EU-DIGEST

US economy - America in Free Fall-by Robert L. Borosage

The U.S. has lost private sector jobs for 10 straight months. One quarter of all businesses in the U.S. plan to cut payroll over the next year. Retail sales fell in October by the largest monthly drop on record. Auto sales have collapsed, driving the auto companies towards the precipice. Unemployment is up to 6.1 percent, with most analysts predicting it will soar past 8 percent over the next year. (That translates into unemployment among young minority men at rates of 50 percent or more). States are now facing $100 billion in deficits in operating budgets for the next fiscal year. Twelve million homes are "under water," worth less than their mortgages.

A stunning report by Eric Lotke at the Campaign for America's Future details the staggering investment deficits that have accumulated over the last 30 years. For decades, we've chosen to cut taxes on the wealthy while starving vital public investments. The result is an America that is literally falling apart, while much of the private wealth was squandered in the speculative frenzy that now has leveled our economy. Rather than adding to that folly, we should be focusing on strategic public investments that will put people to work in the short term while contributing to a more competitive economy, a better-educated citizenry and a cleaner environment.

Labels: Obama, US Economy

US Economy: Obama should spend money on healthcare to stimulate the economy - by Dean Baker

Few presidents will come into office having generated the sort of expectations Barack Obama created over the course of his campaign. The country's economic crisis poses substantial dangers but it also presents enormous opportunities. If President Obama is prepared to seize these opportunities, he will establish himself as one of the countries truly great presidents, alongside Lincoln and Roosevelt. Specifically, Obama can take advantage of the current economic crisis to announce plans to jump-start national health insurance. Extending health insurance can be an effective stimulus that will provide an immediate boost to the economy. More importantly, it will provide the same access to healthcare that people in other wealthy countries have long taken for granted.

The backdrop is straightforward. Economists from across the political spectrum are now calling for a large stimulus package to limit the economy's decline and the rise in unemployment. The consensus is in the range of 2.0-2.5% of GDP, or $300-400bn a year.

Labels: EU, Obama, US

Can Obama Stop the Bush Administration's Final Economic Heist? - by Naomi Klein

"The question now is whether Obama will have the courage to take the ideas that won him this election and turn them into policy. Or, alternately, whether he will use the financial crisis to rationalize a move to what pundits call "the middle" (if there is one thing this election has proved, it is that the real middle is far to the left of its previously advertised address). Predictably, Obama is already coming under enormous pressure to break his election promises, particularly those relating to raising taxes on the wealthy and imposing real environmental regulations on polluters. All day on the business networks, we hear that, in light of the economic crisis, corporations need lower taxes, and fewer regulations -- in other words, more of the same.

"The $700-billion "rescue plan" should be regarded as the Bush Administration's final heist. Not only does it transfer billions of dollars of public wealth into the hands of politically connected corporations (a Bush specialty), but it passes on such an enormous debt burden to the next administration that it will make real investments in green infrastructure and universal health care close to impossible. If this final looting is not stopped (and yes, there is still time), we can forget about Obama making good on the more progressive aspects of his campaign platform, let alone the hope that he will offer the country some kind of grand Green New Deal".

Labels: Bush, Obama

The Meaning of Obama's Win: How He Rewrote the Book - by Nancy Gibbs

Some princes are born in palaces. Some are born in mangers. But a few are born in the imagination, out of scraps of history and hope. Barack Obama never talks about how people see him: I'm not the one making history, he said every chance he got. You are. Yet as he looked out Tuesday night through the bulletproof glass, in a park named for a Civil War general, he had to see the truth on people's faces. We are the ones we've been waiting for, he liked to say, but people were waiting for him, waiting for someone to finish what a King began.

Barack Hussein Obama did not win because of the color of his skin. Nor did he win in spite of it. He won because at a very dangerous moment in the life of a still young country, more people than have ever spoken before came together to try to save it. And that was a victory all its own.

Labels: Obama

Europe awaits 'new deal' from President Obama - by Lujcia Kubosova

Europe has welcomed the victory of the democratic candidate in the US presidential elections, with the French leader Nicolas Sarkozy praising the choice of "change" and "optimism" by the American voters, while Brussels urged for a "new deal in a new world" under the leadership of Barack Obama. Europe has welcomed the victory of the democratic candidate in the US presidential elections, with the French leader Nicolas Sarkozy praising the choice of "change" and "optimism" by the American voters, while Brussels urged for a "new deal in a new world" under the leadership of Barack Obama.

