US Election Coverage 2008

[The Truth]

Obama wants to open a dialog about race in America. Now Patrick Buchanan has acknowledged Obama's request with a superb, excellent article below....it is simply a gem

PJB: A Brief for Whitey
posted by Linda

By Patrick J. Buchanan

How would he pull it off? I wondered.

How would Barack explain to his press groupies why he sat silent in a pew for 20 years as the Rev. Jeremiah Wright delivered racist rants against white America for our maligning of Fidel and Gadhafi, and inventing AIDS to infect and kill black people?

How would he justify not walking out as Wright spewed his venom about “the U.S. of K.K.K. America,” and howled, “God damn America!”

My hunch was right. Barack would turn the tables.

Yes, Barack agreed, Wright’s statements were “controversial,” and “divisive,” and “racially charged,” reflecting a “distorted view of America.”

But we must understand the man in full and the black experience out of which the Rev. Wright came: 350 years of slavery and segregation.

Barack then listed black grievances and informed us what white America must do to close the racial divide and heal the country.

The “white community,” said Barack, must start “acknowledging that what ails the African-American community does not just exist in the minds of black people; that the legacy of discrimination — and current incidents of discrimination, while less overt than in the past — are real and must be addressed. Not just with words, but with deeds … .”

And what deeds must we perform to heal ourselves and our country?

The “white community” must invest more money in black schools and communities, enforce civil rights laws, ensure fairness in the criminal justice system and provide this generation of blacks with “ladders of opportunity” that were “unavailable” to Barack’s and the Rev. Wright’s generations.

What is wrong with Barack’s prognosis and Barack’s cure?

Only this. It is the same old con, the same old shakedown that black hustlers have been running since the Kerner Commission blamed the riots in Harlem, Watts, Newark, Detroit and a hundred other cities on, as Nixon put it, “everybody but the rioters themselves.”

Was “white racism” really responsible for those black men looting auto dealerships and liquor stories, and burning down their own communities, as Otto Kerner said — that liberal icon until the feds put him away for bribery.

Barack says we need to have a conversation about race in America.

Fair enough. But this time, it has to be a two-way conversation. White America needs to be heard from, not just lectured to.

This time, the Silent Majority needs to have its convictions, grievances and demands heard. And among them are these:

First, America has been the best country on earth for black folks. It was here that 600,000 black people, brought from Africa in slave ships, grew into a community of 40 million, were introduced to Christian salvation, and reached the greatest levels of freedom and prosperity blacks have ever known.

Wright ought to go down on his knees and thank God he is an American.

Second, no people anywhere has done more to lift up blacks than white Americans. Untold trillions have been spent since the ’60s on welfare, food stamps, rent supplements, Section 8 housing, Pell grants, student loans, legal services, Medicaid, Earned Income Tax Credits and poverty programs designed to bring the African-American community into the mainstream.

Governments, businesses and colleges have engaged in discrimination against white folks — with affirmative action, contract set-asides and quotas — to advance black applicants over white applicants.

Churches, foundations, civic groups, schools and individuals all over America have donated time and money to support soup kitchens, adult education, day care, retirement and nursing homes for blacks.

We hear the grievances. Where is the gratitude?

Barack talks about new “ladders of opportunity” for blacks.

Let him go to Altoona and Johnstown, and ask the white kids in Catholic schools how many were visited lately by Ivy League recruiters handing out scholarships for “deserving” white kids.

Is white America really responsible for the fact that the crime and incarceration rates for African-Americans are seven times those of white America? Is it really white America’s fault that illegitimacy in the African-American community has hit 70 percent and the black dropout rate from high schools in some cities has reached 50 percent?

Is that the fault of white America or, first and foremost, a failure of the black community itself?

As for racism, its ugliest manifestation is in interracial crime, and especially interracial crimes of violence. Is Barack Obama aware that while white criminals choose black victims 3 percent of the time, black criminals choose white victims 45 percent of the time?

Is Barack aware that black-on-white rapes are 100 times more common than the reverse, that black-on-white robberies were 139 times as common in the first three years of this decade as the reverse?

We have all heard ad nauseam from the Rev. Al about Tawana Brawley, the Duke rape case and Jena. And all turned out to be hoaxes. But about the epidemic of black assaults on whites that are real, we hear nothing.

