Senator Neophyte is going a travelin! I wonder who is going to be footing the bill?

Obama is planning an extensive itinerary for next month: Iraq, Afghanistan, Israel, Jordan, England, France, and Germany — just as foreign policy is set to resonate on the trail again, as Obama talks patriotism, and as Democrats seek to grab the national-security mantle from McCain (under the cover of downed fighter planes).

Sorry, BHO, they can’t vote for you there. But, somehow, this guy thinks he can pad a short, lackluster Senate career, with a trip overseas. I’ve been to Barbados and the Dominican Republic, among others, so, I guess that makes me an expert on foreign affairs with those countries, eh?

Senator McCain is travelling, too, something he has been doing for quite some time, including many trips to visit the troops overseas.

The Note mentions to keep an eye on the gaffes, which are magnified overseas, as well as the backgrounds. I wonder what kind we will see from the overseas moonbats?

Oh, boy, this has to be one of the most un-PC articles I have read in quite a long time. American Spectator - Woman Up

“Where are the white women at?”

That’s a line from Blazing Saddles. It’s also the question, indelicately phrased, now facing the Obama campaign.

With Hillary Clinton out of the race, her supporters are up for grabs. The question is how to grab them.

For Barack Obama, the strategy is simple: Act like a girl. In other words, keep doing what you’re doing.

With millions of women on the rebound, Obama is in good shape to make a pass at them. He leads John McCain 51 to 38 percent among women, according to a recent Gallup survey, and an NBC/Wall Street Journal poll shows him ahead at 52 to 33 percent. Among Clinton’s former supporters, Obama leads by a walloping 61 to 19 percent.

None of this should be surprising. Obama and Clinton split the female vote, and there’s a reason why the margin was so close: Women wanted to vote for a female candidate, and they all did.

They just disagreed on who that was.

Ouch. Read the rest.

It’s all about the hope and change, ya know. CNS News - Obama’s for Equal Pay, Yet Pays Female Staffers Less Than Males

While Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama has vowed to make pay equity for women a top priority if elected president, an analysis of his Senate staff shows that women are outnumbered and out-paid by men.

That is in contrast to Republican presidential candidate John McCain’s Senate office, where women, for the most part, out-rank and are paid more than men

“Mr. McCain is an honorable man, we respect his service. But when you look at our records and our plans on issues that matter to working women, the choice could not be clearer,” Obama told the audience in New Mexico, a voter-swing state. “It starts with equal pay. Sixty-two percent of working women in America earn half or more than of their family’s income. But women still earn 77 cents for every dollar earned by men in 2008. You’d think that Washington would be united it its determination to fight for equal pay.”

He continued, saying that he is proud to have supported the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Restoration Act, which would extend the limit on how long an employee can wait before suing an employer for pay discrimination.

But, woops

On average, women working in Obama’s Senate office were paid at least $6,000 below the average man working for the Illinois senator. That’s according to data calculated from the Report of the Secretary of the Senate, which covered the six-month period ending Sept. 30, 2007. Of the five people in Obama’s Senate office who were paid $100,000 or more on an annual basis, only one — Obama’s administrative manager — was a woman.

The average pay for the 33 men on Obama’s staff (who earned more than $23,000, the lowest annual salary paid for non-intern employees) was $59,207. The average pay for the 31 women on Obama’s staff who earned more than $23,000 per year was $48,729.91. (The average pay for all 36 male employees on Obama’s staff was $55,962; and the average pay for all 31 female employees was $48,729. The report indicated that Obama had only one paid intern during the period, who was a male.)

Do as I say, not as I do. I guess Senator McCain is right when he says that Obama’s word cannot be trusted.

Hours after sparring with Barack Obama over immigration, John McCain told crowd at fundraiser Saturday night that “Sen. Obama’s word cannot be trusted.”

“You know, this election is about trust, and trusting people’s word, and unfortunately apparently on several items, Sen. Obama’s word cannot be trusted,” McCain said in Louisville, Kentucky.

I’m sorry, I forgot I am not allowed to talk about things that go to Obama’s character. It is a distraction. Never mind, forget you read this post.

Trackposted to Rosemary’s Thoughts, third world county, Right Truth, DragonLady’s World, The World According to Carl, Rosemary’s News and Ideas, The Pink Flamingo, Beagle Scout - Support the No More Excuses Energy Act, CORSARI D’ITALIA, Democrat=Socialist, Right Voices, and Stageleft, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.

How soon will Wesley Clark be run over by Senator Neophyte?

Gen. Wesley Clark, acting as a surrogate for Barack Obama’s campaign, invoked John McCain’s military service against him in one of the more personal attacks on the Republican presidential nominee this election cycle.

Clark said that McCain lacked the executive experience necessary to be president, calling him “untested and untried” on CBS’ “Face the Nation.” And in saying so, he took a few swipes at McCain’s military service.

“He has been a voice on the Senate Armed Services Committee. And he has traveled all over the world. But he hasn’t held executive responsibility. That large squadron in the Navy that he commanded — that wasn’t a wartime squadron,” Clark said.

“I don’t think getting in a fighter plane and getting shot down is a qualification to become president.”

So, Clark goes out there as an Obama surrogate and attacks McCain and his military service. But, hey, the Obama campaign is about hope and change, a new way of doing politics.

