I didn’t watch Clinton and Obama debate last night. I figured it would be another bore-fest. I was wrong, apparently. Depending on which side of the aisle you’re on, the debate was either wonderful or shameful. Charlie Gibson and George Stephanopoulos were either insightful and forceful or shameful and weak.

Here’s one post from the left:

In perhaps the most embarrassing performance by the media in a major presidential debate in years, ABC News hosts Charles Gibson and George Stephanopoulos focused mainly on trivial issues as Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama faced off in Philadelphia. They, and their network, should hang their collective heads in shame.

Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the health care and mortgage crises, the overall state of the economy and dozens of other pressing issues had to wait for their few moments in the sun as Obama was pressed to explain his recent “bitter” gaffe and relationship with Rev. Wright (seemingly a dead issue) and not wearing a flag pin — while Clinton had to answer again for her Bosnia trip exaggerations.

Oh, you are so wrong. Core values, such as honesty and integrity, are vital in this election. Clinton didn’t exaggerate - she lied. Deliberately. Repeatedly. A candidate’s beliefs about race and diversity are absolutely of prime importance in this election. Our country is becoming more of a melting pot each year. A candidate that hangs out with racists - and makes no apology for it - a candidates that, in fact, tries to defend his association with rabid racists - must provide answers. If a president is to represent our country to the world, then he/she must openly demonstrate pride in it. If a candidate repeatedly expresses his disdain for the majority of Americans, then that belief must be explored and discussed. It was not a gaffe. It was a belief that he has expressed more than once. Obama talks all the time about how he is the candidate of unity. Yet his actions don’t match his words. He has expressed more divisive beliefs than any candidate in recent memory from either political party. THAT is a major issue of integrity, self-knowledge, and honesty. There is no need to discuss Iraq, Afghanistan, health care, economy, the mortage crisis or any other issue until these core values are determined.

I love poetry - especially children’s poetry.  I work each day with children who are struggling readers, and one thing I provide for each child is a poetry folder.  The poetry folder is filled with lots of poems that we’ve learned and read together.  Poetry is great for children who are having trouble learning to read.  I’ve done a post on my favorite thirteen children’s poems - absolutely wonderful poems for children.

April in National Poetry Month, and Thursday, April 17th is “Poem in Your Pocket” Day.  The holiday originated in New York, and this is the first year that it has been a national event.  Hopefully the emphasis on poetry during April will bring together writers, poets, schools, libraries and poetry lovers everywhere. 

The holiday got its name from one of my favorite children’s poems, “Keep A Poem In Your Pocket” by Beatrice Schenck de Regniers. 

Keep a Poem In Your Pocket
~Beatrice Schenk de Regniers~

Keep a poem in your pocket
and a picture in your head
and you’ll never feel lonely
at night when you’re in bed.
The little poem will sing to you
the little picture bring to you
a dozen dreams to dance to yoU
at night when you’re in bed.
So—
Keep a picture in your pocket
and poem in your head
and you’ll never feel lonely
at night when you’re in bed.

Tonight there will be another debate between Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Hussein Obama.  Yawn!  Does anyone really want to listen to these two dishonest, self-serving, politicians of the worst kind debate each other?  I’ll save you a little time.  Here’s what will be said. Remember the following is merely MY interpretation of what will be said during the debate.

Clinton:  Obama should be ashamed of saying that Americans are bitter.  I think Americans are wonderfully optimistic and hopeful.  Oops. I shouldn’t have used the h-word.  Obama is an elitist

Obama: Clinton should be ashamed of saying that I should be ashamed of saying that Americans are bitter. Calling me an elitist is a racist thing to say.  I am merely telling the truth. Americans are tired of how horribly America has deteriorated over the past 8 years of this Republican presidency.

Clinton:  Bush is horrible.  Everything bad that has happened the last 8 years is his fault.  By the way, I think gun lovers are wonderful.  I fondly remember shooting guns when I was a girl.

Obama:  Clinton has an Annie Oakley complex.  People just misinterpreted what I said.  They also misunderstand my relationship with that wonderfully uncle-like mentor of mine, Jeremiah Wright.  I never have a need to apologize.

Clinton:  Obama needs more experience.

Obama:  Clinton has too much experience - all of it bad.

Clinton: I can take charge of the country from day one. 

Obama: I will bring hope and change to the country.

Clinton:  Elitist!

Obama: Annie Oakley!

See - I just saved you ninety minutes of absolute boredom.  (To repeat: The previous “debate” was my interpretation of what likely will be said).

