The mass hysteria from the right rolled in overnight, just two days after Wanda Sykes appeared at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner and gave Rush Limbaugh a taste of his own medicine. Much like when Limbaugh would gleefully sing “Barack the Magic Negro” on a daily basis or when he rabidly, and brutally ripped into Michael J. Fox and his illness – Sykes decided to take it to the next level in her digs aimed at Rush.

Sykes, who was on fire riffed hard on Limbaugh – claiming she was the 20th hijacker on 9/11 but missed the plane because he was so strung out on Oxycontin, and that while Rush “hoped Obama failed”, she hoped Limbaughs “kidneys failed”. Undoubtedly, it was a fun routine – and with anything funny – all hell has broken loose with commentators and politicians alike chiming in on why they hated what Wanda said.

It’s shocking that right wing politicos/talking heads are taking so much (and I sense, contrived) outrage over Sykes stand-up routine. If you simply add up all things “disgusting”, “vile” or any other adjective being used to describe Sykes routine – that Rush Limbaugh has said just over the year or two you would come up with a compilation that would over shadow anything Sykes said to such a degree, it would be silly to even compare the two, and their public commentary.

Technorati Tags: Comedy News, Daily Show, Daily Show Wanda Sykes, Jon Stewart, Jon Stewart Wanda Sykes, video, Wanda Sykes, Wanda Sykes Daily Show, Wanda Sykes Jon Stewart, Wanda Sykes Rush Limbaugh, Wanda Sykes White House Correspondents Dinner

New Yorkers evacuated offices in panic on Monday when an unexpected overflight by one of President Barack Obama’s Boeing 747s triggered fears of a new 9/11.

The jumbo, escorted by low-flying fighter jets, roared over southern Manhattan and the Hudson River for about 30 minutes on what officials later described as a photo-op.
9/11 plane scare over New York

A government exercise involving low-flying planes creates a scare in New York City.

A livid New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said he had not been warned and called the lack of notice “ridiculous and poor judgment“.

Stunned office workers who failed to spot the presidential markings feared facing a repeat of the attacks of September 11, 2001, in which two hijacked airliners smashed into the World Trade Centre, killing almost 3000 people.

Commodities trader Jurgens Bauer said:

“I saw everybody running and I ran out too. My heart is still pounding,”

Mr Bauer said that his room had no window so he had not seen the plane – which is painted white with a blue nose and blue stripe – but that the terror was real.

“I was there on 9/11. I saw thousands of people die. I don’t like when I am not aware of a military photo op,”

Police confirmed that some offices were evacuated, but did not specify how many.

“I guess people panicked,” a spokesman said.

Officials explained the confusion after saying that the commander in chief’s aircraft had merely been conducting an exercise. Mr Obama was not aboard.

US Air Force spokesman Major Richard Johnson said:

“The presidential airlift group conducted an aerial photo in the New York city area today,”

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) called the manoeuvre a “photo op“.

FAA spokesman Jim Peters said:

“The Defence Department is conducting a photo op that involves deploying two F-16s and escorting a military version of the Boeing 747  close to lower Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty”

“The manoeuvre was not an emergency and was co-ordinated in advance with the FAA and state and local officials,”

But Mr Bloomberg said no one had told him of the visitors to New York’s skies.

The mayor, who is running for a third term later this year, said in televised comments that he was

“annoyed – furious is a better word – that I wasn’t told”.

“Why the Defence Department wanted to do a photo op right around the site of the World Trade Centre catastrophe defies imagination,”

“It didn’t have the normal language of saying that this is sensitive information.”

Hijackers slammed two planes into the twin towers of New York’s World Trade Centre in 2001, destroying the complex on the southern tip of Manhattan in what was the worst terrorist attack on American soil.

A reconstruction project has been hampered by financial and planning delays, but the foundations of new towers are now rising at Ground Zero.

Technorati Tags: New York, Obama plan, photo op, scare

Hitchens debated Blackwell about this, with Hitchens declaring a crisis of faith in the country, one that shows a decisive tide is turning against the forces of religion. Blackwell disputed this, arguing that the influence of religion ebbs and flows but won’t ever really fade away because we are fundamentally a Christian nation going all the way to the Founding Fathers. Hitchens vehemently fought back against this notion.

