You've got to play both videos at the same time, and then watch the top one, to get the full effect. Think of it as a 2008 version of Simon and Garfunkel's "Silent Night" with Cronkite reading the evening news in the background.

It's just incredible that MSNBC still puts Pat Buchanan on the air. About an hour ago on Hardball he said:

What were the African-American community in Philadelphia that gave him 90% voting on if not the fact that Barack Obama was one of them. West Virginia, Hillary, was one of us. That's the same thing. But West Virginia gets trashed, and Philadelphia is wonderful.

And:

If Barack Obama were not an African American he would have been beaten by John Edwards. He would not be the nominee. It is far more of a positive for him, not only in the African-American community, but with the Chris Matthews' of the world and in the liberal suburbs far more than it is a negative. (Edit: I inadvertantly omitted a couple of words in the initial transcript, "by" and "for".)

Has anyone noticed that Chris "Tweety" Matthews has co-opted Pat Buchannon's "wind in the eyes look?".  It has always been the first thing I notice whenever Pat is introduced on-screen and now Tweety has picked it up.  Let's hope he doesn't also co-opt Pat's genetic bigotry!  

This is off the subject, but I attended my first Obama Rally in Charleston, WV. today and got the chance to shake his hand.  The excitement was infectious and we are working hard to keep Hillary's winning percentage from exceeding 30-40 overall.  As a life-long West Virginian, I can tell you on good authority, with the demographics of this state, anything Obama can do beyond 15-30 percent is a win!

Stay tuned!

I just heard Tim Russert giving a very intelligent analysis of how tonight's events will change the conversations the Clinton camp will be having with the superD's starting tomorrow.

His main point was that since there no longer appears to be a realistic path to the nomination, there will be stark suspicion that the only reason she is staying in is to try to destroy Obama.

And Keith is talking about how the discussion of the gas tax was good for O b/c it took the focus off Rev Wright, and a few minutes ago I heard wild cheers as a re-energized Obama told the American people he trusts them to be smart, and just now Tom Brokaw told an anecdote suggesting maybe people are living up to that trust.  And I read that even Joe Scabborough says it seems to be over for Hillary.  And OH! MY! GOD! now even Pat Buchanan is talking like she has no case for staying in the race.

I am very afraid.

white suburban women with hammer toes, Albanian gas station attendants and Rosicrucians!

Polling released 20 minutes ago suggests that questions regarding the Senator's relationship with his long time dentist, an outspoken advocate of Relaxation Sedation, have cost the candidate valuable votes in Indiana and, notably, Guam.

The Wright Backlash is Coming, but not in the way people were expecting.

I say this not to scare or alarm White America (since we all know White America is the "important" America, the America that "matters" at least according to the MSM), but because it is the simple truth. Through the corporate media’s demonization of Jeremiah Wright and subsequently the Black Church, Black America (and those who stand with Black America) are getting to the point where we say "I’m mad as hell, and I’m not going to take it anymore!"

~*~*~*~Jump~*~*~*~

Start here.

Trinity United Church Of Christ
info@tucc.org

This list ncludes some media contact information, because I've been hearing some want to let it be known how they feel about how the media has handled this issue. It is far from complete, of course. More a sample of what is out there.

The biggest offense in the Wright tapes - when played in longer segments than Fox or ABC (which supposedly played it before Fox or CNN) or any other outlet has played them - is no one has captured the sentiment around the words beyond the Noise Level. Wright is talking to a community that feels like America has left them behind - economically, politically, socially, demographically. As Jimmy Boegle put it, "Why do you think it's impossible to love your country, yet still be ashamed of it?" Which a poster on Reddit added "I remember Trent Lott saying something like "It's possible to support troops while opposing the president." Which are variations of exactly what Wright was saying in the 'God Damn America' speech. Using the quote of a Reagan appointee.

I am as mad as hell and I am not going to take it anymore.  
Network 1976.

After watching at least 30 minutes of Obama bashing on MSNBC's Race to the White House show on Thursday night I decided to put my anger to work.   The show regularly includes guests Rachel Maddow (the lone voice of reason), John Harwood, and two right wingers, Pat Buchanan and Joe Scarborough. The two right wing boys tend to outshout the other guests and either David Gregory is unable or unwilling to turn their mics off.

It would have been helpful to the American people if the pundits in punditry land had put W. and Cheney, the two most incompetent, corrupt and morally bankrupted President and Vice President in recent history, under the same microscopic scrutiny when they were running for office and later after two elections.  

Is it just me, or is the news media really, really off their nuts this week? Is it just me, or doesn't the stuff being spewed by Pat Buchanan, Joe Scarborough, Chris Matthews and the rest of them about the PA Democratic primary result really simply miss the point?

