It is all about colorYou will hear smug surprise that white men are actually voting for Obama or Obama is not doing well in a state where there are large groups of Hispanics, but nothing about the implications that blacks, en-masse, are voting against whites for a black candidate.
There is no other explanation for the almost complete support for Barack Obama from Afro-Americans, after all, Obama is no product of slavery. He is a product of privilege. He has the only requirement needed by Afro-American voters and that in skin tone.
Despite near perfect support for black causes by the Clintons over many years and impeccable liberal credentials, black American voters have thrown Clinton not to the back of the bus, but under the bus. It is a disgrace and no amount of liberal white washing will erase the stain of the obvious.
It should come as no surprise that years of tolerance of such overtly racial black exceptionalism in such things as a “black caucus" has fostered the license for Afro-Americans to practice what would be called racist if done by any other group.
__________________________
February 12, 2008
For Clinton, Bid Hinges on Texas and Ohio
By PATRICK HEALY
Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton and her advisers increasingly believe that, after a series of losses, she has been boxed into a must-win position in the Ohio and Texas primaries on March 4, and she has begun reassuring anxious donors and superdelegates that the nomination is not slipping away from her, aides said on Monday.
Mrs. Clinton held a buck-up-the-troops conference call on Monday with donors, superdelegates and other supporters; several said afterward that she had sounded tired and a little down, but determined about Ohio and Texas.
They also said that they had not been especially soothed, and that they believed she might be on a losing streak that could jeopardize her competitiveness in those states.
“She has to win both Ohio and Texas comfortably, or she’s out,” said one superdelegate who has endorsed Mrs. Clinton, and who spoke on condition of anonymity to share a candid assessment. “The campaign is starting to come to terms with that.” Campaign advisers, also speaking privately in order to speak plainly, confirmed this view.
Several Clinton superdelegates, whose votes could help decide the nomination, said Monday that they were wavering in the face of Mr. Obama’s momentum after victories in Washington State, Nebraska, Louisiana and Maine last weekend.
Some said that they, like the hundreds of uncommitted superdelegates still at stake, might ultimately “go with the flow,” in the words of one, and support the candidate who appears to show the most strength in the primaries to come.
The Clinton team moved on Monday to shift the spotlight off the candidate’s short-term challenges and focus instead on “the long run,” in the words of her senior strategist, Mark Penn.
“She has consistently shown an electoral resiliency in difficult situations that have made her a winner,” Mr. Penn said. “Senator Obama has in fact never had a serious Republican challenger.”
Clinton advisers have said that superdelegates should support the candidate who they believe would be the best nominee and the best president, while Obama advisers have argued that superdelegates should reflect the will of the voters and also take into account who they believe would be the best nominee. Superdelegates are Democratic party leaders and elected officials, and their votes could decide the nomination if neither candidate wins enough delegates to clinch a victory after the nominating contests end.
With primaries on Tuesday in Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia, Clinton advisers were pessimistic about her chances, though some held out hope for a surprise performance in Virginia.
And as polls show Mr. Obama gaining strength in Wisconsin and his native state, Hawaii, which vote next Tuesday, advisers, donors and superdelegates said they were resigned to a possible Obama sweep of the rest of February’s contests.
Some donors also expressed concern about a widening money imbalance between Mr. Obama and Mrs. Clinton: Obama fund-raisers say he is taking in roughly $1 million a day, while Clinton fund-raisers say she is taking in about half of that, mostly online. Mrs. Clinton’s aides say that the campaign was virtually broke as of the Feb. 5 primaries, but that finances have stabilized.
Mr. Obama’s financial edge allowed him to begin running television advertisements in Ohio and Texas on Monday, while the Clinton campaign plans to begin advertising on Tuesday. Clinton advisers say that she will have advertisements running statewide in both Ohio and Texas, and that she will have advertisements in English and Spanish in Texas.
“I think that clearly things have not been going as great as they were with her victories on Super Tuesday, and we can’t wait to get to March 4,” said Alan Patricof, one of Mrs. Clinton’s national finance chairmen.
Mrs. Clinton will have “a major ad buy” through the next week in Wisconsin, a senior adviser said Monday, and spend a few days campaigning there. But this adviser and others said the bulk of her time would be devoted to campaigning in Ohio, Texas and a bit in Rhode Island. In a sign of Texas’s importance, she plans to fly there Tuesday, even though Wisconsin votes next week.
While Mrs. Clinton’s advisers and allies emphasize that she has the time and the financial resources to regroup, they say she will have to take more significant steps to shore up her candidacy beyond the staff shakeup she engineered on Sunday, when she replaced her campaign manager and longtime aide, Patti Solis Doyle, with another veteran adviser, Maggie Williams.
Campaign advisers said they expected Ms. Williams to bring new energy to both the campaign team and Mrs. Clinton, after a long year of campaigning, and to encourage her to show more spunk and determination on the campaign trail. They say they do not expect the candidate’s political message to change appreciably; she will increasingly focus on the concerns of working-class voters, a key demographic in Ohio, as well as of Hispanics, a significant population in Texas.
As she seeks to erect a fire wall for her candidacy in Ohio and Texas, Mrs. Clinton will deploy her husband, former President Bill Clinton, to campaign in both states, particularly in Ohio, where her advisers believe his popularity will help her with working-class voters, labor union members and black voters.
In a conference call with reporters on Monday, Mr. Penn, who is also Mrs. Clinton’s pollster, played down some polls that showed strength for Mr. Obama and highlighted Mrs. Clinton’s abilities to beat the leading Republican candidate, Senator John McCain of Arizona.
