (D-Ill.), an early Obama supporter who has expressed an interest in filling Obama’s vacant Senate seat.

Davis said he was pleased with Obama's Cabinet, but confirmed that there is some angst within the CBC.

“On balance, I’d say a great deal of thought went into the shaping of this Cabinet,” Davis told The Hill. “And he ended up with a real rainbow. But some people, sure, thought there should be a bit more color in it.”

Another senior member of the CBC who requested anonymity said more pointedly that Obama “isn’t doing enough for the black folks.”

My honest response to the CBC is sometimes its better just to shut the fuck up. Seriously. They are perpetrating the very same meme that every white Republican pushes about black folks and affirmative action. Can we just call a moratorium for the next 30 days or so on ignant ass people spouting off about what they are disappointed about before Obama has even taken office? The CBC should be worried about keeping their own frikkin house in order for once than worrying about how many black folks the first black President in our nation's history has chosen for his cabinet.

Is Obama Supposed To Fear The "Bowling Lobby" Now?

Forget FISA, forget Hillary Clinton at State, forget Blago Gate, forget Rick Warren, the first real controversy of President Elect Obama's yet to be started first term isn't any of those trivial things. No the REAL first controversy is over whether or not he will shelve the Presidential Bowling Alley in favor of upgraded Presidental basketball facilities. Seriously folks, you can't make this stuff up. From the Wing Nut Journal Wall Street Journal:

"It would be a sad, sad day" if Mr. Obama scrapped the bowling lane, says Jim Sturm, president of the Bowling Proprietors' Association of America and owner of two bowling centers in Charleston, W.Va. "I think his political analysts ought to take a long look at removing [it]. It could have a long-term impact on his political prospects."

Yeah, THATS what Obama should be worried about in his first term. Screw the economy, screw foreign policy, screw the housing and jobs crises, the future of the bowling industry is actually the what most of America is worried about! I wouldn't use the Wall Street Journal to clean up dog poo at this point real talk.

My Prediction For Morning Joe

Today on with This Week with George Stephanopoulos, Mr Stephanopolous reveals that he has been briefed on the report detailing the communications between President Elect Obama's staff and disgraced Illinois Governer Rod Blagojevich's office. According to Stephanopoulos:

Sources tell me that the Obama team's review of contacts with Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich will show that Rahm Emanuel had only one phone conversation with Blagojevich.

The contact, described as a "pro-forma" courtesy call, came as Emanuel was named Chief of Staff for Obama. Most of the discussion concerned Emanuel's Congressional seat (which had previously been held by Blagojevich), with only a "passing reference" to the Senate vacancy, according to these sources. No deal for the Senate vacancy was discussed

snip

Sources also confirm that Emanuel made the case for picking Obama confidante Valerie Jarrett during at least one of the conversations. In the course of that conversation, Harris asked if in return for picking Jarrett, "all we get is appreciation, right?" "Right," Emanuel responded.

Now I am sure that the case could be made that perhaps Obama's staff cooked the books on the list of contacts. Short of having access to the actual wiretaps that is a plausible point. But my bet is Joe Scarborough and his cohorts on Morning Joe won't even look for a plausible course of thought. No my bet is instead of this information exhonerating Rahm Emanuel, they will paint this as actually being an indictment of Rahm Emanuel. And then a guest, perhaps Pat Buchanan will say what a cloud this puts of Obama's incoming administration and how Rahm needs to come out and explain why he didn't do anything wrong.

When it happens tomorrow remember you heard it here first folks.

(h/t Coates and huffpo)

Finally The Truth Comes Out

Thank you again Media Matters for illustrating the hypocrisy of Rick Warren's rhetoric on Prop 8 in California. LGBT activists would do well to bang this drum instead of trying to demean President Elect Barack Obama for inviting Warren to do the invocation at the inauguration IMHO. The more people learn that he was lying through his teeth the more he will lose his prestige and the trust of the people that follow him. From Media Matters:

During her December 19 Dateline NBC report on Rev. Rick Warren, after noting Warren's support for California's Proposition 8 -- which amended the state constitution to ban same-sex marriage -- co-host Ann Curry reported that "Warren says he joined the fray out of a concern that if Proposition 8 wasn't passed, pastors would lose their right to preach about the biblical definition of marriage." Curry then added, "But many constitutional experts say that fear was totally unfounded, and gay rights leaders saw Warren's stance as an infringement on their civil rights." As Media Matters for America documented, while previewing her interview with Warren the day before, Curry uncritically reported that Warren "was worried that this Proposition 8 would prevent him from getting up on the pulpit and speaking out against same-sex marriage," echoing the falsehood that had Proposition 8 not passed, members of the clergy could have been restricted in what they could say in the pulpit and could have been forced to perform same-sex marriages.

