Zimbabwe's opposition movement united Monday in spite of long-standing divisions, declaring that it has won control of Parliament for the first time in history and that President Robert Mugabe must concede defeat. Opposition leaders also appealed to the U.N. Security Council to send a special envoy to Zimbabwe and to warn Mugabe that the mounting violence against opposition supporters was tantamount to "crimes against humanity."
Putting months of bickering behind them, Movement for Democratic Change leaders Morgan Tsvangirai and Arthur Mutambara stood together and ordered Mugabe to step aside. "Old man, go and have an honorable exit," Tsvangirai said in a message to the 84-year-old autocrat who has ruled since independence from Britain in 1980.
"In a parliamentary democracy, the majority rule. He should concede that ... he cannot be president."
"In a parliamentary democracy, the majority rule," Tsvangirai said alongside Mutambara at a news conference. "He should concede that ... he cannot be president."
More than a month after the elections, results from the presidential race have not been announced. Tsvangirai maintains that he won the presidency outright although independent observers say he fell just short of the votes needed to avoid a runoff. Tsvangirai reiterated Monday that he would not take part in a runoff. "The question about a runoff doesn't arise. It doesn't arise because of the simple fact that the people have spoken, the people have decided," he said.
The opposition maintains that hundreds of its supporters have been arrested, attacked or driven from their homes, especially in rural areas that used to be Mugabe strongholds but voted against him in the elections. It says that 14 of its supporters have died, but there is no independent confirmation of this.
The Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human Rights says more than 63 people were hospitalized in three days last week alone, and provided shocking photos of injuries.
Movement for Democratic Change secretary-general, Tendai Biti, was due at U.N. headquarters in New York for a U.N. Security Council discussion Tuesday on the deteriorating situation in Zimbabwe. Tsvangirai said Biti would ask the Security Council "firstly to stop the violence, and to communicate to the regime in Harare that its actions are tantamount to crimes against humanity." Biti would also ask the U.N. to send a special envoy to investigate the violence and recommend a way to resolve it.
On Monday, the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission failed to publish the results of the recount of 23 disputed parliamentary seats from the elections, as had been scheduled. Officials announced Saturday that recounts of 18 of 23 disputed parliamentary seats left initial results unchanged enough to confirm opposition's seizure of control of parliament from Mugabe's ZANU-PF party for the first time. Results of the final five disputed seats were due to have been announced Monday, but there was no mention of the final count.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/29/2008 00:00 ||
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Opposition leaders also appealed to the U.N. Security Council to send a special envoy to Zimbabwe and to warn Mugabe that the mounting violence against opposition supporters was tantamount to "crimes against humanity."
I'm trying to picture George Washington appealing to the U.N. for help in the rebellion against King George III but it just isn't working. I think the moral of the story is that guys like Mugabe don't just walk away. They have to be forced out. And the U.N. isn't going to help.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
04/29/2008 15:46 Comments ||
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#2
Actually, to Zimbabweans, it's more like their 'George Washington' declaring himself king. To them (and the rest of Africa) he's a murdering, thieving bastard, but he's an African murdering, thieving bastard.
Top business leaders of the country yesterday urged the caretaker government to make sure before the next general election that the political forces which will come to power through polls will not allow hartal or closure of ports in any situation.
The business community leaders also unanimously suggested lifting the state of emergency as soon as possible. And some of them proposed a ban on student politics as well as teachers politics for long for what they said is in the greater interest of the country.
The business bigwigs came up with these suggestions at a meeting with four advisers of the caretaker government at the State Guest House Meghna. The meeting was held as part of the government's ongoing informal dialogue with political parties and other stakeholders concerning reforms within political parties and political system in the country.
The business leaders who attended the meeting included Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) President Annisul Huq, Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) President Anwar-ul-Alam Chowdhury Parvez, Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) President Latifur Rahman, Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) President Fazlul Hoque, Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA) President Abdul Hai Sarker and Bangladesh Association of Pharmaceuticals Industries (BAPI) President Shafiuzzaman.
The four advisers present at the meeting are Law Adviser AF Hassan Ariff, Communications Adviser Ghulam Quader, Education and Commerce Adviser Hossain Zillur Rahman and LGRD Adviser Anwarul Iqbal.
The business community wants that people who will compete in the next general election will not allow hartal or closure of ports when they get elected, " Annisul Huq told newsmen later. Businessmen do not want to see any more a political situation that prevailed before 1/11 (prior to state of emergency). We want to see a qualitative change in the political culture, the FBCCI chief said in presence of the other business leaders.
Referring to advisers' comments on political parties' reform proposals placed before the government, he said the parties are yet to specify what of kind of qualitative changes they would go for. We all want to get back a fair political atmosphere. We want effective democracy and an elected government," Annisul said.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/29/2008 00:00 ||
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A Chinese court sentenced 17 people, including six monks, to jail Tuesday for their alleged roles in deadly riots in the Tibetan capital, in the first trial concerning last month's unrest, state media reported.
The sentences were handed down the same day that the Tibetan government-in-exile announced that it believes 203 Tibetans were killed in Beijing's crackdown after the riots. The number is nearly 10 times China's official toll. It could not be independently confirmed.
The Intermediate People's Court of Lhasa announced the sentences - which ranged from three years to life in prison - at an open session, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.
...
China has said that 22 people died in the riots and that they were mostly Han Chinese, the country's predominant ethnicity. Tibetan exile groups have maintained that many times that number were killed in both the initial unrest and the ensuing crackdown, mostly Tibetans.
In addition to the 203 killed, more than 1,000 people were wounded and more than 5,715 were still in detention, said Tibetan government spokesman Thubten Samphal. The figures were taken from a combination of the government's own sources, Tibetan exile groups and official Chinese media, he said.
Posted by: ed ||
04/29/2008 08:47 ||
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Italy's new parliament met for the first time today with applause for Rome's mayor-elect, Gianni Alemanno, a day after followers celebrated his triumph with straight-arm salutes and fascist-era chants.
Alemanno, a former neo-fascist youth leader, took 54% of the vote in a run-off on Sunday and Monday, crushing his rival, Francesco Rutelli, a deputy prime minister in the last, centre-left government.
