Obama on Israel

Barack Obama: Good for the Jews. Tim Russert: Bad for the Jews. And for America. « The Edge of the American West

In fact, on Sunday Obama talked about some of those issues with machers in the Cleveland Jewish community. Which, if you don’t know, is a surprisingly large and very active community (check the previous link for some details), notable for giving enormous amounts of money to various causes, both Jewish and not. It’s also an important part of the Democratic machine in Northeast Ohio. Which is the bedrock of the Democratic machine in Ohio more broadly. Which, if you look at recent elections — up to the 2006 midterms and governor’s race — is a machine that’s been in very bad repair. Regardless, Jews matter in Ohio Democratic politics. So Obama went to talk to them last Sunday. And he had some interesting things to say. [mjh: Read the rest…]

Barack Obama: Good for the Jews. Tim Russert: Bad for the Jews. And for America. « The Edge of the American West

Think Progress » McCain Rated As America’s Worst Senator For Children

 

McCain Rated As America’s Worst Senator For Children

mccain3332.JPGToday, the Children’s Defense Fund Action Council released its 2007 Nonpartisan Congressional Scorecard. CDF reports some positive news, particularly that average scores for members of Congress “improved from the previous three years with more Members scoring 100 percent than in 2004, 2005 or 2006.”

Many, however, did not fare so well. Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) received a 10 percent rating — the worst in the U.S. Senate. …

McCain has missed 57 percent of Senate votes this session, being absent or voting “present” for 8 out of 10 children-related votes. …

McCain’s CDF score has steadily declined over the years. In 2004, he received a 38 percent; in 2005, 22 percent; in 2006, 10 percent.

Think Progress » McCain Rated As America’s Worst Senator For Children

Holy Cal!

Cal Thomas’ website has been revamped and I don’t know what to think about the graphic below (compare it with the graphic at the top of this page).

More importantly, I visited Calcified Cal’s site looking for his latest column in which he excoriates senseless captialism, even as he continues to love Republicanism and loathe Democrats. Talk about disconnects. That’s almost as looney as Duhbya’s belief that Republicans will sweep the House, Senate and Whitehouse in the fall. Guffaw, snort, haw-haw, ROFLOL! Wait, a minute — maybe Diebold will make that happen. peace, mjh

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Cal Thomas Official Web Site – ECONOMIC WOES

Some of the lust for bigger and better is human nature, but a lot is the result of consumerism. The Timex watch is no longer enough. We now must have a Rolex, though both accurately tell time. The adequate low-end automobile is insufficient. We must trade up to a luxury car with numbers and letters on the rear that mean nothing, but convey “status.” And the house we are living in, which would have been more than adequate for our parents and certainly our grandparents, must be upgraded to larger digs in order to impress, if not growing families, than enlarged egos. [mjh: I think that should be ‘then’.]

When none of this brings the promised happiness and fulfillment, we turn to drink, or pills, or counselors, or divorce court and seek significance in new things and relationships on what quickly becomes a personal boulevard of broken dreams. …

When wants and needs are confused, desires become entitlements and politicians are afraid to tell people what they need to hear. Instead they tell them what they want to hear. Anger and envy result, as well as frustration with a political system that was not designed to indulge its citizens in their lusts or subsidize their greed.

Who will tell us that unending and expanding prosperity with home values constantly rising and a citizenry always able to afford them is a fantasy that is bound to end in heartache for those who buy into it?

The economy isn’t bad. We are bad for believing that more is better and the most is best. We have an abundance of things, but a deficit of character. The economy is a false god, a golden calf. When this false god doesn’t deliver, we complain to politicians who are happy to accept our faith in them to give us what we want — if we will only pledge to them our allegiance at election time.

Just Eleven More Months

Speaking before the Republican Governors Association yesterday, President Bush took a moment to predict the future, claiming Americans will ultimately be thankful for his foreign policy decisions:

I believe 50 years from now, people will look back at this period of time, and say, thank God the United States of America did not lose its faith in the transformative power of liberty to bring the peace we want for our children and our grandchildren.