In fact, Proposition 8 and the California Supreme Court decision it sought to overturn had nothing to do with members of the clergy, and did not address their actions or speech in any way. As Media Matters has documented, the California Supreme Court itself noted the irrelevance of its decision to clergy, saying in the majority opinion that "no religion will be required to change its policies or practices with regard to same-sex couples, and no religious officiant will be required to solemnize a marriage in contravention of his or her religious beliefs."

Like E.F. Hutton...

President Elect Barack Obama's weekly radio/youtube address.

Ill Take You There!

So this clown ass muthafucka John Cloud of TIME magazine gets his dumb ass on the 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue on MSNBC and proceeds to talk about an article he wrote today in which he called President Elect Barack Obama a bigot because of this Rick Warren shit. Not only does he not apologize for it when pressed by David Shuster, but he actually DEFENDS the characterization. Now wouldn't you know it I am seeing the same kind of sentiment floating around the blogosphere. Lets set aside for a moment that John Cloud is the same asshole who put the very bigoted Ann Coulter on the front page of TIME magazine, exactly who died and gave this asshole the right to judge? The premise seems to be that Obama is for depriving gay people of equal rights. Well let me be the first to call BULLSHIT.

This situation is quickly turning into the most unhelpful kind of WEAK ASS SAUCE as I could have possibly imagined. Well you know what, Im going to say what a lot of people evidently won't. Not being able to use the word "marriage" when you enjoy all the same benefits of marriage is NOT a civil rights matter. PEOTUS Barack Obama favors civil unions. Civil unions grant gay couples the EXACT SAME RIGHTS as heterosexual married couples. If they don't then show me what priviege a married couple enjoys that a gay couple in a civil union does not. And if you are so got damned stupid that you think that not being able to use the word marriage to define your relationship IS a civil rights issue then that is YOUR fault not his.

The truth is, at this point I hope the whole lot of the stupid assholes that are calling Obama a bigot pledge right here and now not to vote for him in four years. The truth is nobody needs your short sighted opportunistic ass in the first place. All you want is someone to pander to you or else you will resort to calling names. The truth is you are NO BETTER than Rick Warren. Just because you are for gay rights don't mean you can say whatever the fuck you want. If you want to know who the bigot is look in a damn mirror. If you have that funny feeling in your stomach that this post about you then assume that is is and bring it. This is why Democrats can't ever DO shit because stupid muthafuckas always want THEIR asses kissed and then start whining when its not. Barack Obama's actual voting record and history on LGBT issues can hardly be questioned. But now he is a bigot because he doesn't want to use the word marriage to define YOUR relationship.

Well BOO FUCKING HOO.

Read up on Jim Crow and find out about some REAL oppression. When gay folks can't drink from the same water fountains as straight folks holla at me. When gay folks can't eat in the same restaurant as straight folks holla at me. When gay folks can't vote like straight folks holla at me. But as for this weak shit about not being able to use the word marriage you can for damn sure keep it to yourself.

I can tell you right now that probably half of what I just wrote doesn't make the best of sense but some how I'll bet you get the fucking picture. So if you got something to say come with it. Because I have PLENTY to get off my chest behind this dumb shit.

And I will say this one mo time for the cheap seats. If you really think Barack Obama is a bigot then DON'T FUCKING VOTE FOR HIM NEXT TIME.

Otherwise do us ALL a favor and Shut. The. Fuck. Up.

No Mo GITMO

From the Washington Post we find that Robert Gates has directed the Penatagon to draw up plans to shut down GITMO. I have to say that this is long overdue but its great to see President Elect Obama following through on one of his campain promises. Now about that playoff system in College Football...

