Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Overlooked amid the furor over Clinton's lying Theft of Valor in Tuzla, Bosnia

"The Reverend Jeremiah Wright is an outstanding church leader whom I have heard speak a number of times. He has served for decades as a profound voice for justice and inclusion in our society. He has been a vocal critic of the racism, sexism and homophobia which still tarnish the American dream. To evaluate his dynamic ministry on the basis of two or three sound bites does a grave injustice to Dr. Wright, the members of his congregation, and the African-American church which has been the spiritual refuge of a people that has suffered from discrimination, disadvantage, and violence. Dr. Wright, a member of an integrated denomination, has been an agent of racial reconciliation while proclaiming perceptions and truths uncomfortable for some white people to hear. Those of us who are white Americans would do well to listen carefully to Dr. Wright rather than to use a few of his quotes to polarize. This is a critical time in America's history as we seek to repent of our racism. No matter which candidates prevail, let us use this time to listen again to one another and not to distort one another's truth,"
Who said it? Dean J. Snyder, Foundry United Methodist Church
Hillary Clinton's pastor.

Le Bron James | Vogue - Le Bron James, Wake Up To Racial Stereotyping



Hey Le Bron James. You asked "Who cares" in reaction to charges that your appearance on the cover of Vogue playing to fears of Black men.

Well, Le Bron James, I care and I'm a Black Man.

I saw your cover photo in a local store and my first though was "What this hell was he thinking."

But then I realized that given how young you are, you may not have been thinking about anything other than sex and money. Sex in that you're taking a photo where you've got a hot blonde in your arms, and money because you were paid for it. I don't think the fact that Annie Lebowitz was taking the shot meant much to you because you don't understand how huge she is separate from the photo; you're too young to know.

But that's not what I'm writing about.

Dude, you need to wake up. Fast. And before someone else uses you for some racially-insenstive reason. The Vogue cover didn't represent me well because you're a Black Man like me, and because of our minority status in America, all of us are impacted by what a high-profile brother like you does. We're historically seen in America in the same kind of animallstic way you've portrayed and I for one don't like that one bit.

Wake up Le Bron James.

If you're confused over the possible social impact of a magazine shoot in the future, ask me what it could be. I'll tell you. Because its sure as hell obvious that whomever's advising you know doesn't know what the hell they're doing. I'm tired of brothers like you working to keep brothers like me down. I mean that.

It's time for you to take a serious look at your responsibilities in life outside of Basketball. They're bigger than you realize.

John McCain Flip-Flops On The Confederate Flag - Watch

Watch this video that shows Sen. John McCain giving two opposing views on the Confederate Flag within just three days. Where does he stand today? Regardless of the answer, you can be sure it's going to be opposite one of the answers in this video!

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Hill & Chel's Excellent Bosnian Adventure

Look, the whole ducking evidence of what seemed politically expedient back in the day on NAFTA isn't a big deal, really, although it would make sense for Senator Clinton to simply say she changed her mind rather than live in fear of the flip-flop label it might earn her.

And the taxes? Well, she's busy. I get it. She's the campaigner.

Never mind that there are pictures of Bill with Jeremiah Wright, or both of them with Rezko, I get it, politicians are often sought out by guys like Rezko, and for years everybody thought Wright was a patriotic, Christian ex-Marine, after all. Hell, most still do once they hear his comments in context. (Quick links to the "America's chickens are coming home to roost" story and the use of "Nigger" in comparing Clinton and Obama's background - which pretty much silence all but the most pig-headed of critics.)

But this depraved line she held to about the risks in Bosnia? Is that what we want on Day One in the Oval Office? Is the pre-requisite for a Commander In Chief handling calls at 3 a.m. the willingness to lie for personal aggrandizement and political points? Seriously - do we take our daughters into life-threatening situations? Watch the harrowing arrival in Bosnia, then you make the call.

How did all those reporters miss the sniper fire? Somebody here has just made a serious career-limiting mistake.

Bill Clinton Attacks MTVU Editorial Board On Gay Marriage



Appearing before the MTVU Editorial Board, Former President Bill Clinton went off again, this time on Lilly Lamboy of Smith College and the MTVU Editorial Board. In the video it becaomes clear that Clinton is not only horse in his voice, but prone to becoming testy very quickly.

Will there be more or fewer Gay couples in harrassment if couples can go to Massechusetts and not Utah? That was Clinton's question, but before Lilly could say anything, Bill shot back "Answer the question!" Well, you can see the exchange here, but the result pissed off Andrew Sullivan who stated that Clinton was running away from his record of having more Gays ousted from the Military than at anytime before.