Labels: EU, Obama, US

Labels: EU, Obama, US

Obama promotes alternative energy plan - Great business opportunities await more advanced European alternative energy corporations

The focus of Barack Obama's energy plan in a video message to supporters used during the Democratic party organized "house parties" while supporters watched the fall campaign's final presidential debate Wednesday night.In a video Obama highlighted his agenda to spend $150 billion over 10 years on alternative energy to create 5 million new jobs in America.

To view one of Obama's speeches on alternative energy opportunities click on this link

Labels: Alternative Energy, Obama

Obama blasts McCain's health care plan as 'out of touch' - "Obama's plan similar to Dutch insurance program says EU-Digest"

Obama, speaking at a rally in Newport News, Virginia, said it's not that McCain "doesn't care" about what people are going through, "I just think he doesn't know."

Obama's plan, meanwhile, would create a national health insurance program for individuals who do not have employer-provided health care and who do not qualify for other existing federal programs. The plan does not mandate individual coverage for all Americans but requires coverage for all children and allows individuals younger than 25 to be covered through their parents' plans. The plan also allows individuals to choose between the new public insurance program and private insurance plans that meet certain coverage standards. The Obama campaign Web site says the coverage would have benefits similar to those offered to Congress through the Federal Employees Benefits Program. The plan would expand eligibility for Medicaid and State's Children's Health Insurance Program. Obama estimates the cost at between $50 billion and $65 billion, to be paid for by eliminating President Bush's tax cuts for those earning more than $250,000. Obama said that the solution is to "take on drug and insurance companies, modernize our health care system for the 21st century, reduce costs for families and businesses and finally provide affordable, accessible health care for every American."

Note EU-Digest the plan proposed by Senator Obama is similar to the Netherlands insurance program which has been in effect for two years and is a joint venture between the private insurance industry and the government.

Labels: Insurance Industry, Obama, The Netherlands, US elections

Obama's Chicago Boys : by Naomi Klein

Barack Obama waited just three days after Hillary Clinton pulled out of the race to declare, on CNBC, "Look. I am a pro-growth, free-market guy. I love the market." Demonstrating that this is no mere spring fling, he has appointed 37-year-old Jason Furman to head his economic policy team. Furman is one of Wal-Mart's most prominent defenders, anointing the company a "progressive success story." On the campaign trail, Obama blasted Clinton for sitting on the Wal-Mart board and pledged, "I won't shop there." Obama's love of markets and his desire for "change" are not inherently incompatible. "The market has gotten out of balance," he says, and it most certainly has. Many trace this profound imbalance back to the ideas of Milton Friedman, who launched a counterrevolution against the New Deal from his perch at the University of Chicago economics department. Now is the time to worry about Obama's Chicago Boys and their commitment to fending off serious attempts at regulation. It was in the two and a half months between winning the 1992 election and being sworn into office that Bill Clinton also did a U-turn on the economy. He had campaigned promising to revise NAFTA, adding labor and environmental provisions and to invest in social programs. But two weeks before his inauguration, he met with then-Goldman Sachs chief Robert Rubin, who convinced him of the urgency of embracing austerity and more liberalization. Another of Obama's Chicago fans is 39-year-old billionaire Kenneth Griffin, CEO of the hedge fund Citadel Investment Group. Griffin, who gave the maximum allowable donation to Obama, is something of a poster boy for an unbalanced economy. He got married at Versailles and had the after-party at Marie Antoinette's vacation spot (Cirque du Soleil performed)--and he is one of the staunchest opponents of closing the hedge-fund tax loophole. While Obama talks about toughening trade rules with China, Griffin has been bending the few barriers that do exist.

Our "current economic crisis," Obama recently said, did not come from nowhere. It is "the logical conclusion of a tired and misguided philosophy that has dominated Washington for far too long." True enough. But before Obama can purge Washington of the scourge of Friedmanism, he has some ideological housecleaning of his own to do.