Silvio Berlusconi, who won a general election earlier this month, welcomed the latest evidence of Italy's leap to the right by declaring: "We are the new Falange". Although he took care to wrap his remark in a classical context, his choice of words appeared to be a nod and a wink to his most extreme supporters.
The original Falange the word means "phalanx" was the Spanish fascist party, founded in the 1930s, which supplied Francisco Franco's dictatorship with its ideological underpinning.
The prime minister-elect's closest ally, Umberto Bossi, the Northern League leader, kept up the intimidating rhetoric, arriving for the first session of Italy's parliament warning of violence if the centre-left did not go along with his plans for federalism.
"I don't know what the left wants [but] we are ready," he told reporters. "If they want conflicts, I have 300,000 men always on hand."
On Monday night, the area around Rome's city hall rang to chants of "Duce! Duce!", the term adopted by Italy's dictator, Benito Mussolini, equivalent to the German "Führer". Supporters of the new mayor gave the fascist Roman straight-arm salutes.
Alemanno, however, has promised to be the mayor of all Romans. He yesterday sent telegrams to both the Pope and the Chief Rabbi. Rome's Jewish community was shaken by the prospect of a mayor with Alemanno's record. During the campaign, there was a protest aimed at him in the city's old Jewish ghetto, where many of the city's Jews still live. I wonder how much is real and how much is just the al-Guardian fantasizing.
#1
If this is real, Italy may be where the Euro anti-Muslim backlash really starts to take off. I'm of the opinion that all it's going to take is one country angry enough to start acting. Once the taboo of mass deportation/forcible expulsion is broken, there will be many others to follow. Berlusconi's just ballsy enough to do it.
Chinese national pride was evident in abundance at City Hall Square on Monday evening as hundreds of Chinese immigrants gathered to show their support for Denmark's participation in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. With music playing and banners and flags waving, many Chinese living in Denmark spoke to reporters of how a boycott was the wrong approach to take against a China that in their eyes has come along way in recent years.
'China has changed dramatically in the past ten years, and it's moving in the right direction,' Ai Hua Yan, who fled China during the 'Cultural Revolution' of the late 60s and early 70s, told Politiken newspaper. 'Everyone wants democracy, but it takes time.' gagometer pegs
Wei Cheng Hedenskog, who came to the demonstration with her daughter, said she did not understand all the talk of a boycott against the Olympic Games. 'The Chinese are very hurt by it,' she said, as tears rolled down her face. 'It's very unbecoming and you should never mix politics with the Olympics.' gagometer shatters into 1.2 billion pieces
Xuepeng Yin agreed and referred to his banner which read, 'Make the Olympics a bridge not a wall'. 'It's better to participate in the Olympic Games and try to affect the leaders,' he said. 'A boycott doesn't help anyone.' Your friendly neighborhood Chinese Olympic celebration is brought to you by the Central Committee of the PRC.
RUSH: Ladies and gentlemen, I am calling an operational pause in Operation Chaos. We have a week to figure out now what's best to do. If your state still allows voter registration, keep that up, continue to register as a Democrat in upcoming Operation Chaos primaries. I think it's too late in Indiana and North Carolina. Oregon, last day is today. There are other states coming down the pike, and Puerto Rico. But I'm calling an operational pause, and I will tell you why. My first gut reaction, my instinct, in listening to the audio sound bites of Obama today throwing Jeremiah Wright off the planet, he didn't throw him under the bus, he put him in the space shuttle and he sent him to the space station so he can pal around with the Russians that are up there. Then I watched during the bottom-of-the-hour break here, I decided to watch the Drive-By Media coverage of this, because it became obvious to me see, I read the stitches on the fastball; I can read between the lines, and I know that most of the Drive-Bys are in the tank for Obama...
...My gut reaction, after the audio sound bites, was to issue new orders, because I saw, you know, AP/Ipsos poll has Hillary up over McCain by nine points, 50-41. My gut reaction here, after hearing Obama, was to issue orders changing directives, i.e., vote Obama in remaining primaries. But I'm holding back. That's why I'm calling an operational pause. Because I want to see what the Drive-Bys are going to do and I want to see how the superdelegates are affected by this. You can't vote in North Carolina and Indiana 'til Tuesday anyway, so there's really no pause. It's not as though the election is tomorrow. I just wanted you to know your commanding officers are eagerly, diligently, and effectively planning the next strategy here, based on this speech and the reaction to it.
Posted by: Mike ||
04/29/2008 18:44 ||
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#1
Rush, anybody ever call you, I dunno, a windbag?
OBAMA "OUTRAGED AND SADDENED" about Jeremiah Wright: "His comments were not only divisive ... but I believe that they end up giving comfort to those who prey on hate . . . . Whatever relationship I had with Reverend Wright has changed as a consequence of this."
Too little, too late, and too lawyerly ("whatever relationship I had"?). And as I said yesterday, I don't see that Wright has changed. People are just noticing. But is Obama just now noticing?
ANOTHER UPDATE: TalkLeft: "Obama throws Wright under the bus." More like "gently slides Wright under the minivan."
And here's more on the "too lawyerly" front. And, from the comments: "Discussion of this issue might abate, and Obama's supporters might confuse that for successful management of the problem, but the reality is, the damage has been done and it can't be undone."
STILL MORE: Here's a transcript of Obama's remarks.
I'm going to post a related comment by VDH under the "Opinion" section.
Posted by: Mike ||
04/29/2008 15:48 ||
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#1
Too late and too convienient. That's why it smells.
If granny's still alive, look for her to join him on the campaign trail soon. Maybe he'll buy her a gun...
#2
**In a 1995 profile in The Chicago Reader, he [Obama] said, "What if a politician were to see his job as an organizer, as part teacher and part advocate, one who does not sell voters short but who educates them about the real choices before them?"
#3
Too little, Too late. Obama is finished, thanks to Wright. There is no way he can win the general election being seen as a whacked out, racist supporter or at least sympathizer.
#4
It's not September, so it will be forgotten. Much more dangerous will be the Ayers association if there is the fire next time, say August in Denver.
#7
From the mighty pen of the Derb-man in his March Diary.
(2) His shifty reaction to the Wright business was all wrong.
