President Barack H. Obama

Note:  You might want to start at the Barack Obama Index Page, especially if you arrived here by using a search engine.

Barack Obama has been elected to a position for which he clearly is not qualified.  There are a number of items on his resumé that look like red flags.  As voters, we only had one opportunity to go to the polls and prevent this man from becoming the US President.  Now that the unthinkable has happened, the issues on this page warrant even more attention.

On this page:

Lack of qualifications and experience.

      "Community Organizer" — Big Deal!.

The self-centered opportunist, his unjustified self-esteem and easily bruised ego.

Many people have expressed multiple concerns.

Miscellaneous scandals and suppressed news.

      Fundraising scandals.

      Obama's long lost radio interview.

      Obama's — well, somebody's — long lost videotape.

      Barack's half-brother George.

      Barack's Aunt Zeituni.

      The dog ate my thesis.

      Obama favors free speech — but only for himself.

      Prepare for an Obama Thugocracy

      It pays to be obsequious

Obama the victim.



Lack of qualifications and experience

Mr. Obama has never managed a business in his life.  Not even so much as a hot dog stand.  He has never competently managed anything.  Before becoming a Chicago politician, he worked as a "community organizer" (big deal!) making perhaps $12,000 a year.

More evidence of Obama fatuous fabrications of his 'work' experience.  Obama claimed during the campaign to have worked his way through school.  That was meant to bring him down to earth — as a person who pulled himself up by his own bootstraps and was able to pass through Occidental College, Columbia University and Harvard Law School, while working!  Barack Obama:  the personification of the American dream.  Except that it is a false image.

Obama, Obviously.  No president in modern times has come to power with less political experience and less managerial experience.  On the other hand, no president has come to power with a clearer record of political extremism.  Senator Barack Obama had the most left-wing voting record in the Senate, brief as his record was.  Back in Illinois he had a record of associations with extremists that would have sunk any other presidential candidate.

Chucky The Lip has struck again, but this time it's a good thing.  [Scroll down]  What most of those Americans who are wondering how Obama got to be president are wondering about is not how a black man got to be president, but how a guy with only two years experience as a U.S. senator, less than 10 years experience as a state senator and absolutely zero years of military experience got elected president of the United States, leader of the free world and commander in chief of our armed forces.  Really, could a white guy with those same credentials have run for president of the United States and won?  Or would a white guy with those same credentials have been laughed out of the presidential race before he was barely in it?

A Rookie President.  Barack Obama is a rookie in a sense that few other presidents in American history have ever been.  It is not just that he has never been president before.  He has never had any position in any kind of organization where he was personally responsible for the outcome.

Obama:  The Great American Hope?  There is great hope that President-elect Obama will change the course of U.S. foreign policy, create far greater goodwill toward America, and thereby ease world tensions.  Such optimism is not based on former Sen. Obama's foreign-policy experience.  In essence, he has none.  Nor does improvement hinge on Obama's past career in Chicago politics or his U.S. Senate tenure — the former was problematic at best, the latter cursory.

The Obama We Knew But Denied:  A vast array of Americans seem to still be scratching their heads in wonder at how a complete political knave has been elected to the highest office in the land with nary a single real accomplishment on his resume. ... In fact, I would venture to say at this juncture that it was Obama's race — and nothing else — that enabled his election to the presidency.

Criticizing Obama:  Mission Impossible.  What, precisely, has the Democratic nominee for president done in the past eight years?  Attempting to meaningfully answer this question proves rather difficult.  Despite its improbable twists and turns, one thing hasn't changed over the course of this endless election:  When put on the spot, Obama's supporters are unable to name a significant concrete accomplishment he's managed in his entire professional career.

Do Facts Matter?  The country does not deserve to be put in the hands of a glib and cocky know-it-all, who has accomplished absolutely nothing beyond the advancement of his own career with rhetoric, and who has for years allied himself with a succession of people who have openly expressed their hatred of America.

Ego and Mouth.  After the big gamble on subprime mortgages that led to the current financial crisis, is there going to be an even bigger gamble, by putting the fate of a nation in the hands of a man whose only qualifications are ego and mouth?  Barack Obama has the kind of cocksure confidence that can only be achieved by not achieving anything else.

Mature Presidents Outperform Young.  Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton were both elected president at relatively young ages, and both made grave mistakes that directly led to the deep foreign policy problems we have today.  The next president will face serious issues, from al-Qaida to Iran to Russia to the economy, which will require a maturity achievable only through age and experience.

On Foreign Policy, It's Ace Vs. Amateur.  McCain is the ace in foreign policy, not the much-applauded Obama.  McCain has played pivotal roles in opening Vietnam to trade, passing the North American Free Trade Agreement and encouraging the color revolutions of Eastern Europe.  He's visited most countries and knows that foreign policy works by keeping one's word first, not by projecting an ideology or personality.  It will work.  Obama, by contrast, shows neither interest nor experience in foreign affairs, and defers to 300 advisers, mostly from left-wing think tanks.  In the Senate, he's done nothing.

Who Is Barack Obama?  In his book, [William] Owens raises critical questions as to why Black America should have serious doubts about Senator Obama becoming president of the United States, as his religious beliefs and his stance on public policy conflict with Judeo-Christian values and go against everything that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and other Civil Rights leaders ever believed.  Thus, Owens warns Black America not to vote for Senator Obama, based on his charisma, his handsome features, his eloquent speeches and his black skin, but rather, judge him by the content of his character, a sentiment spoken by the great Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. during the Civil Rights Movement.

Why Doesn't McCain Fight Back?  [Scroll down]  As a candidate, Obama doesn't have to undergo a background security check.  As president, however, he will have instant access to our most closely guarded and classified state secrets.  If the truth comes out then, it will be too late.  Many current and former officials have expressed alarm about Obama avoiding a background investigation.  One said, "I used to have top secret clearance, and if I had the contacts that Obama had, I would not have gotten that clearance."

Obama Couldn't Be Cleared.  Considering Barack Obama as a candidate for a top secret security clearance status with a full array of compartmented clearances, one has to be cognizant of the fact that there is considerable evidence of associations and even assistance from individuals with past criminal records or who have expressed anti-American beliefs. ... There is no possibility that a Top Secret clearance would be awarded to a member of the Armed Forces whose background included such associations.  An intelligence service clearance for the handling of highly classified material would be totally out of the question.

Obama Would Fail Security Clearance.  [Obama has had] connections and even indebtedness, throughout his career, to extremist Islam.  Specifically, he has longstanding, if indirect ties to two institutions, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), listed by the U.S. government in 2007 as an unindicted co-conspirator in a Hamas-funding trial, and the Nation of Islam (NOI), condemned by the Anti-Defamation League for its "consistent record of racism and anti-Semitism."

How Crazy are those "Birthers?".  Not only has Obama never passed any standard security clearance, he has never been asked to apply for such clearance and couldn't pass that clearance if his life depended on it.  Yet, he is the Commander-in-Chief of the United States of America, the highest office in our land and the most powerful office in the world, without so much as a simple birth certificate to prove his eligibility for the lofty office he holds.  What if he had to pass security clearance before having access to Top Secret information, as any other American citizen would have to pass?

'Change' Can Lead to Catastrophe.  Some of Sen. Obama's most fervent supporters could not tell you what he has actually done on such issues as crime, education, or financial institutions like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, much less what he plans to do to stop Iran from becoming a nuclear nation supplying nuclear weapons to the international terrorist networks that it has supplied with other weapons.  The magic word "change" makes specifics unnecessary.

A Perfect Storm.  Once the election is over, the glittering generalities of rhetoric and style will mean nothing.  Everything will depend on performance in facing huge challenges, domestic and foreign.  Performance is where Barack Obama has nothing to show for his political career, either in Illinois or in Washington.

Obama's 99% Lie.  In an MSNBC interview yesterday [10/30/2008], Barack Obama repeated his canard that differing judicial philosophies among Supreme Court justices don't matter in "ninety-nine percent of cases [because] the Constitution is actually going to be clear.  Ninety-nine percent of the cases, a statute or congressional intent is going to be clear.  But there are going to be one percent, less than one percent, of real hard cases" where differences in judicial philosophy do matter.  What an idiotic statement.  If Sarah Palin said something so stupid, she'd be pilloried from coast to coast.

Politics of celebrity takes over.  This has been the worst US presidential campaign I've ever seen.  Vacuous, fatuous, misleading, dishonest, trivial, at times unhinged in its disconnect from reality.  The politics of the world's greatest democracy has taken something weird in its Kool-Aid.  How can I say this when both candidates are so attractive and so articulate?  There is your first clue.  The quality of a politician is frequently in inverse proportion to their good looks.

Obama's messianic pretensions:  McCain is a man of action and accomplishment, Obama a man of "charisma" and pretty words, whose only real accomplishment has been his remarkable self-advancement.  And Obama's policy outlook, so far as it can be discerned from the usual electoral pronouncements, consists of the same snake oil the pre-Clinton Democrats had been selling continuously since they chained the Great Society to America's ankle:  that is, a constantly expanding Nanny State.

The Audacity of the Democrats:  At a glance, Obama's quick rise in the world of presidential politics is puzzling. His background, including his personal and political associations, is antithetical to the historical stature of the American presidency.  It could also be said that given his non-traditional upbringing, his schooling in radical politics and his seeming preference for friends and mentors who view America disdainfully, he is antithetical to the traditional American Experience itself.  Obama is young and he has less than one Senate term under his belt.  Neither quality is particularly presidential.

No Reason For Conservatives To Jump Ship.  There's just no comparison.  Obama's own running mate warned this week that Obama's youth and inexperience will invite a crisis — indeed a crisis "generated" precisely to test him.  Can you be serious about national security and vote on Nov. 4 to invite that test?  And how will he pass it?  Well, how has he fared on the only two significant foreign policy tests he has faced since he's been in the Senate?  The first was the surge.  Obama failed spectacularly.

Obama in Leftland:  Obama has proposed a "civilian national security force that's just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-funded [as the military]."  Later he seemed to say (maybe) that this organization would support the military in noncombat duties.  But in that case, why does it have to be so powerful?  Whatever he had in mind, he was obviously not bothered by the ugly historical overtones of muscular national police forces or parallel armies.  History is full of such organizations, from the Committee of Public Safety wreaking bloody havoc in revolutionary Paris to the immense terror-force of the Stalinist NKVD to Mao's murderous Red Guards.  Because Obama (evidently) does not listen to history, he seems to have no sense of its hints and warnings.

Championing Obama.  In Springfield, Senator Obama voted straight Chicago machine and he voted "present" 130 times.  He took no chances and left no mark.  He was not the candidate that he claims to be today, the champion of "reform" and "change."  Though we now know the Prophet Obama as a ceaseless moral ham, he has since his days as an Ivy Leaguer no unique civic, intellectual, or moral achievements to his credit other than two best-sellers, a recent political potboiler and an autobiography that abounds with self-centered indignant passages that his campaign hopes will rarely catch the public eye.

Blind Ambition.  Obama thinks what's right for the country is to elect him, period. ... Barack Obama has what can only be described as a Messianic vision of his own powers.  It is beyond hubris; it verges on delusional.  Before securing the Democratic nomination, Obama's single biggest achievement was to win his Senate seat by beating a perennially losing candidate and carpetbagger from Maryland.  Since his election to the Senate, Obama has produced scant legislative accomplishments.

Obama the Facilitator.  How anyone can seriously consider this exasperatingly unqualified Candidate Obama for President of the United States has confounded me.  Until now.  Now I get it.  And now I know why he scares the wits out of me.  The reason is a little nuanced — small but powerful, in the way a tiny rudder can control a supertanker.  Candidate Barack Obama is not an executive, by profession, but a facilitator.  And therefore, he is not fit to be Commander-in-Chief.

Obama has never successfully managed anything.
 Obama-Led Foundation Spent $49 Million But Had 'Little Impact' on Improving Chicago Schools.  Despite six years and $49.2 million spent to improve schools in the Chicago area, an education reform initiative run by Barack Obama was less than effective, according to two studies, with one in particular describing the grant program as a "failure" that had "little impact on school improvement and student outcomes."

Obama And Ayers' Annenberg Failure:  The joint effort between Barack Obama and terrorist William Ayers to "reform" Chicago schools was a flop.  After spending $160 million, Chicago's children were still being left behind.  It was, and some say still is, his only claim to have executive experience qualifying him for high government office.

