Obama has resigned his membership in Trinity.

Why now? Possible reasons: 1. This move is linked to today's ongoing drama at the Democratic Rules and Bylaws Committee (which just approved half-votes for FL and MI). 2. Worse videos are in the offing. 3. The Pfleger/Wright/Farrakhan connection threatens -- for understandable reasons -- to scare off the Jewish vote.

We keep learning more about Pfleger and Farrakhan, none of it good. The video of Pfleger and Farrakhan verbally fellating each other reminds me of that fabled on-stage love-fest between Elijah Muhammed and George Lincoln Rockwell. Check out Pfleger's accent! The guy is a parody of himself.

If McCain publicizes the earmarks Obi gave to Pfreaky Pfleger, the Savior From Illinois can now boldly proclaim: "That was the old me." Remember the "new Nixon"? Meet the new Obama.

(By the way, that mural at Saint Sabina -- the one so beloved by Pfather Pfunky -- is hideous. The black Docetic Jesus is fine: I like the face, although his hands are incompetently drawn. But those oversized mitts flanking him are stupid. I dare you: Try holding your outstretched palms in that position, elbows touching and wrists apart. I guess God the Father is a contortionist. If it were up to me, I'd have de-honkified Him as well.) Permalink

The major reason I voted for Obama in the California primary was his electability. Hillary's unfavorability ratings were too high. According to Rasmussen, Obama now has a 53% unfavorable rating, 45% favorable. Hillary's numbers are better, but still grim: 52% unfavorable, 47% favorable. McCain is 46% unfavorable, 52% favorable.

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From DU, this headline:

Recommend this Thread if You Feel Hillary Should Apologize to The Democratic Party for Her Actions

Sure. Just as soon as Al Gore apologizes for all those "lies" he told in 2000. Besides, I'm still waiting for Bill and Hillary to apologize for the murder of Vince Foster.

I want to see Barack Obama apologize for using tactics exactly similar to those used against Gore in 2000. And I want to see the "progressive" community apologize for spreading those lies.

The Obama camp is still milking the manufactured "RFK" flap, even after Obama himself claimed not to have taken offense. As you know, his camp did a mass emailing of Keith Doberman's absurd "Special Comment."

And now Michelle -- God, I cannot stand that woman! -- continues to play it for all it is worth.

Fifty years from now, historians will quote glop like this to demonstrate just how fanatical and sick the Obama cultists became.

The woman continued: "What can you tell us..." and then her voice caught and broke as a sob rose up from her chest. She paused for a moment. "I'm afraid of what might happen. What can you tell us, after last week's comments--" another sob-- "after last week's comments, to make us feel more at ease?" She cried unabashedly after finally getting out her words.

Oh, for crying out loud. (Literally.) Back in the '70s and '80s, pretty much every pol and his wife were asked about the possibility of assassination. Some of you will remember seeing the same TV interviews that I saw. Yes, the subject is grim, but back then -- in saner times -- people could address it without turning into blubbering, hysterical silly-billies. If Hillary's core supporters are female, why do the Obots all act like they're on the rag?

Michelle's response should be set to music by Verdi:

"We talked about this as a family."

The room remained still and quiet. Imagine having that talk with your children. Then, she paused, gathering herself, pulling herself up, seeming to grow even taller, Michelle, the campaigning wife returns. She says,

"I've talked about this before. Barack is probably safer now than he was before. Kids are dying in the street in our community. They get shot walking to class, sitting in school, taking the bus home. They are dying in the street.... Send us good vibes. Pray for us. Think positive thoughts. But most of all, be vigilant. Be vigilant about stopping this kind of talk. It's not funny. You don't have to like Barack to dislike that kind of talk. Be vigilant about stopping that kind of talk."

Michelle, let's talk about your city. The place where kids are dying in the street.

Right there in your husband's district are tenement buildings purchased by Tony Rezko with your husband's help.

Tony and Barack were partners. They spoke every day. Tony hired Barack out of Harvard and got him a job in a small law firm run by one of his cronies.

Tony's money gave Obama his start in politics. In return, Obama got a cut of nearly every crooked deal run by the Blagojevich/Rezko crime team. Obama sponsored the bill that put the State Hospital Board (which controlled a huge fund) under the control of Blago/Rezko.

They thought they could do whatever they wanted without fear of punishment. Tony believed that his friends in the Bush White House would shut down Patrick Fitzgerald's team of crimebusters. Tony tagged Blago to be the next president so that they could continue their crime spree on a national level. That's why Obama nixed the idea of a presidential run in 2005. Later, Blago got into legal trouble, clearing the way for Obi.

Now let's bring it back to your neighborhood, Michelle.

Tony got $100 million in state funds to provide low-cost housing. He stole money intended to help the poor. He socked away the money overseas, stopped paying mortgages, stopped paying his gas bills, and left his tenants to shiver in the Chicago cold. Those buildings were supposed to be a refuge for the poor; he turned them into a hell within hell, festering with crime and disease. Now, those properties are good only for the wrecking ball.

Meanwhile, YOU live in a mansion, Michelle.

A mansion purchased with the help of Tony Rezko. He bought it for you even though he claims to have no money, having socked away all his ill-gotten gains overseas. One of his filthy overseas partners -- a man notorious for ripping off Iraqi reconstruction funds -- provided Tony with the cash that bought your damn house.

And now, Michelle, you dare to talk about the crime in your neighborhood.

Despicable.

Bill Clinton's administration channeled hundreds of millions of dollars into black communities. As near as I can tell, the only black people ever aided by Barack and Michelle Obama are named Barack and Michelle Obama. Permalink

A couple of posts down, we discuss the hate-filled, anti-Hillary, anti-white rant offered by the bizarre Father Michael Pfleger, a priest at Saint Sabina's in Chicago. Pfleger -- a white priest leading a predominantly black church -- is Obama's other spiritual mentor.

Pfleger is known for his ludicrous and insulting attempts to mimic the oratorical style of a black Baptist preacher. He comes across a bit like Ben Stein trying to imitate Little Richard.

This guy has quite a history. Angered by a Chicago gun shop owner named John Riggio, Pfleger offered this threat in public:

We’re going to find you and snuff you out … you know you’re going to hide like a rat... We’re going to snuff out John Riggio, we’re going to snuff out legislators that are voting against our gun laws. We're coming for you...

Obama remained friendly with the priest even after this unconscionable outburst. The Senator is going to have an even more difficult time convincing gun owners that he favors their rights to bear arms.

Father Pfleger is also part of the corrupt Illinois "Combine":

He gave Obama's campaign $1,500 between 1995 and 2001, including $200 in April 2001, about three months after Obama announced $225,000 in grants to St. Sabina programs.

"Pay to play" meets "Pay to pray." (You should read this entire article -- Obama sure knows how to help those who contribute to his fund.)

Priests in Chicago are usually rotated out of a church after six years, but Pfleger has held onto his job by threatening to start his own religion if his superiors make any attempt to silence him. I say let him go. The Catholic Church has lasted 2000 years; Pfleger's proposed new cult probably won't last 2000 days. Permalink

According to Pew research (by way of these fine folks),

Forty-nine percent of white women view Obama unfavorably, while only 43 percent hold a favorable opinion. In February, 36 percent of these women viewed Obama unfavorably, while 56 percent had a positive perception of the likely Democratic nominee.

Obviously, racism is increasing. People were simply less bigoted in February than they are right now.

Yeah. Must be. It can't possibly have anything to do with the daily hate-fests we see on TV and on the major blogs.

By the way: Taylor Marsh, after making note of Obama's history of hardball politics, makes an interesting point:

Resuscitating another oldie but goodie, you can also wonder how Ryan's sealed divorce papers suddenly appeared so the press could pour over them. Then, poof! Ryan was out of the race, and Obama is running unopposed until Alan Keyes shows up, only to get beat like a politician who comes out against apple pie. Yeah, that was all just an accident.

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The one good thing to come out of the silly "Auschwitz flap" is the rather useful image conjured up by Barack Obama: The "crazy uncle in the attic."

Apparently, the Savior From Illinois has devoted much of his life to storing up a formidable supply of "crazy uncles." Indeed, we might consider Kos and DU to be one gigantic attic stuffed with crazy uncles -- people who are so insane that they cannot stop spewing hatred of Hillary, even though doing so can only hurt their candidate's chances in the general election.

Father Michael Pfleger -- a longtime associate and supporter of Barack Obama, Jeremiah Wright, and Louis Farrakhan -- has shambled down from his upstairs chamber, taken the pulpit at Trinity United, and delivered unto Obama's opponents yet another early Christmas present.

Not only is Pfleger a certifiable loon, he is one of the grandest hypocrites since Jim Jones. He claims solidarity with black people, yet he has strong political ties to the Blagojevich/Rezko machine which has profited from the sufferings of poor African Americans.

(More about that below.)

As you know, I've often spoken out against Catholic-bashing in these cyber-pages. But in this case, let's make an exception. This man is pathetic. Though Pfleger is of German-American ancestry (I picture his grandfather as a Bundist tuning in every week to Coughlin), anyone watching this video will see that he desperately wants to be considered an "honorary black."

I don't get it. Some blacks are still pissed off at Bo Derek because, in a movie filmed nearly 30 years ago, she wore her hair in cornrows. (I'm not kidding: Feel the still-lingering hate here.) So why aren't African Americans offended when Pfleger offers this insulting caricature of a black preacher? Clearly, the oratorical style he adopts here is not natural to him. That fact becomes obvious toward the end, when he briefly drops the disguise and uses his normal voice.

I'm reminded of the phrase so often used to describe Al Gore: The man is not comfortable in his own skin.

The same can be said about Barack Obama (remember his weird fascination with the cover shot for Black Like Me?) and Jeremiah Wright. Take away Wright's false sense of racialized victimhood, and the guy just wouldn't have an act.

Pfleger has defended Wright:

"Dr. Wright is one of the great biblical scholars of our country and the best of preachers in the prophetic tradition. Dr. Wright has been shamefully demonized by 30 second sound bites that have tried to re-define him into someone other than who he is."

