Chris Matthews on Hardball has promised to interpret some recent polls in the worst way possible (for us Obama supporters). What he has done is cherry picked the worst possible polls (from our perspective), ready to pound them!

So, here at the clinic, we're giving free vaccinations for the Hardball show coming on tomorrow!  

Please tip your health care professional as I am working hard for you (and packing away for my move)!

There is much tongue clucking amongst the mainstream media gurus in the aftermath of Barack Obama’s speech in Berlin. Was it hubris?  Arrogance?  Too much from a United States senator, who is a presidential candidate, but not yet (or perhaps never) President of the United States?  I say no.

Heirs to Freedom

Obama was trying to unite people together on one of the most divided pieces of ground in western history.  

I was searching through all my daily blog reading goodness today when I was caught quite off guard by a number of articles over at the Huffington Post.  Now, I'm all for dissenting ideas and whatnot, but I usually feel more or less sure that HuffPost is going to have some agreeable and often funny blogs about everything going on.  But today was a little different...

It started with Huffpost being the first to jump on Obama's apparent heckling at the Western Wall:

Before he left Israel, Barack Obama made an predawn visit to the Western Wall in Jerusalem. But his trip to the Jewish holy site was marred by heckling:

One man at the Wall began screaming: "Obama, Jerusalem is our land! Obama, Jerusalem is not for sale!"

Yeah. One guy. That's being marred by heckling? C'mooon....

I had to post this diary out of love.  And respect.  And admiration.  

I clicked on Crooks and Liars this morning to check out what they were doing and saw this video about Christian the lion.  A lion who was raised by humans, and then set free in Africa.  That freedom didn't blot those humans out of his mind, as you can see from watching the video.  Quite the opposite is true.  The video shows that Christian remembers those humans, and loves them, still. While I watched I started to cry. I cried tears of joy.  Tears of delight.  Tears of hope.  Amazing stuff.

This is not about supporting Barack Obama or any lack of support for John McCain. This is about a lack of respect for every soldier that has fought in, is fighting in and has given the ultimate sacrifice in Iraq. John McCain’s assertion that another elected official (Barack Obama) wants to intentionally lose the war in Iraq is absolutely the lowest of the low.  How could any sensible man, elected official, presidential candidate, especially a veteran, say this about another elected official? His assertion is essentially an accusation of premeditated treason.

The Minority Report presented a unique idea, the concept of a future where crime could be prevented by punishing the guilty party before it occurred.

but maybe Obama should pick Hillary for VP. Just for background I was by no means a Hillary supporter during the primaries. McCain's been unloading some of the harshest attacks I can remember out of a nominee and Democrats (as usual) haven't been hitting back. Who is the meanest Democrat we all know ... Hillary (see I take Obama at his word on not being Muslim).

Hillary would immediatly secure Ohio, Pennsylvania (thought it might already be safe), and Michigan. She'd also narrow the gap / secure it in Florida and help with older women. More importantly though she would be the Spiro Agnew style attack dog that Democrats need. It would be pretty difficult to swallow after her attacks but if it secures a win putting HIllary on the ticket should be looked at.

Other Choices all have major negatives that are worse or equivelent to Hillary's

Biden - talks way too much, says dumb things, and 88' scandal / however good at fighting back

Bayh - too timid, boring / strong moderate resume though

Edwards - wouldn't attack in 04', been there done that / Stronger now?

Richardson - see Biden

Kaine, Sebelius - inexpierenced / mesh well with Obama though

CLINTON - scandals & Past Comments / fights back hard, popular with many Dems, $$$, Jewish voters + Seniors

Yes we can baby!

Godspeed Barack!

Why has our media not given us the facts about Barack "Solomon" Obama?  This really exposes the liberal taint in our cowardly press.

I have examined the polls and how the press have been covering the campaigns and their gaffes and I have reached the conclusion that John McCain will be elected the next President, no matter how great a media week Obama has or how poor a media week McCain has.

So Obama has a wonderful trip overseas. He's been to Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait and Germany. I'm on the Obama campaign's email list. In the past week, I've received just one email from the campaign alerting me to volunteer opportunities in my state.