Sorry, Barack, some of us have heard it all before, about 40 years and 40 trillion tax dollars ago.

Source:

http://buchanan.org/blog/?p=969

 

[Icadon]

Haya hebu angalieni hii....[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9kM35gJBm7Y&feature=related[/media]

NN, I think jamaa wanataka kuikuza tuu hii issue au Obama alikuwa specific na siku ya kwenda kwenye show?

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvMbeVQj6Lw[/media]

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOdlnzkeoyQ&NR=1[/media]

 

[mlalanjaa]

NN, I think jamaa wanataka kuikuza tuu hii issue au Obama alikuwa specific na siku ya kwenda kwenye show?

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvMbeVQj6Lw[/media]

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOdlnzkeoyQ&NR=1[/media]

MBONA KWANGU HAIFUNGUKI?

 

[Kitila Mkumbo]

NN, I think jamaa wanataka kuikuza tuu hii issue au Obama alikuwa specific na siku ya kwenda kwenye show?

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvMbeVQj6Lw[/media]

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOdlnzkeoyQ&NR=1[/media]

i) Icadon, this is all fine unless you don't really understand what is news to the media. Kwa kifupi ni hivi, baba ukimnunulie mtoto wako nepi sio issue maana that is what is expected anyway. Tatizo la kuja pale ambapo umeshindwa kumnunulia mwanao chupi Sasa inatarajiwa mchungaji yeyote ahubiri upendo, amani-kwa hiyo ningeshangaa kama TV zingeanza kuonyesha mahubiri mazuri ya amani ya Wright, hii isingekuwa news na kwa hiyo wangeonekana wamekosa cha kuonyesha (see what I mean)!.

ii) Hii race ya Obama na Hillary imenifundisha kitu kwamba katika kuwania ugombea kupitia chama cha siasa ni hasara kubwa sana kwa chama kuwa na wagombea wawili very strong. Kusema kweli kitendo cha kuwa na wagombea wawili unique and special kwa upande wa democrats imeshakuwa ni liability badala ya kuwa assert. Japokuwa binadamu tuna tabia ya kukwepa ukweli unaouma, hatutaacha kusema kwamba kwa Hillary kuwa mwanamke na kwa kuwa mke wa Rais aliyefanikiwa sana katika urais wake imemjenga sana na kwa kiasi kikubwa ndicho kilichomfanya afike hapo alipo pamoja na kwamba naye ana sifa nzito kabisa bila hata kuegemea u-first lady. Sasa lazima tukiri sana pia kuwa Obama kwa kuwa mweusi wa kwanza moderate kugombea urais US imemsaidia sana kufika hapo alipofika pamoja na kuwa naye ana sifa za kipekee ukiacha uweusi wake.

iii) Sasa Democrats wamejikuta wakiwa na miamba miwili yote mizito. At the end wameshajikuta wakimalizana wao kwa wao. Kwa kweli yeyote yule ayakayepita itakuwa ngumu sana kuwashinda repulicans. Ninasikita sana mimi binafsi maana tangu nikue nimekuwa nikishabikia Democrats na safari hii nilijua piga ua urais wanaoupata mwaka huu. Sasa siku zinavyoenda naona haya matumaini yanazidi kupotea. Kinachokera zaidi inaonekana kambi zote mbili za Obama na Hillary zipo tayari kuona MacCain anashinda kuliko moja wao kushinda. I think this is the biggest tragedy for Democrats. Inavyoonekana ni kwamba yeyote atakayeshindwa kati ya Hillary na Barack hakuna atakayekuwa na utayari wa kumpigia mwenzake kampeni-hii maana yake ni kwamba wapenzi wa wale atakayeshindwa ama watakaa nyumbani siku ya kura au watampigia MacCain. I hope am wrong, otherwise, it is a big wasted opportunity for the Democrats na sasa naanza kumlaani Al Gore kwa kukataa kwake kugombea!

 

[Nyani Ngabu]

I have said it before that the Republicans are very adept at dividing and conquering. What we are witnessing with the Democrats right now is just that. They are divided and come November they will be conquered! Mark my words.