No sale, Father. We watched Wright speak for far longer than 30 seconds at his press meet-up not so long ago. The guy dug his own grave.

By the way, Father -- is Wright really a great "Biblical scholar"?

Oh, but of course. One cannot open up a book by Bart Ehrman or John Dominic Crossan without seeing dozens of citations of Wright's works. Just last month, when I was having trouble translating an unusual bit of Koine, my old prof at UCLA told me: "Wow. This is way over my head. We've gotta get Jeremiah Wright in on this, pronto!"

The aspect of Pfleger's sermon that had me steaming like a teakettle is his presumption that all white people live luxuriously and have over-stuffed retirement accounts, purchased at the expense of black slave labor.

No sale, Father.

I'm white and living in poverty -- genuine poverty. So are a lot of other white people (and black and brown people) these days. In nearby Santa Barbara, the city has set aside two parking lots for use by homeless folk living in their cars -- and many of those Dodge-dwellers are as pale as you are, Pfleger. Meanwhile, your pals Wright, Farrakhan and Obama live in mansions.

I fired up Google and looked into Pfleger. Here's the gold mine.

The famously corrupt Governor Rod Blagovich appointed Pfleger to a hate crimes commission. Blago also appointed one Sister Claudette Marie Muhammad, a "minister of protocol" to Louis Farrakhan.

...she was under the radar until she invited other commissioners to attend a Farrakhan speech last month.

Criticism of Muhammad mounted after the speech, which included references to "Hollywood Jews" promoting homosexuality and "other filth."

I think it fair to conclude that the lady and her minister are both anti-Semitic and anti-gay. This, from a person on the hate crimes commission.

Three Jewish members of the commission -- quite understandably -- quit. They were supported in this decision by pretty much the entire Jewish community in Chicago.

Claudette Muhammed's response was classic:

"For those who try to condemn me because of the honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan's remarks ... which were perceived by some as anti-Semitic, it's ridiculous..."

"Perceived by some." Can you freaking buh-lieve the arrogance of this woman? Leonard Muhammed is Farrakhan's Chief of Staff:

"They need to come back or shut up," Leonard Muhammad said.

"And leave me alone," Claudette Muhammad chimed in.

On the radio, she added:

"Please know I am not the victimizer here, OK, but instead I am the victim," she said.

She's the victim? Arrogance! PURE FUCKING ARROGANCE!

And how did Father Pfleger weigh in?

Pfleger said "good riddance" to the people who had left the commission.

"Leave, go ahead and go on out, we don't need that kind of a spirit or mentality and a narrowness on that kind of commission. I'm glad they're gone," Pfleger said.

This attitude exemplifies the Obot mentality. Pfleger plays the perpetual victim, but he is himself filled with rancor, divisiveness, amorphous rage and self-loathing.

As the above video clip demonstrates, he projects his own sins onto the Clintons. Contrary to his claims, no evidence suggests that Bill and Hillary Clinton have ever been motivated by a sense of "white entitlement." Even though sheer repetition of that canard has made it an article of faith within the progressive community, a lie repeated is still a lie.

FACT 1: Bill Clinton brought hundreds of millions of dollars into black communities.

FACT 2: Pfleger has not criticized Blagojevich and Tony Rezko, who have repeatedly victimized blacks and profited from their sufferings.

This whole Chicago mob is vile. A small team of slick operators has learned how to capitalize on black alienation even as they pick the pockets of the very African Americans they claim to love. When will the black community wake up and understand that they're being used?

The loudmouths telling you what you want to hear are always -- always -- the people you should mistrust first.

Pfleger cites the legacy of Malcolm X, yet remains a staunch ally of Louis Farrakhan.

No sale, Father.

Did you ever get a chance to ask Betty Shabazz for her thoughts about who killed Malcolm? Are you familiar with the things that Farrakhan has said on that subject over the years? Doesn't the assassination of Malcolm X count as a hate crime?

The entire black nationalist movement is anti-liberal, anti-(d)Democratic (note the large and small "D") and anti-progressive (if we use the old definition of "progressive;" in recent years, "progressive" has become a euphemism for "Libertarian"). Before WWII, the Nation of Islam was fervently anti-union and anti-New Deal. During the war, they received covert funds from the Bund. After the war, Elijah Muhammed teamed up with neo-Nazi leader George Lincoln Rockwell. Malcolm X -- a late convert to socialism -- came to understand that the NOI was and is a fascist movement. That's the real reason why he left -- and why he was killed.

Recently, Farrakhan said of Obama: "When the Messiah comes, the youth will listen. When the Messiah comes, the youth will listen." Tell me, Father Pfleger, has the Vatican changed its longstanding policy on the identity of the Messiah?

Pfleger later apologized for the remarks captured in the video clip shown above:

"These words are inconsistent with Senator Obama’s life and message, and I am deeply sorry if they offended Senator Clinton or anyone else who saw them.”

No sale, father. I've been reading Obot commentary for months now, and I think your hate-filled, anti-rational guff was entirely consistent with Obama's message.

By the way, padre: When offering a mea culpa, you aren't allowed to use the word "if." In the spirit of exomologesis (yeah, I know most of those ten-dollar words), may I humbly suggest that you go fuck yourself in the ass with a barb-wire dildo until you feel true repentance?

(And if I have to do another hundred years in Purgatory for that parting shot, so be it.) Permalink

I've been an Arianna-watcher for a long time, probably before you ever heard of her. I knew all about Mike and MSIA before the rumors ever hit print. Now this "former" Libertarian Republican has become another pseudo-progressive dividing the Democratic party with a GOP-style smear campaign.

I wrote about her not long ago in a piece titled Being Arianna, which discussed -- among many things -- allegations that plagiarized passages appear in her books on Picasso and Maria Callas.

I always like to hear from people formerly close to this "progressive" powerhouse. My last piece prompted some interesting feedback from within the Huffington Post operation:

Arianna is obsessed with celebrities. It was all "Stop the presses!" if any minor personality wanted to contribute to the site. ("Pam Dawber wants to write about restless leg syndrome?! Sign her up!") She reminded me of acquaintances I know who will embarrass themselves horribly to rub elbows with even minor stars. But what's worse than the star-fucking was that the message almost always took a back seat to celebrity. Say someone who was relatively unknown but highly knowledgeable wrote a really good blog on an important but somewhat low-profile issue and managed to get a spot on the front page, but then a few minutes later, some C-lister like seamstress Donna Karan submitted a mediocre, inevitably self-indulgent puff piece. What do you think would happen? Yep. So long bird flu expert; Hello, DKNY Me! Me! Me!

Yep. That sounds about right.

There was always the sense that the whole thing was about attention for Arianna, never the issues. She never seemed to talk about them in a way that suggested she ever really cared about a progressive agenda -- there was never any true passion in her voice. She always spoke with the eager, smart-alecky tone of the debate team captain planning arguments for the next contest. You know, in fact, I'd bet if Hollywood's political leanings suddenly veered sharply to the right, the Huffington Post would be printing pieces in support of waterboarding and George W. Bush. Maybe Chuck Norris would be her newest pet celebrity-blogger.

She'd flip out if the comment moderators let through any comment that was even remotely critical of her or one of the celebrity bloggers. Emails would fly and then the staff would scramble to figure out who had let the offending comment through.

Here's something else that found its way into my inbox. (I won't reveal the name of the sender.) I found this data particularly interesting, given what we know of the lady's literary history:

One day Roy Sekoff called in to the office about something or other. At one point in the conversation, he mentioned that he was working on Arianna's blog for the next day. I don't remember the exact context of the comment, but I was pretty surprised to hear that he was "working on" her blog in light of the accusations that had been made against Arianna in the past.

Sure, Sekoff could have just meant that he was doing research, but when he made that comment, a lot of stuff finally seemed to make sense.

Prior to that time, I would marvel at Arianna's ability to write a new in-depth blog almost every day. It seemed almost uncanny, considering she was always at a party, taping, event, dinner with Bill Maher, or on the phone, intercom, or BlackBerry micromanaging every person in the office and household. Up until then, I'd just figured she was remarkably prolific.

Sad news, this. Arianna Huffington can be a captivating writer. Perhaps we should view her ouvre as a "workshop" effort -- rather like the paintings of Rubens?

This next bit is cute:

She never really drives that Prius. At least she didn't while I was around. She would have someone call a service, and they would send over a driver to cart her around in the Prius. So the reduction in her carbon footprint would likely be offset by the driver having to be driven to and from her place, presumably in a giant gas-sucking limo. Some big environmentalist.

If you have any inside poop on any one of my most "beloved" bloggers -- MM is of particular interest -- then please let me know. I will protect your identity, and I won't publish your words without permission. Permalink

The subject of this post is (probably) not important, so please don't pretend that I'm mounting an attack or making sinister insinuations. A blog may discuss a molehill as well as a mountain.

I've noted a couple of odd things about Barack Obama's college days in Los Angeles, as related in this piece in the the Confluence.

Obama spent his teen years in Hawaii, where he was, by all reports, not a standout as a high school student. In 1979, on full scholarship, he transfered to Occidental College, located in Eagle Rock, a suburb of Los Angeles, CA. Aside from playing basketball -- he was a top scorer -- he spent two years eating pizza, getting high, BS-ing with friends and putting off his assignments until the last moment. In short, he was typical.

Why Occidental? It is an admired and respected liberal arts college. But in the 1970s, most ambitious youths in Los Angeles considered Occidental a second choice school, after UCLA or USC. Surely institutions of comparable prestige exist on the Hawaiian islands...? I've seen no indication that he held a job during his college years. A school in Hawaii would have meant lower tuition, which would have left more scholarship money for living expenses.

In his book Dreams From My Father, he says that he went to Occidental “mainly because I’d met a girl from Brentwood while she was vacationing in Hawaii.”

Los Angeles is a massive place. The posh enclave of Brentwood -- within walking distance of UCLA -- is many miles away from Eagle Rock. If UCLA was impossible, Santa Monica Community College is close enough. UCLA was quite cheap for California residents back then -- around $275 a quarter. (It's a lot more now!) Out-of-state students paid a much higher tuition. I recall hearing that Occidental was also rather expensive. (My memory may be faulty on that point.)

