The Doctrine and Practice Of White Supremacy Remains the Fundamental and Foundational Template Of U.S. Politics and Culture In the Neofascist Age of Trumpian/Republican MisRule

All,

Never and I mean absolutely never underestimate the bottomless pit of cruelty, envy, resentment, hatred, paranoia, stupidity, jealousy, idiocy, and misantrophy informing the raging sociopathic levels of bawling crybaby grievance fueled victimhood imposed by a dyed in the wool white supremacist society, culture, government, nation etc. This sort of braindead moronic behavior is all too typical of a deeply demagogic and deadly massive national rightwing zombie cult led by the most backward and reactionary political and cultural force in all of North America (i.e. the Republican Party) and the utterly criminal and corrupt neofascist regime led by a borderline psychopath who calls itself "The President" of these United Hates. Remember: 63 million American zombies actually voted for this gangster cult leader a mere 3 years ago and 91% of them were (and are) white Americans whether people “really wanna believe it or not." Stay tuned because the clear and present empirical and existential danger that we all justly despise and fear is gonna continue its vile and destructive ways from the present impeachment trial to the 2020 elections in November. Trust me: It's only going to get far uglier and more deadly from here on out...

Kofi

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/17/us/politics/michelle-obama-school-nutrition-trump.html

Trump Targets Michelle Obama’s School Nutrition Guidelines on Her Birthday

The Agriculture Department proposed a rule that would further unravel nutrition standards set by Mrs. Obama when she was first lady.

by Lola Fadulu

January 17, 2020

New York Times

PHOTO: The proposal weakens requirements that providers offer a variety of vegetables.Credit...Ilana Panich-Linsman for The New York Times

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration moved on Friday to roll back school nutrition standards championed by Michelle Obama, an effort long sought by food manufacturers and some school districts that have chafed at the cost of Mrs. Obama’s prescriptions for fresh fruit and vegetables.

The proposed rule by the Agriculture Department, coming on the former first lady’s birthday, would give schools more latitude to decide how much fruit to offer during breakfast and what types of vegetables to include in meals. It would also broaden what counts as a snack.

A spokeswoman for the department said that it had not intended to roll out the proposed rule on Mrs. Obama’s birthday, although some Democratic aides on Capitol Hill had their doubts. Food companies applauded the proposal, while nutritionists condemned it, predicting that starchy foods like potatoes would replace green vegetables and that fattening foods like hamburgers would be served daily as “snacks.”

“Schools and school districts continue to tell us that there is still too much food waste and that more common-sense flexibility is needed to provide students nutritious and appetizing meals,” Sonny Perdue, the agriculture secretary, said in a statement. “We listened and now we’re getting to work.”

Combating childhood obesity was Mrs. Obama’s signature issue, a rallying cry for her supporters and a lightning rod for conservative critics who saw it as epitomizing the liberal “nanny state” of the Obama era.

Mrs. Obama pressed to update federal nutrition standards and to bring healthier foods to schools. She planted the White House kitchen garden on the South Lawn — the first real garden since Eleanor Roosevelt’s World War II “Victory Garden” — and invited students to sow and harvest it each year. And she created the first Task Force on Childhood Obesity and developed the “Let’s Move!” campaign that aimed to get children to engage in 60 minutes of physical activity each day.

Mrs. Obama’s work “improved the diets of millions of children, especially vulnerable children in food insecure households,” said Juliana Cohen, a nutrition professor at Harvard University’s School of Public Health. More students are eating vegetables and whole grain-rich foods because of the former first lady.

“Food waste was a problem before the healthier standards were enacted, so rolling them back won’t solve that problem,” Ms. Cohen said. “It’s just that more people are paying attention to the issue now.”

With nearly 14 million American children, or about 19 percent, considered obese, few doubted Mrs. Obama’s intentions. And with more than 30 million children participating in the National School Lunch Program, school meals were a powerful way to target poor diets. Of that total, 22 million children are from low-income families.

But the cost and prescriptions of her policies had detractors from the beginning: beef-and-potato state lawmakers, libertarians and camera-ready conservatives like Sarah Palin, who showed up to events carrying cookies and accused Mrs. Obama of robbing children of dessert.

“The school breakfast and lunch programs have been riddled with waste for a long time, plate waste being one, and that turns into financial waste,” said Jonathan Butcher, a senior policy analyst at the conservative Heritage Foundation.

