Associated Press

In a total perversion of John F. Kennedy's call to patriotism, Martha Irvine of the Associated Press has scolding rebuke to young Obama voters, telling them that a select few are looking at their "20-something peers sitting back and letting the president do the work for them." Ask not what Obama can do for you, Generation Y, ask what you can do for Obama.

For shame, young Obamanauts, you who were sent over the moon at the election of Barack Obama last November. Have you so quickly forgotten your call to service, your devotion and obedience to Hope and Change? Your Dear Leader is in trouble, and you are ignoring the promise you made to stop the rise of the oceans and the changing of the seasons, as well as your pledge to support the government requiring you to purchase health insurance or be fined hundreds of dollars.

But Ms. Irvine isn't just scolding the youth of America. She also boldly dares to suggest to the President that he could be doing more to reach out to his young followers, and helpfully quotes a political science professor at La Salle University who fondly and wistfully recalls the fall of 2008, when students harangued non-believers into attending rallies (she calls the practice "dorm-storming") and when they danced in the streets after the election. The lamenting of the elders fairly leaps off the page. If only The One would turn his benevolent and loving eye towards Youth once more, then the army of the idealistic that failed to change society in the '60's could see their fight won by the next generation.

And what of the consequences should the next generation fail? Irvine warns ominously that college graduates are about to encounter all of the real world problems they've been avoiding by not fully supporting Change to the best of their abilities. She seems to be suggesting that if the kids don't want to be homeless, sick, and living in six inches of seawater from global warming that it's time they go from being mere voters to "responsible citizen"(s).

Yes, apparently the idea of responsible citizenship now extends towards blindly supporting the person you voted for, which I don't recall being the case back when Dubya was in the White House. I guess it's just one of those funny things that happen when liberals return to power.

What Irvine and the others forget is that "Generation Y" didn't vote for Obama because they have blind devotion, they voted for him because he's cool. The cool factor doesn't go nearly as far when it comes to policy activism. Just look at the Tea Party movement. There's a lot of passion and dedication, but (it has to be said)there's a definite lack of hipster cool. If Irvine is lamenting the fact that the Glenn Beck crowd is turning out by the tens of thousands, while young supporters of the President are slacking, she may want to think about this: many in the Tea Party movement feel that Glenn Beck does a good job of speaking for them, while many young supporters of President Obama feel he does a good job of speaking to them. It's the difference between an activist mob and an adoring public.

Congratulations are in order for Bristol Palin and Levi Johnson, who have welcomed a son into the world. 

As for the Associated Press, not so much....

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081230/ap_on_re_us/bristol_palin_baby

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – The teenage daughter of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, whose quest for the vice presidency began to go downhill the day she announced the pregnancy, has given birth to a son, a magazine reported Monday

Hmm, the daughter's news came out before this event, which the Associated Press seemed to think went pretty well for the Alaska Governor

 http://www.ksl.com/?nid=155&sid=4180481

NEW YORK (AP) - Barack Obama apparently isn't the only "rock star" in presidential politics this year.

After days of intense media coverage about Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin's qualifications, more than 40 million Americans tuned in Wednesday to see for themselves what they thought of her.

The huge audience for Palin's acceptance speech rivaled that for Obama's address at the Democratic National Convention six days earlier, and set a tough standard for the top of her own ticket. John McCain was to accept the GOP presidential nomination on Thursday.

You know, it might have been classy to have avoided a political cheap shot in a birth announcement. It might have been professional to have at least made an accurate statement in taking a shot. I think most rational observers would have identified the Katie Couric interview as the point where Governor Palin's fortunes waned......but maybe that doesn't fit the narrative the elite media want to promote.

You see, no one with Sarah Palin's background and family was supposed to get this far. Now, if her maiden name was Kennedy, I'm sure this story would have been written a slight bit differently.

We are going to have to work overtime to keep the AP from trying to put anything positive about the Republican party and its candidates in the Orwellian "memory hole" over the next few years. Even if it means using a birth annoucement as a partisan hit piece.

Why are  Douglass K. Daniel, the Associated Press and Andrew Sullivan so eager to race-bait?

I'm not saying they're racists, per se, but it is rather remarkable how often they imagine they're hearing "dog whistles".  It's even more remarkable that they have no problem fomenting racial tension for political gain every time they find a way to infer racism.

On the other hand, perhaps there's no important distinction between "racist" and "willing to casually, intentionally racebait for political gain."

Racism is a genuine problem and Republicans should do more to denounce it when it happens.  This seems like a good opportunity.