Obama kicks Trinity United to the curb, resigns Church membership

I told Susan that I would crosspost stuff here, but I really can't do this one word for word since I didn't write it. So...here is the news.

Breaking on CNN from Obama shill Roland Martin.
Remember, “I could no more distance myself from Pastor Wright than I could from my white grandmother”?

I guess grandma is on notice.

More info and commentary at Stop the ACLU.

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Rasmussen: John McCain Trusted More on National Security, Economy, Iraq and Taxes, Than Barack Obama Is

The results of the latest Rasmussen polling report shows that little has changed from a month ago when they asked the same questions.

John McCain is trusted more that Barack Obama on National Security, Taxes, Economy and Iraq and Obama leads McCain on Government ethics alone.

NATIONAL SECURITY:

McCain- 53 percent
Obama- 31 percent

ECONOMY:

McCain- 47 percent
Obama- 41 percent


IRAQ:

McCain- 49 percent
Obama- 37 percent


TAXES:

McCain- 44 percent
Obama- 38 percent


GOVERNMENT ETHICS & REDUCING CORRUPTION:

Obama- 43 percent
McCain- 39 percent

This ability of McCain to outperform the party label helps explain why he is competitive with the Democrats in the Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking poll.

From the Daily Presidential Tracking Poll published on May 31, 2008:

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Saturday shows that John McCain attracting 46% of the vote nationwide while Barack Obama earns 43%. This marks the fifth straight day that McCain has enjoyed at least a three-point advantage over Obama

On a generic basis Democrats are still trusted more than Republicans but when the issues are divided, McCain takes the lead against Obama in 4 out of the five areas.

Another interesting statistic from last month's Rasmussen's report about this issue showed that when party label is inserted instead of individual names, the Democrat is chosen, but when the names are replaced with the party label, McCain takes the lead over Obama.

Then we get to the favorable ratings, in which John McCain takes the lead over Barack Obama as well.

McCain is viewed by 52 percent of the voters as favorable and 46 percent unfavorable and Obama is viewed favorably by 45 percent of the voters and unfavorably by 52 percent.

These are the lowest ratings for Obama all year.

Last but not least, 62 percent of voters say John McCain is more likely to reach across party lines to work effectively with both Republicans and Democrats and Obama is seen by 52 percent of the voters to have the ability to do the same in an effective manner.

What might shock many is even 47 percent of Democratic voters believe McCain can reach across party lines.

When unaffiliated voters are asked, 61 percent agree that McCain will reach across and for Obama that number drops to 56 percent.

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Sign Newt's Petition to DRILL HERE, DRILL NOW!

Crossposted from Stop the ACLU. Hat tip: Don Surber

Newt Gingrich gets the petition rolling to get Congress to open up offshore drilling.

100,000 Americans Petition Congress to Drill for Oil Now

American Solutions for Winning the Future announced today that more than 100,000 Americans have now signed a petition urging Congress to immediately start drilling for oil domestically to ease gas prices. The petition is part of the "Drill Here, Drill Now, Pay Less" campaign American Solutions launched last week.

The petition reads:

"We, therefore, the undersigned citizens of the United States, petition the U.S. Congress to act immediately to lower gasoline prices by authorizing the exploration of proven energy reserves to reduce our dependence on foreign energy sources from unstable countries."

Next week, American Solutions will deliver the signatures, gathered from citizens in all 50 states, to the U.S. Senate as a first step toward stopping the destructive Warner-Lieberman bill which would raise the cost of gasoline, diesel fuel, heating oil, and aviation fuel.

According to American Solutions' research, 73% of the American people agree that with appropriate safeguards to protect the environment, we should drill for oil off America's coasts to reduce our dependence on foreign oil. This belief is so widespread it is supported by a majority of Democrats, Republicans, and independents.

"Our message of 'Drill Here, Drill Now, Pay Less' is clearly resonating with hard-working Americans who are struggling to pay for rising gas prices," said Dave Ryan, American Solutions Executive Director. "The voices of more than 100,000 Americans are demanding that Congress offer real solutions to our energy challenges, and that begins with drilling for oil now."

Sign the Petition Here.


5/31/08 - Petition is now above 225,000 signatures.

Early Word On Michigan and Florida

[Updates below] Second update is the full text of Carl Levin, Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick, Ron Gettelfinger and Debbie Dingell's op-ed as to why they think Michigan MUST be seated.

Sam Stein over at Huffington Post claims to have some early reports about a deal regarding the Florida delegates, saying that they will all be seated according to the primary results, but each will be given half of a vote as penalty for moving the primary forward against the DNC rules.

Michigan is another story and Marc Ambinder is saying that Carl Levin is insisting that Michigan's full delegation be seated or he will take the challenge to the credentials committee when it convenes, "unless the rules and bylaws committee promises to strip Iowa and New Hampshire of their privileged status in 2012.."

This morning's post, just published minutes before I saw this, asked what it truly is that Hillary Clinton wants, go read it, and decide if this will play right into her hands or not?

Whether we, as a country, get to see a full out floor fight at the Democratic National Convention in August, all depends on Hillary Clinton and how far she is willing to take this.

Democratic party leaders can insist they will "step in" all they want, but if Hillary Clinton wishes to appeal to the credentials committee and take it to the convention for an all out floor fight, there is not much that anybody can do to stop her.

Will she go that far or won't she?

That is the $64,000 question!


[Update] Some initial reports about the protesters and what they are saying outside the committee meeting:

"Half Votes in Fla. and Mich.=No Votes in Nov." read one sign. It was not too difficult to get the message: unless there was some compromise at the panel that would permit more than half the delegates from Michigan and Florida to be counted at the national convention this summer (and thus increasing the total number required for Barack Obama to overcome Clinton), the Clinton backers would not be there in November.

When I asked demonstrator and former Clinton campaign staffer Renee Hope of Virginia what she would do if the committee keeps more than half the delegates from Michigan and Florida from voting, she replied: "For the first time in my life, I won't vote for the Democratic nominee. It's not because of Sen. Obama, but because of the disenfranchising of voters."

"Would a compromise satisfy you?" I asked Hope.

"It depends on the compromise," she replied. Hope said that "they should be counting every single vote" and "Michigan voters should not be penalized for what the delegates [she obviously meant the Democratic committee that would decide the two states' votes] do."

"All votes need to be counted," echoed Trudy Mason, a member of the Democratic State Executive Committee from New York who was here for the meeting and demonstration. "In 2000, the Supreme Court stopped the recount in Florida." Diane Weiss of Boca Raton, another Democrat here for the events, chorused: "They [Michigan and Florida Democrats] voted in good conscience. Why should they be disenfranchised?"

In my opinion, what it is going to come down to is not really the decision today, but Clinton's reaction to whatever decision is made.

I say this because if Clinton comes out and gracefully accets whatever the R&B Committee decides, her supporters initial reaction will be mellowed out a bit.

If, on the other hand, Hillary disputes the decision made today, that will make a lasting impression on her supporters and will almost guarantee that many of them will become angered and keep their word about not voting in November OR as some have threatened, vote for McCain.

She does have a certain amount of power to decide whether to take this opportunity to heal the party or fracture it horribly.

What will she choose to do?

[Update #2] Carl Levin, Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick, Ron Gettelfinger and Debbie Dingell's op-ed as to why they think Michigan MUST be seated:

This morning in Washington, D.C., we will present the case for seating Michigan's delegates to the Democratic National Convention to the Rules and Bylaws Committee of the Democratic National Committee.

We have found that when the sequence of events that brought us to this position is known and understood, it affects people's opinion about a wise and fair outcome.

For many years, Michigan Democrats have sought to reform the system where in 9 out of 10 elections our party's nominee for president is selected by the handful of states that hold their primaries and caucuses first.

Our fight to open the process before the 2004 election led to the creation of a Commission on Presidential Nomination Timing and Scheduling. After a year of in-depth study, the commission concluded that there were "serious concerns that Iowa and New Hampshire are not fully reflective of the Democratic electorate or the national electorate generally -- and therefore do not place Democratic candidates before a representative range of voters in the critical early weeks of the process."

