THE COOLEST PRESIDENT THATS HUMAN!!

One perk of being President? Courtside seats to see your favorite team play – even when they lose.

President Obama and Chicago pal Marty Nesbitt joined fans Friday at Washington, D.C.'s Verizon Center to cheer on their beloved Bulls, who were ultimately defeated by the Washington Wizards, 113-90.

Obama's appearance at the arena – the first by a President for an NBA match in nearly a decade – did not go without notice. His arrival delayed the tipoff by a few minutes, according to the Associated Press.

And his presence offered a challenge to the home team. As the Wizards' small forward Caron Butler told the AP: "He truly is a die-hard Bulls fan. Hopefully we can convert him a little bit."

WTF FOX NEWS IS FULL IS SH&T AND NEEDS TO BE SHUT DOWN

Think Progress caught a "magic negro" reference during the New Years Eve broadcast on Fox News.

Viewers were allowed to text in messages that scrolled across the bottom in lieu of the news.

One message read:
HAPPY NEW YEAR AND LET'S HOPE THE MAGIC NEGRO DOES A GOOD JOB. LOVE JEN AND JOHN C.

AP: Many Insisting That Obama Is Not Black

First of all Obama was the First black president while he was running for the nomination, now they are saying he is not BLACK, Some people just can't handle the fact of a African American person winning the presidency, and truth of the matter is they really need to STFU.


A perplexing new chapter is unfolding in Barack Obama's racial saga: Many people insist that "the first black president" is actually not black.

Debate over whether to call this son of a white Kansan and a black Kenyan biracial, African-American, mixed-race, half-and-half, multiracial _ or, in Obama's own words, a "mutt" _ has reached a crescendo since Obama's election shattered assumptions about race.

Obama has said, "I identify as African-American _ that's how I'm treated and that's how I'm viewed. I'm proud of it." In other words, the world gave Obama no choice but to be black, and he was happy to oblige.

But the world has changed since the young Obama found his place in it.

Intermarriage and the decline of racism are dissolving ancient definitions. The candidate Obama, in achieving what many thought impossible, was treated differently from previous black generations. And many white and mixed-race people now view President-elect Obama as something other than black.

So what now for racial categories born of a time when those from far-off lands were property rather than people, or enemy instead of family?

"They're falling apart," said Marty Favor, a Dartmouth professor of African and African-American studies and author of the book "Authentic Blackness."

"In 1903, W.E.B. DuBois said the question of the 20th century is the question of the color line, which is a simplistic black-white thing," said Favor, who is biracial. "This is the moment in the 21st century when we're stepping across that."

Rebecca Walker, a 38-year-old writer with light brown skin who is of Russian, African, Irish, Scottish and Native American descent, said she used to identify herself as "human," which upset people of all backgrounds. So she went back to multiracial or biracial, "but only because there has yet to be a way of breaking through the need to racially identify and be identified by the culture at large."

"Of course Obama is black. And he's not black, too," Walker said. "He's white, and he's not white, too. Obama is whatever people project onto him ... he's a lot of things, and neither of them necessarily exclude the other."

But U.S. Rep. G. K. Butterfield, a black man who by all appearances is white, feels differently.

Butterfield, 61, grew up in a prominent black family in Wilson, N.C. Both of his parents had white forebears, "and those genes came together to produce me." He grew up on the black side of town, led civil rights marches as a young man, and to this day goes out of his way to inform people that he is certainly not white.

Butterfield has made his choice; he says let Obama do the same.

"Obama has chosen the heritage he feels comfortable with," he said. "His physical appearance is black. I don't know how he could have chosen to be any other race. Let's just say he decided to be white _ people would have laughed at him."

"You are a product of your experience. I'm a U.S. congressman, and I feel some degree of discomfort when I'm in an all-white group. We don't have the same view of the world, our experiences have been different."

The entire issue balances precariously on the "one-drop" rule, which sprang from the slaveowner habit of dropping by the slave quarters and producing brown babies. One drop of black blood meant that person, and his or her descendants, could never be a full citizen.

Today, the spectrum of skin tones among African-Americans _ even those with two black parents _ is evidence of widespread white ancestry. Also, since blacks were often light enough to pass for white, unknown numbers of white Americans today have blacks hidden in their family trees.