 

[Kazi Ndiyo Kipimo Cha Utu]

i) Icadon, this is all fine unless you don't really understand what is news to the media. Kwa kifupi ni hivi, baba ukimnunulie mtoto wako nepi sio issue maana that is what is expected anyway. Tatizo la kuja pale ambapo umeshindwa kumnunulia mwanao chupi Sasa inatarajiwa mchungaji yeyote ahubiri upendo, amani-kwa hiyo ningeshangaa kama TV zingeanza kuonyesha mahubiri mazuri ya amani ya Wright, hii isingekuwa news na kwa hiyo wangeonekana wamekosa cha kuonyesha (see what I mean)!.

ii) Hii race ya Obama na Hillary imenifundisha kitu kwamba katika kuwania ugombea kupitia chama cha siasa ni hasara kubwa sana kwa chama kuwa na wagombea wawili very strong. Kusema kweli kitendo cha kuwa na wagombea wawili unique and special kwa upande wa democrats imeshakuwa ni liability badala ya kuwa assert. Japokuwa binadamu tuna tabia ya kukwepa ukweli unaouma, hatutaacha kusema kwamba kwa Hillary kuwa mwanamke na kwa kuwa mke wa Rais aliyefanikiwa sana katika urais wake imemjenga sana na kwa kiasi kikubwa ndicho kilichomfanya afike hapo alipo pamoja na kwamba naye ana sifa nzito kabisa bila hata kuegemea u-first lady. Sasa lazima tukiri sana pia kuwa Obama kwa kuwa mweusi wa kwanza moderate kugombea urais US imemsaidia sana kufika hapo alipofika pamoja na kuwa naye ana sifa za kipekee ukiacha uweusi wake.

iii) Sasa Democrats wamejikuta wakiwa na miamba miwili yote mizito. At the end wameshajikuta wakimalizana wao kwa wao. Kwa kweli yeyote yule ayakayepita itakuwa ngumu sana kuwashinda repulicans. Ninasikita sana mimi binafsi maana tangu nikue nimekuwa nikishabikia Democrats na safari hii nilijua piga ua urais wanaoupata mwaka huu. Sasa siku zinavyoenda naona haya matumaini yanazidi kupotea. Kinachokera zaidi inaonekana kambi zote mbili za Obama na Hillary zipo tayari kuona MacCain anashinda kuliko moja wao kushinda. I think this is the biggest tragedy for Democrats. Inavyoonekana ni kwamba yeyote atakayeshindwa kati ya Hillary na Barack hakuna atakayekuwa na utayari wa kumpigia mwenzake kampeni-hii maana yake ni kwamba wapenzi wa wale atakayeshindwa ama watakaa nyumbani siku ya kura au watampigia MacCain. I hope am wrong, otherwise, it is a big wasted opportunity for the Democrats na sasa naanza kumlaani Al Gore kwa kukataa kwake kugombea!

Habari za masiku Waungwana!
Usikate tamaa Bado mapema sana,Short time strategy ni kumalizana wenyewe kwanza,Na huku kila upande Ukiandaa jinsi ya kupambana na Mccain.Kuna Best way ya kupambana na Mccain wacha wabweteke tu.Cha msingi hiyo ni Long time strategy.Endelea kufuatilia kwa Ukaribu bila ya kumpa free pass Mr John.Safari bado ndefu na aminia Kaka kutakuwa na mpambano mkali tu!

 

[Nyani Ngabu]

We Kazi mbona umeadimika hivyo?

 

[YNIM]

I have said it before that the Republicans are very adept at dividing and conquering. What we are witnessing with the Democrats right now is just that. They are divided and come November they will be conquered! Mark my words.

mzee wa ma-obvious!! ni sawa na kumwambia mtu kama anajua kwamba papa benedict ni mkatoliki.....ushasema papa, halloooow?? sema kitu ambacho hatujui!! mwe! LOL.

 

[jmushi1]

Siku ya siku ikifika wazungu wengi watampigia kura McCain na weusi wengi watampigia kura Obama. Kura za minorities wote hazitoshi kumpa ushindi Obama. McCain ana advantage kubwa sana. Yaani jamaa (GOP) walivyo confident wameshaanza kujifanya kama tayari wameshashinda...ona tu jinsi babu alivyoenda mashariki ya kati na ulaya na kukutana na viongozi wa huko. Hii ktk mawazo ya watu inawapa picha ya kwamba jamaa yuko tayari kushika hatamu na yuko presidential huku ka bwa mdogo kanajitetea na Mama naye akihaha...

