Trinity Gets 15m in Grants. Gee; Who Arranged for That, I Wonder?

I see where Obama’s suppsoedly ex-church has managed somehow to secure  $15mUSD in grants from the federal government.

Gee, I wonder how THAT could happen? Details:

FOX News has learned that over the last 15 years, Trinity has received at least $15 million in grants from the federal government — in other words, taxpayer money.

Records show this money supported a variety of outreach: everything from low income housing to nutritional programs for needy kids to money for HIV/AIDS education. Wright blames the government for intentionally infecting the African-American community with that deadly virus.

DePaul University journalism professor Laura Washington, who specializes in race and politics, said Wright is a hypocrite for taking money from the government.

“On the one hand, he says, ‘God damn America’ and he says America is responsible for all the ills in the black community. On the other hand, he’s taking money from the same community he’s crucifying,” Washington said.

Remember that “liberal Honesty” thing I posted this morning, and said I’d be pointing at?

Here’s one such case for you.

And of course, the relationship with Obama these last 20 years, had nothing to do with such payoffs grants, right? Imagine a Republican in that situation. think we’d not be in wall to wall coverage on the MSM, with every Democrat between here and there rushing to a microphone to denouce the corruption?

Hume last night:

Some recent surveys suggest a striking gap between liberals and conservatives on the issue of honesty. Polling by an organization called The World Values Survey posed the question, “Is it OK to cheat on your taxes?”

Fifty-seven percent of those who described themselves as “very liberal” said “yes”, compared with only 20 percent of those calling themselves “very conservative.” That same survey in the Washington Examiner found those on the left were more likely to say it is OK to buy goods that one knows are stolen.

Another questionnaire done by the Culture and Media Institute’s National Cultural Values Survey posed a scenario in which an employer would be willing to pay someone in cash in order to avoid taxes and allow a worker to collect unemployment benefits. Forty-nine percent of self-described progressives said they would go along with the plan, while only 21 percent of conservatives said they would.

However, in fairness such data could suggest liberals might just be more honest about their dishonesty.

Ehh… not likely. That conclusion doesn’t seem to mesh with liberal politics. The Examiner  mentions this report and other studies, not connected with the ones that Hume mentions and agrees with me:

However attractive this explanation might be for some, there is simply no basis for accepting this explanation. Validation studies, which attempt to figure out who misreports on academic surveys and why, has found no evidence that conservatives are less honest. Indeed, validation research indicates that Democrats tend to be less forthcoming than other groups.

The honesty gap is also not a result of “bad people” becoming liberals and “good people” becoming conservatives. In my mind, a more likely explanation is bad ideas. Modern liberalism is infused with idea that truth is relative. Surveys consistently show this. And if truth is relative, it also must follow that honesty is subjective.

Exactly so.

Oh, by the way… the Examiner also includes other studies by other groups that report pretty much what Hume mentions. Worth a read. I’ll be pointing to these studies between now and November.

An interesting admission on this Obama tape thing I mentioned yesterday and the day before, from Jim Geraghty at NRO:

The preponderance of the evidence now suggests that there’s nothing there. One of the arguments that made me think there was some fire amid the smoke was the statement on Booman Tribune, attempting to explain that “why’d he” was being heard as “whitey.” This sort of explanation suggested that someone — perhaps allied with the Obama campaign? Someone in attendance of the event? — wanted to explain what people would be hearing on the tape, which suggested that there was a tape, and that some words that sounded like “why’d he”/”whitey” could be heard. The listing of specifics of the comment — Medicaid/Katrina/Jena/Iraq — also suggested someone had heard the comment, and wanted to put it in context…

But now I find that apparently Booman Tribune was merely paraphrasing another blogger’s prediction of what would be on the tape if it ever surfaced. No one claimed to have seen the tape. (That will teach me to put any stock in anything written on a liberal blog.)

Well, yeah, which is exactly why I made it a point to suggest that Booman wasn’t exactly credible, either.

Beyond that, though comes the real issues:

Without that, what are we left with? Larry Johnson, a vehemently pro-Hillary and anti-Obama blogger, who in the past was running around telling people Karl Rove was about to be indicted. Republican political consultant Roger Stone, saying he believes it exists. I’m hearing from other reporters that their (secondhand, of course) sources are calling back and adding that they saw Louis Farrakhan on the tape, a detail that they didn’t mention before Johnson’s update of 9 this morning. Does the presence of Farrakhan seem like a detail that’s easy to forget?

Look, whatever. If you read what I”ve been saying these last few days, I’m not all that excited, either way. That the tape exists or not is not important. It really isn’t. If it does, fine. If it doesn’t, then we have another situation where the fabricators like Larry Johnson are exposed as such. He’s done it before, which is one reason I didn’t jump on the story with both feet anyway.  I’m fine with that either way.

