Today as I was listening to my local Seattle Washington news station while working in my garden, the announcer with a smirk said the following  words.

Today at 9:00 you can listen to Meet the Press with Tim Russert.  His guest will be Barack Hussein Obama.

Who takes note of local radio patter, ... but my jaw dropped and my blood began to boil.

I called  KIRO Listener Call in Line
(877) 710-KIRO (5476)

and then left a few choice emails about the unacceptable intrusion of the anti-Obama media slant on everyday news.

Yesterday I watched and listened to hours of Alice in Wonderland testimony by Petraeus and Crocker on the "fragile success" known as Iraq.  Nothing like a strong shot of the unvarnished truth to wash away the bad taste.

Steve Coll, writing in The New Yorker has made the following observation:

A war born in spin has now reached its Lewis Carroll period. ("Now here, you see, it takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place.") Last week, it proved necessary for the Bush Administration to claim that an obvious failure—Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki’s ill-prepared raid on rival Shiite gangs in Basra, which was aborted after mass desertions within Maliki’s own ranks—was actually a success in disguise, because it demonstrated the Iraqi government’s independence of mind.

We need to hear the plain and simple truth that our muzzled generals know in their hearts and demand that our Army be restored to policies embedded in reality.

This article is a gem of clarity -the  perfect cure for the fuzzy fog of BS brought on by listening to hours of Petraeus/Crocker blather.  
Military Conflict by Steve Coll

Yesterday my wife and I participated as delegates to the Washington State legislative district caucus at in a local middle school gymnasium.

The place was packed with over 600 Democrats, swamping the local party officials and creating huge lines, long waits and plenty of confusion.

The meeting opened at 10 AM but the report from the credential committee necessary to open offical business had not still arrived by 1:30 and by 3:00 another group had rented the building.   Finally we broke into smaller groups of Hillary and Obama supporters and went about the frantic and chaotic business of electing delegates to the next level without much guidance or structure from the overwhelmed event organizers.  

What happened next in our small group meeting makes me smile with pride.

Obama supporters rejoice!

The magic of the terrible towel is now in play.

Franco Harris and Jerome Bettis are coming out in support of Barack Obama

terrible towels for Obama

Tonight in the afterglow of Barack Obama's triumphant speech, I am feeling wonderful about being an American and being a Democrat.  Barack has hit it out of the park.  The case has been clearly made.  
Do we want to continue the politics of distraction and destruction  while ignoring the crumbling ruination of our society, our economy, our rule of law, and our standing in the world?  Or will this man be different?  

I am convinced by today's speech.  Barack is a wise and powerful voice that is gaining stature and confidence with each difficulty that he encounters.

Obama has given us all a watershed moment. From this speech onward, Barack has broken with the political convention telling lies when backed into a corner.  

Aikido is a modern martial art with ancient roots developed by Master Morihei Uyeshiba.   I trained in Aikido years ago. Now at the creaky age of 62, I no longer tumble on the mat... but that training was so wonderful, so transformative,  had  such universal application, that my aikido training is still always happening for me in that special hall of living memories... place in my head where those who've brought magic transfomations still whisper in my ear.

Here's what comes to mind.   Aikido has application to today's political identity crisis that is threatening to derail the Democratic Party.

Obama in his book,  The Audacity of Hope,  has something to say about the media and it's relationship to dirty politics.

I- like every politican at the federal level- am almost entirely dependent on the media to reach my constituents.  It is the filter  through which my votes are interpreted, my statements analyzed, my beliefs examined.  For the broad public at least, I am who the media says I am.  I say what they say I say. I become who they say I become.
p.121

Barack, you are in a fight for your political life with a trash talking mud slinging Karl Rove wannabe.

There is a time a place for the audacity of hope, but as John Kerry had learned in 2004, just hoping that  voters will see through blatant distortions is not enough.

Obama is an orator.  He paints vivid pictures with words that captivate and inspire.  I call on him to turn to his formidable powers of persuasion towards gaining control of the narrative in the MSM.

It's time for Barack to call Hillary out for fighting like a Republican.

We are on the brink of a historical event that is sure to influence the outcome of the Democratic presidential campaign.  

Nothing is certain going into tonight's debate, except that it will be referred to in sports anologies.

Will Hillary swing for the fences, and shoot a flurry of low percentage three pointer shots in mounting an all out negative attack on Obama?
Will Barack play it safe and run out the clock with  a conservative ball control offense and a six defensive back prevent defense?
Will the weary candidates clench and hold like exhaused prizefighters in the late rounds in a heavyweight bout?
Or will Barack follow through on his boxing anology and deliver the knock out punch that he said was needed to defeat the champion.

