Then why in the heck did he even bother to run?????

Good grief, the more I hear about this stupid story, the more I wonder about Obama’s Judgement Ability.

The story: The Rev. Jeremiah Wright was an early concern, Obama aide admits (via LATIMES)

Quote:

After he moved to Chicago in the mid-1980s to work as a community organizer, Barack Obama forged close ties with the Rev. Jeremiah Wright — joining the pastor’s Trinity United Church of Christ in 1988 and using the topic of a Wright sermon, "the audacity of hope," as the title of his most recent best-selling book.

But more than a year ago — long before some of Wright’s more incendiary sermons became hot-button videos on YouTube, forcing Obama to publicly renounce his pastor last week — the Obama campaign had a sense that Wright’s sharp tongue might spell trouble for the Illinois senator.  (For a sermon sample, click on the Read more line below.)

That was the word anyway Sunday from Obama’s chief strategist, David Axelrod, who acknowledged during a conference call with reporters that Wright was disinvited …

from Obama’s official candidacy announcement on Feb. 10, 2007, in the shadow of the Old State Capitol in Springfield, Ill.

Wright had been expected to lead an invocation of some kind, but never appeared.

“There was no doubt that there was controversy surrounding him,” Axelrod said Sunday.  “And we didn’t want to expose him … [or] make him the target and a distraction on a day when Sen. Obama was going to announce his candidacy.”

My question is, if Obama was keenly aware of this man’s hateful rhetoric, then why the heck did he even bother running for President? I mean, to be quite honest with you, from what I’m reading across the Blogs, people are becoming quite concerned with his campaign. 

I, Indeed, have some worries about his ability to lead the country, if he cannot make judgement calls, as simple as that one.

More from the Story:

The topic is clearly uncomfortable for Obama and his aides, personally and politically. Axelrod’s comments came only after prodding from a reporter and after he had initially suggested that Wright’s absence that day was due merely to the fact that the temperature was in the single digits.

And even as Obama has condemned some of Wright’s rhetoric and distanced himself from his longtime spiritual advisor, doing so has not been easy.  Wright remained on an African American religious advisory committee for the campaign until Friday.

“Rev. Wright married him, introduced him, as he said, to the church, brought him into the church, into Christianity, baptized his children,” Axelrod said.  “So this is a painful thing for him because he condemns the things Rev. Wright said, but he also knows him as a person.”

I’m sorry, but that is not a good enough excuse for me. I am not buying it, nor am I not buying the story, that he did not know about the sermons that the Networks have been playing, I think he knew full well, but never thought that they would get picked up by the news people. Which tells me, that he did not really think this through.

I look for Obama’s campaign to tank here in the next few months and Hillary get the Nomination. Because I have been reading the Blogs and there is quite a bit of "buyers Remorse" amongst the Liberals.

It should be very interesting, indeed.

Others: TalkLeft, FREEDOM EDEN, Taylor Marsh, Telegraph, Bang the Drum and The Huffington Post and More via Memeorandum

I'll be the first to admit, like John McCain, I don't know jack about economics or for that matter, Wealth!

Yeah, that’s right. I’m about helpful as a blind man in a library, when it comes to this sort of stuff.

The Story:  JPMorgan Acts to Buy Ailing Bear Stearns at Huge Discount (Via New York Times)

Bear Stearns, pushed to the brink of bankruptcy by what amounted to a run on the bank, agreed late Sunday to sell itself to JPMorgan Chase for a mere $2 a share, narrowly averting a collapse that threatened to cascade through the financial system.

The price represents a startling 93 percent discount to Bear Stearns’ closing stock price on Friday on the New York Stock Exchange.

Bankers and policy makers raced to complete the deal before financial markets in Asia opened on Monday, as fears grew that the financial panic could spread if Bear Stearns failed to find a buyer.

The deal, done at the behest of the Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department, punctuates the stunning downfall of one of Wall Street’s biggest and most storied firms. Bear Stearns weathered the vagaries of the markets for 85 years, surviving the Depression and a dozen recessions only to meet its end in the rapidly unfolding credit crisis now afflicting the American economy.

