"What Went Down"In my last blog, I gave you droplets of thought and a torrent of opinion. "The Autopsy of an Election" was really just meant to be the final nail in this two-year coffin. For those of you who aren't really interested in that whole reading thing, here's a visual summarization of what went down this election day.





Of course, we've all seen this map outlining Obama's victory over McCain. Really, though, from that map, a quick glance would lead us to believe that it was almost 50/50. Due to the electoral college and how that is set up, a different picture is painted...




This is a map of the United States that has been warped to display national population density by state, essentially reflecting how the electoral votes are distributed. Really, it is unfair to give Wyoming the same amount of electoral votes as Connecticut when, on this map, CT is about 3X larger than the state with the larger land area, WY. Note that the blue (Democrat) states that went for Obama are massively huge while the red states, with the exception of Texas, Georgia, and some other states in the Bible belt, are quite a bit smaller. This is how McCain won so many states but ended with so few electoral votes.




This map shows each state by electoral votes. Notice the similarity to the above map of national population density.Though it is difficult to note the difference, open two instances of Firefox, one on each map, and click back and forth rapidly to see the disparity.



This map is my favorite of them all. It shows the voting map broken down by county. I have enlarged it so that you can pick out your own county, unless you are surrounded by similar-voting counties. Note how Ohio and Indiana are primarily red. Pennsylvania and Virginia, two other swing states that McCain had to win (but didn't) are almost entirely red except for their major metro areas, Philadelphia and Washington DC. This is because in these four states, the minority counties that swung Democrat carried a huge proportion of the population.



Though this map is of no use to the casual observer, let me explain. It shows the national electoral map distributed by country, then warped according to each county's population. Note that the east and west coasts, along with a belt extending from Pennsylvania to Illinois, the Senator's home state, are almost entirely blue.




This map is by far the most telling. Again, it shows counties, but this time they are colored on a scale from red to blue based on the actual vote, not electoral vote or who won in the end. Note that large swaths of the poorly populated areas in the midwest are the most purely red. This carries little significance, though, when you factor in how few people these actually are. The majority of areas that Obama won, on the contrary, are bluish-purple. There are very few mostly blue areas. Note the bottom edge of Texas, which McCain won, is almost perfect blue. This is undoubtedly due to the large Hispanic immigrant populations along the border.

Sante Fe, NM, is by far the brightest area of blue on the map. Again, this could be marked up to a large immigrant population. I can't place the shining blue county in what looks to be right on the southern border of South Dakota. It's placed rather oddly. Further, note the corridor of blue along the lower edge of of the Mississippi River, which Gov. Huckabee referred to as the "Delta" on Fox this morning. There is also a rightward streak extending from this delta to Atlanta. Even Illinois and the markedly liberal New England is purple with some red inroads.




This map better than any other shows us how President-elect Obama captured the high office. This is the scaled map above adjusted to show a population cardogram, like earlier maps. There are nine giant bright blue blobs throughout the map with only small fiery red inroads. The major urban areas successfully captured the electoral votes of those states, and thus, the Presidency for Barack Obama.

-Ze Baron

Americans all have the right to vote, even if they vote wrong. Though I was confident in a Republican victory in 2008, it was not to be.

November 4, 2008 -- After getting home, I turned on the election coverage. When the first data started coming in, whoo-hoo, McCain's in the lead! Then as liberal New England states started getting called, Obama crept ahead. As the sun started setting on the Midwest, McCain fought back, only to fall short. Karl Rove says he still has a chance, though, but he has to win x out of y swing states, which would be difficult in a regular election.

He and Brit Hume walk over to the giant green screen where Rove consults his notes and starts pointing things out on the green screen. Of course, he can't see what is projected behind him because it is done in the computer, so he's just gesturing at a 'green screen.' He points out that McCain has to win Ohio or else the election is pretty much over... as he says this, I'm thinking, "Why is Ohio blue? It's blue on the map. Does he know that? Why is it blue? Is it is glitch? WHY IS IT BLUE?"

Then Brit Hume puts his hand to his ear, nods, and interrupts Rove: "Karl, I've just been informed that Fox News has called that Obama has won Ohio." Rove looks visibly crestfallen. I get up, take my McCain yard signs out of the window, and sit back down.

At almost 11:00, CNN projects that Obama is the 44th President of the United States. I shut off my television.

