Hillary At Eagle Base

Having spent more time at Eagle Base than just about anyone, I was rather amused to hear, and then see, Hillary Clinton's dramatic tale of arriving there. It is also amusing to see Democrats finally catch up to what the rest of us have known for years, the Clintons lie.

Not Divisive, Wrong

Earlier in the week Slate's Mickey Kaus had this wise observation on Barack Obama's speech on race:

As such, Reverend Wright's comments were not only wrong but divisive, divisive at a time when we need unity;

Doesn't Obama mean Rev. Wright's comments were 'not only divisive but wrong,' rather than the other way around? Isn't it worse to be wrong than "divisive"? Is unity the overriding virtue for Obama?

Welcome to the world of left-wing identity politics, where unity and loyalty to the collective are praised above truthfulness. In this spirit I noticed part of Jeremiah Wright's infamous 9/11 speech, reprinted on CNN's website.

We bombed a plant in Sudan to pay back for the attack on our embassy, killed hundreds of hard working people, mothers and fathers who left home to go that day not knowing that they’d never get back home.

In fact, we didn't killed hundreds of people in the Sudan, the attacks were timed in the middle of the night, to avoid casualties, only a handful of people were wounded.

Sudanese newspapers reported Saturday that the strike had caused $100 million worth of damage at the factory. Five Sudanese were reported seriously wounded.

See Barack, it is not a matter of being divisive, it is a matter of being wrong, and a matter of your lack of judgment.

Barack Obama Is Just a Typical Black Man

Me thinks he just needs to shut up:

The point I was making was not that my grandmother harbors any racial animosity, but that she is a typical white person. If she sees somebody on the street that she doesn't know (pause) there's a reaction in her that doesn't go away and it comes out in the wrong way.

Come on guy, I know you mean well, but lay off granny already. Are you really that self-unaware?

Another Asset Bubble?

It is simple supply and demand. In the 90s people poured money wildly into the stock market, and it bubbled and crashed. Earlier this decade the same thing happened to the housing market, and we are now feeling the results. Now the money is being poured into the commodities market, especially oil and gold, and pushing the prices to unsustainable levels. How long before those "re-adjust" too? Perhaps it has already begun?

March 19 (Bloomberg) -- Gold plunged the most since June 2006, leading a decline in commodity prices, on speculation the slump in the dollar will end as the Federal Reserve eases the pace of interest-rate reductions.

The UBS Bloomberg Constant Maturity Commodity Index fell 61.3866, or 4.1 percent, to 1,428.009 at 5 p.m. in New York, led by declines in soybeans, wheat, cocoa and crude oil. The index of 26 commodities has dropped in three of the past four sessions and is down 9.3 percent from a record on Feb. 29.

New Obama Election Strategy: Diss Granny

Before I get onto Barack Obama's speech, I have to point out the quote of the day, from the Weekly Standard:

All of this suggests a weakness in Obama's character, a shrinking back from principled decisions if they seem too costly. When John McCain challenged his own party on causes that could sink his political career, Obama voted "present" to avoid taking a position on controversial bills in the Illinois senate. During his captivity in Vietnam, McCain refused to denounce the United States or to be released from prison until his fellow soldiers could join him. Obama couldn't find the moxy to stop attending the church of a minister who makes anti-Americanism an indispensable doctrine of his faith.

As far as the speech itself, this part stood out:

I can no more disown him than I can disown the black community. I can no more disown him than I can my white grandmother – a woman who helped raise me, a woman who sacrificed again and again for me, a woman who loves me as much as she loves anything in this world, but a woman who once confessed her fear of black men who passed by her on the street, and who on more than one occasion has uttered racial or ethnic stereotypes that made me cringe.

I am sorry, call me old fashion, but anyone who publicly criticizes their grandmother to score political points, is not going to get my election for dogcatcher, much less president.

Barack Obama: But I Wasn't at "That" Racist Organization

I have been following the controversy on Barack Obama and his pastor and spiritual advisor of 20 years, Jeremiah Wright, who Obama now apparently claims complete ignorance of. The website Newsmax reported that Obama was actually at a sermon that he previously claimed he was unaware of. The Obama campaign struck back, with convincing evidence that he was elsewhere, he was speaking at a convention of "La Raza" The Race, the controversial (to say the least) Hispanic identity group.

Well, OK, the guy running as the person to bring all the races together wasn't at a speech preaching black power, he was at a group that promotes Hispanic power. Why does that not make me feel any better?

Pat Buchanan Goes Nuts on McCain and Free Trade

I was never much of a Pat Buchanan fan, even before he became a crypto-fascist. But this rant on McCain, the Boeing tanker deal (or lack of) and free trade, is idiotic even by his standards.