My first reaction, when I saw this was, "Why should I even remotely give a rip?" However, it does show the full fall out of the sub-prime loan debacle that the Nation is dealing with, which isn’t helping the economy.

Yeah, from what I have read around the Blogs and from what I have seen on the T.V. we are headed into another Recession. Which is not a good thing. I guess it just means that the rest of the United States is catching up with Michigan.

Now, the nasty A-hole part of me, who kind of has a inbred hatred of people, who have more money that I do, thinks, "Ha Ha Guys! How’s it feel to lose everything and be broke, like I’ve been for the past couple of years??" But that’s a bit nasty and I try to avoid such thoughts.

I’m just hoping that this doesn’t trigger a mass sell off and a stock market crash, that would suck, because a full scale depression, is the LAST thing we need, right now.

Now, I’m not a capitalist freak, (You wouldn’t know it, by all the ads on my blog… *grin*) However, a certain amount of it, is acceptable, and a certain amount of it is needed to make the country work. So, I would hate to see the World’s Economy go to pot.

Anyway, that’s my take on it, from a Lower Middle class type of guy’s view.

The Experts are here: Crooked Timber, Matthew Yglesias, Buck Naked Politics, Taylor Marsh, JustOneMinute, Obsidian Wings, Marginal Revolution, Hoffmania! and AMERICAblog and more via Memeorandum

Oy…. New Jersey Style!

 So much for the Naive wife thing!

McGreevey aide says he had sexual trysts with ex-governor, wife – (via NJ.com)

Quote:

A former aide to James E. McGreevey said today that he had three-way sexual trysts with the former governor and his wife before he took office, challenging Dina Matos McGreevey’s assertion that she was naive about her husband’s sexual exploits.

The aide, Theodore Pedersen, said he and the couple even had a nickname for the weekly romps, from 1999 to 2001, that typically began with dinner at T.G.I. Friday’s and ended with a threesome at McGreevey’s condo in Woodbridge.

They called them "Friday Night Specials," according to Pedersen.

Pedersen described the encounters during an interview with The Star-Ledger. He said he wanted to refute the innocent image that Matos McGreevey has projected – both during the couple’s ongoing divorce battle and in interviews she gave after New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer resigned last week in a sex scandal. He said he was also incensed by her portrayal of herself as an unsuspecting wife in her book: "Silent Partner: A Memoir of My Marriage."

Friday Night Specials eh? Wow……Just Wow. So much for the Naive Wife. I suspect many people will be wanting their money back for the book that she wrote.

Wow, We aren’t even out the Primaries yet and the craziness is really getting….well, Crazy.

Others: The Corner, The Daily Dish, Gateway Pundit, The Other McCain and Pam’s House Blend (H/T Memeorandum)

McCain sneaks off to Iraq……again

As if this guy couldn’t get any lamer

This Happens: News Via AP: McCain makes unannounced trip to Iraq (via Yahoo News)

Sen. John McCain, the Republican Party’s presumptive nominee for president who has linked his political future to U.S. success in Iraq, was in Baghdad on Sunday for meetings with Iraqi and U.S. diplomatic and military officials, a U.S. government official said.

Details of McCain’s visit were not being released for security reasons, the U.S. Embassy said.

McCain’s visit was not announced and he was believed to have been in the country for several hours before reporters were able to confirm his arrival. It was unclear who he met with; no media opportunities or news conferences were planned.

McCain, a strong supporter of the U.S. military mission in Iraq, is believed to be staying in the country for about 24 hours.

"Senator McCain is in Iraq and will be meeting with Iraqi and U.S. officials," said Mirembe Nantongo, spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad.

Gee, I wonder if he had half of the United States Armed Forces with him this time? I wonder what he said to those people in Iraq, "Well Boys, It looks like we will be here for 100 years. Get used to it."?

Oh, to be a fly on the wall during those meetings!

Others: DownWithTyranny!, Political Punch, Right Wing News and Fausta’s blog and more via Memeorandum

You see, this is what happens when you don't play the Neo-Con Game with Bush.

You get tied up and blindfolded like an animal.