* Defiant truthfulness would have got my attention: "Yes, that's what his sermons are like, all right. Been listening to them for years. I pretty much agree with him. If you have a problem with it, don't vote for me."
*Even a Clintonian Big Lie would have just left me smiling and shaking my head at the, well, audacity of it: "Good heavens! I have never been in the pews when anything like that was said! I had no idea my pastor was capable of such vulgarity! I have resigned from the church, and shall no longer be associated with it in any way. I am shocked, shocked."
What we got instead was a shifty, lawyerish, Obamian weenie lie, enveloped in clouds of gassy uplift-rhetoric. Feugh!
This kind of thing doesn't just make me puke, it would have made any honest-to-goodness old-style lefty puke too.
Can you imagine Eugene Debs or Norman Thomas or Woody Guthrie sitting straight-faced through an Obama speech? Let alone giving one. The sooner this preening neurotic poseur gets his electoral comeuppance, the better.
#9
He's not a messiah, anymore, he's a rank politician with no resume, shady and terrorist friends, religious mentors that believe in racist and anti-american fundamentals...and he's had em for years, decades in the case of some. NOW he's sorry??? His wife is one of the whiny racist nutcases, when does he disown her? Sincerity is long gone as an option. It's Damage-Control Week! at Discovery Channel ObamaLand, tune in!
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/29/2008 18:38 Comments ||
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"The sooner this preening neurotic poseur gets his electoral comeuppance, the better."
At first I thought you said "necrotic", Gromguru.
Then I realized that either way works.
Posted by: no mo uro ||
04/29/2008 18:49 Comments ||
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#11
It's too late for Hillary. Even if she peels off some of the superdelegates the remainder won't want to be seen as betraying the black community. He'll get the nomination, and he will give McCain a run for his money. Buy gold and invest in oil stocks, because it's gonna get bumpy.
Posted by: Jonathan ||
04/29/2008 22:28 Comments ||
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#12
I'll beat the dead horse; the fact that any of these three clowns have the chance to be our next prez pretty much means our country is f*cked.
Posted by: Snash Oppressor of the Mohammatans aka Broadhead6 ||
04/29/2008 22:42 Comments ||
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Claimed in church newsletter Jews building 'ethnic bomb' that 'kills blacks, Arabs'
JERUSALEM Indicted Illinois businessman Antoin "Tony" Rezko, a key fundraiser for Sen. Barack Obama, was bailed from jail last week in part with surety posted by a pro-Palestinian activist who penned an open letter in Obama's church newsletter that labeled Israel an "apartheid" regime and claimed the Jewish state worked on an "ethnic bomb" that kills "blacks and Arabs."
The open letter by Ali Baghdadi, who served as a Middle East advisor to the Nation of Islam, landed Obama's Trinity United Church of Christ in hot water last month amid multiple other reports of controversial pieces published on the official "Pastor's Page" reserved for Obama spiritual adviser Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr.
Baghdadi was listed among about 30 family members and friends of Rezko who reportedly put up cash or offered properties as surety to secure Rezko's $8.5 million bail. Baghdadi offered the court a two-story retail property in Chicago.
Baghdadi also appeared at the Chicago federal court on April 18 to state he would be willing to post his home as collateral toward Rezko's bond. Baghdadi was quoted telling the court he had known Rezko for 20 years through their work with Arab charities.
The move may evince closer links between Baghdadi and Obama's earlier fundraising circles in which Rezko reportedly played a major role.
Last month, WND reported Obama's church newsletter published Baghdadi's piece, titled, "An open letter to Oprah," referring to talk show giant Oprah Winfrey, who last year accepted an invitation to visit Israel offered to her by Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel. Winfrey had been a member of Obama's church but reportedly departed in 1986.
"I must tell you that Israel was the closest ally to the white supremacists of South Africa," wrote Baghdadi. "In fact, South Africa allowed Israel to test its nuclear weapons in the ocean off South Africa. The Israelis were given a blank check: they could test whenever they desired and did not even have to ask permission. Both worked on an ethnic bomb that kills Blacks and Arabs."
The June 10, 2007, newsletter, which is still available at Obama's church's website, identifies Baghdadi as an Arab-American activist, writer and columnist who "acted as a Middle East advisor to the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, the founder of the Nation of Islam, as well as Minister Louis Farrakhan."
Bagdadi's letter stated Palestinians face "genocide and ethnic cleansing ... every hour of the day."
"For many centuries, Jews escaped the discrimination and death they were subjected to in Europe, and found safety and refuge among us," writes Baghdadi.
Baghdadi's letter originally was printed in the Palestine Times, a pro-Palestinian newspaper published in London. It was first noticed in the Obama church newsletter by the Sweetness & Light blog.
RezkoWatch, a blog dedicated to following the links between Rezko and Obama, asked, "Who would have guessed that the same Ali M. Baghdadi who wrote the vile letter published by Obama's anti-American, hate-spouting pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, would turn out to be a good friend to Tony Rezko, currently on trial in federal court for corruption?
"Who would have guessed that the same Palestinian-American Ali M. Baghdadi, who accompanied Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan to Mali in 1997, and served as his Middle East advisor, was only one-degree of separation from Sen. Obama?"
Rezko is on trial in federal court on charges arising from a multimillion-dollar hospital contract scandal. Scores of media reports describe Rezko as an Obama friend and a key campaign fundraiser and networker for the presidential candidate.
At first, Rezko was linked to Obama through two 2005 real estate purchases in which the senator bought a Chicago mansion at less than the asking price on the same day Rezko and his wife, Rita, purchased a lot adjacent to the property. Rita Rezko then sold part of the lot to Obama.
Obama told the Chicago Sun-Times the real estate purchase was "an area where I can see sort of a lapse in judgment, where I could have said, 'No, I'm not sure that's a good idea,'"
Later, Obama's campaign disclosed Rezko provided or raised up to $160,000 in contributions.
Then in interviews last month with two Chicago newspapers, Obama admitted Rezko's contributions were $250,000, nearly $90,000 more than the campaign previously acknowledged.
The presidential candidate explained the $160,000 figure only represented the total for his 2004 U.S. Senate race. He conceded Rezko also helped raise between $60,000 and $90,000 more for his state senate contests and his unsuccessful congressional campaign in 2000.
