[Ninong]

Hillary Insisted Penn Quit?

The NY Times is reporting that it was Hillary herself who insisted that Mark Penn step down from his position as her campaign's chief strategist.

She didn't seem all that embarrassed by his other clients, such as Blackwater International or Countrywide Financial, but the idea that he was being paid big bucks -- $300,000 to be exact -- to work for passage of a free trade agreement she has campaigned against was a bit too much to stomach.

[Ninong]

Republican Congressman Says "That Boy" Not Qualified

"I'm going to tell you something: That boy's finger does not need to be on the button." -- Rep. Geoff Davis (R-KY), expressing his opinion of Sen. Barack Obama's qualifications to be commander in chief at a GOP fundraiser April 12, 2008.

There were no reporters or Democrats in the audience but a local Republican official posted the comments on his blog, which resulted in criticism leveled at Davis for his racist comments about a black United States Senator.

Congressman Davis' office released a statement saying that the congressman "misspoke." He is not a racist, he just doesn't like black people. And besides, since it was a GOP fundraiser in Kentucky, no one would have expected anyone in the audience to take offense.

Here.

[Ninong]

GOP Congressman Apologizes to Obama for Calling Him "That Boy"

The following letter was delivered to Senator Obama's Washington, D.C. office a few minutes ago:

Dear Senator Obama:

On Saturday night I gave a speech in which I used a poor choice of words when discussing the national security policy positions of the Presidential candidates. I was quoted as saying "That boy's finger does not need to be on the button."

My poor choice of words is regrettable and was in no way meant to impugn you or your integrity. I offer my sincere apology to you and ask for your forgiveness.

Though we may disagree on many issues, I know that we share the goal of a prosperous, secure future for our nation. My comment has detracted from the dialogue that we should all be having on legitimate policy differences and in no way reflects the personal and professional respect I have for you.

Sincerely

Geoff Davis

[Ninong]

Hillary Loves Canadian Whiskey

Must be that NAFTA thing again. Either that or they don't serve any Kentucky bourbon in Pennsylvania bars. Hillary, in a pathetic attempt to prove that she's in touch with the common man, took a camera crew with her to a bar in Pennsylvania where they filmed her throwing back shots and following up with draft beer chasers. Only one little problem here: she was drinking Crown Royal, which is not exactly cheap and not even American.

Wait till she tries that stunt in Kentucky.

[Ninong]

Obama Rising in Polls

In spite of all the bitter talk from Billary and WALNUTS!, Obama is rising in the polls.

North Carolina-Pres (D)
Apr 14 PPP (D)
Obama 54%, Clinton 34%

Michigan-Pres
Apr 14 EPIC-MRA
Obama (D) 43%, McCain (R) 41%

Michigan-Pres
Apr 14 EPIC-MRA
McCain (R) 46%, Clinton (D) 37%

Pres '08 (D)
Apr 14 Gallup
Obama 50%, Clinton 40%

Pres '08
Apr 14 Gallup
Obama (D) 46%, McCain (R) 44%

Pres '08
Apr 14 Gallup
Clinton (D) 46%, McCain (R) 45%

Pres '08 (D)
Apr 13 Gallup
Obama 50%, Clinton 41%

Pres '08
Apr 13 Gallup
Obama (D) 46%, McCain (R) 43%

Pres '08
Apr 13 Gallup
Clinton (D) 46%, McCain (R) 45%

Ever since Clinton and McCain started hitting Obama with the bitter talk, their numbers have been falling and his have been rising.

[Ninong]

They're So Lifelike

The Vermont Teddy Bear Company is selling teddy bear replicas of the three presidential candidates. The Barack Obama teddy bear is chocolate brown, youthful looking and dressed casually. The Hillary Clinton teddy bear is wearing pearls and a yellow jacket and has a big ass, and the John McCain teddy bear is ghostly white, dressed in a suit and tie and comes with a supply of Depends.


Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama pretend they don't really hate each other. Barack is congratulating Hillary on her newfound drinking and hunting skills but declined her invitation to go bar-hopping.

[Ninong]

Very Interesting

Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA), who is one of Hillary Clinton's superdelegates, is calling for whichever candidate is trailing in delegate count by June 3 to drop out of the race. Since there is no chance that Hillary will overtake Barack in delegate count before the convention, he is in effect setting a deadline for her to call it quits. His sister, Ann Lewis, is a top advisor in the Clinton Campaign.

Asked about Obama's "bitter" comment, Frank said he thought that Obama had "a very legitimate point to make," but expressed it poorly.

It is becoming obvious that even Hillary's most committed supporters are not willing to let this thing go all the way to the convention. If Barack is still leading in delegate count after the last of the primaries, then Hillary will be forced to drop out. It would be political suicide for the Democratic party to nominate Hillary over Barack and everyone whose last name is not Clinton understands that.

P.S. -- Montana and South Dakota hold their primaries June 3. Puerto Rico's primary will be held on June 1, not June 7 as some people incorrectly believed. By law, Puerto Rico's primary is fixed for the first Sunday in June.

[Ninong]

McCain Lying His Ass Off Again

My friends, here's the straight talk on John McCain's lies about Barack Obama's position on public campaign financing. McCain just said to Chris Matthews, who still has a mancrush on him, that Barack Obama committed in writing to accept public financing in the general election if the Republican nominee did the same. That is NOT what Barack Obama said in writing in that presidential questionaire from the Midwest Democracy Network that Sen. McCain is referencing.

Here is exactly, verbatim what Obama wrote: "If I am the Democratic nominee, I will aggressively pursue an agreement with the Republican nominee to preserve a publicly financed general election."

Sen. McCain, who was not the sharpest pencil in the box at Annapolis (graduating fifth from last in his class), obviously has a problem with English. A commitment to hold discussions to preserve a publicly financed general election is not a commitment to accept public financing. Obama may yet accept public financing in the general but he did NOT promise to do so if the Republican nominee did the same. He merely promised to hold discussions with the Republican nominee to discuss ways to preserve public financing.

The problem the Republicans have right now is so new to them that they still haven't come to grips with it yet. They are being crushed by the Democrats in the money-raising competition. Barack Obama has 1.3 million individual contributors. He doesn't need money from big corporations and PACs because he has the backing of the common man. Both John McCain and Hillary Clinton have been getting most of their contributions from fatcats and corporations. And most of their contributors have already maxed out. Barack can keep asking his 1.3 million contributors for "another $25" every other week.

McCain did commit officially to accepting public financing in the primaries and he used that guarantee of public money to get on the ballot in several states without having to collect signatures. He also used it to secure a bank loan. Later, after his campaign arose from the dead, McCain tried to withdraw from the public financing commitment he had already made. He was informed, in writing, by the Republican chairmain of the FEC that he cannot lawfully unilaterally withdraw once he has already applied for and been approved for public financing.

McCain has already violated the provisions of the McCain-Feingold Campaign Finance Reform law (a law he wrote) by spending more than the allowable limit in the primaries. He claims the law doesn't apply to him because he changed his mind and wrote a letter to the FEC informing them of his decision to withdraw. He was informed that he doesn't have the right to withdraw without the consent of the commission. Even if he were allowed to withdraw, then what about those state primaries where he gained access to the ballot by virture of qualifying for federal financing instead of having to spend a fortune collecting signatures?

When he was flat broke, McCain was all for federal financing of his campaign but after he raised a few million, he changed his mind. McCain's best month ever was last month, when he raised a whopping $15 million. That's chickenfeed compared to the more than $40 million raised by Obama last month. Even Hillary Clinton, whose campaign has been hopeless for the last two months, raised $20 million last month.

