Obama Newsroom

The problem of Israel/Gaza

It’s great to be back – Happy New Year everyone. 2009.

Tonight, a look at the Israel/Gaza conflict :
First, how did we get here? Matthew Duss, from The Center for American Progress joins us with his take on the politics of this conflict. Matthew holds a master’s degree in Middle East Studies from the University of Washington. Prior to joining the Center, he was a research intern for the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Find his blog posts at Think Progress, The American Prospect and The Guardian.

And later, when is it okay to kill civilians? Ambassador Edward L. Peck is former chief of mission in Iraq and Mauritania and Deputy Director of the White House Task Force on Terrorism for the Reagan administration. He was in the Mideast this past November and joins us with his views on the moral issues involved.

Followed by your calls.
866 – 303 – 2270 IS THE NUMBER TO CALL-IN FOR YOU LISTENERS OUT THERE.

Diberitakan bahwa presiden AS Barrack Obama telah memilih Leon Panneta untuk memimpin badan intelijen AS yaitu CIA.

Panetta adalah mantan kepala staf Gedung Putih era presiden Bill Clinton selama tahun 1994 hingga 1997.

Panetta yang tidak memiliki latar belakang intelijen ini, dipilih Obama untuk membawa kesegaran baru. Pemilihannya diyakini akan membantu Obama meyakinkan para kritikus yang khawatir kepemimpinan dinas intelijen didominasi oleh kalangan militer.

Panetta akan bekerja dibawah kordinasi Dennis Blair. Mantan komandan Angkatan Laut AS di Laut Pasifik tahun 1999 hingga 2002 itu, ditunjuk Obama untuk memimpin Director of National Intelligence (DNI).

DNI adalah badan yang dibentuk oleh Kongres AS tahun 2004 silam, dengan misi utama mematahkan sekat-sekat diantara badan-badan intelijen AS, dan membuatnya beroperasi bersama-sama.

From LifeNews.com:

By Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
January 5, 2009

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — Incoming president Barack Obama today finalized the appointment of a leading pro-abortion lawyer as his top legal counsel. Dawn Johnsen, a former NARAL attorney, will serve as the Assistant Attorney General for the Office of the Legal Counsel in the Obama administration.

Johnsen is a professor at the Indiana University School of Law, but she is also a longtime abortion advocate and worked for one of the leading abortion advocacy groups.

Johnsen was the Legal Director for NARAL from 1988-1993.

After that, she served in the Clinton administration as the Acting Assistant Attorney General heading the Office of Legal Counsel from 1997-1998 and as Deputy Assistant Attorney General from 1993-1996. She also served on the Clinton transition team in 1992.

Wendy Wright, the head of Concerned Women for America, told LifeNews.com that Obama’s selection reveals a lot about his pro-abortion views and that Johnsen should be disqualified because of her work with a leading abortion advocacy group.

“NARAL’s obsession with abortion skews its legal positions, blinding it to the Constitution’s equal protection for all human beings,” she said. “The fact that Ms. Johnsen worked for NARAL is a huge black mark against her judgment and exposes her bias.”

“Americans will not be able to trust that Department of Justice’s legal opinions or Obama’s executive orders comply with the Constitution when the lead person for making that judgment is incapable of treating all human beings with respect,” she added.

“Obama loses credibility each time he appoints another member of the abortion lobby in his administration,” Wright told LifeNews.com.

News of Johnsen’s appointment, which LifeNews.com originally reported in November, was also upsetting to Mike Fichter, the executive director of Indiana Right to Life.

“Obama’s pick is disturbing evidence that the promotion and advancement of abortion on demand will be a high level priority for the incoming administration,” he says.

Other key appointments from Obama have disappointed pro-life advocates.

Obama chose pro-abortion Illinois congressman Rahm Emanuel to be his chief of staff and Emanuel has since been caught up in the pay-to-play scandal involving Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

Obama also selected pro-abortion former Sen. Tom Daschle as his Health Secretary, abortion advocate Eric Holder as attorney general, and a top bioethics advisor is a leading embryonic stem cell research supporter. In addition, Obama is naming pro-abortion Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine to serve as the next chairman of the national Democratic Party.

———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

After talking a whole lot about how he’d work to “drastically reduce the number of abortions” it’s becoming more and more apparent that the President-Elect has no such intentions.  Should we have expected any better from the man who refused to protect born-alive infants who were being left to die by greedy abortion doctors in Illinois?

