Obama i SAD (2008-2016)

[palermo]

da, kao što reče Čerčil u dvadesetim si komunista u četrdesetim konzervativac, ako nije tako onda si ma'nit (ovo ja za sebe, jer ne znam tvoje godine).
Ovi izbori su mi interesantni iz dva razloga, prvi je malo trivijalan, zanimljiva mi je ova naviijačka atmosfera a ponajviše ovi "mladi Obamini lavovi" na ovom i još nekim forumima pa mi je drago pomalo im oponirati, a drugi je razlog ,naravno interesuje me kako će izbori utjecati na Bosnu i Hercegovinu i sve ono što se nje tiče. I kada ti pričaš o dijalogu u kofliktu, iscrpljivanju u traženju rješenja prije poduzimanja ekstremnih mjera, pitam se što to znači sa stanovišta interesa Bosne i Hercegovine.Ili da budem jasniji, da li to može značiti i odustajanje od principa koje su amerikanci postavili u BiH, da li može značiti nekakvo ponovno preispitivanje prirode rata u BiH i uloge, da li može značiti nekakvo novo traženje rješenja (simplificiram stvari,forum je ovo ipak ) i kada sve to saberem, ja se ipak ne mogu oteti dojmu da što se tiče BiH, sa Obamom bi stvari bile ipak neizvjesnije nego sa Hillary ( pri tome potpuno uvažavajući ono što si ti rekla o Hillary i njenoj želji za vlašću kao pokretačkom duhu njene čitave politčke karijere).
Da nisam stanovnik Bosne i Hercegovine i da nismo toliko ovisni o svemu što se negdje drugdje zbiva (a pogotovo u americi) ne bih mogao da se ne složim sa tvojim postavkama, i naravno da u nekakvim opšteljudskim i humanističkim relacijama Obama bi dobio prednost (barem ukoliko ga gledamo iz vizure kojoj si ga ti predstavila.Kako bih ti rekao, vjerujem ja tebi da je trenutno najpozitivnija ličnost, al sa aspekta Bosne i Hercegovine mi se čini da to baš i nije najvažnija stvar.Kao što znamo,moral i pravda su vrlo fluidne kategorije (a na našim prostorima svi biju pravednu i moralnu bitku ) pa kad je već tako, onda čini mi se da ne bi bilo loše imati pride i američkog predsjednika na svojoj strani (uslovno, naravno, ta znam da im nismo ni deveta rupa na svirali) pa makar taj predsjednik bio i manje moralan.
Naravno, nemam pojma jesam li u pravu, samo mi se sada tako čini.
P.S
sjetih se jednog komentara sa Foruma B92, otprilike je ovako glasio, amerikanci se pitaju sada šta je bolje, dobar čovjek a loš predsjednik (Jimmy Carter) ili loš čovjek a sjajan predsjednik (BIL Clinton)

Jeste, kazu ljudi da sto je covjek stariji, generalno je i konzervativniji. Za neke vazi, za neke ne vazi. Nisam utopijski vodjena kao sto sam bila kad sam bila mladja, iako sam jos uvijek mlada , ali sam realnija. A nisam (niti sam bila) komunista, ali podrzavan neke lijeve ideje (besplatno skolovanje, zdravstvo, drustvo sa cvrstom i nediskriminatornom socijalnom mrezom itd.).
Joj , ti si kompleksne teme odabrao za razgovor, posebno za forum, kao sto su americka vanjska politika i sudjenje necijeg, jos neformuliranog, stava prema BiH. S obzirom da BiH nije na radaru svjetske politike, ni Obama ni Hillary, nisu nigdje i nikada objasnili kako bi se postavili prema situaciji u BiH. Ja nemam pojma. Mogli bi i jedno i drugo raditi na nashu stetu,mogli bi i u korist, a mogli bi imati i razlicite stavove. Pored svih problema koji cekaju onog (ili onu) koji dodje u Bijelu Kucu, otvaranje "starih rana" i revizija vec ucinjenog mi se ne cini kao mogucnost. Ne mogu zamisliti da bi ijedno od njih dvoje predlozilo anuliranje Dejtonskog sporazuma ili neko ustanovljavanje krivice. Rekla bih da bi se ravnali, kao i vishe-manje drugi prije njih, po stavovima i djelima nashih predstavnika. U tom slucaju, ako se nesto drasticno ne promijeni na nasoj politickoj sceni, jadna li nam majka.
Sto se tice Obame i Bosne, ja sam, do nedavno, svoju nadu za pomoc Bosni bazirala na utjecaju Samanthe Power koja je, na zalost, morala odstupiti od njegove kampanje zbog gluposti. Bash sam je slusala neki dan kad je bila gost na seminaru, tu gdje zivim, i ona bi bila pravi borac za Bosnu kakvog nismo dugo vidjeli. Pricalo se da joj je bilo namjenjo mjesto National Security Advisor, a mozda ce joj Obama, nakon izbora, i dati neku vaznu poziciju. Kao sto rekoh, ne znam tacan stav, ali mi se cini da Obama, pored toga sto jeste takav kakav jeste, ima i tim savjetnika koji ne bi bili toliko losi za Bosnu.
A, Hillary, da se ne ponavljam sad, mozda i izgleda kao neki pozitivan ishod za BiH ali to se moze vrlo, vrlo brzo promijeniti ukoliko se promjene njeni interesi.

