The Note: Obama, McCain Could be Valuable Allies

If I were McCain, I’d tell Mr. BHO to figure out how to solve all his problems as President by himself. He made the promises during the campaign, so let him put his so-called promises to work. Obama is SO dumb he needs to surround himself with all the experts in every field. He’s nothing but an empty icon who made history. And that’s probably all he’ll ever make.

The statement in the second to last paragraph of the article says it all:
“But his move is also based on self-interest.”
No kidding? Of course, the junior jerk from Illinois is going to cover his a$$ by letting the experienced, knowledgeable people tell him how to go about being President.

“…he has to call in the MAN WHO SHOULD BE PRESIDENT (McCain)…”
Glad you filled in the blank for us, Theologicalones. I thought you meant Ron Paul.
And “should be” except, I suppose, for that pesky thing we call an election?

Congrats Pres. Obama. How delightful to have a true intellectual as president. Reaching out to Mr. McCain after the slimey campaign he ran proves you are a true gentleman as well.

Republicans are a national laughing stock. Conservatism has died a violent death and been repudiated at the polls. Right-wing haters are going to have a long eight years out in the political wilderness.
Elections have consequences.

Wow, you folks are hilarious. So he’s an empty suit AND a dictator? Fascinating. You all might want to get your delusion straight before posting.
He calls in McCain and everyone whines that he needs the old man’s help. If he doesn’t call in McCain the same people would cry that he’s going back on his word. He’s being bipartisan you morons, just like he said he’d be, unlike Bush who just brought in a gang of Texan idiots when his regime began. Obviously none of you have heard the word ‘bipartisan’ before — might want to look it up.

The commenters on this blog that try to belittle the President-Elect of our nation nust not like McCain much. If you don’t want him to work with the next president out of spite you don’t know John McCain. He puts his country first and will work with and respect our next president. I can accept that and appreciate that they are working to get our economy moving again and solve some of the big issues without the hyper-partisanship. Republicans must find an alternate path to victory than hyperpartisanship. Democrats will win that battle for the forseeable future.

I love how people are trying to insult Obama for surrounding himself with “experienced, knowledgeable, smart experts in every field” (just looking at the comments so far). You people are really reaching on that one.

losers! say it one more time, President Barak Obama

Looks like a bunch of simpletons found a keyboard this morning. Unlike bush who surrounded himself w/local yokels from Texas P.E. Obama is looking for the best and the brightest to offer a confluence of ideas, opinions and theorems, to finally make government work for the people and just to function at all which it has not in 8 yrs. w/all the lies, deceit and misconduct in the currant admin. I really wonder about the reasoning behind the thinking I’ve read here today!

At least Obama is humble enough to except he doesn’t know everything, surround himself with talented people and truly reach out to republicans… It shows class and above all, it shows he is serious about cutting the dems vs reps attitude that has plagued washington and left the “status quo” as the in-fighting kept anything from being done…

John McCain can either be an Obama ally,
or he can be nobody. He is a warmonger that was busted and casted aside overwhelmingly by the American people on November 4 for supporting Bush’s wars unconditionally. And with bigger democratic majorities now in both the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives, McCain’s prior clout under a Republican administration
has evaporated.
Obama doesn’t need McCain for anything,
but he probably wants to be what is called “Magnanimous in Victory” and thus allow McCain to fade out of his political career with a sense of dignity. That would probably enhance Obama’s charisma as a uniter of people of all persuasions that will help him govern the country with consensous. And for McCain it will be a nice bone to chew on on the dog days ahead of him until his retirement.
Nikos Retsos, retired academic

all fo you obama haters need to fall back yall are just mad just because he became president and he promised change and we are gonna get that so yall need to fall back and deal with the simple fact that he is president!!!!!

I think President-elect Obama is brillent! Yes, keep your friends close and your enemies CLOSER! It makes total sense to bring on board those who who would otherwise lead the charge against anything you try to get done in the Senate.

