RNC issues apology to Negroes

This is satire from Andy Borowitz

Just days after the news broke that former Tennessee GOP leader Chip Saltsman had released a song parody entitled "Barack the Magic Negro," the Republican National Committee issued what it called "an official apology to America's negroes."

In the statement, the RNC ripped Saltsman's song, calling it "tone-deaf, unacceptable, and offensive to every negro in the country."

"We do not want one ill-considered song parody to create the wrong impression," the RNC statement read. "The Republican Party has always been, and will always be, the friend of the negro."

But while the RNC's official statement was designed to quell the outrage surrounding Mr. Saltsman's song, it may have created a controversy of its own.

Just hours after releasing the official apology, the RNC issued a second apology apologizing for the first apology.

"It has come to our attention that we misused a word in our first apology," the RNC statement read. "We should have capitalized 'Negro.'"

COMPUTER BLUE

GONE AND HOPEFULLY FORGOTTEN

Sarah Palin Busted

Just Huntin' Yea right

THE TIME: GET IT UP

Ain't nuttin' like a fresh pair of baggies.

Payback is a mother...and so is Greta

How I started my day …
by Greta Van Susteren

Can people be THIS stupid?

I am changing banks Monday morning. I have (soon to be had) SunTrust. They violated my privacy ….so now I have to switch banks in order to maintain privacy. And the weirdest part? They did it by writing about their “privacy policy.” Go figure. ……I do have his name (I will protect HIS privacy even though he does not give a damn about mine) but his title is…ready for this? Corporate Privacy Officer. It should be “corporate idiot.’ thanks a lot!

…so now your turn, what stupid thing have you discovered today?
Comment by tickedoffOhioan**changingnameto**6canecorsosinOHIO
December 28th, 2008 at 11:28 am

Comment by Kid Funkadelic
December 28th, 2008 at 11:25 am
There is a GOD. Now you know how the people on the shut-in list at Trinity United in Chicago feel.Rev. Wright and Rev. Moss still need a apology from you and all your co-workers at FOX that went on a witch hunt.God don’t like ugly and payback is a Mother.
XXXXXXXXXXX

Your right about one thing KID…and goodluck when you are burning in HE LL for your hateful, racist, nasty remarks. You are one SICK thing….I can’t even call you human!
___________________

Did I say anything racist or hateful?Now nasty?

RNC candidate distributes controversial Obama song

The top part of this article is about the RNC mailing out their racist song as a gift to their friends. Greta tries to "play" the Democrat(DINO)at FOX and says it bad.If she could tell that the song is bad,she should know DAMN WELL what she did to Rev.Wright was straight up racist and jacked up.Below the article the people on her blog disagree with her.After being trained to attack , they don't know how to heel.

RNC candidate distributes controversial Obama song
By Reid Wilson
Posted: 12/26/08 12:10 PM [ET]

RNC candidate Chip Saltsman’s Christmas greeting to committee members includes a music CD with lyrics from a song called “Barack the Magic Negro,” first played on Rush Limbaugh’s popular radio show.
Saltsman, a personal friend of conservative satirist Paul Shanklin, sent a 41-track CD along with a note to national committee members.

“I look forward to working together in the New Year,” Saltsman wrote. “Please enjoy the enclosed CD by my friend Paul Shanklin of the Rush Limbaugh Show.”

The CD, called “We Hate the USA,” lampoons liberals with such songs as “John Edwards’ Poverty Tour,” “Wright place, wrong pastor,” “Love Client #9,” “Ivory and Ebony” and “The Star Spanglish banner.”

Several of the track titles, including “Barack the Magic Negro,” are written in bold font.

The song, which debuted on Limbaugh’s show in late March 2007, latches onto an opinion column in the Los Angeles Times of the same title. That column, penned by cultural critic David Ehrenstein, argued that Obama could serve as a balm to whites who felt guilty about past treatment of African Americans.

Limbaugh first highlighted the column the day it ran, according to a contemporary report by Media Matters, the liberal watchdog agency. Media Matters reported Limbaugh repeated the phrase more than two dozen times the day the column ran.

The following month, Shanklin debuted his version of the song, sung to the tune of “Puff the Magic Dragon” and performed in Shanklin’s impression of Al Sharpton.

“See, real black men, like Snoop Dogg, or me, or Farrakhan, have talked the talk, and walked the walk, not come in late and won,” one verse in the song says.

Saltsman said he meant nothing untoward by forwarding what amounts to a joke more at Ehrenstein’s expense than at Obama’s.

“Paul Shanklin is a long-time friend, and I think that RNC members have the good humor and good sense to recognize that his songs for the Rush Limbaugh show are light-hearted political parodies,” Saltsman said.

Republicans searching for ways to attack Obama have been hesitant to embrace any reference to his race. Limbaugh presciently predicted his allusion to the column nearly two years ago would win attention from left-leaning organizations that would suggest he was using Obama’s race against him.



Comment by Dianne in Birmingham Alabama
December 28th, 2008 at 12:34 am

Comment by Kid Funkadelic
December 28th, 2008 at 12:32 am

Comment by Dianne in Birmingham Alabama
December 28th, 2008 at 12:28 am

Comment by Kid Funkadelic
December 28th, 2008 at 12:19 am

Comment by amy
December 27th, 2008 at 11:09 pm

So what are the words for OBAMA the Magic Negro? I’ve heard it on Rush but have not paid attention to he words. It is amusing, though.
__________________
You probably want the words to what the Nazi’s sing at their rallies for you Jewish friends too, hun bigot.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Here is the Barack Magic song:

____________________
Hey bigot you and Bull Connors are the reason my mother left Birmingham.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

You do not know me. I am not a bigot. Have a nice day!
Comment by Dianne in Birmingham Alabama
December 28th, 2008 at 1:10 am

Comment by Kid Funkadelic
December 28th, 2008 at 1:01 am
Comment by Dianne in Birmingham Alabama
December 28th, 2008 at 12:47 am
Comment by Kid Funkadelic
December 28th, 2008 at 12:45 am
Comment by Dianne in Birmingham Alabama
December 28th, 2008 at 12:33 am
So if you want to call a black person that ESPECIALLY in Birmingham, by all means go ahead and send the hospital bill to Greta.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Why do you find the word negro so offensive? Just asking.
_________________
Call a black person that and see if Greta will pay your medical bill. You should know especially in Birmingham that black people HATE IT.
don’t want to be called that.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

But why do you hate it specifically? I would love to hear your explanation.

Also, there are many African American organizations that have the word negro in their titles. Google it: the words negro and organization and you will see. Please explain. I would appreciate it.

By the way, I have several African American friends who would not mind if I used the word negro…. because they know me and they know that I mean no offense.

AND…. we have a Black mayor here. I have met him and I really like him.
Comment by Kid Funkadelic
December 28th, 2008 at 1:07 am

Comment by godly
December 28th, 2008 at 1:03 am

I for one SURE hope that Ken Blackwell gets chairman of RNC.
I like the song Barack the magic negro..
________________
He’s the only black person from OHIO that would like you to sing him the song. BTW, Ken hates black people and tries to rig votes.KEN CAN KISS MY BLACK ASS ALONG WITH GRETA, KLANNITY, AND O’LIELY.

Comment by mollie
December 28th, 2008 at 7:43 am

I don’t remember the words to “Barack the Magic Negro” — but I think it mocked those, including some leaders of the black community, such as Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, who initially felt that Obama was not “black enough.” Obama was thought by some in the black community not to fully represent African Americans in this country because his ancestors did not go through the slave experience, and because his mother was white and much of his ancestry is actually Arabic.

That being said, Saltzman is not what the Republican party needs. I vote for Michael Steele. I had the pleasure of meeting him in person and he is a man who can speak extemporaneously on many topics — he is charming, intelligent, charismatic — and most importantly conservative. He also seems to be an honest man — (but of course, the term “honest politician” is probably an oxymoron.) But Michael Steele has had to go through what most black onservatives experience — the disgusting racism and disrespect aimed particularly at those members of minorities who dare to think for themselves rather than to espouse the liberal “party line.” Black conservatives receive the same treatment as women who are not “NOW Feminists” — for example, Sarah Palin. Palin and Steele have something in common — courage. Steele is indeed a man of courage and intelligence — and he’s only 50 and he’s good looking. Mea Culpa for being shallow, but in this day and age — being attractive counts.

