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BARACK OBAMA TALKS TO U.S. COMMANDERS AND IRAQI OFFICIALS AFTER STOPS IN AFGHANISTAN

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Democratic Barack Obama spoke to U.S. Commanders and Iraqi officials in Iraq after he was criticized  by Republican nominee John McCain for not visiting the region. Obama arrived in Iraq after stops in Afghanistan. The senator has been vocal about his opposition to the war in Iraq. Barack Obama met with Iraqi Prime Minister  Nouri al-Maliki but the discussion was not about troop withdrawal.   

Following criticism from Republican presidential candidate John McCain that his rival had not spent enough time in Iraq, Democratic candidate Barack Obama made his second trip to Iraq Monday, meeting with American military commanders and upper-level Iraqi officials.       

Although Senator Obama has publicly stated he will withdraw troops from Iraq within 16 months of taking office if he wins, he did not discuss this plan with Iraqi officials. During a meeting with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, the senator emphasized that he would do his best to guarantee the security of Iraq without specifically commenting on plans to withdraw US forces, says Naseer al-Ani, a senior official in President Talabani's office who was present for the meeting.

Although Obama's and Senator McCain's proposals for Iraq appear quite different – McCain has commented that US troops could be in Iraq for the next hundred years, compared with Obama's 16-month plan – most Iraqi politicians say they are not taking sides in the election.

"The situation in Iraq is working in a good way, and this good situation is connected to the Iraqis more than the Americans. Any new American president will be looking to make the situation in Iraq better," says parliamentarian Sheikh Hameed Mullaa, a Shiite and member of the Iraqi Islamic Supreme Council.       

Obama's trip comes after a controversy stirred this weekend when a German magazine quoted Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki as saying that he agreed with Obama's 16-month timetable. Mr. Maliki's office said his words had not been translated correctly. The prime minister has called for a withdrawal of American troops, but given no dates.

A longtime critic of the Iraq war, Obama arrives in Iraq after a visit to Afghanistan, where he called for the US to invest more troops and more financial resources.source 

BARACK OBAMA CAMP CALLS NEW YORKER SATIRE COVER "TASTELESS AND OFFENSIVE"

Barack Obama's camp is speaking out about a New Yorker cover which they consider to be offensive. The New Yorker is defending the cover as political satire while others consider it to be an caricature which is reinforcing negative stereotypes. Click here to watch CNN's discussion of the controversial cover.

Barack Obama's campaign is condemning as “tasteless and offensive” a New Yorker magazine cover that depicts Obama in a turban, fist-bumping his gun-slinging wife.

An American flag burns in their fireplace.

The New Yorker says it's satire. It certainly will be candy for cable news.

The Obama campaign quickly condemned the rendering. Spokesman Bill Burton said in a statement: “The New Yorker may think, as one of their staff explained to us, that their cover is a satirical lampoon of the caricature Sen. Obama's right-wing critics have tried to create. But most readers will see it as tasteless and offensive. And we agree."

McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds quickly e-mailed: “We completely agree with the Obama campaign, it’s tasteless and offensive.”

The issue, which goes on sale Monday, includes a long piece by Ryan Lizza about Obama’s start in Chicago politics.

At a press availability Sunday afternoon in San Diego, Obama was asked, according to a transcript by Maria Gavrilovic of CBS News: “The upcoming issue of The New Yorker, the July 21 issue, has a picture of you, depicting you and your wife on the cover.

“Have you seen it? If not, I can show it to you on my computer. It shows your wife Michelle with an Afro and an AK-47 and the two of you doing the fist bump with you in a sort of turban-type thing on top. I wondered if you’ve seen it or if you want to see it or if you have a response to it?”

Obama, shrugging incredulously, replied: “I have no response to that.”

The magazine explains at the start of its news release previewing the issue: “On the cover of the July 21, 2008, issue of The New Yorker, in ‘The Politics of Fear,’ artist Barry Blitt satirizes the use of scare tactics and misinformation in the presidential election to derail Barack Obama’s campaign.” source

Barack Obama's campaign has sharply criticized The New Yorker magazine over the publication's latest cover illustration that appears to portray the Illinois senator and his wife, Michelle, as terrorist enemies of the United States.