November 5, 2008 -- Throughout the day, I was questioned by Republicans and Democrats alike. The only answer I could give was "The country always gets what it wants... not always what is best." More succinctly, "Shit happens." I don't know that truer words have been spoken.

Of course, I was harangued by the occasional Obama supporter throughout the day. At one point, someone mockingly asked me, "So who is the President?" "George W. Bush!" I snapped, leaving them dumbfounded into silence. Another who has been quite the viral Obama supporter pointed his victory out to me, grinning like a Cheshire cat. Here's how the rest of the conversation went, paraphrased for convenience:

Baron: "Yeah, Obama did win last night."
Obama Supporter: "See? I told you so all along."
Baron: "You were right. So, uhh, what city is Barack from again?"
Obama Supporter: "Hmm, umm, I don't really..."
Baron: "That's okay. I can't remember his wife's name, though."
Obama: "Oh, she's... well, it beings with an "M"
Baron: "...and I know they have kids, but how many?"
Obama: "Two! They have two kids."
Baron: "Yes, I'm sure they and their mother, Michelle, will miss Chicago."

Dumbass.

Look, there are intelligent Democrats out there just like there are intelligent Republicans, but let me assure you that this election was not won like the 1992 or 2000 election. Essentially in those instances, politics was removed from society and it was just the informed, educated, and uppity politicos that chose the President.

In this election, Obama did exactly what a Democrat needs to do to win against the Republican machine: inject himself into everyone's lives. He went mainstream. As much as I may sound like a bad McCain ad, he went from being a politician to being a pop culture icon. Which leads me back to my discussion with the Obama supporter:

He won because every idiot with a vote chose him.

I've got to put it blatantly, and frankly I'm sorry if you think this is some bitter partisan rant. This is as objective post-election coverage as you're going to get on the blogosphere.

Obviously this lady didn't know the first thing about Obama outside of the fact that he's "cool" and black, much less any policy positions. This is exactly what Obama needed to do, and he did it. Your or my educated vote is worth just as much as the socialite that gets an Obama button and decides that way. Your or my educated vote is worth just as much as every other American's.

Obama captured about 68% of the youth vote compared to John McCain's 30%. Have you ever wondered how things like Hollister clothing or rap music get popular, then fade off really quickly? It is primarily because easily molded youth are the epitome of herd creatures. Of course, when their favorite music artist writes a song about Obama, it makes it cool to support him. Thus, a trend is born.

I am painting a picture of utter ignorance now, though this was not the deciding factor in the election.

It's the economy, stupid.

Remember way back when this whole election thing started up, just before the 2006 Congressional elections? What was the big issue back then? Do you remember? It was immigration. In fact, one Republican, Tom Tancredo, even tried to run on a platform of securing the border and fixing immigration. While this has always been a personal motive of his, it was a hot-button issue at the time and (falsely) convinced him he had a chance.

Now, in the last month (even two months) of the Presidential election, can you honestly tell me if immigration came up once in a serious manner? I heard it in passing on Fox once and never on CNN. But seriously, in the last two months of election coverage, did you heard the word "Iraq" more than you can count on your fingers? Probably not.

No, this election was hustled by a 52-foot semi barreling out of control with the words "Economy Down" across the side. America got some extreme tunnel vision when the economy started teetering.

Now I'm no economist, but I honestly feel that if Americans need to be told that we're in a recession/depression, then we're not. The only places that the average Joe’s economy is being pinched are some stocks or 401(k)s and things like that. On the larger scale, the only major problems are at the tippy top of the economy where giant companies reside (re: Lehman Bros).

This could translate into bigger problems, especially if these major creditors seize up and it starts to choke off struggling small businesses that are the lifeblood of the economy. Some suggest this could be happening already what with the job losses escalating.

Regardless... Yesterday one of my friends was voicing his opinion on how he thinks single-issue voters, specifically pro-life voters, are casting an uneducated vote. Realize that he's pro-life just like I am, but I can see his point. You have to consider the wider candidate when voting for any single issue: For example, the economy.

The MSM has got the American people so wound up about this impending doom (TIME's recent cover, check it out), a large majority of people think that their personal finances are going to come crashing down around them, even though they are only suspended by thin lines holding back the debt. People think, "If this is going down, Obama will help me out."

Summary: When you want to save business, elect Republicans. When you want to save individuals, elect Democrats. The present problems are currently boiling over only in the business sector, and Obama is going to do slaughter to them. I forsake the days ahead.