Word on Kenyan Obamas Attending Inauguration?

This is from the Sugar n Spice blog a PUMA site.I don't think anyone black is writing this."Fat African mouth" and "hut sweet hut"aren't words that black people would say.I think I was right when I called "Sugar" Michelle Malkin. She thinks that Rev.Manning is funny. She likes FOX and thinks it fair.I think someone is paying her real good money to try and eff up the President elect.


Word on Kenyan Obamas Attending Inauguration?

Sarahhusseinobama I still haven't heard anything about whether or not the "office of the president-elect" (pompous asshole) has announced that the Kenyan Obamas will be attending the Inauguration. Have I missed it? We are mere weeks away from the big day, so you'd think that by now we would have heard something, right? Maybe granny has opened her fat African mouth one time too many for the Messiah about the Kenyan birth and he's banished her and all of the rest of that group from coming lest they fugg his shit up some more. Including his brother living in the "hut sweet hut". Let me know if maybe I've missed the announcement. --SUGAR

Posted by SUGAR on December 19, 2008 at 08:00 AM | Permalink

Technorati Tags: Barack Hussein Obama, George Obama, Hut, Inauguration, Kenyan Obamas, Pitiful, Sarah Hussein Obama
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Comments

so you have some kind of problem with obama's kenyan side attending the inauguration. you're such a self-hater its really sad but quite interesting.

Posted by: prettystar08 | December 19, 2008 at 12:15 PM

"Hut sweet hut?" I love that. Anywhooo, what happened to Obie's aunt in Boston? Did he send her home, or is she coming to the party? What about his uncle? Wasn't he in Boston, too, just hidden better? Should be a helluva bash, I'm sure somebody will tell me all about it. I wonder if they'll have a square dance to T.I. or some other cross-cultural tribute to his "only in America" heart-tugging, gut-wrenching, true-life inspirational," personal pile of bile.

Posted by: Cinie | December 19, 2008 at 01:57 PM

obama is a intellect unlike you which is why he is potus he aint gonna have none of that ghetto shit at his inauguration and i am sure michelle will make sure of that

Posted by: deschl | December 20, 2008 at 10:57 AM

cousin Odinga is supposed to be in DC to a hold huge party hosted by the Kenyans.

Sugar, Check out this article about Odinga's involvement with detaining Jerome Corsi and holding his passport before he was supposed to give a press conference on Obama's involvement in Kenya and birth:

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=83984

Posted by: FembotsForObama | December 20, 2008 at 12:46 PM

Fort the two bots that posted on this article. Do you know how to read? Or did you not learn how to comprehend what you read? Damn the public school system.

Sugar was asking if obama's family in kenya would attend his swearing in ceremony, and wondering why he had not mentioned it. Her disdain was not for obama, but for his treatment of his family. In fact uglystar you need to worry more about obama's self hate than Sugars. the difference between her and alot of African americans that aren't gaga over obama is that we feel confident enough about ourselves that we don't have go for unhealthy attachments to someone just because they are black. We can step back and look at the character of an individual while you obviously can not.

I'm sick of bots who don't read post and then comment on what they think it is.

Sorry Sugar i don't usually comment on your board, but this is 2nd time i seen uglystar trying to belittle you about something stupid, and it ticked me the hell off. Obama won, if it made her so damn happy what the hell is she comoing on here bitching at you for? What she needs to do is pick up a copy of the constition and she would find out that you have the right to say what you please about your president. the fact that she doesn't know this is interesting as well.

Posted by: kgirl1028 | December 20, 2008 at 04:12 PM

kgirl, fuglystar is a troll regular here. he/she likes abuse.

wouldn't a "this is your life moment" with family & friends just round out a day of inaugural festivities?
Brother George, Cousin Odinga, Auntie Zunida, Grandma Obama, Uncle washisname who liberated Auchwitz. a real third world dictator bash. afterward they go out to WH lawn & fire rifles in the air & do that Islamic scream thingy. maybe do a couple symbolic Christian church burnings to prime the neighbors for the coming Sharia law.
BHusseinO is doing a whistle stop Lincolnesque tour from Philly to DC for the celebration. stops along the way to greet fans & pick up the VP. Make sure to wave y'all.

Posted by: raGing | December 20, 2008 at 07:16 PM

Sugar,
The obots treat Obama like he is an idol. Not like American Idol, but the golden calf in the story of Moses. The second commandment says that "you shall not make for yourself an idol," and for them the idol is Obama. He is their God and that justifies everything that they do in his name. But what gives me so much hope is how this story ended. So obots beware.You are putting your hopes and dreams in a very frawed man and not in God.

Posted by: Debra B | December 20, 2008 at 10:20 PM

Most Inane Punditry of the 2008 presidential campaign?

What was the Most Inane Punditry of the 2008 presidential campaign?

The 2008 election made history, but the long campaign leading up to it included plenty of servings of half-baked commentary. Media Matters for America has nominated 10 particularly inane pieces of punditry and invites you to vote for the Most Inane Punditry of the 2008 presidential campaign. Choose one from this list of ridiculous remarks:
Fox News' Hill criticizes Clinton for leaving too large a tip, accuses her of "spending like a Learjet liberal"
Barnes: Obama not "strong on national security" because he opposed war "when the entire world believed" Saddam had WMD
Defending Givhan's cleavage coverage, Harwood asserted "calculati[ng]" Clinton knew "what she was communicating by her dress"
On Hardball, Matthews and Shuster critiqued Obama's "weird" beverage selection at Indiana diner
Matthews on Obama shooting pool: "[I]t's not what most people play. People with money play pool these days"
Politico's Simon now on to a different part of Romney's anatomy: "shoulders you could land a 737 on"
Matthews: "Who would win a street fight ... Rudy Giuliani or President Ahmadinejad"
Brooks thinks Obama wouldn't seem to "fit[] in naturally" at an Applebee's salad bar -- maybe because Applebee's doesn't have them
Cokie Roberts on Obama's vacation: "I know his grandmother lives in Hawaii and I know Hawaii is a state," but it looks "foreign, exotic"
Scarborough on Obama's "dainty" bowling performance: "Americans want their president, if it's a man, to be a real man"

The Police-Bombs Away

It's bad when a old song is real.It mentions Afghanistan and it's more than twenty years old.

EXTRA LOVABLE

Can't stay away-Bootsy

Munchies for you love-Bootsy

MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOU-BOOTSY

Welcome to my world.

Bootsy's Funk Formula

Bootsy -Stretchin' out

Bootsy was just "funnin" in the studio when George heard the riff and told him to stretch it out. Davinci(Bernie Worrell)used Mozart as a bridge (coda)to make the song longer.

BRASS CONSTRUCTION-GET DOWN

I used to rollerskate on this. Sorry that's a lie. I used to fall down a lot on this song

LOVESEXY

madhouse 6

Prince's jazz band. Interpolation of "Sexy Dancer".

WICKED MOON

Under the Cherry Moon and Chris Issak mash up video.

ONE NATION UNDER A GROOVE

Kraftwerk vs. Coldplay

DR.FUNKENSTEIN

Preoccupied and dedicated to the preservation of the motions of hits.

DO ME BABY -PRINCE

There may be no sound but it the thought that counts.Play on.

If there's no sound listen to Chris Tucker turn da' Mutha out.

GQ-I DO LOVE YOU

HOLIDAY FLOWERS.

Cowards and Crackers

I was bussed in High School. Some of the white kids would try to look for a way to call us Niggers and get away with it.These fool listed below are bigot. One brain doaner took a Pravda cover and doctor it up so that Gretawire people will think that its real.They do all sort of mistive over there.BTW. what we did in High school to the guy who called us Hershey or Snickers, we kicked their ass.

Comment by political tracker
December 23rd, 2008 at 4:30 am

Comment by Joseph Dean
December 23rd, 2008 at 4:27 am
FID SKUNK has difficulties with English. He had a n i g g a r d l y education. Occassionally he’ll accidently write a cogent sentence. Generally he becomes increasingly incoherent as the evening progresses.
________________
please explain “n i g g ardly education”?

Comment by Joseph Dean
December 23rd, 2008 at 4:27 am

FID SKUNK has difficulties with English. He had a n i g g a r d l y education. Occassionally he’ll accidently write a cogent sentence. Generally he becomes increasingly incoherent as the evening progresses.