Elephant in the Democratic hall.  [Scroll down]  There will be an elephant in the room, or the convention hall, and it won't be a Republican.  It will be a thought, a dread, a fear, that the Democrats are nominating the wrong candidate.  Obama finished the primary season anemically, almost backing into the nomination.  He won his delegate majority largely from caucuses, some sparsely attended.

Barack Obama, Doubting Thomas.  Sen. Obama joins the high-tech lynch mob that still thinks Clarence Thomas is unfit for the Supreme Court.  The ex-state legislator with no accomplishments to his name dares to question Thomas' experience.

Take This and Run.  At this point, the McCain campaign's goal should be to raise doubts about Obama's trustworthiness, and thus ability to lead.  This will require a strategy and a tactic.  The campaign's strategy should be to attack from all directions:  character, past associations, political practice in Chicago, "present" votes, lack of a record of accomplishment.  It should question what it means for a law professor to leave no academic paper trail, yet produce two well-written autobiographies.

The Man Who Would Be King.  What Barack Obama lacks is simple — and a lot more important than it might seem: a sense of humor.  Evident throughout his campaign for the Democratic nomination — can you recall a single Obama witticism? — this proved especially striking at his party's convention.  In an acceptance speech of some 4,600 words, Obama provided not a single good laugh.

Obama Dusts Off Hoover Playbook.  The Obama campaign is using Wall Street's woes as a new rationale for its massive tax increases and protectionism.  The last president to take that approach helped cause the Great Depression.

Obama's ignorance of the law:  Barack Obama continues to embarrass himself with serious misreading of the law and the Constitution.  But the media is not interested in pointing any of this out to voters, who are fed the line he is a brilliant legal thinker.

Obama making his Saddleback performance even worse.  It is simply amazing when you think about it, but the Democrat nominee is trying to win the right to face the Russians, the Iranians, Bin Laden and a plethora of complicated and tough domestic issues by claiming the Republicans are too "mean" to be elected.  This is presidential politics by way of the elementary school classroom.  If 12 year olds could vote, Obama would certainly win in a landslide.

The Case Against Obama — In His Own Words:  In the Saddleback Church forum last week, in response to Rev. Rick Warren's question, "At what point does a baby get human rights in your view?" Obama responded:  "Well, uh, you know, I think that whether you're looking at it from a theological perspective or, uh, a scientific perspective, uh, answering that question with specificity, uh, you know, is, is, uh, above my pay grade."

Obama:  I Have More Executive Experience Than Palin.  Barack Obama contends that he is more experienced in executive matters than Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin because he has managed his presidential campaign for the past 18 months. … John McCain's spokesman called the suggestion "laughable."  "For Barack Obama to argue that he's experienced enough to be president because he's running for president is desperate circular logic and its laughable."

Where's NOW now?  The Democrats and their fellow travelers in the media have tried to attack [Governor Sarah Palin] for being "inexperienced."  I certainly hope they continue down that path, considering the guy at the TOP of their ticket was approving dog license fees in Chicago 3 years ago.

New Ad Shows Obama Not Ready to Lead.  Ad for McCain uses Obama's own words to show he is not ready.

The audacity of resume-padding (or, why Obama makes things up).  [Scroll down]  Obama has accomplished nothing noteworthy despite the golden opportunities and positions he's had; why should we believe he'd be a different man in the White House?  No company would hire anyone with Obama's empty track record, pattern of underachievement and padded résumé to be CEO.  Is America really ready to hire him as President?

Barack Obama, Legal Scholar.  When you examine [Barack Obama's] career in its various dimension, it seems to be marked disturbingly often by failure.  Faced with his failures, he tries to obscure the record; or else he blames mistakes on staffers or other people.  The "successes" he uses as campaign tropes often turn out to be due to the work of others for which he has claimed credit, or to be much less significant than meets the eye.  Fortunately, the spell seems to be wearing off and the media has begun to scrutinize his career a bit more, and it has been found wanting.

Six Degrees of Barack Obama:  Given his origins is it any wonder that Obama seems alternately confused and given to grandiose boasting about his imaginary achievements?  Has any other major party ever sought to nominate a candidate who sought the presidency as a means of resolving his personal identity crisis? … Things have gotten so bad that some Democratic activists are plotting to put Hillary Clinton?s name in nomination as a last ditch measure.

Obama's Vision:  "America Is No Longer What It Could Be, What It Once Was."  Obama is ending a second dismal week in a row, a run of gaffes with few equals in modern American political history, and he was fixed on beating a retreat to Hawaii, only to be ambushed by a 7 year old. … Obama was felled by a second grader.  Asking the same question in essence as had Roger Mudd of Teddy Kennedy.  How could Obama not have an answer at the ready?

Obama will lose.  The Democrats had a dozen or more candidates that began the nomination process.  Without a doubt, the person with the least qualifications was Barack Obama.  Pick any of the potential Democrat candidates and every one of them had more qualifications than Obama.  Obama accomplished nothing in his short time in the Illinois Senate and nothing in the U.S. Senate in the 140 days before he started his presidential election bid.

Why Barack Obama Will Not Win:  One of Obama's most striking characteristics is how "green" he is compared to previous presidential candidates. … He has never served in an important leadership position in government, business, or the military.  His ability to perform as a chief executive officer is completely untested.  Obama has prestigious degrees from Columbia University and Harvard Law School, but no significant professional achievements to his name.

Does O Understand Anything About Ballistic Missile Defense?  It's already evident that Mr. Obama doesn't understand a lot about oil, coal and natural gas, the three key fuels of the world economy.  Senator O doesn't know much about General Petraeus' surge in Iraq — a fundamental change in warfighting tactics, not just a surge in troop strength, as the media seem to think.  Barack Obama has odd ideas about average Americans, and has a tendency to sneer at the rest of us.  Barack and Michelle seem to be totally obsessed with race, the greatest sin of our age according to liberals.  In sum, the Obamas seem mentally boxed into a very narrow liberal faith on all those issues.

Is Obama Able To 'Seal' The Deal?  Apparently Obama shares the victim mentality — or at least is willing to exploit it.  He asks, in essence, how anyone can oppose him and stand in the way of both change and history.  And he implies that anyone who does so must be a racist.  His words bear a resemblance to the words thundered from the pulpit of his Trinity United Church by the likes of Jeremiah Wright and Michael Pfleger.

Barack Hubris Obama.  It's possible that Obama forgets that he still needs to be elected because a competitive general election is totally unfamiliar to him.  In Chicago, where the Republican Party barely exists, the winner of the Democratic primary automatically wins the general election.

Deconstructing Obama:  [Scroll down]  According to the deconstructionists, if I want to throw my full support to candidate Obama, then I must literally force myself to go completely athwart these Western tendencies, and opt to reverse them.  I must accept that Obama's nearly empty resume for the Presidency is actually better than McCain's full resume. … I must accept that Obama's difference, in terms of his racial makeup is actually better than McCain's common identity with my own.  Whatever happened to Martin Luther King's insistence on a colorblind society?

Barack's No Reagan.  Barack Obama is an arrogant pretender to a throne he has not earned.  He wanted to stand at the Brandenburg Gate like Reagan, grasping desperately for a chance to look presidential.  But he hasn't in any way demonstrated Reagan's resolve against America's enemies.  Instead, this power-hungry newbie has stood in about seven different places in the last four years on the primary controversy of our time.

Who is the real Sen. Obama?  Although Sen. Obama appears to be an articulate, physically appealing, apparently educated man, he has, throughout the campaign, demonstrated that he is little more than a vacuous political functionary best served by following carefully scripted speeches and appearances, a man unable to think on his feet, a man unable to understand the scope of the position he seeks, a man with no demonstrable leadership skills and, given the didacticism of his elitist pronouncements, surprisingly unintelligent.

Hillary is Right About Obama.  Hillary Clinton is wrong on most issues, but she is right about Barack Obama.  Obama is an empty dashiki; he has no experience in any job remotely resembling the presidency of the United States.  Two terms in the Illinois legislature just won't do; and a few years in the US Senate, running for President, is no experience at all.

Barack Obama Isn't Making Sense.  Maybe Barack Obama's feints to the right will benefit him politically, maybe they'll offend liberals who believed he really was a different kind of politician. Maybe the swing voters Obama is wooing with his less-liberal rhetoric are no longer paying attention by the time he lurches back to the left.  But one thing is clear:  Obama isn't as deep a policy thinker as his admirers pretend.  Many of his issue positions, evolving and otherwise, scarcely make sense.

The Real "Age Issue":  In the course of the past few months, Obama has gone from broadcasting a worrying arrogance to radiating a near-helplessness.  The Wright affair has played out like a textbook teenage drama.  Obama fell in with the wrong crowd, refused to stop seeing them, got into real trouble, and had to come to painful grips with the fact that his friends were just users.  In this and several other respects, Obama seems, simply, young.  The overconfidence, the need to be adored by everyone, the naïvité, and now the befuddlement.

Obama the Inexperienced:  I am all for a post-racial, nonpolarized society, but Obama has yet to detail how that would work and on which issues he is willing to move toward the center from positions any reasonable observer would have to describe as far-left, even radical.

Reporters should be asking these questions of Barack Obama:  Q:  Before your trip to Iraq, you said that you intend to give the military a "new mission" — all of the combat troops withdrawn within 16 months.  Why bother traveling to Iraq and consulting with commanders on the ground, if you've already decided on a new mission?

Obama Ignorance Watch:  Obama's assertion that terrorism has made Israel "dig in" is ludicrously counterfactual.  I understand that on the Obama campaign bus they only watch ESPN, but it's still surprising that the news of last week's prisoner swap escaped the presumptive nominee's notice.

Obama and the Values Question Mark:  Exit polls in Indiana and North Carolina show clearly that fewer than 60% of white voters believe Mr. Obama shares their values.  In a recent NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll, only 45% of the American electorate said they can identify with Mr. Obama's values, compared to 54% who say they can identify with John McCain's values.

Obama and Clinton:  two cynical losers.  Under pressure in a Democratic primary, Mr Obama has sounded just like any other tax-raising, government-loving Democratic politician.  Worse, he has revealed himself to be a member of that special subset of the party's liberal elite — a well-educated man with a serious superiority complex.

Is Obama Ready for Prime Time?  Mr. Obama's call for postpartisanship looks unconvincing, when he is unable to point to a single important instance in his Senate career when he demonstrated bipartisanship.  And his repeated calls to remember Dr. Martin Luther King's "fierce urgency of now" in tackling big issues falls flat as voters discover that he has not provided leadership on any major legislative battle.  Mr. Obama has not been a leader on big causes in Congress.

Obama's Dimestore 'Mein Kampf': "Dreams From My Father"  Has anybody read this book?  Inasmuch as the book reveals Obama to be a flabbergasting lunatic, I gather the answer is no.  Obama is about to be our next president:  You might want to take a peek.  If only people had read "Mein Kampf" … Nearly every page — save the ones dedicated to cataloguing the mundane details of his life — is bristling with anger at some imputed racist incident.

Obama the Ditherer:  In his autobiography, Obama came across as an extremely passive figure.  By Obama's own telling, things just happened to him.  Obama's study of his own life didn't bother tracing how he transformed himself from a self-described Hawaiian "pothead" to Harvard Law School student to managing editor of Harvard's Law Review.  Obama didn't see fit to give himself any action scenes in his own book.  I found this a little disconcerting.  Memoir writing typically isn't a game for the shy or the modest.  This holds doubly so when the memoirist is barely out of his 20's as Obama was when he wrote Dreams from My Father.

Obama Should Come Clean On Ayers, Rezko And the Iraqi Billionaire.  Politico asked months ago if Mr. Obama had ever written anything for the Harvard Law Review as a student.  The Obama campaign responded narrowly, with a Clintonesque statement that "as the president of the Law Review, Obama didn't write articles, he edited and reviewed them."  This month it turned out Mr. Obama had written an article — but it was published a month before he became president.

Of Race and the Race:  Bill Clinton and George W. Bush had governed states.  Al Gore and John Kerry had served in the Senate.  Ross Perot had built and run more than one major company.  Powell had won a (short) war.  Would-be President Obama has written two best-selling books.  A persuasive resume requires, shall we say, a bit more.

Not quite the next JFK.  Barack Obama is making headway in presidential politics by following a formula John F. Kennedy would appreciate:  promise change, ooze charisma, and downplay experience. … The Kennedy model works well for Obama, but only up to a point.  Compared with Obama, JFK was a seasoned political veteran.