The Pentagon is drawing up plans to shut the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to be prepared for any order from President-elect Barack Obama, who has promised to close the controversial facility after he assumes office Jan. 20, a defense official said yesterday.
Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates instructed his staff to have a blueprint in place by the time of the inauguration in case Obama decides the closure of the facility is one of his "first orders of business," said Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell.

Gates "has asked his team for a proposal on how to shut it down -- what would be required specifically to close it and move the detainees from that facility while at the same time, of course, ensuring that we protect the American people from some dangerous characters," Morrell said at a news briefing.

Any plan will probably address whether to also abolish the military commission system and, if so, what kind of legal framework can be substituted to put detainees on trial.

Why Im Meh About Rick Warren

John Cole over at Balloon Juice hits the ball out of the park about why Rick Warren giving the invocation at the inauguration doesn't give me the willies. Its about President Elect Barack Obama, not about Rick Warren.

I just heard Harry Knox from the Human Rights Campaign on CNN state that Barack Obama has just told gays and lesbians that they are not welcome. This is not only obnoxious and silly, but factually it is not the case:

Barack Obama and Gay Rights in Illinois:
Barack Obama supported gay rights during his Illinois Senate tenure. He sponsored legislation in Illinois that would ban discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.

Barack Obama in the United States Senate:
Every two years the Human Rights Campaign, the largest national gay and lesbian organization, issues a scorecard for members of the Senate based on their sponsorship and voting on key issues of importance to gay and lesbian citizens. Barack Obama scored 89 out of 100% in the 2006 scorecard. Here’s how HRC rated Barack Obama:

Barack Obama on Hate Crimes:
Barack Obama co-sponsored legislation to expand federal hate crimes laws to include crimes perpetrated because of sexual orientation and gender identity.

Employment Non-Discrimination:
Barack Obama supports the Employment Non-Discrimination Act and believes it should be expanded to include sexual orientation and gender identity.

The list goes on over at Cole's site and I think this is needed for folks to keep their perspective in all this. I am concerned about policy not symbols and Obama has already shown himself to be a friend to the LGBT movement. For people to say otherwise is actually a slap to HIS face in my opinion.

Who Woulda Thunk It?

Just saw President Elect Barack Obama on the Tee Vee introducing members of his financial team in a press conference. But get this, when the Q & A session started he took several questions and all of them were on relevant topics and he answered ever one of them (even the tricky one about having Rick Warren at the inauguration) fully and thoughtfully. I guess the press can be trained if you show them what happens when you bring the WEAK SAUCE. Maybe this can start to become a trend.


Well I can dream can't I?

Is Rick Warren Welcome In The Log Cabin?

I will be honest, the selection by President Elect Barack Obama of Rick Warren to deliver the invocation at the inauguration doesn't really move me the way it has some liberals. I understand the outrage because of his recent comments about >homosexuality and gay marriage(although he did endorse civil unions) but the truth IMHO is that there are a helluva lot more preachers in this country who agree with his views on those issues than those who disagree (also I am at least AS troubled by his comments endorsing the assassination of world leaders). And I also understand that there are a lot of rank and file citizens in this country who believe in granting gay couples at least civil unions who have at least one of Warren's books in their home and or office. The truth to me is that ANYBODY who was chosen would be a controversial pick due to all of the "Obama is a Moooslem" smears and the whole Reverend Wright fiasco. The most important thing about the selection to me is that it will resonate with the largest swath of America. You can agree with a religious leader on many issues without agreeing him on others and there are a lot of people who feel like "Purpose Driven Life" has really helped them in their day to day.

But what thing I am wondering about is where are the Log Cabin Republicans these days? These are people who support a Republican party that wants to act as if they don't even exist. If you listen to 99% of Republican officials you would think that all gay people are lefty librul Democrats intent on ruining America. Newt Gingrich, supposedly a leading Republican "thinker", has said there is gay people who want gay marriage are fascists who want to "impose their will on America". Talk about voting against your personal interests. To me it would be like a section of black folks supporting the Dixiecrats back in the day because they wanted to pay lower taxes for their segregated schools. I. Just. Don't. Get. It.