The big story here to my mind is that so many Democrats are willing to believe that it does exist… and are willing to accept the idea that the Obamas are extreme racists.  It’s as I said yesterday:

Even assuming Johnson comes up with nothing, what have we got? Perhaps this can be best described by historical comparison.

Think back… to the big arguments during the first Clinton misadministration, when we were faced with rumors about how Clinton had raped at least one woman on his way to the Oral Office.

The surpising factor there to me, was the number of people… even his supporters… who were not surpised by the charges. It’s a measurement of the reputation of the Clintons I think… what people are really thinking about them… as good as any.

It occurrs to me that by the same token, the part of this Johnson bit that is perhaps of greatest import… is the number of voters.. particularly the Democrat voters, apparently… who wouldn’t put such racism and hate as has been reported, past Michelle Obama.

That kind of mistrust doesn’t bode well for the vote.

I do not suggest that Johnson has added anything of impact to this race. What I’m suggesting is that he’s revealed a split within the Democrat party that will play heavily come November… it’s a split that if the Democrat party had a better choice than Hillary Clinton as an alternative, to Obama, would have been out there for all to see.

As it is, Johnson provides a measurement of the split, and proof it exists that even the Democrat party itself can no longer ignore if it wants to survive untill November. Indeed, I wonder if any official reaction at this point will be a curative, or will simply make things worse.

I make no secret of the fact that I think Bob Barr to be a nut case taht I want nowhere near the White House, even on a tour f the place, but give the man credit, for this at least:

Yesterday, James Buchanan posted a racist Barr endorsement at WhiteCivilRights:

A vote for Bob Barr would at least send a message to the Republican Party that conservatives and Whites won’t sit still as they are stuck with a liberal presidential candidate like McCain. Supporting Bob Barr might even pave the way for a Third Party to replace the increasingly repugnant Republican Party… If voting for McCain is a waste of time, since he’s never going to win (because conservatives hate him), then the best course of action may be a protest vote for the Libertarian candidate Bob Barr. If Barr gets millions of votes, it will be a very strong sign that the neocons and their warmonger policies have failed and the Republican Party should change course and stop supporting wars for Israel.

Stormfront member “WhiteRights” posted the column in the site’s message boards, which is where the Barr campaign found it. Barr campaign manager Russ Verney released this statement:

The Barr campaign is not going to be a vehicle for every fringe and hate group to promote itself. We do not want and will not accept the support of haters. Anyone with love in their heart for our country and for every resident of our country regardless of race, religion, nationality or sexual orientation is welcome with open arms.

Tell the haters I said don’t let the door hit you on the backside on your way out!

Barr consultant Steve Gordon sent me the statement and added: “We denounce anybody who doesn’t want to treat everybody equally under the law.”

Well, now all we need to do is get his definition of “equal ” within that context.  Still, it’s a net positive for Barr, and I’d not be fair to fail to make note of it.

And just for the record… Stormfront is a blight on our country, and so too the Libertarian Party, as it has evolved.

Apparently Robert Byrd has been hospitalized:

U.S. Sen. Robert C. Byrd was admitted to a hospital Monday evening because of a high temperature, his spokesman said.

“He came into the office today, and he was a little sluggish,” said Jesse Jacobs. After a vote at 5:30 p.m., Byrd went home, where his caregiver took his temperature, Jacobs said.

Well, to be honest I can’t recall having seen him animated in the last 20 years or so, even a little. At the risk of being insensitive, I’d as a simple statement of fact, say that we have two Democrat Senators in their final term in the Senate. Byrd and Kennedy.

I have not commented on Todd Purnam’s, Vanity Fair, piece on B.J. Clinton because in part I can’t bring myself to read such a long article.   However one of  Purnam’s points was that B.J. lacks self-displine.   Puffington Post  writer Mayhill Fowler discovered this fact for herself:

The former president made the comment at a local campaign event after I asked him if Purdum’s much-commented upon Vanity Fair story was weighing on his mind.

Tightly gripping this reporter’s hand and refusing to let go, Clinton heatedly denounced the writer, who is currently married to former Clinton White House Press Secretary, Dee Dee Myers.

Ms Fowler, I’d consider battery charges.   Unwanted groping  is neither appropriate nor legal, even for a former president.   An apology would be the least to expect from gentleman, but B.J. is not a gentleman.

?