One book, "Black People and their Place in World History," by Dr. Leroy Vaughn, even claims that five past presidents _ Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson, Abraham Lincoln, Warren Harding and Calvin Coolidge _ had black ancestors, which would make Obama the sixth of his kind.

Mix in a few centuries' worth of Central, South and Native Americans, plus Asians, and untold millions of today's U.S. citizens need a DNA test to decipher their true colors. The melting pot is working.

Yet the world has never been confronted with such powerful evidence as Obama. So as soon as he was elected, the seeds of confusion began putting down roots.

"Let's not forget that he is not only the first African-American president, but the first biracial candidate. He was raised by a single white mother," a Fox News commentator said seven minutes after Obama was declared the winner.

"We do not have our first black president," the author Christopher Hitchens said on the BBC program "Newsnight." "He is not black. He is as black as he is white."

A Doonesbury comic strip that ran the day after the election showed several soldiers celebrating.

"He's half-white, you know," says a white soldier.

"You must be so proud," responds another.

Pride is the center of racial identity, and some white people seem insulted by a perception that Obama is rejecting his white mother (even though her family was a centerpiece of his campaign image-making) or baffled by the notion that someone would choose to be black instead of half-white.

"He can't be African-American. With race, white claims 50 percent of him and black 50 percent of him. Half a loaf is better than no loaf at all," Ron Wilson of Plantation, Fla., wrote in a letter to the Sun-Sentinel newspaper.

Attempts to whiten Obama leave a bitter taste for many African-Americans, who feel that at their moment of triumph, the rules are being changed to steal what once was deemed worthless _ blackness itself.

"For some people it's honestly confusion," said Favor, the Dartmouth professor. "For others it's a ploy to sort of reclaim the presidency for whiteness, as though Obama's blackness is somehow mitigated by being biracial."

Then there are the questions remaining from Obama's entry into national politics, when some blacks were leery of this Hawaiian-born newcomer who did not share their history.

Linda Bob, a black schoolteacher from Eustis, Fla., said that calling Obama black when he was raised in a white family and none of his ancestors experienced slavery could cause some to ignore or forget the history of racial injustice.

"It just seems unfair to totally label him African-American without acknowledging that he was born to a white mother," she said. "It makes you feel like he doesn't have a class, a group."

There is at least one group eagerly waiting for Obama to embrace them. "To me, as to increasing numbers of mixed-race people, Barack Obama is not our first black president. He is our first biracial, bicultural president ... a bridge between races, a living symbol of tolerance, a signal that strict racial categories must go," Marie Arana wrote in the Washington Post.

He's a bridge between eras as well. The multiracial category "wasn't there when I was growing up," said John McWhorter, a 43-year-old fellow at the Manhattan Institute's Center for Race and Ethnicity, who is black. "In the '70s and the '80s, if somebody had one white parent and one black parent, the idea was they were black and had better get used to it and develop this black identity. That's now changing."

Latinos, whom the census identifies as an ethnic group and not a race, were not counted separately by the government until the 1970s. After the 1990 census, many people complained that the four racial categories _ white, black, Asian, and American Indian/Alaska native _ did not fit them. The government then allowed people to check more than one box. (It also added a fifth category, for Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders.)

Six million people, or 2 percent of the population, now say they belong to more than one race, according to the most recent census figures. Another 19 million people, or 6 percent of the population, identify themselves as "some other race" than the five available choices.

The White House Office of Management and Budget, which oversees the census, specifically decided not to add a "multiracial" category, deeming it not a race in and of itself.

"We are in a transitional period" regarding these labels, McWhorter said. "I think that in only 20 years, the notion that there are white people and there are black people and anyone in between has some explaining to do and an identity to come up with, that will all seem very old-fashioned."

The debate over Obama's identity is just the latest step in a journey he unflinchingly chronicled in his memoir, "Dreams from My Father."

As a teenager, grappling with the social separation of his white classmates, "I had no idea who my own self was," Obama wrote.

In college in the 1970s, like millions of other dark-skinned Americans searching for self respect in a discriminatory nation, Obama found refuge in blackness. Classmates who sidestepped the label "black" in favor of "multiracial" chafed at Obama's newfound pride: "They avoided black people," he wrote. "It wasn't a matter of conscious choice, necessarily, just a matter of gravitational pull, the way integration always worked, a one-way street. The minority assimilated into the dominant culture, not the other way around."

