Rush’s latest theory?  That the whole objective of Obama’s economic plan is unemployment.  According to Limbaugh, de facto leader of the GOP, this is President Obama’s master plan to get reparations for the whole slavery thing.

“This is the objective. The objective is unemployment. The objective is more food stamp benefits. The objective is more unemployment benefits. The objective is an expanding welfare state. And the objective is to take the nation’s wealth and return to it to the nation’s quote, “rightful owners.” Think reparations. Think forced reparations here if you want to understand what actually is going on.”

And this is the guy Dick Cheney believes is representative of the real Republican Party.

So the other day Barack Obama and Joe Biden stop by a burger joint in Virginia for lunch.  Obama orders, and I’m paraphrasing, “a basic cheddar cheeseburger.  And some mustard.  Spicy brown mustard, or Dijon, if you’ve got it.”

Innocuous, no?

Not in the eyes of right-wing cheerleaders Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham, and Mark Steyn.

Ewww… look at Barack Obama!  He’s too fancy schmantzy for ketchup.  He’s gotta have DIJON mustard.  DIIIJOOON MUUUUSTAAARD!

Hannity calls him out on only pretending to be a “man of the people” because he likes Dijon.

Ingraham says, “I don’t even like the way the man orders a hamburger… what kind of man orders a cheeseburger without ketchup?”

After teasing Obama for being the unofficial spokesperson for Grey Poupon, Steyn goes on to say, “So yesterday Barack Obama had a hamburger.  I don’t know what he’ll do today to pass for ‘human.’”

This is a thread worthy of picking?

I’m looking right at ya, right-wing talking heads.

Look, we all know the playbook.  Paint Obama as an elitist because he likes arugula, and apparently, Dijon mustard.   I get it.  And I’m sure it’s going to work.  I’m sure we’re all going to hear the “Dijon mustard” sound bites for a long, long time.  I’m sure your elitist talking point will get lots of run.

But the Republican party is in disarray right now.  The conservative movement has stalled.  And now it seems you’re deciding your best course of action is to behave the same exact way you ran (and lost) the presidential campaign:  sit back, wait for Obama to “screw up,” and then whip up some snarky talking points and hope they gain traction.

But America decided that we’re too smart to fall for that bullshit.

And yet, you still keep trying.

You’re turning how Barack Obama orders a burger into a full-fledged talking point.

And you wonder why nobody takes you seriously anymore.

Oh, and by the way, a LOT of people order cheeseburgers without ketchup.  Uppity people like Texans.  Or the restaurant that actually invented the hamburger.

And Grey Poupon mustard?  Made by the same Euro-trash that brings Velveeta and Ranch Dressing to your kitchen table… Kraft Foods.

Just sayin’.

The Washington Examiner’s Byron York discusses “The black-white divide in Obama’s popularity.”  Sounds like it’d be an insightful analysis of the cultural deltas between two distinct groups and the resultant perception of the current president, no?

On his 100th day in office, Barack Obama enjoys high job approval ratings, no matter what poll you consult. But if a new survey by the New York Times is accurate, the president and some of his policies are significantly less popular with white Americans than with black Americans, and his sky-high ratings among African-Americans make some of his positions appear a bit more popular overall than they actually are.

Wait a minute.  Let’s take a look at the last part of that paragraph again.

…His sky-high ratings among African-Americans make some of his positions appear a bit more popular overall than they actually are.

Emphasis mine.

So, apparently the opinions of African-Americans skew reality.

How can that sentence be read in any other way than, “If it weren’t for the African-Americans, Obama’s real ratings would be lower?”

Or to put it even more bluntly, “What black folk think doesn’t matter as much as what white folk think?”

Florida congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen hung up on President-Elect Obama… twice.

Is Ileana Ros-Lehtinen a little paranoid?

Maybe.

On Wednesday, the Republican congresswoman got a call from President-elect Barack Obama, didn’t believe it was him, and hung up on him. Twice.

According to Ros-Lehtinen’s flack Alex Cruz, the congresswoman received the call on her cell phone from a Chicago-based number and an aide informed her that Obama wanted to speak to her. When Obama introduced himself, Ros-Lehtinen cut him off and said, “I’m sorry but I think this is a joke from one of the South Florida radio stations known for these pranks.” Then she hung up.

Moments later, Obama tried again, this time through his soon-to-be chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel.