Note EU-Digest:Naomi was born May 8, 1970, in Montreal, Quebec. She is a Canadian Journalist by profession, author and activist well known for her political analyses of corporate globalization. In 2005 she was ranked 11th among the top global intellectuals and the highest ranked woman on the list of a world-wide internet poll, in conjunction with Foreign Policy Magazine. Watch her views on capitalism and the free market by clicking on this link

Labels: Obama, US elections

The Limits of Obamamania in Europe — by Victor Davis Hanson

I recently returned from a trip this summer to the battlefields of Europe’s past—among them Waterloo, Verdun, and Normandy—and had a number of discussions with Europeans of all sorts. I can report that Obamamania is still sweeping Europe. With his youth, optimism, and charisma, Senator Barack Obama is hailed as the quintessential “good American,” a rare New Frontiersman in the mold of John F. Kennedy. Better yet, his biracial background and perceived hipness make him a glamorous 21st-century advocate of increased taxes, larger government, more entitlements, and a multinational foreign policy—all dear to the hearts of European socialists. In Obama’s America, there will be no more of the hated George Bush’s anti-abortion, pro-gun, and twangy evangelical primordialism. The Illinois senator also sounds more antiwar than do even European statesmen. And he has surrounded himself with a number of advisers, past and present, who seem pro-Palestinian and eager to talk to Iran, Venezuela, and Syria.

Labels: Europe, Obama

Labels: Elections, EU, Obama, US

Labels: EU, John McCain, Obama, US elections

Proper Treatment from Obama or McCain: Europe 'Can Always Dream'- by Jean-Claude Kiefer

If Europeans could vote on November 4th, Barack Obama would certainly be the next president of the United States. It's a question of charisma, no doubt, and the attraction of novelty, too, as the Senator from Illinois stands out from the "standard" America political class. But it's his whole being, not just because of his Afro-American origins.From Europe, an "Obama-Clinton" ticket would have had more sparkle. Did the Senator from New York even want such a tandem? Curiously - and contrary to custom - the convention in Denver will grant a major place to Hillary Clinton, who will be surrounded by her delegates. After tough negotiations with the party, she even won the privilege of hosting a "one-woman show" to present her ideas. It's as though Hillary Clinton is already preparing for the 2012 election, just in case Obama isn't elected.

There remains, however, some hope … or at least, wishes. For example, that the America of a John McCain or a Barack Obama changes its tone; that she stops constantly pushing for vain confrontations in the name of defending democracy, which is always trotted out whenever its economic interests - mainly oil - need preservation; and that it treats its European allies as partners.

Labels: John McCain, Obama, US elections

US Pres. Elections - Obama and Biden To Start Campaigning in Springfield Illinois today - by Philip Fernando

It’s final. Barrack Obama and Joe Biden will head the Democratic Party ticket at the presidential election. Obama used the vice-presidential announcement to extend until the very last minute, and teed up the coverage of the convention. Speculation was rampant and they gained control of the media waves for days. Senator Joe Biden would definitely attract white, blue-collar voters, an apparent vacuum that Obama had to fill to win the presidency. Whatever weaknesses Biden has may be fodder for the Republicans who would be pouncing on them soon. He has said a number of politically incorrect things over the years and, in the days following his selection those snippets would be aired again and again. Generally speaking, US voters are smart enough to forgive the genuine flaws of candidates, most observed.

But over the long haul, Biden provides what Obama needed most. He will also be getting a substantial catholic voter support. After serving in the world’s most pompous workplace, the Senator, Biden retained an ostentatiously unpretentious manner. He could be described an honest working class Democrat who has disdain for privilege and for limousine liberals, said one commentator. This year, Democrats in general, and Obama in particular, have trouble connecting with working-class voters, especially Catholic ones. Biden would be considered the bridge.

Labels: Elections, John McCain, Obama, USA

The United Nations - John McCain and his secretive plot to 'kill the UN' - by Johann Hari

Does John McCain have a "hidden agenda" to "kill the UN"? That's what the man who devised McCain's big set-piece foreign policy proposal says – and he's delighted it is sailing silently through the presidential election campaign towards success. This story begins with a Republican presidential candidate who, despite the hype, doesn't seem to know much about foreign affairs. McCain recently talked at length about problems on the "Iraq/Pakistan border" – the countries are a thousand miles apart. Asked how to deal with Darfur, he mused about "bringing pressure on the government of Somalia". Uh – it's Sudan, Senator McCain. And he keeps expressing his desire to build up US relations with Czechoslovakia, a country that hasn't existed for 15 years.