• You really have to wonder what motivates people sometimes, when you see stories like this one.
• But… Obama could no more disown his church, than he could disown his…. Oh.. Wait. Never mind.
• Of Hamburgers, food police, and such.
• I commented on Susan Sarandon, the other night, about her threats to leave the United States attain the presidency. What I said, still does. And I should make mention of the chuckle I got out of Billy Beck’s comments. Quintessential Billy, all in one line. You can’t beat that stuff. But, you know, the point has been made elsewhere that there are an awful lot of people that were still waiting for them to make good on their pledges to leave the country if a Republican made it into office. Streisand, Martin Sheen, the Baldwins, Tim Robbins, Cher Bono, and I don’t know who else. You’ll forgive me if I don’t hold my breath waiting for these morons to stop wasting our air. I’m willing to bet that there’s a number of people that would be willing to pay their airfare, provided it was a one-way ticket. They would consider it an outstanding investment in the country’s future.
• Speaking of Billy Beck, he points out Tim Starr at his Fight for Liberty group:
  

  >2. The various “ban” campaigns are almost
  > always aimed at Western-style, advanced
  > weapons. The unstated effect of such
  > bans is to shift the battlefield advantage
  > away from the West, and towards the
  >Third World guerillas. A typical anti-West
  > campaign is “Ban the mines, including the
  > most advanced mines with automatic disarm
  >timers”, but don’t ban “improvised explosive
  > devices” or “suicide explosive belts”…

  I’d love to see a campaign to ban suicide-bomb vests/belts under international law. I don’t think a ban on IEDs would be any better than a landmine ban, but going after equipment specifically designed for suicide-bombings would be great, if only for the entertainment value of the opposition to the ban.

  and Tim’s got that one nailed pretty well. I cannot imagine that there would not be resistance to such a ban. Of course the thing is, that they would have to go through some gymnastics to come up with an excuse that even sounded plausible than them, much less to the rest of the planet, sanity being the limiting factor that is.

• Bruce, you cannot separate application of morals from the moral consequences of that application. As an example of what I’m talking about, you and I, I suppose, both agree that we should never have abandoned the South Vietnamese. The morals of the Democrats, however, won the day, and we did in fact abandon them. As a result of that application of Democrat anti-war morals, millions died. That was the moral consequence of their moral application. They hold them as separate, as you seem to be holding the criminalization of our soldiers on moral ground, from the moral consequences of doing so. Problem is as Pol Pot demonstrated for us, you cannot separate the two. Sorry, Bruce. You know I have great respect for you, and your concern for doing the moral thing is admirable, and is something I see all too seldom, in most folks anymore. However, in this case, I think you’re not seeing your way to the logical conclusion of this path you’d have us follow, and it’s a deep concern. I’m with Blackfive on this one.
• Did you happen to note the Rasmussen poll showing McCain is more trusted than Obama on the economy and Iraq, and national security? Well, so so is BooBoo Bear, but there it is…. this cannot be causing celebrations in Obama’s camp. You watch; Next we’ll have Obama’s people trying to convince us the economy is fine, we should withdraw unilaterally from Iraq win or lose, and America has no security issues.
• She’s going to the convention. And apparently there’s going to be a write-in campaign for her among the feminist left. but there it is…. this cannot be causing celebrations in Obama’s camp. You watch; next we’ll be told how the feminist vote isn’t important to Obama.
• Once again, cultural change by executive edict. God forbid Democrats should ever trust the people with such weighty choices. Hell, they can’t even trust the State legislature. Or is it that they know it’d never pass, in either case?
• So, let’s see, here. We have someone who’s already killed two people, injured two others with gunfire, in a bar. Drunk, pissed off, whatever. He’s showing signs of intent to continue killing folks. So, we have a mass murder on our hands, right? Wrong. It’s like I said after the Virginia Tech shootings; All it takes is one good guy with a gun to stop it all. There’s the difference, my friends, between the gun free zone that was VT, and areas where the second amendment still holds sway, and people are allowed their constitutional rights to a concealed firearm. One less bad guy, lots of lives saved. But I’m willing to bet until you read this, you didn’t hear about it, did you? Perhaps because it runs afoul of their anti-gun mantra, and proves without any question that they’re wrong on ‘gun free zones’, huh??
• You may have seen that uncontacted tribe they found over the weekend in the news. Well, now they’ve got more pictures posted, and apparently there’s evidence that someone’s managed to contact them already.
• By now, Kitty Hawk is on her way to Razorblade City. Sad, really. I think we should give her, mostly equipped, to Columbia, myself. They could use the help. Would get Crazy Uncle Hugo to shut up for a while, which alone is worth the price.
• David remarked on Olberman and Err America’s response to him the other day. Now Time has leapt into the line of fire with their own similar comment. I take these little spats as a measure of just how deeply the Democrat party is split. This stuff isn’t going to heal by the time Denver rolls around… or even by November.

