TresSugar

Jerome Corsi, Author of Obama Nation Is Being Held in Kenya

CitizenSugar — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 07:45:02 -0700

The author of the controversial book Obama Nation: Leftist Politics and the Cult of Personality has been detained by Kenyan authorities. Jerome Corsi is being held under the claim that there's a problem with his work permit papers - he had been in the country to unveil his best-selling book to a Kenyan audience. Obama Nation has been accused of being a smear against the candidate, whose father was from Kenya.

According to the press release issued before Jerome Corsi's trip to Kenya, the author intended to, "expose deep secret ties between between US Democratic presidential candidate Sen Barack Obama and a section of the Kenyan government leaders." A police official contradicts the notion the arrest is political saying, "We have nothing to do with the book or whoever it's about. It's about the law of Kenya."

What's the tie to Kenya? To find out, and the Obama campaign's response, read more.

In the book (here's the first chapter) Corsi lists a claim that Obama contributed $1 million to Kenyan Prime Minister Rail Odinga, a claim the Obama campaign refutes in a 40-page PDF entitled "Unfit for Publication."

The campaign pulls a quote from the Chicago Tribune earlier this year (pg. 12 of the PDF) saying, "Obama said President Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga should sit down and talk 'unconditionally,' and he urged them to welcome the assistance of your concerned friends." The disputed Kenyan elections in December of 2007 led to deadly violence and over 300,000 people displaced.

Is Corsi being held for political reasons? Have you read Obama Nation?

The Last Day! Obama's Speech of a Lifetime at Invesco Field

CitizenSugar — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 16:30:33 -0700

The moment we've been hearing about for months is here: Barack Obama will formally accept the nomination for president in front of thousands at Denver's Invesco Field. On the anniversary of King's "I Have a Dream" speech, though Obama was just 2 years old when it happened, comparisons between the two are rampant.

At 10 p.m. EST, Obama will have to live up to this: "I have a dream, that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed - 'We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.'"

Liberty and I are lucky enough to go and see it live - with the thousands of people in attendance, we won't be able to get you our reactions to the speech immediately, but we will soon! In the meantime, tell us what you thought! Did the performance match the hype? Was it truly a speech of a lifetime?

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Quiz Nation! President-Elect Obama's Biography

LibertySugar — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 14:20:06 -0800

President-elect Barack Obama's remarkable life story, which he describes as unlikely, has always been a cornerstone of his public life. In the speech that garnered him national prominence, his 2004 DNC keynote address, Obama eloquently introduced America to a skinny kid with a funny name who believes that America has a place for him, too. Well it looks like America does have a place for him - the White House!

Take this quiz to find out how much you know about the next US president's biography.

Bauer-Griffin Online

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Quiz Nation! Obama's Cabinet in Waiting

LibertySugar — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 00:01:28 -0800

The members of Barack Obama's cabinet-in-waiting will soon become household names, whether it's during their confirmation hearings or after they begin serving. Take this quiz to find out what you know about the people who will run the United States.
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Take the quiz

Day 3: The Big Vote, Clinton, Biden, and Big Obama Surprise!

CitizenSugar — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 20:04:28 -0700

Want to know the most American I've ever felt? When Hillary released her votes and Nancy Pelosi moved for a vote to make Barack Obama the nominee, and the arena full of citizens erupted into applause and song, moving as one mass of humanity inspired by the sheer force of democracy. It doesn't matter who you're voting for at that point; when you're in the arena, it just matters that you're all voting, and you're proud as hell of that right.

The Pepsi Center tonight was filled with citizens, celebrities, and elected officials packed in together and who are all equal come election day. The deafening roar that greeted Bill Clinton's speech (I overheard this afterward: "Did you hear Bill speak?" "I sure did. He's one-a the best presidents we ever had." Priceless.), then the Spielberg-directed video, John Kerry, the surprisingly touching intro of Joe Biden by his son Beau, culminating in the the firm clear message from vice presidential candidate Biden. When he said, "John McCain is my friend. We've traveled the world together . . . but I profoundly disagree with the direction John wants to take this country, from Afghanistan to Iraq," finishing with, "This is America's time!" the air in the arena was an odd combination of festival and gravity. Excitement over what could be, and the importance and weight of that task. The speech climaxed strongly and left the crowd ready for tomorrow.

