Compromise, my ass....

Ed Schultz and Rev Al on our compromisin' prez..

Complain, Complain, complain

President Obama is used to hearing his name yelled angrily at conservative Tea Party protests. On Monday night, however, he faced hecklers at a more unlikely venue: a Democratic fundraiser in Los Angeles for California Sen. Barbara Boxer.

And yes, the hecklers were attacking the president from the left. "Repeal 'don't ask, don't tell'!" the protesters yelled, referring to the 1993 military policy that bans gays and lesbians from openly serving. Obama responded, "We are going to do that; hey, hold on a second, hold on a second."

The rest of the crowd then began chanting Obama's signature campaign chant: "Yes we can! Yes we can! Yes we can!" You can watch the outburst — and Obama's replies — here:

During the 2008 campaign, Obama repeatedly pledged to kill the controversial policy, and in January's State of the Union address, he reiterated that vow. But progress has been slow. The administration claims that's because a full repeal would require a separate bill in Congress repudiating the congressionally approved 1993 law — and it's been hard to work such a bill into an already overcrowded Capitol Hill agenda. In March, the Pentagon announced it was relaxing enforcement of the ban, to clear the path for eventual repeal.

Obama returned to the issue of repeal in his Monday speech. "When you've got an ally like Barbara Boxer and you've got an ally like me who are standing for the same thing, then you don't know exactly why you've got to holler, because we already hear you, all right," Obama remarked to applause. "I mean, it would have made more sense to holler that at the people who oppose it."

But the hollering didn't let up. "It's time for equality for all Americans," shouted one. Obama again stressed his opposition to the ban, and again said, "I don't know why you're hollering." The group broke into another "Yes we can!" chant.

Obama then sought to return to the event's main theme: Boxer's re-election. Sen. Boxer "didn't even vote for 'don't ask, don't tell' in the first place," the president noted. "So you know she's going to be in favor of repealing 'don't ask, don't tell.' "

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ynews/ynews_ts1697

We liberals as quite a sight sometimes.  We get our person in, and we expect that INSTANTLY every single item on our wish list gets granted.

I mean did you really expect a man who says he is a devout Christian, a man who has been steadfastly apposed to gay marraige, to suddenly get out the executive order pad and order DADT as soon as he got into the White House?  Even before he had a chance to unpack?

We seem to forget the reason why we have this stupid policy in the first place.  President Clinton was all for allowing gays to serve openly, but Democrats and Republicans, unable to get past their erotophobia then as now, blocked him at every turn. DADT, as despicable as it is, was the only compromise left to him, and you're lucky to have that.

So as non-hetrosexuals, we have to ask one question, one not asked because we are so much about our rights and all.....why in the hell do you want to join a club that doesn't want you in the first place. 

Think about it. You're serving openly.  They don't want you.  You're in combat.  Who are they going to send out FIRST to get shot?  Trust me, we black folk have been bullet fodder in the US Armed Forces for decades.

Give the man some time.  It is a process, one that just started.  If he has not done what you wanted, you can fire him on the first Tuesday in November 2012.  In the meantime, the best thing you can do is if you are walking and approach a recruiting office, do yourself a favor.  Keep walking.

A message from the President

Friend --




Early this morning, the Senate made history and health reform cleared its most important hurdle yet -- garnering the 60 votes needed to move toward a final vote in that chamber later this week.



This marks the first time in our nation's history that comprehensive health reform has come to this point. And it appears that the American people will soon realize the genuine reform that offers security to those who have health insurance and affordable options to those who do not.



I'm grateful to Senator Harry Reid and every senator who's been working around the clock to make this happen. And I'm grateful to you, and every member of the Organizing for America community, for all the work you have done to make this progress possible.



After a nearly century-long struggle, we are now on the cusp of making health insurance reform a reality in the United States of America.



As with any legislation, compromise is part of the process. But I'm pleased that recently added provisions have made this landmark bill even stronger. Between the time when the bill passes and the time when the insurance exchanges get up and running, insurance companies that try to jack up their rates do so at their own peril. Those who hike their prices may be barred from selling plans on the exchanges.



And while insurance companies will be prevented from denying coverage on the basis of pre-existing conditions once the exchanges are open, in the meantime there will be a high-risk pool where people with pre-existing conditions can purchase affordable coverage.



A recent amendment has made these protections even stronger. Insurance companies will now be prohibited from denying coverage to children immediately after this bill passes. There's also explicit language in this bill that will protect a patient's choice of doctor. And small businesses will get additional assistance as well.



These protections are in addition to the ones we've been talking about for some time. No longer will insurance companies be able to drop your coverage if you become sick and no longer will you have to pay unlimited amounts out of your own pocket for treatments that you need.



Under this bill families will save on their premiums; businesses that would see their costs rise if we don't act will save money now and in the future. This bill will strengthen Medicare and extend the life of the program. Because it's paid for and gets rid of waste and inefficiency in our health care system, this will be the largest deficit reduction plan in over a decade.



Finally, this reform will extend coverage to more than 30 million Americans who don't have it.



These are not small changes. These are big changes. They're fundamental reforms. They will save money. They will save lives.



And your passion, your work, your organizing helped make all of this possible. Now it's time to finish the job.



Thank you,



President Barack Obama

Duhhhhhh......

Remember last week when El Rushbo went off on a thesis that Barack Obama made in college....?




Well dig this.....

It must have seemed so perfect. An obscure blogger unearths some pages of
President Obama's college thesis. The report supposedly comes from big-time
journalist Joe
Klein of Time
magazine. And the thesis has some real gems: like Obama's
disdain for the Constitution.

The whole thing was nothing more than a satirical post on a humor
blog. But Rush
Limbaugh, who quoted from the supposed thesis on his radio show, sure wasn't
laughing. Here's how it went down.

An unknown blogger picked up on a made-up post meant as a joke, which
claimed that Joe Klein had gotten his hands on 10 pages of student Obama's
college thesis. Rush Limbaugh jumped on it, which immediately sparked Web
searches on "obama
thesis."

