Liberal-leaning interest groups are euphoric about Barack Obama’s election, of course — and their conservative counterparts are correspondingly glum. But political scientists say that giddy liberal advocates now compiling policy wish lists for the first Democratic president in eight years and his party’s more robust majority in Congress may well end up disappointed. And the conservative advocacy world could just as easily discover a silver lining in the role of loyal opposition.

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After Promising Change, Obama Selects Hyper-Partisan Wedded To Special Interests As His White House Chief Of Staff

Emanuel Famously Earned The Title “Rahmbo” For His Hyper-Partisanship And Bare-Knuckle Tactics:

“Emanuel’s Reputation For Political Ruthlessness Earned Him The Nickname ‘Rahmbo,’ An Image Reinforced By A Legendary Episode When He Sent A Dead Fish To A Pollster Who Displeased Him.” (Janet Hook, “Meet The Powers Behind The Democrats’ Strategy,” Los Angeles Times, 7/5/06)

Emanuel Calls Himself A “Vince Lombardi Democrat,” Because He Believes “Winning Isn’t Everything. It’s The Only Thing.” “Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.), chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), earlier this year called himself a ‘Vince Lombardi Democrat.’ It was Lombardi, the Hall of Fame football coach, who said, ‘Winning isn’t everything. It’s the only thing.’” (”Chairman Rahm,” The Hill, 12/14/05)

Emanuel’s Political Style Was “Honed In Chicago” And Has A “Reputation As A Political Street Fighter.” “But his political style — honed in Chicago and on the presidential campaign trail with Clinton — isn’t gentle or uncertain. His reputation as a political street fighter inspires respect and more than a little fear.” (Naftali Bendavid, “The House That Rahm Built,” Chicago Tribune, 11/12/06)

“Emanuel Was Also Zealously Partisan. He Had Once Owned A Consulting Business Devoted To Finding Skeletons In Republican Closets.” (Edward McClelland, “The Legend Of Rahm,” Salon.Com, 5/8/07)

Emanuel Told His Staff That Republicans Could “Go F— Themselves!” “‘I’ll tell you this,’ Emanuel shouted out to his staff. ‘The Republicans may have the 72-hour program. But they have not seen the 22-month program! … Since my kids are gone, I can say it: They can go —- themselves!’” (Naftali Bendavid, “The House That Rahm Built,” Chicago Tribune, 11/12/06)

Emanuel Even Told Then-British Prime Minister Tony Blair Before An Appearance With President Clinton: “This Is Important. Don’t F— It Up.” “Mr. Emanuel is reputed to have walked up to Tony Blair before the prime minister’s first public appearance with Mr. Clinton, during the Monica Lewinsky scandal. ‘This is important,’ he told Mr. Blair. ‘Don’t f— it up.’” (”Former Ballet Dancer Turned Political Fixer,” The (London, UK) Guardian, 11/10/06)

Emanuel Attended A Meeting With Clinton Campaign Advisers Following The 1992 Campaign To Discuss Which Politicians And Members Of The Press They Would Seek Revenge Upon. “It was there that Emanuel, then Clinton’s chief fund-raiser, repaired with George Stephanopoulos, Mandy Grunwald and other aides to Doe’s, the campaign hangout. Revenge was heavy in the air as the group discussed the enemies — Democrats, Republicans, members of the press — who wronged them during the 1992 campaign. Clifford Jackson, the ex-friend of the President and peddler of the Clinton draft-dodging stories, was high on the list. So was William Donald Schaefer, then the Governor of Maryland and a Democrat who endorsed George Bush. Nathan Landow, the fund-raiser who backed the candidacy of Paul Tsongas, made it, too.” (Elisabeth Bumiller, “The Brothers Emanuel,” The New York Times, 6/15/97)

“Suddenly Emanuel Grabbed His Steak Knife And, As Those Who Were There Remember It, Shouted Out The Name Of Another Enemy, Lifted The Knife, Then Brought It Down With Full Force Into The Table. ‘Dead!’ He Screamed.”

Suddenly Emanuel grabbed his steak knife and, as those who were there remember it, shouted out the name of another enemy, lifted the knife, then brought it down with full force into the table. ‘Dead!’ he screamed. The group immediately joined in the cathartic release: ‘Nat Landow! Dead! Cliff Jackson! Dead! Bill Schaefer! Dead!’” (Elisabeth Bumiller, “The Brothers Emanuel,” The New York Times, 6/15/97)

And Emanuel Has Among The Most Partisan Voting Records:

In 2007, Emanuel Voted With The Democrats 98 Percent Of The Time. (Congressional Quarterly Website, http://www.cq.com, Accessed 10/31/08)

In 2006, Emanuel Voted With The Democrats 92 Percent Of The Time. (Congressional Quarterly Website, http://www.cq.com, Accessed 10/31/08)

In 2005, Emanuel Voted With The Democrats 95 Percent Of The Time. (Congressional Quarterly Website, http://www.cq.com, Accessed 10/31/08)

In 2004, Emanuel Voted With The Democrats 97 Percent Of The Time. (Congressional Quarterly Website, http://www.cq.com, Accessed 10/31/08)

In 2003, Emanuel Voted With The Democrats 95 Percent Of The Time. (Congressional Quarterly Website, http://www.cq.com, Accessed 10/31/08)

link: http://www.gop.com

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PETER CAVE: US president-elect Barack Obama is being briefed for the first time on the key security threats facing America and he’s facing intense scrutiny over who he’ll choose to fill key staff and Cabinet posts.

Fellow Illinois politician Rahm Emmanuel is the first to come on board, having just accepted the offer of becoming the White House Chief of Staff.

At the same time the recriminations are flying within the Republican ranks about who’s to blame for the big election loss.