Michelle Obama spoke to a group of mothers in North Carolina.  It seems that the Obama camp is trying to keep her out of the spotlight, and now it is apparent why they would do that.  Michelle is more a liability than an asset to her husband’s campaign. Here’s what she had to say:

Obama, like her husband a Harvard-trained lawyer, listened and then spoke off the cuff.

Most Americans, she said, don’t want much.

“They don’t want the whole pie,” she told the women. “There are some who do, but most Americans feel blessed just being able to thrive a little bit. But that is becoming even more out of reach.”

After law school, she and Barack were beset by loans they’d still be paying had her husband not written two best-sellers, “The Audacity of Hope” and “Dreams From My Father.”

Those debts early in their marriage, she said, equips her husband to better understand the problems many Americans face.

Should she become first lady, she said she’d focus on family issues.

“If we don’t wake up as a nation with a new kind of leadership…for how we want this country to work, then we won’t get universal health care,” she said.

“The truth is, in order to get things like universal health care and a revamped education system, then someone is going to have to give up a piece of their pie so that someone else can have more.”

Why take from some and give to others?  All the democrats are doing is ensuring that some people will never have the ability or drive to make their own pie which means that the ones who do make pies have to support them.  Why not enable every person to make their own pie?  THAT’S the American dream.

Obama has made a statement that he “regrets” his choice of words. 

 Democrat Barack Obama on Saturday conceded that comments he made about bitter working class voters who “cling to guns or religion” were ill chosen, as he tried to stem a burst of complaints that he is condescending.
“I didn’t say it as well as I should have,” he said.

As Obama tried to quell the furor, presidential rival Hillary Rodham Clinton hit him with one of her lengthiest and most pointed criticisms to date.

“Senator Obama’s remarks were elitist and out of touch,” she said, campaigning about an hour away in Indianapolis. “They are not reflective of the values and beliefs of Americans.”

At issue are comments Obama made privately at a fundraiser in San Francisco last Sunday. He explained his troubles winning over working class voters, saying they have become frustrated with economic conditions:

“It’s not surprising, then, they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.”

The comments, posted on the Huffington Post political Web site Friday, set off a storm of criticism from Clinton, Republican nominee-in-waiting John McCain and other GOP officials. It threatened to highlight an Obama Achilles heel — the image that the Harvard-trained lawyer is arrogant, aloof and carries himself with an air of superiority.

His campaign scrambled to defuse possible damage caused with working class voters that Obama needs to win in upcoming primaries in Pennsylvania and Indiana.

“Lately there has been a little typical sort of political flare up because I said something that everybody knows is true, which is that there are a whole bunch of folks in small towns in Pennsylvania, in towns right here in Indiana, in my hometown in Illinois who are bitter,” Obama said Saturday morning at Ball State University. “They are angry. They feel like they have been left behind. They feel like nobody is paying attention to what they’re going through.”

“So I said, well you know, when you’re bitter you turn to what you can count on. So people, they vote about guns, or they take comfort from their faith and their family and their community. And they get mad about illegal immigrants who are coming over to this country.”

The sad truth is that Obama IS elitist and out of touch.  He refused to disassociate himself from Jeremiah Wright and his racist church.  And now he doesn’t refute his words.  He merely wishes he had chosen a more politically palatable way of expressing his disdain for those he considers “beneath” himself.  He said what he said.  The only question is how can his worshippers continue to support this empty shirt, this man who has already caused more disunity than any candidate in recent memory. 

Just an empty shirt . . .

Really folks, what does eating at McDonald’s have to do with gay rights?  Why would a McDonald’s Vice President decide to join the board of directors of the National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce?  McDonald’s is typically seen as a good place for children to be.  Maybe not nutritionally speaking, but certainly a place to get food that kids like - a playground where children can play.  Now, it seems, that McDonald’s is jumping into radical political issues.  Speaking for myself, I will never give a penny of my money to McDonald’s. I’m definitely NOT lovin’ it.   This is ridiculous.  Here’s part of the story:

Last month, the vice president of communications for the nation’s largest fast-food chain joined the board of directors of the National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC), an organization dedicated to expanding the economic opportunities and advancements of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender/Transsexual (LGBT) business community.

“I’m thrilled to join the National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce team and ready to get to work,” Richard Ellis said regarding the move in a released statement.

“I share the NGLCC’s passion for business growth and development within the LGBT community and I look forward to playing a role in moving these important initiatives forward,” he added.

Barack Hussein Obama must have felt pretty safe letting loose with his smug-and-superior attitude in front of a rich audience.  Perhaps he wanted to play on that type of a superiority complex.  He said rural Americans are bitter and frustrated with their lives and thus turn to guns and religion and opposing people who aren’t like them. 

