[Ninong]

New Magic Number: 43

That's how many total delegates Barack needs for the nomination. Barack now leads Hillary by 199 delegates (pledged and superdelegates combined).

The Democratic party will meet this Saturday to come to an agreement on the Florida and Michigan delegations. The rules call for punishing both delegations by awarding them no more than half their votes. That's the best they can hope for. Hillary is demanding that their "votes be fully valued." That means she intends to throw a childish tantrum if she doesn't get her way. She's busing in legions of angry post-menopausal white women to stage a riot Saturday in support of her lost cause.

Hillary's last hurrah will be Sunday in San Juan. She will probably win Puerto Rico by double digits. It won't change anything. Her fifteen minutes are almost up. This nightmare of a primary contest will be over before the end of next week. Speaker Pelosi has put out the word that enough is enough and she's had enough. She wants the uncommitted superdelegates to announce their support next week after the South Dakota and Montana primaries June 3.

By this time next week Barack will be the presumptive nominee of the Democratic party. He will have more total delegates than he needs for the nomination no matter how Florida and Michigan are awarded. Hillary will scream that she really won because if you give her credit for 328,000 votes from Michigan and give Barack zero and if you ignore at least four caucus states and if she wins by a few hundred thousand votes in Puerto Rico, then she might have more popular votes than Barack and that means that the only reason she's not getting the nomination is because she's a white woman instead of a black man. Black men have all the advantages. It's not fair.

P.S. -- I wonder if Hillary will out do Pat Schroeder in her withdrawal speech? Remember how Pat Schroeder burst out crying in front of the cameras when she announced her withdrawal from the race for the Democratic nomination about 20 years ago?

[Ninong]

Originally Posted by Ninong

Barry Obama not qualified to be commander-in-chief because...

He told a war story about an uncle liberating Auschwitz and it was really Buchenwald. The Republican National Committee put out a press release announcing that this proves he will never be qualified to cross the commander-in-chief threshold like WALNUTS!.

Hillary announced that when she liberated Buchenwald, she had to dodge heavy sniper fire.

Li'l Hillz

Originally Posted by Ninong

Buchenwald was only a "work camp."

The level of ignorance and stupidity displayed by the swiftboaters of the wing-nut brigade never ceases to amaze me. Our Lady of the Concentration Camps, Michelle Malkin, has them all stirred up about Barack Obama's uncle, who may or may not have been in the U.S. Army in Europe in 1945 and may or may not have participated in the liberation of any concentration camps. They're still trying to disprove Barack's claim that his uncle participated in the liberation of any concentration camps. They even doubt that his uncle even served in the Army during that period.

The Obama Campaign has already released a statement saying that it was actually Buchenwald and not Auschwitz. Sometimes the details of these family war stories get mixed up over the decades.

One of the right-wing blogs had the nerve to send an email to a website dedicated to the history of the 89th Infantry Division and World War II asking if they could please provide any information on Charles W. Payne or Charles T. Payne (they were unsure of the correct middle initial).

Sent: Wednesday, May 28, 2008 6:14 AM
Subject: Any Record Of Charles W Payne?

Mr. Kitchell, [This is the owner of the 89th Inf Div site.]

As you may have heard by now, Barack Obama has claimed that his great uncle Charlie Payne was a member of the 89th Div that liberated Buchenwald.

According to records his full name is either Charles W Payne or Charles T Payne (most likely the former), and he was born in 1924 — and he is still alive today.

He most likely was from Kansas at the time of enlistment.

Do you have any record of this gentleman?

Thank you,

Steve Gilbert
[web address of wing-nut site]

The response from Mr. Kitchell, member of the Greatest Generation, was swift and to the point:

Please crawl back under the rock you came out from.

Good day,

Raymond Kitchell, veteran 89th Inf Div

OMG! That is the best putdown I have read in ages! However, the wingnuttery corps will not be put down lightly. Some of their commenters are calling Mr. Kitchell a liar and they are still digging deeper to "uncover the truth" about the so-called service of Barack's so-called uncle during World War II. You would be amazed at the disgusting comments they are posting about an 83-year-old World War II veteran who served his country with honor and distinction. And all because he happens to be related to Barack Obama. He's a brother of Barack's maternal grandmother.

One of the facts these geniuses have uncovered is that Buchenwald was only a work camp! These jackasses don't understand that Auschwitz was officially designated as an "extermination camp" and all of the other concentration camps were officially designated as "work camps." "Guests" at the "work camps" were beaten, starved and worked to death.

Someone who claims to have spoken with the family directly posted the following on the wing-nut site but I doubt that it will have any impact on the wing-nut corps. They're not interested in the facts.

J Straight
May 29th, 2008 at 12:02 am

On the matter of the military service of Charlie Payne, the great-uncle of Barack Obama:

His full name is Charles Thomas Payne and he IS the uncle (the term “uncle” has in fact been used even for great-uncles in that family) who served in the Army in the 89th Infantry during WW II and suffered severe enough PTSD that, after coming back from the war, he isolated himself at home for some time.

