Saturday, August 09, 2008

Sunrise in the Tetons


Papa B emails another photo from the road using his Blackberry.

Last look at the Tetons - leaving for Salt Lake City this AM.

Timeline of John Edwards-Rielle Hunter Affair


Nearly a decade before John Edwards found himself ensnared in a controversial affair with Rielle Hunter, he pilloried Bill Clinton's infidelities during the latter's impeachment proceedings.

I think this President has shown a remarkable disrespect for his office, for the moral dimensions of leadership, for his friends, for his wife, for his precious daughter. It is breathtaking to me the level to which that disrespect has risen.

The following timeline hits the high points of the Edwards-Hunter affair.

* 2006: Edwards meets filmmaker Rielle Hunter in New York. His “One America Committee” pays her more than $100,000 to produce four videos about Edwards.

* Dec. 28, 2006: Edwards announces his candidacy for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination.

* Jun. 2007: John Edwards receives a "Father of the Year" award in New York City.

* July 2007: John Edwards publicly renews his wedding vows with his wife Elizabeth. People Magazine features photos of the event in one of their issues.

* Oct. 10, 2007: The National Enquirer reports that Edwards had an affair with Hunter. Edwards responds: “The story is false. It’s completely untrue, ridiculous.” Hunter also denies the allegations.


* Dec. 19, 2007: The National Enquirer reports that Hunter is pregnant and Edwards is the father of the child. An ex-Edwards aide, Andrew Young, 41, claims he is the father of Hunter’s child.

* Jan. 30, 2008: Edwards ends his campaign for the Democratic nomination.


* Feb. 27, 2008: Hunter gives birth to a daughter, Frances Quinn Hunter. No father’s name is given on the birth certificate, filed in California.

* July 22, 2008: The National Enquirer reports that it caught Edwards visiting Hunter and her daughter at the Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles.

* July 23, 2008: At a press conference in Houston, Edwards says “the tabloid trash is full of lies.”


* Aug. 6, 2008: National Enquirer publishes photos that it says are of Edwards with Rielle Hunter and with her baby.

* Aug. 7, 2008: Blogs speculate that Dallas trial lawyer Fred Baron was funding Rielle Hunter for John Edwards.

* Aug. 8, 2008: Edwards admits to having an affair with Hunter. He denies fathering her daughter or making any financial payments.

* Aug. 8, 2008: Fred Baron admits that he funded Hunter and Andrew Young (the former Edwards aide, married with children, who claimed to the father of Hunter's child).

Is the timeline complete? Hardly. Interviewed on Larry King Live (with Wolf Blitzer sitting in for King), Enquirer editor David Perel and reporter Alan Butterfield were adamant about the paternity of the child and that significant revelations had yet to appear.

Perel: ...We received what we thought was a credible tip, Wolf, and we started investigating it... we were able to prove that, indeed, John Edwards had a sexual affair with Rielle Hunter. We first did the story in October without naming her and then we came back with a much tougher story in December 2007, where we not only named her, but we photographed her pregnant.

...We know that Rielle believes that he is the father. And Mr. Edwards today, in his own statement, said he did not take a paternity test. He's now saying that he will take one. We've asked him for months if he would take one and he's ignored that request.

...our sources -- the same sources that led us to uncover this affair -- say that Rielle says she never had a sexual relationship with [Andrew Young]

Blitzer: ...he argues that he had this affair back in 2006. The baby was born just a few weeks ago. He said the affair lasted in 2006, but there was no more affair in 2007. And, as a result, he says he couldn't be the father of this baby.

Butterfield: Right. But why is he -- the question we should all ask him, then, why was he visiting her at 3 in the morning at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on July 21, then if he's not the father? He is the father. I mean at least he believes he's the father... Rielle is telling everyone he's the father and he is -- you know, why isn't there a name on the birth certificate?

Blitzer: And this other Andrew Young, who says he's the father, you don't believe him.

Butterfield: No. Not at all. Andrew Young and his wife, Shari, moved out to the Santa Barbara area with Rielle soon after our December story. I guess they're all living, then, as one big happy family.

Blitzer: What happens, David, if he does take the paternity test and it doesn't match and it shows he is not the father?

Perel: We'll publish that. I've made the offer to him repeatedly: take a paternity test, whatever the results are, we'll publish it. He has refused to do that, as he's been calling this story lies and tabloid trash and lying to the American public. Unfortunately, I think the only reason he came forward and admitted the affair is because we did catch him at the hotel meeting on July 21 and we did publish a photograph this week in the National Enquirer showing him holding the baby.