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TRANSITION - Saying he underestimated the length of an on-going legal investigation of his state administration, New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson on Sunday withdrew his name for consideration as United States Commerce Secretary

The announcement marked the first real test of how President-Elect Barack Obama’s political appointments are taking shape and how they withstand public scrutiny.

According to a Sunday report by The New Mexico Independent, a federal investigation is underway into a California company — CDR Financial Inc. — that “made big contributions to political action committees (created) by Bill Richardson.”

The governor denies any impropriety by his administration but would not comment on any details or whether he has retained legal services when asked during a news conference today.

In other Obama transition news, past Clinton chief of staff Leon Panetta has been named the nation’s new CIA director.

Critics question whether Panetta has the intelligence experience to serve in such a high profile position.

• AP: NM gov. backed down over pay-to-play probe
• THE NEW MEXICO INDEPENDENT: What Richardson won’t say reveals more than what he does say
• THE CABLE: Foreign Policy - 00-Huh? Previous intel officials react to Panetta CIA pick

* Note: Click on the comments link under the article headline to share a thought or read other’s comments. All comments posted are moderated for security purposes. Once your comment has been approved by the Editor it will appear on this post for others to read.

Earlier I posted about the reports of the phishing attacks against Twitter. Apparently high profile accounts i.e Obama, Britney where hacked. The good side is that the Hackers have a sense of humor, the bad thing is that they have been fixed. 

It looks like the vector of attack here some tools that where used by support, to help users change their email. I guess that the hacker was able to change the email of the accounts, change the password and login. Makes me wonder if somebody in the support team had something to do with this?

I guess they should go back and but a BETA tag like most Web2.0 sites, at least that is a good excuse (Gmail is still BETA).

Image source ReadWriteWeb

Judicial watch was able to obtain documents through the freedom of information act having to do with Obama and Blagojevich.  Remember Obama telling the people of the U.S. that he or none of his team had contact with  Blago?

Excerpts of the letter signed by Obama on Dec 3

• “Thank you for meeting with me on Tuesday in Philadelphia. Vice President-elect Joe Biden and I were pleased with the open discussion.”
• “As we discussed, I would appreciate any advice you can provide to me and my team on the biggest roadblocks to states in moving forward in ‘getting ready to go’ projects started quickly.”
• “In addition, I welcome any advice you can provide me and my team on revitalizing and reinvigorating the state-federal partnership. I want to make it a priority of my Administration to work closely with you.”
• “I look forward to working with you and hitting the ground running on January 20th.”

President Elect Barack Obama’s transition to becoming President is really in full gear now. Yes, I know he had named his entire Cabinet already, but the real sign of power had to do with travel:  His flight from Chicago to D.C. was on an official Presidential plane.  The New York Times had an interesting piece about the flight.

Aides who boarded the plane in Chicago before Mr. Obama’s motorcade arrived, including David Axelrod, a senior adviser, and Robert Gibbs, the press secretary, were plainly excited at being aboard one of the presidential planes for the first time. Several said the experience drove home the realization that Mr. Obama had won the presidency.

“It’s a little clearer now,” Mr. Gibbs said. “Nice digs.”

The Boeing 757-200, part of the Air Force’s Special Air Mission fleet, bore the distinctive blue and white colors and the words United States of America. But only a plane ferrying the president is designated Air Force One, and, as Mr. Obama and his team repeatedly note, George W. Bush is still the president.

Jackie Calmes went on to describe Obama’s introduction to the crew

On board he met Col. Scott Turner, who will pilot Air Force One when Mr. Obama becomes president, and Reggie Dickson, who will be his chief flight attendant. From Mr. Dickson, he ordered a cheeseburger, fries and water.

And then there are the serious matters like meeting with Pelosi and Reid about the economic recovery plan, finding a new Secretary of Commerce, and naming a new DNC head.

I was not happy to hear that Bill Richardson was being investigated for possible contract irregularities.  I’ve always liked Richardson - I voted for him during the primary.  I have to believe that everything is on the up and up.  But I was happy to hear about my friend, Tim Kaine.  I think Tim will be the right person to take over what Howard Dean started and get to the next stage.  He is no less forceful, but less abrasive.  Now if only Howard can find a new job.  Surgeon General?

As I’m fed up of the embarrassment of watching my beloved Premiership team barely scrape past Blyth Spartans, it is time to blog again. And lo and behold - some fresh Obama news!

