May 22, 2012
FSM HOT TOPICS
Exclusive: Saturday, August 2
by PRESIDENTIAL WATCH August 2, 2008
Obama Trip: No Gain for the Democrat, No Pain for McCain - Read RASMUSSEN REPORT HERE.
The Destroyer of Worlds
Tony Blankley, JWR.com
Among the more popular human attributes that many religions condemn is the human desire to possess material things. (Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's oxen or wives, etc.) And most religions remind us that we are all brothers and sisters of one humanity.
But man persists in liking to have things and organizing around groups smaller than humanity. Specifically, modern Western civilization — and the United States, in particular — has done rather well organizing into nations and permitting its people to be free to produce and keep most of the fruits of our labor.
Reading Obama's Berlin speech, I see dangerous suggestions that he doesn't share that happy view of American prosperity. As he said, while he came to Berlin as "a proud citizen of the United States," he also came to Berlin as "a fellow citizen of the world." Putting aside the thought that a rally in Berlin in front of a quarter-million glistening-eyed, bosom-clenching, swooning Germans is a historically awkward spot for a leader to proclaim his worldwide goals for tomorrow, his actual words are disconcerting enough — even if they had been delivered in peaceful Switzerland.
He said: "The walls between the countries with the most and those with the least cannot stand. The walls between … natives and immigrants … cannot stand. These now are the walls we must tear down. We know that these walls have fallen before. After centuries of strife, the people of Europe have formed a union of promise and prosperity."
That last sentence would suggest that Obama is not terribly keen about nation-states. Read article.
McCain: Hey, how about a Nuremberg trial for Bin Laden?
Allah Pundit, Hot Air.com
Sen. John McCain on Friday said as president he would consider bringing Osama bin Laden to justice through a Nuremberg-like international trial.
He told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer, “We have various options. The Nuremberg Trials are certainly an example of the kind of tribunal that we could move forward with. I don’t think we’d have any difficulty in devising an international — internationally supported mechanism that would mete out justice. There’s no problem there.”
McCain said it would be a “good thing to reveal to the world the enormity of this guy’s crimes, and his intentions, which are still there.”
However, earlier, the McCain campaign issued this statement issued as a response to Obama’s own Nuremberg comments:
"Unfortunately, it is clear Senator Obama does not understand what happened at the Nuremburg trials and what procedures were followed. There was no habeas at Nuremburg and there should be no habeas for Osama bin Laden.
"Let me be clear, under my administration Osama bin Laden will either be killed on the battlefield or executed."
Which position does John McCain favor? Read article.
Odds on Favorite, Maybe Not
Linda Chavez, Patriot Post.us
The professional odds-makers favor Barack Obama two-to-one to win the election. It's no wonder. Americans overwhelmingly believe the country is on the wrong track. They can't stand the current Republican occupant of the White House. The economy is weak and shows little sign of getting significantly stronger before the election. The country is fighting an unpopular war. And Obama, as he reminds us every time he opens his mouth, is all about “change."
So why hasn't Obama closed the deal? Most national polls show Obama ahead -- but by margins so thin it can hardly give comfort to the putative front-runner. The latest NBC/Wall Street Journal poll of registered voters puts Obama up only six points overall, while the more reliable polls of likely voters -- the Rasmussen tracking poll and the ABC/Washington Post poll -- put it at a statistical tie within the margin of error. And Obama is losing his advantage in key battleground states.
A new Quinnipiac poll of likely voters for the Washington Post and Wall Street Journal found Obama losing eight points over his previous poll numbers a month earlier in Minnesota, dropping five points in Colorado and two points in both Michigan and Wisconsin. McCain has pulled ahead of Obama in Colorado, is within the margin of error in Minnesota, and is in striking distance in Michigan. Read article.
Great Expectations
Cal Thomas, Townhall.com
There is a reason the psalmist warned, "Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help." (Psalm 146:3)
It wasn't that he was cynical about humanity. It appears the writer observed that the best efforts of humankind were unable to produce the satisfaction people sought in earthly leaders.
Which brings us to the expectations surrounding Barack Obama.
It is a truism in politics that you are supposed to lower expectations in order to boost your political stock should you exceed them. Sen. Obama has done precisely the opposite. He has raised expectations so high there is only one way he can exceed them following his nomination in Denver. That is to climb to the top of a mountain peak, there to be transfigured and ascend into Heaven.
No wonder Jon Stewart lampooned his messianic personae on "The Daily Show," saying that while in Israel, Obama made a short visit to the manger in Bethlehem where he was born. Read article.
Vice President Tim Kaine?
Larry Sabato, Rasmussen Reports.com
We have no earthly idea if Virginia Governor Tim Kaine is Obama's choice for Vice President. All we know is that distinguished reporters who claim to have good sources are calling and saying that Kaine is on the short-short list.