“We believe that Hillary Clinton in the long run is better positioned to take on John McCain,” Mr. Penn said.
Yet some Clinton donors and superdelegates worry that the focus on Mr. McCain is premature, and that other strategic decisions by the campaign — like counting on Michigan and Florida delegates to be seated at the convention even though their status is in limbo — show faulty thinking that suggests the Clinton campaign does not have a short-term game plan against Mr. Obama.
“They are looking way too much at Florida, Michigan and McCain, because all three won’t matter if she doesn’t blow Obama away in Texas and Ohio,” said a Democrat who is both a Clinton superdelegate and major donor, and who spoke on condition of anonymity to offer a candid assessment of campaign strategy. “Obama has momentum that has to be stopped by March 4.”
Clinton advisers took issue with the notion that Mr. Obama’s momentum was significant, noting that his victory in the Iowa caucuses did not translate into winning the New Hampshire primary five days later, and his South Carolina victory did not prevent Mrs. Clinton from winning the biggest states on Feb. 5.
“There is no evidence that voters are voting based on momentum — in fact the evidence is to the contrary,” said Howard Wolfson, Mrs. Clinton’s communications director.
Hassan Nemazee, another national finance chairman for Mrs. Clinton, said he was also telling his network of allies not to get caught up in the headlines about Obama
“I’m telling donors and supporters: Don’t be overly concerned about what goes on in the remainder of the month of February because these are not states teed up well for us,” Mr. Nemazee said.
Asked if that message was sinking in, he pointed to the campaign’s announcement that Mrs. Clinton had raised $10 million online so far this month, and was on pace to raise more than $25 million in February.
“I predict for you we will have our best single fund-raising month in February, and that’s significant,” he said.
this is such a shallow take on why senator obama is so popular with african americans, and surely it discounts the fake that senator clinton remains to be. 'screwed by the blacks' as you say it simplifies and unfairly racializes this campaign. to be sure, mr. obama's appeal seems to be transcending race. what we don't need is this kind of vacuumed commentary that in the end, is off point, and unbelievably baseless
ReplyDeletewhy senator obama is so popular with african americans,
ReplyDeleteWhy, then, if not race?
Why not, say, Dennis Kucinich?
Yes Clint it is mere coincidence and no one else has noticed. We do probe some of the more shallow parts of the bayou here at the bar, but then we do venture off shore as well. More to your point, I do see Mr. Obama does have an aura not often found in candidates. His eye level is usually elevated by a minimum of fifteen degrees. He does the thousand yard stare with a knowing celestial thoughtfulness, a keener insight, a transcendental vision, not often found without mind expanding intoxicants. His walk flows with a resonance of harmonic perfection, his sonorous tones inspire even when nothing is said. All this rises above the dissonance and cacophony of our humble EB.
ReplyDeleteIt is with the deepest and most sincere apology I beseech forgiveness for having offended your obvious refined sense of probity. Kindly help yourself to any of the grog on the upper shelves.
I do have to attend to my other affairs and run to catch another dreadful plane and head for warmer climates and my southern lair. I will keep in touch.
Heck, if I was a black, and a democrat, and my choices were Obama, Clinton, Kucinich, I'd vote for Obama, and if asked, I'd say, it's time, their positions on issues being the same, at least, as far as we can tell:) Myself, I'm waiting for that charismatic Swedish/American candidate, Ollie Knarr, who will promise me everything, Valhalla included, without presenting the bill.
ReplyDeleteHey, deuce, can I go with you?
Bob, i will swap a few days on the farm for a few under the palm watching the howler monkeys and hearing the gentle slap of the pacific. I'll bring the coffee and the nica rum.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you though, Clint, Billary leaves most everything to be desired.
ReplyDeleteYou're on, deuce, I could use the sound of some warm water about now, after all this snow.
:)
ReplyDeleteScrappleface has a take--
Bill Clinton: Obama's White Half Won Maine
by Scott Ott for ScrappleFace · 66 Comments
(2008-02-10) — Former President Bill Clinton today downplayed the significance of his wife’s losses in Maine, Nebraska and Washington over the weekend, noting that just as being half-black helped Sen. Barack Obama win in the south, “his white half gives him the edge in primarily Anglo-American states.”
“Obama gets to play both sides of the race card,” said Mr. Clinton, “I told you he won South Carolina because he’s black, like Jesse Jackson. So, to be consistent, I’d have to say he won Maine because he’s white like Michael Dukakis.”
The former president acknowledged that his reasoning “doesn’t make sense at first, but if you think about how hard it is for me to avoid saying Hillary lost because Democrats don’t like her, then I think you’ll agree it’s the only prudent thing I can say.”
Jessic Alba:
ReplyDeleteOn what she wants her baby to look like:
"I'm excited for my baby to be brown.
I just have to believe the dark gene is going to survive. Cash and I are like, please!"
---
We tried so hard to hide our disappointment with our son, but failed:
He'll always have to bear the burden of knowing that our fondest dream was to have a purple child.
"what we don't need is this kind of vacuumed commentary that in the end, is off point, and..............
ReplyDeleteunbelievably baseless"
what's that you're educating everyone about fat man?
A similar situation goes on in Memphis(my home town) local politics. U. S. Rep. Steve Cohen, a white Democrat, was elected to a 90% black populated district a few years ago. Tell me this comparison is baseless.
ReplyDeleteWASHINGTON -- The Anti-Defamation League on Monday condemned a flier circulating in Memphis that says U.S. Rep. "Steve Cohen and the Jews Hate Jesus," saying it "attempts to incite tension" between African-Americans and Jews.