Comment by Joseph Dean
December 23rd, 2008 at 4:15 am

Comment by *_* *_* *_*
December 23rd, 2008 at 4:12 am
Anybody wanna bet that Kid Funk works for Acorn?
—–
I’ve been saying it for days. ACORN is paying people to ‘clog the blogs’ and they are using c r a c k for currency. sKIDmark is the kind of raw material ACORN is recruiting. I wonder how many times sKID voted?
Comment by Joseph Dean
December 23rd, 2008 at 4:46 am

Comment by Teacher
December 23rd, 2008 at 4:32 am
please explain “n i g g ardly education”?
—
SYLLABICATION: n i g·gard·ly
PRONUNCIATION: ngrd-l
ADJECTIVE: 1. Grudging and petty in giving or spending. 2. Meanly small; scanty or meager:
OTHER FORMS: n i gg ard·li·ness —NOUN
n i g gard·ly —ADVERB
FID SKUNKY had a meager education, Teach.
Comment by My 2cents & More
December 23rd, 2008 at 4:21 am

Comment by Joseph Dean
December 23rd, 2008 at 4:18 am
Comment by *_* *_* *_*
December 23rd, 2008 at 4:15 am
FUNK>>>>>I wish i was i would have your racist butt audited.>>>>>>>Since you cannot spell, and your grammer is atrocious, you may want to go back to high school. That is, assuming you ever went.
—-
He went. Good place to hook new customers on sKID’s drug of choice.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Kid Flunky is a sorry sort - somehow it’s whities fault for his failures!!

The beeyatch misspelled "whitey".

Good Riddence

Just Huntin'?

Somebody huntin' for more than just moose.

Obama Embraces Sexual Bigot and Disses Dissenter of Racism

Barack Obama is too busy. First, he appears every other day at expensive and high profile press conferences to "announce" his administration appointments. Second, he provides way too much commentary on "this and that" and does so with the calm of a casanova. And have you noticed the daily and consistent stream of Obama coins, plates, and info-mercial-like kudos that parade him as an almost saint?

Tell me, what is going on? While I have been around the block a couple of times, I have never seen this kind of hoopla around an incoming president. Grant it, Obama supposedly is to be the first Black president of the United States (although that designation can be disputed - do your homework 'cause I don't want to enable the lazy masses). But something else is being said; something that is quiet and dangerous. But I cannot quite put my hand on it.

However, one thing is clear: Obama has asked the Rev. Rick Warren to pray for "us" at his inaugural bash come January 20, 2009. Rev. Warren, by the way, hates on people who are homosexual and rejects their admission to his California church if they do not reject and repent their sexual orientation. Yea, the messiah-like Obama, despite his stated compassion for homosexuals, selected the homophobic Rev. Warren to pray for America.

This is the same Obama who lashed out and distanced himself from the Rev. Jeremiah Wright of Chicago. Mind you now, Rev. Wright's only "sin" (according to a lot of white people and a small group of passive Black people) was screaming and hollering about America's racist past and present. Rev. Wright's rants did not demonize or hate on individuals who enjoy love and sex with a consenting adult of their choice.

You do the math: Rev. Wright was dissed by Obama for complaining about the deadly and murderous system of racism and white supremacy. And Rev. Warren is embraced by Obama, this despite Warren's concept that equates homosexuals with pedophiles and bestiality.

The result of Obama's association with reverends, thus far, show that he ran away from a reverend who challenged the system of white supremacy, and he ran to a reverend who makes villains of those who cherishes the person of their choice.

And Obama's response to Rev. Warren selection? Obama says we have to work with people of contrary views. O'k.

And Obama's response to Rev. Wright? Obama ran away from him. Grant you, Obama did write and give an impressive speak on race in America.

So, does not mean that Obama will give a comparable speak on sexual orientation in America?

This is what we suggest: We strongly urge Obama to replace immediately Rev. Warren from his inaugural ceremonies. In addition, we strongly urge Obama to write and give a roaring and compassionate speak on sexuality including sexual orientation in America because if you have not noticed, America is as equally afraid of sex as they are of Black people.

Fige Bornu
Chairman
Positive African Image Institute

(Fige Bornu is an advocate for youth and elder justice and can be reached at figebornu@yahoo.com) 08
Obama Embraces Sexual Bigot and Disses Dissenter of Racism

Jesse Lee Peterson says thanks for Slavery

Dr. Boyce Watkins
www.BoyceWatkins.com


I don't hate Jesse Lee Peterson. I just don't take him seriously. You have to search high and low to find such a walking cartoon character. In this video, Jesse actually does, in an incredibly sincere way, thank America for slavery and the fact that his ancestors were brought over in chains. He compares the Middle Passage to "an uncomfortable trip", that was "like a crowded airplane flight".
I am not quite sure what to say about this. I should only note that this kind of commentary goes to show that Black people should not legitimize Fox News just because they have a little bit of money and an audience. Stupidity is stupidity, even if it is distributed nation-wide.

I have never been on a show with Jesse, although I was invited to be on his radio show. I declined the interview, because I don't think that it would have been a productive dialog. I am actually fascinated by Jesse, as I simply wonder where people like him come from. Where was he raised? What did his parents teach him? How hard did Fox News have to search to find someone willing to say the things he says? I ask these questions with the honest curiosity of a school kid. I truly want to know how Jesse Lee Petersons of the world are created.

I am beyond being outraged about people like Jesse. I just think that we should all be aware that they exist. Jesse and others like him are the manifestation of a serious social disease created by 400 years of American racism and oppression, and this is the kind of thinking created by a school system that puts black boys in special education by the boat load, and black men in prison by the bus load. If we are ever going to truly prosper and come together as a nation, this kind of thing must be confronted and dealt with. I am tired of holding hands and singing "We shall overcome."

MORE CHRIS ROCK

I got the idea for this from Tim. Good lookin' out Tim.

President Iceburg Slim?

Let's get real A photo of Barack with a "Panama" hat on smoking a "cigarette"would have done some damage. About the same amount as his wife's "down right mean" comment would have done.People seen how the contrive "flag pin" thing energized both sides.We know he smokes cigarettes and he used to smoke "weed".Some people just needed a excuse to hate "President Iceburg Slim". I was in High School in the late eighties. My yearbook looked like a Madonna and Prince concert on MTV.Just be glad Barack looked like one of the Commodores and not like Morris Day and the Time.


Summary: Discussing 1980 photos of President-elect Barack Obama published in Time, Sean Hannity asked, "[W]hy didn't we see these pictures beforehand?" and "You think the media maybe thought, well, it might not hurt -- it might not help Barack Obama?" Similarly, Fox News hosts asked, "Was Time magazine sitting on these photos until after the election?" In fact, according to Time, the photographer, Lisa Jack, a fellow student of Obama's at the time and now a psychologist, "put the negatives in a safety-deposit box, so that they could not be used until after the election."

PHONE BLOCK

Don't let him touch that phone, especially at 3 A.M.

Sean Hannity is Media Matters for America's Misinformer of the Year.

Because of the unending stream of falsehoods and character attacks that fueled the "Stop Obama Express," and the countless other distortions he promoted throughout 2008, Sean Hannity is Media Matters for America's Misinformer of the Year.

Among the myriad falsehoods and attacks that Hannity promoted throughout 2008, several found their way into regular rotation:

Obama will "invade" Pakistan

In an August 1, 2007, speech, Obama said of terrorists in Pakistan:

OBAMA: I understand that President [Pervez] Musharraf has his own challenges. But let me make this clear. There are terrorists holed up in those mountains who murdered 3,000 Americans. They are plotting to strike again. It was a terrible mistake to fail to act when we had a chance to take out an al Qaeda leadership meeting in 2005. If we have actionable intelligence about high-value terrorist targets and President Musharraf won't act, we will.

Almost immediately afterward, Hannity began attacking Obama over the comment, claiming he made a "rookie mistake" by saying "I'll invade an ally." In fact, Obama never said he would "invade" Pakistan, and Hannity's co-host Alan Colmes corrected Hannity and accurately quoted Obama. Nevertheless, Hannity repeated the accusation several times throughout 2008, even once to former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who had just two days earlier advocated a position on Pakistan very similar to Obama's.