Per usual with Hitchens, the debate was heated and incredibly intriguing. Watch the exchange in its entirety below:

WASHINGTON – The Associated Press is reporting that President-elect Barack Obama, on Wednesday, joined others calling for Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich to resign, distancing himself further from the unfolding scandal over allegations that the governor schemed to barter Obama’s vacant Senate seat for personal gain.

“The president-elect agrees with Lt. Gov. (Pat) Quinn and many others that under the current circumstances it is difficult for the governor to effectively do his job and serve the people of Illinois,” Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs said in response to questions from The Associated Press.

Blagojevich was arrested Tuesday, accused of seeking money or other favors to influence his choice in picking Obama’s replacement. The governor has authority to appoint the replacement, but top Illinois lawmakers have said they are preparing to call the Legislature into session as early as next week to set a special election to choose Obama’s successor.

Asked whether Obama supports a special election, Gibbs said Obama believes the General Assembly should consider how to fill the Senate seat and:

“put in place a process to select a new senator that will have the trust and confidence of the people of Illinois.”

Aides say Obama is refraining from stating what that solution should be.

If Blagojevich resigns, Quinn would become governor and have the right to appoint Obama’s successor. That would avoid a special election, which can be costly, and speed up the appointment of Illinois’ junior senator.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4iCtBc8FTmM&fmt=22

Over the past two days since Blagojevich’s arrest, Obama and his aides have largely refrained from commenting on the scandal. When Obama has spoken about the case, he’s been cautious.

In brief comments to reporters Tuesday, Obama said “like the rest of the people of Illinois I am saddened and sobered by the news that came out of the U.S. attorney’s office today,” but he didn’t go so far to condemn Blagojevich’s alleged actions.

He did add about Blagojevich’s process of considering a successor:

“I had no contact with the governor or his office, and so I was not aware of what was happening.”

Obama reiterated that point in an interview published in the Chicago Tribune and the Los Angeles Times on Wednesday by stating:

“I have not discussed the Senate seat with the governor at any time.”

But Obama wouldn’t answer a question on whether he was aware of any conversations between the governor and his top aides, including incoming White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel:

“It’s an ongoing investigation,” Obama said. “I think it would be inappropriate for me to … remark on the situation beyond the facts that I know.”

And, aides didn’t say whether Emanuel, a Democratic Illinois congressman, was ever approached by the governor’s emissaries involved in allegedly corrupt schemes. Nor did they say whether Obama is investigating his own ranks to determine whether any of his staffers had contact with the governor or his office.

Technorati Tags: chi-town, Chicago, Chicago corruption, Gov. Blagojevich, Gov. Rod Blagojevich, Illinois Governor, Obama and Blagojevich, Obama asks for resignation, Obama demands Governors resignation, Obama fires Governor, Obama resignation, Obama statements, Scandal, windy city

Barack Obama, the first black president of the United States, has declared:

“Change has come to America”.

In a historic victory over Republican candidate Senator John McCain, the President-elect told a sea of supporters in a Chicago park.  He said:

“If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where any things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive … who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer,”

Senator Obama told the crowd that his victory belongs “to you“, and the voters who turned out did so because they believed this time

“must be different and their voices could be that difference”.

He said America was not a collection of individuals, but

“we are and always will be the United States of America”.

“change has come to America”.

Listing the challenges ahead, including two wars and a financial crisis, Senator Obama said that he was hopeful for America. He said:

“There will be set backs and false starts,”

“I will always be honest with you about the challenges we face … “

Senator Obama congratulated Senator John McCain and Governor Sarah Palin for all they had achieved and looked forward to working with them.

He said Senator McCain had

“endured sacrifices for America that most of us cannot begin to imagine”.

He thanked his wife, Michelle – “the love of my life and the nation’s next first lady”, for the journey they had endured and said he loved his two young daughters “more than you imagine, and you have earned the new puppy that is coming with us to the White House”.

Senator Obama said he knew that his recently deceased grandmother was watching, along with the rest of his family.

He also spoke of the United State’s democratic ideals and how his country would respond to challenges with the spirit of its people -

“Yes We Can”.

This election had “many firsts”, Senator Obama said.