Two new events have occurred, of seemingly conflicting imports. Firstly, Barack is convincing congress to approve the economic stimulus that will save America from recession, rescue businesses from the brink of collapse, bring the state of the world in a swift about turn to prosperity and happiness, and surely crown him as the greatest… huh? Oh, the other event. Obama’s commerce nominee has pulled out of government because he is allegedly a cheating scumbag. And you thought things were looking good…

So, Obama’s transition has now been hit by two scandals, and it appears that he is surrounded by scumbags. Are doubts starting to creep in around such a promising appointment?

Surely something must be done to stabilise the economy and halt the advance of the swindlers. And these two helpful articles highlight the importance of one particular demographic in doing so: the middle class. Well, if there’s one subject I know well it’s life as a member of the suburban middle class, so without further ado I present the ten top tips for bolstering the bourgeois’s boldness and curing commerce’s critical condition.

1) Subsidise organic food. That’ll get the smug bastards running to the nearest Waitrose faster than you can say ’swiss chard frittata’.
2) Run an intensive propaganda campaign to put the image of a hybrid car on every billboard. They’ll be so full of middle-class guilt that everyone will buy at least 10 Priuses, negating the need for an automobile industry bailout.
3) Have the middle classes’ messiah, Nigella, endorse investment in long-term capital management.
4) Two words: iPhone tax.
5) That’s enough stereotyping. Don’t you think it’s part of the problem? Once you start stereotyping all types of people, you become something horrible. And, for me, this landmark in sociological progress represents a rejection of old-fashioned conservative values and stereotypes. If we won’t stop collectively ripping on the working class or whatever demographic happens to draw the short straw this week, there is little chance for the progress that we hope for from Obama’s presidency. Unification - not division - should be a theme of the next eight years. So, as I was saying, we should disband all current governments and immediately form a socialist arch-society… what? Oh yes, progress of democracy and all that.

Whoops, it’s after midnight and my datestamps will get mixed up. Oh well, it might encourage me to post something a mite less insane.

Also, a post script to the entry of two days ago: Franken is looking pretty likely to win now. Hurrah!

Talked with my mom and dad on the way home from work today and they informed me that they have received word that they do in fact have tickets to The Chosen One’s Inauguration Ceremony, and not only that, they get their choice of tickets to any ball they wish to attend.  I told my mom that dad is going to have to buy a pair of shoes other than his tennis shoes (or slippers).  Since he retired he refuses to dress up for anything and I think he’s thrown out all of his suits and dress shoes.

My dad worked hard for the President Elect, once driving his Cadillac nearly 200 miles in six degree weather with no heater and the rear window of the convertible top open because it was too cold to zip up.  He was also the first person in the country handing out Obama for President buttons at the Senators swearing in ceremony back in 2004.  It is still hard to imagine that a Goldwater Republican such as my father has changed so much that he is not only a Obama supporter, but is actually a friend of a sitting President who is a Democrat.  You can read more about my dad’s journey these last five years at his blog.

My dad and President Elect Obama in front of the Obamalac in Fairfield, Iowa

If you watch the daily news or read the newspaper headlines, we continue to see the latest statistics say “worst since the great depression”.  Since most Americans have no concept of the Great Depression, it is easy to scare everyone. But have we gone too far, scared the population into not spending and employers to close their businesses because of a gloomy forecast?

Most people think that the Stock Crash of 1929 is what caused the Great depression and staggering unemployment of over 20% for many years. But economists that have studied the numbers of the depression have discovered that it was really higher taxes (tariffs) that caused the many years of depression.

Columnist Tomas Sowell points out the root causes of the great depression and the years of job loss.  For nearly three consecutive years, beginning in February 1932, the unemployment rate never fell below 20 percent for any month before January 1935, when it fell to 19.3 percent, according to the Vedder and Gallaway statistics.

 SEE  http://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/sowell122308.php3

Basically, it was not the financial crisis after the Stock market crash, but the “solutions” that POLITICIANS put into force that caused the Great Depression. The question now is —  will history repeat itself.

We hear on the news “The FAILED BUSH POLICIES” caused everything!

What policies, Bush had no policies. It was the Greed of everyone from homeowners to mortgage bankers to hedge funds that caused the problem. We have enough regulations —-  we just never have Government employees or regulators that DO THEIR JOBS and regulate.

