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Barack Obama to arrive in Britain
Barack Obama arrives in London today after drawing hundreds of thousands of cheering fans on a visit to Berlin. Obama, who has received acclaim across the German media for the speech he delivered to an estimated 200,000 people in Berlin, is due to meet President Nicolas Sarkozy today during a briefer and lower-key visit, before flying on to Britain.
The US Democratic presidential candidate is expected to land at Le Bourget airport, before heading into Paris to meet President Sarkozy. He will then depart for London, where he will meet Gordon Brown for talks in Downing Street tomorrow.
Barack Obama arrives in London today after drawing hundreds of thousands of cheering fans on a visit to Berlin. Obama, who has receive... more -
Barack Obama in Berlin
Barack Obama addresses a crowd of over 200,000 people in Tiergarten, Berlin.
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Obama’s Berlin Speech: This is the Moment to Stand as One
Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama arrived in Berlin on Thursday, kicking off the European leg of his overseas trip amid high expectations. Over 200,000 Berliners eagerly awaited Obama’s speech in front of the Tiergarten’s 226-foot high Victory Column, which previously has been a backdrop for various mass events.
For many Germans, Obama is the embodiment of the American dream and the ideal of a land of opportunity where everyone can make it to the top, regardless of race or social background. At a moment when anti-American sentiments have reached unprecedented heights in Germany, Obama is seen by many Germans as a symbol of hope and change for the good.
This detailed article presents a number of photographs, three videos (including the live video of Obama's full speech given at Berlin's Victory Column) and an extensive slideshow of photographs from the event. Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama arrived in Berlin on Thursday, kicking off the European leg of his overseas trip amid hig... more -
McCain Gaffe -- Iraq Was the First Major Conflict After 9/11. What about Afghanis...
There is one more John McCain gaffe that the media missed from the now famous CBS interview with Katie Couric.
This is the same interview in which McCain claimed the surge led to the Anbar Awakening, which is demonstrably false. But watch below for another gaffe when McCain says Iraq was the first major conflict after 9/11.
Was Afghanistan not major enough for him? It almost reminds you of when Don Rumsfeld was not impressed with invading Afghanistan because it did not provide a rich enough target environment. He needed something more major.
In all likelihood, this was a simple mental mistake for McCain, among a litany of others recently. But it does go toward state of mind. They never saw Afghanistan as a priority
There is one more John McCain gaffe that the media missed from the now famous CBS interview with Katie Couric. ... more -
McCain campaign running Obama-Castro ad
The McCain campaign has a new web ad out placing Barack Obama, for the second time, side-by-side with a foreign dictator. This time, it's Fidel Castro.
A Democrat in south Florida alerted the Huffington Post to the image, which shows Obama and Castro, profiled side-by-side, above a quote from the Cuban leader praising the Illinois Democrat as "the most advanced candidate."
Picture association is a time-honored tool in political campaigns (think: former Georgia Sen. Max Cleland having his mug pasted beside Osama Bin Laden's during the 2002 congressional elections). And indeed, this is not the first time that the presumptive Republican nominee has used the tactic. Early in June, McCain's campaign launched a web ad placing Obama beside Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad underneath the caption: "Is it OK to unconditionally meet with anti-American foreign leaders?"
Unlike that spot, the Castro advertisement actually uses the foreign leader's words against Obama. But the quote is misleading in regards to the actual political dynamics in play. For starters, since Obama became the de facto nominee, Castro has been critical of his candidacy, arguing that he has not called for serious alterations to U.S.-Cuban relations and would willingly allow the island nation to suffer from hunger. Obama, meanwhile, has criticized Castro as a repeated abuser of human rights and a tyrant whose time has passed.
Moreover, the guilt by endorser meme is something that even McCain has disavowed. When questions started being raised about his supporter, John Hagee, the Senator washed his hands of the pastor's controversial statements. "When he endorses me," McCain said, months before he rejected Hagee's endorsement, "it does not mean that I embrace everything that he stands for and believes."
