talkmagic.co.uk

I seriously doubt that the Democrats would have allowed Obama to stand for election without checking out facts like that.

Political PR machines are now so comprehensive and important, I can't see any way that something like that would slip through.

By the same token, though, I'd imagine a lot of Republicans would allow this one to slide. After all, it would open the door for Arnie in 2012!

I think we're all missing one important fact: the President heads up the Executive Branch - the weakest of the three branches of government.

And with regard to Obama's citizenship questions, I found this interesting:

http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/citizen.asp

Seems it's not a new discussion and has already been thoroughly dealt with.

Incidentally, much of the stirring regarding his time in Indonesia is suspected to have been started by the Clinton camp, when he and Hilary were competing for the Democrat's ticket. The Clintons deny any such shenannigans, of course...

Mandrake wrote:I just heard that there's a lawsuit which was put on hold for a while, whereby Obama is being challenged to prove he's a natural born US citizen - some doubt over whether he really was born in Honolulu and howcome he received education in Indonesia where such education is only for those born in that country. Sounds like the dirt, real or otherwise, is about to be dished....

This is part of the RNC propaganda machine at work (akin to the whole Ayers connection, being Moslem, and a myriad of other bits)... they were trying to garner as much doubt by inventing trash of various kinds... their candidate NEVER addressed the actual issues and was delirious it would seem, when it came to how horrid the nation's economy was given his comfy seat of power and personal financial security... many Americans who once supported McCain discovered the fact that the sheep-skins were peeling off and worse, the wolf within was rabid.

Ironically, the documented history as to who has stronger ties to questionable elements tends to lean in McCain's direction INCLUDING his support and interaction with Ayers and other Terrorists/Militants who were anti-Israel... he gave them nearly a Million dollars over a 6 year period of time vs. the $80.000.00 they claim Obama had given.

Obama's camp did not dig up and surface all the ugliness around McCain; the fact that so many of the same names were involved with Keating 5 S&L situation and our present economic situation was not made a major issue which, in my mind, should have been -- linking that with how out of touch McCain was when it came to the Nation's economy. No the Obama camp held pretty much to the higher ground in the whole of this race and had tons of independent groups proving, for an example, that the Obama tax plan was superior and offered better benefit to the common citizen than the McBush plan.

Yes, Barack must fill some very big shoes... his own! He's created an iconic sense of presence and now, he must do the things that will sustain that image to the best of his ability. Not by hiring a PR Manager the way Joe the Plumber did but by his actions. Yes, as he's stated quite clearly, sacrifices will be needed and patience required; he's never denied that. He's been quite frank about the fact that he must clean up the mess created by Bush Jr just as Bill Clinton had to clean up the mess created by Daddy Dearest and Uncle Ronnie. That includes the grotesque sense of spending --pandering to big corporations vs. the needs of the public... the nation and the world, when it came to genuine leadership.

I don't tell George Bush jokes. I know the man is an idiot and a frat house bully, nothing more. If mommy (in particular) and daddy weren't constantly bailing him out of trouble, he'd be a nobody and probably in prison... at minimum he'd been brought up on charges for dereliction of duty during his pseudo-military time. The man is a walking, talking joke and an embarrassment to his father... I might not have agreed with George Sr. on many things, but at least I could respect the man somewhat. That cannot be said about Jr and it is a position held by many INCLUDING people that voted for him ... twice.

Anywho, this isn't a political forum

quote - Including Stephen Fry?


I did say MORE than likely - not ALWAYS.

Hate to disappoint you on two fronts Gary Grace - I'm a big fan of Mr. Fry, and I'm also not a Republican.

The Democrat propaganda machine also tried to claim that John McCain wasn't a natural-born US citizen at the onset of this current campaign, so let's not cast stones just yet. Nothing will come of it. His citizenship was called into question by Right-wing-nuts, nothing will come of it.

I understand this isn't a political forum - however, if we're going to talk about a candidate never addressing actual issues, I need only remind you it took Barack Obama 2 years and a half hour informercial to actually release some information about what his plans were.

The Keating 5 situation did come up - and it would have stayed a part of the race had the Banking crisis not come up. Regardless of what you say, Craig - there was mud slinging on both sides of the camp. The financial crisis helped Obama immensely and allowed them to quietly drop the negative ads they were running. You might not have seen them, but I assure you - Obama's hands were dirty, too.

McCain was born on an Army base in Panama wasn't he? Technically outside the US but certainly in the US 'commonwealth' therefore a US citizen and eligible to stand for election.

Not that we in the UK can say much, we currently have a Prime Minister that nobody voted for to be in that position!

Mandrake wrote:McCain was born on an Army base in Panama wasn't he? Technically outside the US but certainly in the US 'commonwealth' therefore a US citizen and eligible to stand for election.

Not that we in the UK can say much, we currently have a Prime Minister that nobody voted for to be in that position!

I did some Q&A in a performance last night, and one guy in the audience had written 'when will Gordon Brown cease to be Prime Minister?'.

I thought that was the easiest one in the world. If New Labour lose next year's election, he'll be out. If they win, it will be a very narrow squeak, followed immediately by a leadership coup.

So I figured 'Mid-to-late 2009' was a safe bet.

Just call me gifted.

I heard something pretty awesome today:

"Rosa Parks sat so Martin Luther King could stand
Martin Luther King stood so Louis Farrakhan could march
Louis Farrakhan marched so Barack Obama could run"

Hell, yeah!!

queen of clubs wrote:I heard something pretty awesome today:

"Rosa Parks sat so Martin Luther King could stand
Martin Luther King stood so Louis Farrakhan could march
Louis Farrakhan marched so Barack Obama could run"

Hell, yeah!!

And someone else actually gets a go for a change.

Well, what are everyone's feelings now that it's been a couple of years?

No change.
No surprises.
No end in sight for wars on terrorism/drugs/freedom.
No clue in the White House.
No end to "pork barrels".
No single-issue bills.
No representatives reading bills before signing.


Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.

It must be a shock for anyone who really expected big things one way or the other... whether "change", "hope" or the red flag flying over Washington DC. The truth is that the strangle-hold politicians hold over the lives of ordinary people is unrelenting. Sometimes it's the right hand tightening around your throat... other times it's the left... but either way, and no matter which side... you are being choked. You get some say in which hand does the choking (if you believe voting means anything worthwhile) but one hand or the other... and both are attached to the same body... you're getting choked.

If anything we've learned that those who seek power are almost universally unfit to wield it, and that even a black man can become president if the puppet masters decide to change the colour of their front-man... which we already knew.

From http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... 03570.html
"Every poll shows that the major concerns of the American people are federal spending, the exploding deficit, and -- above all -- jobs. Jobs, jobs, jobs: This is what the public is worried about. In a word, the big issue is: jobs. So the Obama administration, displaying the keen awareness that has become its trademark, decides to focus like a laser on: health-care reform. The centerpiece of this effort is a historic bill that will either a) guarantee everybody excellent free health care, or b) permit federal bureaucrats to club old people to death. Nobody knows which, because nobody has read the bill, which in printed form has the same mass as a UPS truck."

I highly recommend the link above by the way. Funny stuff.