The Great Depression had its fill of IVY LEAGUE experts that tried to fix things, just like Obama has filled his economic staff. Will Congress use this time to create GIGANTIC pork programs, bail out their friends in State and Local government (under the label of Infrastucture improvements)?  Already Congress is fighting over spending up to another TRILLION dollars?

Pray for us!

LewRockwell.com - “Israel’s ‘Fait Accompli’ in Gaza”  by Eric Margolis - 5 Jan 09:

There are two completely different versions of what is currently happening in Gaza.

In the Israeli and North American press version, Hamas – “Islamic terrorists” backed by Iran – have in an unprovoked attack fired deadly rockets on innocent Israel with the intent of destroying the Jewish state.

North American politicians and the media say Israel “has the right to defend itself.”

True enough. No Israeli government can tolerate rockets hitting its towns, even though the casualty totals have been less than the car crash fatalities registered during a single holiday weekend on Israel’s roads.

The firing of the feeble, homemade al-Qassam rockets by Palestinians is both useless and counterproductive.

It damages their image as an oppressed people and gives right-wing Israeli extremists a perfect reason to launch more attacks on the Arabs and refuse to discuss peace.

Israel’s supporters insist it has the absolute right to drop hundreds of tons of bombs on “Hamas targets” inside the 360 sq km Gaza Strip to “take out the terrorists.”

Civilians suffer, says Israel, because the cowardly Hamas hide among them.

Actually, it is more like shooting fish in a barrel.… [read the full article]

Well Obama has decided to forgo raising taxes at least until the economic downturn is over.  Before and even after he won, he repeatedly said that taxes would be raised on businesses and incomes over $250,000.  The 250,000 number was a moving target, but for now we will say 250.  Now I guess he has decided to listen to his supply side economic advisor who advised against raising taxes during a recession.  This is good news, but before you get too excited Obama plans to let the Bush tax cuts expire in 2010.   In 2010, all of our taxes will go up except for the middle class and lower income individuals.  The problem is the middle class hasn’t been defined.  We’ll find that out in 2010 I guess.

More importantly, conservatives are also making progress on significantly changing the actual content of the stimulus bill. Tacitly accepting a core conservative belief, Obama’s team has dropped any plans to raise taxes because the plan is “focused on measures that create jobs.”  -This is from the Heritage Foundation Morning Bell for 1/5/08

You may or may not have heard, but P.E. BAM’s two daughters attended their first day of school today. It was all over the news. We heard the name of the school, saw a video of what the building looked like, heard details of the organic lunch that is offered to the students, and also heard how the school is specially equipped to deal with special cases like Obama’s daughters. You see, between their father being elected and them starting a new school in the middle of the year, it must be hard on them.

As I was listening to this, I couldn’t help but wonder how much harder it is for them WITH VIDEO CAMERAS BROADCASTING THEIR FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL AND SHOWING THE WORLD WHAT THEIR SCHOOL LOOKS LIKE AND WHERE IT IS.

The press corps is getting dangerously close to treating Obama the same way the paparazzi treats Brittney Spears. Remember all the recent news stories aboot how Obama was playing golf (while a war was going on), or how he finished a work out and ordered a sandwich - ham with a slice of melted cheese and a little bit of mustard?

There was even a pool report on how he showed up to the gym one day wearing a new hat. I sware to God, that is EXACTLY what my friends and I use to make fun of the paparazzi with Brittney (about how war raging in the  Middle East, but our top  story today is Brittney got a  new hat).

Don’t get the wrong idea, this isn’t a knock on Obama. He’s my president and has nothing but my utmost respect accordingly, and I’m sure as a father he wasn’t happy with this morning’s coverage either. Granted by the end of the day they were talking aboot how Obama met with congressional leaders aboot his stimulus plan, and maybe once he gets sworn in they’ll start focusing on things like, you know, important issues and stuff.

If not and instead we get news reports on what he’s wearing…just think aboot how well that coverage has worked out for Brittney.

And as I post this I can hear Brian Williams from NBC News (he’s like a serious journalist or something) with a special report of the first day of school.