The contract could run to $100 billion and is a body blow to Boeing in its duel to the death with Airbus. Two-thirds of all air-to-air refueling tankers are used by the United States. The contract gives a 30-year lease on life to the expiring Airbus A330 and means early death for Boeing's 767, the U.S. model for the tanker.

Oh yeah, because monopolies protected from foreign competition ripping off the government by bribing their employees makes for much better economics and government.

For a good article on why Boeing really lost the deal see the National Review.

The sordid story of the Boeing lease deal took what may be its final turn on February 29, when the Air Force announced that it will buy 179 tankers — nearly twice as many — from Boeing’s rival, Airbus. The deal is valued at $35 billion (for perspective, $26 billion in 2001 was worth $31 billion in today’s dollars). McCain is proudly touting a government estimate of $6.2 billion in savings for the taxpayers that ultimately resulted from his aggressive investigation. Democrats are attacking him for blocking Boeing, one of the nation’s top corporations in both congressional lobbying and campaign contributions.

Bizarre Political Quote O' the Day

It is apparent the Clinton camp is getting desperate, Bill must be offended by the low quality of the spin recently, regarding their assertion that Obama does not pass the national security test:

Senior advisers to Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) on Monday sought to reconcile the campaigns assertion that rival Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) has not passed the commander-in-chief test with the Clintons hints in recent days that the New York senator would tap Obama as a running mate.

Howard Wolfson, Clinton's chief spokesman, said during a conference call with reporters that Clinton would not pick a running mate who has not met the national security threshold as Clintons military advisers and Wolfson put it on the call but that it is possible Obama could meet that threshold by this summer's Democratic convention.

Now I would have to agree that he doesn't meet the standard, although Hillary is only a marginal improvement in this respect, but how exactly is he supposed to them meet this standard by July? What has he not learned in the past 5 decades that he can make up in the next 4 months? Is there some type of correspondence course he needs to take?

Obama's Weakness

The fallout over his NAFTA comments actually presents a threat to Barack Obama. The fact is, matters of policy do not really affect his support, it is doubtful that most of his supporters could even identify any specifics of his policy stands beyond such vague platitudes such as "End the war in Iraq!" His attraction though is based entirely on the charismatic "Messiah" appeal, that he is someone different who will transcend the standard political process. If it comes out that he is nothing more than the average cynical politician who will say anything to get elected, than that is gone entirely.

On that note, the Wall Street Journal today probably had the best line on this controversy:

Mr. Goolsbee maintains that he did say that Mr. Obama recognizes the benefits of free trade. But, Mr. Goolsbee adds, he also emphasized that Mr. Obama's objective is to strengthen Nafta's labor and environmental provisions. The accommodating Canadian Embassy nonetheless tried to smooth things over yesterday with a statement saying that "there was no intention to convey, in any way, that Senator Obama and his campaign team were taking a different position in public from views expressed in private, including about NAFTA." Which is too bad, because the apparent revelation that Mr. Obama doesn't believe his own trade rhetoric is the best news we've heard about the Illinois Senator's economic policy.

She Must Not Have Picked Up Much at the White House

Hillary is claiming that she is one of the foreign policy elite, you would think she would be able to pronounce, Medvedev.

Wesley Clark: Then and Now

I have never liked Wesley Clark, now I like him even less. This is the guy who ran for president, entirely on his military record, and now he is saying that McCain, who in addition to being a genuine war hero has a distinguished 20 year record in the Senate, is not as qualified as a housewife to be president:

In the national security business, the question is, do you have — when you have served in uniform, do you really have the relevant experience for making the decisions at the top that have to be made? Everybody admires John McCain's service as a fighter pilot, his courage as a prisoner of war. There's no issue there. He's a great man and an honorable man. But having served as a fighter pilot — and I know my experience as a company commander in Vietnam — that doesn’t prepare you to be commander-in-chief in terms of dealing with the national strategic issues that are involved. It may give you a feeling for what the troops are going through in the process, but it doesn't give you the experience first hand of the national strategic issues.

If you look at what Hillary Clinton has done during her time as the First Lady of the United States, her travel to 80 countries, her representing the U.S. abroad, plus her years in the Senate, I think she's the most experienced and capable person in the race, not only for representing am abroad, but for dealing with the tough issues of
national security.

What did Clark have to say about the importance of military experience in 2004 though?

Clark, a retired Army general, paid tribute to Kerry's military service in the Vietnam War and said he would do everything he could to help the senator from Massachusetts win the Democratic presidential nomination and then the White House.

"Sir, request permission to come aboard; the Army's here," a smiling Clark told Kerry, a decorated former Navy officer.

Keep in mind that Kerry spent less than 4 months in Vietnam, and weaseled his way out at the earliest opportunity, McCain spent nearly 6 years, and turned down an offer for early release out of principle. Hat tip to Hot Air.