For the 2008 presidential nominating process, the DNC adopted the commission's recommendations with a new timing rule that permitted four states to hold their caucus or primary in a specific order -- with New Hampshire coming third -- and no earlier than designated dates between Jan. 14 and Jan. 29.

Michigan was not selected as one of the four early states. While we were disappointed, we appreciated the new rule for adding much-needed diversity to the early nominating process and as a first step toward breaking Iowa's and New Hampshire's disproportionate influence on the process. We agreed that we would abide by the rule provided other states did the same.

But in August 2007, the New Hampshire secretary of state announced he would schedule the state's primary before the date specified in the timing rule.

The DNC selectively enforced its own rule. In December, the Rules and Bylaws Committee voted to give New Hampshire a waiver to move from third to second place in the sequence. Michigan requested a waiver and was denied.

When the committee itself decided not to follow its own rules and granted a waiver to New Hampshire, it set the stage for the current situation.

The question now is how to promptly apportion and seat Michigan's 128 pledged delegates to the Democratic National Convention so we can put all our energy into a productive debate on the real issues at stake in this election.

Our reasoning is as follows: The Jan. 15 primary result was flawed because Sen. Barack Obama took his name off the ballot based on his interpretation of the DNC injunction and his pledge to New Hampshire that he would not campaign in Michigan. The Obama campaign has argued that the primary results should be ignored and the pledged delegates should be apportioned 64/64. The Hillary Rodham Clinton campaign, on the other hand, argues that the votes of 600,000 Democrats in the primary should be honored. Their position is that the pledged delegates should be apportioned 73/55 (Clinton/Obama) in strict accordance with the outcome of the primary.

Both campaigns have some basis for their arguments. At the request of the governor of Michigan, the four of us have worked to find a solution for many months. After determining that no "redo" options were feasible, we recommended that Michigan's 128 pledged delegates be apportioned 69 to Clinton and 59 to Obama, which splits the difference between the positions of the two campaigns. Our proposal was overwhelmingly adopted by the Executive Committee of the Michigan Democratic Party. This is what we will present the rules committee this morning.

Both Clinton and Obama understand that penalizing Michigan would needlessly and pointlessly wound their candidacy. If the DNC penalizes Michigan, it would just keep this delegate sideshow alive, distracting from the real issues in the campaign. It would legitimize the selective enforcement of our party rules, fly in the face of the statements of both candidates that Michigan's delegates should be seated with full voting rights, and penalize our candidates and our party, and ultimately our nation, by weakening our nominee's chances of winning Michigan, a state crucial to winning the White House in November.

Michigan's full delegation must be seated at the Democratic National Convention with full voting rights.

Many feel this will be far from over at the end of this committee meeting and that Clinton will take it to the convention after all is said and done.

Would she really divide the party to that point, taking the chance of fracturing it beyond repair in time for the November elections?



More updates as they come out.

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What Does Hillary Clinton Really Want From The Rules and ByLaws Committee

There has been a lot of talk about how the most powerful people for the Democratic party, at least for the weekend, is the 30 members of the Democratic Rules and ByLaws Committee.

The committee is meeting at the Marriott Wardman Park in Washington.

What exactly does Hillary Clinton want?

These thirty people will decide the fate of 2.3 million Democratic presidential primary votes that were cast in Michigan and Florida, but because the two states (and others) moved their primaries forward, Howard Dean and the Rules and ByLaws committee voted to change the penalties and strip all the delegates from those two states (not the others, thereby making the 2.3 million votes cast, meaningless.

Hillary Clinton won both of the states in the primaries, although in Michigan, Barack Obama had taken his name off the ballot, thinking it wouldn't count.

Today, the Rules and ByLaws Committee is hearing the argumants, deliberating and will render a decision as to what to do about the disenfranchisement of 2.3 million voters. (Something they should have though about when they decided to change the rules and the penalties to begin with).

The options for Florida are to 1) Leave it as is and allow none of the delegates to be seated at the convention. 2)Seat half of the delegates, which would have been the original penalty, before Dean decided to make a power play and try to force Florida and Michigan to change the schedule or 3)Seat all of the delegates and only give them 1/2 a vote or 3/4 of a vote.

Michigan is a harder challenge because hundreds of thousands of people voted for "uncommitted" since their candidate of choice wasn't on the ballot, those uncommitted may have voted for Obama had he not removed his name, or one of the other Democratic candidates that were still in the race at that time but had removed there name.

Also, believing the vote would not count, many people might not even have bothered to vote at all, already feeling they had been disenfranchised.

How do you divide that state when there are so many complications of how to award delegates if the committee is so inclined?

Some have proposed that the state's delegates simply be divided equally, 50/50, yet that again would give Clinton a reason to appeal this decision and force it to the floor of the convention.

Complicating the matter a bit are the hundreds of protesters outside the committee meeting, holding signs saying "count every vote" and other sayings with the same theme. (The protests were discussed previously here)

You can watch the committee for yourself on C-Span live.

What is at stake is the popular vote. Barack Obama is in the lead with delegates. Even with the best case scenario for Clinton at the outcome of the Rules and ByLaws decision, she cannot overtake Obama's delegate lead, although she could make a good dent in it.

Clinton's argument is that if Michigan and Florida count, she will be in the lead with the popular vote. That argument is true enough.

The scene is set, the protesters are there, the arguments have been made, but what does Hillary Clinton really want?

Does she want the R&B Committee to really give Michigan and Florida all of their delegates back, make them all count?

Or does she want a reason to appeal the decision of the committee, so she can take this fight all the way to convention, even though Democratic party leaders have described that scenario as a "train wreck"?

I am seeing predictions outlining the thought process of those who think this is all one elaborate trap set for Obama by Clinton, setting it up so she has a reason to appeal and a reason to take this fight to the convention.

The rules meeting is a trap. Clinton wants the RBC to give Florida and Michigan not the full votes she is fruitlessly advocating for and which would in any case not translate to a win for her but the half-vote compromise she is publicly advocating against. When the committee does award half-votes, she will have cause to extend her campaign through the summer, guaranteeing a divided Convention and possibly killing Democrats' chances of capturing the Oval Office in November (and of preventing pro-life , pro-Imperial Presidency Republicans from replacing the two remaining Democrats on the nine-member Supreme Court).

It's a trap, and the Obama campaign and the Democratic Party are about to walk blindly into it. No one seems to be noticing that -- let alone implementing the equally counterintuitive, Aikido strategy that would stop Clinton's game: letting her have her way tomorrow, 100 percent, so that she lacks grounds to appeal, and Obama, instead, becomes the one holding the "I could appeal!" trump card.

It's a trap. Will Obama and the DNC open their eyes in time?

Interestingly enough, although many thought that after June 3rd, when the remaining primaries would be held, Clinton would be forced to bow out, yet she has extended her traveling press corps schedule through June 6, 2008, which gives further support to the argument that Clinton might just appeal any decision that does not give her 100 percent of the votes counted in Florida and Michigan.

Jay Carson, Clintons campaign spokesperson, when asked about that very subject, said, "There are a lot of places for us to go between June 4 and November."

The issue of disenfranchisement is not only worrying Clinton voters though as one of those protesters outside the Marriott Wardman Park hotel is an Obama supporter, Sharon Clark of Orlando, Florida. She voted for Obama in the primary but wheres a black T-shirt with other members of her group, that says, "This is a Democracy, Be a Democrat."

Even though seating the state's delegates probably would help Clinton, she believed Florida's vote should count especially given the state's spotty history on voting.

"I'm tired of it. I want to go and vote and know my vote is going to count," she said.

With all the players, the stakes being the highest ever and all the complications, the question still remains, what does Hillary Clinton really want?

Does she want the votes to count and be awarded 100 percent according to the primaries, as they were held or does she really want the Rules and ByLaws Committee to split them, disenfranchise them or award them and just give them half of a vote, thereby giving her the strategic "reason" needed to take this fight to the convention floor?

