Remembering Martin Luther King Jr.

Today is a day of service where we as a nation should remember a great American, Martin Luther King Jr. As you can imagine with the events of tomorrow, this years MLK Day takes on greater meaning. Dr. King worked for this day, and I do think this is what he pictured when he dreamed of the future. I do believe Barack Obama will prove to be a worthy heir apparent of the King legacy.

Here is the full version of Martin Luther King's most famous speech:


BBC World News America has unearthed a fascinating clip of Dr Martin Luther King speaking to the BBC's Bob McKenzie in 1964 in which Dr King predicts an African-American president "in less than 40 years."

Many will say that Martin Luther King's speech led directly to this speech where Barack Obama accepted his party's nomination for President.

Here is his speech to the 2008 Democratic National Convention:


That speech of course led to the great night night of November 4th. Here is President-elect Barack Obama's Victory Speech:


Now It's A New Day:

LibertyAir Blog

President-elect Barack Obama's At The Lincoln Memorial 1-18-09

Barack Obama's Inauguration really got kicked off with a star-studded concert held at the Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall in Washington. The event was packed with celebrity guests and world-renowned musicians who all gave voice to a stirring message.

Then near the end President-elect Obama gave remarks near the end of festivities at 4pm. This man really can really give a great speech.



Here's President-elect Obama's speech:

I want to thank all the speakers and performers for reminding us, through song and through words, just what it is that we love about America. And I want to thank all of you for braving the cold and the crowds and traveling in some cases thousands of miles to join us here today. Welcome to Washington, and welcome to this celebration of American renewal.

In the course of our history, only a handful of generations have been asked to confront challenges as serious as the ones we face right now. Our nation is at war. Our economy is in crisis. Millions of Americans are losing their jobs and their homes; they're worried about how they'll afford college for their kids or pay the stack of bills on their kitchen table. And most of all, they are anxious and uncertain about the future -- about whether this generation of Americans will be able to pass on what's best about this country to our children and their children.

I won't pretend that meeting any one of these challenges will be easy. It will take more than a month or a year, and it will likely take many. Along the way there will be setbacks and false starts and days that test our fundamental resolve as a nation.

But despite all of this -- despite the enormity of the task that lies ahead -- I stand here today as hopeful as ever that the United States of America will endure, that it will prevail, that the dream of our founders will live on in our time.

What gives me hope is what I see when I look out across this mall. For in these monuments are chiseled those unlikely stories that affirm our unyielding faith -- a faith that anything is possible in America. Rising before us stands a memorial to a man who led a small band of farmers and shopkeepers in revolution against the army of an Empire, all for the sake of an idea.

On the ground below is a tribute to a generation that withstood war and depression -- men and women like my grandparents who toiled on bomber assembly lines and marched across Europe to free the world from tyranny's grasp. Directly in front of us is a pool that still reflects the dream of a King, and the glory of a people who marched and bled so that their children might be judged by their character's content. And behind me, watching over the union he saved, sits the man who in so many ways made this day possible.

And yet, as I stand here today, what gives me the greatest hope of all is not the stone and marble that surrounds us today, but what fills the spaces in between. It is you -- Americans of every race and region and station who came here because you believe in what this country can be and because you want to help us get there.

It is the same thing that gave me hope from the day we began this campaign for the presidency nearly two years ago; a belief that if we could just recognize ourselves in one another and bring everyone together -- Democrats, Republicans, independents; Latino, Asian and Native American; black and white, gay and straight, disabled and not -- then not only would we restore hope and opportunity in places that yearned for both, but maybe, just maybe, we might perfect our union in the process.

This is what I believed, but you made this belief real. You proved once more that people who love this country can change it. And as I prepare to assume the presidency, yours are the voices I will take with me every day when I walk into that Oval Office -- the voices of men and women who have different stories but hold common hopes; who ask only for what was promised us as Americans -- that we might make of our lives what we will and see our children climb higher than we did.

It is this thread that binds us together in common effort; that runs through every memorial on this mall; that connects us to all those who struggled and sacrificed and stood here before.

It is how this nation has overcome the greatest differences and the longest odds -- because there is no obstacle that can stand in the way of millions of voices calling for change.

That is the belief with which we began this campaign, and that is how we will overcome what ails us now. There is no doubt that our road will be long, that our climb will be steep. But never forget that the true character of our nation is revealed not during times of comfort and ease, but by the right we do when the moment is hard. I ask you to help reveal that character once more, and together, we can carry forward as one nation, and one people, the legacy of our forefathers that we celebrate today.

Thank you, America. God bless you.

Bruce Springsteen, Pete Seeger and Seeger's grandson came out onton the stage after Barack Obama and sang one of this country's classic patriotic songs, getting the whole crowd to join in.