Jesam li razumjela tvoj post, ti mislish da s obzirom da Husu ne znamo, bolje nam je da izaberemo nekog koga znamo pa makar bili i losiji? Cula sam slicna misljenja, samo zato pitam.

Ma nisu kompleksne teme,ako pišemo na jednostavn i razumljiv način (a ti pišeš, i ne moraš mi reći opet hvala ), a zanimljive jesu, barem meni .
Generalno govoreći dobro si razumjela moj post, pitam se zapravo, uz pretpostavku dobrnamjernosti Obamine, koliko će njemu uopšte trebati vremena da uđe u problematiku BiH, i koliko će obzirom na njeno nepoznavanje uopšte htjeti ulaziti u nju. U tom kontekstu nekako mi se sigurnijom čini Hillary, ako ništa zbog njenog muža (mišljenja da on neće uticati nimalo na njenu politiku naprosto smatram pomalo nerealnim, da ne kažem nešto drugo) i par savjetnika koji su imali upliv na kreiranje politke prema Bosni i Hercegovini.Naravno da se slažem da će zavisno od svojih interesa prilagođavati i politiku prema BiH, al mi se nešto čini da bi ona prije svoje interese mogla naći unutar dosadašnje politike SAD-a prema BiH.
Ono što me kod Obame fascinira i pomalo buni su očekivanja koja je on probudio (govorim o ovim prostorima) kod različitih grupacija koje imaju potpuno suprostavljene interese, prošetaj recimo malo po srpskim sajtovima, bilo da su radikalni, bilo da su liberalni, svugdje ćeš naći maltene jednodušnu podršku Obami i očekivanja da će se sa njegovim dolaskom nešto promijeniti. Naravno, da to što misle Srbi, Bošnjaci ili čak Moldovci nije relevantno za njega samog niti njegovu politiku, al mi se mota po glavi pitanje, kako je uopšte moguće probuditi te nade kod svih iako znamo da matematika kaže da je 2+2 uglavnom 4, odnosno da se teško može desiti da i vuk bude sit i ovce na broju. I onda mi opet crv ne da mira, pa se upitam je li možda moguće da i Obama i u samoj americi plovi na valovima populizma ( naravno bitno drugačijeg od ovog na našim prostorima) i da njegova popularnost nije ništa drugo nego izraz trenutne potrebe za nečim drugačijim, a da nema mnogo veze sa tim kakav je on, i šta može uraditi.
Naravno, opet ću da ponovim, ovo su onako samo čisto forumske špekulacije

[palermo]

Osvrt na dva zadnja posta.
Posto osjetim da sam prozvan ovdje kao 'mladi Obamin lav' (ispod pojasa )...
Iz dosadasnjeg iskustva, sto mog, sto preko konkretnih rezultata izbora, vidim da ljudi koji su bili manje eksponirani Obami i uopste konkretno ovoj kampanji naginju na stranu Clintonove. Da jesu, mozda bi uvidjeli ozbiljnost i odlucnost Obamine poruke, te oportunizam, podvale i lazi Clintonine kampanje. Sto duze ona traje, to se vise primjeti. Ja licno sto kampanja duze traje sve manje imam postovanja prema oba kandidata, ali pogotovo prema Clintonovoj. Ko ne vjeruje, nek procita moje pocetne komentare na ovoj temi od prije 4 mjeseca.
Clintonova je kroz ovu kampanju pokazala da ne preza ni od cega da bi dosla na vlast, ali ne samo to, vec me uvjerila da ona nije pametna i sposobna politicarka sa vizijom, vec da ce kao takva biti alatka u rukama drugih. Ja njoj ne vjerujem. Zar je to tako tesko shvatiti? Ne vjerujem da ce uciniti ista od ovog sto govori. Ne vjerujem da ce pomoci, ili biti odlucnija sto se tice BiH. Ne vjerujem da ce povuci trupe iz Iraka, cak sta vise. Ne vjerujem da ce dovoljno uciniti za reformu zdravstvenog osiguranja. Ne vjerujem da ce dovoljno uciniti za oporavak americke ekonomije. Ne vjerujem da ce uciniti dovoljno za razvijanje zelenih tehnologija. Nista joj ne vjerujem, nista. Mislim da ce raditi onako kako odluce gomile interesnih grupa i lobija koji stoje iza nje. A ako joj podmetnu neku aferu, ona ce nju iskoristiti da nas odvrati od stvarnih problema. Ona sebe reklamira kao 'radilicu', ali ona to ne moze biti, jer ona ne radu za narod, njom upravljaju drugi. Sve u vezi nje je lazno.
Neko spomenu Busha mladjeg i emocije kojima su ljudi vodjeni kad su glasali za njega, te prave sada usporedbu sa Obamom samo na lijevoj strani. Mozda to donekle i stoji kada su u pitanju 'ultra liberali' kojima se politicka svijest sastoji od smisljanja posalica na racun Bushovih gafova, ali meni licno je sasvim jasna razlika izmedju Obame na jednoj strani, i Busha i Clintonove i gro ostalih na drugoj strani. Iza Obame ne stoji 'baggage', ne stoje 'upravljaci'. Obama je sam sebe postavio na ovo mjesto, a Busha i Clintonovu i mnoge druge su postavili, nasminkali, i naucili drugi.
U tome je ta razlika.
I sta to znaci u smislu predsjednikovanja? Pa znaci da nece pola mandata provesti radeci po instrukcijama svojih mentora, ciji interesi obicno nemaju nikakve veze sa onim sto meni treba.

prvo oko onog ispod pojasa..................auuu bre jeza, ovo je forum, malo pričukamo, razmatramo, i ponekad se našalimo, jebao te Obama i Hillary (i ovo sam se šalio ).