After two years, Obama went to Columbia University, an Ivy League school in New York. An Oxy professor who wrote a recommendation for him later told a reporter only that Obama sometimes turned assignments in late.

I suspect that something is hidden in this resume -- not necessarily a dark and disturbing something, but something.

Obama may have received an athletic scholarship, which he may now consider an embarrassment. The scholarship may have reflected his race -- another fact he may now prefer not to discuss. He may have fudged his residency in order to receive an in-state tuition -- not an impossible thing to do if you have a relative or close friend living in your "target" area. He may have received more financial help from his grandparents than he now cares to discuss.

I'd also like to know how someone with a less-than-stellar academic record can finish up his undergrad career at Columbia. It is widely reported that Obama came under the wing of the fiercely anti-Russian Zbigniew Brzezinski at Columbia. At Occidental, he may have taken classes with a certain Professor of Politics who had been one of the CIA's chief experts on the Soviet Union. It is not unreasonable to suspect that this professor knew Brzezinski and recommended Obama. Permalink

In truth, I can't take the Obama/Auschwitz flap very seriously -- although part of me wants to record a mock-Olbermann Special Comment in tones of Keith-esque high dudgeon: "How DARE you, sir?"

In the spirit of giggles, I must discuss the latest development. The Sainted One's surrogates now say that Obama's uncle -- the one who helped to liberate Auschwitz, the one who later spent six months in an attic -- was really a Great Uncle who was with the 89th when they liberated Buchenwald. I know what you're asking: What is his name? What is his name? His name is Charlie Payne.

Problem number uno: The 89th did not liberate Buchenwald.

Problem number two-o: Charlie was in the Navy.

Did Barack Obama make up the whole thing? OMG! Get this to Keith!

How might a Kos or DU writer discuss this matter? Hm. Let me attempt a pastiche:

"I thought that the Senator had plumbed the depths of human atrocity before, but I never thought that any living human being could verbally soil himself to such a noxious degree. He literally cannot open his mouth without expectorating excrement on anyone unfortunate enough to stand nearby. Not only must he be stripped of his delegates, not only must he be kicked out of the Democratic party in disgrace, he must be driven from the North American continent and forced to wander the desert for the rest of his days with the word LIAR branded on his forehead. As he wanders, a task force of evil leprachauns will continually spit on him while jabbing him with plastic salad forks and reading unfunny jokes from Reader's Digest. This subhuman demon is a murderous MONSTER FROM HELL who obviously hopes to FALSIFY THE HISTORY OF THE WORST CRIME IN HISTORY -- and that makes him WORSE THAN HITLER HIMSELF!"

Did I capture the flavor? Now that I think about it, the average Kos writer really does sound like...

...well, like a crazy uncle in the attic. Permalink

Jen here...

In an unsuccessful attempt to escape economic worries and the Clinton/Obama madness this Memorial Day, I took two hours to watch HBO's Recount, a docudrama about the theft of the 2000 election.

The film fell surprisingly flat for me for a number of reasons, not the least of which was its failure to recognize the role that mainstream media played in sealing the deal for the Bush crew. (Someone on DU theorized that HBO decided to avoid criticizing the networks in order to get permission to use as much actual footage of their 2000 coverage as is included in the movie.)

I was also disappointed in Recount's marginalization of Al Gore, who is shown only briefly from behind and in profile, and is ultimately present as a mere voice over a telephone, in moments which suggest he is primarily holding back his staff's efforts. (I keep waiting for the outraged Gore supporters to excoriate Recount's creators for this portrayal, but I have yet to encounter any rants.)

Still, I did find myself remarkably moved by at least one thing Recount does well, perhaps because of its dull, urgentless tone: the skill with which it evokes the overall mood of the year 2000. I was an hour in before I realized it—everything seems so damn normal. The Republican forces are conniving, but it would be hard to call them evil. The Democrats appear frustrated, but not agonized (or terrified). There is no talk of the approaching social chaos, depression, war. It is a snapshot of a country joyously oblivious to its own impending obliteration.

So it's probably worth your time, if you think you can endure the flashbacks. Permalink

This is the limit. The absolute limit.

Josh Marshall, in a recent post, castigates John McCain for taking economic advice on the sub-prime mortgage crisis from former senator Phil Gramm. Why? Because Gramm was a lobbyist for the Swiss bank UBS. (Gramm no longer lobbies, but continues to serve as a bank vice president.)

The UBS connection is of concern because that firm is a huge part of the sub-prime mortgage crisis:

Forbes says that UBS is among the banks worst hit by the global credit crisis, particularly in their direct exposure to the US subprime market. According to Forbes, UBS has some $37 billion in write-downs on assets tied to bad US mortgages. In other words, the bank's very life appears to be on the line in how the US government chooses to handle the matter.

(Emphasis added.) Needless to say, I agree with Marshall -- up to this point. What I don't agree with is his hypocrisy, his special pleading on behalf of the Savior From Illinois.

I've used this quote before, but let's trot it out again, since it compresses a whole huge chunk of stinkiness into one small stink-ball:

Seven of the Obama campaign’s top 14 donors consisted of officers and employees of the same Wall Street firms charged time and again with looting the public and newly implicated in originating and/or bundling fraudulently made mortgages. These latest frauds have left thousands of children in some of our largest minority communities coming home from school to see eviction notices and foreclosure signs nailed to their front doors. Those scars will last a lifetime.

These seven Wall Street firms are (in order of money given): Goldman Sachs, UBS AG, Lehman Brothers, JP Morgan Chase, Citigroup, Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse. There is also a large hedge fund, Citadel Investment Group, which is a major source of fee income to Wall Street.

UBS is or was Obi's second largest contributor, after Goldman Sachs. We must quickly note that Hillary has also taken lots of money from Goldman Sachs, and from others on this list -- though I've yet to see any evidence of a substantial contribution to her from UBS, the company which (for good reason) has aroused Marshall's particular ire.

Since strained rationalization is my favorite form of humor, I would love to see Marshall defend Obama while attacking McCain on the UBS connection. Could the former King of Bloggers possibly be more hypocritical?

By the way: As I've noted many times, Obama's chief economic adviser is a Milton Friedmanite and free-trade fundamentalist named Austan Goolsbee. In terms of basic economic weltanschauung, the difference between Gramm and Goolsbee is...what, exactly? Permalink

On Memorial Day, Obama announced that his uncle helped to liberate Auschwitz -- and that the experience was so traumatic that the uncle had to spend six months in an attic.

In fact, Auschwitz was liberated by the Red Army. I don't believe the "attic" story either. In 2002, Obama said the following:

My grandfather signed up for a war the day after Pearl Harbor was bombed, fought in Patton’s army. He saw the dead and dying across the fields of Europe; he heard the stories of fellow troops who first entered Auschwitz and Treblinka.

Here he refers to the grandfather, not the uncle, and we have no talk of entering the camps personally. Anyone who spends six months in an attic based on hearsay from other soldiers must be very sensitive. By the way: Treblinka was also liberated by the Soviets. Patton's army liberated Buchenwald and Mauthausen.

Do I consider this gaffe important? Not really, although I'm ticked off by the double-standard. Despite Obi's chronic foot-in-mouth syndrome, the CDS-sufferers still pretend that the Bosnia affair was the single worst lie in the history of mankind. What I find extremely cute is the parallel to Ronald Reagan -- who also claimed to have participated in the liberation of the concentration camps.

It is no coincidence that our first MTV-era president, Ronald Reagan, was fond of telling audiences stories of how he had helped liberate concentration camps at the end of World War II, when his only experience with a Dachau or Treblinka was sitting in a darkened room watching movies of those events. "You believed in it because you wanted to believe it," Reagan once told a reporter who thought he had seen Reagan on the set of a movie which didn't feature him at all. "There's nothing wrong with that. I do it all the time."

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I have to write in a hurry, which means that I won't be able to arrange my thoughts properly. If you want a quick-n-easy bottom line, I can't help you -- not right now.

If what you are about to read seems a bit disjointed or odd, consider this post a mere teaser -- a hint of things to come.

I've been looking into Evelyn Pringle's stories about the Illinois "Combine," a criminal/political cartel which includes Barack Obama, along with many other noteworthy figures in Chicago. The links on the left hand side of the page go to her introductory pieces. Her most recent investigations are compiled in a series called "Curtain Time For Barack Obama," which you can find in various places. Rezko Watch is serializing it.

Warning: You'll probably be frustrated with her work. Her purpose is not so much to "get Obama" but to deliver a Cinemascope picture of corruption in Illinois. Obama is part of that widescreen image, though only a part; the close-ups don't make sense without the establishing shots.

If you really must have a bottom line, try this:

Tony Rezko's partner in corruption was Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich. Patrick Fitzgerald calls their criminal conspiracy "Operation Board Games" because the Rezko/Blagojevich Combine got control of two important boards -- one in control of health services, the other in control of a teacher's pension fund. With the boards in hand, the two mobsters were free to loot and pillage.

The name of their game was "pay-to-play": If you wanted a state or city contract, you needed to pay off certain politicians. One of those pols was Barack Obama, who routinely got between one-tenth to one-third the amounts given to Blagojevich. (Blago was Rezko's first choice to become POTUS. That plan was scuttled when the Combine got into legal trouble.) Obama, listed as "a political candidate" in Fitz's indictment, received $10,000 from the teacher's fund.

How did the Combine get control of the health services board? Through a law created and guided by State Senator Barack Obama.

There was no need for this law. It's sole purpose was to reduce the number of supervisors and to place the board completely in the hands of Blago's creatures. Afterward, Barack Obama got a piece of the action with nearly every crooked transaction.

We'll have more to say about all that later.

Right now, I want to note that I've been looking into various subsidiary aspects of the Illinois Combine scandal -- and I've found that certain names have cropped up in previous stories.

Ask yourself: Just how did Obama become so fantastically well-funded so quickly, once he announced for President?