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Obama’s Stimulus Plan

Today, President-elect Obama is moving forward with what he has billed as his top priority: an economic stimulus package called the “American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan.” He is scheduled to meet with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), and possibly the Republican leaders in both chambers. In his weekend radio address, Obama said that his goal is to put together a plan that “not only creates jobs in the short-term but spurs economic growth and competitiveness in the long-term.” The package will focus on providing assistance to low- and middle-income Americans, strengthening the nation’s infrastructure, and investing in states that are struggling with falling revenues, with the goal of creating or preserving at least 3 million jobs over the next two years. Underscoring the urgency of addressing the nation’s faltering economy, Pelosi has said that her goal is to pass a bill that is ready to be signed by Obama once he takes office on Jan. 20. However, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) has cast doubt on such an expedited timeline, and many conservatives are already indicating that they plan to block this progress. Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs conceded that the stimulus package is “unlikely” to be ready by the inauguration.



MIDDLE-CLASS ASSISTANCE: Over the weekend, Obama officials announced that they would like Congress to direct 40 percent of the stimulus bill toward tax breaks aimed at businesses and middle-class workers. Most workers would receive a $500 payroll credit, and some businesses would “receive incentives to create jobs and make equipment purchases more affordable.” While these cuts may be able to give the economy a kick-start right away, they are also meant to assuage skeptical conservatives. Congressional Democratic leaders are also considering unemployment benefits and health coverage to assist jobless workers, as economists predict that the U.S. unemployment rate could reach 10 percent by the end of 2009. Obama’s goal of creating 3 million jobs will be spurred by the creation of “green” jobs that would not only begin addressing the country’s energy needs by shifting to clean energy but also contribute to private sector job creation. A Center for American Progress report by Dr. Robert Pollin and University of Massachusetts Political Economy Research Institute economists estimates that by investing $100 billion over two years, the United States could create 2 million jobs, “with a significant proportion in the struggling construction and manufacturing sectors.” 



INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT: Another important part of Obama’s job creation plan is infrastructure investment. When a water main broke in suburban Maryland last month — trapping a dozen commuters in their cars as four feet of freezing cold water surged around them — the public received a startling reminder of the current state of the country’s crumbling infrastructure. The American Society of Civil Engineers estimates that $1.6 trillion is needed over the next five years to repair and restore the nation’s infrastructure.” As NPR has pointed out, “Every $1 billion the federal government commits to roads, bridges and other infrastructure helps to support some 35,000 jobs.” This program should repair existing roads and bridges, not pay to build new highways that would foster sprawl and increase oil consumption. “The usual argument against public works as economic stimulus is that they take too long: by the time you get around to repairing that bridge and upgrading that rail line, the slump is over and the stimulus isn’t needed,” wrote New York Times columnist Paul Krugman in October. “Well, that argument has no force now, since the chances that this slump will be over anytime soon are virtually nil. So let’s get those projects rolling.” Indeed, a November Washington Post-ABC News poll found that almost 70 percent of those surveyed said “they support new federal spending of as much as $700 billion on construction projects and other programs to try to stimulate the economy,” even if it means increasing the size of the deficit.



DIRECT AID TO STATES: As CAP has noted, a stimulus package also needs to “help states cope with falling revenues that otherwise force them to lay off workers, cut spending on critical safety-net programs, and shortchange areas of long-term importance such as education, infrastructure investment, and health care.” Several governors have already appealed to the federal government for assistance. “I firmly believe that if it took only two weeks for the federal government to find $700 billion to bail out Wall Street and bank executives,” New York Gov. David Paterson (D) told Congress, “then we ought to be able to find a fraction of that amount to help preserve essential services at the state level.” Health care, in particular, is one of the top costs plaguing the states. Currently, at least 27 states are facing budget gaps and some have already slashed safety-net programs. Medicaid consumes an average 17 percent of state budgets. Media reports indicate that Obama and congressional leaders are pushing for direct aid to states, which may “come in the form of payments that could help meet the growing costs of Medicaid spending.” 



CONSERVATIVE OBSTRUCTION: Despite the urgency after eight years of the Bush administration’s do-nothing attitude, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has said that he and his fellow conservatives are in no rush to provide this important economic relief and plan to put the brakes to attempts to quickly pass a package. “I believe the taxpayers deserve to know a lot more about where it will be spent before we consider passing it,” he said in a statement last week. According to the Washington Post, McConnell has also “called for a weeklong cooling off period between when the bill is drafted and when it is voted on, allowing time to dissect it for signs of ‘fraud and waste.’” Conservatives have the power to filibuster the legislation if they oppose it. (McConnell, however, had no problem quickly passing President Bush’s Wall Street bailout, even though that package had almost no oversight safeguards. In fact, he “led the battle” to pass the bill.) The real risk, according to many economists, is in doing too little. Krugman, for example, has said that he would like to see a “bigger” stimulus package — as high as a trillion dollars. New York University Economics Professor Nouriel Roubini has explained that failure to enact a fiscal stimulus could actually result in wider deficits, which would send the country into a “very severe recession.”

