Hope, Change Become Grope, Harangue

The best characterization of Obama's speech today: "Hope and Change Become Grope and Harangue." Only Barack Obama could create a situation where, by contrast, Dick Cheney starts sounding like Abraham Lincoln. Michelle Obama once famously said, "America is a downright mean country." From the evidence of her husband's remarks, he clearly agrees with her.

There was much to dislike about the substance of Obama's ridiculous speech on "national security" (national insecurity?), but the worst part of it was his incredibly pompous tone. We often hear what a "great speaker" Obama is. In fact, he's a terrible speaker, and his speechwriter isn't any better.

He's in love with phrases like "on a daily basis." What that really means is "daily." The other words -- on, a, and basis -- are unnecessary. A good, straightforward speaker would know that.

He also uses uses phrases like "categorically reject" whenever he's talking about anything done by George W. Bush. What's the difference between "categorically reject" and just plain "reject?" There is no difference.

My friend Jill in Hawaii notes some more obnoxious Obamaisms: he also likes to use the phrases "fundamentally disagree" and "let me clearly state." All his minions use the same phrases (I just saw one on Fox News).

"Fundamentally disagree" means nothing more than "disagree." As for his "let me clearly state," the words are all unnecessary. Just state it, Barack. Don't tell us that you're about to state something.

Barack also tells us he's against "fear-mongering." Gee, is there anyone in America advocating it? The Obama Administration seems to believe that anyone with a justifiable fear of terrorism belongs on Napolitano's long list of supposed extremists.

In his speech today Barack talked of the "hateful ideology" of the people who used to be called, in a previous administration, terrorists. Alas, Obama didn't tell us anything about that ideology or who holds it. To do so might have offended some Muslims, the source of the aforesaid hateful ideology. Of course, a man who could sit through Rev. Wright's sermons for 20 years may have a strange definition of what's hateful.

Obama is NOT a great speaker. He's a guy with a baritone voice who reads a TelePrompter filled up with some inept speechwriter's words. Obama has too many words and too little substance. In short, he's a windbag.

Palin: McCain's Most Compelling Choice

NOTE TO BLOG BUNKER LISTENERS ON SIRIUS (BUT NOT TOO SERIOUS) RADIO: This is my main, national blog. The other blogs I'll mention are the Hillary Supporters site (http://hillarysupportersformccainb.blogspot.com and the Pennsylvania site: http://pennsylvaniaforjohnmccain.blogspot.com. Other blogs I'll try to mention include:
the main Palin web site: http://palinforvp.blogspot.com
the Moms4McCain site: http://moms4mccain.blogspot.com
the Bev Perlson military moms site: http://thebandofmothers.com
the Tom Manion web site: http://votemanion.com.
the primary McCain discussion site: http://mccainnow.com.

If you have any questions, e-mail me at: TalkTop65@aol.com. Thanks!

You will read things here that the national media will start covering next month. On my Hillary Supporters site and on my PA site, I talk about a national group of Hillary supporters who are targeting for defeat "SuperDelegates" who gave Sen. Clinton the shaft (voting for Obama against the wishes of their constituents. Such individuals include John Kerry of MA and Jay Rockefeller of WV, among many others.

Can't go to bed tonight (Monday) without asking you to check out my Hillary Supporters for McCain site. It contains information about the most amazing political movement I've sene in my lifetime: Hillary Supporters who "mad as hell and aren't going to take it anymore." Fascinating . . . I will be on Sirius Radio from NY at 5:30 p.m. (ET) on Tuesday.

On my Pennsylvania blog I've received an important request from Tom Manion, Republican congressional candidate in PA's 8th district. It deals with an important online poll. Manion, a Marine Corps veteran, lost his son Travis in the Iraq War. Please visit the site for information. http://pennsylvaniaforjohnmccain.blogspot.com/.



Sarah Palin sorrounded by veterans of the Vietnam War. Sarah's son, Track, age 18, is an infantry soldier in the U.S. Army. She's widely regarded as the frontrunner for the GOP's V-P nomination.

"Sarah is not an ordinary mortal. She truly has no downside."

I proclaimed to the world yesterday that prominent national security writer Jack Kelly (who writes for major newspapers in Pennsylvania and Ohio) has strongly endorsed Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska for the GOP ticket. Kelly is an unusual combination - a former Marine, a former Special Forces soldier and a former candidate for Congress (he lost, alas).

In his column, Jack Kelly says "most [presidential candidates] will settle for a veep who isn't a drag on the ticket, as Dan Quayle was for the first President Bush." He might have added, "Or, as Dick Cheney apparently was on the second President Bush."

Kelly adds, "The potential [McCain] running mates most often discussed have downsides nearly as great as their upsides."

He adds, "Gov. Tim Pawlenty helps only in Minnesota, and not enough, according to current polls, to make a difference there. Mr. McCain's friend, Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, would bring in some moderate Democrats but could further antagonize conservatives already suspicious of Mr. McCain.

"Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts would have little appeal to working-class whites unhappy with Sen. Barack Obama, and evangelicals fret about that Mormon thing. A Mike Huckabee nomination would irritate economic . . . conservatives as much as it would please evangelicals. Louisiana Gov.

Bobby Jindal is a rising star. But he's only 36, and he's been governor for less than a year."
The men - key word - Kelly mentions are all people of talent. One of them (Jindal?) may end up as President someday. But Jack Kelly is right about their downsides.

According to pundit lore, Pawlenty could help McCain win the "battleground" (sorta) state of Minnesota. However, he won re-election there by only 21,000 votes out of 2.3 million cast. He was lucky to carry Minnesota himself. Bulletin to John McCain: you aren't going to carry Minnesota with or without Pawlenty.