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2 Die From Crane Collapse In New York

It is all over the TV right now and the images are horrendous.

Two people have died as a crane collapsed on the Upper East Side this morning, according to Fox.

Other people have been pulled from the debris and rescue crews continue to look for other possible victims.

Fox 5 Assignment Editor Jonathan Cohen was a block away and heard a large rumbling sound as the crane went down.

He says the crane collapsed onto an existing building across the street and took down at least a half dozen terraces on the inhabited building.

Police say the first calls to 911 came in at about 8 a.m.

On my way to the airport now so I will not be able to update this for a few hours but Malkin has some interesting statistics about these crane accidents and the New York Post has updates as news comes in with more photos of the scene.

Keep refreshing the Post's page for updates today.

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Air America Scam Artist Arrested

Evan Montvel-Cohen, the man that stole from the Gloria Wise Boys & Girls Club in Co-op City,Bronx, to finance the starting costs of starting Air America Radio, was arrested in Guam on Thursday.

Montvel-Cohen was the founder and first chairman of Air America.

He has been indicted in Hawaii for money laundering and theft of $60,000 from a Honolulu landscaping firm.

Montvel-Cohen was released and placed under house arrest after posting a $75,000 personal recognizance bond.

The grand jury indictment charged him with, 1st Degree Theft, Fraudulent Use of Credit Card, Forgery, 2nd Degree Theft, Money Laundering.

Montvel-Cohen, 43, was never charged here, but two other directors at Gloria Wise pleaded guilty to misappropriating $1.2 million, some of which was used for personal expenses for club officials, including cars and home renovations.

The $875,000 was repaid by Air America only after DOI launched a wide-ranging probe into the transfer of city and state funds meant to help children and the elderly in the northeast Bronx.

Cohen was the Director of Development for the Gloria Wise Boys and Girls Clubs, in 2003, when he and business partner Rex Sorensen, CEO of Sorensen Media Group, created Progress Media Inc.

On March 31, 2004, Air America was launched. It was discovered that Cohen had secured part of the money used to found the network by a loan from his employer, the non-profit Gloria Wise Boys and Girls Clubs.

Approved by the board of directors and in the amount of $480,000, it went to Cohen's company Progress Media, then owner of Air America Radio. The Gloria Wise group was a non-profit organization, partially funded by the city of New York, which provided services for children and seniors in the Bronx.

When the funds were transferred, Evan Montvel-Cohen, was still Director of Development for Gloria Wise. This was part of a larger misappropriation of funds by the organization's executives, which saw several of them receiving money from the organization that was in turned used for personal expenditures.

By the time this was revealed, Progress Media Inc. had sold its Air America rights to Piquant LLC (in November 2004), who later agreed to repay Gloria Wise $875,000 worth of the debt, as a condition of the sale.

To escape prosecution, Montvel-Cohen fled to Hawaii, where he allegedly committed the crimes to which he was indicted for there. Then he fled to Guam and he was was returning from the Philippines when the outstanding warrant was discovered.

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Why Obama Can Never Leave His Church

The Obama camp and most of the OBAMA-tanked MSM were confidently chanting the refrain that the Rev. Jeremiah Wright story, and subsequent questions about Obama’s church membership, “Is a dead story”! They said that the story would definitely NOT be an issue in the national election. WRONG!

They may be correct about Jeremiah Wright, because it would appear that Wright was just the obnoxious tip of a very, very deep iceberg. That iceberg has a name: Revolutionary Marxism in the form of wide-spread anti-White racist Black Liberation Theology.

This week brought more unwelcome news to Obama in the form of a White Catholic priest, Michael Pfleger, who was invited once again to deliver last Sunday’s politically charged anti-Hillary – anti-White racist rant at Trinity United Church of Christ.

On May 20^th, Aaron Klein wrote an article in World Net Daily about the investigations of Stanley Kurtz, a National Review Online contributor, and his conclusions after reviewing two years of Rev. Jeremiah Wright's Trumpet Magazine. Here’s was he had to say about Pfleger.

. . .Kurtz found that Wright embraced white preachers who toe the line of Cone and black liberation theology, such as Chicago Catholic pastor Michael Pfleger, identified by Obama himself as a close associate and a source of spiritual guidance to the presidential candidate.

Pfleger, an early supporter of Obama who leads a mostly black parish, has hosted Farrakhan at his parish a number of times, drawing the ire of the Catholic Church. Pfleger also served as a guest lecturer at Obama's Trinity church.

Pfleger has been featured several times in Wright's magazine, including in the June/July 2007 issue reviewed by Kurtz that describes Pfleger as "Afrocentric to the core."

"I got very educated by the [Black] Panthers – very educated," said Pfleger.

The question has been raised as to why TUCC invited Pfleger to incite more racism, which could only be an unwelcome development for Obama. Didn’t Obama’s “wonderful new” pastor have a clue as to what Pfleger might say? Of course he did!

The answer to this riddle will be very plain to see as you continue to read this article. Obama had to be put in his place. The message for Obama is quite clear.

The time is now and you can’t ride to political fame on the back of Black Liberation Theology and then disavow your pastor or distance yourself from this church. We made you! We own you!

The key to understanding this internal battle between Obama and his church lies with his new pastor, Otis Moss III. Young Moss has some very big shoes to fill, and I’m not talking about Wright’s shoes. Young Moss learned his trade at his revolutionary father’s feet. His father, Rev. Otis Moss Jr., is recognized as one of the nation’s foremost Black Liberation Theologians and is strongly connected with the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Obviously, Young Otis wasn’t just groomed by Wright and his “street creds” came straight from his own father. Wright might have higher visibility, but his father has greater credibility within the Black Christian culture.

According to the Weekly Standard:

Moss (himself now considered the most promising young black-liberationist preacher in the country) turned down the opportunity to step into the leadership of his own preacher-father's nationally known church for a chance to serve at the still more renowned Trinity. Wright's Trinity, affirms Moss, is "the most socially conscious African-centered and politically active church in the nation.

Socially conscious is to put it mildly. Young Otis may be handsome and disarmingly charming, but he’s just as vehemently Afro-centric as Wright – even more so.

Read and watch the video in my article, Obama’s New Pastor Worse than Wright? And read, Replacement Obama Pastor Just As Controversial As Wright

So what kind of “street creds” did the young OM get from his dad, and how does he differ from Wright?

1. Young Moss displays a more hip and crafty form of anti-White Black Liberation Theology. He’s been called a hip-hop pastor.

2. He’s demonstrated an ability to weave Afro-centric cultural code, and code words, into Biblical stories by creating new cultural myths sold as “authentic Christianity.”

3. He is the heir apparent to his father’s BLT throne. His father is a kingmaker with loads of liberal and far left political luminaries at his beck and call.

Young Moss’s dad, Reverend Otis Moss Jr., served as co-pastor with the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Sr., at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta. He was a staff member for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and he formerly served as a national board member and trustee for the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Non-Violent Social Change. See the entire Congressional Record-Senate July 17, 2007 for a full bio of Rev. Otis Moss Jr

He was an advisor to former President Jimmy Carter at Camp David and was the special guest of President Bill Clinton at a peace treaty signing between Israel and Jordan in 1994. Former Ohio Governor Richard Celeste awarded Moss the 1983 Governor's Award in Civil Rights, and I had the honor of presenting Reverend Moss with the 1993 Governor's Award in Civil Rights.

According to his bio on the Olivet Institutional Baptist Church, Rev. Otis Moss, Jr., has been pastor of Olivet since 1975.

Reverend Moss, who also was active with SCLC and later, the Rev. Jesse Jackson's Operation PUSH. Reverend Moss also has maintained friendship with the King family. He was four years behind Dr. King at Morehouse College in Atlanta. The strong foundation in the civil rights movement at Olivet continues to manifest itself in the programs and services church leaders support and provide to the community. . .