But McCain does know one thing: he doesn't like the United Nations. He championed George Bush's appointment of John Bolton as US ambassador to the UN – precisely because Bolton scorns the UN as "irrelevant" and "a twilight zone". He even announced "there is no such thing as the United Nations". It was like appointing Marilyn Manson as ambassador to the Vatican.

This is part of a long seam of thinking on the American right: they opposed Franklin D Roosevelt's spearheading of the United Nations as a fetter on American power, and have never been properly reconciled to it.

Labels: John McCain, Obama, US elections

Obama goes on the offensive as McCain surges into lead at polls - by Leonard Doyle

Barack Obama has launched a sustained and sharply negative advertising campaign against his Republican opponent John McCain, who has vaulted into the lead, according to an opinion poll released yesterday. Mr McCain now leads Mr Obama among likely voters by 46 per cent to 41 per cent. The poll found that voters believe Mr McCain would be a stronger manager of America's declining economy, even though he admits to knowing little about economic issues.

Mr Obama's tone reflects growing anxieties within the Democratic Party that their candidate has been damaged by a fusillade of attacks by Mr McCain in recent weeks while he has been holidaying in Hawaii. The political spotlight abruptly turned to Mr McCain, who used Russia's invasion of Georgia to bolster his foreign policy credentials.

Labels: John McCain, Obama, US elections

"I’m sure that everyone has heard the same argument put forward by the Democrats at least a hundred times or more; “A vote for a third-party candidate does nothing but insure a McCain win” (or a reasonable facsimile thereof). If I hear this ridiculous argument one more time I will probably need stitches in my tongue from biting it.

First of all, the premise behind the argument is irrational. The worst thing about advancing this kind of black/white, either/or argument is that the argument becomes a self fulfilling prophecy. When people advance the idea that only a Democrat or a Republican can win a Presidential election, it helps to reinforce that idea in people’s minds. The more this argument is echoed throughout America, the more people believe it. There are a number of reasons why the next president doesn’t have to belong to the duopoly that has taken this nation to the brink of disaster.

Labels: John McCain, Obama, Two Party System, US elections

That smell on the nation's highways isn't just car exhaust. It's also the rank odor of political populism, as John McCain and Barack Obama both try to score points with dubious energy ideas. Obama has now reversed an earlier stance and declared that the U.S. government should sell 70 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to help ease the sting of $4 gas. That comes less than a week after Obama changed his mind about offshore drilling, deciding that some drilling in sensitive waters would be OK with him after all, given good environmental safeguards.

McCain has had his own inspired moments, including his call to suspend the 18.4-cent-per-gallon federal tax on gasoline, and a $300 million prize for anybody who develops a miracle battery able to cheaply power a car. Hey, how about a prize for building a seven-passenger bicycle? Or a highway with no traffic?

Labels: John McCain, Obama, US elections

West Wing : Obama's Romantic Revolution - by Gabor Steingart

Barack Obama's promises to heal the world were lapped up in Berlin on Thursday. His speech was a masterpiece in the art of political magic -- and it was all coolly calculated.Barack Obama is often compared with a pop star these days. That makes the job of being a politician all the more difficult for him. In show business the performance is the finished product, where reality and appearance come together as one. What you see is what you get, as the Americans say. There is no morning after. "If we're an arrogant nation, they'll resent us; if we're a humble nation, but strong, they'll welcome us," said George W. Bush during the 2000 election campaign. The worthlessness of this statement is now well known. Back then he was believed. In reality there are just two types of voters: the romantic democrats and the common-sense democrats.

Labels: Obama, US elections

The World from Berlin: Will Europe's Adulation of Obama Soon End?

US presidential candidate Barack Obama will speak in Berlin on Thursday. Germans are infatuated with the Democrat, particularly because he isn't George W. Bush. But German commentators doubt the love affair will survive this week's foreign policy speech."One shouldn't forget that the campaigner Obama simply wants to hold a major foreign policy speech for the benefit of his voters in America and wants a fitting backdrop. Nothing more. It isn't the place that creates dignity, rather that which happens at the place."