Story just moved on the AP wire, reporting that Bo Diddley has died.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) – A spokeswoman says rock pioneer Bo Diddley has died. He was 79.

The spokeswoman says Diddley died of heart failure Monday. He had suffered a heart attack in August 2007, three months after suffering a stroke while touring in Iowa.

Doctors said the stroke affected his ability to speak, and he had returned to Florida to continue rehabilitation.

Diddley was known for his homemade square guitar, dark glasses and black hat.

Update: Billy has something to say. I thought he might have something of the sort.  I’m pleased he took the time.

Years ago, I was pushed out to LA to do some IT work for a major company. Was out there for a couple, maybe  three weeks. All the time I was there, I never met anyone ‘large’, but God only knows who I walked by, and never knew it.  I suppose that when you travel as much as Billy does… and I don’t care what you do for a living… I suppose that your chances of meeting people like that are much higher. Much higher, too, are your chances of walking right by someone, and never knowing who you missed meeting. But for his buddy, Billy would have never known, either.

PARIS -AP- Legendary designer Yves Saint Laurent, who reworked the rules of fashion by putting women into elegant pantsuits that came to define how modern women dressed, died Sunday evening, a longtime friend and associate said. He was 71

Pierre Berge said Saint Laurent died at his Paris home following a long illness.

Oh, well.  I’ve never been a fan of designer lines anyway, so this is less of a big deal for me than it will be for some. Hillary Clinton for example… who wears his pantsuits.

(Snicker) I wonder what Bob Savage over at local station WYSL will think about this, or if anyone there will even make the connection.

BBCT: Joyner

James Joyner points up that there’s no tape from Larry Johnson, yet. OTOH, he also points out that Larry’s servers are smoking hulks from the traffic this thing’s been getting. Aside from possibly explaining why no post from Johnson yet, it also calls to mind another factor which may be larger.

Think back… during the first Clinton misadministration, we were faced with rumors about how Clinton had raped at least one woman on his way to the Oral Office. The surprising factor there was the number of people… even his supporters… who were not surprised by the charges. It’s a measurement of the reputation of the Clintons I think…  what people are really thinking about them… as good as any.

It occurred to me that by the same token, the part of this Johnson bit that is perhaps of greatest import is the number of voters.. even Democrat voters, apparently… who wouldn’t put such racism and hate as has been reported, past Michelle Obama.

That kind of instinctive mistrust cannot bode well for her husband in the general election.

If I hear anything I’ll let you know.

Something from Political Punch catches my eye this morning:

In another excerpt from Rev. Michael Pfleger’s sermon last Sunday, May 25, from the pulpit of Sen. Barack Obama’s now former church, Trinity United Church of Christ on the South side of Chicago, the longtime Obama associate condemns America for racism in fairly harsh terms.

“Racism is still America’s greatest addiction,” Pfleger says. “I also believe that America is the greatest sin against God.”

There seems to be a mixed reaction to that from the pews. But Pfleger explains:

“If the greatest command is to love, than the sin against love must be the greatest sin against God who IS love and who calls us to love one another. So that this greatest sin against God, racism, it’s as natural as the air we breath.”

(sic)

OK, let’s break this down. If racism is such a stain on our country,  how is it we have a black presidential candidiate at all?  Wouldn’t his attempt at the office have been sqaushed long ago?

I mean, leave at the side of the road for the moment the concept that he is so remakably unqualified for the position he holds, much less the position he seeks that he wouldn’t stand a chance for the position were he not a minority.

That he’s even there at all, suggests that the white on black racism of his complaint simply does not exist to the degree he claims.

The Catholic church needs to defrock this fool before he does the church any further damage.

And should we be pointing up that  Pfleger’s been a ‘spiritual advisor’ to Barack Obama for 20 years?

I’ve been telling you that this oil bubble was about to break and we’d see some movement by midsummer. Well, guess what?

The Times Herald is repoting:

Last week, the price of crude oil futures actually went down, and there were signs that the dollar was strengthening.

Additionally, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission announced that it is six months into an investigation of possible price manipulation in the oil futures market.

Though crude oil futures actually closed up 45 cents on Friday, overall, they were down almost $5 from the peak price of over $132, said Greg Laskoski, director of public and government relations for AAA Auto Club South, which tracks gas prices.

Crude oil closed at $127.80 Friday on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

“This is encouraging,” Laskoski said. “We believe it is encouraging because it is driven by strength gained by the dollar.”

From Thursday to Friday, the dollar gained against the euro.

