Verbosities

New York Time>Clinton Praises Petraeus

CHARLESTON, W.V. – As critical as she is about the Bush administration’s conduct
of the Iraq war, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton gave a relatively rare shout-out
to the military’s top man in Baghdad, General David Petraeus, calling him “an
extraordinary leader and a wonderful advocate for our military.”

Exactly how does one insult a man of honor and then praise him on the campaign trail? I get whiplash just reading this.

After watching the reaction in the wake of the Wright/Obama relationship announcement, I'm wondering if the McCain campaign will also have to do some damage control. I feel that way because, apparently, a standard has been set based on the Wright/Obama relationship:

Any Presidential candidate that has racial prejudices shall not be deemed fit to run for the President of the United States.

That's the message that I've been hearing and reading for the past couple of days. If that's the case, then John McCain isn't fit to be a Presidential candidate:

On his campaign bus recently, Sen. John McCain told reporters, "I hated the gooks. I will hate them as long as I live."

John McCain said those words during the 2000 Presidential election campaign. There was a bit of a stir about the comment, but it didn't make too many waves. Many people chalked up his remarks to his time as a prisoner of war and the fact that he was tortured. Many people still forgive McCain for his remarks for that very reason. But, if McCain can be forgiven for his remarks, why are people so quick to denounce Wright?

Wright was born in 1941 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. That means he grew up during the time of Jim Crow laws, public lynchings, and other acts of racial discrimination toward his race. Yet, no one has stepped forward to point that out as a possible explanation for why Wright feels the way he does. Apparently, that doesn't matter.

If it doesn't matter why Wright feels the way he does about Whites, then why does it matter why McCain feels the way he does about the Vietnamese? All that should matter, based on the standard set by the Wright/Obama relationship, is that McCain is a racist.

So, what happens now? Obviously, racial prejudice doesn't mean much in the grand scheme of things except to possibly provide a scandalous headline. If it really mattered and racial prejudice was something that Presidential candidates had to worry about, then neither Obama or McCain would be running for President of the United States. The net result of the Wright/Obama situation may or may not influence what happens in the election. We'll have to see. The one person who could have capitalized on the announcement had a staff member babble about race before anyone else did, which hurt her more than anything else.

It will be interesting to see where the McCain campaign goes from here. At the moment, they're whistling innocently in the corner hoping that very few people know how to use the internet and perform searches on Google. It wouldn't surprise me if the mainstream media casually ignored McCain's comment from 2000, but it's important to note it due to the reaction that people are having to Obama and Wright.

So, the blind Obama supports will trot out Jerry Falwell and John Hagee... as though there's some kind of equivalency. They're wrong, and these numbers show you why:

Rasmussen Poll Tracking Poll
John McCain 48%
Barack Obama 42%

In addition, Obama's favorable rating has dipped to an all-time low of 48% (down from a high of 56% and down from 52% just last Thursday). His unfavorable rating has peaked at 49% from a low of 42%.

The Rasmussen Report also looked into what people think of Rev. Wright and his affect on Barack Obama. Here are some results:

73% beleive Wright's comments on racially divisive.
56% of ALL voters say Wright makes them less likely to vote for Obama and that includes 44% of Democrats.
66% of voters have read, seen or heard stories about Wright.

Add it all up and Barack Obama has put the Democrats in a very difficult position because of his relationship with Rev. Wright and his inability to admit a mistake. He continues to defend this man, a man who's words are indefensible. If it were one off-color comment that offended, I could understand. But this is a record of indefensible comments all recorded on YouTube-friendly video.

If you think Barack Obama wins Ohio or Pennsylvania with Rev. Wright around his neck, you're fooling yourself. Flip those PA electoral votes and Obama has to figure out a way to make up 36 electoral votes. I think there's a good chance he gets 7 in Iowa, but that leaves another 29. Even if he turns around Florida (which I don't see happening), he's still 2 short. And we're not even talking about what might happen in Michigan and the 17 electoral votes Kerry eked out there.

So what's the Democrats' alternative? They could let Hillary steal the nomination and that would likely keep millions of black voters home, or convince them to vote for John McCain.

Barack Obama's judgement to tie himself to his "moral compass" and "spiritual advisor," Rev. Jeremiah Wright, has handed John McCain the keys to the White House.

All over the internet, people are condemning Barack Obama for his relationship with his minister, Reverend White. I don't begrudge them those feelings because I feel the same way. But, when I have pointed out the relationship between John McCain and Reverend Hagee as a similar situation, the response is usually similar to this statement:

"Hagee isn't McCain's minister."

Valid point. But, that makes me ask one question:

Who is John McCain's "spiritual guide"?

