If Obama has this election in the bag, if he has this election in the bag... if he's already won the presidency, why hasn't he already gone to Hawaii? Why is he not already there? What's he waiting for? "If she's deathly ill," I'm pretending to be a reporter here. You know they'd ask McCain these questions. "If Obama's grandmother is deathly ill, why has this been announced days ago and he's only going now," or tomorrow, or whenever it is.... Who announces days in advance they're rushing to the side of a loved one who is deathly ill but keeps campaigning in a race that's said to be over, only to go to the loved one's side days later? See, I think this is about something else. You know what's really percolating out there? I've been laying low on this because it hasn't met the threshold to pass the smell test on this program.He proceeds to rant about Obama's birth certificate (a controversy with its locus in Hawaii):
I have no clue, and folks, I'm telling you, this has not reached the threshold until now, and it's popping up all over the place. There are a lot of people now that are starting to speculate and be curious about this."I have no clue" -- that's an apt phrase. I'll give him that.
I don't know, let's say for example that somebody does come up with proof that something's screwy with his birth certificate and something's screwy about the fact that he's allegedly a natural citizen, American citizen, but may not be, dual citizenship, born in Kenya, who knows, there's all kinds of stuff out -- so what? What's going to happen this late in the campaign? Do you think if it's proven that they're going to dump him? That's not going to happen. But still, these are just questions that I have.So what's your point? That he's personally going to Hawaii to deal with his birth certificate? That's so far-fetched. Then, Rush drops that subject and comes out with this:
And, look, both of my parents have died. When I was told the end was near, bam, I got there, fast as I could.What a prince of a man!
I didn't announce to the audience, "I just got word my father is said to be passing away and in four or five days I'm going to go to Missouri. In the meantime, I will not leave you here on this radio program." These are just natural questions. I think any inquisitive reporter -- I know the risk I'm running here by raising all this. But I wouldn't be me if I didn't do that.And I guess you wouldn't be you if you didn't air that birth certificate junk. By the way, were Rush's parents very old and suffering from a long deteriorating illness -- like Obama's grandmother -- or was there a sudden stroke or heart attack?
Rush then switches to the story of the man who says he is Obama's half-brother, who lives in extreme poverty in Kenya:
How about George Onyango Bodongo Hussein Obama in the hut outside Nairobi living on a dollar a month?Did he just make up a weird racial name for the man? Google seems to say yes. (Here's the original CNN story about a man identified as George Obama.) Back to Rush:
A $20 bill would double his half-brother's annual income. Not even a sign "Home, Sweet Hut" has been sent to George Onyango Bodongo Hussein Obama, and how many other of Obama's family members are living in squalor? Yeah, [quoting Barack Obama] "if you don't take care of your family, if you don't put that first, you're probably not the kind of person that's going to be caring for other people." You have a half-brother living in a hut!Rush quickly flings one thing and then another and doesn't bother to link things up before he moves on. But it's apparent from the transcript that he means for you to think that Obama doesn't really care about his grandmother (or anyone else in his family) and that his trip to Hawaii was no sign of affection for his grandmother at all, but evidence that he's engaged in a cover-up of evidence that would show he's doesn't meet the constitutional requirement that the President must be a natural-born citizen. And it's worse in audio form, as Rush laughs and scoffs his way through the routine.
***
Here's the NYT story on Obama's Hawaii trip:On the trip to Hawaii, Mr. Obama stayed in the secluded front cabin of his campaign plane, reading and rarely talking with a handful of aides who came along. The knot in his red tie was loosened as he walked down the aisle of his plane to stretch his legs, but he stayed a safe distance from a small group of reporters who accompanied him.Look, it's possible that Obama isn't shaken to the core by the end stage of the long decline of his very old grandmother. He canceled some campaign stops, but he's getting campaign benefits from press reports like this that make him seem serious, good-hearted, and well-balanced and from the secluded rest time. Let's assume for a moment that he thought about the trip exactly like that. Do you have a problem with it? I don't.
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94 comments:
It was reported at the beginning of the week that she was gravely ill. I guess the question is: why wait until Friday?
Jesus waited four days before going to Lazarus, where He raised him from the dead. Perhaps Obama is setting the stage?