Fast-forward 30 years, to the early stages of Obama's presidential campaign. Minorities are on track to outnumber whites, to redefine the dominant American culture. And the black political establishment, firmly rooted in the civil rights movement, questioned whether the outsider Obama was "black enough."

Then came the primary and general elections, when white voters were essential for victory. "Now I'm too black," Obama joked in July before an audience of minority journalists. "There is this sense of going back and forth depending on the time of day in terms of making assessments about my candidacy."

Today, it seems no single definition does justice to Obama _ or to a nation where the revelation that Obama's eighth cousin is Dick Cheney, the white vice president from Wyoming, caused barely a ripple in the campaign.

In his memoir, Obama says he was deeply affected by reading that Malcolm X, the black nationalist-turned-humanist, once wished his white blood could be expunged.

"Traveling down the road to self-respect my own white blood would never recede into mere abstraction," Obama wrote. "I was left to wonder what else I would be severing if I left my mother and my grandparents at some uncharted border."

Wanda Sykes: "There's Gonna Be Some Booty-Slapping" N DA WH

NICE PICK OBAMA!!!

Obama To Name Desiree Rogers White House Social Secretary





Prominent Chicago businesswoman Desiree Rogers will be named the White House social secretary, according to a series of news reports. The 49-year-old Harvard MBA will be the first African-American to hold the post.

Rogers, 49, is a friend of Michelle and President-elect Barack Obama's, and a leader in Chicago corporate and civic circles; her appointment signals that the first couple consider the job crucial to how they introduce themselves to the country and the globe. She was a major fundraiser for Obama.

"This appointment sends a strong message that the Obamas want to use the White House strategically, to maximize its use in a way that is consistent with their philosophy -- [to] open it to a broader range of people, " said Valerie Jarrett, an Obama intimate and friend of Rogers's who also will work in the White House. "Desirée is a heavy hitter -- she comes with her own range of contacts from around the country. She's close to Michelle and she knows everyone who will be working in the West Wing, so she will be able to create a synergy."


Rogers will join the White House from Allstate Financial, where she was creating a social network of clients and consumers. She was previously the president of Peoples Gas and North Shore Gas.

From the Chicago Tribune:

Rogers, who studied at Wellesley College and later earned an MBA from Harvard, was once married to Chicagoan John Rogers, Ariel Capital Management chief and another close Obama friend and fundraiser.

Her first highly visible post was in state government. She managed the lottery for then-Gov. Jim Edgar in the '90s, appearing on TV giving away pots of money.


Rogers was briefed on the job last week by a former Clinton White House social secretary,

DERANGED WOMEN LET'S HER CHILD USE BAD WORDS!

This has got the be the most ignorant person we have every seen. we can't believe she has her your young child using such language. this lady need some serious therapy. It is people like you that make the rest of us "african americans" look bad. Change has arrived. This lady needs to be reported

These are the type of supporters that Sarah palin was attracting its sicking esp the way she uses her child, click on the link below to show her some real love!!





VIDEO LINK SUPPLIED BY WORLDSTARHIPHOP
CLICK HERE FOR WORLDSTARHIPHOP

OBAMA GETS IS OWN MOUNTIAN!!!!

Antigua And Barbuda to Rename Peak 'Mount Obama'

Barack Obama is about to get his own mountain.

Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister W. Baldwin Spencer wrote a letter to Obama on Wednesday congratulating him on his victory in the presidential election. To show that he meant it, Spencer said he would take "immediate measures" to have Boggy Peak, the Caribbean nation's highest mountain, renamed "Mount Obama."

While Mount Rushmore has a peak of 5,725 feet and Mount Washington in New Hampshire has a peak of 6,288 feet, the soon-to-be Mount Obama has a height of only 1,319 feet.

Spencer added that he hopes Obama visits the region soon, perhaps as early as next year.

Read Spencer's letter below.

His Excellency, Barack Obama
President Elect of the United States of America

Excellency,

Antigua and Barbuda joins the American people, and the peoples of all nations, in celebrating your historic election as President of the United States of America.

As Chairman of the Group 77 and China, and as Chairman of the Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community, I am conscious of the promise of your presidency in shaping a new paradigm in America's relationship with the other nations of the world.

Your election will not only transform America, it can transform the world.

Your message of change will ignite hope and action in people of many countries who might still be passive in the face of inadequacies and injustice.