Diminishing Palin:  Literally every Republican candidate for president since 1980 has had his intellect belittled. … Of course, no such scrutiny greets Democratic candidates.  Barack Obama can't make it through a 30 second extemporaneous statement on his campaign bus without a profusion of "ums" and "ahs."  And yet Obama's stumbling diction has yet to interest his worshippers in the press the way that George H.W. Bush's periodic wrestling matches with the English language did.

Who's afraid of Obama?  It's a little early to be dismissing anybody as a possible 2006 Democratic presidential nominee, but at the risk of looking silly a year from now, I want to go on record as saying that, having brooded about it a while, I think Barack Obama is a flash in the pan who is highly unlikely to be taken seriously as a presidential possibility 18 months from now.  Vice president?  Maybe.  President?  No.

The Twenty Biggest Stories Of 2008:  (#2)  Barack Obama wins the presidency:  America's first black President has been elected and soon, Americans are hoping to find out what he wants to do and whether or not he's qualified for the job.

It's Always November.  It must be remembered that Obama has spent his entire career campaigning for the next office, and has only lost one election.  He won the first time he ran for the Illinois State Senate, and then started eying Washington.  He was defeated the first time he ran for the House, but two years later won election to the Senate.  And he barely had time to warm his seat there before he began running for the presidency.  So Obama has plenty of success in campaigning.  How about in governing?  Not so much.



"Community Organizer" — Big Deal!

A Community Organizer Takes On the World.  The call du jour from the mountaintop at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue is for all of us to rise above, or in new age parlance "transcend," mere mortal self-interest.  On the domestic level this means that capitalism — a mean, primal, greedy, and materialistic approach to economics that steals from the poor to give to the rich — must be replaced (slowly, but surely) with a more enlightened approach; one that emphasizes social justice and the equitable distribution of wealth.  This is all the rage these days.  It may be called "progressive," but it's really a barely-if-at-all disguised form of socialism.

The Obama Administration, Explained.  The community organizer's job is to speak to groups within "the community;" write letters to sympathetic newspaper editors; bring in outside experts and professional rabble-rousers (who often come with their own professional rabble) and, most important, get the media to cover the demonstrations — all with the object of assembling the critical mass of humanity needed to embarrass and/or pressure the private parties and/or government into doing what "the community" wants.  Or, sometimes more accurately, what the community organizer has told them they want.

Everything's Just Fine.  Truth be known, what else were we to expect from the new administration?  In the Senate our president was the most left-wing member by a lot.  That is a fact, clearly visible to those who followed his voting record.  He is also the least experienced major-party presidential candidate in over a century.  As for his experience before he entered upon his brief political career, he has never been in the private sector where he might have gained knowledge about profit margins, the difficulty of maintaining a workforce, or the burden of even a slight tax increase.  His sole experience has been a fleeting period teaching law and the anomalous experience of being a community organizer, that is to say, a rabble-rouser who organizes needy people to pester governments and corporations for cash or services.

Barack Obama and Alinsky's Rules for Psychopaths.  A psychopath is a person without conscience; someone who constantly breaks the moral rules of the community.  Saul Alinsky was a "community organizer" who found a career that fit that personality disorder.  In the Orwellian upside-down world of the Left, community organizers disorganize communities.  That is the meaning of revolution, to overturn whatever exists today in the raw pursuit of one's own power. ... Alinsky's disciples — including Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama — have a warlike political style.  They learned politics as war from the Master.  Obama is so well-trained in Alinsky tactics that he used to teach workshops on it.

The Alinsky Administration.  Barack Obama never met Saul Alinsky, but the radical organizer's thought helps explain a great deal about how the president operates.  Alinsky died in 1972, when Obama was 11 years old.  But three of Obama's mentors from his Chicago days studied at a school Alinsky founded, and they taught their students the philosophy and methods of one of the first "community organizers."

ACORN:  A Clear and Present Danger.  It's no surprise that Barack Obama is ACORN's choice for the White House.  ACORN, after all, was created by those who subscribed to Saul Alinsky's left-wing belief that class warfare is the only war worth fighting and that in order to win it, the ends always justify the means.  And however much the left has recently attempted to pass off "community organizer" as a Christ-like vocation, everyone in his right mind knows that these days it's code for Communist activist.

Ruling by a Radical.  [Saul] Alinsky, who believed that the revolution had to be carried out through stealth and deception with its proponents cultivating an image of centrism and pragmatism, set out in Rules for Radicals how capitalism would be overthrown by the mobilisation of the masses and the whipping up of their discontent.  The strategy revolved around creating apparently moderate local organisations that would be manipulated by community organisers — effectively deniable political agitators — to foment grievance and dissent.

B.O.'s pals stink.  The life experience Obama brings as his credentials for the White House is of a community organizer in Chicago.  [Peter] Slevin reported Alinsky's disciples hired Obama to "organize black residents on the south side, while learning and applying Alinsky's philosophy of street-level democracy."  In 1985 Obama moved to Chicago and there discovered Alinsky through his disciples and writings.  It is the Alinsky connection that compellingly reveals Obama's career.

Obama's Alinsky Hoodwink is Coming Home to Roost.  Winning a national Presidential election is not at all the same thing as organizing a group of citizens to agitate for more government interventions and taxpayer money.  Community organizers generally aim their demands at government bureaucrats, who are doling out other people's money, not their own.

ACORN's Senator.  Obama, who once represented ACORN in a lawsuit against the state of Illinois, was hired by the group to train its community organizers and staff in the methods and tactics of the late Saul Alinsky.  ACORN would stage in-your-face protests in bank lobbies, drive-through lanes and even at bank managers' homes to get them to issue risky loans in the inner city or face charges of racism.  In the early 1990s, reports Stanley Kurtz, senior fellow at the Ethics and Policy Center, Obama was personally recruited by Chicago's ACORN to run training sessions in "direct action."

The Relevance of Community Organizing:  Obama spent three years in housing projects in Chicago and — according to his book, Dreams of My Father — even he couldn't explain what he was doing.  "When classmates in college asked me just what it was that a community organizer did, I couldn't answer them directly," Obama wrote.  Indeed, who could say what a community organizer does?

How Obama Applies Alinsky's Rules:  Obama doesn't look or talk like an angry radical.  He speaks in measured tones and is rarely seen out of business attire.  That, too, is borrowed from Alinsky's playbook.  "Don't scare" the middle class, he guides urban revolutionaries in his 1970s manual, "Rules for Radicals" (which he dedicated to mankind's "first radical, Lucifer").  Instead, look like them, talk like them, act like them.  And work for radical change from the inside — "like a spy behind enemy lines," as Obama said in his first memoir.  He wrote it before entering politics, while still working with hard-left Alinsky groups and training street agitators known as "community organizers."

Barack Obama and Alinsky's Rules for Psychopaths:  A psychopath is a person without conscience; someone who constantly breaks the moral rules of the community.  Saul Alinsky was a "community organizer" who found a career that fit that personality disorder.  In the Orwellian upside-down world of the Left, community organizers disorganize communities.  That is the meaning of revolution, to overturn whatever exists today in the raw pursuit of one's own power.

The Unspoken Campaign Message of Obama.  There is a theme to the political campaign of Barack Obama.  It follows the teachings of Saul Alinksy, and it can be summed up easily:  I will do anything to win.  That was the theory of Alinsky, whose radicalism was simply radicalism for power, not for the powerless.  Obama, like Alinsky, is not so much an ideologue as a power fanatic. ... In college, it seems, Obama heard and spoke the word "power" as normal people would speak or hear the words "soul" or "honor" or "God."  Power, alone, counts to him.  He will do anything to win power, and men who will do anything to win power will do anything at all.

Organizer In Chief Barack's Controversial Roots.  The roots of community organizing stretch back to the 1930s and the efforts of organizer Saul Alinsky, founder of the Industrial Areas Foundation and author of "Rules for Radicals," to organize people in low-income areas into a political force to combat the political machine that ran Chicago.  Alinsky won many admirers on the Left, but it took President Lyndon Johnson's War On Poverty to supercharge community organizing by directing billions of federal dollars to neighborhood groups with the naive and ambiguous goal of "empowering" communities.

Media's Treatment of Palin and Obama:  [Where are] the deep articles describing "community organizers", what they do, who they revere, etc?  The nation has never had a President whose principal job before entering politics was "community organizer."  One would think at least some people would be interested to learn a bit about that profession before voting a "community organizer" into the Oval Office.  If Sarah palin had been a "community organizer" would we see such articles?

Obama and South Chicago Slum Developers:  If the full story is ever widely known of Illinois State Senator Obama's association with several South Chicago slum landlords to whom the Daley's administration turned-over ownership and management of public housing properties, the voters will rightly ask:  Did the candidate who tells us to be our brothers' keeper not know how developers in and near his district were turning housing for the poor into even more horrific slums?  Or, did he know full well what was happening and either didn't care, or was afraid to speak-up?  That seems a fair question.  Whatever the answer, the myth of the community organizer fighting for the poor is seriously busted.

Putting Lipstick on the Community Organizing Pig.  In the immortal words of Obama's political mentor, Saul Alinsky, an organizer's job is to "rub raw the sores of discontent" and mount a socialist revolution.  In the 1930s and 40s, Alinsky called his revolutionary forces "People's Organizations," but once the word "people" became so tainted by the brutalities of communist "people's republics," he changed the code word to "community," hoping to make it sound more American and neighborly.

The 'Community Organizer's' New Clothes.  "Community organizer" is to Barack Obama what "war hero" was to John Kerry.  To be sure, the analogy is imprecise.  After all, Americans know what a war hero is, and the question in 2004 was whether Kerry really was one. … By contrast, it is a mystery exactly what a "community organizer" does….

Community Organizer In Chief.  Barack Obama claims he worked for a "small group of churches" as a community organizer.  In fact, he was hired by a radical Alinskyite group, and Saul Alinsky's own son has outed him. ... "I am proud to see that my father's model for organizing is being applied successfully beyond local community organizing to affect the Democratic campaign in 2008," the author said.  "It is a fine tribute to Saul Alinsky as we approach his 100th birthday."  The person who signed the letter, Lee David Alinsky, a longtime public TV producer in the Boston area, is indeed the son of the late radical.  Alinsky no doubt felt compelled to make the tribute on behalf of Obama because Obama refuses to even acknowledge his Alinsky training in public.

Obama:  Lucifer Is My Homeboy.  [Scroll down] David Freddoso's magnificent new book, The Case Against Barack Obama describes the forefather to "community organizers" like Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton — the famed Saul Alinsky.  Alinsky is sort of the George Washington of "community organizers."  If there were an America-hater's Mount Rushmore, Saul Alinsky would be on it.  He tried to hire Hillary to work for him right out of Wellesley.  A generation later, those who had trained with Alinsky did hire Obama as a community organizer.

Saul Alinsky:  the Puppet Master.  Saul Alinsky, who died in 1972, at the age of 63, was a Chicago Marxist.  Among his many books was one titled "Rules for Radicals," in which he explained to his acolytes, "The most effective means are whatever will achieve the desired results."  It took Alinsky 11 words to paraphrase Karl Marx's far more succinct "The ends justify the means."  Alinsky, by the way, dedicated that particular book to Lucifer, whom he coyly referred to as "the first radical."

Obama's Leftism:  Thanks to a grant from a left-wing foundation, he was hired by a small group of white protégés of Saul Alinsky, the original apostle of "community organizing."  Alinsky's institutional base was the Industrial Areas Foundation, which he called a "school for professional radicals" and whose goal he announced to be "revolution, not revelation." ... In other words, "community organizer," to Obama and his colleagues and mentors, was a euphemism for professional radical.  It was in the course of trying to mobilize churches for political protest that Obama met Jeremiah Wright.

O's Dangerous Pals:  What exactly does a "community organizer" do?  Barack Obama's rise has left many Americans asking themselves that question.  Here's a big part of the answer:  Community organizers intimidate banks into making high-risk loans to customers with poor credit.  In the name of fairness to minorities, community organizers occupy private offices, chant inside bank lobbies, and confront executives at their homes — and thereby force financial institutions to direct hundreds of millions of dollars in mortgages to low-credit customers.  In other words, community organizers help to undermine the US economy by pushing the banking system into a sinkhole of bad loans.  And Obama has spent years training and funding the organizers who do it.