For now, it seems the McCain camp is using its Castro ad on sites catering to South Florida - obviously a politically important geographic region. An email to McCain staffers went unanswered, but if readers have any more information, please send us tips. The McCain campaign has a new web ad out placing Barack Obama, for the second time, side-by-side with a foreign dictator. This time, i... more -
Obama in Berlin
In visibility range of the Brandenburger Gate at the "victory column" candidate Barack Obama speakes in Berlin.
At the beginning of his speach he pointed out the special position of berlin in history, the "airlift" after WWII, the berlin wall and the "flame of hope" which lighted from here to the world.
"People of the world — look at Berlin!
Look at Berlin, where Germans and Americans learned to work together and trust each other less than three years after facing each other on the field of battle."
And further:
"Sixty years after the airlift, we are called upon again. History has led us to a new crossroad, with new promise and new peril. "
Obama mentioned the global warming, the problem of nuklear weapons and the security of the free world. He also made clear that he expect more european engagement in afghanistan to fight terrorism.
"That is why America cannot turn inward. That is why Europe cannot turn inward. America has no better partner than Europe. Now is the time to build new bridges across the globe as strong as the one that bound us across the Atlantic. Now is the time to join together, through constant cooperation, strong institutions, shared sacrifice, and a global commitment to progress, to meet the challenges of the 21st century."
In visibility range of the Brandenburger Gate at the "victory column" candidate Barack Obama speakes in Berlin. ... more -
Nas & 620,000 Others Appear Outside Of Fox News
After topping the charts with his latest album, Nas took teamed up with Move On and Color of Change to deliver a box of petitions to Fox News.
“We’re here to make a stand,” Nas told a small crowd as he delivered the more than 600,000 flyers to the network.
Nas called out Fox News labeling Michelle Obama Barack’s “baby mama” and O’Reilly’s “lynching party” references as “racist.”
Watch the video here....
http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/news/id.7377 After topping the charts with his latest album, Nas took teamed up with Move On and Color of Change to deliver a box of petitions to F... more -
McCain Plays Catch-Up: Attends German Restaurant In German Village, Ohio
John McCain is still playing catch up to Barack Obama.
As the Illinois Democrat speaks before the picturesque Victory Column in Berlin today, the Arizona Republican is doing a slightly less exciting form of German outreach. He is having a lunch meeting with small business leaders at a German restaurant in German Village, Columbus, Ohio.
The presidential race, it seems has boiled down to who has the greatest German appeal. McCain's appearance at Schmidts' restaurant, a "Sausage Haus" comes after the RNC launched several advertisements in towns named Berlin.
Among the items he may have ordered include: Sauerkraut-Bratwurst Balls, Hoffbrau Schnitzel, or the Bratwurst, voted the "Best Wurst" by Columbus Monthly.
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After his lunch of bratwurst and schnitzel the presumptive republican nominee climbed up on a table and angrily shouted; "Look at me. Look at me. I'm running for president for the love of Pete." After the outburst, he sat down and ate a piece of German chocolate cake in silence.
Okay...that last part isn't true. John McCain is still playing catch up to Barack Obama. ... more -
Obama arrives in Europe
After a succesful tour of the Middle-East, US senator Barack Obama has arrived in Germany, where he will give a speech.
In what is quite clearly a show for the American public, rather than having any clear political goals, Obama will speak in front of German crowds gathered in front of the Victory Column in Berlin's Tiergarten Park (pictures).
He will also visit France and the UK, before returning home. After a succesful tour of the Middle-East, US senator Barack Obama has arrived in Germany, where he will give a speech. ... more -
Obama's record on coal support
In May 1998, at the urging of the state's coal industry, the Illinois Legislature passed a bill condemning the Kyoto global warming treaty and forbidding state efforts to regulate greenhouse gases.
Barack Obama voted "aye."
The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee now calls climate change "one of the greatest moral challenges of our generation," and proposes cutting carbon emissions 80% by 2050. But as a state senator, from 1997 to 2004, he usually supported bills sought by coal interests, according to legislative records and interviews.
Obama is not the only politician whose public stance has shifted on global warming, which a scientific consensus says has been caused chiefly by the burning of coal, oil and natural gas. Presumptive Republican nominee John McCain, who now backs limits on carbon emissions, was among 95 U.S. senators who voted in 1997 to oppose the Kyoto Protocol, an emissions reduction scheme that had been negotiated by then-vice president Al Gore.
