Barack Obama wants to be president of these 57 United States

Ah, Oregon. The beautiful Northwest. Rain. Trees. Clouds. Rain. Friendly territory for Sen. Barack Obama, the leading contender for the Democratic Party’s long-disputed presidential nomination.

So there he was in Beaverton today at the start of a two-day swing through Oregon, virtually ignoring his remaining Democratic opponent, what’s-her-name from New York, as part of his new strategy to act like the actual nominee while she flails around way behind in numbers.

Naturally, this being the Northwest where everything is not ruined quite yet, his staff had Obama visit an eco-friendly company, Vernier Software & Technology, that makes products for science teachers. He could get education in there too, see?

In his prepared remarks Obama was ready to start blasting Arizona Sen. John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee, to show the Illinois Democrat is moving on to the general election campaign.

But first the freshman senator had to go through all the obligatory delighted to see you, delighted to be here part of stump speeches that also require that you actually know where you are.

Obama pulled that off O.K. But then he drifted away from the text a tad, as rookies are wont to do sometimes, forgetting how exhausting this primary process is and should be. And trusting in their instincts, their very tired instincts.

“It is wonderful to be back in Oregon,” Obama said. “Over the last 15 months, we’ve traveled to every corner of the United States. I’ve now been in 57 states? I think one left to go. Alaska and Hawaii, I was not allowed to go to even though I really wanted to visit, but my staff would not justify it.”

The Times’ conscientious Robin Abcarian thought she heard something different there. She checked her tape recorder. It had captured what he had actually said — 57 states now. A new Louisiana Purchase that’s gone unannounced so far? Was he channeling his inner John Kerry-Heinz 57 personality?

(UPDATE: At a later stop Obama was talking with reporters and expressed concern he’d also mis-stated the number of potential cyclone victims in Burma. He said, “”I hope I said 100,000 people the first time instead of 100 million. I understand I said there were 57 states today. It’s a sign that my numeracy is getting a little, uh.” At that point, an aide cut him off and ushered journalists out. Before he could mis-speak again?)

Oh, and as far as Hawaii voters are concerned, they’re probably delighted to learn that Obama’s campaign staff doesn’t think that tiny state can justify an appearance by his eminence, even though he did a lot of growing up there. Or maybe because he was there.

Let’s see what they do with that in the Honolulu media, which the Republicans have probably already notified.

Maybe it’s Obama’s age. He’s getting up there in his forties, you know.

–Andrew Malcolm

This is, in my opinion, one of the best things I have ever seen printed at the L.A. Times, and I offer serious kudos to Andrew Malcolm for this article…

Found at:
Tony Phyrillas - Barack Obama smarter than a fifth grader?

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I posted this a while back but ya know, I think it’s worth repeating, and even though it appears that the Clinton part of this equation may be about to end, remember this, it ain’t over until it’s over, and the ‘fat lady’ hasn’t sung yet…

Let’s do a comprehensive run down and possibility prediction, shall we??

G.H.W. Bush was Ronald Reagan’s VP for 8 years and then POTUS for 4 years, giving him a total of 12 years in the White House, not as POTUS the entire time but there none the less, before he lost to Bill Clinton who infested the White House for a total of 8 years and was succeeded by G.W. Bush who has stumbled and stuttered his way through nearly 2 full terms and barring some tragic event will be a sitting POTUS for 8 years, that’s a total of 28 years so far where there’s been either a Bush or a Clinton in the White House in one capacity or another, stay with me now because here’s where it gets a bit more complicated…

If Hillary should win in ‘08, God forbid, but IF she did, and only served 1 term, that gives us a total of 32 years with either a Clinton or a Bush in the White House, and suppose she were to somehow be re-elected in 2012, and went on to serve another 4 years as POTUS, now we’re looking at 36 years with a Clinton or a Bush in the White House…

Fast forward a bit and use your imagination now, it’s 2016 and Jeb Bush is approaching ‘elder statesman’ status and he convinces enough people that HE needs a shot at the Oval Office and he gets himself elected, even if just for 1 term we’re looking at a total of 40 years of a Bush or a Clinton in the White House, and just suppose ol’ Jeb gets himself re-elected and serves another 4 years, OK, now we’re up to a total of 44 years that this nation has had either a Clinton or a Bush in the White House, but hold onto your hat’s, I’m not done yet, we’re up to the year 2020 now…

Chelsea Victoria Clinton (born February 27, 1980) will be 40 years old by that time, do you see the possibilities here??

We could conceivably have at least 52 years of uninterrupted Clinton/Bush in the White House, tell me there’s not some sort of ‘grand scheme’ for a Globalist America and a political domination campaign at work here…

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WASHINGTON (AP) - Cindy McCain says she will never make her tax returns public even if her husband wins the White House and she becomes the first lady.

“You know, my husband and I have been married 28 years and we have filed separate tax returns for 28 years. This is a privacy issue. My husband is the candidate,” Cindy McCain, wife of Republican presidential nominee-in-waiting John McCain, said in an interview aired on NBC’s “Today” on Thursday.

Asked if she would release her tax returns if she was first lady, Cindy McCain said: “No.”

The Arizona senator released his tax return last month, reporting he had a total income of $405,409 in 2007 and paid $84,460 in federal income taxes. He files his return separately from his wife, an heiress to a Phoenix-based beer distributing company whose fortune is in the $100 million range.

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Cindy McCain says she’ll never release her tax returns

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House prices are falling, food and energy prices are rising and consumers are gloomier than they’ve been in decades. But the latest data on the U.S. economy shows it still has a feeble pulse.