According to Cleveland’s Fox 8 News:

He is the leader of one of Ohio’s largest black churches, recognized as one of America’s foremost pastors. He has touched the lives of some of today’s most influential people, including Oprah Winfrey and his son is the current pastor of Chicago’s Trinity United Church of Christ.

If you view the Fox 8 video you will see the elder Moss happily showing pictures of himself with MLK .

Additionally Rev. Otis Moss Jr. just happens to be co-chair of Clergy for Obama! See clergy for Obama on Obama’s page.

Now just imagine what would happen within the Black community if Obama tried to dump his church or his new pastor? Not Goanna Happen!!!

I was curious about the elder Otis Moss and what he had to say. Was he anything like Wright? Is he anything like the MLK “white folks know,” or is he more like the MLK that Black Liberation Theology claims as their own? There is a big difference, but most “white folk” haven’t got a clue.

As luck would have it, I found a very enlightening, and very troubling, sermon given in tandem by Dr. Otis Moss Jr. and Rev. Otis Moss, III. Can Moses Generation Meet the Joshua Generation? Now you would have to go to the BLT African American Pulpit to find this hour long sermon. It isn’t on YouTube. But like anything of great value, a little time well invested is worth its weight in gold!

Gold? Yes, the kind of gold we need to expose the depths of BLT Heresy, and its Revolutionary form of anti-Americanism.

The sermon starts out with Biblical readings and then . . .

Rev. Otis Moss Jr. reads to his son, Rev. Otis Moss III, a letter written by Afro-centric Moses to Joshua in the 21^st Century. Afro-centric Moses says that "my Afro-centric heritage has served me well . . .I survived genocide because my mother and my father practiced civil disobedience . . .in spite of the Euro-centric distortions of my African-ness . . .”

The entire gist of the sermon is the creation of a new mythos based on the connection of Africans to Moses and the Israelites who were "kept under of the heavy hand of genocide and slavery 400+ years of bondage.”

The constant refrain throughout the sermon is to never forget the past, and the obvious implication is to never forget that Africans are the oppressed – and, most of all, to never forget who the oppressors are!

Pharaoh prepared a grave for Moses . . .a death chamber for Moses was born under the heavy hand of a holocaust. This was not kept from his historic memory therefore Moses was not blinded by the hospitality of the house of Pharaoh . . .a hospitality that gave him ruby , diamonds , silver, gold and a designer’s wardrobe . . .All oppressors have a treasure chest of temptations and a wardrobe of hospitality. There are inducements to make us ignore and even despise the oppressed and admire the oppressor . . .

Here is how the Mosses sell Black Liberation Theology as the true Christian Theology:

Where there is a bad theology there is bound to be a troubling sociology . . .religion can become evil . . religion becomes evil when religion is infected by a bad theology that creates a bad sociology . . .creating an evil economic system . . . and this conspiracy throws children into the river.

Otis Moss Jr. said later in the sermon:

The challenge of the Joshua – a post liberation and a pre-promised child – a dangerous theological motif . . .We must resist the temptation to build ministries focused only on Promisland theology – possession yes, but with the inclusion of liberation - Promise theology removed from liberation becomes a market-driven theology . . .

There you have it! Christian theology is not about the promise of salvation through Jesus and God’s Heavenly Kingdom as much as it is about political revolution in there here and now. It’s really all about salvation through sociology and overcoming an evil economic system. Political revolution cleverly disguised as religion!

A curious part of the sermon was a little “mythic tale of truth” about “misplaced trans-Atlantic Africans” . . ."the story of the people who could fly" . . ."mislabeled slaves” who ask . . ."is it time preacher?” . . .

Here’s the curious answer:

In order for the Joshua generation to fly there must be a Moses word in them – if you want to take flight. . .That word is an ancient West African word: Koliba. . . We are called to bring this word: Koliba

What exactly is Koliba? That’s something that the Mosses and their congregation may know, but it surely isn’t intended for White ears. Near the end of the sermon Otis Moss III said,

"There’s another Koliba and his name is Jesus . . . "

What could he have meant?

Then the entire congregation rhythmically chanted the word “Koliba,” as they held up their right arms with palms facing out in what looked the Sieg Heil salute.The congregation appeared to be enraptured. It was chilling.

The similarities to how Hitler created a national religion based upon the ancient Aryan cultural mythos cannot be ignored.

As I continue to explore the possible meanings and connections to “Koliba,” I will return to this sermon again and again because there is much more there that that should raise many an eyebrow.

The time is short. We must dare to enter into those spaces where we have never been welcome to discern what exactly is going on inside of many Black churches today. Obama and his camp are desperately hoping that we won’t dare!

The Mosses and Wright’s church are chanting the mysterious West African word “Koliba.”

They believe that “The time is now!” And if Obama loses, so what? If that happens, their Marxist anti-White racism will reach new heights.

Black Liberation Theology cannot survive in a color-blind America!

Are We Sending a Message to the World, Or Are We Electing a President?

"...the fact that he is a candidate for the presidency makes me extremely proud to be an American. When I travel abroad, no one can criticize the US for being racist, as in any other country, no such candidacy would be possible."

Recent Radarsite comment

We do not elect a President of the United States to send a message, or to make a point, or to prove to the world that we are not racists. We elect a president to preside. To steer this great vulnerable country through these perilous waters.

There are many among us who have unwittingly bought into the false premise that all of the existential threats we face in this turbulent world are of our own making. These problems are not evidence of our real enemies evil intentions, but rather the results of our own inherent racism and prejudice. And they will proudly cast their vote for Barack Hussein Obama merely to prove to themselves and to the world that they are not racists.

Does it matter that Barack Hussein Obama is at least partially black? Yes, tremendously. Not to us, but to Barack Hussein Obama. It is the very essence of his being, the banner of his Crusade. Without the 'race issue', Barack Obama would be just another politician. It is his focus and his justification. And, if we are not careful it will become ours.

The above excerpt is from an earlier Radarsite article; but somehow I fear this message is still not getting through. I fear that many among us will still go to the polls this November more concerned for the world's approval than for our own survival; using their precious ballots to make a statement on behalf of universal understanding and tolerance.

My friends, we do not owe this world any explanations or apologies for our treatment of our citizens. Half the world would sell their bodies and their souls to come here. We have to build great walls and fences to try to keep them out.

The United States of America is the closest thing this world has ever known to a true meritocracy. In America, more than in any other country on this planet, merit trumps race and gender and social background. I should think that the two major Democratic presidential contestants have more than adequately proven this point.

The only thing America owes this world is to continue being America; to continue being the symbol of hope and justice which she most surely is. - rg

Cross posted from Radarsite
http://radarsite.blogspot.com/2008/05/are-we-sending-message-to-world-or.html

Nancy Pelosi Credits Success In Iraq to IRAN!!!!

I actually thought I was misreading it and had to read it four or five times more.

While Nancy Pelosi was in Iraq she admitted the sure had produced progress and now that she is back in the US, she is crediting.....IRAN... with the surges success.

Not our brave troops, Not General Petraeus and his counterinsurgency strategy, not the brave Iraqi security forces that have busted butt to learn and protect their home and not the Iraqi people that have turned against al-Qaeda...nope... IRAN.

Funny that many of said she would try to find some way to backtrack from her previous remarks:

Pelosi, a top Democratic critic of the U.S.-led war in Iraq, expressed confidence that expected provincial elections will promote national reconciliation.

She welcomed Iraq's progress in passing a budget as well as oil legislation, and a bill paving the way for the provincial elections in the fall that are expected to more equitably redistribute power among local officials.

"We're assured the elections will happen here, they will be transparent, they will be inclusive and they will take Iraq closer to the reconciliation we all want it to have," said Pelosi. She also met with Iraq's parliament speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani, U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker and Gen. David Petraeus, the top American commander in Iraq.

At the time, I pointed readers towards Hot Air's Ed Morrisey, who said:

Let’s see. Iraqi Army taking control of national security — check. Maliki building support from Sunnis and Kurds — check. Congressional benchmarks for provincial elections, de-Baathification reform, oil revenue distribution, and general national reconciliation being met — check.