A što se tiče posta, ja moram iskreno reći, da bih volio da se ta vrsta idealizma ,vjere i nade u promjenu i mogućnost nečeg drugačijeg koju si ti iskazao u svom postu pojavi i u Bosni i Hercegovini, i da po mogućnosti okupi ovako široke interesne grupacije kao što je Obama uradio. Naravno da to sa sobom nosi opasnosti, al o tom potom

[jeza u ledja]

iako cu zazvucati defetisticki, nema potrebe raspravljati o temi huso vs. hilka.

mccain dobija protiv obame u novembru sigurno i umire prirodnom smrcu pocetkom mandata nakon objave rata iranu, a charlie crist postaje prvi pravoslavni predsjednik.

u isto vrijeme hillary konacno poteze brakorazvodnu parnicu.

a huso? e on ide u kampanju opet 2012., ovaj put dobija general elections, ali mu netom iza toga pada airforce one u atlanski okean.

PS: Nije ti Crist pravoslavac, barem wikipedia kaze da je metodist. Babo mu je Grk, ali ti to ne znaci puno u Ameriki.

[hik--meta]

iako cu zazvucati defetisticki, nema potrebe raspravljati o temi huso vs. hilka.

mccain dobija protiv obame u novembru sigurno i umire prirodnom smrcu pocetkom mandata nakon objave rata iranu, a charlie crist postaje prvi pravoslavni predsjednik.

u isto vrijeme hillary konacno poteze brakorazvodnu parnicu.

a huso? e on ide u kampanju opet 2012., ovaj put dobija general elections, ali mu netom iza toga pada airforce one u atlanski okean.

PS: Nije ti Crist pravoslavac, barem wikipedia kaze da je metodist. Babo mu je Grk, ali ti to ne znaci puno u Ameriki.

rodbina iz tampe mi rekose da su ga na street paradi vidjeli s pravoslavnim popovima bradonjama koje je ljubio u ruke ko karadzic kacavendu nekad, pa sam odmah pomislila da je pravoslavac.
neznam, mozda i nije, ovi moji dole mi rekose da je valjda porijeklom libanac pravoslavac, a to za grcko porijeklo i metodiste prvi put cujem. mozda ga je zena preobratila? ko zna kome je vjerovati...

[jeza u ledja]

Pise da mu je babo Grk sa Kipra. Garant je skratio Cristopoulos ili tako nesto u samo Crist.

[walkabout]

Hillary bacila rukavicu u lice...Obama nece, jer i remi je dovoljan...

------------------------

WITH just a week until their next big battle, in the Indiana primary, Hillary Clinton has increased the pressure on her opponent Barack Obama to appear in another debate - this time without a moderator so they can quiz one another.

But Senator Obama on Sunday issued a blunt "no" to any debate before next Tuesday's primary, which is shaping as another cliffhanger and a further test of his ability to reach across the racial divide.

A poll taken a week ago by The Indianapolis Star put Senator Obama ahead by 3 percentage points; a more recent poll taken late last week by Research 2000 put the pair virtually neck-and-neck, 47 per cent to 48 per cent.

Senator Obama has a hometown advantage in the northern part of the state because the south eastern suburbs of Chicago are in Indiana. But overall Indiana is predominantly white and has a big rural population, which should favour Senator Clinton.

The two will spend the coming week in Indiana and North Carolina, which also votes next Tuesday, although this state is seen as a certainty for Senator Obama because of its large African-American population.

The campaign teams appear to have turned down their rhetoric against each other, stressing instead their own strengths, but the anxiety in the party about a prolonged race was palpable as the Democratic National Committee chairman, Howard Dean, appeared on NBC TV's Meet The Press on Sunday.

"The truth is we need to figure this out before the convention. We need time to heal," he said. "And actually, I'm not the most important person in terms of bringing the party together; the most important person is the person who doesn't win the nomination. Somebody's going to lose this with 49 per cent of the delegates in Denver, and that person has to believe that they were treated fairly - otherwise, we can't win."

■ The New York Times reports: The Reverend Jeremiah Wright jnr, Senator Obama's former pastor, whose sermons have been criticised as racially polarising, described himself on Sunday as "descriptive", not "divisive". Speaking to 10,000 people at a fundraising event, his largest audience since the controversy over his comments broke, Mr Wright did not offer an apology. Instead, he blamed the media for putting his comments in a political context.

"I am not here for political reasons. I am not a politician. I know that fact will surprise many of you, because many of the corporate-owned media have made it seem as if I have announced that I am running for the Oval Office. I am not running for the Oval Office. I've been running for Jesus a long, long time, and I'm not tired yet."

[walkabout]

vijest sustize vijest...hmm...dok se dvoje svadja, treci se koristi...

