The Politics of HOPE

by va

Two thoughts, if I may, about the story of Zeituni Onyango, Obama's aunt.

1) It took an illegally disseminated Republican smear for the media to talk about impoverished people & how they're dealt with administratively. Her story is sympathetic, and if I was the Obama campaign, I wouldn't push back too hard on it.

2) It seemed weird to me that the pictures the media were using of Zeituni's building made it look like a serene collegiate dorm.

Turns out this development was renovated pretty recently under the HOPE VI program, which is in place to renovate distressed public housing. (Or, per Wikipedia, "to revitalize the absolute worst public housing projects into mixed-income developments.") It has been controversial; the program integrates people with varied income levels into the same space but at the cost of low-income units. Seems to me like a good project that's seen iffy execution. Naturally, Republicans don't like it. Indeed, Bush's infamous 2004 budget "proposed to eliminate the Hope VI program."

The completely unsurprising conclusion? As the Bush administration jacked up military and security spending, it wanted to fuck people like Zeituni.

Third Thought: The Obama campaign's response that "all laws should be followed" is just about inhuman. Jesus.

Added thought by Thers: The information on Obama's aunt may have been revealed illegally, but it was revealed for purely patriotic reasons. Now, looking up Joe the Plumber's records, that, my friends, is fascism. Which is not to say that looking up Mr Wurzlefluffel's records was kosher; it wasn't. But he's also not threatened with getting deported. And he's not nearly so scary and well-connected as this old woman who, as Michelle Malkin helpfully points out, WAS BREAKING THE LAW and IS PROBABLY A TERRORIST:

As I’ve pointed out countless times since 9/11, systemic immigration loopholes and deportation failures that have benefited peaceful illegal aliens have also benefited illegal aliens with nefarious intent....

And lucky for Aunti, anyone who thinks she should face the music and get the boot is considered a “hater” and a “xenophobe” and a RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACIST.

It really is awful how people like Michelle Malkin could ever be called "haters." That's the real crime here.

Comments

[flory]

Third Thought: The Obama campaign's response that "all laws should be followed" is just about inhuman. Jesus.

I think that was the point. This was truly a 'damned if you do' story.

Strong support of an illegal immigrant auntie, just might swing some votes in the Alabama counties of PA.

Meanwhile, condemning auntie isn't very family friendly.

There really was no good response.

And the AP story calls her his 'half-aunt'. What on earth is a half-aunt? I presume she's his father's half sister, but that still makes her his aunt. Just like your uncle's wife is your aunt, not your aunt-in-law.

Weird.

[The Oracle]

Sarah Palin got an abortion years ago.

Remember, Sarah Palin continues to refuse to release her medical records. Why?

McCain, Obama and Biden have released their medical records, to varying degrees, but Palin adamantly refuses to divulge anything about her medical history. Why?

I doubt that there would be anything shocking healthwise, so it must be something else she is seeking to hide, something that would paint her as a hypocrite.

Maybe, that she got an abortion?

Just a guess.

But Palin is definitely hiding something from her medical past, and the only thing that makes any sense is that she probably got an abortion in the early 1980s, within ten years of Roe v. Wade, something that she doesn't want anyone, especially her fanatical religious fundamentalist anti-abortion followers, finding out about.

[Jemand von Niemand]

I don't agree with the official response of Obama's campaign -- but it's doubtful that this is his private and personal reaction.

Regarding the Republicans; indeed, the entire American political and religious Right -- what Atrios said: One giant organized crime syndicate.

What next for America's stalwart protectors? A lynching? How about trying to create some international crisis, even a faked 'terrorist incident' of enough magnitude, to convince all America to vote for these greedy, delusional, racist degenerates.

[The Oracle]

A follow-up on my feeling that Sarah "Barracuda" Palin is not releasing her medical records because to do so would reveal that she had an abortion years ago.

I figure that the optimum time frame for Sarah "Barracuda" Palin to possibly have gotten an abortion would have been during that period when she was competing in Alaskan beauty pageants, and "The Barracuda" wouldn't have allowed anything to get in the way of her quest for the crown...like an unwanted pregnancy.