Supposedly titled "Aristocracy Revisited," the excerpt revealed the
president had "doubts" about the "so-called founders." Juicy. Except not true.
Limbaugh discovered halfway through his show that he'd been had, but defended
himself by saying basically the thesis felt true. Listen in to Rush's mea
sorta culpa.

Joe Klein finally jumped in, and called the report "nonsense" on his Swampland
blog, and the blogger who thought the hoax was real also
apologized.

Let's hope someone kept their sense of humor in all this. Still, for a
humble post to go from humor blog to major media outlet sure seems impressive.
Someone ought to write their thesis on it. For real. http://buzz.yahoo.com/buzzlog/93122?fp=1

In other words, Rush Limbaugh showed he DOES have the intellgence to run an NFL team (see Raiders, Lions, TVScreenBiggerThanGodInDallas, Packers[Farve].....)

President Obama's Town Hall on Health Care-LIVE

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Tim La Haye meets The Lesbian

Tim LaHaye ("Left Behind") stopped by to talked to talk to Rachael Maddow the other day. This is what they talked about.

Scary.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Barack H.Obama, 44th President of the United States of America

Below, President Barack Obama's Inaugural Address, as prepared for delivery:

My fellow citizens:

I stand here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for the trust you have bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors. I thank President Bush for his service to our nation, as well as the generosity and cooperation he has shown throughout this transition.

Forty-four More..Americans have now taken the presidential oath. The words have been spoken during rising tides of prosperity and the still waters of peace. Yet, every so often the oath is taken amidst gathering clouds and raging storms. At these moments, America has carried on not simply because of the skill or vision of those in high office, but because We the People have remained faithful to the ideals of our forbearers, and true to our founding documents.

So it has been. So it must be with this generation of Americans.

That we are in the midst of crisis is now well understood. Our nation is at war, against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred. Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age. Homes have been lost; jobs shed; businesses shuttered. Our health care is too costly; our schools fail too many; and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet.

These are the indicators of crisis, subject to data and statistics. Less measurable but no less profound is a sapping of confidence across our land - a nagging fear that America's decline is inevitable, and that the next generation must lower its sights.

Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this, America - they will be met.

On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord.

On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics.

We remain a young nation, but in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.

In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has never been one of short-cuts or settling for less. It has not been the path for the faint-hearted - for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame. Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things - some celebrated but more often men and women obscure in their labor, who have carried us up the long, rugged path towards prosperity and freedom.

For us, they packed up their few worldly possessions and traveled across oceans in search of a new life.

For us, they toiled in sweatshops and settled the West; endured the lash of the whip and plowed the hard earth.

For us, they fought and died, in places like Concord and Gettysburg; Normandy and Khe Sahn.

Time and again these men and women struggled and sacrificed and worked till their hands were raw so that we might live a better life. They saw America as bigger than the sum of our individual ambitions; greater than all the differences of birth or wealth or faction.

This is the journey we continue today. We remain the most prosperous, powerful nation on Earth. Our workers are no less productive than when this crisis began. Our minds are no less inventive, our goods and services no less needed than they were last week or last month or last year. Our capacity remains undiminished. But our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions - that time has surely passed. Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America.

For everywhere we look, there is work to be done. The state of the economy calls for action, bold and swift, and we will act - not only to create new jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth. We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together. We will restore science to its rightful place, and wield technology's wonders to raise health care's quality and lower its cost. We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age. All this we can do. And all this we will do.

Now, there are some who question the scale of our ambitions - who suggest that our system cannot tolerate too many big plans. Their memories are short. For they have forgotten what this country has already done; what free men and women can achieve when imagination is joined to common purpose, and necessity to courage.

What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them - that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long no longer apply. The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works - whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified. Where the answer is yes, we intend to move forward. Where the answer is no, programs will end. And those of us who manage the public's dollars will be held to account - to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day - because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their government.

Nor is the question before us whether the market is a force for good or ill. Its power to generate wealth and expand freedom is unmatched, but this crisis has reminded us that without a watchful eye, the market can spin out of control - and that a nation cannot prosper long when it favors only the prosperous. The success of our economy has always depended not just on the size of our Gross Domestic Product, but on the reach of our prosperity; on our ability to extend opportunity to every willing heart - not out of charity, but because it is the surest route to our common good.

As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals. Our Founding Fathers, faced with perils we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man, a charter expanded by the blood of generations. Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience's sake. And so to all other peoples and governments who are watching today, from the grandest capitals to the small village where my father was born: know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman, and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity, and that we are ready to lead once more.

Recall that earlier generations faced down fascism and communism not just with missiles and tanks, but with sturdy alliances and enduring convictions. They understood that our power alone cannot protect us, nor does it entitle us to do as we please. Instead, they knew that our power grows through its prudent use; our security emanates from the justness of our cause, the force of our example, the tempering qualities of humility and restraint.

We are the keepers of this legacy. Guided by these principles once more, we can meet those new threats that demand even greater effort - even greater cooperation and understanding between nations. We will begin to responsibly leave Iraq to its people, and forge a hard-earned peace in Afghanistan. With old friends and former foes, we will work tirelessly to lessen the nuclear threat, and roll back the specter of a warming planet. We will not apologize for our way of life, nor will we waver in its defense, and for those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and slaughtering innocents, we say to you now that our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken; you cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you.

For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus - and non-believers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth; and because we have tasted the bitter swill of civil war and segregation, and emerged from that dark chapter stronger and more united, we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself; and that America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace.

To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect. To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society's ills on the West - know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy. To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.

To the people of poor nations, we pledge to work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds. And to those nations like ours that enjoy relative plenty, we say we can no longer afford indifference to suffering outside our borders; nor can we consume the world's resources without regard to effect. For the world has changed, and we must change with it.