Mitt's Romney's problem is that he strikes many people as inauthentic. They don't believe his latter-day conversion to pro-life and anti-illegals views. They see him as ambitious to a fault. Also, in the primaries, he seemed to win only states either dominated by Mormons (Utah) or characterized by the fact Mitt Romney grew up there (Michigan).

Bobby Jindal is a mixture of ability and oddness. A few months ago he was interviewed on CNN, and the questioner couldn't get him to say whether he endorsed John McCain . . . or Barack Obama. With Jindal around, McCain might need a food taster.

As Kelly implies, Joe Lieberman - a fine man and a patriot - would be an awful choice. He came close to losing his seat in Connecticut. Most Democrats despise him, and most Republicans would rather see someone else on the ticket.

Mike Huckabee is a candidate whose campaign was almost as tenacious as Hillary Clinton's He's chronically underestimated by the national media. However, it's hard to see what he could bring to the ticket that Sarah Palin can't.

She's just as "Christian" as Mike, but has less of a tendency to wear it on her sleeve. Also, she has pro-life credentials (having opted to give birth to a Down Syndrome child) that no other politician can match.

What works against Sarah is tradition - specifically, the Republican tradition of making very bad choices for Vice President. Barry Goldwater chose William Miller, an obscure (and deservedly so) Congressman from Lockport, New York. Nixon chose Spiro Agnew specifically to help him carry Maryland - which didn't happen - but lack of popularity turned out to be the least of Agnew's faults.

George H. W. Bush famously chose Quayle, who struck most people as a simpleton. Bob Dole chose Jack Kempt, but the wretched Republican campaign could have been won if Abraham Lincoln and George Washington were on the ticket.

George W. Bush chose Dick Cheney, supposedly a "solid" pick. In fact, Cheney - holed up mainly in his "undisclosed location" (the Bat Cave?), turned out to be the Darth Vader of contemporary politics.

The only "problem" with Sarah Palin is that she's such an obvious choice. As my friend in Boston puts it, she's a no-brainer. Some people invent shortcomings, such as the fact that she's beautiful and was - and is - a great athlete, the kind of person who runs - and finishes - marathons.

In my previous column I listed the groups for whom Sarah has great appeal: young people, military families, working mothers, women professionals, pro-lifers, hunters, working-class voters (her husband being one), fitness and health advocates, and ethics-in-government people. I didn't add Alaskans, where Sarah's approval ratings hover around 90%.

She's also a ferocious campaigner. In her race for Governor, she first unseated the incumbent Republican, Frank Murkowski. Then, she in the general, she beat a popular former Governor (and Democrat) Tony Knowles. That was in 2006, which was generally a very bad year for Republicans.

If John McCain doesn't choose Sarah Palin, he might have to plead temporary insanity. As I've said, "Sarah Palin is no ordinary mortal." I've also said that she's "Mt. Rushmore material." I certainly hope John McCain takes the first major step in proving me right.

Link to Jack Kelly's column: http://post-gazette.com/forum

Obama: A Radical Black Separatist?

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"The [U.S.] government lied about INVENTING the HIV virus . . . " (Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright, Obama's pastor at Chicago's Trinity Church)

Is Barack Obama, a serious candidate for President of the U.S., a closet believer in radical Black separatism? I fear the answer to that question just may be "yes."

I have recommended recently that Obama, because of his close ties to Pastor Wright, should suspend his campaign. Pastor Wright is scum, a man driven by deep hatred for white people. In one recent sermon, he said the following about the Clintons: "Bill [Clinton] did us [Black people] just like he did Monica Lewinsky. He was ridin' [us] dirty . . . ."

Apparently on a preacherly roll, Wright then added the following: "God damn America." A Christian minister, Black, White, or otherwise, doesn't say such things. And a congregation that hears such verbal slime doesn't whoop and holler in approval, as the attendees (was one of them Obama?) did at Trinity Church. That group of Yahoos is the one Obama called his "faith community."

Obama has called some of Wright's statements -- somehow, he doesn't specify which ones -- "unacceptable." He seems to feel such tepid comments on his part will distance him sufficiently from the man he now calls his "former preacher." (Wright retired last month as Trinity's pastor, although he retains the title "emeritus.")

In fact, Wright was his pastor for 20 years. He's the man Obama called his "spiritual advisor" and his "sounding board," and his metaphorical "uncle." Famously, he provided the title ("The Audacity of Hope") for the book that made Obama a multi-millionaire.

If John McCain's long-time preacher -- or Hillary Clinton's -- had made such hateful statements over many years, they would no longer be serious candidates for the presidency. Wright's remarks are racist and separatist, and for Obama to pretend he was unaware of his pastor's views is totally disingenuous.

If you look closely at Obama's speaking style, you can see he's learned a great deal from Jeremiah Wright. Like the pastor, the Illinois Senator can work a crowd into an emotional lather. Where Wright denounces white people, Obama does the same with George W. Bush and Dick Cheney, the man he calls his "cousin." The notion of Wright's being a man's "uncle" and Cheney his "cousin" is a scary thought.

Michelle Obama has talked about being ashamed of her country -- until, of course, her husband started winning primaries and caucuses (often in states that are mostly populated by white people) -- and one wonders how her husband feels about America. Of course, we know how Wright feels -- he despises his native land.

To what degree does Obama agree with him? Is he really just another cynical politician looking out for "number 1?" Is he someone, totally unlike this pastor and mentor, who seeks to bring us together? Or he merely an egomaniac committed mainly to advancing himself through carefully crafted rhetoric?

Can Obama really drop out of the presidential race? "Yes, he can!" And yes, he should.