Perhaps Obama's response to his grandmother's illness would have been more similar to Limbaugh's if Obama were merely an entertainer like Rush instead of a candidate for President of the United States. Sometimes I enjoy Rush, but I find this pathetic.
You mean you're not in love with Rush Limbaugh and you might consider going out with... you know, someone else?
Having had a grandmother who was frequently near death... and then not... for years...
I'm not going to criticize Obama for not rushing off, but Ann...
Do you seriously not have a problem with the idea of Obama *thinking of his public worry as a campaign bonus?*
Or did I misunderstand you?
Not that he is, but he's getting campaign benefits from press reports like this that make him seem serious, good-hearted, and well-balanced and from the secluded rest time. Let's assume for a moment that he thought about the trip exactly like that. Do you have a problem with it? I don't.
Getting the campaign bonuses? Okay, that's fair. Thinking about the trip "exactly like that." OMG.
No... that's just nasty.
Such attacks on a candidate’s capacity for tender sentiment carry weight to the extent listeners think of themselves as if they are living in a cave with other hunter-gatherers.
My Dad passed away at the end of May. No one knew exactly when the end would happen, but the doctors told us, apparently the same way as they've told the Obama family, that it's just a matter of time.
We made our way to see him within a few weeks, getting constant updates as to his status. We didn't drop everything immediately, though we would have had it turned significanly more grave.
Basically my family dealt with our situation the same as Senator Obama is dealing with his, and if someone were to say I didn't care about my father, or insinuate something sinister for cheap political hackery I'd hope to one day run across said person in a dark alley.
The man's grandmother is very ill. Leave. It. Alone.
When Rush said, you know the press would ask McCain, I thought of when I was a kid, and my brother and I were acting up, and one of us would make the mistake of saying, "but he was doing it to me!" My dad would add an extra punishment for that lame justification.
Did he just make up a weird racial name for the man?
Rush Limbaugh? No way.
A wise man once said, "Rush Limbaugh is a big fat idiot."
I thought Rush was okay on this. He's wondering what accounts for an odd fact; brings up the birth certificate as one possibility.
He's weighing the possibilities.
What's odd is Obama's timing, which seems ungenuine.
Rush's mother died of cancer a few years ago. He was part of it, dealing with doctors, but didn't particularly use it as show material.
The most probable thing is that Obama doesn't particularly care but sees a slight election advantage.
How much you care depends on your parents and a lot of things.
I'm with Synova. Planning a trip so close to the election, thinking about the glowing press it will receive? Yeah, nasty is the right word for it.
As for Rush, this is his shtick. Give him credit for saying the whole natural born citizen issue may be nothing, but the fact is, Philip Berg filed a suit, and Obama and the DNC, rather than putting it to rest by producing documentation other than a Certificate of Live Birth (which is not the same thing as a birth certificate), did nothing but motion to dismiss and suppress discovery. I understand those are routine maneuvers, but come on, people! How hard is it to get the damn document? It makes them look bad. Either they're arrogant -- they had a court order to provide certain documents, and they ignored it, or they're guilty. That deserves some coverage somewhere, but it just goes down the memory hole with everything else about Obama we're not supposed to ask or acknowledge.
nothing in this campaign suggests that obama is capable of not using a circumstance such as for a political gain. obama is a rank opportunist--and incredibly phony to boot. this is another calculated political stunt--it appears exactly to the opposite, but, believe it, this is a stunt. appearing calm and steadfast and compassionate...blah blah blah. we get the narrative already. the same narrative that has seen his previous political opponents taken down by legal shenanigans.
Why would Obama have to go to Hawaii personally to deal with a birth certificate? He has so many odoring and fawning fans that surely he could trust someone to deal with this if there were anything to it.
McCain is doing the same thing as Rush. These are inane details. The reasons to object to Obama are philosophical and ideological. Pissant things like whether he is really a citizen only detract from what should be a debate about ideas.
But, since at his core, McCain is also a socialist like Obama it becomes very difficult to disagree with him.
So the typical white woman is dying. She would have lived longer had she not been thrown under a bus.
Rush a couple of days before reported that Obama's grandmother had broken her hip and Obama was rushing to her side; disparaged breaking hip as an emergency.
Snerdly told him that, no, she was near death, and Rush said that if so he apologized. The news reports were unclear and various.
