Category: Elections

Awe nuts, the Rev. Jesse Jackson’s off the deep end again

Posted on by TL

Let me begin by saying that I have tremendous respect for Jesse Jackson, Sr. if it is still 1988.

His speech at the Democratic Convention is electrifying and incredibly inspirational. I’m sitting in the living room of my parents’ house watching the convention, and I’m hoping against hope that Jesse Sr. could have won the Democratic nomination for president.

It’s 1988, and there’s a lot I don’t know about Jesse Jackson, Sr., except for that speech.

Two decades later, I know a lot more. And I don’t like what I see any more.

From the Chicago Tribune’s Swamp:

Not realizing a camera and microphone were live, Jackson whispered in a television studio on Sunday that Obama had been “talking down to black people” in his calls for more parental responsibility among blacks and an expansion of faith-based charities.

“I want to cut his nuts out,” Jackson added, gesturing as if grabbing part of the male anatomy and then pulling.

I get it that Jesse likes to make himself the story. Sometimes I can even accept that. This time, however, Jesse was off the charts. Consider this: Jesse was in a Fox News studio. How can any reasonable person conclude that the microphone might not be in a Fox News studio, or any studio?

Jesse rushed to apologize, but this time he looks downright silly:

From the Chicago Sun-Times:

“I offer apologies because I don’t want harm to come to this campaign,” Jackson said.

“I said something I regret was crude. It was very private. And very much a sound bite,” he said. “I find no comfort in it, no joy in it.”

Not, “I apologize because I was wrong.” This is, “I apologize because I got caught. That was meant to be private. But I meant what I said.”

Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr. was not pleased with dad:

Jackson’s son U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., who has distanced himself from his father before, offered an especially pointed reaction: “I’m deeply outraged and disappointed in Rev. Jackson’s reckless statements about Sen. Barack Obama,” the junior Jackson said. “Reverend Jackson is my dad, and I’ll always love him . . . [but] I thoroughly reject and repudiate his ugly rhetoric. He should keep hope alive and any personal attacks and insults to himself.

I’ve heard Congressman Jackson take some playful, tongue-in-cheek jabs at his father in the past.  During some friendly gatherings, the congressman would say he didn’t want to be the kind of guy who showed up just for the cameras.  Then he’d pause thoughtfully, wait for the chuckles.

We all got it.

This time, however, the congressman was on fire, and spot on.

I enjoyed NBC’s Matt Lauer’s clumsily interview with Dr. Michael Eric Dyson on the Today Show this morning. How will the Black Community respond? As if all African Americans think in concert, like all whites, all men, all women, all gays, all lesbians, etc. Dyson carefully observed that “some” blacks will say this, “some” will say that. In other words, people might actually see things differently.

Sun-Times columnist Mary Mitchell calls the senior Jackson’s explanation absurd:

Jackson’s faux pas turned up the volume on a whispered conversation.

But there’s no need to worry.

Black Democrats have supported a long line of presidential contenders who had to walk the same fine line.

They are not about to abandon Obama because he finds more opportunities to talk about black pathology than he does white racism.

Besides, the reverend’s comments were so beneath the dignity of the cloth he wears on the road he has traveled, the Obama campaign won’t have to deal with them — period.

But if Jackson keeps making loud noises, he’ll find out how quickly even a civil rights icon like him can get left behind.

The weird right is enjoying this spectacle, but this will pass.  It won’t be long until another far-right icon is forced out of the closet.

The media will want to stay with the distraction for a while longer, I’m sure.  This is much more fun than actually doing critical thinking and writing about real issues.  And I’m sure this will not be the last time the Rev. Jackson pulls a “Michael Richards.”

Senator Obama graciously accepted Jackson’s apology, and he’s moving on.  This is just another distraction.

Bill Foster Goes to Bat for Veterans

Posted on by TL

U.S. Congressman Bill Foster from the 14th Congressional District in Illinois is quickly making a name for himself standing up for our military veterans. The 14th District is the seat vacated by former Speaker of the House Denny Hastert. According to the Daily Chronicle:

Beginning next year, veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces will have easier access to higher education.

But, effective immediately, the U.S. military will have a tremendous new recruiting tool.