If she has nothing to hide from the American voting public concerning her past medical history, then Sarah "Barracuda" Palin shouldn't hesitate to release her complete medical records. On the off-chance that they do release her medical records by Tuesday, if there are any gaps, like during her beauty pageant contestant years, then by inference we'll know that the McCain/Palin campaign is trying to hide something she did while a young maverick from their ardent religious fundamentalist anti-abortion base today, something that could prove very detrimental to their chances of winning on Tuesday.

Oh, and any abortion that Sarah "Barracuda" Palin got back then would have been purely a "vanity" abortion, meaning that her life wasn't in any danger from possible pregnancy complications, a "vanity" abortion she wanted simply because being pregnant would have made her look fat and probably ruined her beauty pageant aspirations back then.

[Thers]

I am trying to think of a subject in which I have less interest than Sarah Palin's gynecological history, and all I am coming up with are issues relating to Joe Lieberman's regular ingestion of bran fiber.

[g]

yes, just because a person keeps repeatedly spouting "RAAAAACCIIIISISTT!!!" online, they should surely not be called a "hater." Oh no.

and yes, let's advocate "giving the boot" to an old black lady who needs to use a cane to get around.

Klassy, Michelle.

[g]

But Palin is definitely hiding something from her medical past, and the only thing that makes any sense is that she probably got an abortion in the early 1980s

Um... excuse the fuck out of me, Jemand (if that's your real name) - Why would Palin's records show an abortion, even if she had one?

Do you know how this works?

You volunteer information to your doctor. If a person had an abortion in the '80s, their current doctor would have no way of knowing - or recording - it, unless he were the doctor performing the abortion, or unless you told him and he wrote it into your records.

I don't know why she won't release her records, but it certainly isn't because she wants to hide something that happened 30 years ago.

[Thers]

g, that comment is T. Oraclesn, not Jemand's.

[SteveB]

The Obama campaign's response that "all laws should be followed" is just about inhuman.

Glad we can agree on that.

[Jemand von Niemand]

I agree with both Oracle and Thers: Sarah Palin as a human being may be hiding something in her medical history.

Palin the candidate's public statements, or her position on the separation of Church and State, are more important -- given that her heart's desire is to play "Shoot The Beaver" in the Oval Office, once McCain, sadly, has to step down due to, you know... whatever.

Incidentally, g; I excuse all the fuck out of you. Go in peace.

[jack fate]

"Which is not to say that looking up Mr Wurzlefluffel's records was kosher; it wasn't."
Bullshit. Public record is public record. As a matter of potential lien position on real property, ALL TAX LIENS are a matter of public record. Looking beyond anything that is not already legally available as a matter of law, is another subject. But tax liens are intentionally public and for good reason. It wouldn't be relevant except that his entire notoriety is due to his alleged tax situation.

Bullshit

Heh. Well, one search was definitely illegit because it was done by a contractor who wasn't supposed to have access anymore. The Toledo PD is investigating another one; but the ones you're talking about came from Job＆Family Services, which may have a case for legitimacy. The head of that agency is the only one taking heat, I guess, because she's a maxed Obama donor.

I myself don't see the difference between these things and cops "randomly" running lisence plates--but I don't like cops doing that either, so the Joe searches rub me the wrong way. Of course, all released info from those searches said plumber joe is an upright citizen, so I don't see how anyone can say he's been persecuted.

Anyway, that's a lot of words on an issue of about zero importance to anyone or anything, so I'll stop now.

[actor212]

Turns out this development was renovated pretty recently under the HOPE VI program, which is in place to renovate distressed public housing.

No doubt with community organizers...

[actor212]

G,

Maybe you ought to research Alaskan abortion law and get back to us, hmmmm?

Not only would she have to reveal it to her doctor, she would have been *forced* to undergo counseling.

Thats right, forced.

Further, ALL abortions in Alaska MUST be performed in a hospital or similar medical facility, which means there's a record of every stinking abortion ever performed since 1978.

Now, as governor, she could probably circumvent the law now, but as a redneck trailerpark beauty contestant with no political stroke?

Nah. If she's had one, there's a record.

[Personal Health Records]

Good story