Charles recovered, attended college and to this day is an active, mentally vital, 83 year-old resident of Chicago.

This information was obtained tonight from a phone conversation with members of the Payne family and is being posted to correct the mis-information that is swirling around the internet.

CORRECT info:
1. Charles’ middle initial is “T”, not “W”;
2. he did have what is now termed PTSD; and
3. he was so traumatized by what he encountered during the war, that he in fact did isolate himself at home for a lengthy period of time.

Charles is the second of FOUR Payne siblings:

1. Madelyn Lee
2. Charles Thomas
3. Margaret Arlene
4. Jon Virgil, (born 1937, which is why there is no listing for him in the 1930 Census of Augusta City, Butler County, Kansas. This census has been the only source offered for “Payne sibling info” on all of the genealogical sites cited by those interested in this story.

I suspect that the listing for Charles E. Payne of Kansas is in fact the record for Charles Thomas Payne. I believe the scribe probably heard “E” instead of “T.” That type of error is frequent in census records and in military records where the info is provided orally:

Payne, Charles E. Inducted 9 June 1943, Army 37531353 Registered, order # V11125 Augusta, Butler Co. (Board # 2)

Wing-nuts Refuse To Give Up Even After Being Smacked Down

This is truly amazing. Those right-wing wackos who set out to prove that Barack Obama was lying about having an uncle who participated in the liberation of a Nazi concentration camp keep coming back for more even after they have been publicly humiliated by someone old enough to be their grandfather, or maybe even their great-grandfather.

After being told to "Please crawl back under the rock you came out from," they came back for more, challenging the integrity of the website and the World War II veteran running it. They called it a "site supporting Obama's position" and said "the site seems dubious, at best."

Mr. Kitchell responded:

To: Steve Gilbert
Subject: Re: Any Record Of Charles W Payne?

I don’t claim to represent anyone. You are the one who came to my son and I asking for information.

Please spend ample time chasing down the lies fed to you by chickenhawks Bush & Co. Like 90% of this administration, they don’t have the foggiest idea what we went through or what we saw at Ohrdruf.

Round two goes to Mr. Kitchell. He now leads 2-0. Time for the right-wing wackos to call it a day, right?

Wrong! Gilbert posted the following snide comment about World War II veteran Kitchell:

I wonder how many people who visit the 89th Infantry site and support Mr. Kitchell’s work realize his politics are those of Cindy Sheehan?

What? What does Cindy Sheehan have to do with a guy who is probably at least in his mid-80's (World War II ended 63 years ago)? How is this gentleman "supporting Obama" by maintaining a website devoted to his division in World War II? What does Cindy Sheehan have to do with World War II? Is this guy Gilbert just a young ignorant punk or is he an older ignorant punk? Where do these crackpots come up with such nonsense?

Mr. Kitchell has now responded on the front page of his 89th Inf Div website:

Concerning the service of Mr. Charles Payne: C.T. Payne was a soldier in the 89th Infantry Division. He served in the 355th Infantry Regiment, Company K. The 355th Infantry Regiment was the unit to liberate Ohrdruf. Mr. Payne was there.

For those who seek to minimize the horrors of Ohrdruf since it was a 'work' camp and not a 'death' camp, we have but one word: shame. Ironically, this argument has been made to us time and time again by various Holocaust-deniers and other pro-Nazi groups. We will let the testimony of survivors and veterans speak for themselves.

It has been recorded that in Ordruf itself the last days were a slaughterhouse. We were shot at, beaten and molested. At every turn went on the destruction of the remaining inmates. Indiscriminant criminal behavior (like the murderers of Oklahoma City some days ago). Some days before the first Americans appeared at the gates of Ordruf, the last retreating Nazi guards managed to execute with hand pistols, literally emptying their last bullets on whomever they encountered leaving them bleeding to death as testified by an American of the 37th Tank Battalion Medical section, 10 a.m. April 4, 1945.

Today I'm privileged thanks to G-d and you gallant fighting men. I'm here to reminisce, and reflect, and experience instant recollections of those moments. Those horrible scenes and that special instance when an Allied soldier outstretched his arm to help me up became my re-entrance, my being re-invited into humanity and restoring my inalienable right to a dignified existence as a human being and as a Jew. Something, which was denied me from September 1939 to the day of liberation in 1945. I had no right to live and survived, out of 80 members of my family, the infernal ordeal of Auschwitz, Buchenwald, Ordruf, and its satellite camp Crawinkle and finally Theresinstadt Ghetto-Concentration Camp.

Rabbi Murray Kohn

This website has been created to honor the service of the 89th Infantry Division during the Second World War. The 89th, known as the Rolling W, served with distinction during combat operations in Europe from March-May, 1945.

This website was created by 89th veteran Raymond E. Kitchell and his son Mark R. Kitchell. We are grateful to the contributions of histories, stories and pictures from numerous 89th Infantry veterans and their families, and from the 89th Infantry Division Society.