McCain's campaign manager, with a straight face, made the hilarious assertion that McCain's campaign is on the rise because he went from $12 million in February to $15 million in March and Obama's campaign is faltering because he raised $15 million less in March than he did in February. Let's see, a slide from $55 million in February to a mere $40 million in March is much, much worse than rasing $12 million in February and $15 million in March. So McCain raised a total of $27 million in the last two months compared to Barack's $95 million and his campaign sees that as a win for their team.

[Ninong]

Elitist Barack Obama Widens Lead Over Bitter Hillary Clinton



In spite of Hillary Clinton's sudden fondness for bar-hopping and throwing back shots with the guys, elitist Barack Obama, who is totally out of touch with ordinary folks, is widening his lead over her in the Gallup national tracking poll. Unfortunately it's not duck hunting season right now or Hillary could borrow John Kerry's duck hunting costume and go out with a camera crew in tow and murder a couple of ducks.

[SPasse]

Ninong,

Obama’s “bitter” statement:

“You go into these small towns in Pennsylvania and, like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years. … And it’s not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations,” he said.”

Funny, even as a Southern Baptist and a gun owner, I think that is about as honest of a statement as I have ever heard from a politician.

Politically dangerous, but IMO an honest observation nonetheless.

Regards,

Scott

[Ninong]

Scott,

Barack Obama has expressed the same point on previous occasions, including once on television when he was interviewed by Charlie Rose two months before he took office in the Senate. It was unfortunate that he used the words "bitter" and "cling" and combined them with "guns and religion." That has made for some interesting out-of-context soundbites.

He could have gone even further and really stirred things up. His point is that when people are frustrated and unhappy with their financial security, they not only take comfort in familiar things (religion, fishing, hunting, whatever) but they can be manipulated through fear and prejudice to vote against their own economic self-interest.

Let's face it, this is basis of the GOP's "Southern strategy." It worked well for decades before Karl Rove took it national in 2000 and added "guns, gays and God" to the mix. It started out as strategy based on racial division and then was expanded by Karl Rove to include anti-gun control, anti-abortion and anti-gay marriage. Incredibly, Bush was even able to recruit black Baptist ministers based almost entirely on his opposition to abortion and gay marriage.

It has always amazed me that the Republicans, especially in the South, are able to get low-income white people to vote for them. We both know exactly how they do it but it's still amazing that it actually works. The coalition that the Republican party has put together in the South over the past fifty years defies logic.

There is one central theme to GOP strategy: fear. It started in the South in the '60's as fear based on race. Now it includes fear based on gay marriage, which Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) described on the floor of the United States Senate as the single biggest threat facing the nation. Vitter could not think of anything that represents a more serious threat than gay marriage. Another 9/11 attack is nothing compared to gay marriage. Vitter is a strong advocate for the "sanctity" of marriages, other than his own.

Fear of gay marriage isn't working as well now as it did in 2000, so they have come up with fear of illegal aliens. This is hilarious! The very party that is most responsible for the problem of illegal immigration is now using it as a tool in their political campaigns. St. Ronnie of Reagan fixed illegal immigration for all time back in the 80's, remember? I certainly do. And I remember that all of those raids were staged with TV crews on hand to record the action. Within a couple of years it was all forgotten. The Reagan administration and the Bush the Elder administration ignored enforcement of immigration laws because cheap labor is something the GOP supports. I'm not saying Bill Clinton did anything, I'm just saying that the Republicans say one thing and do another. Actually they did virtually nothing.

Why wasn't Mike Huckabee laughed off the stage every time he said that he would give all illegal aliens currently here exactly 90 days to leave the country? The reason he wasn't laughed off the stage is that he knew his target audience. They're dumb enough to believe he meant it and dumb enough to believe it could be done. They're also dumb enough to vote for a Republican based on "antipathy to people who aren't like them."

Down here in Louisiana, we have two open House seats up for grabs right now, including my district. Now that we have switched back to closed primaries for congressional elections, the Republicans are battling each other in a runoff. For the past 30 years or so we just lumped everybody together regardless of political party in the primary and then if no one candidate received 50% plus one vote there would be a runoff between the two top vote-getters even if they were from the same party.