The flier, which provides the name and telephone number of Rev. George Brooks of Murfreesboro, Tenn., has been in circulation since at least last Thursday. On Monday, Brooks took responsibility for the broadside.
He said he sent the flier because the 9th Congressional District is "about 90-something percent black." According to the latest U.S. Census, in 2000, the district was 59.7 percent black.
On Monday, Cohen, a Memphis Democrat, said he doesn't know who Brooks is or why someone in Murfreesboro -- well outside his district -- would want to incite discrimination.
"It obviously needs to be condemned and people need to be vigilant against all forms of racism," said Cohen. "I had in my last campaign repeated efforts to sway votes against me because of my religion and my race, but the people of the 9th District rejected that and gave me overwhelming support."
Cohen faces a challenge by Pinnacle Airlines labor lawyer Nikki Tinker, an African-American, in the Aug. 5 Democratic primary.
Tinker did not respond to a reporter's call on Monday but her Washington-based spokesman, Cornell Belcher, said Tinker's campaign was not involved in the flier.
"Oh, my God; are you kidding me? Are you even calling me asking that?" asked Belcher. "This is an absurd question. Of course we wouldn't have anything to do with that. I don't even know what you're talking about but, no, we would have nothing to do with that."
The Anti-Defamation League, which fights anti-Semitism and other forms of bigotry, released a statement in Atlanta Monday condemning the flier, saying, it "makes an outrageously false claim about Jews' attitudes toward Jesus, and it attempts to drive a potentially dangerous wedge and incite tensions between African-Americans and Jews in Memphis."
This is the most recent incident in which Cohen opponents have claimed a white man cannot adequately represent the interests of the predominantly black 9th District.
Last August, the Black Baptist Ministerial Association took Cohen to task for his support of the Hate Crimes bill vote he'd cast months earlier. When he was given an audience before the group, one minister, Robert Poindexter of Mt. Moriah Baptist Church, asserted, "He's not black and he can't represent me."
Cohen was one of three white candidates in a 15-candidate field when he won the Democratic Primary in 2006.
Deuce,
ReplyDeleteIf your thesis were true (that blacks are voting for Obama simply because they are racist and thusly voting for the black candidate) then the same would hold true for other black candidates, which it doesn't. Take Jesse Jackson for example. There is more to it then race, sure race plays apart, but it isn't the only factor. All them black folks didn't put Obama over the top in Nebraska.
Via: http://www.smalldeadanimals.com
ReplyDeleteObama On Road To White House After Stealing Nomination
Total votes:
Clinton 8,914,030
Obama winning 8,392,514
Total Delegates!
Obama 1,806
Clinton 1,789
This is undemocratic! I demand a recount!
I'm BAaaack!
ReplyDeleteComcast, virus-ware problem - Norton was involved
Man, I love Computers. Arghh
And Mormons voted Romney, 90%? Evangelicals not quite so monolithic, but still significant. And if Richardson had, by some miracle, made it to the final two, the trends would have been obvious there.
ReplyDeleteAt what point is religion chosen or something born into? Some of this also blends into "he agrees with me", rather than "looks, talks, and acts like me," because at what point do you seperate the identify function of religion from its philosophical arguments?
Regardlesss, the bottom line:
Mix identity politics with a political system that is increasingly mob rule and a fight over spoils and you've probably got the greatest threat to domestic peace that this country faces. Especially as the "unreformed" and patronized portion of the US population increases in relation with the browbeaten.
What percent of the black folks voted for Jesse, Ash? We all know lots of whites have voted for Obama. Blacks is what we're talking about today.
ReplyDeleteHi, Rufus.
Rufus,
ReplyDeleteGet one of these from Apple (or eBay), and don't look back.
Some of this has and will always be with us. Some of it, however, is encouraged. Our colleges have industries designed to pump out bitter demogogues with otherwise worthless degrees. That's potentially a proportion of your next generation of leadership.
ReplyDeleteGood Read:
ReplyDeleteTechnical Analysis of the Financial Markets: A Comprehensive Guide to Trading Methods and Applications by John Murphy
Answering my own question with the first article that came up 92%
ReplyDeleteNot bad, not bad.
In 1984, Mr. Jackson received 77 percent of the black vote, which translated into a total of 2.3 million ballots. In 1988, Mr. Jackson won a larger share of a bigger black vote. He got 92 percent of all ballots cast by blacks this year.
ReplyDeleteThe import of the study was that the ''Jackson phenomenon'' of 1988 is made of two parts.
Mr. Jackson clearly made something of a breakthrough among whites, more than doubling his share of the white vote. Looked at the figures another way, 31 percent of the total ballots cast for Mr. Jackson this year came from white voters, compared to 20 percent his 1984 ballots.
In the meantime, he became the nearly unanimous choice in the black community, and his campaign helped increase black voter turnout substantially.
Take Jesse Jackson for example.
ReplyDelete77%
92%
Black racism is getting worse, Ash.
Blacks vote for blacks
ReplyDeleteMormons for Mormons
Evangelicals for Evangelicals
Veterans for McCain.
Each carries their own brand of indentity politics, which they exploit to the fullest extent possible.
The US is a Republic, mat, not a democracy. Always been that way. We should hope it remains so.
The whites in Africa had it right. Btw, any reason why African self-determination should be exclusively black?
ReplyDeletedArt,
ReplyDeleteThere's a reason for the stars in the American Union Jack. One day that reason may reassert itself.
OBAMA, THE DEMOCRATIC NOMINEE? YES HE CAN!
ReplyDeleteBy DICK MORRIS & EILEEN MCGANN
Published on DickMorris.com on February 11, 2008.