If you want to know what the veterans of the 89th Infantry Division saw when they liberated that Nazi concentration camp, it's all right here on their website.

Remembrances: Ralph Craib--The Forgotten Death Camp

Fifty years ago tomorrow, the 355th U.S. Infantry Regiment and the Fourth Armored Division unveiled to the world scenes of brutality and criminality that is still difficult to comprehend.

As a sergeant in the Second Infantry Battalion barely 20 years old, I had walked-and fought-over several hundred miles, from Luxembourg to eastern Germany, in the preceding months. Violent Death and devastation were not new to us, yet nothing prepared us for the horror of Ohrdruf Nord, the first of Adolph Hitler's death factories to be captured by the Allies.

The Army acted with alacrity and obviously thought our discovery significant, yet because of a strange sequence of events, Ohrdruf became not much more than a footnote to the history of World War ll, never attaining the notoriety of Buchenwald-of which it was a sub camp-or Dachau or Auschwitz.

If we need any convincing, however, Ohrdruf showed us young soldiers (as well as the high-ranking leaders of the European campaign) that ours was a righteous crusade. We were helping defeat a criminal government that had established camps whose sole purpose was death on an assembly line never before seen on this old earth.

On our approach to Ohrdruf in the Thuringian countryside about 30 miles southwest of Weimar, we encountered so many corpses they were beyond counting. The first we saw in what appeared to be a central courtyard, where prisoners had been machine-gunned, apparently because they lacked the strength to join the walking evacuation to hide them from the eyes of approaching liberating troops.

These people were typical of the Ohrdruf prisoners we found, dead or alive, skinny as rails, the thickest part of their thighs as small as the wrists of a 10-year-old. They died wearing the standard prison stripes, lying in grotesque positions, many with mouths agape.

Nearby was what appeared to be a wood shed. In it, naked bodies were stacked like cordwood, neatly placed head to toe and covered only with lime, the chemical apparently intended to hasten deterioration.

The final Ohrdruf horror was the death pit. In this pit, camp officials had placed two elevated steel rails parallel each other to form a macabre cremation spit. Fuel had been poured over the bodies, which were then torched so they could not be identified-not, of course, as individuals, but as the remains of human beings. It didn't work. The combustion had been incomplete, and it was still possible to distinguish a leg here, a head there.

The number of victims was hard to ascertain. One General placed it at 3,200; a survivor told an interrogation team that the ghastly pit held the remains of 8,000 people.

Supreme Allied Commander Dwight D. Eisenhower, who arrived a couple of days later with other military leaders, was aghast as we had been. The group included Army Group Commander Omar Bradley and Third Army Commander George (Blood and Guts) Patton, who became physically ill during the inspection.

Some scholars now contend that the Roosevelt administration knew of Hitler's "final solution"-the planned extermination of Europe's Jews-but that Washington did nothing because mainstream Protestant America was either indifferent to the fates of the Jews or might even have opposed direct intervention.

Anti-Semitism is not a European monopoly.

However, the Army response to Ohrdruf makes me believe that if Washington knew the realities of the Holocaust, that information was not conveyed to the commanders in the field, either through indifference or incompetence, neither of which were absent in the World War ll chaos. Certainly the brass touring Ohrdruf were no more prepared for it than we common, expendable infantrymen were.

John B. MacDonald, a Portland Ore. priest who served as chaplain with my division, has become an expert on Ohrdruf and has gather writings on the camp and its crimes. Eisenhower, Patton and Bradley all recalled Ohrdruf in their memoirs. "I have never been able to describe my emotional reactions," Eisenhower wrote, "when I came face to face with indisputable evidence of Nazi brutality and ruthless disregard of every shred of decency. I visited every nook and cranny of the camp because I felt it was my duty to be in a position from then on to testify at first hand in case there ever was at home the belief or the assumption that the stories of Nazi brutality were just propaganda. I would like every American unit not actually in the front line to see this place. We are told that the American soldier doesn't know what he is fighting for. Now, at least, he will know what he is fighting against."

Bradley was more emotional: "The smell of death overwhelmed us even before we passed through the stockade. More than 3,200 emanciated bodies had been flung into shallow graves. Others lay in the streets where they had fallen. Lice crawled over the yellow skin of their sharp bony frames." He related how starving prisoners had apparently torn out the entrails of the dead for food.

Patton, known for both toughness and military scholarship but later accused of being soft on Nazis, described Ohrdruf as "one of the most appalling sights I have ever seen…words are inadequate to express the horror of this institution. The scenes witnessed here are beyond the normal mind to believe. No race except a people dominated by an ideology of sadism could have committed such gruesome crimes…even those (inmates) who live in my opinion will never recover mentally."

The generals flew on from Ohrdruf to inspect captured artwork and bullion looted by Nazi occupiers in other countries. A press contingent recorded their Ohrdruf visit. But that night, April 12, 1945, Eisenhower was awaken with the news that Franklin D. Roosevelt had died. This event so dominated press attention that Ohrdruf received no coverage.