Your manifest devotion to family will strengthen families around the planet.

On behalf of the people and the Government of Antigua and Barbuda, I take this opportunity to extend our condolences on the passing of your beloved grandmother.

In lasting tribute to your election, I shall take immediate measures for Antigua and Barbuda's highest mountain peak to be dedicated in your honour and renamed "Mount Obama".

The people of Antigua and Barbuda and the rest of the Caribbean keenly anticipate your visit to our region for the Summit of the Americas, in the early months of your presidency.

With assurances of my highest esteem,

W. Baldwin Spencer

PRESIDENT OBAMA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Barack Obama was elected the 44th president of the United States, opening a new chapter in the country's history as the first African-American to hold the world's most important job.

``If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer,'' Obama told more than 100,000 people who gathered for a victory celebration in Chicago's Grant Park.

The Illinois senator capped his 21-month quest with a sweeping electoral victory that also enhanced the Democrats' majority in Congress and marked the end of an era of Republican dominance in Washington.

Obama crossed the requisite threshold of 270 electoral votes to defeat Republican rival John McCain last night when television networks projected him winning the state of California. He had at least 338 electoral votes to McCain's 145, according to the Associated Press and television network projections. Six states remained undecided.

His victory, along with his party's gains in congressional contests, puts Democrats in firm control of the federal government for the first time since the early 1990s. That gives Obama an opportunity to turn his victory into a pivotal moment in the country's political history.

McCain's Concession

McCain, speaking to supporters in Phoenix, conceded the race and said he called his rival ``to congratulate him on being elected the next president.''

``Senator Obama has achieved a great thing for himself and his country,'' McCain said. ``This is an historic election, and I recognize the special significance it has for African- Americans and the special pride that must be theirs tonight.''

McCain pledged to do ``all in my power'' to assist Obama and urged his backers ``to find ways to come together'' for the good of the country.

During their phone conversation, Obama told McCain that he hoped to work with him in the future, Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs said. Obama told McCain, ``I need your help, you're a leader on so many important issues,'' Gibbs said.

Obama also received a congratulatory call from President George W. Bush, who promised a ``smooth transition,'' White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said.

Promising Change

Obama, 47, swept to victory by promising a change in Washington, inspiring millions of new voters and volunteers along the way. He persuaded the electorate that he could best handle the economic crisis facing the country. He raised more money than any presidential candidate in history, overwhelming McCain.

``He wants to be a transforming leader,'' said presidential historian James McGregor Burns in a Bloomberg radio interview. Such a leader, like Franklin Delano Roosevelt, ``knows how to proclaim great goals and summons the people to help him realize those goals,'' said Burns, who has written biographies of Roosevelt and other presidents.

Having based his presidential bid on change and using that theme to create a new electoral coalition, Obama must now follow through or risk alienating those supporters, Burns said.

``He has made that so crucial to his campaign: change, change, change,'' Burns said. ``This man cannot escape now the responsibilities of trying to bring it about.''

No Guarantees

And while Obama will have the opportunity to build on his appeal to young Americans and energize their generation, there is no guarantee of success, said Scott Keeter, director of survey research at the Pew Research Center in Washington.

``The problems that George W. Bush has had, especially in his second term, have really hurt the Republican Party's brand,'' Keeter said. ``There's no reason to think that couldn't happen if Obama has problems as well.''

The racial symbolism of Obama's campaign was never far from the surface. He formally declared his candidacy in February 2007 in Springfield, Illinois, evoking the spirit of Abraham Lincoln and his call for the nation to overcome the divisions of slavery. Obama ended his campaign Monday night with a rally in Manassas, Virginia, the site of two Confederate Civil War victories.

At the same time, Obama generally avoided overt discussions of racial issues. The one exception was in March, when revelations of inflammatory remarks by his longtime pastor, Reverend Jeremiah Wright, led him to deliver a lengthy address on the subject.

Break With Past

Obama's victory represents a break with the razor-thin margins in the last two presidential elections.

In 2004, the election was too close to call until the next morning, when Democrat John Kerry conceded after concluding he couldn't surpass Bush's vote total in the decisive state of Ohio, which Obama won tonight. Four years earlier, Bush's victory over Vice President Al Gore was in doubt for more than five weeks while Florida recounted its ballots. The Supreme Court finally halted the recount in December, and Gore capitulated.