As I said above, Democrats are traditionally the ones called in to save the people from the economy, but what is Obama's specific record on the economy? Has he ever actually done anything? Can he point to something he did? A vote here and a vote there don't count, all that is is an opinion rendered.

John McCain was out-campaigned through Obama's injecting himself into pop culture, but the real reason he lost was because Obama inadvertently used the weapon he has been preaching against from day one: Politics of fear. Instead of using a terrorist crisis as basis for radical measures (9/11 → Patriot Act), he successfully positioned himself around this financial crisis as the savoir, winning him the election on people's fears.

Thankfully, there still is hope. The Democrats did not gain nearly as many seats in the House and Senate as they did in 2006, though the predictions were that they would make those same large gains. They only maintain a low majority, allowing Republicans the ability to filibuster (which I look down on) and possibly fight off bills like they did to the bailout bill.

Even so, Nancy Pelosi of the House and Harry Reid of the Senate are extreme liberals, out of the closet and ready to fight. Though this was Obama during the primaries, he mellowed out considerably during the general election. I predict that we're only going to see a traditional Democratic presidency these next four years, something on the lines of a Hillary Clinton/ Ted Kennedy, for he still has a reelection bid to win. Should that happen, though, I fear what he will do.

Hidin' Biden

Remember this quote?

"Mark my words: It will not be six months before the world tests Barack Obama like they did John Kennedy. The world is looking. We're about to elect a brilliant 47-year-old senator President of the United States of America. Watch. We're going to have an international crisis, a generated crisis, to test the mettle of this guy."

It was not twenty-four hours before a generated crisis tested this president-elect. Let's see... Kennedy was tested with the Cuban missile crisis, where Russia put missiles near the United States. On November 5th, Russia announced plans to put missiles aimed towards our allies on the Russia-Poland border to balance the power where we are adding a missile-defense shield. How's that for self-fulfilling prophecies?

I'm gonna sound like a latte liberal when I say this, but I'm going to blame this whole thing on George Bush. Though he did the best he could do with the hand dealt to him a little after a year in office, he left the political landscape inhospitable for Republicans in the near future. He really ought to be excommunicated from the GOP. I still like him as a president, but I resent what he has sentenced us to through his own ignorance.

You really have to congratulate McCain on keeping it even with Obama until the end, even surpassing him once or twice in the polls. He had an advantage against generic Republican from the outset because he is a maverick (blech, I will never say that or "bitter" again) and quasi-moderate. Still, the "R" after his name sentenced him to a loss from the outset.

I have a feeling, though, that in a month or two when this economy thing is solved and relegated to the latter pages of the New York Times with immigration and the war, Americans will wake up as if after a great night of sex, roll over, notice the bed is empty, and think... What have we done?

-Ze Baron

One of Barack Obama's biggest voting bases is young voters. As much as young voters like him because he represents "change," is young himself, or will be the first black candidate, I have a sneaking suspicion that these are not the reason. Much like certain name-brand clothing, Billboard 100 songs, and Starbucks, I believe that a large majority of young voters support Barack Obama because it is cool to do so. If he supports Obama, I should too!

I know all Americans can vote in elections, and that is a right that must not be infringed upon. Sadly, though, I think it can be detrimental to America at large. Take, for note, this video. It makes me want to think only educated voters should be allowed to pull the lever. Needless to say, though, America is governed by majority rule and by the people, and these folks will be permitted to vote.

My only condolence is that I suspect many of these voters only support Obama in a distant way. I have a suspicion that they'll gladly say they support Obama in polls, but when it comes to voting, who wants to drive to the courthouse, anyway? We'll see in a few days if my theory is correct.

"So, you know I have fun with the media and we all know the press is an independant, civic-minded, and non-partisian group... like ACORN."

"ACORN is helping to register groups previously excluded, overlooked, and underserved: second graders, the deceased, Disney characters."

It was great how he grilled Obama about flying to Washington to address the crisis if the economy recovers.

"I can't wish my opponent luck, but I do wish him well." <-- Classic

He made a very strong point when he said he counted himself as a friend and ally in reference to the Catholic's defense of the unborn.

His ending was absolutely marvelous... he pumped the expectations up so high, even artificially, that it made it tough for Obama to follow up, even though everyone knew it was a joke.