The notion of the public thanking the almighty for Iraq is becoming increasingly popular with Bush cronies. Karl Rove said last week, “I think that people will look back at the Iraq war and say ‘Thank God, he [Bush] had the courage to do what he did.’”

Think Progress » Bush: America will ‘thank God’ for Iraq in 50 years.

Fear Mongers

Who profits from your fear? peace, mjh

Wash. Times baselessly claims ‘military’ fears Obama.

The Washington Times ran a front page article today headlined “Military fears ‘unknown quantity,’” attacking Sen. Barack Obama’s (D-IL) “commander-in-chief qualifications.” The Times’s only sources for those in the “military” who fear Obama, however, include a “retired Air Force Lieutenant General who doubles as a Fox News analyst,” a unnamed “senior Pentagon official,” and a defense “industry executive“:

“We’re very concerned about his apparent lack of understanding on the threat of radical Islam to the United States,” said retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Thomas McInerney, who is pro-Iraq war and a Fox News analyst. “A lot of retired senior officers feel the same way.”[…]

A senior Pentagon official said an Obama swearing-in “will give the Arab street the final victory, the best optics, and the ultimate in bragging rights. They win. We lose.” […]

“We’ve got some trepidation. There is no track record,” said an industry executive of the first-term senator. “He’s an unknown quantity and that scares us a little bit.”

TPM’s Greg Sargent asks: “Is it really possible that such gutter journalism tactics would be signed off on by such a great journalist, as Beltway types keep calling [John] Solomon?

Think Progress » Wash. Times baselessly claims ‘military’ fears Obama.

THAT’S What I’ve Been Waiting For

Finally, some real blood on the floor between Wilson and Pearce. Bring it on! (peace,) mjh 

[From Heath Haussamen’s excellent blog:]

Heather Wilson is attacking Steve Pearce for claiming on Saturday that England is a bigger exporter of Islamic terrorists than any country in the Middle East.

It’s the latest spat in what has become a contentious GOP U.S. Senate primary.

“We must have a moral standard in this country. We cannot be a moral vacuum,” Pearce said at the Valencia County GOP convention on Saturday. “If we try to do that I will guarantee that the same thing will happen to us that happened in England. They export more radical Islamic terrorists today than any country in the Middle East. It’s because they said, ‘We can live in a moral vacuum.’” [mjh: Great Britain could not be reached to confirm this quote.]

You can listen to Pearce’s full speech by clicking here.

Wilson called on Pearce to justify his remarks or apologize to America’s closest ally in the war on terror.

“A U.S. senator can’t afford to offend our closest ally, particularly when he is wrong on the facts. Senators – and people who want to be senators – should not say irresponsible things like this,” Wilson said. “…Great Britain and the United States have had an unwavering, special relationship since World War II. We have a closer relationship with Britain than with any other ally in the War on Terror. To claim that Britain ‘exports’ more terrorists than the long list of countries that actively support and fund terrorism is incorrect and offensive.”

Heath Haussamen on New Mexico Politics: Wilson attacks Pearce for comments about England

Rasmussen Poll Shows Obama, McCain Tied; McCain 12 Points Up on Clinton

New Mexico FBIHOP:

The latest New Mexico general election Rasmussen Poll shows Barack Obama and John McCain tied.  Hillary Clinton trails McCain by double digits.

Barack Obama: 44%
John McCain: 44%
Undecided: 12%

Hillary Clinton: 38%
John McCain: 50%
Undecided: 12%

This poll is in stark contrast to the recent SurveyUSA polling which showed Obama and Hillary Clinton both leading John McCain.  This one paints a picture more like the past two Presidential elections (if Obama is the nominee) with an extremely tight race.

There are, however, a much higher percentage of undecided voters in the Rasmussen poll than the SurveyUSA polls.

New Mexico FBIHOP:: Rasmussen Poll Shows Obama, McCain Tied; McCain 12 Points Up on Clinton

"It does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set brush fires in people's minds." — Sam Adams