Obama comes to the White House promising to pursue universal health-care coverage, alternative sources of energy and middle-class tax cuts. He faces daunting challenges: the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the lingering threat of international terrorism.

Obama will have a Democratic House and Senate behind him after he takes the oath of office on Jan. 20. While not all of the races have been decided, the president-elect's party has clearly made gains in Congress.

LOXAHATCHEE, FL Obama supporter's home vandalized with racism

Obama supporter's home vandalized with racism



LOXAHATCHEE, FL -- A Loxahatchee resident is rattled after he says he came home Sunday evening to find his vehicle and home spray painted with racist graffiti and anti-Obama messages.



The homeowner, Kevius Hodges is an Obama/Biden supporter. Hodges says white supremacy messages were spray painted with an angry anti-Obama tone.



Local residents are outraged over the racist comments threatening violence.



Besides the expletives spray painted on his home, McCain and Palin's names are painted on the owner's SUV.



He believes he was the target because of his race and the Obama sign in his front yard.



Hodges says he is not angry about the damage, "This stuff is material stuff. I can paint this, cover that," said Hodges.



It's the racism he didn’t expect in the community where he lives and teaches elementary school.



"You would think things would be different than it is. What's gonna happen after tomorrow? Let's say Obama does win, then what?"

Obama On Grandmother And Campaign: "Bittersweet"

T4R BLESSING ALL GO OUT THE BARACK OBAMA AND FAMILY TODAY FOR THE PASSING OF HIS GRANDMA (TOOT)In that timeless liminal space, the woods between the worlds, that comes before dying I am sure Toot has already seen President Obama's Inaugeration.

God keep this man and his family safe.
In what was clearly a very difficult portion of his address Monday night in North Carolina, Barack Obama spoke for several minutes on this grandmother's death from cancer Sunday night. At one point, it seemed, he was moved to tears.


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Calling it a "bittersweet time" in his life, there were moments when one could detect the sadness in his voice and face. The crowd in Charlotte did its best to pull him along, screaming out words of support as he detailed Madelyn Dunham's life and drew from it threads that weaved into his candidacy and message. It was a poignant moment: the woman who helped raise him passing away just hours before the election.

No matter what happens tomorrow, I'm going to feel good about how it has turned out because all of you have created this remarkable campaign. She is gone home. And she died peacefully in her sleep, with my sister at her side. And so, there is great joy as well as tears. I'm not going to talk about it too long because it is hard, a little, to talk about.

I want everybody to know though a little bit about her. Her name was Madelyn Dunham. And she was born in Kansas in a small town in 1922. Which means she lived through the Great Depression, she lived through two world wars, she watched her husband go off to war, while she looked after her baby and worked on a bomber assembly line. When her husband came back they benefited from the GI bill, they moved west and eventually ended up in Hawaii.

She was somebody who was a very humble person, a very plainspoken person. She is one of those quiet heroes we have all across America, who are not famous, their names are not in the newspapers, but each and every day they work hard. They look after their families. They sacrifice for their children, and their grandchildren. They aren't seeking the limelight. All they try to do is do the right thing. And in this crowd, there are a lot of quiet heroes like that, people like that, mothers and fathers and grandparents who have worked hard and sacrificed all their lives and the satisfaction that they get is in seeing their children or maybe their grandchildren or their great-grandchildren live a better life than they did. That is what America is about. That is w

Hip-Hop Stars Stump For Obama

MIAMI — With two days remaining until Election Day, Jay-Z and Sean "Diddy" Combs told voters in South Florida not to be scared away from the polls by long lines.

"It's bigger than us," Combs said. "We have to do it for our children, we have to do it for the people that died for us to have the right to vote."

Combs and Jay-Z, whose real name is Shawn Carter, appeared before a crowd of about 800 at the Chester Robinson Athletic Center at Florida Memorial University for a "Last Chance for Change" rally Sunday afternoon.

Hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons, music executive Kevin Liles and fellow recording artist Mary J. Blige also joined them at the get-out-the-vote effort for Democratic nominee Barack Obama.

"We stood in line to get the new Lil' Wayne CD," Liles said. "We stood in line to get a new pair of Jordans. We stood in line to get in here. So we ain't afraid of no lines."

The event was more of a campaign rally than hip-hop extravaganza. None of the artists actually performed on stage, instead using their time to stump for the Democratic nominee. A DJ played as the crowd waited for the group to arrive, and a gospel choir and college step teams also performed.

