Chapter VI: The poor people Obama left behind

Four years after Barack Obama's historic election as president, little seems to have changed for the African-American communities on Chicago's South Side.
The lack of change -- or the sense that these neighborhoods are getting worse -- is eroding the president's standing among African-Americans in his hometown.

 

A man moves furniture at the Altgeld Gardens housing project Thursday, Feb. 14, 2008, on Chicago's South Side. where Democratic presidential hopeful, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., used to work as a community organizer. (AP Photo)

White House: Bad Call in Football Game a ‘Pressing Matter’ and ‘Very Distressing’

They’re more upset by this than Chris Stevens being raped, murdered and dragged through the streets of Benghazi.

Carney … was eager to weigh in on an issue he called a “pressing matter,” “astounding” and “very distressing” — the end of the Packers-Seahawks game.
Carney said he had talked to the president this morning about it. Carney noted that the president had discussed the issue last week in an interview with a Cleveland radio station and “as a sports fan he thought it was time to get back to the regular refs. This morning I talked to him about the end of the Packers-Seahawks game and he said that what happened in that game is a perfect example of why both sides need to come together, resolve their differences so that the regular refs can get back on the field and we can start focusing on a game that so many of us love rather than debating whether of not a game is won or lost because of a bad call.

Know what else is very distressing and should be a pressing matter? The economy. Iranian nukes. The mideast in flames. We find it  “astounding”  Obama has time for football and The View and not world leaders.

Pope sends his regrets over the replacement referee call in Seattle

 If the Leader of the Free World feels this is important, why not the Pope?

VATICAN CITY:  Fans of American football the world over have voiced their views over the game- clinching call at the end of the Green Bay – Seattle game held last night in the Seahawks’ CenturyLink Field.  After the debacle on the Hail Mary play on Monday Night Football, Pope Benedict XVI was reported to be visibly upset.  Jesuit Fr. Federico Lombardi (no relation to the legendary Packer coach) of the Vatican press office, noted that he hadn’t seen His Holiness this livid since he’d learned of the attempted ordination of several women on a riverboat in Austria in 2002.
The Pontiff wasted no time in tweeting his disgust with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell:  @BennyXVI “As a matter of justice, we must condemn this fiasco in the strongest possible terms.  It is an offense against all that is true, good, and beautiful.”  The Commissioner was not available for comment, but was expected to address the Holy Father’s remarks in a press conference later today.
Packer Head Coach Mike McCarthy, a Catholic, was grateful for Pope Benedict’s support, remarking that “the pain of this loss is mitigated somewhat, knowing that we have the prayers and concern of His Holiness.  He has been a Packer fan all the way back to the ‘Glory Years’, and the team has been studying some of his most recent encyclicals.  Spe Salvi, in particular, gives us hope that this nasty officiating business will be resolved very soon.”
It is not known yet whether the Church will impose any canonical sanctions on the NFL, considering the gravity of the offense, and the public nature of the scandal.  “It is well known that recent popes have graciously given a pass to the copyright infringement by the NFL using the term ‘Hail Mary’, but this is really pushing the envelope,” remarked Lombardi.  “If nothing else, however, it does demonstrate the power of Our Lady’s intercession, and the eternal truth spoken to her by the Angel Gabriel that ‘nothing is impossible with God.’”

I'm sure there is other more important business the Pope needs to be tending to.

Obama Campaign Adviser Admits: “Campaigning Trumped Meetings with World Leaders”

Photo via The Hollywood Reporter

There is a very real question of whether or not Obama’s so called “charm offensive” in the entertainment media is going to reap great electoral rewards, this November.
A commenter, here, fretted:

Trouble is going on the View and on Pimp With a Limp will help him.
Romney needs to take that seriously.

Premiums Up $5,5000 Over Obama’s ‘Promise’

From Investors Business Daily:

Health Premiums Up $3,000; Obama Vowed $2,500 Cut

Former Navy SEALs to Obama: 'We Are Not Bumps in the Road'

Former Navy SEALs are speaking out after President Barack Obama referred to recent events in the Middle East, including the deaths of two former Navy SEALs, as "bumps in the road."

