The West-Smiley Chronicles

Trying to stay relevant in the post 2008 election world is a bitch for "cultural commentators" and frequent Obama critics Cornell West and Tavis Smiley. They've hit the road for their damn we really screwed up when we didn't jump on the barack bandwagon tour. I was pulling for these race warriors to get some props from camp Obama early on, I mean why antagonize right? But Axelrod and company had their keep the Blacks at bay plan firmly in place and they stuck too it with winning results. Now Chief Crazy Hair and Tavis "I Stomped Off The Tom Joyner Show In an Obama Tizzy" Smiley are in no man's land. They're hawking books and walking a tightrope. How DO you pull off being congratulatory towards someone you trashed, probably thinking he'd never end up being the most powerful man in the world?

Rahm Emanuel

Soooooo. First order of business, buy a puppy for the girls. Second, select a giant asshole to be my chief of staff.

What can you say about the conniving little gnome that is Rahm Emanuel that hasn't already been said?

From the Telegraph:
One story, more than any other, sums up the intensity, loyalty and, at times, downright nastiness upon which Mr Emanuel's reputation is built.
At a dinner to celebrate President Clinton's first election victory, Mr Emanuel began to name those who he believed had earned his enmity. As he listed the names of those he saw as traitors, he grabbed a steak knife, stood up and began plunging the knife into the table and shouting "Dead! Dead! Dead!" after each name.
"When he was done, the table looked like a lunar landscape," one witness recalled. "It was like something out of The Godfather. But that's Rahm for you."
Nor was this an isolated incident – one pollster who fell out with Mr Emanuel received a rotting fish in the post as a warning not to cross him again.

Here's another story... In 1999 a large news organization assigned one of its reporters to follow up on rumors that one of the lawyers defending President Clinton during the impeachment trial was also at that very time having an affair with one of Clinton's closest and very married advisers. It would have been a horrible headline. Adulterer-in-chief defended by adultering adulterers. But the reporter found the request repellent and refused. Still, that did not keep Rahm Emanu-hole, who had heard about the request, from cornering the reporter... and threatening that the reporter would be "very sorry" if the story was pursued.

Ok Obama. So you're good cop - bad copping it. Whatever. But hopefully you will balance the douche-baggery that is already in your inner circle with some genuinely good, straight forward, civil, and righteous people.

YAY.

so now that's over.
onward.

It's Barack By A Nose

From Barack-Obama.TV

"For the first time Barack Obama is the frontrunner in a reliable nationwide
poll about the Democratic presidential nominations. Obama leads with 32%,
Hillary Clinton can count on 30% and John Edwards trails at 17%. Rasmussen
has conducted the poll around the 25th of April.

Together with earlier reliable opinion polls this results in the graphical overview..."

Get Thee Behind Me Jeremiah

From the NYT

"Few of those at Mr. Wright’s tribute in March knew of the pressures that Mr. Obama’s presidential run was placing on the relationship between the pastor and his star congregant. Mr. Wright’s assertions of widespread white racism and his scorching remarks about American government have drawn criticism, and prompted the senator to cancel his delivery of the invocation when he formally announced his candidacy in February.

Mr. Obama, a Democratic presidential candidate who says he was only shielding his pastor from the spotlight, said he respected Mr. Wright’s work for the poor and his fight against injustice. But “we don’t agree on everything,” Mr. Obama said. “I’ve never had a thorough conversation with him about all aspects of politics.”

BOO. Ghost of Rezko Haunts Obama Again

from bellevillenewsdemocrat.com/ap

"Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said he had no idea longtime friend and now-indicted fundraiser Antoin "Tony" Rezko was behind problem buildings in the South Side district that Obama once represented as a state senator.

"Should I have known these buildings were in a state of disrepair? My answer would be that it wasn't brought to my attention," Obama said Monday.

Rezko's Rezmar Corp. obtained millions in government funds to rehab apartment buildings for the needy.