Printer-Friendly Version
I believe that Barack Obama will defeat Hillary and win the Democratic nomination. I think that this weekend's victories in states as diverse as Washington State, Louisiana, Nebraska, and Maine illustrates his national appeal and demonstrates Hillary's inability to win in states without large immigrant and Latino populations.
Hillary's results on Super Tuesday, which amounted to a draw with Obama, will be her high water mark and will represent the closest she will ever come to the party nomination.
Right now, CBS has Obama ahead in elected delegates with 1134, while Hillary has only 1131.By the time Virginia, Maryland, DC, Wisconsin, and Hawaii vote during the next week, Obama will have a lead over Clinton of about 100 delegates, even counting the super delegates who have thus far committed themselves.
March 4th will, at worst, be a wash for Obama with his probably wins in Ohio, Rhode Island and Vermont offsetting his probable defeat in Texas. (Although in Texas' open primary, Republicans and Independents may flock to the Dem primary to beat Hillary).
And then come a list of states almost all of which should go for Obama, including likely victories in Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and Indiana. By the convention, he will have more than enough delegates to overcome the expected margins Hillary may rack up among super delegates.
And don't bet on all the super delegates staying hitched to Hillary. These folks are politicians, half of them public office holders who are really good at reading the handwriting on the wall and really bad at gratitude for past favors.
Since 2004, I have predicted that Hillary Clinton would be the nominee. But, given the consistently amazing performance of Obama, his superior organizational and fund-raising skills, his inspiration of young people, and the flat and completely uninspiring performance by Hillary, it looks to me like it will be Obama as the Democratic nominee.
WB, Desert Rat.
ReplyDeleteI recall when Ms T chose Obama as the Democratic nominee and I cast doubt upon that idea. Thinking that the vaunted Clinton Organization would destroy the upstart from Chi-town.
ReplyDeleteSeems that I was wrong about both Billary and Obama, if Mr Morris is an accurate predictor of the future.
With the GOP is such seemingly disarray, with Huckabee winning the last set of contests over "Mad" McCain, who knows what could occur in November.
interesting Bobal, interesting. Pretty compelling numbers. I wonder if all black candidates fare as well?
ReplyDeleteWhat do you think Duece meant by his line "...but nothing about the implications that blacks, en-masse, are voting against whites for a black candidate." Against whites?
Rat's back. Thought a cat had got a hold of that tongue of yours, or a horse stepped on your finger or sumtin.
actually rat, it was I who suggested Obama would be the candidate (though Ms. T may have as well) but you thundered 'it would be a colossal mistake and highly unlikely to boot'.
ReplyDeleteDid T predict Obama? I thought she was talking about the inevitability of HillaryCare, etc. Well, maybe she did, damn good prediction, as I too thought Hillary's time had come. It's still an open book though, she might win Ohio.
ReplyDeleteI still think it will be an error for the Dems, but my forecasting of political outcomes in the US is not what it could be.
ReplyDeleteThere seems to a large swaths of the populous that I do not really understand, as to political motivations.
We'll see what we will see. That's for sure. As time marches on.
Neither side is putting forward what I'd consider viable National candidates, but what the hey.
Those that I could consider being viable either didn't run or lost, big time, in both Party's nominating processes.
It may just be me, that's out of step with the current situation in the country. The degree of disconnect between the realities I percieve and the politics of the day. The influence of the media meisters is greater than I had ever assumed to be the case.
Go here and scroll down to see the exit poll results for Clinton and Obama in Louisiana by age and race. It's striking. Young people and blacks of all ages support Obama. Then go here to see the Latino support for Clinton in California. La Raza doesn't seem too comfortable with Obama as they vote for the white candidate. Admittedly Obama does get about half the white vote. Apparently blacks don't do exit polls in CA.
ReplyDeleteWell, Ash, if you have two colors, and one is voting for black, one is voting against white, I quess. You'll have to ask deuce. Maybe he meant blacks are voting against the honky because they perceive they aren't being treated right now, or out of resentment for the past. I don't know.
ReplyDeleteWhen I vote white, I don't feel internally like I am voting against black, I feel I am voting for lower taxes and the government out of my life, as republicans generally have that outlook, and there are never any black republicans to vote for. I wish there were.
These days a candidate wanting to crack down on immigration is big with me,alas on that score I don't see anyone to vote for, now.
Excellent prediction on your part, Ash.
Dad always said people vote their pocketbooks, but there are holes in that theory too.
ReplyDeleteGlad to see you around, Rat.
Theresita was a Clintonite.
ReplyDeleteI think a lot of what we see is a function of the peculiarities of the US electoral system. The election of the President has become primarily a popularity contest, as in 'would I like to have a beer with the guy' or 'he shore speaks nice' as opposed to issue oriented stuff (there are two teams though and that plays a role for sure). The leader in a parliamentary system seems to be forced more into an issues kind of thing and his/her reign in power is dependent upon legislation and the governments response to issues. A minority government really keeps the leadership hopping though they have a tough time getting much done.
ReplyDeleteHi Rat, welcome back big guy. you was missed.
ReplyDeleteRat, I've been reading "Deception--Pakistan, the United States, and the Secret Trade in Nuclear Weapons" by Levy and Scott-Clark.
ReplyDeleteIf their reporting is anywere near correct, it's a scary world and a hell of a mess, as you've noted. Not only in Pakistan, in D.C. as well, where the left hand may or may not know what the right hand is doing, and may or may not be co-operating.
Ms T was for every and anyone at some particular time or another.
