WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Democrat Barack Obama‘s big national lead over Hillary Clinton has all but evaporated in the U.S. presidential race, and both Democrats trail Republican John McCain, according a Reuters/Zogby poll released on Wednesday. The poll showed Obama had only a statistically insignificant lead of 47 percent to 44 percent over Clinton, down sharply from a 14 point edge he held over her in February when he was riding the tide of 10 straight victories.Illinois Sen. Obama, who would be America’s first black president, has been buffeted by attacks in recent weeks from New York Sen. Clinton over his […]
iRAQ: Pissing In The Wind
This is really funny as far as wartime potty humor goes. And, of course, as wartime potty humor goes, so goes the nation. Or something like that.
NEWS CLUES: ‘So Local It Hurts’ Edition
WANTED: 1,000 Cheese Steak-Chomping Fat Guys To Say Dumb Shit On Camera Stephen Colbert is headed back out on the campaign trail. No, he assured viewers of “The Colbert Report” last night, he is not reviving his presidential campaign. That was snuffed out last fall when Democratic officials in South Carolina voted him off the state’s primary ballot (and just before the television writers went on strike). Mr. Colbert said he is going to Philadelphia to report on the Pennsylvania primary for a few days in mid-April before the April 22 vote. He’ll be broadcasting his nightly comedy show from […]
WORTH REPEATING: Reactions To Senator Barack Obama’s Landmark ‘A More Perfect Union’ Speech
[Photos by TIFFANY YOON/CLICK TO ENLARGE] [via HUFFINGTON POST] Mother Jones, David Corn: With racial sentiments swirling in the 2008 campaign — notably, Geraldine Ferraro’s claim that Barack Obama is not much more than an affirmative action case and the controversy over his former pastor’s over-the-top remarks — Senator Obama on Tuesday morning responded to these recent fusses with a speech unlike any delivered by a major political figure in modern American history. While explaining — not excusing — Reverend Jeremiah Wright’s remarks (which Obama had already criticized), he called on all Americans to recognize that even though the United […]
ARTSY: The Lost Photos Of Diane Arbus
First Person Arts presents Now or Never: The Lost Photos of Diane Arbus Exclusive One-Day Excursion to NYC, Apr. 5 WHAT: First Person Arts announces an exclusive one-day excursion from Philadelphia to NYC to view the work of legendary photographer, Diane Arbus and hear the story of the discovery of vintage Arbus prints. On April 5th, a collection of Arbus photographs that have been missing since the 1960s will be exhibited for the first – and possibly last – time, after which they will be sold at auction by Phillips du Pury in NY. The First Person group will travel by […]
‘A MORE PERFECT UNION’: Remarks of Senator Barack Obama, Constitution Center, Philadelphia
THE GREAT RECKONING: Sen. Barack Obama, Constitution Center [photo by MICHAEL T. REGAN] “We the people, in order to form a more perfect union.” Two hundred and twenty one years ago, in a hall that still stands across the street, a group of men gathered and, with these simple words, launched America’s improbable experiment in democracy. Farmers and scholars; statesmen and patriots who had traveled across an ocean to escape tyranny and persecution finally made real their declaration of independence at a Philadelphia convention that lasted through the spring of 1787. The document they produced was eventually signed but ultimately unfinished. […]
ROAD KILL: I-95 Not Safe At Any Speed
INQUIRER: Interstate 95 through Philadelphia will be shut down for at least two days as contractors rush to repair a crumbling support column. A jagged crack, about 8-feet long and two inches wide, was discovered on a concrete pillar late Monday night as an inspection crew traveled under the highway near Cambria Avenue in the city’s Port Richmond section. For the next two days, both northbound and southbound Interstate traffic will be detoured onto city streets creating nightmares for commuters and neighborhood residents.Work was scheduled to begin at 7:30 a.m. to build a support structure that will take the weight […]
ANNIVERSARY: The Cakewalk Turns Five
GENEVA (AFP) — Five years after the US-led invasion, Iraq faces a major humanitarian crisis, with law and order and economic recovery a distant prospect, international aid and human rights groups said Monday. The International Committee of the Red Cross highlighted the plight of millions of Iraqis who still have little or no access to clean water, sanitation or health care. “The humanitarian situation in most of the country is among the most critical in the world,” the Swiss-based agency said in a report. A recent World Health Organisation and Iraqi health ministry report estimated that 151,000 people were killed […]
NPR FOR THE DEAF: We Hear It Even When You Can’t
FRESH AIR Secularist Shiite politican Ahmad Chalabi was for years part of an opposition group dedicated to overthrowing former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein. Son of a wealthy exile family that fled Iraq in the late 1950s, he moved easily in Washington, D.C.’s political and policy circles, making allies among neoconservatives and helping to convince journalists and intelligence agencies alike that Iraq was a threat demanding urgent action. After the U.S. invasion, he was appointed interim oil minister and then deputy prime minister — but when parliamentary elections were held in Iraq in December 2005, he failed to win a seat […]
HOT DOC: Nero Fiddles While Rome Burns
PHILADELPHIA, PA — Senator Barack Obama today released the following statement on the state of the economy. “The news coming from Wall Street today has confirmed our fears that the financial fallout from the mortgage crisis would spillover into the wider economy. Months ago, I went to Wall Street and said that our capital markets could not function without the confidence and trust of the public. I said that Wall Street could not succeed while the rest of America struggled. Now, as the Federal Reserve does its best to bring stability to the market, we must focus on what we […]
FORECAST: Fightin’ Irish
For those about to drink green beer until the juice runs down their leg, we salute you. But could you please NOT pee on our front door. Just this once? Please? We don’t ask for much.
VOGUING: This Is Progress?
ASSOCIATED PRESS: LeBron James is striking a pose. The Cleveland Cavaliers‘ superstar will appear on the April cover of Vogue, joining actors Richard Gere and George Clooney as the only men to do so in the influential fashion magazine’s 116-year history. Wearing a tank top, shorts and sneakers from his own Nike clothing line, James appears on the cover dribbling a basketball and screaming as if in game mode while throwing one arm around supermodel Gisele Bundchen with Tom Brady nowhere to be found. The pairing of the All-Star forward and the runway icon was shot in January by famed […]