Now that the media circus has decided to pretend to be real journalist on the eve of the Texas and Ohio primary they're asking a lot of questions about Tony Rezko and Sen. Barack Obama. In January the L.A Times ran a story about Sen. Obama that wasn't very flattering. The story detailed how a few times the senator accidentally pressed the wrong button and voted for or against a number of bills covering a wide range of issues. This part of the article jumped out at me;
Maybe I am making more of this than I should but if he voted against it then why doesn't the Tribune article state so? He "vocally opposed it" because he had just "accidentally" voted for it? In the other bills that the senator "accidentally" voted for he wanted the record to show that he was opposing them vocally. Are the two bills mentioned in these two articles the same?
Did Sen. Barack Obama "accidentally" vote for a measure being pushed by Tony Rezko to repay some favors? Now that the media has gotten a whiff of blood and are circling the Obamas I wonder if someone could investigate if these two bills are one in the same and if they are did Sen. Barack Obama willingly vote for a measure his friend and political patron was pushing.
Yesterday I heard of your plans to endorse Senator Obama over Senator Clinton in the Democratic Primary. While I firmly respect your right to choose one candidate over another I have to say that I am deeply disappointed in your decision. I've always had a deep respect for you and your family because of the issues that you have taken a stand on. Many of the issues and rights you and your family have fought for have positively affected the quality of my life.
You all have always been a friend of the Latino community so it troubles me to see you have decided to support Senator Obama over Senator Clinton. I'm particularly troubled by your decision because of what I saw occur during the Nevada caucus. In Nevada the pro-Obama group, UNITE HERE, ran Spanish radio ads that tried to paint Senator Clinton as disrespectful of the Latino community. Both Senator Clinton and John Edwards called on Senator Obama to renounce the ads and asked they be taken off the air. The radio ads were beyond insensitive-I'd say they were downright racist, but Senator Obama allowed his surrogates to inject racism in Nevada and I can't condone or reward his silence.
Believing you a friend of the Latino community it puzzles me that you'd reward the dangerous and vile sentiments the radio ads could have created among Latinos against Senator Clinton. As a resident of IL I have always felt that I was invisible to Senator Obama. I've never experienced any efforts from Senator Obama to reach out to my community until it was too late and seemed to be politically beneficial. Dolores Huerta said in Nevada that during all of her years of being an activist and visiting Chicago she never once met Senator Obama. I expect to be ignored by Republicans but I've never felt such a dismissive attitude towards my issues from a Democrat, like I have from Senator Obama.
I live and vote in IL so I can't threaten you with the loss of my vote like I can a local politician. But greater than my vote you've lost a lot of my respect, I thought you understood my community better and what we needed. In a time of economic uncertainty we need a leader like Senator Clinton to put us back on the right path. Hope and dreams and promises don't pay the bills.
The Obama camp has circulated a memo to try to make it seem like Hillary Clinton has plans to break the promise and campaign for votes in Florida. Of course this lie and smear is based on nothing but the fertile imagination of the Obama camp. Ever the hypocrites the Obama camp has already aired ads in Florida which many think broke the campaign promise the three candidates made.
It is the opinion of this Latino voter that the only reason the Obama camp is going to such lengths is to suppress the Latino vote in Florida. Clearly the objection the Obama camp has to seating the delegates from Florida stems from the win that Latinos gave to Hillary in Nevada and the popularity and support Hillary Clinton has among Latinos. We know the Obama camp is dismissive of Latino voters. We know that surrogates for Senator Obama ran a racist radio ad in Nevada that accused Senator Clinton of not respecting Latinos. When Senator Clinton and John Edwards called on Senator Obama to denounce the racist radio ads and ask for them to be removed Senator Obama remained silent.
When I learned of the racist radio ads playing in Nevada I lost a lot of respect for Senator Obama and he lost my vote. I can't in good conscious vote for someone who time and time again allowed for the race card to be used on his behalf. I find his suppression of the Latino vote in Florida to be par for the course and despicable. If he continues to ignore the rights of Latinos in Florida to have their voices heard and their votes recognized I wouldn't be surprised. But one thing if for certain: when the primary is over and if he is the nominee I may find it very hard to get out of bed and head to the polls on election day. He's made it very obvious that my vote and the vote of my people doesn't matter to him.