Nyani issue ya race imekuwa introduced this time ili kuiweka mezani mapema!wamarekani wapambane nayo vyakutosha..hadi november watakuwa wameshiba!maana sasa bado wanajifanya hawajui..halafu wanasuasua wakati wa kuijadili kwasababu truth hurts!At the same time hawataki kumpa Obama free ride kwasababu tu ya woga wa kujadili race!Ila hawana cha kusema!Obama ni striker mwenye ability ya kupiga miguu yote miwili!so ni rahisi kwake kupiga bao!wakati marepublican wakiwategemea mamluki wao weusi kama juan williams na wengineo..Obama yeye anawatake pande zote za weusi na weupe bila woga!Kumbuka ana piga miguu yote!Wakina Oreilly na Hanity wao wana limit!wana "venture kwenye territory" yao ya whites tuu!huku wakiwaomba kina nyani ngabu wawasaidie upande wa pili wa weusi!Sasa Richardson ameanza kwa symbolic gesture towards the appreciation shown right after the speech..kabla hujamalizia kwenye white wanaanza na browns then may other whites and Asians!Ofcourse tayari ana coalition ya kutosha..ila kuelekea general election mambo yatakuwa better zaidi kwani yeye sasa hivi ndio the main character huku Clintons wakisisitiziwa wadrop ili kukinusuru chama!Mama hataki na bado anabet on racism.Good thing there's still more time and Obama is going to turn it in to offensive!Soma alama za nyakati!

 

[jmushi1]

Hahahahaha....naivette of the highest degree. Tangu lini endorsement zinamaanisha kura nyinyi? Halafu hata kama zinamaanisha kura (kama fikra zenu potofu zinavyowatuma) hiyo endorsement haitakuwa na maana yoyote sasa. Ingekuwa na maana kama ingekuja kabla ya Nevada, California, Arizona na kwingineko kwenye Latinos wengi.

Obama bado anongoza kwenye kila idara kuanzia ya delegates,number of states mpaka wingi wa kura!So ni wazi kamsaada hata kama ni kadogo tu kanaplay big role!Kumbuka mama is the one to catch up!Inajulikana wazi Clintons ndio waliingiza issue ya race kwenye campaign..na sasa inawatokea puani kwasababu hawawezi "kuventure kwenye territory"(kauli maarufu ya mh Kikwete)kauli zao inabidi ziwe makini la sivyo wataendelea kuwa branded racists..sasa kwenye mimds za wamarekani lazima watajiuliza ikawaje minority kama Richardson ambaye aliserve kwenye administration ya Clinton na kuangalia superbowl pamoja!lakini wakati huu ambapo kuna fukutu la ugawanyikaji ndani ya chama ambao unakumbatiwa na Clintons na kambi yake!Jambo ambalo linaelekea kumfavor Obama ni the fact kwamba ana coalition ya Whites,Blacks,Latinos and more latinos(na hii ni muhimu kwenye hizo states ulizozimemention za Clifornia etc during general election),and Asians!Coalition yenye nguvu za kuweza kuwashawishi masuperdelegates ku flock upande wa Mh Obama!

 

[Nyani Ngabu]

mzee wa ma-obvious!! ni sawa na kumwambia mtu kama anajua kwamba papa benedict ni mkatoliki.....ushasema papa, halloooow?? sema kitu ambacho hatujui!! mwe! LOL.

Kama mnajua mbona mna-act kama hamjui? Au mko kwenye denial?

 

[Icadon]

Kitila, kwa kifupi Sean Hannity alikuwa na ajenda yake ya siri...The thing media would do for ratings!!!!

 

[jmushi1]

kamata hiyo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mcyvj8YV_1M

 

[Nyani Ngabu]

Barack Obama’s speech on Tuesday has been widely hailed as an attempt to deal honestly with the race issue in the U.S. and his longtime pastor Jeremiah Wright, but Washington Post columnist Charles Krauthammer is having none of that.

In an Op-Ed article headlined “The Speech: A Brilliant Fraud,” Krauthammer acknowledges that Obama condemned Rev. Wright’s inflammatory remarks as “wrong and divisive” — without specifying the remarks he was referring to.