It was, specifically, Pat Buchanan who shot the steam out of my ears and sensitized me to hearing the meme from the rest of them.

He was acting as if this was the general election, and Obama had lost.

He ignored the fact, clear as the nose on his own face, that THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY, which, yes, ran two candidates in its primary, HAD WON. It was, gasp, gasp, a Democratic party primary. All these people voting were registered DEMOCRATS!

Is it rational to think that Republicans, creators of a failed economy, a dead dollar, and a never-ending war, will really steal away so many of those Democratic voters, come November?

Below the fold I rant some more.

After he dismissed charges yesterday that John McCain has a temper, Chris Matthews today had no problems with Pat Buchanan implying that Obama was an elitist.

Pat Buchanan says that Barack Obama's problem is that HE IS University of Chicago and that in fact he is "Faculty Lounge". Chris Matthews just laughs and says he thinks "that is the problem". So apparently it's OK to consistently imply character flaws with Democrats but its not OK to suggest that someone who got in an actual fight has a temper?

Maybe I'm overreacting. But if I didn't know any better it seems like the candidate getting the free pass isn't Obama, it's McCain.

First, I'd like to give you a bonus quiz, for those who didn't watch MSNBC last night.  Pat Buchanan and Rachel Maddow were having a little back-and forth over what Obama/Hillary means in terms of Obama's chances versus McCain in November.  Maddow said:

There is no connection between the inability to beat Hillary Clinton and whether or not you can beat John McCain... two totally different kinds of elections.

How did Buchanan respond?  Answer at the end.

Let's take a look at where we sit today.  It looks like Clinton netted about 10 delegates last night, 84-74 though this could move a couple as the results finalize.  I'm using DemConWatch for all my numbers here.

This takes the pledged delegate count to 1490-1337.  Committed superdelegates sit at 231-255.  This leaves 307 superdelegates outstanding, of which 62 are add-ons.

... I've only heard discussed by  Keith, Rachel & Pat Buchanan ...., but why are so few people outraged that during the debate Hillary said that she would immediately destroy Iran or any other country that attacks Israel. I thought that Congress was suppose to decide which countries to destroy! Does Hillary have the desire to become an imperial president?

A political website called Third Party Watch has "An Open Letter to American Conservatives" from Libertarian presidential candidate George Phillies, who wants reactionary wingnuts to support his campaign to keep Bob Barr from winning the Libertarian Party nomination:

You can rest easy.  Political pundit and former presidential candidate Pat Buchanan predicted on Sunday that there is a "Fifty-fifty chance of U.S. air strikes on Iran by October."  I just love the all out commitment involved in making a fifty-fifty prediction: there’s a hundred percent chance you’ll be right.  Of course, the very fact that Pat Buchanan mentions something might happen means the odds are that it won’t.  

Memo to political detractors: Get Your Wines Straight.

Honestly. This current flappette over Barack Obama's remarks about small town life (read: Pennsylvania) is backwashing over, wait for it, the San Francisco area. Naturally. Obama made the remarks here two weeks ago and the right-wing (and Clinton campaign, honest-to-god) has had at us "San Francisco Democrats" ever since.

I sent the following letter to the editors of MSNBC this morning. Did anyone else see Pat Buchanan on MSNBC yesterday (4-12) giggling about Barack Obama being shot in the back by a disgruntled PA deer hunter, ha ha?

Letter to the Editors at MSNBC,
I am a very busy person and have better things to do than spending time writing you a letter on a precious Sunday morning. But I saw something on your channel so egregious and sickening yesterday I had to take the time to express my outrage.

I'm spewing my no foam, low fat latte across the computer screen this morning.

Pundits are swarming like hungry sharks, accusing Barack of elitist condescension toward small town America. I'm watching conservative populist Pat Buchanan on MSNBC trumpeting the same crap talking points Hillary Clinton is using in her newly revised stump speech. Does anyone in Hillaryland see ANYTHING WRONG WITH A DEMOCRATIC POLITICIAN cozying up to Pitchfork Pat, for chrissakes???

Small town America has suffered for decades with few answers coming from our leaders in Washington. The Free Trade agreements pushed by the Clinton and Bush Administrations (Hillary may hear "Ka-Ching," but small-town Americans hear Perot's infamous "sucking sound") have accelerated the Heartland's economic decline.

As The Boss sings, "these jobs are going, boys and they ain't coming back..."

Despite our hopes that Pat Buchanan had been summarily dismissed from MSNBC and conjecture that all of our letters and calls had an effect on his continued employment on MSNBC, he was spotted on air tonight.

Alas, he was on Dan Abrams' "Verdict" show tonight. Does anybody know the back story on this and why MSNBC is allowing this vile bigot back on the air?