I see that the BBC has flown James Naughtie all the way over to Denver (What about all those C02 emissions?) to cover the coronation of the Chosen One, Obama, at the DNC. The Today programme (7.09am) had a wonderful treat for us this morning when Naughtie interviewed Justin Webb on Obama’s chances and as you can imagine, a strong stomach was the order of the day just to get through this love-in. Justin was in good form, emoting about the “audacity” of the “mesmeric” young “black man” Obama and reminding us f the “staggeringly unpopular” President Bush. Surprised Justin didn’t have time to reflect on the “staggeringly unpopular” Democratic-controlled Congress but I suppose there is only so much time given to provide praise for the BBC-approved candidate. Looking forward to Michelle’s speech tonight and the BBC coverage to follow….
ROCKY MOUNTAIN HIGH.
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“MrLouKnee | 25.08.08 – 11:13 pm”
and the british rounded up irish people and shoved them into concentration camps.. in the 1970s.
please do get off your high and mighty horse for one minute.
Is that like…those Irish tewwowist guys who fought back?
Like those Palestinian and Islamic tewwowists?
What goes around comes around.
Spooky.
“and i dont fall for that crap about the US being the beacon of freedom, it wasnt that long ago blacks couldnt vote”
Actually, blacks have always been able to vote – in some parts of the United States. After the US Civil War, a constitutional amendment was passed that protected their right to vote, and blacks did participate at high level even in the South up until about 1890. Then, as the Populists became more powerful, southerners who worried that blacks might form parts of winning coalitions (as they did in few places, briefly) repressed the black vote in many states using a combination of legal means and violence. (The changes also repressed much of the white vote in many southern states, with participation rates dropping from 70 to 30 percent, or even lower.) But even then there was some black voting, especially in the cities and outside the deep South.
There was a surge in black voting after World War II, enough so that a black was elected to the city council in Richmond, Virginia. And black participation continued to rise almost everywhere in the South except in rural areas where blacks were in the majority.
That changed after the Voting Rights Act was passed in 1964. (Incidentally, Republicans gave the act a higher percentage of votes than Democrats did.)
So the story is a little more complicated than some might think — especially if they get their news from the BBC.
frequent announcements that Obama is about to become ‘officially’ America’s first black Presidential candidate.
SmogMonster | 25.08.08 – 11:25 pm
Apparently not. Obamma is the first ‘black’ candidate from either Democrats or Republicans and therefore the 1st with a realistic chance.
To date there have been four black candidates for president and 5 presidential campaigns for Black presidential candidates. Those candidates were Shirley Chisholm, Senator Carol Moseley Braun, Jesse Jackson, and the most recent Al Sharpton.
I wonder if the “I wouldn’t vote for a black” voters will be canceled out by the “I vote for him because he’s black” voters? Given that less than half the people entitled to vote will actually cast a vote on the date, this doesn’t seem unlikely.
BTW There are very few Black Americans without some Caucasian genes. Those who are tend to be relatively recent immigrants. Nitpicking ‘who is a black’ would disfranchise just about every claimant.
i just think Al Beebs coverage of the chosen one is very fucking over the top and we all know that the republican party will gt virtually no coverage in comparison. im not ant amercican,
archduke: –
i was one of them soldiers and im damn proud of what i done for my country. They even gave me a medal for it
All we ever hear is Obama this, Obama that and I am sick of it. Chances are huge numbers of other people are too.
The collective intelligence of the US population will know whats best for them, the BBC knows very little.
The BBC should be careful what they wish for. So far he’s been fairly vague about his policies, but if the BBC think Obama is going to be some kind of wishy-washy hand-wringing liberal I think they will be sorely mistaken.
Like many other Britons I usually listen to Today, the Six O’Clock News, and I occasionally watch News at Ten. But for months now I have had to keep switching off because of the totally disproportionate coverage of American politics. It reminds me of the year before the invasion of Iraq when we kept hearing the phrase ‘weapons of mass destruction’ ad nauseam. There must be other things going on in the world that affect us just as much, or more – we are supposed to be part of the ‘European Union’ but never hear what our MEPs are up to, for instance.