Here’s Obama’s Acceptance Speech:

and here’s John McCain’s Concession Speech:

Technorati Tags: 2008 Election, barack obama, john mccain, politics

The debate between Sarah Palin and Joe Biden tied for the second most watched presidential or vice presidential debate of all time, Nielsen reports.

Only Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter in 1980 outdrew these two,  with the 1990 presidential debate drawing 80 million viewers.

Palin and Biden drew a national audience of 69.9 million — matching the second debate among Bill Clinton, George H.W. Bush and H. Ross Perot in 1992.

Palin came off sounding like a robot who was reading talking points off of her note cards, there were a lot of information covered with not much content that addressed the questions asked.

Palin did a decent job faking about 20% of the questions and didn’t bother answering the other 80%.

During the debate Palin refused to adhere to the rules.

Questions she didn’t like didn’t get answered.

Case in point, see this article from Slate :

The Palin Strategy

Sarah Palin got a tough rap this week for flubbing questions in media interviews. Her solution tonight: not answering them at all.

Gwen Ifill nobly tried to keep both candidates on task. But Palin demonstrated a knack for answering the question she wanted to answer—not the one that was asked. At one point, Ifill asked Palin to respond to a comment by Sen. Biden on health care. “I would like to respond about the tax increases,” Palin pivoted and proceeded to accuse Obama of raising taxes 94 times. A minute later, Ifill prompted Palin to respond about McCain’s record of deregulation. Again, Palin resisted: “I’m still on the tax thing because I want to correct you on that again.” Biden looked exasperated, prompting Palin to say, “I may not answer the questions that either the moderator or you want to hear, but I’m going to talk straight to the American people and let them know my track record also.” In other words, screw your questions, I’ve memorized a message and gosh darn it, I’m going to get it across. She even managed to steer Ifill at one point: “Can we talk about Afghanistan real quick?” “Certainly,” said Ifill.

It wasn’t just Ifill she ignored—Biden got the cold shoulder, too. When Palin said Obama voted to cut off troop funding, Biden pointed out that McCain has voted against troop funding as well, because the legislation contained a timeline for withdrawal. She did not respond. Same when he pointed out that Obama’s tax plan raises taxes only on those who make more than $250,000, not families who make as little as $42,000, as Palin and McCain claimed. She had talking points but few responses to Biden’s rebuttals. One notable exception was the time she corrected Biden on “McClellan’s” argument that counterinsurgency could work in Afghanistan as it has worked in Iraq. Biden conceded the point but didn’t mention that his name is actually Gen. McKiernan.

The strategy worked. Palin kept the conversation on her turf, avoided follow-ups, and came across both forceful and charming. She addressed the camera directly—part of the “straight to the American people” message—instead of addressing Biden (although she did turn his way to inform him, “Your plan is a white flag of surrender in Iraq”). She’s also a master of the tonal pivot, going from beaming smile to sly grin to dead serious all within the same answer. The format helped, too. The two-minute rebuttal periods didn’t produce much cross-chatter, and Ifill didn’t ask many follow-up questions.

In her closing statement, Palin said she liked the debate because “I like to answer these questions without the filter of the mainstream media.” If by “filter” she means Couric-style follow-ups, requests for clarification, and other obstacles to the subjects she came to talk about, she’s right. This debate was a great medium for her.

Here is a SNL sketch on vice presidential debate with Queen Latifah as debate moderator Gwen Ifill, and Tina Fey reprising her role as Governor Sarah Palin.

Enjoy!

Technorati Tags: 2008 Election, joe biden, politics, Sarah Palin

In the wake of the first square-off between US presidential contenders John McCain and Barack Obama, a furious argument has begun about who won the debate.

The campaigns have gone into overdrive in an effort to influence the public perception of who triumphed in Friday’s encounter.

The Obama campaign worked overnight to release, early on Saturday morning, an advertisement criticising Senator McCain for failing to say middle class.

It was unclear whether Senator Obama’s campaign was spending money to broadcast the spot, or whether it was directed more at the opinion leaders who would be appearing on the morning talk shows yesterday or writing about the debate in their columns for the next few days.

The McCain campaign had already released an internet video citing several instances in which Senator Obama had said he agreed with his rival’s positions.

There were also instances where Senator Obama claimed otherwise.

