Don’t be particularly concerned with Obama’s handling of the oil spill, either.  Macca trusts BHO will see to it that BP pays dearly for their inability to ‘instantly’ shut off and clean up the spill:

“I’m not a politician,” but [McCartney] added, “it is a disgrace.”

“I think most of us think it’s a disgrace, and the fact that something like that can happen and the people who are to blame don’t have the ability to instantly cap it and clean it up is something that is going to be addressed.”

He may not be a politician, but he’s got the John Kerry prayerful pose down.

Obama portrayed himself as more of a Stones than Beatles fan during the campaign; it would be interesting to know who he’d say his favorite Beatle was growing up.   It’s tough to trust any of the reports of which musicians Obama likes after he recently claimed to not know how to work the iPod that was said to be one of his favorite gadgets on the hectic campaign trail:

“With iPods and iPads and Xboxes and PlayStations, — none of which I know how to work — information becomes a distraction, a diversion, a form of entertainment, rather than a tool of empowerment, rather than the means of emancipation.”

June 2008:

The Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama showcased his diverse musical taste, ranging from Bob Dylan to Jay-Z and Bruce Springsteen, after revealing the playlist on his iPod.

Harry helps Michelle promote her 'Let's Move Outside' program yesterday in NV

President Obama, who hasn’t held a formal press conference in close to a year, popped onto the Tube last night during TNT’s Suns/Lakers pre-game coverage, sitting for an interview with Marv Albert on the White House basketball court.

Albert says TNT approached the WH for an interview:   “…we came up with the idea of doing this for a pregame show in the Western conference finals.  They said yes right away.  It was just a matter of trying to come up with a date.”

Obama clearly relished the opportunity to show the NBA audience his grasp of the league and to reiterate his opposition to the recent AZ illegal immigration law.  He didn’t seem at all concerned that it might appear he’s more engaged with the dynamics of the NBA than with his duties as leader of the country and the Free World.

When asked about the Suns’ donning ‘Los Suns’ jerseys, he responded:

I think that just because somebody’s a sports figure or you’ve got a sports team doesn’t mean that you’re not part of the community and you’re not part of our democracy. I think it’s terrific that the Suns, who obviously feel very strongly about their community, recognize that a big part of their community felt threatened by this new law. You know, when I was growing up, you had figures like Arthur Ashe and Bill Russell who routinely would talk about the world around them. You wouldn’t always agree with them, but that sense that people are engaged in the big issues of the day, I think, is a positive thing. I don’t think that either players or franchises need to always steer away from controversy. I happen to personally think that the Arizona Law is a bad idea, I’ve said so publically, and I see no reason why these guys can’t make the same statement.

Nothing else remotely touched on politics.  The ‘O’Bomber,’ as Marv says he found out in his research young Barry was nicknamed because of his jump shot, picked the Lakers to win the title and called Charles Barkley a ‘great guy’ and a ‘great friend.’  Given his track record at picking sports winners and friends, both should be concerned.

Perhaps Marv could join the WH Press Corpse when the NBA playoffs end – can’t be too much more than a month away.  He could be the ideal person to help Press Secretary Gibbs in getting them to stop asking so much about the oil spill.   In any case, Marv was suitably awed by the experience; when asked where this ranked on his career interview list:

I would say he’s number one. I can’t put any athletes or entertainers ahead of him. I would say clear number one. I don’t think it’s even close. Just in the way he handles himself. Aside from what he says, the way he handles himself.

http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/post/_/id/16168/marv-albert-on-interviewing-barack-obama

September 01, 2008, 1:10 a.m.

Don’t Call Her ‘Harriet’
There’s more to Palin than her plumbing.

By Kathryn Jean Lopez

St. Paul — Contrary to popular pundit belief, Sarah Palin is no Harriet Miers.  