“Clearly, no one wants kids to be served unhealthy foods,” he added, but if nutrition requirements lead to children throwing away the food offered, the standards are pointless.

The Agriculture Department said the changes reflected requests made over the past two years by those at schools who serve meals to children and teenagers. The department plans to release a regulatory analysis and to open the public comment period on Jan. 21.

The proposal is the department’s second attempt to roll back nutrition standards promoted by Mrs. Obama through the 2010 Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, which required schools to serve children fruits and vegetables every day and to offer more whole grain-rich foods and fat-free or low-fat milk. It also required school meal providers to limit calories and reduce saturated fat, trans fat and sodium.

The department finalized a rule in December 2018 that gave school meal providers permission to serve flavored low-fat milk in the National School Lunch Program and school breakfast program. That rule stipulated that only half of the weekly grains must be whole grain-rich, not the 100 percent target of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, and it gave providers more time to reduce sodium in meals.

Attorneys general from six states and the District of Columbia and the Center for Science in the Public Interest have sued the department over the December 2018 rule, arguing that the rule puts millions of children at greater risk of health issues.

Friday’s proposal goes further. It allows schools to adjust fruit servings during breakfast, to reduce waste, it said, and to make room for “meats and meat alternates.” Under current regulation, providers must offer one cup of fruit during breakfast for students in kindergarten through 12th grade.

The new rule would also relax current vegetable requirements, which say providers must offer a variety of vegetables, like leafy greens and starchy foods. A department official said the goal was to give more flexibility, not change the amount of vegetables offered.

The proposal would also allow schools to offer lunch entrees for à la carte purchase, to reduce waste.

Child nutritionists said the proposed rule could lead to school meal providers turning away from healthy foods, instead of coming up with ways to make that food more appealing. More flexibility on the types of vegetables offered could lead to meals dominated by starchy foods, like potatoes, which are cheaper than green vegetables.

The National Alliance for Nutrition and Activity said allowing à la carte purchases could create a “giant junk food loophole.” It could also lead to children frequently turning to meals that are meant to be eaten once a week, like hamburgers.

“With one in three of our kids on track to have diabetes, it’s unconscionable that the Trump administration would do the bidding of the potato and junk food industries,” said Sam Kass, who served as the executive director of the Let’s Move! campaign.

Democrats reacted furiously. Representative Ayanna S. Pressley, Democrat of Massachusetts, said on Twitter that “The Occupant is trying to play petty with the food our babies eat. Add it to the list affirming that the cruelty is the point with this White House.”

Representative Robert C. Scott of Virginia, the chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, said, “For many children, the food they eat at school is their only access to healthy, nutritious meals.”

The Trump administration, he added, was putting “special interests above the long-term health and development of America’s students.”

Those interests applauded, including the School Nutrition Association, which represents cafeteria workers and the food companies that provide schools with food.

“Updated nutrition standards for school meals have been a tremendous success over all, but a few of the requirements contributed to reduced lunch participation, higher costs and food waste,” Gay Anderson, the president of the association, said in a statement.

This rule is one of two that the Agriculture Department plans to propose next week. The other rule would give meal providers more flexibility under the summer meal programs.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Lola Fadulu is a reporter in the Washington bureau. @lfadulu

A version of this article appears in print on Jan. 18, 2020, Section A, Page 1 of the New York edition with the headline: U.S.D.A. Tries To Relax Rules On School Food. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper

PHOTO: The proposal weakens requirements that providers offer a variety of vegetables. Credit: Ilana Panich-Linsman for The New York Times

Michelle Obama Speaks Out On Necessity of National Heathcare reform for Women and Senior Citizens

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1109/29505.html

Michelle talks health care for women
By: Nia-Malika Henderson
November 13, 2009
Politico

First Lady Michelle Obama targeted another key constituency in the health care debate Friday, highlighting the concerns of senior women at the White House.

At a gathering of administration officials and health care advocates, Obama talked about the special responsibilities and burdens of women and seniors and how reform fits in.

"Women are among those who will benefit most from health insurance reform...We are the health care system in so many ways," Obama said in a 12-minute address. "We are asked to bear much of the responsibility but we often face challenges when it comes to our own health care."

The first lady has had similar events on health care, delivering speeches to gatherings of women, health care workers and advocates.