Seven of the Obama campaign’s top 14 donors consisted of officers and employees of the same Wall Street firms charged time and again with looting the public and newly implicated in originating and/or bundling fraudulently made mortgages. These latest frauds have left thousands of children in some of our largest minority communities coming home from school to see eviction notices and foreclosure signs nailed to their front doors. Those scars will last a lifetime.

These seven Wall Street firms are (in order of money given): Goldman Sachs, UBS AG, Lehman Brothers, JP Morgan Chase, Citigroup, Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse. There is also a large hedge fund, Citadel Investment Group, which is a major source of fee income to Wall Street.

We've all heard of the most of those names. For some of you, Citadel will be unfamiliar. The name had previously cropped up in the course of our research in the Gus Boulis scandal.

Boulis, you will recall, was the casino boat owner who was forced to sell to Jack Abramoff. Boulis sold but was not paid. He protested -- and got himself killed, ambushed in traffic. As you will recall, 9/11 hijacker Mohammed Atta was on one of those casino ships shortly before the Big Wedding. In the past, I've theorized that the ships could have been used for drug transactions.

Jack Abramoff coveted Gus Boulis’ casino business in the worst possible way. So he "supposedly” duped an otherwise savvy Chicago hedge fund named Citadel Investment into lending him $32 million to purchase Boulis’ fleet of a dozen unlicensed offshore gambling vessels.

Then, in relatively short order, having been paid no more than a mere pittance of the agreed-upon sale price, Gus Boulis was dead.

Citidel seems to have been awfully understanding, considering the sum of money involved. The fund is run by the secretive billionaire (and noted art collector) Kenneth Griffen, who is all of 40 years old.

Again: I've given you just a teaser. There will be much more to come. Stay tuned. Permalink

As you watch this, remember: Obama helped Rezko get those contracts. Obama was tagged by Rezko out of Harvard Law. Obama went straight to work for a small law firm run by a Rezko crony who helped set up the tenement scheme. Every time a crooked businessman gave a contribution to Governor Blagojevich as part of a pay-to-play deal, Obama got a contribution as well. Rezko basically helped to run the Blagojevich administration.

Also remember that Bill Clinton brought hundreds of millions of dollars in new investment into Harlem.

UPDATED: Finally, Evelyn Pringle has started to translate her investigative reporting into more easily digestible form.

As a state senator, "Obama wrote letters to city and state officials supporting his political patron Tony Rezko's successful bid to get more than $14 million from taxpayers to build apartments for senior citizens," the June 13, 2007 Sun-Times reported

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Barack Obama can't turn off his own hate machine.

He belatedly issued a statement saying that he understood what Hillary meant to say. So did RFK Jr. So did Skinner of DU, albeit in a rather smarmy fashion. All responsible political writers understand that Hillary was not issuing any kind of "death threat."

But -- and I cannot stress this enough -- many Obama followers are mentally ill.

I mean that literally, and I will never take it back. (Note that I said "followers," not "supporters": We are dealing with a cult.) From a purely tactical point of view, they should be mending fences with Hillary's voters. But they refuse to do so. They would prefer to see half the Democratic Party leave -- even if that mass exodus means the end of Obama's chances in November.

After reading the latest outrages, I say: Give the Obots what they want. Leave the party. Do not donate to it. Do not vote for any Democrat.

When disaster hits in November, we will make sure that the fingers of blame point to Moulitsas, Huffington, Marshall, Plouffe, Axelrod, Brazile, Dean -- and Obama.

From Huffington Post, the main headline:

Hillary's Latest: It's Obama's Fault

She said nothing of the kind.

It is his fault, of course -- he stoked the fury with his initial statements, and he could have turned off the progblog hate machine ages ago, just by making a few phone calls. (The time for doing so has passed; even he could not now shut down the engines of vituperation.) For that reason, I hold Obama personally responsible for every word said on Kos and DU.

From DU:

Hillary's op-ed is delusional crap and a lie and she should be ashamed

She Fucking Sucks

She cannot let down Bush

Her interview supported Bush? How?

She is unelectable.

Tell that to the folks in the purple states, who prefer her to Obama.

She has opened up the floodgates where some people fell empowered to utter the unthinkable in regards to race (Ferraro) and assassination (Trotta). Interesting how it's older white women blowing the dog whistles, isn't it?

Hillary is now responsible for Trotta?

Ferraro, I now believe, said not one word wrong: If not for liberal white guilt, there is no way an inexperienced, un-vetted pol like Obama -- with his Daley/Rezko/Bagojevich mob ties -- would ever become the front-runner.

She's petty and vicious, a typical DLCer.

Ah. It's our old friend, the Great DLC Conspiracy Theory! We've talked about this inane meme before. Do you think that this paranoid delusion will persist as long as the one about the Protocols of Zion has persisted?

If the party doesn't stop this vile candidate, it will deserve its own demise.

Hey, that's my line!

If the Democratic party starts catering to the racist vote, and kowtows to someone who who courts the crazies by posing in a pickup in full hunting gear, it doesn't deserve my vote, or that of any other non-racist progressive. Should we start voting for race-haters and those who hint at assassination for those who oppose them?

She just HAD TO RUB FUCKING SALT AND VINEGAR INTO THE WOUNDS SHE OPENED UP ON FRIDAY!!! What an evil, callous, cold, dark souled person she is.

Excuse me??? The candidate is in charge of the campaign and every campaign takes on the characteristics of the candidate.

Which is why we see such a glaring difference between Team Obama and Camp Clinton.

Senator Obama said it best when he hired his team: "No assholes here."

You mean like -- to name just one example -- Bill Daley? Check out Evelyn Pringle's stories about how he fits into the Illinois "Combine" conspiracy.

She's also totally devoid of shame or humility, hence the martyr/victim meme.

God, she is so detestable... They want you OUT!! GO!! damnit

Don't kid yourself, bub. We're going with her. And we are much more numerous than you may care to believe.

I feel like we've all been swimming in shit since she entered the race. I cannot wait for this horrible excuse for a human being to be drop-kicked into oblivion.

hilary hasn't been vetted .we don't know who the hell she is other than a WarHog.

Hillary is, of course, the most vetted human being on the face of the planet.

This next one is hilarious:

Please explain why RFK Jr's opinion is pertinent

The woman needs medical help.

Look who's talking.

And now, let us turn to the Daily Cheeto:

This Is Their Tactic, to toss the blame over to our side. To make us out to be nuts, etc.

Right. It's Hillary's fault that people think Obots are wacko.

I think it was on Face the Nation this morning. Wolfson said that someone from the Obama campaign had emailed KO's special comment to the media - and that in that way the campaign was "fanning the flames" or words to that effect.

In bot logic, this means that we should blame Hillary, not Olbermann or the Obama campaign.

Instead, starting about a week ago, I find that everything Hillary says makes me giggle insanely.

INSANELY!!!!!!

This, I find believable.

It's embarrassing how low she's stooping..and it's also really obvious. But they're so blind in their mad pursuit of power, they can't see it!

Explain to me: How does this manufactured controversy help her alleged "mad pursuit of power"?

Is anyone point out that her time line argument Is invalid.

Can you make sense out of that last statement?

I tried not too, but I fucking hate her now. What a piece of trash she has become.

This Kos poster argues that it is time to patch things up. His headline is hilarious: "It is Time To Move Past Genteel InnerParty Squabbles." (Actually, I think this title was meant to be funny.) Look at the response:

the ease and thoroughness of healing will be directly proportional to how quickly Sen. Clinton drops out of the race and gets off the national stage... Hillary Clinton is right on the thin edge of costing Obama the election, and every hour she continues to hang around, unwanted, makes a November disaster just that much more likely.

These madmen are so caught up in their hallucinatory world that they cannot see the obvious: They are the ones who have made Obama look bad. They are the ones who have alienated half the party. Can we fairly judge a candidate by his Bots? I think we can, just as we can judge a Moon by his Moonies.

It is too soon to give HRC a pass for all her outrageous behavior for the past 4.5 months. She will have to rehabilitate herself and that will not be easy.

She has, of course, done nothing worthy of apology. Obama is the one who should get down on his knees for running the filthiest campaign in the history of the Democratic party.

Any compendium of Obama-mania will inevitably include a few words which strike the Messianic note:

Recently it seems as if there are a number of Clinton supporters who are threatening to leave the Democratic Party if Hillary does not get the nod as the nominee. The like to call Hillary`s opponent cute names like bambie, bamma, BHO, etc. They claim that this is no longer the Democratic Party that they have known and voted for for the past however many years.

They are right.

It is not.

I believe in the liberal social views of the Democrats thanks in ALL part to Barack Obama opening my eyes to it.

I needed a home and Barack Obama was the lighthouse that guided me here. I stand with the millions who have been touched by not only his words but also his actions.

We have a six month old son who is the most precious thing on this Earth to us. I hope he has the opportunity to grow up in Barack Obama`s America. I am not a traditional democrat and it seems that a few of them might have reservations about my family... I am a NEW DEMOCRAT.

Hope your son enjoys a privatized Social Security system, pal -- because that's what Jeff Liebman of the Cato Institute has in store for him. And I hope that America can survive an economy run by a Milton Friedmanite like Austan Goolsbee.

While reading this hyper-romanticized cult glop, you may have heard the opening chords of Jesus Christ Superstar playing in the great jukebox of your memory. Responses:

Not since 1960 when Kennedy was running have I been as excited about a candidate as Obama. I was inspired by Kennedy but am many times more inspired by Obama.

Hey, he brought you into your party for the people, by the people

Another Kossack wrote a piece slamming that evil bastard, Paul Krugman. In response, a commenter castigates Krugman for his "ugly partisanship." This, from a Kossack.

Figures lie and liars figure. I believe that is usually applied to the realm of statistics. I find it equally applicable to economists.

He was unhinged long before this campaign started and has only become more so--and more openly so--since then.

whatever the reason for his sheer bile and venom, it has zero basis in reality...

A Kossack lecturing Krugman on "bile and venom"?

I could go on, but that should do -- for now.

