Quote of the day

4:33 p.m.: The meeting between Obama and Wowereit lasts 20 minutes, during which the Berlin mayor asks the senator about integration strategies in the US. Obama then signs the city’s guestbook, which Wowereit has brought with him to the Hotel Adlon. He writes: “Thank you so much for this open-hearted welcome. Berlin is a symbol for the victory of hope over fear and that it is impossible to separate people in their pursuit of freedom.”

I reckon’ Barry won’t apply the same to Iraq, either.

As proven by the Credentialed Media. IBD - Putting Money Where Mouths Are: Media Donations Favor Dems 100-1

The New York Times’ refusal to publish John McCain’s rebuttal to Barack Obama’s Iraq op-ed may be the most glaring example of liberal media bias this journalist has ever seen. But true proof of widespread media bias requires one to follow an old journalism maxim: Follow the money.

Even the Associated Press — no bastion of conservatism — has considered, at least superficially, the media’s favoritism for Barack Obama. It’s time to revisit media bias.

True to form, journalists are defending their bias by saying that one candidate, Obama, is more newsworthy than the other. In other words, there is no media bias. It is we, the hoi polloi, who reveal our bias by questioning the neutrality of these learned professionals in their ivory-towered newsrooms.

Wait for it

An analysis of federal records shows that the amount of money journalists contributed so far this election cycle favors Democrats by a 15:1 ratio over Republicans, with $225,563 going to Democrats, only $16,298 to Republicans.

Read the whole thing.

Getting beyond the fawning, almost sexual idolatry in this story of Senator Neophyte

Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama arrived in Berlin Thursday morning, kicking off the European leg of his overseas trip amid high expectations.

A column of black BMW and Mercedes-Benz cars ferried the candidate to a private meeting with Chancellor Angela Merkel. Overhead, a police helicopter kept watch. Some 700 police have been deployed during the visit, which lasts through Friday morning.

I have to wonder how much CO2 that will generate.

On Wednesday, Merkel told reporters that she planned to talk about climate change and global free trade with Obama and made clear that Germany will stand by its refusal to send combat troops to southern Afghanistan.

I wonder if she will mention how much CO2 Barry is generating on his summer school trip, and how much will be generated with all the lights and electricity needed for his speech?

Later Thursday, Obama will meet with Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier at his office in the Foreign Ministry and then cap his day with an open-air speech before an expected crowd of at least 100,000 that his campaign has described as a “substantive address on U.S.-European relations.”

That Obama chose Berlin for his major address on this trip is no accident, reports CBS News correspondent Mark Phillips. Both Presidents Kennedy and Reagan chose to make historic speeches here. They, of course, had already been elected, and their speeches were given on the front line of the Cold War at the iconic Brandenburg Gate.

Some might say he has some huzpah in attempting this, but, really, it is just a mark of Barry’s elitist streak, and the media is noticing, and do not seem particularly happy about it.

But, hey, we could spend months on Obama’s elitism, but, let’s end up with some Bush Derangement Syndrome, shall we?

“We have the feeling that Obama is something new, and we need it, especially here in Europe,” one eager spectator told Phillips.

Something new - meaning he’s not George W. Bush, whose war in Iraq drove a wedge between the U.S. and Europe in public opinion.

OK, one more fun Barry story

Responding to an Israeli reporter’s question Wednesday on his commitment to protect the Jewish state, Barack Obama pointed to a bill “we passed” in the U.S. Senate Banking Committee that tightens sanctions and authorizes divestment from Iran. “My committee,” he called it.

Except that he isn’t a member of the Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs.

Woops. (The use of exclamation points after a Barry Woops has become tedious and irrelevant at this point)

Powerline writes of Barry’s above gaffe: Some day it may begin to dawn on attentive observers that Obama represents a type that flourishes on many college campuses. The technical term that applies to Obama is b.s. artist. Obama is an overaged example of the phenomenon, but his skills in the art have brought him great success and he’s not giving it up now.

Quick update: Just ran across this headline at Google News: Reuters - Obama to demand more from Europe in Berlin speech. Certainly, Barry did not write it, but, it fits the mold.