Barack Obama has selected Gregory Craig as White House counsel, a move that will recall some controversial legal cases over the last few years. Craig has plenty of experience in politics as well as the courtroom, having served as Bill Clinton’s legal counsel during the impeachment hearings.
Besides defending Clinton through the impeachment process, an effort that Craig lost, who else had the benefit of Craig’s counsel?
–Elian Gonzalez’s father – Craig represented the father who demanded the return of his son after his estranged wife died trying to take Elian to freedom. Most people saw this as a thinly-veiled publicity stunt from Fidel Castro, attempting to embarrass the US. The dispute got resolved when Janet Reno ordered an ARMED ASSAULT on the house where Elian’s family in the US provided him a home.
–John Hinckley, Jr – Craig presented and won the insanity defense that allows Ronald Reagan’s would-be ASSASSIN to spend weekends with his family now.
–Kofi Annan – The former Secretary-General of the UN hired Craig to defend his interests in the Volcker Commission probe of the OIL-FOR-FOOD scandal, which put billions of dollars into Saddam Hussein’s pockets while providing cash for Annan’s son, his deputies, and some for Annan himself.
–Pedro Gonzalez Pinzon – A Panamanian legislator wanted for MURDERING an American soldier in 1992. The Dallas Morning News demanded that Obama force Craig to drop the case during the campaign, but no report of whether he did is easily available.
I doubt that any President has selected the defender of a presidential assassin as White House Counsel before now. Does anyone want to guess how long that takes to become a Trivial Pursuit question?
Given Craig’s dubious client list, especially Gonzalez Pinzon as an apparent active client, this selection is a disgrace. The last person we need in the White House is an attorney who represented assassins, Castro and his goons, corrupt UN executives, and a suspected killer of an American soldier. Those are the people the White House should focus on STOPPING, not embracing.

people stop criticising but you can only prayer for our leaders instead…..
we are grown up so let’s stop querelling because it won’t help & it won’t even reach to Pres. Obama neither MCcain…please stop it…may God lead our Leaders AMEN!!!

“The People’s Choice?” Yeah, half the country plus two percent is a real mandate there.
I hope he doesn’t cooperate. Liberal democrats have been doing it the last eight years, and they can’t expect everyone to bow down to BHO.

Obama is showing his leadership at its best. McCain couldn’t change a diaper unless Palin showed him how…

I voted for McCain, but even I have to give it up to Obama. He doesnt want to run the country into the ground. He is trying to reach middle ground, and that is a win-win situation for everyone. Atleast in these tough times he is willing to ask everyones opinion.

There is an old business truism:
First rate managers hire first rate assistants.
Second rate managers hire third rate assistants.
Obama is the finest example of presidential material we have seen in decades.
Thank God Almighty, we’re Bush-Free at last.

What a bunch of bitter people.. I do hope BHO NEVER gets anybody on his team to stand up for the ones who wrote these hateful comments. Please Mr Obama, keep them away from us by not getting them any advocates in your government, we had enough of them for the past 8 years.. look at what they did to us!~ Let them dwell in their misery.. by themselves…

This is great, two liberals get together and it makes news. Let’s not forget the amnesty for all those illegals that are in the country. Just a reminder, Living her in AZ, we just had a 16 year old girl killed by an illegal who was drunk. A month before is was a phoenix police officer. This is what you have to look forward too. Oh, and for those of you who blame Bush for this mess. Remember, it all started with the fall of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Of which both Dodd and Franks told us months ago that they were both fine. There is no problem with them. Wake up…

Obama is playing the samrt role thats why he is where he is.Putting the republicans where he wants them to help move things when he gets in office.And still democrats will have the house majority….

All I know is Sen. Obama has very, very little experience in the political spotlight, but now there is no turning back and he has a prove he is a man of his word….Yeah right. He will be blaming the Republicans for all his failures even though Democrats now control Congress. All we can do is wait and see his inexperience lead us to socialism.
I guess the African Americans have no excuses now for all the crime they commit. Everytime I watch the news there has been another killing or robbery and 95% of the time its a black person. If black parents would take charge of their kids and make them understand education and family is important then I feel they might have a chance of making a life for themselves. Instead they blame the white folks for their problems.

To argue with a fool is something only a fool would do.
But to dance like life is beautiful, is what the winner of the election does.
Hhmmmm, grumpy dude ain’t dancing.

Derrick: Obama shouldn’t need all that advice. Being a Harvard graduate what happened to his smarts? He knew how to wheel and deal when he won the senate seat by playing dirty pool against the woman getting her signatures. Him and Dean did the same to Hillary over the delegates and superdelegates. Evidently he is not as smart as the people thought he was and its people like you and the majority of this generation of young people that voted him in. After he is sworn in then you will see the real Obama.