'Dear Europeans, dear Germans, should I be elected, I am going to take you at your word. More international cooperation means more European engagement in crisis regions.' Obama, should he become the superpower's next president, will not suddenly transform into a dove. He too will use the US military to reach his political goals."

Labels: Europe, Obama

US Presidential Elections - CNN Poll Shows Barack Obama Losing Support From Registered Democrats

A recently released CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll shows that the number of Hillary Clinton supporters planning to vote for John McCain is down. The bad news for Obama is that the number of Clinton supports planning to vote for Barack Obama is also down

Labels: Obama, US elections

US Presidential elections 2008 - Obama and McCain: Different -- and Evolving -- Visions for the U.S. Economy

For the most part, the positions of the presumptive nominees, Republican McCain and Democrat Obama, fall along traditional party lines: Obama leans more toward government involvement in the economy, while McCain's proposals rely on private sector solutions. Both plans, however, would certainly add to already troubling deficits, according to Wharton faculty and economic policy analysts who point to worrisome elements of both candidates' plans.

In the Indian business magazine Business Today, V.K. Kaul, professor of business economics at Delhi University, said that rating the most favorable candidate from India's perspective is a futile exercise. "Any U.S. president will look to promote only that country's interests. Who comes to power is, therefore, immaterial."

A fragmented form of integration is emerging in the region, in which Central America and the Caribbean are strengthening their ties with the U.S. whereas South America -- except for Colombia -- is coming together and strengthening its relationships with Europe more than with the U.S. In this context, "Colombia will continue to be a strategic ally of the U.S., even under a Democratic-controlled government and Congress."

Labels: John McCain, Obama, US elections

Can a black candidate be elected US president?- by Charlotte Raab

Primary season polls however clearly show that race remains a huge factor in the electoral landscape, says University of Washington psychologist and political analyst Anthony Greenwald. Obama's Democratic rival Hillary Clinton defeated him by more than eight percentage points in nine out of 18 primaries, Greenwald said in a study published by the Pew Research Center. "It is evident ... not only that race is still strongly operative as a factor in America's state elections, but also that its impact depends in substantial part on the racial mixture of the state in question," he said.

Schaller, who wrote a book arguing that Democrats can win the general election without the southern states, says this "will be the first election in American history where 25 percent of votes will be cast by non-whites."

Labels: Obama, US elections

US elections - Clinton can beat McCain, Obama can't - Clinton moves further ahead of McCain than Obama does - by Mark Memmott and Jill Lawrence

AP says its latest survey shows that as of now, Clinton has a 50%-41% advantage over McCain. That's a wider lead than she had the last time AP-Ipsos did such a survey. Three weeks ago, she led 48%-45%, according to Pollster.com's archive of recent polls. Meanwhile, AP says Obama has a 46%-44% advantage over McCain -- vs. their 45%-45% tie three weeks ago.

Labels: Hillary Clinton, Obama, US elections

Obama can not win the presidential elections- he has a punctuation problem - by John Harris and David Paul Kuhn

Barack Obama’s real opponent now is not Hillary Rodham Clinton. It is a pair of punctuation marks. The first is a question. The second is an asterisk. Both threaten to hover over Obama if he wins the Democratic nomination without confronting and defeating the doubts Clinton has raised about his political strength beyond his electoral base of African-Americans and upscale whites.

Labels: Hillary Clinton, Obama, US elections

No more civil words, just outright civil war - by John Ibbitson

In the waning days of the Pennsylvania primary campaign, Hillary Clinton's camp unleashed a particularly dark television ad. Over images of Pearl Harbor, the stock-market crash, Osama Bin Laden and other calamities, a grim-voiced announcer declared: "Harry Truman said it best: 'If you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen.' Who do you think has what it takes?" On the night of the primary, Barack Obama was anything but gracious in defeat. He condemned Ms. Clinton for "taking money from Washington lobbyists - from oil lobbyists and drug lobbyists and insurance lobbyists. ... You can't be the champion of working Americans if you're funded by the lobbyists who drown out their voices."

Thus far, the Democrats' protracted primary campaign still appears to be doing the party more good than harm.The Democratic stalemate leaves both Ms. Clinton and Mr. Obama with a choice: continue to escalate their personal attacks, knowing that the Republicans are the ultimate beneficiaries, or raise the bar of civility, at the risk of losing Indiana. The signs all point to escalating attacks, even if it does mean that winning the nomination could cost that winner the election.

