Redstate

You really can't blame Obama for taking the credit of others' work I guess. He's been the Potemkin candidate from the start.

As we already knew, his whole reputation in the Illinois State Senate was manufactured by higherups he now owes a debt to, specifically Illinois State Senate Majority Leader Emil Jones:

Jones had served in the Illinois Legislature for three decades. He represented a district on the Chicago South Side not far from Obama's. He became Obama's kingmaker.

Several months before Obama announced his U.S. Senate bid, Jones called his old friend Cliff Kelley, a former Chicago alderman who now hosts the city's most popular black call-in radio program.

I called Kelley last week, and he recollected the private conversation as follows:

"He said, 'Cliff, I'm gonna make me a U.S. senator.'"

"Oh, you are? Who might that be?"

"Barack Obama."

Jones appointed Obama sponsor of virtually every high-profile piece of legislation, angering many rank-and-file state legislators who had more seniority than Obama and had spent years championing the bills.

"I took all the beatings and insults and endured all the racist comments over the years from nasty Republican committee chairmen," state Senator Rickey Hendon, the original sponsor of landmark racial profiling and videotaped confession legislation yanked away by Jones and given to Obama, complained to me at the time. "Barack didn't have to endure any of it, yet, in the end, he got all the credit.

"I don't consider it bill jacking," Hendon told me. "But no one wants to carry the ball 99 yards all the way to the 1-yard line and then give it to the halfback who gets all the credit and the stats in the record book."

So after having gotten the affirmative action treatment in his home state, he expects to get the same in the US Senate, in order to get lifted to even higher office.

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take credit for their work!

"No compromise with the main purpose, no peace till victory, no pact with unrepentant wrong." - Winston Churchill

By not actually participating in the discussions and negotiation on the legislation, and then by swooping in to take credit, he can have his cake and deny any involvement if it doesn't taste good.

He also like to vote against or for a bill and when called out, he will say that he made a mistake and pushed the wrong button, or pulled the wrong lever. This is something he did back in the state senate. I believe it was the L.A. Times that wrote the article.

What a joke, and a even bigger one that so many see him as the annointed one.

Obamamaniac, "Is it you or should we look for another?"

Obama, "It is I"

The Partisan Report,
www.partisanreport.com

which correctly went down in flames. This long, nasty Democratic primary has been, if anything, informative.

I have Capitol Hill connections, and I can tell you that Obama rarely takes the lead in negotiating any bills, even when he is to be the primary sponsor.

This is a man who has clearly had his eye on the presidency since day one, even if he denied it.

Finally, Russert tried to pin down Obama on his political future.

First, Russert referred to a quote from Obama's predecessor, former Sen. Peter Fitzgerald (R-Ill.), who said he believes Obama will be on the 2008 presidential ticket in some fashion.

"I can't speculate on those kinds of things," Obama said. "I'm not focused on running for higher office."

Then, Russert tried to reconcile a curious comment Obama made to the Tribune late last year, where he left open the window of possibility by saying: "It's not something I anticipate doing."

"I will serve out my full six-year term," Obama said, trying to explain his varying responses. "If you get asked enough, sooner or later you get weary."

So Russert tried one more time.

Obama finally declared: "I will not run for president or vice president."

And that was the conclusion of this round of the Russert test.

People have swooned over him since the moment he spoke on the floor. So what makes you think he would actually have to work on the stuff? If it succeeds in the long run, he can go back to that footage. If it fails, he can go to those Senators and have them say that he didn't do it. And, he gets his own original ideas (I'm assuming there are some) to keep in the quiver.

In politics, you have your word and your friends; go back on either and you're dead. (Rule #11 of the public policy process)

that is willing to take credit for the hard work of others. Isn't that what white people do? Oppress hardworking people and then reap the benefits of their toil?

Certainly this lapse in his character and willingness to take shortcuts is a result of his being raised by white people.

FWIW - I'm channeling the missing Reverend Wright.

M Penny

Part of me is rather disappointed and sad regarding the glow falling from Obama.

As a conservative I could never stomach Obama's socialist, extreme liberal political policies. However, part of me did want to believe that Obama was the real deal. I hoped that Obama was really the candidate who could transcend race and reach across political parties, and those other issues that divide us.

I believe that Obama's rise in the polls brought about a rise in the spirits of the black community. Over the past several months I sensed a happier attitude with co-workers. One African-American friend optimistically pointed out this change. He was explaining the circumstances of an on-going dispute with a government agency. He declined the invitation to get involved by the usual race baiters such as Al Sharpton. His response was this isn't about race. His complaint was about right and wrong. He told me that the race baiting crowd pushed him that the wrongs perpetrated against him were about race. He told me that he stood his ground and was emphatic that race had nothing to do with his problem and again it is about right and wrong. Then there was a visible physical change in him. His chest expanded in pride and he appeared to increase several inches in height. He proudly exclaimed, "times have changed, the United States is going to elect a black man President." He was proud that so many non-black people would be so supportive of a black candidate.

I am disappointed and sad. I want my friend to continue to swell with pride. I want my friend to continue to see problems as issues of right and wrong and not race. I want my friend to understand that a rejection of Obama is not a rejection of black candidates – it is a rejection of liberalism, it is a rejection of the same old failed socialist solutions to society’s problems, and it is a rejection of race baiting hatred.

Previously, I worried that if Obama was elected POTUS that the unavoidable failure of this administration would be blamed on the color of his skin, instead of the worthless, unworkable socialist policies he would pursue. I worried that it would be too easy to blame his certain failure on race.

M Penny