Was Obama claiming correctly when he said McCain was wrong?

Here is a video put together by Jed Lewison for our friends at The Huffington Post:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xG1aOORf8Pc&fmt=18

Obama spoke with greater clarity and force.
He was collected and knowledgeable and put issues in a larger context of America’s role in the world.

Numerous times McCain lit into Obama on foreign policy issues with comments such as:

“what Senator Obama doesn’t seem to understand…”

and saying he was “naive” on those issues.

But Obama won big on those foreign policy arguments. Especially on Iraq and Afghanistan, tapping deeply into misgivings about the wars, and questions of strategy and tactics and ultimately prevailing on the key question on judgment as to whether Iraq should have been fought in the first place.

But there is a belief that many viewers base their judgment not on debate performance but on what they read and see in the days afterwards.

A majority of US commentators called it a narrow win to the Democratic candidate because the 47-year-old first-term senator held his own against the five-term 72-year-old Republican who is well known for his foreign policy expertise, the debate’s topic.

Time magazine’s Joe Klein wrote:

“Towards the very end of tonight’s debate, which was quite a good one, I believe John McCain laid out his rationale in this election in just a few words: Senator Obama, he said, lacks the ‘knowledge and experience to be president’. The presidency will turn on whether the American people agree with McCain on that – but on this night, Obama emerged as a candidate who was at least as knowledgeable, judicious and unflappable as McCain on foreign policy.”

But the website Politico.com and the Wall Street Journal gave it to Senator McCain, arguing that if no leeway was given to Senator Obama’s rookie status, Senator McCain was more sure-footed on foreign affairs.

CNN tried to measure it with a poll taken straight after the debate. According to its survey, 51 per cent of those polled thought Senator Obama did the better job, while 38 per cent said Senator McCain did better.
Women voters tended to give Senator Obama higher marks.

Mostly the candidates declined the moderator’s offer to attack each other, and CNN’s audience tracking device, “the worm”, turned down any time either candidate was unduly combative.

Back on the campaign trail in Virginia on Saturday, an energised Senator Obama used Senator McCain’s answers on the economy and his failure to address the struggle facing the middle class to hammer his opponent.

Senator Obama said:

“In 90 minutes, John McCain had a lot to say about me but had nothing to say about you,”

The next debate, between the vice-presidential candidates Joe Biden and Sarah Palin on Thursday night, is being eagerly awaited because it will be the first time Mrs Palin has appeared in such a forum.

Technorati Tags: 2008 Election, barack obama, debate, john mccain, politics

The cool crowd at the New York club didn’t have to wait for the result of their hero Barack Obama’s debate with John McCain — bloggers were already doing the job.

For hipsters sipping martinis between water pools and industrial-style walls at the Galapagos Art Space underneath Brooklyn bridge, this was a debate watching party with a high-tech twist.

Instead of a traditional broadcast, giant screens showed Current TV, a user-generated channel teaming for the night with messaging service Twitter, so that viewers could post instant analysis.

As Obama, a youthful 47, crossed swords with McCain, 72, viewer comments known as “tweets” flickered continuously over the images.

“Obama is just rocking.” “Obama is killing. McCain is drowning.”

Not all tweets were pro-Obama – “Barack needs to relax. He’s in his HEAD. We need HEART and SOUL” – but only anti-McCain contributions got laughs.

Young, creative, internet-savvy, the 300 people squeezing into the Galapagos mirrored the demographic group underlying the hottest support for Obama’s bid to make history as the first black president.

“We’re educated people, professionals, people with passports, people who are published,” said writer Christopher Boswell, 37. “McCain is much too much out of touch. Obama connects.”

Not surprisingly, he and almost everyone else in the club thought Obama had come out on top during the debate.

Every time Obama scored a point, a loud “yeah!” erupted.

A huge cheer came when McCain attacked his opponent for having “the most liberal voting record in the US Senate.” That, to the Galapagos crowd, was the greatest possible compliment.

When McCain later returned to what opponents consider the overly repeated story of his captivity in the Vietnam War, the Galapagos crowd jeered with even greater force.

“We want someone we can identify with, someone who makes us proud,” said Barbara Cleveland, 24, a website photo editor.