ReplyDeleteShe'd swing in the wind, but did discuss the Obama effect early on. Not that others did not, or may have been there first. I recall an exchange with her about it, though.
There are places out here in the wild west, where there is no online option available.
Praise be for that.
The biggest surprise was that Romney dropped out, after only winning Utah, his core identity State, and Mass, on Super duper Tuesday.
The Huck kicked his ass across the Southland, McCain everywhere else.
No support for the faux conservatism of Federalized individual healthcare mandates.
Why did Utah go so strong for Romney, but for religous identity, when no where else did?
Identity politics is not exclusive to racial issues or even race itself.
As evidence by Utah.
Over the last 7+ years, many British have not been happy with how close their government has been to President Bush and his policies. Tony Blair was disparagingly referred to as Mr. Bush's poodle.
ReplyDeleteBeing American didn't tend to win you many popularity contests.
The London Times’ Camilla Cavendish concludes that "Anti-Americanism was not born with George W. Bush and it will always exist." But this race, she says “is making the rest of us feel good about America.
Election '08
Son of Sarko makes his first kill
ReplyDeleteJohn Derbyshire on Obama.
ReplyDeleteIndia came close to attacking Pakistan's nuclear facilities before they got the bomb, the same dilemma we were considering for awhile with Iran. The world would be a safer place if they had done so.
ReplyDeleteWhat are we electing here, a faith healer? What is Obama's view of the executive power? How, exactly, does he propose to "bring us together"? Just by being half-black? What if I don't want to be "brought together" with radical socialists who want to jack up my taxes and shut down my freedoms of speech, property, and association?
ReplyDeleteExactly.
Also, his church, as Doug has pointed out, is a racist church and says so, and proclaims a primary allegence to Africa. It is a political church.
Then I notice that doug mentioned my GOP Congressional Representitive is leaving office, come November. John Shadegg is not going back to DC.
ReplyDeleteAnother one bites the dust, AZ could well turn Blue. Though I think McCain will carry the State.
But Gov. Janet Napolitano has come out strong for Obama. If it looked like McCain was going to win the White House, he could resign from the Senate, before the election, letting Shadegg run for the seat. Otherwise Janet would appoint the next Senator.
Some politicos speculate that Shadegg may be eyeing McCain's Senate seat in the event that he resigns to devote himself fully to his presidential campaign.
If so, Gov. Janet Napolitano would fill the seat with an appointment. But if the resignation came early enough, the seat would be up for grabs in the November general election.
Shadegg downplayed the possibility Monday, saying he "would be stunned, absolutely stunned, if McCain resigned" that early.
One McCain campaign official said he was aware of no conversations between McCain and Shadegg regarding the Senate seat. However the senator, Shadegg and Congressman Jeff Flake (also said to have Senate aspirations) shared a flight from Phoenix to Washington, D.C., last Wednesday.
shut down my freedoms of speech,
ReplyDeleteThey'll attack talk radio, for sure.
I Married Cousin Fatso
ReplyDeleteI was forced to marry my cousin -
it's normal in my culture, but SO WRONG.
Forced to marry her cousin who spoke no English and who her own brothers dubbed Fatso, one woman knew there was no choice but to run away. As a storm breaks over Muslims marrying their own cousins, she tells her traumatic story.
---
"However, one day when I came home my father was waiting for me at the front door. As I went in he said I wasn't to go to work any more. Apparently some family members told him it could bring shame on the family and that a woman's place was in the home. I was devastated."
From then Khaleda was hardly allowed out of her room. Ominously, letters marked "private" began arriving from Pakistan addressed to her father.
"I knew something was happening," she says. "I would regularly hear my father on the phone speaking in Urdu in muffled tones. I worked out the letters were from his family in Pakistan, discussing my forthcoming marriage.
Worse, was Khaleda's father's choice of groom. "Haram, my husband-to-be, was my father's cousin and about 20 years older than me.
"My brothers nicknamed him Fatso because he was so overweight. As he spoke no English and had always lived in Pakistan, his life was a world away from mine and I couldn't imagine how my father could have matched me with him.
"By now, Phil and I were very much in love. We regularly met in secret and I saw my future with him, not with some ugly man who I'd never even met.
Four weeks later, the whole family flew to Pakistan for the ceremony. "My parents had a house there but once I was married, it was expected that I would go to live with his family," she says.
"Haram had a large family of eight crammed into a tiny two-bedroom house, so there would be no privacy. I felt as if my whole life was ending."
Welcome back, 'Rat!
ReplyDeleteHaven't read of your oddesy yet!
odyssey
ReplyDelete"The Iraqi Republic may have officially canceled tribal law in 1958, but 50 years later Iraq's tribal system is alive and well and has earned a seat in a regional democracy paradigm," Jaber al-Jaberi said in the Lebanese Daily Star Tuesday.
ReplyDeleteJaberi said the strength of the sub-national tribal groups held the nation of Iraq together following past oppressive regimes and the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.
He noted that as recently as 2007, tribal councilmen were prohibited from carrying weapons and were largely "politically and economically marginalized" in Iraq.
Tribal Elders
What was Shadegg's stand on immigration?
ReplyDeleteKhaleda thinks Haram is haram.
ReplyDeleteWelcome back, Rat.
ReplyDeleteI, Haram, that I am. Haram
ReplyDeleteI ran from Haram cause I felt he's haram. Khaleda
I, Haram, gave Khaleda my ram, though she thinks I'm haram.
ReplyDelete" The influence of the media meisters is greater than I had ever assumed to be the case."
ReplyDelete---
The only remaining strong MSM Demo for news are the Geezers, and geezers got McCain near nomination.
And boy, do they love Barry!