Specifically, the cover, published Sunday, shows Obama in the Oval Office dressed in traditional Muslim attire and Michelle with an "Afro" hairstyle carrying a machine gun. An American flag can also be seen burning in the fire place and a picture of Osama bin Laden hangs on the wall. "The New Yorker may think, as one of their staff explained to us, that their cover is a satirical lampoon of the caricature Senator Obama's right-wing critics have tried to create," Obama spokesman Bill Burton said in a statement.

"But most readers will see it as tasteless and offensive. And we agree." source

BARACK OBAMA ON THE COVER OF ROLLING STONE REVEALS WHAT'S ON HIS IPOD LISTENS TO MUSIC FROM BOB DYLAN & JAY-Z

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama is making his second appearance on the cover of Rolling Stone Magazine. In the issue the next President of the United States revealed his ipod playlist. Barack Obama admits he listens to everything from Ja-Z to Bob Dylan to Yo Yo Ma. We'd like to borrow Barack Obama's ipod because this sounds like an interesting iMix.

Jay-Z, Bob Dylan, Sheryl Crow and Yo-Yo Ma. No, they are not all in the line-up for this year's Glastonbury festival - they're artists featured on Barack Obama's iPod.

'I have pretty eclectic tastes,' the Democratic presidential contender tells U.S. magazine Rolling Stone.

Growing up in the '70s, he listened to the Rolling Stones, Elton John and Earth, Wind & Fire, he explains.

Stevie Wonder is his musical hero from the era. The Stones' 'Gimme Shelter' tops his favorites from the band.

The Illinois senator's playlist contains these musicians, along with about 30 songs from Dylan and the singer's "Blood on the Tracks" album.

Jazz legends Miles Davis, John Coltrane and Charlie Parker are also in the mix.

'Actually, one of my favorites during the political season is 'Maggie's Farm,'' Obama said of one of Dylan's tracks.

'It speaks to me as I listen to some of the political rhetoric.'

In the song, Dylan sings about trying be himself, "but everybody wants you to be just like them."

Several musicians on Obama's iPod support his bid for the White House, including Bruce Springsteen.
Asked what he thought of rap, Obama said the genre has broken down barriers within the music world, though he's concerned about his daughters - Malia, nine, and Sasha, seven - listening to it.

'I am troubled sometimes by the misogyny and materialism of a lot of rap lyrics,' he said, 'but I think the genius of the art form has shifted the culture and helped to desegregate music.'

He said hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons and rappers Jay-Z and Ludacris were 'great talents and great businessmen.'

'It would be nice if I could have my daughters listen to their music without me worrying that they were getting bad images of themselves,' he added.

Obama appears on the cover of the magazine, which endorsed him for president in March. source

SENATOR BARACK OBAMA AND MICHELLE OBAMA ON COVER OF US WEEKLY MICHELLE IS AN 'EXTRAORDINARY MOTHER'

Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama appears on the upcoming issue of US Weekly with his wife Michelle Obama. Click here to watch Michelle Obama on the View if you missed it.

"Nothing is more important to Michelle than being a good mother," the Democratic presidential nominee tells Us. "She works every day to instill in our girls the same values we were raised with."  Michelle's strong sense of family stems from her upbringing: She and her older brother slept in the living room of their hard-working parents' one-bedroom apartment in Chicago's South Side; her father was a city pump operator and her mother was a homemaker. She went on to excel at Princeton and Harvard Law, and friends detail in the current issue of Us her struggle to balance work and family. "She's a very genuine person, just like you and me," longtime friend Valerie Jarrett says, who adds, "She's not in the least bit interested in being a co-president. Her first priority as first lady would be that the girls are OK." source

BARACK OBAMA'S SPEECH ON FATHER'S DAY

Presidential candidate Barack Obama gave a wonderful speech on Father's Day about the importance of fathers in raising children.