I think we cannot relegate the above-quoted sentiments to the "crazy corner." They represent the rank and file of Obama supporters.

We are experiencing one of those sad historical moments when a large segment of society simply goes off the deep end. A cult filled with sick, sick people has taken over half of major political party. This development mirrors what happened to the Republicans in the 1990s.

All women and men of conscience should fight for the restoration of reason -- and if doing so means turning away, temporarily, from the Democratic Party, then so be it.

These infants will continue to misbehave unless we give them a spanking. I cannot think of any other way to administer punishment. Permalink

Japanese physicist Yoshiaki Arata demonstrated cold fusion to an audience in Japan. He claims that his method is "highly reproducible," although I don't know if anyone outside of his lab has reproduced it.

Well, we've seen this movie before. Maybe this time it will end differently.

Wikipedia says that Arata is "a strong nationalist," which some may take as a sign of crankishness. If he really does have lightning in a bottle -- I'm not an optimist, but let's just say -- would he take steps to make sure that only Japan benefits from it? Permalink

Perhaps you are nostalgic for the gentler days of this campaign. If so, check out this video interview with Elizabeth Kucinich. It was made last November, but I stumbled across it only now -- and I nearly fell off my chair laughing. Two crimson-necked red-state caricatures showed up at a Democratic debate in order to make fun of the proceedings, only to end up falling head-over-heels in love. Permalink

I know that Josh Marshall did not turn against the war until fairly late. What did Moulitsas, Huffington, Aravosis, Mark "Buzzflash" Karlin and Skinner (DU) think -- in 2003? Permalink

After hearing me rave about Ellen Page's performance in Juno, a friend told me to check out her earlier work in Hard Candy. I wouldn't have believed that anyone could make a good movie about castration. But they managed to pull it off. Permalink

An increasing number of people are coming to understand that Barack Obama may win the nomination, but will probably lose in the general. His obstinate refusal to allow revotes in FL and MI has created resentment in those states; he'll never win 'em. Ohio doesn't like him. PA and VA are iffy. Forget MO. He's not terribly popular among the Hispanics of the southwest, although choosing Richardson could help him there. He is stronger than Hillary in very few places, primarily in Colorado and Oregon.

Worse: Obama's numbers are going to head down, down, down as soon as the McCain surrogates start to publicize the corruption in Illinois.

Evelyn Pringle's latest work gives a hint of what is to come. Not only is Obama unlikely to be president, he may face charges.

Right now, the Nobama movement is gathering steam. The O-blogs keep hurling insults, even when doing so is against their interest. Insanely, they want all suporters of Hillary Clinton -- half or (slightly) more than half -- to leave the Democratic party.

What if we do bolt? What if we collectively decide that fanatical "progressives" (read: Libertarians) have taken over what was once our party, and that we cannot keep such odious company? What if we decide that we can no longer tolerate their verbal violence any more than we can tolerate Austan Goolsbee's free trade fundamentalism or Zbig's drive for a new Cold War?

What if Hillary ran as an indepedent? We have data.

The survey also considered a match-up with Senator Hillary Clinton running as an Independent candidate. In that match-up, it’s McCain 32%, Obama 31%, Clinton 22%, Barr 3%, and Nader 3%. In that match-up, Obama wins 50% of the vote from Democrats while Clinton gets 35% and McCain 7%.

Flashback: 1992. At roughly this point in the race, Bill Clinton was running third, behind Ross Perot and Poppy Bush.

A ten-point spread between McCain and Clinton in a three-way race means that a Clinton run is feasible. She would be a contender, not a spoiler. When the Messiah stands revealed as just another wiseguy from Chicago, his awakening cultists will be grateful to have somewhere to go (other than the Hell they've earned).

Of course, if Hillary goes indy, the Kossacks will make endless comparisons to Lieberman. I don't care for Lieberman -- in fact, I disliked the guy before disliking him was cool. But let's face it: He won.

So let the O-Bots scream their insults: That's what they do. If the progs shout us offstage instead of trying to woo us back, they will only harm themselves -- like the scorpion who cannot resist stinging the frog. Permalink

RFK Jr. has said that he did not take Hillary's comments amiss. So now the Obamabots are going after him -- just as they went after Paul Krugman, Joseph Wilson and Valerie Plame!

Nobody would ever make death threats while speaking privately to a group of newspaper editors. Yet O-Bots believe that Hillary did just that.

Obama-mania -- like McCarthyism, Fascism, Bolshevism and the Inquisition -- is a form of cultural psychosis. I have come to believe that many Obama supporters are mentally ill. I mean that, and will not retract it. Every time I visit the O-blogs, I hear in my imagination Bernard Herrmann's famous passage for strings: SHRIEK shriek shriek shriek SHRACK shrack shrack shrack...

Note: I've just been informed that Keith Olbermann, who recently called for Hillary's murder or incapacitation, has spent five minutes claiming that Hillary tried to incite violence. Keith, see a shrink. Permalink

Trying to make a point about how long primary battles have gone on in the past, Hillary Clinton said the following: "My husband did not wrap up the nomination in 1992 until he won the California primary somewhere in the middle of June, right? We all remember Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in June in California. I don't understand it."

I might have said the same thing. Frankly, If RFK had not been killed in June, I would have forgotten that primary races have indeed been known to last that long. But the O-Bots interpreted this remark differently: They say -- get this! -- that Hillary was calling for Obama to be assassinated.

No, I'm not kidding. Moulitsas even published calls for Hillary to be killed.

(Update: I contacted a Secret Service field office and read off the death threat against Hillary published on Daily Kos. The person I spoke to seemed to take the matter seriously, and he has promised an investigation.)

We'll get to that presently. First, savor the psychosis over on DU:

She is not safe to be let loose

This Bitch has really done it now!!

Imagine the uproar that would (properly) result if an Obama opponent ever said: "This coon has really done it now!"

THIS IS WHY SHE CAN'T BE THE VP CHOICE! She's horrid.

She is demented.

maybe she's so incensed about the nomination being "stolen" away that she and Bill are thinking of the unthinkable.

Howard Dean was worried about the Clintons' ties to the Dixie mob going back into the nineties.

Oh yeah. Let's see the Dean quote backing that assertion. What ties to the "Dixie mob"?

Get out the straight-jacket for her - this is outrageous!

While many have thought about this (because of the fear in it, and worry about Obama...)..... for her to mention it, as an opposing candidate..is beyond belief...

My God, Hillary, that's just sick.

She is OFFICIALLY a fucked up human piece of trash.

Oh! My! GOD! This woman is wacko!!!!If you ask me, I think she's trying to "plant" ideas. If anything happens...she's Guilty as hell. I'm saving this link and I will make sure she is charged and brought to justice!

I would prop up a stinking corpse before I turn to her.

Now the only vote I would give Hillary is for her expulsion from the party.

I don't care what her point is, you don't talk about the possible assassination of a presidential candidate as reason to stay in the goddamn race.

Do you Hillary supporters have NO shame? This latest scummy utterance from Hillary Clinton is completely indefensible. Completely.

this latest effort on her part clearly destroyed any shred of decency she had.

She is pulling out every trick she can think of. She has stooped as low as Limbaugh now.

So now she's staying in the race just in case somebody kills the nominee?

How much is the bitch offering for the job?

Guess we know where to look if anyone takes aim at Obama. And there for all those years I dismissed those rumors of Clintons killing to get what they wanted or to stay in power. Guess I was wrong!

this is UNCONSCIONABLE, DESPICABLE, UNFORGIVABLE.

HRC's intention is clear: Some RW gunman, lone or not, *could* make an attempt on Mr. Obama's life

Hillary is appealing to the very people who could carry out such a deed, both domestic and foreign.

SHE IS THE WORST PERSON OF THE CENTURY!!! I hope the Secret Service pays her a little visit.

But when Michelle threatened physical violence against Bill Clinton, that was okay...?

Good Plan, Hillary. You could probably wrangle your way to deliver Obama's eulogy. You'd get at least an hour of free air time. There would be pictures of you hugging Michelle Obama. And best of all, there would plenty of contributions coming your way to pay off your campaign debts as well as your hit man.

And now, let us strike the Messianic note:

Obama is too good. If the some of the forces in our government are as evil and dark as some of us suspect, then he will be a target.

Over on DU, the main post is -- of course -- a variant on the theme of "Get this to Keith!"

Please do not give this violent pathological woman the benefit of the doubt. Remember "obliterate Iran" and her war vote. She is violent.

She calibrates everthing she says for political gain

This, from some idiot who believes that she wants to kill Obi. Conclusion: She must think that there is political gain to be had in announcing murder plans to the world in advance. Typical Kossack logic, right?

Put it together with the rest of her garbage. She is hoping that will happen now. itis her last hope.

What kind of society condones political opponents talking casualty about their rivals being assasinated?

and a "who will rid me of this turbulent priest" possibility is one strong reason why this shows a terrible lack of judgment.

I never wondered that she did not have this in the back of her mind...She is that low and that blindingly ambitious...We have been talking about what she meant by 'something might happen'! for a long time!!!! True colors will out!

She wants to be president, if she believes he needs to die for her to be nominated, then I believe she wants him to die. She is a monster and should never be trusted with any decisions regarding the future of this country.

Of course she's saying she wants him dead.

Turns out Sullivan was right--they are sociopaths.

Her words are unconscionable. She no longer deserves the title Democrat. I'm done with her.

The media has given this awful woman an easy time for too long. She is just awful, and it has reached the point of outrageousness. When will they admit that there is something seriously wrong with this woman?

Well, she is, after all "Our Nixon". The American id come to life.

Hillary -- the Id? She was considered Ms. Overly-Calculated not many months ago.

I'VE HAD IT WITH HER DOG WHISTLE RACISM... SHE IS BEHAVING IN A MANNER THAT SUGGESTS THAT SHE IS NOT STABLE.

How amusing: A Kossack calling someone else unstable! Let us continue with this bizarre "dog whistle" theme:

Just like she dog whistled to all her racist friends in WV and KY she's calling for his assassination!!!