Monday, U.S. Rep. Bill Foster, D-Batavia, delivered this news to a small gathering of war veterans at the St. Charles Veterans of Foreign Wars Post, lauding the recent passage of the so-called 21st Century GI Bill.

“Right after we have celebrated our independence for the 232nd time, we have a chance to honor and give back to the men and women who make sure we keep on having Independence Days,” Foster said.

Promoted by Sen. Jim Webb, D-Virginia, and signed into law by President Bush late last month, the GI Bill enhances college tuition benefits to active-duty service personnel who have served since Sept. 11, 2001. For veterans who have served at least three years, the bill guarantees that the federal government will fund 100 percent of tuition costs at public, in-state colleges and universities and 50 percent of private school tuition.

Veterans who served less than three years can also receive lesser benefits on a graduated scale, beginning at 40 percent of tuition and fees for at least 90 days of consecutive active duty service.

The bill also grants money for all fees, a new monthly housing stipend and $1,000 a year for books and supplies.

There was some opposition to this bill in both parties, but Jim Webb has a solid reputation among veterans, and the bill was supported by many of America’s leading veterans organizations, including the VFW, American Legion, AmVets and others. It had the support of Senator Barack Obama, but, amazingly, became the ill-advised punching bag of one veteran, Senator John McCain. Republicans did not stand with McCain on this one:

In a surprising rebuke to John McCain, 25 of his fellow Republican senators today approved a veterans’ benefits proposal that their presidential nominee has made a controversial decision to oppose.

The veterans’ plan passed today would strengthen education benefits for US soldiers that have not been updated since 1984. McCain, a Vietnam war veteran, echoes the Bush administration’s concerns that the plan could entice too many troops to leave the military for college.

But more than half of Republican senators disagreed, voting for the education proposal offered by Democratic senator James Webb — and against McCain’s stated position.

Bill Foster is turning into a unique blend. He’s spot on for the 14th District. While it might be expected of those of us on the left to continuously bash Republicans, the fact is Denny Hastert represented his constituents well for a very long time. Bill Foster is following that lead: he’s legislating, not politicking. And it’s very refreshing to see that coming from Congress these days.

Government Snoops on Celeb. Passports: Happy Independence Day!

Posted on by TL

This story from The Washington Post (in block text) is presented with appropriate passages from The Declaration of Independence (italics).  Enjoy.

Government workers repeatedly snooped without authorization inside the electronic passport records of entertainers, athletes and other high-profile Americans, a State Department audit has found. One celebrity’s records were breached 356 times by more than six dozen people.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

The audit, by State’s inspector general, was prompted by the discovery in March that three of the department’s contract workers had peeked at the private passport files of Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain and that a State Department trainee had examined the file of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

The report documented a widespread lack of controls on the personal data of the 127 million Americans who hold passports, finding numerous “weaknesses, including a general lack of policies, procedures, guidance and training.” The State Department had maintained that its system worked when the candidates’ passport breaches were discovered.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.

The audit also suggests that some workers were motivated by fascination with the private lives of celebrities, none of whom were identified. One employee told investigators he simply liked looking up the records of professional basketball players.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

Investigators found that 20,500 government workers and contractors had access to the electronic system that maintained the records. Most of them worked for the State Department or the Department of Homeland Security.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.

Privacy Act violations could result in misdemeanor penalties or fines if workers disclosed personal information to a third party not authorized to receive it.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.

Another law, the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, could result in criminal penalties for unauthorized access to government computer systems.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.

You get the idea.

Happy Independence Day!  Do yourself a favor and read the Declaration of Independence sometime today.

And look forward to a great Indepencence Day on January 20, 2009.

John McCain, Tax Dodger

Posted on by TL

It’s only Newsweek, so it must be another liberal smear.

Except this time it’s true.

John McCain is a tax dodger:

When you’re poor, it can be hard to pay the bills. When you’re rich, it’s hard to keep track of all the bills that need paying. It’s a lesson Cindy McCain learned the hard way when NEWSWEEK raised questions about an overdue property-tax bill on a La Jolla, Calif., property owned by a trust that she oversees. Mrs. McCain is a beer heiress with an estimated $100 million fortune and, along with her husband, she owns at least seven properties, including condos in California and Arizona.

