LEAVWORLD: GRAFFITI POLITTI

Crossposted from STOP THE ACLU, written by Jay. ( See link for video.) When Mitt Romney stated that he saw his father march with Martin Luther King Jr ., there was wall to wall media coverage reporting how he had to start backpeddaling. Even after witnesses came forward claiming they had seen his father march with him, the media story of Mitt fabricating the story still persists. Will Obama get the same media treatment with his lies? Don't hold your breath. In a speech to a Selma, Alabama crowd meant to pump up his civil-rights movement authenticity and his Kennedy Camelot image, Barack Obama claimed that the Kennedy administration paid for his Kenyan father to travel to America on a student scholarship and therefore was responsible for his "very existence". However, the first march on Selma took place on March 7, 1965. Obama would have been about three and half years old at that time. For some reason the media never did the math on this. The Washtington Post Fact Ch...

I knew the truth would out, eventually. Last July, I posted "Spitzer Exposed: Anatomy of a 'Breaking Scandal.'" That scandal focused on whether Spitzer directed the NY State police to "keep tabs" on Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno, his chief political rival, to see if he was misusing state helicopters for political trips. See my various Spitzer posts, for the details and updates. Obviously, it was not the scandal that ultimately took him down, but I will revisit it once again, starting with a quote from my post: "It all depends on what he knew, and when he knew it. I predict that we're gonna find out both of those things, and it ain't gonna be good for Gov. Spitzer, pardon my slang." As the NY Times ( link ) and the NY Post ( link ) reported yesterday, Spitzer knew it all, some time before the "leaking" of the Bruno travel records to the Albany Times-Union. The only question still unanswered by yesterday's stories is if Spit...

My man, VP Dick Cheney! "On the security front, I think there's a general consensus that we've made major progress, that the surge has worked. That's been a major success," Cheney told ABC News' Martha Raddatz during an exclusive interview in Oman. When asked how that assessment comports with recent polls that show about two-thirds of Americans say the fight in Iraq is not worth it , Cheney replied, "So?" ( link to story ) Ya gotta love this guy. The Congress, and the American public supported the deposing of Saddam Hussein, before we did it. War is not something a nation can do "halfway," once comitted to. The lessons of Vietnam have been learned, and those mistakes will not be repeated today. Both Hillary and Obama have said as much, in one of their early debates. Neither would promise to have "all" troops out by the end of their first term. Most people understand that, even as the situation gets better in Iraq, our continued p...

This provacative post was caused by a guest (a supporter of Obama, and Pastor Wright) on the O'Reilly Factor, who stated "Blacks have never enslaved anyone." This is a false statement, on it's face. Africans practiced slavery, on other Africans, before Europeans started sending ships down the African coast. Further, African Americans owned African slaves, and even fought for the Confederacy in the Civil War. These are facts, not opinions. Here's an interesting hypothetical scenario. What if a (fictional) White pastor said the following: "Blacks ENSLAVED Black men before the White man ever CAME to Africa! We LEARNED it from them! The Black man BROUGHT this EVIL into western civilization!" Were I a politician, I wouldn't want to be associated with those comments. I could say that I "understand where he was coming from," even though I disagreed with the conclusion he arrived at. I doubt any explanation could satisfy the public, and rightly so....

I find something missing from the public/political perception of Sen. Obama. He is as much White as Black, genetically. Why is he considered a "Black" candidate, with no acknowledgement to half of his ancestry? In fact, there has been some media attention to this, some time ago. There were questions of "is Obama Black enough" at the beginning of the campaign, before his meteoric rise. Interestingly enough, the TIME magazine piece by that title ends with this: Back in the real world, Obama is married to a black woman. He goes to a black church. He's worked with poor people on the South Side of Chicago, and still lives there. That someone given the escape valve of biraciality would choose to be black, would see some beauty in his darker self and still care more about health care and public education than reparations and Confederate flags is just too much for many small-minded racists, both black and white, to comprehend. Barack Obama's real problem isn't...