SOMEBODY PLEASE STOP HER FROM DOING THIS!!!

I swear to god I will leave this country and damn it to hell if anything happens to him!!!!

It seems like she is possibly using the "dog whistle" technique that could encourage some crazy person out there to act on her comments.

I think it's another seed she's planting

Desperate people...do desperate things.

Hillary, though, is always calculating about everything she says. This is no different.

The "calculation" note is struck again. Odd, isn't it? These people refer to the statement as a major gaffe -- and yet they also think it is calculated.

She couldn't pick another candidate out of all the presidential races who was still in it in June? She had to pick one who was assassinated?

Actually, yes. 1968 was the last time (if I recall correctly) a "come from behind" candidate could have raced out in front in the final stretch. RFK did not have front-runner status going into June, but he probably would have had it by month's end. RFK would have won the nomination late in the game, if not for the assassination. I don't know how you can mention this history without making any reference to his death.

In other words, in terms of Democratic primary history, she was comparing her chances to RFK's chances at a similar point in his campaign. The full video makes this clear. Rosy thinking, perhaps -- but she was hardly saying "Kill Obama!"

I've had it...FUCK YOU HILLARY

She's become a madwoman.

"Bitch" is too kind a word to describe this megalomaniac.

You have to read the following comment in context to understand that this is a Kossack calling for Hillary to be killed. Moulitsas does not delete the comment or alert the Secret Service.

And a Drive-By Won't Be Out of the Question. What goes around, comes around. The stupid fucking bitch !!

The same commenter, jcarter, later writes:

Talk About WHITE TRASH that bitch better keep looking over her shoulder.

The Vince Foster Issue Should Be Investigated Again. Clintons just showed that their ambitions know no limit.

Does she have a hit on him?

She knew the ramifications before she made the statement. She is playing percentage politics.

Again: This is from someone who thinks she called for assassination. Apparently, there is a "percentage" in making such a statement in public. Kossack logic.

I know she is capable of some real slimy subliminal messages.

So Hillarys "Nuclear Option" Is An Assasination

She is giving permission to nutcases to lock-n-load and to aim-n-fire, to 'help' her.

Looks to me like all the nutcases are on Obi's side.

This strategy worked quite well in ancient Rome. I think the preferred method of knocking off rivals to the throne was by poison. Maybe Obama needs a taster.

Kay has a list of dead peoples somehow related to Clintons.

HRC: Why Cant We Kill Him Bill Why Cant We...

She IS a Republican

Breaking* Hillary vows to continue race until all the bullets are counted.

You know that racists and nutty supporters are out there listening to you. You know the effect this is having on them. Your behavior, Sen. Clinton is subhuman. In fact even animals will be ashamed of you if I were to compare you to them.

A Kossack accusing someone else of being subhuman. Now that is funny.

On another subject, we have this from DU:

They're both, at heart, southern racists who know how to play WEDGE politics.

I know it hurts ... yes, it hurts BAD to realize that "the Clintons" are shameless race baiters and do not deserve our respect.

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There's a whole blog devoted to this question. And here. And here.

Did I call the shot or what? It's not official yet, but word has it that an L.A. Times poll will put McCain ahead of Obi (but not Hillary) in California. I told you: We ain't as blue as you think.

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Hours have passed and my hate brigade has not written me any love letters. Where are you now that I need you?

I'm going to put together a compendium of the most psychotic, over-the-top, hate-filled rants by Obama supporters. I may even offer an award of some sort for the most insane example of Clinton-hate. So please...

1. If you are an O-Bot, don't stop now! I know I've been deleting all your offerings. But now you will have an audience. So pass it on, and puh-leeeze...make it as sick as possible! I know you can do it. I've seen you do it.

2. If you are not an O-Bot, please send along the choicest examples you can find from elsewhere on the net.

For examples of the kind of thing I'm talking about, check out the comments from Sam Seder's lunatic listeners.

No one can drive me to the brink of madness like the Clinton family. No one.

And then, once again, the only family who can do this to me, had managed to push me yet again into unholy madness. It is mind-numbing. This isn’t an election anymore. This is a secret bet between Bill and Hillary ala Trading Places in which they bet how much bullshit they can make the electorate swallow.

It's official, everybody hates her

there is no way Mark Green would let Sam say anything bad about killary!

Yep, the 1990s really were the Nightmare Years, weren't they?

I'm not sure yet what to call the award, but it will go to the World's Sickest O-Bot. If anything particularly rank (or funny) comes to your attention, send it to my email address or append it as a comment. I'll be putting the entrants on their very own page. Permalink

I've been hoping to avoid it, but we might as well deal with the exit poll of Kentucky voters. The poll said that some 20% of respondents admitted that race played a factor in their vote. The vast majority of that 20% went for Hillary.

Damning evidence of racism in the Democratic party? Not if you look at the wording.

I would have answered "Yes" to a question of that sort if asked why I voted for Obama in the California primary. The Democratic party has never picked a black person as either the presidential or vice presidential nominee. I felt (and feel) that it is high time for the party to do so. Hell, it was high time before I was born. Of course, this was not my sole criterion for choosing Obama -- my main concern was electability. But, yeah, race did enter into my thoughts.

What if I lived in Kentucky? Again, I would have answered "yes" to the question. Race -- or at least racial issues -- would have affected my decision to vote against Obama. I feel that his campaign has unfairly accused the Clintons, and Clinton supporters, of bigotry. That doesn't mean I would have voted against Obama because he is black; I would have voted against him based on the way he used race in the campaign.

Lots and lots of Democrats turned against Obama for this reason. The media and the Big Blogs try to minimize our numbers. They try to pretend that Obama's only remaining Democratic foes are Hillary-crazed feminist silly-billies who will fly into a rage if the person behind the president's desk owns something other than a vagina. But millions of people share my sense of outrage at Obamabot "racist-baiting."

Right now, Obi may be the only black person I definitely don't want to see in that office. Jeremiah Wright? Alan Keyes? Lemme think about it. But not Obama. For all sorts of reasons, he has pissed me off.

I'm seriously thinking of switching to Cynthia McKinney in the general. If I go that route, race will have very little to do with my choice. I like her on the economy, on the war, and on the impeachment of W -- although her friendly attitude toward the 9/11 kooks bugs the hell out of me. I must admit, though, that it'll be cute to watch my enemies try to call me a bigot for being a man of Cyn.

What about those voters who, not racist themselves, don't feel that a black person can win in the general? They may have voted for Hillary not to block a black man but to block John McCain.

The Confluence had some interesting figures:

In Georgia 18% of voters said that gender was an issue, and those voters backed Obama by 12 points. Does that mean that Georgians are a bunch of sexists who would never vote for a woman? I don’t remember the media making a big deal about that at the time.

Nahh. Sexism doesn't matter. On Florida:

Additionally, when asked if the US is ready to elect a woman President, 17% said no, and the majority of them voted for Obama. Using their very same logic it is starting to look like Obama supporters are a bunch of sexist cavemen.

In Connecticut, which Obama won, 15% of voters said that race was a factor in their voting decision. Of those voters, the overwhelming majority voted for Obama. Since only 9% of the voters in CT were black, then some of those voters who considered race must have been both white, and voted for Obama. Using the media’s stupid reasoning, how can we explain this?

Next time, the exit pollsters need to ask a follow-up question. If race affected the vote -- in what way and to what degree? Permalink

Harold Ford: A brief, important point appeared on The Confluence:

Question For The Day: If Appalachia’s inbred racist hicks...

...explain BO08’s 30-65 loss in Kentucky’s closed Democratic PRIMARY Election — how did Harold Ford possibly rack up 48% of the statewide popular vote for Senator in Tennessee’s 2006 GENERAL Election?

Of course, mention of Harold Ford's name will automatically trigger the progs to scream about the ghastly DLC. But that reaction misses the point.

I would add: Why did Obama's campaign manager say that all the white racists were now hard-core Republicans?

Colin Powell: In earlier posts, I've asked: If racism is the sole factor motivating opposition to Obi, then why was the presidency once Powell's for the taking? The Real Spiel took note of this point, and added

In fact, the press went all a-twitter when a Time/CNN poll in 1995 showed that Powell could potentially beat Bill Clinton by 10 points if he decided to run as a Republican. The article opened with this telling statement, "To be born poor and black and into an inner city neighborhood does not mean you can't achieve your highest ambitions."

"One must be careful about what one writes." That's my favorite line from The Four Musketeers -- and it should be pasted above every blogger's monitor. Consider Kos, for example. His words from January -- not so very long ago -- seem to come from another, saner universe:

Clinton was the only top-tier candidate to refuse the ultimate Iowa and New Hampshire pander by removing her name from the Michigan ballot. That makes her essentially the de facto winner since Edwards and Obama, caving to the cry babies in Iowa and New Hampshire, took their name off Michigan's ballot. Sure, the DNC has stripped Michigan of its delegates, but that won't last through the convention. The last thing Democrats can afford is to alienate swing states like Michigan and Florida by refusing to seat their delegates.

So while Obama and Edwards kneecap their chances of winning, Clinton is single-mindedly focused on the goal.

Who is tested against the Right Wing smear machine?

Clinton, by far. No one has taken more shit from the VRWC, not by a long shot... Obama has never had a competitive race against a Republican. His best experiences comes from winning primaries. But he's never been in the crossfires of the GOP. Maybe that's why he can pretend that he can move beyond partisanship. Because he's never had to run a partisan race.

He goes on to dis Bill Clinton as an anti-progressive triangulator -- at least that part is consistent -- but he then goes on to say that Hillary is an improvement. Moreover:

Obama has made a cottage industry out of attacking the dirty fucking hippies on the left, from labor unions, to Paul Krugman, to Gore and Kerry, to social security, and so on. People think I was being ticky tack with the Gore thing, and in isolation it would've been but a minor non-event. But it was the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back for me, yet another in a pattern of attacks against Democrats and their constituencies. He is the return of Bill Clinton-style triangulating personified.

(Emphases added) What the hell happened to Kos? It would be cynical to suggest that money exchanged hands. So I won't suggest that.