Anyway, in my district, we are about to have the runoff election between the two top Republican candidates. The top Democratic candidate received more than 50% of the vote in the first primary so she doesn't face a runoff election. She will face the winner of the GOP runoff. Here's my point: You would be amazed at the issues the GOP candidates are running on down here. Mike Huckabee's promise to evict more than 12 million illegal aliens within 90 days is chickenfeed compared to what these clowns are promising. One guy is promising to restore prayer to public schools and all of them are promising to deal with the most serious threat facing our nation today - illegal immigration. I'm actually talking about all of the GOP candidates who ran for both seats in the first primary. All of them ran on very strong anti-abortion, anti-gay marriage, family values platforms. And all of them talked about illegal immigration. Some of them talked about school prayer.

[Ninong]

Hillary and Barack will be debating tonight in Philadelphia. I'm sure she'll bring up the "bitter" comments. She has raised that issue in every speech she has given for the past several days. She has nothing better to talk about so she reverts to 'silly politics.'

The only ad she is running right now in the "Alabama" region of Pennsylvania is the one that attacks Obama for saying that small-town Pennsylvanians cling to guns and religion because they are bitter. Bill Clinton made comments remarkably similar to Obama's back in 1991.

I know Hillary will bring it up tonight, I'm just hoping that Barack turns it back on her and makes her look ridiculous for even mentioning it. I would like to see him call her out on her "silly politics." He needs to laugh every time she brings up crap like this instead of treating it seriously. He can repeat the explanation he has already given and then give her a put-down response like he did when she tried to make the point that merely renouncing Louis Farrakhan's announced endorsement was not the same as rejecting it. Obama's retort brought peals of laughter from the audience.

No doubt Hillary will try to revive the Jeremiah Wright controversy tonight. She will repeat all of the stuff she has been saying in her standard stump speech. Her stump speeches have been short on issues and heavy on personal attacks on Obama lately.

Hillary's goal is simple. To create the impression that Barack Obama is unelectable because she has bloodied him up too much. Therefore the Democratic party should give her the nomination even though doing so would piss off a certain demographic that the Democrats must carry big in order to win.

I would like to see Barack aim most of his comments at McCain tonight and sort of ignore Hillary as the Huckabee of the Democratic party. Huckabee kept on going even though he had no shot at his party's nomination just because he liked the attention he was getting. He never did catch up to Mitt Romney in delegates but he pretended to be a serious challenger long after it was all over.

[Ninong]

The Biggest Loser

Last night's debate on ABC News was a disgrace! Charles Gibson and George Stephanopolous should be ashamed of themselves.

Is Disney trying to turn ABC News into Fox News Lite? That was the most substance-free debate yet. I expected Hillary Clinton to try to bring up Barack's comments about Pennsylvanians being bitter but I didn't expect the two ABC News moderators to waste so much time questioning Barack's patriotism, his loyalty, his respect for the flag, his membership on a board that includes someone who was a member of the Weather Underground four decades ago, his relationship with Jeremiah Wright, etc., etc., ad nauseam. And, believe it or not, Hillary managed to bring up Louis Farrakhan again even though Barack previously told her he both renounced and rejected Farrakhan.

The Biggest Loser last night was ABC News.

[Ninong]

Here is an 8-minute video clip of excerpts from last night ABC News Democratic candidates debate. Be sure to stay for the whole thing because at the end Charles Gibson, who looks really goofy with his glasses perched on the tip of his nose, actually acknowledges the boos from the audience when he asks them for their reaction so far.

It was by far the most shabbily moderated debate, even worse than Wolf Blitzer.

[Samper]

Barack Obama appeared on the Colbert Report tonight after Hillary and Edwards. He officially put all the petty distractions on notice....which is a big deal. He even got the top spot. You are correct that ABC News was the biggest loser because Obama handled it all extremely well.