All I want to know is “where is Obama’s change” that he promised? His cabinet looks like clinton admin. reunion!!
So well anyone asked him this and remind him what he said several months ago that: “The real gamble in this election is playing the same Washington game with the same Washington players and expecting a different result.”

Bryan Miller: I have to laugh at your statement. Obama may have been at the head of his class but came out nothing but an ass. He is as dumb as they come. He is only smart at being crooked and he has plenty of friends around in his same category to prove it. Especially the bomer Ayers, co-chairman with Obama at Acorn. And its people like you that can’t see beyond their lies because you are the same as they are.

@Theologicalones
Maybe if you weren’t such a ignorant McCain fanboy you’d understand that no one person has all the answers, and that it is important to hear and understand viewpoints different than your own if you’re to make a truly informed decision.
If you really don’t like our new President that much then move to Canada, loser.

Jasper: I don’t agree with you. I agree with theologicalones in what he said. Yes, the young generation of this country are the nitwits that put Obama in office who doesn’t know the least about politics or foreign policy. We all know now that by putting in Clinton’s people he needs extensive training. Obama read books on Abraham Lincoln who was republican and wants to do the same. Its called follow the leader. And his leadership will not be as good as Lincoln’s. Lincoln thought on his own not anyone else’s.

@Mariann Pepitone
Well I’m glad you can see the future. You should try and make some money off of that.

Jasper. I don’t need the money and I don’t work. I mean what I say and say what I mean. The reason for Obama choosing many of Clinton’s people is because he knew what a great president Clinton and he wants to be known as the same. They are ten times smarter than Obama and can teach him the ropes on politics and foreign policy that he hasn’t learned yet. And believe me, he needs that training.

Well I believe the first thing that really needs to be addressed is the race issue, There are still many people in this country that have trouble looking past the color of a persons skin, which is a meaningless characteristic when it boils down to intelligence let alone what needs to be accomplished for this country to turn the corner and regain our rightful place in the world as a super power. The day we as the people, ALL realize that we each have our own ideals, morals, and ethics that influence our decisions, that a typically based of our individual circumstances, then we would be able to understand each persons perspective on a topic or issue, and find the compromising middle ground that works for everyone. And also allows true progress in this country rather then the political deadlock we’ve seen over the past 8 years
But until that day arrives will we as Americans, fully have the ability to control our destiny. Manifest destiny allowed us to control what is now the lower 48. Now I am not saying take over the world but, we must lead by example for democracy to spread across the planet allowing every person to have a life that is truly the means something in this world, and are allowed the opportunity to make the best of their life. Because Human life is the only real resource we have complete control over.
We as the Human race need to remember our role on earth and figure out our purpose rather than worrying about IPODS and useless technologies. If we were able to stop the expansion of new development and focus on the areas we are now, and ensure we fully understand our surroundings from sea to shining sea, from the ground all the way to just in the grasp of space then we can find the new technologies of energy, to get away from fuels that destroy the atmosphere, that causes us to rely on foreign countries who do not understand what we stand for in this country and why what we stand for is the only true way political views should be addressed .
The one thing that American stand for more than anything is the ability to change their ideals to maximize their situation. If you understand history and what our ancestors stood for and did to ensure their voice was not only heard but imprinted in history, then you can understand why this is the same kind of ordeal, things are different but ironically they are the same just more complicated, and we have a lot more people on our hands.
America we need to regroup and grab control of our selves. If we do not start spending money the economy will do nothing but continue to slow, and eventually be too far gone and we will end up in the worst depression ever. Not just here in the US, but a global Depression. We have the ability to get ourselves out of this mess that not just BUSH and Clinton got us into, but we the people allowed ourselves to get into. So Can we all please stop complaining about things and get our hands dirty and fix this.

I knew it was too good to last. Mariann, someone of your advanced years should know better!

You all know OBAMA is realted to Cheney right… 8th cousin i do believe

Mariann,
Terrorist’s?
Really!

So is that what everyone is gonna do bitch about who should be in or why he was elected, way dont you all realize we need to be discussing what needs to be done here in the country rather than btich about who is the guy that makes the final decison. lets get things on th eball, and rolls in the pipeline to get accomplished rather then sitting back and waiting for the right guy to come along and aww us by his presence!

bitter out of touch lame angry republicans… how does it feel to see your party in the toilet? even joe the plumber cant help you now.