LibertyAir Blog

President-elect Barack Obama's Weekly Address

In his final weekly address before assuming office, President-elect Barack Obama speaks about the upcoming Inauguration activities, a tradition at the heart of our democracy. http://change.gov/cop.

Watch the weekly address here:

LibertyAir Blog

10 Big Goals for Obama

1. Reduce poverty a third by 2016. With poverty increasing by five million in the Bush years - and with only Great Britain having less upward income mobility than the U.S - the country needs to reduce the 37 million indigent (nearly equal to the State of California) by a third by 2016.

So the 44th president should strive to: increase the bi-partisan Earned Income Tax Credit; raise and index the minimum wage and move toward a "living wage"; better link inner-city residents to good jobs in the regional economy; create a national program to help ex-offenders successfully integrate into society; seek a temporary increase in food stamp benefits as part of any stimulus package (since $1 in benefits generates $1.84 in economic activity); make a national commitment to pre-K for all as part of an overall system of developmental care for children; establish a national version of the very successful Harlem Children's Zone, an after-school program that stays with children through their education; and make a renewed effort at bi-partisan, comprehensive immigration reform so one in 20 undocumented workers get out of the shadows by paying taxes and fines and learning English on the path to citizenship.

2. Enhance Democracy to stop special interest vetoes. Pro-democracy reforms often take a back seat - in campaigns and governance - to bread-and-butter, life-and-death issues such as economy, war and health. But process is policy, especially if a flawed democracy allows big commercial interests in the legislative and administrative arenas to stymie change.
So the new administration should push for: universal voter regulation (adding up to 50 million to the rolls); matching public funding of congressional elections; protective measures for electronic voting; criminalization of voter suppression techniques; national standards in a Fair Elections Now Act; instant run-off voting; a requirement that all agencies catalogue and post all information in a timely and feasible way; a comprehensive national broadband strategy so all Americans have access to an affordable network of at least 100 megabits per second; national standards to give state redistricting responsibilities to a neutral body - and ideally establish a "Democracy Czar" within the White House to make sure that all such often-ignored reforms are this time advanced and enacted.

3. Get economic growth rates back to at least 3% of the Kennedy and Clinton years. The world now understands how Bush's tax cutting, deregulation, laissez faire approach has led to slow growth, no growth or near economic collapse. From Enron to e Coli Bacteria to imported Chinese toys and drugs to the subprime mortgage criss, it turns out that laissez wasn't fair.
So even beyond the consensus for a super-sized "stimulus" plan, the new president should do everything feasible to bolster the squeezed middle-class and those seeking to enter it by: pushing for tax reform that increases top rates back to 38 percent while reducing rates on families suffering real income losses this decade; proposing an Innovation Agenda involving Research Fellowships and employment-based permanent immigration visas; including enforceable labor and trade standards in all future trade agreements; experimenting with wage-loss insurance; developing a long-term national surface transportation policy emphasizing light-rail and a national infrastructure bank; expanding one-stop job centers especially given rapidly rising unemployment as places to both obtain training and get placement in available positions; creating a 90 day moratorium on home foreclosures; and restoring enforcement of securities, anti-merger and labor laws at the SEC, Justice Department and Labor Department.

4. Move to a clean, green low-carbon economy. With a scientific unanimity that an increase of even 2° C above pre-industrial levels would be a global disaster, it's surely inadequate for a country with 3 percent of human oil reserves using 25 percent of all energy to focus on drilling and production. Yet while man-made global warming was burning the planet in the past eight years, two oil men in the White House simply fiddled away.
So the new president will be creating a new White House National Energy Council that directs his energy/environment agencies (EPA, DOE, DOT, DOA, DOI) to develop a comprehensive energy plan that a) replaces carbon-based energy with clean, renewable energy and b) promotes policies for millions of green collar jobs. Consistent with that effort, the 44th president should: alter the government's procurement process by giving "energy points" to contract bidders who demonstrate more efficiency and utilize more renewable energy; establish a national Clean Energy Corps to help cities and neglected rural communities retrofit and weatherize homes, business, school houses and public buildings; require the EPA to promote "total appliance efficiency"; increase auto fuel efficiency standards to European levels of 43 mpg by 2020; pursue a joint R&D project with China to develop new carbon capture-and-storage technologies for coal-fired plants; and prepare legislation to create a carbon cap-and-trade bill reducing fossil fuel use and generating $100 billion+ to mitigate negative effects on low-income consumers.

5. Reduce the costs - and expand the coverage - of health care. Over 70 million Americans are either uninsured or under-insured, leading to more illness, death and overtaxed emergency rooms. We have both the most expensive and least effective health care system in the industrialized world.