Senator Obama likes to speak about his time as a "community organizer" in some very poor areas of Chicago. The title gives him a lot of street cred-who can say anything bad about a community organizer? Community organizers do great things like clean up abandoned lots, make sure police patrol certain areas, try to improve the conditions of local schools and bring much needed services into impoverished areas. Community organizers are also known for battling the inner-city parasites like drug dealers, hookers, gang bangers and slumlords.
A lot has been written about the 20 year friendship between Senator Obama and Tony Rezko. Most reports and investigations have centered around the enormous amount of money the slumlord personally contributed to various campaigns for Senator Obama and the land deal the two of them were involved in.
Lynn Sweet over at the Chicago Sun-Times is one of a few reporters that kept poking at the story while most of the mainstream media has ignored the connection between the Senator and slumlord. During the SC debate we all heard Senator Hillary Clinton smack Senator Obama with the Rezko connection after he mention she sat on the Wal-Mart board. As a resident of Chicago I was happy to hear someone finally publicly shame him for his relationship with Tony Rezko. Unfortunately Senator Hillary Clinton and the media that finally raised an eyebrow have gone about this all wrong, until now.
Mrs Larkins, 51, lives just seven city blocks away, in a district where posters advertise "dirt cheap properties" and "foreclosure advice". She moved there almost a decade ago, taking a subsidised apartment with her 20-year-old daughter and one-year-old grandson in a building that had fallen into neglect when run by Mr Rezko.
The family boiled water on the stove and draped plastic sheeting across the windows in an effort to keep warm during the city's bitter winters, as the heating was not working. Rubbish piled up uncollected and repeated requests for basic repairs were ignored.
"It was a terrible place to live: there were a lot of drug dealers and people fighting and getting shot," Mrs Larkins, a widow who receives invalidity benefit, told The Sunday Telegraph.
Not to take anything away from Lynn Sweet and the journalist who have taken up this story but The Sunday Telegraph has done a slightly better job with this piece. I say that because they've taken a rather boring story of an influence peddler buying off a young politician and have injected humanity into it by interviewing Mrs Larkins. I don't know about Americans outside of Chicago, IL but as a resident of Chicago these stories about our politicians getting caught in these situations don't phase me anymore. What does phase me is the human interest stories of people who's lives are remarkably similar to mine.
The human interest is what someone needs to pick up and trumpet in the Obama Rezko fiasco. How in the world does a Civil Rights attorney/community organizer/State Senator maintain a 20 year friendship with someone and never realize they are a slumlord and cancer on the community he represents? It is unimaginable and really blows my mind- it is like learning that Batman and The Joker are friends from way back and never learn of their respective secret identities.
In the now infamous exchange between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama during the SC debate Senator Obama tried to smear Hillary Clinton with her time on Wal-Mart's board. Most viewers watching though probably didn't laugh as hard as I did at Barack Obama's hypocrisy.
When it became politically expedient Senator Obama had his wife quit the board of TreeHouse Foods back in May. Now, why would Senator Obama make the Mrs. quit a job when they have a mansion to pay off? Could it be because the biggest customer of the IL based company is Wal-Mart stores?
Surely Senator Obama wouldn't be so hypocritical as to cut his ties with a company that has been helping him pay the bills just because their number #1 customer is Wal-Mart. Sadly, it seems that it is indeed the case. You can't go around preaching against how Hillary Clinton's house is dirty when your wife is being paid $51,200 for sitting on the board of TreeHouse Foods, a Wal-Mart supplier.
I guess the Senator thinks that having his wife quit the board of a large Wal-Mart supplier would wash away the Wal-Mart stank. Unfortunately for him he can't so easily erase the memory of us Chicagoans who remember his other Wal-Mart connection.
When Chicago Alderman Dorothy Tillman was caught in a run off election for control of the 3rd ward she was feeling the heat from a young upstart by the name of Pat Dowell. Saying that Dorothy Tillman was a controversial figure in Chicago politics is a bit of an understatement. She's famous for her big fancy hats but she's also known for allegedly carrying a gun (for self-defense) and supposedly brandishing it while on the job. In 2000 she made headlines for requesting that the Palmer House Hilton in Chicago replace white waiters with black waiters for a functions she was having at the hotel. She was also a big supporter of allowing Wal-Mart to enter the Chicago market Pat-Dowell was the candidate who was backed by labor groups and opposed Wal-Mart and Big Box stores not paying a living wage.
At a debate the two candidate were scheduled to appear at Tillman didn't show up, leaving Dowell to debate the issues with a surrogate. “I will be the change agent,” said Dowell said at the debate. Sound familiar? Tillman’s daughter and staffer Ebony Tillman shouted back, “A white man agent!”