THEN! Obama came out onstage!!! What did you make of the surprise? The speeches?

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Wright Dubs Controversy "Attack on the Black Church"

CitizenSugar — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 15:45:07 -0700

Barack Obama's pastor Jeremiah Wright wrapped up a weekend of appearances this morning at the National Press Club in Washington, DC. After the somewhat comical and seemingly drawn-out import given to the Wright controversy at the last Democratic debate, I imagine some are ready to retire this topic.

Jeremiah Wright doesn't seem to want to retire it, as much as rebrand it - from a political discussion concerning the beliefs of Barack Obama to a cultural and racial discussion about the state of faith. In his response today, he said this:

I stand before you to open up this two-day symposium with the hope that this most recent attack on the black church is not an attack on Jeremiah Wright; it is an attack on the black church.

Yesterday he spoke to this notion saying, "I come from a religious tradition that does not divorce the world we are living in with the world we are headed to. The black religious tradition is different. We do it a different way."

Throughout his remarks today he kept a wink-wink rapport with the almost entirely supportive audience. I'm ready to move on from the Obama/Wright connection, but his new tact made me bristle. To see why, read more. In his rebranding of the national debate about his remarks, including the "God damn America," statement, and the "chickens coming home to roost" sermon, as an attack on a way of worship, he's hinting that if one's not involved, one certainly couldn't understand. It's as though he's treating us as a nation of rubes who've just pulled the shrink wrap off a VHS of Sister Act and realized, "Aw, shucks! They sure do faith real different!"

My problem with his "chickens coming home" sermon, was never that he delivered it, or the way he preached, or what he was wearing or any of those trappings that Wright might be labeling as "different" - my only objection is the date on which he said those words. On the Sunday after 9/11, that a spiritual leader would use incendiary language to a shocked congregation seeking solace is entirely inappropriate - and if that's what Wright calls "different," I'd have to say he's right. As for an "attack on the black church?" I guess we'll have to agree to disagree.

Do you think the recent reactions to Wright's sermons are an attack on the black church?

Here's Wright answering questions this morning at the National Press Club.

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Cheney Warns of Attack - Bring Him Back or Put Him Away?

CitizenSugar — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 03:00:17 -0800

Ignoring accusations of torture, Dick Cheney wants to make sure everyone knows he still supports "enhanced interrogation techniques" because they keep America safe. In an interview with Politico yesterday, Cheney predicted that the Obama administration will either backtrack on their softy views, or put Americans at grave risk. He said:

When we get people who are more concerned about reading the rights to an Al Qaeda terrorist than they are with protecting the United States against people who are absolutely committed to do anything they can to kill Americans, then I worry. . . These are evil people. And we’re not going to win this fight by turning the other cheek.

To imagine how President Obama would respond to Cheney's critique, we only have to look as far as his inauguration speech when he said:

As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals. Our founding fathers faced with perils that we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man, a charter expanded by the blood of generations. Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience's sake.

Whose view of national security do you agree with more?

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The Morning After: Our Reactions to Obama's Change Promise

LibertySugar — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 10:30:34 -0700

Liberty: Last night I saw Americans who have been hiding in the shadows of apathy or cynicism come out and get excited about the future of their country. Americans who showed that they can wait in a line for hours, just to participate in a celebration of their power to make a difference.

Barack Obama's speech stressed individual and mutual responsibility. He said Democratic leadership, and an Obama presidency, would not do everything for Americans. It would, though, help them accomplish the things they cannot do for themselves, like protect the country from national security threats in Afghanistan, and give those who do not have bootstraps a pair so they can pull themselves up into the promise of middle-class prosperity. And while he was at it, Obama fiercely made the case that John McCain has and will turn his back on America's urgent needs because he just doesn't get it.