So the new administration should: expand coverage of S-CHIP (State Children's Health Insurance Program) to cover all children in need; create a Prevention & Wellness Trust Fund to provide more preventative services for long term cost savings; order the FDA to focus on and reduce obesity and tobacco use by adolescents; invest in health care information technology to avoid medical errors and better spread effective research; investigate the causes of racial disparities in health care and mandate that HHS reduce them; provide better long-term care through assisted living technology to allow home monitoring, as well as more community health workers and home health aides; require the Surgeon General to issue annually a publicly understandable report on the nation's health; and eventually move to a universal healthcare system that's citizen-based, not job-based.

6. Elevate science over politics in federal decision-making. While most presidents will weigh facts which lead to conclusions, Bush deployed the reverse methodology of "Lysenkoism" - conclusions led to "facts." Repeatedly, political appointees from affected industries ignored data because of partisan or religious concerns, especially in the area of climate change.
So the new administration should: issue an executive order to permit federal funding for embryonic stem cell research on all ethically derived stem cell lines; re-establish the White House Office of Science and Technology; make the Research and Development tax credit permanent; and appoint only qualified experts, not industry cronies, to science-related positions.

7. Restore the rule of law and human rights as American values. Constitutional scholar David Cole, challenging friends to name constitutional rights that Bush-Cheney didn't try to sabotage, concluded, "After the right to bear arms and not quarter soldiers, the game will be over." Apparently, when W swore to "faithfully execute the laws," he took it literally.
So a new president - who's a constitutional law professor to boot - should: pay a "decent respect for the opinions of mankind" (Jefferson) by closing the prison camp at Guantánamo and assigning to federal civilian courts the task of trying terrorist suspects; unequivocally ban the use of torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment by any U.S. official or contractor; greatly restrict presidential "Signing Statements" to obviously unconstitutional provisions; renounce the blatant politicization of the Justice Department as occurred during Gonzalez's tenure, appoint judges based on merit, not only ideology; repeal the "Global Gag Rule" which prohibits Non- Governmental Organizations that receive federal funding from promoting or performing abortions in other countries; end the "don't-ask-don't tell" policy for military services and ban discrimination in the workplace due to sexual orientation; and create either a congressional or presidential independent, bi-partisan commission to investigate and expose alleged illegality over the past eight years in order to deter future misconduct--a government that can't impeach or prosecute such illegality for political reasons needs to find some way to deter such corruption.

8. Educate children better for the global economy. In an increasingly global economy based on information - and with production techniques duplicatable anywhere - education is the new gold. Unless our children are better educated and more innovative, they and we will lose out in a world of open trade.

So the new administration should: push expanded learning time for all students especially in low-performing and high-poverty school; expand Early Head Start because of the proven success of high-quality pre-school for all; invest particularly in middle schools with high concentrations of low-income students who, in a sense, start dropping out of college in the 7th grade; enact a college tuition tax credit so that middle-class families can write off up to $4,000 per child; create a federal "Grow What Works" fund to identify and document the best practices to be shared; pay more to teachers who assume added responsibilities or work in challenging schools or in a shortage subjects; and create a program that focuses on teacher recruitment, and preparation and professional development since the difference between a good and a bad teacher can be the equivalent of a full year of school.

9. Fight terrorism by working more cooperatively with allies. Terrorism by non-state actors is a palpable threat to American interests that cannot be diminished merely by invading countries or overreacting with apocalyptic, belligerent language. Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups have grown since the March 2003 invasion of Iraq.

A new president should utilize the patient deployment of all instruments of national power, emphasizing intelligence, information operations and covert action. Specifically, the U.S. should: repeal the Bush Doctrine of preemptive war and exit Iraq as quickly and as safely as possible; undermine al Qaeda recruitment by developing a counter-narrative for at-risk Muslim youth that impugns its reputation and enhances ours; schedule a major address on terrorism by the new President in a Muslim country; focus on regional diplomacy in the Middle East by engaging other states (Syria, Jordan, Turkey, Egypt) in a conference to coordinate post-war Iraq policy; cooperate better with other intelligence agencies to treat terrorism as in part a police matter; and create a process of engagement between the U.S. and Iran both to discuss common interests and warn Teheran of the consequences of supporting terrorism and a nuclear weapons program.

10. Reduce nuclear proliferation. Because the greatest threat to America - economic threat and national security threat - is the detonation of a nuclear device in a major American city, a top priority for President Obama is to reduce that risk and to announce the goal of a world free of nuclear weapons.

So he specifically should: push to develop technologies allowing all air and sea cargo to be inspected by 2012; compile an inventory of all nuclear weapons and materials on earth to determine the best strategy of securing them from terrorist acquisitions; consider unilaterally announcing plans to reduce U.S. forces to 1000 weapons and extending the warning time for the launch of U.S. ballistic missiles, urging Russia to do the same; implement the agreement to end the North Korean nuclear program; prevent the lapse of the U.S. Russian Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, or START; and maintain the interlocking network of treaties, export controls and security pacts to discourage 183 non-nuclear states from starting a cycle of nuclear weapons competition.