Which candidate do you suppose Senator Barack Obama would side with and support? Did Senator Obama endorse the racist candidate that was part of the establishment, supported Wal-Mart and Big Box Stores in the area not paying a living wage? Or did Senator Barack Obama side with the "agent of change" for the 3rd ward that was going to clean up the nepotism and crime that had flourish under Dorothy Tillman?
If you think his current stance on Wal-Mart and his pro-labor views are a core belief he's stuck with since his entrance into politics, you'd be mistaken. Senator Obama sided with the Daley machine, Wal-Mart and endorsed Dorothy Tillman.
In the same article the Clintons are credited with convincing Sam Walton with keeping jobs in America:
"Throughout the 1980s, both Bill and Hillary Clinton nurtured relationships with Walton, a conservative Republican and by far Arkansas' most influential businessman. Among other things, Hillary Clinton sought Walton's help in 1983 for Bill Clinton's so-called Blue Ribbon Commission on Education, a major effort to improve Arkansas' troubled public schools. The overhaul became a centerpiece of Clinton's governorship. And Wal-Mart's Made in America campaign, which for years touted the company's sales of American products in its stores, was launched after Bill Clinton persuaded Walton to help save 200 jobs at an Arkansas shirt manufacturing plant. The Made in America campaign has virtually vanished in recent years, as the company's manufacturing has gradually moved overseas -- another point of criticism by many Wal-Mart critics."
Considering how he didn't mind collecting a paycheck from a Wal-Mart supplier and how he didn't have any qualms with endorsing the Wal-Mart Alderman I find his current position and accusations ridiculous. But that's Barack Obama for you.
One thing I've found interesting in the narrative the media promulgated on who got dirty and personal first in the Democratic Primary is how the Clinton's have come out looking like the heavy. I remember seeing Michelle Obama on television talking to supporters on the south side of Chicago. The reason her speech here stood out in my mind is because of something totally ridiculous and classless that came out of her mouth.
In her speech she said one of the important things about the '08 election was being a role model for families and in the next breath she says that if Hillary can't run her house she can't run the White House. This video clip was uploaded back in August of 2007, do you remember hearing about this like you've heard of Bill supposedly attacking or getting personal with Barack?
Michelle keeping it classy.
I love that Michelle Obama clearly thinks that because a woman has been cheated on that somehow is a sign of something being wrong with her. Because Bill cheated on Hillary that disqualifies her from important jobs. This quick look into the psyche of Michelle Obama is very telling for a couple of reasons.
Like an intellectually bankrupt Republican hack she has to bring up Bill's cheating.
To Michelle Obama a woman's worth is dependent on her husband not cheating.
As a man can't understand her ridiculous leap in logic and can only think that her comment and belief stems from some serious issues of self-loathing and antiquated ideas of a woman's place that even a college degree didn't rid her of. Since she thinks the sins of Bill Clinton reflect on Hillary Clinton maybe Michelle Obama thinks that the sins of a father should reflect on a son too and keep him from reaching the White House.
One of the reasons I've decided to support Senator Hillary Clinton is because Senator Barack Obama has basically dismissed the Latino vote. While Senator Hillary Clinton has the name recognition in our community she's trounced Senator Obama in efforts to shore up key Latino endorsements and created grass-roots efforts to get the Latino vote in Nevada. Nevada also showed me a sign of Senator Obama's team that I found very troubling. Surrogates for the Obama campaign in Nevada placed the race-card and tried to sway the Latino vote with a Spanish radio ad that can only be described as racist.
The ad by the pro-Obama group UNITE HERE:
UNITE HERE Negative Ad (Translation) Hillary Clinton does not respect our people. Hillary Clinton supporters went to court to prevent working people to vote this Saturday — that is an embarrassment.
Hillary Clinton supporters want to prevent people from voting in their workplace on Saturday. This is unforgivable. Hillary Clinton is shameless. Hillary Clinton should not allow her friends to attack our people’s right to vote this Saturday. This is unforgivable; there’s no respect
Sen. Obama is defending our right to vote. Sen. Obama wants our votes. He respects our votes, our community, and our people.
Sen. Obama’s campaign slogan is “Si Se Puede” (“Yes We Can”). Vote for a president that respects us, and that respects our right to vote. Obama for president, “Si Se Puede” (“Yes We Can”).