[If] we are honest with ourselves, we’ll admit that what too many fathers also are is missing — missing from too many lives and too many homes. They have abandoned their responsibilities, acting like boys instead of men. And the foundations of our families are weaker because of it. You and I know how true this is in the African-American community. We know that more than half of all black children live in single-parent households, a number that has doubled — doubled — since we were children. We know the statistics — that children who grow up without a father are five times more likely to live in poverty and commit crime; nine times more likely to drop out of schools and twenty times more likely to end up in prison. They are more likely to have behavioral problems, or run away from home, or become teenage parents themselves. And the foundations of our community are weaker because of it. How many times in the last year has this city lost a child at the hands of another child? How many times have our hearts stopped in the middle of the night with the sound of a gunshot or a siren? How many teenagers have we seen hanging around on street corners when they should be sitting in a classroom? How many are sitting in prison when they should be working, or at least looking for a job? How many in this generation are we willing to lose to poverty or violence or addiction? How many? Yes, we need more cops on the street. Yes, we need fewer guns in the hands of people who shouldn’t have them. Yes, we need more money for our schools, and more outstanding teachers in the classroom, and more afterschool programs for our children. Yes, we need more jobs and more job training and more opportunity in our communities. But we also need families to raise our children. We need fathers to realize that responsibility does not end at conception. We need them to realize that what makes you a man is not the ability to have a child — it’s the courage to raise one. source

BARACK OBAMA CLINCHES DEMOCRATIC NOMINATION | BARACK OBAMA DEMOCRACTIC NOMINATION VICTORY SPEECH

Barack Obama made history as the first African-American to win the Democratic nomination for president. Hillary Clinton gave a baffling speech to her supporters. She obviously has not given up the fight even after Barack Obama clinched the nomination. Hillary who is still hoping for a VP spot on the Obama ticket.  Hillary Clinton was determined not to concede the democratic nomination to Barack Obama.  In her speech on June 3rd she said  "to the 18 million people who voted for me, and many other people out there… I want to hear from you… I’ll be consulting with supporters and party leaders, to determine how to move forward, with the best interests of our party and our country in mind." Can someone tell young Hillary Clinton that her bid to be president is over and she lost?

Barack Obama Democratic Nomination Victory Speech

Barack Obama made history tonight, by beating Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination to become the first African American with a viable chance of winning the White House.

Obama's victory brought to an end Clinton's bid to become the first US female presidency.

It also confirms Obama's reputation as a political giant-slayer, who after just three years in the US Senate brought down the couple credited with creating the Democrats' most powerful political machine.

After a 54-contest, five-month-long fight, Obama started the day 45 delegates short of the 2,118 he needed to cross the finishing line. He reached that target tonight.

He was four short as polls closed in the South Dakota primary. But CNN, when the polls closed, said exit polls showed he had won enough to secure the nomination.

He will now face the Republican John McCain for the prize of the presidency in the November 4 general election. McCain, in a speech in Louisiana, formally declared the general election to be underway and described Obama as a formidable candidate before going on to criticise him for naiveté in foreign policy.

Although Clinton has not formally conceded, she discussed for the first time the possibility of a joint ticket with Obama in which she would be the vice-presidential candidate.

But from camp Clinton, there was little sign of resolution.

Clinton's campaign team sent out mixed messages throughout the day about whether she would formally concede tonight, initially telling reporters that to all intents and purposes her campaign was over and then later she would not use a speech to her campaign workers late last night to formally concede.

Holed up at her home in Chappaqua, New York, during the day, she and Bill Clinton discussed options over the phone with a host of aides and supporters. One of four members of Congress who spoke to her urging her to press for the vice-president slot reported her saying: "I am open to it." source

BARACK OBAMA QUITS TRINITY UNITED CHURCH AFTER CONTROVERSIAL REMARKS FROM FATHER PFLEGER

Barack Obama announced he was leaving Trinity United Church of Christ after Father  Michael Pfleger gave a  controversial sermon about Hillary Clinton. 

Barack Obama said Saturday he has resigned his 20-year membership in the Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago "with some sadness" in the aftermath of inflammatory remarks by his longtime pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, and more recent fiery remarks at the church by a visiting priest.

"This is not a decision I come to lightly ... and it is one I make with some sadness," Obama said at a news conference after campaign officials released a letter of resignation he sent to the church on Friday.

"I'm not denouncing the church and I'm not interested in people who want me to denounce the church," he said, adding that the new pastor at Trinity and "the church have been suffering from the attention my campaign has focused on them."

