Obama critiques Charles Murray...

a decade ago...Murray's work is as influential as it is sloppy...

"Now, it shouldn't take a genius to figure out that with early intervention such problems can be prevented. But Mr. Murray isn't interested in prevention. He's interested in pushing a very particular policy agenda, specifically, the elimination of affirmative action and welfare programs aimed at the poor. With one finger out to the political wind, Mr. Murray has apparently decided that white America is ready for a return to good old-fashioned racism so long as it's artfully packaged and can admit for exceptions like Colin Powell. It's easy to see the basis for Mr. Murray's calculations. After watching their income stagnate or decline over the past decade, the majority of Americans are in an ugly mood and deeply resent any advantages, realor perceived, that minorities may enjoy.

I happen to think Mr. Murray's wrong, not just in his estimation of black people, but in his estimation of the broader American public. But I do think Mr. Murray's right about the growing distance between the races. The violence and despair of the inner city are real. So's the problem of street crime. The longer we allow these problems to fester, the easier it becomes for white America to see all blacks as menacing and for black America to see all whites as racist. To close that gap, we're going to have to do more than denounce Mr. Murray's book. We're going to have to take concrete and deliberate action. For blacks, that means taking greater responsibility for the state of our own communities. Too many of us use white racism as an excuse for self-defeating behavior. Too many of our young people think education is a white thing and that the values of hard work and discipline and self-respect are somehow outdated."

Via Sullivan...

Pretty funny...

This was a great idea... I'm still amazed that the WSJ bit though...

Nah- he's american, isn't he?

The authors of the Left Behind series are pretty confident that Obama is not, in fact, the antichrist (via Sullivan):

"I've gotten a lot of questions the last few weeks asking if Obama is the antichrist," says novelist Jenkins. "I tell everyone that I don't think the antichrist will come out of politics, especially American politics."

"I can see by the language he uses why people think he could be the antichrist," adds LaHaye, "but from my reading of scripture, he doesn't meet the criteria. There is no indication in the Bible that the antichrist will be an American."

Soldiers Abroad give their money to...

Obama. By a margin of 6 to 1.

Those elitist bastards clearly hate our country...and want to lose...and retreat...or something.

Ludacris endorses Obama...Obama says...

"...rap lyrics today too often perpetuate misogyny, materialism, and degrading images that he doesn’t want his daughters or any children exposed to...This song is not only outrageously offensive to Senator Clinton, Reverend Jackson, Senator McCain, and President Bush, it is offensive to all of us who are trying to raise our children with the values we hold dear. While Ludacris is a talented individual he should be ashamed of these lyrics."



As you may remember, Ludacris has a pretty long history with Obama- they even met together to have a little conversation (strategy meeting?) before Obama decided to run.

Boston gets a shout-out!

Barack Obama says (in Berlin):

The terrorists of September 11th plotted in Hamburg and trained in Kandahar and Karachi before killing thousands from all over the globe on American soil.

As we speak, cars in Boston and factories in Beijing are melting the ice caps in the Arctic, shrinking coastlines in the Atlantic, and bringing drought to farms from Kansas to Kenya.

Hrm...ok...so we didn't make it into the happy uplifting part.

Mostly I draw attention to it because I thought the speech, as a whole, was a little...I don't know, boring? I agree with the sentiments, it's certainly pretty "safe," but I'm not really blown away. I guess I was hoping to see him do what he did (at least for me) with his race speech, which was not only a great piece of oratory but also was one of the most accurate diagnosis of race relations in America...in my opinion.

I'm curious about European and American (and Asian and African for that matter) reception to the speech.

Any thoughts? Anyone more impressed than me? Less impressed? Am I missing something?

Hrm...I wish would have found this for FISA

In Obama's store: "Change" is sold out



Unsurprisingly, "Progress" soon followed...