"Air-raiding villages"

At an August 13, 2007, campaign stop, Obama said regarding the war in Afghanistan: "We've got to get the job done there and that requires us to have enough troops so that we're not just air-raiding villages and killing civilians, which is causing enormous pressure over there." As Media Matters noted at the time, Obama's comments were accurate -- U.S. airstrikes in Afghanistan and accounts of resulting civilian casualties were widely reported in the media and reportedly provoked criticism from Afghan President Hamid Karzai and a British commander stationed there. Time and again, however, Hannity used these comments to attack and denounce Obama, even after Defense Secretary Robert Gates acknowledged and apologized for Afghan civilian deaths caused by coalition airstrikes. Hannity has called the statement a "lie" and evidence that Obama was "the most radical and unqualified candidate"; mischaracterized Obama's remarks as an "accus[ation]" against "American troops" and praised Gov. Sarah Palin for attacking Obama over the comments; and cited Obama's remarks to question his "experience to be commander in chief."

Most liberal senator

When the National Journal announced that Barack Obama was the "most liberal" senator in 2007, according to their ranking system, Hannity was one of many conservative media figures to tout the statistic despite the facts that the National Journal considered just 99 votes in its survey and that the publication admitted that its previous surveys' methodologies had been flawed. Moreover, a separate study by political science professors Keith Poole and Jeff Lewis that used all 388 non-unanimous Senate votes during 2007 produced a different result, placing Obama in a tie for the ranking of 10th most liberal senator. Hannity, however, has attacked Obama as "the number one liberal -- National Journal -- in the United States Senate" and called him the "No. 1 radical liberal in the Senate" and "the most liberal senator in Washington" (Hannity's America, July 13). On the October 26 Hannity's America, Hannity listed his "top 10 reasons" not to vote for Obama, and introduced his sixth reason -- "Barack Obama is anything but mainstream" -- by saying: "Obama's position on many issues has earned him the spot as the most liberal senator in the United States."

Defense spending

In October 2007, Obama told Caucus4Priorities:

OBAMA: I will cut tens of billions of dollars in wasteful spending. I will cut investments in unproven missile defense systems. I will not weaponize space. I will slow our development of Future Combat Systems. And I will institute an independent defense priorities board to ensure that the quadrennial defense review is not used to justify unnecessary spending.

At several points throughout 2008, however, Hannity mischaracterized this statement, claiming that Obama "talked about in the campaign cutting tens of millions of dollars in defense spending," when Obama clearly said he would cut wasteful spending.

Attacks on Obama's family, associations

In addition to assailing Obama, Hannity also falsely attacked Obama's wife, Michelle, and mischaracterized Obama's associations with certain controversial figures in order to make Obama appear radical or corrupt:

* Hannity repeatedly distorted Michelle Obama's 1985 senior thesis from Princeton University, suggesting that she was asserting her own views when she wrote that "[i]t is possible that Black individuals either chose to or felt pressure to come together with other Blacks on campus because of the belief that Blacks must join in solidarity to combat a White oppressor." As the context of the quote makes clear, however, she was purporting to document attitudes among black Princeton alumni who attended the school in the '70s and not expressing her own opinions. Hannity employed this distortion at one point to ask: "Do the Obamas have a race problem of their own?"

* Hannity also frequently attempted to link Obama to Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, claiming that Obama "associated" himself with Farrakhan and pointing to an award given to Farrakhan by Trumpet Newsmagazine, a publication founded by Obama's former church. What Hannity consistently failed to note in asserting this linkage, however, is that Obama issued a statement disagreeing with the award and criticizing Farrakhan, and that Obama has said he has been "a consistent denunciator of Louis Farrakhan."

* Hannity also repeatedly suggested that Obama was able to purchase his Chicago home at a discounted price because convicted Chicago businessman Antoin Rezko purchased an adjacent lot on the same day. As Media Matters noted, the sellers of the Obama's house reportedly told Bloomberg News that they did not cut the price of the house for Obama "because a campaign donor bought their adjacent land," and that the Obamas had made the "best offer." Nevertheless, Hannity asked on the June 5 broadcast of his radio program: "Did Obama know at the time that Rezko was saving him three hundred grand on the purchase of his home?"

GOP mouthpiece

Hannity helped to boost Republicans throughout 2008, parroting false McCain campaign talking points, touting unscientific polling to promote Sen. John McCain's debate performances, and embellishing President George W. Bush's economic record:

* On January 3, Hannity interviewed then-Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani and failed to disclose that he had reportedly helped raise money for Giuliani's campaign. The New York Daily News reported on August 19, 2007, that Hannity "introduced the Republican front-runner at a closed-door, $250-per-head fundraiser Aug. 9 in Cincinnati, campaign officials acknowledge." Bill Shine, Fox's senior vice president of programming, was quoted in the article saying, "Sean is not a journalist -- Sean is a conservative commentator."

* On July 26, the McCain campaign released an ad claiming that Obama for "cancelled a visit with wounded troops" at the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany because "the Pentagon wouldn't allow him to bring cameras." This claim was quickly debunked by NBC chief foreign affairs correspondent Andrea Mitchell, who accompanied Obama on the overseas trip. Mitchell said on MSNBC on July 28: "There was never any intention -- let me be absolutely clear about this. The press was never going to go. The entourage was never going to go. There was never an intention to make this political. ... And the McCain commercial on this subject is completely wrong, factually wrong." Nonetheless, Hannity claimed on the July 29 edition of Hannity & Colmes that Obama "abandon[ed] the troop visit because the cameras weren't around -- allowed and the campaign wasn't allowed," and repeated the allegation on July 30.

* On September 10, the McCain campaign released a web ad claiming that Obama "smear[ed]" Palin when he said at a campaign rally the previous day: "But, you know, you can -- you know, you can put lipstick on a pig; it's still a pig." On a September 9 McCain campaign conference call with reporters, former Massachusetts Gov. Jane Swift (R) claimed Obama "[c]all[ed] a very prominent female governor of one of our states a 'pig.' " As Media Matters noted, Obama was actually alluding to McCain's policy platform in those comments, Swift herself later admitted not "know[ing] if it was aimed at Governor Palin," and the phrase "lipstick on a pig" is in common parlance and has been used by many political figures, including McCain. Hannity, however, insisted that Obama was "talking about Sarah Palin," even after McCain supporter Mike Huckabee told Hannity: "I do not think he was referring to Sarah Palin. He didn't reference her."

* On September 18, McCain released an ad citing The Washington Post in claiming that former Fannie Mae CEO Franklin Raines "advises" Obama "on mortgage and housing policy." Both Raines and Obama denied the allegation, and the washingtonpost.com Fact-Checker determined that the McCain ad "exaggerat[ed] wildly" in its claim about Raines' purported role with the Obama campaign. On the September 23 edition of Hannity & Colmes, however, Hannity went beyond the McCain campaign's allegation, claiming that Raines was "a chief economic adviser" to Obama. Hannity later claimed that Raines was "an economic adviser" to Obama, citing The Washington Post, even though the Fact-Checker had already called such claims "exaggerat[ed]."

* Following the September 26 presidential debate, Hannity touted the results of a Fox News text-message poll that found that McCain won the debate, saying: "[W]e have gotten around 50,000 text votes so far. Eighty-two percent are correct: They say John McCain won." Unmentioned by Hannity was the fact that Fox News started conducting the poll while the debate was still going on. On-screen text had invited viewers to vote on "who [they] thought won" the debate as early as 9:12 p.m. ET, 10 minutes after the candidates began responding to the moderator's questions. Media Matters has documented Hannity's shifting opinions of text-message polls, depending on who the results favor.

* On the December 8 Hannity & Colmes, Hannity claimed, "We had a good six and a half years with the economy" under Bush, adding: "We created 10 million new jobs, lower unemployment than in the last four decades' average." In fact, the United States has gained 2,866,000 net private-sector jobs between 2001, when Bush took office, and the first quarter of 2008, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Also, Hannity's claim about the unemployment rate is misleading, given that Bush inherited from Clinton an employment rate that was lower than the average unemployment rate during the Bush years.