Still, Obama, who touts his independence from special interests, made a point of embracing the coal industry as part of his quest for statewide office. When he ran for U.S. Senate in 2004, he was flanked by mine workers to proclaim that "there's always going to be a role for coal" in Illinois.
snip
Obama's other votes on coal in the state Senate included:
• In 1997, he voted to divert sales taxes to a fund for grants to help reopening closed coal mines and "incentives to attract new businesses that use coal."
• In 2001, Obama voted for legislation that offered $3.5 billion in loan guarantees to build coal-fired power plants with no ability to control carbon emissions.
• In 2003, he voted to allow $300 million in taxpayer-backed bonds to build or expand coal-fired power plants.
"You know, I am a strong supporter, I think, of downstate coal interests and our need to prop up and improve the outputs downstate," Obama said on the Senate floor before voting on the 2001 bill.
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I expect to see this from a Republican. I expected better from a Democrat. In May 1998, at the urging of the state's coal industry, the Illinois Legislature passed a bill condemning the Kyoto global warming tr... more -
Barack Obama's huge welcome in Baghdad
Barack Obama is obviously hugely popular with the US military in Iraq as well as with the civilians working in the US Embassy in Baghdad.
More telling pictures and videos at http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/7/22/111651/551/... Barack Obama is obviously hugely popular with the US military in Iraq as well as with the civilians working in the US Embassy in Baghd... more -
The Hubris Of Obama?
A few things have unsettled me these past couple of weeks about the Obama campaign. It is not the small adjustments to previously-held positions - FISA, the Second Amendment, Iraq. It's a sense that Obama's ample self-regard is lapsing into hubris. The signs of this are pretty trivial on the surface, but they are troubling nonetheless.
That simulated faux-presidential seal was both tacky, silly and presumptive - a small version of "Mission Accomplished" Obama could well do without. The decision to give his acceptance speech in a stadium, rather than the traditional convention hall is also an unnecessary over-reach. The night will be freighted enough with history; it needs no new drama to set it apart. And the drama of the first black man accepting the nomination - with Obama's rhetorical brilliance - will be more than enough for impact. Lastly, I was gob-smacked by the Obamas' decision to include their children in a soft-focus TV interview.
I can barely credit that Michelle Obama agreed to this and that Barack Obama went along with it - it's not what they would have done a few months ago. One great aspect of the Obama marriage has been the way in which they appear to have brought up their daughters as very regular girls, down-to-earth, normal and sane. Displaying them in this way was bad judgment and poor parenting. Fame is a toxin. Children deserve to be protected from it as much as they would from lead paint.
Any one of these misjudgments would be a trivial lapse - and we all make mistakes. It's the combination that concerns me - and the possibility that this campaign is becoming far too cocky for its own good.
A few things have unsettled me these past couple of weeks about the Obama campaign. It is not the small adjustments to previously-held... more -
Law professor: Don't expect Obama to prosecute crimes of the Bush Administration
"Presidencies are about looking forward, not backwards, so it was predictable that Barack Obama would signal that, if elected, he would have little interest in prosecuting the criminal acts of the current administration.
As predictable as Obama’s position is — John Kerry would likely have held the same view under similar circumstances, and certainly John McCain supports it — it is deeply troubling because of the seriousness of the crimes in question, which include lying to Congress about the rationale for war, authorizing torture, betraying a covert CIA agent, criminal negligence in the response to Hurricane Katrina, spying on Americans without warrants, using the Justice Department as the political enforcement arm of the Republican National Committee, election fraud and consorting with corrupt lobbyists, just for starters.
At the Netroots Nation meeting in Austin last weekend, Chicago Law School professor Cass Sunstein, an informal adviser to Obama, warned liberal activists not to expect Barack Obama, if he is elected, to prosecute Bush crimes unless the crimes are what Sunstein described as “egregious”:
As quoted by Professor Sunstein:
"Sunstein urged caution in prosecuting criminal conduct from the current administration, while also noting that egregious crimes should not be ignored. Prosecuting government officials risks a “cycle” of criminalizing public service, he argued, and Democrats should avoid replicating retributive efforts like the impeachment of President Clinton — or even the “slight appearance” of it."
