“I cried all night. I’m going to be crying for the next four years,” he said. “What Barack Obama has accomplished is the single most extraordinary event that has occurred in the 232 years of the nation’s political history. … The event itself is so extraordinary that another chapter could be added to the Bible to chronicle its significance.” — Jesse Jackson Jr. June 2008
Jesse Jackson Jr. wants to add a new book the Bible, the Book of Barack, the gospel of the messiah from Honolulu a new book of Revelation. You would think that this sort of nonsense turns many off, myself included as an athetist. I want religion out of politics, these clowns bring in ad naseum into the public square.
Now tonight is a historic moment. For the first time an African-American, albeit one who is half-white, is the nominee of a major party but Spike Lee’s suggestion that world history will be seen as B.B., Before Barack, and A.B., After Barack is not just hyperbole but historical nonsense. Such neat divides in history are non-existent. For all the notion of John Kennedy’s importance as the first non-Protestant Presidential candidate, there has been only one since. Michael Dukakis was Greek-Orthodox. And if the American legislatures are any indication both African-Americans and women are underrepresented.
The United States ranks 68th in the world out of 189 countries with elected parliaments in terms of representation of women inside the halls of government. 68th based on 16.3% female representation in government. The world average is 18% which makes the United States below average. Women make up 52% of the population and in some elections account for 56% of the electorate. It’s a traversty to have women so underrepresented in government. Most of South America, more than half of Europe and parts of Asia and Africa rank higher. Even Central Asian and Islamic countries like Uzbekistan and Tajikistan rank slightly ahead of the United States.
In the Senate, there is but one African-American serving, Senator Obama and he is just the fourth elected since Reconstruction. Blacks are 12% of the population overall. There is still a long way to go.
This new ad out today from the Texas Republican Party hits Senator Obama over his associations with Bernadine Dohrn, Antonin “Tony” Rezko, and the Reverend Jeremiah Wright. It is I am guessing to be a likely theme from the state Republican parties throughout the Fall campaign. Senator McCain will largely let the GOP and 527 groups do the heavy hitting.
The ad is a one minute spot. The ad is only running in Texas though it is likely being viewed in adjacent markets in New Mexico, Oklahoma and Louisiana. To some degree the ad is unnecessary as Obama is viewed unfavourably by 48% of all voters in Texas according to the lastest Rasmussen Reports poll out yesterday. That’s actually an improvement from the previous poll from July 30, 2008 when Obama had an incredible 51% unfavourable rating. Again, my assertion is that Obama’s Berlin speech was a serious blunder and tomorrow’s toga party in Denver might be another.
Amidst the show of Democratic unity in Denver today foregoing a roll call vote and nominating Senator Obama by acclamation, there were signs that disunity still carries the day amongst the Democrats. The Tennessee delegation, a state that Senator Clinton carried handily back in February, was in open rebellion.
Hillary Clinton delegates from Tennessee broke into open rebellion Wednesday in one of the only bursts of public anger to surface in a convention devoted to embracing Democratic Party unity after a contentious primary campaign.
The dissention led one Memphis delegate, Rudi Scheidt, to say he was “aghast” and the outright “hatred” he saw on display between the Clinton and Barack Obama camps.
The issue that sparked the anger was whether Clinton’s pledged delegates have a moral obligation to represent the voters who elected them to vote for Clinton on the first ballot at the Democratic National Convention — even though Clinton vowed in her speech Tuesday night to support Barack Obama.
My most sincerest and profound sympathies to Phyllis Lyon. It is with saddness that I note that Del Martin, a lesbian rights pioneer who took part in one of California’s first same-sex weddings, died today in San Francisco after a long period of declining health. She was 87. Del and Phyllis are pillars of this community and tonight is one of reflection but also celebration of a life that did in fact change the world for the better. Because Del and Phyllis chose to stand for their rights, they expanded mine. They made my life easier to traverse. I can’t thank them enough for their leadership.
Del Martin, a lesbian rights pioneer who took part in one of California’s first same-sex weddings, died today in San Francisco after a long period of declining health. She was 87.
Ms. Martin’s political activism began more than five decades ago when in 1955 she co-founded a ground-breaking lesbian rights organization, Daughters of Bilitis, named after a book of lesbian love poetry. On June 16, she and her partner of 55 years, Phyllis Lyon, were married at San Francisco City Hall by Mayor Gavin Newsom.
“Her last act of activism was her most personal – marrying the love of her life,” said Kate Kendell, a long-time friend of the couple and executive director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights.
Ms. Martin died this morning at UCSF Hospice, nearly two weeks after she was admitted with a broken arm.
“Ever since I met Del 55 years ago, I could never imagine a day would come when she wouldn’t be by my side,” Lyon said in a statement issued by the National Center for Lesbian Rights. “I am so lucky to have known her, loved her and been her partner in all things.
“I also never imagined there would be a day that we would actually be able to get married,” Lyon said. “I am devastated, but I take some solace in knowing we were able to enjoy the ultimate rite of love and commitment before she passed.”
Congratulations to Senator Obama of Illinois on winning the nomination of the Democratic Party. I wish him well in his personal endeavours but not in his Presidential ambitions. It is a historic moment for an African-American to win the nomination of a major party. That aside, from this vantage point, his nomination is also a travesty of the democratic process but other blogs can better inform you on that score. But I will say this, the Democratic electorate was divided in this election. Neither candidate won a plurality of the pledged delegates. The party apparatus then chose Obama who in my mind is the weakest of the candidates.