We can also reveal that in addition to that meeting, he met at the same hotel a month before with Rielle Hunter and the baby, so his actions are what counts. His words have proven not to be credible.

...The thing that counts is the story has proven to be true and there is more to come.

Update: Fausta links to Elizabeth Edwards' public statement on her husband's affair. There's no shortage of sympathy for the situation in which she's been placed. But the media is not the primary source of blame for the destruction of her family's privacy.

Major hat tip: LA Times. Picture credits: Hunter filming Edwards: Chuck Olsen. Linked by: A Blog for All. Thanks!

Friday, August 08, 2008

This scandal has taken a real toll on John Edwards' appearance


You may not have noticed that John Edwards looks a bit different since he admitted having an affair with Rielle Hunter. Look closely:

He's got wrinkles around his eyes now.

He is. The one.


Thanks, Vanderleun. You owe me a freakin' keyboard. And Riehl: you, too.

Every time you think, well, this has got to be the bottom circle of the Obama Nut Roasting Inferno, the ground just falls away below your feet and you know there are miles to fall before you sleep. Today's chapter is the New Obama Salute Movement from some ad agency that wants to get in on the vast branding opportunities implicit in an Obama administration.

"Our goal is to see a crowd of 75,000 people at Obama's nomination speech holding their hands above their heads, fingers laced together in support of a new direction for this country, a renewed hope, and acceptance of responsibility for our future," says Rick Husong, owner of The Loyalty Inc. Husong tells me that he got the idea after seeing the famous Obama-Progress poster by artist Shepherd Fairey. "We wanted to get involved some way," he says.

So, the agency came up with their own a symbol of hope and progress that also plays off Obama's name. "We thought, 'Let's try and start a movement where even while walking down the street, people would hold up the O and you would know that they were for Obama,' " says Husong. Much thought went into the relatively simple idea. "You interlace your hands in a circle, the interlacing being a symbol of different types of people coming together and the circle a symbol of unity," he says. Their design, unlike Fairey's, is free, and Husong is urging people to download it and print it on posters and T-shirts. "We want to see it everywhere, but more importantly we want this sign to take the world by storm." -- One Nation, Under a New Obama Salute - Washington Whispers (US News & World Report)

Junior Cub Reporter Biff Spackle discovered another poster, which is used -- apparently -- by hardcore Obama supporters.


Update: A commenter at Michelle Malkin adds the finishing touch.

That clanking sound you just heard was the Obama gesture joining the faux presidential seal in the dustbin.

You remember Al Qaeda, right?


The Anchoress, who came to kick ass and chew bubblegum.


And she was fresh out of bubblegum.

You remember Al Qaeda, right? Ten years ago this week, they bombed US Embassies in Tanzania and Kenya. Not that we did much about it at the time. But it is worth noting, they haven’t done that to us again, nor have any of these other things, since 9/11. I blame Bush.

You remember Bush, right? The guy who goes to Asia and tells China to free her people, while the press jeers, the guy who, while in Asia also meets with Democracy Activists in Burma and gets ignored for it, the guy who drew enormous and supportive crowds in Korea, while the American press yawned?

Sure, you remember Bush! He’s the guy whose life was threatened along with Barack Obama’s but only the threat to Obama was newsworthy for a very long time at CNN. Bush? You mean the creepy moron who will be charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity as soon as congress can figure out how to do that without exposing itself or having to put some of its own members under oath?

Yeah, that guy! The guy who does more than just talk about freedom and progress. The guy who has brought real hope and change to people all over the world, and yes, here in America. But you don’t want to hear it. It’s the wrong and inconvenient narrative, the embargoed one.

Exclusive photo: John Edwards admits affair


Eh, we've only been reporting this story since December of last year!

You can view the entire series by clicking the photo.

Update: Ace says that the mainstream media has crossed its metaphorical Rubicon. Emphases mine.

Did I say this was the MSM's Waterloo? This was their crossing of the Rubicon? This was their casting of the die?

I think I did.

As has often been said: They're not even trying to hide it anymore.

But in this case, they made the mistake of not-even-trying-to-hide it on a story that the non-news-following public was actually following closely. They knew all about this story. They knew it was true.

And they got to witness, many for the first time ever, what we newshawks see day-in, day-out: The media burying/embargoing/blacking out stories based on personal and political rooting interests.

They do this all the time, of course. But for the first time, a substantial fraction of the pubic actually noticed them doing it, and must have been wondering, "What the fuck exactly is going on here? Why is this story being blacked out by so-called 'news services' which exist, supposedly, to provide me with information?"