Obama:  The Company He Kept.  Obama has been quoted as saying that his four years as a community organizer were the best education he ever got anywhere.  That is admittedly an ambiguous statement, leaving it unclear just what it was that Obama felt he had learned in those years.  Was it the usefulness of radical agitation for social/economic goals or its limitations?  Did he move on to more mainstream attitudes and actions only, as with his former spiritual guru, when it became politically prudent to do so?  And how would we know?

A Tale of Two Community Organizers.  Jim Jones could round up crowds of protesters and door to door campaign workers on demand.  Admired and enabled by San Francisco Democrats and media moguls, Jones gathered emotionally and economically needy people around him, pretending to be a minister to their needs.  He forced them to drain their bank accounts, sign over their homes and their welfare and social security checks.  Jones gave their money generously to the Democrat liberal elite and stashed millions in illegal overseas accounts.  When Democrats needed a crowd of thousands, Jones provided his willing flock.



The self-centered opportunist, his unjustified self-esteem and easily bruised ego

Yet Another Obama:  Barack Obama speaks frequently of the Golden Rule, but lives one of his own:  If he helps my career, flaunt him; if he doesn't, dump him.  That rule is universal, applying to principle as well as people, the sacred as well as the profane — anything, and anyone, that gets in the way, anything, and anyone, to get ahead.

Barack H. Dewey.  Barack Obama's certainty about winning betrays the same arrogance found in his socialist ideology.  "President Dewey" learned the hard way that Americans reject candidates who count their chickens.

No Reason For Conservatives To Jump Ship.  McCain's critics are offended that he raised the issue of William Ayers.  What's astonishing is that Obama was himself not offended by William Ayers.  Moreover, the most remarkable of all tactical choices of this election season is the attack that never was.  Out of extreme (and unnecessary) conscientiousness, McCain refused to raise the legitimate issue of Obama's most egregious association — with the race-baiting Rev. Jeremiah Wright.

The Audacity of Obama:  When Barack Obama won the Democratic nomination, many had high hopes that his breakthrough would move American social consciousness forward into a post-racial era.  Many thought the time had come when candidates would be judged by their qualifications and dedication to our country, not by their race.  To see why it is impossible for Obama to play this transcending role, read his autobiography, "Dreams From My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance."  His Dreams are obsessed with race and race conflict.

Malignant Narcissism.  Grandiosity, more than anything else, is what characterizes Obama's character and campaign.  Grandiosity is also, more than anything else, what characterizes narcissism, and Obama's narcissism has become obvious to many.  Tony Blankley refers to Obama's posturing as the "height of hubris."  Jeffrey Kuhner writes that Obama "is a self-absorbed narcissist who portrays himself as a political messiah — the anointed one."  David Limbaugh writes of the "unspeakably presumptuous extravaganzas as those [that] feted Mr. Obama at Berlin and Invesco Field."  In reference to Obama's narcissism, Charles Krauthammer asks, "[H]as there ever been a presidential nominee with a wider gap between his estimation of himself and the sum total of his lifetime achievements?"

The Enigma of Obama.  [Maureen] Dowd did not carry her analysis far enough.  As Johnson and Vaknin and others have already pointed out, the traits she hints at would alert a psychologist to the likelihood of narcissistic personality disorder (NPD), whose symptoms include
 •  An exaggerated sense of self-importance; exaggerates achievements and talents; expects to be recognized as superior without commensurate achievements
 •  Need for excessive admiration
 •  A sense of entitlement
 •  Selfishness; taking advantage of others to achieve own ends
 •  Lack of empathy
 •  Arrogant, haughty, patronizing, or contemptuous behavior or attitudes.
It is important to realize that NPD is much more dangerous than simple vanity. ... A child with NPD is bad enough — but what if that child had the immense power of the President of the United States?

And Where Are The Witnesses To His Ability?  Barack Obama is an immensely talented man whose talents have been largely devoted to crafting, and chronicling, his own life.  Not things.  Not ideas.  Not institutions.  But himself.  Nothing wrong or even terribly odd about that, except that he is laying claim to the job of crafting the coming history of the United States.  A leap of such audacity is odd.

The audacity of ego:  Just like the Obama girl, Obama has a crush on Obama.  Barack Obama always was a larger-than-life candidate with a healthy ego.  Now he's turning into the A-Rod of politics.  It's all about him.  He's giving his opponent something other than issues to attack him on:  narcissism.  A convention hall isn't good enough for the presumptive Democratic nominee.  He plans to deliver his acceptance speech in the 75,000 seat stadium where the Denver Broncos play.

The Operative Term is 'Hubris'.  Hubris is overweening pride, an arrogance so profound and so visible as to affront the gods themselves.  Hubris was a quality often identified with Greek tragic heroes.  The hero allowed simple human pride in his accomplishments and station to burgeon to offensive proportions, at which point the wheels of fate began rolling.

It's the Culture, Stupid.  Obama is the one — The One! — so arrogant that he said his own nomination would be "the moment when we began to provide care for the sick and good jobs to the jobless; this was the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal...." So arrogant, too, so presumptuous, that he designed his own presidential seal.

Obama:  A messiah in his own eyes.  Obama's campaign speeches reveal that he has finally convinced himself that he is, indeed, another "messiah."  Month by month, his rhetoric has grown from confident, to tyrannical.  "I will issue rebate checks to help you with the price of gasoline…" he says, with no regard for what Congress might say.  "I will tax the oil company profits…" as if some celestial power anointed him with the authority to impose taxes when and where he sees fit.

Barack Obama:  Pretense galore.  He barely won his own party's nomination, but his campaign designed its own presidential seal and has "President" printed across the back of his seat on his campaign jet.  And when he told congressional Democrats "I have become a symbol of the possibility of America returning to our best traditions," it might be true — but what kind of person would say that about himself?  Would you?

Obama, Postmodernist.  Asked to define sin, Barack Obama replied that sin is "being out of alignment with my values."  Statements such as this have caused many people to wonder whether Obama has a God complex or is hopelessly arrogant.  For the record, sin isn't being out of alignment with your own values (if it were, Hannibal Lecter wouldn't be a sinner because his values hold that it's OK to eat people) nor is it being out of alignment with Obama's — unless he really is our Savior.  There is, however, a third possibility.  Obama is a postmodernist.

Ego-Bama, Swallow Some of that Pride.  Perhaps Dominic Lawson, writing in the British newspaper The Independent had it right when he recently wrote that Obama is "a man of stunning articulacy, but also stunning self-regard."  Last July, Obama explained to reporters that he would eventually overtake Hillary Rodham Clinton in the polls because "to know me is to love me."  Some months later, according to The Associated Press' Ron Fournier, he proclaimed, "Every place is Barack Obama country once Barack Obama's been there."

Obama the Prideful:  Elitism remains the candidate's fatal flaw.  Many people are noticing the high regard Obama has for himself as a defining hallmark of the candidate and his campaign. He has proven unable to stop the flow of telling signs.

A Runaway Ego is Barack's Blind Spot.  Every political campaign has its weak spot. Every human being has his own blind spots.  In politics and war, it's those blind spots that eventually make for victory or defeat.  When an opponent discovers that weak spot, he just needs to hit it over and over again to win. … For Barack and Michelle Obama, the biggest blind spot is Ego Tripping — the temptations of boastful grandiosity.

Alfred E. Obama is Not Funny!!  If you think that Muslims burning the Danish Mohammed Cartoons don't have a sense of humor, you ain't seen nothin' yet.  Just wait til the Political Correct Commissars catch you laughing at Barack Obama. … Mr. Obama is very easily offended, like Don Quixote, the Man of La Mancha, who is constantly looking for the smallest slights to his egg-shell fragile ego.

Obama's lack of ordinary modesty:  Hillary Rodham Clinton never doubted for a moment that she could fashion a better health care system from the top.  That is arrogance beyond the ordinary, arrogance to the point of mad grandiosity.  It is not a rational state of mind.  That is Obama's brand of arrogance as well — except that according to Michelle Obama, Barack intends to redesign no less than America as a whole, to "restore our souls."  That sort of more-than-human belief in one's own higher power drove Lenin and the Soviet Politburo to create a command economy that had Russian peasants starving for decades.

Will Obama Let the Sunshine In?  His recent flip-flops on guns, the death penalty and Iraq suggest he is less inclined to belief-based '60s style activism than to pragmatic opportunism.  The old school wanted to triumph.  He wants to succeed. … If he wins, though, the country would have a president who lacks personal and political clarity.  This would give the politics of hope new meaning.  What precisely do voters think they're getting?

Run for president, see the USA (at last).  The New York Times … notes that it is rather unusual for someone to run for president without having already gotten to know America beyond the big (blue) cities. … Nowhere in the Times article is mention made of the mysterious trip Obama managed to undertake as a college student:  all the way to Pakistan.  Somehow, there was money for jetting around Asia. … Money issues haven't prevented Obama from visiting the Islamic world, but do explain his lack of interest in visiting America.  Nice logic.

Gone, but Not Forgotten.  So here we have the Obama paradox:  The more he poses, and is praised, as the post-racial healer, the more 25 years of his career belie the rhetoric.  In short, he now talks far more humanely than most about race, but the way in which he started and nourished his career proves that he was also far more cynical and divisive than most.

Obama No.  I've never been an Obama supporter.  I've known him since the very beginning of his political career, which was his campaign for the seat in my state senate district in Chicago.  He struck me then as a vacuous opportunist, a good performer with an ear for how to make white liberals like him.

Obamas Donated Less Than 1% of Their 2000-2004 Income.  Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama and his wife Michelle gave $10,772 of the $1.2 million they earned from 2000 through 2004 to charities, or less than 1 percent, according to tax returns for those years released today by his campaign. … Bill Burton, a campaign spokesman, said the Obamas gave as much as they could afford.

Something more than audacity.  Barack Obama knows about audacity.  He learned it from the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, perfected it in Chicago and dazzles Democrats from Sioux City to Skagway and smaller places between.  Fresh from his triumphs with the Audacity of Hope, he's eager to aim the Audacity of Bloviation at Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who dreams of making a Hiroshima of Tel Aviv.

Walking on Eggshells:  Is Barack Obama protected by a special suit of armor — one that fits only African Americans?  [And] is this a big enough factor, in Obama's case, to change the nature of the campaign?  Are opponents forced to pull their punches?

Obama Warns of 'Quiet Riot' Among Blacks.  Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama said Tuesday that the Bush administration has done nothing to defuse a "quiet riot" among blacks that threatens to erupt just as riots in Los Angeles did 15 years ago.  The first-term Illinois senator said that with black people from New Orleans and the Gulf Coast still displaced 20 months after Hurricane Katrina, frustration and resentments are building explosively as they did before the 1992 riots.

The concerns about Obama's character flaws are more important now that he has won the election.  See this page.



Many people have expressed multiple concerns

Surviving Until January 21 Without Committing Murder or Suicide.  [Scroll down]  Wretched souls who cannot escape browsing, watching, listening to, or reading mainstream media accounts between now and January 21 will find barf bags indispensable for survival in a society gone barking mad.  Such unfortunates will be easy marks for price gouging as the intensity of the great liberal Dumbing Down of 2009 increases, leading to the inauguration of America's first non-citizen Marxist to the U.S. Presidency.  It is simply amazing what $750 million dollars, massive voter fraud, and a mainstream media with "thrills" running up and down their legs can do to promote a former community organizer with little or no accomplishment of note to his credit.

10 Concerns about Barack Obama:  (#1.) Barack Obama's foreign policy is dangerous, naïve, and betrays a profound misreading of history.  (#5.) Barack Obama's judgment about personal and professional affiliations is more than troubling.  (#9.) Barack Obama is to the left of Hillary Clinton and NARAL on the issue of life.

FactCheck.org Good Enough for the Supreme Court and MSM Why Not You?  Despite numerous cases filed in numerous courts across the country, some of which include sworn affidavits from Obama family members who swear he was born in Kenya, the fact that numerous well respected forgery experts have claimed that the COLB posted on Obama's web-site is a fraud, the fact that Obama by his own accounts, was a citizen of Indonesia under the name Barry Soetoro and traveled on an Indonesian passport until the age of 21, while at Occidental College, the high court sees no reason to doubt his eligibility for the highest office in the land...

Sorry, But Obama Scares Me.  With his sordid background in "community organizing" and his symbiotic relationship with an organization that is engaged in a systematic effort to steal this election, his thug tactics to investigate and silence his critics, and his Democratic colleagues' willingness to use government to shut down conservative talk radio, are you not worried about our liberties under an Obama administration?  Before our very eyes, America stands poised to elect as president the most radical man ever to run for this office credibly.  Don't say we didn't warn you.

