"Reflections of Kennedy: Sen.Barack Obama in ’08"
January 31, 2008
Motor City Bad Boy: Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick in Crisis
January 31, 2008
Earlier tonight Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick emerged from his week long seclusion and went ahead with his scheduled apology to Detroiter’s from his “closed to the public” church in metropolitan Detroit. This comes on the heels of a nationally covered controversy surrounding his possible perjury in the text message scandal which consisted of sexual conversations with his now former, chief of staff, Christine Beatty. Beatty resigned from her position citing that she could no longer effectively carry out her duties amid the text-messaging scandal. So as he sat there looking rather pathetic, with his wifes hand clutched tightly like a scared boy would hold his mother, Kwame finally let it all out confessing to something an entire city has known for weeks now.
“Wednesday night, as he held hands with his wife Carlita, Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick apologized repeatedly to residents, supporters, opponents, his wife and his sons for what he called “the embarrassment and disappointment” of the past few days.“I want to start tonight by saying to the citizens of this great city: I’m sorry,” Kilpatrick said in a live television address from his church.”
Outside the church Kilpatrick was giving his statement from, both protesters and supporters of the disgraced Mayor clashed on the streets of Detroit in what ended up being an incredibly intense confrontation:
“Face to face, the demonstrators in support of Kilpatrick chanted “Standing strong” while those opposed to the mayor chanted back, “Resign.”
This is just the latest incident in a perpetual laundry list of troubling behavior exhibited from Detroit’s youngest Mayor. Since taking office in 2001 Kilpatrick has gotten himself into trouble time after time.
- May 2005 – the Detroit Free Press reported that over the first 33 months of his term, Kilpatrick had charged over $210,000 on his city-issued credit card for travel, meals, and entertainment.
- October 2005 – Kilpatrick caused controversy with an advertisement which compared media criticism of him to lynch mobs
- January 2008 – Kilpatrick and his then chief of staff Christine Beatty lied about the sexual nature of their relationship and their involvement in the firing of Deputy Police Chief Gary Brown.
- In 2005 – Kilpatrick entered an expensive one year lease for a luxury SUV, a red Lincoln Navigator to be precise. It was to be used to chauffeur the mayor’s family around. The lease was for $24,995; $5 under the amount required that would need city council approval. He was ultimately forced to return the vehicle.
- August 2007 – Kilpatrick was sued by two ex-members of his bodyguard staff for violation of the Whistleblower Law. It was claimed that he fired them in retaliation for them investigating his personal actions. Minutes after the verdict for the trial came in, in an angry speech in front of City Hall, Kilpatrick blamed the “wrong verdict” on white suburbanite jurors.
- October 2007 – Kilpatrick has proposed selling off 92 city parks. City officials estimate it could generate $8.1 million from the sale of the lands. It has been noted that the sale of the city parks will generate a substantial portion of the funds required to pay the settlement of the whistleblower lawsuit against Kilpatrick filed by two ex-city employees in the lawsuit mentioned directly above this one.
This list of incidents is nothing compared to Kwame’s royal screw up, the one that really should have put this guy behind bars. started as rumors of a wild party in the fall of 2002 involving strippers at the the official residence of the mayor the city-owned Manoogian Mansion Carlita Kilpatrick, came home unexpectedly and upon discovering Kwame with the strippers began to attack one of the women. When questioning heated up Kilpatrick opted to hold a press conference –sound familiar?– He went on to state that he does not have ‘lewd parties’ and “I don’t whore around on my wife” and “I want people to understand that I would never disrespect my God, my wife or my children”.
Just as things looked to be dieing down Tamara Greene popped into the picture, Greene, was a a 27-year-old stripper that went by the name “Strawberry” and who claimed to have performed at the Manoogian Mansion party. While sitting in her car, Greene was shot more than a dozen times. Many have hinted that they would not put it by Kwame to do whatever was necessary to keep his power hold in tact. I am not accusing of anything, I am simply stating the facts.