So it's a couple of days later and Obama still hasn't rushed his rush to Hawaii. Rush thinks again, this is odd.
"He has so many odoring and fawning fans"
I smell awesome, for the record.
From the news reports, I thought Obama went to HI early this week. I too was surprised to hear he waited all week to get on the plane.
Bleeper: hilarious!
The passport/birth certificate thing seems a little too "Hillary killed Foster" to me, but the idea that Obama may care a little less about his "typical white woman" gram and be more interested in getting away for a few days to ride out the clock is all too plausible.
"Gravely ill" can mean different things, but what the meanings have in common is a level of uncertainty and changeability.
Your last line demonstrates your total conversion from cruel neutrality to unconditional adoration. I liked the cruel Ann, not the cheerleader.
the whole natural born citizen issue may be nothing, but the fact is, Philip Berg filed a suit
The whole Bush-caused-9/11 thing may be nothing, but the fact is, Philip Berg filed a suit. So everyone, quick, jump to it and prove Bush didn't arrange the attacks on the Twin Towers and the Pentagon. Berg is waiting!!!
I'm not buying into the birth certificate thing, but I'm curious - if a candidate won and was subsequently discovered to be ineligible to hold the office, what would happen? Does the VP take over for four years? New election?
Ann-
Apparently, that is his brother's name - "The Italian edition of Vanity Fair says it tracked down George Hussein Onyango Obama living in poverty in a rundown shack in the violent town of Huruma on the outskirts of Nairobi. "
I used George Obama full name to get that information. With Obama, all things are possible. Isn't it embarassing to be supporting this guy?
If you'd talked to me on Wednesday night, you might have thought by now I'd be in another state, at the hospital bedside of my gravely ill mother, and so might I ... but ometimes you end up in a holding pattern, however, and so it goes. (In fact, part of the reason I'm dicking around on the 'net this morning is I'm waiting for an update and trying to distract myself.)
Reader... I pray everything will be well.
I doubt that Obama cares. She was, after all, a "typical white person," he said.
By the way, how's his brother George doing? Obama must be helping him out, as into "compassion" as he is.
Isn’t this Obama’s infamous bigoted grandmother?
I think Obama maybe polling the visit; he doesn’t want to offend the base ;)
"odoring?" I guess that was a freudian slip!
Remember the flack Pelosi got for going to Syria?
Obama is a very carefull man.
Hey Freder, there's a job for you at the NYT:
http://justoneminute.typepad.com/main/2008/10/hints-of-racism.html#comments
Logic isn't important to them either. You may be a winner!
I'm not buying into the birth certificate thing, but I'm curious - if a candidate won and was subsequently discovered to be ineligible to hold the office, what would happen?
I'm not buying it either. However, I would hope that if that happened, nothing would be done, and then no one could balk if Arnold tried to run. Heh. (Not that he's some kind of model conservative, but I think he could possibly be influenced to go more in that direction.)
reader_i_am:(In fact, part of the reason I'm dicking around on the 'net this morning is I'm waiting for an update and trying to distract myself.)
Reader: my sympathies. I've been in that state for the past three days, waiting for my mother's biopsy results. It's horrible but there's really nothing I can do.
Beth said: The whole Bush-caused-9/11 thing may be nothing, but the fact is, Philip Berg filed a suit. So everyone, quick, jump to it and prove Bush didn't arrange the attacks on the Twin Towers and the Pentagon. Berg is waiting!!!
The difference here is, Berg's case against Obama and the DNC was not dismissed. The judge ordered them to produce several documents, which they did not. It may be that the reportage I read on the case is incorrect, but if that's true, that they ignored a court order, are you OK with that, Beth?
I'm not. They're either arrogant or they're trying to hide something -- either way, it's not good.
Bring on the fairness doctrine, God forbid the marketplace punish insensitive hacks like Rush Limbaugh. Much better that some unbiased, well educated and extremely PC bureaucrat tell us what's fair.
American Liberal Elite said...
A wise man once said, "Rush Limbaugh is a big fat idiot."
And hopefully that man is the next senator from Minnesota. Keep your fingers crossed.
And I just donated another $50 to Tinklenberg(Michele Bachmann's opponent). I doubt he'll win, but let's hope he gives this scrank a good run for her money. Hopefully she has diarrhea for the next 11 days. If she gets thrown out I'm having a party.
