A hard look at the news, media, and the people who are talking about them. Today's Stories in News and Media Blog...
A hard look at the news, media, and the people who are talking about them. Today's Stories in News and Media Blog...
Well, according to presidential hopeful Barack Obama, that friction is just plain fiction. And if he has anything to do with it, he’s going to ease the friction, and the fiction, by going to Hawaii.
Good plan. This man has an entirely different temperament than our current commander-in-chief, who seems to be as adept at his own brand of fiction as anyone in media circles. Is Obama right? Are the media creating fiction or is there real friction in the Democratic Party?
If you really want to know why Barack Obama will win the election in November, you’ll have to watch this video:
You’d think he was running for president of the world.
What did Obama do? He allegedly “talked down to black people.” OMG! A black man talking down to black people? What nerve!
Evidently, the Rev. Jesse Jackson thinks it’s OK for a black leader to make excuses for bad behavior, but if one tells black men that they’ve got to start being better fathers then he’s “talking down.” But Obama isn’t the first black leader to make such remarks. Comedian Bill Cosby said it first, but I don’t remember Jesse Jackson ever saying nasty things about him. Of course, the once voice of Fat Albert wasn’t running for president on the Democratic ticket. Well, I guess it just goes to show that if preachers don’t tell it like it is then politicians should know better than to do so as well.
Poor Obama. He gets no respect.
Alan Colmes, though, isn’t the best spokesman for the Democratic cause. He is frequently outdebated by Sean Hannity despite the fact that the latter is a hack journalist with little skill himself. Colmes appears weak next to Hannity and Fox News undoubtedly has him on staff to make Hannity look good. Williams typically appears opposite conservative analysts as a guest and is strong in some areas, but isn’t exactly the most aggressive of liberal analysts on TV himself.
But what about Wolfson? Well, Hillary lost. Does that say something?
Fox News claims to be unbiased in its news and uses the tagline “Fair and Balanced”, though it is neither. Wolfson claims that he wants to be a spokesman for the progressive cause on Fox News because many of its viewers are independent and someone needs to appeal to that audience for the upcoming election. Yeah, right.
(Source) Opposition Chief Whip Kassiano Wadri said he woke up at midnight to listen to BBC, and was overjoyed when the news of Obama’s victory broke.
“For the first time a black person has taken the US Democratic Party’s primary.” He said although American democracy was over 300 years old, none of the 43 presidents was black. “Africa should be proud that one of our own has moved nearer to the presidency.” He said Americans should also be happy that their nation was no longer ethnic but able to recognise quality leadership. “I wish Ugandans could emulate this.”
Republicans will undoubtedly use this African news story against Barack Obama this election season. It will only serve as proof that their suspicions of him being a black man are actually true.
In other words, Republicans would rather have a dead or near dead white guy serving as their chief executive than a man whose roots go back to Kenya, which is in Africa - even if American democracy isn’t quite 300 years old as the African chief so boldly proclaimed. He at least got it right that none of the previous presidents have been black (if you don’t count Bill Clinton).
When it comes to racial politics, there is a clear dividing line in the U.S. There is no gray area. It’s all black and white. And while there may be a few black Republicans in the mix, there are a lot of more white Democrats. And they will likely vote for Obama. But add up all the Republican prejudices against Obama - he’s black, he’s potentially Muslim, he’s black, he’s been educated in another country, he’s black, he’s “unpatriotic” (meaning he isn’t white), and he’s black - and it spells out so clearly that John McCain would make a better president. Even if he dies while in office. We’ll just prop his old dead body up against the Lincoln Monument and play speeches of Ronald Reagan to inspire us. And pray that his term of office doesn’t expire before rigor mortis sets in and turns his skin - aaaaaaack! - black.
Apparently, Hillary Clinton would like to be the vice president. Given her thirst for power, it’s not surprising. It has evidently sunk in that she won’t be the Democratic nominee for the party’s presidential run, after having been beaten by a black man. Being listed as the veep on the ticket might be a dream team for some Democrat Party faithfuls. But would Hillary be a good vice president?
She might actually make a better veep than president. The president is usually a director. A veep is the doer. If Clinton doesn’t mind playing second fiddle then she might actually make a good veep. She would likely follow in the footsteps of Dick Cheney and attempt to influence policy from the safety and comfort of the right-hand chair. Cheney set an unfortunate precedent in making himself the most powerful vice president in history. He effectively ran the office from his chair.
That doesn’t mean that Hillary has a chance at all of that accomplishment. First off, Barack Obama is a much more abler leader than George W. Bush ever was. So that won’t happen. But it could happen that her intelligence, drive, and savvy political skills could be assets to an Obama-run White House if she can convince Obama that she’ll be a team player and not try to run things. She will have to prove herself through assignments and my bet is Obama won’t be afraid to give her some and the better she is at accomplishing them, the more he’ll give her. She has a chance of becoming one of the most productive vice presidents in history if Obama can convince American voters to vote for him. Hillary on the ticket would only help him. There is no other person in the country who Obama can pick as a running mate that would give him automatic voter equity.
Even though Hillary Clinton won the popular vote in Texas in early March, Barack Obama seems to have won over more delegates.
Obama has an overwhelming edge against Clinton. This has allowed him to hang on to a slim lead during Texas’ delegate selection process which will conclude in June where both delegates have a strong chance of winning the nomination.
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported Monday that Obama is likely to end up with 36 to 38 of the 67 total delegates up for grabs from the caucus process. Clinton is expected to finish with 29 to 31 delegates. Clinton won the March 4 popular vote by a 51% to 47% margin, giving her 65 delegates from that process to Obama’s 61. That means Obama could end up with 97 to 99 delegates, while Clinton would have 94 to 96.
Not only that, but Obama now leads Clinton by double digits according to a new Gallup Poll. This isn’t the first time during this presidential campaign that one of the candidates has had a double digit lead during the race to the White House. Clinton held an 11-point lead over Obama in early February.