Tamara Greene’s family believes her murder was a deliberate attack to keep her from talking to officers who were investigating the rumored party at the Manoogian. The Greene family is currently suing the city for $150 million dollars.” The fact that this man is still Mayor of my hometown really makes me sick, I mean this man has dead hookers showing up after wild house parties where his wife was fighting strippers. That took place in ’02, I would have thought the people of Detroit would have scene this joke for exactly what he is, worthless. But I guess not, instead they opted to re elect the man, and to no one’s surprise he spent tonight apologizing, using his family as a shield, from an abandoned church somewhere in Detroit:
“This has been a situation where, yes, it’s been embarrassing, yes it’s been painful,” the mayor said. “But through all of that, through the grace of God, we’ve also had a feeling of thankfulness and freedom. We have committed to moving forward together to make our marriage better and stronger.”“I want to thank the people of Detroit for their patience in allowing us that time. We as a family needed to do that,” he said. “Detroit, please continue to pray for our family, for our city and our continued progress,” he said.
“God bless you Detroit. I love you,” the mayor said in conclusion. “I’ll see you at work tomorrow.”
If this doesn’t illustrate what a class act Detroit truly is then I really wouldn’t know what is. I mean d
o the people living in the city really have to wonder why the city is in absolute turmoil right now, both economically and socially speaking. I mean if they can’t figure it out then they deserve to have Kwame “Motor City Bad Boy” Kilpatrick as their Mayor. Text away Kwame, text away.
Polls Show Obama Surging In Multiple States
January 31, 2008
Rasmussen released a poll earlier today that shows Hillary Clinton barely holding a lead over Barack Obama in Massachusetts. This is all taking place on the wake of the Ted and Caroline Kennedy endorsements. Hillary leads with 43%, followed by Obama at 37% and the now-departed John Edwards with 11%. And that looks normal at first, but when you factor in a SurveyUSA poll from last week, before Obama’s political adoption by the Kennedy family, had Hillary ahead by a whopping 37 points. It looks like Massachusetts is officially a race now. Hillary is also experiencing the wrath of a recent popularity boost being enjoyed by Barack Obama in her home state of New York. A new poll from Public Policy Polling (D) shows that Barack Obama might be sneaking up on Hillary Clinton in her home state of New York.
* Hillary leads with 45% of the vote, followed by Obama at 33%
* Hillary leads 44%-29% among whites
* Obama 44%-32% among African-Americans
* Hillary 64%-31% among Hispanics.
John Edward’s Farewell Address
January 30, 2008
Here is the video of John Edward’s farewell address which he gave today. As you may expect Edwards stepped aside in a graceful manner, with no complaining, name calling or attempts for the pity of those present. Edward’s is still a very young man who will be able to make another run at the Democratic nomination in the future. Our thanks go to John Edward for bringing the important issues of poverty and workers right to the forefront of the campaign discussion.
Clinton’s National Poll Numbers Continue to Slide
January 30, 2008
Barack Obama is bearing down on Hillary Clinton and her size able lead among Democrats nationally. National numbers taken January 18-20 had Clinton leading Obama by as much as 20 points. However that scenario no longer rings true, and the Clinton camp is forced to watch as Obama’s popularity grows at an unprecedented pace among voters in the states he had not been actively campaigning up until now. What is the cause of Obama’s head of steam? Many insiders claim that there are a multitude of contributing factors including Bill’s recent string of statements and Obama’s increased exposure via ad campaigns he launched days ago with the $5 million dollars he raised in the 24 hours after his South Carolina win.
So How bad is it? The 20 point lead Hillary held over Obama January 20th has been diminished to 6 percentage points among Democrats nationally in the Gallup Poll Daily tracking three-day average, and interviewing conducted Tuesday night shows the gap between the two candidates continuing to shrink.
The national numbers illustrated above are a critically important indicator of the political spectrum among Democrat with the voters in more than 20 states heading to the polls next Tuesday. And while Clinton still looks good in the majority of “Super Duper Tuesday” states there are signs that Obama is making up ground and fast. The question now is whether or not the six days Obama has left will be enough time to get the support he needs to continue his bid for the Democratic nomination.
Obama and Clinton Now Tied in Conneticut
January 30, 2008
In a huge surge which many are attributing to the momentum gained in his decisive South Carolina win, combined with the endorsements of Ted and Caroline Kennedy, Sen. Barack Obama has climbed into a virtual tie with Hillary Clinton in Connecticut. As you can see below Barack had climbed a seemingly insurmountable lead held by Clinton as recent as last week. This has got to have the Obama camp smiling, being as though the only have six days to make up a lot of room, in a lot of states if he plans on grabbing the Democratic nomination. It’s almost stating the obvious, however I am going to go ahead and say that the winner will be determined by how the Edwards supporters breaks.