Labels: Hillary Clinton, Obama, US elections

US elections - Vote Demographics Spells Much Bigger Trouble for Obama than Pennsylvania Loss - by Earl Ofari Hutchinson

Barack Obama´s decisive Pennsylvania loss to Hillary Clinton was predictable and inevitable. Obama pretty much confirmed that when he tossed in the towel and spent the crucial countdown hours to the primary vote at a fundraiser in Indiana. But the loss in that state is the least of Obama´s troubles.One in five Pennsylvania voters made it clear that race was a factor in their vote. Translated; they would not vote for an African-American for president, no matter how fresh, articulate and race neutral his pitch. If Obama hadn´t gotten ninety percent of the black vote mostly in Philadelphia and other urban spots in the state, Clinton would have demolished him.

Labels: Obama, US elections

The US election - Obama's general election chances questioned - "he will not be able to win the states which count" - by Suzanne Goldenberg and Ewen MacAskill

Clinton, who has won most of the primaries since February 3, is expecting to take a majority of the remaining nine contests. But, more importantly, her campaign team believes the big success in Pennsylvania was to plant doubts about his chances against John McCain. "Obama is unelectable," one of her advisers said yesterday.

Exit polls in Pennsylvania showed low-income and conservative voters had yet to embrace Obama, raising the prospect that they could defect to McCain next November and cost the Democrats the White House. After a hard-fought race, Obama lost among white women by 32 points, among Catholics by 38 points, among middle-income households by 20 points. The gap suggested continued divisions in the Democratic base with Obama running very strongly among African Americans and younger and college-educated voters, but unable to make real headway among more conservative, small town Democrats.

Labels: Obama, US elections

Would a white Obama have a chance?

"Obama critics can say what they want about his experience in politics or lack thereof, but they cannot deny that he has run a brilliant campaign that has drawn huge numbers of Democrats to the polls and mobilized young voters better than any candidate in recent memory. Those who support Obama are not simply supporting a black man. He has tapped into something deeper in the political psyche of America, and by dismissing this fact, Ms. Ferraro does a disservice to Mr. Obama and fellow Democrats. Obama has gotten where he is throughout his political life by playing the race card in his favour. And he's doing it again. He does it very subtly. He's not a race-baiter like Al Sharpton or Jesse Jackson. Indeed, most of the time Obama lets others play the card for him -- or he merely stands back and lets his audience gush about how wonderful it would be to have a black president -- which is how he has been able to use it so successfully; his use of it doesn't confront or offend.

But would a white male who was as much of a platitude-loom -- weaving airy threads into a thin veil -- as the junior senator from Illinois have gotten as far? Doubtful."

Labels: Obama, US elections

US elections - Has Obama Peaked?

"There is buzz this morning about whether crossover Republicans, incited by Rush Limbaugh and others, made a difference in Texas. Maybe so, but I suspect a much bigger factor was that Obama's balloon was punctured a bit in the last days of the campaign. What was most striking to me, in this regard, was when Saturday Night Live virtually endorsed Hillary last weekend, in a very funny sketch that parodied reporters fawning over Obama, followed by a live appearance, also quite funny, by Hillary herself. Obama has enjoyed tactical advantages by limiting his speeches mainly to generalities and cliches, and certainly he has benefited from a friendly press corps. But the problem with this approach is that it may not take much to turn the candidate into a figure of fun. Once Obama starts being treated as a normal politician, as happened for the first time with the press corps just a few days ago, it's hard to say what will become of the Obama craze. At some point, will young women start to feel silly about fainting at Obama rallies? One would hope so. If I were a Democratic superdelegate, I would be glad of the opportunity to sit back for a few weeks and see how Obama reacts to adversity, and how much air has been let out of his balloon."

Labels: Obama, US elections

For the complete report from the allAfrica.com click on this link

US Pres; Elections: Nothing Wrong With Identity Politics?- by Anne Mugisha

An amazing election campaign has unfolded in America over the last two months. It has left many African-American women of the Democratic Party torn between loyalty to gender and loyalty to race. The difficulty of choosing between Hillary Clinton and Barrack Obama has given many 'sistas' a lot of grief. Whether to 'betray' gender and favor race has not been an easy decision and at a pre-election rally in California, billionaire talk-show host Oprah Winfrey revealed her own struggles with the issue when she told an audience that she was being accused of betraying her gender by picking Obama and campaigning for him vigorously. Her response: She had to follow her own truth and her truth led her to Obama.

