Obama's recent call to expand and renew George W. Bush's government outreach to faith-based charities has been widely denounced as one of several expedient quick-steps to the center.

In fact this initiative is consistent with longstanding tenets of Obama's thinking -- or, if you want to be cynical about it, of his positioning. His July 1 speech in Zanesville Ohio introducing this plan touched several interlocking core Obama themes.

I was 11 years old in 1992.  The Presidential Election was the not even a consideration at the time.  I was more concerned with how many home runs Ryne Sandberg and Mark McGwire were hitting.  My question today is, was the "excitement," factor swirling around Bill Clinton then, as what Obama has created in this years election???

Most of us recall WJC's "Sister Souljah Moment" in 1992 and how that term entered our national political lexicon.  That year, Sister Souljah was a hip-hop artist who made virulently racist comments after that spring's Rodney King riot in LA.  That summer, WJC publicly blasted Souljah at a Rainbow Coalition conference to which Jesse Jackson had invited both WJC and Souljah as speakers.

Since then, a "Sister Souljah Moment" has been defined as follows:

 a politician's public repudiation of an allegedly extremist person or group, statement, or position perceived to have some association with the politician or their party. Such an act of repudiation is designed to signal to centrist voters that the politician is not beholden to traditional, and sometimes unpopular, interest groups associated with the party, although such a repudiation runs the risk of alienating some of the politician's allies and the party's base voters.

This will be short because frankly there are only a few facts that need saying. [Update: I'll also note that this took about 10 minutes of research and so any misunderstanding anyone else has about this topic is their own fault, since not even my own inherent laziness stopped me from figuring it out].

It seems like the less people understand about the history and actual statutes of the faith-based initiative, the more they're outraged about it.

All it does, and this started under Clinton in 1996 (and was reauthorized and expanded twice under Bill Clinton) with the first Charitable Choice provision, is allow churches to set up a non-profit accounting partition and apply for pre-existing federal grants, which they may or may not get depending on their ability to fulfill the goals of the grant.

Gail Sheehy's Vanity Fair piece "Hillaryland at War" is a must-read for political junkies.

I'll give credit to Sheehy. How can one NOT read a piece about Hillary's campaign that starts:

Are you here for the Deathwatch?"...That was how my friends in the traveling press corps welcomed me into the bub­ble of the Clinton campaign plane. It was three days before the March 4 Democratic primaries in Ohio and Texas, and they were boarding the 737 with the sullen obedience of inmates after an outing in the yard. Some had been following the once inevitable front-runner since the January 3 Iowa caucus when she was first pronounced to be in a "slump."

You've probably heard that there is good news from Clinton land: Bill and Barack are talking, and Bill is totally on board with the Obama campaign. According to the BBC News.

An Obama spokesman said the two had had a "terrific" conversation during a 20-minute telephone call.

A spokesman for the ex-president, who strongly criticised his wife's rival during the primaries, said he was keen to campaign for Mr Obama.

('Cause we all know that Americans use the word keen all the time.  Maybe it was a British friend?)

Despite news reports today that Obama talked with Bill Clinton and it was “terrific”, another story about Bill Clinton reports an all-together different attitude.  
Barack Obama mus 'kiss my ass'

With Fox News still trumpeting on its site that Bill Clinton wants Barack to "kiss my ass," came reports this afternoon that Obama and the former President  spoke cordially by telephone today, their first chat since the  primary season ended.

I'll record some of the reporting here as it comes in.

The New York Times' Caucus blog says  Obama  telephoned Clinton after leaving messages for him last week while Bill was in Europe.

There have been a lot of stories out there lately, including one in the conservative Telegraph that was detailed in several recommended diaries here, stating that Bill Clinton is bitter and angry with Obama.  Some of the stories stated Bill was sulking, while others went further to say he was withholding his support for Obama until Obama apologized to him for something or other.

Some Kossacks seemed to take Bill's silence in reaction to the stories as a sign of their veracity, while others pointed to his lack of public support for Obama thus far.

