Warnock welcomed murderous dictator Fidel Castro to his church in 1995 for a celebration described as a "lovefest," where attendees chanted "Fidel! Fidel! Fidel!"https://t.co/GoIoZwovevpic.twitter.com/gFjzmE1IxF
The Leftist media have been obsessing over Rudy Giuliani's remarks from last Wednesday, when he dared to state his opinion about Obama's love of country.
Imagine. Giuliani, a private citizen, had the audacity to comment on Obama's record regarding America, a record that has led him to arrive at some conclusions about Obama.
It seems that no issue is more important right now. All that matters is what Giuliani said. The Leftists are so concerned about what Giuliani said that they are demanding other Republicans denounce him.
The fact is he proudly declared he is on a crusade to fundamentally transform America. As Mark Levin points out, you don't love something you want to fundamentally transform.
We're simply dealing in reality here.
I'm glad Giuliani isn't backing down and buckling under pressure from the Leftists as well as members of his own party.
I'm also glad that Scott Walker isn't condemning Giuliani, even though Leftists are tossing deranged criticisms his way. For example, Dave Obey called Walker "shameful." Dana Milbank said, "What Scott Walker did ought to disqualify him as a serious presidential contender."
It's ridiculous.
It's obvious that the Leftists are committed to destroying Scott Walker, but the Giuliani dust-up wasn't enough.
Now, we're back to focusing on Obama's religion. I guess the Leftists thought the Giuliani thing was running out of gas.
So, The Washington Post breathlessly reports that Scott Walker didn't state with metaphysical certitude that Obama is indeed a Christian.
EGAD!
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, a prospective Republican presidential contender, said Saturday he does not know whether President Obama is a Christian.
“I don’t know,” Walker said in an interview at the JW Marriott hotel in Washington, where he was attending the winter meeting of the National Governors Association.
Told that Obama has frequently spoken publicly about his Christian faith, Walker maintained that he was not aware of the president’s religion.
“I’ve actually never talked about it or I haven’t read about that,” Walker said, his voice calm and firm. “I’ve never asked him that,” he added. “You’ve asked me to make statements about people that I haven’t had a conversation with about that. How [could] I say if I know either of you are a Christian?”
Walker said such questions from reporters are reflective of a broader problem in the nation’s political-media culture, which he described as fixated on issues that are not relevant to most Americans.
“To me, this is a classic example of why people hate Washington and, increasingly, they dislike the press,” he said. “The things they care about don’t even remotely come close to what you’re asking about.”
...After the interview was completed, Walker spokeswoman Jocelyn Webster telephoned The Washington Post to say the governor was trying to make a point of principle by not answering such kinds of questions, not trying to cast doubt on Obama’s faith.
Do we really want to revisit Jeremiah Wright and that sorry mess?
I suppose the assorted talking heads and the political analysts will say Walker stumbled here. Obama says he Christian so he's Christian. NO QUESTIONS ASKED.
Walker should know that Obama identifies himself as a Christian, but I don't think it's a mistake to note he hasn't discussed religion with Obama and, therefore, won't comment on the matter. It's not a mistake for Walker to refuse to answer stupid questions.
Obama gives lip service to being a Christian, but he doesn't appear to live out his professed faith. He exhibits a disturbing inconsistency when it comes to standing up for what is right and wrong.
We know Obama doesn't believe he's bound by the Constitution and acts accordingly. He doesn't appear to be guided by the Bible either.
Obama has no qualms about dissing Christians, telling us to get off our high horse and take responsibility for the Crusades and slavery, and other such nonsense.
I certainly don't think Walker's comments should be interpreted as Walker to be suggesting that Obama is a Muslim.
Remember this?
Here's the real question: WHY IS A REPORTER ASKING A POSSIBLE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE IF HE "KNOWS" OBAMA IS A CHRISTIAN?
Walker is right.
“To me, this is a classic example of why people hate Washington and, increasingly, they dislike the press,” he said. “The things they care about don’t even remotely come close to what you’re asking about.”
He nailed that.
.@GlennThrush and when did believing the top guy in the opposing party is a Jesus-loving patriot become a media litmus test?
Sean Hannity provided a side-by-side comparison of the Hampton University speech on race that Barack Obama gave in 2007 and his speech in 2008 that he gave when he was forced to disavow his pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright.
In a video obtained exclusively by The Daily Caller, then-presidential candidate Barack Obama tells an audience of black ministers, including the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, that the U.S. government shortchanged Hurricane Katrina victims because of racism.
“The people down in New Orleans they don’t care about as much!” Obama shouts in the video, which was shot in June of 2007 at Hampton University in Virginia. By contrast, survivors of Sept. 11 and Hurricane Andrew received generous amounts of aid, Obama explains. The reason? Unlike residents of majority-black New Orleans, the federal government considers those victims “part of the American family.”
The racially charged and at times angry speech undermines Obama’s carefully-crafted image as a leader eager to build bridges between ethnic groups. For nearly 40 minutes, using an accent he almost never adopts in public, Obama describes a racist, zero-sum society, in which the white majority profits by exploiting black America. The mostly black audience shouts in agreement. The effect is closer to an Al Sharpton rally than a conventional campaign event.
Obama is a fraud.
He doesn't sound anything like he did when he took the oath of office.
He's also terribly condescending.
As the speech continues, Obama makes repeated and all-but-explicit appeals to racial solidarity, referring to “our” people and “our neighborhoods,” as distinct from the white majority. At one point, he suggests that black people were excluded from rebuilding contracts after the storm: “We should have had our young people trained to rebuild the homes down in the Gulf. We don’t need Halliburton doing it. We can have the people who were displaced doing that work. Our God is big enough to do that.”
This theme — that black Americans suffer while others profit — is a national problem, Obama continues: “We need additional federal public transportation dollars flowing to the highest need communities. We don’t need to build more highways out in the suburbs,” where, the implication is, the rich white people live. Instead, Obama says, federal money should flow to “our neighborhoods”: “We should be investing in minority-owned businesses, in our neighborhoods, so people don’t have to travel from miles away.”
The solution, Obama says, is a series of new federal programs, including one to teach punctuality to the poor: “We can’t expect them to have all the skills they need to work. They may need help with basic skills, how to shop, how to show up for work on time, how to wear the right clothes, how to act appropriately in an office. We have to help them get there.”
I would be so insulted if Obama had been referring to me like that, as virtually helpless.
"How to show up for work on time"?
If Mitt Romney said anything remotely like that, he would be ruined. The Leftists would be calling him a racist, and they'd be right.
The 2007 speech reveals Obama to be extremely divisive.
He in no way promotes unity.
Some of what he says is racist. That's the reality.
Barack Obama is on mission today. He wants to set the record straight about his thoughts on the heated rhetoric and divisiveness of racial politics as it's played out in the U.S. presidential primaries.
He can't do that without addressing his relationship with his pastor, the controversial Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Jr.
PHILADELPHIA -- Democrat Barack Obama is seeking to distance himself from statements by his longtime pastor that have aggravated racial divisions in the contentious Democratic primary battle. He is calling for both sides to tone down their rhetoric.
The Illinois senator is using a speech at a site near the nation's birthplace to present what his campaign said would be a comprehensive take on "race, politics, and unifying our country."
Among other things, the Illinois Democrat was seeking to calm the uproar over racially tinged sermons by his former pastor at Chicago's Trinity United Church of Christ, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, remarks that have threatened to undercut Obama's campaign theme of easing the racial divide.
Wright had been Obama's pastor for nearly 20 years until retiring recently, and officiated at Obama's wedding and baptized his two daughters. His inflammatory statements have been cited by Obama detractors, including comments that blacks continue to be mistreated by whites and a suggestion that U.S. "terrorism" helped bring on the Sept. 11 attacks.
Obama was addressing supporters at the National Constitution Center, a museum dedicated to the U.S. Constitution.
Jen Psaki, an Obama spokeswoman, said that Obama wanted to deliver the speech because "the issue of race has received an enormous amount of attention" over the past few weeks and "he thought it was an appropriate moment to discuss his thoughts on the issue."