[Ninong]

Newsweek Poll Shows 'Dishonest & Untrustworthy' Hillary Clinton Fading Fast

Despite her campaign's relentless attacks on Barack Obama's qualifications and electability, Hillary Clinton has lost a lot of ground with Democratic voters nationwide going into Tuesday's critical primary in Pennsylvania, a new NEWSWEEK poll shows.

The survey of 1,209 registered voters found that Obama now leads Clinton by nearly 20 points, or 54 percent to 35 percent, among registered Democrats and those who lean Democratic nationwide. The previous Newsweek poll, conducted in March after Clinton's big primary wins in Ohio and Texas, showed the two Democrats locked in a statistical tie (45 percent for Obama to 44 percent for Clinton). The new poll puts Obama ahead among women as well as men, and voters aged 60 and older as well as younger voters. (For the complete poll data, click here).

One of the more devastating results for Clinton was that a majority of all registered voters now see her as dishonest and untrustworthy. According to the poll, just four in 10 (41 percent) registered voters view the New York senator as honest and trustworthy, while 51 percent think the opposite. This compares with solid majorities of voters who see Obama and McCain as honest and trustworthy (both polled 61 percent).

[Ninong]

Barack Obama Rally in Pennsylvania Draws More Than 35,000

Barack Obama gave one of his 'Whoop-De-Do' speeches in Philadelphia last night before an extremely enthusiastic crowd of 35,000 to 40,000 Obamamanicas.

Hillary Clinton gave a speech just miles away today before a much, much smaller crowd. Hillary told her audience, "I don't want to show up and give one of those whoop-de-do speeches and, you know, and just kind of get everybody whipped up, and those of you who are for me feel great and, you know, try to convince some of you to be for me."

Hillary couldn't, you know, give a "whoop-de-do" speech, you know, if her life depended on it. She's just bitter, you know, because her 20-point lead from six weeks ago is, you know, down to six points today.

Clinton refrained from criticizing the Republican frontrunner John McCain, and instead shared a story about their accommodations when they traveled oversees together.

“We’ve gone to Afghanistan together," she said. "We were in Kabul, and there weren’t safe accommodations. We actually had a row of containers -- you know, you see those containers come off the ships. Those were our accommodations in Kabul.” [What about the sniper fire?]

Here.

Yesterday morning on the Philly FOX affiliate Hillary told the FOX anchor that Barack Obama "spent all day yesterday complaining about how hard the questions were" in the ABC debate. I don't remember Barack ever saying the questions were hard. He said they had nothing to do with the issues people are concerned about. He could have said that they were asinine, childish, ridiculous and showed just how far ABC is willing to go in their FOXification efforts.

Hillary's message for Barack: Toughen up, chump!

Hillary: Well, we were both asked some pretty tough questions, and you know, that's part of what happens in a debate and in a campaign. And I know he spent all of yesterday complaining about the hard questions he was asked. But you know, being asked tough questions in a debate is nothing like the pressure you face inside the White House. And in fact, you know, when the going gets tough, you just can't walk away. Because we're going to have some very tough decisions that we have to make. And I think that we need a president who can take whatever comes your way. You have to stand strong. You have to fight for the American people. Because it will not be easy to stand up against the special interests.

YouTube video clip of Hillary telling Barack to not be, you know, such a whimp.

I think, you know, that it is hilarious, you know, for Hillary to mention standing up against the special interests. Hillary takes money from lobbyists, you know, but Barack doesn't. Hillary says it's because lobbyists are, you know, citizens, too. Lobbyists, you know, represent the American people according to Hillary.

I think Hillary is, you know, just bitter that she is, you know, going down the drain. Apparently Hillary is the only one, you know, who doesn't know this. It will be nice when she finally, you know, calls it quits because I am, you know, sick and tired of all her 'you knows.'