Obama said he and his wife have been discussing the issue since Wright's appearance at the National Press Club in Washington last month, which reignited the furor over remarks Wright had made in various sermons at the church.

"I suspect we'll find another church home for our family," Obama said.

"It's clear that now that I'm a candidate for president, every time something is said in the church by anyone associated with Trinity, including guest pastors, the remarks will imputed to me even if they totally conflict with my long-held views, statements and principles," he said.

"I have no idea how it will impact my presidential campaign but I know it was the right thing to do for me and my family," he said. source

FATHER MICHAEL PFLEGER EXPLAINS WHY HILLARY CLINTON CRIED AT TRINITY UNITED CHURCH SERMON

Father Michael Pleger got into trouble for comments he made during his sermon at Barack Obama's former church. The priest spoke about Hillary Clinton's sense of entitlement as a presidential candidate in the election.  Hillary Clinton has said on several occasions that she has more appeal to "working class white voters" and the country is not ready for an African-American president. Father Pfleger later apologized for his sermon. However, Hillary Clinton has still not said she was sorry for making assassination remarks about Barack Obama.

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said Thursday that he was "deeply disappointed" by a supporter's sermon at his church that mocked Hillary Rodham Clinton. The Rev. Michael Pfleger, a Chicago activist, also apologized for last Sunday's sermon at Obama's church, in which he said Clinton's eyes welled with tears before the New Hampshire primary because she felt "entitled" to the Democratic nomination and because "there's a black man stealing my show. source

BARACK OBAMA DRAWS RECORD BREAKING CROWD 75,000 ATTEND OBAMA RALLY IN PORTLAND OREGON

We just have to say that a picture speaks a thousand words. The image of Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Obama attending a campaign rally in Portland Oregon shows his strength and appeal as a presidential candidate to the the white working class voter. Senator Obama drew a record breaking crowd of 75,000 people. His opponent Senator Hillary Clinton says despite her lacking the delegates to receive the Democratic nomination she will continue in the race. Many are accusing Senator Clinton of "race baiting" when she made remarks to USA Today that Senator Barack Obama does not appeal to "white working class voters" and these voters are not ready for an African American president.

Hillary says White Working Class Voters Not Ready For Black President

Senator Barack Obama drew the largest crowd of his campaign so far on Sunday, addressing an estimated 75,000 people who had gathered here on the banks of the Willamette River.  “Wow! Wow! Wow!” were his first words as he surveyed the multitude, which included people in kayaks and small pleasure craft on the river on an unseasonably hot day in Oregon.

It is “fair to say this is the most spectacular setting for the most spectacular crowd” of his campaign, he told the audience. His wife and daughters, who have been with him most of the weekend, joined him on the stage at the beginning of the event but left as he was about to speak.

Mr. Obama has been campaigning extensively in Oregon, a state he hopes to win in Tuesday’s primary, as the Democratic presidential nominating race ticks down to its last handful of contests. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton has been on a four-day swing through Kentucky, which also holds its primary on Tuesday and where she appears likely to draw the most votes.

Mr. Obama stopped earlier at an ice cream parlor, Lew’s Dari-Freeze and Drive In, in Milwaukie, a suburb of Portland. There, answering questions from reporters, he edged closer to declaring victory in the Democratic battle than has been his habit. He said he was returning to Iowa to await the results of the primaries on Tuesday night because “we thought it was a terrific way to bring things full circle.”

If things “go as we hope,” he said, “then we think we will have a majority of pledged delegates at that point.” That, he continued, would be “a pretty significant mark.” source

JOHN EDWARDS ENDORSES BARACK OBAMA IN DEMOCRATIC RACE FOR PRESIDENT

Edwards gives long-awaited endorsement to Obama

Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) won a major endorsement from former Democratic presidential candidate and Super Delegate, John Edwards.  Edwards, who dropped out of the race in January, endorsed Obama at a rally in Michigan.  Hillary Clinton won the primary in West Virginia but is still behind in the delegate count. Many members in the Democratic party are asking Senator Clinton to drop out of the race but she vows to continue campaigning until the Democratic Convention in June. Both Obama and Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY) had been seeking his endorsement.