Smears of Democrats

When not promoting the "Stop Obama Express" or the "Stop Hillary Express," Hannity found time to falsely attack other prominent Democrats:

* On the December 4 editions of Hannity & Colmes and his radio program, Hannity suggested that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's use of a military jet was unprecedented, despite the fact that the White House and the Defense Department agreed in 2001 that military planes should be made available to the speaker of the House for national security reasons. The first speaker to use such a plane was Dennis Hastert (R-IL).

* Hannity has repeatedly attacked Minnesota Democratic Senate candidate Al Franken. Hannity baselessly accused Franken of "stealing an election" by challenging ballots that appeared to favor Franken's opponent, Republican Sen. Norm Coleman, failing to note that Coleman also challenged ballots that appeared to favor Franken. Hannity also claimed that by challenging ballots, Franken was "trying to litigate his way into the Senate seat," even though Franken and Coleman had challenged roughly the same number of ballots at the time.

* Hannity was one of many conservatives to baselessly blame "the Democrats" and the Community Reinvestment Act, passed in 1977 under President Jimmy Carter, for the current financial crisis, saying: "The federal government and the Democrats ... forced these banks, through the Community Reinvestment Act, to make these risky loans," adding: "The risky loans started the subprime mortgage crisis, which impacted all these financial institutions, which needed government bailouts." As Media Matters has noted, the allegation that the Community Reinvestment Act is the cause of the financial crisis has been widely discredited.

* Following Obama's selection of Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-IL) as White House chief of staff, Hannity attacked Emanuel as "one of the hardest left-wing ... radicals," citing no evidence. Contrary to Hannity's assertion, a study using every non-unanimous vote cast in the House in 2007 to determine relative ideology placed Emanuel in a tie for the ranking of 126th most liberal Democratic congressman, while several news reports cast Emanuel as "a centrist" who has "worked at good relations with Republicans."

* Hannity falsely accused former President Bill Clinton of "taking a shot at Senator McCain" during July 5 remarks at the Aspen Ideas Festival, airing a deceptively cropped video of Clinton's comments. As the full context of Clinton's remarks made clear, however, he was not discussing McCain, but rather what former South African president -- and political prisoner -- Nelson Mandela means to him.

Conspiracy conjecture

Hannity frequently launched attacks on Obama and other progressives that were totally unsubstantiated or wildly speculative and which were often contradicted by available evidence:

* Commenting on the State Department's admission that Obama's passport records had been repeatedly accessed without authorization by three contract workers, Hannity said on the March 20 edition of Hannity & Colmes: "Seems to me Barack Obama is looking for anything to distract from the story of Jeremiah Wright."

* On the July 30 broadcast of his radio show, Hannity repeated the already-debunked allegation that Obama had distributed to the press a prayer he had written and left at the Western Wall in Jerusalem: "[E]verything was well orchestrated, all the timing -- you know, for example, even the release of the note that he put at the Western Wall, that was all leaked to the press, and that was a big deal as well."

* After airing a deceptively cropped recording of Hillary Clinton commenting on the October 2 vice-presidential debate, Hannity said on the October 6 broadcast of his radio show: "I just had to play that 'cause you just know the Clintons are just -- why do I bet, and this is just a guess on my part, that Hillary and Bill go in there, and they vote for John McCain? I just know it. I really believe it."

* On the December 9 edition of Hannity & Colmes, Hannity disregarded the context in which the word "president-elect" appears in the criminal complaint filed against Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D), declaring: "The pres -- the word 'president-elect' is mentioned 44 times in the document. Pretty troubling." Hannity never explained what he found "troubling" about those mentions, given that there are no allegations of wrongdoing against Obama in the document. Indeed, with one exception, none of the 44 instances in which "president-elect" was used in the complaint actually mentioned any alleged conduct or statement by President-elect Barack Obama, much less any conduct or statement amounting to wrongdoing. The one exception was an allegation that Blagojevich complained that Obama would not give him anything other than "appreciation."

Selective amnesia

Even though Hannity and the rest of the conservative media spent much of the 2008 election cycle falsely attacking Obama and other progressives, he stridently denied that such attacks were happening and constantly rallied to the defense of Republicans and conservatives accused of smearing Democrats and liberals.

* On the September 8 broadcast of The Sean Hannity Show, Hannity accused Obama of an "outright falsehood," asserting that Obama said "Fox News and Republican commentators suggest that, in other words, that he is a Muslim. No one has ever suggested that." In reality, Fox News was quite infamously the home of E.D. Hill and the "terrorist fist jab," and several other Fox News personalities promoted false reports about Obama's religion, including the claim that Obama was educated in a madrassa.

* On the August 4 broadcast of his radio program, Hannity claimed that Obama could not "point to a single instance in which ... Sean Hannity or talk radio or any other major Republican has made an issue of Obama's race." On the October 13 edition of Hannity & Colmes, he claimed that "[n]obody in the Republican Party" resorted to overtones of "race and fear" in attacking Obama. Months earlier, however, Hannity had claimed that Obama "has all the same problems with race as those before him," and asked: "Do the Obamas have a race problem of their own?" As Media Matters noted, Hannity was joined by Rush Limbaugh, John Gibson, and several Republican officials and supporters in making "an issue of Obama's race" or name.

* On the July 31 Hannity & Colmes, Hannity incredulously challenged a guest: "Can you name any prominent Republican that has brought up -- that has said that [Obama] is not patriotic, or that he's got a funny name, or that he doesn't look like those presidents on dollar bills? Do you know any prominent Republican that has said any of these things?" In fact, Hannity himself had raised questions about Obama's patriotism, as had Rep. Jack Kingston (R-GA), while Rep. Steve King (R-IA) claimed that if Obama was elected, "radical Islamists" would "be dancing in the streets because of his middle name."

* On the August 25 edition of Hannity & Colmes, Hannity proclaimed that he thought was "more fair to the Clintons" during the 2008 Democratic primaries. He claimed this despite the fact that in February he proudly declared himself the leader of the "Stop Hillary Express," and throughout 2007, he attacked Clinton as a socialist, suggested she was a co-conspirator in a murder cover-up, and denounced her for "hate speech" against Republicans, among other things. Less than a week after claiming he was "more fair to the Clintons," Hannity declared that "demonizing" Clinton was his "job," and acknowledged having rechristened the "Stop Hillary Express" as the "Stop Obama Express."

* On the September 1 edition of Hannity & Colmes, Hannity, referring to Internet rumors about Palin's daughter, said: "Is that fair that they would attack that? I mean, I don't remember Chelsea Clinton being attacked. I don't remember Al Gore's children being attacked. I thought there was a general rule that children of candidates ought to be left alone." Hannity's memory notwithstanding, Chelsea Clinton was not "left alone." McCain reportedly told a "joke" about Chelsea Clinton in 1998, saying: "Why is Chelsea Clinton so ugly? Because her father is Janet Reno." Radio host Rush Limbaugh is alleged to have referred to Chelsea Clinton early in the Clinton administration as the "White House dog."

Character assassins

Hannity, on his Fox News shows and his ABC Radio Networks program, hosted several controversial guests who attacked Obama, despite their documented credibility problems and histories of inflammatory rhetoric.

* Andy Martin

Self-described "Internet Powerhouse" Andy Martin's years-long crusade against Obama has taken on many forms, almost all of them completely divorced from factual accuracy. Martin has been credited as the originator, in 2004, of the false rumor that Obama is actually a Muslim. Shortly before Obama launched his presidential campaign in February 2007, Martin promoted his "CIA-style psychological profile" on Obama that "will cast more light on Barack's supple psyche and his ability to seamlessly deny objective reality." Months later, Martin baselessly attacked Obama for "lock[ing] the grandmother who actually raised him away in a closet" in "one of the cruelest and most mendacious political kidnappings this nation has ever seen." Prior to all this, Martin reportedly attacked a federal judge as a "crooked, slimy Jew, who has a history of lying and thieving common to members of his race," expressed "understand[ing] for how the Holocaust took place," and the Illinois Supreme Court reportedly noted that, according to his Selective Service records, Martin possessed a "moderately-severe character defect manifested by well documented ideation with a paranoid flavor and a grandiose character."

Despite Martin's glaring credibility issues and history of "viciously anti-Semitic assertions," he featured prominently in the October 5 edition of Hannity's America, titled "Obama & Friends: History of Radicalism". On the program, Martin, identified as an "author & journalist," baselessly claimed that Obama's work as a community organizer was "training for a radical overthrow of the government" and that if Obama were elected president, "we're basically going to be ... in the throes of a socialist revolution, which attempts to essentially freeze out anybody who's not part of this radical ideology."