Obama, seeking to be the first black U.S. president, has been calling on Democrats to look past racial divisions and to guard against intemperate rhetoric that he says has been sprouting on both sides.
We'll see how what Obama has to say fits in with this:
From June 2007, Obama says, "I've got to give a special shout out to my pastor. The guy who puts up with me, counsels me, listens to my wife complain about me. He's a friend and a great leader."
CHICAGO (CBS) -- While Sen. Barack Obama moved quickly to distance himself from his controversial former pastor this weekend, the presidential candidate offered a "special shout out" to Rev Jeremiah Wright just last summer. Last June, Obama was speaking to black clergy at Hampton University. In the video on posted at the time on cbs2chicago.com, Obama lavished praise on Wright, talking glowingly how Wright "puts up with me, counsels me." About one minute into the video, Obama refers to Wright as "as a friend and a great leader." Obama's comments appear to indicate a deeper, more personal relationship than the Illinois senator disclosed just days ago when he denounced Wright's inflammatory sermons from the pulpit at the Trinity United Church of Christ.
It's virtually impossible for Obama to get out of this unscathed. He's on the record too many times praising Wright.
In the latest battle in the ongoing war over public gaffes made by tangential campaign surrogates, Democrats are demanding that Mitt Romney denounce the support of rocker and gun enthusiast Ted Nugent after he made inflamatory, violent remarks about the party and the President at this past weekend's National Rifle Association convention.
"Mitt Romney surrogate Ted Nugent made offensive comments about President Obama and November’s elections this weekend that are despicable, deplorable and completely beyond the pale," DNC chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz said in a statement. "He called the Administration 'vile', ‘evil' and 'America-hating', and said much worse. Yet what have we heard from Mitt Romney and the Republican Party, who should be outraged that someone representing them is using language like this to make a political point? Absolutely nothing.”
During an interview heard by attendees of the convention, Nugent told Republican attendees to rally thousands of votes for Romney and then "ride into that battlefield and chop [Democrats'] heads off in November," and then compared the Obama administration to couch-peeing coyotes who must be shot.
Yeah, that's not good; but at least Nugent didn't say they never worked a day in their lives.
Nugent is not representing Romney. He backs Romney, but it's not like Nugent is a close adviser.
Is Romney responsible for the crap his millions of supporters say?
Are Obama's supporters held to the same standard? I doubt the Dems would say Michelle Williamsrepresents Obama.
He also accused President Obama of "wiping his ass with the constitution," and dismissed the entire executive branch as criminals.
Now, the Secret Service is said to be looking in to Nugent's threats.
The Romney campaign, meantime, attempted to distance itself from Nugent on Tuesday, undoubtedly regretting the former Massachusetts governor's comments last month to a Missouri radio show: "It's been fun getting to know Ted Nugent."
"Divisive language is offensive no matter what side of the political aisle it comes from," Romney spokeswoman Andrea Saul said in an email to reporters. "Mitt Romney believes everyone needs to be civil."
The Democratic National Committee called on Romney to strongly condemn the remarks by Nugent, best known for his late '70s hit "Cat Scratch Fever."
"Threatening violence — or whatever it is that Nugent's threatening — is clearly beyond the pale, but Nugent's not the one running for president," said DNC chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz.
At the daily White House press briefing on Tuesday, spokesman Jay Carney wouldn't comment on Nugent's remarks.
"We can't be policing the statement of supporters across the board. The president is focused on the issues," he said.
Nugent, however, was unapologetic, telling conservative radio host Dana Loesch that his incendiary remarks were "100 per cent positive."
"I will stand by my speech," he said, and then upped the ante by heaping more scorn on Democrats, describing Wasserman Schultz as a "brain-dead, soulless, heartless idiot."
Nancy Pelosi, minority leader for the House of Representatives, he added, is a "sub-human scoundrel."
Wow.
The Democrats are calling names as well.
Wasserman Schultz and Pelosi aren't exactly responding with civility.
What's interesting is how the press is making seem that Romney and Nugent are best buddies.
I am certain Romney would not have signed off on Nugent's remarks.
One minute, Romney is being called wooden and unable to relate. The next, Romney is depicted as a wild man, under the influence of "Cat Scratch Fever."
There is such a double standard.
I don't hear Obama denouncing the New Black Panthers. Has Obama ever denounced their million dollar bounty on George Zimmerman?
Obama did his best to avoid commenting on Hilary Rosen's assinine remarks about Ann Romney, and Rosen is, in fact, an Obama surrogate.
Nugent is not a Romney surrogate. Endorsing a candidate doesn't qualify one as a surrogate.
Moreover, Democrats still insist it was wrong for Obama to answer for the remarks of his mentor and father figure, Rev. Jeremiah Wright. They demand that Obama's close ties with Bill Ayers are a non-issue.
Yet we're supposed to expect Romney to apologize for Nugent?
When Andrew Breitbart addressed CPAC on February 10, 2012, he informed the audience that this election would be different. He said Obama would be vetted this time, and he had video.
ANDREW BREITBART: What do we get in Barack Obama? Well, I've got videos, by the way. This election, we're going to vet him. I've got videos. This election, we're going to vet him; from his college days, to show you why, to show you why racial division and class warfare are central to what hope and change was sold in 2008.
The videos are going to come out. The narrative is going to come out that Barack Obama met a bunch of silver ponytails back in the 1980s, like Bill [Ayers] and Bernardine Dohrn who, equally radical, said, 'One day, we're gonna have the presidency.' And the rest of us slept...
Barack Obama is a radical. We should not be afraid to say that.
Breaking footage shows a young Barack Obama leading a protest at Harvard Law School on behalf of Prof. Derrick Bell, a radical academic tied to Jeremiah Wright. We will be releasing significant information in the coming hours.
"Open your hearts and open your minds to the words of Prof. Derrick Bell." Those are the words of Barack Obama in reference to the controversial racialist Derrick Bell. Prof. Charles Ogletree, Barack Obama's mentor said "We hid this throughout the 2008 campaign." As more is uncovered about Prof. Derrick Bell and his radical views, it will become clear why Prof. Ogletree wanted this video hidden.
[The Obamas will celebrate] American poetry and prose by hosting a gathering of poets, musicians and artists.
Those slated to attend include Elizabeth Alexander, Billy Collins, Common, Rita Dove, Kenneth Goldsmith, Alison Knowles, Aimee Mann and Jill Scott. The performers, using music and verse, will highlight poetry's influence on American culture, according to the Associated Press.
As per usual, Michelle Obama will use the event to teach young ones. The first lady will host an afternoon workshop connecting students from all across the country to the evening's performers.
"An Evening of Poetry" is part of White House's music series, which began in 2009 with a jazz studio. Since then, Michelle Obama has hosted a celebration of country music, classical music, Motown music, Latin music, a salute to Broadway, music of the civil rights movement and a dance tribute to Judith Jamison.
"An Evening of Poetry" doesn't sound very controversial, but it is.
The source of the controversy is the White House invitation for Common, aka Lonnie Rashid Lynn, Jr., a poet and rapper from Chicago, to participate in the event.
Common and the Obamas go way back.
They were all members of the very controversial Rev. Jeremiah Wright's Trinity United Church of Christ.
Watch Common freestyle the sermon, and campaign for Obama, at the Church's 2008 New Year celebration.
Common defended his pastor when Wright came under fire back in 2008. Obama, of course, eventually threw Wright under the bus.
Here's another performance by Common, "Can a Black Man be a President."
Clearly, Common is politically active and a longtime Obama supporter. He's done plenty of campaigning for Obama. Watch "Vote Hope: Common for Barack Obama."
Given their history, it's no surprise that the Obamas would want Common to attend their celebration of American poetry.
The issue is some of Common's "poetry."
One of his "poems" speaks of killing police and burning President George W. Bush.
That violent imagery is a problem, especially since Michelle intends to use the event as a teaching moment for kids.
As per usual, Michelle Obama will use the event to teach young ones. The first lady will host an afternoon workshop connecting students from all across the country to the evening's performers.
I don't know that it's a good thing to connect American students with Common.
Common writes some rough, hateful stuff. I don't think that's a good message to send to kids.