East Wing aides said she may hold similar events in the coming weeks, depending on how reform efforts develop in Congress.

At the Friday event three seniors took the podium in the East Room and told of health care crises and insurance problems, with Medicare in particular.

Medicare has been a major focus of the health care debate and the plans being considered call for as much as $500 billion in cuts to the government program.

Nancy-Ann DeParle, Director of White House Office of Health Reform, said that Obama's plan would "strengthen Medicare and put some fairness back in the system."

"It's the right plan for women and the right plan for America," she said.

Obama, who said she was battling a cold, did not go into specifics about what the plans being considered offered and said she didn't know what would land on her husband's desk, but said the plan would not endanger Medicare.

Using similar phrases from President Obama's talks on health care, the first lady said that health insurance reform would end "wasteful subsidies and crack down on fraud."

She said the president believes that Medicare is a "sacred part of America's safety net."

"America has a responsibility to give all seniors the golden years they deserve," she said. "That's exactly what health insurance reform is going to help us do in this country....Let's get to work."

© 2009 Capitol News Company, LLC

The Global Significance of Michelle Obama

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/04/28/first.lady/index.html#cnnSTCText

All,

The enduring political and cultural importance of Michelle Obama's central role as U.S. 'First Lady' both in this country and abroad cannot be overstated. As an independent, socially conscious and highly accomplished woman whose grace, style, intelligence, compassion, and mature authority marks everything she does, Michelle Obama has become an inspiration for millions of women (and men) across the globe. Both the President and this nation are very fortunate to have her because of the strength, commitment, and clarity she brings to her multiple positions and roles as social and cultural activist, mother, wife, and important public liasion for the White House.

Kofi





Why Michelle Obama inspires women around the globe

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Michelle Obama inspires women of color around the globe
Indian woman: 'She is a new face for India'
First lady's dark skin and modest upbringing gives women hope
German woman: 'She's the perfect blend of power and civility'

April 28, 2009
By John Blake
CNN


(CNN) -- Heather Ferreira works in the slums of Mumbai, India, where she has watched thousands of women live under a "curse."

The women she meets in the squalid streets where "Slumdog Millionaire" was filmed are often treated with contempt, she says. They're considered ugly if their skin and hair are too dark. They are deemed "cursed" if they only have daughters. Many would-be mothers even abort their children if they learn they're female.

Yet lately she says Indian women are getting another message from the emergence of another woman thousands of miles away. This woman has dark skin and hair. She walks next to her husband in public, not behind. And she has two daughters. But no one calls her cursed. They call her Michelle Obama, the first lady.

"She could be a new face for India," says Ferreira, program officer for an HIV-prevention program run by World Vision, an international humanitarian group. "She shows women that it's OK to have dark skin and to not have a son. She's quite real to us."

Those who focus on Michelle Obama's impact on America are underestimating her reach. The first lady is inspiring women of color around the globe to look at themselves, and America, in fresh ways.

"She might be the first woman of color that females in male-dominated countries have seen as confident, bright, educated, articulate and persuasive," says Barbara Perry, author of "Jacqueline Kennedy: First Lady of the New Frontier."

A symbol for women around the globe

The notion of a woman being a first in anything is alien in many parts of the world. Millions of women struggle against sexual violence, discrimination and poverty, several women activists say.

But Michelle Obama offers a personal rebuke to that message. Her personal story -- born into a blue-collar family; overcoming racism and once even making more money than her husband -- makes her a mesmerizing figure to women across the globe, says Susan M. Reverby, a professor of women's studies at Wellesley College in Massachusetts.

Reverby says this is the first time many women have seen their class and color reflected in America's first lady. Watch how Michelle Obama has done during her first 100 days »

"This is someone who appeals across the usual divides," Reverby says. "She is a celebrity you can imagine being, not a celebrity you have to watch from afar."

A hint of Michelle Obama's global appeal came recently when she spoke at an all-girls school in London, England. The students came from various backgrounds: Muslim, Christian, black and white. Yet they all surged forward, shrieking and even crying, as they hugged the first lady.

Thu Nguyen, a native of Vietnam, wasn't at the London school, but she experienced a similar sense of elation when Obama became first lady.

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In her native country, she says women "are not human beings." But when Obama became the first lady, Nguyen called her niece and told her that any hard-working woman could become the first.

Vietnamese women can identify with Michelle Obama, Nguyen says.