Barack Obama is not the President of the United States, the ordinary owner of the honorific, "Leader of the Free World." But these are not ordinary times.

Before eight years ago, the Statue of Liberty  was once as much of a symbol outside America as in. But the arbitrary and petulant Presidency of a small man ruined that symbol for all of us. George W. Bush conducted his Presidency not with an eye to what he could accomplish, but with an eye to what he could get away with.

It did not need to be that way; indeed, the forces of history were shaping something very different after September 11, 2001. Le Monde ran the headline "We are all Americans" in Paris, echoing JFK's "Ich Bin Ein Berliner." France would soon be mocked by Bush's enablers and torch bearing mobs with the ridiculous and petty "freedom fries" and the impossible-to-translate-to-French "Cheese eating surrender monkeys."

Earlier today, after Barack Obama's speech in Berlin, the McCain campaign issued a this petty press release:

While Barack Obama took a premature victory lap in the heart of Berlin, proclaiming himself a citizen of the world, John McCain continued to make his case to the American citizens who will decide this election. Barack Obama offered eloquent praise for this country, but the contrast is clear. John McCain has dedicated his life to serving and protecting America, Barack Obama spent an afternoon talking about.

Yes, how dare a presidential candidate speak to the world about his ability to govern as president. And as a matter of fact, here's John McCain thoughts on this very subject before his trip to Latin America earlier this month:

Going to Latin America in the midst of a presidential campaign, he said, speaks less to his role as a senator than to what he's hoping to achieve if elected this fall. "It's more my ability to govern as president," he said, "my ability to lead as president, to keep up with these major issues."

Did he forget that he said that, or is John McCain that much of a hypocrite?

Well I've just gotten home from the Obama rally, followed by a stop at the movie theater at Sony Center.  I want to diary my experience at the rally and share some eyewitness details for all of you who were not able to attend.  I do apologize that I don't have photos, but by the time I got there it was too dark to use my iPhone camera...

I left the Scottish Lowlands this morning and flew to Berlin to see the man. And let me tell you people that it sure was great! Lots of people were there, lots of different nationalities. There were many Germans and many Americans of course, but people had come from all over Europe to see Obama. I met Spaniards, Italians, Romanians, French, Czechs and British all very enthusiastic about Obama and the future he represents for all of us. I got lots of things to say about what I thought of the speech and about the reactions it inspired in the people around me, but I'll leave that for a more substantial diary that I will try to get together shortly. I'm completely shattered now so I just wanted to share some of the pictures I took with you. Hope you enjoy them!

Obama’08 flies high...

Welcome back for more speculation! Today we'll continue the final elimination series of possibilities for Obama's v.p.

This series began with the bottom 14 names, and eliminates the bottom vote-getter(s) and replaces them with new name(s) from just up the list, reaveraging as we go (so each thread's bottom vote-getter[s] may not be the ones cut--who's cut will be determined by the new averages generated from this series's votes only). I hope that'll be complicated enough to dissatisfy and confuse everyone equally. I'm hoping we'll have five or six candidates left when Obama picks and see if the DKos wisdom of crowds is. It should take about 14 threads to get all of the top candidates in the poll again, out of the 28 or so total threads. Fmr. Sen. Max Cleland (GA) and Rep. Chet Edwards (TX) were eliminated in the previous round, and Sen. Russ Feingold (WI) and Fmr. Sen. Sam Nunn (GA) rotated in to replace them this time.

Please discuss any v.p. candidates in the comments. The most correct format would be to simply state their name, unless you have further comments. "Oh my God, where's Jane/Johnny Politician?!" would be a bit alarmist, don't you think? I'm sure they're fine. I'm happy to hear all ideas, and of course I'm no official gatekeeper, so play nice.

(continued below the fold)

This piece in Reuters, showing once again that the media gives too much power to people in focus groups, suggests that economists prefer a John McCain White House to a Barack Obama one.

The economy is a big issue. It has overtaken the war in Iraq as the most talked about thing by late night stand-up comedians and idiotic cable news anchors. But there are a few points I want to make sure everyone's clear on.