So which is it? Are we in the early stages of a full-blown recession? Or is this a brief downturn before the economy gets up another head of steam later in the year?

Though the start of a recession can only be seen in the rear-view mirror, many economists now believe the U.S. economy is close to recession or in one. That’s based largely on a string of monthly reports showing the economy has lost about 260,000 jobs so far this year.

“Since the 1950s we’ve never had a period of four months of job losses without that signaling that we were in a recession,” said Jared Bernstein, senior economist of the Economic Policy Institute. “If and when (a recession is confirmed), it will probably be dated based on these payroll numbers as starting sometime around December or January.”

But other economic signals are flashing yellow, not red. The government recently reported the gross domestic product grew slightly in the first quarter, while generally GDP shrinks in a recession. Last week’s employment report for April showed the economy lost only 20,000 jobs, fewer than in previous months.

Full Story Here:
How far down is economy headed?

I’m not an economist, I don’t claim to be but I know what the current financial down turn is doing to us and our money…

Just like all Americans, we’re paying more for food and gas, as well as other items from retailers, and like many Americans, we’re on a fixed income, I am retired and unless we get an across the board increase in benefits, my check is fixed every month, I can’t work a few more hours of overtime to make up the difference in our disposable income…

I do have some investments, and they were growing, and doing quite well until 2007, we lost about $10K on our annuity, and that’s a big hit for someone that isn’t rich, it affects our overall lifestyle, as I am sure my readers are well aware, I know that most of my readers are hard working people too, and many are retirees and in the same boat as we are…

I don’t know what the solution is, my investment guy doesn’t know either, he thinks it’s a hic-up, at least he hopes it is, he has money tied up in ALL the same investments that we do…

The sad part is, none of these interest rate cuts the Fed has initiated have made any real difference so far, other than to affect the earnings of those that live off of their interest, and when it comes to a time when you have to start tapping into your principle, well, it may not be a recession, but it’s pretty close…

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THIS is what happens when republicans abandon their conservative base:

Shell shocked House Republicans got warnings from leaders past and present Tuesday: Your party’s message isn’t good enough to prevent disaster in November, and neither is the NRCC’s money.

The double shot of bad news had one veteran Republican House member worrying aloud that the party’s electoral woes — brought into sharp focus by Woody Jenkins’ loss to Don Cazayoux in Louisiana on Saturday — have the House Republican Conference splitting apart in “everybody for himself” mode.

“There is an attitude that, ‘I better watch out for myself, because nobody else is going to do it,’” the member said. “There are all these different factions out there, everyone is sniping at each other, and we have no real plan. We have a lot of people fighting to be the captain of the lifeboat instead of everybody pulling together.”

In a piece published in Human Events, the Republicans’ onetime captain, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, warned his old colleagues that they face “real disaster” on Election Day unless they move immediately to “chart a bold course of real reform” for the country.

Sadly, the republicans are clueless. Just as the dems have raced at breakneck speeds to the left, so have the republicans. The feckless republicans have become the liberal democrats of 30 years ago and the dems have become out and out socialists. The conservatives are in a high state of urination…we’re pissed, folks, and the republican party is wondering why they don’t have any money or support.

The republicans are bereft of leadership and they will continue to flounder until they beg forgiveness of their conservative base and begin instituting some right thinking plans to defeat the destructive leftists who will likely dominate in the next election.

I got this from my very good friend Rich Glasgow at Isn’t It Rich, Rich doesn’t post as much as some of us, he has to work, poor guy, but I will tell you this, if Rich posts it, it’s worth reading…

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FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. (AP) - Spc. Loren Dauterman, who trained at Fort McCoy in Wisconsin last month with the National Guard, found something good to say about the falling-apart floors and ceilings in her quarters.

Barely.

“It is better than sleeping out in the woods,” Dauterman said last week, “but not a whole lot better.”

Thousands of soldiers at Fort McCoy, Fort Campbell and elsewhere are assigned to barracks built for the GIs who fought World War II and the Korean War. The buildings are showing their age, and the soldiers are getting fed up.

Full Story Here:
Army OKs $248M in barracks repairs, but housing still aging

Am I the only one that sees this as an insult to Americas fighting men and women?? Is this not an affront to their dignity??

We send our fine guys and gals to places like Iraq and Afghanistan and ask them to endure horrid living conditions at worst, and not so good conditions at best while WE spend BILLIONS of U.S. tax dollars on the rebuilding of a nation that is still engaged in a highly destructive civil war…

And when our troops come home to the USA they are expected to live in these conditions??

I have seen ‘enlisted’ housing on Army bases, Ft. Bliss and Ft. Hood, TX., I knew some young NCO’s a few years ago, they lived in base housing and it was, for the most part, less than desirable, and I can’t even begin to speak of the conditions that the single enlisted men lived in, barracks that were built before WWII were not at all uncommon and their condition 25 years ago was pretty bad…

Officers housing was quite a bit better compared to the others but it was nothing to write home about and in many cases officers spent their own money, or their wives did, to improve the housing, do repairs and decorate it in an attractive manner and so forth…

Our troops deserve a lot more than they are getting, both from the military while they are on active duty and from the V.A. once their service is done, it is a travesty for us to provide better for the citizens of other nations than it we do for our own fighting men and women, and their families…

Now I’m only guessing but I would take bets that there are certain Bush Bot Army wives out there that would tell you the army provides more than adequate housing for our troops and the V.A. provides more than adequate care for our Veterans but that drum has been beat to the point that there are few folks that still put any faith in her words…

And personally, I don’t care what anyone says, our troops deserve nothing but the best this nation can provide to them, you don’t ask men and women to lay down their live and expect their dependents to live in squalor

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