But Krauthammer goes on to say: “The question is why didn't he leave that church? Why didn't he leave — why doesn't he leave even today — a pastor who thundered not once but three times from the pulpit (on a DVD the church proudly sells), ‘God damn America’?
“Obama's 5,000-word speech, fawned over as a great meditation on race, is little more than an elegantly crafted, brilliantly sophistic justification of that scandalous dereliction.”

Krauthammer opines that Obama’s defense of his relationship with Wright rests on “moral equivalence” and “white guilt.”

For moral equivalence, Krauthammer notes, Obama places his white grandmother at the “other end of the spectrum” from Wright, since according to Obama she “once confessed her fear of black men who passed by her on the street, and who on more than one occasion has uttered racial or ethnic stereotypes that made me cringe."

Krauthammer writes: “Does he not see the moral difference between the occasional private expression of the prejudices of one's time and the use of a public stage to spread racial lies and race hatred?”

As for white guilt, Krauthammer observes that Obama's purpose in his speech was to put Wright's outrages in the context of history — and by history, “he means the history of white racism…

“What lies at the end of his recital of the long train of white racial assaults from slavery to employment discrimination? Jeremiah Wright, of course.

“This contextual analysis of Wright's venom, this extenuation of black hate speech as a product of white racism, is not new. It’s the Jesse Jackson politics of racial grievance, expressed in Ivy League diction and Harvard Law nuance. That's why the speech made so many liberal commentators swoon: It bathed them in racial guilt while flattering their intellectual pretensions.”

Krauthammer asserts that Obama “flatters himself as a man of the future transcending the anger of the past as represented by his beloved pastor…

“Then answer this, Senator: If Wright is a man of the past, why would you expose your children to his vitriolic divisiveness?”

The writer concludes: “Why did you give $22,500 just two years ago to a church run by a man of the past who infects the younger generation with precisely the racial attitudes and animus you say you have come unto us to transcend?”

 

[YNIM]

Kama mnajua mbona mna-act kama hamjui? Au mko kwenye denial?

we're fighting against the odds! au wewe ulitaka tukae kimya tu, tuwe wadogo, tunyong'onyea....halafu mseme kwamba, hao ndivyo walivyo??

nadhani sasa naanza kuona vizuri tofauti kubwa iliyopo kati yetu(@least mimi na wewe) ktk mitazamo......sidhani kama umewahi hata ku-qn the valid of Heinsenberg uncertainity principle!!??there is none wrong with trying...........Go Obama!!.

 

[jmushi1]

Barack Obama's speech on Tuesday has been widely hailed as an attempt to deal honestly with the race issue in the U.S. and his longtime pastor Jeremiah Wright, but Washington Post columnist Charles Krauthammer is having none of that.

In an Op-Ed article headlined "The Speech: A Brilliant Fraud," Krauthammer acknowledges that Obama condemned Rev. Wright's inflammatory remarks as "wrong and divisive" - without specifying the remarks he was referring to.

But Krauthammer goes on to say: "The question is why didn't he leave that church? Why didn't he leave - why doesn't he leave even today - a pastor who thundered not once but three times from the pulpit (on a DVD the church proudly sells), ‘God damn America'?
"Obama's 5,000-word speech, fawned over as a great meditation on race, is little more than an elegantly crafted, brilliantly sophistic justification of that scandalous dereliction."

Krauthammer opines that Obama's defense of his relationship with Wright rests on "moral equivalence" and "white guilt."

For moral equivalence, Krauthammer notes, Obama places his white grandmother at the "other end of the spectrum" from Wright, since according to Obama she "once confessed her fear of black men who passed by her on the street, and who on more than one occasion has uttered racial or ethnic stereotypes that made me cringe."

Krauthammer writes: "Does he not see the moral difference between the occasional private expression of the prejudices of one's time and the use of a public stage to spread racial lies and race hatred?"

As for white guilt, Krauthammer observes that Obama's purpose in his speech was to put Wright's outrages in the context of history - and by history, "he means the history of white racism…

"What lies at the end of his recital of the long train of white racial assaults from slavery to employment discrimination? Jeremiah Wright, of course.

"This contextual analysis of Wright's venom, this extenuation of black hate speech as a product of white racism, is not new. It's the Jesse Jackson politics of racial grievance, expressed in Ivy League diction and Harvard Law nuance. That's why the speech made so many liberal commentators swoon: It bathed them in racial guilt while flattering their intellectual pretensions."