Whatever happens, it’s not going to be pretty. Obama has 6 months to make significant improvements on the economy before he will be grouped in with the rest of Beltway traitors. McCain would have had a similar daunting task. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

To all the folks dissatisfied with the election results, I understand where you’re coming from. I was shocked and disbelieving after both Bush wins, and griped long and loud about them. I still gripe about them.
I do think that regardless of experience, having a man in the white house that is smarter than me is important.

As a Republican voting for Obama, I think we can get more done if we use all the resources. Obama will use anyone that will help fix the last 8 year republcan blunder.
During the election I would have voted for McCain but not the Republcan party. I think that the Karl Rove “one world government” was to much to handle.
With a crisis this serious it’s time to drop the politics and get the job done asap. We may be looking for the last crumb to eat soon, not who the leaders are. They can do only so much. Its up to the US population to look beyond this and move forward.
During the Bush administration he would often comment that HE WASN’T FOLLOWING the POLL APPROVAL numbers.
Think he is now?? Hmmm, probably not.
Sad, looks like the US population does know something.

But Ed, if the most important issue is the economy, exacting where did the republicans blunder during the last 8 years? The Obama campaign was asked this repeatedly yet could not come up with a single failed policy that led to the financial crisis. Now plenty of information is available on the failure of Fannie and Freddie (and who received 4126k from them in just 2 years). Whose blunder was it to force banks to make sub-prime mortgages and F&F to buy them? Bankers didn’t wake up one morning and say to themselves, “You know, we’re going to lend up to half our funds to those who can’t afford a mortgage” They were forced to by whom….? Maxine Waters thought desktop underwriting of mortgages by F&F was a great idea. So did Barney Frank. They are still in office and still sitting on the finance committees. How are they going to solve the problems if they don’t understand and they are part of the problem?

Pepitone: you claim that the “young people of this country are the nitwits that got him elected.” Just another example of your lies here. Obama won an electoral landslide made up of all kinds of voters. He won the young vote, the older vote, working class, union members, educated people, Catholics, women, and even 24% of the right-wing Evangelical crowd. So there fore your statements about “young people” is completely wrong.

I wouldn’t be surprised to see more Republicans walking this path, seeking some relevance in a post-neo-conservative world.
I don’t expect the fringe right will go quietly into that dark night… but they’ll have to share quarters with the 9/11 conspiracy believers, black helicopter watchers, and various other tinfoil hat types.

Agree Ed. But are we saying those who created the mess, took bribes from Fannie and Freddie, and are still in charge are now going to magically change? The mess we are in was due to social engineering by the government and there is no indication that those involved have taken any steps to reverse the course they started some 30 years ago. How do we move forward if they are in charge and they do not see the problem they have created? If desktop underwriting is “good” and forcing banks to lend to people who otherwise could not afford a mortgage or a car loan is still an acceptable way of doing business in Washington we’re all in trouble. You have to remove the source of the problem, not reinforce it which is what the election just did.

There are no laws, as far as I can determine, that “force banks to lend”. There are laws prohibiting discrimination in lending and encourage community investment. Obviously, those who wish to discriminate seek to undermine such laws; just as obviously, it is in the public interest not to allow the erosion of these regulations.
The roots of the financial crisis are complex, but one of the proximate causes were predatory lending practices initiated by financial institutions, backed with the outsourcing of risk represented by Mortgage Backed Securities. The banks made risky loans not because such were mandated by the government; they made risky loans because doing so was remarkably profitable, and the risk could be sold to investors who didn’t quite comprehend the complexities of what they were buying.

Jim
I am in total agreement with you on the last post. Don’t have the answer to your quest for new leadership, just know that things had to change.