My purpose going forward is more to argue why Senator Obama is not qualified to be President and I will continue to provide coverage of the race by analyzing polls and covering the campaign advertising.
Senator Barack Obama, the Hawaiian-born son of a father from Kenya and a mother from Kansas, officially became the presidential nominee of the Democratic Party on Wednesday, capping a meteoric rise from a little-known state senator to the first African-American to win a major-party nomination.
Although there was some suspense over how the nomination process would play out, in the end, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton released her delegates before the roll call to vote for Mr. Obama and announced that she was voting for Mr. Obama and his running mate, Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr. of Delaware.
At the urging of Mrs. Clinton, the New York delegation cast its votes for Mr. Obama, and at 4:48 p.m. local times, Mrs. Clinton called on the Democratic National Convention to end the roll call and nominate him by acclamation.
“With eyes firmly fixed on the future in the spirit of unity, with the goal of victory, with faith in our party and country, let’s declare together in one voice, right here and right now, that Barack Obama is our candidate and he will be our president,” Mrs. Clinton said.
Sorry Al, don’t mean to pick on you but yours came across the wire first with these commercials from Employee Freedom Minnesota is the center of the battle being waged over the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA). The AFL-CIO supports the bill but critics contend union administered elections, with a lack of Federal oversight, will lead to coercion on the part of union organizers. Senator Obama supports the bill. Here is the Wikipedia overview of the issue.
The Employee Freedom Action Committee (EFAC) is a non-partisan, non-profit organization that believes it is
fighting for fair elections in the workplace. The committee is comprised of thousands of American workers, employers and others that believe that everyone deserves a right to a private, fair election when it comes to joining a labor union.
This 527 group has campaign ads out against the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) targeting Mary Landrieu in Louisiana, Tom Allen in Maine, Mark Udall in Colorado, Bruce Lunsford in Kentucky and Ronnie Musgrove in Mississippi. All are Democrats running for the Senate though only Landrieu is an incumbent.
The Libertarian Party candidate Bob Barr was on the Colbert Report. I will be hightlighting third party candidates, but not endorsing any, in an effort to show you that there options beyond the two entrenched political parties that are suffocating both political discourse in this country and perhaps democracy itself. Former Congressman Barr is on the ballot on 48 states and is awaiting word from Oklahoma and West Viriginia as to whether he will be on the ballot there. In the polls, I have seen he has been polling anywhere between 2% and 6%. He may do quite well in Georgia and North Carolina, enough to make the race competitive for Obama but the polling is so scant that it is hard to tell.
If people ask me why I am not voting for Obama, I am going to point them to this ad. I am a progressive liberal but I also know the world we live in is a dangerous place. I’ve traveled most of it to know that it doesn’t require much to know friend from foe and yet incredibly Senator Barack Obama does not. Anyone who would sit down and talk to Hugo Chávez or Mahmoud Ahmadinejad without preconditions is a dangerous fool. Venezuela is an authoritarian state destablizing its neighbors; Iran is far worse. And yet incredibly, Senator Obama dismissed the threats these nations as “tiny.”
The ad is 30 second. It starts running today in Colorado, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Florida, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnersota and Nevada. (more…)
Senator McCain enjoys a solid nine point lead in the nation’s second most populous state that offers 34 electoral vote. The latest Rasmussen Reports poll in the Lone Star state shows Senator McCain maintaining his nine point margin over the past month.
For the third month in a row, John McCain is leading Barack Obama in Texas by nine points, 50% to 41%, according to a new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of voters in the state.
When “leaners” are included, the Republican is ahead 54% to 44%.
Nationally, in the Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll, the race between McCain and Obama remains very close.
Texas has voted for the Republican candidate in every election for the past 28 years. At the time this poll was released, Texas was rated as a “Safely Republican” in the Rasmussen Reports Balance of Power Calculator.
This month, McCain is backed by 82% of voters from his own party and 16% of Democrats in Texas. Obama’s support comes from 75% of Democrats and 14% of Republicans. Among unaffiliated voters, McCain has a dominant 51% to 35% lead. McCain leads by a 50% to 41% margin among men and 51% to 41% among women.
Count the owner and publisher of the nation’s leading gay magazines, The Advocate and Out, Paul Colichman as one more ardent Hillary Clinton supporter not voting for Senator Obama. I am sure many in the LGBT community will be outraged and cancel their subscriptions but I will renew mine. This gay boy ain’t voting for Senator Obama either.
For those who think that there is any difference between Senator McCain and Senator Obama on gay issues, you need to discount Senator Obama’s rhetoric and examine what he is actually saying. Marriage is between a man and a woman. No difference from Senator McCain. On every issue, Obama will say he stands for equality then in the next breath say but you have to listen to the other side or he will add that it is a state’s rights issue. About the sole advantage is that Obama will strike provisions to the Defense of Marriage Act, not insignificant but also not worth taking a risk when they are so many more important issues affecting the country and the world.
More on Paul Colichman from the New York Post. I expect many but not a plurality in the LGBT community to either pull the lever for McCain or simply stay home. This is what Obama’s candidacy has wrought. He who promised unity actually delivers disunity. Ironic?