These 10 are top goals now and benchmarks for 2012 or 2016 to measure the success of the new administration.

Paul Krugman: Forgive and Forget?

Paul Krugman gives his advice to the incoming Obama administration, as he bids farewell to the criminal organization known as the Bush Administration.

Forgive and Forget?
By PAUL KRUGMAN

Last Sunday President-elect Barack Obama was asked whether he would seek an investigation of possible crimes by the Bush administration. “I don’t believe that anybody is above the law,” he responded, but “we need to look forward as opposed to looking backwards.”

I’m sorry, but if we don’t have an inquest into what happened during the Bush years — and nearly everyone has taken Mr. Obama’s remarks to mean that we won’t — this means that those who hold power are indeed above the law because they don’t face any consequences if they abuse their power.

Let’s be clear what we’re talking about here. It’s not just torture and illegal wiretapping, whose perpetrators claim, however implausibly, that they were patriots acting to defend the nation’s security. The fact is that the Bush administration’s abuses extended from environmental policy to voting rights. And most of the abuses involved using the power of government to reward political friends and punish political enemies.

At the Justice Department, for example, political appointees illegally reserved nonpolitical positions for “right-thinking Americans” — their term, not mine — and there’s strong evidence that officials used their positions both to undermine the protection of minority voting rights and to persecute Democratic politicians.

The hiring process at Justice echoed the hiring process during the occupation of Iraq — an occupation whose success was supposedly essential to national security — in which applicants were judged by their politics, their personal loyalty to President Bush and, according to some reports, by their views on Roe v. Wade, rather than by their ability to do the job.

Speaking of Iraq, let’s also not forget that country’s failed reconstruction: the Bush administration handed billions of dollars in no-bid contracts to politically connected companies, companies that then failed to deliver. And why should they have bothered to do their jobs? Any government official who tried to enforce accountability on, say, Halliburton quickly found his or her career derailed.

There’s much, much more. By my count, at least six important government agencies experienced major scandals over the past eight years — in most cases, scandals that were never properly investigated. And then there was the biggest scandal of all: Does anyone seriously doubt that the Bush administration deliberately misled the nation into invading Iraq?

Why, then, shouldn’t we have an official inquiry into abuses during the Bush years?

One answer you hear is that pursuing the truth would be divisive, that it would exacerbate partisanship. But if partisanship is so terrible, shouldn’t there be some penalty for the Bush administration’s politicization of every aspect of government?

Alternatively, we’re told that we don’t have to dwell on past abuses, because we won’t repeat them. But no important figure in the Bush administration, or among that administration’s political allies, has expressed remorse for breaking the law. What makes anyone think that they or their political heirs won’t do it all over again, given the chance?

In fact, we’ve already seen this movie. During the Reagan years, the Iran-contra conspirators violated the Constitution in the name of national security. But the first President Bush pardoned the major malefactors, and when the White House finally changed hands the political and media establishment gave Bill Clinton the same advice it’s giving Mr. Obama: let sleeping scandals lie.

Sure enough, the second Bush administration picked up right where the Iran-contra conspirators left off — which isn’t too surprising when you bear in mind that Mr. Bush actually hired some of those conspirators.

Now, it’s true that a serious investigation of Bush-era abuses would make Washington an uncomfortable place, both for those who abused power and those who
acted as their enablers or apologists. And these people have a lot of friends. But the price of protecting their comfort would be high: If we whitewash the abuses of the past eight years, we’ll guarantee that they will happen again.

Meanwhile, about Mr. Obama: while it’s probably in his short-term political interests to forgive and forget, next week he’s going to swear to “preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States.” That’s not a conditional oath to be honored only when it’s convenient.

And to protect and defend the Constitution, a president must do more than obey the Constitution himself; he must hold those who violate the Constitution accountable. So Mr. Obama should reconsider his apparent decision to let the previous administration get away with crime.

Consequences aside, that’s not a decision he has the right to make.

Change We Can Believe In

In a great sign of the change that is coming, President-elect Barack Obama has shown over the past few days that he has the ability to hear critiscm, and can change. For example Obama had heard widespread Democratic skepticism over his suggested tax cuts as part of the stimulus package. Now President-elect Barack Obama will drop his bid to offer a $3,000-per-job business tax credit in his stimulus proposal.

Senator Tom Harkin had called the tax cuts an ineffective "trickle-down" measure, and Senator John Kerry said he’d prefer to invest in infrastructure and energy, the "kinds of things that much more directly, much more rapidly and much more certainly create a real job."

President-Elect Obama's Weekly Address - 01/10/09

President-elect Barack Obama gave his weekly address this morning. In this week's address Obama highlighted the challenges facing the nation's struggling economy and introduced a new report (pdf) that has been drafted by Christina Romer and Jared Bernstein. This report outlined the expected effects of its economic rescue package.