Bet he smells like a Billygoat, Al-Bob!
ReplyDeleteSkinny Dick and all.
ReplyDeleteAl-bet he does!
ReplyDeleteHonest to allah, poor Khaleda, and I really mean it.
ReplyDeleteThat guy forgot about ejection seats Ash:
ReplyDeleteWouldn't be terminally risky (cept for the inevitable bad luck) for an F-15 Jockey to clip an airliner's tail, then head for the Chute.
The true insanity is arming F-15's for the job instead of pilots.
yeah, A student, good job, boyfriend, now she's too scart and emotionally wrecked to have a job.
ReplyDeleteJust Great.
Like she and a commenter said:
ReplyDeleteWhy the Hell does Britain recognize a non-consensual marriage from a foreign country?
DHIMMIFIED, that's why.
Did 'Rat say where he was?
ReplyDeleteI, the Archasshole Bishop Rowan Williams of Canterbury, bless this forced union. May Allah be pleased.
ReplyDeleteOhio Democratic Primary Polling Though we're all weary and leary of polls by now, if Hillary takes Texas and Ohio, she's not cooked yet.
ReplyDeleteNewsweek senior editor Jonathan Alter said with Texas likely being the deciding vote, this debate is Obama's chance to close in on Clinton's lead in the Lone Star State.
ReplyDelete"Closing it enough to either deprive Hillary of a big win or by driving her out of the race altogether by beating her in Texas," Alter said. "She must win Texas."
As viewers are curious about the debate's topics, fans of both candidates are desperate to know how to attend the debate. CNN executives arrived in Austin Tuesday afternoon to decide on a venue.
Democratic Debate
Between the towns of Young and Tonto Basin, Arizona, doug.
ReplyDeleteMile upon mile of fence was replaced, which was more of a job than I expected. And I expected it to be pretty rough. It's damned wild out there and I'm not nearly so, not as I once remember being. We did have some youngsters along, I'm happy to say, to do the hard stuff. The ground is still damned hard, to sleep on.
Another experience to be remembered and not repeated, soon. Even only as an active observer.
Shadegg on immigration, helped to kill the Conference Bill promoted by Senator Kyl, brought a House measure to Conference
Whereas the lack of realistic, funded, border and enforcement strategies combined with past immigration law failures - especially when combined with the lack of hearings, unwillingness to compromise, and forced speed with which the Senate bill was considered - has resulted in a general perception in America that Congress has ignored the public will; and
Whereas the Senate immigration bill is deeply flawed in a number of ways including:
(1) allowing illegal aliens to obtain probationary benefits of the so-called Z-visa the business day following their application for such benefits even if their background check is not complete;
(2) not allowing employers to use the Employment Eligibility Verification System to verify the work eligibility of a prospective employee until after hiring the employee and, if the employee is deemed not eligible, the employer cannot fire the employee if the employee pursues an appeal process;
(3) allowing illegal aliens who have repeatedly violated U.S. law and engaged in identity fraud to gain legal status;
(4) treating illegal aliens significantly more favorably and with much greater benefits than guest workers.
Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, that the House Republican Conference �
(1) opposes the Senate immigration bill in its present form;
(2) will continue to oppose the legislation until, at a minimum, there has been a full and open process of subcommittee and full committee hearings and mark-ups in the House, and the legislation comes to the House floor for a full, open and deliberate debate to address the flaws in the current bill.
Shadegg working against the Senate immigration bill that Kyl negotiated is probably one of the most significant splits between the two in the last 15 years. People say they have a good relationship, but I have to believe the strain is on right now.
Kyl stood with McCain on Comprehensive Immigration
Andrea Matney, 39, a special event manager who lives in Bethesda added: "This particular election feels particularly meaningful to me."
ReplyDeleteObama led Clinton 1,144 to 1,138 in the running delegate count going into Tuesday's contests, according to website RealClearPolitics.com. A total of 2,025 delegates are needed for the nomination.
The role of some 440 still-undecided super-delegates -- party luminaries who can choose to vote for either candidate -- is now likely to be critical.
Stretching Winning Streak Over Clinton
And today the Palestinians continued the search for peace by trying to burn down Joseph's Tomb.
ReplyDeleteVirginia
ReplyDeleteTo close to call
Unless one is watching the Democratic Primary. Where Obama is enjoying a 2 to 1 vote advantage with a tad over a third of the vote in.
The Huck, it seems, is doing very well with a high turnout in the rural portions of the State.
Lord have mercy.
First he smoked Romney, now he may spank McCain. All the while the Dems are having record turnouts, far surpassing the GOP voter counts.
Well, we won't be needing that voice anymore.
ReplyDeleteHear! Hear! Vile Kyle!
---
" I'm not nearly so, not as I once remember being."
---
Hell, at your age, I was still kidding myself.
Beyond ludicrous, now.
Hillary firing that pretty Mexican Gal was a brilliant move.
ReplyDeleteNow Obama sweeps them in.
Mexican Gal probly quit before the trainwreck now happening.
ReplyDeleteNow we got Maggie Williams, who "tidied up" the deceased Foster's office for Hillary.
I'm starting to think Romney would still have had a shot here.
ReplyDeleteWell, FOX News calls Virginia for McCain, winner take all, another 60 delegates.
ReplyDeleteReports began to surface this week that one of the reasons the Clinton campaign didn’t campaign more aggressively in caucus states is because of a cash crunch that Clinton was only made aware of after her loss in the Iowa caucuses.
ReplyDeleteThe race for delegates is far from over, and as such, the race for cash will no doubt find yet another gear.