Then we have Hillary lying about sniper fire in Bosnia - and then Bill coming along and lying about Hillary’s lying.  Sniper fire is just something that someone doesn’t forget.  She didn’t miss-speak.  She didn’t get her facts confused.  She lied.  And Bill Lied.

Really, folks, can anyone seriously still support either of these yahoos?

Right Wing Sparkle has a post titled “America is in ruins,” and it is the topic is something we need to keep writing and talking about.  With so much negative press about everything American, it’s time for us to say, “No, America is a WONDERFUL country.  Of course it’s not perfect, but we work harder than anybody else in the world to make sure that we right our wrongs, that our people are treated well,  that everyone has equal opportunities to build a successful life here.” 

Here’s part of Right Wing Sparkle’s post.  Click here to read the entire thing.

This statement of Alice Walker (author of The Color Purple) sums up all that is wrong with her and Obama’s worldview:

Even if Obama becomes president, our country is in such ruin it may be beyond his power to lead us to rehabilitation.

In such ruin? Really? . . .

The United States offers people such opportunity and such kindness. We require that a person be treated at a hospital whether they can pay or not. We offer free food, shelter, and education for anyone who needs it. Beyond what the government offers in food stamps, welfare, and job training, we have hundreds of thousands of ministries in Churches and charities that offer shelter, clothing, food, and educational, and job opportunities.

And yet…Walker sees this country in “ruin.” What is in ruin is Walker’s own view.

When she was young working for civil rights in the South, she had bottles thrown at her. Blacks were beaten and killed. Voting was a dream. Yet now, we have a black woman as Secretary of State, Black Supreme Court judges, and now a presumptive black running for President on the Democratic ticket. To have come so far in such a short time is stunning really. And it makes it clear that we are a people who make mistakes, but we keep trying to make it right.

The United States keeps trying to make it right.

Does it bother anyone else that this common thread weaves it’s way into Obama’s life? From his Pastor who sees the United States as controlled by white supremacy to Obama’s wife, who has never been proud of the United States in her adult life until now.

All the generosity of America, from helping victims of Tsunami’s across the world, to Katrina, to bringing down a brutal dictator who mass murdered his own people, to billions of dollars of aid to Africa for AIDS research and help. All these things don’t make Michelle Obama proud. Do they make Obama proud? It would be nice to know the truth.

These are just a few of the hundreds of things America does to help the world every day.

This is an amazing country of freedom and generosity. Everyone close to Obama doesn’t see it that way though, and I don’t believe Obama sees it that way either.

We have a new Cotillion member, Nice Deb, who is quite the writer. I’ve been looking at her blog, and saw this post.  This is just a small part of the post, but it gives you an idea of what she writes.  It illustrates beautifully why I believe Barack Hussein Obama is dangerous for our country. (And yes, I will continue to use his middle name - just to piss off the liberals who act like it’s somehow intolerant to do so).

Flashback: Obama 1995

March, 30, 2008 — nicedeb

I was doing some googling to see if I could find some info on Obama and the Million Man March he reportedly marched in and helped organize, and I found this interview of Obama in the Chicago Reader from December 1995, after he (yes!) attended the march. What stands out to me is his unapologetic love affair with collectivism. I guess that’s not surprising for a Democrat, but still…..wow! Here are some highlights:

John Wayne = Typical white guy:

“In America,” Obama says, “we have this strong bias toward individual action. You know, we idolize the John Wayne hero who comes in to correct things with both guns blazing. But individual actions, individual dreams, are not sufficient. We must unite in collective action, build collective institutions and organizations.”

Organize and mobilize more black churches:

In an interview after the class, Obama again spoke of the need to organize and mobilize the economic power and moral fervor of black churches. He also argued that as a state senator he might help bring this about faster than as a community organizer or civil rights lawyer.

The Christian right: intolerant, narrow-minded, falsely nostalgic:

“The right wing, the Christian right, has done a good job of building these organizations of accountability, much better than the left or progressive forces have. But it’s always easier to organize around intolerance, narrow-mindedness, and false nostalgia. And they also have hijacked the higher moral ground with this language of family values and moral responsibility.

It’s society’s job to teach children about the left’s version of morality:

“Now we have to take this same language–these same values that are encouraged within our families–of looking out for one another, of sharing, of sacrificing for each other–and apply them to a larger society. Let’s talk about creating a society, not just individual families, based on these values. Right now we have a society that talks about the irresponsibility of teens getting pregnant, not the irresponsibility of a society that fails to educate them to aspire for more.”