Today, Terry McAuliffe is making Bill's stance clear.

Sometimes I am a little harsh with Dennis Kucinich but there's a reason that goes far beyond anything having to do with Dennis.  Progressives have been down for so long, and have been so marginalized in our political culture, that we have no sophistication, we have no experience in governing, and we have almost no bench to staff Barack Obama's administration.  It's almost amusing to watch my progressive brothers and sisters wring their hands everytime Obama's campaign floats the name of a possible member of his cabinet.  It almost inevitably results in accusations that Obama isn't remotely progressive or dislikes progressives or is selling out progressives.  Well...let me ask you.  Who have we allowed to become the face of progressivism?  Dennis Kucinich.  Kucinich has a few wacky positions but he's the one out there talking about single-payer health care, impeachment, and most forcefully advocating an end to the war.  He's a flawed messenger in the exact same way that Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton have been flawed messengers for the black community.  You may want to defend them because they've at least been talking the talk, but it's never good to have your interests represented by people that are easily marginalized.  Never.

On Friday, Charlie Rose interviewed Adam Nagourney from the NYT and Clinton insider Paul Begala, who reacted to the Hillary/Barack rally in Unity, NH.

To my great pleasure and surprise, Begala was very charitable toward Obama and offered some hopeful predictions about the future cooperative behavior of the former president in a party no longer under his complete control.

The video of the show is not yet available, but you can follow the link here: Charlie Rose, 6/26/08.

More after the jump...

I hate to admit it, but there is this malevolent part of me that dreams up stuff like this. What if Cindy McCain was tired of John's boorish behavior and was just waiting for the right opportunity to get revenge?

This is her chance. And it could be a double header.

First, in mid-October she would file for divorce on the grounds of adultery. Ouch! Then, just a week before the election she would reveal that she has started seeing Bill Clinton.

Surprise, surprise, surprise! OK, back to reality now (for those who prefer it).

The following is a snark filled rant/column by The Black Snob on a crippling addiction sweeping the American press -- Clinton Addiction. The affects are crippling on campaign coverage as a gaggle of junkies remain obsessed over the junior senator from New York and "The Comeback Kid."

Why is it that everytime I try to talk to a Republican about what is wrong with McCain or Bush they always come back with, "well Clinton did ____."  And even now, with the primaries done and gone, some of us seem to think that we are running against Bill Clinton.

Well, let me tell you, Bill Clinton is not running.  He is not the enemy.  Not our enemy, and not their enemy.

This is the enemy

We are just disgusted with you, Bill Clinton

Where were you during the carefully staged Unity Day? You could have at least stood on the other side of Obama and whispered sweet nothings in his ear.

So according to the pundits, Bill Clinton is a.) sulking, b.) waiting for Obama to kiss his (Clinton's) ass, and c.) demanding that Obama declare to the world that Bill Clinton is not a racist.

Thomas Edsall writes:

The former president and Obama have not talked, and, by all accounts, the man of the Clinton household remains hurt and resentful. Associates provide a variety of explanations for the Bill Clinton dilemma, none of them mutually exclusive.

Some say Bill Clinton not only wants Obama to reach out to him, but to also promise to lift the cloud of alleged racism -- an accusation that continues to eat at the man once dubbed the nation's "first black president." Clinton, these folks suggest, wants Obama to publicly exonerate him of the charge that he played the race card in the primaries.

So tonite, I decide to see whats up on Daily Kos, and I come across this crazy diary.

so bill clinton wants Obama to kiss his ass?

really

i am So tired of bill clinton.

i am so tired of bill clinton, and if he feels Obama needs to kiss his ass, well...

i am so tired of bill clinton...and if he thinks others need to hear what he has to say, well...

i am so tired of bill clinton. bill clinton. who have you become? do you represent anything these days? anything other than hillary's self interest as an extension of your self-interest...you really are not important enough for a rant...but...you crossed the line...again...and i am tired of you

a) misusing your power

b) giving democrats a bad name

c) pushing your agenda

... and otherwise fucking with America