----------------------------

Barack Obama's quest to become the first African American president has suffered another blow once again from his pastor, Jeremiah Wright, who today launched an all-out defence of his controversial views from the pulpit - and in the process repeated many of them.

These included: that the US government was responsible for the AIDS epidemic among African Americans; that Zionism was a racist religion; that Louis Farrakan, head of the National of Islam, was an inspiration to many in the black community and that "You cannot do terrorism on other people and not expect it to come back on you".

The last comment was made in response to a question about his earlier "America's chickens have come home to roost comment", made the Sunday after September 11.

After two months of silence after the media aired selected excerpts of his sermons at the church Obama has attended for several years, Reverend Wright chose to take issue with the American media's portrayal of him in the place that would garner the most national attention: the National Press Club in downtown DC.

As for the most famous member of his congregation, Reverend Wright appeared to imply that Senator Obama's public rejection of his views might not be his real views.

"Politicians say what they say and do what they do because of electability," Wright said.

"He has to distance himself because he's a politician..... whether he gets elected or not, I'm still going to have to be answerable to God," he said.

To an audience that was stacked with supporters, Reverend Wright argued in his prepared speech that the attack on his teachings was not an attack on him, but an attack on the black church.

He said that slavery and racial discrimination had prompted black churches to focus on the themes of liberation and transformation.

"The black church's role in the fight for equality and justice from 1700 to 2008 has always had as its core the non-negotiable doctrine of reconciliation, children of God, repenting for past sins against each other," he said.

He said many white people did not understand black preaching, and so were uncomfortable with it.

But when it came to the question period, Reverend Wright appeared to mock the media questions, accusing them repeatedly of taking his comments out of context and flippantly answering with sarcasm.

By afternoon, his appearance was consuming US political blogs, both right and left wing and dominating the network and cable news.

Several commentators were wondering whether this latest episode would now so wound Obama that he would be unable to clinch the nomination even though he is leading the delegate race.

[jeza u ledja]

Ovako sada stvari stoje. U utorak sljedece sedmice su prajmariz u North Carolini i Indiani. U NC se ocekuje Obama kao pobjednik, dok su u IN po anketama dvoje kandidata potpuno izjednaceni. Ako, Obama pobjedi u Indiani (posto ce vjerovatno uzeti i u NC) 'takmicenje' bi trebalo da se zavrsi, i mnogi ocekuju da bi tada Clinton trebala odustati. Ali, to je jedno veliko 'AKO'. Ovo je jos jedna mec lopta Obame (vec je do sada imao dvije - Ohio/Texas i Pennsylvania), za koju jos ima i najvise sansi da uzme. Mozda je glupo reci ovo je jos jedan dan 'D', ali kako sada stvari stoje to je fakat tako. U slucaju da pak bude opet nerjeseno (Obama uzme NC, a Clinton IN) trka ce se nastaviti. Kad bi se desilo da Clinton napravi cudo u NC i tamo pobjedi zajedno sa Indianom, to bi joj znacilo mnogo jer bi znacajno uzdrmalo Obamine sanse, ali opet te pobjede bi onda Clintonova trebala potvrditi u preostalih 5-6 prajmariz.

Obama trenutno zajedno sa superdelegatima ima 1,725 boba, a Clinton ima 1,588. Za pobjedu je potrebno 2,025.

North Carolina ima 115 delegata, a Indiana ima 72.

Nakon ovoga preostaju West Virginia, Kentucky, Oregon, Montana i South Dakota.


Nego, sta mislite, da li bi Clintonova trebala odustati ako izgubi u obje trke sljedeci utorak i da li bi ona to uradila? I uopste, da li mislite da ce se u jednom trenutku desiti da bilo Clinton ili Obama priznaju poraz i kazu da 100% podrzavaju drugog kandidata, kao neka vrsta sveopsteg ujedinjenja Demokratske stranke?

[jeza u ledja]

Ja sam juce gledao govor tog Wrighta i mogu reci pravo je bio zanimljiv. Lik je sega totalno, u po frke pocne pjevat 'european cantata' i sekund poslije pocne pjevat n'akav blues (a pravo dobro pjeva). Onda pocne pricat sa britanskim naglaskom, pa onda pocne plesati neki africki ples. Onda malo prica haman kao MLK, pa se dere, pa izvlaci citate iz nekih naucnih istrazivanja da bi pokazao kako su crnci i bijelci drukciji, u govoru, u muzici, u nacinu spoznavanja, a sve vrijeme dokazujuci tezu kako smo svi mi 'different, but not divisive'. Neka kombinacija preachera, analiticara, govornika i zabavljaca. A sve ima itekako smisla i ide u jednom smjeru - 'change is on the way'.
Po meni, vrhunski odradjen govor i ja ne vidim sta u njemu moze biti lose za Obamu.

Da ne govorim o tome da se Wright jasno distancirao od Baracka i kol'ko se meni cini boli njega chuna za njega, niti on njemu mora za nesto da odgovara, sto je i za ocekivat valjda jer je ovaj njemu pastor.
Mislim da je u pitanju Clintonova da bi ona sve ucinila da usutka Wrighta da vise ne barce.