This wasn't merely a crime; it was a mistake.

Nicely done, sir.

Beautiful.

We may yet see it carved into the MSM's gravestone. Good riddance.

Michelle: "You're all ignorant, but that's America for you!"


The hits just keep on coming for Michelle Obama:

We don't like being pushed outside of our comfort zones. You know it right here on this campus. You know people sitting at different tables, y'all living in different dorms. I was there. Y'all not talking to each another, taking advantage of the fact that you're in this diverse community because sometimes it's easier to hold onto your own stereotypes and misconceptions, it makes you feel justified in your ignorance. That's America. So the challenge for us is, are we ready for change?

That's America... where we feel justified in our ignorance.

Of course, husband Barack did his best to cheer us up earlier this week. When asked by a seven-year old why he was running for president, Obama's incisive response spurred a wave of renewed patriotism throughout the country.

America, uh, is... is... no longer, uh... what it... it could be, what it once was. And I say to myself: I don't want that future for my children.

Isn't it wonderful we have a candidate -- with a spouse -- who both love their country so very much?

Thursday, August 07, 2008

Rumors run wild: is Fred Baron the wallet for John Edwards' affair?


DBKP thinks Democratic muckety-muck Fred Baron could be the man behind the man behind the love-child, citing the National Enquirer's reporting:

“A super-rich pal – who was closely involved with the campaign finances – is helping John. It’s likely this man doesn’t know all the dirty details of John’s extramarital affair, but is acting out of loyalty and is not asking a lot of questions – only writing the checks,” revealed a source very close to the situation.

How close is Baron to Edwards? In January, CreativeYouth speculated that indictments could be in the cards:

Bundler Fred Baron, a prominent attorney and friend, has provided Edwards with the use of his private private plane, a Raytheon Hawker 800. Does this in-kind donation exceed campaign finance limits?

That would be a convenient way transport a mistress and secret love child from coast to coast (would one be so inclined).

An anonymous commenter at Radar spurred DBKP's speculation by asking: How about Fred Baron, retired millionaire Dallas personal injury lawyer?

Who's Fred Baron? Only one of the most prominent trial lawyers and Democratic fundraisers in the country.

Baron has been an active figure in politics as a prominent fund-raiser for the Democratic Party and fellow trial lawyer, Sen. John Edwards. Baron was the finance chair of Edwards' 2004 presidential campaign before co-chairing the Kerry Victory '04 committee, a joint effort of the Democratic National Committee and the Presidential campaign of John Kerry. Baron gave $1.7 million to the Texas Democratic Trust in the last two years and [was] also heavily involved in Edwards's 2008 presidential campaign, moving to North Carolina to head up fundraising, and lending Edwards his Hawker 800 private jet.

Baron has joked about the prominence he and other trial lawyers have in the Democratic Party. In a July 2002 speech, he noted a Wall Street Journal editorial that said that "the plaintiffs bar is all but running the Senate." Baron pointed to the editorial and said, "Now I really, strongly disagree with that. Particularly the 'all but.'"

Baron is trustee of the Democratic National Committee... lives in the Preston Hollow neighborhood of north Dallas.

Even the progressive blogs took note of Baron:

As it turns out, most of the travel [expenditure] numbers [for the presidential candidates] are for private jet charters -- which makes sense in Obama's and Clinton's cases, since they need to be in DC frequently for their day jobs, but makes a little less sense (fiscally, environmentally) for Edwards, who seems to rent Fred Baron's jet a lot.

Baron made a trial lawyer watchdog site's Rogues Gallery, which states "[the] asbestos personal injury trial lawyer, has given millions in soft money to the national and state Democratic Parties."

Is Baron the money man behind Rielle Hunter, also known as Rielle Jaya James Druck, also known as Lisa Druck?

That much remains uncertain, but with the convention approaching, the Enquirer is certain to continue leaking the story, bit-by-bit.

My over-under date for Edwards to come clean is August 24.

Update: Whoops!: Looks like Edwards came clean a bit early.

Update II: The Dallas Observer says the speculation about Baron was 'on the money'. So to speak.

Update III: Keith Olbermoon's network, PMSNBC, reports that trial shyster lawyer Baron was indeed the wallet behind the man behind Rielle Hunter. No pun intended.

Spin Zone: O'Reilly cowed by terror apologist Ahmed Rehab


Yesterday, the Wall Street Journal reported that Barack Obama's Muslim "out-reach coordinator" had unexpectedly resigned.