And Nancy Pelosi acknowledging all of these signs of the surge’s success … checkmate.

He also suspected that Pelosi's tune might change once she gets back on American soil, so he saved that AP piece in it's entirety.

Now, in an 80-minute interview she says:

Well, the purpose of the surge was to provide a secure space, a time for the political change to occur to accomplish the reconciliation. That didn’t happen. Whatever the military success, and progress that may have been made, the surge didn’t accomplish its goal. And some of the success of the surge is that the goodwill of the Iranians-they decided in Basra when the fighting would end, they negotiated that cessation of hostilities-the Iranians.

Yes the people that have been sending weapons over to Iraq to kill our soldiers, weapons that were marked as manufactured, where????? That is right, IRAN.

That is who Granny Nan thinks credit should be given to.

Commentary Magazine speaks to this issue perfectly:

This is an inexcusable slander. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki brought the Sadrists militias to their knees in a month-long battle that enabled Iraq’s largest Sunni bloc to rejoin the government. Furthermore, when Pelosi met with Prime Minister al-Maliki in Mosul she sang quite a different tune. She had “welcomed Iraq’s progress in passing a budget as well as oil legislation, and a bill paving the way for the provincial elections in the fall that are expected to more equitably redistribute power among local officials,” and stated, “We’re assured the elections will happen here, they will be transparent, they will be inclusive and they will take Iraq closer to the reconciliation we all want it to have.”

Discounting the success of the American military, denying the accomplishments of U.S. allies, and giving the credit to our most dangerous enemies seems like an especially productive week for a Democrat on Capitol Hill. After Nancy Pelosi’s post-Iraq hat trick, there’s really no need for Barack Obama to make this trip after all.

ACE has some more examples of the type of "goodwill" Iran has shown:

Will she also thank Al Qaeda for scaling back its beheadings and bombings?

You have to see the picture Ace has up with this as the caption:

Nancy Pelosi proudly declares Iran has agreed to a 25% reduction in the terror-bomb murdering of our troops. She says she hopes that further "goodwill" from Iran might result in 33% reductions in the "near furture." ""With further careful diplomacy," she says, "it could be that only 15-25 American troops are being murdered by our Iranian friends per month."

I have heard sheer stupidity out of Nancy Pelosi before but this takes the cake and the only silver lining here is that she proved all of us that said she would find a way to slam our troops and take any credit away from the courageous work THEY have done and THEIR accomplishments.

She continues to prove us right as well as showing her ignorance.

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Court Rules Texas Must Return FLDS Children: Ruling Added.

[Update] PDF file of the ruling added below.

A quickie because I am preparing for my son's visit.

The Texas Supreme Court said in an unsigned opinion that Child Protective Services’ removal of children was “not warranted,” and that the agency had “failed to attempt legal steps, short of taking custody, to protect the children.”

The Supreme Court said that state District Court Judge Barbara Walther of San Angelo still has tools at her disposal to protect kids, even if she releases all of the more than 450 children.

The high court pointed to laws allowing her to issue orders to prohibit a child from being removed from a specific geographic area and force “removal of an alleged perpetrator from the child’s home.” Concealing a child or fleeing to thwart a child-abuse investigation also is illegal, the court’s opinion said.

More here.

[Update] PDF of the ruling here.


Texas Supreme Court Ruling-FLDS Children - Get more Legal Forms

FULL SCREEN LINK HERE.

Last two pages give some relief to the State to try to secure the safety of the children, short of removing them without further evidence:

The Department petitioned this Court for review by mandamus. Having carefully examined the testimony at the adversary hearing and the other evidence before us, we are not inclined to disturb the court of appeals’ decision. On the record before us, removal of the children was not warranted.

The Department argues without explanation that the court of appeals’ decision leaves the Department unable to protect the children’s safety, but the Family Code gives the district court broad authority to protect children short of separating them from their parents and placing them in foster care. The court may make and modify temporary orders “for the safety and welfare of the child”, including an order “restraining a party from removing the child beyond a geographical area identified by the court”. The court may also order the removal of an alleged perpetrator from the child’s home6 and may issue orders to assist the Department in its investigation. The Code prohibits interference with an investigation, and a person who relocates a residence or conceals a child with the intent to interfere with an investigation commits an offense.

While the district court must vacate the current temporary custody orders as directed by the court of appeals, it need not do so without granting other appropriate relief to protect the children, as the mothers involved in this proceeding concede in response to the Department’s motion for emergency relief. The court of appeals’ decision does not conclude the SAPCR proceedings.

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'Nuclear Jihad, The Ultimate Terror'

When does Free Speech become the unmitigated right to spread enemy propaganda begin?

Recently Senator Joseph Lieberman called on Google's YouTube to remove videos produced by al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups, showing attacks on U.S. soldiers and civilians. YouTube removed some videos, but refused to remove others, citing "free speech."

You can read about that here.

Today we see YouTube being used by al-Qaeda supporters for the very same purpose, which is to promote the Jihadists agenda and encourage attacks against "westerners".

Headlines soared about a new video of al-Qaeda calling for “biological, chemical and nuclear weapons to attack the West", yet intelligence agencies soon dismissed those stories because the video was not from al-Qaeda, it was produced by Jihadist wannabe

Part 1 of 4 shows the video starting with the words "Nuclear Jihad, The Ultimate Terror" being the first things seen, words written on top of an image of a nuclear explosion, then it goes on to splice together old footage of photos of the Koran, dead burned bodies, men in biohazard suits and more along those specific themes.

All four videos are much of the same and originally the word of these videos that were to be released caused the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation to send bulletins to 18,000 law enforcement agencies across the country as a precautionary measure.

Both the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security asserted that they had no specific evidence of an imminent threat.

ABC spoke to Ben Venzke who is the CEO of IntelCenter who said, "Supporter videos are made by fans or supporters who may not have ever had any contact with a real terrorist. These videos almost always are comprised of old video footage that is edited together to make a new video."

He explicitly states that these videos are not an official al-Qaeda video and adds, "Considering them so would be the equivalent of considering a 10-year-old's homemade fan video of his favorite sports team to be an official team message."

After watching the videos myself it seems his analysis is spot on. Perhaps not a ten year old, but definitely an al-Qaeda wannabe.

The chatter about the release of this video was given credence to begin with because there have been four releases of Bin Laden videos and/or audio messages this year and this comes on the heels of the last two.

Word of al-Qeada videos are usually released via private message boards and affiliated public sites and many different anti-terror organizations monitor these sites to gather intelligence of what al-Qaeda supporters are planning, what is being talked about and because the al-Qaeda network includes using those sites as a way to spread information to their supporters.

As FBI director Robert Mueller puts it, "there is a difference between al Qaeda's ability to communicate internally and al Qaeda's ability to post a message on the Internet. As we all know, the Internet is so broad. The access is absolutely open that just about anybody can post material on the Internet."

al-Qaeda and their supporters use of the Internet has been known for quite some time now, we have seen bomb making guides, guides posted online to train people on "How to Kidnap Americans", as well guides on how to use popular US web forums to foster anti-war sentiment.

"Raiding American Forums is Among the Most Important Means of Obtaining Victory in the Fierce Media War… and of Influencing the Views of the Weak-Minded American"

They understand that by using the media and Internet to spread their propaganda that they can influence people to think exactly what they want them to think. Our media knows this and continues to work with them.

If you doubt this, than try to explain CNN's use of a video that they admit they received from terrorists to be shown to the American people and CNN's complicity by airing that video exactly as instructed by those same terrorists, then to make matters worse, CNN then offered that sniper video on their on demand channel.

(Screen shot of CNN offering, for payment, video of terrorist sniper shooting US Soldier.)

To top it off, the majority of these websites that offer these guides, videos and training manuals are hosted in the US and Canada.