Patrick Ruffini brings us the Obarrogant story of the day

This is pretty extraordinary. A candidate for the American Presidency is using flyers printed in German to turn people out for his campaign rally in Berlin on Thursday. This flyer can be found on a bilingual page on BarackObama.com advertising the event:

Say, Barry? Buuuudy? No matter how much you want it, German citizens cannot vote for you. I know you folks on the left take the whole worldwide opinion thing a bit too seriously, but, I do believe you are over-doing it.

“It is not going to be a political speech,” said a senior foreign policy adviser, who spoke to reporters on background. “When the president of the United States goes and gives a speech, it is not a political speech or a political rally.

“But he is not president of the United States,” a reporter reminded the adviser.

Not that anyone believed that. Barry is going to preach from the mount. Should be interesting. I have to wonder if he will take the typical route and tell them that America has to be a better friend to them and the world? Will it cause orgasms? Or, is it a sign that Barry really doesn’t like it when people show opposition to him

For security reasons, do not bring bags. Please limit personal belongings. No signs or banners permitted.

Reading a bit further down the page, he doesn’t seem enamoured with the press, either.

And German citizens still cannot vote for you, Barry.

Dr. Melissa Clouthier starts here post of on a note that will drive the left nuts(ier)

Gateway Pundit: More Hope, Change and Arrogance…

Captain Ed: Do “individuals” have full-color fliers distributed, complete with media credentialing for the event?

Glenn Reynolds: Barry’s running for President of the world

“I had the courage and the judgment to say that I would rather lose a political campaign than lose a war,” McCain said at his town hall meeting Tuesday, referring to his support for the troop surge. “It seems to me that Senator Obama would rather lose a war in order to win a political campaign.”

Nuff said.

Ah. Joe Klein is having a little tizzy over the comment. He actually named his article (it’s possible the editor did, as that happens quite a bit) “McCain Meltdown”

This is the ninth presidential campaign I’ve covered. I can’t remember a more scurrilous statement by a major party candidate. It smacks of desperation. It renews questions about whether McCain has the right temperament for the presidency. How sad.

Yeah, OK, Joe. How about constant comments by this and the last two major Democrat Party presidential candidates saying how horrible our foreign policy is, how they are telling the troops they are dying and being injured for the wrong reasons in the wrong war, essentially dissing the troops, and telling us how bad America is?

Kerry: And there is no reason, Bob, that young American soldiers need to be going into the homes of Iraqis in the dead of night, terrorizing kids and children, you know, women, breaking sort of the customs of the–of–the historical customs, religious customs.

Obama: “You got into these small towns in Pennsylvania and, like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing’s replaced them. And they fell through the Clinton Administration, and the Bush Administration, and each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are gonna regenerate and they have not. And it’s not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.”

Al Gore: While President Bush likes to project an image of strength and courage, the real truth is that in the presence of his large financial contributors, he is a moral coward.

While we are on the subject of quotes, how about this other one from the Goracle

I think George W. Bush has a warm, engaging personality. But, you know, the presidency is more than just a popularity contest.

Sa-wing, batter batter batter, sa-wing!

We here at Vanity Fair maintain a kind of affectionate rivalry with our downstairs neighbors at The New Yorker. We play softball every year, compete for some of the same stories, and share an elevator bank. (You can tell the ones who are headed to the 20th floor by their Brooklyn pallor and dog-eared paperbacks.)

And heaven knows we’ve published our share of scandalous images, on the cover and otherwise. So we’ve been watching the kerfuffle over last week’s New Yorker cover with a mixture of empathy and better-you-than-us relief.

We had our own presidential campaign cover in the works, which explored a different facet of the Politics of Fear, but we shelved it when The New Yorker’s became the “It Girl” of the blogosphere. Now, however, in a selfless act of solidarity with our downstairs neighbors here at the Condé Nast building, we’d like to share it with you. Confidentially, of course. (I hate to excerpt the whole thing, but, it is only three paragraphs long.

And what does the cover look like?

Click for full size

I suppose it would be easy to pitch a fit over portraying Cindy McCain as a druggie, we see the burning Constitution, McCain with the walker, but, why bother? People in politics have to have thick skins.

The point here is that Vanity Fair has completely missed the point of the The New Yorker cover, which was intended to make fun of people on the right (and Hillary supporters!) who were painting Obama as a Muslim, Michelle as …. well, you know the deal. So, instead of putting the cover out there as making fun of the Liberal talking points, which are portrayed, VF is making fun of TNY and McCain.

