Populariteit: 23% [?]

The remark has been widely interpreted as a thinly veiled attack on Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, who has said the U.S. should not exclude talking with Iran or Syria.

One of these right-wing “Radio Toilets,” a Mr. Kevin James attempted to defend President Bush’s comments comparing Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) to Nazi appeasers because he favors talking with ‘US’s enemies.’ James tried to compare Obama to Neville Chamberlain(1869 – 1940), who was a British Conservative politician and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1937 to 1940. Chamberlain’s legacy is marked by his policy regarding the appeasement of Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany with his signing of the Munich Agreement in 1938, conceding part of Czechoslovakia to Hitler.

Mathews asked James if he knew what Neville Chamberlain did at Munich in 1938.

James had no answer other than to yell baselessly — like an imbecile in heat.

“What did he do?” x20 — Mathews Asked.

….but “Idiot James” kept on digging…

Mathews retorted: If you answered, “He signed the Munich Agreement, conceding a portion of Czechoslovakia to the Nazi regime,” you are right. If you answered, “He talked to Hitler, and caused 9/11 to happen and made the Statue of Liberty cry, just like Barack Hussein bin Laden wants to!” then you are Kevin James.

The video below is representative of the thought process of right-wing talk hosts and their audiences (TV and Radio), the Bible thumping, Gun Clinging and Xenophobic idiots crawling across West Virginia and many other southern states — Stubborn ignorance piled on top of unconscious delusion — the primary cause of hate crimes in the United States.

Here is the ‘HardBall’ SmackDown:

…..MEANWHILE — Tennessee GOP(Republican) THUGS Attack Michelle Obama

Obama Team Fired Back:

Spokesman Hari Sevugan: “This is a shameful attempt to attack a woman who has repeatedly said she wouldn’t be here without the opportunities and blessings of this nation. The Republican Party’s pathetic attempts to use the same smear tactics to win elections have failed in Mississippi, failed in Louisiana, and will fail in November because the American people are looking for a positive vision of real change. And if the Tennessee Republican Party has a problem with Senator Obama, maybe next time they’ll have the courage to address him directly instead of attacking his family.”

REFERENCES:

1. Paul Begala: Bush Uses Holy Land Pulpit to Launch Smear Campaign
2. Amb. Marc Ginsberg: Swift Boating Comes to Jerusalem

Popularity: 22% [?]

Writes: Harold Meyerson

It’s John McCain’s America. Barack Obama only lives in it.

….. McCain’s first post-primary ad proclaimed him “the American president Americans have been waiting for.” Not the “strong” or “experienced” president, though those are contrasts he could seek to draw with Obama. The “American” president — because that’s the only contrast through which McCain has even a chance of prevailing.

Now, I mean to take nothing away from McCain’s Americanness by noting that it’s Obama’s story that represents a triumph of specifically American identity over racial and religious identity. It was the lure of America, the shining city on a hill, that brought his black Kenyan father here, where he met Obama’s white Kansan mother. It is because America is uniquely the land of immigrants and has moved beyond a racial caste system that Obama exists, has thrived and stands a good chance of being our next president.

That’s not the America, though, that the Republicans refer to in proclaiming their own Americanness. For them, “American” is a term to be used as a wedge issue, a way to distinguish their more racially and religiously homogeneous party from the historically more polyglot Democrats.

The Republican attack against Obama all but ignores the issue differences between the candidates to go after what is presumably his inadequately American identity. He is, writes one leading conservative columnist, “out of touch with everyday America.” His reluctance to wear a flag pin, writes another, shows that he “has declared himself superior to an almost universal form of popular patriotism.”

Should the election turn on the question of “What are you going to do for America?” rather than “Are you a real American?” Republicans are doomed.

What remains for the GOP is a campaign premised more on issues of national identity, aimed largely at that portion of our population for which “American” is synonymous with “white” and “Christian,” …..[more]

From Library Journal: A Republican campaign policy of “malign neglect” toward African Americans helped elect Republican presidents in every election from 1968 through 1992, with the exception of Carter in 1976, says Mayer (political science, Georgetown Univ.). After Lyndon Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act in 1965, no Democrat won a majority of white votes. Mayer skillfully investigates the impact of race on presidential politics, without overemphasizing its importance compared with the economy and international relations.

He is especially insightful in showing how Jesse Jackson hindered the hapless campaigns of Democrats Walter Mondale in 1984 and Michael Dukakis in 1988 and how Bill Clinton was elected to two terms with overwhelming African American support.

As African Americans continue to gain more wealth, economic class, not race, will frame policies and issues, Mayer concludes. This excellent overview joins a number of recent investigations that discuss the connection between race and the presidency: DeWayne Wickham’s Bill Clinton and Black America, Dean Kotlowski’s Nixon’s Civil Rights, and Michael Gardner’s Harry Truman and Civil Rights.

Mayer’s is the only book in memory that discusses race and all presidential elections of the last 40 years. Highly recommended for academic and most public libraries. Karl Helicher, Upper Merion Twp. Lib., King of Prussia, PA

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Popularity: 20% [?]

Fox News’s Chief ‘Smear Guru’ Sean Hannity and ReTHUGlican Pollster Frank Luntz Have Been Misrepresenting Polling Pata - To Make Obama Look Bad

Report By: NewsHounds.US

Republican Frank Luntz, who has been reprimanded for misrepresenting polling data, was once again presented as a neutral pollster on Hannity & Colmes last night (5/1/08), this time with another focus group of undecided voters. The only excerpt we saw from the focus group was Luntz repeating his gotcha game designed to make Obama supporters look and feel foolish. As he chatted on the Hannity & Colmes set, Luntz boasted that after the focus group, some of the respondents had changed their point of view as a result. Then he joked that “if only the economy was better” they could do it every day. When Alan Colmes challenged Luntz’ findings, Luntz turned testy and rude. With video.

White-rights champion and Neo-Nazi sympathizer Sean Hannity began with an introduction that took a slap at black voters. “In (Indiana and North Carolina) Obama leads with the younger vote and among African American voters, even after the Rev. Wright media tour.” (my emphasis)

Viewers were not given any information about Luntz’ background nor of his ties to the Republican Party. Hannity introduced Luntz by saying, “Joining us now for analysis, our own Frank Luntz is with us.”….[more]

Popularity: 27% [?]

Quote: “Radical Islamists will be dancing on the street if Barack Obama is elected - Because of his middle name, “Hussein.” — Rep. Steve King, (R) Iowa Read the full story

Popularity: 24% [?]