Chicago lawyer Mazen Asbahi, who was appointed volunteer national coordinator for Muslim American affairs by the Obama campaign on July 26, stepped down Monday after an Internet newsletter wrote about his brief stint on the fund's board, which also included a fundamentalist imam...

...The Obama campaign is trying to strike a balance between courting Muslim American voters and dispelling rumors intended by some to link the candidate to radical Islam... In 2000, Mr. Asbahi briefly served on the board of Allied Assets Advisors Fund, a Delaware-registered trust. Its other board members at the time included Jamal Said, the imam at a fundamentalist-controlled mosque in Illinois.

The eight-year-old connection between Mr. Asbahi and Mr. Said was raised last week by the Global Muslim Brotherhood Daily Report, which is published by a Washington think tank and chronicles the activities of the Muslim Brotherhood, a world-wide fundamentalist group based in Egypt. Other Web sites, some pro-Republican and others critical of fundamentalist Islam, also have reported on the background of Mr. Asbahi. He is a frequent speaker before several groups in the U.S. that scholars have associated with the Muslim Brotherhood.

The Justice Department named Mr. Said an unindicted co-conspirator in the racketeering trial last year of several alleged Hamas fund-raisers, which ended in a mistrial. He has also been identified as a leading member of the group in news reports going back to 1993.

Spinning the move as part of an organized campaign of bigotry against Muslims was Ahmed Rehab, Chicago's Council on American-Islamic Relations' (CAIR) executive director. On Fox News' "The O'Reilly Factor," Rehab characterized Asbahi's resignation as a bigoted political maneuver:

I think that Mazen Asbahi is a victim of what I would call the anti-Muslim smear and fear campaign that we have seen in this election cycle time and time again. In this case, like many, the allegations started on a web site that did not corroborate what they are allegating (sic) with any evidence. They stated that he had certain links with fundamentalists, in this case the allegation was against imam Jamal Said, who I know personally to be a great American faith leader and not a radical imam as the Wall Street Journal falsely stated.

IPT deconstructs the spin for O'Reilly, who seemed unable or unwilling to counter Rehab's fabrications.

Some of Asbahi's associations with Muslim Brotherhood groups have raised legitimate questions about whether he holds radical views. There is plenty, however, to show that Said does. Asbahi's association with Said and the fund raised legitimate issues for journalistic pursuit. Start with the fact that Allied Assets is a subsidiary of the North American Islamic Trust (NAIT)... an unindicted coconspirator in the terrorism financing trial against the Holy Land Foundation [which] is set for a retrial next month...

...It is listed eighth among "A list of our organizations and the organizations of our friends" in a 1991 US Muslim Brotherhood memorandum entitled "On the General Strategic Goal for the Group in North America." This document calls for a "grand Jihad" geared towards "eliminating and destroying the Western civilization from within..."

...There's more linking NAIT to extremists, including payments to Hamas official Mousa Abu Marzook and his family during the 1990s... Imam Jamal Said also is an unindicted co-conspirator in the HLF case. Like NAIT, he is listed among "members of the US Muslim Brotherhood's Palestine Committee and/or its organizations." Evidence in that trial shows the Brotherhood created the Palestine Committee to advance Hamas' agenda in the United States.

Justifiably outraged, radio host Ben Barrack sent the following letter to Bill O'Reilly earlier today.

Mr. O'Reilly,

You appeared to exhibit cowardice while interviewing CAIR's Chicago Exec. Director Ahmed Rehab about the resignation of Obama's Muslim Outreach Coordinator, Mazin Asbahi on your television program on August 6th...

As you may know, Asbahi resigned due to his association with radical imam Jamal Said, who led a mosque in Chicago to become radicalized...

On your program, Rehab asserted Said was not radical or tied to Hamas. You NEVER ONCE challenged him on it, which means you either......

A.) didn't do your homework on Said
or..
B.) were intimidated by Rehab

Both are unacceptable in a "No Spin Zone"

I've attached a photo I found on CAIR's website that shows Rehab and Said together...

Very sad, Mr. O'Reilly. Very sad. Maybe you can have the Body Language lady on your next program to analyze your indisposition to live up to your show's tagline.

Where is the O'Reilly that led the charge against Sami al-Arian?? I want him back. There are a lot more al-Arian's out there, Mr. O'Reilly. In fact, Said has ties to al-Arian! Cut out the ponderous stuff like "The Body Language Lady" and do what's right in the "No Spin Zone".