Obama's campaign later released to the Chicago Tribune documents showing Rezko was among 117 people who worked on Obama's 2004 U.S. Senate campaign.
Baghdadi was not the only controversial figure who reportedly posted Rezko's bail money. The Chicago Sun-Times reported this weekend ex-international fugitive Aiham Alsammarae, a former Iraqi Electricity Minister under the U.S.-backed Iraqi administration, offered homes that comprise nearly one-third of Rezko's multimillion-dollar bail.
Alsammarae, a dual U.S.-Iraqi citizen who broke out of a Baghdad jail in 2006, has been listed as part of the investigation of widespread charges against Rezko, who owns a firm that won a $50 million contract to train Iraqi power plant security guards. The contract ultimately was not fulfilled.
Rezko has been accused of giving Alsammarae a $1.5 million bribe to secure the Iraqi electric contract.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
04/29/2008 15:50 Comments ||
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In the very, very, beginning of the Obama era---I've made the obvious pun based on The Manchurian Candidate. Modesty forbids to talk any farther on the subject.
Quite a few readers speculate that Jeremiah Wright is angry at Obama for criticizing him in his speech on race relations, and his recent appearances and statements are indeed a deliberate effort to hurt Obama. . . .
And now, for a really far-out theory... Wright goes out, makes even more outrageous remarks, and it gives Obama the opportunity to finally sever the ties. A statement like, "I loved this man, but I cannot abide what he is saying now... I am leaving that church and must disavow Jeremiah Wright."
Issue resolved. Obama is given credit for being a healer, for a courageous move, for standing up against divisiveness at great personal emotional expense, etc. ...
It would be an improvement for Obama than current circumstances, where bloggers like Cuffy are finding Wright's recent rhetoric on race, brain characteristics, and culture have strange echoes of documents from long ago... I don't think Obama is clever enough, or ruthless enough, or maybe both, to do this . . . but you gotta admit, it would be a helluva play.
Posted by: Mike ||
04/29/2008 08:12 ||
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Posted by: George Smiley ||
04/29/2008 9:59 Comments ||
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#7
drudge has always been so fond of the Clintons, right?
In that they launched his career, I'd say they are good for bidness.
Posted by: Grenter Protector of the Geats4975 ||
04/29/2008 10:00 Comments ||
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#8
Drudge loves the Clintons. They've provided him with some of his best material.
And it's too late for Obama to denounce. He's stuck with the good Rev. Wright.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/29/2008 11:34 Comments ||
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#9
I dont think its too late. He can always claim that his earlier remarks were "misunderstood". Bloggers can go after him for inconistency but do ordinary voters care about consistency, or more about the substance of what Wright is saying? I say the latter. Clinton and McCain can hardly say theyve always been consistent - Id say its more important to be foresquare against lunacy than to be able to defend in detail the Talmudic consistency of all your past statements.
#10
It's too late to disown Wright personally, but it's not too late to denounce each one of his loopy ideas. Sort of like the way he's not disowned you neighbor, Ayres.
#11
On the other hand, McCain comes from an organization that was at the forefront of integration. An organization that respected differences in religion and judged people by performance not ethnicity, way ahead of the rest of the world.
#12
It will be interesting to see how BHO plays this one. Frankly, given the Rev.'s recent shenanigans, I don't think he has much choice anymore. Previously, BHO tried to have his cake and eat it, too. But at this point, he'll need to come out strong against the Rev. if he wants any hope of winning the Dem nomination. But it may be too late because I think this torpedos whatever chances he had in a general election, thereby making Her Thighness the only viable contender.
Obama says he's outraged by former pastor's comments
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Democrat Barack Obama said Tuesday he was outraged and appalled by the latest comments from his former pastor, who asserted that criticism of his fiery sermons is an attack on the black church and the U.S. government was responsible for the creation of the AIDS virus.
"I am outraged by the comments that were made and saddened by the spectacle that we saw yesterday," Obama told reporters at a news conference.
After weeks of staying out of the public eye while critics lambasted his sermons, Wright made three public appearances in four days to defend himself. The former pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago has been combative, providing colorful commentary and feeding the story Obama had hoped was dying down.
"This is not an attack on Jeremiah Wright," Wright told the Washington media Monday. "It has nothing to do with Senator Obama. It is an attack on the black church launched by people who know nothing about the African-American religious tradition."
Obama told reporters Tuesday that Wright's comments do not accurately portray the perspective of the black church.
"The person I saw yesterday was not the person that I met 20 years ago," Obama said of the man who married him.
Obama said he heard that Wright had given "a performance" and when he watched tapes, he realized that it more than just a case of the former pastor defending himself.
"What became clear to me was that he was presenting a world view that contradicts what I am and what I stand for," Obama said.
In a highly publicized speech last month, Obama sharply condemned Wright's remarks. But he did not leave the church or repudiate the minister himself, who he said was like a family member.
On Tuesday, Obama sought to distance himself further from Wright.
"I gave him the benefit of the doubt in my speech in Philadelphia explaining that he's done enormous good. ... But when he states and then amplifies such ridiculous propositions as the U.S. government somehow being involved in AIDS. ... There are no excuses. They offended me. They rightly offend all Americans and they should be denounced."
Posted by: George Smiley ||
04/29/2008 17:29 Comments ||
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#17
Sorry Steve#8, you swallowed the bait, so wiggle all you want on the line, you're being reeled in! Ms. Reynold's can't take back that Maryland vote, and yes, she is a Clinton supporter. Follow the dots back to her highness's palace.
WILMINGTON, N.C.--Barack Obama this afternoon asked voters to judge him by his own words and deeds rather than his past associations, as his controversial former spiritual mentor re-emerged in the presidential campaign through a broadcast interview and series of speeches by the Rev. Jeremiah Wright over the weekend and today.
At some point you just have to wonder why Barack doesn't go up to the good Reverend and tell him to put a sock on it ...
"I think people will understand that I am not perfect and that there are going to be folks in my past like Rev. Wright that may cause them some concern but that ultimately my 20 years of service and the values that I've written about and spoken about and promoted are their values and what they're concerned about," Obama said.
The Illinois senator spoke at a hastily arranged press conference on the airport tarmac in Wilmington, N.C., as media traveling with him were about to board his campaign plane. Airplane engines roared in the background and a plane taking off interrupted the brief media availability, which lasted less than six minutes and permitted only three questions.