[hik--meta]

jeremija je zabavan ciko, ali tv kuce zbog senzacionalizma naravno rezu samo ono najgore o njemu, tako da mu je kasno da ispravi krive drine. vec je formiran public opinion iako je covjek sluzio 6 godina u vojsci.
mada ne vjerujem da ce negativnost jeremije prema sistemu ugroziti obamu protiv hillary. protiv mccaina je vec druga prica, i jeremija ce se do novembra redovno pojavljivati na tv-u u isjeccima po 20-tak sekundi.

[omar little]

Evo, republikanci su vec poceli...Ne smijem ni zamisliti koliko ce se drzati ovog Jeremije k'o pijan plota kad dodju izbori u novembru. To se nece moc' izdurat'


April 23, 2008, 11:18 am
N.C. Republicans Preview Wright-Obama Ad

The North Carolina Republican Party is planning to roll out a television advertisement on Monday attacking a pair of Democrats running for governor in the state for endorsing Senator Barack Obama by playing a clip of his former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, excoriating the United States.
The release of the commercial, which Republican officials said would debut during 6 p.m. newscasts in the state on Monday, injects a potentially divisive racial element into the state’s upcoming Democratic presidential primary on May 6. (Our colleague Elisabeth Bumiller, reporting from the campaign trail, tells us that Senator John McCain denounced the ad this morning. He also just issued a letter urging the head of the state G.O.P. not to broadcast the ad. See Mr. McCain’s comments and text of the letter below.)
The advertisement features a narrator intoning, “For 20 years, Barack Obama sat in his pew, listening to his pastor.”
Then the advertisement cues up the clip that has become infamous at this point of Mr. Wright, who was Mr. Obama’s pastor at Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, preaching in 2003 and using an expletive when referring to the United States.



The Wright video excerpt, which played on an endless loop on television and the Internet last month, sparked a firestorm of controversy and eventually prompted Mr. Obama to deliver a major address on the issue of race relations. Mr. Wright was talking in his sermon about the country’s treatment of African-Americans and arguing, instead of singing “God bless America,” they should sing something else.
The North Carolina G.O.P.’s commercial says Bev Perdue, the lieutenant governor, and Richard Moore, the state treasurer — both of whom are seeking the Democratic nomination in North Carolina for governor — and have endorsed Mr. Obama should “know better.”
“He’s too extreme for North Carolina,” the narrator says.
Brent Woodcox, the state party’s communications director, said officials have not yet decided the size of the advertising buy and how long the commercial will run on television. The advertisement also features a request for donations to the party to keep the commercial on the air.
Update: From Ms. Bumiller, who is covering Mr. McCain’s campaign events through rural Kentucky: “There’s no place for that kind of campaigning, the American people don’t want it, period,'’ Mr. McCain told reporters on his bus this morning. He said he had not seen the ad and hoped that he wouldn’t, but that he had been given a description of it.
“I understand that it moves numbers, negative ads do all that, but that doesn’t mean it’s right,'’ Mr. McCain said.
Mike Duncan, the chairman of the Republican National Committee who was traveling with Mr. McCain, said that he had left a message with Linda Daves, the chairwoman of the North Carolina Republican party, also asking that the ad not be used.
Mr. McCain’s campaign released a letter he wrote today to Ms. Daves:
From the beginning of this election, I have been committed to running a respectful campaign based upon an honest debate about the great issues confronting America today. I expect all state parties to do so as well. The television advertisement you are planning to air degrades our civics and distracts us from the very real differences we have with the Democrats. In the strongest terms, I implore you to not run this advertisement.
This ad does not live up to the very high standards we should hold ourselves to in this campaign. We need to run a campaign that is worthy of the people we seek to serve. There is no doubt that we will draw sharp contrasts with the Democrats on fundamental issues critical to the future course of our country. But we need not engage in political tactics that only seek to divide the American people.
Once again, it is imperative that you withdraw this offensive advertisement.
Afternoon update: Despite the requests from Mr. McCain and the R.N.C., Mr. Wilcox reiterated the party’s plans to broadcast the commercial.

[jeza u ledja]

Danas ce Obama odrzati pressicu u vezi Wrighta, pa cemo vidjeti sta ima reci.

[hik--meta]

sad mu nebi bio fazon da ga se odrekne, kad vec to nije uradio prvi put.

[walkabout]

Obama je politicar...zna da je percepcija dogadjaja puno bitnija nego dogadjaj sam...zato nam "salje" utisak snaznog odbacivanja jarana-pastora...ali obratite paznju na njegove rijeci...

--------------------------------

Barack Obama says he is outraged at "destructive" comments made by his former pastor, categorically rejecting his friend of 20 years in a bid to end a drama clouding his White House campaign.

In his most steely comments yet on the controversy, Obama said he was saddened and angry, a day after fiery pastor Jeremiah Wright held forth at a combative news conference in Washington.

"I am outraged by the comments that were made and saddened over the spectacle that we saw yesterday," Obama told reporters in North Carolina, which, along with Indiana, holds its Democratic primary next week.

"I have known Reverend Wright for almost 20 years. The person I saw yesterday was not the person that I met 20 years ago," Obama said of a man who conducted his marriage and christened his two daughters.

"His comments were not only divisive and destructive but I believe they end up giving comfort to those that prey on hate. I believe that they do not portray accurately the perspective of the black church."

