Obama Draws Crowd of 1,500, Addresses Indian Issues in WyomingIn a question and answer session, Senator Obama was asked “What hope can I take back” to the Wind River Reservation, by Lander resident Michelle Skinner. She said the reservation is plagued by poverty and the twin scourges of alcoholism and methamphetamine addiction.
“I’ve talked to tribal leaders all over America,” Obama said, noting that Native Americans faced deeply rooted problems that have emerged from a tragic past. While problems can’t be erased overnight, he warned, Obama said he wanted to make sure that Native American health services are of the best quality, with a strong emphasis on disease prevention starting with children and pre-natal care.Comment: Actually, by reversing the Bush administration's budget cuts and fulling funding Indian programs, Obama (or Clinton) could start solving some problems overnight. Once this budget passed, improvements would begin happening in a matter of days or weeks.
7 comments:
Writerfella here --
First, Barack HUSSEIN Obama came so briefly to Oklahoma, he met with NONE of the leaders of the 38 tribes located here!
Second, Obama only is expressing his intention for a continuation of former Indian Health Service chief and Bush appointee Dr. Charles Grim's 'wellness centers and disease prevention through patient education' programs that attempted to take the IHS out of the health care business entirely. Grim planned that the funding would remain the same but all of it eventually would go to salaries and facility maintenance, for as Native patients' health problems decreased, medical care would cease to be required. Pie in the sky still is a fairy tale, even when it's sweet potato pie...
All Best
Russ Bates
'writerfella'
So, Barak apparently blew off a bunch of tribes. How, then, does this justify emphasizing his middle name like right-wing talk radio hosts do?
Was Barak behaving like a typical Iraqi, terrorist, Arab, or what?
Writerfella here --
Not at all. Barack HUSSEIN Obama was behaving as the 'business-as-usual' American politician about which he accuses any and all of his opposition. Witness that his 'holier than thou' campaign has revealed itself to be as frayed and fragile and holey as that of anyone else, including the fundraisers who suddenly are going to prison and essential strategy insiders who find themselves being ordered to resign. And writerfella emphasized Obama's middle name because Obama omits it entirely. Hillary RODHAM Clinton should have a similar effect, but somehow it doesn't. Why is that?
All Best
Russ Bates
'writerfella'
A candidate such as Obama visits a state on a fixed schedule for specific reasons. He can't meet with Indians every time he's in a state with them. He doesn't have the time.
Therefore, there was no "blowing off a bunch of tribes." Not unless Obama was scheduled to meet with the tribes and changed his mind. There's no evidence that that happened.
Not surprisingly, Russ, you don't understand that candidates choose what names to run under. George W. Bush intentionally chose to use his middle initial. Bill Clinton and Al Gore chose to go by their nicknames rather than the stuffier "William" and "Albert."
Similarly, Clinton is going by "Hillary Clinton" these days, not "Hillary Rodham Clinton." McCain is going by "John McCain," not "John Sidney McCain III." And Obama is going by "Barack Obama," not "Barack Hussein Obama."
Why are you emphasizing Obama's middle name when you don't do the same for Clinton or McCain? Can you say "prejudiced"? The only question is whether you're prejudiced against Obama in particular or blacks in general. Maybe you're both.
P.S. It's "Barack," not "Barak."
As for your inane assertions about Obama:
1) Obama didn't know Tony Rezko was an alleged crook. Obama hasn't had anything to do with him since he was indicted (not imprisoned).
2) Samantha Power resigned after calling Hillary Clinton a "monster" in an off-the-record interview. Obama had nothing to do with this and there was arguably nothing particularly bad about it.
Read what David Corn had to say about the Power contretemps and educate yourself:
http://www.motherjones.com/mojoblog/archives/2008/03/7493_in_monstergate.html
Non-News Flash: Aides to presidential candidates routinely refer to the competition in harsh terms, particularly when they talk to reporters off the record. More than once, a top Clinton person has told me that s/he believes Obama is a self-righteous fraud--or worse. It was, of course, always off the record. But if I had reported any of these remarks, I could have gotten the pop The Scotsman has received for disclosing Power's comment.
The Clinton people do deserve chutzpah points for trying to turn this nothing-burger into a full-course feast. During a conference call with reporters yesterday, Clinton's top spinner, Howard Wolfson, compared Obama and his aides to Kenneth Starr because they dared to question Clinton's refusal to release her income taxes. (In The Washington Post, Dana Milbank credited me with asking the question that prompted the Ken Starr remark--a quip obviously locked and loaded before the call.) The comparison was ridiculous. But in Democratic circles, there's not much of a bigger slur than, Hey, you're Ken Starr! For Democrats, Starr is the functional equivalent of a monster.
So the Clinton crowd does not have the moral high ground in this round.
Finally, we're waiting for you to tell us who'd be a better Democratic candidate than Obama? Whom are you rooting for? Whom would you nominate if you had the choice? Put up or shut up, Russell BIGMOUTH Bates.
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