Yukon – you to research some. Banks did not suddenly change the way they did business over hundreds of years. They were compelled to do so.
Clinton Administration regulations in the ’90s added teeth to CRA (Community Reinvestment Act), requiring banks to show compliance with meeting low-income loan targets or face civil actions that could assess a $500,000 penalty for each violation.
In addition, for 1996, HUD required that 12 percent of all mortgage purchases by Fannie and Freddie be “special affordable” loans, typically to borrowers with income less than 60 percent of their area’s median income. That number was increased to 20 percent in 2000 and 22 percent in 2005. The 2008 goal was to be 28 percent.
The banks were kept from rebelling by using Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s deep pockets to buy these poor-quality loans and take them off the banks’ books.
And Reason – Obama has never shown any one a real birth certificate – for some reason he chose to post a forged/ doctored birth certificate on his website. Also read the petition before the Supreme Court and the reasoning relative to his mothers citizenship status at the time of birth. You’ll then understand its not a slam-dunk that he is a naturalized citizen. My guess is, based on the documents presented to the court, he is Kenyan by birth and that is why he (Obama) had his records sealed in Kenya, Hawaii and Indonesia.

Yawn – yes. Of course, the Supreme Court will not accept what is posted on a web-site or speculated on the web, they will want a true birth certificate and resolution of the other documentation presented to them. Plus, there is the issue of the Electoral College – in a number of states, electors are considering state law suits demanding proof of birth and citizenship before they cast their vote in mid December.

Sorry but it is doctored and the Supreme Court agreed to review and has asked them to produce the original document by 12/1. They don’t take cases like this one unless there is substance.
The Clinton Administration did impose regulations fining banks up to $500k for violations of CRA and HUD did impose targets on banks to loan. Its in the books.

Exactly Legendary – if the fed was pushing banks to make improper loans then everyone jumped in because it was profitable. But no one wanted to hold bad mortgages. F&F bought much of it and the rest was securitized, sliced and diced and sold to investors with AAA ratings. Everyone assumed the price of housing would rise – no one ever thought prices would go down and the house of cards built by social engineering would collapse.

No one has touched, seen or felt the original document. They (Factcheck) have touched, seen and felt a document that was issued in 2007 which of course is not the original. That has been sealed. I don’t know why the director would need to lie nor do I know why Obama would need to take many lawyers to Hawaii with him when he visited his grandmother… and this case was filed with the Supreme Court. Why not simply produce the original that was filed in 1961? In any event, we’ll see in the next 2 weeks.

Jim,
Of course it wasn’t the original birth certificate. The Dept of Health doesn’t release originals, they release certified copies.
Politifact put it best when they said, “It is possible that Obama conspired his way to the precipice of the world’s biggest job, involving a vast network of people and government agencies over decades of lies. Anything’s possible. But step back and look at the overwhelming evidence to the contrary and your sense of what’s reasonable has to take over.”

Cynic Jim,
According to Factcheck, the Hawaii Department of Health’s birth record request form does not give the option to request a photocopy of your long-form birth certificate, but their short form has enough information to be acceptable to the State Department.
And what about the birth certificate photos posted on either web site was changed or forged? You still haven’t answered that.

Yes Yawn, there are many places you can find people who have investigated this – start here:
There are actually 4 parts to this story. This is not the only investigative look but is representative of the work that has been done. Other sites have printed out the Photoshop data indicating the posted documents have been manipulated and exactly how in Photoshop they were changed.
As the article mentions, Barack Obama has claimed in writing to have a valid printed document: In the first chapter of his book Dreams From My Father, describing his origins, he wrote about finding a local Hawaiian newspaper article about his Kenyan father: “I discovered this article, folded away among my birth certificate and old vaccination forms, when I was in high school.” Why not simply produce it? Why post forged documents?
Its clear that his campaign has been playing fast and lose with this – there’s a lot at stake. Given the laws at the time of his birth, his citizenship is not a slam dunk and definitely in question and floating doctored copies of a COLB around the internet makes a normal person suspicious as to motive and purpose.

No birth certificate has yet to be produced….

The very same document that Jim’s experts claimed were photoshopped was seen, examined, touched and photographed by Factcheck staffers. They found it to be an absolutely valid birth certificate that is acceptable by the State Department. The original 1961 birth certificate is held by the Hawaii Department of Health.
What’s also telling is that the Honolulu Advertiser newspaper published Obama’s birth announcement on Sunday, Aug. 13, 1961. As Factcheck puts it, “Of course, it’s distantly possible that Obama’s grandparents may have planted the announcement just in case their grandson needed to prove his U.S. citizenship in order to run for president someday. We suggest that those who choose to go down that path should first equip themselves with a high-quality tinfoil hat.”