U.S. Senator Barack Obama added another high-profile endorsement to his growing list of them, this one from the Dallas Morning News. Here's what the DMN wrote today:
We Recommend: Barack Obama
Barack Obama for the Democratic nomination
12:00 AM CST on Sunday, December 23, 2007
America is at a historic crossroads as a woman, a Hispanic and an African-American vie for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination. Two of those candidates, Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, were finalists for our recommendation – not because of ethnicity or gender but because they most closely aligned with our positions on major domestic and international issues.
Mr. Obama is our choice because of his consistently solid judgment, poise under pressure and ability to campaign effectively without resorting to the divisive politics of the past.
Race is not an overriding factor for us. But it is undeniable that America has failed to heal its racial wounds, including here in Dallas. We need a motivated leader capable of confronting the problem, and no candidate is better equipped than Mr. Obama. His message isn't about anger and retribution. It's about moving forward.
There's been lots of noise about his lack of experience. It is a legitimate concern, considering he's a 46-year-old first-term senator. But Mr. Obama's experience in elective office matches that of Abraham Lincoln before he became president. And he has served more time on Capitol Hill than four of the past five White House occupants.
If youthful inexperience were such a liability, it has failed to resonate despite his opponents' best efforts. Mrs. Clinton, by contrast, flip-flopped over a plan to give driver's licenses to illegal immigrants. Her campaign accepted donations from questionable sources. When Mr. Obama's support recently surged in early primary states, her campaign tried to smear him over drug use in his youth.
It's a tired ploy that has failed in four previous presidential elections. Bill Clinton twice won election after admitting he'd smoked (but not inhaled) marijuana. George W. Bush won despite an alcohol problem and drunken-driving conviction at age 30.
Mrs. Clinton called Mr. Obama "irresponsible" and "naive" for saying he would talk to leaders of rogue nations like Syria and Iran. Considering the current failed strategy of confrontation and diplomatic isolation, we think Mr. Obama is wise to include direct negotiations among his tools to reduce regional tensions.
Mr. Obama drew criticism for saying he would pursue terrorists, if necessary, by sending troops into Pakistan. The fact is, U.S. troops have been going into Pakistan for years in pursuit of terrorists. All Mr. Obama did, in effect, was to keep that option open for the future. To say otherwise is to declare Pakistan a sanctuary for America's enemies.
Mr. Obama, the son of a white American mother and black Kenyan father, spent part of his childhood in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim country.
His life experience gives him a unique perspective and a greater ability to build diplomatic bridges.
We don't always agree with his positions, but we recognize his potential to unite disparate political factions and restore cooperation between the White House and Capitol Hill.
Americans are tired of divisive, hard-edged politics. Democrats would inspire a refreshingly new approach by choosing Mr. Obama as their 2008 candidate.
Sunday, December 23, 2007
Barack Obama Ahead of Clinton in NH; McCain Gains On Romney in NH
Just on the heels of a poll that had Clinton ahead of Obama in New Hampshire and which I stated was misleading , USA Today / Gallup has released a new poll that reports Obama is ahead of Clinton 30 percent to 28 percent, according to the Boston Globe.
Meanwhile, John McCain is rising in the same state; he's only behind Mitt Romney by three percent, 28 percent to 25 percent.
Meanwhile, John McCain is rising in the same state; he's only behind Mitt Romney by three percent, 28 percent to 25 percent.
On CNN, Jennifer Donahue Blasts Hillary Clinton For Playing "Race Card" On Obama; Clinton Advisor David Gergen Can't Stand Truth
Jennifer Donahue, who's a political pundit and Senior Advisor for Political Affairs at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics, gets my award for a major act of courage.
Thursday night, on CNN's Anderson Cooper 360, Jennifer Donahue blasted the Hillary Clinton campaign for using the race card against Barack Obama in the 2008 Presidential Race. She was on the show with Cooper, Clinton Advisor and Political Consultant David Gergen, and CNN contributor Jeffrey Toobin. Whereas Toobin and Gergen were circumspect in their way of addressing the matter, Donahue was right on.
This seemed to rankle Gergen.
Gergen tried to hide his anger at the mere mention of race and Clinton campaign strategy, but he's angry because deep down he knows they've taken a path of trying to "Willie Horton" Barack Obama. Look, Gergen's a Clinton Advisor -- something Anderson Cooper didn't mention -- and this is the second time in as many weeks he's tried to protect or soften a person's attack of a Clinton campaign tactic, beit Carl Bernstein who claimed the Clinton's were being desperate, or now.
Gergen's openly using the CNN platform to help Hillary Clinton's campaign for president. Thus, he's fair game to be denounced.