Hillary seems to be rapidly shifting between multiple personalities these days.  

When she’s on the road and someone has a negative news story, she says, ‘I don’t want to hear it; I don’t need to hear it.

Clinton adopted a more negative strategy than ever before, ridiculing Obama’s message of hope and rhetorical skills with an over-the-top, sardonic imitation that included the line, "The sky will open, the light will come down..."

Shame on Barack!! she shouts and waves his political fliers in the air.

I am honored to be here with Barack Obama. I am absolutely honored," she said. "And you know, whatever happens, we’re going to be fine

Historian Doris Kearns Goodwin has written a history of Abraham Lincoln coming to power in Washington. This is a book that Barack Obama is reading..Obama Reading Poster

And after the handshake tonight with Hillary, we might want to read it too. Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln .

Obama started his presidential campaign at the old Illinois State Capitol building where Lincoln delivered his famous "house divided" speech.

Barack's favorite books:

Song of Solomon (Toni Morrison), Moby Dick, Shakespeare's Tragedies, Parting the Waters, Gilead (Robinson), Self-Reliance (Emerson), The Bible, Lincoln's Collected Writings  

Something makes me think that Hillary Clinton and John Edwards may soon be finding work inside the White House

How to still the mesmerizing orator!

It is about picking a president who relies not just on words, but on hard work," Clinton said during her concession speech in Youngstown, Ohio. "We can't just have speeches; we have to have solutions.
We've got to get America back in the solutions business, because while words matter, the best words in the world aren't enough unless you match them with action.

"I will work hard to make sure Americans aren't deceived by an eloquent but empty call for change," said McCain.

Anyone familiar with J.R,R. Tolkien, Lord of the Rings trilogy knows the twisted orator Grima Wormtounge who cast a spell of dark enchantment on King Theoden by twisting clever words.

Hillary and McCain are seeking to break Barack's spell of words over America as Gandolf with a flurry of twisted words.  Obama is fighting back by framing his detractors as "those who would boil the hope out of me".

"Just words" continues to make headlines so this is my third diary in a series on this topic. The claim from Camp Hillary is that  Barack has ripped off material from Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick.  Even a superficial google on the topic quickly surfaces the collaborative friendship between these men and their shared chief strategist, David Axlerod.  

" 'We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal 'just words," Patrick said at a rally in Roxbury right before Election Day. " 'We have nothing to fear but fear itself 'just words. 'I have a dream' just words. They're all just words."

The crowd erupted as it got Patrick's point about the power of language. But perhaps no one at the rally understood the point better than Barack Obama, who had joined him on stage that night.

The Obama campaign also confirmed comments chief strategist David Axelrod -- an adviser on Obama's Senate campaign and Patrick's gubernatorial run -- made to the New York Times about the speeches.

"They often riff off one another. They share a world view," Axelrod told the Times about Obama and Patrick. "Both of them are effective speakers whose words tend to get requoted and arguments tend to be embraced widely."

Language is fascinating.

A simple phrase like "just words" takes on such a different meaning when used by a Hillary or Obama supporter.  

The oratory of Barack Obama is the music of lyrical "just words" raising up bring us together to redress wrongs and heal our wounded nation.

Or is it "just words", empty rhetoric of a skillful politican creating the illusion of substance out of thin air for personal advantage?
Words are either powerful tools for change or empty vessels of deception depending on their congruence with truth as perceived by the listener.  

The issue of which set of  "just words" one hears is at the heart of the cult leader smear being floated by the coalition of Hillary and McCain to discredit the Obama phenomena.

What is the true measure of Obama's substance and integrity?

View this clip of Obama in action......A different kind of candidate........  What kind of "just words" do you hear?

I know cheap words after seven years of Bush, and I tell you that Barack Obama’s words are not cheap.  They give me hope.  They shout out truths that have long been only whispers.  Barack's power with words comes from clearly speaking truth.

Hillary said recently

"There's a big difference between us -- speeches versus solutions, talk versus action," she said.
"Speeches don't put food on the table. Speeches don't fill up your tank or
fill your prescription or do anything about that stack of bills that keeps
you up at night."

McCain said

"When I was a young man, I thought glory was the highest ambition, and that all glory was self-glory," McCain said in his speech Tuesday night after winning three mid-Atlantic primaries. "I discovered that nothing is more liberating in life than to fight for a cause that encompasses you, but is not defined by your existence alone."
"I do not seek the presidency on the presumption that I am blessed with such personal greatness that history has anointed me to save my country in its hour of need," McCain said.

To which Barack says,  

"They say I give a good speech...What can I do?"