Reflections From a Murky Pond

By now most of the Civilized World has heard of Jerome Corsi’s new book, The Obama Nation: Leftist Politics and the Cult of Personality. I’m fairly sure that most of the Civilized World also has an opinion about the work – a strongly held opinion for or against both the author and the book.

For the detractors of Corsi and The Obama Nation the anger and outrage has unsurprisingly spilled over onto the supposed “right wing attack machine.” This is of course a normal reaction for the Left in general and the Obama followers in specific. Anything that is derogatory about Obama must have been dreamed up by McCain and the GOP. Once again their knee-jerk emotional reaction was wrong.

Corsi’s The Obama Nation: Leftist Politics and the Cult of Personality came straight out of the PUMA laden Clinton Campaign bag of dirty tricks. The book was produced by Mary Matalin, wife of long time friend of both Bill and Hillary Clinton and Campaign Consultant to both Clinton’s presidential campaigns.

I suppose that it shouldn’t surprise anyone that Hillary Clinton was involved with such an attack on her arch-enemy Barack Obama. I thought that as a GOP vehicle the book was released too early in the campaign to be properly effective. The release date is not too early though for Clinton since she’s forced her name back onto the DNC nomination and roll-call vote at that DNC Convention. It’s actually perfectly timed.

With a very unexpected H/T to Kayinmaine at White Noise Insanity.

Presidential hopeful, Sen. Barack Obama has published his “Emergency Economic Plan.” Given the current perceived state of the US economy, this is neither surprising or unwarranted in and of itself. Sadly but still not surprisingly, as with many politicians published plans during an election cycle, Obama’s plan is more firmly based in pandering to the voters than to addressing the issues at hand.

Obama “Emergency Economic Plan” comes in two parts. The first part , which is the only one I can really speak to, is an “energy rebate” ($500 to individual workers, $1,000 to families) he would like to send out as soon as this upcoming fall. These “rebates” would be fully paid for with five years of a windfall profits tax on record oil company profits!

Obama describes this in his plan as “Forcing big oil companies to take a reasonable share of their record breaking windfall profits and use it to help struggling families with direct relief.”

OK, let’s start with what are Windfall Profits? They’re technically defined as “profits that occurs unexpectedly as a consequence of some event not controlled by those who profit from it.” So essentially Obama is saying that the US federal government should enact legislation to ensure that companies – at least certain companies – are forced to share their unexpected gains with the public at large.

Where does a profit margin become excessive? Below is a listing of the average profit margins for some of the major economic sectors in the US.

• Beverages & Tobacco: 19.10%
• Pharmaceuticals: 18.40%
• Electronics & appliances: 14.50%
• Computers: 13.70%
• Chemicals: 12.70%
• Manufacturing: 8.90%
• Oil & Gas: 8.30%
• Aerospace: 8.20%
• Machinery: 8.20%

That’s right, Oil & Gas ranked 7 out of 9 by sector when it came to profit margins, and maintained profit margins of less than half of that maintained by Beverages & Tobacco and Pharmaceuticals. Yet, Obama and a bunch of other Democrats aren’t gunning for other sectors with larger profit margins and margins more sustainable over the course of years.

Why would Obama want to take money away from a sector of American industry that maintains less than a 10% profit margin during most years? Have the oil companies been engaging in profiteering or market manipulation? No.

Obama’s plan as published doesn’t even try to hide his intent or reasoning. He makes no claim that that “Big Oil” is engaged in profiteering or any other form of market manipulation. In his plan Obama even states that the oil companies committed no wrong, but had benefited from “changes in the price of oil because of factors like supplies in the Middle East, demand in Asia, and disruptions and distortions in the oil market.” So Obama isn’t for regulation of profits; he’s for commandeering profits from companies that experience good fortune in their business endeavors.

This idea sounds more like something that would be enacted into law in some socialist nation like Venezuela than the US. Oh wait – Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez did enact almost identical legislation in April of this year. Less than a month later House Democrats tried to get that law enacted here in the US, but were blocked in the Senate. Now Obama is giving it another shot – or at least acting like he is.

It seems a large number of people are upset and shocked by Sen. Barack Obama “playing the Race Card” during a campaign event on July 30, 2008 in Springfield, MO.

Nobody thinks that Bush and McCain have a real answer to the challenges we face. So what they’re going to try to do is make you scared of me. You know, he’s not patriotic enough, he’s got a funny name, you know, he doesn’t look like all those other presidents on the dollar bills.

— Sen. Barack Obama
Stump speech in Springfield, MO
July 30, 2008

Obama’s claims that the GOP would use racial fears against him has angered a lot of people. People seemed shocked that Obama – the post-racial Uniter – would cry racism and attempt to further the racial divisions in this country over something that even his claim admits hasn’t happened yet. But it’s not the first time Obama has pulled the mantle of race around his shoulders in order to attack his adversaries.

They’re going to try to make me into a scary guy. They’re even trying to make Michelle into a scary person. Right? And so that drumbeat – ‘we’re not sure if he’s patriotic or not; we’re not sure if he is too black.

— Sen. Barack Obama
Fundraiser in Chicago, IL
June 12, 2008

I can understand people’s anger over this racist tactic, but not the surprise or shock that many people are exhibiting. Crying racism and foretelling of racism by his opponents is not a brand new weapon in the Obama campaign arsenal. It’s a tried and true weapon that Obama and his campaign have wielded with the finesse of a sabre.

We know what kind of campaign they are going to run. They’re going to try to make you afraid. They’re going to try to make you afraid of me. He’s young. He’s inexperienced and he’s got a funny name. And, did I mention he’s black.