"We have a yellow color because we're Asian, so we felt a bond with [Michelle] Obama when she became the first black first lady," says Nguyen, who works at a nail salon in South Pasadena, California.

Some women's identification with the first lady, however, goes deeper than skin color.

Sue Mbaya of Nairobi, Kenya, says the first lady inspires African woman to assert themselves in their personal and professional lives.

Many African women are conditioned to be subservient, she says. They're prevented from rising to management positions in the workplace, and their families often relegate them to taking care of household tasks while sending their brothers off to school.

But Obama is a high achiever who didn't intimidate her husband, says Mbaya, a native of Zimbabwe who is the advocacy director for World Vision's Africa's region.

"I've always liked knowing that she was Barack Obama's supervisor when they first met," Mbaya says. "He once said that he wouldn't be where he is without his wife. That really appeals to me."

Women in the West also find inspiration in Obama.

Christine Louise Hohlbaum, who lives near Munich, Germany, says the first lady impresses German women because she is a powerful public figure who doesn't seem threatening. German history is marked by charismatic leaders who wielded personal power for malevolent ends, she says.

"She's the perfect blend of power and civility. That's important in German culture," says Hohlbaum, author of "The Power of Slow: 101 Ways to Save Time in Our 24/7 World."

How does Michelle Obama define herself?

While other women have defined Obama's appeal, the first lady is refining her role.

She has talked publicly about the pressures military families face. She has encouraged healthy eating by planting a White House garden. She's opened the White House to ordinary people and children. Service to community and family seems to be her theme.

She recently drew the most attention for what she did, not said, during a visit to London. She briefly embraced Britain's Queen Elizabeth II, breaking royal protocol. The Queen, however, according to press accounts, responded warmly to the first lady's embrace.

Obama has often been compared to another regal woman: Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. But Autumn Stephens, author of "Feisty First Ladies," says that Obama reminds her more of former first lady Hillary Clinton.

"But Hillary really downplayed the mom part whereas Michelle has really played it up," Stephens says. "She is straddling both worlds."

In a poll of first ladies, certain women are invariably cited by historians as the most noteworthy: Abigail Adams, Lady Bird Johnson and Eleanor Roosevelt, who is widely considered to be the most influential first lady, Stephens says.

Where would Stephens rank Michelle Obama?

"She's got the whole package," Stephens says. "She's in a class by herself." E-mail to a friend

Michelle Obama: Why Racists fear her Intelligence, Independence, Integrity, Strength, and Beauty

http://www.flystylelife.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/michelle-obama-radar2.jpg

All,

If you get a chance please check out this September 2008 issue of RADAR magazine and read a very interesting article about the wonderful Michelle Obama and white America's very bizarre reaction to her and then check out the magazine's expose of the ton of absolutely murderously racist stuff that the magazine's staff actually downloaded from the internet viciously attacking Barack and Michelle in the most vile, DANGEROUS, and disgusting terms imaginable. It's FAR WORSE than anything you could imagine in your worse case scenarios about just how deeply rooted and widespread this racist poison is and how much the Obamas (and especially Michelle) are despised...

Kofi

The Dynamic Michelle Obama

Click here for a 2/15/08 CBS News article on Michelle Obama

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/02/15/eveningnews/main3838886.shtml?source=mostpop_story

Michelle Obama is BY FAR the most intellectually and politically impressive "wife of a politician' that I've ever seen. She is as intelligent, savvy, profound, and dedicated as her husband. Talk about a truly 'Dynamic Duo'!--The Obamas are are a completely unique and original couple and what they are achieving together is nothing short of phenomenal...The national black community--men and women alike--should be taking notes on their relationship and learning what true unity and cooperation between individuals is really all about. Just to see these two people together in public is an inspiration...I think it's called LOVE...

Kofi


Michelle Obama On Love, Family & Politics
Katie Couric Interviews Barack Obama's Wife About Their Romance And Kids — And Egos On The Campaign Trail

Feb. 15, 2008

Michelle Obama Exclusive

In an exclusive interview, Katie Couric speaks with Michelle Obama about life on the campaign trail and how her children are dealing with the reality that their father might be elected president. | Share/Embed


(CBS) CBS News anchor Katie Couric interviewed the woman who knows Barack Obama best - from policy to personality. Michelle Obama gets personal about her husband, their kids - and herself. What follows is the complete transcript of the interview. Segments of it ran on the CBS Evening News and the Early Show.