Problems begin to emerge when one grouping assumes a superior claim for its own kind over others and hence the need for norms, rules and laws to ensure equality.

Note EU-Digest:With the strong support Obama is getting from all levels of the white voters around America, it is sad to note that the black population there is still struggling with the concept of race and identity. They have shown this so far in every primary contest of the Democratic primary elections this year by voting massively for race over gender and experience.

Labels: Hillary Clinton, Obama, US elections

US Pres. Elections - No, He Can’t Because Yes, They Will - by Larry Johnson

Obama’s mantra, “Yes, We Can” (original Aluminum Company of America slogan used in the 70's to promote the Easy Open Aluminum Can) is inspiring and heartwarming, but in the end is an empty phrase that will founder once the Republican political attack machine spins up. I realize that most Obamatons are so wedded to his vision of hope that any effort to point out the cracks in the foundation of the new Democratic Savior are met with fury and disdain. If you think for a minute that the Republican party–who used Willie Horton on Michael Dukakis to devastating effect, who portrayed triple amputee and veteran Max Cleland as a bosom buddy of Osama Bin Laden, and convinced many voters that decorated combat veteran John Kerry was a fraud–will give Obama a pass come the fall then you are in serious denial.

But, unlike the attacks on Dukakis, Cleland, and Kerry, the ammunition that Obama has provided to his political foes is significant and deadly. But try telling that to Obama disciples. You get name calling and character assassination. At the same time, Obama is treated with a reverence and fawning that I have never seen in my life for a political figure. What in the world was Chris Matthew’s talking about with his tingling leg adulation heaped on Obama.

Obama’s untested achilles heel is his relationship with three men–Tony Rezko, William Ayers, and Rashid Khalidi. These names will become shorthand for Corruption, Terrorism, and the Destruction of Israel. Republicans will likely use these relationships to

Labels: Alcoa, Obama, Pliagarism, US elections

US elections - Che Guevara Spotted in Obama’s Houston Office

Some sharp-eyed blogger at the politically conservative site "Little Green Footballs" spotted Che Guevara emblazoned on a pair of Cuban flags hanging in a Houston campaign office of Barack Obama.The sighting occurred on a segment from the local Fox affiliate, which apparently made no mention of the flags. A disclaimer on the Fox site states “The office featured in this video is funded by volunteers of the Barack Obama Campaign and is not an official headquarters for his campaign.”

Labels: Che Guevara, Cuba, Obama, US elections

The First Muslim-Born Leader of the West - Europe preparing itself for Muslim takeover - by Thomas Landen

If I had been asked two months ago “Which Western country runs the greatest risk of electing a Muslim-born leader and how soon do you think this is going to happen?” I would have bet on the Netherlands somewhere in the next decade. Today, it looks as if the first Western country with a Muslim-born leader might very well be the United States next year, when President Barack Hussein Obama enters the Oval Office.

Two weeks ago, in an attempt to explain Europe’s enthusiasm for Mr. Obama, the left wing German weekly Der Spiegel pointed out that the Illinois senator is the most “European” of all the candidates in the U.S. presidential race. “Many in Europe would like nothing more than a ‘European’ America […] Obama personifies Europe’s hopes for a modern America: black, socially minded and gentle,” the German magazine wrote. As if Europe is black, socially minded and gentle… Last week, Algemeen Dagblad, a newspaper in the Netherlands, asked the 150 members of the Dutch House of Representatives how they would vote in the U.S. elections if they could. Mr. Obama got 58 votes, Mrs. Clinton 40, while a mere 23 Dutch parliamentarians – fewer than those who said they had no opinion – would vote Republican. America, sadly, does not even seem to have noticed that there is a problem. It called Mr. Romney to account for his Mormonism but has yet to ask Mr. Obama for his views on Islam.

