Hitchens on Obama

http://www.slate.com/id/2187277

Hitchens addresses Obama's so called "post-racial" politics.

Prostitution debate

Per Sunday's discussion; here might be some more material on Prostitution:
ABC Friday at 9:00pm
20/20 Prostitution in America: Working Girls Speak
http://abcnews.go.com/2020

I thought it would be an interesting supplement to our conversation.

Reaction to Obama's answer

Here's the video of his pastor and spiritual advisor:
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video_log/2008/03/brian_ross_reports_on_obamas_c.html
Lively speaker, especially with the hand gestures on the chickens (quoting Malcolm X there).

It's hard to find any negative reaction to Obama's speech, but here are a couple:
http://weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/014/894ztiry.asp

http://www.townhall.com/Columnists/MichaelMedved/2008/03/19/three_big_problems_with_baracks_speech

Obama is a much smarter fellow than McCain, and I'm not sure his close friendship with this pastor will stop him from becoming President. It is troubling to be electing someone whose primary loyalty seems not to be to America. But he has the nomination pretty much wrapped up and people are so eager to vote for him, and he knows so well how to arm himself with all the ways Americans want to make war on reality (the American dream), and he offers forgiveness for the things for which Americans most crave redemption, that I don't think this will sink him, especially against the old defender of an unpopular war and President.

(p.s. Journalists are out of touch with the views of many black Americans in thinking that Obama's pastor is "out of the mainstream." He is only slightly out of the black mainstream, since a third of black churchgoers, at all churches, believe that AIDS was at least in some way the result of a government attempt to commit genocide. A Rasmussen poll released Monday found that 29% of blacks surveyed said Wright's comments made them more likely to support Obama, while only 18% said the opposite, and half said Wright's comments would have no effect on them.)

Obama's Answer

Video and text of Obama's speech in Philly last night, in which he responds to controversy raised by Rev. Wright's incendiary statements on race in America. No comment, yet, on washed-up former Weathermen ...

Who is Obama? links

Some links for the last post.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aktQHpFJxzsM

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/community/groups/index.html?plckForumPage=ForumDiscussion&plckDiscussionId=Cat%3aa70e3396-6663-4a8d-ba19-e44939d3c44fForum%3a5543a34c-af92-4736-b81b-4aad0ab02e2eDiscussion%3a60ef6534-c61d-41e4-860f-7c49bec7920d

http://www.aim.org/aim-column/obamas-communist-mentor/

http://stoptheaclu.com/archives/2008/02/23/obamas-terrorist-friends/

Who is Obama?

I wonder whether the Obama fervor will soften enough for anyone to discuss who Obama is. He's not the Manchurian candidate, but one would like to know how much he understands and believes in American principles before making him our President.

Topics Today

Due to the two-week hiatus from Spring Break, we have accumulated many possible topics. From this list, we'll take a vote on where to take the conversation.

-- Larry Lessig is not running for Congress
-- In Cuba Raul has assumed power
-- Putin has a puppet
-- Eliot Spitzer
-- Over 900,000 people on the government watchlist
--Does Bush have a disorder?

-- Alcohol Use vs. Marijuana Use
-- Tibet still isn't free.