It is ironic but fitting that the forgotten death camp has finally gained immortality. A huge photomural of the Ohrdruf death pit is the first image visitors see at the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C. One member of my old squad insists he can identify himself and me in that photo.

None of us has ever forgotten the sights of Ohrdruf. One of the most barbaric crimes was the fact that this camp robbed death of the dignity even primitive cultures affords it. Not only the killings but the destruction of the bodies was a willful attempt to deny that these people ever walked, talked, loved and bred just as the guards who carried out the unspeakable orders did.

The fact that 50 years later, there are people, even so-called historians and even in this country, who deny that these atrocities happened, is scary. There seems to be no guarantee that this could not happen again.

[Note: Mr. Craib worked as a reporter and editorial writer for the San Francisco Chronicle, which first published this article. A veteran of the 89th Infantry Division, he died in September 1995 at the age of 70.]

[Ninong]

New Magic Number: 41

That's how many total delegates Barack needs for the nomination. Barack now leads Hillary by 201 delegates (pledged and superdelegates combined).

P.S. -- The magic number will change if the Democratic party decides to seat the Florida and Michigan delegations. If they are seated with only one-half vote per delegate, which seems the most likely outcome, Hillary will pick up a net gain of only about 19 or 20 delegates. In other words, Barack will still lead her by some 180 delegates, probably more because more superdelegates are announcing for him every day now.

It will all be over before the end of next week because Barack is going to get the majority of the superdelegates who are still uncommitted. Speaker Pelosi has told all of them to declare before the end of next week.

It's still possible that Hillary will refuse to accept the rules committee's decision on the Florida and Michigan delegations (she wants "full value") and announce that she is taking that all the way to the convention for a floor fight but it won't make any difference one way or the other because Barack is about to pick up enough superdelegates to make him the nominee even if Hillary got everything she's asking for out of Florida and Michigan.

[Ninong]

Obama Calls Out McCain On His Dumb Troop Statement

Sen. John McCain is totally clueless on Iraq. Right now he's attacking Sen. Obama for not having made as many visits to Iraq as he has. McCain has made eight visits and Obama has made only one in January 2006. McCain says that if Obama made another visit to Iraq he would see how wonderful things are over there now.

The last time McCain visited Iraq (with little buddies Lindsey Graham and Joe Lieberman), he told us that al-Qaida operatives were being taken into Iran for training. Little Joe Lieberman had to whisper in his ear that it was "terrorists" who were being taken to Iran for training, "not al-Qaida." McCain immediately corrected his ridiculous assertion that Iran was actually training any al-Qaida operatives. As a matter of fact, any al-Qaida operatives caught in Iran are immediately thrown into jail, if they're captured alive and not killed on the spot. Two of Osama bin Laden's sons have been rotting away in Iranian prison cells for years now, along with a dozen other fairly high-ranking members of al-Qaida that Iran has chosen to incarcerate rather than exterminate.

Just yesterday Sen. McCain, speaking of the Surge, told us: "I can tell you that it is succeeding. I can look you in the eye and tell you it's succeeding. We have drawn down to pre-surge levels. Basra, Mosul and now Sadr City are quiet and it's long and it's hard and it's tough and there will be setbacks."

In fact, as the Obama Campaign was quick to point out, the troop level in Iraq is about 155,000 right now, well above the 130,000 that would mark a return to pre-surge levels.

Furthermore, the Bush administration has no plans to reduce troop levels to pre-surge levels. The plans are to reduce to 140,000 troops, which would be 10,000 more than pre-surge levels.

McCain has no idea what our plans are in Iraq. He's totally clueless. His campaign is trying to pretend he was just having another 'senior moment' and misspoke.

P.S. -- Thirty Iraqis were killed in Mosul yesterday while McCain was telling us how "quiet" it is there.

[Ninong]

McCain Accuses Obama Of "Nitpicking"

Sen. John McCain is upset that anyone would dare notice that he has no idea how many troops we have in Iraq or what our current plans are for reducing them. Here is what Sen. Obama just said about McCain's latest weird statements about Iraq:

He's been proposing a joint trip to Iraq that's nothing more than a political stunt. He's even been using it to raise a few dollars for his campaign. But it seems like Senator McCain's a lot more interested in my travel plans than the facts, because yesterday – in his continued effort to put the best light on a failed policy – he stood up in Wisconsin and said, "We have drawn down to pre-surge levels" in Iraq.

That's not true, and anyone running for Commander-in-Chief should know better. As the saying goes, you're entitled to your own view, but not your own facts. We've got around 150,000 troops in Iraq – 20,000 more than we had before the surge. We have plans to get down to around 140,000 later this summer – that's still more troops than we had in Iraq before the surge. And today, Senator McCain refused to correct his mistake. Just like George Bush, when he was presented with the truth, he just dug in and refused to admit his mistake. His campaign said it amounts to "nitpicking."