"They certainly don't portray accurately my values and beliefs. If Reverend Wright thinks that is political posturing, as he put it, then he doesn't know me very well.

"Based on his remarks yesterday, then I might not know him as well as I thought either."

The Illinois senator, battling Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination, also noted that he had given Wright "the benefit of the doubt" by refusing to disown him in a major speech on race in Philadelphia.

Wright rocked the Democratic race when videos of his inflammatory sermons appeared on YouTube and were picked up by US cable television stations.

In one incendiary video, Wright said black citizens should not sing God Bless America but God Damn America over their treatment by whites.

He also said that the September 11 attacks in 2001 were a payback for US foreign policies overseas.

Yesterday, Wright denounced the controversy around his comments as an attack on the black church.

"This is not an attack on Jeremiah Wright. It has nothing to do with Senator Obama. It is an attack on the black church by people who know nothing about the African-American experience," he said at Washington's National Press Club.

AFP

[hik--meta]

pojede i huso *ovno.

[jeza u ledja]

A sta ce drugo...

[omar little]

Joj, ljudi dragi, pa sta ovo bi?! Zar cemo STVARNO mjesecima raspravljati o Wright-u koji je totalno irelevantan i za Obamu i za izbore? Obamin odgovor mi se svidio, mada bi najradje da do njega nije ni doslo, jer je bio i miran i ljut i birao rijeci i emocionalan i logican i racionalan. Uradio je sto je mogao ali nisam sigurna da ce to biti dosta za razno-razne, sumnji i iracionalnom strahu sklone , grupe i grupice. Ne mogu vjerovati da se ova prica toliko napuhala da dovodi u pitanje glasove za Obamu. Nema veceg cirkusa od izbora, ali Americki izbori su, vala, cirkus svjetske vrste
Nego jel' ko cuo sta o Edwards-u? Evo idu izbori u N.C. a on ni mukajet ?!

[jeza u ledja]

Bilo je juce o Edwardsu, intervjuisali mu zenu mu u njega koja je podrzala Clintonin plan zdrvastvenog osiguranja, jer je on prakticno isti kao onaj sto je predlozio Edwards. Ali kaze ona to ne znaci da ce je njen muzic podrzati. Kaze kako misli da njegov endorsement (ili Al Goreov) nece puno znaciti kandidatima, tako da po svemu sudeci necemo nista konkretno cuti od njih. Novinari spekulisu da mozda Edwards ceka rasplet situacije pa da trazi mjestu u kabinetu, ali cisto sumnjam.

Sto se tice Obame, i meni se svidio odgovor. Ne vidim sta je drugo mogao uraditi, i ne mislim da ce ovo previse uticati na glasove - osim, mozda nekih iz njegove najvjernije baze, mada sumnjam. Mislim cak da mu ovakav rasplet situacije (ako je rasplet) moze pomoci, jer su raja ocekivala neku odlucnost, koja bi trebala biti jedna od vrlina predsjednika. Neki dan citam eto kako mnogi Hillarini supporters nju podrzavaju upravo zato sto se bori na sve moguce nacine i ne posustaje jer takvu osobinu zele u predsjedniku. Mozda ima tu nesto. A Obama je pokazao sa jucerasnjim nastupom da je i on itekako sposoban za tako nesto.

[jeza u ledja]

Interesantan clanak.


Don't shoot Bambiiiii. (Nemoj tata Jeleeeeenka.)

[omar little]

Ovo je interesantan clanak. Nesto ne znam kako bi ljudi reagovali, nakon ovog cirkusa od izbora, da Obama mora Hillary stavit na tiketU da bi,recimo, dobio neki povelik blok superdelegata. Da budem iskrena, ne znam ni kako bi ja reagovala...malo bi popizdila sigurno Ne mogu ja zamisliti tako razlicite dvije osobe, dva totalno drukcija pristupa da rade zajedno. I ona bi opet opstala i progurala se. Nije to meni neko rjesenje.

[walkabout]

borba za superdelegate se zaostrava...21-godisnji student skoro dodje u situaciju "izvini Bill, sacekaj malo, Obama je na drugoj liniji..."

----------------------------------

When 21-year old Jason Rae, a political science student at Marquette University, Wisconsin, got a call in January saying the former US president Bill Clinton was on the line, he wondered whether someone was pulling his leg.

But as soon as he heard the drawling voice, Rae knew it was for real. Clinton spent 10 minutes explaining why Rae should throw his support behind his wife, Hillary.

Others have called as well: Madeleine Albright, a Clinton backer; John Kerry, an Obama man; he's even had coffee with the former first daughter, Chelsea Clinton.

Rae is no ordinary voter. He's the youngest of the 796 super-delegates holding the key to who becomes the Democratic Party's nominee for president.

Super-delegates come from three groups: party officials from each state and the national office; elected representatives such as congressmen and women, senators and state governors; and elder statesmen, like Bill Clinton and Al Gore.

They're referred to as super-delegates, but they get only one vote each - the same as pledged delegates, who are chosen in primaries and caucuses.

Rae became a super-delegate by winning a seat on the state party committee at the age of only 17. "This is an election that is exciting beyond any other," he says.

This year super-delegates will make up about 20 per cent of the 4050 votes at the Democratic National Convention in August. But they were not always this powerful.