— Sen. Barack Obama
Fundraiser in Jacksonville, FL
June 20, 2008

These statements, these bits a fear mongering and race baiting have long been an integral part of Barack Obama’s campaign strategy. He has used them effectively against Sen. Hillary Clinton and now over the last months he’s a turned them against Sen. John McCain.

Obama’s campaign staff describes these comments as “applause lines” and proudly claims that the Illinois Senator has used similar statements throughout his campaign.

Sen. Barack Obama is here and like all personages who’ve gained “rock star” status his entourage or “posse” is here as well – and they’re doing their best to feed off of Obama’s celebrity fame. Sycophants and leeches are one of the unavoidable prices of being in the limelight; sadly such parasites often kill their host.

Obama current problem is caused by the poison dripped from the slack lipped orifice of one parasite in particular – the rapper Chris Bridges, aka Ludacris. Ludacris has released a new rap spiel entitled Politics as Usual which is also frequently referenced as Obama’s Here.

Ludacris’ “Politics as Usual” Lyrics

I’m back on it like I just signed my record deal
Yeah the best is here, the Bentley Coup paint is dripping wet, it got sex appeal
Never should have hated, You never should’ve doubted him
With a slot in the president’s iPod Obama shouted ’em

Said I handle my biz and I’m one of his favorite rappers
Well give Luda a special pardon if I’m ever in the slammer
Better yet put me in office, make me your vice president
Hillary hated on you, so that bitch is irrelevant

Jesse talking slick and apologizing for what?
If you said it then you meant it how you want it head or gut?
And all you other politicians trying to hate on my man,
watch us win majority vote in every state on my man

You can’t stop what’s bout to happen, we bout to make history
The first black president is destined and it’s meant to be
The threats ain’t fazing us, the nooses or the jokes
So get off your ass, black people, it’s time to get out and vote!

Paint the White House black and I’m sure that’s got ’em terrified
McCain don’t belong in any chair unless he’s paralyzed
Yeah I said it cause Bush is mentally handicapped
Ball up all of his speeches and just throw ’em like candy wrap
’cause what you talking I hear nothing even relevant
and you the worst of all 43 presidents

Get out and vote or the end’ll be near
The world is ready for change because Obama is here
’cause Obama is here
The world is ready for change because Obama is here, yeah
cuz Obama is here

Two quite easily expected things happened as a direct result of Ludacris releasing his latest example of hip-hop filth: a large number of civilized people complained about Ludacris’ vile, jabbering mouthings, and Barack Obama’s campaign staff very quickly condemned the rapper’s piece and attempted to distance the Presumptive Democratic Nominee from his “friend” Chris Bridges, aka Ludacris.

As Barack Obama has said many, many times in the past, rap lyrics today too often perpetuate misogyny, materialism, and degrading images that he doesn’t want his daughters or any children exposed to.

This song is not only outrageously offensive to Sen. Clinton, Rev. Jackson, Sen. McCain and President Bush, it is offensive to all of us who are trying to raise our children with the values we hold dear. While Ludacris is a talented individual he should be ashamed of these lyrics.

— Bill Burton
Obama Campaign Spokesperson

It seems that once again the Senator’s biggest image problem is his friends and the sort of people who go to great lengths to support him – or feed off of his fame.

Jesse Jackson’s response to Sen. Barack Obama’s Father’s Day speech at at the Apostolic Church of God in Chicago was both stupid and brutish. Jackson made a rude and thuggish comment to a fellow guest at Obama’s speech, not realizing that the microphone he was wearing for an upcoming interview with FOX News was already on.

See, Barack been, um, talking down to black people on this faith based…I wanna cut his nuts off. Barack…he’s talking down to black people.

— Rev. Jesse Jackson

Jackson was apparently incensed by Sen. Obama’s call for Black men to take responsibility for the children that they sire. Jackson was angered enough by Obama’s desire for Black men to become involved in the lives of the children they breed to both forget he was wearing a FOX News microphone and to feel the need to threaten to castrate the Senator.

At first glance the situation and Jackson’s reaction seems fairly typical, stereotypical in point of fact. The elder generation of “Black Leaders” have a long history of denouncing and deriding anyone – especially any Black man – who speaks out on the issue of absentee Black fathers. Their “party line” has always been that Mother and Father being replaced by Baby Daddy and Baby Mama in the Black Community is solely or primarily the fault of Whites and racism. Bill Cosby and now Barack Obama have run afoul of people like Jackson whenever they admit that the irresponsibility of Black men is a major part of why 67% of Black children are born into single parent households.

If one looks a bit deeper into this though, it becomes plausible that Jesse Jackson was not just spewing the same vitriol as one would expect. Obama’s speech may have hit Jackson far too close to home. For Jackson the feeling of insult might have been entirely personal.

In the early weeks of 2001 the national press was reporting the scandalous details of Jackson’s long-term adulterous affair with Karin Stanford, a top aide working for his Chicago-based Rainbow Coalition, an affair that resulted in the birth of a daughter in 1998. Jesse Jackson then used his Rainbow Coalition’s funds to pay his mistress $35,000 to relocate her to Southern California and to provide her with continuing $3,000 a month in support. He also used $365,000 in funds from the Rainbow Coalition to purchase Stanford’s house.

By any reasonable accounting, this was a gross misuse of the funds of the Rainbow Coalition, which is a tax-exempt entity bound by strict rules governing dispersement of it funds. Yet, the Rainbow Coalition not only didn’t complain about spending this money on Jackson’s mistress and bastard daughter but actually signed off on it with their official approval. The larger organization willingly chose to overlook Jackson’s behavior and shield him as best as they could from the consequences of his transgressions.

Yeah…I think Jackson’s anger was quite personal. Any admonitions about taking personal responsibility for your misdeeds and the children they engender is going to hit far too close to home for Jackson’s comfort.