More adroit press management ...
Obama sought anew to distance himself from the incendiary remarks of Wright after his former pastor spoke Monday at the National Press Club. Wright delivered a high-profile speech the night before at a NAACP dinner in Detroit and also appeared on a PBS program hosted by Bill Moyers for a lengthy interview.
"Some of the comments that Rev. Wright has made offend me, and I understand why they offend the American people. He does not speak for me. He does not speak for the campaign," Obama said. "Many of the statements that he's made, both that triggered this initial controversy and that he's made over the last several days, are not statements that I have heard him make previously. They don't represent my views," the senator added.
So why don't you tell the man to shut the hell up?
And if you're wondering, here is what the good reverend said at the National Press Club. Charming.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/29/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Maybe obama knows disavowing Wright would cost him too many votes, which means he knows something about a portion of his "base" that everyone else maybe better wise up to...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
04/29/2008 0:08 Comments ||
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#2
Obama: Judge my words, not Wright's
How about we judge you by your actions. And your inactions?
#3
We are judging you by your actions - by your 20+ years of sitting at Wright's knee absorbing everything he said while nodding your head in agreement.
Not by your sudden about face in recent weeks when his views started to embarass you.
#6
For 20 years he was "Uncle" Wright. For the past couple of months he became an "Uncle" who was off base.
I beleive I will expect the "long term respect" you had for this false prophet whose alter you worshiped at again be your "spiritual" advisor if you were in the Oval Office (God forbid).
#7
Obama has written and talks about the "audacity of hope." Unfortunately for him, we have talk about it in terms of Rev Wright, because Obama took it from his devisive mentor.
#12
BO and Wright are going to set race relations back in this country sixty years. Non-black people who don't have much exposure to blacks have been conditioned enough by the MSM to be prone to accepting all the left's claims of anti-black racism. After watching these two racists, along with the usual suspects Jessie and Sharpie, that conditioning will be overcome. There will be a lot of non-blacks who will quietly, but definitively, write lib blacks off as the worst type of non-black hating race-baiters. And they'll be justified in doing so.
Obama's debacle has made one thing almost certain: if there is ever to be a black President, he'll be a Republican.
Posted by: Thaimble Scourge of the Pixies4707 ||
04/29/2008 9:10 Comments ||
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#13
Bears repeating: "I can no more disown him than I can disown the black community." - guess who?
#19
I don't think there is any way that Obama can get away from this. Granted it is still April and the election is nearly 6 minths away, but this cuts deep. Wright is a friggin loon, but a nasty, angry divisive loon. He seems no different than Farrakahn, just with psuedo-Christian rather than psuedo-islamic trappings. Sadly, my initial impression is that most blacks in this country are going to try and give this nut cover. But he is such a nut that all but the most liberal white, hispanic and asian people are going to reject him and therefore Obama. The guy is toast.
Does anyone have a picture of burnt toast graphic to insert into this thread?
Some 4-5 weeks ago on these boards I noted an irony: A black preacher (Wright) predicted that a black candidate (Obama) could never be elected to the highest office in the USA because of white racism. The irony of course being that it would be the black preacher that kept the black candidate from ever getting to the WH, not white racism.
Concerning Rev. Wright and his rejection of "middle classness" as part and parcel of black liberation theology. Just WTH does that mean?
The neighborhood I live in is mostly white, but with a number of black families/households. Let me tell you what that means:
We all are paying for our homes. We all have mortgages that have to be paid on time. We pay taxes on the property. we pay our utilities on time. many, not all, have cable that's paid for not stolen. We paint our homes as needed. We cut our grass on weekends. We palnt flowers in flower beds. We have small gardens. We have parties in the backyard to celebrate First Communions, birthdays, graduations, wakes and wedddings that end at a reasonable time of night and don't last until 4 am. Cops are not called to shut us down because of music. got the occasional block party where everybody shows up with food and beer and soda.
Boring? To some I suppose it is. (It ain't no Mysteria Lane either).
But: no drug deals go down on my street that I can see. Nobody gets shot. Kids can go out at night w/o supervision. Doors are not locked (foolish as it may seem). People go to church on Sunday morning. Guys watch football in the winter on tv and listen to baseball on the radio on the porch in the summer.
I f**kin' love where I live.
Rev. Wright rejects it. That's how I know it's cool.
#22
MarkZ - Ya see, middle classness means you got a piece of pie that michelle obama thinks should go to someone else. If you wore a loincloth and lived in a cardboard box, you'd have about what the obamas and rev wright consider "your fair share."
Got it?
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
04/29/2008 16:27 Comments ||
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#23
More like wore a loincloth and lived in a cardboard box and still worked 8 hours a day / six days a week to support Obama and Michelle and the other Vulture Elite.
Then you would be where (In BO's view) you should be.
#24
I hear cackling laughter from the horizon. It frankly scares me, I begin to think of the mile of broken glass.
Posted by: George Smiley ||
04/29/2008 17:32 Comments ||
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#25
We must be wrong. All the Obama-supporting talking heads say he addressed the issue today, time to MoveOn. I guess any further discussion is evidence of racism
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/29/2008 17:35 Comments ||
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#26
No Frank G,...McCainism! Queen Hillary will have to contend with the Rantburger's 'shift' of attention in June. As we speak, I am refitting my raft to 'jump ship' should the Obama oceanliner hit the iceberg! Hail Queen Hillary!
#27
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., suggested that controversial pastor Rev. Jeremiah Wright is angry with parishioner Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., and may be deliberately trying to hurt his presidential bid.
Saying that Wright "went out of his way to weaken Obama" during Monday's address at the National Press Club, Gingrich told Barbara Walters "I think Reverend Wright has a greater interest in his self-importance."
Obama: "I can no more disown him than I can disown 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 her by on the street, and who on more than one occasion has uttered racial or ethnic stereotypes that made me cringe."
Bull Shit Obama Lie. #1)
It is a RATIONAL FEAR for ANY grand mother [of all colors] to see a Black young Man or Black Adult STRANGER coming at them on a sidewalk.
Same holds true but less so according to crime stats, for a White young Man and White Adult.