The simple fact is that with the Clinton Campaign having both volunteers and paid campaign staffers who worked to launch a race-based smear campaign against Obama, starting with planting the idea that he's Muslim -- a total lie -- they have indeed played the "race card" and Gergen knows it.
For Gergen to argue otherwise is in itself advancing a lie. For CNN to allow Gergen to do this without revealing that he's a Clinton operative is just aiding and abetting the advance of the same lie.
I noticed that no one bothered to claim that Hillary Clinton was playing the "sex card" when she said the "boys were ganging up" on her.
Geez. David, you should know -- indeed, you do know -- that people make some views of others based on racial stereotypes and that the Clintons have been playing to those stereotypes.
To the woodshed with Gergen! His assertions to the contrary are an outrage! Thankfully, the main stream media, like the Washington Post , is picking up on this terrible approach.
Saturday, December 22, 2007
NY Jets WR Laveranues Coles Placed On IR - ESPN
Coles has a terrific statistical record, but needs to be on a team that knows how to employ his talent.
Ankle injury ends season two games early for Jets receiver Coles
By Len Pasquarelli
ESPN.com
Veteran wide receiver Laveranues Coles, who has battled through a high ankle sprain that has affected his productivity for the past month, was placed on injured reserve by the New York Jets on Saturday afternoon, ending his season with two games remaining.
One of the toughest players in the league, and blessed with a high threshold for pain, Coles nonetheless struggled after spraining his left ankle in a Nov. 18 game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Despite a noticeable limp at times, one that forced him to miss practice time, Coles stayed in the lineup.
He aggravated the injury last week when he fell off the training table on Saturday night at the team hotel, then attempted to play against the New England Patriots. Coles lasted only one offensive snap before he was forced to the sideline.
Earlier in the season, Coles, 29, suffered a head injury against Buffalo that forced him to miss one contest, snapping a streak of 104 consecutive appearances.
In 12 games this season, Coles, who is regarded as one of the veteran leaders in the New York locker room, had 55 catches for 646 yards and six touchdowns.
A former Florida State star, Coles was selected by the Jets in the third round of the 2000 draft. He signed with Washington as a restricted free agent in 2003, but then after two seasons with the Redskins was traded back to the Jets for wide receiver Santana Moss in a 2005 blockbuster deal.
The eight-year veteran has 561 receptions for 7,245 yards and 37 touchdowns in 121 regular-season games. He has seven straight seasons of 50 catches or more and has notched four seasons with 80-plus receptions and three years with 1,000 yards or more.
Len Pasquarelli covers the NFL for ESPN.com.
Ankle injury ends season two games early for Jets receiver Coles
By Len Pasquarelli
ESPN.com
Veteran wide receiver Laveranues Coles, who has battled through a high ankle sprain that has affected his productivity for the past month, was placed on injured reserve by the New York Jets on Saturday afternoon, ending his season with two games remaining.
One of the toughest players in the league, and blessed with a high threshold for pain, Coles nonetheless struggled after spraining his left ankle in a Nov. 18 game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Despite a noticeable limp at times, one that forced him to miss practice time, Coles stayed in the lineup.
He aggravated the injury last week when he fell off the training table on Saturday night at the team hotel, then attempted to play against the New England Patriots. Coles lasted only one offensive snap before he was forced to the sideline.
Earlier in the season, Coles, 29, suffered a head injury against Buffalo that forced him to miss one contest, snapping a streak of 104 consecutive appearances.
In 12 games this season, Coles, who is regarded as one of the veteran leaders in the New York locker room, had 55 catches for 646 yards and six touchdowns.
A former Florida State star, Coles was selected by the Jets in the third round of the 2000 draft. He signed with Washington as a restricted free agent in 2003, but then after two seasons with the Redskins was traded back to the Jets for wide receiver Santana Moss in a 2005 blockbuster deal.
The eight-year veteran has 561 receptions for 7,245 yards and 37 touchdowns in 121 regular-season games. He has seven straight seasons of 50 catches or more and has notched four seasons with 80-plus receptions and three years with 1,000 yards or more.
Len Pasquarelli covers the NFL for ESPN.com.
Friday, December 21, 2007
Family of girl to sue CIGNA over her death- Shameful
This is a classic, yet deadly and tragic case of when greed and financial circumstances clash with life.
Associated Press
The family of a 17-year-old girl who died hours after her health insurer reversed its previous decision and said it would pay for a liver transplant planned to sue CIGNA HealthCare, their attorney said Friday.
