Here is a transcript from a speech Obama gave about the AIG bail out and the bonuses paid. It's so wonderful to have a leader in Washington willing to accept responsibility and not play the "blame game." Thank you Mr. President for putting the country's well being before politics. What a refreshing change.

"I know Washington's all in a tizzy, and everybody is pointing fingers at each other, and saying it's their fault, the Democrats' fault, and the Republicans' fault. Listen: I'll take responsibility. I'm the President.
We didn't draft these contracts. We've got a lot on our plate. But it is appropriate when you're in charge to make sure that stuff doesn't happen like this, so we're going to do everything we can to fix it.
So for everybody in Washington who's busy scrambling to try to figure out how to blame somebody else, just go ahead and talk to me, because it's my job to fix these messes even if I don't make them.
But what's just as important is that we make sure we don't find ourselves in this situation again, where taxpayers are on the hook for losses in bad times, and all the wealth that's generated in good times goes to those who are at the very top of the income ladder."

Interesting things about Obama

My friend Jamie sent me this list. Some of these I had heard but some were new to me.
• 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 "Bear" 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

Sparky with his new Obama button

Pets and the Presidential Election

I did a blog a few months ago about all the presidential candidate's pets. At the time, Obama had none and McCain had the most (24). New polls show that pet owners prefer McCain over Obama 42 to 37 percent. Obama leads McCain in homes that don't have pets 48 to 34 percent. I usually prefer pet owners over non pet owners but have made an exception in Obama's case. What I would really prefer is a person who has lots of animals and doesn't eat any. Kucinich is the only politician I know who falls in that category.
The good news is that Obama has promised to get a dog after the election is over. Because one of his daughters has an allergy to dog dander, their choice of dogs is limited to a few. The AKC has recommended 5 different breeds and has a place on their web site where you can vote on which one you prefer for the Obama family. Here is a link:
http://www.akc.org/poll/special/presidential.cfm

Latest Poll Numbers

These numbers were taken from polls conducted by NBC News and the Wall Street Journal and reported last night on Countdown with Keith Olberman.



Overall Obama is leading McCain 47% to 41%.

Obama is also leading in all of these groups:

Independents 41 to 36

Blue Collar 47 to 42

Catholics 47 to 40

Women 52 to 33

Latinos 62 to 28



I'm feeling hopeful. It will be so wonderful to have an intelligent, articulate person in the White House.

Jeremiah Wright

I listened to the "controversial" remarks Wright made and while the timing of some of his statements wasn't the best, I disagree with very little he said. A lot of people I know feel the same way and while we don't feel the 9/11 attacks were justified, the loss of life from them is a fraction of the loss of life the US government has inflicted and is still inflicting around the world. There are an estimated 1 million deaths in Iraq alone, most just ordinary people trying to live their lives. Where is the outrage over this? This country bullies the rest of the world and has been doing so for years. We have interfered in the politics and lives of the people of South America, Central America, and the Middle East causing countless deaths. That's all Wright was pointing out. I understand why Obama had to denounce his comments and why Wright had to step down from Obama's African American Religious Leadership Committee. With all the hatefulness spewing from the Clinton campaign he can't afford to be associated with anyone controversial. I hope this doesn't hurt him in the primaries or in the general election if he is the nominee because it will be hard to cast a ballot for any candidate who voted to authorize Bush's crime against the people of Iraq. I will vote for the democratic nominee but I'm afraid many others won't, especially African Americans, because of the racist remarks made by HRC's campaign. It makes me sad and very afraid we will end up with 4 more years of a republican run country, something we can't afford and the rest of the world doesn't deserve.

Obama

Here is a picture I found on Flickr showing LibraryLioness8 and fourdogmom in the Obama crowd on Monday night. We are in the far left corner.

Another reason to like Obama

Obama

What a great night for Barack Obama and for America. Iowa, a state that is very white and very Republican, voted for an African American to be our next president. Also interesting is the turnout. More than twice as many Democratics (239,000) voted as did Republicans (115,000). I have supported Obama since the beginning, but, like most Democratics I talk to, will be happy with any of the candidates. Of the three top contenders, Obama is the only one who never supported the illegal invasion of Iraq, which is the most important issue for me. Edward's, who admitted his mistake in voting for the invasion came in second. Clinton, who voted for the invasion, but will not admit that the vote was a mistake, came in third. That speaks volumes.