By the way, if Bill Clinton's (successful) presidency was the epitome of triangular evil, then I say "Screw Moulitsas and Stassinopoulos. If we must take political advice from a Greek, take it from Euclid."

Gene Lyons: Although I've been disappointed by Joe Conason, his one-time co-author Gene Lyons now offers a terrific piece in which he interviews anti-Obama Democrats. The following excerpts feature words from these interviewees, not Lyons:

I‘ve voted for every Democrat from President to dog-catcher since 1952. That will end with Obama...

Just four years out of the state senate. If he were white or female, his candidacy would be a joke... The Democratic left’s need to swoon after eight years of a moron, coupled with unbridled Clinton-hatred, will produce a disaster for the party and country.

He is making his way to Denver by dividing our party over race, which is maybe the most idiotic campaign tactic ever... This time the witch hunt is coming from our side. It’s heartbreaking. Obama supporters want you to think Bill and Hillary Clinton are lifelong members of the KKK. The audacity of hope campaign has had to audacity to go there... This fall, they’ll try to make nice and talk unity, but the people they alienated in the most hateful way won’t be there. They deserve to lose for being so callous and childish.

Are you listening, Moulitsas?

He has no perceptible position on the economy other than: ‘We can do better. Yes we can. Say it with me.’ I foresee broken campaign promises followed by belt-tightening austerity measures in a one-term Presidency. In short, Jimmy Carter in a better-tailored sweater.

I partially disagree. If you look at his aides and associates (ignore his vacuous words), Obama does have an economic position: Libertarianism/Friedmanism. That phrase may lack euphony, but you know what it means. And you should also know that at the intersection of Ayn Avenue and Milton Boulevard, you'll find a massive monument to corruption, patronage, and bribery. Permalink

The "No O" movement is for real.

Alas, this report tries to marginalize the movement as a feminist snit-fit. In fact, the reaction against Obama has many reasons.

This video never mentions the false racism accusations which turned so many against the Savior from Illinois. Neither do we hear about the insane vindictiveness displayed by Daily Kos and other blogs, which have demonized our best post-war president and presented the 1990s as The Nightmare Years. (Of course, Internet arguments don't provide good TV visuals.) This segment makes no reference to the corruption charges against Obi, and it does not mention the revolting Messianic fanaticism of Obama's supporters.

Take special note of Obama spokesperson toward the end. Idiotically, she says that being female gives Hillary "an advantage." Isn't that the exact term which got Geraldine Ferraro in trouble? The parallel is undeniable. And yet no Air America personality will denigrate this spokesperson as a "fucking whore." Permalink

Let's follow up on our earlier story on Markos Moulitsas and his strange relationship with the CIA.

In the earlier piece, we noted that his story has certain difficulties, chronological and otherwise. Moulitsas, in a recorded interview, says that he decided to become a clandestine officer in 2001. He went all the way through a six-month interview process.

Just before signing the final papers, though, he decided that he didn't want to go through with it -- ostensibly because he would have been required to serve in a dull "desk job" position in DC for six years before being sent out into the field for all those James Bond-ian thrills and chills. So he decided to join Howard Dean's presidential campaign instead.

Problem 1: The Dean campaign did not begin until 2003. This leaves roughly a year unaccounted for. (Training...?)

Problem 2: Would Moulitsas really have had to spend six years behind a desk in the DC area? Doubtful. Remember all those post-9/11 stories about a CIA manpower shortage?

I asked Larry Johnson about this matter. His reply:

The claim about a six month period to get hired sounds right. In my case, I started the process in March of 1985 and entered on duty on September 1985. However, there is no way that the CIA was going to keep Markos in DC for 6 years, especially in 2001. Remember Johnny Michael Spann, who died in Afghanistan? He was pulled out of training and sent direct to the field because they needed people. Sounds to me like Markos did not get a credible job offer.

I suspect that, if the CIA had doubts about Moulitsas' abilities, the plug would have been pulled before six months had passed. Besides, why wouldn't Moulitsas have been considered a good "catch"?

Moulitsas' claim that he was anxious to get into the field strikes me as odd for another reason. On other occasions, he has said that he was relieved when he learned that he did not have to serve in Iraq during Operation Desert Storm. That doesn't sound like the kind of thing you'd hear from a guy who was rarin' to go where Spann went. Which is it, Markos -- are you Mr. Adventure, or Mr. Play-It-Safe?

In my earlier piece, I wrote:

The CIA is prohibited from operating domestically. Anyone offered a stateside psyop assignment would naturally go through the training course, and then, at the last moment, refrain from signing official employment papers. This is exactly what Moulitsas did.

If you read enough books about American spies, you get the impression that the real problems are caused by the fellows who remain technically non-employed by the Agency.

Permalink

According to the progressive blogs, Obama's win in Oregon counts, and Hillary's far more impressive victory in Kentucky does not, because Kentuckian Democrats are all racists. Implicit in this argument is the belief that racism matters and sexism does not.

Here's a transcribed portion of an audio interview between Hillary and a Washington Post reporter:

Q. Do you think this has been a particularly racist campaign?

A. I do not. I think this has been a positive, civil campaign. I think that both gender and race have been obviously a part of it because of who we are and every poll I've seen show more people would be reluctant to vote for a woman to vote for an African American, which rarely gets reported on either. The manifestation of some of the sexism that has gone on in this campaign is somehow more respectable or at least more accepted. And I think there should be equal rejection of the sexism and the racism when and if it ever raises its ugly head. But it does seem as though the press at least is not as bothered by the incredible vitriol that has been engendered by comments and reactions of people who are nothing but misogynists.

Q. Isn't that how it's always been though.

A. Oppression of women and discrimination against women is universal. You can go to places in the world where there are no racial distinctions except everyone is joined together in their oppression of women. The treatment of women is the single biggest problem we have politically and socially in the world. If you look at the extremism and the fundamentalism, it is all about controlling women, at it's base. The idea that we would have a presidential campaign in which so much of what has occurred that has been very sexist would be just shrugged off I think is a very unfortunate commentary about the lack of seriousness that should be applied to any kind of discrimination or prejudice.

I think this is the point Geraldine "fucking whore" Ferraro tried to make in her should-not-have-been-infamous comments. Being a black male in this race is an advantage -- compared to being a woman of any heritage.

On a few occasions, I've pointed out that Colin Powell could have won the presidency in 2000 just by pointing at the White House and saying "I'll take it." Not one reader has disagreed with that assessment, even though people love to disagree with everything else I say. Can you name a single woman in the history of this country who could have strolled into the oval office that easily? Permalink

McCain will probably win Kentucky even if Hillary Clinton gets the nomination, but she could force him to fight hard for that state, and there's some chance that she could prevail. Obama cannot win there. He cannot even compete.

Only 33 percent of Kentucky's Clinton supporters say that they will vote for Obama if he is the nominee.

Of course, progressives insist that this reticence stems from the fact that Hillary supporters are all big fat racists. The progs are so lacking in self-awareness that they cannot comprehend that accusations of that sort are precisely what made Clinton supporters repulsed by Obama.

In 2000, "racist" Kentucky would have gone for Colin Powell in a landslide, had he run.

Besides (I may have to repeat this fact another dozen or so times, because it sill hasn't sunk in) Obama's campaign manager David Plouffe insisted that racism would not be a factor in the general, because (sayeth he) nearly all white racists migrated to the Republican party long ago. (Don't believe me? Here.)

The commentary appended to the afore-linked CNN article shows that most Obots didn't get the "make nice" memo -- or, more likely, that most of them are so addicted to Clinton-hate that they simply cannot help themselves:

HILLARY HAS WIDENED THE RIFT AS FAR AS SHE HAS.

SHE & BILL IN THE LAST TWO DAYS HAVE EXPRESSED THEIR PREFERENCE FOR THE REPUBLICAN PARTY.

As usual, Obots "recall" seeing things that never happened. When did Bill and Hillary ever indicate that they would not support the Democratic nominee?

Kentucky and West Virginia, we know your extreme views, you ll never change...

Just goes to show how this country hasnt changed at all! Still just as Racist as ever.

Because people in that part of the country are racist.

They would rather suffer four more years of economic hardship under the McCain regime than vote for a black man.

Yep. New definition of racism: Anyone who doesn't like Obama. Someone should tell Plouffe.

I don't want the economy placed in the hands of Obama's crew -- Goolsbee, Liebman and Cutler. Does that fact make me anti-white? I don't want foreign policy placed in the hands of Brzenzinski or one of his creatures. Does that fact make me anti-Polish?

This is all part of Clinton's scorched earth strategy. Shame on her and her self-serving campaign.

What "scorched earth" strategy? How do these wacky memes get started in Obot-land? Do these nutcases actually expect the rest of the nation to share their hallucinations?

(By the way, can anyone name a political campaign that wasn't "self-serving" -- ever, in history? Okay, maybe that contest where the dead guy beat John Ashcroft...)

All she has done is divide our party by staying so long and playing the race card.

This can be attributed to the Clinton's Rovian tactics

Racist morons. Isn't being married to your sister or first cousin illegal.

My fave:

You have to be a divisive person to support hillary. There is no other way to define her supporters.

Well, you get the gist. It goes on and on like that.

Again, I must ask -- how can these cultists be so lacking in the ability to question themselves that they cannot see that they are reason why life-long Dems such as myself won't vote for Obama in November?

I remain stunned by Obama's obnoxious zealots. They honestly can't see that they caused the problem, they cannot understand how repellent they are when they treat a political candidate as if he were a religious figure, they refuse to look at Obama's connections to Chicago's corruption, they have a downright psychotic attitude toward the only successful President of the past 45 years, and they continue to spew the very Kossack talking points that have turned Barack Obama into Mr. 33.

Barack Obama ran a smear campaign in a primary. His close supporters falsely accused innocent people of racism. With a few phone calls, Obama and Howard Dean could have created a much more civilized debate, online and off -- but they didn't.