Why Can't Blagojevich Sell a Senate Seat?  The list of unanswered Obama questions is endless.  Why so many ill-advised associates for so many years?  Why are you spending a million dollars in legal fees to avoid showing a birth certificate?  Who is Dr. Khalid al-Mansour (aka Donald Warden) and why was he raising money for your Harvard education?  Why have you refused to release your college records at Occidental, Columbia and Harvard?  Why won't you release a full list of donors responsible for more than $200 million in overseas campaign contributions?  How did you pay for college with no job and no record of student loans on your tax returns?

OK, Let's Skip the Liberal Label.  There's little doubt America is a center-right nation, which is why Barack Obama denies and conceals his liberalism and packages himself as a harbinger of hope and change.  Obama's policies represent change all right: change from almost everything our Founding Fathers considered sacred and vital to the preservation of individual liberty in America.  He also offers hope:  hope for those who share his shame in what America has become, what it stands for, and what makes it unique in world history.

Barack Obama and the End of the Republic.  Obama has direct — not indirect — affiliations and partnerships with unrepentant terrorists William Ayers and Bernadine Dohrn.  But, the Obama media tells us that no one cares — most especially the media.  Obama's over 20-year mentor and "spiritual advisor" Jeremiah Wright is a self-proclaimed anti-American, Black Liberation and racist advocate.  The media tells us that no one cares about this, either.

Subversives for Obama.  If any other candidate had had merely a fleeting relationship with William Ayers, his candidacy would have been terminated before it was even articulated — let alone what we now know about Obama's key role in Ayers's CAC and its funding of radical groups; let alone the fact that Obama had been mentored during his formative years by a Communist Party plant; let alone his work for organisations modelled on the seditious philosophy of Saul Alinsky; let alone his two-decade membership of a Black Power church; let alone his relationship with fraudster Tony Rezko.  And yet despite all of this, virtually no-one in the mainstream media is asking any questions.

The argument against Barack Obama.  [This article] is by no means comprehensive, but it does shed some much-needed light on a number of Obama's positions, statements, and associations about which he has been less than honest.  We've attempted to boil each issue down to a succinct explanation with an accompanying, brief video clip — often starring Barack Obama in his own words.  Before pulling the lever for someone who hopes voters will ignore his paper-thin resume, unsavory associations, and hard-left voting record, each citizen has a duty to do his due diligence.

Why I'm Voting for John McCain:  There is much to be said about Senator Obama.  Where shall we begin?  Perhaps with the fact that he's married to a bitter, angry, anti-American racist.  And let us not forget his minister, who damned this country and white people for a thousand Sundays while Senator Obama sat in a pew and somehow heard nothing offensive being spewed from the pulpit.  Not to be overlooked is his friend, Tony Rezko, a Chicago fixer who went to jail on corruption charges, but not before making certain that Obama got a very favorable home loan.  Other notables on Obama's list of friends and associates are Bill Ayers, who was an American bomb thrower, and Father Pfleger, a priest who reminds some of us of the late, unlamented, anti-Semite, Father Coughlin.

Three ghosts haunt Barack.  He has three major vulnerabilities here as I see it.  One is his 20-year relationship with the Rev. Jeremiah Wright. … Another problem is Obama's relationship with the unrepentant Weather Underground terrorist bomber William Ayers. … On Ayers, the Obama campaign has tried to suppress discussion.  But it will likely fail.

Romanticizing Obama.  It's true that the media has built a pretty tight firewall around him, insulating Americans from the less savory information in his past. ... [Even so,] Voters know that he spent 20 years attending weekly sermons from a man who loathes America; they know that he spent a significant chunk of his career as a community organizer, a "profession" most Americans would find impossible either to define or to justify; they know that he was a law professor who never managed to publish anything; they know that he didn't sponsor any significant legislation during his tenure in the Illinois Senate; they know that he didn't sponsor any significant legislation during his tenure in the United States Senate; and they know that he's spent virtually all of his undistinguished time in the United States Senate campaigning to become president.  In other words, no matter how the media tries to protect Obama from his own past, the facts that have leaked out reveal a man of little experience and no accomplishments.

You Can Put Lipstick on a Socialist — But He's Still a Socialist.  Obama and his camp have lipsticked the following: … They've lipsticked their wealth redistribution aspirations by calling it "economic justice."  Sounds like theft to me. … They've lispticked the dog out of Obama's mentors and associates such as Frank Marshall Davis, Gerald Kellman, Bill Ayers and Rev. Jeremiah Wright. … They put $20 worth of lipstick on his "community organizer" stuff.

Obama's Dirty Fight:  [Scroll down]  By his action, Mr. Obama has invited scrutiny into why the convicted felon, Tony Rezko, helped him pick his home, and why Mrs. Rezko bought the next door plot and cheaply sold him a strip to enhance his property's value.  And he has drawn attention to his own multi-millionaire status, and his wife's $316,962 salary for ushering the poor and needy away from the University of Chicago Medical Center.  Not to mention the $101,083 she received from TreeHouse Foods Inc., a subsidiary of that bastion of workers' rights, Wal-Mart, which lifted her pay in 2006 to $374,701.  And why Mr. Obama lobbied for a $1 million earmark for the Center while his wife was drawing a hefty salary there.  And on and on.

The Marxist Brother:  I simply can't figure out how [Obama has] managed to convince so many people that he should be the president of the United States. … As a rule, guys like Dukakis, Gore and Kerry, are just typical party hacks.  But at least none of them attended a racist church, they didn't associate with known terrorists and they usually didn't display their contempt for national symbols and the U.S. military quite so blatantly.

Top Seven Reasons Why Barack Obama is a Weaker Candidate Than People Think.  Perhaps the most appealing aspect of Barack Obama's candidacy was his post-racial rhetoric.  Here was a candidate who rejected the whole race baiting meme that Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton have turned into careers.  That was incredibly appealing to white Americans, many of whom would like nothing better than to prove that America is not a racist country by electing a black President.  However, in the last few months, the mask has slipped and people have started to realize that Obama is the same tired package wrapped in a shiny new bow.  He befriended Jeremiah Wright and spent two decades attending his virulently anti-white church.

Why I'm Afraid of a President Barack Obama:  [Scroll down slowly]  I fear racial vengeance.  I don't believe Barack Obama has sat at the feet of the hate-filled black racial bigot Jeremiah Wright without having sympathy for his poisonous diatribes.  He may agree that white America deserves some sort of payback.  I fear an expansion of the graft and corruption that so represents Cook County and Chicago politics, his training ground. … I fear economic collapse from a politically inexperienced orator who does not love the free market, but socialism, who seeks justice and "fairness" that, translated, means taking from some and giving it to those he perceives deserve it more.

Questions for Barack Obama:  Senator, you've described global warming as "one of the greatest moral challenges of our generation," calling for reducing carbon emissions by 80 percent by 2050.  Yet you also describe yourself as an "agnostic" on nuclear power, which should be used only "if (your emphasis) we can make it safe" — as if it were not already producing 20 percent of U.S. electricity.  Given that U.S. energy demands are certain to rise, how do you propose cutting greenhouse gases by 80 percent without either crippling the economy or building scores of nuclear plants with zero carbon emissions?

Introducing Obama's new pastor...
 Four Stumps in the Water for Obama:  The first is the volatile mix of race and religion, begun with the Rev. Wright controversy.  Videos have now surfaced of virulent race-baiting by yet another Chicago preacher with ties to Obama, the Rev. James Meeks. … Meeks's sermons have called white mayors "slave masters" and denigrated moderate black politicians with the "n" word.  Nor is he backing away from those slimy views.

A Few More Reasons To Oppose Obama:  In spite of history showing us that lowering taxes boosts the nation's economy, which is only logical, Obama, like every other liberal, wants them raised.  Instead of dealing with that salient fact, he promotes class warfare by parroting the Left's line that lowering taxes only helps the wealthy.

More Reasons To Vote Against Obama.  When criticized for associating with an anti-American, racist pastor or an unrepentant terrorist, he tries to fob that all off by saying that's the old politics.  When his wife gets criticized for saying America is a mean country and for the first time is proud of America, Mr. Obama says his wife is off limits.  In other words, she hops in the ring and throws punches, but you can't hit back at her.

What Clinton wishes she could say:  Far from a no-holds-barred affair, the Democratic contest has been an exercise in self-censorship.  Rip off the duct tape and here is what they would say:  Obama has serious problems with Jewish voters (goodbye Florida), working-class whites (goodbye Ohio) and Hispanics (goodbye, New Mexico).  Republicans will also ruthlessly exploit openings that Clinton — in the genteel confines of an intraparty contest — never could.  Top targets:  Obama's radioactive personal associations, his liberal ideology, his exotic life story, his coolly academic and elitist style.

I humbly ask these questions to find the truth ... about Barack Hussein Obama.  Is it true:
 •  Barack asked the Iraqi foreign minister to delay US troop withdrawal until after the US elections?
 •  Barack's minions have hired and/or moved lawyers/investigators into Alaska to destroy Governor Palin and her family?
 •  Barack claims he's for individual ownership of firearms, yet backs those communities that ban guns?
 •  Barack said, "I've been in 57 states — I think one left to go?"
 •  Obama's church gave a lifetime achievement award to white hating anti-Semite Louis Farrakhan?
 •  Barack was the second highest recipient of Fannie Mae contributions with three years in the US Senate, only beaten out by the chair of the US Senate banking committee, 30 year senate veteran, Chris Dodd?

A Presidential Catastrophe For America.  Will America elect an inexperienced Chicago machine politician, a radical, extremist, leftist, liberal, elitist, with no legislative or other accomplishments, who has demonstrated he is a world-class flip-flopping zigzagger?  Will we go for someone with a painfully thin resume and body of experience, who has already demonstrated bad judgment by his selection of associates (racists, bigots, terrorists, and crooks) and by his output of ideas?  This candidate is totally unfit to be our commander-in-chief and president in a time of unprecedented peril to the survival of our nation and western civilization.

25 Hints You're Not Voting for Obama:  It's unlikely you'll vote for Obama if you....
  (1.) aren't a news anchor.
  (21.) repeatedly find yourself asking "Change to what?"
  (23.) don't like being told what to do — especially by someone who hasn't done it.

Anti-Obama movie to debut on eve of DNC.  "I can't think of a more appropriate time or place to hold the world premiere of this film than in the middle of the Obama media frenzy that will be the Democratic convention," said David Bossie, executive producer of Hype and president of Citizens United.  "Obama-palooza is going to be more of a rock concert than a serious political event, and that is exactly the phenomenon that Hype cuts through to get to the past, politics and policies that have propelled this freshman senator to the world stage."

10 Reasons Why We Fight Against Obama.  This isn't sour grapes and it isn't business as usual.  We're not opposed to Obama because he's a Democrat or a Liberal.  If our disagreements with him were just political, we could join the others in wishing him well and hoping he steers the ship right.  We can't.  Because this isn't a matter of political disagreement, this is a national catastrophe, a threat to the lives of millions and the survival of America itself.

Dear President Obama: You Scare Me.  Lou Pritchett, a former VP at Procter and Gamble, penned this letter to the New York Times.  They declined to publish it.  It has since been circulated widely on the internet.  Dear President Obama:  You are the thirteenth President under whom I have lived and unlike any of the others, you truly scare me.  You scare me because after months of exposure, I know nothing about you.  You scare me because I do not know how you paid for your expensive Ivy League education and your upscale lifestyle and housing with no visible signs of support. ... You scare me because you have never run a company or met a payroll.  You scare me because you have never had military experience, thus don't understand it at its core.  You scare me because you lack humility and 'class', always blaming others.

Why Obama Scares Me, Too.  You scare me because your actions don't reflect the federal governmental constraints and fiscally prudent principles of our Founding Fathers and Constitution.  You scare me because you repeatedly still play the blame game with the Bush administration but never blame the Clinton administration, even though it was responsible for the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac subprime fiasco via the proliferation of loans to unqualified borrowers.  You scare me because you buy and run the banking, automobile and (soon) health industries with taxpayers' money but refuse to call it socialism.