I loved McCain's line about Joe the Plumber signing a very lucrative contract with a very wealthy couple to handle the plumbing on all seven of their houses. A man known to Oprah Winfrey as "the one..." being a friend and colleague of Barack's, I just called him "that one." He doesn't mind at all, in fact, he even has a pet name for me, "George Bush." That was the best line of the night... it absolutely brought down the house. It is easily the most quotable line of this October election.

His line about the sneaking suspicion that someone here tonight is pulling for him... "I'm delighted to see you, Hillary!"

"When a reporter asked him if Senator Obama was qualified to be President, Bill Clinton pointed out that, sure, Obama was over 35 and an American citizen."

"Maverick I can do, but Messiah is above my pay grade!"

"I understand that Keith Olbermann has ordered up his very own "Mission Accomplished" banner. And they can hang that in whatever padded room has been reserved for him. Seriously, Chris, if they need any decorating advice on that banner, tell Keith to call me so I can tell him right where to put it."

McCain did exceptionally well. If you ask me, he "won" last night. The only problem I have with his performance is that he looked down at his speech a little too much. That being said, I think McCain's speech was more like a regular stump than Obama's, who seemed to think he was David Letterman.

Obama almost has a sour look on his face when he tells the joke about his middle name. I have neever once put lipstick on a pig,... or a pit bull... or myself. Genius!

After his lead in about deadbeats and lowlifes, I thought he was going to make a joke about Ayers or Wright, but then when he overdid it I knew something like that was coming. It would have been perfect for him to address those two jokers with humor during this speech, kind of sweeping them under the carpet. He missed that easy mark.

I watched this live last night on CSPAN. I really loved Obama's Bloomberg/Bill Clinton joke. The thing is that I think he has problems laughing at himself, re: the Greek pillars comment. He's a really good orator but I don't know why he stumbled along during this speech. It should have been easy!

I also liked his comments about his not being born in a manger... he was actually born on Krypton, sent here by his father to save the planet Earth!

(Politics aside in these four videos.)

GENIUS!

This is basically the only word I could sputter out when people asked me (the chief politico) what I thought about her. I consider myself pretty knowing when it comes to American politics, but I really did not know who the governor of Alaska was, who Sarah Palin was, or that McCain was considering either of them -- let alone the fact that they were one and the same!

I thought this plan was good because it would get the enraged Fem-Nazis who just want to see a woman in the White House to vote for McCain. It would also harbor support from those people who are voting for the black guy to reassure themselves that they are a good person. I would bet this type makes up a fair sized part of the voting mass.

Republicans? The stogy traditional party wants a woman in the White House? Diversity from the GOP? It can't be! Yes, people thought this was a monumental election... a woman and a black guy. Well, Hillary got knocked out and here another woman crops up. 2008 is a year for the record books.

Sarah Palin is the first woman on the GOP's chief ticket. She's also likely the only candidate except Teddy Roosevelt that knows how to field dress a moose. This woman is exceptional. She knows how to disassemble, clean, and reassemble an M16. She's got five kids, one with Down syndrome and one in the military. She comes from Alaska (where ANWR is, sillies!) and she advocates drilling! Granted, it pays to align with McCain's message and current trends, but if it were really as disastrous as the greenies would have us think, Palin wouldn't be advocating destroying her home state.

Speaking of remarkable women... Cindy Hensley McCain owns a beer distributorship and she's in an automobile drift-racing team with one of her sons! The Republican ticket has a war Veteran/Veteran Senator, a beautiful First Lady who owns a beer company and races cars, a gorgeous woman Governor who fishes and hunts with a second-man who is a professional snowmobile racer.

The Democratic ticket has a freshman Senator lawyer with a grumpy, unpatriotic lawyer wife. Anyone up for a quick poll?

Remember how Democrats would attack Bush for 'sending our boys into harm without offspring in the military', to paraphrase? John McCain has one son in the service and one in the Naval Academy while Sarah Palin has one that just left for Iraq. I think that if they think the mission is important enough to risk their own children, well, the Democrats have little room to squirm.

I was watching Newt Gingrich give a small talk on C-SPAN during the RNC. He was talking about a variety of things, but when he got to Sarah Palin he said that a reporter came up to him and said, "What about the experience problem?" Newt replied, "I think Senator Obama has a huge problem to overcome." That captures the essence of it right now -- though Alaska has the population of San Diego, though Wasilla AK has only 8,000 residents, VP Sarah Palin has more executive experience than would-be Prez Obama.

Does that scare you?