Eric Margolis expounds upon What’s Happening in Gaza

·North American politicians and the media say Israel “has the right to defend itself.”

·Civilians suffer, says Israel, because the cowardly Hamas hide among them.

·While firing rockets at civilians is a crime so, too, is the Israeli blockade of Gaza, which is an egregious violation of international law and the Geneva Conventions.

·Gaza is one of the world’s most-densely populated places, a vast outdoor prison camp filled with desperate people. In the past, they threw stones at their Israeli occupiers; now they launch homemade rockets.

·Israel’s elections are only six weeks away, and Likud was leading until the air raids on Gaza began. Kadima and Labour are now up in the polls.

·Obama inherits this mess in a few weeks. During the elections, Obama bowed to the Israel lobby, offering a new US carte blanche to Israel and even accepting Israel’s permanent monopoly of all of Jerusalem.

·As he concludes forming his cabinet, his Middle East team looks like it may be top-heavy with friends of Israel’s Labour party.

·Obama will take office facing a Middle East up in arms over Gaza and the entire Muslim world blaming the US for the carnage in Gaza.

·Those Americans who still do not understand why their nation was attacked on 9/11 need only look to Gaza, for which the US is now being blamed as much as Israel.

NBC just isn’t interested in someone who is critical of someone inhabiting the Oval Office. That would just be wrong.

I’m not joking.

Okay, so he doesn’t occupy the Oval Office just yet, but criticism of President-Elect Barack Obama is apparently out of the question! After eight years of heavy criticism of George W. Bush, the hypocritical executives of NBC have banned perennial best-seller Ann Coulter for life. Why? Because she dared to be critical of Obama. From this soon-to-be-updated report:

But one network insider claims it was the book’s theme — a brutal examination of liberal bias in the new era — that got executives to dis-invite the controversialist.

“We are just not interested in anyone so highly critical of President-elect Obama, right now,” a TODAY insider reveals. “It’s such a downer. It’s just not the time, and it’s not what our audience wants, either.”

It’s such a downer? It’s not the time? The audience doesn’t want it?

So incessantly reporting only the worst news (Abu Graib, roadside bombs, death toll…) from Iraq isn’t a downer? The years immediately following the worst attack on this nation’s soil, perpetrated by the very Islamic extremist types that we’ve gone after is the “right time” to be heavily critical? The audience isn’t interested in the truth?

Yes, Coulter is polarizing. Yes, she’s opinionated. And she is most definitely highly critical of anyone touting liberalistic views, but she’s also incredibly popular with a certain (evidently large) segment of society. But none of that is the issue, apparently. The issue is that she has the audacity to be critical of President-Elect Obama (I’m saying this with the smarmiest voice possible).

But, folks…she has a point. One of the main complaints filed against Obama in her new book, Guilty: Liberal “Victims” and Their Assault on America, is that Obama is a hypocrite to label is family “off limits” in the presidential election while he has shown in the past to benefit off of personal attacks.

And I’m not even referring to Sarah Palin’s daughter’s out-of-wedlock pregnancy and the barbs that following from the supposedly objective media. I’m speaking of the smashing of Blair Hull, who was defeated for the Illinois Senate seat primarily because of the public embarrassment that resulted after his divorce records were wrongfully unsealed, revealing that their were allegations of Hull threatening his wife (no charges were ever filed). Who pressured Hull to unseal the records? His opponents (one of them, a Barack H. Obama, Mr. “family off-limits” himself).

So evidently NBC has decided that what the country needs is a “positive note” to start off the next four years. This takes place after eight years of derision, slander, and mockery, all said through their vain, smirking expressions.

The fact that they banned Coulter is not a big deal to me; she’s an inflammatory figure (as are Bill Maher, Michael Moore, Alec Baldwin, Rosie O’Donnell, Ariana Huffington…) who is bound to get banned from quite a few places. The problem is that NBC is apparently not going to allow anyone who is intensely critical of Obama to appear on some of their shows after eight years of making Bush-bashing popular.