“Ileana, I cannot believe you hung up on the President-Elect,” Emanuel said. And then–yes, you know what’s coming–she hung up on Emanuel saying she “didn’t believe the call was legitimate.”

A short time later, Ros-Lehtinen received an urgent call from Rep. Howard Berman (D-Calif.), the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, who informed her that she indeed hung up on Obama.

So, Obama tried again and this time he was successful. (Phew!)

“It is very funny that you have twice hung up on me,” Obama said. Ros Lehtinen responded by telling Obama that radio stations in South Florida always make these sorts of jokes. Obama said similar pranksters reside in Chi-town.

“You are either very gracious to reach out in such a bipartisan manner or had run out of folks to call if you are truly calling me and Saturday Night Live could use a good Obama impersonator like you,” Ros-Lehtinen joked with the president-elect.

Ros-Lehtinen then congratulated Obama on his victory and pledged to work together on behalf of all Americans. She also asked Obama to call Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) and Rep. Albio Sire (D-NJ) to discuss Cuba policy.

Here’s hoping they don’t hang up on him.

Israeli Prime Minister candidate Benjamin Netanyahu finds obvious inspiration in someone else’s successful candidacy.

“Imitation is the greatest form of flattery,” noted Ron Dermer, one of Mr. Netanyahu’s top campaign advisers. “We’re all in the same business, so we took a close look at a guy who has been the most successful and tried to learn from him. And while we will not use the word ‘change’ in the same way in our campaign, we believe Netanyahu is the real candidate of change for Israel.”

Those who created the Obama Web site, including Thomas Gensemer, managing partner of Blue State Digital, say the Netanyahu site is closer to Mr. Obama’s than any others they have seen.

“Nothing has been so direct as the Netanyahu Web site, though we have seen others with shades of it,” he said. When a campaign is successful, he added, “people are going to knock things off, both in terms of functionality and aesthetic.”

This undated file photo provided by Gary and Alina Grewal of Hardwick Township, N.J., shows a charred cross that had been burned on the lawn of their home. The Grewals placed a banner congratulating President-elect Barack Obama on his election victory in their yard and found the banner wrapped around the charred cross Nov. 6, 2008. Lt. Gerald Lewis of the New Jersey State Police says they are treating the incident as a bias crime. (AP Photo/Courtesy of Grewal family)

Though Barack Obama’s landslide victory on November 4th was perhaps the ultimate symbol of racial progress in American history, the fact is that racism exists in a primal place that can’t be taught, can’t be converted, and is as endemic in human nature as one’s sense of identity or soul.  Whether or not people let that inherent fear dictate their thoughts and actions is what makes them better men.

This is not a story about better men.

The Associated Press reports:

Cross burnings. Schoolchildren chanting “Assassinate Obama.” Black figures hung from nooses. Racial epithets scrawled on homes and cars.

Incidents around the country referring to President-elect Barack Obama are dampening the postelection glow of racial progress and harmony, highlighting the stubborn racism that remains in America.

From California to Maine, police have documented a range of alleged crimes, from vandalism and vague threats to at least one physical attack. Insults and taunts have been delivered by adults, college students and second-graders.

Some of the reported incidents:

• One was in Snellville, Ga., where Denene Millner said a boy on the school bus told her 9-year-old daughter the day after the election: “I hope Obama gets assassinated.” That night, someone trashed her sister-in-law’s front lawn, mangled the Obama lawn signs, and left two pizza boxes filled with human feces outside the front door, Millner said.
• Four North Carolina State University students admitted writing anti-Obama comments in a tunnel designated for free speech expression, including one that said: “Let’s shoot that (N-word) in the head.” Obama has received more threats than any other president-elect, authorities say.
• At Standish, Maine, a sign inside the Oak Hill General Store read: “Osama Obama Shotgun Pool.” Customers could sign up to bet $1 on a date when Obama would be killed. “Stabbing, shooting, roadside bombs, they all count,” the sign said. At the bottom of the marker board was written “Let’s hope someone wins.”
• Racist graffiti was found in places including New York’s Long Island, where two dozen cars were spray-painted; Kilgore, Texas, where the local high school and skate park were defaced; and the Los Angeles area, where swastikas, racial slurs and “Go Back To Africa” were spray painted on sidewalks, houses and cars.
• Second- and third-grade students on a school bus in Rexburg, Idaho, chanted “assassinate Obama,” a district official said.
• University of Alabama professor Marsha L. Houston said a poster of the Obama family was ripped off her office door. A replacement poster was defaced with a death threat and a racial slur. “It seems the election brought the racist rats out of the woodwork,” Houston said.
• Black figures were hanged by nooses from trees on Mount Desert Island, Maine, the Bangor Daily News reported. The president of Baylor University in Waco, Texas said a rope found hanging from a campus tree was apparently an abandoned swing and not a noose.
• Crosses were burned in yards of Obama supporters in Hardwick, N.J., and Apolacan Township, Pa.
• A black teenager in New York City said he was attacked with a bat on election night by four white men who shouted ‘Obama.’
• In the Pittsburgh suburb of Forest Hills, a black man said he found a note with a racial slur on his car windshield, saying “now that you voted for Obama, just watch out for your house.”