Note: Cass Sunstein was against the impeachment of Bill Clinton.
"The fatal flaw in Sunstein’s formulation is that, in fact, there has not been a “cycle of criminalizing public service.” There has been one system of high accountability for Democrats and another system that allows Republican White House officials to escape any sort of accountability whatsoever."
"Another weakness in Sunstein’s statement, says Jonathan Turley, a George Washington University law professor, who testified for the prosecution in the Clinton impeachment, and who still insists impeaching Clinton was the right thing to do, is that all crimes committed by presidents should be considered to be “egregious” because presidents take an oath to defend and uphold the laws of the United States."
As a constitutional scholar, Barack Obama knows better than most that the critical issue here is not political retribution, it is justice — primarily because punishing government officials who commit crimes is one instance in which deterrence may actually work. "Presidencies are about looking forward, not backwards, so it was predictable that Barack Obama would signal that, if elected, he woul... more -
Belief growing that reporters aret trying to help Obama win
The idea that reporters are trying to help Obama win in November has grown by five percentage points over the past month. The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey, taken just before the new controversy involving the New York Times erupted, found that 49% of voters believe most reporters will try to help the Democrat with their coverage, up from 44% a month ago.
Just 14% believe most reporters will try to help McCain win, little changed from 13% a month ago. Just one voter in four (24%) believes that most reporters will try to offer unbiased coverage.
The New York Times’ refusal to run an op-ed piece by John McCain challenging an article in the paper less than a week ago by Barack Obama is sure to further fuel the belief that much of the major media is biased in favor of the Democratic candidate.
The idea that reporters are trying to help Obama win in November has grown by five percentage points over the past month. The latest R... more -
Obama in Germany
Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama landed in Berlin Thursday, kicking off the European leg of his overseas trip amid high expectations. Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama landed in Berlin Thursday, kicking off the European leg of his overseas trip amid high ex... more
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Barack on Iraq policy
In Washington, D.C. last week, before heading to the middle east, Barack Obama gave a speech on Iraq policy.
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Guilty of being black on a sunny day
The comedian Franklyn Ajai used to do a routine where he said he and a friend were harassed and arrested by the police for being outside and black on a sunny day. At the trial he told his friend to be cool and go with it because what else could they do, after all they were guilty. "Your honor, I tried to tell my friend the sun was coming out..."
Now if you chuckled you're either a minority or very astute. If you're bewildered, indifferent or indignant you not only don't get it you're most likely part of the problem. The comedian Franklyn Ajai used to do a routine where he said he and a friend were harassed and arrested by the police for being outsi... more -
Obama Makes $5 Million Olympics Ad Buy
It's official. Sen. Barack Obama's campaign will be among the TV sponsors of NBC Universal's Olympics coverage. In the first significant network-TV buy of any presidential candidate in at least 16 years, the Obama campaign has taken a $5 million package of Olympics spots that includes network TV as well as cable ads.
According to NBC's political file, the campaign had initially requested information about 500,000, $2 million and $4 million package of Olympics spots. The network also offered the candidate a $10 million package.
It's official. Sen. Barack Obama's campaign will be among the TV sponsors of NBC Universal's Olympics coverage. In the first significa... more -
OBAMA VOX POPS IN BERLIN
Fussing about whether or not the man is allowed to speak at the Brandenburg Gate, the German chancellor Angela Merkel made no friends with her petty remarks.
But it seems like young Berlin folks and even Eastern European tourists are excited about his speech at the Victory Column. Maybe OBAMANIA comes to Berlin.
According to some polls 83% of the German population would vote him for president!
Check out the three young girls from Romania with their sexy accents... Fussing about whether or not the man is allowed to speak at the Brandenburg Gate, the German chancellor Angela Merkel made no friends ... more -
Obama's overseas success sends McCain scrambling
For months, McCain asked for it. On its website, the GOP set up a counter to track how long it had been since the last time it happened. McCain's supporters called for Barack Obama to halt all criticism of the War in Iraq until it took place. But now that Obama has begun his overseas tour, McCain is scrambling. For months, McCain asked for it. On its website, the GOP set up a counter to track how long it had been since the last time it happene... more
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Barack Obama