"We have been doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result," Blige said. "Please do something different. Barack Obama is a true example of something different. He's a true example of something our children can have in the future, what they can look at and say: 'Wow, we can really, really do something. We can really, really be something.'"

When an announcer asked if anyone in the crowd had already voted, several attendees threw their hands in the air, waved blue campaign signs and screamed.

"Vote However You Like" Video By Ron Clark Academy Students

Great song and wonderful performance! Congratulations kids!
Please do stay involved as you are growing up in the political process and be active all your lives in your communities. As citizens it is our civic duty to be.
You have already contributed to the political process by your positive message at your young age! (More than most people I encountered and you must be proud!)
All the best....



LIVE VERSION WITH INTERVIEW

Obama Assassination Plot Disrupted By ATF

Hopefully Sarah Palin reads about it and realizes racism is a form of domestic terrorism.




WASHINGTON — Federal agents have broken up a plot to assassinate Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama and shoot or decapitate 102 black people in a Tennessee murder spree, the ATF said Monday.

In court records unsealed Monday, federal agents said they disrupted plans to rob a gun store and target a predominantly African-American high school by two neo-Nazi skinheads. Agents said the skinheads did not identify the school by name.

Jim Cavanaugh, special agent in charge of the Nashville field office for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, said the two men planned to shoot 88 black people and decapitate another 14. The numbers 88 and 14 are symbolic in the white supremacist community.

The men also sought to go on a national killing spree, with Obama as its final target, Cavanaugh told The Associated Press.

"They said that would be their last, final act _ that they would attempt to kill Sen. Obama," Cavanaugh said. "They didn't believe they would be able to do it, but that they would get killed trying."

An Obama spokeswoman traveling with the senator in Pennsylvania had no immediate comment.

The men, Daniel Cowart, 20, of Bells, Tenn., and Paul Schlesselman 18, of West Helena, Ark., are being held without bond. Agents seized a rifle, a sawed-off shotgun and three pistols from the men when they were arrested. Authorities alleged the two men were preparing to break into a gun shop to steal more.

Attorney Joe Byrd, who has been hired to represent Cowart, did not immediately return a call seeking comment Monday.

Cowart and Schlesselman are charged with possessing an unregistered firearm, conspiring to steal firearms from a federally licensed gun dealer, and threatening a candidate for president.

The investigation is continuing, and more charges are possible, Cavanaugh said.

This undated photo obtained from a MySpace webpage shows Daniel Cowart, 20 of Bells, Tenn. holding a weapon. Federal agents have broken up a plot to assassinate Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill. and shoot or decapitate 102 black people in a Tennessee murder spree, the ATF said Monday Oct. 27, 2008. In court records unsealed Monday, federal agents said they disrupted plans to rob a gun store and target a predominantly African-American high school by two neo-Nazi skinheads. The men, Daniel Cowart, 20, of Bells, Tenn., and Paul Schlesselman 18, of West Helena, Ark., are being held without bond. (AP Photo)

Fox News VP: If McCain Worker Story is a Hoax His Campaign is 'Over'

It has drawn wide local and national--even political attention, with some of the candidates for president/vice president weighing in or even calling -- but now the Ashley Todd story seems to be falling apart. Police in Pittsburgh are relating "inconsistencies" in her story -- to say the least -- and have given the worker for John McCain a polygraph. She had claimed that an Obama fan carved a "B" into her face.

And now John Moody, executive vice president at Fox News, has commented on his blog that "this incident could become a watershed event in the 11 days before the election. If Ms. Todd's allegations are proven accurate, some voters may revisit their support for Senator Obama, not because they are racists (with due respect to Rep. John Murtha), but because they suddenly feel they do not know enough about the Democratic nominee.

"If the incident turns out to be a hoax, Senator McCain's quest for the presidency is over, forever linked to race-baiting."

He titles his posting: "Moment of Truth." Indeed. Matt Drudge, who had trumpeted the story for nearly 24 hours, just added a new link titled "B...or B.S.?"

It started yesterday afternoon with Drudge screaming at the top of his site this afternoon in red type -- but no siren -- that a Pittsburgh campaign worker for McCain, age 20, had been viciously attacked and the letter "B" carved into her face, presumably by a Barack Obama fan. Her name, it soon emerged, was Ashley Todd and she had come to Pittsburgh from College Station, Texas, to help out.