Ian Bourland, a 26-year-old history professor with a thick beard and glasses, joked: “We just want someone who can read and write.”

Critics say Obama can preachy and overly cerebral – the antithesis of in touch. But Allison Ioli, an aspiring journalist of 23, said there was still no contest.

“McCain uses the typical political jargon, but Obama uses our vocabulary. I saw him in person in Seattle and when you see him close he doesn’t seem pretentious. He actually tries to speak to us in a way we understand.”

Boswell, who is black, said the glaring generational divide in the contest would outweigh even the issue of race — and win Obama the presidency.

“Ageism will trump racism,” he predicted.

AFP

Technorati Tags: 2008 Election, barack obama, debate, john mccain, politics

Sarah Palin just wrapped up her highly anticipated Vice Presidential acceptance speech at the Xcel Center in St. Paul, Minnesota. Palin was the Convention’s second night’s main event, serving as the “cherry on top” in what turned out to be a rather ugly, substanceless and downright tacky parade of GOP maniquens. I must admit that I found it somewhat difficult to focus on what Sarah Palin was even saying, my attention kept being averted to her infant son Trig, who might I add has down syndrome, being passed around like a bowl of chips at a super bowl party.

Let’s get one thing straight – whether you are a Republican or a Democratic, if you have any sliver of common sense in your body, you would have to admit that tonight was one of the most desperate, far-fetched, and completely free of anything to do with actual policy and plans on implementing it.

• FACT: McCain/Palin reform is just … well, there’s nothing. It’s an overused phrase but it is all rhetoric. Not only has their party been in power for 8 years. But every policy pushed by John McCain is the one embraced by George Bush. Economic policy, tax policy, Iraq policy, social issues, Bush style politicking, everything.
• FACT: Sarah Palin continues to lie through her teeth about opposing the historically attrocious”Bridge to Nowhere”. Tonight, for the second time in a week, Palin stated:

“I told the Congress “thanks, but no thanks,” for that Bridge to Nowhere.

If our state wanted a bridge, we’d build it ourselves. When oil and gas prices went up dramatically, and filled up the state treasury, I sent a large share of that revenue back where it belonged – directly to the people of Alaska.”

This is a lie. It’s really that simple – there is no truth whatso ever behind Palin’s claim. Making the lie worse is the fact that Palin worked hard to push the project through, doing whatever she could to sure up every last pork barrel cent for this callamity of a ear mark:

“Palin said Alaska’s congressional delegation worked hard to obtain funding for the bridge as part of a package deal and that she ‘would not stand in the way of the progress toward that bridge.”

How long until she gets called out for this? I mean there isn’t even a shred of truth behind her declaration of opposition – it is a bold faced lie. Yet she keeps on repeating it without any recourse or blowback. You gotta love the double standards here.

• FACT: ON Monday CNN’s Campbell Brown practically begged McCain spokesperson Tucker Bounds to answer one simple question. Brown repeatedly plead with Bounds; “Can you tell me one decision that she made as commander in chief of the Alaska National Guard?” Bounds didn’t answer the question, and he didn’t answer for good reason – she hasn’t:

“Can you tell me one decision that she made as commander in chief of the Alaska National Guard?” CNN journalist Campbell Brown asked Monday while interviewing McCain campaign spokesman Tucker Bounds. “Just one?” Bounds couldn’t, because Palin has never personally ordered the state guard to do anything.

The governor has no command authority overseas or anywhere in the United States other than Alaska, said Maj. Gen. Craig Campbell, the service commander of the Alaska National Guard.

“When members of the National Guard are federalized, they work for the president,” Campbell said Wednesday. “It’s not just overseas. They could be federalized to go to other states or they could even be federalized in the state.”

• FACT: Keeping with the theme of regurgitating lies in an attempt to pawn them off as reality, Sarah Palin stated:

“I have protected the taxpayers by vetoing wasteful spending … and championed reform to end the abuses of earmark spending by Congress.”

Again, Palin completely disregards any figment of reality. The truth of the matter is that Palin, when Mayor of Wasilla, hired a lobbyist and traveled to Washington annually to support earmarks for the town totaling $27 million. In her two years as governor, Alaska has requested nearly $750 million in special federal spending, by far the largest per-capita request in the nation.