Ben Barrack

Proverbs 28:23
He who rebukes a man shall afterward find more favor than he who flatters with the tongue.

Audacious or Bodacious? The Audi R8 may be both


Necks snap not only for its occupants but also for passers-by.

The Audi’s R8 was named World Performance Car and World Car Design of the Year by an international jury at the 2008 New York Auto Show.

”The jurists noted the R8's ‘solid credentials on paper thanks to its mid-mounted 420-horsepower V8 engine and aluminum construction.

But where it excels is in the exceptional balance, refinement and control that grant the driver the confidence to push to the limit. It has astonishing precision for a car of its size category.’”

Schwing!

There really are two Americas, Baby Daddy!


John Edwards was right. There really are two Americas.

There's the America where a shyster trial lawyer and erstwhile Democratic presidential candidate builds the biggest house in North Carolina and then decries the scourge of homeless veterans...

...and there's the America where a sanctimonious, sleazebag politican fathers a child out of wedlock while his cancer-stricken wife struggles to survive.

Despite the mainstream media's best efforts to suppress the story, two large newspapers picked up the Edwards story today.

First up: the Kansas City Star's political intelligence report posts an ominous McClatchy article:

Former Sen. John Edwards has a deadline to save his spot on the national stage.


With two weeks to go before their national convention, a number of Democrats are saying that Edwards needs to publicly address National Enquirer stories that have alleged he had an affair with a campaign worker and fathered her baby... The Enquirer released photos Wednesday purportedly showing Edwards and the baby.

If Edwards fails to clear up the story in short order, he risks party officials deciding not to have him speak or, if they do, creating a distraction from a week focused on Barack Obama accepting the nomination...

Presidential candidates who lose in the primaries traditionally are invited to address their party’s convention...

...Politico reported last month that Edwards told others he was promised a prime time speaking slot when he endorsed Obama.

Likewise, the Philadelphia Inquirer's "Arts & Entertainment" section features a column by Howard Gensler.

With the photo and the hush-money allegations and the dwindling chance of a role in a possible Obama administration, it's time for Edwards to either publicly and unequivocally deny the whole thing and sue the Enquirer, tell a Clinton-esque lie - "I did not . . . impregnate . . . that woman" or make a YouTube video in which he kneels before Elizabeth and she beats the sanctimonious Ken doll stuffing out of him.

Wednesday, August 06, 2008

The GOP response to 'Exxon-McCain '08'


Politico's Mike Allen reports that the McCain campaign's tire-pressure gags have taken a toll.

Stung by Republican taunts about tire gauges, Democrats are pumping up a stunt of their own...

The Democratic National Committee on Wednesday is launching an “Exxon-McCain ’08” campaign, complete with a gas-pump logo and garish red buttons, bumper stickers and yard signs.

If I were in charge of GOP counter-terror ops (I've heard that's the term the Democrats prefer), my response would be a simple postcard.

Front

Reverse

I'd mail out a couple o' million of these.

John Edwards Love Child Photo produced by National Enquirer


Did John Edwards, husband of a cancer-stricken wife, really father a love child with former campaign --- err-- filmmaker Rielle Hunter?

Enquiring minds want to know.

The Enquirer has "spy photos" that purport to show Edwards holding his love child.

Radar says the photo is "sketchy" and Hot Air's Allahpundit believes it may be "a photoshop."

The encounter in the hotel allegedly took place on July 21. Here’s an AP photo of Edwards taken earlier that same day in Los Angeles...

Compare the sideburns and the distance between his hair and his right temple. Hmmm. Still not good enough?

Well, the original Enquirer story claims he was wearing a “blue dress shirt” when he entered the building.

...There’s no collar on the shirt in the new Enquirer photo (in fact, in the smaller photo — which clearly is Edwards — it looks a bit like a hospital gown), although I guess he could have changed for whatever inexplicable reason when he got to the room.

Actually, he could have stripped off his oxford... revealing his t-shirt underneath to allow the baby to burp and spit up on the t and not the $300 Burberry oxford.

DBKP, one of the original blogs covering the story, has more info.

Update: Coulter with another instant classic:

The MSM justify banner coverage of the smallest malfeasance by any Christian or conservative, with or without independent verification, with the lame excuse of "hypocrisy." Hey, why didn't you say so! If all it takes to get the Edwards story into the establishment press is a little hypocrisy, boy, have I got a story for you!