As we consider the road that unfolds before us, we remember with humble gratitude those brave Americans who, at this very hour, patrol far-off deserts and distant mountains. They have something to tell us today, just as the fallen heroes who lie in Arlington whisper through the ages. We honor them not only because they are guardians of our liberty, but because they embody the spirit of service; a willingness to find meaning in something greater than themselves. And yet, at this moment - a moment that will define a generation - it is precisely this spirit that must inhabit us all.

For as much as government can do and must do, it is ultimately the faith and determination of the American people upon which this nation relies. It is the kindness to take in a stranger when the levees break, the selflessness of workers who would rather cut their hours than see a friend lose their job which sees us through our darkest hours. It is the firefighter's courage to storm a stairway filled with smoke, but also a parent's willingness to nurture a child, that finally decides our fate.

Our challenges may be new. The instruments with which we meet them may be new. But those values upon which our success depends - hard work and honesty, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism - these things are old. These things are true. They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history. What is demanded then is a return to these truths. What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility - a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task.

This is the price and the promise of citizenship.

This is the source of our confidence - the knowledge that God calls on us to shape an uncertain destiny.

This is the meaning of our liberty and our creed - why men and women and children of every race and every faith can join in celebration across this magnificent mall, and why a man whose father less than sixty years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath.

So let us mark this day with remembrance, of who we are and how far we have traveled. In the year of America's birth, in the coldest of months, a small band of patriots huddled by dying campfires on the shores of an icy river. The capital was abandoned. The enemy was advancing. The snow was stained with blood. At a moment when the outcome of our revolution was most in doubt, the father of our nation ordered these words be read to the people:

"Let it be told to the future world...that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive...that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet [it]."

America. In the face of our common dangers, in this winter of our hardship, let us remember these timeless words. With hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents, and endure what storms may come. Let it be said by our children's children that when we were tested we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God's grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations.

Prepared remarks of Barack Obama to the Democratic National Convention

updated 6:36 p.m. PT, Thurs., Aug. 28, 2008

To Chairman Dean and my great friend Dick Durbin; and to all my fellow citizens of this great nation: With profound gratitude and great humility, I accept your nomination for the presidency of the United States.

Let me express my thanks to the historic slate of candidates who accompanied me on this journey, and especially the one who traveled the farthest - a champion for working Americans and an inspiration to my daughters and to yours -- Hillary Rodham Clinton. To President Clinton, who last night made the case for change as only he can make it; to Ted Kennedy, who embodies the spirit of service; and to the next Vice President of the United States, Joe Biden, I thank you. I am grateful to finish this journey with one of the finest statesmen of our time, a man at ease with everyone from world leaders to the conductors on the Amtrak train he still takes home every night.

To the love of my life, our next First Lady, Michelle Obama, and to Sasha and Malia - I love you so much, and I'm so proud of all of you.

Four years ago, I stood before you and told you my story - of the brief union between a young man from Kenya and a young woman from Kansas who weren't well-off or well-known, but shared a belief that in America, their son could achieve whatever he put his mind to.

It is that promise that has always set this country apart - that through hard work and sacrifice, each of us can pursue our individual dreams but still come together as one American family, to ensure that the next generation can pursue their dreams as well.

That's why I stand here tonight. Because for two hundred and thirty two years, at each moment when that promise was in jeopardy, ordinary men and women - students and soldiers, farmers and teachers, nurses and janitors -- found the courage to keep it alive.

We meet at one of those defining moments - a moment when our nation is at war, our economy is in turmoil, and the American promise has been threatened once more.

Tonight, more Americans are out of work and more are working harder for less. More of you have lost your homes and even more are watching your home values plummet. More of you have cars you can't afford to drive, credit card bills you can't afford to pay, and tuition that's beyond your reach.

These challenges are not all of government's making. But the failure to respond is a direct result of a broken politics in Washington and the failed policies of George W. Bush.

America, we are better than these last eight years. We are a better country than this.

This country is more decent than one where a woman in Ohio, on the brink of retirement, finds herself one illness away from disaster after a lifetime of hard work.

This country is more generous than one where a man in Indiana has to pack up the equipment he's worked on for twenty years and watch it shipped off to China, and then chokes up as he explains how he felt like a failure when he went home to tell his family the news.

We are more compassionate than a government that lets veterans sleep on our streets and families slide into poverty; that sits on its hands while a major American city drowns before our eyes.

Tonight, I say to the American people, to Democrats and Republicans and Independents across this great land - enough! This moment - this election - is our chance to keep, in the 21st century, the American promise alive. Because next week, in Minnesota, the same party that brought you two terms of George Bush and Dick Cheney will ask this country for a third. And we are here because we love this country too much to let the next four years look like the last eight. On November 4th, we must stand up and say: "Eight is enough."

Now let there be no doubt. The Republican nominee, John McCain, has worn the uniform of our country with bravery and distinction, and for that we owe him our gratitude and respect. And next week, we'll also hear about those occasions when he's broken with his party as evidence that he can deliver the change that we need.

But the record's clear: John McCain has voted with George Bush ninety percent of the time. Senator McCain likes to talk about judgment, but really, what does it say about your judgment when you think George Bush has been right more than ninety percent of the time? I don't know about you, but I'm not ready to take a ten percent chance on change.

The truth is, on issue after issue that would make a difference in your lives - on health care and education and the economy - Senator McCain has been anything but independent. He said that our economy has made "great progress" under this President. He said that the fundamentals of the economy are strong. And when one of his chief advisors - the man who wrote his economic plan - was talking about the anxiety Americans are feeling, he said that we were just suffering from a "mental recession," and that we've become, and I quote, "a nation of whiners."

A nation of whiners? Tell that to the proud auto workers at a Michigan plant who, after they found out it was closing, kept showing up every day and working as hard as ever, because they knew there were people who counted on the brakes that they made. Tell that to the military families who shoulder their burdens silently as they watch their loved ones leave for their third or fourth or fifth tour of duty. These are not whiners. They work hard and give back and keep going without complaint. These are the Americans that I know.

