Obama code switches [Reader Post]

Harry Reid once observed Barack Obama’s ability to shift between common English and what Reid called “Negro dialect.”

“He [Reid] was wowed by Obama’s oratorical gifts and believed that the country was ready to embrace a black presidential candidate, especially one such as Obama — a ‘light-skinned’ African American ‘with no Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one,’ ” Halperin and Heilemann say.

Reid was right, but he was dunned into apologizing for it.

Say What? Aug 2, 2011 edition [Reader Post]

Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) statement: “The current, so-called `debt crisis’ has been completely manufactured by House Republicans attempting to advance an extremist agenda. This should be a simple vote to allow the US Treasury to fund all of the programs and obligations of the entire federal government that are already in the law.”

Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi statement: “It is clear we must enter an era of austerity; to reduce the deficit through shared sacrifice.”