So Log Cabiners, on this Rick Warren issue, what say you?

Update: Ta Nehisi Coates over at the Atlantic points out that Pastor Joe Lowery, who is an outspoken supporter of gay rights, will also be on the inauguration program giving the benediction. I am waiting to see if the liberals who are throwing Obama under the bus will at least give him his props for that.

The Questions That Have To Be Answered!

I think its time to look at the anatomy of the "scandal" that President Elect Barack Obama is currently embroiled in (according to talking heads on cable news) involving disgraced Governer of Illinois Rod Blagojevich.

Lets take it from the top.

First we have Mark Halperin coming out and chastising the media (of which he is a part of) for being in the tank for Barack Obama during the Presidential campaign. I believe the word he used was "disgusted".

Then on December 10th Governer of Illinois Rod Blagojevich is arrested by federal authorities on corruption charges.

Then on the same day the seventy eight page indictment is released to the public.

Also on the same day United States Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald the prosecutor of Scooter Libby in his perjury trial, holds a press conference anouncing details of the investigation. At this time he drops the bomb shell that Gov. Blagojevich was caught on wire taps trying to sell Barack Obama's open Senate seat.

Fitzgerald then goes to great pains to warn the press not to associate President Elect Barack Obama with the Blagojevich scandal because his investigation has found no wrong doing on Obama's part.

The press proceeds to associate President Elect Barack Obama with the Blagojevich scandal.

Obama who has been in meetings all that morning with former Vice President Al Gore trying to come up with ways to help solve our global warming problems as well as seeking counsel on green energy initiatives comes out to do a press conference. When asked directly about the arrest of Rod Blagojevich Obama responds that he has had no contact with Rod Blagojevich and that he is saddened to hear of the arrest.

The press interpret this as Barack Obama being sympathetic to Rod Blagojevich.

The press then scurry off to scour the internet where they find a clip of Obama advisor David Axlerod from a couple of weeks earlier saying he knew Barack Obama had met with Rod Blagojevich. The clip is then used to show that "obviously" Barack Obama had lied about meeting with Rod Blagojevich about paying him so that Blagojevich would install Valarie Jarrett into the Senate seat.

The next day Joe Scarborough on his MSNBC show "Morning Joe" leads the charge alledging that Obama must have done something wrong. He starts flogging an article from 2002 written by Chris Cilliza in which Scarborough says Rahm Emanuel claimed he and Obama ran Blagojevich's gubenatorial campaign. No one notices that Obama was a State Senator at the time not a campaign manager. Nor do they notice that Obama endorsed Blagojevich's opposition in the primary that year. Then he and Pat Buchannan spend the rest of the three hours of the show assailing Obama for not coming out harder against Blagojevich.

Rick Sanchez uses his time on CNN to try to get his moniker for the scandal, "Blago gate", to catch on.

The day after that President Elect Barack Obama comes out and slams Blagojevich and says he thinks its best if he steps down at a press conference announcing Tom Daschle to lead HHS in his administration . In response to a question Obama asserts that his office was initiating an internal investigation to document each and every contact his office has had with Blagojevich and or his office that he will provide to the press at its conclusion. He further reasserts that he had not had any contact with Blagojevich and that he firmly believed that no one in his office engaged in pay to play with him pointing out the racy language Blagojevich used to signify that fact in the wire tapped conversations.

The press takes the news of an internal investigation the fruits of which having been pledged to be presented for public consumption as further proof of Obama's complicity and his willingness to hide it.

Going into and during the weekend different talking heads and print media journalists forecast clouds to hang over Obama's head until the content of the internal investigation is presented. They also baselessly speculated that Rahm Emanuel was the person who had contact with Blagojevich over pay to play regarding the Senate Seat.

On Monday morning December 15th Scarborough is back at it flogging the "Obama is hiding something" meme. But curiously another conversation emerges between Scarborough and Buchannan about whether or not what Blagojevich did was even illegal. Scarborough asserts that from his experience many politicians including himself say stuff out of frustration which may be just blowing off steam. After going back and forth about how Blagojevich might not have "really" done anything wrong Scarborough and his cohorts go back to hitting Barack Obama for not releasing the information found in an investigation that had not yet been completed.

