Patterico's Pontifications

3/14/2008

Quote of the Day [Language Warning]

Filed under: General — Patterico @ 9:01 pm



I’ll put this below the fold due to the harsh language.

(more…)

It’s Time for a Recession

Filed under: 2008 Election,Media Bias — DRJ @ 8:03 pm



[Guest post by DRJ]

The problem is, it’s not a real recession. Beldar thinks it’s a lie.

Note to Beldar: Right on cue, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton announces that much of the country is already in a recession.

— DRJ

Obama: Here’s What’s Important . . . And I Don’t Have It

Filed under: 2008 Election,General — Patterico @ 5:21 pm



Captain Ed has a nice juxtaposition:

Here’s Obama on why he’s the better candidate:

In a dangerous world, it’s judgment that matters.

And here’s Obama on his Rezko entanglement:

Obama also said for the first time that his private real estate transactions with Rezko involved repeated lapses of judgment.

I feel so much better now.

Heh.

Yes, Rezko is still looming large:

Indicted Chicago businessman Antoin “Tony” Rezko was a more significant fundraiser for presidential candidate Barack Obama’s earlier political campaigns than previously known. Rezko raised as much as $250,000 for the first three offices Obama sought, the senator told the Tribune on Friday.

Oops.

Jeremiah Wright, April 2007: Barack Says He Might Have to Distance Himself From Me

Filed under: 2008 Election,General — Patterico @ 5:00 pm



From an April 2007 New York Times article:

“If Barack gets past the primary, he might have to publicly distance himself from me,” Mr. Wright said with a shrug. “I said it to Barack personally, and he said yeah, that might have to happen.”

Somehow that quote seems relevant today, with the news that Barack Obama has distanced himself from Jeremiah Wright.

Obama’s untimely distancing was made in a qualified, lawyerly fashion. He repudiated “the statements by Rev. Wright that are at issue,” and dismissed him from the African American Religious Leadership Committee.

One wonders about the timing, since it wasn’t news to Obama that his pastor of 20+ years says outrageous things in his sermons. As the New York Times article I linked this morning says:

According to the pastor, Mr. Obama then told him, “You can get kind of rough in the sermons, so what we’ve decided is that it’s best for you not to be out there in public.”

This is all reminiscent of the whole Goolsbee/NAFTA flap, isn’t it? The message: there are certain things we have to say in campaigns. Between you and me, don’t take it seriously.

Boy, Obama sure is different from other politicians, huh?

UPDATE: Now that Obama is claiming that he didn’t know about Wright’s outrageousness until the campaign began, the game is to find the evidence that Wright was always like this, and Obama must have known. Tom Maguire starts the ball rolling.

UPDATE x2: Thanks to Instapundit for the link. I have more on Obama on the main page.

UPDATE x3: Here is a post with Barack Obama’s response, and a highlight reel of outrageous statements by Wright.

Ain’t That a Shame — The “King of Torts” is Headin’ Off To The Hoosegow. Good riddance.

Filed under: General — WLS @ 3:28 pm



Posted by WLS: 

According to this breaking story, Richard “Dickie” Scruggs, famed Mississippi extortionist/torts lawyer, pled guilty late today to having attempted to bribe a state judge in a dispute over legal fees with other attorneys. 

This is a federal case in the District of Mississippi.  Scruggs is the brother-in-law of Trent Lott.

Once again, evidence that the Bush Justice Department is only interested in prosecuting Dimocrits like Elliot Spitzer.

Personally, I’ve always been offended by the way the Mississippi state court system has been a battering ram for lawyers to use to bludgeon corporate America.  And Dickie Scruggs was the foremost practitioner.

Jeremiah “God Damn America” Wright Has Formal Role in Obama Campaign and Plays Significant Role in His Life

Filed under: 2008 Election,General — Patterico @ 12:01 am



Ben Smith at Politico says that Jeremiah Wright

has a formal role [in Obama’s] campaign.

Wright is a member of Obama’s African American Religious Leadership Committee — the sort of largely honorary, advisory body that in recent days has recently been used mostly to throw people off who say controversial things.

The Obama campaign couldn’t immediately say whether he’d remain on the committee.

It’s a ceremonial role, to be sure . . . but it’s an official indication that Barack Obama, who has tried to distance himself from Wright in the past, still wants Wright to be identified with his campaign. Here is the video of Wright screaming “God damn America” and other charming things:

By the way, Ben Smith says that Wright “has generally been described as connected to Obama only informally — a religious figure with whom Obama has said he disagrees at times, a kind of cranky uncle.” Well, he may have been described that way by certain media outlets, but their relationship is actually much closer than is indicated by Smith’s innocuous portrayal. Last year, the Chicago Tribune profiled Wright and said:

In Wright [Obama] had found both a spiritual mentor and a role model.

. . . .

Obama says that rather than advising him on strategy, Wright helps keep his priorities straight and his moral compass calibrated.

“What I value most about Pastor Wright is not his day-to-day political advice,” Obama said. “He’s much more of a sounding board for me to make sure that I am speaking as truthfully about what I believe as possible and that I’m not losing myself in some of the hype and hoopla and stress that’s involved in national politics.”

I can just picture the advice:

Don’t lose yourself in the hype and hoopla, Barack. Stay focused on the important things: God damn America, the US of KKKA — the country whose “chickens have come home to roost” in the form of September 11.

This is the man who helps Obama keep his priorities straight? This is the man who helps Obama calibrate his moral compass?

Well, we know this: Wright is the man who inspired the keynote speech that launched Obama’s national profile:

Before leaving for Harvard Law School in 1988, he responded to one of Wright’s altar calls and declared a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

Later he would base his 2004 keynote speech to the Democratic National Convention on a Wright sermon called “Audacity to Hope,” –also the inspiration for Obama’s second memoir, “The Audacity of Hope.”

And Obama consults with Wright before making major political decisions:

Though Wright and Obama do not often talk one-on-one often, the senator does check with his pastor before making any bold political moves.

Last fall, Obama approached Wright to broach the possibility of running for president. Wright cautioned Obama not to let politics change him, but he also encouraged Obama, win or lose.

Sorry, Ben Smith . . . this sounds like much more than an informal relationship with a cranky old uncle.

More on Wright from Tom Maguire and Karl at Protein Wisdom. Both posts have links a’plenty.

UPDATE: More here, including Obama’s reaction, and reasons to doubt its sincerity.


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