In 2008 the late Robert Fitch, author of "The Assassination of New York", was asked to foretell an Obama presidency before the Harlem Tenants Association:

If we examine more carefully the interests that Obama represents; if we look at his core financial supporters; as well as his inmost circle of advisors, we’ll see that they represent the primary activists in the demolition movement and the primary real estate beneficiaries of this transformation of public housing projects into condos and townhouses: the profitable creep of the Central Business District and elite residential neighborhoods southward; and the shifting of the pile of human misery about three miles further into the South Side and the south suburbs... Obama’s political base comes primarily from Chicago FIRE—the finance, insurance and real estate industry. And the wealthiest families—the Pritzkers, the Crowns and the Levins.

posted by ennui.bz on May 8, 2012 - 41 comments

Washington, We Have a Problem. On the heels of a New Yorker feature exploring the question, "Just How Broken Is The Senate," Vanity Fair publishes a look at the (mindboggling) day-to-day life of the modern US Presidency.
posted by availablelight on Aug 16, 2010 - 121 comments

Having grown tired of all the ludicrous conspiracy theories about Barack Obama not being eligible to hold the office of the President, one lone writer gives us his own deranged take with "The Obama Proxy". The descendants of the Melchocki Indians will not be amused.
posted by ELF Radio on Mar 16, 2009 - 23 comments

America has come a long way. There is the official version of history or the peoples' version. There are artifacts and rankings. They had some quirks and were occasionally men of their time. If you prefer audio or visual references those are available as well. Common knowledge has it that one GW was our first President but the title of first is under dispute. 230 years later another GW is making a run for worst. That is also under dispute by the nations best brains. For better and worse, the story of the Presidency is the story of America.
posted by Glibpaxman on Dec 4, 2008 - 24 comments

The fierce urgency of now and then. On May 24, 1963, concerned about the potential for race-related riots nationwide after Birmingham, Attorney General Robert Kennedy met with group of prominent black intellectuals and artists, such as Kenneth Clark, Clarence B. Jones, and Harry Belafonte, in a meeting organized by James Baldwin (YouTube 7:07... and also 6:27 and 6:28, if you're interested.) The tone of this emotionally wrenching meeting, however, would be greatly influenced by the presence of fifteen-year-old Jerome Smith, a nonviolent CORE volunteer who was being treated in New York for jaw and head injuries sustained after a brutal beating by segregationists in Mississippi. [more inside]
posted by markkraft on Nov 3, 2008 - 12 comments

On the 45th anniversary of Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech, Barack Obama accepted the nomination of the Democratic Party to be their Presidential candidate with a speech so well-crafted that Pat bloody Buchanan couldn't stop raving about it, and had to be cut off by his fellow broadcasters. It was an occasion so historic that McCain chose to release an ad congratulating his opponent.
posted by WCityMike on Aug 28, 2008 - 235 comments

It's official. Obama has won the Democratic Party nomination for the US Presidency. In response, McCain has launched a "verbal sortie" against him and the media has already begun disecting Hillary's campaign.
posted by Effigy2000 on Jun 3, 2008 - 949 comments