When did the lowbrows take over the culture?  [Scroll down]  Well, we have now voted in a President for the lowbrows.  Yes, Obama himself is smart enough; even smart enough to say a few years ago that he didn't feel ready for the presidency.  Well, now we can see why he said that.  But legions of idiots voted for a man who was plainly unqualified, even by his own estimation, and surrounded by a bunch of malignant sociopaths like Wright and Ayers and all the rest.  How could he possibly win?  Well, Obama cynically appealed to the idiots — the young, the stupid, the naive, the silly, the rock idol worshippers, and probably the drug-addled masses, all the lowbrows in the land.

Thomas Jefferson vs. Barack Obama.  Since 52% of American voters were foolish enough to buy the story that Barack Hussein Obama is some sort of "liberal messiah," I thought it would be interesting to compare the belief systems of America's father of liberalism and author of our Declaration of Independence, with the Marxist belief system of the false messiah.

Calibrating the President:  [Scroll down]  On matters of social policy and attitudes, President Obama has not deviated even a half step from the sentiments he expressed as Candidate Obama.  Abortion is a right.  Equality means affirmative action.  Our judges need to empathize.  Racist words and actions are exclusively the province of whites.  Profiling is used against minorities.  It is the liberal litany with which we've been bombarded for about 40 years now, but never before have we heard it in such stark terms from the man occupying Theodore Roosevelt's bully pulpit.

One Movement.  We've learned that a shallow, inexperienced, anti-American, immoral, unaccomplished, secretive, political thug with a checkered past from the streets of Chicago can be dressed in a veneer of "cool" and then marketed, using the full power of a corrupt media that donated, in essence, multiple billions of dollars in "soft" campaign contributions via favorable press coverage, to a historically ignorant, idealistic and widely naive coalition of voters, many of whom were dead, illegal aliens or imprisoned felons, in order to attract a whopping 53% of voters in an election in the midst of a horrible financial crisis.  Well done Team ACORN-Obama, we'll take it from here.



Scandals, suppressed news, Obama's shady Chicago background

Note:  Information about the recent rash of fundraising scandals has been moved to its own section, here.

10 Reasons Why We Fight Against Obama.  [#3.] Obama is the product of a criminal organization.  Many if not most politiciansare corrupt, but Obama is the product of an extremely corrupt system that easily crosses the line into organized crime.  The cases against Obama associates such as Tony Rezko and Governor Blagojevich, are only the tip of a much larger Chicago iceberg.

New: Obama's Chicago background has never been more relevant, now that the Governor of Illinois has been arrested in a scandal that involves a lot of Mr. Obama's peripheral associates.  But that's a topic for another page.

What Did Chicago Rock Barack Know?  And When Did He Know It?  Dropped down in the center of this political mess in a short time after hitting Chicago, only to rise to the level of the leader of the party now, Barack Obama rose like a rocket and his feet hardly hit the ground, he was flying so high across terra firma.  But, I still want to know how that was possible in America without connections.

Chicago to take over at the White House.  The inner circle in the White House will be overwhelmingly Chicagoan.  [Obama's] two chief advisers, David Axelrod and Valerie Jarrett, are both long-time associates from the city, and his White House chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, is another.  But more than that, Obama brings with him the baggage of Chicago's political culture — the roughest in the US.  The small-scale bribes that older Chicagoans remember from visits to City Hall are a thing of the past but the sharp suits, naked ambition and political trading are much the same.  So too is the large-scale corruption that has seen 50 elected officials from Illinois jailed over the past 30 years.

The Real Obama:  The story of Obama's political career is not a pretty story.  He won his first political victory by being the only candidate on the ballot — after hiring someone skilled at disqualifying the signers of opposing candidates' petitions, on whatever technicality he could come up with.  Despite his words today about "change" and "cleaning up the mess in Washington," Obama was not on the side of reformers who were trying to change the status quo of corrupt, machine politics in Chicago and clean up the mess there.

Obama and the Daley Machine.  It is quite telling that both Rahm Emanuel and Barack Obama know their places in the sphere of Chicago politics.  Obama's first appointment was Emanuel as his "minder" from the Boss. ... Barack Obama has a shorter leash than you might assume a president-elect could wear, and Mayor Daley holds the other end.

Before he was famous:  The biggest disappointment for Hyde Park's liberal Democrats was Mr Obama's failure to oppose the political machine of Richard Daley, the powerful Mayor of Chicago, or to condemn its excesses and abuses.  Indeed, he endorsed the mayor for re-election in 2007 even though Mr Daley's administration had suffered a string of indictments and corruption scandals.  Weeks later Mr Daley reciprocated by backing Mr Obama for the Democratic presidential nomination.

The Candidate Who Cried Wolf.  The few who have managed to breach the mainstream media's protective mote, and get the details on Obama's pre-messianic days, are not surprised by this Chicago-style, kick-em-in-the-shins approach.  After all, Obama sued all of his primary challengers in a 1996 state senate race, questioning the authenticity of their petition signatures.  Even if you haven't succeeded in prying sacred reports of Barack the Shielded from university and newspaper archives, there's evidence of Obama's bogus foul-call strategy.

Obama's Mansion, Saddam's Money.  Barack Obama appears to have personally benefited from funds originating in Saddam Hussein's regime.  It's a complicated connection, but one that deserves the consideration of Americans voters.

Will MSM Report on Obama Membership in Socialist New Party?  The mainstream media thought that the membership of Todd Palin, who is not a candidate for any office, in the Alaska Independence Party important enough to report in such outlets as the Los Angeles Times, MSNBC, and the New York Times, among others.  So now that Barack Obama's membership in the far left New Party has been unearthed, will they report his membership in that Socialist organization?

Archives prove Obama was a New Party member.  Another piece in the puzzle of Barack Obama has been revealed, greatly strengthening the picture of a man groomed by an older generation of radical leftists for insertion into the American political process, trading on good looks, brains, educational pedigree, and the desire of the vast majority of the voting public to right the historical racial wrongs of the land.

Who is Barack Obama? Part II.  Following the links on John Hinderaker's post on Obama's apparent affiliation with the Democratic Socialists of America/New Party leads you to DSA newsletters that make several references to Obama between 1995Ñ2004.  According to the newsletters … Obama participated in the 1996 Young Democratic Socialists conference.

Obama Played by Chicago Rules.  Democrats don't like it when you say that Barack Obama won his first election in 1996 by throwing all of his opponents off the ballot on technicalities.  By clearing out the incumbent and the others in his first Democratic primary for state Senate, Mr. Obama did something that was neither illegal nor even uncommon.  But Mr. Obama claims to represent something different from old-style politics — especially old-style Chicago politics.

Obama's Bag of Tricks:  Throughout his campaign, Barack Obama has presented himself to be a new type of politician:  transparent, clean, aboveboard, and above all, positive.  His campaign would be an idealistic one:  no tricks, just plain old-fashioned honesty.  Of course, coming from Chicago with its big-city machine politics this would be quite impressive if it were true.  Alas, it is not.

Whoops!  Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac survived scrutiny by manipulating, cajoling, and lobbying politicians and hiring board members who were politicos (e.g. Jamie Gorelick) rather than mortgage gurus.  They hired lobbyists, gave massive donations, obtained nice tax breaks, and sailed below the regulatory radar screen.  Of the 354 lawmakers who received money from Freddie and Fannie between 1989 and 2008, Sen. Chris Dodd received the most.  But next was ... drumroll ... Barack Obama.  Yup.  And he was only there for three years.

Obama Pays Women Only 78 Percent of What He Pays Men.  While Sen. Barack Obama's presidential campaign has produced a television ad criticizing Sen. John McCain's position on equal pay for women and pointing out that women in America are paid only 77 cents on the dollar compared to men, Obama pays his own female Senate staffers, on average, only 78 percent of what he pays male staffers.  Women on McCain's staff, meanwhile, earn 24 percent more on average than women on Obama's Senate staff.  McCain also pays his female Senate staff members a higher average salary than his male Senate staff members.

Obama Needs to Explain His Ties to William Ayers.  You might wonder what Obama was doing working with a character like this.  And you might wonder how an unrepentant terrorist got a huge grant and cooperation from the Chicago public school system.  You might wonder — if you don't know Chicago.

Obama, Not Bush, The Quasi-Fascist On Free Speech.  Barack Obama poses as a champion of true American values.  He sees himself as "a symbol of the possibility of America returning to our best traditions."  In reality, though, Barack Obama is just another in a long line of Chicago-style, free speech-squelching political thugs springing from the festering pit of Democratic machine politics.

Obama and the Woods Fund of Chicago.  Barack Obama served on the board of directors of Woods Fund of Chicago from 1993 to 2001.  During that time, the tax exempt foundation made some interesting grants, including one to Obama's church, Trinity United Church of Christ, headed by Rev. Jeremiah Wright at the time.  Grants were also made to ACORN, a left wing voter registration group and to a partnership for constructing low income housing.  The fund also used Northern Trust for financial services, which is the same company that provided Obama his 2005 mortgage.

A Cog in the Chicago Machine?  While the convention will be held in Denver it will give off the greatest Chicago cast since 1996, when Mayor Daley hosted the convention that nominated President Clinton for his second term.  The June decision to place operations of the Democratic National Committee in Chicago together with Mr. Obama's headquarters reinforces the Windy City's dominance of Democratic politics.  The big question is whether American voters will notice.

A Radical Leftist's Journey from Community Organizing to Politics.  The remarkable ascent of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama begins with his career as a "community organizer" for far-left causes in Chicago, an experience that served as a launching pad for his political career.  Along with way, Obama acquired some unsavory friends including sleazy political fundraiser Tony Rezko and unrepentant Pentagon bomber William Ayers.  Obama promises to carry his activist spirit into national politics, but does he also carry the smell of Chicago politics into the national arena?

Obama Says Teamsters Need Less Oversight.  Sen. Barack Obama won the endorsement of the Teamsters earlier this year after privately telling the union he supported ending the strict federal oversight imposed to root out corruption, according to officials from the union and the Obama campaign.  It's an unusual stance for a presidential candidate.  Policy makers have largely treated monitoring of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters as a legal matter left to the Justice Department since an independent review board was set up in 1992 to eliminate mob influence in the union.

Teamsters Defend Endorsement of Obama.  The Teamsters union vigorously denied on Monday [5/5/2008] that its decision to endorse Senator Barack Obama in the presidential race was in any way tied to Mr. Obama's statement that federal supervision of the union had run its course.

Reformer:  Trial Will Reveal 'Cesspool' of Obama's Allies.  With the corruption trial of one of Sen. Barack Obama's longtime friends and supporters set to begin Monday [3/3/2008] in Chicago, Ill., reform watchdogs say it will reveal the "cesspool" of Illinois politics in which Obama came of age and has said little about in his campaign for president.  "We have a sick political culture," said Jay Stewart, the executive director of the Chicago Better Government Association, "and that's the environment that Barack Obama came from."

Code Pink co-founder is Obama bundler.  A co-founder of the anti-war group Code Pink, which has made a name for itself by interrupting hearings on Capitol Hill, is a fundraising bundler for Barack Obama.  Jodie Evans has pledged to raise at least $50,000 for Obama, according the Democrat's campaign site.

Never Apologize, Never Explain.  In a story last October, a reporter recounted noticing that Obama had stopped wearing a pin of the American flag on his lapel.  When questioned about it, the candidate could have shrugged it off.  Instead, he turned his dropping of the pin into a statement….

In the Quadrennial Election Year Where Is the Federal Election Commission?.  FEC by statute is comprised of six Commissioners, nominated by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the United States Senate.  At the moment it has only two Commissioners — hence, no quorum, no function.  How did this dearth develop?  The short, and somewhat oversimplified, answer is that some Democratic Senators, including a first-term Senator from Illinois who is seeking the Presidency, by the (arguably iniquitous, but in any event sometimes misapplied) use of a "hold" have blocked one nominee, with the ensuing effect of holding up all of them and creating and perpetuating vacancies.

Tough Truths About Obama's Character:  Sen. Obama touts himself as a new kind of politician, who refuses to take the low road.  In reality, he is a product of the leftish cadres of South Side Chicago, where cutthroat political tactics are just as ugly as the left's radical vision of the government replacing parents.

Ethics Questions Put Obama on the Spot.  In between the "fluff and style" news items, there have been reports of Obama's connections to Antoine "Tony" Rezko.  Rezko, who was indicted in October 2006 for a multimillion dollar kick-back scheme, has been a longtime supporter of Obama.  Rezko's companies have donated large sums to Obama's campaigns.  Rezko also hosted a fundraiser for Obama.  Completing the shady political trifecta — there's even a questionable real estate deal between the two men.