Now, I don't believe that Senator McCain doesn't care what's going on in the lives of Americans. I just think he doesn't know. Why else would he define middle-class as someone making under five million dollars a year? How else could he propose hundreds of billions in tax breaks for big corporations and oil companies but not one penny of tax relief to more than one hundred million Americans? How else could he offer a health care plan that would actually tax people's benefits, or an education plan that would do nothing to help families pay for college, or a plan that would privatize Social Security and gamble your retirement?

It's not because John McCain doesn't care. It's because John McCain doesn't get it.

For over two decades, he's subscribed to that old, discredited Republican philosophy - give more and more to those with the most and hope that prosperity trickles down to everyone else. In Washington, they call this the Ownership Society, but what it really means is - you're on your own. Out of work? Tough luck. No health care? The market will fix it. Born into poverty? Pull yourself up by your own bootstraps - even if you don't have boots. You're on your own.

Well it's time for them to own their failure. It's time for us to change America.
You see, we Democrats have a very different measure of what constitutes progress in this country.

We measure progress by how many people can find a job that pays the mortgage; whether you can put a little extra money away at the end of each month so you can someday watch your child receive her college diploma. We measure progress in the 23 million new jobs that were created when Bill Clinton was President - when the average American family saw its income go up $7,500 instead of down $2,000 like it has under George Bush.

We measure the strength of our economy not by the number of billionaires we have or the profits of the Fortune 500, but by whether someone with a good idea can take a risk and start a new business, or whether the waitress who lives on tips can take a day off to look after a sick kid without losing her job - an economy that honors the dignity of work.

The fundamentals we use to measure economic strength are whether we are living up to that fundamental promise that has made this country great - a promise that is the only reason I am standing here tonight.

Because in the faces of those young veterans who come back from Iraq and Afghanistan, I see my grandfather, who signed up after Pearl Harbor, marched in Patton's Army, and was rewarded by a grateful nation with the chance to go to college on the GI Bill.

In the face of that young student who sleeps just three hours before working the night shift, I think about my mom, who raised my sister and me on her own while she worked and earned her degree; who once turned to food stamps but was still able to send us to the best schools in the country with the help of student loans and scholarships.

When I listen to another worker tell me that his factory has shut down, I remember all those men and women on the South Side of Chicago who I stood by and fought for two decades ago after the local steel plant closed.

And when I hear a woman talk about the difficulties of starting her own business, I think about my grandmother, who worked her way up from the secretarial pool to middle-management, despite years of being passed over for promotions because she was a woman. She's the one who taught me about hard work. She's the one who put off buying a new car or a new dress for herself so that I could have a better life. She poured everything she had into me. And although she can no longer travel, I know that she's watching tonight, and that tonight is her night as well.

I don't know what kind of lives John McCain thinks that celebrities lead, but this has been mine. These are my heroes. Theirs are the stories that shaped me. And it is on their behalf that I intend to win this election and keep our promise alive as President of the United States.

What is that promise?

It's a promise that says each of us has the freedom to make of our own lives what we will, but that we also have the obligation to treat each other with dignity and respect.

It's a promise that says the market should reward drive and innovation and generate growth, but that businesses should live up to their responsibilities to create American jobs, look out for American workers, and play by the rules of the road.

Ours is a promise that says government cannot solve all our problems, but what it should do is that which we cannot do for ourselves - protect us from harm and provide every child a decent education; keep our water clean and our toys safe; invest in new schools and new roads and new science and technology.

Our government should work for us, not against us. It should help us, not hurt us. It should ensure opportunity not just for those with the most money and influence, but for every American who's willing to work.

That's the promise of America - the idea that we are responsible for ourselves, but that we also rise or fall as one nation; the fundamental belief that I am my brother's keeper; I am my sister's keeper.

That's the promise we need to keep. That's the change we need right now. So let me spell out exactly what that change would mean if I am President.

Change means a tax code that doesn't reward the lobbyists who wrote it, but the American workers and small businesses who deserve it.

Unlike John McCain, I will stop giving tax breaks to corporations that ship jobs overseas, and I will start giving them to companies that create good jobs right here in America.

I will eliminate capital gains taxes for the small businesses and the start-ups that will create the high-wage, high-tech jobs of tomorrow.

I will cut taxes - cut taxes - for 95% of all working families. Because in an economy like this, the last thing we should do is raise taxes on the middle-class.
And for the sake of our economy, our security, and the future of our planet, I will set a clear goal as President: in ten years, we will finally end our dependence on oil from the Middle East.

Washington's been talking about our oil addiction for the last thirty years, and John McCain has been there for twenty-six of them. In that time, he's said no to higher fuel-efficiency standards for cars, no to investments in renewable energy, no to renewable fuels. And today, we import triple the amount of oil as the day that Senator McCain took office.

Now is the time to end this addiction, and to understand that drilling is a stop-gap measure, not a long-term solution. Not even close.

As President, I will tap our natural gas reserves, invest in clean coal technology, and find ways to safely harness nuclear power. I'll help our auto companies re-tool, so that the fuel-efficient cars of the future are built right here in America. I'll make it easier for the American people to afford these new cars. And I'll invest 150 billion dollars over the next decade in affordable, renewable sources of energy - wind power and solar power and the next generation of biofuels; an investment that will lead to new industries and five million new jobs that pay well and can't ever be outsourced.

America, now is not the time for small plans.

Now is the time to finally meet our moral obligation to provide every child a world-class education, because it will take nothing less to compete in the global economy. Michelle and I are only here tonight because we were given a chance at an education. And I will not settle for an America where some kids don't have that chance. I'll invest in early childhood education. I'll recruit an army of new teachers, and pay them higher salaries and give them more support. And in exchange, I'll ask for higher standards and more accountability. And we will keep our promise to every young American - if you commit to serving your community or your country, we will make sure you can afford a college education.

Now is the time to finally keep the promise of affordable, accessible health care for every single American. If you have health care, my plan will lower your premiums. If you don't, you'll be able to get the same kind of coverage that members of Congress give themselves. And as someone who watched my mother argue with insurance companies while she lay in bed dying of cancer, I will make certain those companies stop discriminating against those who are sick and need care the most.