The article cites BJ Gallagher, a sociologist and co-author of the diversity book “A Peacock in the Land of Penguins.”

“The principle is very simple.  If I can’t hurt the person I’m angry at, then I’ll vent my anger on a substitute, i.e., someone of the same race.”

“We saw the same thing happen after the 9-11 attacks, as a wave of anti-Muslim violence swept the country. We saw it happen after the Rodney King verdict, when Los Angeles blacks erupted in rage at the injustice perpetrated by ‘the white man.’”

“It’s as stupid and ineffectual as kicking your dog when you’ve had a bad day at the office, but it happens a lot.”

I’m not going to go the easy route and say, “We’ve got a long way to go.”  That would imply that the concept  of racism has an absolute end.  It doesn’t.  It will perpetuate through generations.  Racism breeds racism.  What I can do is hope that these people eventually fade into background noise — that they become static.  Maybe November 4th, 2008 signaled a move in that direction.

But I doubt it.

In an earlier post, I wrote about Rev. Jay Scott Newman, a Catholic priest in South Carolina who told his parishioners that “they are putting their souls at risk if they take Holy Communion before doing penance for their vote.”

Well, it looks like South Carolina’s Charleston-based Roman Catholic Diocese doesn’t agree with Rev. Newman’s sentiment. (source: Statement on Voting and Communion)

“As administrator of the Diocese of Charleston, let me state with clarity that Father Newman’s statements do not adequately reflect the Catholic Church’s teachings,” Monsignor Martin T. Laughlin said Friday in a posting on the diocese’s Web site. “Any comments or statements to the contrary are repudiated.”

Laughlin went on to say:

“Christ gives us freedom to explore our own conscience and to make our own decisions while adhering to the law of God and the teachings of the faith. Therefore, if a person has formed his or her conscience well, he or she should not be denied Communion, nor be told to go to confession before receiving Communion.

“We should all come together to support the President-elect and all elected officials with a view to influencing policy in favor of the protection of the unborn child. Let us pray for them and ask God to guide them as they take the mantle of leadership on January 20, 2009.”

Naturally, Rev. Newman backtracked, stating that his original statement had been misunderstood. Newman said that he didn’t intend for his comments to be seen beyond his parish and that he has received more than 3,500 emails from across the globe both in support of and condemning his comments.

Doesn’t seem like a misunderstanding to me.  He seemed pretty clear in what he meant.

The other night, Stephen Colbert mentioned an article by Jon Swaine of The Daily Telegraph listing “50 Things You Might Not Know About Barack Obama.”

Here’s the list:

• He collects Spider-Man and Conan the Barbarian comics

• He was known as “O’Bomber” at high school for his skill at basketball

• His name means “one who is blessed” in Swahili

• His favourite meal is wife Michelle’s shrimp linguini

• He won a Grammy in 2006 for the audio version of his memoir, Dreams From My Father

• He is left-handed – the sixth post-war president to be left-handed

• He has read every Harry Potter book

• He owns a set of red boxing gloves autographed by Muhammad Ali

• He worked in a Baskin-Robbins ice cream shop as a teenager and now can’t stand ice cream

• His favourite snacks are chocolate-peanut protein bars

• He ate dog meat, snake meat, and roasted grasshopper while living in Indonesia

• He can speak Spanish

• While on the campaign trail he refused to watch CNN and had sports channels on instead

• His favourite drink is black forest berry iced tea

• He promised Michelle he would quit smoking before running for president – he didn’t

• He kept a pet ape called Tata while in Indonesia

• He can bench press an impressive 200lbs

• He was known as Barry until university when he asked to be addressed by his full name

• His favourite book is Moby-Dick by Herman Melville

• He visited Wokingham, Berks, in 1996 for the stag party of his half-sister’s fiancé, but left when a stripper arrived

• His desk in his Senate office once belonged to Robert Kennedy

• He and Michelle made $4.2 million (£2.7 million) last year, with much coming from sales of his books

• His favourite films are Casablanca and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest

• He carries a tiny Madonna and child statue and a bracelet belonging to a soldier in Iraq for good luck

• He applied to appear in a black pin-up calendar while at Harvard but was rejected by the all-female committee.