Use your mind and nine-power, get the government touch
Them boys chat-chat on how him pop gun
I got the black strap to make the cops run
They watching me, I’m watching them
Them dick boys got a lock of cock in them
My people on the block got a lot of Pac in them
and when we roll together
we be rocking them to sleep
No time for that, because there’s things to be done
Stay true to what I do so the youth dream come
from project building
Seeing a fiend being hung
With that happening, why they messing with Saddam?
Burn a Bush cos’ for peace he no push no button
Killing over oil and grease
no weapons of destruction
How can we follow a leader when this a corrupt one
The government’s a g-unit and they might buck young black people
Black people In the urban area one
I hold up a peace sign, but I carry a gun.
Peace, ya’ll.
I have no problem whatsoever with Common expressing himself through his art.
However, because some of his work contains very violent imagery and inflammatory rhetoric like calling to "Burn a Bush," I don't think it's appropriate for the Obamas to highlight him at their poetry soiree.
Where's that new tone of civility?
Common's "A Letter to the Law" isn't vague. It's very specific about President Bush and police being the enemy, and dealing with them violently.
Would the Leftists mind if a Republican president invited a performer to the White House who called for Obama to be burned?
Just like in 2009, Obama and his family are spending Christmas in Hawaii. Last year, the Obama family Christmas celebration did NOT include a church service.
The Senate vote on final passage of health reform almost scuttled their plans, but it looks like the First Family will still make it to Hawaii for Christmas. They've had a whirlwind holiday season so far, starting with the lighting of the National Christmas Tree, through hosting more than 50,000 people for 27 parties and open houses, and ending with a visit by the First Lady, Malia and Sasha, and the family's dog Bo, to deliver cookies to the Children's National Medical Center. The Obamas have also started their own holiday traditions in their new home, adding a Christmas wishing tree to the decorations festooning the White House.
But there's one common Christmas practice not on the First Family's schedule: a visit to Christmas Eve church services.
...The Obamas have attended Sunday services in Washington three times this year — once at the predominantly African-American 19th Street Baptist Church, and twice at St. John's Episcopal Church across Lafayette Square from the White House.
Obama didn't bother to interrupt his Christmas vacation by attending a Christmas service.
He didn't take his children to church on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, but he is a self-proclaimed devout Christian. He says he prays to Jesus every night. Big stuff.
Unlike in 2009, the Obama family actually attended a church service this year - an exceedingly rare occurrence. The White House wants to spread the word. Obama and his family went to church and they sang "Angels We Have Heard on High."
Photo of the Day: Obama family at St. Michael's Chapel at Marine Corps Base Hawaii
Here's more about the church service, from ABC News:
The protestant service’s program was dubbed "Contemporary Worship Service,” including a Call to Worship, Praise and Worship, Offering, Special music, Dismissal of children for Children's Church (4-10 years old), Proclaiming the Wors, Scripture reading Matthew 10:29-31, Message, communion, closing song and benediction.
The Obamas stood up to sing, “Angels We Have Heard on High,” with the rest of the congregation of about 100 people. “Oh Holy Night,” was sung, followed by another prayer.
The scripture lesson read, “Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? And one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows."
Chaplain Moses told the congregation these verses make the point that even “insignificant details” of our lives matter to God.
President Obama participating in communion, took a wafer and dipped it into the chalice. Malia and Sasha followed, with Michelle Obama going last among their family.
After church service was over the Obamas returned to their rental home, and then President Obama quickly departed for the golf course, his second tee-time this vacation, with the sun coming out and the rain subsiding.
Obama hasn't given up his golf but clearly Team Obama believes it's a good idea to show the public that he did go to a church service this year.
It's propaganda. Obama is not a church-goer. He spent 20 years at Jeremiah Wright's church but that was a politically calculated move. The guy doesn't go to church and he's not raising his daughters to go to church. It's his choice.
I don't like this charade and the exploitation of the church setting for political gain.
Why is the White House putting out the photo of the Obama family in the pew?
Is Obama trying to appeal to the "bitter clingers"? Is he trying to recast himself as a religious man, hoping to win back all the supporters that have abandoned him?
If President Obama is looking for a New Year's resolution might I suggest he do in Washington with more regularity in 2011 what he did yesterday in Hawaii. Go to church. He can be discreet about it. No need to be all flashy about his devotion to God. Not that he would anyway.
But the upside of more pictures like the one here is that it would obliterate that other never-say-die conspiracy theory about Obama; that he's a closet Muslim. As an old editor of mine used to say (he's probably still saying it), "Don't tell, show."
Jonathan Capehart, of the Washington Post, seems to be suggesting that church attendance should be used to serve Obama's political needs rather than Obama attending church to praise and serve God.
Obama's press conference yesterday afternoon seemed more like a Democrat Party meeting than a Q & A with journalists.
It was bizarre the way Obama was addressing the White House press corps and the way members of the media were addressing him.
The press demanded an explanation for Obama allegedly caving to Republicans on extending the Bush tax cuts.
The Republicans were treated like the enemy by both the press and Obama.
Don't they remember what happened on November 2, 2010?
They were shellacked. The American people sent a deafeningly loud message to the Leftists. Obama and his minions are denying reality and the meaning of their defeat.
The way Democrats and Obama himself are referring to Republicans is inexcusable. It's absolutely disgraceful for the president of the United States to use rhetoric that characterizes Republicans as terrorists and hostage-takers.
Obama's talking crazy. He must be channeling Jeremiah Wright.
OBAMA: I’ve said before that I felt that the middle-class tax cuts were being held hostage to the high-end tax cuts. I think it’s tempting not to negotiate with hostage-takers, unless the hostage gets harmed. Then people will question the wisdom of that strategy. In this case, the hostage was the American people and I was not willing to see them get harmed.
That's a terribly inappropriate analogy.
Moreover, Obama and his band of Leftists have had two years to do whatever they wanted. They could have raised taxes on the rich. Republicans alone had no power to stop them.
Bottom line: Obama's campaign promise to let the Bush tax cuts for high income earners expire is not being held hostage. He can get whatever he wants as long as he has the support of fellow Democrats.
Obama's divisive rhetoric is sickening.
(He also just told terrorists that he's willing to negotiate with them if they threaten to harm hostages.)
This video addresses Obama's divisive, inexcusable rhetoric.
"We don't mind the Republicans joining us. They can come for the ride, but they gotta sit in back."
--BARACK OBAMA
"If Latinos sit out the election instead of saying, 'We're gonna punish our enemies and we're gonna reward our friends who stand with us on issues that are important to us,' if they don't see that kind of upsurge in voting in this election, then I think it's gonna be harder and that's why I think it's so important that people focus on voting on November 2."
--BARACK OBAMA
It's a discussion of the "authentic Obama."
CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER: I think this is how the great post-partisan, post-racial promise of Obama ends: Not with a bang or a whimper, but with a display of unbelievable presidential smallness.
He isn't only urging Hispanics to punish enemies, he's criticizing Hispanics who don't. And this is the man who told us, this is what propelled him into the spotlight of the country - we're not a 'blue' America, we're not a 'red' America, we're not a black America, Hispanic America.
Now he tells us, on the eve of an election, we actually are a Hispanic America, an Anglo-America. We aren't only separate, but, in a sense, we are enemies. I don't even think he uses the word 'enemy' in describing the president of Iran or Hugo Chavez. But he used it against Anglos who believe in the Arizona law.
Good grief. I mean, this really is something that... People who believed in him in '08, I think believed a lot against all evidence.
This really is a man who sat in the pew of Jeremiah Wright for 20 years, some of us have suspected was not exactly the man who hovered above it all and would bring us all together the way he promised.
And I think this display - even though it's pre-election, you can write it off as extreme - I think this really is the authentic Obama. And I think it's really disappointing.
Exactly.
Krauthammer perfectly articulates my reaction to Obama.
This divisive rhetoric from the president of the United States is really disappointing. Obama is actively trying to divide the country.
Obama is staging a rally this Saturday in Chicago.