I’m betting the bus runs Clark over by 4pm Monday.

See more over at Rhymes With Right, who has a good breakdown of the story, and plenty of links.

Blogs For Victory has more.

Whew! A big kerfuffle in the ’sphere today is over a comment that John McCain made, as pushed by Think Progress - McCain: I ‘Don’t See How It Matters’ That I Don’t Know The Price Of Gas, from the original story at the OC Register

WICKSOL: When was the last time you pumped your own gas and how much did it cost?

MCCAIN: Oh, I don’t remember. Now there’s Secret Service protection. But I’ve done it for many, many years. I don’t recall and frankly, I don’t see how it matters.

I’ve had hundreds and hundreds of town hall meetings, many as short a time ago as yesterday. I communicate with the people and they communicate with me very effectively.

And, of course, Think Progress, as well as many other lefties, such as the Huffington Post and Balloon Juice, and even some of those on the right (at least originally), bought in to the line of thinking that McCain is divorced from reality, and has no clue about the cost of gas. (See a ton of links at Memeorandum)

In fact, is it a question, which was coming not from the reporter, but one that was sent in by an OC Register reader. And, does it really matter? Sure, as James Joyner points out, he could have answered better, but, it is exactly the type of question that Obama rarely answers, says is a distraction, and is let off the hook on. Second, see that part about the Secret Service? That is because he was doing the interview over the phone after just getting off a plane, and was waiting for the USSS to get going. So, yup, he was in a bit of a hurry.

I’d like to ask how many people in a lot of states pump their own gas. Quite a few states do not allow you to. And, when was the last time you did it yourself? Me, a couple days ago, but, guess what? Can’t remember exactly which one.

But, there is also another pretty good reason for the answer, given later in the interview

I’ve been on the campaign trail for so long I don’t remember when I last filled up my own gas tank, but I certainly did for many, many, many years and I understand the difficulties and challenges that it poses for the people of California and my home state of Arizona.

Oops. Guess Think Progress forgot that one!

And, as Patterico points out

So, does John McCain know the cost of a gallon of gas in America? Yes, he does. Here’s a news story from June 18:

“The price of a gallon of gas in America stands at more than four dollars. Yesterday, a barrel of oil cost about 134 dollarsm” said McCain.

Again, that McCain quote is from June 18 — six days before the O.C. Register interview that Think Progress uses to claim McCain doesn’t know the price of gas.

He recommends you post the quote in bold at every blog who got it wrong.

It begs the question, what type of cult is it though? A benign one, or more like North Korea or Jim Jones’? NY Times - Obama Supporters Take His Middle Name as Their Own

Emily Nordling has never met a Muslim, at least not to her knowledge. But this spring, Ms. Nordling, a 19-year-old student from Fort Thomas, Ky., gave herself a new middle name on Facebook.com, mimicking her boyfriend and shocking her father.

“Emily Hussein Nordling,” her entry now reads.

With her decision, she joined a growing band of supporters of Senator Barack Obama, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, who are expressing solidarity with him by informally adopting his middle name.

What is a cult? Steven Ala Hassan came up with his own BITE Model (I usually do not like to rely on Wikipedia, due to the reliable information in many articles, but, this one is pretty good, based on real information. You can also find the deep dive information at Hassan’s webpage)

1. Behavior Control
2. Information Control
3. Thought Control
4. Emotional Control

Well, Obamacons obviously have little emotional control of their own, but, that is not the point of #4, of course. Think of the emotional control Obama has over his crowd at rallies. People faint. They sing out “you tell it, preacher!” They yell out “Amen.” They weep, they cry, they look at Barack Hussein Obama as a Messiah.

I’m sure everyone who is paying attention can come up with their own rememberences of he first three, as well. For behavior control, he now has people taking his middle name as their own. He gets millions of rubes to act as if they are at a tent revival at his speeches. He gets them to write even more petitions, and to unburden their true thoughts at his MyBarack(hussein)Obama.com webpage.

Information Control. What better example is there then the Fight The Smears website? Oh, wait, I got one: the way that all the Obamacons mimick the theme that anything that Obama does not want to discuss is a “distraction from the real issues.”

Thought Control: the model defines this as

Need to internalize the group’s doctrine as “Truth”

a. Map = Reality
b. Black and White thinking
c. Good vs. evil
d. Us vs. them (inside vs. outside)

‘Nuff said on that subject.

Of course, the way liberals/progressives have been moving for decades, forming a true Cult of BHO is not that much of a stretch. Just one little step over the line.

BTW, that graphic above, which many of you might have seen, has been called “cultish” before, along with many of the creepy graphics that both the Obama campaign and his supporters have come up with.

Sweetness and Light looks at the Daily Kosbat reference in the Times story.

The Moderate Voice loves the symbolic effort of changing ones name. Interestingly, Ann Althouse wonders if trying to show how little meaning the name “Hussein” has, that the Obamacons are actually highlighting it as a dirty word.

Last thought: this is more like the social model, where “the cult is formed through a social implosion, in which cult members dramatically reduce the intensity of their emotional bonds with non-cult members, and dramatically increase the intensity of those bonds with fellow cult members – this emotionally intense situation naturally encourages the formation of a shared belief system and rituals.”

What are your favorite Obamacon cult references?

Crossed at Right WIng News and Pirate’s Cove