• His favourite music includes Miles Davis, Bob Dylan, Bach and The Fugees

• He took Michelle to see the Spike Lee film Do The Right Thing on their first date

• He enjoys playing Scrabble and poker

• He doesn’t drink coffee and rarely drinks alcohol

• He would have liked to have been an architect if he were not a politician

• As a teenager he took drugs including marijuana and cocaine

• His daughters’ ambitions are to go to Yale before becoming an actress (Malia, 10) and to sing and dance (Sasha, 7)

• He hates the youth trend for trousers which sag beneath the backside

• He repaid his student loan only four years ago after signing his book deal

• His house in Chicago has four fire places

• Daughter Malia’s godmother is Jesse Jackson’s daughter Santita

• He says his worst habit is constantly checking his BlackBerry

• He uses an Apple Mac laptop

• He drives a Ford Escape Hybrid, having ditched his gas-guzzling Chrysler 300

• He wears $1,500 (£952) Hart Schaffner Marx suits

• He owns four identical pairs of black size 11 shoes

• He has his hair cut once a week by his Chicago barber, Zariff, who charges $21 (£13)

• His favourite fictional television programmes are Mash and The Wire

• He was given the code name “Renegade” by his Secret Service handlers

• He was nicknamed “Bar” by his late grandmother

• He plans to install a basketball court in the White House grounds

• His favourite artist is Pablo Picasso

• His speciality as a cook is chilli

• He has said many of his friends in Indonesia were “street urchins”

• He keeps on his desk a carving of a wooden hand holding an egg, a Kenyan symbol of the fragility of life

• His late father was a senior economist for the Kenyan government

Proclaiming that a vote for Barack Obama “constitutes material cooperation with intrinsic evil,” Rev. Jay Scott Newman at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Greenville, South Carolina has sent a letter to his parishioners stating that they are putting their souls at risk if they take Holy Communion before doing penance for their vote.

“Our nation has chosen for its chief executive the most radical pro-abortion politician ever to serve in the United States Senate or to run for president,” Newman wrote, referring to Obama by his full name, including his middle name of Hussein.

“Voting for a pro-abortion politician when a plausible pro-life alternative exists constitutes material cooperation with intrinsic evil, and those Catholics who do so place themselves outside of the full communion of Christ’s Church and under the judgment of divine law. Persons in this condition should not receive Holy Communion until and unless they are reconciled to God in the Sacrament of Penance, lest they eat and drink their own condemnation.”

Sorry, but an institution that covered up the sexual abuse of children by its clergy so often that Massachusetts actually had to create a law in 2002 that mandated the church report these crimes to the police has lost all moral high ground for me.

In case you didn’t know, John H. Hindraker writes for PowerLine, a blog that won Time magazine’s “Blog of the Year” in 2004.

Anyway, Hinderaker recently penned a column called “The Importance of Being Careful” criticizing President-Elect Obama’s verbal gaffes, like the Nancy Reagan/seance slip-up (for which he apologized for nearly immediately).

Compare and contrast to George W. Bush, who is only now expressing regret at some of the statements he’d made — years ago.

But here’s the money paragraph from the column:

Obama thinks he is a good talker, but he is often undisciplined when he speaks. He needs to understand that as President, his words will be scrutinized and will have impact whether he intends it or not. In this regard, President Bush is an excellent model; Obama should take a lesson from his example. Bush never gets sloppy when he is speaking publicly. He chooses his words with care and precision, which is why his style sometimes seems halting. In the eight years he has been President, it is remarkable how few gaffes or verbal blunders he has committed. If Obama doesn’t raise his standards, he will exceed Bush’s total before he is inaugurated.

Yes, you read that correctly.

I wonder what color the sky is in Hinderaker’s world?