With relatively expensive media markets awaiting the candidates in Ohio, Texas and Pennsylvania, the candidates have plenty of opportunities to spend it before this summer’s convention.
Clinton's Cash Crunch
He got smoked by the evangelicals, Romney never had a chance with them. Not while Huckabee was available as a choice.
ReplyDeleteHuckabee was the conservative choice, but not promoted by the MSM. Romney wasn't about to spend another 5 or 6 million of his own money, not in a futile attempt.
His identity vote evaporated outside of the States he had lived in. Mass, Mich, Utah.
Arizona not Mormon enough, any more, to carry the day against a favorite son. Who only got half the GOP vote, regardless.
Who is Monica Lewdinski backing in this year's fight?
ReplyDeleteI already told you a few threads back, Bob.
ReplyDeleteMonica's voting republican this year. The democrats left a bad taste in her mouth.
:)
ReplyDeleteSenior moment here, Sam.
With 51% of the VA vote in, the Dems have 500,000 votes in, the GOP less than half that.
ReplyDeleteThat is the telling tale of the primary. Obama has more votes than Huck and McCain, combined.
"She will be able to step in and seamlessly perform the responsibilities of campaign manager going forward," senior adviser Howard Wolfson said. "Both Patti and Maggie have been very strong in their longtime service to Senator Clinton.
ReplyDeletePatti did a magnificent job as campaign manager, and now Maggie is stepping in to assume those responsibilities, and she will also do a fabulous job."
After the Clintons left the White House, Williams worked in a number of high-profile positions, including serving as chief of staff to Bill Clinton, managing his policy agenda and overseeing the staff at the Clinton Foundation in New York, according to a biography posted on the Web site of the Harvard University Institute of Politics, where Williams served as an adviser.
Looking for Answers
Could be conservatives are so pissed off with the choices that they're saying 'fuck it' and waiting for the general and will cast then. Might see a big boost in numbers casting then. Might all be o.k. in the end.
ReplyDeleteThe conservatives did not turn out for Thompson, nor Rudy, nor Romney, nor Huck, nor McCain.
ReplyDeleteThey are not there
February 07, 2008
McCain's Challenge: Democrats Hugely Outvoting GOP
By Mort Kondracke
After Super Tuesday, Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) has every right to declare himself the Republican presidential frontrunner, but he has miles to go in getting himself and his party in shape to face his Democratic opponent.
One measure of his task is that more than 14.6 million Democrats went to the polls on Tuesday and only 9 million Republicans -- indicating a vast enthusiasm gap between the parties.
Mr Bush has sundered the GOP, It has lost the core support of many, while the Dems are finding new voters, Obama gaining entire catagories of new voters that the GOP will not be able to match, not with John McCain. A candidate that does not even rally the base.
February 07, 2008
ReplyDeleteIn all the primaries held so far, just the three top Democratic contestants -- Clinton, Obama and former Sen. John Edwards (N.C.) -- amassed 25 million votes, compared with 12.5 million for six Republican candidates.
Gonna be some kinda crazy Amerika with Obama as president.
ReplyDeleteChange?
You ain't shittin' there.
Putin/Assad/Ahmadinejad/Kimjongil/Chavez
ReplyDeleteThey gotta be lickin' their lips at this circus.
I can see why Bush is gettin' busy with hangin' the G-6 at this time.
ReplyDeleteMonica Lewdinski?
ReplyDeleteMon-eek-kaa-Lewd-dick-ski!
What about that Wax figure of Ronnie?
ReplyDelete...a little bit of automation, synthesized voice...
Worth a try.
Blogger desert rat said...
ReplyDeleteNeither side is putting forward what I'd consider viable National candidates, but what the hey.
Those that I could consider being viable either didn't run or lost, big time, in both Party's nominating processes.
It may just be me, that's out of step with the current situation in the country. The degree of disconnect between the realities I percieve and the politics of the day.
//////////////////
This is what i think as well.
the reason for this I think is --to appropriate a term from chaos theory--some "strange attractor".
Wretchard over at Belmont has a quote from Henry Kissinger.
The world is undergoing three types of transformation, Mr. Kissinger argued: the collapse of the state system, the shift of the global center of gravity from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and an emerging set of problems that can only be dealt with on a global basis. And he largely agreed with Mr. Podhoretz’s assertion that the most important global conflict, which was once the cold war, is now the struggle against terrorism by Islamic radicals.
////////////////
each of these points pulls on the american political system from the outside as "strange attractors". for the most part they are not discussed as part of the national debate--though they are the central issues of the day.
And Ollie North steps in...
ReplyDelete"...After I won the 1994 Republican nomination for a U.S. Senate seat in Virginia, I naively assumed that all in the GOP would pull together behind my conservative candidacy. I clearly don't know much about politics. If I did, I'd be writing this from my U.S. Senate office instead of my home in Virginia's Blue Ridge Mountains. But at the trade school John McCain and I attended in Annapolis, Md., they did teach me how to count. I lost by a narrow margin in a three-way race. Some of those who were with me then are among those who now say they won't support John McCain.
Worse still, since this election cycle began last year, the Democrats have raised more money than the GOP, and in the primary balloting that began last month, Democrats have turned out more voters. These numbers matter because they reflect the energy and commitment of the opposing parties in this year's presidential contest.
Neither John McCain nor anyone in his campaign asked me to write this column. But I cannot sit silently while my fellow conservatives do to John McCain what GOP "moderates" did to me. Today the stakes for our country are far higher, and the implications for the future are far greater than who sits in one of 100 U.S. Senate seats. Now our nation is at war against a vicious foe. We need a president who has proved how to win it.