Krauthammer asserts that Obama "flatters himself as a man of the future transcending the anger of the past as represented by his beloved pastor…

"Then answer this, Senator: If Wright is a man of the past, why would you expose your children to his vitriolic divisiveness?"

The writer concludes: "Why did you give $22,500 just two years ago to a church run by a man of the past who infects the younger generation with precisely the racial attitudes and animus you say you have come unto us to transcend?"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mcyvj8YV_1M

Nyani kamata hiyo link hapo juu uone jinsi hii issue ilivyo nzito zaidi ya wewe unavyojaribu kufikiri ama kutufanya tufikiri..kuwa the issues is just as exposing the kids to vitriolic divisiveness!wao si wanataka kuificha dunia kuwa America is divided?sasa yeye amewatoa nishai kwa kuiweka issue mezani na sasa wanajing'atang'ata hovyo hawajui cha kusema huku wengine wakidiriki kukimbia live from the tv kama ilivyotokea huko fox news!Watalainika tu na baadae wataangalia huku na huku..ili kujikosha itabidi waungane na Obama penda wasipende kwani ni yeye peke yake anaye qualify kuwaunganisha!hilo liko wazi nyani usili ignore!

 

[jmushi1]

Bill Clinton Ametoa Kauli Nyingine Ya Kibaguzi Na Sasa Anashambuliwa Kutoka Pande Zote Huku Shinikizo La Hillary Kudrop Out Likiendelezwa Na Fukuto La Masuperdelegates Wanaosumbuliwa Kila Siku Na Kina Clintons!sasa Kama Bill Ni Baguzi Na Reverand Wa Obama Ni Baguzi Then Nani Wa Kuwaunganisha Zaidi Ya Jaluo?wazungu Tartiibu Wanaugana Na Obama Na Pia Richardson Ameleta Baadhi Ya Wazungu Pia!lakini Momentum Inelekea Kwa Jalluo Kwani Maoni Mapya Yanaonyesha Kuwa Ameikata Lead Ya Mama Kutoka Double Digits Hadi 2 Points Mara Baada Ya Historic Speech Yake!Bill clinton naye yuko matatani Ametoa Kauli Ya Kibaguzi Kwamba Wao Wazungu Peke Yao(hillary Na Mc Cain) Ndio Wenye Kutakiwa Kurun For President Na Kuonyesha Kuwa Jaluo Sio Mmarekani Mzalendo Na Hafai Hata Kidogo Kupigiwa Kura Za Kuiongoza Nchi Yao Ya Watu Weupe!Hivyo presha sasa imewarudia wakina clinton ambao sasa muda si mrefu watajiuzulu ama kukigawa chama!

 

[jmushi1]

Yulehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXmYVRIpu2w binti aliyekuwa kwenye ile video ya saa tisa usubuhi amelaani vikali ugeuzwaji wa clip ile na kuifanya ya kibaguzi!Binti huyo ni supporter wa Obama na aliwataka wamarekani kuelewa hilo!fuata link hapo juu!

 

[Nyani Ngabu]

Passport Investigation Scrutinizes Employee of Firm With a Tie to Obama
by FOXNews.com
Saturday, March 22, 2008


Barack Obama is calling for a thorough probe of the breaches of three candidates' passport files, including his.


The State Department investigation into how and why the passport files of three presidential candidates were breached is scrutinizing an employee at a Virginia-based company, which is headed by an adviser to Barack Obama’s campaign.

The Washington Times, which broke the news Thursday that Obama’s files were improperly accessed, reported Saturday that the State Department inspector general’s internal probe will include polygraph tests of supervisors to determine whether there was a political motive behind the breaches.

The article said a focal point of the probe will be an employee who works for The Analysis Corporation and is still with the company. The firm is headed by John O. Brennan, an Obama adviser, FOX News confirms. The Times reported he advises the Democratic presidential candidate on intelligence and foreign policy matters.
The Times reported that the employee at TAC is the only individual who accessed both Obama’s and John McCain’s passport information. TAC decided to honor a State Department request to delay firing the consultant to give investigators time to conduct their investigation, the company said.

Two other contract workers were fired from Stanley Inc. after it was discovered they accessed Obama’s files. It could be challenging for the State Department to force them to answer questions, however. Unless they volunteer to cooperate, they would have to be served with a subpoena compelling them to testify before a grand jury.