Obama, you’re driving me barmy.
The BBC has been gushing all morning about Michelle Obama. Now starting up on Woman’s Hour again. Two commentators on her speech – one supporter who gushes – and a reporter who also gushes, but concedes that the speech might have been a teensy bit schmalzy.
Can’t the BBC ever try for some balance ?
Perhaps the saddest thing this morning was Naughtie talking to the elderly Ted Sorenson. Naughtie was positively coaxing complimentary remarks about Obama. He even had Sorenson saying that Obama matched Kennedy as a speaker.
I don’t recall Kennedy depending on a Teleprompter.
I think that the BBC tries to gloss over the shortcomings of Obama and will most likely also do so with his choice of running mate. Up to now we haven’t seen much real debate between Obama and McCain. We have had endless “hope” and “change” from Obama, but little real policy. It will be very interesting to see Obama’s performance as he debates McCain live and unscripted. I do get the impression that Obama is not the quickest at thinking on his feet and is loathe to give a straight answer. As an example, look at his answer to the question about when life begins. “Above my pay grade” may come back to haunt him. Contrast McCain’s answer that life begins at conception. You can agree or disagree with McCain on that, but he answered the question straight and didn’t try to hedge his bets for fear of offending one group or another. If Obama wants to be president then he will have to capture the centre ground. I think McCain is in a better position to do that at the moment. In 2004 I got the feeling that the BBC were convinced Kerry would win and they really played him up. When Bush won relatively easily it was a huge shock to the BBC and also to those people whowere relying on their analysis on who would win the race. I suspect it may be the same in 2008 with people being shocked when McCain wins. The basic problem is the very poor standard of analysis from the BBC, which misleads people into thinking Obama is a certainty to be president.
Zamboy
Yes – I hear a lot of people saying it will be a disgrace if Obama does not win.
As if he is already anointed to win, only backward and maybe racist Americans could deny him what he deserves.
The “BBC” has projected Obama. It has not projected McCain.
If McCain does win it seems there are likely to be lots of discarded unopened champagne bottles going spare at the BBC. Or will they still be drunk on the pretext of drowning their sorrows.
P.S. Anybody know whether “we” paid for the champagne consumed in May ’97?
Gerald Brown: Don’t worry. Male Beeboids have plenty of other uses for a Champagne bottle 🙂
al-Beeb has more people inside it who support Nader then McCain. That accounts for the biased coverage of the US election process.
There’s so little between the main parties in America you could barely slip a sheet of paper between them anyway.
The high-spend-high-debt-libs and the a-wee-bit-more-high-spend-high-debt-libs.
Obama not being white is the only big difference between them.
I quote my friend in Denver:
“I’m ready to hide out…I’m not interested in seeing the damages the anarchists inflict on this wonderful city. Hopefully, they’ll clean up after them. This would be a good weekend to go to the mountains. ”
The beeboids just don’t get it.
They could be in for a big shock come November.
ady: Not quite. Osama has no experience nor has he faced any real tough questions about his life or beliefs.
McCain and Hillary have.
Lest anyone forget, this race is about race. Right at the top of the BBC homepage:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/
I was going to make a comment about a new article in Justin Webb’s source for US political analysis, The New Republic, and how it would provide the content for his next post, as well as the narrative of BBC coverage until November. But this, combined with Webb’s own “I cried for the little black children stolen from their parents” post just says it all.
Remember: You must vote for him ‘cos he is black. If you don’t vote for him, it’s ‘cos he is black.
Watching Fox the speculation is kicking off big time about McCain’s VP pick. Good chance it will get out tonight.
The BBC………….
Not a mention.
However, we can now expect a live report by Justin Webb and Matt Frei every time Osama takes a dump as both are living in his arse.
I can only assume that the BBC junket wagon didn’t stop at London on its way back from Beijing but carried on all the way to Denver! Where the heck do they all come from. As for reporting, all that’s missing now is the infamous Noughtie “when we win the election” quip to Obama.
By the way Today did mention McCain today (Friday) but only to make a point that he is 72. And to think these guys use ‘British’ in their name and that we pay for it!!!