Memorial Day parade, Cambridge
Today, Memorial Day, was originally established to honor Union soldiers fighting to abolish the kidnapping, sale and enslavement of Africans and preserve the united state. It’s the first Memorial Day in the history of America that a minority stands a good chance of becoming president.
So it was quite unusual last week when […]
West Virginia voters say why they voted in overwhelming numbers for Hillary Clinton over Barack Obama (at 1:45):
I guess because he is another race. I’m sort of scared of the other race ’cause we have so much conflict with ‘em…
He’s Muslim, and that has a lot to do with it…
I don’t like the […]
I rarely read Bill Kristol, a reliable reciter of GOP talking points. He’s what in radio terms one would dismiss as a repeater, someone who retransmits a signal handed down from party mandarins.
But his position as a propaganda tool is precisely what makes his latest trial balloon intriguing:
… if we run a traditional campaign; our […]
Taint
In the best of times, South Asia rarely gets interjected in presidential debates. Pakistan gets all the attention because its border is teeming with Al Qaeda and its leaders come with hands outstretched. China gets vaguely mentioned as an economic threat, and sometimes India alongside, the new hyphenated relationship.
So when a presidential debate comes off […]
Pope Ratzinger, the most powerfully regressive voice on contraception and religions other than Catholicism, got front-page treatment today:
Meanwhile, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton attended an event called the Faith Forum, fumbling around in public about their love for an incarnation. Get a pew, you two.
And India is worse. This is a country where gurus […]
Wreath marks the spot
On this day, the 40th anniversary of MLK’s assassination:
King’s last words on the balcony were to musician Ben Branch… who was scheduled to perform that night… “Ben, make sure you play ‘Take My Hand, Precious Lord’ in the meeting tonight. Play it real pretty.” [Link]
Gandhi’s memorial (or Samadhi) at Raj Ghat, […]
Badmash’s obligatory Amitabh for President campaign rolls into town again now that the nominees are almost settled. But this year they’ve slicked up the artwork, posting it on a site with a gauzy blue heaven background like Obama’s.
[Obama] looks terrible in a turban… This is a serious weakness. Listen to me, America! There are many […]
Here’s some auntie-uncle gossip from the campaign trail. My nuclear family, all big Bill Clinton fans, voted for Barack Obama in the California primary because we’re suckers for someone trying to do something innovative and idealistic. And my parents never brought up skin color, which is unusual for their generation.
But most of their auntie-uncle circle […]
Last night Hillary Clinton finally won a few primaries, showing once again that going negative works. Amid legitimate salvos about Obama’s NAFTA waffling and ties to a shady developer were Muslim smears and ads whipping up fear of terrorism. A Clinton attack ad seems to have darkened Obama’s skin color, like Time magazine did with […]
It’s been noted that Hillary Clinton resembles Indira Gandhi in running on political dynasty. But as the campaign has worn on, it’s become clear she’s actually more like Bilawal Zardari, someone without directly relevant experience hoping to trade on name recognition by marriage. Problem is, the market value of that name recognition has been […]
Our ‘Hillary’s Dubya moment‘ post was apparently shown on CNN last night around 7pm ET (thanks, El SD and RC):
… it was on The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer. The voiceover called it …with her gaffe being called by some blogs as ‘Hillary’s Dubya Moment.’ Then there was a quick zoom shot of that post… […]
Both the Daily Show and the Colbert Report addressed the Obama turban smear last night, but I don’t see the humor in this Colbert clip — unless pairing ‘Obama’ and ‘terrorist’ is intrinsically funny. His coda on the line-lifting nontroversy was better.
At tonight’s Dem debate, Obama made the obvious point that Dubya has already pivoted toward his policy of targeted terrorist assassinations in Pakistan:
Clinton: … last summer [Obama] basically threatened to bomb Pakistan, which I don’t think was a particularly wise position to take. I have long advocated a much tougher approach to Musharraf and to […]
Courtesy of Vikash Yadav, via SM
From tonight’s Dem debate, still a carefully hedged non-denial by Hillary Clinton on the Obama turban smear:
Brian Williams: … Matt Drudge on his website said it came from a source inside the Clinton campaign. Can you say unequivocally here tonight it did not?
Hillary Clinton: Well, so far as I know, […]
At tonight’s Dem debate, Hillary Clinton was questioned about Russian president Vladimir Putin’s successor Dmitry Medvedev:
Tim Russert: Do you know his name?
Clinton: [Nonplussed] Med… Med…
Russert: Medvedev.
Clinton: Med-ve-duh-vuh. Whatever.
Dubya in ‘99:
“Can you name the general who is in charge of Pakistan?” Hiller asked, inquiring about Gen. Pervaiz Musharraf, who seized control of the country October 12.
“Wait, […]
Hillary Clinton’s campaign is apparently circulating photos of Barack Obama in Somali nomadic dress while visiting a Somali-inhabited part of Kenya. It’s the turban which they’re calling attention to, of course — because we all know turban means Muslim means terrorist. Hillary herself wore a hijab on a trip to Saudi Arabia, and Dubya and […]
Now that the CIA director is testifying that yes, we use water torture and we’ll keep doing so if we damn well please, it’s worth noting that the leading Dem candidate for president came out in favor of torture last year and just voted to use military force against Iran. It is mind-blowing then that […]
Hillary Clinton has several prominent desis on her campaign. Besides Huma Abedin, her policy director is Neera Tanden, who defends her in the current New Yorker:
Neera Tanden, the campaign’s policy director, expressed admiration for Obama but cautioned that the general election will be brutal. “You cannot let your guard down with these guys,” she said […]