Read the story over at the New York Times:

The Baiji refinery, with its distillation towers rising against the Hamrin Mountains, may be the most important industrial site in the Sunni Arab-dominated regions of Iraq. On a good day, 500 tanker trucks will leave the refinery filled with fuel with a street value of $10 million.

The sea of oil under Iraq is supposed to rebuild the nation, then make it prosper. But at least one-third, and possibly much more, of the fuel from Iraq’s largest refinery here is diverted to the black market, according to American military officials. Tankers are hijacked, drivers are bribed, papers are forged and meters are manipulated — and some of the earnings go to insurgents who are still killing more than 100 Iraqis a week.

“It’s the money pit of the insurgency,” said Capt. Joe Da Silva, who commands several platoons stationed at the refinery.

Five years after the war in Iraq began, the insurgency remains a lethal force. The steady flow of cash is one reason, even as the American troop buildup and the recruitment of former insurgents to American-backed militias have helped push the number of attacks down to 2005 levels.

In fact, money, far more than jihadist ideology, is a crucial motivation for a majority of Sunni insurgents, according to American officers in some Sunni provinces and other military officials in Iraq who have reviewed detainee surveys and other intelligence on the insurgency.

Yeah, them Neo-Conservative, Rockefeller-type, Republicans wouldn’t want those pesky jihadists tapping into their oil profits.

You see, we went into that country, based on totally false intelligence, and now the people that don’t think we belong there. The jihadists, who want to defend their land, is now getting their money supply cut off. Do I defend the one’s who blow up our troops? Hell No. But I am realist, that says, if we’d attacked the RIGHT DAMN COUNTRY IN THE FIRST FUCKING PLACE, we wouldn’t be in this situation.

In case anyone forgot, there was a report this week, that said, despite what the feckless, idiot, bastards on the far right want to believe, that there were NO OPERATIONAL ties between Saddam and Al-Qaeda.

Like I’ve said before, we need change, badly. November 2008 cannot came fast enough for me.

Saturday Short takes

I am going to be away from the Computer and Blog, and basically news coverage for the rest of the afternoon.

So, here are your Saturday Political and News Short takes…..

Chick that was being "Pimped Out" to Governor of New York, is now mad because her photos got out to the press.

Obama Pastor-Gate continues on Saturday, I can’t believe people are still writing about this.

Living proof that far right wingers should not drive cars, Much less write Blogs and magazine articles.

A fine example of the legal system being abused…..in DAKAR.

There is progress in Iraq, or as this guy puts it, "The Surge is Working"… Some disagree, But I digress. Funny thing is, they put this story on page A13 in the Washington Post.

The Michigan and Florida Delegate-Gate Battle Continues. 

The House votes to tell President George W. Bush to kiss their collective backsides, in regards to telecom immunity. 

Oh Yeah and Obama Resko-Gate Continues as well.

These stories and more are available over on the best source for the pulse of the Blogosphere, and that’s Memeorandum.com

See you all either Tomorrow or much later tonight.

Breaking News: Controversial Minister leaves Obama campaign

This story in from MSNBC:

Minister leaves Obama campaign – Decision ’08- msnbc.com

Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., condemned racially charged sermons by his former pastor Friday and urged Americans not to reject his presidential campaign because of “guilt by association.”

Obama’s campaign announced that the minister, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr., had left its spiritual advisory committee after videotapes of his sermons again ignited fierce debate in news accounts and political blogs.

Obama did not clarify whether Wright volunteered to leave his African American Religious Leadership Committee, a loose group of supporters associated with the campaign, or whether the campaign asked him to leave.

 

Here is the Interview by Keith Olbermann, from Countdown on MSNBC:

 

No Transcript Available at this time, one will be posted when it becomes available at MSNBC’s site.

I think Obama has done a good job on dousing this fire. Keith Olbermann actually came in, on a day off to get this story and interview Obama himself, as to get the story straight.  That says much about Olbermann. I commend him for doing that.

Hopefully this will die down, Because I think it’s a little overblown, myself. However, realistically, I do know that some idiotic 527 group will try their best to "swiftboat", Obama on this issue. You can bet on that.