Katie Couric: It's been about a year since your husband decided to go for it and run for President. How would you describe the last year?

Michelle Obama: You know, it's been a whirlwind. When you think about what he's been able to put together in less than a year, I mean, we went from the beginning of this thing where there was an inevitable candidate. As far as the polls and the pundits were concerned, this race was over. And then you sort of start building an organization and raising money and meeting people and having conversations.

And it's just the momentum has continued to grow over the course of this year. And what has been just completely heart warming is to see that people are really hungry for something different. And I'm not trying … to be too political about that. I mean, truly people … want something different for themselves and for their lives.

And people are … feeling the pressure of the ever-increasing gap. They're worried about their kids and they're worried about their health and the challenges … are similar. It transcends race and political party. I mean, people are serious about moving this country in a different direction. And that makes me feel good to know that, you know, I'm not alone in my frustration. It's been a good year.

Couric: I was gonna ask you … do you sense a frustration in people? Because you look at the approval ratings for the president and they're quite low. But the approval rating for Congress [is] even lower.

Obama: Yeah. Yeah, no, people are frustrated. I mean, I think they have a sense that there's something broken in our politics. And it's taken a little while because I think Americans are patient. And they give people a chance. And folks don't like fundamental change.

I mean, they wanna believe that the system as it's structured ... is basically doing what it's supposed to do. But when you've gone through years and years and years of just things getting progressively worse for everyday working people. I think people are at the point where they're frustrated. And they don't see the light at the end of the tunnel.

They don't believe that if we don't make some significant change that things will be fundamentally different for the next generation. And I think that's what people are concerned about. I think, like any parent, you can suck it up for yourself. You can, you know, you can tough it through any bad situation. But I think folks are starting to think about the next generation to follow. And if we don't make those changes ... what's this country gonna look like for our children?

Couric: What do your girls think about this? Your daughter, Malia, is nine. Sasha is six.

Obama: Right.

Couric: Are they a bit overwhelmed by this whole thing?

Obama: They're not because … this isn't their life. You know, we've done the best that we can to keep them on course. So they're in the same school with the same teachers, with the same friends. And fortunately they go to school where people, you know, they've known us for a while.

People are excited, but they don't treat the girls any differently. So … I get home last night. And what do we talk about? They don't know what's going on in the Potomac. They don't about … the returns in Maryland or Virginia.

Couric: They're not looking ahead to Wisconsin?

Obama: No, they're not looking ahead to … they're talking about Valentine's Day. And Sasha finished her cards. She had two left and she finished them. And they have to take them tomorrow. And one's got a field trip. And they're gonna have pizza for lunch.

And, you know, that those are the highlights. You know, now if we talk to them about it, which I've done with Malia, giving her a sense of how this thing goes, what's the timing, and how long will it take before we know what's new. You know, you'll get a sense within her of the anxiety of a shift, like, if Dad wins, then will we move?

So they have some real practical considerations about what does this mean? Do I go to a new school? Will I make new friends? I mean, it's all the things that you would think a nine year old would be concerned with if she was gonna move.

Couric: On the other hand, do they say, "Gee, Mommy, all these people are cheering for Daddy. This is so weird?" I mean … they must have some sense because you can't completely isolate them.

Obama: Yeah, no, well, when we're out there, they don't really react to it, you know? Malia said this was the night of one of the last caucuses. It was Super Tuesday. And we were … here in Illinois. We had a victory party. And we always ask do they wanna come on stage. And Malia said, "Now, you know, Daddy, that's not my thing."

Couric: I know, he said that actually when he spoke … which is very funny.

Obama: So they had friends there. We had family and friends. And they did not wanna go out there and wave. I mean, it was nice. They've done it before. But … it's interesting because they don't react to it. They don't think, "Wow, Daddy, isn't this interesting?" The little one is much more interested in the limelight. And she likes to wave.

Couric: She's the one who was smiling.

Obama: Oh, yeah.

Couric: When you were photographed on Capitol Hill and actually high-fived Dick Cheney.

Obama: Gave Dick Cheney a high five. So, like, there goes Sasha.

Couric: Let me ask you about when you first met your husband. Before you were married the two of you worked at a law firm together in Chicago. And I read when you he first asked you out, he said, "No, thank you," not wanting to mix business with pleasure.