Paid for by UNITE HERE Campaign Committee
(Spanish language) Hillary Clinton no respeta a nuestra gente los partidarios de Hillary Clinton fueron a corte para evitar que la gente que trabaja pueda votar este sábado, eso es vergonzoso. Los partidarios de Hillary Clinton quieren evitar que la gente que trabaja el sábado pueda votar en sus lugares de empleo. ¡Imperdonable! Hillary Clinton no tiene vergüenza.
Hillary Clinton no debería permitir que sus amigos ataquen el derecho de nuestra gente de votar este sábado. Es imperdonable! No hay respeto el senador Barack Obama esta defendiendo nuestro derecho de votar.
El senador Barack Obama quiere nuestros votos, el respeta nuestros votos, nuestra comunidad y a nuestra gente. El lema de la campaña de Barrack Obama es “sí se puede, si se puede”. Vote por un presidente que nos respeta y respeta nuestro derecho de votar. Obama para presidente. Si se puede.
Pagada por UNITE HERE.
While many bloggers like Politico covered the racist radio ad against Hillary Clinton the news media was rather silent on the subject. Had this been a radio ad by a pro-Hillary group and was targeting Senator Obama with such vitriolic attacks and trying to influence race based votes we would never have heard the end of it. Both John Edwards and Hillary Clinton called on Senator Obama to denounce the ad and ask for it to be removed.
"It’s pathetic and it's sad and it's unfortunate that they have to stoop so low," was the reaction of Dolores Huerta and I couldn't agree more with her. This isn't the politics of hope that Senator Obama preaches about to the cameras this isn't transcending the politics he castigates from the pulpit of the campaign stop. This is the kind of dirty tricks and smears I'd expect from a Republican but not one that I would accept from a Democrat. The ironic thing is that if you watch major media outlets you're given the impression that it is the Clintons playing the race card and trying to divide people, while Sen Obama says nothing while his surrogates play dirty politics.
But this post is about how he's dismissing the Latino vote...
Even the token Latinos that Sen. Obama has tapped to help him reach Latino voters are finding it very frustrating. Congressman Luis V. Gutierrez seems to be twiddling his thumbs looking for something to do while Senator Obama is busy in South Carolina.
“When you are washing dishes and waiting tables and are working these kinds of jobs, you don’t pick up Newsweek and find out the phenomenon about Barack Obama...”
“She’s running a good campaign,” Gutierrez said of the New York senator. “Don’t blame Latinos and blacks with prejudice. There are a lot of other reasons” for Obama’s low Latino support, he said to Politico .
I'm not sure what the Congressman expects from someone who is trying to be so many thing to so many people. When did Senator Obama ever express an interest in Latinos before it became politically necessary to do so? Senator Obama hosted his first Latino themed Town Hall in October of '05. All of the years he was a "community activist" and served as a Senator in Illinois and he has his first Town Hall meeting in '05? Give me a break! I'm thinking the Congressman backed the wrong horse in this race. It wouldn't surprise me if he took this marching order directly from Mayor Daley or if he hopes that one day a President Obama could come back to Chicago and help him dethrone Mayor Daley.
Senator Obama and his people seem to have a really low opinion of Latinos and how we vote. Just read this quote from Steve Hildebrand, an advisor to Senator Obama:
"The Clintons have always put people in a box - they look at everything through racial lines, gender lines, geographic lines; they tend to segment people," said Steve Hildebrand, a senior Obama adviser who spearheaded his Iowa effort. "She goes to Nevada and sits with Latinos in their living room to court their vote - that's not the way Barack approaches people." If the Clintons paint him as the black candidate, no one's going to stop them from doing that. They are playing the same old-style games."
Apparently everyone deserves to be pandered to except for us lowly peasants that make up the Latino Vote. Just to point out how ridiculous and hypocritical the groups of people Senator Obama has surrounded himself with check out "Old-Style Politics," In Pictures. If you follow that link you'll see Senator Obama not pandering to us in our living rooms but in our back yards. During the SC debate Senator Obama smugly said that Latinos had no problem voting for him in IL. I'd like to point out to him that I didn't vote for him because he'd done anything particularly noteworthy but because he was running against Alan Keyes. This Latino voter won't be making the same mistake again.
I'm a Democrat and I'm Latino. Among the three candidates that are currently seeking the nomination of the Democratic party I'm supporting Hillary Clinton. I wish I would have started this blog earlier and added my voice to the process but certain events recently have lead me to finally get fed up and speak up in the Blogosphere in support and defense of my candidate.