In his weekly radio/internet address, President-elect Obama explained:

"I asked my nominee for Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers, Dr. Christina Romer, and the Vice President-Elect's Chief Economic Adviser, Dr. Jared Bernstein, to conduct a rigorous analysis of this plan and come up with projections of how many jobs it will create, and what kind of jobs they will be. Today, I am releasing a report of their findings so that the American people can see exactly what this plan will mean for their families, their communities, and our economy.

"The report confirms that our plan will likely save or create three to four million jobs. 90 percent of these jobs will be created in the private sector -- the remaining 10 percent are mainly public sector jobs we save, like the teachers, police officers, firefighters and others who provide vital services in our communities.

"The jobs we create will be in businesses large and small across a wide range of industries. And they'll be the kind of jobs that don't just put people to work in the short term, but position our economy to lead the world in the long-term."

You can watch the address here:

LibertyAir Blog

More Argument For More

John Judis of The New Republic, has written a piece also arguing that Barack Obama's plan does not go far enough, and that he needs to think bigger than investing in roads and bridges.

I believe Judis is correct and that Barack Obama needs to do something massive with this stimulus package, the economic equivalent of war.

In his article, Judis writes about the need for high-speed rail, the kind they have in Europe and Japan. The Amtrak train from DC to Chicago takes 24 hours, but if we had a French-style TGV connecting the two cities, it would take less than 6 hours. We are falling behind in regards to our energy grids, use of solar and wind power, and use of the internet.

The United States is no longer number one in far too many areas. Barack Obama has an opportunity to change this, but it seems that the stimulus package being discussed will miss the boat.

Paul Krugman writes about Obama's Plan

Professor Krugman writes about how President-elect Obama’s prescription for the economy
doesn’t live up to his very accurate diagnosis.

In his editorial "The Obama Gap" argues that the plan as it is being leaked out is not big enough. He points out that with how big the U.S. economy is, there cannot be these half measures. If half measures are used the current economic crisis could too easily turn into a prolonged slump. I have to agree that the economic plan Obama’s offering isn’t as strong as his language about the economic threat.

Here is a snippit of the editorial:

To close a gap of more than $2 trillion — possibly a lot more, if the budget office projections turn out to be too optimistic — Mr. Obama offers a $775 billion plan. And that’s not enough.

Now, fiscal stimulus can sometimes have a “multiplier” effect: In addition to the direct effects of, say, investment in infrastructure on demand, there can be a further indirect effect as higher incomes lead to higher consumer spending. Standard estimates suggest that a dollar of public spending raises G.D.P. by around $1.50.

But only about 60 percent of the Obama plan consists of public spending. The rest consists of tax cuts — and many economists are skeptical about how much these tax cuts, especially the tax breaks for business, will actually do to boost spending. (A number of Senate Democrats apparently share these doubts.) Howard Gleckman of the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center summed it up in the title of a recent blog posting: “lots of buck, not much bang.”

The bottom line is that the Obama plan is unlikely to close more than half of the looming output gap, and could easily end up doing less than a third of the job.

Why isn’t Mr. Obama trying to do more?

Read the whole editorial here.

Barack Obama's Address to the Nation on the Economy

"A bad situation could become dramatically worse." That is the message that President-elect Barack Obama delivered in his major address on the economy yesterday. Speaking at at George Mason University in Fairfax County, Virginia the President-elect warned that the nation faced the deepest economic crisis since World War II and he urged Congress to act quickly in passing his stimulus package. This was his first major speech since Election Day

Here are excerpts of the speech:

"For every day we wait or point fingers or drag our feet, more Americans will lose their jobs. More families will lose their savings. More dreams will be deferred and denied."

"And our nation will sink deeper into a crisis that, at some point, we may not be able to reverse."

"I don’t believe it’s too late to change course, but it will be if we don’t take dramatic action as soon as possible. If nothing is done, this recession could linger for years. The unemployment rate could reach double digits. Our economy could fall $1 trillion short of its full capacity, which translates into more than $12,000 in lost income for a family of four. We could lose a generation of potential and promise, as more young Americans are forced to forgo dreams of college or the chance to train for the jobs of the future. And our nation could lose the competitive edge that has served as a foundation for our strength and standing in the world.

"In short, a bad situation could become dramatically worse...

"There is no doubt that the cost of this plan will be considerable. It will certainly add to the budget deficit in the short-term. But equally certain are the consequences of doing too little or nothing at all, for that will lead to an even greater deficit of jobs, incomes, and confidence in our economy. "

Here is the transcript of his entire speech.

Watch the whole speech here:

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Daily Kos TV has speech highlights here:

A bad situation could become dramatically worse

Obama is delivering a major address on the economy today. It is, of course, about the economy and the need for immediate action.