This is a big election. Obama's "lead" over John McCain is less than the margin of error in most polls, which means they are essentially tied. Obama's lead is maintained because young people think it's cool to vote for the black guy, if for no other reason. While they're voting uninformed, it's their American right.

Oh, and another thing -- during the DNC Obama was repeatedly touted as the first black Presidential candidate. No, that's wrong. Obama is just as black as he is white. Remember, he's biracial. Using that logic, he's also the X-hundredth white candidate nominated for the White House.

Obama's other big lead comes from his excitement: Yeah, Barack! Whoo-whoo! Fancy catchphrases! Empty words! Let's cheer! Well, I think he can expect that lead to shrink, even to transform into a deficit because of Palin/Biden. Everyone was pumped about Obama's veep. Who was it going to be? It'll be exciting! He's the candidate for change, remember? Well, you could hear the media and idiot-America let out its collective breath when he picked Joe Biden.

John McCain has been painted by Obama as a representative of Old Washington, that is, what he's been meaning to reform. John McCain took office in 1987. He's been a Senator for 21 years! Who could be more fresh than Obama, who is fresh in Washington he doesn't know where the men's room is in the Capitol building?

Not Joe Biden! He took office in 1973! That's right -- 35 years in Washington. He took office when Barack Obama was 12. How can that be a representative of change? Obama popped his own balloon filled with "FRESHNESS & EXCITEMENT!" by picking this thorough Washington insider.

John McCain isn't integrated into the Washington machine -- he doesn't even feel compelled by duty to his party, as noted multiple times during the RNC to my confused state. Why tout his maverick, voting-against-party style in a room filled with Republicans?! Sarah Palin surely is the freshest of all four. I doubt she's even vacationed to Washington!

I checked out a magazine rack today. A quick glance at the 20 or so magazines (not all political) showed Obama on one, McCain on two, and Palin on at least half a dozen. While they weren't all feature stories on the candidates, and while they all weren't necessarily good reflections of them, the key to getting these votes is the spotlight. Sarah has stole it from Obama.

Sarah Palin is supposed to be this conservative god that will be there weighing on McCain's decisions and ready to take office should anything happen to McCain (who's 90+ y/o mother attended the RNC). Bristol, her seventeen year old daughter is five months pregnant by her eighteen year old fiancee. Granted, pre-marital sex and teenage sex are sort of big no-no's in the conservative movement, but these attacks that paint Sarah Palin as irresponsible are terribly wrong. We're electing the mother, not her teenage daughter's poor decisions!

The liberal media loves nothing more than to point out conservative hypocrisies on the topic, sometimes by comparing the comments denouncing 17-year-old Jamie Lynn Spears' pregnancy with the support for Bristol and Sarah Palin. I would hardly consider it hypocritical. Jamie Lynn Spears is a celebrity. Young girls, preteens and teens look up to her. She has a show on a children's channel. She's a role model, whether America and the parents of the kids who watch her show want her to be or not. A girl who is going to have no impact on anyone else's life getting pregnant is a bad thing, sure, but it will not have an effect like Ms. Spears' pregnancy did.

People also like to point out how Sarah Palin fired Alaska Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan for refusing to fire a trooper who had a bitter divorce and custody battle with her sister. "That's abuse of power!" screams the liberal media. Oops, I guess they forgot to mention that the trooper Tasered his own stepson and threatened to kill his ex-wife's (and Sarah's) father.

Well, those facts aren't important anyway, are they? Just so long as we can sling mud at the conservatives for Savior Obama.

Someone asked me what would be the best strategy for Barack Obama to get elected. I told them, "He should have changed his name to Brock O'Bama and passed himself off as an Irishman."

Thinking back, it might have been more advantageous for him to just become a Republican.

-Ze Baron

...wants change, and he'll take it from your pocket.

America blames the President for America's problems. Next time there's not toilet paper in a public bathroom: "God DAMN America! It's all your fault, George Bush!" You've probably worked with people like that. Well, you roll your eyes at them when they blame everything on G-DUB even when there isn't any conclusive evidence.

George Bush shot a cruise missile at the Pentagon! The WTC had bombs in it! George Bush hired local Amish to excavate the land in Somerset to look like a plane crash! Dick Cheney shot JFK! George Bush rigged the gas station's pumps!



Look, sorry, he's not the root of all our problems. He's been a little more impulsive that most of our Presidents, but the reason he gets all this blame, methinks, is because he's the public solo face of government that people can point at while they curse and moan about their problems.