Rush Limbaugh's on-air breakdown continues. I figured he would have died of a heart attack by now. If Obama should win by some miracle I still think he will have a heart attack, if he hasn't been hauled away in a straitjacket by then.
Joan, I don't mind arrogance as a response to tin-foil-hat wearing hacks.
Wow, wishing illness and death upon those with whom you disagree. When one reads such words one can only think "integrity", or "liberal". Get a grip, man, lay down the hatred.
My opinion of politicians not just Obama is so low that I think it's a beautifully choreographed move by the 0 campaign. Some questions:
1. Why didn’t he visit her last week when she was hospitalized? That would have been the most reasonable thing to do, right?
2. If not last week, why this weekend? Why not after the election? Why announce it on the public and get this glowing coverage for days? He could have waited for 10 days and visited after the election. I am sure she will be still around after the election. If she is so gravely ill he should have gone there last week period.
3. The hope here is to get glowing press coverage and put McCain off balance. How could McCain dare talk about Ayers/Wright while the good grandson is visiting his ailing grandma?
This proves that 0 campaign knows that they are in deep trouble with white voters. Please please don’t trust polls out there. Most of them over sample Democrats by 7-10 points and it is safe to assume that half the voter registrations Accorn turned in are not valid and they are going to show up in the polls. The campaign is counting on this press coverage plus the one 0 gets in Hawaii to reassure the public that he’s such a good grandson and wouldn’t every white people would like to have a grandson like 0? Be prepared for the non stop footage showing 0 taking grandma to groceries/doctors/icecream/parks. It’s a brilliant move, but it may back fire big time.
bleeper said...
Wow, wishing illness and death upon those with whom you disagree. When one reads such words one can only think "integrity", or "liberal". Get a grip, man, lay down the hatred.
Save it. Your posts are some of the most obnoxious posts on this site.
why this weekend
I don't know. Maybe it's a changing situation. Maybe his Grandma told him to wait. Maybe he wants to bring his kids with him. Maybe he wants to bring Michelle with him, and they decided to leave after parent-teacher conferences today. Maybe all sorts of things. Who knows for sure?
reader, I'll keep you in my prayers.
Ann, interesting what's under some rocks when you lift them up, isn't it?
Perhaps to hate mongers such as yourself. I do frenquently out our beloved future president Obama as a Marxist, but I have never wished death on anyone in any post. In fact, I hope he and all politicians live happy, safe lives, even if I used to, in the past, disagree with their positions.
So your handle is "ironic", right?
Un-Christian.
Let's assume for a moment that he thought about the trip exactly like that. Do you have a problem with it? I don't.
Yeah, it's pretty clear that Barack uses everyone and every relationship for self advancement. And I guess if you are cognizant of that and are voting for him anyway, you wouldn't have a problem with him.
BTW, what parts of Barack do you actually have a problem with? Or won't you say?
If Obama should win by some miracle I still think he will have a heart attack, if he hasn't been hauled away in a straitjacket by then.
Obama winning will be the best thing for Rush, well, except when the Dems start suppressing free speech.
Beth, arrogance is OK towards the tin-foil hat types, not towards court orders.
Reading further today, I'm not seeing anything about a court-ordered discovery/delivery of a few documents. The only place I'm seeing that short list of documents is in Berg's latest filing, so I must have mixed them up. If there was no court order, there's no reason to think badly about how Obama and the DNC have handled this case, they have acted entirely appropriately in trying to the case kicked out.
What's your evidence? thoroughly shreds Berg's lawsuit. I don't understand why the case hasn't been dismissed. Berg talks a good game (here's the video) but he's sloppy on the details, and in law especially, details are crucial. Any case that cites Wikipedia as evidence should be thrown out for sheer stupidity.
Whoever it was that expressed the sanguine hope that BHO waited until Friday to fly to see his grandma because he wanted wife Michelle and kids to go along - CNN has a headline that Michelle is out campaigning while BHO is visiting "Toot".
Michelle doesn't seem to get along with the racist white woman much, does she. There were reports that she and the kids didn't see her last time they were in Hawaii either.
rhhardin said...
The most probable thing is that Obama doesn't particularly care but sees a slight election advantage.