Attorney Mark Geragos said he also plans to ask the district attorney to press murder or manslaughter charges against CIGNA HealthCare for the death of Nataline Sarkisyan.
The insurer "maliciously killed her" because it did not want to bear the expense of her transplant and aftercare, Geragos said at a news conference outside his downtown Los Angeles office. He did not say when or in what court he would file the suit.
District Attorney spokeswoman Sandi Gibbons declined to comment on the request for murder or manslaughter charges, saying it would be inappropriate to do so until Geragos submits evidence supporting his request.
Nataline died Thursday at about 6 p.m. at the University of California, Los Angeles, Medical Center. She had been in a vegetative state for weeks before she was taken off life support at 5:20 p.m. with the family's approval.
Nataline had been battling leukemia and received a bone marrow transplant from her brother. She developed a complication, however, that caused her liver to fail.
Doctors at UCLA determined she needed a transplant and sent a letter to CIGNA on Dec. 11. The Philadelphia-based health insurance company denied payment for the transplant, saying the procedure was experimental and outside the scope of coverage.
"They took my daughter away from me," said Nataline's father, Krikor, who appeared at the news conference with his 21-year-old son, Bedros.
About 150 teenagers and nurses had protested outside CIGNA's office in Glendale on Thursday. As the protesters rallied, the company reversed its decision and said it would approve the transplant.
Despite the reversal, CIGNA said in an e-mail statement before she died that there was a lack of medical evidence showing the procedure would work in Nataline's case.
"Our hearts go out to Nataline and her family as they endure this terrible ordeal," the company said. "CIGNA HealthCare has decided to make an exception in this rare and unusual case and we will provide coverage should she proceed with the requested liver transplant."
Asked to respond to the developments at Friday's news conference, CIGNA issued another statement reiterating its sympathy.
"Their loss is immeasurable, and our thoughts and prayers are with them," the statement said. "We deeply hope that the outpouring of concern, care and love that are being expressed for Nataline's family help them at this time."
In their letter, the UCLA doctors said patients in situations similar to Nataline's who undergo transplants have a six-month survival rate of about 65 percent.
One of the doctors, Robert Venick, declined to comment on Nataline's case when reached at his office Friday.
Associated Press
The family of a 17-year-old girl who died hours after her health insurer reversed its previous decision and said it would pay for a liver transplant planned to sue CIGNA HealthCare, their attorney said Friday.
Attorney Mark Geragos said he also plans to ask the district attorney to press murder or manslaughter charges against CIGNA HealthCare for the death of Nataline Sarkisyan.
The insurer "maliciously killed her" because it did not want to bear the expense of her transplant and aftercare, Geragos said at a news conference outside his downtown Los Angeles office. He did not say when or in what court he would file the suit.
District Attorney spokeswoman Sandi Gibbons declined to comment on the request for murder or manslaughter charges, saying it would be inappropriate to do so until Geragos submits evidence supporting his request.
Nataline died Thursday at about 6 p.m. at the University of California, Los Angeles, Medical Center. She had been in a vegetative state for weeks before she was taken off life support at 5:20 p.m. with the family's approval.
Nataline had been battling leukemia and received a bone marrow transplant from her brother. She developed a complication, however, that caused her liver to fail.
Doctors at UCLA determined she needed a transplant and sent a letter to CIGNA on Dec. 11. The Philadelphia-based health insurance company denied payment for the transplant, saying the procedure was experimental and outside the scope of coverage.
"They took my daughter away from me," said Nataline's father, Krikor, who appeared at the news conference with his 21-year-old son, Bedros.
About 150 teenagers and nurses had protested outside CIGNA's office in Glendale on Thursday. As the protesters rallied, the company reversed its decision and said it would approve the transplant.
Despite the reversal, CIGNA said in an e-mail statement before she died that there was a lack of medical evidence showing the procedure would work in Nataline's case.
"Our hearts go out to Nataline and her family as they endure this terrible ordeal," the company said. "CIGNA HealthCare has decided to make an exception in this rare and unusual case and we will provide coverage should she proceed with the requested liver transplant."
Asked to respond to the developments at Friday's news conference, CIGNA issued another statement reiterating its sympathy.
"Their loss is immeasurable, and our thoughts and prayers are with them," the statement said. "We deeply hope that the outpouring of concern, care and love that are being expressed for Nataline's family help them at this time."
In their letter, the UCLA doctors said patients in situations similar to Nataline's who undergo transplants have a six-month survival rate of about 65 percent.
One of the doctors, Robert Venick, declined to comment on Nataline's case when reached at his office Friday.