San Diego County officials, it turns out, have been sending out tax notices on the La Jolla property, an oceanfront condo, for four years without receiving a response.

Four years of tax notices without a response?  What would happen to your average senior citizens who did not pay their taxes?

Ask them.  They’re out on the streets.  They’re everywhere.

This demonstrates a certain arrogance, a hubris with a particularly bad stench.  Ignore the tax bills.  Tax bills are for those with less than $100 million.

I want to know what penalties were assessed.  Were the taxes bought by tax scavengers?  Have the McCains lost property because of their negligence?

Or are there other rules for the fabulously well-to-do?

Is your middle name “Hussein” too?

Posted on by TL

Some Barack Obama supporters are informally adopting the presumptive Democratic presidential candidate’s middle name as their own.  According to the New York Times:

Emily Nordling has never met a Muslim, at least not to her knowledge. But this spring, Ms. Nordling, a 19-year-old student from Fort Thomas, Ky., gave herself a new middle name on Facebook.com, mimicking her boyfriend and shocking her father.

“Emily Hussein Nordling,” her entry now reads.

With her decision, she joined a growing band of supporters of Senator Barack Obama, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, who are expressing solidarity with him by informally adopting his middle name.

Very cool.  Reminds me of the end of Spike Lee’s Malcolm X, where children declare one at a time, “I am Malcolm X!”

Barack Obama is an intriguing personality.  By all rights, he has the absolute worst name for politics in the United States.  But here we stand, in classic Americana, embracing the other.

I’ll change my Facebook profile also, proudly adopting the Senator from Illinois’ middle name as my own.

You should consider doing the same.

Lieberman Must Go!

Posted on by TL

This just in today from Brave New Films:

Joe Lieberman is a war hawk, plain and simple. He staunchly supports George Bush’s War in Iraq and John McCain’s plan to stay in Iraq for 100 years. But Lieberman’s new alliance with the Republican Party runs even deeper. He has endorsed and stumped for McCain, wants to be the star of the Republican National Convention, and has even served on a 527 group that smeared Barack Obama with a nasty attack ad.

And yet Lieberman still holds a top rank within the Senate Democratic Caucus as chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. The Senate Democratic Steering Committee needs to know just how much of a conflict of interest this is. That’s why we created Lieberman Must Go.

Watch the video: http://bravenewfilms.org/watch/19924842/43061?utm_source=rgemail

Here’s what you can do: Sign our petition today and tell the Senate Democratic Steering Committee to strip Lieberman of his leadership role in Congress. Then, e-mail this video to everyone you know and spread it on sites like Digg and elsewhere.

Recently in Talking Points Memo, Josh Marshall suggested that the best way to limit Lieberman is by encouraging the Steering Committee to render him powerless in 2009. Lieberman must go, and you can make that happen by donating to Brave New Films today.

Yours,
Robert Greenwald
and the Brave New Team

I’m happy to give them a spot on Turning Left.  I agree…

Joe Lieberman Must Go!

Bill Daley wants to be your governor, Illinios

Posted on by TL

Bill Daley has been talking to all the right people, working to position himself for the 2010 Democratic nomination for governor of Illinois. Brother of Chicago Mayor Richard Daley, Bill took a shot at the governor’s mansion in 2002. According to the Chicago Sun-Times:

Bill Daley flirted with a race for governor in 2002 only to be bullied out by Ald. Richard Mell (33rd), father-in-law of Gov. Blagojevich.

Mell threatened to dirty up the mayor’s brother with talk of Bill Daley’s divorce and Daley’s stint as president of Amalgamated Bank.

With federal investigators swarming over the Blagojevich administration, the governor’s former fundraiser Tony Rezko now a convicted felon and Mell now estranged from his son-in-law, Bill Daley is apparently looking to scratch his lifelong political itch.

Well, Blagojevich has certainly become quite the itch.

I’m willing to take a look at Daley.

Daley has name recognition in his own right.  He served as Secretary of Commerce in President Bill Clinton’s second administration.  In July 2000 he became chairman of Vice President Al Gore’s presidential campaign.