Obama’s campaign at first questioned whether the senator was targeted for political reasons, but on Friday the State Department revealed Sens. Hillary Clinton and McCain also had their files improperly accessed. The State Department believes the cases could be just a matter of “imprudent curiosity,” but the internal investigation and a separate congressional probe are expected to delve into whether it was anything more.

“There are still many unanswered questions, including why these passport files were accessed and for what purpose,” Obama’s office said in a statement late Friday. “Sen. Obama believes a thorough investigation of these privacy breaches is necessary and expects one that is prompt and thorough.”

A fourth worker tapped into Clinton’s records as part of a training session last summer, the State Department said, and that violation was immediately recognized and the person admonished.

The Justice Department is monitoring the effort.

“None of us wants to have a circumstance in which any American’s passport file is looked at in an unauthorized way,” Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said as she offered apologies to the candidates.

The unauthorized digging into electronic government files on politicians recalled a 1992 case in which a Republican political appointee at the State Department was demoted for searching Bill Clinton’s passport records when Clinton was running against President George H.W. Bush.

Obama’s files were compromised on three occasions — Jan. 9, Feb. 21 and March 14. The department’s internal computer system “flags” certain records, including those of high-profile people, to tip off supervisors when someone tries to view the records without an appropriate reason.

It was not clear whether the employees saw anything other than the basic personal data such as name, citizenship, age, Social Security number and place of birth, which is required when someone fills out a passport application.

The files also include date and place of birth and address at time of application. Agency officials said the files generally would not list countries the person has traveled to.

Attorney General Michael Mukasey said the case has not yet been referred to the Justice Department for investigation, but he did not rule out the possibility of the Justice Department taking an independent look.

 

[Icadon]

Barack Obama’s speech on Tuesday has been widely hailed as an attempt to deal honestly with the race issue in the U.S. and his longtime pastor Jeremiah Wright, but Washington Post columnist Charles Krauthammer is having none of that.

In an Op-Ed article headlined “The Speech: A Brilliant Fraud,” Krauthammer acknowledges that Obama condemned Rev. Wright’s inflammatory remarks as “wrong and divisive” — without specifying the remarks he was referring to.

But Krauthammer goes on to say: “The question is why didn't he leave that church? Why didn't he leave — why doesn't he leave even today — a pastor who thundered not once but three times from the pulpit (on a DVD the church proudly sells), ‘God damn America’?
“Obama's 5,000-word speech, fawned over as a great meditation on race, is little more than an elegantly crafted, brilliantly sophistic justification of that scandalous dereliction.”

Krauthammer opines that Obama’s defense of his relationship with Wright rests on “moral equivalence” and “white guilt.”

For moral equivalence, Krauthammer notes, Obama places his white grandmother at the “other end of the spectrum” from Wright, since according to Obama she “once confessed her fear of black men who passed by her on the street, and who on more than one occasion has uttered racial or ethnic stereotypes that made me cringe."

Krauthammer writes: “Does he not see the moral difference between the occasional private expression of the prejudices of one's time and the use of a public stage to spread racial lies and race hatred?”

As for white guilt, Krauthammer observes that Obama's purpose in his speech was to put Wright's outrages in the context of history — and by history, “he means the history of white racism…

“What lies at the end of his recital of the long train of white racial assaults from slavery to employment discrimination? Jeremiah Wright, of course.

“This contextual analysis of Wright's venom, this extenuation of black hate speech as a product of white racism, is not new. It’s the Jesse Jackson politics of racial grievance, expressed in Ivy League diction and Harvard Law nuance. That's why the speech made so many liberal commentators swoon: It bathed them in racial guilt while flattering their intellectual pretensions.”

Krauthammer asserts that Obama “flatters himself as a man of the future transcending the anger of the past as represented by his beloved pastor…

“Then answer this, Senator: If Wright is a man of the past, why would you expose your children to his vitriolic divisiveness?”

The writer concludes: “Why did you give $22,500 just two years ago to a church run by a man of the past who infects the younger generation with precisely the racial attitudes and animus you say you have come unto us to transcend?”

Tafuta mahojiano ya Obama na Larry King, he talked about why didn't/doesn't he leave the church.