As Trina noted in Satuday's "Hominy Salad in the Kitchen," US Senator and wants to be prez Barack Obama came out at the YouTube Democratic Presidential 'debate' as for women registering with selective service and against same-sex marriage. A duty, he's all for; a right, he's luke-warm on.
That was far from his only problem in that debate; however, to read the gas bags, you might think his only error occurred on the issue of meetings with foreign leaders in his first year "without precondition".
Our personal favorite mistake was in this passage:
We just heard a White House spokesman, Tony Snow, excuse the fact that the Iraqi legislature went on vacation for three weeks because it's hot in Baghdad. Well, let me tell you: It is hot for American troops who are over there with 100 pounds worth of gear.
Did you catch it? Obama Flubs Again. Foreign countries do not appear to be his speciality. "the Iraqi legistlature went on vacation for three weeks" according to Tony Snow (White House flack)? No. Barack Obama, as usual, doesn't know what he's talking about. Also his talking point about "hot for American troops" was actually addressed by reporters to Snow. Here's the exchange from earlier this month:
Q Is the Iraqi government and the Iraqi parliament taking the month of August off?
MR. SNOW: Probably, yes. Just not --
Q They're taking the entire month of August off, before the September deadline?
MR. SNOW: It looks like they may, yes. Just like the U.S. Congress is.
Q Have you tried to talk them out of that?
MR. SNOW: You know, it's 130 degrees in Baghdad in August, I'll pass on your recommendation.
Q Well, Tony, Tony, I'm sorry, that's -- you know -- I mean, there are a lot of things that happen by September and it's 130 degrees for the U.S. military also on the ground --
MR. SNOW: You know, that's a good point. And it's 130 degrees for the Iraqi military. The Iraqis, you know, I'll let them -- my understanding is that at this juncture they're going to take August off, but, you know, they may change their minds.
They will take August off. Barack's big talking point? Snow says "that's a good point."
More importantly, Obama stands on the soapbox as the US Congress prepares to take a month vacation begining this Friday and ending September 4th. How come? Aren't we in an (illegal war)? Well, let us tell you, Obama, it's hot for American troops stationed in Iraq.
Really, what a supreme idiot. No wonder his campaign methodology has always been to fight dirty.
Asked about reparations, Obama elected not to answer:
I think the reparations we need right here in South Carolina is investment, for example, in our schools. I did a... (APPLAUSE) I did a town hall meeting in Florence, South Carolina, in an area called the corridor of shame. They've got buildings that students are trying to learn in that were built right after the Civil War. And we've got teachers who are not trained to teach the subjects they’re teaching and high dropout rates. We've got to understand that there are corridors of shame all across the country. And if we make the investments and understand that those are our children, that's the kind of reparations that are really going to make a difference in America right now.
Speaking slavery and the Civil War, it is interesting that he (nor any Democrat) raised objections to a Democratic staged debate taking place at an institution created to put down any slave rebellions.
While the Koo Koo crowd was rushing to defend Obama's big foreign policy attention getter, less attention has been given to this exchange:
MR. GRAVEL: I wouldn't use either word. (Off mike) -- better than that. (Off mike) -- asked about change. You're not going to see any change when these people get elected. We were asked about -- that we're united. We're not united. I’m not united on many of their views.
And I want to take on Barack Obama for a minute, who said he doesn't take money from lobbyists. Well, he has 134 bundlers. Now what does he think that is? And besides that, he has received money from a Robert Wolf, the head of the USB Bank (sic; UBS Bank) in the United States, who raised $195,000 from this bank
COOPER: Your time is up.
GRAVEL: ... and it's a foreign-owned bank.
That's cute, "Your time is up." Cooper gets a little snitty. Maybe it comes from the rough trade crowd. But UBS is UBS AG and you may remember, in 1997, when the historian at their Swiss headquarters was caught destroying records of UBS' business relationship with the Nazis during WWII. UBS has given Obama at least $142,200 for his 2008 presidential run. (Goldman Sachs has given Obama at least $310,001.)
It's also cute how The Nation chooses to ignore that fact but then they've offered Obama nothing but valentines since day one. Hillary Clinton gets the unflattering close ups, they take some shots at Edwards (they ignore Gravel, Kucinich*, Dodd -- despite a former coffee fetcher working for the campaign! -- et al). But Bama's the flavor they love. As Patricia J. Williams laughably explained, once being the president of the Harvard Law Review makes him qualified to be president. Well, whatever gets you through the night, Patti.
On Iraq, he repeatedly cited he was against the illegal war before it began. He neglected to address that he was against withdrawal as late as 2004 but that doesn't go down as well and Bama's a sweet, if weak, flavor. Nor does favoring predatory lending or the construction of nuclear power plants.
[Before some idiot e-mails, John Nichols addressed Kucinich in one piece in the magazine. That is not the same as the non-stop, flattering articles on Obama that have made up the bulk of 2007. When editor and publisher Katrina vanden Heuvel rushes to leave even the pose of journalism to publicly slap down David Corn while building up Ari Berman -- both of whom work under her -- we believe the answer of whom the magazine supports is clear. Patricia Williams made her own preference clear in her laughable interview with Andrea Lewis.]