NYT: Obama overruled Hillary Clinton, foreign-policy advisers on Mubarak (Video)

How did we get to the point where neither a US President nor Egypt’s head of state can tell whether the two nations are allies?  It all started in February 2011, according to an in-depth look by the New York Times — or perhaps the summer of 2009.  Obama missed an opportunity to get behind the Green Revolution in Iran to avoid “meddling,” and later regretted his decision to play it safe in case the mullahs wanted to talk.  The next time out, Obama insisted that the US had to act to support unrest.
Unfortunately, the next time out involved a long-time American ally, as Obama’s own team tried to explain without success:

Obama: "The Future Must Not Belong To Those Who Slander Islam"

Isn't the corollary to that, "The future must belong to those who respect Islam"?
Perhaps even belong to Islam itself?
How far are we going to take this, exactly?

GOP recalls Obama’s earlier victory lap on Libya

Republicans said Tuesday the stark contrast between President Obama’s speech to the U.N. General Assembly Tuesday compared to his remarks a year ago — on Iran, Libya and the greater Middle East — are a measure of the administration’s foreign policy failures.

A year ago, they note, Mr. Obama was hailing the ouster of Libyan strongman Moammar Qaddafi and the series of democratic uprisings across the Arab world as hopeful signs of progress.

Senators to Clinton: Show us the ambassador’s cables

Two top senators on the Foreign Relations Committee don't want to wait for the State Department to do its own investigation into the Sept. 11 attack in Benghazi that killed four Americans including Ambassador Chris Stevens; they want Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to show them Stevens's diplomatic cables and other correspondence now.

French Socialist leader jokingly mulls backing Romney

 

France's President Francois Hollande showed a fine understanding of American politics Tuesday when he refused to endorse a US presidential candidate.

Asked by a reporter at the UN General Assembly in New York whether he backed Democratic incumbent Barack Obama or his Republican rival Mitt Romney for the White House, a smiling Hollande shot back: "Who do you think?"

"Are you aware that Mitt Romney never ceases to attack socialist Europe at his campaign rallies?" asked Hollande, Europe's most powerful socialist leader.

"Yes, that's why I'll be careful not to say anything at all on this subject because, as you'd imagine, if a socialist supported one of these two candidates, that could cost him dear," he explained.

Then, a brainwave.

"So I suppose I should endorse Mitt Romney," Hollande joked. "But I won't."

Madonna strips for Obama, offers profanity-laced endorsement and adds "Vote for the 'Black Muslim in the White House'"

Madonna offered a profanity-laced endorsement of President Obama at her concert Monday night, which involved the singer stripping down to her underwear to reveal the president's name written on her body.

“You all better vote for f---ing Obama okay,” she told the crowd at Washington's Verizon center.

MacIver: Military Voters in Wisconsin Told to Submit Ballots a Week After Deadline

                                                        

The Federal Voting Assistance Program website published an incorrect deadline for the return of returning military ballots in Wisconsin. Had this error not been corrected, thousands of Wisconsin servicemen and women could have been disenfranchised in this key swing state this November.

The FVAB website incorrectly stated ballots must be returned by November 16. The actual deadline is 4 p.m. November 9. Any military ballots received in that intervening week would not have been counted by local and state election officials.
MacIver News Service contacted the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board about the error on Tuesday and requested comment.
"All Wisconsin absentee ballots are due by 4 p.m. the Friday after the election. The FVAP site was incorrect," said Reid Magney, GAB spokesman in an emailed response to the inquiry.
Ballots must be postmarked no later than Election Day, which in 2012 is Tuesday, November 6th.
According to their website, The FVAP provides U.S. citizens worldwide a broad range of non-partisan information and assistance to facilitate their participation in the democratic process - regardless of where they work or live. The FVAP also administers the Federal responsibilities of the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA), which designates armed forces recruiting offices nationwide as voter registration agencies allowing eligible U.S. citizens to apply for voter registration, or apply to change voter registration data.

Cross-posted from MacIver Institute.