The transition team e-mailed excerpts of the speech:

I don’t believe it’s too late to change course, but it will be if we don’t take dramatic action as soon as possible. If nothing is done, this recession could linger for years. The unemployment rate could reach double digits. Our economy could fall $1 trillion short of its full capacity, which translates into more than $12,000 in lost income for a family of four. We could lose a generation of potential and promise, as more young Americans are forced to forgo dreams of college or the chance to train for the jobs of the future. And our nation could lose the competitive edge that has served as a foundation for our strength and standing in the world.In short, a bad situation could become dramatically worse....

There is no doubt that the cost of this plan will be considerable. It will certainly add to the budget deficit in the short-term. But equally certain are the consequences of doing too little or nothing at all, for that will lead to an even greater deficit of jobs, incomes, and confidence in our economy.

Obama Transition Report Finds ‘No Indication Of Inappropriate Discussions’ With Blagojegivich

Of course this will do nothing to shut down the rightwing whakos like Sean Hannerty. He will continue to bloviate away. Some in the corporate media, especially AP, and the rightwing have been speculating whether President-elect Obama or chief of staff-designate Rahm Emanuel were hiding their involvement in Illisnois Govenor Blagojevich’s pay-to-play scandal, with scant attention paid to any actual facts.

Yesterday, White House Counsel nominee Greg Craig released the report, for the Obama transition team, on their involvement with Blagojevich. They had been holding this report for a week, the release had been delayed “at the request of” U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald, but that didn't stop bloviating pundits from bellowing that Obama should have released it last week.

The report states that there is no indication of inappropriate discussions with Governor Blagojevich or anyone from his office about a ‘deal’ or a quid pro quo arrangement.

Other highlights:

– Barack Obama: Had “no contact or communication” about the Senate seat with
Blagojevich or his office and did talk to Axelrod and Emanuel about “other
qualified candidates. Obama never heard “that the Governor expected a personal
benefit” for the seat.

– Rahm Emanuel: “Had one or two telephone calls with Governor Blagojevich” and “about four telephone conversations with John Harris,” Chief of Staff to Blagojevich about other candidates but never discussed “a cabinet position, 501c(4), a private sector position for the Governor or any other personal benefit for the Governor.”

– David Axelrod: Had “no conversations with anyone outside the President-Elect’s immediate circle” about the seat, and nothing came up in any conversation about any “quid pro quo.”

– Valerie Jarret: Had “no contact or communication with Governor Blagojevich” or
anyone in his office about the seat.

You can read the full report here.

Richard Cohen's Outstanding Editorial

I have not always agreed with Richard Cohen, but today he wrote a really excellent piece in today's Washington Post. I know the media is trying to brush this Warren off as a little gay issue, but I believe it could be more. It could potentially be very damaging for Obama. Cohen's column illustrates tha this isn't just about gays and lesbians. It's about their family members, who are also offended by someone comparing their brother, their sister, their child, to a pedophile.

"I'm opposed to redefinition of a 5,000-year definition of marriage," Warren told Beliefnet.com's Steve Waldman.

"I'm opposed to having a brother and sister being together and calling that marriage. I'm opposed to an older guy marrying a child and calling that marriage. I'm opposed to one guy having multiple wives and calling that marriage."

Waldman asked, "Do you think those are equivalent to gays getting married?"

"Oh, I do," said Warren.

There you have the thinking of the man Obama has chosen above all other religious figures to represent him in this most solemn moment. He likens my sister's relationship -- three children, five grandchildren, so loving as to be envied and so conventional as to be boring -- to incest or polygamy....I can understand Obama's desire to embrace constituencies that have rejected him.

Evangelicals are in that category and Warren is an important evangelical leader with whom, Obama said, "we're not going to agree on every single issue." He went on to say, "We can disagree without being disagreeable and then focus on those things that we hold in common as Americans." Sounds nice.

But what we do not "hold in common" is the dehumanization of homosexuals. What we do not hold in common is the belief that gays are perverts who have chosen their sexual orientation on some sort of whim. What we do not hold in common is the
exaltation of ignorance that has led and will lead to discrimination and violence.

Finally, what we do not hold in common is the categorization of a civil rights issue -- the rights of gays to be treated equally -- as some sort of cranky cultural difference. For that we need moral leadership, which, on this occasion, Obama has failed to provide. For some people, that's nothing to celebrate.

The party's off.

That last full paragraph is the crux of the matter, and the reason the Rick Warren issue has touched off such indignation. Obama is essentially asking us to acknowledge that the humanity of Gays is negotiable. That Gays as full members of American society, as equal members of the human race, is somehow "just an opinion," no more and no less valid than those who compare them to pedophiles. Barack Obama wants us as a nation to acknowledge that there are two sides to every issue, even on our civil rights. He wants us to tolerate intolerance, as he is about to do from the highest office in the land.