Introduced in 1984, super-delegates were the party's response to the nomination of the socially liberal George McGovern at the primaries in 1972. He proved a disastrous candidate and won just one state out of 50 after Richard Nixon snared much of the blue-collar vote that had been the Democrat backbone. The party decided it needed to give political professionals a greater say.

Most years they haven't mattered. In 1984 they played a role in getting Walter Mondale over the line against Gary Hart but since then, getting super-delegate support has been part of the momentum game, as opposed to the numbers game.

This year is different. Neither Hillary Clinton nor Barack Obama will reach the magic number of 2025 delegates through the primary process alone. They will need the votes of hundreds of super-delegates to clinch the nomination. Obama is ahead on the elected delegate count by about 150 but Clinton leads on super-delegates.

But Clinton's super-delegate margin has started to erode in the last month as Howard Dean, the party chairman, continues to urge party officials to make up their minds.

Almost daily the campaigns put out press releases about who has joined their side.

On Thursday Obama gained five, including an important defector from the Clinton camp: Joe Andrew, a former party chairman who had been appointed to the role by President Clinton. Clinton countered with an announcement of four new super-delegates.

For the 290 who have not yet declared it's a hard decision. Many are holding off until the end of the primary season on June 3, to allow the remaining states to have their say. For others it's a matter of seeing the candidates fully tested in the cut and thrust of battle.

Ivan Holmes, the chairman of the Oklahoma Democratic Party, is an undecided super-delegate. He says that as chairman it's appropriate to hold out. "I got a call from Hillary Clinton yesterday, and Barack Obama the day before," he says. "Bill Clinton has called twice too."

Another, Heather Mizeur, a relatively new member of the Maryland state legislature, says she also plans to make up her mind after the primaries finish.

Her approach is strictly pragmatic. "Democrats have had a hard time winning in the past without the votes of certain groups, such as uneducated women, Hispanics, and African-Americans," she says. "I will be looking at who is likely to do well among these groups, particularly in the key states."

Richard Ray, the Georgia president of the AFL-CIO (the US equivalent of the ACTU) and a super-delegate, says he will be looking at "the whole picture".

"Our first priority is to use our judgment about who's the candidate that can win in November," he says. Both would make good presidents but it's a matter of the whole picture, he says.

So who did our youngest super-delegate choose?

After the Wisconsin primary, which Obama won, Rae decided to endorse Obama.

"I got involved in politics because I wanted to be a voice for America's next generation of voters," he says. "Seventy-three per cent of 18-24 year olds in Wisconsin turned out for Senator Obama. That's a very clear result."

[omar little]

Sto je vise slusam i citam, meni se cini da bi ona bila, stilski, bliza Bush-u nego McCain. Stvarno nema od neme ni zere postovanja. Cuj, sta znaju ekonomsisti o ekonomiji?!? Kakav bezobrazluk!

May 4, 2008, 11:33 am
There Goes the Economists’ Vote
By Jodi Kantor

INDIANAPOLIS — This morning, George Stephanopoulos began his televised interview with Senator Hillary Clinton by asking if she could name a single economist who supports her plan for a gas tax suspension.
She did not. “I’m not going to put in my lot with economists,” she said on ABC’s “This Week” program. A few moments later, she added, “Elite opinion is always on the side of doing things that really disadvantages the vast majority of Americans.”Throughout the exchange, Mrs. Clinton argued that she trusted her own eyes and ears instead. “This gas tax issue to me is very real because I have been meeting people across Indiana and North Carolina who drive for a living, who commute long distances, who would save money,” she said.
Senator Barack Obama has derided the gas-tax suspension as a gimmick that would save consumers little and cost thousands of jobs, and Kara Glennon, a member of the audience at a town-hall meeting, seemed to agree. Gas prices are “not academic” for her, she told Mrs. Clinton, because she makes less than $25,000 a year—and then she accused Mrs. Clinton of pandering. “Call me crazy, but I listen to economists because I think I know what they studied,” she said.
However, in an interview afterward, Mark Moorman, another audience member and a firefighter, said he shared Mrs. Clinton’s mistrust of experts. Political candidates cite economists but they “never say anybody’s name, or where the study came from,” he said. “So as far as me, it doesn’t have no relevance.”
The gas-holiday issue has emerged as one of the sharpest policy distinctions between Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Obama, and Tuesday’s voting may reveal who voters are siding with on the matter.
But like every other candidate, Mrs. Clinton has a team of economists behind her policy positions. Is she dismissing their work? And in the coming weeks, how far will she take her anti-elitist argument? After all, the race will likely end up in the hands of the superdelegates — many of whom are, by definition, the Democratic party elite.

[walkabout]

jel to opet uprskala...
evo jedan zanimljiv clanak, za one koje vole citati malo duze...ima par finih konstatacija i poredjenja...

PS. A sto ovo niko ne pominje Guam?

----------------------------------

by Paul Sheehan

This column is about stupid black men, a sub-group now in the process of undermining the first ever realistic and galvanising tilt for the White House by an African-American.

One month ago the charismatic black prince of American politics, Senator Barack Obama, had a seemingly unassailable momentum in the contest for the Democratic Party presidential nomination this year.