Hip-hop artist Common is the special guest. Like Obama, Common spent decades as a member of Rev. Jeremiah Wright's congregation, the Trinity United Church of Christ.
Here's the rally invite and details:
We're very excited to announce that in addition to welcoming President Obama home to Chicago this Saturday, October 30th, the rally will feature a performance by acclaimed hip-hop artist Common.
If you haven't already done so, please RSVP to come by clicking here, and get fired up for the final days of our Vote 2010 campaign.
Here are the details:
What: Moving America Forward Rally with President Barack Obama Musical guest Common
Where: Midway Plaisance Park 1130 Midway Plaisance North Chicago, IL 60637
When: Saturday, October 30th Doors open: 4:30 p.m.
The event is free and open to the public. Tickets are not required, but an RSVP is encouraged. Space is available on a first-come, first-served basis.
For security reasons, please avoid bringing bags to the rally if at all possible -- you should expect airport-like security. No signs, banners, or laptops are permitted.
What is Obama doing campaigning in Chicago?
You'd think Obama's old senate seat would be a sure thing for the Dems. Not so.
Beyond campaigning for a Dem to hold the seat, Obama probably wants to go to Chicago just to be on relatively friendly turf the weekend before the midterm elections.
Democrats are turning to black voters for help in next week's midterm elections, hoping they can be the jolt of energy needed to stem projected lossesby winning key competitive congressional and gubernatorial races.
Democratic strategists say huge turnout from black voters, the party's most loyal supporters, could help unseat Gov. Rick Perry in Texas, push the Florida gubernatorial race into the Democratic column, defend Senate seats in Nevada, Illinois and Pennsylvania and even potentially spoil the GOP's efforts to capture the 39 seats they need to take over the House.
But former Virginia Gov. L. Douglas Wilder said he doesn't see the levels of enthusiasm black voters would need to show.
Election 2010 does seem to hinge on enthusiasm, but don't all elections boil down to that factor?
In any event, I don't know why the rally is featuring Common. Yes, he's from Chicago; but his presence is a reminder of the Jeremiah Wright controversy. Furthermore, Common is not without controversy in his own right. His lyrics are sometimes explicit, sexually charged, and in the past have been homophobic.
Although Common is a staunch supporter of Obama, I question whether it's wise to have him as the "special guest" at the rally.
Obama seems to really be floundering. He's been in office for nearly two years and rather than reaching out, he's running back home, turning inward.
Sadly, Obama isn't "Moving America Forward." The rally on Saturday isn't about America, one nation under God. It's about power bought at the price of dividing the country.
Bill Maher was Jay Leno's guest on the Tonight Show on Monday.
Not again!
I guess it has been quite a few months but that's too soon for me.
Leno said that in the past when Maher was on the show, they used to get complaints. But now, the reaction to Maher's appearances is positive. People agree with him and realize that he's right.
Oh, good grief.
I doubt that Americans have come around to share Maher's views. I think Leno has just lost a good portion of his audience that's repulsed by Maher.
Leno has really chucked his middle of the road persona. He's out of the closet as a dyed-in-the-wool liberal.
Maher was on the show to hawk his new DVD, a comedy special, and Real Time on HBO returning this Friday. But of course Maher really was wallowing in having a forum on network TV to spew his opinions which are supposed to pass for entertainment.
After Maher mentioned that he gets high before the show, and before getting into his offensive material, Leno mentioned that Maher is getting a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Tuesday.
I suppose that's fitting, given the sorry state of Hollywood.
As usual, Leno fed Maher prearranged topics and allowed him to be as demeaning as he wanted to be.
First, Leno brought up the Ground Zero mosque, what Leno called "this Islamic center near Ground Zero." (Does Leno work for AP?)
Video.
Bill Maher
Bill Maher, continued
Transcript
BILL MAHER: Well, if you want me to talk about this, let me get it all out because I got into trouble talking about this subject before, so I want to get all my points. My first point about that would be I am against a mosque at Ground Zero.
(Audience cheers and applauds)
I said let me get it out! I am also against a mosque anywhere. I'm against a church anywhere or a Hindu temple or a synagogue.
(Only some applause)
See, there are people out there like this who understand. These are houses of worship which mean there are places where people go to retell nonsense stories from a time before men understood what a germ or an atom was or where the sun went at night. They try to telepathically communicate with their imaginary friend. There are places, these are places that fleece people and scare people and they perpetuate mass delusion. We shouldn't build any of them. But...
JAY LENO: That being said...
MAHER: That being said...
LENO: Let me finish...
MAHER: Right, but I'm not wrong. But people are going to still build houses of worship so they should be able to build them anywhere. There's a thing in this country called the First Amendment. And if somebody ever read it to Sarah Palin she would understand that you're supposed to be allowed to worship whatever fairy tale you want to wherever you want to. That's why we have churches and mosques and synagogues in Utah. And any religion should be able to do that, just because there are some people in the religion who are violent, anti-Semitic, and hate women -- Mel Gibson is allowed to build a church so should Islam.
LENO: Right, right.
MAHER: But one more point-
LENO: I just love the fact that you questioned my intro before, and now they're all going, 'Oh, I see what Jay was talking about.'
MAHER: But let me also say this, 'cause I was watching MSNBC, the liberal network, a few weeks ago. And they were all going nuts. Everybody on there -- and I like the people on their station -- they were all going nuts about the fact that there was a poll that said Republicans think that Islam is more likely to lead to violence. Yeah, I'm with that. They are. OK? That's the truth, too. They have nuts and we have nuts. Their nuts are a lot more numerous and a lot more violent. That mouthbreather down in Florida who was gonna burn a Quran -- what would have happened? Nothing. To retaliate, you know, they could have burned our most sacred book, Eat Pray Love. They could have burned the Bible and nothing would have happened.
LENO: Right.
MAHER: OK? So, I mean, you have to recognize that difference, too. They keep their women in beekeeper suits.
Sarah Palin is an evil dingbat who thinks God opens doors. She never tried to kill anybody for eloping which is what they did in Afghanistan a few weeks ago, 'cause in her family everybody elopes.
Why such hate for religion? Why such anger? Maher is still on his anti-God crusade.
Why such hate for Sarah Palin? The Left's obsession with her is so weird.
After the break, the topic was Obama and his religion.
Interesting that Maher doesn't mock Obama for his Christian faith. Obama clings to his Bible. Well, actually, I think he clings to his Blackberry as his source of spiritual reading.
LENO: Now President Obama's the president for a year and a half yet something like one out of every five Americans still think he's a Muslim.
MAHER: No, no, Jay. You got it wrong. Not 'still think.' That number is increasing. That's what's scary about it, a year ago, and before he was president, a less number. You'd think the more he was president the more people would get the truth. It's very sad how in the information age, you cannot get information into people's heads. As long as you write something on the Internet and do not add 'lol,' it is true.
LENO: Right.
MAHER: I'm not sure he's a Christian. I'm not sure he's a mammal, Jay. He could be a werewolf. No but, I mean, you have to understand that there is now two subsets of crazy conservatives. There's the 'birthers' - Any birthers here? - people who don't think he was born in America because they don't know Hawaii is a state. And now the people, I call them 'churchers.' These are the people who don't think he is a Christian even though he continually professes it, even though two years ago - remember when they were screaming about his Christian minister, Rev. Wright? Right, he was too much of a Christian two years ago. Now they're saying he was actually a secret Muslim. That is one undercover brother, Jay. I have to say, I mean, wow.
Could Maher be more screwed up about Obama and the Rev. Wright controversy? It wasn't about being "too much of a Christian."
Then it was on to the Tea Party and immigration.
LENO: How do you think this Tea Party will affect the midterm elections?
MAHER: Ah, the Tea Party, the nativist bed-wetters who somehow control our national dialogue. Yes, I call them the Pee Party, Jay, because they're always peeing in their pants about something. They're just, they're afraid of a mosque being built in New York. They're afraid of guns.
You know, they think Obama, who like every other pussy Democrat has never said a single word about gun control, but they are very sure that he and his Negro army are coming after their guns.