On the same day Obama's transition team releases a statement asserting that they were done with the investigation and had sent it to Fitzgerald to be vetted at which time he asked that they not release the investigation for another week. Because they wanted to respect the investigation Obama's team decided to honor the request. The press release also asserted that the results of the investigation confirmed Obama's assertion that no one on his team had engaged in any innappropriate contact with Blagojevich or his office.

Rick Sanchez read the press release on his show and focused on the word inappropriate and decided that it was a problematic. This besides the fact that the opposite of innapropriate is appropriate. I am still trying to figure out how Obama's team having appropriate contact would be a problem but I digress.

Many other media members pick up on Sanchez's vibe and start railing against Obama not revealing what appropriate contacts his team had with Blago and or his office.

President Elect Obama holds a press conference to announce the selections of Steven Chu as his pick to head the Department of Energy, Lisa Jackson as administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, Carol Browner as assistant to the president for energy and climate change and tapped Nancy Sutley as chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality. After the introductions are done Obama takes a question about the Blagojevich scandal and he refers to the press release and the request by Fitzgerald to not release the contents of the investigation until next week.

The press is undeterred.

A day later the press is back at it outraged that Obama had the nerve to actually honor the request of a U.S. Attorney to hold back on releasing the results of his internal investigation. This despite the fact that many of those same media members were saying just a few days prior that the only valid reason Obama could have for not talking about the case would be if Fitzgerald had asked him not to. Never once does any talking head or print journalist ever say what the problem would be with Obama's transition team having contact with Blagojevich. Its enough for them that the contacts were not released that they need not worry about silly issues like that.

The next day Obama holds another press conference to announce his pick for Education Secretary, Arne Duncan. Again he is asked about Blagojevich. Before the journalist can get out his question however Obama stops him and repeats what he has already said about not talking about the contexts until they are released in the next week because he wanted to honor Fitzgeralds request.

This time the press is outraged. "We gotta get tough with him" says one. "There are questions he has to answer" says another. "The honeymoon is over" declares one more.

So to recap, Blagojevich is caught on tape calling Obama a mother bleeper for not being willing to pay for someone to go to the Senate, U.S. Attorney Fitzgerald comes out and says Obama wasn't involved, Obama says he wasn't involved, Obama announces he will make public an internal investigation into the contacts his team has had with Blagojevich instead of just making a blanket statement that nobody had done anything wrong and putting the onus on the press to try to dig up the information, Obama agrees to hold off a week in releasing the list of contacts at Fitzgeralds request, and Obama refuses to answer questions about the list at press conference because he wants to respect Fitzgeralds request.

And for this our free press wants us to be outraged?

Well here are my questions that needsto be answered. Why in the hell does it matter? What does it matter if he hands the press the contacts today or next week? Does anyone think he is never coming back from vacation? Does anyone believe that he is going to be able to avoid the press for the next four years? Does anyone TRULY believe that he engaged in pay to play with Blagojevich?

The media in the last week has gone from woefully inept and spineless during the Bush administration to hyperactive with Obama and his incoming administration. It seems that they are going out of their way to give this none story legs just to prove to the Halperins and Sean Hannitys of the world that they don't have a liberal bias and that they aren't in the tank for Obama. The truth is all they are doing is lowering their only low bar and proving themselves to be even more inept and spineless. The stories generated by this scandal that try to tie Blagojevich to Obama do nothing but prove that the media will waste no opportunity to pander to the right wing of this country. Of course many of these same members of the press are working for corportions that are now undergoing financial problems. There was a time when I had empathy for them, but not any more. The press in this country have been failing us for the last 8 years and from the looks of them they will be failing us for the next. Coming out trying to invent a scandal about the incoming President does NOT show that you are getting tougher or that you are not in the tank. All it really shows is that the journalists that engage in that behavior are more interested looking tough than looking competent.

And to think there was a time in this country when most of the journalists were both.