These miscalculations were epic. These miscalculations -- not "racism" -- are the reason why Obama is Mr 33 in a state the Dems could have flipped. Permalink

According to a confidential source within the campaign, Barack Obama tonight plans to declare himself not just the nominee but the President of the United States. "He simply wants to save time," explained the source. Permalink

As you know, as part of "Operation Make Nice," Michelle Obama said that she would welcome Hillary on the ticket: "I think the world of Hillary Clinton..."

God, I wish the Obamas would just stop lying!

Not long ago -- as the above video clip demonstrates -- she was saying something quite different. This cog in the Daley machine was saying that Hillary Clinton was unworthy of support.

In honor of Barack Obama's recent declaration that his wife is off limits -- oddly enough, he didn't seem to mind his wife's threat against Bill Clinton -- I've composed the following ditty. Apologies to Paul McCartney:

Michelle, from Hell
You and Daley go together well
Scumbag Michelle

Michelle, from Hell
Vous et Daley êtes très répugnants
très répugnants

I hate you, I hate you, I hate you
And all your whole unclean
Chicago machine
By the way, you have the shoulders of
a big Quarterback

Michelle, from Hell
dans votre manoir acheté par Rezko
Tony Rezko

Your father your father your father
He worked for Daley too
So tell me what you do
To earn three hundred sixteen k
From UCH

Corruption!

I’m onto, I’m onto, I’m onto
All of your evil schemes.
I’ll undermine your dreams
'Cause Tony’s going to the joint
And you’ll join him soon...

Michelle, from Hell
vous m'incitez honteux pour être
américain

And God has damned America
By making us live with Michelle. Permalink

Oh, this is rich. The right wing's attempt to rewrite the history of the Nixon era has reached its absurdist conclusion: A new book by James Rosen, a newsman for Fox News, claims that John Dean ordered the Watergate break-in.

Laughable. Absolutely laughable.

Everyone knows that Hillary Clinton did it. Permalink

Joseph Farah tells his fellow conservatives not to vote for McCain, who is seen as too moderate. Better, says Farah, to let the Democrats take over and "conduct their diabolical social experiment on America without restraint."

Meanwhile, I argue that Obama is no true liberal, and that his advisors are Friedmanites who cannot possibly cope with the coming economic disaster. Better, say I, to let that disaster occur on a Republican's watch.

Wouldn't it be fun if both Republicans and Democrats sat out this election? Permalink

I'm a little hesitant to post this video. It's too long, and I've got way too much caffeine in my system right now for this sort of thing. After the half-way mark, it turns into pro-Hillary campaign commerical. You can skip that stuff.

But the first half cleverly explains some little-known facts about the disastrous Michigan and Florida primary situations. My god -- who would have thought that the movement for paper trail elections could be used against Democrats?

Obama's refusal to permit a revote in those two states was, in a sense, comprehensible. Infuriating, yet understandable. But why in hell did Howard Dean embrace that decision? It's as though these two men entered into a suicide pact and decided to take the party with them.

I cannot believe that this is the Dean I once admired. He must go.

Good news: According to one very recent poll, Clinton is closing in on Barack Obama in Oregon. TalkLeft's headline: "Is A Funny Thing Happening On the Way To Obama's Coronation?"

Obama 45
Clinton 41
Undecided 8
Refused 6

I would bet money, if I had money, that the actuals will show a decisive Obama win. Still, at the moment, we can dream. Permalink

A Kos writer -- no, I will not link to the diary -- has picked up on Larry Johnson's story about the alleged video showing Michelle Obama railing against "whitey." Most of the comments are hilariously hypocritical: The Kossacks call Johnson a smear-monger, a hater, unhinged -- and, of course, a racist.

Of course, I've been called a racist too, even though I voted for Obama and may well vote for McKinney. The term "racist" has been redefined to mean "anyone who doesn't like the Obamas."

And the Obots wonder why the Hillary-voters are going to stay home en masse in November! Why should they support those who denigrate them?

Back to the video. As you know, I've theorized that the video is both real and fake. That is to say: If (if, if, if) it exists, the woman on screen may not be Michelle Obama, even if she looks very much like her. If you scroll down to my post, I discuss at length a previous deception of this sort; I also discuss motive. (I can think of an earlier precedent, involving a proposed fake audio tape. Oddly enough, "Gordo" played a role in this story as well.)

In light of this theory, one Kos commenter made a rather perceptive comment. "Whitey" is not a term of opprobrium which sees much use among black people these days. I recall hearing it in the '60s and '70s, but not in more recent times. "Cracker" is fairly common. "Whitey" sounds like something that a bad white fiction writer might put into the mouth of an angry black character.

Side note:

The gods of slang really should give us a proper anti-white derogatory term. None of the contenders I've heard so far has any power to annoy, let alone to infuriate. "Whitey," "honkey," "cracker," "redneck" -- cah-MON, who really cares? "Albino" is kind of clever. "Pink boy" might have worked, if the SubGeniuses had not taken it. "Milky" is rare, but serviceable. Might I suggest "cum stain," "bukkake boy," or "Clorox"?

When you seek to do verbal harm, consult the Eye-talians. We're even better at that stuff than we are at oil painting. My professional fees are available upon request. Permalink

Jen here...

You've probably heard by now that Michael Moore is putting out another movie next year. Supposedly, it will deal with American imperialsm but is not a "sequel" to Fahrenheit 9/11.

Okay. Permalink

I am now semi-persuaded that the "Obama-killer" video -- a reputed tape of Michelle Obama screeching against "whitey" -- is real. But I'm also starting to wonder whether the same tape could be a fake.

If that claim sounds contradictory, read Larry Johnson's latest.

He says that a fabulously wealthy conservative financier has been shown the tape but does not possess it. Said conservative hates McCain and therefore wants to get make the tape public before the Democratic convention. He does not want McCain to face a sure loser. Our ultra-affluent conservative is thus offering a cool million to anyone who can produce the tape.

How did this gazillionaire see the thing? Karl Rove showed it to him.

Rove has been shopping it around to well-heeled Republicans: You can see this video, but you cannot own it. We don't want copies floating around. We want to hold it back until just the right moment.

And why would Rove hold these little film society gatherings? Money. He's asking rich conservatives to fund the Republican cause -- a cause which they might otherwise see as hopeless.

Rove and company reportedly are showing the tape to big money Republicans to loosen up their wallets and get new money to fund independent expenditure groups. That’s why news of this is starting to leak out. The money is being raised for 527 groups that will target the Democrats in the fall.

So far, blogland reaction has gone two ways: People either think that Johnson pulled the whole story out of his ass, or they think that the story is genuine.

A third possibility occurs to me. My mind reaches back to -- of all people -- Vicki Morgan.

"Vicki who?" some of you may be asking -- and if you are, I feel old.

Vicki Morgan, who died in 1983 at the age of 31, was the beauty at the center of one of the great sex and murder scandals.

Vicki was the mistress of Alfred Bloomingdale, friend to and funder of Ronald and Nancy Reagan. By many accounts, including her own, she sexually serviced (with her patron's approval) a number of high-ranking Reagan officials.

(Around 1990, I talked with a very gay writer of Hollywood biographies who claimed to have known Vicki well. "Her specialty was seducing homosexuals," he said -- with a wistful smile that told much and hid little.)

Now is not the time to go into the mystery of her murder, which occurred shortly after the death of Bloomingdale. Let's focus on the post-mortem controversy.

After the murder, Vicki's lawyer said that she had stockpiled video tapes of herself performing various sexual acts with Reagan's top men. Publisher Larry Flynt -- acting in his usual Flyntian fashion -- offered a million bucks for the tapes. The lawyer then reported that the tapes were stolen. Many assumed that the lawyer had concocted the whole story, although his motive for doing so was never made clear.

At that point, a certain man approached Larry Flynt. I'll call him Gordo. Some of you will know the full name. I won't reveal it here, since I've already had one mildly unpleasant run-in with this gentleman. Gordo has connections (as they say) to the American intelligence community, although the CIA will quickly tell you that they never officially hired him.

Gordo claimed to possess the stolen Vicki Morgan sex tapes. He offered them for sale to Larry Flynt.

More than that: Gordo's tapes showed Vicki boffing not just Reagan's aides, but Reagan himself.

To be specific: The tape showed Reagan receiving a "message from the rear" which Vicki delivered, using a certain plastic appendage. (An unlikely fetish, given what I know of Nancy Davis' specialty. But I digress.)

Flynt made somewhat oblique reference to these events in The Rebel, a non-porno magazine he once published. I have no idea how much, if anything, Gordo received for the tapes. But I do know that Gordo wormed his way into Flynt's entourage, becoming the man's "minister of everything," as one glossy magazine profile put it. As I recall, the old Los Angeles Herald Examiner carried a front-page story connecting Gordo to the hiring of Bill Mintzer for Flynt's security staff. (Mintzer was a hit man later convicted in the "Cotton Club" killings.)

As you may recall, Flynt seemed to go wacky during this period, wearing diapers to court and such.

Flynt showed the Vicki-and-Reagan tape to a number of people. I've read at least one first-hand account of the tape and have received several second-hand accounts. Frank Zappa, of all people, attended a private showing, which he later described during a radio interview. He had a difficult time trying to think of a polite way to give the details.

Bottom line: The tape was a fake.

That's why you can't find the thing on YouTube today.

Gordo later admitted to its fraudulent nature. He said that the tape used spot-on lookalikes for Ronald and Vicki, and that it was produced by the intelligence service of an East-bloc country. (Not the KGB.)

I don't know when or how Flynt became aware that he had been gulled.

I do know that faked video tapes of famous people have fooled some onlookers who were by no means stupid.

I also know that, in a famous paper called "The Revolution in Military Affairs," Army War College strategists Steven Metz and James Kievit discussed the wartime propaganda uses of digitally-produced videos depicting political leaders doing and saying embarrassing things.

If a fake "Obama-killer" video exists, would it fool an expert? Probably not. But the public need never see it.

According to Johnson, Rove is using the tape to fetch dollars from conservative billionaires. That's the target audience. To fulfill its purpose, the tape need only be good enough to fool them. Afterwards, it can disappear forever. Permalink