More about Obama's association with Tony Rezko.

Premature Presidency.  Senator Barack Obama's recurring habit of interfering in U.S. relations with foreign nations represents more than petty, cheap shot politics.  It appears to be a violation of the Logan Act.

Another Obama fiasco.  The idea was to create a botanic garden in one of Chicago's most blighted neighborhoods.  This was to be the first step in a $1.1 million dollar affordable housing project that Obama promised to help create. … The housing development never got past its initial phase.  As for the botanic garden that was to be its focal point, the $100K went to an Obama volunteer and campaign contributor who now says he doesn't have the paperwork to prove how the money was spent.

State investigates grant given by Obama for park.  The Illinois Attorney General is investigating a state grant awarded by then-state Sen. Barack Obama for a park that was never built.  The $100,000 grant for a botanical garden in the impoverished Englewood neighborhood in Chicago was awarded by the Democratic presidential nominee in 2000.  Officials are not investigating his actions in awarding the money.  The grant went to a one-time Obama campaign volunteer who heads the Chicago Better Housing Association.

Family Slams O Charity Big.  Land earmarked for the plan is still overgrown and covered in garbage — eight years after then-state Sen. Obama steered the pork-barrel funds to the program.  The Illinois attorney general last month launched an investigation to find out what the Chicago Better Housing Association did with the cash.  "I wouldn't go as far as saying Kenny [Smith]'s an out-and-out crook, but he's an opportunist," said his brother-in-law, Robert Thomas.  "Nothing that man does would surprise me.  Never mind $100,000.  I wouldn't give him $10."

Obama grant being probed.  A $100,000 state grant for a botanic garden in Englewood that then-state Sen. Barack Obama awarded in 2001 to a group headed by a onetime campaign volunteer is now under investigation by the Illinois attorney general amid new questions, prompted by Chicago Sun-Times reports, about whether the money might have been misspent.  The garden was never built.

The Editor says...
 Reporters have a talent for stating the obvious.  The botanic garden was never built, so the money might have been misspent.  Brilliant deduction, Holmes.  It is not hard to imagine that if this money had disappeared into a Republican's pocket, the press would treat it as a major scandal.

Garden to Nowhere.  Judicial Watch uncovered evidence of a $100,000 grant obtained by Obama for a garden project in Englewood, Illinois, spearheaded by Obama's former campaign volunteer Kenny Smith.  The "Englewood Botanical Garden" project never happened. … State records show that $65,000 of the grant money obtained by Obama went directly to Smith's wife Karen.

Do You Know the Real Barack Obama?  Barack Obama has multiple ties to those responsible for the present economic crisis:  Franklin Raines, the immediate past CEO of Fannie Mae — who has collected a $90 million golden parachute while driving Fannie into the ground — has advised Obama on housing issues.  Jim Johnson, yet another former Fannie Mae CEO, resigned from Obama's vice presidential search team when it was revealed he had received a sweetheart home mortgage deal.  Despite serving in the Senate for only four years, Obama himself has been the second-largest recipient of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac largesse in the entire Congress.

Obama sought HUD grant for donor's project.  Sen. Barack Obama, who vows to change Washington by trimming wasteful spending and disclosing special-interest requests, wrote the Bush administration last year to seek a multimillion-dollar federal grant for a Chicago housing project that is behind schedule and whose development team includes a longtime political supporter.  Mr. Obama's letter, however, was never disclosed publicly.  In fact, the letter was ghostwritten for him by a consultant for the Chicago Housing Authority, which wanted the money — a practice ethics watchdogs have frequently criticized.

The Blago Saga Begins.  I have a theory that Obama became a Senator for one primary reason — Mayor Daley considered him the only viable threat to unseat him as Mayor, and so Daley worked to get him out of the city.  Richard Daly considers the Chicago Mayor's job as one of greater importance that that of any US Senator, and probably the Presidency as well.  So he sent his loyal aide David Axelrod to work with Obama in his 2004 Senate race.



Obama's long lost radio interview

(Audio) Obama the Marxist.  For everyone that thought Obama was taken out of context, listen very closely.  In a 2001 Chicago Public Radio Interview Obama is discussing the best way to bring about a Redistribution of Wealth.

Obama in 2001: How to bring about "redistributive change".  The blogosphere is buzzing about this video posted on YouTube Sunday night.  It's Barack Obama musing about how best to redistribute wealth in America in a Chicago Public Radio interview in 2001.

It Should Come As No Surprise.  Remember, this isn't ancient history. Obama was sharing Socialism 101 with radio listeners just seven years ago.  At the same time, he was sitting on the board of the Woods Fund, going to Trinity United Church, and a enjoying a robust professional relationship with Bill Ayers.  Has he given all that up?  We don't know, because no one in the media has taken seriously Obama's intellectual and professional development.

Shame, Cubed.  We no longer have an independent, fair, investigative press.  That is abundantly clear to everyone — even the press.  It is just another of the facts that they refuse to report, because it does not suit them.  Remember this, America:  The press did not break this story.  A single citizen, on the Internet did.

Obama's 'Redistributive Change' and the Death of Freedom.  There should no longer be any dispute that Barack Obama's aim is to socialize the American economy — as he vaporously puts it, to bring about "redistributive change."  The real question is how he'll go about it.  Very likely, the answer lies in a potentially cataclysmic treaty that has gotten virtually no attention during the campaign:  the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

Socialism We Can Believe In.  Far from an insignificant and highly theoretical bout of legal navel-gazing, this 2001 interview provides a clear glimpse into the ideology Obama wishes to implement.  For this reason, the transcripts must be assailed — with those news outlets that report them.  After all, he does not have the luxury of saying he made these comments when he was naïve and inexperienced, because he is still naïve and inexperienced.  Further, reparations based on race, sex, class, or sexual orientation still lie at the heart of his judicial philosophy.  His only option is to deny the words on the page.  His fan base in the media has gotten ahead of him on the matter.

Smoking Audio.  The October surprise may turn out to be a 7-year-old interview with Barack Obama in which he strongly suggests that the U.S. Constitution is an impediment to his desire to redistribute the nation's wealth.  How does Obama credibly take the oath of office to "preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States" when he thinks it impedes his socialist agenda?

Two red flags on Obama.  This interview suggests Obama wants to reframe the underlying worldview of the Constitution to achieve what he sees as necessary "political and economic justice in this society."  Abandoning the anchor foundation of the Constitution would undermine the concept of individual liberty that has made America the most free, innovative, productive country in the world.

Barack Obama, exposed: View of constitution.  The October surprise of this presidential election might just turn out to be a seven-year-old interview with Barack Obama in which he strongly suggests that the U.S. Constitution is an impediment to his desire to redistribute the nation's wealth.  So, how does Sen. Obama credibly take the oath of office to "preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States" when he thinks it impedes his socialist agenda?

Five reasons to vote against Obama:  [#2.]  The federal courts.  In that famous 2001 Chicago radio interview, Obama wistfully talked about the need for the Supreme Court to break free from the essential constraints that were placed by the Founding Fathers in the Constitution.  You know, those pesky constraints that make us a nation of laws, not governed by the whims of the Friends of Obama, or Jeremiah Wright.  You think Breyer and Ginsburg are beyond the pale?  Obama's crowd thinks they're too conservative.

Obama's Contempt For The Constitution:  Mr. Obama told a local Chicago public radio interviewer in 2001 that the Warren Court did not "break free from the essential constraints" found in the Constitution and therefore one of the "tragedies" of the civil rights movement was that "the Supreme Court never ventured into the issues of redistribution of wealth ..." ... In the same radio interview, Mr. Obama said:  "I think we can say that, uh, uh, the Constitution reflected a enormous blind spot in this culture that carries on until this day and — and, uh, — and, uh, that the framers had that same blind spot."

Obamanomics:  Last week's revelation — in Barack Obama's own words — that he believes the U.S. Supreme Court should redistribute income to bring about "economic justice" in this country is the final piece of the puzzle that reveals what he believes about the role of government in our lives.  Taken with his other statements about wealth, taxes and spending, it reveals a radical-left view of government like this country has never seen.  In 2001, on WBEZ radio in Chicago, then-state senator Obama gave a radio interview. ...



Obama's — well, somebody's — long lost videotape

The L.A. Times Suppresses Obama's Khalidi Bash Tape.  Let's try a thought experiment.  Say John McCain attended a party at which known racists and terror mongers were in attendance.  Say testimonials were given, including a glowing one by McCain for the benefit of the guest of honor ... who happened to be a top apologist for terrorists. ... Now let's say the Los Angeles Times obtained a videotape of the party.

Videotape of Barack Obama You Won't See on the News Is Making News.  The McCain camp has now joined those demanding The Los Angeles Times release a 2003 video that shows Barack Obama celebrating with a group of Palestinians hostile to Israel.  Peter Wallsten wrote in April about Obama's association with former Palestinian operative Rashid Khalidi.  The celebration was a farewell for Khalidi as he left Chicago for a job in New York.  Wallsten called Khalidi a, "critic of Israel and advocate for Palestinian rights."

What is the L.A. Times Hiding?  I don't think it's entirely necessary for me to explain, once again, why I believe that Rashid Khalidi is not a danger to the Republic. ... But there's a video out there of Obama saying kind things about Khalidi, and on the general principle that information in an open society shouldn't be kept secret and that the voters should make up their own minds about whether or not they trust certain candidates, this video should be set free.  But a pro-censorship organization called the Los Angeles Times, which has the tape in its possession, is hiding it, for reasons it won't fully explain.

McCain campaign accuses L.A. Times of 'suppressing' Obama video.  John McCain's presidential campaign Tuesday accused the Los Angeles Times of "intentionally suppressing" a videotape it obtained of a 2003 banquet where then-state Sen. Barack Obama spoke of his friendship with Rashid Khalidi, a leading Palestinian scholar and activist.  The Times first reported on the videotape in an April 2008 story about Obama's ties with Palestinians and Jews as he navigated the politics of Chicago.  The report included a detailed description of the tape, but the newspaper did not make the video public.

The Obama Tape.  The Los Angeles Times is standing on what it calls journalistic integrity — a promise made to its source — in refusing to release a 2003 videotape of Barack Obama fulsomely praising a Palestinian apologist for armed "resistance" against Israel.  Pardon our skepticism.  The paper, which has endorsed Obama, said it obtained the tape from "a confidential source" who demanded "that we not release it."  But what of the public's right to know?

Obama's Dangerous Alignments.  Terrorist leaders never endorsed Bill Clinton, or Al Gore, or John Kerry.  And to the best of my knowledge, terrorist leaders have never publicly supported a major party presidential nominee — until now.  There's more.  The L.A. Times has video of Barack Obama toasting an anti-Israel activist associated with the Palestinians, and standing by as an anti-Semitic poem was read.  We don't know the details, because the L.A. Times — which has endorsed Mr. Obama — refuses to allow anyone to see the video.

Spotting the Camouflaged Candidate.  [Scroll down]  Now, the Los Angeles Times still refuses to release an incriminating 2003 videotape of Obama praising an anti-Zionist while schmoozing with fellow radicals.  Would those of you that still have the temerity to call yourselves journalists please strip away Obama's camouflage so we finally can see what we're voting for?  What are you hiding?

The Los Angeles Times's Strange Notion of Journalistic Ethics.  Journalistic ethics?  When it comes to insulting our collective intelligence, the Obamedia soundtrack of the ongoing campaign breaks new ground on a daily, indeed an hourly, basis.  Still, the Los Angeles Times takes the cake.

Who Will Protect America?  [Scroll down]  Now we hear that there is at least audio of a 2003 dinner held for Palestinian activist Rashid Khalidi (a spokesman for the Palestinian Liberation Organization when it was recognized by Washington as a terrorist organization) with Obama in attendance.  Reportedly the Illinois state senator was praising Khalidi.  Though the audio is being withheld by the Los Angeles Times, Americans ought to hear it before the election.  At this dinner speakers allegedly denounced the United States and Israel.  By 2003 Khalidi was a neighbor and friend of Obama at the University of Chicago.  Again Obama has been deceptive about this dinner and his relationship with this former spokesman for Yasir Arafat.