Far be it for me to say that Liberals just don’t get it, but, screw it, they just don’t get it. Reality Based Community. Strike 3!

See tons more at Memeorandum.

They are just gushing like a schoolgirl. You can hear the tittering in the newsroom. Take a few deep breathes, Grey Lady - For Obama, a First Step Is Not a Misstep

The Iraqi government on Monday left little doubt that it favors a withdrawal plan for American combat troops similar to what Senator Barack Obama has proposed, providing Mr. Obama with a potentially powerful political boost on a day he spent in Iraq working to fortify his credibility as a wartime leader.

First of all, Barry has been proposing his 16 month timetable to be implemented immediately for years. He has been pushing for “redeployment” for years. Second, where has the Times been in saying that McCain has a potential political boost due to The Surge pretty much being a total success, you know, that thing Barry was totally against? Oh, that’s right, the Times can’t do that. Heck, they refuse to even print McCain’s op-ed in response to Barry’s. No bias.

After a day spent meeting Iraqi leaders and American military commanders, Mr. Obama seemed to have navigated one of the riskiest parts of a weeklong international trip without a noticeable hitch and to have gained a new opportunity to blunt attacks on his national security credentials by his Republican rival in the presidential race, Senator John McCain.

Excuse me? A few days traveling in Iraq and Afghanistan, staying pretty much in completely safe areas, rather then ones which might be a bit dicey - but still safer then Camden, N.J. and parts of Washington, D.C. - does not give him his street cred in national security, particularly when he has been calling for defeat for years, and is now trying to snatch defeat from the jaws of success. Maliki knows that the troops can start leaving soon, based on what is actually going on; Barry just wants to leave. To paraphrase Joe Lieberman, Barry wouldn’t even be able to make these pronouncements (or, is that Commandments?) without the Surge as John McCain pushed.

Mr. McCain is hardly conceding the point. He continued to hammer away at Mr. Obama’s judgment on national security, saying on Monday that Mr. Obama had gotten it badly wrong when he opposed sending additional American troops last year to help stabilize Iraq. Republicans said Iraq would never have reached the point where it could reasonably call for a reduction in the American presence without the troop increase, a policy championed by Mr. McCain over the objections of Mr. Obama and most other Democrats.

“The fact is, if we had done what Senator Obama wanted to do, we would have lost,” Mr. McCain told reporters in Kennebunkport, Me. “And we would have faced a wider war. And we would have had greater problems in Afghanistan and the entire region. And Iran would have increased their influence.”

Barry will probably just say McCain is old and deluded, and throw out the old “Iraq was a distraction from the actual war on terror.” Barry has been yammering about more troops in Afghanistan to attack the Taliban. Correct me if I am wrong, but, isn’t that a distraction? After all, it was NOT the Taliban who attacked us on 9/11, but al Qaeda, using parts of Afghanistan as a base, along with countries all over the world.

The Missiah is in Afghanistan, ready for his photo ops

Senator Barack Obama arrived in Afghanistan early Saturday morning, opening his first overseas trip as the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, to meet with American commanders there and later in Iraq to receive an on-the-ground assessment of military operations in the two major U.S. war zones.

Mr. Obama touched down in Kabul about 11:45 a.m., according to a pool report released by his aides. In addition to attending briefings with military leaders, he hoped to meet with President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan before flying to Iraq later in the weekend.

That’s interesting. He hopes to meet with Karzai. I wonder if Karzai hopes to meet with Obama?

His trip was cloaked in secrecy, which advisers said was due to security concerns set forth by the Secret Service. His whereabouts have been unknown since he departed Chicago. He left Andrews Air Force Base near Washington on Thursday afternoon, according to a pool report, and turned up in Afghanistan on Saturday.

Hey, that sounds pretty much like his actual policy and political viewpoints, which, while we sort of know them, are being shrouded in bloviation and the Memory Hole.

On the positive side for Barry, there are no reporters with him (supposedly), and he says he is not there to undermine President Bush, he is just there as a Senator.

I wonder how long that will last?

Now, we wait for the soundbites and stories that should show up shortly where Obama will deliver his message of hope, change, and how Bush has screwed everything up in Afghanistan.

BTW, the above photo accompanied the Yahoo News storyabout Obama in Afghanistan, in the pictures section. Messiah!