Our North America correspondent Michael Rowland reports from Chicago.

MICHAEL ROWLAND: Two days after the election and the presidential transition is well underway.

Barack Obama is receiving his first intelligence briefings as he prepares to assume the role of commander-in-chief.

Roger Cressy, a former National Security Council official in the Clinton and Bush administrations, says Senator Obama has to quickly immerse himself in the issues he’ll face in the White House.

ROGER CRESSY: Now that he is the president-elect, there is a whole new area of information he is now going to be privy to and this is going to be really important to get him comfortable with it before the inauguration.

MICHAEL ROWLAND: Barack Obama will travel to Washington next week for a meeting with President Bush who says he’s doing everything he can to help his successor.

GEORGE W. BUSH: This peaceful transfer of power is one of the hallmarks of a true democracy and ensuring that this transition is as smooth as possible is a priority for the rest of my presidency.

MICHAEL ROWLAND: The president-elect is continuing the process of selecting the team he’ll take with him to the White House. Democratic congressman Rahm Emmanuel will be the new president’s Chief of Staff.

With the economy in crisis and financial markets still volatile, Senator Obama is also moving quickly to choose his Treasury Secretary. Former Clinton White House economic official Alan Blinder says it is a job that can’t be left hanging.

ALAN BLINDER: The new secretary of the Treasury is going to have to hit the ground running with unusual speed. I mean, I guess that is a cliché you could say about any administration but in this case, I am pretty sure he is going to have to hit the ground running before he is Secretary of the Treasury.

MICHAEL ROWLAND: In Republican ranks the blame game is intensifying and most fingers are pointing at vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin. Unflattering stories are starting to appear about the Alaska Governor.

More details are emerging about her clothes buying spree just before the Republican convention. Republican officials are grumbling about a final bill that’s said to be much, much more than the $150,000 reported at the time.

McCain campaign staffers are telling journalists Sarah Palin didn’t know Africa was a continent when she was being briefed on foreign policy issues. Former McCain advisor John Weaver says the choice of Sarah Palin was a huge error.

JOHN WEAVER: She was not vetted in an appropriate way and it was taking someone with little experience but with great political skills and strapping them onto a rocket. It was just an inappropriate pick… SOURCE

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http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/C/CENTENARIAN_VOTE…

Nov 5, 6:05 PM EST

106-year-old Atlanta woman basks in Obama tribute

By ERRIN HAINES
Associated Press Writer
AP Photo

AP Photo/John Bazemore

ATLANTA (AP) — At age 106, Ann Nixon Cooper doesn’t usually stay awake past midnight. But on Election Night she had special reason to do so: She was waiting for Barack Obama to mention her name. Cooper, one of the oldest voters for the nation’s first black president, had been tipped off by the Obama campaign that she would be mentioned in his acceptance speech. Toward the end, she got her moment.

“I was waiting for it,” said Cooper. “I had heard that they would be calling my name at least.”

Obama introduced the world to a woman who “was born just a generation past slavery; a time when there were no cars on the road or planes in the sky; when someone like her couldn’t vote for two reasons - because she was a woman and because of the color of her skin.”

“Tonight, I think about all that she’s seen throughout her century in America - the heartache and the hope; the struggle and the progress; the times we were told that we can’t, and the people who pressed on with that American creed: Yes we can,” he said.

snip//

Her husband died in 1967. Cooper has outlived three of her four children and lived to see women gain the right to vote and the end of segregation. On Oct. 16, she voted early for the Illinois senator, who called to thank her after reading a news article about her.

Cooper said she believes Obama’s win could finally signal the change she has been waiting for.

“I feel nothing but relief that things have changed as much as they have,” she said. “After a while, we will all be one. That’s what I look forward to.”

Cooper turns 107 in January, just a few weeks before Obama’s inauguration.

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I don’t believe this has ever been published anywhere.  I got this from some Kenyan sources.

Obama in Kenya Some Years Back

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While we have taken awhile to make our decision public, this website is formally endorsing Barack Obama for President of the United States.  While we still have some reservations about his progressive credentials,

the decision was easy to make following some very disturbing moves made by the McCain campaign.

First, the McCain campaign has completely put itself forward in the most right-wing manner possible.  A quick review of his website will show you someone who it to the right of Bush.  The positions he has adopted to accomodate the radicals within the Republican party made his campaign toxic to anyone but the most brainwashed (or braindead) of the right-wing.  Even more disturbing was the appoint of a Bush-clone religious-right stalking horse, Sarah Palin.  Her favorite cheerleader was Bill Kristol.  Can anyone not believe that her inclusion was done at the behest of the right-wing religious and neocon cabal that controlled the Bush administration.  Given the odds on surviving the type of cancer he had, Sarah Palin a heartbeat away from the Presidency is one of the most frightening prospects we could imagine.

Obama has run a nearly flawless campaign that reached out to all parts of the country.  While he sits firmly in the center of the ideological spectrum, his campaign represents a fundamental shift in American politics.  The southern strategy that maintained the Republicans for 30 years is shattered.   Obama is welding together a center-left coalition of African Americans, Latinos, Moderate Suburbanites, mainline progressives and liberals.  This has broken the back of the Republican party rendering it a party of dead-enders.

After 2008, the party of Newt Gingrich is dead and America will have a young, capable, and outstanding leader in Barack Obama.

Death of the Republican Party

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I’ve Twined a new article on How to Build the Global Mind, here.

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I’ve blogged about some interesting Twine stats that show positive user engagement trends, that beat several leading sites — here on my Public Twine (which is where I actually do most of my blogging…

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UPDATE: There’s already a lot of good discussion going on around this post in my public twine.I’ve been writing about a new trend that I call “interest networking” for a while now. But I wanted to…