Mitt Romney Tells Lie: Father Did Not March With Martin Luther King - "Fudging" The Truth
Gloves to cover dirty hands of one who fudges the truth
Well, the long string of mistatements, flip-flops, and now an outright lie continues. It turns out, according to The Detroit Free Press, that former Governor and now Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney lied when he said that his father marched with Martin Luther King. So now, can we -- are we free to assume that -- state that his claim that he cried when he listened to the news that the Mormon Church elected to allow Black priests is false?
Romney fields questions on King
Campaign says claim not literal
December 20, 2007
BY TODD SPANGLER
FREE PRESS WASHINGTON STAFF
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has said he watched his father, the late Michigan Gov. George Romney, in a 1960s civil rights march in Michigan with Martin Luther King Jr.
On Wednesday, Romney's campaign said his recollections of watching his father, an ardent civil rights supporter, march with King were meant to be figurative.
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"He was speaking figuratively, not literally," Eric Fehrnstrom, spokesman for the Romney campaign, said of the candidate.
The campaign was responding to questions raised by the Free Press and other media after a Boston publication challenged the accuracy of Mitt Romney's account.
In a major speech on faith and politics earlier this month in Texas, Mitt Romney said: "I saw my father march with Martin Luther King."
He made a similar statement Sunday during an appearance on NBC's "Meet the Press." He said, "You can see what I believed and what my family believed by looking at our lives. My dad marched with Martin Luther King. My mom was a tireless crusader for civil rights."
Romney's campaign cited various historical articles, as well as a 1967 book written by Stephen Hess and Washington Post political columnist David Broder, as confirmation that George Romney marched with King in Grosse Pointe in 1963.
"He has marched with Martin Luther King through the exclusive Grosse Pointe suburb," Hess and Broder wrote in "The Republican Establishment: The Present and Future of the GOP."
Free Press archives, however, showed no record of King marching in Grosse Pointe in 1963 or of then-Gov. Romney taking part in King's historic march down Woodward Avenue in June of that year.
George Romney told the Free Press at the time that he didn't take part because it was on a Sunday and he avoided public appearances on the Sabbath because of his religion.
Romney did participate in a civil rights march protesting housing bias in Grosse Pointe just six days after the King march. According to the Free Press account, however, King was not there.
Broder could not be reached for comment Wednesday night.
The Boston Phoenix reported Wednesday it could find no evidence that Romney and King ever marched together.
Mitt Romney's older brother, Detroit attorney Scott Romney, said he recalls his father telling him the elder Romney marched with King, possibly in 1963, but he could not remember exactly when the event took place.
Fehrnstrom called the Romney brothers' recollection and the historical materials a "pretty convincing case that George Romney did march with Dr. Martin Luther King and other civil rights leaders in Michigan."
The governor's record was one of supporting civil rights. He helped create the state's first civil rights commission and marched at the head of a protest parade in Detroit days after violence against civil rights marchers in Selma, Ala., in 1965.
Mitt Romney's campaign planned today to further research George Romney's papers for evidence of his march with King.
Free Press Library Director Alice Pepper contributed to this report.
What's "The Zeitgeist" - An Important Point
Some people ask me what Zeitgeist means. Well, it basically means "The sprit of the age" and that's what I try to capture in this blog.
At times that means the content may piss some people off. Like the whole deal with Laure Manautou and the photos -- which aren't on this site save for one tame one -- or the Debra Le Fevre Teacher / Teenager sex controversy.
But the bottom line is that those issues also tend to dominate Technorati, which is the main source I use to make decisions on what goes here -- except politics of course. In this area I'm a stauch supporter of Senator Obama for President and anyone who reads this blog regularly knows that.
But the bottom line is I'm trying to give you a balance of what's going on in the World but via my eyes. See? Hence, Zennie's Zeitgeist.
I find that people in America, my country, are far too neurotic about generally small issues. It seems that people in other countries have less hangups than we do. Perhaps New Media will cause us to relax a bit over time.
At times that means the content may piss some people off. Like the whole deal with Laure Manautou and the photos -- which aren't on this site save for one tame one -- or the Debra Le Fevre Teacher / Teenager sex controversy.
But the bottom line is that those issues also tend to dominate Technorati, which is the main source I use to make decisions on what goes here -- except politics of course. In this area I'm a stauch supporter of Senator Obama for President and anyone who reads this blog regularly knows that.
But the bottom line is I'm trying to give you a balance of what's going on in the World but via my eyes. See? Hence, Zennie's Zeitgeist.
I find that people in America, my country, are far too neurotic about generally small issues. It seems that people in other countries have less hangups than we do. Perhaps New Media will cause us to relax a bit over time.
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