Yet for Democratic presidential primaries in North Carolina and Indiana tomorrow, which ought to have dealt two more victories to Obama and the death blow to Senator Hillary Clinton, his poll numbers have seriously eroded over the past three weeks.

Why? Jeremiah Wright. He was Obama's pastor for 20 years. He has preached that the US Government invented AIDS as a weapon to use against blacks, among other slanders. Last week, at the National Press Club, he had a chance to recant this absurdity, but chose not to do so in a credibility meltdown that revealed him, before a national television audience, as a deluded narcissist.

America should be entering the fifth phase of the evolution of its black population - slavery, segregation, civil rights, affirmative action and, finally, equality - a time when a charismatic African-American could emerge as the favourite to become the next president.

Given the delicate nature of this discussion, I will rely on the voices of prominent African-Americans who have articulated outrage at the role of Wright and the implications this has for Obama.

One of America's most prominent intellectuals, Dr Shelby Steele, of Stanford University, wrote in The Wall Street Journal last week: "It is undeniable that something extremely powerful in the body politic, a force quite apart from the man himself, has pulled Obama forward. This force is about race and nothing else.

"Mr Obama's extraordinary dash to the forefront of American politics is less a measure of the man than of the hunger in white America for racial innocence. His klix policy positions are little more than Democratic Party boilerplate and hardly a tick different from Hillary's positions. He espouses no galvanising political idea. He is unable to say what he means by 'change' or 'hope' or 'the future'. And he has failed to say how he would actually be a 'unifier'. By the evidence of his slight political record (130 'present' votes in the Illinois state legislature, little achievement in the US Senate) Barack Obama stacks up as something of a mediocrity. None of this matters much.

"Race helps Mr Obama in another way - it lifts his political campaign to the level of allegory, making it the stuff of a far higher drama than budget deficits and education reform ... Thus, nothing could be more dangerous to Mr Obama's political aspirations than the revelation that he, the son of a white woman, sat Sunday after Sunday - for 20 years - in an Afrocentric, black nationalist church in which his own mother, not to mention other whites, could never feel comfortable ...

"The fact is that Barack Obama has fellow-travelled with a hate-filled, anti-American black nationalism all his adult life. But now the floodlight of a presidential campaign has trained on this usually hidden corner of contemporary black life: a mindless indulgence in a rhetorical anti-Americanism as a way of bonding and of asserting one's blackness."

Another prominent African-American intellectual, Dr Thomas Sowell, wrote on the conservative TownHall.com website last week: "An email from a reader said that, while Hillary Clinton tells lies, Barack Obama is himself a lie. That is becoming painfully apparent with each new revelation of how drastically his carefully crafted image this election year contrasts with what he has actually been saying and doing for many years.

"There is not a speck of evidence that Obama has ever transcended party differences in the United States Senate. Voting records analysed by the National Journal show him to be the farthest left of anyone in the Senate. Nor has he sponsored any significant bipartisan legislation - nor any other significant legislation, for that matter ...

"His behaviour has been remarkably consistent over the years. He has sought out and joined with the radical, anti-Western left, whether Jeremiah Wright, William Ayers of the terrorist Weatherman underground, or the anti-Israeli Rashid Khalidi."

Larry Elder, the radio host and author of Stupid Black Men, wrote in his most recent syndicated column: "[The] Reverend Jeremiah Wright, Senator Barack Obama's spiritual adviser and former pastor, holds a charter membership in the white-man-done-me-wrong, things-remain-the-same, we-feel-your-pain club.

"Here's the 'victicrat' mindset: kids having difficulty performing well on standardised tests? Blame 'cultural bias'. A disproportionate number of blacks in prison? A racist criminal justice system that 'targets' blacks for prosecution and imprisonment ... Difficulty qualifying for a loan? Blame banks' devious plan to prevent blacks from getting 'access to capital' ... High inner-city dropout rate? Bad teachers, unequal funding, racist teachers - yada, blah, etc ... "

Another African-American commentator and author, Juan Williams, made this brutal assessment of Obama's motives last week: "He chose to join this church to solidify his credentials as authentically black and authentically part of the South Side Chicago community [his core political base] because it is the largest church there and Reverend Wright is well known, not only in Chicago, but nationally. He's also known for making these outlandish comments.

"Barack Obama chose to be associated with ... Wright because he saw advantage in it. This speaks to his character, and to his judgment, the [entire] basis on which he has been running his campaign."

This fusillade of outrage from African-Americans about the politics of race is just a sampling of one side, of one act, of a great drama now playing across America.

[jeza u ledja]

PS. A sto ovo niko ne pominje Guam?
.

Na Guamu Obama pobjedio za slovom i brojem SEDAM glasova.

[jeza u ledja]

Dakle, sutra su 'kljucni' ( ) prajmariz u North Carolini i Indiani. Predvidjam pobjedu Obame u NC za jedno 8% i pobjedu Hilke u IN za jedno 6%. Ukupno, posto NC nosi dosta vise boba sutra predvidjam da ce se povecati prednost Obame u ukupnom broju boba. I onda, nadam se polako ce preostali superdelegati uletiti u par narednih sedmica na Barackovu stranu. Ako se desi iznenadjenje i Obama uzme obje drzave prajmariz su gotovi. Ako se pak desi jos vece iznenadjenje i Hilka uzme i NC all hell will break loose.