The study said Islamic Jihad operates 15 websites in Arabic and English, hosted by both US and Canadian companies. Hamas operates 20 websites in eight languages, a portion of which are based in the US and Canada, while Hezbollah operates 20 websites, also hosted by companies in the US and Canada.

These findings were presented in Berlin to a closed audience of high-ranking NATO representatives in February.

Many have been shut down, but the nature of the Internet allows for them to spring right back up within minutes.

This now brings us full circle back to the question of whether al-Qeada videos or those of al-Qaeda supporters encouraging nuclear, WMD attacks upon westerners, should be considered "free speech" and offered on YouTube as these latest four have been allowed to be?

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Personal Note-Mini Vacation

Posting at Wake up America will be slow over the next few days and most of the content will probably be from contributors that have the time to do so although I will personally be writing what I can in the early mornings.

My 25 year old kidlet will be visiting and I will be spending the majority of my time with him.

Now, back to regularly scheduled programming.....................

Hillary Clinton's Letter To The Superdelegates

First let us start with Hillary Clinton's letter to the superdelegates, then we will touch on her stump speech and some polls, that DO seem to support her analysis and may give people a better idea why she refuses to give up and bow out of the race against Barack Obama.

Dear ___________,

The stakes in this election are so high: with two wars abroad, our economy in crisis here at home, and so many families struggling across America, the need for new leadership has never been greater.

At this point, we do not yet have a nominee – and when the last votes are cast on June 3, neither Senator Obama nor I will have secured the nomination. It will be up to automatic delegates like you to help choose our party’s nominee, and I would like to tell you why I believe I am the stronger candidate against Senator McCain and would be the best President and Commander in Chief.

Voters in every state have made it clear that they want to be heard and counted as part of this historic race. And as we reach the end of the primary season, more than 17 million people have supported me in my effort to become the Democratic nominee – more people than have ever voted for a potential nominee in the history of our party. In the past two weeks alone, record numbers of voters participated in the West Virginia and Kentucky primaries. And with 40 and 35 point margins of victory, it is clear that even when voters are repeatedly told this race is over, they’re not giving up on me – and I am not giving up on them either.

After seven years of feeling invisible to the Bush administration, Americans are seeking a President who is strong, experienced, and ready to take on our toughest challenges, from serving as Commander in Chief and ending the war in Iraq to turning our economy around. They want a President who shares their core beliefs about our country and its future and “gets” what they go through every day to care for their families, pay the bills and try to put something away for the future.

We simply cannot afford another four – or eight – years in the wilderness. That is why, everywhere I go, people come up to me, grip my hand or arm, and urge me to keep on running. That is why I continue in this race: because I believe I am best prepared to lead this country as President – and best prepared to put together a broad coalition of voters to break the lock Republicans have had on the electoral map and beat Senator McCain in November.

Recent polls and election results show a clear trend: I am ahead in states that have been critical to victory in the past two elections. From Ohio, to Pennsylvania, to West Virginia and beyond, the results of recent primaries in battleground states show that I have strong support from the regions and demographics Democrats need to take back the White House. I am also currently ahead of Senator McCain in Gallup national tracking polls, while Senator Obama is behind him. And nearly all independent analyses show that I am in a stronger position to win the Electoral College, primarily because I lead Senator McCain in Florida and Ohio. I’ve enclosed a detailed analysis of recent electoral and polling information, and I hope you will take some time to review it carefully.

In addition, when the primaries are finished, I expect to lead in the popular vote and in delegates earned through primaries. Ultimately, the point of our primary process is to pick our strongest nominee – the one who would be the best President and Commander in Chief, who has the greatest support from members of our party, and who is most likely to win in November. So I hope you will consider not just the strength of the coalition backing me, but also that more people will have cast their votes for me.

I am in this race for them — for all the men and women I meet who wake up every day and work hard to make a difference for their families. People who deserve a shot at the American dream – the chance to save for college, a home and retirement; to afford quality health care for their families; to fill the gas tank and buy the groceries with a little left over each month.

I am in this race for all the women in their nineties who’ve told me they were born before women could vote, and they want to live to see a woman in the White House. For all the women who are energized for the first time, and voting for the first time. For the little girls – and little boys – whose parents lift them onto their shoulders at our rallies, and whisper in their ears, “See, you can be anything you want to be.” As the first woman ever to be in this position, I believe I have a responsibility to them.

Finally, I am in this race because I believe staying in this race will help unite the Democratic Party. I believe that if Senator Obama and I both make our case – and all Democrats have the chance to make their voices heard – everyone will be more likely to rally around the nominee.

In the end, I am committed to unifying this party. What Senator Obama and I share is so much greater than our differences; and no matter who wins this nomination, I will do everything I can to bring us together and move us forward.

But at this point, neither of us has crossed the finish line. I hope that in the time remaining, you will think hard about which candidate has the best chance to lead our party to victory in November. I hope you will consider the results of the recent primaries and what they tell us about the mindset of voters in the key battleground states. I hope you will think about the broad and winning coalition of voters I have built. And most important, I hope you will think about who is ready to stand on that stage with Senator McCain, fight for the deepest principles of our party, and lead our country forward into this new century.

Clinton's stump speech in Montana, making the case that she believes she is the strongest candidate to go up against John McCain in November. (YouTube URL here for those getting this via the email subscription.



Now, where Clinton is coming from when she says in her letter, "I believe I am best prepared to lead this country as President – and best prepared to put together a broad coalition of voters to break the lock Republicans have had on the electoral map and beat Senator McCain in November.

Recent polls and election results show a clear trend: I am ahead in states that have been critical to victory in the past two elections. From Ohio, to Pennsylvania, to West Virginia and beyond, the results of recent primaries in battleground states show that I have strong support from the regions and demographics Democrats need to take back the White House. I am also currently ahead of Senator McCain in Gallup national tracking polls, while Senator Obama is behind him. And nearly all independent analyses show that I am in a stronger position to win the Electoral College, primarily because I lead Senator McCain in Florida and Ohio. I’ve enclosed a detailed analysis of recent electoral and polling information, and I hope you will take some time to review it carefully."

Electoral votes don't count until the November election but she has a point that according to the electoral map, she is doing much better in states with more electoral votes that Obama is, then again, after a Democratic nominee is finally chosen once and for all, those numbers will be more accurate.

The meat and potatoes of her argument though about the Polling, is represented in the latest Gallup poll which shows that she is correct, she does better against McCain in the polls for the 20 states that she has won the primaries.

In the 20 states where Hillary Clinton has claimed victory in the 2008 Democratic primary and caucus elections (winning the popular vote), she has led John McCain in Gallup Poll Daily trial heats for the general election over the past two weeks of Gallup Poll Daily tracking by 50% to 43%. In those same states, Barack Obama is about tied with McCain among national registered voters, 45% to 46%.

In the 28 states that Obama has won in the primaries against Clinton, they both are matched up evenly with McCain.

In contrast, in the 28 states and the District of Columbia where Obama has won a higher share of the popular vote against Clinton in the 2008 Democratic primaries and caucuses, there is essentially no difference in how Obama and Clinton each fare against McCain. Both Democrats are statistically tied with him for the fall election.

This is all information that the superdelegates should be taking into consideration but seem not to be.

(Note that the findings with Michigan and Florida data removed are virtually identical to those shown above. Clinton performs five percentage points better than Obama versus McCain in the states she has won (51% vs. 46%), excluding Michigan and Florida; Obama has virtually no advantage over Clinton versus McCain in the states he has won.)

The ultimate question, even though Obama supporters do not like it, is, who do the superdelegates think can win the election against McCain and the bottom line, even though unpopular, is that Clinton IS the stronger candidate against John McCain.

More from Gallup:

As the Gallup analysis shows, Clinton is currently running ahead of McCain in the 20 states where she has prevailed in the popular vote, while Obama is tied with McCain in those same states. Thus, at this stage in the race (before the general-election campaigns have fully engaged), there is some support for her argument that her primary states indicate she would be stronger than Obama in the general election.