You know what? If you think that he's coming after your guns, you need to get out of your chat room and have your house tested for lead. He's not coming after your guns or your Bible or your fishing pole or your chewing tobacco. And there's not a monster under your bed. That's the Ab Lounger you ordered and never used.
So, but yeah, mosques, guns... Did you see that the governor of Arizona was talking about the fact that illegals are conducting beheadings?
LENO: Yeah, there was no... Yeah, that was nothing. Yeah.
MAHER: It's just, they're just afraid of everything. Beheadings? John McCain said illegals are purposely causing car accidents. Lou Dobbs used to say they're bringing in leprosy. I've had a gardener for 25 years in LA, I never saw one time his arm fall off.
That's right. Don't mess with Tea Party participants' fishing poles and chewing tobacco. The Tea Party patriots are just a bunch of uneducated hicks.
Next topic: The BP oil spill.
LENO: Something I love are these commercials for BP where the guy goes, 'We're out every day looking for the oil,' like they're detectives, like they can't find it. It's not right there.
MAHER: I love the way as soon as they capped the well, immediately the oil just disappeared. It was like Jesus from the tomb. It's gone. It's a miracle. It's just magic. The oil has gone. Sorry, Jay. I know it's a tough night for the Baptists. But um, I apologize, but I mean, it is ridiculous that this oil has just disappeared. It hasn't disappeared.
Well that's an ugly load.
What's troubling to me is not Maher's greasy shtick. There are lots of people seriously on the same page as Maher. They don't see it as comedy. He's expressing their views. They hate people of faith. They hate conservatives. They consider them buffoons, racists, and enemies of their America.
Where's the tolerance, oh enlightened and brilliant Bill Maher?
Less than 3 weeks after the 9/11 attacks, Feisal Abdul Rauf, the allegedly moderate imam behind the Ground Zero mosque, blamed the U.S. for the bloodshed.
In this clip from 60 Minutes, talking with Ed Bradley, the allegedly moderate Rauf is very clear on what he believes.
ED BRADLEY: Are you in any way suggesting that we in the United States deserved what happened?
FEISAL ABDUL RAUF: I wouldn't say that the United States deserved what happened; but the United States policies were an accessory to the crime that happened.
BRADLEY: You say that we're an accessory?
RAUF: Yes.
BRADLEY: How?
RAUF: Because we have been accessory to a lot of innocent lives dying in the world. In fact, in the most direct sense, Osama bin Laden is made in the U.S.A.
Rauf is echoing Reverend Jeremiah Wright and his "chickens coming home to roost" stuff.
KING SAMIR SHABAZZ: I hate white people, all of them, every last iota of a cracker I hated.
We didn't come out here to play today. There's too much serious business going on in the black community to be out here sliding through South Street with white, dirty cracker whore (bleep) on our arm. And we call ourselves black men with African garbon. What the hell is wrong with you, black man? You had a doom day with a white girl on your damn arm.
You want freedom, you going to have to kill some crackers. You going to have to kill some of their babies.
Good Lord.
Shabazz makes Jeremiah Wright's rants seem tame.
This really is a disgrace.
The Obama Justice Department has a serious problem here.
Listen to Shabazz. And the tea party participants are called racists?
The Left has to condemn Shabazz and cut ties with the New Black Panthers.
Jeremiah Wright, Obama's pastor and spiritual mentor for 20 years, is still haunting him.
NEW YORK (AP) -- The Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Barack Obama's controversial former pastor, said in a letter obtained by The Associated Press that he is "toxic" to the Obama administration and that the president "threw me under the bus."
In his strongest language to date about the administration's 2-year-old rift with the Chicago pastor, Wright told a group raising money for African relief that his pleas to release frozen funds for use in earthquake-ravaged Haiti would likely be ignored.
"No one in the Obama administration will respond to me, listen to me, talk to me or read anything that I write to them. I am 'toxic' in terms of the Obama administration," Wright wrote the president of Africa 6000 International earlier this year.
"I am 'radioactive,' Sir. When Obama threw me under the bus, he threw me under the bus literally!" he wrote. "Any advice that I offer is going to be taken as something to be avoided. Please understand that!"
The White House didn't respond to requests for comment Monday about Wright's remarks. Several phone messages left by the AP for Wright at the Trinity United Church of Christ, where he is listed as a pastor emeritus, were not returned. Wright's spokeswoman, his daughter Jeri Wright, did not immediately comment on the substance of the letter.
...Wright's original letter ranting against Obama's treatment of him surfaced in an appeal filed by federal inmate Arthur Morrison, boxing great Muhammad Ali's one-time manager, who was convicted of making phone threats.
Wright is ticked off that he's not receiving special attention, or any attention, from the White House. Obama is probably more ticked off than Wright. How many times does one have to throw one's former pastor under the bus before one is rid of him?
It's possible that Wright's irritation is just a ruse. Maybe the White House wants this story out there so the lib media will have reason to recall Obama's speech on race and drool anew.
During the 2008 presidential campaign, he painted himself as a faithful, church-going man. He touted himself as a 20-year member of the Trinity United Church of Christ. Of course, his pastor and mentor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, became a political liability for him so he cut ties with that church.
Since then, the First Family has barely attended any church services. Even on Christmas Day, they couldn't be interrupted to celebrate the holy day recognizing the blessed birth of Jesus Christ.
Today, however, Obama managed to make it to church. He took his family with him.
Why?
Politics.
He wasn't there to worship God or instill faith in his daughters. He was there to campaign for his health care bill and attempt to draw parallels between himself and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
As Democratic fears increase that health insurance reform could slip away with a crucial vote for a new U.S. senator in Massachusetts, President Obama on Sunday used a church pulpit at a Martin Luther King Day service to say the massive health bill would be a victory for "decency."
Speaking to congregants at Vermont Avenue Baptist church in Washington, D.C., before heading north to rally for Attorney General Martha Coakley, Obama said the legislation will help more than 30 million Americans, "men women and children, mothers and fathers" to get insurance.
"This will be a victory not for Democrats," Obama said. "It will be a victory for dignity and decency, and for our common humanity. It will be a victory for the United States of America."
It was the president's first visit to a church in Washington, D.C., since Oct. 11, though the White House says Obama attends the Evergreen Chapel in Camp David when he visits the presidential retreat in rural Maryland.
Democrats are working furiously to reach an agreement on the massive bill as they watch closely the prospect of Coakley losing the seat held by the late Sen. Ted Kennedy to Republican Scott Brown. Brown has pledged to be the 41st vote against health insurance reforms. The election is Tuesday.
Too bad Obama wasn't at Camp David on Christmas. Maybe he would have taken his young daughters to the Evergreen Chapel instead of skipping Christmas services altogether. Too bad.
I guess it was just too inconvenient to find a church in Hawaii. So many golf courses, so little time.
President Barack Obama on Sunday recalled the work of slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. as he urged those packing a Baptist church to take heart in hard times and celebrate progress -- however small.
On the eve of the federal holiday marking King's birth, the first African-American president said he learned -- as did the civil rights leader -- to rely on his faith even as he felt the "sting of criticism" during his first year as president.
Obama pointed specifically to his attempts to move the country out of the deepest economic downturn since the Great Depression while pressing for an overhaul of the health care system.
Speaking at the Vermont Avenue Baptist Church, founded in 1866 by former slaves, Obama called King and those who fought with him for civil rights the "Moses generation." He exhorted parishioners -- those he termed the "Joshua generation" -- to "get back to basics" as Americans faced the challenges of a "new age."
The president was headed to Boston in support of the Senate candidacy of state Attorney General Martha Coakley, who is in a tight race for the seat of the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy. Her defeat would upend the Democrat's 60-vote majority in the Senate, making it impossible to overcome a filibuster that could kill hard-fought health care legislation.
In his remarks at the Washington church, Obama reflected on the difficulties he has faced in pushing key elements of his legislative agenda through Congress and the periodic distractions that have arisen from remarks about his race.
Referring to the "post-racial" and "post-partisan" shift in the country that many observers predicted would flow from his inauguration a year ago, he said, "That didn't work out so well."
Obama was accompanied to the church by first lady Michelle Obama and their daughters, Sasha and Malia.