Obama: Right.

Couric: But then he invited you somewhere. And your view of him changed dramatically. What was that? And what happened?

Obama: Well, we were friends from the start, because I was his advisor. And my job was to welcome him to the firm. I took him out to lunch. And immediately I liked him because he didn't take himself too seriously but he was very bright, had a very interesting background, just a good guy to talk to. You know, you could laugh easily with him. So I was, like, this is a friend.

But then he asked me out on a date. And I thought, "Well, my advisee. Hmm, I don't think that looks right." But he invited me to go to one of the churches because he had been a community organizer and worked on the far South Side with a group of churches. And he took me to a training that he was doing. And there were mostly single parent mothers, mostly African Americans on the South Side.

And he did a training talking about concept like the world as it is and the world as it should be and how the job of ordinary people in organizing, this is to try to narrow … the gap between those two ideas. And to see him transform himself from the guy who was a summer associate in a law firm with a suit and then to come into this church basement with folks who were like me, who grew up like me, who were challenged and struggling in ways that I never would, and to be able to take off that suit and tie and become a whole 'nother person and connect with people in the same way he had connected with folks in that firm, you don't see someone who can make that transition and do it comfortably and feel comfortable in his own skin and to touch people's hearts in the way that he did, because people connected with his message. And I knew then and there there's something different about this guy. Because you see people who can live well in corporate America. They can wear that uniform well. They can't make the transition and vice versa. Barack lived comfortably in those two worlds.

And it was impressive. And his message was moving. I mean, it touched me.

It made me think differently about what am I doing with my life. And how am I adding to the notion of getting us to the world as it should be? Am I doing it in my law firm? You know? So he made me think in ways that I hadn't before.

Couric: And you were smitten after that.

Obama: I thought … I could hang out with this guy. I was impressed. I really was.

Couric: You’ve seen the crowds, the way they embrace your husband. Some commentators have used the word "messianic." Do you ever worry that the whole thing, the whole movement is a little over the top for some voters?

Obama: Barack and I talk about this all the time. We talked about it before the decision to run, because … when you’re really trying to make serious change, you don’t want people to get caught up in emotion because change isn’t emotion. Because change isn't emotion. Its real work and organization and strategy - that’s just the truth of it. I mean, you pull people in with inspiration, but then you have to roll up your sleeves and you’ve got to make sacrifices and you have got to have structure.

And you've gotta, you know, you have to have support and you have to have interests to move things forward. So we do think about that all the time.

I mean, that's one of the reasons why we try to laugh at ourselves to sort of keep all this excitement to a reasonable level. That's why I teased Barack about putting up the socks and, you know, making sure he's putting up the butter. It's not that, you know, I'm trying to …

Couric: Emasculate him?

Obama: Exactly. The point is that Barack, like any leader, is human. And, you know, our challenges in this country isn't finding the next person who's gonna deliver us from our own evil. Because our challenges are us. The challenges that this country faces is how are we as individuals in this society gonna change? What are we gonna do differently?

Couric: I was just gonna say, sorry to interrupt. I think as the criticism against him mounts, it sort of, you know, lofty oratory is great. Inspiring words are that, inspiring. But real problems require real solutions more than just rhetoric. I'm sure you've heard that.

Obama: Right, right.

Couric: Both Sen. Clinton and now John McCain are kind of upping the ante in terms of attacking him … for his inspirational message, basically insinuating there's no there there.

Obama: Yeah, well, you know, that's what you do. If you can't do the inspiration, then … they attack the guy that can do both because essentially Barack isn't all flash and fire and brimstone. He's developed very comprehensive approaches to the problems that this nation is gonna face.

Continued
1 | 2 | 3


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Obama Endorsed by Anti-War Group

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5isOFwdbq0tsqatW6vJpkDRTI1gMgD8UHT34O0

VERY IMPORTANT ENDORSEMENTS FOR OBAMA...



Obama Endorsed by Anti-War Group

By NEDRA PICKLER – 6 hours ago

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Barack Obama picked up the endorsement of a leading anti-war group Friday and said Democratic presidential rival Hillary Rodham Clinton still has not adequately explained her vote to go into Iraq.

Obama told reporters in a news conference that, even though Clinton explains how she would like to end the war, her explanation for her vote leading into the war is disingenuous. He said his opposition against the war from the start will make him the stronger rival to Republican front-runner and war backer John McCain in the general election.