[Ninong]

I see a pattern here:

First Iowa, then California, now Pennsylvania -- the Obama Campaign's Allentown, PA office was burglarized. The only things taken were laptop computers and cellphones. Part of Hillary's 'kitchen sink' strategy? Smells like Watergate all over again.

This is the third time one of Obama's campaign offices has had its computers and cellphones stolen. It happened previously in Iowa and California. This has never happened to any of Hillary's campaign offices that I know of. The only incident at one of her campaign offices was when local lunatic, Leeland Eisenberg, entered the Clinton Campaign's Rochester, NH office with flares duct-taped to his chest and held some of her campaign workers hostage. He said he did it because he was seeking mental help and he heard Sen. Clinton could help him.

[Ninong]

More Lies From the Corrupt Corporate Media

Pumpkinhead Tim Russert, Washington Bureau Chief for NBC News, on Meet the Press this morning: "Barack Obama with his hands clasped in front of him rather than holding his heart during the pledge of allegiance, Barack Obama not wearing a flag pin..."

What's the big deal with the flag pin? John McCain almost NEVER wears one. When George Stephanopolous questioned Barack Obama about not wearing a flag pin I couldn't help but notice that Stephanopolous never wears one either. The flag pin is a phony issue.

As far as the picture of Barack standing with his hands clasped in front of him, that was NOT "during the pledge of allegiance." That's a lie put out by the GOP propaganda machine. It was a photo of Barack standing during a sports event for the singing of the national anthem.

It's hard to say whether these jackasses are repeating lies because they are too stupid to know the difference or whether it's because they know the difference and just want to spread negative crap about Obama. One would think that NBC could afford to pay fact checkers to verify crap like this before pumpkinhead makes a fool of himself on national teevee.

Yesterday on the local NBC affiliate the moron in charge of the weather told us that the Mississippi river would be "an eighth of a foot higher" had the Bonnet Carre spillway not been opened last week. The graphic behind him showed a chart clearly showing that the river's current level was .8 of a foot lower than it would have been had the floodgates not been opened. Eight-tenths is NOT "an eighth of a foot," yet this simpleton repeated that statement three times and the news anchor didn't bat an eye.

Another thing that bugs me about all the local teevee anchors is that they brutalize the pronounciation of the most common names. The Spanish names Jaime and Jesus come out as JAY-mee and JEE-sus instead of HI-mee and Hay-SOOS. And you never know which local French words will be anglicized and which will be pronounced in French. When I was a kid, virtually the the French names were pronounced in French but in recent years many of them have been anglicized. The Vieux Carre is still pronounced in French (View Ca-RAY) but the Bonnet Carre spillway has been anglicized to Bonny Carry instead of Bo-NAY Ca-RAY. In this instance it's the exact same word, Carre, that they are pronouncing two different ways.

P.S. -- There's an acute accent on the 'e' in Carré but French accents are rarely used in English language printed articles except when you have to distinguish between words like resume and résumé.

[Ninong]

Bob Schieffer’s commentary at the close of Face The Nation today:

Finally, today, I watched the ABC debate the other night when that question came up again about why Senator Obama doesn’t wear a flag pin in his lapel. Since no one asked me, here is my thought on all that. I think it’s a nice thing if people want to wear a flag on their lapel. But I believe it more important to keep the flag behind our lapel in our hearts. I feel the same way about wearing my religion on my sleeve. It just fits me better on the inside. When I go to see our local baseball team, I do wear my Washington Nationals baseball cap. But am I less a fan if don’t wear it to work? The truth is I have been known to wear a red, white and blue stars and stripes tie on the Fourth of July. But am I less patriotic when I trade it for my Santa Claus tie at Christmas? Patriotism is no more about signs or pins than religion is about reminding others how pious we think we are. No, the proof in these puddings is not the signs that we wear, but how we act. Wouldn’t that also be a better way to judge our presidential candidates than by the jewelry they wear?