As Media Matters noted, Fox News reportedly later "express[ed] regret for booking" Martin on Hannity's America, and Fox News Senior Vice President Bill Shine called Martin's appearance a "mistake." Hannity, however, has not yet expressed any on-air misgivings about hosting Martin. Confronted by Obama adviser Robert Gibbs, Hannity defended Martin's appearance, saying, "I'm a journalist who interviews people who I disagree with all the time." (Hannity, who has both embraced and rejected the "journalist" label, did not challenge any assertion or statement by Martin, nor did he mention any of Martin's anti-Semitic and racially charged statements.) Challenged again by Fox News political contributor and NPR news analyst Juan Williams about Martin's appearance, Hannity once again declined to express regret.

* Jerome Corsi

Jerome Corsi, co-author of the falsehood-ridden 2004 book Unfit for Command, returned to presidential politics in 2008 with The Obama Nation: Leftist Politics and the Cult of Personality. The book, which FactCheck.org described as a "mishmash of unsupported conjecture, half-truths, logical fallacies and outright falsehoods," was widely and thoroughly discredited by Media Matters, the Obama campaign, various media outlets, and even some conservatives. Corsi, however, appeared several times on Hannity's various programs to promote the book, with no challenge from Hannity regarding the book's many falsehoods. Corsi even appeared on Hannity & Colmes on August 20, just days after it was revealed that Corsi -- who has previously made inflammatory comments about Islam, Muslims, and Catholicism -- was reportedly scheduled to promote The Obama Nation on the August 17 edition of The Political Cesspool Radio Show, a program described by its own producers as representing "a philosophy that is pro-White." Corsi had appeared on the program in the past, but did not appear on August 17.

Since the release of The Obama Nation, Corsi has promulgated (without evidence) several conspiracy theories regarding Obama -- for example, suggesting that the true purpose of Obama's pre-election trip to Hawaii was not to visit his ailing grandmother, but to address rumors -- widely debunked -- that he had failed to produce a valid U.S. birth certificate.

* Jill Stanek

As Media Matters noted, Hannity was one of many media figures to cite anti-abortion activist and WorldNetDaily columnist Jill Stanek's criticism of Obama's opposition to certain bills amending the Illinois Abortion Law of 1975 while he was in the Illinois state Senate -- without noting facts that undermine her credibility. Stanek has suggested that domestic violence is acceptable against women who have abortions; supported billboards in Tanzania that say "Faithful Condom Users" in English and Swahili next to a photo of a skeleton; and credulously cited a report that "aborted fetuses are much sought after delicacies" in China. Hannity interviewed Stanek on the August 20 edition of Hannity & Colmes, during which Stanek claimed that Obama attempted to "lure" Illinois state senators into "vot[ing] to endorse infanticide." She also repeated her allegation that at Christ Hospital in Oak Lawn, where she worked as a nurse, "a little baby boy who had been aborted alive" was taken to a "soiled utility room to die because his parents didn't want to hold him." According to the Chicago Tribune's Eric Zorn, however, an Illinois Department of Public Health spokesperson said that the agency conducted an investigation into Stanek's allegations about Christ Hospital and concluded that they could not be substantiated.

Exit "balance"...

In early October, it was reported that Hannity had signed a new contract with Fox News "that will keep him at the network through the next presidential election in 2012." In late November, Alan Colmes announced that he was leaving Hannity & Colmes at the end of 2008, leaving unresolved whether another liberal would be brought in to "balance" Hannity. On December 11, that question was answered:

Fox News host Sean Hannity, who is losing his liberal counterpart Alan Colmes at the end of the year, will not be getting a new on-air partner. Instead, the conservative commentator will headline his own show, called simply "Hannity," beginning Jan. 12, the network announced today.

The program -- running in the same 6 p.m. Pacific time slot -- will include several segments in which three guests from across the political spectrum, dubbed the "Great American Panel," will weigh in on the topics of the day. The show will also include regular commentary and interviews by Hannity, as well as a feature called "Hate Hannity Hotline" that will highlight the critical comments he receives from listeners of his syndicated radio show.

SHOE TOSS

At this rate the deficit will be paid off in three months when its Limbaugh and Hannity's turn.

The Family-Desire

It's alive-Ann Coulter's mouth still moves.

Man I thought her jaw was broke...oh well.

On the December 15 edition of Fox News' Hannity & Colmes, during a segment in which she called President-elect Barack Obama an "atheist" and asked if "we could get all of his aliases before he's sworn in on the Quran," author and syndicated columnist Ann Coulter announced that she is scheduled to appear on the January 6, 2009, edition of NBC's Today show to promote the release of her new book, Guilty: Liberal "Victims" and Their Assault on America (Crown Forum, January 2009). As Media Matters for America documented, NBC has repeatedly provided Coulter a platform to spew her inflammatory rhetoric even as NBC-affiliated hosts and anchors -- including Today co-hosts Meredith Vieira and Matt Lauer, Tonight Show host Jay Leno, Hardball host Chris Matthews, Nightly News anchor Brian Williams, and CNBC's The Big Idea host Donny Deutsch -- have expressed disapproval of, in Leno's words, Coulter's "harsh" and "nasty" statements, or criticized the media for promoting her.

For instance, discussing Coulter's October 8, 2007, appearance on The Big Idea -- during which Coulter asserted that "we" Christians "just want Jews to be perfected" -- Deutsch said on the October 12, 2007, edition of Today: "And I think that's what -- we're playing dangerous with words in our society that there's no accountability. There's a glibness that we in the media kind of elevate, and I'm here to kind of say I'm personally tired of it, and I think America is tired of it also." Deutsch later told Today co-host Meredith Vieira that someone might ask, "Aren't we part of the problem?" Vieira responded: "Of course we are. We're perpetuating it."

On Hannity & Colmes, Coulter said to co-hosts Sean Hannity and Alan Colmes: "I have a new book coming out in two weeks, and this will be my first evening interview, January 6, and this is the last time you'll see me on TV until then," adding, "And the Today show that morning, hopefully with Matt Lauer." Later in the segment, discussing Obama's reported statement that he will use his full name -- Barack Hussein Obama -- when taking the presidential oath of office on January 20, 2009, Coulter asked: "Do you think we could get all of his aliases before he's sworn in on the Quran, I imagine?" Later, Coulter stated of Obama: "I think he's an atheist." After Colmes asked, "He's not a Christian?" Coulter stated, "Like all liberals, yeah. Of course he's an atheist." Obama's presidential campaign website states that Obama is "a committed Christian."

As Media Matters has extensively documented, Coulter has made a number of highly controversial remarks during her appearances on NBC-owned channels. On NBC programs alone, Coulter has called former Vice President Al Gore a "total fag" and has called former President Bill Clinton a "latent homosexual." Elsewhere, Coulter repeatedly likened Obama to Adolf Hitler in media appearances and in her syndicated column in 2008 and written that, without affirmative action, African-American Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) couldn't get a job "that didn't involve wearing a paper hat." She has also said of Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens: "We need somebody to put rat poison in Justice Stevens' créme brulée." Indeed, Coulter has repeatedly mused about potential acts of violence against people she doesn't like or with whom she disagrees.

TODAY'S GUESS ON GRETA'S SHOW-DOG

Looks like FOX is going back to its roots, nothing but the bigots.Greta has no respect for anything.



FOX NEWS HOME OF THE ANTI SEMITIC, RACIST BIGOTS. NOW WITH 50% MORE N-WORDS.

Yes real class Greta.Yes he against anyone hurting kids everyone for that,(except for Oreilly you know that Shawn Hornbeck thing.)

So the more someone says the N-word the more FOX hires them.We will boycott FOX and you Greta.

George and Louis-I'll be good to you.

CAMEO SPARKLE

Black Iraqis AFTER Obama’s Victory

Black Iraqis AFTER Obama’s Victory
Posted on December 3rd, 2008 by Tariq Nelson

Back during the campaign, I posted this story on how black Iraqis were praying for an Obama victory in the US in hopes that it would bring attention to and eventually improve their plight in Iraq. NPR now has a story that updates the situation after the Obama victory.