That may be what you want to believe, but it is hardly the most likely scenario. What is the overall probability that any man does not care about his dying grandmother? What are the chances that any man, given that he has any responsibilities to attend to, would still go to visit his dying grandmother? Obamas actions are in no way inconsistent with the typical case.
Seeing who questions Obama's decision on this, and how vigorously, is a great litmus test for how much the commenter values being a partisan hack over all else.
Rush Limbaugh is a pill-popping welfare queen.
The guy's on Monday Night Football for 5 minutes before he makes a crack about "black quarterbacks."
I'm not voting for Obama, but Rush would not vote for Obama because he's black. What kind of asshole questions someone's motives about visiting his ill grandmother. The woman helped raise him.
Why do people listen to Rush Limbaugh? I've never understood it.
rich b said..."Apparently, that is his brother's name - "The Italian edition of Vanity Fair says it tracked down George Hussein Onyango Obama living in poverty in a rundown shack in the violent town of Huruma on the outskirts of Nairobi. "I used George Obama full name to get that information. With Obama, all things are possible. Isn't it embarassing to be supporting this guy?"
Not to be picky, but George Hussein Onyango Obama ≠ George Onyango Bodongo Hussein Obama.
What is Bodongo?
It looks like an attempt to make the slang word "dong" sound African.
alcibiades said..."Yeah, it's pretty clear that Barack uses everyone and every relationship for self advancement. And I guess if you are cognizant of that and are voting for him anyway, you wouldn't have a problem with him."
I think it's typical of high-achieving politicians. I assume I'm always voting for someone who thinks like that, so this wouldn't disappoint me. Really, I don't want my President to be too sentimental.
Ann-
I must admit that I missed the extra name, but 4 out of 5 ain't bad. Rush was probably riffing like he does with that Skyhook guy from Somalia.
Yes, I do believe you were picky. Nonetheless, I am impressed that you were able to use the "does not equal" sign.
Obama couldn't leave the campaign trail, Biden had just stuck his foot in it regarding a "generated crisis" and was pulled off the trail.
Obama had to put out those fires, meeting with his foreign policy "team", having a press conference where he basically said that Biden was just being a blundering big mouth, ie "rhetorical flourishes" etc, etc..
If Obama had left for HI when he had originally planned, both Joe and Obama would have been away from campaigning.
Obama made a choice. His first choice was campaigning.
I think we should give Senator Obama a break on this. Russ Limbaugh is showing a real lack of class in this bullshit. People react differently to the deaths of people in their families. He might have been estranged from his grandmother. It is not right to make much of this no matter what the facts might be. Its personal family business. We should not be like the Democratic Slimeballs like Alhpaliberal and his ilk who tried to destroy Governor Palin through her family. Let him go and comfort his grandmother in peace.
I will say a prayer for her and light a candle at Mass this Sunday to St. Jude. She sounds like a good lady and deserves all of our prayers as she ends the journey. God bless her.
I don't agree with the liberal illuminati on many issues, but we shouldn't target a woman who is dying. Let's just stick to the experience, and the policies the lefties want to implement, we'll win in that department anyday.
Joan, your point is fair about court orders, of course, but I didn't take it for granted there actually was one, or that the circumstances were exactly as the peanut gallery was describing them. Obviously, my assumptions could be wrong, but they're based on the circus ring that Berg lives in. Most of the "reporting" I'd seen on it comes from the far-wing-nut reaches that I don't associate with conservatives in general, like worldnetdaily, lucienne, hillbuzz and so on.
You've done a much better job gathering the info from better sources, and I commend you for it. I didn't have the patience. Thanks for that follow-up post and the links.
reader, I'm sorry to hear about your mother.
Rush quickly flings one thing and then another and doesn't bother to link things up before he moves on.
That's a pretty good summary of his style year in and year out.
Beth, you're welcome. I hadn't heard a word about the Berg case until I saw a mention of it,in passing, on the Corner yesterday. I don't read any of those sites you listed, although I will occasionally click on a link to a WND piece if someone reputable has posted it. I skimmed through a lot of sites last night trying to see if there was anything there. If you believe Berg's citations and interpretations of law are correct, he sounds like he has a case. What's Your Evidence demonstrates that both his citations and his interpretations are not just suspect but flatly incorrect most of the time.
I love the Internet.
Ann --
"Really, I don't want my President to be too sentimental."