Well I don't think tens of thousands of American troops amounts to nitpicking. Tell that to the young men and women who are serving bravely and brilliantly under our flag. Tell that to the families who have seen their loved ones fight tour after tour after tour of duty in a war that should've never been authorized and never been waged.

It's time for a debate that's based on the truth, and I can't think of anything more important than how many Americans are in harm's way. It's time for a debate that's based on how we're going to end this war – not a debate that's based on raising a few dollars for John McCain's campaign.

[Ninong]

Rules Committee Just Now Recessed Until 4:15 p.m. EDT

I have been watching the live feed from the rules committee's hearing today on the question of seating the Florida and Michigan delegations. All I can say is that I am amazed that Hillary's supporters can make the statements they are making and still keep a straight face. Their arguments boil down to this: we must honor the vote of the people. That's it. Period. Ignore the rules that all of the candidates agreed to in advance and just seat all of the delegates based on the "vote of the people" in Florida and Michigan, even though Barack Obama's name wasn't even on the ballot in Michigan.

Former Governor Blanchard of Michigan, who represents the Clinton Campaign, won't even agree to the compromise agreed to by Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI) and Governor Jennifer Granholm. He's insisting that Hillary get all of the delegates she would have been entitled to based on the vote had Michigan not violated the rules. He ignores the fact that many Obama supporters didn't bother to vote because they knew Obama's name wasn't even on the ballot and they were told by the Democratic party that the Michigan primary wouldn't count for anything.

Michigan decided to hold their primary early because Gov. Granholm and Sen. Levin wanted to give Hillary Clinton an advantage over Barack Obama. She had better name recognition and they knew that the more Obama got to introduce himself to the voters, the more they would get to know him and the better his chances would become. Therefore, they wanted a very early primary in the belief that this would work to Hillary's advantage. Levin threatened to pull this same stunt previously, when Hillary's current campaign chairman, Terry McAuliffe, was Chairman of the Democratic National Committee and McAuliffe told him in no uncertain terms that he wouldn't allow it.

This thing has been going on since early this morning. I just tuned in a couple hours ago, so I missed the first few hours. At the rate they're going, they'll be there all day and well into the evening.

It really doesn't matter as far as Obama's nomination is concerned how they apportion these delegates from Florida and Michigan. They could give Hillary everything she's demanding and Obama still wins with more total delegates. His lead is insurmountable. What does matter is that giving Hillary everything she's demanding would violate the rules and set a very bad precedent for the future. The rules say that the very most that these states can get is 1/2 vote per delegate. That's it. That's the best they can hope for without violating the rules that everybody signed off on.

Hillary believes that because she's a woman, she's entitled to special treatment. Because she's a woman, she's entitled to making her own rules and if anybody gets in her way, then they're obviously sexist and biased against her because of her gender. And if she doesn't get her way, she's going to tell all of her angry, middle-aged white women supporters to vote for McCrazy instead of Obama.

You should read some of the statements posted by some of these white, female Clinton supporters online. I'm talking about the women who are heads of these large groups that are spending millions of dollars to get Hillary elected. They are taking this defeat as a personal defeat based entirely on gender. They don't care how many delegates Barack Obama has. As far as they're concerned, this election was rigged by the men to prevent a woman from becoming president, even though everybody agreed a year ago that it was her turn and she was entitled to it as the wife of a former president. They believe deep in their hearts that Bill Richardson and John Edwards gave their support to Obama instead of the much more qualified Hillary Clinton simply because that's what guys do. They stick together.

Poor Hillary. She doesn't know how to accept defeat gracefully.


Li'l Hillz

[Ninong]

Over-the-Hillz Supporters Stage Protest


Bet you can't guess which one is the Obama supporter and which one is the Hillary supporter?



Typical Hillary supporter.



Another Hillary fan. They have a thing for sticking stuff to their foreheads.

P.S. -- The rules committee still hasn't returned from their lunch break yet. At this rate, they're going to be there all night.

[Ninong]

Rules Committee Returned After 3-Hr Lunch

They worked out a comprise while at lunch. Hillary's supporters in the audience are disrupting the proceedings repeatedly with unruly and obnoxious behavior. They are interrupting the speakers with shouting and boos whenever they hear something they don't like.

Harold Ickes, spokesperson for Senator Clinton, has just announced that Sen. Clinton has authorized him to state that she is reserving her right to take this issue (the seating of the Florida and Michigan delegations) to the credentials committee at the convention in Denver in late August. All of Hillary's official spokespersons have made obnoxious speeches denouncing the proposed compromise. The only thing they haven't done yet is compare the Democratic party to Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe, which is something Sen. Clinton did a few days ago.

Hillary is a sore loser!

[Ninong]

It's a Done Deal but Hillary's Not Happy!

The rules committee agreed to seat the Florida and Michigan delegations in full but each delegate will get only 1/2 vote. This is the best you can do under the Democratic party's rules, which all of the candidates agreed to in advance.