The same cannot be said for Obama in the 28 states and D.C. where he prevailed in the popular vote. As of now, in those states, he is performing no better than Clinton is in general-election trial heats versus McCain. Thus, the principle of greater primary strength translating into greater general-election strength -- while apparently operative for the states Clinton has won -- does not seem to apply at the moment to states Obama has won.

The problem for the Democratic party at this point, is that the realization is much too late to do anything about it.

Read the whole Gallup poll, then reread Clinton's letter to the superdelegates.... it seems that despite the fact that Clinton holds almost no chance of winning the Democratic nod to become the candidate to go up against McCain, she also might be the only candidate who could have won.

Other Gallup findings in their Gallup Daily:

Clinton vs Mccain.



Obama vs McCain:



(CLICK ON GRAPHS TO ENLARGE)

John McCain and Barack Obama are now virtually tied at 46% to 45% when registered voters nationally are asked for whom they would vote next November if these were the two presidential nominees, while Hillary Clinton maintains a 48% to 44% margin over McCain in a hypothetical Clinton-McCain matchup.

Obama will win the nomination and come November, if John McCain wins the presidential election, Hillary Clinton will spend the next four years saying "I told you so".

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Lawsuit Against DNC Over Florida Delegates Thrown Out Of Court

The Florida court threw out the lawsuit. Geller will Appeal to the Supreme Court.

As was previously reported at Wake Up America, Senate Democratic Leader Steve Geller, along with two other Democrats, have filed a suit in Florida to force the DNC to seat the delegates, claiming that stripping Florida of those delegates is in violation of the Voting Rights Act which prohibits any national party from stripping a state's delegates.

News just came out that the Florida court has thrown that lawsuit out and the litigants, Geller and the other two Democrats plan on appealing it to the United States Supreme Court.

Political consultant Victor DiMaio and his lawyer Michael Steinberg had compared the party's decision to earlier prohibitions against allowing African-Americans to vote and invoked the trauma of the Florida recount in the 2000 contest between Al Gore and George W. Bush, both arguments also used by Hillary Clinton to support the seating of the state’s delegates.

DiMaio says, "This is nuts. This is not right. How can they remove Florida after all the things that Florida has suffered through– hanging chads, through Bush v Gore, and they're sticking it to us again."


This is the second lawsuit that has been discarded by the Florida courts in the case of the Florida delegates and it is a stunning blow to the Clinton campaign, which has not yet commented on this recent decision.

Next stop on this wild roller coaster ride of a campaign is the DNC Rules and ByLaws Committee meeting on May 31, 2008, which promises to be a media circus, rife with rallies, protests, pickets and marches from many organizations.

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RNC Launches Online Clock Counting Days Since Obama's Last Visit to Iraq

Republican National Committee (RNC) has launched a full frontal assault on who they consider the presumed nominee for the Democratic candidacy for president will be...Barack Obama.

The issue- IRAQ.

One the front page of the GOP.com website, you will see the words "Days Since Barack Obama Visited Iraq: 871 (That number will presumably change each and every day until Obama actually visits Iraq to see the situation as it is now)

John McCain has thrown down his own challenge to Obama by suggesting they both go to Iraq to see the conditions on the ground.

"Look at what happened in the last two years since Senator Obama visited and declared the war lost," the GOP presidential nominee-in-waiting told The Associated Press in an interview, noting that the Illinois senator's last trip to Iraq came before the military buildup that is credited with curbing violence.

"He really has no experience or knowledge or judgment about the issue of Iraq and he has wanted to surrender for a long time," the Arizona senator added. "If there was any other issue before the American people, and you hadn't had anything to do with it in a couple of years, I think the American people would judge that very harshly."

[...]

Over the weekend, Sen. Lindsey Graham, one of McCain's top surrogates, laid the groundwork for McCain's criticism in a television interview in which he noted Obama's absence from Iraq and floated the idea that Obama and McCain should go together to be briefed by Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

Asked whether he'd be willing to take such a trip, McCain told the AP: "Sure. It would be fine."

"I go back every few months because things are changing in Iraq," he said. McCain questioned whether Obama has ever been briefed by Petraeus. "I would also seize that opportunity to educate Senator Obama along the way."

I did a piece here at Wake up America when Vets For Freedom asked the question and produced an advertisement asking why Barack Obama would meet with leaders of terror states but refused to meet with our own war veterans and refused to be briefed by General Petraeus about conditions on the ground.

Senator Obama: Talk to Commanders or Meet with Dictators?

Yesterday, General Petraeus was back on Capitol Hill to testify before Congress. Senator Barack Obama was there too, but not for long. He stayed in the committee meeting long enough to ask one question, before ducking out to head back to the campaign trail. This wouldn't normally be a big deal, except ...

Senator Obama has never sat down, one-on-one, with General Petraeus. Even worse, he hasn't visited Iraq, and our brave troops on the ground, in over two years. And on April 8, when two-dozen Illinois veterans went to his office for a meeting, Senator Obama was unwilling to meet with them. He was in his office, just wouldn't come out.

Back to the RNC website, we see they are asking the very same questions:

Why Does Obama Readily Agree To One-On-One Negotiations With Ahmadinejad, But Decline One-On-One Briefings With Our Military Leaders?

WASHINGTON – RNC Chairman Robert M. “Mike” Duncan released the following statement today:

“Barack Obama has only visited Iraq once – and that was 871 days ago. Despite lacking the experience and leadership to be Commander-in-Chief, Obama has done shockingly little to educate himself firsthand about the war in Iraq. Instead, he displays an arrogant certainty gained on the campaign trail. How would Obama make informed judgments in the future when he has not seen the situation in Iraq since the surge began? Why does Obama readily agree to one-on-one negotiations with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, but decline one-on-one briefings in Baghdad with our military leaders? Obama’s failure to visit Iraq, listen and learn firsthand, and witness the surge’s progress demonstrates weak leadership that disqualifies him from being Commander in Chief.”

They go on to list the progress that has been seen in Iraq, which Barack obama refuses to go see for himself:

The Military Has Recently Achieved Notable Progress In Iraq:

Levels Of Violence In Iraq Are The Lowest They’ve Been In Four Years. “U.S. and Iraqi military officials said violence in Iraq has decreased significantly in recent weeks to levels not seen in four years. … A significant difference the drop in violence announced Sunday: It came following concerted efforts by Iraqi security forces backed up by American and allied firepower -- not the other way around, as has been mostly the case in the five-year Iraq war.” (Gina Chon, “Violence In Iraq Reaches 4-Year Low, Military Says,” The Wall Street Journal, 5/26/08)

The Area Known As The “Triangle Of Death” Has Become “A Showcase For What The U.S. Military Hoped To Achieve In Iraq.” “When the Fort Stewart-based 3rd Infantry Division arrived in Iraq's once infamous ‘Triangle of Death,’ violence there and in neighboring Baghdad was so intense that hundreds were dying every day and the country was virtually in a state of civil war. Now as the division heads home at the end of May, the region stretching south from Baghdad and across central Iraq has become a showcase for what the U.S. military hoped to achieve in Iraq.” (Patrick Quinn, “US Military Makes Progress In Iraq's ‘Triangle Of Death,’” The Associated Press, 5/28/08)

• Sunni Fighters In The Triangle Of Death Have Been “Effectively Shut…Down.” “Sunni fighters who swarmed the area are also nearly gone. They have either been killed, or co-opted into Awakening Councils, said Lt. Col. William Zemp, commander of the 3rd Battalion, 320th Field Artillery Regiment based in nearby Mahmoudiya. ‘It was a place where they could consolidate, make plans and be put into action,’ Zemp said. ‘We have effectively shut that down.’” (Patrick Quinn, “US Military Makes Progress In Iraq's ‘Triangle Of Death,’” The Associated Press, 5/28/08)

3,500 Troops Are Returning Home From Iraq Shortly, With More Troop Reductions Expected In The Fall As Conditions Improve. “About 3,500 American soldiers are scheduled to leave Iraq in the coming weeks, the U.S. military announced, part of a plan to reduce the number of troops who were part of last year's ‘surge’ by 20,000. … ‘The continued drawdown of surge brigades demonstrates continued progress in Iraq,’ Brig. Gen. Dan Allyn said in the statement released late Monday.” (Bradley Brooks, “US Military: 3,500 US Troops Set To Leave Iraq,” The Associated Press, 5/6/08)

• “Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, The Top U.S. Military Commander In Iraq, On Thursday Gave Congress A Markedly More Upbeat Assessment Of The War Than He Did Six Weeks Ago, Saying Violence Has Hit A Four-Year Low And Further Troop Reductions Are Likely In The Fall.” (Peter Spiegel and Julian E. Barnes, “Fall Troop Cuts Likely, Petraeus Says,” Los Angeles Times, 5/23/08)

The full frontal assault has begun and this is but the beginning.

