tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-865494184012705718.post4870288077289000266..comments2009-10-29T18:42:50.635-04:00Anthony Palmer, Ph.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00043374303541804437noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-865494184012705718.post-70922160265092822222009-10-29T18:42:50.635-04:002009-10-29T18:42:50.635-04:00The Republicans do not have to redefine Obama as a caricature. He has evolved into one all too familiar. That of a Black man shuckin and jiving for powerful white men. Sent to new city every day, handed a new speech to read, complete with a new photo op with just the right people. Pushing someones elses agenda and getting paid. Obama doesn&#39;t know about any of the bills he is shiling... NONE of the details. He&#39;s not his own man. Just a creation to confuse masses unsuspecting masses like yourself.Blackbolt1http://www.blogger.com/profile/02253384726092292669noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-865494184012705718.post-82289393084041804152008-06-28T16:55:00.000-04:002008-06-28T16:55:00.000-04:00I think the "Fast Eddie" element is part and parcel of all good (or at least successful) politicians in the United States. If you can't, then how are you going to deal with the rough-and-tumble of the international world, as well as the countless petty politicians in the Congress and state governments who will constantly be trying to screw you and get what they want?<BR/><BR/>I mean, just read the book <I>The Agenda</I> by Bob Woodward, about all the trouble Clinton had in 1993 with getting his financial budget-balancing package passed (among his own <I>Democrats</I>, particularly; the book does not portray a particularly flattering image of Bob Kerrey). And that was when the Democrats controlled both houses of Congress, with 57 Senate seats! (More than the Republicans ever controlled during their 12-year control of Congress - the best they ever did was 55)Brettnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-865494184012705718.post-708271397967925152008-06-28T10:28:00.000-04:002008-06-28T10:28:00.000-04:00I agree with you Brett about Republicans being contradictory with their message. While I am not Michelle Obama's biggest fan, I think criticism of her should form a case study of the Republican attack machine in the future. If Michelle had decided not to go to college and get pregnant as a teenager, Republicans would say something like, "Typical welfare queen." But trying to get a good education and not being a burden leads to calls that she is elitist.<BR/><BR/>So Michelle faces a bit of a quandary, it seems. She is supposed to not receive welfare. But she is not supposed to receive too much education either too.<BR/><BR/>The same thing can said about John Edwards. He made a lot of money as a trial lawyer defending his clients against big corporations. But to Republicans, he is a "sleazy trial lawyer," that old Republican wordplay game again. Which makes me wonder why don't corporations just do what they are supposed to do and make safe products from the get-go? That is all trial lawyers like John Edwards are calling corporations on.<BR/><BR/>In the spirit of full disclosure, I am a lawyer so I get defensive when lawyers are attacked just because they are lawyers. It seems obvious to me (but not to Republicans) that individual lawyers can be good or bad but lawyers as a class are neither good nor bad.Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13892964135889989419noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-865494184012705718.post-36122880157511048952008-06-28T10:24:00.000-04:002008-06-28T10:24:00.000-04:00Thomas,<BR/><BR/>You know what? I actually planned on writing a post about this. The post will be about how Obama can lose this election. You are definitely right about this.<BR/><BR/>I think Thomas Friedman wrote a good column about the two faces of Obama last week--is he the inspirational politician or "Fast Eddie" Obama--the Chicago hardballer.Anthony Palmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00043374303541804437noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-865494184012705718.post-68666396792089713412008-06-28T10:20:00.000-04:002008-06-28T10:20:00.000-04:00I have issue with the way some of Obama's people paint John McCain as a war monger who wants to keep fighting in Iraq for 100 years. Obama says he wants to practice a "new kind of politics," which seems to me to mean that Obama can criticize his opponent all he wants but when he himself is criticized, Obama says things like, "Oh, that is old Washington resisting change."Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13892964135889989419noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-865494184012705718.post-18287251115336365512008-06-27T21:18:00.000-04:002008-06-27T21:18:00.000-04:00I found some interesting links regarding the flag:<BR/><BR/>Flags should never be used in advertisements according to the <A HREF="http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=browse_usc&docid=Cite:+4USC8" REL="nofollow">US Flag Code</A>.<BR/><BR/>John McCain <A HREF="http://www.ushistory.org/betsy/flagetiq.html" REL="nofollow">autographed a flag</A>, which is a violation of the flag code.<BR/><BR/>According to the <A HREF="http://www.americanflags.org/docs/etiquette.jsp?pageId=0690200091781119362392163" REL="nofollow">National Flag Foundation</A>, during the national anthem, "citizens should stand at attention and salute at the first note and hold the salute through the last note." It makes no mention of placing your hand over your heart.<BR/><BR/>Having said all that, Obama should have simply saluted. As a politician, that was not a wise thing to do even though many regular people also don't put their hand over their heart during the national anthem.<BR/><BR/>I attended a graduation for some of my soldiers this week and half of the people in attendance did not place their hand over their heart during the national anthem. So there seems to be no real consensus on this.<BR/><BR/>The Pledge of Allegiance is entirely different, however.Anthony Palmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00043374303541804437noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-865494184012705718.post-1522821960894824312008-06-27T02:42:00.000-04:002008-06-27T02:42:00.000-04:00Oh, please, Bubba. People actually DO change their religion at times - Christianity is predicated on the fact that they can (which is why nearly all the branches of Christianity welcome converts. People actually do convert away from Islam (it's not an ethnic status), but that's irrelevant anyways, because Obama was never really much of a muslim to begin with, if at all. His stepfather was a "secular muslim" (meaning he was about as much a devout muslim as I am a devout Mormon - which is to say none), and after he broke up with Obama's mom, Obama had exactly zero contact with Islam or religious practice.