Since the Crystal Ball is based in Virginia, and since we have followed Tim Kaine's career since it began on the Richmond City Council in 1994, we'll offer our readers a brief precis on what Kaine would add to the ticket, and what he would not, should the rumors prove accurate.
As with all potential Veep picks, there are pluses and minuses. Let's start with Kaine's advantages:
- Personal Chemistry
There can be little doubt that this is the main reason why Obama is looking at Kaine. The first state governor outside Obama's Illinois to endorse Obama for President, Kaine was immediately drawn to the Illinois senator because they are two peas in a political pod. Read article.
Why Obama Worries Iran
Pajamas Media.com
Ahmadinejad seems to need to use the nuclear program more and more to boost his standing at home.
One important factor behind this is Iran’s genuine worry about Barack Obama’s rising profile worldwide.
Until now, Tehran has been exploiting President Bush’s relative unpopularity in the international scene to its advantage. As far as Iranian strategists are concerned, the US will not invade Iran as it did Iraq. Therefore it only has one real option: to push for tough internationally backed economic sanctions.
President Bush has not been very successful in his effort to get the international community to do this. But Obama is turning out to be different. If he can pull tens of thousands of Germans out of their homes to welcome him in Berlin, there is more of a chance that he could get their government to support his message to Tehran to “take U.S. engagement seriously.” Read article.
Final Report on Obama Birth Certificate
Atlas Shrugs.com
Techdude delivers a final report that exceeds my wildest expectations. It is irrefutable, empirical evidence - Obama's birth certificate is a forgery. Why? Why a COLB (certificate of live birth) forgery? That is the question.
My deepest thanks and appreciation for Techdude's unwavering commitment to the truth, despite the threats and harassment, the slashed tires and the dead animal on his porch.
Insofar as "techdude's" credentials, he is an active member of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, American College of Forensic Examiners, The International Society of Forensic Computer Examiners, International Information Systems Forensics Association - the list goes on. He also a board certified as a forensic computer examiner, a certificated legal investigator, and a licensed private investigator. He has been performing computer based forensic investigations since 1993 (although back then it did not even have a formal name yet) and he has performed countless investigations since then. Read article.
Can McCain Back Into Another Win?
Robert D. Novak, NY Post.com
Barack Obama is a magnetic candidate supported by a disciplined, well-organized campaign. John McCain seems wooden, with a campaign that appears to be in shambles. Yet Obama's lead in the polls over McCain is fragile because he so far hasn't won the support of a majority of voters.
An effective, massively publicized foreign trip failed to push Obama to the 50 percent mark. Hopes of Democrats and fears of Republicans that he'd get a major bounce in the polls when he clinched the nomination or on his campaigning abroad haven't been realized.
Overnight surveys by Gallup and Rasmussen the last two weeks have shown Obama at around 46 percent, while McCain has dropped from 45 percent to 41 percent - for a 6-point deficit that is by no means insurmountable.
These numbers have prompted speculation by GOP political practitioners that McCain can back into the presidency, as he backed into the nomination. Read article.
Presidential Nominees
Paul Weyrich, Townhall.com
Whatever one thought of President Richard M. Nixon, political advice was worth considering. One cannot help but think of the late President as one observes the current race for the Presidency. Nixon suggested multiple times that a potential Presidential nominee run to the left or right in obtaining the Presidential nomination, but upon securing the nomination the candidate should run to the center, as that is where the majority of the electorate is. He pointed to Barry M. Goldwater who ran hard to the right to secure the nomination in 1964 but failed to run toward the center and was crushed in the general election. He highlighted George S. McGovern who ran hard to the left to secure the Democratic nomination in 1972 but who continued to run to the left in the general election and was defeated by Nixon.
Those who disagree with Nixon often point to President Ronald W. Reagan who ran to the right to win the nomination in Detroit in 1980 but did not move to the center for the general election and yet crushed the incumbent Jimmy Carter. One can argue Nixon's advice with case studies. The fact is that most candidates of either party tend to follow it. And so it is with Senator Barack H. Obama (D-IL), who ran to the left of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) to win the Democratic nomination but who has since galloped to the center. Guess what? It is working. A colleague expressed amazement that more of an issue has not been made of Obama's move to the center. He expected Obama to lose support from the left over his centrist moves. Read article.
Silly Rankings Tab Obama ‘Most Liberal’ Senator
Stephen Silver, Northstar Writers.com
When Sen. John McCain was asked last week by the Kansas City Star if he believes his opponent, Sen. Barack Obama is a socialist, he gave an interesting answer: “I don't know.”