As a note, the alleged founder of Shiaism is disparagingly called “Ibn Sawda” (son of a black woman) by many Sunni historians. This shows the deep roots of this in places such as Basra.

The story is below. Be sure to listen to the audio

The election of Barack Obama to the U.S. presidency was celebrated with special fervor by Iraqis of African descent in the southern port city of Basra.

Although they have lived in Iraq for more than 1,000 years, the black Basrawis say they are still discriminated against because of the color of their skin, and they see Obama as a role model. Long relegated to menial jobs or work as musicians and dancers, some of them have recently formed a group to advance their civil rights.

The election of Barack Obama to the U.S. presidency was celebrated with special fervor by Iraqis of African descent in the southern port city of Basra.

Although they have lived in Iraq for more than 1,000 years, the black Basrawis say they are still discriminated against because of the color of their skin, and they see Obama as a role model. Long relegated to menial jobs or work as musicians and dancers, some of them have recently formed a group to advance their civil rights.

Black people in Basra are most visible at joyous events. When there’s a big wedding, Basrawis call in drummers from the district of Zubair. The Basrawi bride and groom are welcomed in traditional fashion by a row of musicians in Arab dress, long dishdasha gowns and red-checkered head scarves. The drummers sway in unison to the rhythms they slap out on broad, tambourinelike drums — and drive up excitement as the newlyweds cross the threshold of a Basra hotel.

The drummers are black men, descendants of the people who came here from East Africa as sailors or slaves over the course of centuries. And while they are welcome fixtures at joyous events all over the city, they say they are not as welcome in Basra’s political, commercial or educational life.

Seen As Slaves

“People here see us as slaves,” says Jalal Diyaab, a 43-year-old civil rights activist. “They even call us abd, which means slave.”

‘Abd is EXACTLY the word used by Al-Zawahiri to describe blacks in his insane rant.

Diyaab is the general secretary of the Free Iraqi movement. He sits with more than a dozen other men in a narrow, high-ceilinged room in a mud-brick building in Zubair, talking about a history of slavery and oppression that he says dates back to at least the ninth century.

“Black people worked on the plantations around Basra, doing the hard labor, until there was a slave uprising in the mid-800s,” says Diyaab. Black people ruled Basra for about 15 years, until the caliph sent troops. Many of the black rebels were massacred, and others were sold to the Arab tribes.

Slavery was abolished here in the 19th century, but Diyaab says black people in modern-day Iraq still face discrimination.

“[Arabs] here still look at us as being incapable of making decisions or even governing our lives. People here are 95 percent illiterate. They have terrible living conditions and very few jobs,” he says.

Diyaab takes visitors across the street to a warren of mud-brick courtyards where dozens of people are packed into tiny rooms without running water or sewage. The narrow passageways reek of excrement. Many people sleep in the open yards when the weather is good, because there isn’t enough space in the rooms.

“These houses are like caves. This house? This is it,” says Diyaab, pointing at a single narrow room and the courtyard outside. He says 15 people, the family of a man called Abu Haidar, live here.

Lightning streaks the night sky as a thunderstorm rolls in from the Persian Gulf. Rain begins to speckle the hard-packed ground. The men gathered around say a heavy rain will flood these rooms ankle-deep with muck and sewage.

Diyaab says there are more than 2 million black people in Iraq. He says they want recognition as a minority, like the Christians, whose rights should be protected. He says his group’s demands have been ignored by the Iraqi government, but they have found an ally in a Sunni political party — the National Dialogue Front.

Awath al-Abdan is the head of that party in Basra, and he says he thinks black Iraqis have a strong case for getting their minority status recognized.

“We expect this cause to become a political reality soon because it just started to get publicity. We are working hard to get these people’s message heard,” he says.

Blacks face similar conditions in others countries throughout that region.

I will end by quoting S. Parvez Manzoor:

Our age possesses no will for self-criticism and reform. We show no courage to look at ourselves as we really are. In place of cherishing the living, we venerate corpses. Fleeing our present, we turn to the past not for reflection and review but for comfort and solace. Our dialogue with history is nothing but a deceptive game of self - indulgence . Self - aggrandizement not self-appraisal is our pastime. Our faith may not be an opiate, but we certainly are the most past-intoxicated people in the world

[...]

Our ills are our own, nobody else’s. That we accept tyranny and oppression is our suffering. That our children die of hunger is our responsibility. That our women die of childbearing and domestic violence is our disgrace. That our scholars prosper by ignorance is our shame. That our rulers rule by terror is our scourge. That our civilization is crumbling is our doing. By our sanctimony we fool no one but ourselves. We alone are the victims of our hypocrisy and we alone can rid ourselves of it. The sooner this curse comes to an end, the better it is for us and the world for whom we have become a liability and a burden.

Gerald Levert -In my songs

El Debarge- In a Special way/A Dream

CAMEO

Clark/Duke Project -Sweet Baby

Lovin' you: Minnie Riperton

That's how I see you,a perfect Angel.

Always and forever:Heatwave

Red Dwarf

This was one of the top television shows in the world.Science fiction comedy centred around Lister, the only surviving human on board Red Dwarf, Kryten, a robot, Rimmer, a hologram, and Cat - a cat.This is Physicist Stephen Halkens favorite show.

THE MODERNAIRES

"a saint in Caesar's household"

CHICAGO -- For the first time since his retirement last spring, Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr. returned to the pulpit of Trinity United Church of Christ on Sunday with two goals: glorifying God and vilifying the media.

In honor of Trinity's 47th anniversary, Wright preached three worship services in place of Rev. Otis Moss III, who was attending his father's farewell from the pulpit of Olivet Institutional Baptist Church in Cleveland.


Citing the revelation to Mary by the angel Gabriel that she would conceive a child to be born the Son of God, Wright said Mary's disbelief was similar to the doubts some faithful shared about the future of Trinity after Wright's retirement and the possibility of a black man being elected president.

"Our legitimate questions tend to be asked from the vantage point of limited horizons," said Wright during the 7:30 a.m. service. "Mary had a limited horizon. She couldn't see how it was possible."

"In almost every instance where I have encountered this phenomenon, what I have discovered is that the limited horizons are caused by the tendency to look for a person to provide you with answers for your legitimate questions," Wright continued. "I really should say our legitimate questions, not your legitimate questions, because God knows I've got some questions myself."

Wright, Trinity's former pastor, gained prominence when President-elect Barack Obama in his memoirs cited the pastor's inspirational sermons.

But shortly after Wright's final appearance in the pulpit at Trinity last February, he became the center of controversy when segments of past sermons surfaced on the Internet and replayed on cable news programs. Pundits questioned his patriotism based on sound bites, including one where he shouted "God damn America!"

The resulting media onslaught fueled tension around an already sensitive transition and prompted Moss, Wright's hand-picked successor, to implement strict guidelines for the media, banning cameras and recording devices and instructing members not to grant interviews.

On Sunday, church officials turned reporters away from the worship service. But services were streamed live on the Internet, and audio and video recordings were sold in the church bookstore.

Wright said no amount of media coverage could dampen Trinity spirit.

"Jesus said upon this rock I will build -- listen to the promise -- my church," he said. "And the gates of Hell -- listen to the promise -- the gates of Hell -- neither ABC nor CNN -- the gates of Hell -- neither Hannity nor O'Reilly -- the gates of Hell -- neither Time, Time magazine, Chicago Sun Times, Chicago Tribune ... the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it. Nothing will be impossible with God."

At the 11 a.m. service, Wright belittled "baby milk believers," who, he said, suffer a delusion that politics don't belong in the pulpit. He pointed out that "Luke the evangelist, not Wright the radical" lambasted the oppressive policies of the Roman government in the Gospel story that recounts Jesus' life.

"Any preacher who dares to point out the simple ugly facts found in every field imaginable is demonized as volatile, controversial, incendiary, inflammatory, anti-American and radical," Wright said, taking time out to note the thousands of Japanese civilians who died 67 years to the day when American troops dropped a nuclear bomb on Hiroshima.

He implied that his previous use of derogatory language to describe Italians in a past sermon referred to the Roman oppression Luke condemned.

"Emperor Augustus in Rome -- that's in Italy, dizzy blond on the View," Wright said, presumably referring to conservative television personality Elisabeth Hasselback, who has railed about Wright on the ABC daytime talk show.