Based on information currently saturating the Internet: (1) The entire schmaltzy Edwards campaign consisted of this self-professed moralist telling us how much he loved the poor and loved his cancer-stricken wife; (2) the following was Edwards' response to CBS News anchor Katie Couric's question about whether voters should care if a presidential candidate is faithful to his spouse:

"Of course. I mean, for a lot of Americans -- including the family that I grew up with, I mean, it's fundamental to how you judge people and human character -- whether you keep your word, whether you keep what is your ultimate word, which is that you love your spouse, and you'll stay with them. ... I think the most important qualities in a president in today's world are trustworthiness -- sincerity, honesty, strength of leadership. And -- and certainly that goes to a part of that."

There you have it, boys: Go to town, MSM!

Fires in Yellowstone


Papa B emails a photo from the road.

This one of the ongoing fires in Yellowstone National Park.

And no, Al: lightning caused it; not global warming.

Krauthammer unleashes rhetorical bunker-busters on Obama's energy-less policy


During yesterday's Special Report, Charles Krauthammer unleashed a major-league beat-down on Barack Obama's unhinged "energy" policy. Batten down the hatches...

KRAUTHAMMER: The gas tax holiday was hokey and cheap, and this is hokier and cheaper, because to take from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve is to jeopardize our national security. It really is for supply interruption, which would be a catastrophe for our country.

To take stuff out is going to have negligible effect on price, it will have an effect for a day or two. The amount he wants to take out is about a week's worth of imports. It's absurd.

And if you wanted to remove from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, at least you should be in favor of drilling so that, domestically, in a few years, we will have essentially new strategic reserves in the Arctic or offshore, which would substitute for draining the reserves we currently have.

So his position is contradictory, cheap, and political.

And the stuff he said only a week ago in Missouri on Wednesday of last week, if we only inflated our tires it would substitute for all the oil that the Republicans want to drill for is a towering absurdity.

The amount we would save in our tires generously calculated is about 1/200 of what you get from offshore oil alone, and the amount of oil shale is in the West would give us 10,000 years worth of the gasoline saved by inflating our tires.

The problem with the Democratic position is they always say 'let's do x' instead of drilling. What the American people understand is you do x, y, and z, and everything.

But the reason not to drill is untenable. You drill as well, and that will help us as well...

...BAIER: So inflate your tires.

KRAUTHAMMER: It is not even a tenth of a hundredth of the solution.

If that much.

Suffering from excessive sarcasm?


Now there's Sarcasma!




Ripped from: Sarcasma.net. Hat tip: Chris.

Tuesday, August 05, 2008

Goofus and Gallant updated for the 21st century


Remember those Highlights Magazines that you only read in the doctor's office?

Video o' the day: the sad tale of Grove Parc


The sad tale of Grove Parc has been transformed into a short video by Ushanka.us:

Powerful stuff.

Forward it to your friends.

Bob Herbert owes John McCain an apology


On August 2nd, New York Times columnist Bob Herbert accused the McCain campaign of waging a racist attack on Barack Obama for comparing him to Paris Hilton.

[The ad was] foul, poisonous and emanated from the upper reaches of the Republican Party. (What a surprise.) [It was] designed to exploit the hostility, anxiety and resentment of the many white Americans who are still freakishly hung up on the idea of black men rising above their station and becoming sexually involved with white women.

Back in the little land I like to call reality, Newbusters' Seton Motley did the research and discovered the origin of the Obama-Hilton analogy.

This sensitive operation, possibly involving secret Rovian search engines, outstripped the vast resources and capabilities of the New York Times and Bob Herbert.

A February 24, 2005, Washington Post article reads: There's nothing exotic or complicated about how phenoms are made in Washington, and, more to the point, how they are broken... "Andy Warhol said we all get our 15 minutes of fame," says Barack Obama. "I've already had an hour and a half. I mean, I'm so overexposed, I'm making Paris Hilton look like a recluse."

Thus, Barack Obama used the Paris Hilton analogy first. I'll alert the blogosphere to be on the lookout for Herbert's apology.

Hat tip: Jerry H.

Barack Obama calls signals from Jimmy Carter's playbook


* Price controls on oil? Check.
* A windfall profits tax? Check.
* Taxpayer-funded boondoggles on solar energy? Checkety-check.
* Taxpayer-funded boondoggles on synthetic fuels? Check and mate, biznatch!


Yes, ripped from today's headlines are the very strategies set in motion by the worst president in history: James Earl Carter.

Let's pause a moment here and reminisce about 8% unemployment, 15% inflation, and 17% auto loan rates.

Screencap: Dept. of Energy Official Timeline. Chart: Tax Foundation.