How long, about, has the economy been wobbily and the media has been going bonkers about it? One, maybe two years? Back when this presidential race kicked off, just after the 2006 elections, immigration and the war were the hot-button issues. But now it's the economy and global warming with gas prices tying in to both.

Wait, what? Did I just say the 2006 elections? Yes, that's right, the election when the voters easily swayed by what's on Headline News in the last week rejoiced that Democrats won the majority. Yes, the election when the Democrats seized the Senate and the House from the GOP's clutches.

Is there, perhaps, a connection? The economy tanked almost entirely since the Democratic Congress took office. How about a steaming cup of proof with your flabbergasted pancakes?

The Dow Jones hit 13,000 around April 29, 2007. The new Democrats took office on January 3 (House) and January 3 (Senate).They'd barely had their offices redecorated with blue curtains and hadn't had the chance to mess up any legistalation yet (they have two and six years, respectively.) Now, 2008, after they sat down and shuffled papers, what have we got? Gasoline that is flirting with $4, a housing catastrophe (or so they say), high(er) unemployment, a huge drop in home equity, and a financial crisis that has finally been popped with 1% of homes in foreclosure.

So, how about this little diddy I snagged off a blog:

In just one year .  Remember the election in 2006?
Thought you might like to read the following:
A little over one year ago:

1) Consumer confidence stood at a 2 1/2 year high;
2) Regular gasoline sold for $2.19 a gallon;
3) The unemployment rate was 4.5%.

Since voting in a Democratic Congress in 2006 we have seen:

1) Consumer confidence plummet;
2) The cost of regular gasoline soar to over $3.50 a gallon;
3) Unemployment is up to 5% (a 10% increase);
4) American households have seen $2.3 trillion in equity value evaporate (stock and mutual fund losses);
5) Americans have seen their home equity drop by $1.2 trillion dollars;
6) 1% of American homes are in foreclosure.

America voted for change in 2006, and we got it!

Remember it's Congress that makes law not the President. He has to work with what's handed to him.

<http://righttruth.typepad.com/right_truth/2008/04/since-the-democ.html>

Yeah, that's right: A Democratic Congress sucks more than Bush. Nancy Pelosi was going to "clean house" but she did no such thing. *sigh*

President Bush's all-time lowest approval rating is 28%. As of May 14th, he sits at 29%. That's funny, though, because Congress's has dipped to 18%... only the fourth time in Gallup's history any Congress's approval rating has dropped below 20%. Pathetic. Good thing that 2008 is a Congressional election year too.

<http://www.gallup.com/poll/107242/Congress-Approval-Rating-Ties-Lowest-Gallup-Records.aspx>

It all comes back to Barack Obama, our cotton-candy politician. Democrats can elicit all degrees of excitement from the people who gather their only information from TV media who have to make it exciting for ratings. Republicians are not so good at that, but look what happens after the initial newness. The Democrats are just bumbling around while Bush is still plodding along actually getting things done.

Did you see that bill that one of the arms of Congress was voting on? It was some sort of global warming bill that is meant to lower America's overall emissions by like 66% by around 2050. Well, this is going to make gas prices go higher and higher and higher. Say, who's proposing the bill? Did you know that G-DUB is threatening to veto the bill?

Barack Obama is just like Nancy Pelosi and her band of bloodsuckers. After the initial brouhaha dies down, it's just an utterly pathetic deflation and we're left with Democraps.

More on the Democratic primary endgame forthcoming.

-Ze Baron

Here's an article with commentary on the whole Rev. Wright / Barack Obama scandal. Since I caught this lovely flu virus last night, I am just going to repost this rather than write my own commentary. She can be disagreeable, but in this case, I agree wholly with what she has to say.

"Throw Grandma Under The Bus"
-- Ann Coulter

"Obama gave a nice speech, except for everything he said about race. He apparently believes we're not talking enough about race. This is like hearing Britney Spears say we're not talking enough about pop-tarts with substance-abuse problems.

By now, the country has spent more time talking about race than John Kerry has talked about Vietnam, John McCain has talked about being a POW, John Edwards has talked about his dead son, and Al Franken has talked about his USO tours.

But the "post-racial candidate" thinks we need to talk yet more about race. How much more? I had had my fill by around 1974. How long must we all marinate in the angry resentment of black people?