Wright also thanked an employee at Fox News -- "a saint in Caesar's household" -- who advised him to cancel his October speaking engagements because the network had an advance copy of his schedule.

Hundreds of Clevelanders will salute the Rev. Otis Moss Jr. tonight with a gala retirement celebration, and in his own way, artist Andre Holt is honoring the respected pastor, too.

Holt, 50, has painted a 10-foot-wide tribute to Moss, who is retiring after 33 years at the helm of Olivet Institutional Baptist Church.

All 1,200 seats to the dinner at the Renaissance Cleveland Hotel are sold out, and the Rev. Jesse Jackson is one of the well-known names expected to attend. During the event, Moss will receive the gift of a portrait painted by noted local watercolorist Malcolm Brown.

Holt knows he's no big name in the art world. An ex-addict, he airbrushes motorcycles at the Forever Grateful studio on Cleveland's near West Side.

Yet, he was moved to create what grew into a three-panel work of art after listening to Moss preach at a funeral earlier this year.

Obama's former pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, questions media's limited horizons in sermon

Moss' inspiring eulogy focused on the greatness of past leaders, Holt recalled. "He talked about clouds of witnesses and surrounding yourself with people who will let your spirit rise," Holt said. "He said, 'Carry these people with you.' I started crying."

That day, Holt felt an urge to paint Moss, but knew that a traditional portrait wouldn't do. Over time, he created a sweeping airbrushed depiction of Moss surrounded by a dozen epic figures such as Barack Obama, slain civil rights leader Medgar Evers, Underground Railroad heroine Harriet Tubman and Mother Teresa, an advocate for the poor and helpless.

He included some faces beloved by Moss: His personal friend Oprah Winfrey and his Morehouse College mentors, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Dr. Benjamin Mays. He even obtained a photograph of Moss' father, and added his image.

Holt learned a lot while researching the people in his painting. Mother Teresa left behind an incredible legacy; her Missionaries of Charity has established hospices and other services for the poor in more than 100 countries. "She's symbolic of people who put their life on the line for others."

City motorists and pedestrians often served as Holt's audience last summer, when he and friend Mike Golden carried their canvasses outside the Pearl Road studio to work on the Moss project on the street. Lots of passers-by complimented them, including more than a few who said approvingly, "That's my pastor."

Holt, who estimates he's invested $2,000 in the paintings, said he enjoys giving back. He also established the Bessie Mae Hunger Fund, named for his daughter, to collect money to buy clothes, food and other necessities for the homeless and needy people he encounters.

Holt's motivation? "I was inspired to leave something here in Cleveland, a work of art. Something for the youth to see. Something for my daughter to be proud of."


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Posted by gcyoungrino on 12/07/08 at 8:59PM

Wow!

A racist pastor is saluted with a mural depicting some of the most racially charged figures in US history.

President Elect Barack H. Obama is flat out a racist thug. He threw the race card down on the first black President, Bill Clinton, and threw it down on John McCain. He also made comments about "typical white people," etc.

MArtin luther King? Violence just followed him everywhere he went.

Jesse Jackson? Didn't he call Obama the "N-word?" He makes a living off racism.

Obama==Martin Luther King Jr.= Jesse Jackson=Otis Moss=Tubbs Jones=RACIST Biggots.

Don't go see this.

I heard this will probably be a good movie, but do you want Rupert Murdoch to get paid?I urge you wait until its in the library to check it out.Yes Keanu Reeves is in it, don't go . I repeat don't go, this is a FOX movie.

Domestic partnership registry in Cleveland

Establishing a domestic partnership registry in Cleveland is a great idea - editorial

Creating a domestic-partnership registry in Cleveland will hardly undo the symbolic and human damage that Ohio voters inflicted on the state when they passed a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage in 2004 - but it would be a start.

By approving a registry that will give both same-sex and opposite-sex couples documentation they can use to navigate public and private bureaucracies, Cleveland can declare that tolerance and openness are qualities that define this community. Given the importance of creativity in the modern knowledge economy, such a welcoming message has never been more important for a city and a region.

A registry is not - no matter what some critics may say - a circuitous way to enact civil unions; it is certainly not a de facto form of same-sex marriage. It is a recognition that couples - heterosexual and homosexual alike - have complex relationships that on a human level deserve acknowledgement and on a legal one may require some type of proof in order to receive benefits or even hospital visitation privileges.
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Cleveland Heights voters created such a registry in 2003. It passed legal muster and now includes some 200 couples - a quarter of them opposite-sex pairs. There has been no apparent downside to the voters' decision; indeed, Mayor Ed Kelley calls the registry a point of civic pride.

Cleveland City Council may vote as early as today to establish a registry. It would be the 77th in the country and the third in Ohio. In tandem with a ban on discrimination against transgender people that also may come before the council soon, this legislation will establish Cleveland as a city that welcomes everyone.

Cleveland is a cool place but they are doing it for one thing, the Gay Olympics.Yes it's all about the money.

A message for the Haters.

I just heard that they threw out the lawsuit against President elect Obama about the Birth Certificate.Since the President can't do this I'll do it for him. Here's a little song from George Clinton and the boys. It called "If you ain't gonna get it on take your dead ass home." Fellas follow the instructions.

By Michael Doyle, McClatchy Newspapers



WASHINGTON — President-elect Barack Obama's January inauguration is still good to go, after the Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear a long-shot challenge to his electoral eligibility.

Without comment, the court brushed off a lawsuit claiming Obama didn't meet the Constitution's citizenship requirements. The move undercuts but doesn't end a legal campaign that's gotten far more traction on the Internet than in the courts.

Justices must still dispose of at least one other legal challenge to Obama's eligibility. Promoted on Web sites and in the conservative media, the various challenges differ somewhat in detail but build on common questions and insinuations about the circumstances of Obama's birth.

"Since candidate Obama was born to a Kenyan father, he is not eligible to the office of the President since he is not a natural born citizen," said retired attorney Leo C. Donofrio in his petition to the Supreme Court .

Obama was born in Hawaii . His mother was a U.S. citizen and his father, a native of Kenya , was a British subject.

While the Obama team has largely dismissed questions about his citizenship, the persistence of the questions drove the campaign in June to make public his birth certificate. It shows, among other things, that he was born in Honolulu hospital at 7:42 p.m. on Aug. 4, 1961 .

Anyone born on U.S. soil is a U.S. citizen, regardless of his or her parents' immigration status. Hawaii has been a state since 1959.

"Smears claiming Barack Obama doesn't have a birth certificate aren't actually about that piece of paper, they're about manipulating people into thinking Barack is not an American citizen," said an Obama Web site created during the campaign to counter misinformation about the candidate.

Some conservative activists haven't been convinced. They've been paying for ads, including a full-page missive that appeared on Nov. 17 in the Washington Times' national weekly edition, and they've been filing multiple lawsuits.

Donofrio, who lives in East Brunswick, N.J. , initially asked the high court for an emergency stay on Nov. 3 . Justice David Souter denied the request three days later. Donofrio then resubmitted his request to Justice Clarence Thomas , who passed it along for consideration by the full court.

On Friday, meeting in their traditional closed-door conference, the nine justices gave some consideration to the case called Donofrio v. Wells.

It takes at least four Supreme Court justices to agree for a case to be put on the schedule for a complete hearing. On Monday at 10 a.m. , the court issued its standard written list of orders identifying Donofrio v. Wells as one of about 300 cases that won't be heard any further.

Next up will be a separate lawsuit filed by Pennsylvania attorney Philip J. Berg . Berg, a former state deputy attorney general, also has filed several conspiracy lawsuits — including one alleging that President George W. Bush had a hand in the Sept. 11, 2001 , terrorist attacks.

A federal judge in Eastern Pennsylvania threw out Berg's lawsuit in October, saying that he lacked legal standing to bring the challenge since he couldn't show he faced individual harm even if he could prove his claims about Obama's citizenship. The judge didn't get to the point of weighing the substantive merits of Berg's claim.

"If, through the political process, Congress determines that citizens, voters or party members should police the Constitution's eligibility requirements for the presidency, then it is free to pass laws conferring standing on individuals like (Berg)," U.S. District Judge R. Barclay Surrick wrote. "Until that time, voters do not have standing to bring the sort of challenge that (Berg) attempts to bring."

Surrick was appointed to the federal bench by former President Bill Clinton .