Now is the time to help families with paid sick days and better family leave, because nobody in America should have to choose between keeping their jobs and caring for a sick child or ailing parent.

Now is the time to change our bankruptcy laws, so that your pensions are protected ahead of CEO bonuses; and the time to protect Social Security for future generations.

And now is the time to keep the promise of equal pay for an equal day's work, because I want my daughters to have exactly the same opportunities as your sons.

Now, many of these plans will cost money, which is why I've laid out how I'll pay for every dime - by closing corporate loopholes and tax havens that don't help America grow. But I will also go through the federal budget, line by line, eliminating programs that no longer work and making the ones we do need work better and cost less - because we cannot meet twenty-first century challenges with a twentieth century bureaucracy.

And Democrats, we must also admit that fulfilling America's promise will require more than just money. It will require a renewed sense of responsibility from each of us to recover what John F. Kennedy called our "intellectual and moral strength." Yes, government must lead on energy independence, but each of us must do our part to make our homes and businesses more efficient. Yes, we must provide more ladders to success for young men who fall into lives of crime and despair. But we must also admit that programs alone can't replace parents; that government can't turn off the television and make a child do her homework; that fathers must take more responsibility for providing the love and guidance their children need.

Individual responsibility and mutual responsibility - that's the essence of America's promise.

And just as we keep our keep our promise to the next generation here at home, so must we keep America's promise abroad. If John McCain wants to have a debate about who has the temperament, and judgment, to serve as the next Commander-in-Chief, that's a debate I'm ready to have.

For while Senator McCain was turning his sights to Iraq just days after 9/11, I stood up and opposed this war, knowing that it would distract us from the real threats we face. When John McCain said we could just "muddle through" in Afghanistan, I argued for more resources and more troops to finish the fight against the terrorists who actually attacked us on 9/11, and made clear that we must take out Osama bin Laden and his lieutenants if we have them in our sights. John McCain likes to say that he'll follow bin Laden to the Gates of Hell - but he won't even go to the cave where he lives.

And today, as my call for a time frame to remove our troops from Iraq has been echoed by the Iraqi government and even the Bush Administration, even after we learned that Iraq has a $79 billion surplus while we're wallowing in deficits, John McCain stands alone in his stubborn refusal to end a misguided war.
That's not the judgment we need. That won't keep America safe. We need a President who can face the threats of the future, not keep grasping at the ideas of the past.

You don't defeat a terrorist network that operates in eighty countries by occupying Iraq. You don't protect Israel and deter Iran just by talking tough in Washington. You can't truly stand up for Georgia when you've strained our oldest alliances. If John McCain wants to follow George Bush with more tough talk and bad strategy, that is his choice - but it is not the change we need.

We are the party of Roosevelt. We are the party of Kennedy. So don't tell me that Democrats won't defend this country. Don't tell me that Democrats won't keep us safe. The Bush-McCain foreign policy has squandered the legacy that generations of Americans -- Democrats and Republicans - have built, and we are here to restore that legacy.

As Commander-in-Chief, I will never hesitate to defend this nation, but I will only send our troops into harm's way with a clear mission and a sacred commitment to give them the equipment they need in battle and the care and benefits they deserve when they come home.

I will end this war in Iraq responsibly, and finish the fight against al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan. I will rebuild our military to meet future conflicts. But I will also renew the tough, direct diplomacy that can prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons and curb Russian aggression. I will build new partnerships to defeat the threats of the 21st century: terrorism and nuclear proliferation; poverty and genocide; climate change and disease. And I will restore our moral standing, so that America is once again that last, best hope for all who are called to the cause of freedom, who long for lives of peace, and who yearn for a better future.

These are the policies I will pursue. And in the weeks ahead, I look forward to debating them with John McCain.

But what I will not do is suggest that the Senator takes his positions for political purposes. Because one of the things that we have to change in our politics is the idea that people cannot disagree without challenging each other's character and patriotism.

The times are too serious, the stakes are too high for this same partisan playbook. So let us agree that patriotism has no party. I love this country, and so do you, and so does John McCain. The men and women who serve in our battlefields may be Democrats and Republicans and Independents, but they have fought together and bled together and some died together under the same proud flag. They have not served a Red America or a Blue America - they have served the United States of America.

So I've got news for you, John McCain. We all put our country first.
America, our work will not be easy. The challenges we face require tough choices, and Democrats as well as Republicans will need to cast off the worn-out ideas and politics of the past. For part of what has been lost these past eight years can't just be measured by lost wages or bigger trade deficits. What has also been lost is our sense of common purpose - our sense of higher purpose.

And that's what we have to restore.

We may not agree on abortion, but surely we can agree on reducing the number of unwanted pregnancies in this country. The reality of gun ownership may be different for hunters in rural Ohio than for those plagued by gang-violence in Cleveland, but don't tell me we can't uphold the Second Amendment while keeping AK-47s out of the hands of criminals. I know there are differences on same-sex marriage, but surely we can agree that our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters deserve to visit the person they love in the hospital and to live lives free of discrimination. Passions fly on immigration, but I don't know anyone who benefits when a mother is separated from her infant child or an employer undercuts American wages by hiring illegal workers. This too is part of America's promise - the promise of a democracy where we can find the strength and grace to bridge divides and unite in common effort.

I know there are those who dismiss such beliefs as happy talk. They claim that our insistence on something larger, something firmer and more honest in our public life is just a Trojan Horse for higher taxes and the abandonment of traditional values. And that's to be expected. Because if you don't have any fresh ideas, then you use stale tactics to scare the voters. If you don't have a record to run on, then you paint your opponent as someone people should run from.
You make a big election about small things.

And you know what - it's worked before. Because it feeds into the cynicism we all have about government. When Washington doesn't work, all its promises seem empty. If your hopes have been dashed again and again, then it's best to stop hoping, and settle for what you already know.