John Edwards Officially Drops Out of the Race
January 30, 2008
John Edwards is the latest major candidate who has announced that they will be officially leaving their respected parties race for presidential nomination today. Edwards camp said he will make the official statement today at 1 PM in the same city he announced that his plan to run for the Democratic Presidential nomination just 17 months ago.
"Reflections of Kennedy: Barack Obama in ’08"
January 30, 2008
This is a video I made showing Sen. Barack Obama and his stark similarities to both Robert and John F. Kennedy. Please let me know what you thought of the video whether it be positive, negative, or in indifferent, I love getting the feedback. Anyways hope you enjoy the piece; “Reflections of Kennedy”
Bad to Worse For Fox News
January 30, 2008
Fox News has a rough forecast ahead in terms of the 2008 Presidential Election, and they have no one besides themselves to thank for it As more and more viewers are jumping ship to their rival networks MSNBC and CNN Fox News is just beginning to face the consequences for their blatant role as “White House Reporter” for the last eight, miserable years. Media Matters chronicles just a few recent incidents that are contributing to the diminishing ratings:
- The incredible shrinking candidacy of Fox News’ favored son, Rudy Giuliani.
- The Democratic candidates’ blanket refusal to debate on Fox News during the primary season.
- Host Bill O’Reilly being so desperate for an interview from a Democratic contender that he had to schlep all the way to New Hampshire, where he shoved an aide to Sen. Barack Obama and then had to be calmed down by Secret Service agents.
- Host John Gibson’s recent heartless attacks on actor Heath Ledger, just hours after the young actor was found dead.
- Fox News reporter Major Garrett botching his “exclusive” that Paul Begala and James Carville were going to join Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton’s presidential campaign, and then refusing to correct the record.
These examples are all from the last six months, and have managed to add on to the already growing sentiment of many viewers based on Fox’s consistent underwriting of George W. Bush no matter what the result, or implication ends up being. Eric Boehlert with Media Matters writes more on the steady abandonment many many are showing Fox News:
“The most obvious signs of Fox News’ downturn have been the cable ratings for the big primary and caucus votes this year, as well as the high-profile debates. With this election season generating unprecedented voter and viewer interest, Fox News’ rating bumps to date have remained underwhelming, to say the least.”
and continues into more precise factors contributing to Fox’s popularity slide:
No wonder CNN’s so giddy these days. Here’s the spin CNN president Jonathan Klein put out following its New Hampshire ratings win: “There’s a freshness and exuberance to our coverage that the others just aren’t matching. … Fox almost seems downright despondent in their coverage.”
So I’m not the only one who feels like Fox News coverage, especially of the Republican field, often feels like a televised wake. Or maybe that’s just been Fox News’ collective, subconscious mourning of the Giuliani campaign.
This is great news for anyone, Republican or Democrat who believe in an unbiased media who serves as a extension of a candidate or an ideology. Considering Fox News continues to embarrass itself with their brand of journalism that nobody else in the industry would dare call professional, you should not be surprised that this is finally happening. None the less, I am sure that Fox will refute any of the above charges and maintain their stance of Fox being number one. But from all we have come to learn from Fox, is anyone really going to believe them?
Rudy Drops Out of The Race
January 30, 2008
After a distant third place finish in Florida, the state in which Rudy Giuliani had set up a virtual firewall in that made winning essential if he in fact planned on continuing his bid for the Republican nomination. With only 15% of the Floridian vote Giuliani stoically spoke to crowd of supporters and congratulated all his opponents, even remembering Ron Paul. While Rudy did not “officially” drop out, this was undoubtedly his last speech as a Republican nominee for Presidential nomination. It is said that he is in the middle of talks with Sen. McCain’s people and will be giving his endorsement tomorrow during the day from a yet to be determined speech in California.
The Giuliani implosion will go down as one of the biggest campaign blunders of all time. The reasons behind his decision to forgo Iowa, New Hampshire, Michigan, and South Carolina will probably never fully be understood, but at this point I really do not think anyone (besides Giuliani who is probably still kicking himself) will be focused on that.
Sen. John McCain picked up a big ‘winner take all’ primary tonight in Florida, with Mitt Romney coming in a close second. The further along the GOP primaries progress, the more it looks like it will be a McCain-Romney showdown.