As an authentic post-racial American, I will not patronize blacks by pretending Obama's pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, is anything other than a raving racist loon. If a white pastor had said what Rev. Wright said -- not about black people, but literally, the exact same things -- I think we'd notice that he's crazier than Ward Churchill and David Duke's love child. (Indeed, both Churchill and the Rev. Wright referred to the attacks of 9/11 as the chickens coming "home to roost.")

Imagine a white pastor saying: "Racism is the American way. Racism is how this country was founded, and how this country is still run. ... We believe in white supremacy and black inferiority. And believe it more than we believe in God."

Imagine a white pastor calling Condoleezza Rice, "Condoskeezza Rice."

Imagine a white pastor saying: "No, no, no, God damn America -- that's in the Bible for killing innocent people! God damn America for treating our citizens as less than human! God damn America for as long as she acts like she is God and she is supreme!"

We treat blacks like children, constantly talking about their temper tantrums right in front of them with airy phrases about black anger. I will not pat blacks on the head and say, "Isn't that cute?" As a post-racial American, I do not believe "the legacy of slavery" gives black people the right to be permanently ill-mannered.

Obama tried to justify Wright's deranged rants by explaining that "legalized discrimination" is the "reality in which Rev. Wright and other African-Americans of his generation grew up." He said that a "lack of economic opportunity among black men, and the shame and frustration that came from not being able to provide for one's family, contributed to the erosion of black families."

That may accurately describe the libretto of "Porgy and Bess," but it has no connection to reality. By Rev. Wright's own account, he was 12 years old and was attending an integrated school in Philadelphia when Brown v. Board of Education was announced, ending "separate but equal" schooling.

Meanwhile, at least since the Supreme Court's decision in University of California v. Bakke in 1978 -- and obviously long before that, or there wouldn't have been a case or controversy for the court to consider -- it has been legal for the government to discriminate against whites on the basis of their race.

Consequently, any white person 30 years old or younger has lived, since the day he was born, in an America where it is legal to discriminate against white people. In many cases it's not just legal, but mandatory, for example, in education, in hiring and in Academy Award nominations.

So for half of Rev. Wright's 66 years, discrimination against blacks was legal -- though he never experienced it personally because it existed in a part of the country where he did not live. For the second half of Wright's life, discrimination against whites was legal throughout the land.

Discrimination has become so openly accepted that -- in a speech meant to tamp down his association with a black racist -- Obama felt perfectly comfortable throwing his white grandmother under the bus. He used her as the white racist counterpart to his black racist "old uncle," Rev. Wright.

First of all, Wright is not Obama's uncle. The only reason we indulge crazy uncles is that everyone understands that people don't choose their relatives the way they choose, for example, their pastors and mentors. No one quarrels with idea that you can't be expected to publicly denounce your blood relatives.

But Wright is not a relative of Obama's at all. Yet Obama cravenly compared Wright's racist invective to his actual grandmother, who "once confessed her fear of black men who passed by her on the street, and who on more than one occasion has uttered racial or ethnic stereotypes that made me cringe."

Rev. Wright accuses white people of inventing AIDS to kill black men, but Obama's grandmother -- who raised him, cooked his food, tucked him in at night, and paid for his clothes and books and private school -- has expressed the same feelings about passing black men on the street that Jesse Jackson has.

Unlike his "old uncle" -- who is not his uncle -- Obama had no excuses for his grandmother. Obama's grandmother never felt the lash of discrimination! Crazy grandma doesn't get the same pass as the crazy uncle; she's white. Denounce the racist!

Fine. Can we move on now?

No, of course, not. It never ends. To be fair, Obama hinted that we might have one way out: If we elect him president, then maybe, just maybe, we can stop talking about race."

(End Quote)

Personally, I think the entire thing is disgusting. He's been going to this loopy church for twenty odd years, and he says he's never heard the pastor talk like this. He says he disagrees with what the pastor says but he refuses to quit the church. That's just crap.

He's been going there willingly for 20 years. I'm sorry, but no one was putting a gun to his head telling him that he had to go. Remember when Michelle Obama said it was the first time she was proud of her country? Do you think that it has anything to do with her listening to this man froth at the mouth for twenty years?

What if Hillary Clinton went to this church for twenty years? Just think what the media would have to say about it! What if a white pastor said these things, like "God damn America!"

Obama's denied that he's Muslim. That's fine and dandy, but this guy comes in a close second when measured for America-hating. Is this the kind of person we want as president? Just because he's black and goes to these traditionally black churches doesn't mean he can be excused.

-Ze Baron