I get it. I realize that I am not the likeliest candidate for this office. I don't fit the typical pedigree, and I haven't spent my career in the halls of Washington.
But I stand before you tonight because all across America something is stirring.

What the nay-sayers don't understand is that this election has never been about me. It's been about you.

For eighteen long months, you have stood up, one by one, and said enough to the politics of the past. You understand that in this election, the greatest risk we can take is to try the same old politics with the same old players and expect a different result. You have shown what history teaches us - that at defining moments like this one, the change we need doesn't come from Washington. Change comes to Washington. Change happens because the American people demand it - because they rise up and insist on new ideas and new leadership, a new politics for a new time.

America, this is one of those moments.

I believe that as hard as it will be, the change we need is coming. Because I've seen it. Because I've lived it. I've seen it in Illinois, when we provided health care to more children and moved more families from welfare to work. I've seen it in Washington, when we worked across party lines to open up government and hold lobbyists more accountable, to give better care for our veterans and keep nuclear weapons out of terrorist hands.

And I've seen it in this campaign. In the young people who voted for the first time, and in those who got involved again after a very long time. In the Republicans who never thought they'd pick up a Democratic ballot, but did. I've seen it in the workers who would rather cut their hours back a day than see their friends lose their jobs, in the soldiers who re-enlist after losing a limb, in the good neighbors who take a stranger in when a hurricane strikes and the floodwaters rise.

This country of ours has more wealth than any nation, but that's not what makes us rich. We have the most powerful military on Earth, but that's not what makes us strong. Our universities and our culture are the envy of the world, but that's not what keeps the world coming to our shores.

Instead, it is that American spirit - that American promise - that pushes us forward even when the path is uncertain; that binds us together in spite of our differences; that makes us fix our eye not on what is seen, but what is unseen, that better place around the bend.

That promise is our greatest inheritance. It's a promise I make to my daughters when I tuck them in at night, and a promise that you make to yours - a promise that has led immigrants to cross oceans and pioneers to travel west; a promise that led workers to picket lines, and women to reach for the ballot.

And it is that promise that forty five years ago today, brought Americans from every corner of this land to stand together on a Mall in Washington, before Lincoln's Memorial, and hear a young preacher from Georgia speak of his dream.

The men and women who gathered there could've heard many things. They could've heard words of anger and discord. They could've been told to succumb to the fear and frustration of so many dreams deferred.

But what the people heard instead - people of every creed and color, from every walk of life - is that in America, our destiny is inextricably linked. That together, our dreams can be one.

"We cannot walk alone," the preacher cried. "And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back."
America, we cannot turn back. Not with so much work to be done. Not with so many children to educate, and so many veterans to care for. Not with an economy to fix and cities to rebuild and farms to save. Not with so many families to protect and so many lives to mend. America, we cannot turn back.

We cannot walk alone. At this moment, in this election, we must pledge once more to march into the future. Let us keep that promise - that American promise - and in the words of Scripture hold firmly, without wavering, to the hope that we confess.
Thank you, God Bless you, and God Bless the United States of America.
URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26446638/

Finally! The Sinking of the Swiftboater!

Finally...we have it up...Paul Waldman of Media Matters smacksdown Corsi the Liar!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yELXhrt1KYg&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3N5F2RmsxEo

Quick hits: Obama v. Warren

Some quick hits on Rick Warren's Q and A with Barack Obama that just finished moments ago (6:03pm PDT 8.16.08):

Obama almost had to say that he was not for gay marriage. Though I would have loved for him to say that, the reaction he got by saying the Standard Issue Marraige Line assured him he would get out of the O. C. in one piece. Literally.

Is Warren trying to set up his OWN Presidential aganda for '12? I mean.....and emergency initiative to save all the orphans? Where's Rick going to find all the parents?

Warren impresses me as a good interviewer. He pretty much put his cards on the table and Obama played it well.

Nice move at the end when Warren got both Obama and McCain on the same stage. I also liked Obama saying "go get 'em" as they faded to black. I would have liked it more if I knew he said it to McCain.

Obama handled himself well. Wished he did'nt cock his head to one side as he answed questions.

Good point that Obama made that we as a country should set the example and not do things like, say, condone torture.

I grade Obama a B+

I hope to post some quick hits later.

Has the Obama Swift Boat Hit an Iceberg?

Well, boys an girls, its not gonna be like 2004, for damned sure.

Unlike John Kerry, who allowed right-wing propagandists to destroy his Presidential campaign via the infamous Swift Boat Vets, Barack Obama is meeting the liars head-on.

I say lairs because the latest stream of right-wing bile offered up by WorldNetDaily's Jerry Corsi is...well, let the AP tell it:

Corsi suggests, without a shred of proof, that Obama may be
using drugs today. Obama has acknowledged using marijuana and cocaine as a
teenager but says he quit when he went to college and hasn't used drugs since.
(http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080815/ap_on_el_pr/anti_obama_book)

Notice the phrase, WITHOUT A SHRED OF PROOF. The AP seldom goes there. But did.

Obama, unlike Kerry, immediatly resesponded point-by-point:

The Obama campaign picked apart the book's claims in a rebuttal titled
"Unfit For Publication," to be posted on the Obama campaign's rumor-fighting Web
site, http://www.fightthesmears.com/. The
title is a play on the book Corsi co-authored against 2004 Democratic
presidential nominee John Kerry's military service called "Unfit For Command."
"Jerome Corsi is a discredited liar who is peddling another piece of garbage
to continue the Bush-Cheney politics he helped perpetuate four years ago," said
Obama spokesman Tommy Vietor. "His is just one of what will likely be many more
lie-filled books rushed to print this election cycle, which are cobbled together
from debunked Internet sources to make money and advance a partisan agenda. We
will respond to these smears forcefully with all means at our disposal."

Yesterday, Joesph Farah, whose moustache is so thick you cam almost see it twirling, defended the author his uber-neocon birdcage carpet is bankrolling:

WND senior staff writer Jerome Corsi may be the most famous man in America today
for his No. 1 New York Times best-selling exposé of Barack
Obama.