More from The Corner, The Campaign Spot, RedState and The American Mind.

What is Obama so scared to see in Iraq? Is he so invested in defeat that the conditions on the ground and the progress being seen is that frightening to him?

I guess his answer gives us our answer.

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Protests and Rallies Planned for Saturday's DNC Rules and ByLaws Meeting over Michigan and Florida- Media Circus Expected

(YouTube URL for video above, found here. Must see)

This Saturday the Rules & ByLaws Committee is expected to meet to figure out what to do about Michigan and Florida delegates. There are rallies and protests planned for the day and it is expected to be a media circus.

The stakes are high and The Democratic leaders are worried about a potential party meltdown if they do not do something about seating the Florida and Michigan delegates.

The Situation Facing The Rules & ByLaws Committee on Saturday.

Florida and Michigan, as well as multiple other states, moved their primaries forward against the Democratic National Committees (DNC) rules. The original penalty for doing so was to have half of their delegates stripped from them.

To try to reign back in control of the process, Howard Dean, chairman of the DNC and the Rules & ByLaws Committee, voted to penalize Michigan and Florida more harshly than the other states that had moved their primaries forward. The new penalty was to strip all of the delegates from Michigan and Florida but not the other states that held then early.

Florida lawmakers have filed a suit against the DNC, claiming they were in violation of the Voting Rights Act, which prohibits any national party from stripping a state's delegates and multiple groups from Michigan and Florida will be attending and holding rallies at the Saturday meeting.

Making matters worse for Michigan than for Florida, Barack Obama had his name removed from the Michigan ballot and Hillary Clinton did not, although both candidates agreed not to campaign in either state before the primaries were held.

This gave Hillary Clinton and automatic win in Michigan.

In Florida, both candidates names were on the ballot and Hillary Clinton won by a large margin.

If the process were not complicated enough, Barack Obama leads the party in delegates and popular vote without Michigan and Florida counted but if Michigan and Florida were to be counted it would boost Hillary Clinton in delegates and she would be ahead in the popular vote, according to Real Clear Politics popular vote count.

The Saturday Committee Meeting.

The interest shown in the upcoming meeting on Saturday has been overwhelming, as evidenced by the fact that there were approximately 500 seats available to the public for the R&B Committee meeting and within 3 to 4 minutes of going online Tuesday, all seats were taken.

According to DNC Lawyers, the R&B Committee has the power to seat at least half the delegates from both states, which would have been the original penalty had they not voted to stiffen the penalty to begin with, but they claim they do not have the power to fully restore all delegates from both states.

The DNC analysis does not make recommendations for how the Rules and Bylaws Committee should vote, but gives context from the party's charter and bylaws for the committee to consider.

The analysis said there are two options to include half the delegations — either allow half the number of delegates from each state into the convention or allow the full delegations to attend, but give them each half a vote. "The rule does not actually specify whether the reduction is to be accomplished on the basis of delegate positions or delegate votes," the analysis said, giving committee members some justification for sending the entire delegations with half-votes as some leaders in the states want.

Either of those options still leaves the glaring problem of how to divide the delegates for Michigan, since Barack Obama had his name removed from the ballot.

The Potential Trainwreck.

Adding another complication to the mix, if either Clinton or Obama are unhappy with the outcome of the R&B Committee meeting then the issue would have to be brought up before the 186-member Credentials Committee, which will convene in July or August.

And if that happens, the party will be presented with a possible train wreck: Whatever the Credentials Committee decides will have to be voted on by the Convention in late August as its first order of business. And this could create what the media might love but the party dreads: a floor fight in Denver.

This R&B Committee meeting is further complicated by the agendas of all those involved.

Clinton needs Florida and Michigan to count to gain ground on Obama.

Obama would see his delegate lead diminish somewhat if Florida and Michigan did count and he would see his popular vote become her popular vote.

The R&B Committee is all about rules, even those they changed in midstream as they did by stripping all of the delegates instead of leaving the penalties as they were originally stated, which means if they decide to give half the delegates back, all of this controversy would have been for nothing.

Rallies and Protests on Saturday, May 31, 2008.

Dan Fowler who is a committee member and a Clinton supporter says, "I am told the place [the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel in Washington] is going to be packed with supporters of the two campaigns. I have a great apprehension that we are going to look like a bunch of people who can only holler and scream and can’t do what is right for the party.”

Then we have the people from Florida, who have been sending Florida oranges and shoes to the members in protest of being "disenfranchised" and having their votes not count and Michigan, who has been mounting public campaigns to have their votes counted as well.

The meeting itself will be held at the Marriot Wardman Park hotel in Washington, D.C., and the 30 members of the R&B Committee have reserved rooms there because they expect the meeting to possibly carry over into Sunday while they hash out this issue.

One of the groups that will be there is Women Count which is a recently formed political action committee. They have taken out ads at USA Today and the New York Times to encourage people to attend the "Count Every Vote Rally" on May 31, 2008 at the Marriot Wardman Park hotel. (See ad here)

The rally is to demand that the DNC count "the ballots of the 2.4 million voters in Michigan and Florida".

Their website, which is a group that supports Clinton, has stated as their goal:

WomenCount PAC was created to ensure that the 51 percent of American citizens who are women have their values and votes counted in the political process.

Joining the WomenCountPac will be Count Every Vote '08. A spokeswoman for that group, Karen Feldman, says, "Recent presidential elections have taught us how important it is to ensure that every vote cast in this country is counted. It is a foundational principle of our American democracy. The feeling that we have somehow lost control of our political process is growing -- and people are demanding that this basic principle be realized and restored."

Another group that will be there in force is "Walk A Mile In Our Shoes", and they have been sending Florida oranges and shoes to the committee to protest their votes not being counted, saying they are being disenfranchised.

They are promoted by Florida Demands Representation which will be busing people to Saturday's rally outside the meeting.

A spokesman for that group says the group, as a whole, is unaligned with either candidate, their sole purpose is to have every vote count.

There will also be a group which headlines their website as "Hillary Rapid Responders", that will be rallying on the 31st, from 7am until 4pm, outside the Marriott-Wardman Park Hotel, 2660 Woodley Rd, NW in Washington D.C.

Next we have "Votergate 08 Unleased", who are planning what they call a DNC Super Rally, to march, picket and rally.

The marchers are made up of a multi-cultural, multi-gender group of bi-partisan voters who state they “want to present a unified front for democracy. All voices should be heard and all votes matter in America,” states on of the grass roots organizers.

Although the Hillary Clinton campaign denies orchestrating this event, the different grass roots efforts has managed to organize an expected 10,000 ‘marchers’ who are due to arrive in Washington DC 7 AM on Saturday May 31, 2008 from all over the United States, to include Peurto Rico. The marchers range from independent voters, democrats and republicans to die-hard Clinton supporters.

Others include, but are not limited to;
Project Orange Crush
Seat Our Delegates NOW!
Savethevoters.org
Hireheels.

Saturday will, indeed, be a media circus as well as a rally heaven but it is but a drop in the bucket of what the Democratic National Convention will experience in August at the Denver convention if these issues are not hashed out beforehand.

Quite a bit rides on this Saturday meeting for the Democratic party as a whole.

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