I don't want mine overly aloof. Calm detachment and disdain are easy to confuse. Besides, Obama is not President, he's running for President. That distinction would not have been lost on most Americans, and I believe any concern about that is unwarranted.
J said...
"I'm not buying into the birth certificate thing, but I'm curious - if a candidate won and was subsequently discovered to be ineligible to hold the office, what would happen? Does the VP take over for four years? New election?"
According to the 25th Amendment, as I understand it, President-elect Obama would go on TV to announce that he was resigning in order to spend more time with his family. Then, Acting President-elect Biden would follow with a speech suspiciously similar to the Gettysburg Address except when he gets to the part that goes ...it is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored... that's when Acting President-elect Biden would notice that his live audience was no longer listening to him but, instead, individuals in the audience had begun to mutter amongst themselves with quizzical expressions on their faces. He would then shift papers around, clear his throat and begin reading from the Emancipation Proclamation and the entire country would calm down until, a few days later, while delivering his first major foreign policy address to the nation, he declares, out of the blue, "Ich bin ein Hamburger" and people once again would begin shaking their collective head in wonder.
But don't just take my word for it, J. - read the Constitution!
I echo the good wishes for reader and her mom.
I am also dealing with the decline in health of an old relative. In my case, it's a long slow, wavering decline. Emphasis on slow. To comment on Obama's trip without knowing all the facts is to display ignorance.
o/t: I like the instructions in the Leave your comment window now.
Reader, my wife and I will have you and your Mom in our prayers as well.
Beth said, in respnse to:
"the whole natural born citizen issue may be nothing, but the fact is, Philip Berg filed a suit.."
The whole Bush-caused-9/11 thing may be nothing, but the fact is, Philip Berg filed a suit. So everyone, quick, jump to it and prove Bush didn't arrange the attacks on the Twin Towers and the Pentagon. Berg is waiting!!!
Great post. The fetishistic worship of lawsuits - filed by cranks as something that obligates anyone to "hop-to" and become enmeshed legitimating controversy spawned in the conspiracy fever-swamps of the Freepers or Moveon.org - is absurd.
AS I understand it, there are still lawsuits about deposing 700 or so "witnesses" in the US Navy about the allegation that the Navy downed TWA Flight 800 with a missile...With a judge asking the Navy to honor "his court" and provide "discovery" and the Navy of course scorning the use of nuisance lawsuits to validate conspiracy theory and of course appealing the 2-bit judge's decision for over 10 years..
Its bullshit to come up with assholish theories like Hillary assassinated Vince Foster, have no evidence, then enlist willing activist judges to drag courts and so-called "defendents" into breathing life into "the case". It goes to asshole lawyers dressed in robes overlooking common-sense matters of standing - and seeking the spotlight.
It demeans Limbaugh to getting sucked into the fever swamps and become a party to this crap as much as it does some Lefty pushing AIDs conspiracy theory in the courts.
I agree, also, with Trooper York's 11:47AM post.
This is a sleazy attack from a sleazy drug addict. It goes to motive, and Limbaugh is about the last person to know B Obama's motives.
...Obama's birth certificate (a controversy with its locus in Hawaii)
There is no controversy here, beyond the efforts of the pathological liars of the right wing to discredit another Democratic American President.
The Right Wing has already started to Clintonize(tm) Obama. they will replay that playbook from the 1990s and seek to drive him from office and bog our politics down, crises or no crises.
But things have changed and that dog, like all their dogs, no longer hunts. They will get their asses kicked.
There is no need to Clintonize Obama. Just removing the press halo and airing out the truth of his achievements and philosophy in an objective manner would do the job nicely.
I'm not holding my breath.
Obama said the decision to go to Hawaii was easy to make, telling CBS that he "got there too late" when his mother died of ovarian cancer in 1995 at age 53, and wants now to make sure "that I don't make the same mistake twice."
A normal person who has a loved one described as being "gravely ill" does not wait two or three or four days to book the next flight to be with them (especially after "[getting] there too late" for his own mother's final hours.) It's a legitimate question to ask why the presumptive next President of the United States did not do that. But Rush Limbaugh should have skipped the paranoid birth certificate stuff if for no other reason than avoiding getting himself alphaliberalized®.
