Obama
New Yorker cover
Jack Shafer rejects the argument that the cartoon will merely reinforce anti-Obama prejudice: Calling on the press to protect the common man from the potential corruptions of satire is a strange, paternalistic assignment for any journalist to give his peers, but that appears to be what The New Yorker‘s detractors desire. Forcefully put, but I still think the cover image
Greens part two
Rosa Clemente, the hip-hop activist who is now Cynthia McKinney’s vice presidential running mate on the Green Party ticket, made an acceptance speech this weekend during which she offered unequivocal praise for the Weather Underground, Mutulu Shakur (currently serving a 60-year term for his involvement in the BLA’s notorious 1981 Brinks heist) and other supposed paragons of progressivism in America.
Make my day
The specifics of Obama’s alleged “move to the center” are complex, but I have to say I’m amused that lefties like Oregon artist Martha Shade, quoted in this NY Times piece, are abandoning Obama for the Green Party. (I say this as someone who voted for Nader in ’96 and ’00.) A person who hangs an “Occupation Is Terrorism” banner
Greenwald misreads Obama
Some very smart liberal bloggers are up in arms about Obama’s perceived move to the center — perhaps with some justification, although Glenn Greenwald’s beef with the Obama patriotism speech borders on dishonest: [Obama] defended his own patriotism by impugning the patriotism of others, specifically those in what he described as the “the so-called counter-culture of the Sixties” for “attacking
Point-counterpoint on “naïve”
It’s frustrating to see liberal hawk Oliver Kamm recite John McCain’s talking points on Obama’s supposed foreign policy naïvete. The argument, as we know, centers around Obama’s assertion during the July 2007 YouTube debate that he’d be willing to meet with hostile foreign leaders. Yes, this was an answer that I criticized myself. I still think it was hasty and
The far left attacks
Via Gene at Harry’s, we find that left extremist John Pilger, an apologist for Palestinian suicide bombers and Hezbollah, a declared supporter of Iraqi insurgent fanatics, is now assailing Barack Obama as a warmonger, an Islamophobe, you name it. I love this bit: An Obama victory will bring intense pressure on the US anti-war and social justice movements to accept
“America, this is our moment”
I endorsed Barack Obama in July 2007, and it has come to pass. Between now and November, this blog will devote as much energy as possible to the election of Obama, a man of true intellectual substance and democratic temperament, as President of the United States. For now, however, I’m speechless. Forward into battle.
Where to begin?
“The people here, liberal people, will not vote for Obama because of his attitude towards Israel,” Ms. Weitz, 83, said, lingering over brunch. This appears early in Jodi Kantor’s piece on Florida Jews and the election. Since Obama’s “attitude towards Israel” is roughly 100 percent supportive, it’s hard to know what Ms. Weitz means. But it becomes clearer further down