The vote on the Florida compromise was 27-0 but the vote on the Michigan compromise was 19-8. Hillary's people are furious that the rules committee decided to award Obama the uncommitted delegates from Michigan. They awarded 69 delegates to Hillary and 59 to Obama, each of those delegates getting 1/2 vote apiece. Hillary's net gain on the day between both states is +24 but she's furious that Obama received any delegates at all out of Michigan.

P.S. -- Hillary's supporters in the audience were extremly rude and unruly, shouting down speakers and clapping wildly whenever one of Hillary's representatives had anything to say. They will all have a very long busride back home tonight.

Meanwhile, Hillary's down in San Juan, Puerto Rico getting bombed on Piña Coladas.

[Ninong]

Latest Gallup Poll (May 30, 2008):

Democratic presidential nomination: Obama 52%, Clinton 42%.

General election: Obama 46%, McCain 45%; Clinton 47%, McCain 45%.

[Ninong]

CNN Running Hit Piece On Obama

CNN is running a very distorted, one-sided hit piece on Obama's campaign for the Illinois Senate. It was really disgusting to see Don Lemon introduce it with the comment, "What many people don't know about Barack Obama and it's not pretty." What a bunch of crap!

They interviewed several of his political opponents from Illinois and none of his supporters. They are making a big deal of the fact that Obama challenged the signature petition submitted by Alice Palmer. They identify Dr. Palmer as the incumbent. They're not giving their audience all of the facts, not by a long shot.

Dr. Alice J. Palmer had held that seat for a long time but she decided to resign her seat in order to run for the second congressional seat previously held by Mel Reynolds. Reynolds was indicted for a sexual relationship with an underage campaign volunteer. Palmer filed for the Democratic nomination to his seat. She announced that her chosen successor for her state senate seat was her good friend, Barack Obama. Barack was then a young attorney working on civil rights issues and workers' rights issues. He began campaigning for the state senate seat. He was already a skilled grass roots organizer and he quickly established an excellent ground team and collected lots of contributions. In other words, he was well on his way to his first elected political office. CNN doesn't mention any of this.

What CNN tells us is that Barack campaigned against a popular incumbent, Alice Palmer, and managed to get her disqualified by challenging the signatures on her filing petition. It turned out she didn't have enough legal signatures of registered voters in the district. However, what CNN is leaving out is that Alice Palmer was defeated by Jesse Jackson, Jr. for the Democratic nomination to the U.S. Congressional seat. She lost to Jesse Jackson's kid. This is not racial. Everybody we're talking about is African-American.

After Palmer loses her shot at the U.S. House seat she has a change of heart. She now asks Obama to give up his race for the open state senate seat that she resigned months earlier. Obama has already collected tons of money for his campaign and he has already lined up powerful support, the same support that helped Jesse Jackson, Jr. defeat Alice Palmer for the Democratic nomination to the open U.S. House seat. The Democratic nomination in the south side of Chicago is tantamount to election because Republicans can't win there. Barack, after discussions with his powerful backers, informed Dr. Palmer that it was too late for him to pull out now. He's almost certainly going to win the Democratic party's nomination because he now has the backing of Mayor Daley. At the last minute, Palmer jumps into the race against Obama. Her signature petition was challenged. She didn't have enough valid signatures. Obama won an easy victory for the Democratic nomination to the state senate seat previously held by Dr. Palmer before she resigned it to run against Jesse Jackson, Jr.

CNN is making it look like Barack took on a popular incumbent and then used underhanded tactics to defeat her. They don't say anything about the fact that she resigned the seat, that she announced her support for Obama as her successor, that she was defeated by Jesse Jackson, Jr, and that she changed her mind and decided she wanted her old state senate seat back. CNN leaves out all of that. They make a point of telling us that Barack Obama aligned himself with the powerful Daley machine and that Dr. Palmer is now a strong supporter of Sen. Hillary Clinton.

It's nothing but a hatchet job by the corrupt corporate media (Time Warner/Turner Broadcasting). What a lopsided piece of trash!

P.S. -- Obama was showing early signs of political genius. He successfully challenged the signature petitions of all three Democratic candidates who tried to run against him. He won the nomination unopposed! Obama was careful to follow the letter of the law and make sure that he had enough valid signatures. His opponents were extremely sloppy. Some of the signatures were of people who didn't live in the district and some of the signatures were gathered by someone who didn't live in the district. If the person gathering the signatures lived outside the district, all of those signatures were voided. Sometimes it pays to have a Harvard law education.

[Ninong]

Barack Quits Trinity United Church of Christ

Barack finally did something he should have done more than a year ago. The final straw was when Fr. Michael Pfleger, a German-American Catholic priest, put on a comic standup performance making fun of Hillary Clinton from the pulpit of Trinity United. It was an outrageous performance and the congregation rolled on the floor laughing, which made matters worse for Barack.