• FACT: Palin is under investigation by a bipartisan state legislative body for multiple instances of her abusing her power. Firing people at will, and letting family issues (her sister’s divorce) dictate decisions that affected the city she was supposed to be looking out for.

“The one moment that stays with me tonight, oddly enough, was not Palin’s speech. It was a line from Giuliani, a New York mayor with a young second third wife and gay friends, mocking a “cosmopolitan” who was brought up by a single mother. It was that Barack Obama’s rise could “only happen in America.” And it was designed to mock him, the first African-American candidate for the presidency of the United States. I won’t forget that.”

“Mitt Romney seems to use the word “liberal” in a randomly pejorative fashion. I half expect him to say “I was eating breakfast this morning, and my hash browns were all liberal. I sent them back and told the waitress to bring me some good, conservative hash browns.”

“Since her name was announced as John McCain’s running mate, Sarah Palin has generated more US-based internet search traffic than Britney Spears, Paris Hilton, Michael Phelps and Barack Obama combined:”

Technorati Tags: Ap On Republican Convention, Associated Press On Republican Convention, Fact Check Gop Convention, Fact Check Republican Convention, Gop Convention Attacks, Gop Convention Palin, john mccain, Palin And Republican Convention, Palin Pick, Palin Vp, Piper Palin, Piper Palin Photos, Piper Palin Pictures, Politics News, Religious Right, Republican Convention, Republican Convention Attacks, Sarah Palin, Sarah Palin Convention Speech, Sarah Palin RNC Speech, Sarah Palin Speech Reactions, Slideshow

Now that the jubilation of the Democratic Party convention in Denver has peaked with Barak Obama’s acceptance of the party’s nomination, the question arises of what to do with Hillary Clinton.  Defeated for the nomination and ignored for the Vice Presidency, how can she be best used by the Democrats in a future Obama administration?  Or indeed is there a substantial role for her inside an Obama cabinet?

Hillary of course is not a pawn on a chess board to be moved around at will.  Despite her loss she is an immensely powerful political figure in her own right with a strong grip on her New York senate seat and membership of powerful senate committees.  Unlike many other candidates, her campaign has not left her in political limbo.  She could run again for President with a strong chance of victory if Barak Obama fails in his campaign or even if he succeeds and serves two full terms.

The risk for her in such a scenario is that time will pass her by as new faces emerge.  She would undoubtedly become a stalwart of the senate and a Democratic Party icon, not unlike Ted Kennedy, but would never rise again to successfully reach for the main prize, the US Presidency.  That achievement in itself would be no mean feat and would represent a significant political career.  But would it be enough for Hillary?

With this in mind would she accept a role offered by Obama?  I doubt if she would.  Undoubtedly she would make a fine Secretary of State, but she wouldn’t be the first woman, only the third, so there would seem little chance she would demean herself to accept that role when she can happily interrogate an incumbent in a Senate sub committee.

To me the only role in a future Obama administration that might appeal is Secretary of Defence.  And not only because she would be the first female to head that department but also she would have responsibility for the military in a time of war in Afghanistan, the disentanglement from George Bush’s Iraq misadventure and the ongoing management of the worldwide fight against the terrorist threat.  As vital as this role will be in the next administration, I’m not sure Obama will offer Hillary that or any other job in his administration or that she would accept it or anything else for that matter.

The only other role that might intrigue a defeated Presidential candidate with an outstanding resume, is an appointment to the US Supreme Court.  While this would be a high profile vindication of her talents, such an appointment would remove Hillary from the main game of Washington politics.  It seems unlikely that she could ever again contemplate a run for President from such an arcane institutional base.  Still, who knows?  She might be tempted if the offer were to be made.  After all it would cement her place in US history quite apart that is from her current significant achievements.

For Hillary, I have no doubt, her achievements to date, for right or wrong, still smack of her husband’s influence.  She needs to be vindicated as a historical figure in her own right.

If Barak Obama goes on to win the Presidential election in November the future career of Hillary Clinton may be one of the most interesting developments to watch.

Patrick Lawrence

Technorati Tags: barack obama, Barack Obama Vice President, Barack Obama VP, Barack Obama VP Pick, Biden For Vp, hillary clinton, Politics News