What was McCain's reasoning? According to the paper, the Republican nominee explained that “his voting record . . . is more to the left than the announced socialist in the United States Senate, Bernie Sanders of Vermont.”
In the same interview, he elaborated that Obama's Senate record is not only the most liberal, but is “the most extreme.” And if someone is an extreme liberal, then they must be a socialist.
Where did McCain get this idea? It's the gift that keeps on giving to conservatives for the second straight election cycle: The National Journal's annual Vote Ratings survey. In the rankings for 2007, Obama is ranked the most liberal senator of the 100, despite ranking 16th in 2005 and tying for 10th in 2006. Somewhat bizarrely, the 2004 Democratic nominee, John Kerry, ranked the most liberal in the same survey despite having finished lower previously. Read article.
The Sixties Won’t Go Away: What more can anyone say about the 1960s and all its legacies?
Victor Davis Hanson, NRO.com
Those who protested some 40 years ago often still congratulate themselves that their loud zeal alone brought needed “change” to America in civil rights, the environment, women’s liberation, and world peace. Maybe. But critics counter that the larger culture that followed was the most self-absorbed in memory.
Everyone can at least agree that the spirit of the “Me Generation” is not going quietly into the night — especially since that generation ushered in a certain coarseness and self-righteousness that still plagues our politics.
Barack Obama, a child during the ’60s, is imbued nonetheless with that decade’s “hope and change” messianic sermonizing. Now he wants a new mammoth government-funded “civilian national security force,” one “that’s just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-funded” as the Pentagon.
Sounds utopian, but at a time of record aggregate national debt, are we really going to borrow another half-trillion dollars a year to fund a kinder, gentler version of the military? Read article.
Muslim world's view of Obama
Chad Groening, OneNewsNow.com
The New Yorker magazine cover shows Obama dressed as a Muslim, and his wife Michelle dressed in fatigues with an assault rifle strapped over her shoulder. The two are doing a fist bump in the Oval Office, a picture of Osama bin Laden hangs on the mantle, and an American flag burns in the fireplace.
While the magazine has stated the cover was meant to be a satirical lampoon of the caricature Obama's opponents have tried to create, an Obama campaign spokesman has called it "tasteless and offensive." John McCain's campaign spokesman agreed with that assessment. But Brigitte Gabriel, founder of Act for America, says the cover is actually an accurate portrayal of how Obama is viewed in the Muslim world. "The Muslim world does look at Obama as a Muslim," she contends. Read article.
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The #twittergulag saga continues: @gopfirecracker suspended, others still trapped
May 21, 2012 11:54 PM
#freegopfirecracker #freegopfirecracker #freegopfirecracker #freegopfirecracker— Dale Holt (@DaleHolt8) May 22, 2012 Come on conservatives! Everyone rallied around @ChrisLoesch when he was suspended! Now its @gopfirecracker so stand up! #freegopfirecracker— Schmoop (@RGSchmoop) May 22, 2012 Hey @twitter and @support – #FreeGOPfirecracker's account has been suspended. Please fix this mishap. Thank you.— Gabriella Hoffman (@Gabby_Hoffman) May 22, 2012 [...]
Cory Booker tweets #IStandWithObama; Hashtag hijackers flood the zone
May 21, 2012 11:39 PM
Newark, N.J., Mayor Cory Booker, the Democrat who defended Bain from the Obama campaign's attacks yesterday morning, has been backpedaling more furiously than a clown on a high wire. Tonight, in an effort to mollify his critics on the Left, he posted four tweets that included the hashtag #IStandWithObama. Conservatives immediately took over the #IStandWithObama hashtag to mock President Obama, and within an hour it became a trending topic.
Cory Booker tries to clear up his position on Bain attacks
May 21, 2012 10:25 PM
Cory Booker continued his quest to run screaming away from the apparently too candid comments he made on Meet the Press on Sunday. Despite attempts earlier today to #FreeCoryBooker from those trying to force him to apologize Booker went on the Rachel Maddow show to do everything he could to walk back what he said. Que the mockery.
Obama's 'When you're president' picture spawns hashtag
May 21, 2012 09:59 PM
"When you're president, as opposed to the head of a private equity firm, then your job is not simply to maximize profits. Your job is to figure out how everybody in the country has a fair shot." -Barack Obama
Cue #WhenYouArePresident
Obama takes anti-Romney rant to Twitter
May 21, 2012 09:49 PM
It started off this morning with a video of a woman named Valerie from Indiana posted by Barack Obama’s official Twitter account. 12 hours, 12 tweets and a failed hashtag later, Obama’s reelection team took the day to tweet ongoing misinformation about Mitt Romney’s record in the private sector, specifically Bain Capital’s work with the [...]
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