Fr. Pfleger is one of those liberation theology Catholic priests who believe their prime responsibility is fighting for social justice and civil rights, etc. There's nothing wrong with that provided they don't get mixed up in politics but it frequently happens that they do get mixed up in politics, especially in some of the Latin American countries. In this specific situation it was unforgiveable that Fr. Pfleger would mention the name of any presidential candidate from the pulpit of any church. First of all, it wasn't even his own church that he was putting at risk of losing federal tax exempt status. He was a guest at Trinity United. Apparently he has been a regular guest there for the past 20 years. Meaning Barack has known him for the past 20 years. Not getting out of Trinity United before he began his campaign for the nomination is the worst political mistake Barack has made by far. He should have switched to a church with a quieter, lower profile pastor a long time ago.

Francis Cardinal George issued a statement condemning Fr. Pfleger's outrageous conduct:

Archdiocese of Chicago

STATEMENT OF FRANCIS CARDINAL GEORGE, O.M.I.,
ARCHBISHOP OF CHICAGO
Friday, May 30, 2008

Statement of Cardinal Francis George concerning remarks of
Fr. Michael Pfleger about Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton during
an address at Trinity United Church of Christ on Sunday May 25, 2008

The Catholic Church does not endorse political candidates. Consequently, while a priest must speak to political issues that are also moral, he may not endorse candidates nor engage in partisan campaigning.

Racial issues are both political and moral and are also highly charged. Words can be differently interpreted, but Fr. Pfleger’s remarks about Senator Clinton are both partisan and amount to a personal attack. I regret that deeply.

To avoid months of turmoil in the church, Fr. Pfleger has promised me that he will not enter into campaigning, will not publicly mention any candidate by name and will abide by the discipline common to all Catholic priests.

P.S. -- Let's see if Rush Limbaugh and the other wing-nuts of the lunatic fringe of the Republican party decide to make a big issue out of Fr. Pfleger's comments. I hope they do. If they go overboard with personal attacks against the priest himself, they could piss off the Catholic vote. On the other hand, Hillary Clinton has been getting more than 65% of the Catholic vote against Obama so I imagine a lot of Catholics are pissed off at Fr. Pfleger themselves for making fun of Hillary.

[Ninong]

New Magic Number: 67

Barack Obama now leads Hillary Clinton by 176 total delegates. He has a total of 2,051 to her 1,875. It now takes 2,118 delegates to win the nomination. This is after figuring in the result of the Florida and Michigan compromise worked out today by the rules committee. Hillary may refuse to accept this compromise and take this to the floor of the convention in late August but that's just because she's a sore loser.

Hillary not only wanted the delegates from Florida and Michigan to get a full vote each in violation of the Democratic party's rules that she signed off on but she was insisting that Barack receive absolutely no delegates from Michigan. The Michigan compromise gave her 60% of Michigan's delegates (she received 55% of the primary vote) and Barack 40%. Barack's name wasn't on the ballot. Uncommitted received 45% of the votes in Michigan. So Hillary got 69 Michigan delegates and Barack got 59 and each of those delegates gets 1/2 vote. Florida's delegates were seated according to the primary results but each delegate gets only 1/2 vote. We can assume that the John Edwards delegates from Florida might vote for Barack.

Even if the rules committee had agreed with Hillary's outrageous demands and agreed to seat both Florida and Michigan with full votes and agreed that Obama would get absolutely no delegates from Michigan, he would still be ahead of her in total delegates but his lead would be less than 100. Then, at the convention, we can only assume that just about all of Michigan's uncommitted delegates would vote for Obama. Hillary was trying to cut his lead down to less than 100 so that she could then argue with the remaining superdelegates that she was more electable because "hard-working Americans, white Americans" like her better than Obama, who happens to be only half white. Hillary's conduct during this campaign has been extremely disappointing.

The Republican party punished Florida and Michigan by cutting their votes in half. Now the Democrats have done the same. It's in the party's rules that all of the candidates agreed to in advance. Hillary agreed to the rules but now she wants to change the rules in the middle of the game. That's called "cheating."

Li'l Hillz

P.S. -- Check out this video clip of a typical, self-proclaimed "older American woman" for Hillary at today's rules committee meeting. Hillary has been stirring up these loonies with her talk comparing the Democratic party's rules requiring that Florida and Michigan lose half their votes to Robert Mugabe's tactics in Zimbabwe. And her official representative at the rules committee meeting announced before an audience packed with "older American women for Hillary" that the Democratic party was "hijacking the election."

What a disgrace! Shame on you, Hillary! And shame on your husband, too!

[Ninong]

Hillary Clinton Running for President of Puerto Rico

Hillary's down in San Juan working the Piña Colada circuit:

"I am urging you to go out and vote on Sunday, bring your friends and your family with you,'' Clinton, 60, told a rally in San Juan.

"With your help I will be the person who has received more votes for the Democratic nomination than anyone in history.'' [Especially if we don't give Barack credit for any votes from Michigan and ignore several caucus states completely.]