King himself spoke in 1956 at Vermont Avenue Baptist Church, located just over a mile north of the White House.
This is political posturing.
Obama, Michelle, and their daughters show up at church for a POLITICAL appearance, but they don't attend a church otherwise.
If church attendance is one measure of a man's faith, then President Obama may appear to have lost some of his. The first family, once regular churchgoers, have publicly attended services in Washington just three times in the past year, by ABC News' count, even bypassing the pews on Christmas Day.
Obama quit Chicago's embattled Trinity United Church of Christ months before taking office in 2008 and has not formally joined a new one in his new hometown.
But sources familiar with the president's personal life say Obama remains a faithful Christian while in the White House, practicing his beliefs regularly in private with family and the aid of his BlackBerry.
...Obama told ABC Nightline's Terry Moran that his personal BlackBerry, which he famously fought with the Secret Service to keep, has actually become a tool of keeping the faith during his first year in office.
"My Faith and Neighborhood Initiatives director, Joshua DuBois, he has a devotional that he sends to me on my BlackBerry every day," Obama said. "That's how I start my morning. You know, he's got a passage, Scripture, in some cases quotes from other faiths to reflect on."
Do Obama's daughters also receive a daily devotional on a BlackBerry?
Americans are donating millions and millions of dollars to assist the victims of the earthquake in Haiti.
Obama has promised $100 million in aid with much more to come. The U.S. Military is going to the rescue, as always.
Via federal funds -- our tax dollars, OUR money -- and via millions in private donations, Americans are responding to the devastation in Haiti. We want to provide relief to the suffering, as always.
Hey, Obama! Hey, America haters!
Do you want to apologize to the world for what a horrible country America is?
The title of Reverend Wright’s sermon that morning was “The Audacity of Hope.” He began with a passage from the Book of Samuel—the story of Hannah, who, barren and taunted by her rivals, had wept and shaken in prayer before her God. The story reminded him, he said, of a sermon a fellow pastor had preached at a conference some years before, in which the pastor described going to a museum and being confronted by a painting title Hope.
“The painting depicts a harpist,” Reverend Wright explained, “a woman who at first glance appears to be sitting atop a great mountain. Until you take a closer look and see that the woman is bruised and bloodied, dressed in tattered rags, the harp reduced to a single frayed string. Your eye is then drawn down to the scene below, down to the valley below, where everywhere are the ravages of famine, the drumbeat of war, a world groaning under strife and deprivation.
“It is this world, a world where cruise ships throw away more food in a day than most residents of Port-au-Prince see in a year, where white folks’ greed runs a world in need, apartheid in one hemisphere, apathy in another hemisphere…That’s the world! On which hope sits!”
And so it went, a meditation on a fallen world. While the boys next to me doodled on their church bulletin, Reverend Wright spoke of Sharpsville and Hiroshima, the callousness of policy makers in the White House and in the State House. As the sermon unfolded, though, the stories of strife became more prosaic, the pain more immediate. The reverend spoke of the hardship that the congregation would face tomorrow, the pain of those far from the mountaintop, worrying about paying the light bill…
"Where white folks' greed runs a world in need"--
So, greedy white folks, have you contributed to the relief efforts?
President Obama spoke for roughly thirty minutes with President Preval of Haiti this morning. President Obama said that the world has been devastated by the loss and suffering in Haiti, and pledged the full support of the American people for the government and people of Haiti as it relates to both the immediate recovery effort, and the long-term rebuilding effort. President Preval said that he has been touched by the friendship of the American people, and expressed his condolences for the loss of American citizens in Haiti. He said that the needs are great, that relief is now flowing in to the people of Haiti, and noted the support that has come from both America and many other countries from the region and around the world. The two Presidents underscored the need to closely coordinate assistance efforts among the various parties, including the Haitian government, the United Nations, the United States and the many international partners and aid organizations on the ground. President Obama underscored his commitment to supporting the government and people of Haiti through his team on the ground. President Preval closed by passing a message to the American people, “from the bottom of my heart and on behalf of the Haitian people, thank you, thank you, thank you.”
President Barack Obama is pledging a sustained commitment to the government and the people of Haiti, and thanking U.S. citizens for showing "extraordinary compassion."
Americans are responding to the devastation in Haiti the same way we always respond to human suffering around the globe.
We care. We're good and compassionate people.
"White folks' greed runs a world in need"?
That's a disgusting, sweeping statement.
I wonder if Obama plans any more apology tours. Are more apologies for America on their way from Obama?
I think it's time for Obama to be proud of his country and tell the world. ___________________
I also want to thank the American people more broadly. In these tough times, you've shown extraordinary compassion, already donating millions of dollars.
Archbishop Timothy Dolan's appeal:
ARCHBISHOP TIMOTHY DOLAN: One of the reasons that Catholic Relief Services has such a, kind of a leg up in this is because we don't parachute in, in a disaster. We're there anyway. So we're on the scene. We know the terrain. We've got the trucks. We've got the supplies already. So CRS is always your best source of hope and help in a situation like this.... You can't go wrong with Catholic Relief Services.
Catholics, including greedy white folks, will be contributing to help the people of Haiti through second collections at Mass this weekend.
"And my job is to shut other white people down when they want to interrupt."
"We have to, at the DNC, provide training. We have to teach them how to communicate, how to be sensitive, and how to shut their mouths if they're white."
"Hollywood is crawling with outsiders and foreigners, and if we kick 'em all out, you'll have nothing to watch but football and mixed martial arts, which are not the arts."
"When I would deny that there was a significant racist component in some of the politics on our side, it was because the people I hung out with were certainly not. When suddenly, this rock is turned over, there is this—'Oh shit, did I not see that?'"
----------------------------
"In any other scenario, Hillary Clinton's lying about her emails, and her pay-for-play relationship with the Clinton Foundation would be disqualifying issues. The only reason they're not disqualifying is because Donald Trump is a fundamentally more repellent, dishonest figure."
"I made a mistake in recalling the events of twelve years ago... I said I was traveling in an aircraft that was hit by RPG fire. I was instead in a following aircraft."
"I would not look to the U.S. Constitution, if I were drafting a constitution in the year 2012. I might look at the constitution of South Africa. That was a deliberate attempt to have a fundamental instrument of government that embraced basic human rights, had an independent judiciary. It really is, I think, a great piece of work that was done."
"The death of Andrew Breitbart disproves the adage that only the good die young."
--JULIAN BOND
"The National Institute of Health has said that it is a danger to women's health and safety of their families that for 30 years to be exposed to the prospects of pregnancy."
"Why did- Couldn't the President have said at that moment, way back in December of last year, 'no game playing. No hostage-taking. No terrorizing this country with the debt ceiling. I'm not going to negotiate with you guys. You can't play it that way.' Could he have done that?"
"I remember distinctly an image of--we were sitting on his couches, and I was looking at [Obama's] pant leg and his perfectly creased pant, and I'm thinking, a) he's going to be president and b) he'll be a very good president."
--DAVID BROOKS
"I feel like calling her back and smackin' her around."
"[I]f you go back to the year 2000, when we had an obvious disaster and - and saw that our voting process needed refinement, and we did that in the America Votes Act and made sure that we could iron out those kinks, now you have the Republicans, who want to literally drag us all the way back to Jim Crow laws and literally - and very transparently - block access to the polls to voters who are more likely to vote Democratic candidates than Republican candidates. And it's nothing short of that blatant."
--DEBBIE WASSERMAN SCHULTZ
"This is probably one of the worst times we've seen because the numbers of people elected to Congress. I went through this as co-chair of the arts caucus. In '94 people were elected simply to come here to kill the National Endowment for the Arts. Now they’re here to kill women."
"The protesters have proven today that they‘re not going away. It was a pretty rough night last night. You can imagine if people said, well, we just can‘t fight the power. Instead, this morning, they came by tens, by hundreds, by thousands. By midday today, it was easily more than 10,000, perhaps as many as 15,000 people on the square here in Madison. Not organized by anyone, just grassroots citizens who came out just like the Minutemen in 1776."