Yes He Is, Wait No He Isn't

Dana Milbank of the Washington Post has a column today entitled "Obama's Pressers: No Comment -- and NoDoz" about President Elect Barack Obama's refusal to answer any questions yesterday about the Rod Blagojevich scandal after his press conference. From reading the article one can only conclude that Milbank is a recent graduate of the Politico School of Journalism. I just have to wonder if ANYBODY actually reads their own articles nowadays before they are presented for publishing. You have to work really really hard to do the kind of 180 degree turn Milbank did in his article about whether or not Obama is treating the media like President Bush has, without getting a bad case of whiplash. Check the contradiction.

First he gives us this gem of a paragraph implying that Barack Obama is a Bush clone when it comes to the media. (And don't forget the sexist and thoroughly innapropriate skirt comment)

There's no denying Obama's team has an impressive starting five: Duncan (6-foot-5), incoming national security adviser James Jones and body man Reggie Love (both 6-foot-4) all played college basketball, while Attorney General-designate Eric Holder and U.N. Ambassador-designate Susan Rice played high school ball. But Obama's response to Blagojevich questions has been decidedly junior varsity. Begging off because of an ongoing investigation? Hiding behind Patrick Fitzgerald's skirt? Warning a reporter not to "waste" a question and asking for an alternative question? All four techniques were popularized by Bush.

But then a mere eight sentences later we get this insight implying that Obama is NOTHING like Bush when it comes to the media.

The charge may be premature. Obama has proved himself to be far more willing to take questions than Bush, and if he makes good on his promise to release the full account of his aides' Blagojevich ties -- even on Christmas Eve -- it will be a major improvement in transparency over the current administration.

So which is it Mr. Milbank? Is Barack Obama a Bush clone or is he the anti-Bush? People have debated for the last few weeks why the Big 3 auto makers are in financial distress but writing like Milbank's in this article illustrates to me EXACTLY why many of the major newspaper companies find themselves in a similar situation. And at this point because of that poor level of journalism I have little to no empathy for hacks like him.

Liar Liar Scarborough's Pants En Fuego

You gotta love how Joe Scarboroughtries to sell himself, much like Bill O, as a paragon of media integrity. For the past two weeks Joe on his MSNBC show "Morning Joe" has helped to lead the charge in the baseless smearing of President Elect Barack Obama with some manufactured ties to disgraced Illinois Governer Rod Blagojevich. Interestingly enough Scarborogh has also been pointing to his bonafides as having held the Bush administration to account for the Valarie Plame scandal as proof of his "fair and balanced" approach (Seriously, FoxNews was MADE for this guy). But you know, as a somewhat frequent watcher of Morning Joe (its like a train wreck, I just can't turn away) I could never remember such a time when he was trying to shine a light on the cover up of the Valarie Plame scandal. So of course I used "the google" and whaddyaknow, the guy is, once again, lying through his frikkin teeth. Thank you God for giving us MediaMatters so slimeballs like Joe Scarborough can't get away with this kind of blatant revisionist history. This is from February of this year:

Summary: In again refusing to acknowledge that former White House senior political adviser Karl Rove was involved in leaking the identity of former CIA operative Valerie Plame to conservative columnist Robert D. Novak, MSNBC's Joe Scarborough falsely suggested that Rove was not a source for Novak.

snip

During an interview with Novak on the July 18, 2007, edition of Morning Joe, Scarborough suggested that Rove had played no role in the leaking of Plame's identity, saying that the press "followed [the CIA leak investigation] like a pack of dogs talking about was it Rove, is it [Vice President Dick] Cheney, is it [President] Bush, who was it, who was it, and when they found out it was [then-Deputy Secretary of State Richard] Armitage, everybody kind of yawned and went on."

The next day, after Media Matters for America pointed out that Scarborough had falsely suggested that Rove was not involved, Scarborough claimed that Media Matters was "very upset because of my interview yesterday with Bob Novak, talking about the narrative that the left wing had for a very long time that this whole Valerie Plame leak was a diabolical plot hatched by Karl Rove." Scarborough later introduced Novak -- appearing for the second straight day on the show -- and said he was "[h]ere to clear that up and talk about his book, Prince of Darkness [Crown Forum, July 2007]." In response to questioning from Scarborough, Novak explained that Rove was his confirming source.

snip

SCARBOROUGH: All right, so here we have John McCain proving once again that he's a liberal, and I'll tell you why. Because liberals have spent the past 30 years calling Bob Novak a liar. And every time liberals call Bob Novak a liar, they're the ones who end up with egg on their face. I remember during the Valerie Plame episode. Remember, Bob Novak told us from the beginning, "This wasn't an ideologue that gave me the name. This wasn't Karl -- this wasn't a Bush operation." And liberals, "Oh, he's lying, da da da da da." And then remember earlier this year, Bob Novak -- and, of course, Novak was right. The liberals were wrong. And then earlier this year, you had Bob Novak talking about how the Clintons were shopping dirt on Obama.