<BR/><BR/>To be honest, you need to actually find some consistency in your rant. How exactly is Obama both a secret muslim with ambitions to destroy American as well as a believing member of a "marxist" black church that thinks of whites as "honkies"?<BR/><BR/>And to be additionally honest, only somebody who has never read or heard anything other than what he gets in paranoid e-mails could describe Obama as a Marxist - the guy is probably closer to the center than Clinton on policy.Brettnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-865494184012705718.post-59007527134188468752008-06-26T22:17:00.000-04:002008-06-26T22:17:00.000-04:00I hope you aren't implying Obama is a Muslim. Also, I don't know if you have ever been to a military base movie theater, but the National Anthem is played before every movie and everyone stands. No one is in uniform and no one is covering their hearts. They just stand at attention. If you think covering your heart during the anthem is UnAmerican, than you need to get out more.<BR/><BR/>Liberals have been called "unAmerican" from people on the far-right for thinking that Bush's direction in the war is wrong. I wonder if those same far-right "real Americans" will still be American if/when Obama is their President. Will you still stand behind your president if you disagree with him? Or are you "unAmerican?"DBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01267112937396907790noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-865494184012705718.post-38385917351309855102008-06-26T21:52:00.000-04:002008-06-26T21:52:00.000-04:00isnt being an elitist part of running for president it means the best not the implied definition of someone seperated from the mainstream of the populace <BR/>if being the best is the case neither of these two idiots are elitists<BR/>i think the labels are born out of frustration from the fact that nothing about this b.o. guy gets scrutinized hes the ultimate untouchable<BR/>because the mainstream media so wants a leftist for president<BR/>uh. the last time someone was at a country club named hussein was the last time some middle eastern attended one of the dnc parties <BR/>i think that everything about this guy the obamassiah needs to be scrutinized not just his name <BR/>the simple fact that he went to church for 20 yrs and never listened to any of the sermons suggests that maybe he really isnt interested in christianity at all<BR/>that coupled with the fact that he spent 5 yrs as an adolesceht studing the koran might suggest he is feining his faith to cover his real ambitions to destroy america<BR/>i still cant get the hatred out of my heart for this man for the pictures of him ,bill richardson and clinton standing on the stage during the playing of the national anthem with his hands in his pockets arrogantly showing his contempt for america if that isnt isnt the picture of an america hating black militant what is and as far as his wife her manerisms suggest that maybee just maybee the words honky and cracker have crossed her lips and all this talk about black liberation theology <BR/>have you read the ideolgy defined at the churches web site palmer?<BR/>its marxism plain and simple if you read it you cant say it isnt<BR/>is this what we want some freaking marxist in the white house?bubbanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-865494184012705718.post-2596069582289105592008-06-26T21:19:00.000-04:002008-06-26T21:19:00.000-04:00Brett/DB,<BR/><BR/>I started typing a response to your comments, but it became too long. I guess I'll turn that into a new post. In short, it's about how stupid politicians sound when they accuse each other of being elitists. I know I wrote about it before, but it still makes me angry.<BR/><BR/>DB, you made a good point which clarified that it's more a matter of a lack of empathy for average people rather than a disdain for people who are successful. But I guess most average voters equate them somehow. Oh, and I know I said I would write a post here in response to your post about why government is broken. I haven't forgotten. Stay tuned.Anthony Palmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00043374303541804437noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-865494184012705718.post-35140870468045972402008-06-26T03:36:00.000-04:002008-06-26T03:36:00.000-04:00I won't deny he is elitist, but one cannot deny that McCain isn't either. These candidates are not people who feel the plight of middle America, and certainly not the poor. Just because you volunteer or say you understand, doesn't mean you know the hardship Americans are facing. Maybe elitist is not the right term, but "in touch/out of touch" are not terms either candidate should be able to play. I myself am not able to identify with the hardships Americans are facing, let along some presidential candidate that owns multiple houses or has an Ivy league degree. By painting Obama as an elitist, the Right is simply covering up the fact that their candidate is also.DBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01267112937396907790noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-865494184012705718.post-73165079781766836322008-06-26T03:11:00.000-04:002008-06-26T03:11:00.000-04:00You are completely right, Anthony. The Republicans' caricatures are contradictory, but that's not really surprising; they generally tend to only have consistency in their own message, not in their attacks.<BR/><BR/>As for "elitist", well, Republicans have tried to slap every Democratic presidential candidate for the past 30 years with some kind of "elitist" label with the exception of Bill Clinton. Apparently it is supposed to help gin up the populism and bring out to vote the type of people who don't apparently think that high quality education and intellectual thought are valuable things in political practice.Brettnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-865494184012705718.post-40981748939847589542008-06-26T00:18:00.000-04:002008-06-26T00:18:00.000-04:00i wont bite on this lolTorrance Stephens bka All-Mi-Thttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08843040863123899426noreply@blogger.com