****
Bull Shit Obama Lie. #2)
I'd be willing to bet $25,000 that Obama's "white grandma" didn't use anymore offensive racist language that ANY family's grand parents. [all colors]
#29
actually, the story is that she was scared by a particular black man, a panhandler, who was very aggressive on a specific occasion. If that was your Grandma- white, black, or plaid, would you blame her? He had to work long and hard to throw that nice lady (who did so much to raise him) under the bus to further his political career. Disgusting and unforgivable.
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/29/2008 20:15 Comments ||
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#30
Boring? To some I suppose it is.
That's the price of middle class. Regardless of whether you think you're white, black, brown, or yellow when you become middle class you all become gray. No one is special. We're all background noise. That is a challenge for those who live in an environment in which something just skin deep makes them 'special' and 'demands' attention. Martin Luther King's espoused concept of equality means invisibility in the community which too many of the leaders of the 'Black' community can not stand and do not want.
#31
Thanks Frank for fine tuning my comment and making it more accurate. Your use of the *Bus* metaphor makes your analysis more succinct also.
*************************
No one is special. We're all background noise. That is a challenge for those who live in an environment in which something just skin deep makes them 'special' and 'demands' attention. Martin Luther King's espoused concept of equality means invisibility in the community which too many of the leaders of the 'Black' community can not stand and do not want.
Procopius2k: Amen!
MLK: Content of Character
MLK: Content of Character
MLK: Content of Character
MLK: Content of Character AMEN!!
#32
Amen, indeed, RD. When you strip this empty suit from everyone's projections of the Christmas tree everyone wishes he could be? - he's really V1.0 of Charlie Brown's Christmas tree: bare, dead, and not that attractive. His wife is the Mistletoe, which, if you didn't know, is really a hemi-parasite.
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/29/2008 23:09 Comments ||
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(Xinhua) -- U.S. Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Obama's lead in the national poll has shrunk to zero after his rival, Hillary Rodham Clinton, won the Pennsylvania primary on April 22, said a poll released on Monday. According to the Gallup poll conducted on April 24 to 26, Illinois Senator Obama and New York Senator Clinton are now dead even at 47 percent among 1,240 Democratic and Democratic-leaning voters.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/29/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Queen Hillary would make a fine 'shepherdess'! Gathering the sheep close to the fold is most important. The nation must be ready to weather the approaching storm clouds that bare ahead!
#3
So, Fred - why did you have to go to China to find this news? Is the American media ignoring it, hoping it will go away?
Or are they waiting for the Wright effect to kick in?
Posted by: Bobby ||
04/29/2008 6:41 Comments ||
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#4
Too bad. Hillary just may have a chance to back room deal her way to the Dem nomination. Since neither of them understand the basis and implications of islamic jihad, I'd rather see the easier to defeat of the 2 get the nomination - Obama.
Posted by: ed ||
04/29/2008 8:02 Comments ||
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#5
Last evening my wife asked me if there would be race riots if Obama lost.
My guess is that the odds are "better" if he loses the primary cause that would be much more easily spun (and may be the truth) that it was stolen. A GE loss probably not.
But I really have no idea or numbers to put on it.
I was actually in Newark in '67 when the gun fire started (though I didn't know what the sound was at the time). Also was in Peoria, ILL for that one.
What does Rantburg think? Are we looking at Rodney King times a hundred?
#6
I'm a bit more worried about the situation in Denver, especially if the nominee isn't clinched before the convention starts. I would expect the leftists to try to influence the convention through violent action in the streets surrounding it. Recreate '68, and all that.
As to blacks rioting, they can. But it's their own neighborhoods they destroy. And this time there won't be nearly as much support for rebuilding them as last.
It certainly is a volatile situation. And after all we've done to remove volatile organic compounds from the air.
#7
I don't feel sorry for Denver. When you invite trash into your home, don't be surprised by the damage they leave behind
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/29/2008 10:52 Comments ||
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#8
If the demon-kats riot in Denver, there will be other stupid towns that are vying to get those convention bucks next time. After all, riot police are just a minor cost of doing business, compared to the revenues from delegates, hookers, perverts, and the like.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
04/29/2008 11:29 Comments ||
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#10
Queen Hillary would make a fine 'shepherdess'! Gathering the sheep close to the fold is most important. The nation must be ready to weather the approaching storm clouds that bare ahead!
Rasberry jello today. You're third in line for the Segway, unless you can talk 'J.C.' into letting you go first...
#12
This could end up showing the wisdom of the super delegate system. A charismatic guy like Obama comes out of nowhere and dazzles a bunch of feeble minded moonbats into voting for him and he heads into the convention with a majority of regular delegates. But then, before the convention, the news breaks about something ugly and horrible like the Racist Right Reverend Jeremiah Wright in the candidate's background. Enter the super delegates to make sure the charlatan doesn't lead their party to defeat in November...not that I'm rooting for Hillary, mind you. Just sayin'.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
04/29/2008 16:06 Comments ||
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#13
Blacks are, for the most part; a loving, forgiving people, there will be no riots at the convention; those are mechanics Rush Limbaugh wishes to implement to shoe the Rebublican in. Blacks will listen intently to Obama's support and/or endorsement of Queen Hillary and most likely fall in lockstep with the Clinton resurgence! My contacts suggest some blacks will however quietly support Clinton, but pull the lever for McCain in the fall in revenge.
#14
uh huh....no justice, no peace!kill the white interloper!
Barack Obama made a call for nonviolence in the aftermath of the Sean Bell verdict - infuriating the Rev. Al Sharpton, who accused the presidential candidate of trying to "grandstand in front of white people," sources told The Post.
During what a source described as a "heated" phone call yesterday, Sharpton told Obama he was disappointed with the Illinois senator's words on Friday, when Obama said "resorting to violence to express displeasure" was "completely unacceptable and counterproductive."
"[Obama] issues this statement and not a single rock had been thrown," said a source. "How does the candidate of change ask people to accept a verdict that is unjust?"
The source said Sharpton had hoped Obama would "side with the Bell family" and not use it as an "opportunity to grandstand in front of white people."
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/29/2008 16:40 Comments ||
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#15
Blacks are, for the most part; a loving, forgiving people, there will be no riots
#18
Dang, I bet he could sure use some really sleazy muck slinging tactics.