Court and city documents show 30 of the apartment buildings owned and managed by Rezmar have since been subject to foreclosures, code violations and lawsuits filed by the city, the Chicago Sun-Times reported in its Monday editions. About a third of those 30 buildings were in Obama's Illinois Senate district."

It's 11 P.M. Do You Know Where Your Children Are?

From New York Magazine

"The next behind-the-scenes battle between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama is shaping up between their young and potentially rich campaign pawns: The HillBlazers vs. Generation O. Gen-O is a different kind of concept to match a different kind of politics, the Obama camp says, more about "friendraising" than the charmless money grabs that usually come with cutthroat, celebrity politics. But the Hillary camp insists the Obama kids are just HillBlazers with a different kind of branding."

Barack Closing In

from msnbc.com
"Perhaps more troublesome for Clinton is that 52% have an unfavorable opinion of her in the poll, versus 45% who have a favorable view. By comparison, Obama has a 52%-27% fav/unfav rating.

In the GOP field, Giuliani is at 35%, McCain at 22%, Fred Thompson at 10%, and Romney at 9%. Moreover, the poll finds that just 36% approve of Bush's job; only 25% approve of Alberto Gonzales' job; and just 26% believe the troop surge in Iraq is making the situation there better."

Team Obama Gets a Shot of Estrogen

from barackobama.com

Sweet Follows the Money

From the Chicago Sun-Times Lynn Sweet:
"The Obama campaign prefers the emphasis be on the army of small donors who are giving -- and raising -- money for Obama. In truth, though, there are two parallel narratives -- and the other is that Obama is also heavily reliant on wealthy and well-connected Democrats.

While Obama took money from federal lobbyists and political action committees for his Senate war chests, he is not for his presidential campaign. That ban does not preclude non-lobbyists who have interests in federal matters or who lobby other government entities.

Those at the top of the Obama fund-raising pyramid -- people who pledge to raise at least $250,000 -- get a gold VIP lapel pin with the letters "NFC" fashioned in the campaign's logo.

The letters stand for Obama's National Finance Committee, and the group met in Washington on Wednesday for a retreat at a hotel with the Obama professional fund-raisers, campaign manager David Plouffe and chief strategist David Axelrod, among others. After raising $25 million in the first quarter -- creating a national network almost from scratch -- their challenge in the second quarter is to show they were not just grabbing the low-hanging fruit."

Wisconsin Hearts Obama

From Wisconsin Radio Network

"Senator Barack Obama (D-Il) brings his presidential campaign to Wisconsin tonight and picks up a major state endorsement

Milwaukee Mayor and former Congressman, Tom Barrett, says Obama is the right candidate at the right time.

While he admires all the democrats running for the White House, Barrett says the country is at a crossroads and he feels Senator Obama is the one to provide a new generation of leadership.

Barrett is confident Obama, coming from Chicago, will not turn his back on cities such as Milwaukee. The Mayor says he would have a partner in the White House trying to fight the tide of illegal handguns, upgrading the schools and helping people find jobs to support their families.

Barrett says Obama's experience as a state legislator and now Senator will help him hit the ground running at the White House."

Hmmmmm.

...or Ludacris?
From the Huffington Post

"Obama was the only presidential candidate that actually called for Imus's firing. For taking that stance, he was hailed as bold and courageous. Imus, though, was the easiest of targets. Obama made only one appearance on his show, and he owed absolutely no allegiance to him. Billionaire Beverly Hills entertainment mogul David Geffen is another matter. Geffen is the president and CEO of Insterscope Geffen A&M records and gangster rapper Snoop Dogg is his long standing and one of his top-selling artists.

Now let's flash back a month before Imus's foot in the mouth racist crack drew Obama's ire. A beaming Obama sat at Geffen's dinner table at his Beverly Hills mansion and delivered a 25 minute dinner speech to a core of doting and fawning Hollywood luminaries and heavy financial hitters that included Stephen Spielberg and Jennifer Anniston. Geffen punctuated the Obama Hollywood star-filled love fest with a well-publicized trash of the Clinton's, to which he had once dumped millions into their campaign coffers, and declared that he was switching allegiance to Obama."