Im Not Buying It!

Newt Gingrich is not your friend. People need to say that over and over whilst looking in the mirror until 2010 gets here. The guy is trying to pull an "okie doke" and come off like he is rational and reasonable. Bull Effin Shit. This is the same guy who was gay gay baiting a couple of weeks ago. The same guy who jumped on the "Obama is a socialist train and damn near tried to be the conductor. This is the same guy who called Spanish "the language of the ghetto". This is also the genius who brought us "Drill here Drill now"So excuse me if I don't get all fluttery inside when he chides the RNC for attacking President Elect Obama over Blago Gate. Lets check out Daddy Gingrich chiding his kids over at the RNC.

In a time when America is facing real challenges, Republicans should be working to help the incoming President succeed in meeting them, regardless of his Party.
From now until the inaugural, Republicans should be offering to help the President-elect prepare to take office.
Furthermore, once President Obama takes office, Republicans should be eager to work with him when he is right, and, when he is wrong, offer a better solution, instead of just opposing him.

snip

This ad is a terrible signal to be sending about both the goals of the Republican Party in the midst of the nation's troubled economic times and about whether we have actually learned anything from the defeats of 2006 and 2008.

Blah Blah Blah. Blow it out your arse Newt Gingrich. Just a little over a month or so ago you were trying to paint Obama as terrorist sympathizer and a socialist. In comparison I have to say that the RNC attack ad not only was lame but a lot tamer in its accusations. Newt Gingrich is the same race baiting Dixiecrat that he has always been and he is just trying to lull everyone in to a false sense of security so they actually pay attention to his wingnut fantasies again.

If you think I am the only one who is skeptical check out this comment from an unnamed Republican strategist who was asked his opinion on the letter from Sam Stein at the Huffington Post.

"I think that Newt wants a change at the RNC, and it is an intervention in the RNC race."

I couldn't have said it any better myself.

President Elect Obama's Transition Team Releases Statement on Blagojevich Contacts, Pundits Salivate

Word has just come down that President Elect Barack Obama's transition team has released a statement regarding the their report on any contacts between their office and disgraced Illinois Rod Blagojevich's office. It seems that the report is ready to go but after a revue US Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald has asked them to hold off on releasing report until next week so as to not impede his investigation. Now let me quote from a portion of the press release.

"At the direction of the President-elect, a review of Transition staff contacts with Governor Blagojevich and his office has been conducted and completed and is ready for release. That review affirmed the public statements of the President-elect that he had no contact with the governor or his staff, and that the President-elect's staff was not involved in inappropriate discussions with the governor or his staff over the selection of his successor as US Senator.

Now Karen Tumulty at TIME'S Swampland blogs characterized the report like so.

(I'm told it turned out to be "pretty milquetoast stuff.")

So now the report is ready, it has been reviewed by USA Fitzgerald, and supposedly its "milque toast stuff". Do you think any of that will stop the talking heads from continuing to frame this story as harmful to President Elect Obama? Of course not.

There is a reason why I highlighted the quote from the press release. No sooner than I had read the post on Swampland, I hear Rick Sanchez on CNN parsing the word "inappropriate" in the statement to frame it as mysterious. Mind you on most days I enjoy Sanchez, especially when he was in rare form during the election season. But the media are in straight group think mode right now and Blago Gate and its supposed negative effects on PEOTUS Obama is the ruling meme of the day. I can only imagine how that statement, that to any reasonable person reads as a confirmation of the absence any wrong doing, will be twisted by this time tomorrow into being an indictment on Obama and his whole transition team.

Clinton Rules are in full effect baby. But somehow I believe that Obama is strong enough to weather the storm.