No media bias? If you truly believe that, then you might want to consider just how deeply your partisanship has become embedded into your brain cells, because it’s apparently taking them over.

http://www.lasvegassun.com/blogs/early-line/2009/jan/05/titus-arrives-dc-obama-reid-meet/

Washington, USA - Ha logrado lo que parecía imposible. Es el primer candidato afroamericano que ha sido elegido presidente de Estados Unidos. Lleva casi dos años de frenética actividad política, desde que lanzara su candidatura en Illinois en febrero de 2007 hasta su próxima entrada en la Casa Blanca, a finales de mes.

Pese a conjugar su trabajo con una vida familiar modélica y una sana afición al baloncesto, hay algo que a Barack Obama se le escapa. En estos meses se ha comprometido, en varias ocasiones, a dejar de fumar pero el vicio del cigarrillo ha sido más potente.

El 7 de diciembre le confesó al periodista Tom Brokaw, de la cadena NBC, que había intentado dejarlo en numerosas ocasiones. “Pero en más de una vez he descarrilado”, dijo. A Brokaw no se le escapó que Obama estaba admitiendo que, a pesar de haber dicho en la campaña que lo había dejado del todo, en realidad el presidente electo seguía fumándose un cigarrillo de vez en cuando.

-Un segundo. Eso significa que no lo ha dejado… -He hecho un gran esfuerzo, dadas las circunstancias, por llevar una vida más sana y no habrá ninguna violación de las normas en la Casa Blanca.

De hecho, la Casa Blanca es un espacio totalmente libre de humos. Si Obama quisiera seguir encendiéndose un cigarrillo de vez en cuando debería salir a uno de sus numerosos balcones o patios, algo no recomendado por el servicio secreto, que vela por la seguridad del presidente y su familia.

El último gran fumador en la Casa Blanca fue el presidente republicano Gerald Ford, que dejó la Casa Blanca en 1977. Es cierto que al demócrata y metodista Bill Clinton le gustaba fumarse un puro de vez en cuando, pero el vicio era más bien ocasional, comparado con los siete cigarrillos diarios que ha llegado a fumar Obama, según él mismo admitió en una reciente entrevista concedida a la revista Men’s Health.

Michelle Malkin’s vaunted list of “investigative online reporting published on conservative blogs” demonstrates, for the umpteenth time, that Michelle Malkin can’t tell the difference between reporters and partisan political operatives. She opens the list reportly enough—Patterico’s posts on William Jefferson, Alex Kozinski and Chuck Philips are, in fact, works of investigative journalism—but after that you have:

1. a hit-piece on Air America
2. a hit-piece on Al Franken
3. an unpublished hit-piece by Larry Grathwohl that Confederate Yankee posted because neither knew the New York Times doesn’t print op-ed rebuttals
4. something or other in which someone talks about attending political rallies
5. a hit-piece on Ayers in which one “Zombie” did a Lexis-Nexis search
6. numerous failed hit-pieces by Charles Johnson—representative—about trolls on Obama’s community blogs
7. a hit-piece on Jeremiah Wright
8. a hit-piece on Obama Jr. via Obama Sr.
9. numerous hit-pieces by Stanley Kurtz—representative—on Obama
10. numerous hit-pieces on Obama for his “abortion extremism” in which his public voting record and campaign statements were “reported on”
11. some “top notch investigative work” that links to back to Malkin’s post
12. some video hit-pieces on YouTube that rebroadcast Obama’s never-before-heard and never-anywhere-seen statements about “redistributing wealth”
13. a Google search for Ed Morrissey at Hot Air that “brought down [Canada's] liberal government in 2005
14. a whole slew of hit-pieces written by Malkin herself which I won’t bother to link to

My point?

Doing a Lexis-Nexis search is not investigative reporting.

Reprinting material from social networking sites is not investigative reporting.

Rebroadcasting clips that every network—including Foxnews—had in heavy rotation for weeks on end is not investigative reporting.

Attacking people with whom a Presidential candidate had some contact is not investigative reporting.

While it’s possible for partisan hacks like Malkin to do investigative reporting, little of what she presents as investigative reporting is investigative reporting.  The majority of her links are to undisguised attacks by unpaid political operatives, and—say it with me now—an undisguised attack by an unpaid political operative is not investigative reporting.

(via Young Matthew.)