Speaking of right wing myths:
A Pittsburgh police commander says a volunteer for the McCain campaign who reported being robbed and attacked near a bank ATM in Bloomfield has confessed to making up the story. Police say charges will be filed. More details to follow.
I continue to find it exceedingly odd how a political movement that so frequently lies consider themselves so highly moral.
"I continue to find it exceedingly odd how a political movement that so frequently lies consider themselves so highly moral."
You're talking about the Cult of Obama political movement?
What makes you so sure Ashley Todd was in fact a McCain supporter?
Joan, I don't mind arrogance as a response to tin-foil-hat wearing hacks.
Because shenanigans with a birth certificate are just as improbable as a conspiracy to blow up two of the largest buildings in the world.
First it was no criticism of Obama allowed while he visits his grammaw.
Now it's no criticism of Obama allowed while he ponders visiting grammaw.
Blake, of course there was a conspiracy to blow up the Twin Towers. Osama bin Laden and 17 hijackers were among the among those conspiring. Bush was not.
As the first ranking member of the soon to be founded ODS club and one who believes that Obama willbe THE single biggest mistake American's can actually make so far this century:
I say leave Obama alone over family issues.
Let him have some peace and quiet for a few a days.
Sheesh!
Ya know, people should leave his grandmother alone. I know he brought her into it early on in the campaign, but his grandmother has no bearing on the election.
Neither do Palin's kids.
This is a presidential election, not Survivor or All My Children.
Rush is wrong for even mentioning this.
Trey
She's the last one of his family, as he says. Let him handle it however he wants. If he needs some extra time during the week to get through a few hours of on-microphone "uh, umm, uhhh"'s before going to be with her, then so be it.
As for this:
"The Right Wing has already started to Clintonize(tm) Obama. they will replay that playbook from the 1990s and seek to drive him from office and bog our politics down, crises or no crises.
But things have changed and that dog, like all their dogs, no longer hunts. They will get their asses kicked."
Yeah, well. Things haven't changed as much as AL would like to believe. After all, the "Clintonizing" turned into "Bushizing" in the 00's, and will likely just shift to the new president and opposition like musical chairs, as it has for the past 16 years. This has become a real growth industry for the pundit class, merchandise purveyors, etc. You think it's over just because a Democrat takes office?
Dream on (and dreaming that this sort of deranged idiocy would end is a dream I share, believe me).
While I'm sorry to hear that his grandmother is ill (yes, family should be off limits), I think he is exploiting this situation in a particularly craven way. The press on GMA this morning was particularly nauseating, especially in light of his real feelings for. Racist? Really?
Obama's grandma surviving for so long after that terrible bus accident in Philadelphia, is just one more testament to America's greatest generation and Hawaiian chutzpah and old white women everywhere.
If I'm running for leader of the free world, and I feel my opponent will be ruinous to same, and I also feel that I might not get the job, would I risk that to see my ailing grandmother?
If I do, doesn't that say something about my priorities? A leader puts his country's needs before his own.
One point Rush makes that hasn't been commented on here yet is that, yes, if he had the election in the bag, he'd have gone. The race is closer than the polls make it seem.
At heart, Rush's attack is the sort of thuggery I've come to associate with the attacks on Palin.
1. Why didn’t he visit her last week when she was hospitalized? That would have been the most reasonable thing to do, right?
The most reasonable thing to do depends on the situation. The GMA interview said Obama wanted to speak to her before she went. Last week she would have been in severe pain and probably doped up. This week she might be conscious and lucid. I don't know.
My grandmother's health was shaky for a twenty year period, and none of her kids wanted to put their lives on hold for that long.
Beth,
You have to admit, shenanigans with any given birth certificate are much likelier than that involving buildings and airliners.
That said, I'm not sure why it matters where he was born. The fact that there's some ambiguity over what constitutes a "natural-born citizen" suggests that, at this level of scrutiny, it's really not an important point.
Blake, the liklihood of 9/11 conspiracy versus birth cert. tampering isn't the question. The point is, any lawsuit filed by Philip Berg is likely to be crap.
"This is a sleazy attack from a sleazy drug addict."
Wait, I thought "liberals" liked drug addicts?
I thought "liberals" hated the "drug war"?
What happened?!