And it’s a funny thing: When conservatives like myself opposed Miers’s nomination to the Supreme Court on the grounds that she was under-qualified and an affirmative-action pick, we were slammed as being sexist and elitist. Does that mean the Left and others railing against Palin are sexist and anti-Eskimo (her husband is part Eskimo)? 

Of course not. That would be silly — as it was in the case of the Miers debate. Instead, lefty columnists and pundits should admit they don’t like her because she’s a conservative, not because they’re concerned about a rot in the conservative movement. 

The choice of Sarah Palin is not like Harriet Miers in a number of debatable ways — including that Palin has executive experience, something Barack Obama lacks — in one big and clear way: There were no real alternatives. 

That’s not entirely true, of course. If the McCain campaign had been adult about it, they would have made Mitt Romney the vice-presidential nominee. He made a lot of sense as McCain’s Number Two. He wins the experience debate, having much more than Joe Biden — he’s been an executive in the corporate world and in the political world, and he cleaned, fixed, and ran the Olympics in Salt Lake. He would have helped electorally, particularly in Michigan. And he would have handled some blind spots for the McCain administration, most especially on the economy. Despite some campaigns against him, he’d have reassured many on the Right who saw him as a full-spectrum conservative, as National Review did. 

But John McCain wasn’t going to pick Mitt Romney. All you have to do to understand that is rewind to the Florida primary. If John McCain’s motto is “country first,” he’d have a hard time standing with Mitt Romney, who McCain (rather insultingly) described as having led for profit, not patriotism. 

And so once you take the most qualified and obvious choice out of the equation — realizing that former Florida governor Jeb Bush was not an option because of his name, and that Joe Lieberman would have been a disaster for the party (pace Bill Kristol and others) — Sarah Palin is not an outlandish choice. 

Was she picked because she’s a woman? Of course it played a role. Does that annoy me? Yes, especially if she doesn’t drop the glass-ceiling talk. Was it smart politics though? Maybe. Was it, most importantly, an acknowledgement that the Republican ticket needed to show itself to be future-oriented? In choosing a young conservative like Palin, John McCain acknowledges that there is a whole movement, a key component in the Republican party’s base, that he does not well represent on his own — and that there is a whole segment of the population that listens to Five for Fighting and gets their news online and is married to their high-school sweetheart and are struggling to balance it all, while enjoying every minute of it. If my conversations this past weekend in the Twin Cities are any indication, the choice of Sarah Palin isn’t insulting identity politics, but clever reality politics. Like the widely understood reasoning behind Barack Obama choosing Joe Biden — Obama needed some foreign-policy thinking on his ticket — Sarah Palin fills gaps for the 73-year-old “maverick.” 

And save for one vice-presidential candidate who (shamefully) wasn’t going to happen, unlike in the case of George W. Bush’s second Supreme Court choice, there really isn’t a list of could-have-beens. Far from being another Harriet Miers, Sarah Palin has no Sam Alito waiting in the wings. John McCain has made his choice, and it’s one conservatives can run with. 

— Kathryn Jean Lopez is the editor of National Review Online.

That’s right. The Editor of the NRO can only argue “there was nobody else” – and so Palin is not a Harriett.

Wow. You would think that she would wait a bit, gather at least a little evidence, and then state her premise – even if it is so heinous. Are we to believe that the Republican party is in such disarray – has fallen so low, that the only person they have that’s fit to be VP is a no-name amateur from Alaska? One with a long list of issues, at that?

It’s pretty amazing. I’d wager that there are lots of Republicans out there that would disagree, and might find somebody else that they think is actually suited to the job.

Or is this truly the state of the Republican Party? There is nobody else? Really?

Hell’s Angels for Obama

A colorful group of hardcore anti-war leftists doing a sing-song routine across the street from Mile High

Not buying the Messiah act – having a good-humored exchange with an Obama fan passing by

Hollywood knows who the audience is for Oliver Stone’s upcoming GW movie – billboards on either side of the closed down Colfax Street

A packed house awaiting the Greatest Speech Ever

Many say that choosing Palin for the VP slot shows complete irresponsibility for a man who claims to put “country first” and who has often harped about experience being one of the most important qualities in any candidate for Presidency or the Vice Presidency.  Many have said that putting self-proclaimed ‘regular hockey-mom’ Palin into the #2 slot – “a heartbeat away from the Presidency” is a reckless move.