--JOHN NICHOLS
"They're sitting on the money, they're using it for their own -- they're putting it someplace else with no interest in helping you with your life, with that money. We've allowed them to take that. That's not theirs, that's a national resource, that's ours. We all have this -- we all benefit from this or we all suffer as a result of not having it. I think we need to go back to taxing these people at the proper rates."
"Why don't we just raise the taxes and let these folks have their collective bargaining, have their union representation and go back to their jobs? Raise the taxes on the wealthy."
"So I would urge my Republican colleagues, no matter how strongly they feel -- you know, we have three branches of government. We have a House. We have a Senate. We have a president. And all three of us are going to have to come together and give some, but it is playing with fire to risk the shutting down of the government."
"I'm Rebecca Kleefisch. I performed fellatio on all the talk show hosts in Milwaukee. And they endorsed me and that's how I became lieutenant governor."
"[Military leaders] tell us that childhood obesity isn’t just a public health issue; they tell us that it is not just an economic threat -- it is a national security threat as well."
"[Obama] has to realize that Mitch McConnell has virtually said so that politically he wants to cut out his heart and throw his liver to the dogs."
--DAN RATHER
"And the instructions are not to improvise a comedy sketch, but to elect a group of unqualified, unstable individuals who will do what they are told, in exchange for money and power, and march this nation as far backward as they can get, backward to Jim Crow, or backward to the breadlines of the '30s, or backward to hanging union organizers, or backward to the trusts and the robber barons.
"Result: the Tea Party. Vote backward, vote Tea Party. And if you are somehow indifferent to what is planned for next Tuesday, it is nothing short of an attempted use of democracy to end this democracy."
"I gotta wonder when people are gonna start wearing uniforms. I mean they've got an army out there in Alaska of militia people. You've got these guys going around acting like street thugs. I mean it isn't far from what we saw in the thirties, where all of a sudden, political parties started showing up in uniform."
"[Sharron Angle] is a moron on top of being evil...
I'd like to see her do this ad in the South Bronx. Come here, bitch. Come to New York and do it. I'm not praying for her. She's going to hell. She's going to hell, this bitch."
"So people have been hurting and I understand that. And it doesn't give them comfort or solace for me to tell them, you know, but for me, we'd be in a worldwide depression."
"And to play Dick Cheney, all I had to do was find my Dick Cheney. And you can find all the villainy in the world in your own heart, and that's what an actor's job is. I always say to kids, inside you is Hitler and Jesus. And you got to find the appropriate person and bring them out."
"Because I live in the District of Columbia which is so predominantly Democratic, I am a registered Democrat. But I am an avowed neutral. And to put that into practice, I take my young daughter into the voting booth and she votes for me. She's now 14. We've been doing this since she was about age 4. She's now quite informed."
"Sarah Palin's an idiot. Come on. This is a remarkably, stunningly, jaw-droppingly incompetent and mean woman."
"The Democrats may have moved into the center, but the Republicans have moved into a mental institution."
--AARON SORKIN
"Perhaps the greatest threat of all is the undermining of our Constitution and the systematic attack against the inalienable rights of the citizens of this nation, rights that are guaranteed by our Constitution. At the vanguard of this insidious attack is the Tea Party. This band of misguided citizens is moving perilously close to achieving villainous ends."
"Ah, the Tea Party, the nativist bed-wetters who somehow control our national dialogue. Yes, I call them the Pee Party, Jay, because they're always peeing in their pants about something. They're just, they're afraid of a mosque being built in New York. They're afraid of guns. You know, they think Obama, who like every other pussy Democrat has never said a single word about gun control, but they are very sure that he and his Negro army are coming after their guns.
You know what? If you think that he's coming after your guns, you need to get out of your chat room and have your house tested for lead. He's not coming after your guns or your Bible or your fishing pole or your chewing tobacco."
"That's a trade-off society is making because of very, very high medical costs, and a lack of willingness to say, you know, is spending a million dollars on that last three months of life for that patient, would it be better not to lay off those ten teachers and to make that trade-off in medical costs. But that;s called the 'Death Panel' and you're not supposed to have that discussion."
"[If Rush Limbaugh suffered a heart attack in my presence, I would] laugh loudly like a maniac and watch his eyes bug out. I never knew I had this much hate in me. But he deserves it."
--SARAH SPITZ
"You want freedom, you going to have to kill some crackers. You going to have to kill some of their babies."
"If this was Texas, which is the state that, that is directly on the border with Mexico, and they were calling for a measure like this, saying that they had a major issue with, you know, with undocumented people flooding their borders, I would say I would have to look twice at this.
"But this is a state that is a ways removed from the border. And, um, it just, it doesn't make sense to me that when you google this subject, if you put in 'Arizona S.B. 1070,' that you see a picture of the governor of Arizona meeting with President Obama in May of 2010. If you have direct linkage to the president, there are already National Guard troops on the border in Arizona."
"Tell [the Jews] to get the hell out of Palestine. Remember, these people are occupied and it's their land. It's not German. It's not Poland. [The Jews] can go home. Poland. Germany."
--HELEN THOMAS
"After the last eight years, it's good to have a president that knows what a library is."
--PAUL McCARTNEY
"By the way, I just want to point out I'm wearing my splash shield because I was told I was going to be in the splash zone (during Harry Smith's colonoscopy on live TV)."
--KATIE COURIC
"And that Word is, we have to give voice to what that means in terms of public policy that would be in keeping with the values of the Word."
----------------------------
"Think of an economy where people could be an artist or a photographer or a writer without worrying about keeping their day job in order to have health insurance or that people could start a business and be entrepreneurial and take risk, but not job loss because of a child with asthma or someone in the family is bipolar—you name it, any condition — is job-locking."
--NANCY PELOSI
"Back in World War II, we viewed the Japanese as 'yellow, slant-eyed dogs' that believed in different gods. They were out to kill us because our way of living was different. We, in turn, wanted to annihilate them because they were different. Does that sound familiar, by any chance, to what's going on today?"
--TOM HANKS
"The 'White Right' is trying to set Barack up to be assassinated.... Here are Christians praying for God to kill Barack Obama."
--LOUIS FARRAKHAN
"I refuse to accept the notion that the United States of America is not going to lead the world economically throughout the 20th Century."
--JOE BIDEN
"Obama's critics keep blasting him for Chicago-style politics. So, fine. Channel your inner Al Capone and go gangsta against your foes. Let 'em know that if they aren't with you, they are against you, and will pay the price."
--ROLAND MARTIN
"Martha Coakley is running to fill the rest of Ted Kennedy's term, and her opponent is a far-right tea-bagger Republican."
--CHUCK SCHUMER
"I tell you what, if I lived in Massachusetts, I'd try to vote ten times. I don't know if they'd let me or not, but I'd try to. Yeah, that's right, I'd cheat to keep these bastards out. I would. 'Cause that's exactly what they are."
--ED SCHULTZ
"We also see how revved up the tea baggers are at the thought of hijacking health care reform and every chance we have at making progress in Washington."
--JOHN KERRY
"A few years ago, this guy (Obama) would have been getting us coffee."
--BILL CLINTON
"I didn't realize I had written a column defending Roman Polanski and minimized his crime - are you sure it was me? I mean, I? There is, apparently, more to this crime than it would seem, and it may sound like a hollow defense, but in Hollywood I am not sure a 13-year-old is really a 13-year-old."
--TOM SHALES
"Joe Wilson yelled 'You lie!' at a president who didn't. But, fair or not, what I heard was an unspoken word in the air: You lie, boy!"
--MAUREEN DOWD
"One awkward moment for Sarah Palin at the Yankee game... During the 7th inning, her daughter was knocked up by Alex Rodriguez."
--DAVID LETTERMAN
"I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn’t lived that life."
--SONIA SOTOMAYOR
"We all considered sexual abuse of minors as a moral evil, but had no understanding of its criminal nature."
--REMBERT WEAKLAND, Archbishop of Milwaukee 1977- 2002
"You know, you might want to look into this, [President Obama], because I think maybe Rush Limbaugh was the 20th hijacker, but he was so strung out on Oxycontin he missed his flight."
"Rush Limbaugh -- 'I hope the country fails.' I hope his kidneys fail."