Anyone have his cell number?
Boy ole Hillary pulled another dirty trick out of the bag. Boy Howdy, just about the time you think her play book is on the last page, something crawls out from under a rock to help her.
Some one pass the popcorn
Posted by: James Carville ||
04/29/2008 23:06 Comments ||
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#2
Attacks on him are really attacks on the black church, the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr. said in a speech to the National Press Club
So who died and made him Pope of the "Black Church" in the US?
One thing you've got to admire about ex-Muslims like Wright and Obama is how cheeky the bastards are.They have no compunction about self-aggrandizing them selfs.
#3
Hmmm...Ironically, this New York Times piece I find to be refreshingly unlike all the other pieces about this subject. This one makes the good Reverend look like a budding saint.
Posted by: Bobby ||
04/29/2008 12:45 Comments ||
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#4
Say hello to the new AA moral authority.
Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton just got demoted.
You can tell Rev Wright "retired" only in the sense that an elected Washington insider retires, only to show up on the board of Directors of a lobby shop on K St.
#5
Well if it is a BLACK church and not God's church then it deserves all the criticism that can be splattered on it.
And in the case of "Reverend" Wrigh, he is more about antagonism, race hate, black bigotry and politics than he is about the Gospel of love and forgiveness that Christ left us.
So yeah, we ARE attacking the BLACK Church because its not a CHRISTIAN church as you claim it to be.
#6
Perhaps your on to something OldSpook, when Christ returns, maybe he WILL descend upon the 'White' churches first. If I were Obama, I'd renounce the 'Black Church' and seek out the comfort of the Methodists, or Presbyterians, he just might get saved!
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/29/2008 17:14 Comments ||
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#8
Frank G, I'm sure you would have advised OldSpook to rephrase his statement to: "...So yeah, we ARE attacking Rev. Wright because he's not the Black Church as you claim it to be."! Right...RRRRight!
The tight race between Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama has their campaigns looking even in the most-Republican corners of Indiana for votes in the days leading up to the state's primary next week.
Former president Bill Clinton traveled Monday to the GOP stronghold of Carmel a day after visiting other Indiana communities that rarely favor Democrats. The Obama campaign is scouring similar territory for votes. Carmel High School students filled most of the seats in the school's gym to hear from Bill Clinton, with a few hundred members of the public joining them in the northern Indianapolis suburb.
The visit thrilled ardent Democrats from Hamilton County, which is the state's most affluent and fastest growing. "Believe me, we're lone wolves," Clinton supporter Sue Ann Blessing said. "Maybe there'll be some closet Democrats come out the woodwork with this primary election."
Posted by: Fred ||
04/29/2008 00:00 ||
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Congressional Democrats and the White House are on a collision course over an ambitious proposal drafted to address the spreading mortgage crisis. The Bush administration calls the bill a "bailout," saying it "strongly opposes" the legislation sponsored by House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank, a Massachusetts Democrat, intended to make it easier for homeowners to refinance their loans and stay in their homes.
The committee, which estimates that the program could help 1.5 million homeowners who are having difficulty paying their mortgages, is expected to approve Frank's bill next week.
Frank says the millions of individuals who might face foreclosure because of the expanding credit crisis deserve help, even if they made a mistake by borrowing beyond their means. "There are people who made loans that should not have been made; there are some people that were wrong to take the loans out, some wrong to make the loans. If nothing happens and all those loans go under foreclosure, the economy suffers," he said.
The bill would not authorize the government to loan taxpayers' money directly to homeowners. Instead, it would authorize the Federal Housing Administration to guarantee up to $300 billion in new mortgages offered by government-approved private lenders. The new mortgages could at most equal 90 percent of a home's current value. Only homeowners who have a mortgage-debt-to-income ratio of 35 percent or higher and who entered into a mortgage before January would qualify for the program.
For a homeowner to get a new FHA-backed loan, the holder of the current mortgage would have to accept a loss and take a payment totaling no more than 85 percent of the home's value.
The government would also get a share of profits if the homeowner sold the house in the future and would have to pay the lenders only if homeowners defaulted on FHA-backed mortgages. The Financial Services committee estimates that 1 to 2 percent of the new loans would default, costing the government between $3 billion and $6 billion.
The administration touted existing FHA programs, including the FHASecure plan the president announced in August, calling them "simpler and more targeted" ways to help homeowners who are behind in their mortgage payments. The administration says the FHASecure program will help half a million homeowners by the end of the year.
Some congressional Republicans also oppose Frank's proposal, saying it essentially forces one neighbor to pay for the mistakes of another. "You're telling the guy who did it right that he has to help pay for the guy who did it wrong," said Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas. "When people are struggling to pay for their mortgages, they shouldn't be forced to pay for their neighbors' mortgage.
"I think about 95 percent of America is either renting a home, they own their home outright, or they're current on their mortgage," he said. "So 95 percent of America who's doing it right is asked to help bail out 5 percent of America who probably wasn't doing it right."
Hensarling also said Frank's bill amounted to a bailout of the large banks that made the ill-advised loans in the first place. "You can not bail out borrowers without bailing out lenders," he said. "This is a massive Wall Street bailout bill."
#2
I'm a conservative with libertarian leanings, but this type issue brings out some populist too.
1) People that borrowed more than they should have shouldn't be bailed out.
2) People that used all the marketing bait and switch and fine print to trick people into (1) should be shot.
3) if the whole housing market goes under we're all in trouble.
So how do we get out of this mess? (and yes I realize that congress pushed easier lending policies for years. But, the pols. wagon is so full of sins there's no where to add this one)
I didn't support the bail out of Chrysler back in the day, but that worked out okay. Is this similar on a distributed basis?
The one thing that government COULD do in the future is rather than getting involved in the mechanisms, set standards for transparency so that everyone knows exactly what they're getting into.
Similarly, I've seen estimates that we could save billions on healthcare by merely rationalizing and standardizing the paperwork. Maybe an exaggeration but I know that that kind of standardization can dramatically improve a process.
So, how do you implement 1) & 2) without realizing 3)?