It started to appear overblown (Drudge downgraded it to smaller, black type) as the police noted that it seemed to be a robbery ($60) and she did not seek medical attention. But later press reports said she would visit a hospital, Sarah Palin and maybe John McCain had reportedly called her and Obama has condemned the alleged assault, although McCain/Obama angle to story not yet confirmed.

Still later, conservative columnist Michelle Malkin, and some others, grew skeptical. For one thing, the "B" was carved a little too lightly and perfectly -- and backward, as if done using a mirror. Smoking Gun probed a too-pat "Twitter" angle and Gawker and Wonkette looked at her MySpace page.

Now police say that evidence from the ATM that she reportedly visited did not match her account. And it turns out she has changed her story, admitting that her assailant did not see a McCain bumper sticker and adding to he raccount a sexual assault and losing consciousness.

UPDATE from AP: "Pittsburgh police say a McCain campaign volunteer who said she was held down by a black man who cut the letter "B" in her face has changed her story. Police spokeswoman Diane Richard says investigators gave the 20-year-old woman a lie-detector test and are "looking at some inconsistencies" in her story.

"Police say bank surveillance footage doesn't show her at an ATM where she says she was attacked. Todd, who is white, now says she was knocked unconscious and doesn't remember being cut. She now says she only discovered the wound later."


UPDATE!!!!

Police say a campaign volunteer confessed to making up a story that a mugger attacked her and cut the letter B in her face after seeing her McCain bumper sticker.


At a news conference this afternoon, officials said they believe that Ashley Todd's injuries were self-inflicted.

Todd, 20, of Texas, is now facing charges for filing a false report to police.

Todd initially told police that she was robbed at an ATM in Bloomfield and that the suspect became enraged and started beating her after seeing her GOP sticker on her car.

Police investigating the alleged attack, however, began to notice some inconsistencies in her story and administered a polygraph test.

Authorities, however, declined to release the results of that test.

Investigators did say that they received photos from the ATM machine and "the photographs were verified as not being the victim making the transaction."

This afternoon, a Pittsburgh police commander told KDKA Investigator Marty Griffin that Todd confessed to making up the story.

Todd told investigators that she didn't remember what happened.

Police say they do not believe any other people were involved; and her friends believed the story about the attack.

WATCH VIDEO VOTE!!!!

Video the Vote

McCain supporter robbed, assaulted yea right!!!!!!!!!

ok a man at the ATM is only going to take $60, that she gave him and she walked away and then he saw her McCain sticker got mad and hit her in the back of the head. well how did her eye get blk? and why did she refuse medical attention if you had a knife carve in your face? wouldn't you be worried about a infection?? yea right and we also read that popo didn't even take pictures of her face! but I see matt druge has one NOW. the whole story is bullcrap if you ask us!.I can't wait for the surveillance camera photos. Also if you look at the letter "B" its craved backwards so that would mean it was done in a mirror. can some say (trying to start shit)




A knife-wielding man robbed a McCain-Palin campaign volunteer and etched a “B” into her face after he saw a McCain bumper sticker on the woman’s car, Pittsburgh police said.

Ashley Todd, 20, of College Station, Texas, was using an ATM at Liberty Avenue and Pearl Street in Bloomfield just before 9 p.m. Wednesday when a man approached her, put a knife to her throat and demanded $60, police said.

Todd handed the man $60 she had in her pocket and stepped away from him, investigators said. The man then noticed the bumper sticker on the woman's car, which was parked in front of the ATM. The man became very angry, made comments to Todd about John McCain and punched her in the back of the head, knocking her to the ground, police said.

"He continued to kick and punch her repeatedly and said he would teach her a lesson for supporting John McCain," said police Chief Nate Harper.

The man then carved the "B" into Todd's right cheek. Todd, who isn't familiar with the area, drove to a friend's house nearby and told her friend she wasn't sure of the exact location where the robbery took place but remembered a green sign above the ATM. The friend called police and the officer met them on Cypress Street in Bloomfield, police said.

Todd's friend offered to drive her back in the direction she came from to look at ATMs until she found the right one, police said. A police officer followed until Todd pointed out a Citizens Bank ATM at Liberty and Pearl, police said.

She declined medical treatment at the scene and said she would go to a hospital today.