During the course of the past six years, I have made a dozen protracted trips to cover U.S. soldiers, sailors, airmen, guardsmen and Marines defending us against a jihad hostile to all that we hold dear. In the dark days when Iraq's Anbar province was the bloodiest place on the planet, John McCain was one of the few in Congress brave enough to venture into that cauldron. I know because I saw him there.
During those trips, he listened to bright, brave young Americans wearing flak jackets and flight suits and became a steadfast supporter of a winning strategy for ending this long and costly conflict. But the senator's commitment goes far beyond political rhetoric. One of his sons is a student at our alma mater; the other is a Marine Corps lance corporal serving in harm's way. Thanks to John McCain's vision and resolve, a few weeks ago, my cameraman and I walked in shirt sleeves down streets in Ramadi and Fallujah, where we used to dodge bullets, IEDs and RPGs.
The election in November will determine how we proceed on the most profoundly important matter confronting our nation: the crucial outcome of an unprovoked war being waged against us by radical Islam. All other issues, as important as they are, pale in comparison to achieving victory over those who seek to destroy our very way of life.
Sen. McCain has pledged to win this war. We must do so, for the consequences of failure would be staggering. But as he has acknowledged, he cannot do that without the support of conservatives who man the phone banks, raise the funds, walk the precincts and turn out the vote on Election Day. I hope my fellow conservatives will decide as I have: We need John McCain as commander in chief."
Boxing, especially in America, has been in decline, and it’s been in decline for a long time.
ReplyDelete...
“I think Rome’s on fire and we don’t see it. Sometimes it seems that everybody coming out of school wants to go to Wall Street or be a lawyer."
----Keith Earl Busse, 1987
(Author’s Note: Busse, the son of a Fort Wayne, Indiana fireman, graduated from small, nondescript St. Francis College in the early 1970s at the age of 29. After spending several years as one of the key players in the rise of one of the greatest industrial success stories in American history, Nucor Corporation, Busse started his own company, Steel Dynamics, in his hometown in 1993. Now in only its 15th year in business, Steel Dynamics is a $4 billion company. Busse’s non-unionized, team-oriented steelworkers can earn $100,000 during a good year. Steel Dynamics has never outsourced the job of an American steelworker to a foreign country. Busse is one of too few astute American businessmen to consistently thrive in a declining market without exploiting the tax code. His personal fortune is estimated at over $50 million.)
New Beginning
I've been following this Polling at WorldNetDaily for some time and I can tell you the type of people who respond to the poll each day are conservative evangelical types for the most, probably believing the sun stopped in the sky when--
ReplyDeleteJoshua
10:12 Then spoke Joshua to Yahweh in the day when Yahweh delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel; and he said in the sight of Israel, Sun, stand you still on Gibeon; You, Moon, in the valley of Aijalon.
10:13 The sun stood still, and the moon stayed, Until the nation had avenged themselves of their enemies. Isn't this written in the book of Jashar? The sun stayed in the midst of the sky, and didn't hurry to go down about a whole day.
10:14 There was no day like that before it or after it, that Yahweh listened to the voice of a man: for Yahweh fought for Israel.
10:15 Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, to the camp to Gilgal. --
even if his opponent was the devil himself.
This bodes ill. An ill wind from the east is blowing.
And in the City of Free Speech, Berkeley, California, the mob is out tonight, set to deny the US Marine Corps the constitutionally protected right of it's recruitors to speak with other Americans.
ReplyDeleteI really screwed that post up. The poll was about McCain, and would you vote for him under any circumstances. An astounding 43% said NO. They took the poll down while I was messing up my sentences.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, its a really conservative poll, and almost half say no way are they voting for McCain. The respondents are generally bible thumpers, from my past viewing.
Diversity matters, and affirmative action helps promote diversity in education, contracting, businesses and jobs, making America more competitive. It puts power and intellectual and economic clout in the hands of all the people, building credibility and trust.
ReplyDeleteThe black middle class would feel the effects of a ban, Mathew Forstater, associate professor of economics and black studies at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, said on the Urban League panel.
Now is not the time to close the door on opportunities.
Affecting Many Lives
Would you vote for McCain if he's the Republican nominee?
ReplyDeleteNo, it's more dangerous to have someone who claims he's 'conservative' to govern as a 'liberal' 43.43% (3146)
Deciding on McCain at this point is premature. I'll wait and see what develops 22.05% (1597)
Yes, even though he leans left once in a while, he's still better than Hillary or Obama 13.00% (942)
Yes, we can't take a chance on radical, activist judges nominated by Democrats 6.63% (480)
No, he's more left-leaning than even Hillary or Obama 5.22% (378)
Yes, if McCain selects a real staunch 'conservative' as his running mate 4.29% (311)
No, he's proven he can't hold a position on any issue 3.52% (255)
No, I'd never vote for a Republican 0.72% (52)
Yes, he's the type of man who can unite America at this crucial time 0.62% (45)
No, he's too far to the right, even though he often leans left 0.52% (42)
TOTAL VOTES: 7244
Bob, repost your last comment as the first on the next post! hurry!
ReplyDeleteHuckabee noted again Tuesday that McCain still hasn’t reached the 1,191 delegates necessary to clinch the nomination.
ReplyDelete“That has not yet happened. We’re still continuing the work,” Huckabee said.
Huckabee said he had called McCain to congratulate him but that, in their conversation, McCain had not asked him to step aside and clear a way to the nomination.
Offering Republicans a Choice
You better hurry, Bob. I got an itchy finger.
ReplyDeletesam, fuck em, you snooze you lose.
ReplyDelete