Yeah, well currency certainly enters into this, but it’s not the whole show. I’ve been telling you why ths was going to happen for some time, now.  Now, why’d I have to find this in a piddly little Georgia paper?  Where’s the big fanfare in the usual suspects, like we saw when prices were going up?

(BBCT: McGehee)

The Telepgraph is reporting:

A police community support officer ordered two Christian preachers to stop handing out gospel leaflets in a predominantly Muslim area of Birmingham.

The evangelists say they were threatened with arrest for committing a “hate crime” and were told they risked being beaten up if they returned. The incident will fuel fears that “no-go areas” for Christians are emerging in British towns and cities, as the Rt Rev Michael Nazir-Ali, the Bishop of Rochester, claimed in The Sunday Telegraph this year.

Arthur Cunningham, 48, and Joseph Abraham, 65, both full-time evangelical ministers, have launched legal action against West Midlands Police, claiming the officer infringed their right to profess their religion.

OK, tell me again, how this will never happen, here.

Larry Johnson says he’s got a new Michelle Obama vid that’s been rumored to exist for some months now, that puts to rest the cries of innocence coming from the Obamas as regards their racist views. Supposed to be out tomorrow night.

I find the timing of interest.
This stuff will be ramping up just as the Democrat convention is.
One could easily think the tape to have been supplied by Clinton’s camp, since that’s the person it would most directly benefit. I make no accusation, here, but the timing does mesh rather well to the point.

I’ll be watching.

Addendum: (David L)

I find the timing of interest

Interesting is an apt word, as is desperate.

I refuse to credit Larry Johnson with any independent agency. He is merely Mrs. Clinton’s sock puppet.  Mrs. Clinton has run our of winnable primaries and BO is about to declare victory.  When she last broke this story, this magical tape was supposed be in Karl Rove’s secret vault.  Now somehow the tape been transfered to Mrs. Clinton.  Sure.  I second, A.J. Strata’s, Strata-Sphere, assertion that there in no tape, never was:

As I noted when the rumor first came out, Johnson’s cover story – that this tape was being held by the GOP and was meant to torpedo Obama in the fall – was simply incoherent. Johnson claimed both Dem and Rep sources had seen the tape – which makes no sense at all if you know how DC works. If the GOP had this atomic political bomb they would hold it close and unleash an October surprise (e.g., George Bush’s DWI charge which hit the news right before the 2000 election).

The Clintons’ campaign is going down.  There no reason to hold back your reserves.

(Bit says:) In that event we’re all going to be terribly bored tommorow night. The idea that this might be staged, is something that hasn’t gotten by me, if you read between the lines of the original post.

Johnson aside, though, we’re still left with a demonstrably fragmented and broken Democrat party.  The clamor that Johnson’s messages are causing just now demonstrate that rather clearly. At least they’ve been useful for this.

Now, if this tape is anything like real, it’s going to force Obama to react to it, as he’s been forced to react to the other incidents. You know, it fascinates me that the determining factor in this election will end up being not how many people are on McCain’s bus, the supposed “Straight Talk Express”, but how many people are UNDER Barack Obama’s.

And as for Johnson? Well, we’ll see.

Losing The Election

(Sung to the tune of “Losing my religion”)

The election’s bigger
It’s bigger than Religion
And you are not me
The lengths that I will go to
to get that oval office….
Oh no, I’ve said too much
I set it up

(chorus)
That’s me in the corner
That’s me in the spotlight, I’m
Losing my religion
Trying to keep up with Hillary
And I don’t know if I can do it
Oh no, I’ve said too much
I haven’t said enough
I thought that I heard you laughing
I thought that I heard you sing
I think I thought I saw you try

Every whisper
Of every waking hour I’m
Choosing my confessions
Trying to keep an eye on you
you lost and blinded fools, fools
Oh no, I’ve said too much
I set it up

(chorus)
That’s me in the corner
That’s me in the spotlight, I’m
Losing the election
Trying to keep up with Hillary
And I don’t know if I can do it
Oh no, I’ve said too much
I haven’t said enough
I thought that I heard you laughing
I thought that I heard you sing
I think I thought I saw you try

Consider this
Consider this
The hint of the century
Consider this
The slip that brought me
This close to nomination failed
What if all these fantasies
Come flailing around

Now I’ve said too much
I thought that I heard you laughing
I thought that I heard you sing
I think I thought I saw you try

But that was just a dream
That was just a dream

(repeat chorus)

But that was just a dream
Try, cry, why try?
That was just a dream
Just a dream, just a dream
Dream

-0-

It’s a measure of how empty and meaningless the real lyrics in that song are, that it took minimal modifications to turn it into a parody of both itself and Obama.