This man has a respectable history already, and throws his hat into a crowded field.

For years we’ve heard talk that Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan was planning a run for governor.  Madigan is exceptional.  I’ve heard her speak on a number of occasions.  While her father is very well-connected, Lisa is not Speaker Mike.

Lisa is not a Todd-Stroger-wannabe, running just because daddy already holds office.  Neither is Bill Daley running because of his brother.

If these two throw their respective hats into the ring, Democrats are in for quite the ride.  Democrats will have two very respectable candidates to consider.

Personally, I’ll probably offer my support to the one who does not go negative first.

A terror attack would be great for John McCain

Posted on by TL

A “senior adviser” to John McCain told Fortune Magazine that a terror attack would be “a big advantage” for John McCain.  Charles R. Black, Jr. was forced to “recant” his opinion:

First, McCain said the substance of Black’s comments were untrue.

“I’ve worked tirelessly since 9/11 to prevent another attack on the United States of America,” McCain told reporters today. “If he said that, and I do not know the context, I strenuously disagree.”

Then, outside a fundraiser in Fresno, Black read a statement aloud to reporters from handwritten notes:

“I deeply regret the comments – they were inappropriate. I recognize that John McCain has devoted his entire adult life to protecting his country and placing its security before every other consideration.”

We’re all waiting for the infamous “October surprise.”  Terror attack or no, however, we all know that McCain and his ilk are hoping for a bomb to go off.  That would be so sweet for John.

Senator Joe Biden (D-Del.) put it best:

“For the McCain campaign to say it would benefit politically from another September 11 attack is disgraceful. That Mr. Black would even think in those terms, let alone express the thought publicly, is very sad. John McCain was right to disavow his remarks. The politics of fear have no place in our national life.”

But McCain’s camp is thinking in those terms.  And, I would argue, deep down inside, so is John McCain.  These remarks don’t just slip out.  Somewhere along the line, the “insiders” were joking around, maybe tipping back a few, and in grand “group-think” mentality, convinced themselves that John McCain would, in fact, benefit from a terror attack.

Problem is, after the buzz wears off, you’re not supposed to say those things in public.

Unless, somewhere deep inside, you really mean it.

Obama campaign raises $21.9 million in May

Posted on by TL

The NYTimes shares the good news:

Barack Obama raised $21.9 million in May, his campaign reported on Friday, a day after the Democratic candidate said he would reject public financing for his presidential bid.

The Illinois senator’s campaign said it had $43.1 million in the bank at the end of the month, with debts of about $304,000.

Astounding.  All of this is money freely given to the campaign by real Americans.  Ninety percent of his donors have given $100 or less.  The numbers are staggering.

But we’ve won nothing yet.  McCain could still win.

“The fierce urgency of now” dictates that we take nothing for granted.  This is the time to work.

Only hard work between now and November will result in victory.

David Brooks is an idiot

Posted on by TL

For some reason, I used to enjoy reading David Brooks in the New York Times. I don’t know why. He’s a smart guy. Perhaps it’s my liberal leanings that cause me to thirst for news from all perspectives, not permitting myself to be limited to one point of view.

Brooks’ mere presence in the NYTimes is proof they don’t pander to liberals.

But this one really takes the cake. I’ve watched Brooks give commentary on television. Whether it’s This Week with George Stephanolopous or the pages of the NYTimes, commentators want to tell you what to think as much as they tell you what they think.

Well, Mr. Brooks slipped this time. Regarding Barack Obama, Brooks said:

“Obama‘s problem is he doesn‘t seem like a guy who can go into an Applebee‘s salad bar and people think he fits in naturally there. He has to change to be more like that Applebee‘s guy and as he‘s done that he‘s become much more transactional. Much more, I‘m going to deliver this and this and this to you on policy.”

David, Applebee’s doesn’t have a salad bar. I know you know this by now. Face it, you looked downright silly on this one.

As someone who’s had the pleasure of meeting the Senator from Illinois on more than one occasion, I can say with confidence Barack’s a good guy.

You know, Barack Obama does look like someone who could go into an Applebee’s and have lunch or a good dinner.

You don’t.