Clinton's extensive campaigning in Puerto Rico included [sipping Piña Coladas while] riding in the back of a pickup truck yesterday through the suburbs of San Juan, part of a caravan of more than a dozen vehicles that included a speaker truck blaring Caribbean music and election slogans in Spanish.

No doubt we will be treated to another glorious victory speech later this evening. This will be another turning point in the campaign that proves she is more electable than Barack Obama, who is not loved by "hard-working Americans, white Americans" or angry older white women or residents of Puerto Rico who don't even get to vote in the general election as much as Hillary is. And now that the people of Puerto Rico have spoken, Hillary "will never give up and never give in." Like the Energizer bunny, she keeps running and running and running.

Meanwhile, the Democratic party has moved on. It's all over, Hillary. You lost. Sorry.

"If you like Piña Coladas and getting caught in the rain..."

Democratic party: "I was tired of my lady, we'd been together too long."

[Ninong]

Hillary Elected Presidente de Puerto Rico

Te quiero Puerto Rico. Now go to my website HillaryClinton.com and donate money so that I can afford to buy jet fuel for the plane to get me back home.

I'm winning the popular vote. I deserve to be the nominee because I'm winning the swing states. I'm winning the popular vote. Hard-working middle class families like me better than my opponent. I'm winning the popular vote.

We should COUNT EVERY SINGLE VOTE.

We should nominate the candidate who is READY ON DAY ONE to be president.

Let's keep fighting for America because America is worth fighting for. I'm winning the popular vote. Go to HillaryClinton.com and donate money. I'm winning the popular vote.

Let's keep fighting. I will never give up and never give in. Let's count every single vote. On to South Dakota and Montana. I'm winning. Go to my website and donate money. We're broke!



FACT: Hillary is NOT winning the popular vote! That's a lie that she continues to repeat.

Even after adding in the popular vote from Florida, which Hillary won by almost 300,000 votes and even after we add in today's vote from Puerto Rico (which is absurd, since they don't get to vote in the general election), Obama still has a lead in the popular vote.

Hillary's fuzzy math calls for giving her credit for 328,309 votes from Michigan and giving Barack zero votes from Michigan. There were 238,168 votes for "Uncommitted" in Michigan but Hillary's not giving Barack credit for any of those votes.

And, since the caucus states of Iowa, Nevada, Maine and Washington do not release official vote totals, Hillary is happy to not count those states at all in her popular vote tally. She lost all of those states although she did come out ahead in the popular vote in Nevada. Barack racked up huge margins of victory in Iowa and Washington, but Hillary needs to not count those in order to claim she has an imaginary lead in the popular vote.

[Ninong]

Hillary Will Not Shut Up

Hillary Clinton is letting her win in Puerto Rico go to her head. Either that or she's had one too many Piña Coladas.

Hillary hasn't changed the speech she wrote several days ago when she was expecting a turnout of close to a million voters in Puerto Rico. The actual turnout was just under 385,000. Hillary netted 141,662 more votes than Barack and that's the only category that she's keeping track of now -- the popular vote. Hillary changed the rules and decided that since there is no way she can win more delegates, she will argue that she should get the nomination based on "the will of the people." She keeps saying that she has more popular votes than Obama. She doesn't and she knows it.

Even if we add in all of Florida's votes, giving Hillary about 300,000 more than Barack, and even if we give her the 141,662 net advantage today from Puerto Rico, Barack is still ahead in the popular vote by 24,524. If we add in an estimate for Iowa, Nevada, Maine and Washington, Barack's lead swells to 134,746. And he will almost certainly get more votes than her Tuesday in South Dakota and Montana.

So how can Hillary claim that she has more popular votes? Hillary gives herself credit for 328,309 votes from Michigan and she gives Barack credit for zero votes from Michigan, where his name wasn't even on the ballot. In Hillaryland, that seems fair.

Note that we're giving Hillary credit for all the popular vote in Florida even though their primary violated the rules and their delegates will get only 1/2 vote each. And we're giving Hillary credit for the popular vote in Puerto Rico, even though the residents of Puerto Rico can't vote in a presidential election. And she still trails Barack in the popular vote. She can only claim to have more popular votes by giving herself credit for Michigan and giving him zero votes from Michigan. If we give Hillary credit for her 328,309 votes from Michigan and give Barack credit for the uncommitted votes from Michigan, he would have a lead of 45,000 over Hillary. The only way she can claim to be leading in the popular vote is to give herself Michigan votes while giving Barack none. Remember when Hillary said that everybody knows Michigan's primary won't count for anything?

Enjoy your Puerto Rican victory Hillary. It will be the last victory you will ever have in a presidential race. And I don't think Barack will lose too much sleep worrying about the Puerto Rican vote in November. As long as they're not a state, they don't get to vote.

[Ninong]

Hillary continues to lie her ass off and that's a whole lot of lying!

From today's NY Times:

“I’ve been closing very strongly since Feb. 20,” she said, referr