This author agrees.

Misty May and Kerri Walsh are the first beach volleyball team, male or female, to repeat as Olympic gold medalists after a decisive straight-set victory over China.

At the end of the post-game interview, Walsh asked the interviewer if she could just say one thing: “Thank you Mr. President, thank you for your inspiration and for all that you do.”

Barack Obama’s ‘lost’ brother found in Kenya – Telegraph

George Hussein Onyango Obama in Nairobi Photo: Guy Calaf, Vanity Fair, Italy

Vanity Fair also noted that he had a front page newspaper picture of his famous brother – born of the same father as him, Barack Hussein Obama, but to a different mother, named only as Jael.

He told the magazine: “I live like a recluse, no-one knows I exist.”

Embarrassed by his penury, he said that he does not does not mention his famous half-brother in conversation.

“If anyone says something about my surname, I say we are not related. I am ashamed,” he said.

For ten years George Obama lived rough. However he now hopes to try to sort his life out by starting a course at a local technical college.

He has only met his famous older brother twice – once when he was just five and the last time in 2006 when Senator Obama was on a tour of East Africa and visited Nairobi.

The Illinois senator mentions his brother in his autobiography, describing him in just one passing paragraph as a “beautiful boy with a rounded head”.

Of their second meeting, George Obama said: “It was very brief, we spoke for just a few minutes. It was like meeting a complete stranger.”

George added he was no longer in contact with his mother and said:”I have had to learn to live and take what I need.

“Huruma is a tough place, last January during the elections there was rioting and six people were hacked to death. The police don’t even arrest you they just shoot you.

“I have seen two of my friends killed. I have scars from defending myself with my fists. I am good with my fists.”

]]> http://wisemanandthefool.com/2008/08/20/red-obamas-brother-having-trouble-raising-money-in-kenya/feed/ 0 jwiii George Hussein Onyango Obama in Nairobi http://wisemanandthefool.com/2008/08/20/red-backstage-hungry-for-change/ http://wisemanandthefool.com/2008/08/20/red-backstage-hungry-for-change/#comments Wed, 20 Aug 2008 04:58:49 +0000 jwiii http://wisemanandthefool.com/2008/08/20/red-backstage-hungry-for-change/ ]]> A Barack campaign e-mail with the subject “Backstage,” sent out on Monday:

As you may have heard, 10 supporters will be joining me backstage before I accept the nomination at the Democratic National Convention in Denver.

I’m pleased to announce that those supporters have been selected, and I wanted to tell you a little about them.

The people who make up our movement are of all different ages, races, and backgrounds — and these folks are no different.

Lenny is a former naval officer from Emerald Isle, NC. Barb is a teacher married to a farmer in Fallon, MT. James is a law student in Massillon, OH. And Anne is a retired budget analyst from Indianapolis.

John from Boulder, CO, believes developing alternative energy is the answer to an array of policy problems. And Kayla from West Fargo, ND, didn’t feel like she could ever be part of the political process — until now.

They each bring their own unique perspectives and experience, and they are united by their hunger for change.

You can read more about these amazing people below. I’m looking forward to meeting them at the Open Convention, and I hope you will join us in sharing this important moment.

If you cannot make it to Denver, you can get together with your friends and family and watch my acceptance speech at a Convention Watch Party. It’s going to be a big night, and you can join millions of supporters across the country to make it a success.

Sign up to host or attend a Convention Watch Party in your community on Thursday, August 28th:

http://my.barackobama.com/convwatchparty

Thank you for your belief in our ability to bring real change to this country. You continue to grow and strengthen our movement in ways no one thought possible.

Barack

Powered by ScribeFire.