My letter to Barack Obama's Transition Team

To the Transition Team for Barack Obama,

Really? Who thought it was a good idea to invite Pastor Warren to give the invocation at the Inauguration? Seriously, I am a liberal progressive who gave money to Obama, who volunteered for Obama, and voted for Obama, and what do I get as one of the first acts by Obama is a slap in the face. i understand that the President-elect is trying to reach out and change the tone of Washington, and I support that. But you can do that with an invitation to Rick Warren to visit the White House. You can have a very public debate where you invite Warren to give his thoughts, and someone of the Gay community to offer their counter-point. What you don't do is give Warren the invocation. You mean there is no liberal progressive man of faith you could have asked? Would it not have been nice for a change to show that there are people of faith who actually are liberal and progressive?

Why do we always defer to the evangelicals? Why does the invocation always get done by an evangelical? How about showing some inclusion of those who are always left on the outside instead of again pandering to the white evangelicals?

I understand that Rick Warren is supposed to be some lovable fat man with a big heart, but he is also a bigot; plain and simple. He dresses it up, and hides it in platitudes that are supposed to show he really cares, but in the end he is a bigot.

As proof I submit this video recorded yesterday by Pastor Warren:http://www.saddlebackfamily.com/blogs/newsandviews/index.html?contentid=1723

In the new video, Warren accuses gays of "hate speech," of launching "hateful attacks" against him, and he then says that gay and lesbian Americans have "Christ-ophobia," a clear effort to mock the term "homophobia." He goes on to explain that gays are "afraid of any Christian," suggesting that gay and lesbian Americans - gay and lesbian Obama voters - are not Christians. He then goes on to call gays criticizing him "evil." All this from a man who compared gay marriage to incest and pedophilia, and who explicitly bans "unrepentant gays" from his church membership.

Really? This is the man who will step into the mantle of America's Pastor because you all decided to kick a large portion of your supporters in the groin.

Does Obama agree with Rick Warren that gay and lesbian Americans have been "evil" and "hateful" in this affair?

Does Obama agree with Rick Warren’s dehumanization of homosexuals?

Does Obama agree with Rick Warren’s characterization of homosexuality to incest and pedophilia?

Does Obama aprove of Rick Warren’s ban on "unrepentant gays" from his church membership?

Does Obama agree that gay Americans are not Christians?

Does Obama agree that gays have "Christ-ophobia"?

I would really like to know. For eight long years I have had to take the turd burgers that President Bush and Dick Cheney have forced upon the American public. Inauguration day was supposed to be a day of hope, a day of change. It was a day for liberals and progressives to take heart, but no, for cheap political points you decided to spit on many of your supporters.
There is only two forms of bigotry that are allowed today in America, bigotry against Muslims and Gays. This is not to say there is no other bigotry or racists, but those bigots have to do it on the sly or behind closed doors. The only bigotry that can be done in the open is to say hurtful and slanderous things about Muslims and Gays. This is why Rick Warren can say out loud that the marriage of Gays and Lesbians is the equivalent of incest, child rape and polygamy, and not suffer any consequence.

Would it be different if he said that the union of Obama's parents was the equivalent of incest, or that it was a sin versus God, or the equivalent of rape? These were all the same things said by men like Warren in the last 50 years. There were all the same arguments based on interpretations of the bible.

So is it okay to be a bigot as long as it's directed towards gays?

You know a lot of bigots came out against Obama during the election, are you going to invite one of their representatives to give a speech in the name of inclusiveness?

I am not completely against some of the things that Rick Warren has done, nor do I think that as President, Barack Obama should never speak with Pastor Warren, but this was not the time or the forum. You screwed up, and you were hurtful for no good purpose. It did not need to be done, and now cannot be rectified, but Obama should apologize. We have gone 8 years with a man who never once apologized for any of his mistakes, a real change would be to have a
President who actually steps up when he made a mistake.

Thank you

Rachel Maddow on Pastor Warren

Rachel Maddow spoke about Pastor Warren and what a terrible choice Barack Obama made when he asked him to give the invocation at the inauguration. She interviews David Corn of MotherJones magazine to ask if there is any chance that Obama will withdraw his invitation. Unfortunately I think Corn is right when he says that Obama will not take back this terrible mistake.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Obama: Aides 'did nothing inappropriate'

President-elect Barack Obama said Monday a review by his own lawyer shows he had no direct contact with Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich about the appointment of a Senate replacement, and transition aides "did nothing inappropriate."

Obama said today he is prepared to make the review public, but decided to hold off because prosecutors asked for a delay and "I don't want to interfere with an ongoing investigation."
Controversy has swirled around the president-elect and his incoming White House chief of staff, Rep. Rahm Emanuel, following Blagojevich's arrest last week on charges he schemed to trade Obama's Senate seat for personal gain.