Am I the only one that has a Hawaii birth certificate at hand for comparison purposes? I can't BELIEVE this thing is still going around in circles. I scanned my daughter's Hawaiian birth certificate a dillion years ago and every. single. thing. that made his certificate an "obvious fake" was absolutely identical to my daugheter's not at all fake certificate. And, I have nothing other than the Certificate of Live Birth from Hawaii. I am unaware that there is anything other than that available from the state of Hawaii. Can we give it a rest!?
I would hope that a Presidential candidate had the ability to compartmentalize. One can be sad about his grandmother's condition and make the trip to see her out of familial love and still be able to recognize that the public perception may be a net positive.
Besides, if either of my children were up for the Presidency of the United States, and they bolo'd the election to see me one last time, I would box them about the ears.
Rush said:
"if you don't take care of your family, if you don't put that first, you're probably not the kind of person that's going to be caring for other people."
Kinda moronic considering his candidate's campaign slogan is 'Country First'. Or maybe Rush just hopes that McPalin will ignore average Americans.
Rush said he might have to suffocate her with a pillow to generate sympathy for his campaign and help him get elected.
I suppose we can have Dr. Billy Frist and the Governor of Hawaii get a court order to keep her on life support until after the election.
Two towns in Vermonth claim to be the birthplace of Chester A Arthur, the 21st President.
His political opponents claimed he had been born in Canada.
How many days of traction will Limbaugh get out of this 122 year old controversy?
Host with the Most...thank you for that...that had some class.
Responding to these idiots:
"The most probable thing is that Obama doesn't particularly care but sees a slight election advantage."
So what do you know about this man that indicates he "doesn't particularly care" about his own family? And what exactly is the advantage of leaving the campaign with a handful of days left? Did you train to be an asshole or did it come naturally?
"I'm with Synova. Planning a trip so close to the election, thinking about the glowing press it will receive? Yeah, nasty is the right word for it.
As for Rush, this is his shtick. Give him credit for saying the whole natural born citizen issue may be nothing, but the fact is, Philip Berg filed a suit, and Obama and the DNC, rather than putting it to rest by producing documentation other than a Certificate of Live Birth (which is not the same thing as a birth certificate), did nothing but motion to dismiss and suppress discovery. I understand those are routine maneuvers, but come on, people! How hard is it to get the damn document? It makes them look bad. Either they're arrogant -- they had a court order to provide certain documents, and they ignored it, or they're guilty. That deserves some coverage somewhere, but it just goes down the memory hole with everything else about Obama we're not supposed to ask or acknowledge."
Actually, when stupid questions are asked repeatedly they don't deserve acknowledgement, or response. So if Obama responds to this ridiculous individual who filed suit about his birth certificate, would he have to repeat that every time some wingnut decided to go to court? Probably best not to open that can of worms, unless you want McCain to explain why he gave so much information to the commies when he was a P.O.W.
I am having very positive opinion about the media in the USA.I am following the US politics closely for the last 6 months.
Media is this country is totally biased and want to promote their candidates.
There is no fairness in anlysis. for example Palin lacks exp and she don't deserve to become VP by same measure Obama also lacks exp.But the media is making Obama lack of exp as virtue.
I disagree with others in that I think Obama did care, but I do think it's odd (considering his polling numbers) that he didn't stay with her over the weekend to celebrate her birthday with her. Why rush back for more campaign rallies if she really is more important than your campaign?
According ot the NYT report, he had a nine-hour flight, then spent one hour with her. Maybe there are medical reasons he couldn't stay for longer, but I just thought that was madness. I'm not sure how long he spent Friday, but it couldn't have been much longer.
And why wouldn't he have taken his daughters or his wife? Michelle was still out on the campaign trail. His grandparents raised him but it seems at some point Obama grew apart from them. I never knew my great-grandmother and would have given anything to know her-- she lived across the country and at that time my family didn't have enough money to travel (and my family didn't know her at all). I was around Obama's daughters' age, so it seems they'd have the same type of feeling. Obama's daughters might be in school, but they've taken time away for campaigning and this seems more important than that.
I don't agree with Rush about most of his allegations, but I do think this trip was quite odd. It was too short and too well-publicized (I saw more buildup of this in the news than the campaign rallies he would have had anyway) to not raise eyebrows for me.
Your post reminds me of my last family trip to Hawaii.
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