----------------------------
"[Obama] told me I did a great job. The first lady said the same thing. I got a 'well done' from the president, I'm on cloud nine."
--WANDA SYKES
"Americans are looking for more government in their life, not less."
--COLIN POWELL
"[Tea Party goers are] just a bunch of wimpy, whiny, weasels who don't love their country."
--PAUL BEGALA
"I wouldn't want [gay marriage] to go to the United States Supreme Court now because that homophobe Antonin Scalia has too many votes on this current court."
--BARNEY FRANK
"Going forward, my mind will be open to every solution -- except one. We should not -- we must not -- and I will not -- raise taxes."
--JIM DOYLE, Liar
"He's a terrorist. Rush Limbaugh is a terrorist."
--JOY BEHAR
"You know, I just want to say to her (Sarah Palin), just very quickly...F--- you."
--JON STEWART
"Should I be worried about being a slave and being returned to slavery?"
--WHOOPI GOLDBERG
"I also believe that America is the greatest sin against God."
--FR. MICHAEL PFLEGER
"Those who think they can revive the stinking corpse of the usurping and fake Israeli regime by throwing a birthday party are seriously mistaken. Today the reason for the Zionist regime's existence is questioned, and this regime is on its way to annihilation."
--MAHMOUD AHMADINEJAD
"We'll be eight degrees hotter in ten, not ten but 30 or 40 years and basically none of the crops will grow. Most of the people will have died and the rest of us will be cannibals."
--TED TURNER
"Look, [Mitt] Romney comes from a religion founded by a criminal who was anti-American, pro-slavery, and a rapist. And he comes from that lineage and says, 'I respect this religion fully.'"
--LAWRENCE O'DONNELL
"Mexico does not end at its borders... Where there is a Mexican, there is Mexico."
--FELIPE CALDERON
"The planet has a fever. If your baby has a fever, you go to the doctor. If the doctor says you need to intervene here, you don't say, 'Well, I read a science fiction novel that told me it's not a problem.' If the crib's on fire, you don't speculate that the baby is flame retardant."
--AL GORE
"Don't fear the terrorists. They're mothers and fathers."
--ROSIE O'DONNELL
"Is America ready for a black president? Well, I say we just had a retarded one. When did being black become a bigger deterrent than being retarded?"
--CHRIS ROCK
"Shut the f--- up! Shut up if you can't take a joke [about President Bush]!"
--BARBRA STREISAND
"Right, oh, yeah, Happy 9/11! Celebrate the day, right?"
--JAMES BROLIN, Mr. Barbra Streisand
"I think President Bush very well may have signed an authorization for the 9/11 attacks."
--KEVIN BARRETT, UW-MADISON Lecturer
"I said what I said. I am not guilty."
--SADDAM HUSSEIN
"Terri will not be starved to death. Her nutrition and hydration will be taken away."
--MICHAEL SCHIAVO
"On the eve of the election last month my wife Judith and I were driving home late in the afternoon and turned on the radio for the traffic and weather. What we instantly got was a freak show of political pornography: lies, distortions, and half-truths -- half-truths being perhaps the blackest of all lies. "
--BILL MOYERS
"I hate the Republicans and everything they stand for."
--HOWARD DEAN
"The Iraqis who have risen up against the occupation are not 'insurgents' or 'terrorists' or 'The Enemy.' They are the REVOLUTION, the Minutemen, and their numbers will grow -- and they will win."
--MICHAEL MOORE
"And there is no reason, Bob, that young American soldiers need to be going into the homes of Iraqis in the dead of night, terrorizing kids and children, you know, women, breaking sort of the customs of the--of--the historical customs, religious customs."
"I'm not going to have some reporters pawing through our papers. We are the president."
--HILLARY CLINTON
"It depends on what the meaning of the word 'is' is."
--BILL CLINTON
"And let me tell you something -- for the first time in my adult lifetime, I am really proud of my country. And not just because Barack has done well, but because I think people are hungry for change. And I have been desperate to see our country moving in that direction and just not feeling so alone in my frustration and disappointment."
--MICHELLE OBAMA
"If asking a billionaire to pay the same tax rate as a Jew, uh, as a janitor, makes me a warrior for the working class, I wear that with a badge of honor."
"[F]or most of my lifetime, the United States was such a dominant economic power, we were such a large market, our industry, our technology, our manufacturing was so significant that we always met the rest of the world economically on our terms. And now, because of the incredible rise of India and China and Brazil and other countries, the United States remains the largest economic and the largest market but there’s real competition out there. And that's potentially healthy. It makes -- Michelle was saying earlier I like tough questions because it keeps me on my toes. Well, this will keep America on its toes."
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"If Latinos sit out the election instead of saying, 'We're gonna PUNISH OUR ENEMIES and we're gonna reward our friends who stand with us on issues that are important to us,' if they don't see that kind of upsurge in voting in this election, then I think it's gonna be harder and that's why I think it's so important that people focus on voting on November 2."
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"We don't mind the Republicans joining us. They can come for the ride, but THEY GOTTA SIT IN BACK."
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"We can absorb a terrorist attack. We'll do everything we can to prevent it, but even a 9/11, even the biggest attack ever... we absorbed it and we are stronger."
"We talk to these folks because they potentially have the best answers so I know whose ass to kick."
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"We're not trying to push financial reform because we begrudge success that's fairly earned. I mean, I do think at a certain point you've made enough money. But, you know, part of the American way is, you know, you can just keep on making it if you’re providing a good product or you're providing good service. We don't want people to stop fulfilling the core responsibilities of the financial system to help grow the economy."
"It is a vital national security interest of the United States to reduce these conflicts because whether we like it or not, we remain a dominant military superpower, and when conflicts break out, one way or another we get pulled into them. And that ends up costing us significantly in terms of both blood and treasure."
----------------------------
"But I -- I think that the most important thing for the public to understand is, we're not handling any of these cases any different than the Bush administration handled them all through 9/11."
----------------------------
"One such translator was an American of Haitian descent, representative of the extraordinary work that our men and women in uniform do all around the world -- Navy CORPSE-MAN Christian [sic] Brossard. And lying on a gurney aboard the USNS Comfort, a woman asked Christopher: 'Where do you come from? What country? After my operation,' she said, 'I will pray for that country.' And in Creole, CORPSE-MAN Brossard responded, 'Etazini.' The United States of America."
----------------------------
"I hear that Dr. Joe Medicine Crow was around, and so I want to give a shout-out to that Congressional Medal of Honor winner. It's good to see you."
"I am going to teach [my daughters] first about values and morals, but if they make a mistake, I don't want them punished with a baby."
----------------------------
"The reforms we seek would bring greater competition, choice, savings, and INEFFICIENCIES to our health care system."
----------------------------
"Over the last 15 months, we’ve traveled to every corner of the United States. I’ve now been in 57 states? I think one left to go. Alaska and Hawaii, I was not allowed to go to even though I really wanted to visit, but my staff would not justify it."
--BARACK OBAMA
NOTEWORTHY QUOTATIONS
"In a word, freedom is ever new. It is a challenge held out to each generation, and it must constantly be won over for the cause of good.... [A] democracy without values can lose its very soul."
--POPE BENEDICT XVI
"When freedom does not have a purpose, when it does not wish to know anything about the rule of law engraved in the hearts of men and women, when it does not listen to the voice of conscience, it turns against humanity and society."
--POPE JOHN PAUL II
"We ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop."
--MOTHER TERESA
"To promote choice for its own sake is more akin to self-indulgence than self-determination. It is the philosophy of a pre-schooler in a candy shop."
--BRIAN POLLARD, M.D.
"The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people but the silence over that by the good people."
--MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.
"The house we hope to build is not for my generation but for yours. It is your future that matters. And I hope that when you are my age, you will be able to say as I have been able to say: We lived in freedom. We lived lives that were a statement, not an apology."
--RONALD REAGAN
"Liberalism is the philosophy of the stupid."
--MARK LEVIN
"We are Warriors forever."
--BO ELLIS
"I know how much you're supposed to enjoy every sandwich, you know."