Obama's long-standing opposition to the war helped him pick up the backing of MoveOn.org, a liberal network which counts 3.2 million members and decided to support him by a vote of 70 percent to 30 percent for Clinton. The group said Friday that it has 1.7 million members in the 22 states scheduled to vote in the race Tuesday, and it would immediately begin a campaign to get them behind Obama.

Obama also picked up the support of a large union in California which had endorsed rival John Edwards, who dropped out of the race this week.
Meanwhile, Oprah Winfrey was returning to the campaign trail in support of her friend Obama. The talk show hostess planned to hold a rally with Obama's wife, Michelle, and Caroline Kennedy on Sunday in Los Angeles. Winfrey held massive rallies for Obama in December in the early voting states of Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina.

MoveOn.org executive director Eli Pariser said the country needs a president to end the war, provide universal health care, address climate change, restore America's standing in the world and "change business as usual in Washington." In his statement, Pariser thanked all the other candidates who ran in the Democratic primary for their contributions to the race.

Obama criticized Clinton's answer during a debate Thursday night when she was asked why she voted against a 2002 amendment offered by Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich. The amendment would have given weapons inspectors more time in Iraq and required President Bush to first obtain U.N. approval before using force. Clinton argued that a vote for the Levin amendment would have subordinated U.S. authority in Iraq to the U.N. Security Council and called it a troublesome precedent.

She reiterated her explanation of the 2002 vote to give Bush authority to use military force to oust Saddam Hussein. But she added, "If I had known then what I know now, I never would have given President Bush the authority. It was a sincere vote based on my assessment at the time and what I believed he would do with the authority he was given. He abused that authority; he misused that authority."

She declined to say the vote was a mistake. Obama criticized her explanation in his news conference, the third he's held this week leading into the Super Tuesday contests. Clinton holds a lead in the polling in most of those states.
"I think there continues to be a suggestion that it was not a vote for war, and I thought that her explanation with respect to the Levin amendment was inaccurate," Obama said. "Anyone who looks at the Levin amendment knows that we were not ceding sovereignty in some fashion to the United Nations."

Responding to Obama Friday, Clinton spokesman Phil Singer said Obama's early opposition to the war was not borne out by his actions in the Senate.
"The reality is that once he got sworn in, he explicitly called for keeping troops in Iraq and opposed a timeline for withdrawal, only changing his position when he became a candidate for the White House," Singer said.

In Sacramento, one of California's largest unions, the Service Employees International Union, decided to throw its support to Obama. The 650,000-member union's backing could help Obama cut into Clinton's lead in California polls of Democratic base voters, many of whom are union members. The SEIU includes city, county and state workers, as well as in-home support and health care workers.

Union officials will urge their members to vote for Obama but do not plan to do a wider get-out-the-vote effort.

Obama was also endorsed Friday by the New York City-based Transport Workers Union, which also had originally sided with Edwards. "With Senator Edwards out of the race, our officers found it an easy decision to lend our support to the Obama campaign," said union president James C. Little. The 200,000-member Transport Workers Union is the first national AFL-CIO-affiliated union to endorse Obama.

Obama said he has spoken to former presidential candidate Bill Richardson about getting his endorsement.
"We have no plans of receiving an endorsement, but I would love to be pleasantly surprised," he said.

The New Mexico governor has spoken to former President Clinton, Hillary Clinton, Obama and Massachusetts Sen. Edward Kennedy, who endorsed Obama on Monday. Richardson was unclear on whether he would made an endorsement before Democratic caucuses in his state Tuesday.

"I asked all my supporters in New Mexico to make their own choice, but don't be guided by me. And I mean that. I think we have a good selection of candidates," he said.

Kennedy campaigned for Obama in Oakland, Calif., on Friday. The senator repeatedly mentioned Martin Luther King Jr. during a speech at Beebe Memorial Cathedral, and invoked the memory of his brother, President John F. Kennedy, when he said, "Barack Obama is going to ask this generation, and ask you, and you, and you to do something for your country."

The Clinton campaign on Friday began airing two ads featuring the endorsement of Sen. Kennedy's nephew, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Associated Press Writers Laura Kurtzman in Sacramento, Calif., Scott Lindlaw in Oakland, Calif., Barry Massey in Santa Fe, N.M., and Beth Fouhy in New York contributed to this report.