I know it may sound redundant by now, but apparently some people still need to hear, yet again, why Gov. Spitzer must resign. On Monday, he was identified as "client #9" in a federal criminal prosecution of an international prostitution ring. The news has rocked NY State, and shocked the national "body politic." This is still a "breaking" story on Wednesday, because Spitzer still hasn't resigned, after giving a half-minute statement on Monday afternoon. While apologizing to his family, and the public, he also called it "a private matter," and promised to "report back" soon. Since then, he has retained high-profile legal counsel, and been "incommunicado." The classic "circle the wagons" move, with "sources" leaking both that he will resign, or may try to stay. This blog has commented repeatedly on Spitzer, and his many previous scandals. The current delay is caused by his lawyers' negotiating an ...

When Hugo Chavez recently called Columbia "the new Israel," my lovely Anna wondered what made it the new "promised land," interpreting it biblically. I had to explain to her that Chavez was speaking in geopolitical terms, referring to how Israel is treated by the "tyrant's club" we politely call the United Nations, as well as many other "multi-national" groups. Read Rich Lowry's latest column, The Israel of Latin America , for an in-depth analysis of the situation Here's an excerpt: Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez reached for what he considered the ultimate insult when he called Colombia "the new Israel." If by that he means a country better governed than its immediate neighbors, that dares to protect itself against terrorists across its border despite getting bludgeoned for it by the international left - he had a point... ...Colombia is the Israel of Latin America - a moniker to be proud of. My quick take is that there may...

Just a rant, for consideration: Gore Vs. Bush was a traumatic event for the Democrats, mainly because they lost. It was also traumatic for the country as a whole, and very damaging. Let's review a little history. Nixon decided to not challenge Kennedy's "disputed" win in 1960, for the "good of the country." In 1968, there were riots at the Democratic convention over a "back room" deal to nominate Hubert Humphrey. In 2000, Gore decided to challenge Bush's "disputed" win, and brought the legal system fully into presidential politics.What will happen at the Democratic convention in 2008? Will the lawyers devour the the party nomination process, and will protests occur at the courthouse, as well as at the convention? According to many pundits, Hillary has to show the class that Al Gore lacked in 2000, if she wants to save her party. Will she "blow up" the party, rather than losing gracefully? How much damage can she do, if she f...

When the doctors are taking buses to Albany to protest, you know something is up with health care in New York. It's hard for some to have sympathy for "rich" people, including doctors. Looking at the numbers involved, though, it's hard not to come to the conclusion that the government is both promoting lawsuits against doctors (see part I: link ), and then screwing them with astronomical insurance rates begat by those same lawsuits. Here are a couple of excerpts ( link ): Hundreds of the protesting physicians from the five boroughs and Long Island hopped on an organized fleet of buses before dawn to make the upstate trek to lobby lawmakers poised to release a task-force report on the issues... ..."It was an historic day - there were 2,010 doctors . . . extremely galvanized for change," said Rick Abrams, executive director of the Medical Society of the State of New York, which spearheaded the rally. Decrying what he called the "terribly, terribly unequa...

Gov. Spitzer takes a back seat to NY Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, when it comes to brazenly corrupt politics! Since 2002, NYS Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver has been "of counsel" to the biggest ambulance-chasers in NYS: a firm called Weitz & Luxenberg. This firm is at the forefront of contributing to the NYS Democrats, who are blocking much-needed "tort reform." As if to "spit in the face" of reformers, Silver appointed his boss to a state position, as reported in the NY Post ( link ): Silver and Senate Minority Leader Malcolm Smith (D) last month tapped Arthur Luxenberg as their appointment to the 13-member committee that recommends to the governor candidates for the Appellate Division, Court of Claims and State Supreme Court in the city's district. it continues... One lawyer with knowledge of the appointment noted that Luxenberg, whose firm's Web site boasts of "more million-dollar verdicts than most firms in the country," wil...