And that's what's bugging the Democratic presidential nominee and his loyal minions among so many of my
colleagues in the Big Media.

So successful has been Corsi's "The Obama Nation"
that last night the Democratic Party presidential candidate released a 40-page
report attacking him and his work – the work that should have been done long ago
by Obama's chums in the establishment press.

Unlike most of the critics of "The Obama Nation," I
have actually read the book from cover to cover. It is a thoroughly
well-documented piece of first-rate journalism.

Bullllll-shite!

Are there mistakes in it?

You got a couple of days?

Show me a first edition that doesn't have some – other than the Bible.

And there are some questions about THAT....

But is it truthful? Does it add considerably to the public's knowledge of the
front-running candidate for the presidency? Do we know much more about Obama
than we would had we relied exclusively for our information from the New York
Times, the Los Angeles Times, the Washington Post and the Associated Press?

No Joe. The claims the Obama is a Muslim but actually a Christian, that he did not discussi his family..whe he indeed did, that Obama is still using drugs....lie after lie. What a lying sack of crap!

I offer a resounding "yes" to all three of those questions.

I am privileged to call him my friend, colleague and co-worker.

I stand with Jerry Corsi today as he is viciously maligned by an attack
media that would prefer to aim its potent artillery at a man who dared to do
their job when they refused, when they laid down, when they sucked up, when they
failed to ask the tough questions, when they took sides.
The Obama campaign
dares to make the astounding claim that Corsi's book, published by Simon &
Schuster, is "brought to you by Bush/Cheney attack machine." The report then
goes on to mention that Corsi has given the Bush administration more fits over
the last several years, especially with his last book, "The Late Great USA,"
published by WND Books, than any other reporter in America.

WND has been described by many of the Obama apologists as
"conservative," as "right-wing," as "Republican leaning." To regular readers of
WND who understand our commitment to fierce independence, our willingness to dig
deep no matter which politician is exposed, those characterizations will prove
laughable.

Isn't it interesting how Jerome Corsi has received more scrutiny from
the Big Media in the last 24 hours than Barack Obama has received in his entire
political career?

Has Jerry Corsi said things and written things in his life that he
regrets? Undoubtedly. But he is not running
for president of the United States. He is simply a courageous, dedicated
journalist – an intrepid investigator, a two-time No. 1 best-selling author, a
Harvard Ph.D and a man of principle.

I am proud to have him working for WND.

If you are as angry about the attempted media lynching of Jerry Corsi,
there's something you can do about it.

And, most of all, read it for yourself.

Don't listen to the smears of petty, jealous, politically motivated
pseudo-journalists who haven't even bothered to crack open "The Obama Nation."

Don't listen to the lies and spin of the Obama campaign, which doesn't
even know the meaning of the word "truth."

There's a feeding frenzy out there in elite circles with media vultures
vying for respectability by denouncing Corsi.

You won't see me among them.

I've read "The Obama Nation."

I've read all the ugly lies being peddled about him.

And I've read the Obama campaign's 40-page report.

I stand with Corsi.

In the dung you do, Farah.

The Swift-Boating of Barack Obama

It has begun.

The Armageddonist/NeoCon/NeoXian right has finally begun their big push to eliminate Barack Obama as a threat to thier nefarious goals.

This weekend, the Neos attacked on two fronts. One directly and the other indirectly (IMHO). The fact that these attacks seem to be launched simultaneously reflects on the fact that the Neos are now in full panic mode. Panicked that not only are thier phony-baloney positions are threatened, but that Obama would actually go after them with gusto.

The website Real Clear Politics gives the Neos a concrete picture of their nightmare. Thier current (as of 8/11/08) electoral map shows that, even with a sea or red, and a solid south and right-west, Obama has in his pocket 309 electoral votes to McCain's 229, more than enough to win the election. The popular vote does not bode well for the Neos, either. As RCP's snapshot shows, even though it looks awash in a sea of red, Obama seems to have the blue states that count. Predictions of massive voter turnouts by blacks, Hispanics, and other minorities dot not help either.

In short, the Neos are navigating through that well-known brown river without a paddle. Upstream. Against a headwind.

The various smear campaigns are not working. Reverend Wright. Obama's faith. His lack of a jingoistic patriotism. What usually works for the Neos is not working now. And on top of that, Obama has been smart enough to start a website designed specifically to counter any new smears that come up, almost within hours.

Which leads us to the birth certificate.

There seems to be a question about where and when Obama was born. Neos like Michelle Malkin and others have had a problem trying to find it in the public record. "A-HA! A red flag we can use!" But Obama placed a birth certificate on his Fight the Smears page. Almost immediately the Neos strike. Larry Johnson, a muckraker who previously an video of Michelle Obama saying pretty unpatriotic and racist things (and we are still waiting for that one), says that some blogger who calls him/herselff "TechDude" has called the birth certificate image a phony (http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/929577/barack_obama_birthday_gate_obama_birth.html). Since then, Neo talkhosts and websites have gone batty over this, not to mention the loose network of YouTubers akin to the one that let loose on John Kerry during his Swift Boat troubles.

Observe:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4pGuwzoBRE

So basically, if you cannot defeat him by challenging the issues, bombard him with bullsh*t.

It worked on Kerry. Kerry was in about the same place as Obama in 2004, but the Swift Boaters came in, charging him with pretty much lying about his Purple Heart. The charges themselves proved to be lies, but with Kerry's milquetoast-like response, the damage was done.

What they are trying to do is give red meat to the red staters, saying that, in reality, Obama was not a true born citizen, and as such, is ineligible for the Presidency. To be fair, John McCain has a similar problem: he was born in the Panama Canal Zone, but he may have been born before it became an American possession. Which, of course, shoots down the Neos arguments, since..if Barry/Barack was born BEFORE Hawaiian statehood, he's still be a citizen because Hawaii was a possession of the USA.

But the point is clear: keep Obama busy with bullsh*t, allowing a inferior opponent controlled by NeoXian Armageddonists to waltz into the White House again.