#3
There IS a simple solution to the housing mess, simply have the Government DEMAND (With prison terms as needed) that all variable mortgages be "Reset' to the original, Pre-raising interest that the homeowners first agreed on, converted to a "Fixed-at-that-rate Mortgage", and make variable rate mortgages illegal..
Then the sufferers would be the thieves who pushed these Variables in he first place, not the homeowners told "Don't worry about it, it's not going to raise, it's just a precaution".
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
04/29/2008 23:46 Comments ||
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(Xinhuanet) -- Microsoft Corp. denied the recent incident, in which more than half a million websites were hacked, was caused by vulnerabilities in its Web and SQL Server software, according to U.S. media reports Monday.
Bill Sisk, a communications manager at Microsoft's Security Response Center, said in the group's blog, "Our investigation has shown that there are no new or unknown vulnerabilities being exploited. This wave is not a result of a vulnerability in Internet Information Services or Microsoft SQL Server."
Sisk's statement is response to the speculations that attacks were related to vulnerabilities in the company's Web and SQL Server software.
Earlier last week, more than 500,000 websites, including several hosted by the United Nations and the UK government, were hacked and modified in order to download malware (malicious software) to visitors' computers, according to Finnish anti-virus maker F-Secure, which caused numerous governmental and commercial Web pages were shut down. Security researchers said those websites were hacked by SQL injection attacks.
All it takes for a user's computer to become infected is a visit to a compromised site. While viewing that site, the injected Javascript loads a file named 1,js. The file is located on a malicious server, which then attempts to execute eight different exploits targeting Microsoft applications.
Sisk urged Web site developers to follow Microsoft's guidelines to protect their domains from SQL injection attacks.
A solution to this problem is to use of Firefox instead of Internet Explorer. Firefox features an add-on called "noscript," which doesnt allow Javascript exploits to run automatically when a hacked site is visited.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/29/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Microsoft denies invites mass hack caused by software fault(s)
An Iranian reformist newspaper has been banned by the press watchdog on grounds of taking too long to name a new managing editor, student news agency ISNA reported on Monday. The publication of the Hambastegi newspaper was banned by the press watchdog commission based on Article 14 of the press law, the judiciarys representative on the commission Nasser Seraj said, adding that the article was applied to the newspaper because newspapers were obliged to name a replacement within three months of the death or resignation of their managing editor.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/29/2008 00:00 ||
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Former 1970s radical Sara Jane Olson will not be freed from prison after a Sacramento judge ruled that state corrections officials did not act illegally when they took her back into custody last month following her mistaken early release. waaaahhhhhhh!
Sacramento Superior Court Judge Thomas Cecil wrote that Olson had not proved that her release was the result of anything but a clerical mistake and that she must serve up to two more years in prison in connection with the 1975 murder of a Carmichael woman during a bank robbery. who remains dead
Olson, a former member of the Symbionese Liberation Army, was released from a women's prison in Chowchilla last month after corrections officials miscalculated her parole date. She was free for four days before being taken back into custody minutes before boarding a plane in Los Angeles. Her attorney argued that officials had no authority to arrest her again and acted without due process. apparently, her attorney was ....wrong
Following her release, corrections officials said they had not taken into account the time Olson was ordered to serve for her role in the 1975 killing of Myrna Lee Opsahl, a 42-year-old mother of four gunned down in the lobby of the Crocker National Bank.
Olson, who went by the name Kathleen Soliah with the SLA, pleaded guilty in 2001 to attempting to bomb Los Angeles police cars, and to second-degree murder in connection with Opsahl's death. in a plea bargain. Bitch should be in for life
"Finally, Kathleen Soliah will serve at least one year for the murder of my mom," Opsahl's son, Jon Opsahl, told The Bee Tuesday. "I'm just glad the judge ruled the way he did."
Olson could be freed as early as next March for good behavior, corrections officials said when she was rearrested. I'd be looking for a way to extend her stay, costs be damned, just like her soul
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/29/2008 18:01 ||
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#1
You're right, she should have been "in for life." However, her "lifespan" should only have been for long enough to prepare the gas chamber for her. She took the life of an innocent person, she deserves to forfeit her own.
#3
I'll give the state a buck twenty-five to buy a nice lightfield 12ga sabot slug to put through her grape. Heck, they can even borrow my slug gun to do it with.
Posted by: Snash Oppressor of the Mohammatans aka Broadhead6 ||
04/29/2008 22:00 Comments ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
WILMINGTON, N.C.--Barack Obama this afternoon asked voters to judge him by his own words and deeds rather than his past associations, as his controversial former spiritual mentor re-emerged in the presidential campaign through a broadcast interview and series of speeches by the Rev. Jeremiah Wright over the weekend and today.
(Xinhua) -- U.S. Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Obama's lead in the national poll has shrunk to zero after his rival, Hillary Rodham Clinton, won the Pennsylvania primary on April 22, said a poll released on Monday. According to the Gallup poll conducted on April 24 to 26, Illinois Senator Obama and New York Senator Clinton are now dead even at 47 percent among 1,240 Democratic and Democratic-leaning voters.
The tight race between Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama has their campaigns looking even in the most-Republican corners of Indiana for votes in the days leading up to the state's primary next week.
Congressional Democrats and the White House are on a collision course over an ambitious proposal drafted to address the spreading mortgage crisis. The Bush administration calls the bill a "bailout," saying it "strongly opposes" the legislation sponsored by House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank, a Massachusetts Democrat, intended to make it easier for homeowners to refinance their loans and stay in their homes.
(Xinhuanet) -- Microsoft Corp. denied the recent incident, in which more than half a million websites were hacked, was caused by vulnerabilities in its Web and SQL Server software, according to U.S. media reports Monday.
An Iranian reformist newspaper has been banned by the press watchdog on grounds of taking too long to name a new managing editor, student news agency ISNA reported on Monday. The publication of the Hambastegi newspaper was banned by the press watchdog commission based on Article 14 of the press law, the judiciarys representative on the commission Nasser Seraj said, adding that the article was applied to the newspaper because newspapers were obliged to name a replacement within three months of the death or resignation of their managing editor.
Former 1970s radical Sara Jane Olson will not be freed from prison after a Sacramento judge ruled that state corrections officials did not act illegally when they took her back into custody last month following her mistaken early release.
