In 2005, rioting between blacks and French police reached a boiling point.  It was when the then interior minister of France, Nicolas Sarkozy adopted a no tolerance policy against the rioting and called the mostly black native youth scum.

So it is official, the U.S. Government got Maliki to back off of his statement for a 16 month troop withdrawal.

But after the Spiegel interview was published and began generating headlines Saturday, officials at the U.S. embassy in Baghdad contacted Maliki's office to express concern and seek clarification on the remarks, according to White House spokesman Scott Stanzel.

Washington Post

The NYT is reporting that all of the big three news network television anchors are going to leave their studios to follow Obama on his trip overseas.

But when Mr. Obama heads for Iraq and other locations overseas this summer, Mr. Williams is planning to catch up with him in person, as are the other two evening news anchors, Charles Gibson of ABC and Katie Couric of CBS, who, like Mr. Williams, are far along in discussions to interview Mr. Obama on successive nights.

Tonight on Larry King, King asked about the VP search and Obama evaded telling of his picks but he did tell of the qualities he is looking for in a potential VP.

Basically his VP will be someone like him and embodies those ideals that he believes his campaign runs on.

and sometimes it just is what it is.

Comedy is a fickle mistress.  Some gags work.  Some go over people's heads.  Some misfire depending on your audience.  Some is so offensive that it angers.  

As the actual cover of this issue of the New Yorker will take the headlines for days, the inside article could be said to be just as controversal if not moreso.

In Ryan Lizza's article entitled Making It, he goes through Barack Obama meteoric rise from an unknown outsider to one of the most powerful men in Illinois.  

A common narrative that has been put out there in media and with right wing (sometimes left wing) spin is that Barack Obama is an unknown entity that cannot be trusted with the White House because nobody knows what he's about.  That he he is a chimera in which no one can know his true motives or true feelings on matters of importance.  The flip flopper meme is one such frame that produces the sterotype of the Unknowable Barack Obama as well as the 'confusion' about his past as well as fear about his charisma as if he wants to become the overlord of the world.

But the fact that people claim that Barack is unknowable is laughable.

In researching the history of elections that had a 'mandate' of the people and its aftermath in actual policy, I came upon an article from Lawrence J. Grossback entitled  Mandate Politics.  This article is a must read as it examines the history of modern mandates from an electoral standpoint as well as it's effects on congress and eventually on law.

Men may speculate as they will--they may talk of patriotism--they may draw a few examples from ancient stories of great achievements performed by its influence; but, whoever builds upon it, as a sufficient basis, for conducting long and bloody War, will find themselves decieved in the end. We must take the passions of Men, as nature has given them, and those principles as a guide...I do not mean to exlude altogether the ieda of patriotism. I know it exists, and I know it had done much in the present contest.  But I will venture to assert that a great and lasting War can never be supported to this principle alone...For a time it may, of itself, push men to action--to bear much--to encounter difficulties; but it will not endure unassisted by interest.

Is that possible?  

I understand the anger, hurt, and sadness at Obama.  I am very willing to hold him accountable and politely remind him of his own promises.  There have been several great diaries on this board that have done exactly that.  That is fine and something we should be doing and we should be making sure that we are being heard by him.

But there is a big difference between constructive criticism and destructive criticism.  

As reported by  Ben Smith.

Tuesday is the night of the final Democratic primaries, and the choice of venue is a mischievous, aggressive way for Obama to unofficially kick off the general election campaign against Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.). The location gives huge meaning to the moment, with Obama likely to frame a tough case against his new opponent in the very hall where McCain will accept his party’s nomination.

"Yes, of course he has the stuff to go all the way," John J. Lindsay replied. "But he’s not going to go all the way. The reason is that somebody is going to shoot him. I know it and you know it. Just as sure as we’re sitting here somebody is going to shoot him. He’s out there now waiting for him And, please God, I don’t think we’ll have a country after it."

In the Vanity Fair in which this quote came from was in describing the lead up to RFK nomination fight in 1968.  The reporters following RFK were amazed by the crowds that had come out to see RFK in Kansas and pondered if he could win the White House.

That was John J. Lindsey's response.  Everyone on the bus agreed with him.

This is going to be a rather controversial post but I feel that it must be said.  If you disagree please make it respectful.  As Obama said, we can disagree without being disagreeable

Exceptional.  Websters Dictionary defines it as:

1. forming an exception : rare <an exceptional number of rainy days>

2. better than average : superior <exceptional skill>

By most political pundits accounts Barack Obama is extremely exceptional.  Even his most ardent critics say that he has rare political gifts that most politicans would give their left arms to have.  Some of his more ardent supporters have even said that he rivals some of the giants of American political history.

At the beginning of his first term as President, Abraham Lincoln faced the biggest challenged that the young nation had ever known.  The dissolving of the Union based on partisian divide, economic discord, and the moral question of slavery.  His first inauguation, where he had to be snuck into the Capital for fear of his own assasination, ended with a plea for reconciliation from those who were breaking away from the Union that had been melded together by the founders.

I am loath to close. We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.

On Friday, John Edwards went on a media blitz to talk about his new anti-proverty program half in ten, which vowed to cut national proverty in half by ten years.  He also established that he does eventually plan to endorse very soon and for the person who he voted for in the NC primary.

Now John Edwards could have easily sat this one out, waited until the end, and then support the eventually nominee which is more than likely going to be the man he voted for: Barack Obama.  

So why would John Edwards say he is going to endorse soon if the election is going to be over at the earliest May 21 and the lastest June 3?  Why would he think at this point that his endorsement would make a difference when most of his voters and supporters have already moved to Obama?

I think that Barack Obama falling off of his pedestal to people could probably be the best thing that happened ever to him in terms of this race.  I say this as one of his biggest supporters and someone who hopes he wins the Presidency.

I thought this most last night in a conversation with my father.  My father is an elderly black man and he has pretty much been a worry wart of this race from the beginning.  He complains about how Obama should have one this place.  How he should have done this.  How he doesn't understand how Obama can't close the deal.

I pointed out to him that most primary contenders don't win every contest or get every vote.  That Barack is going through the process just like everybody else and he's not going to win everyone over.  

Here's the thing.  Obama, as great as he is, is a human being.  He's not going to win every race.  He not going to make most Reagan Dems like him for a variety of reasons.  He isn't going to do everything we like him to.

I was absolutely blown away by Obama's speech in Indianapolis today.  I was blown away because it touched on something I'm sure every American no matter what race, creed, religion, sex, or sexual orientation can pretty much agree on.

What in the hell happened to this country?  

What happened to the opportunities that were available to us once upon a time?  What happened to the dream that it got so mangled up that we don't even expect our politicians to live by the constitution?  What happened to the pursuit of happiness that is one of the founding principles of our country?

To be perfectly honest I'm a little exhausted from Wright mania.  He has his opinion, that is perfect fine and geniune and his right as an American citizen to say whatever he wants.  His commitment is to go tell the truth to power.  That is wonderful.

But I'm not here because of Reverend Wright.  I'm here because of Obama.