Whenever a politician claims that government can make peoples' lives better, critics become skeptical. But last night I saw a candidate that will, and did, make a commitment to ordinary people. Who did the best he could to offer specifics, without falling prey to a typical Democratic weakness of ignoring an emotional argument. Democracy became an action verb, not something that the well-connected took care of for you.

To see Citizen's reaction and more pictures we took at the event, read more.

Citizen: At its heart, there wasn't so much about the speech that was innately objectionable, the broad strokes he painted are a fine landscape - but he doesn't speak to me. Whether a fundamental difference of political philosophy or a complete lack of chemistry with the man, as much as I enjoyed witnessing the spectacle, I was not moved by it. I was not inspired by the parade of done-wrong stories. When he said, "More of you have cars you can't afford to drive, credit card bills you can't afford to pay, and tuition that's beyond your reach. These challenges are not all of government's making." My head screamed, but does that mean they're for the government's fixing?

I'm all for roads and a smart, no-waste globally beneficially governmental structure (and let's get it right), but I sure as hell don't want to rely on that as my complete bedrock of security. With great reliance comes great power, and I don't want my government to have that power over me. My building blocks of support come from the ground up, not the top down. When things go wrong, I want solutions to come from self first, then family, then community, on up - the government would never be my first call. As Liberty and I hashed it out afterward, it's a different philosophy. If you have a safety net you're more likely to fall. It's just human nature. If someone will fix your problems for you, why wouldn't you let them? Though he said this: "Ours is a promise that says government cannot solve all our problems, but what it should do is that which we cannot do for ourselves," that was not the real message conveyed last night, at least not to me.

Then there was the event itself. I've loved this week - you don't have to support a candidate to support the effort of democracy. But last night's dressed-down, come as you are, jumbo-soda and plate-of-nachos stadium setting was disappointing. With the crowd doing the wave and the half time-style line up, I kept waiting for kickoff. Between the utter distraction and screaming every time a famous person appeared, for much of the event what was happening on stage was an after thought.

And on that stage? A veritable variety show. Sheryl Crow? Stevie Wonder? Where is the sense of decorum and humility and ceremony in the midst of a rock concert? There is a time and place for celebration, but this most serious and sterling of occasions isn't it. I'm here for the speeches, not the snacks; the weight of grave responsibility, not the wave; and the gracious dignity, not the grandstand.

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Front Page: Day Four of the Convention - Obama Speaks Tonight, New Orleans May Evacuate, EU Considers Sanctions

CitizenSugar — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 07:01:31 -0700

Obama Speaks Tonight:
After his surprise appearance on stage with VP nominee Joe Biden last night, Obama is set to deliver his nomination acceptance speech at Invesco Field in front of 75,000 people tonight. On the 45th anniversary of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech, it's scheduled to start at 8 p.m. EST. John McCain may announce his VP pick shortly after.

New Orleans May Evacuate:
City officials have begun preliminary measures to evacuate the city of New Orleans as Hurricane Gustav threatens the coast on the eve of Hurricane Katrina's third anniversary. Gov. Bobby Jindal has declared a state of emergency and has put 3,000 National Guard troops on standby.

EU Considers Sanctions:
The EU is considering sanctions and more against Russia over the crisis in Georgia. France has called an emergency summit on Monday to reassess relations with Russia after Moscow refused to pull out all of their troops. Meanwhile, Georgia's foreign minister says that ethnic cleansing in South Ossetia is nearly complete.

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Front Page: Levi Johnston Shoots His Hockey Stick

TresSugar — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 08:00:25 -0800

Levi Johnston's "fantastic" shoot for Playgirl involved a hockey stick. - US Weekly
The Republican National Committee will no longer offer its employees an insurance plan that covers abortion. - Politico
Warren Buffet says the worse of the recession is over. I'll believe him. - Reuters
Phillip Garrido apologized for kidnapping Jaycee Dugard. - CNN
President Obama arrived in Tokyo today, kicking off his tour of Asia. - AP
Police have revealed more details about the murder of Yale student Annie Le. - New York Times
End-of-the-world movie 2012 opens today, and BuzzSugar thinks it's decent. - BuzzSugar