Clinton, incredibly, states that the Defense of Marriage Act, which protects one state from having to recognize a "pro-gay" marriage act, paints the policy of the DOA, which he backed as not being anti-Gay. He then accuses Lilly of trying to re-write history.

Clinton is not helping his legacy. He comes off as an angry old coot who thinks the World and America should just fall down at his feet.

Monday, March 24, 2008

Obama's letter to Fed Chrmn Bernanke about the sub-prime lending crisis

On Thursday, March 22nd, U.S. Senator Barack Obama's campaign released his letter to Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Paulson urging them to immediately convene a homeownership preservation summit with key stakeholders to fight foreclosures driven by growth in the subprime mortgage market.

It was overshadowed in the mainstream media by continuing dissection of the Phildelphia speech on values and race from Monday, and in the blogosphere by Hillary Clinton's Bosnia hyperbole,



...or did she simply mis-speak? Well, it got everybody to stop talking about her tax returns. But while Senator Clinton wrestles with what may be a career-limiting memory lapse, it's worth noting that Obama hasn't lost sight of the impact this is having all across the U.S. despite the time-consuming nature of campaigning.

Obama for America

DIGG it!

Sunday, March 23, 2008

Will Hillary's Bosnia Lie Be Reported By The Media?

Last year in July, I was on CNN's "Roland Martin Debates" and said that YouTube's greatest contribution to politics was that a candidate had to be authentic. That the person had to make statements that were consistent.

I then used the example of presidential candidate, Senator Hillary Clinton, who attacked he rival Senator Barack Obama for stating that he would talk to and meet with our enemies, when just a few months earlier, Senator Clinton herself said she would do the same thing and the evidence of this is captured on YouTube.

Well, it seems that Senator Clinton learned nothing at all from my statements or the fact that YouTube itself exists as a powerful force for recording what people do and say now, and in our history. Senator Clinton's just made a huge error in judgement that could and should be the final flip-flop that damages her campaign.

In a speech held just one day after Senator Obama's historic "A More Perfect Union" presentation, Senator Clinton clamed that she landed in Tulza, Bosnia under "sniper fire," adding: "There was supposed to be some kind of a greeting ceremony at the airport, but instead we just ran with our heads down to get into the vehicles to get to our base." Clinton said.



But this YouTube video shows just the opposite: We see first that several newspapers have identified Senator Clinton's lie in what happened. Senator Clinton says in the video that they landed under heavy sniper fire and that there was no ceremony. The video then presents footage showing just the opposite, with Clinton walking with her daughter Chelsea and with a large group of people and being greeted by Bosnian heads of state.

The video says that the movie was created by Clinton campaign strategist Mark Penn. The question is will the mainstream media pick up the story.

The answer on the newspaper level is "yes". The Washington Post presented this story on Sunday March 22, entitled "Sniper Fire and Holes In Clinton's Recollection" and reports that "Far from running to an airport building with their heads down, Clinton and her party were greeted on the tarmac by smiling U.S. and Bosnian officials. An 8-year-old Muslim girl, Emina Bicakcic, read a poem in English. An Associated Press photograph of the greeting ceremony, below, shows a smiling Clinton bending down to receive a kiss."

Sinbad First Points To Clinton Lie The great comedian Sinbad was the first one to report that Senator Clinton was lying months ago, when he said "I think the only 'red phone' moment was 'Do we eat here or at the next place?' "

The Washington Post ends the story by giving Senator Clinton "Four Pinocchios."

I've not as of this writing seen this story reported on CNN or Fox or MSNBC, but what's clear to me this year is that the television news system in America is in shambles and has been taken over by entertainers who are influnced by advertisers and PR hacks.

There's no news anymore.

There are just attempts at influencing American public opinion for the purpose of helping some institution advance in power. The only check and balance system that exists is the online news media.

CNN's still presenting the Rev. Wright sound bites again and again. There's nothing -- and has not been to date -- about this news. And this news is about the person running for President and not someone who never thought of running for president and retired from preaching in the church.

It has to be asked why doesn't CNN or Fox explain who it backs for President, just as newspapers do? At least Americans would know and be able to make an informed choice about where they get their news.

Right now, it's a circus out there and there's no reason to consider television news to be a credible source on matters of business and politics. The only service they seem to "get right" is in the reporting of disasters, where having an "on the scene" person and camera gives those of us who are not there vital information about what's happening.

This was certainly true during 9-11. But disasters happen once in a while; business and politics is an everyday thing.

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