Allow me to introduce Rod Parsley. He's a Pentecostal minister who is also a televangelist. Generally, a Presidential candidate's "spiritual guide" doesn't cause many waves. But, just like Reverend White, Rod Parsley has said some rather inflammatory things:

"It was to defeat Islam, among other dreams, that Christopher Columbus sailed to the New World in 1492…Columbus dreamed of defeating the armies of Islam with the armies of Europe made mighty by the wealth of the New World. It was this dream that, in part, began America."

One of Parsley's biggest statements is that Christianity is "at war" with Islam and he continually uses military symbolism in his sermons. Parsley also believes that there is no separation of church and state in the U.S. Constitution. He is known as a Dominionist, which means that he thinks that the United States should be a Christian nation:

1. Dominionists celebrate Christian nationalism, in that they believe that the United States once was, and should once again be, a Christian nation. In this way, they deny the Enlightenment roots of American democracy.
2. Dominionists promote religious supremacy, insofar as they generally do not respect the equality of other religions, or even other versions of Christianity.
3. Dominionists endorse theocratic visions, insofar as they believe that the Ten Commandments, or "biblical law," should be the foundation of American law, and that the U.S. Constitution should be seen as a vehicle for implementing Biblical principles.

Now, for those people who have been happy to attack Barack Obama about the things his minister believes, how pleased are you to discover this information about John McCain? Does this change your opinion of him at all? If it doesn't, then why do the beliefs of Obama's minister matter?

If one Presidential candidate has to distance himself from his minister because of inflammatory rhetoric, then any Presidential candidate who associates with a minister who spews inflammatory rhetoric should distance themselves from that minister.

To require Obama to distance himself from White while McCain can keep Parsley close by his side is discrimination. It's a move that says, "Black people who smear whites aren't allowed, but white people who smear Muslims can do what they want."

When the campaign begins between Barack Obama and John McCain, this would be my first (and perhaps only) campaign ad. I say "perhaps only" because it's the only one I would need to win.

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"No, no, no, not God bless America. God damn America. That's in the Bible, for killing of the innocent people. God damn America."

In Barack Obama's judgement, Rev. Jeremiah Wright is a good choice for a spiritual advisor.

"Barack knows what it means to be a black man living in a country and a culture that is controlled by rich white people."

In Barack Obama's judgement, Rev. Jeremiah Wright was the right man to preach to him for 20 years.

"God damn America for treating our citizens as less than human. God damn America for as long as she acts like she is God and she is supreme."

In Barack Obama's judgement, Rev. Jeremiah Wright was the right man to marry him and baptize his two children.

"We have supported state terrorism against the Palestinians and black South Africans, and now we are indignant because the stuff we have done overseas is now brought right back to our own front yards. America's chickens are coming home to roost."

Can we trust Barack Obama's judgement?
*****************************

I mean, really... what does this tell you about Barack Obama. Are we to honestly believe that he wasn't aware of these radical opinions until the presidential campaign began? In the 20 years he attended this church, he never heard any of this? None of his church friends pointed this out to him? Really?!?

Well, Barack Obama is a liar. In a January 2007 article in the Chicago Tribune, there's this, "In his 1993 memoir "Dreams from My Father," Obama recounts in vivid detail his first meeting with Wright in 1985. The pastor warned the community activist that getting involved with Trinity might turn off other black clergy because of the church's radical reputation."

And if you think there's no connection between these two men beyond brief encounters, the same article reports, "Obama says that rather than advising him on strategy, Wright helps keep his priorities straight and his moral compass calibrated."

His moral compass calibrated????

Rev. Wright was still a member of campaign until Friday night. And Barack Obama likes to trumpet his judgement? In fact, according to his appearance on MSNBC's Countdown, he didn't even ask him to step down (or was unwilling to admit he did), "You know, I think, there was a recognition that he's on the verge of retirement, he's taking a sabbatical and it was important for him to step out of the spotlight in this situation."

Taking a sabbatical? Does that mean he'll be back on your campaign after the controversy dies down? He doesn't deserve any more condemnation than that? In fact, Obama instead chooses to defend this disgusting individual, "Now, I think it's, Keith, important to point out that he's been preaching for 30 years. He is a man who was a former Marine who served this country, a biblical scholar, somebody who's spoken at theological schools all across the country, and is widely regarded as a preacher. That's the man I know. That's the person who was the pastor of this church."

To pretend you don't know what's in the heart of the man who has been your pastor for 20 years, the man who married you, the man who baptized your children, the man who gave you the title of your second book, the man who you turn to as a moral compass, and the man who was a part of your campaign tells us one of two things.

1) Barack Obama is a liar, or 2) Barack Obama is ignorant of the world around him.

Either choice makes Barack Obama unfit to lead this nation.