Todd declined to comment.

"She is a volunteer for the McCain-Palin campaign," said campaign spokesman Peter Feldman. "Sen. McCain has reached out to her via telephone and has spoken to her and her family,” as has McCain’s running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, Feldman said. “Out of respect for her privacy we're not going to comment further."

Democrat Barack Obama's campaign released a statement saying: “Our thoughts and prayers are with the young woman for her to make a speedy recovery, and we hope that the person who perpetrated this crime is swiftly apprehended and brought to justice."

Police described the suspect as black, about 6-foot-4, and said he was wearing dark-colored jeans and a black undershirt.

The ATM has a security camera and investigators are trying to watch the video, police said.

Celebs go to great lengths for Obama

See more Ron Howard videos at Funny or Die

Sarah Palin, it's safe to say, has been dominating the "Saturday Night Live" airwaves. Tina Fey's impersonations are instant water-cooler fodder, and Palin's personal appearance boosted SNL to its highest ratings in 14 years. How can the Obama camp match that?

Luckily for Obama, some celebrities are taking extreme measures to show their support for him. It's no surprise to see celebrities lining up for the Democratic ticket, but these stars are going above and beyond the normal call of duty.

First up, we have director Ron Howard resurrecting not one, but two, classic roles that he admits he'd rather leave behind: Opie Taylor from "The Andy Griffith Show," and Richie Cunningham from "Happy Days".

"I've never done this before and I hope to never have to do it again," Howard admits, "but I guess you could say I'm feeling pretty desperate these days."

Howard brings his old TV pals Andy Griffith (Sheriff Andy Taylor) and Henry Winkler (the Fonz) along for the ride. Obama supporter or not, the chance to see the Fonz again, talking it up in front of a classic car, leather jacket and all, makes this video worth a look.

Obama shows off dance moves after Michelle talks 'smack'

Barack Obama lauded his wife Michelle at his evening event for being a better speaker than he is. Apparently she is also a better dancer.

The Democratic presidential nominee taped an appearance for the "Ellen DeGeneres Show" after his rally on a makeshift set behind the press filing tent. DeGeneres told Obama that when Michelle appeared on her show "she was talking some smack" about his dance "moves."

Standing in front of a few rows of supporters, Obama danced to James Brown's "Get Up Offa That Thing" much to the delight of the talk show host.

"Let me tell you that Michelle may be a better dancer. But I'm convinced I'm a better dancer than John McCain," Obama said.

OHHHH SHIT!!!! Wisconsin GOP Official Denounces McCain Robocalls, Endorses Obama

THE HITS JUST KEEP ON COMING!! KEEP RUNNING YOUR MOUTH MCcLame

A longtime Republican State Senator in Wisconsin history announced on Tuesday that she would be supporting Barack Obama, in part because of the negative tone of the McCain-Palin campaign and, specifically, the use of "dishonorable" anti-Obama robocalls.

"All of us should be extremely wary of the half truths and outright untruths that have been spread by the recent negative campaigning and shameful automated phone calls," said Barbara Lorman of Fort Atkinson. "While my admiration for Senator Obama has grown with his positive approach to addressing the challenges facing our nation, my disappointment with the McCain campaigned has deepened. The negative tactics are inappropriate, downright dishonorable and have no place in the State of Wisconsin."

In issuing her statement, Lorman became the latest in a growing line of GOP officials who have publicly denounced the recent tone and tactics of the McCain camp. In recent days, Sens. Susan Collins, Olympia Snowe and Norm Coleman, as well as former Secretary of State Colin Powell, have all been highly critical of the Arizona Republican's efforts to tie Barack Obama to former Weather Underground member Bill Ayers. Lorman is not, obviously, of the same national stature as these other officials. But her place in Wisconsin politics makes her an influential voice in an important swing state.

The fact that she is a lifelong Republican -- she left the Senate in 1994 and, until recently, was the longest woman serving senator in Wisconsin history -- now crossing party lines is also of interest.

"I'm a lifelong Republican, but Senator Obama is the right leader for our country and will deliver the change we need," Lorman said in a statement released by the state's Democratic Party. "After taking a careful look at the qualities of both McCain and Obama and who would be best for our country, I found that Senator Obama's ability to bridge the partisan divide to work toward solid solutions that will get our nation back on the right track meant he is the right choice this November."

OBAMA BABIES!!