Labels: EU, Islam, Obama

US Pres. elections Republicans Root for Obama who is not the underdog anymore - by Fred Barnes

Republicans and Barack Obama are far apart ideologically, but they have a common enemy: Hillary Clinton. This explains why many Republicans look kindly on Obama's bid for the Democratic presidential nomination. Republicans have two goals in the 2008 race. One is to retain the presidency. The other is to deny the Clintons--Hillary and Bill--another four (or eight) years in the White House.Barack Obama is the underdog no more.

The 46-year-old Illinois senator handed rival Hillary Clinton three more humbling defeats Tuesday night in the Democratic presidential race, winning easy victories in the so-called "Potomac primaries" in the U.S. capital region. Obama handily beat Clinton to win the Democratic primaries in Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia. He won almost 75 per cent of the vote in D.C. and almost two thirds in Virginia, a state with a large population of military personnel and government workers that was once considered fertile political ground for Clinton.

Even before the votes were tallied on Tuesday, Clinton already was looking ahead to another set of primaries in Ohio and Texas. She held a rally Tuesday night in El Paso. "I think just the fact that Barack Obama is in this place where Hillary Clinton has skedaddled out of town and is down in Texas, already just saying goodbye to these (Potomac) primaries, is a remarkable situation," said Massachusetts Senator John Kerry, an Obama supporter. "It's a remarkable statement." Clinton's campaign has also begun planning for yet another major showdown with Obama on April 22 in Pennsylvania.

Labels: Elections, Hillary Clinton, Obama

What Europe Can Expect from the US Pres. Candidates - by Lord George Weidenfeld ( translated by Ron Argentati)

Hillary Clinton intends to continue cultivating contacts with Europe as well as with al-Qaeda and US-friendly regimes in Egypt, Jordan, Turkey, and Israel. Here she wants to proceed more tactfully than Bush and will try to succeed in the goal nearly achieved by her husband, namely to convince (or even force) the Israelis and Palestinians into a peace settlement. One should not forget that it was Bill Clinton who played a leading role in the Balkans which led to regime change in Serbia and produced a realignment, albeit a fragile one, in the region.

After several discussions with Barack Obama’s confidantes and independent supporters, one gets a hazy picture of his exact world political ideas and ideals. He is supported by most of the liberal intelligentsia. The Kennedy clan pays homage to Obama as the symbol of a younger generation and Jack Kennedy’s spiritual heir. Still, among those closest to him, one finds radical advocates of a thoroughly altered foreign policy. Robert Malley, former official in Clinton’s National Security Council, is leading a well-aimed campaign against Israel. He maintains that at the 2000 Camp David Summit, the Clinton-led negotiations failed not because of Arafat’s veto but basically because of the dishonorable bargaining tactics and hollow promises of then-Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak. Barack Obama wants to deal directly with Hamas and Hezbollah and also negotiate a new relationship with Iran.

I met John McCain and his wife at a meeting in London where I shared a table with them. I got the impression from both McCains that I was dealing with educated and well-read connoisseurs of European culture and politics. McCain differs from the Neoconservatives in that he does not share their inflexible compulsion to literally force western democracy on the world. Actually, one could compare the Neocons with an automobile that has classic-liberal bodywork but is powered by an old Trotskyite engine. That these elections are being followed with burning interest by the rest of the world is proof that despite America’s losses of reputation, honor, and victory, whatever affects the superpower affects us all.

Labels: EU, Hillary Clinton, John McCain, Obama, US elections

Where Would Obama Take the US (and Europe)- by Robert Parry

"I don't want to just end the war (in Iraq), but I want to end the mindset that got us into war in the first place," Obama said. The Illinois senator apparently was referring to his readiness to hold discussions with U.S. enemies without preconditions, a position that Clinton has called naïve and a sign of his inexperience. Meanwhile, on the Republican side, the leading contenders -- John McCain, Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee -- are competing over how enthusiastically to embrace Bush's Iraq War and how lavishly to finance the Pentagon and its many military contractors. The Republicans are advocating locking in military spending at four percent of the gross domestic product or higher, essentially guaranteeing that Eisenhower's "military-industrial complex" will remain a well-financed fixture in American politics. Obama is the only major candidate left in the race who sounds like he would even contemplate changing this dynamic, by negotiating with enemies and looking for ways to avoid the bellicosity of the Bush years.

Labels: Obama, US elections