Watch this NBC news clip:


Here is what Keith Olbermann said on his show today:

Obama talks housing in the weekly radio address

In the weekly radio address, the president-elect talked again about the housing crisis, another of the Bush disasters which will soon be on his plate, and named his Secretary of Housing and Urban Development:

LibertyAir Blog

Obama's Energy and Environment Team

The president-elect has unveiled his energy and environmental team, and it is good.

President-elect Barack Obama has selected his top energy and environmental advisers, including a Nobel Prize-winning physicist and the former head of the Environmental Protection Agency, presidential transition officials said Wednesday.

Collectively, they will have the task of carrying out Mr. Obama's stated intent to curb global warming emissions drastically while fashioning a more efficient national energy system. And they will be able to work with strong allies in Congress who are interested in developing climate-change legislation, despite fierce economic headwinds that will amplify objections from manufacturers and energy producers.

The officials said Mr. Obama would name Steven Chu, the director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, as his energy secretary, and Nancy Sutley, deputy mayor of Los Angeles for energy and environment, as head of the White House Council on Environmental Quality.

Mr. Obama also appears ready to name Carol M. Browner, the E.P.A. administrator
under President Bill Clinton, as the top White House official on climate and energy policy and Lisa P. Jackson, New Jersey's commissioner of environmental protection, as the head of the E.P.A.

This is a good liberal/progressive team. And you would be hard pressed to find better prepared individuals for these jobs. Here's information on Chu; here's information on Sutley; and here's information on Jackson.

Obama Takes Questions on Blagojevich

In a press conference designed to focus on the appointment of Tom Daschle as Secretary of Health and Human Services, Barack Obama was besieged almost entirely with questions about the role he and his staff played (or didn't play) in the Rod Blagojevich corruption scandal.

The President-elect gamely fielded three questions on the issue and addressed it in his opening remarks, saying (twice) that he was appalled and disappointed "by the revelations earlier this week." He declared that he "had no contact with the governor's office" and "did not speak to the governor" about the process of who should replace him as Senator. "That I know for certain," Obama said.

Pressed on several occasions to reveal the extent, if any, of his staff's contact with the Illinois Governor -- contact that likely took place, considering Obama's seat was under discussion -- the President-elect urged a bit of patience.

"I have asked my team to gather the facts of any contacts with the governor about his vacancy so that we can share them with you over the next few days. What I'm absolutely certain about is that our office had no involvement in any deal-making about my Senate seat ... That would be a violation of everything this campaign was about and that is not how we do business."

Watch it here:

LibertyAir Blog

Illinois Governor Taken Into Federal Custody

I know I am late to the game on this story, but it has been a very busy day. If you have not heard the news, here is a quick update:

Federal authorities took Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D) and his chief of staff John Harris into custody this morning on federal corruption charges. Before the arrest, the Chicago Tribune had reported that a “three-year federal corruption investigation of pay-to-play politics in Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s administration has expanded to include his impending selection of a new U.S. senator to succeed President-elect Barack Obama.” According to a press release from the U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald’s office:

A 76-page FBI affidavit alleges that Blagojevich was intercepted on court-authorized wiretaps during the last month conspiring to sell or trade Illinois’ U.S. Senate seat vacated by President-elect Barack Obama for financial and other personal benefits for himself and his wife. At various times, in exchange for the Senate appointment, Blagojevich discussed obtaining:

– a substantial salary for himself at a either a non-profit foundation or an
organization affiliated with labor unions;

– placing his wife on paid corporate boards where he speculated she might garner as much as $150,000 a year;

– promises of campaign funds – including cash up front; and

– a cabinet post or ambassadorship for himself.

Fitzgerald, who successfully prosecuted Scooter Libby, said in a statement that “the breadth of corruption laid out in these charges is staggering.” “I want to make money,” the affidavit quotes Blagojevich as saying in one conversation. The full 76-page two-count criminal complaint can be found here. FireDogLake has more.

What is ironic is that Blagojevich told reporters yesterday, "I don't believe there's any cloud that hangs over me. I think there's nothing but sunshine hanging over me."

The federal criminal complaint reports that Governor Blagojevich corruptly solicited and demanded "the firing of certain Chicago Tribune editorial members responsible for widely-circulated editorials critical" of him.

How does this affect Barack Obama?

Good Question, there will be those conservative wing-nuts who will try to tie Obama to Blagojevich. However news coming out is that there was a pretty big rift between the Obama campaign and Blagojevich. In a conversation with Harris on November 11, the charges state, Blagojevich said he knew that President-elect Obama wanted Senate Candidate 1 for the open seat but “they’re not willing to give me anything except appreciation. [Expletive] them.” The complaint does not mention her name, but the description makes clear that Blagojevich is referring to Valerie Jarrett.

You can download a copy of the indictment HERE.