But that was the frontal attack. There was also the backdoor siege this weekend.

By know you know that John Edwards did the horizontal bop with a hottie that was not his hottie, but ailing wife. The National Enquirer has been trying to link a newborn daughter of film maker Rielle Hunter with Edwards. Edwards admitted that he did have an affiar with her two years ago, but it ended. If true, that would set a world record for gestation. Edwards told his wife, she forgave him, and they are happy. Rielle also refused to feed the smear machine by saying she would not participate in a DNA test to provide the Enquirer with the Maury moment that they wanted.

The result: even liberal bloggers and talkhosts have said Edwards was through. That fibbing about something they thought should have been private pretty much killed him politically.

But a question arises. Why now?

The Enquirer, which was founded in part with Mafia money, has always had a bit of a right-ward bent. They probably had the story when Edwards was running. He will still have a healthy number of delegates coming into Denver. Why didn't they use the info then? (yes they did run articles in 2007, but they really did not ramp it all up until now)

A whiff of morals? We ARE talking the Enquirer, here.

But think about this: before all this started, Edwards was the main name linked to and Attorney General's job under an Obama adminstration. He had been pretty fearless going after corporations as a litigation lawyer, and many feel that Edwards is...or would have been...the closest this country had come to a new Bobby Kennedy...someone who would, without fear, go out and get the bad guys.

Guys like, say, anyone who would start an illegal war with trumped-up false evidence. For starters.

So if you are, say, the Neo cabal, and you are seeing what appears to be an inevitable Obama victory, the very least you'd want to do is to neutralize any problems that might, say, send you to jail for 50 years....or in front of a firing squad.

Problems like a crusading Attorney General, say.

As Lewis Carroll would say, "curiouser and curiouser..."

IHT: Obama projects victory but Clinton may be poised to increase clout

By Brian Knowlton
Published: May 12, 2008
WASHINGTON: Senator Barack Obama is acting as if he already has won the Democratic presidential nomination, but Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton is poised, ironically, to score two of her most lopsided primary victories and possibly enhance her political clout.
Obama's travel plans in the next two weeks suggest a clear focus on the general election in November - he will visit Missouri, a general-election swing state, on Tuesday, then Michigan on Wednesday and Florida next week, both of them key to the hopes of Democrats in the fall.
But the presidential primary season is not over yet, and polls show Clinton holding a huge edge Tuesday in West Virginia - leading by an average of 36 points, according to three voter surveys cited by the Real Clear Politics Web site. Polling also gives her a 30-point lead in Kentucky, which will vote May 20. She is also favored on June 1 in Puerto Rico, which votes in a primary but not the general election.

Although Obama is expected to win the three other remaining primaries - in Oregon, Montana and South Dakota, ending on June 3 - Clinton's upcoming show of strength should position her better for challenges to come. Those might include the matter of who Obama would choose to join him on the ticket; signals are mixed as to whether she might be interested. They might also make it easier for Clinton to end her candidacy unbowed and on an upbeat note.
Even top Clinton advisers acknowledge that the New York senator faces daunting odds. Terry McAuliffe, her campaign chairman, said Sunday that it was "highly unlikely" Clinton could overcome Obama's lead in elected delegates.

With mounting pressure from fellow Democrats to end a divisive campaign, Clinton has begun shifting her attacks to Senator John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee. She has pledged to support the Democratic nominee "no matter what happens."

On the other side, McCain and his surrogates have considerably sharpened their attacks on Obama, hinting at the outlines of a general-election strategy. The former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, an erstwhile McCain rival who now supports him, blasted the Illinois senator on Sunday as an untested man of scant experience.

"He has not accomplished anything during his life, in terms of legislation or leading an enterprise or making a business work or a city work or a state work," Romney said on CNN. "He really has very little experience, and the presidency of the United States is not an internship."

McCain planned Monday in Oregon to enlarge on his call for mandatory curbs on greenhouse gas emissions, a position closer to those of Obama and Clinton - and to many independent and centrist voters - than to the Republican mainstream or President George W. Bush.

As he plays a delicate game of positioning, McCain has laid out his views on the Iraq war, taxes and judicial nominations, all aimed at expanding his appeal among conservatives. But he received a sharp reminder Monday of the difficulty he may have in nailing down support from the right: Bob Barr, a conservative former Republican congressman from Georgia, announced plans to run for the Libertarian party's presidential nomination.

Barr, 59, helped lead the impeachment of President Bill Clinton, giving him national prominence, and in some circles, notoriety. But Barr left the Republican Party in 2006, disillusioned by what he said was its failure to restrain government growth and by what he considered affronts to civil liberties. He became a sharp critic of the Patriot Act, for example.

His candidacy could take some votes from McCain. And his criticisms of the party might add to pressure on McCain not to move too far toward the center.

In the Democratic race, Obama has effectively ceded West Virginia. He told a crowd Monday in Charleston - in his only visit to the state - that he expected Clinton to draw "many more" votes than he would get. West Virginia is one of the poorest, oldest, most white-dominated states, mirroring the composition of counties in Ohio, Indiana and Pennsylvania that Clinton carried handily.

But Obama emphasized themes meant to play well there: patriotism and love of country.
"My grandfather Stanley Dunham enlisted after Pearl Harbor and went on to march in Patton's army," he said. "My grandmother worked on a bomber assembly line while he was gone, and my mother was born at Fort Leavenworth."

Still, a poll in Kentucky suggested that Obama's race might hurt him there as he campaigns to be elected as the country's first black president. While more than half of respondents in a survey by the Herald-Leader, a newspaper in Lexington, Kentucky, said that his race was not a factor, 1 in 5 said it could hurt Obama's chances, and only 4 percent said it would help.

The newspaper also said that its poll raised doubts about whether Kentucky - which has backed the winning presidential candidate in every election since 1964 - would be a battleground state in the fall. The poll showed McCain leading Obama by 25 percentage points there and Clinton by 12. It had a 4 percent margin of error.