Confronted in New York, Khalidi Refuses to Answer Questions About Obama.  The Los Angeles Times, citing a promise it made to a confidential source, refuses to release a videotape that it says shows Barack Obama praising a professor who has been a fierce critic of Israel.  So FOX News' Griff Jenkins went straight to the source — he tracked down Rashid Khalidi Thursday [10/30/2008] at his Upper West Side Manhattan apartment near Columbia University, where he now teaches.  The encounter was a short one.

The PLO's Professor:  The refusal by the Los Angeles Times to release the videotape featuring Barack Obama's farewell toast to Rashid Khalidi has thrust the Columbia University professor and activist into the center of the presidential campaign, creating particular interest in his ties to Yasser Arafat's Palestine Liberation Organization.

In Camera.  [Scroll down]  It does seem to us that the Times owes its readers more information than it has so far been willing to provide.  Andy McCarthy offers a reasonable suggestion:  If the Times is obliged not to release the video, why not post a transcript of it?

Times Says 'Releasing the Video Might Put the Source in Jeopardy'.  I'm not going to mince words:  I don't believe the LA Times is telling the truth when they say they had an agreement with their source not to reveal the tape.



Fundraising scandals

If the Republican party's candidate were involved in this kind of scandal, the press would be all over it.

Obama's Fishy $200 Million:  An auditor for the Federal Election Commission is attempting to have his bosses seek a formal investigation into the collection by the Obama for President campaign of more than $200 million in potentially illegal political donations, including millions of dollars of illegal, foreign donations, and has sought a request for assistance from the Department of Justice or Federal Bureau of Investigation.  But the analyst's requests have largely been ignored.

Public Finance Fallout:  After destroying the public finance system, Obama's fundraising is fraught with suspicious donations and a lack of disclosure.

Obama's Secret Campaign Cash: Has $63 Million Flowed from Foreign Sources?  A Newsmax canvass of disclosed Obama campaign donors shows worrisome anomalies, including outright violations of federal election laws.  For example, Obama has numerous donors who have contributed well over the $4,600 federal election limit.  Many of these donors have never been contacted by the Obama campaign to refund the excess amounts to them.  And more than 37,000 Obama donations appear to be conversions of foreign currency.  According to a Newsmax analysis of the Obama campaign data before the latest figures were released, potential foreign currency donations could range anywhere from $12.8 million to a stunning $63 million in all.

'Adolf Hitler' donates to Obama campaign.  Courtesy of my (real) CC number and expiration date, the Obama campaign has just received a $19.45 donation from mister Adolf Hitler, whose occupation is "Dictator" at the company "National Socialist Party of Ger" (I got cut off).  I captured screenshots to prove this.  No verification required.  The listed address wasn't even close to my real address.

Woman's Credit Card Charged $175,000 to Obama.  Apparently Mary Biskup's credit card was charged $175,000 from the Obama campaign.  She said she never donated anything.  (And yes, she must have awfully good credit.)  The campaign caught the error and refunded the money.

Dubious Donations: Obama's Web Site Invites Fraud.  The average contribution to Obama in September was just under $86.  And federal law only requires the disclosure of identifying information for contributions in excess of $200.  Campaigns must keep running totals for each donor and report them once they exceed $200. ... No presidential campaign has ever before received such a gargantuan sum of money from unidentified contributors.

What did Della Ware?  Campaign contributions under false names are illegal, as are contributions by noncitizens.  Federal campaign law also limits the amount any one citizen can contribute to the presidential campaign to $2,300.  The acceptance of campaign contributions via credit card without AVS [Address Verification System] protection facilitates illegal contributions.  This is what the Obama campaign has chosen to do, and what the McCain campaign has chosen to avoid.

The Card Shark.  When Steve and Rachel Larman of North Kansas City, Mo., opened their credit-card bill recently, a strange charge appeared on their statement — a $2,300 donation to Barack Obama's presidential campaign.  This was odd, they thought, since they had not only not made the donation, they were planning to vote for John McCain.  It was one more piece of evidence that the unprecedented flow of cash to and through the Obama campaign is not entirely legit.

Campaign Finance Gets New Scrutiny.  Sen. Barack Obama's record-breaking $150 million fundraising performance in September has for the first time prompted questions about whether presidential candidates should be permitted to collect huge sums of money through faceless credit card transactions over the Internet.

Re: Who is John Galt? And Saddam Hussein?  If the Republican candidate's website were intentionally set up to facilitate fraudulent donations, it would be on the front page of The New York Times.  But, as it's King Barack the Spreader, we can rest assured the crack investigative units will be too preoccupied with Governor Palin's shoes over the next two weeks.

RNC raising questions about legions of Obama small donors.  There are very real questions concerning Obama's fundraising operation and its compliance with the rules and regulations that govern elections.  Reports of fictitious donors, excessive contributions, foreign donations, and even folks getting their credit cards charged without their permission are running in newspapers across the country.  At what point does the Obama campaign take responsibility and speak to these issues in a meaningful way?

Those Undisclosed Obama Donors:  [Scroll down]  More recently, Republicans have been pointing out that Obama does not disclose the names of donors who contribute less than $200 to his campaign.  He is under no legal obligation to do so, but his failure to provide those names, it can certainly be argued, doesn't live up to his pledges of transparency and openness.

GOP to file fundraising complaint against Obama.  The Republican National Committee plans to file a fundraising complaint against Democrat Barack Obama's presidential campaign Monday, alleging it has accepted donations that exceed federal limits as well as illegal contributions from foreigners.

Obama Contributors Emerged from Staff and Boards of Annenberg Grantees.  Since the start of his political career, Obama has received a total of $331,528 in campaign contributions from people who served as staff and board members of non-profit groups that received grants from the Chicago Annenberg Challenge (CAC).  In 2005 and 2006, board members and staff of non-profit groups that had received grants from CAC gave another $34,500 to the Hope Fund, Obama's federal political action committee.

Funny money.  Who is "Will, Good"?  Mr. Good Will — who lists his employer as "Loving" and his profession as "You" — has contributed 1,000 times to the Barack Obama campaign.  All the contributions have been in amounts of $25 or less.  But they add up to $17,375 — far more than the legal limit of $4,600 ($2,300 each for the primary and general election campaigns).  Kenneth Timmerman, a reporter for NewsMax, a conservative Web site, discovered Mr. Good Will when he reviewed 1.4 million individual contributions in the latest Federal Elections Commission master file for the Obama campaign.

Obama Accepting Untraceable Donations.  Sen. Barack Obama's presidential campaign is allowing donors to use largely untraceable prepaid credit cards that could potentially be used to evade limits on how much an individual is legally allowed to give or to mask a contributor's identity, campaign officials confirmed.

Obama's 'Good Will' Hunting.  Consider the cases of Obama donors "Doodad Pro" of Nunda, N.Y., who gave $17,130, and "Good Will" of Austin, Texas, who gave more than $11,000 — both in excess of the $2,300-per-person federal limit.  In two recent letters to the Obama campaign, Federal Election Commission auditors flagged those (and other) donors and informed the campaign that the sums had to be returned.  Neither name had ever been publicly reported because both individuals made online donations in $10 and $25 increments.

The Editor says...
 A competent news reporter would get the answers to these follow-up questions:  When the money was returned to "Doodad Pro", was it in the form of a check payable to "Doodad Pro", and who cashed the check?

More Bogus Obama Donors Surface.  CBS News has learned that two donors to the Obama campaign that gave a total of $7,722 appear to have made their contributions under fake names that look like they were written by a mouse running across a keyboard:  Dahsudhu Hdusahfd of Df, Hawaii with the following employer CZXVC/ZXVZXV and Uadhshgu Hduadh listed as living in Dhff, Florida listed their employer as DASADA/SAFASF. … Despite numerous refunds from the Obama campaign, Hdusahfd still has a record of giving a total of $7500 to Obama which is well over the legal limit for the primary and general election of $4600.

The charge of the fake brigade.  The gentleman who started the ball rolling made four donations under the names "John Galt", "Saddam Hussein", "Osama bin Laden", and "William Ayers", all using the same credit card number.  He wrote this morning to say that all four donations have been charged to his card and the money has now left his account.  Again, it's worth pointing out:  in order to enable the most basic card fraud of all — multiple names using a single credit card number — the Obama campaign had to manually disable all the default security checks provided by their merchant processor.

Obama's Foreign Funny Money:  The amazing thing is that before being called on it, the Obama campaign was accepting online donations from foreign addresses.  So basically, if you were a foreign national who had a Visa card, you could go online and donate 199 dollars to the campaign without it drawing scrutiny.

Obama's fundraising prowess exposes flaws in law.  Barack Obama's money machine is fueled by the likes of Martha Murphy, a grandmother who has donated 104 times for a total of $2,475.34.  Murphy has used her credit card to donate in amounts as small as $10.  "It is amazing how it adds up," she said.

Obama's Foreign Donors:  The media averts its eyes.  I have been researching, documenting and studying thousands upon thousands of Obama's campaign donations for the past month.  Egregious abuse was immediately evident and I published the results of my ongoing investigation.  Each subsequent post built a more damning case against Obama's illegal contribution activity.  The media took little notice of what I was substantiating. … Despite dropping the groundbreaking bombshell story of "Palestinian" brothers from the Rafah refugee camp in Gaza who donated $33,000 to Obama's campaign, no big media picked up the story.

Who Is Buying The White House?  Sources of more than $190 million in Obama election contributions are unidentified.  Will a federal investigation find foreigners illegally rigging the most important presidential election in history?

Obama money from abroad could total $3.3 million.  Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama has raised about $3.3 million from contributors who did not list a home state or who designated their state with an abbreviation that did not match one of the 50 states or U.S. territories, according to records provided by the Federal Election Commission.

You could be Funding the Obama Campaign.  Have you checked your credit card account lately, to see if you have donated to the Barack Obama campaign?  You had better!  A HUGE volume of international contributions have poured into the Obama campaign over recent weeks and months, almost all of it "untraceable" due to the campaigns decision to shut off its AVS online security service.  Many of the nations openly campaigning for Obama, like Indonesia, Ghana, Nigeria, Philippines and Thailand are on an international watch list for known online credit card fraud. ... In short, black market catalogues, the size of small-town phone directories, full of stolen credit and debit card numbers, are common in most of these countries.

Yes, He Can.  Barack Obama refuses to release the names of the 2 million-plus people who have given his campaign less than $200.  According to campaign officials, it would be too difficult and time-consuming to extract this information from its database.  So how come we were able to do it in a couple hours?  Not literally — we don't have access to the campaign's list of donors — but we created a database of similar size and format in a Web-ready file and posted it online.

On Matters of October Surprises and Media Malpractice:  It has come to light that this [fundraising] process has been sorely abused, and that a number of illegal foreign donations have made their way into the Obama campaign.  In some cases, when caught, they returned money, as in the matter of $33,000 returned to residents of Gaza.  To explain how they could have done this in the first place, the campaign claimed that they mistook the GA in the address to be Georgia, yet they actually shipped Obama tee-shirts to where the money originated, Gaza, the area between Egypt and Israel controlled by the terrorist organization Hamas.

Strickland puts director on leave in fundraising probe.  Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland placed the director of the Department of Job and Family Services on paid leave today [11/7/2008] for possibly using a state computer and e-mail account for political fund-raising.  E-mails obtained today by The Dispatch show that Helen Jones-Kelley's e-mail account was used to assist the presidential campaign of Democrat Barack Obama in raising money.

Cheat.gov:  Many millions in dubious campaign donations to Barack Obama are going unaudited. ... What all this means is we might never get to the bottom of who the thousands of fictitious donors were with names such as "Test Person" and "Doodad Pro."  We might never know if the next president of the United States intentionally took money that exceeded the limits allowed under law, or money from foreign powers.

Auditing Obama:  Sometime early next year, the six commissioners who run the Federal Election Commission will face an interesting dilemma — whether to approve a "for cause" audit of the presidential campaign of a sitting president, Barack Obama. ... Given the credible reports concerning the possible receipt of millions of dollars of illegal foreign contributions; untraceable contributions; contributions from fictitious and anonymous individuals; and amounts grossly in excess of the maximum contribution limits, such an audit is obviously required.  (A concurrent investigation by the Department of Justice is also warranted.)

Updated 8/5/2009:
 President Obama refunds cash to Kenyan aunt, convicted murderer, lobbyists.  More than eight months after President Barack Obama won the White House, the remnants of his campaign organization is struggling to deal with some unfinished business:  returning about $669,000 in tainted or illegal campaign contributions to a motley assortment of donors, among them a convicted murderer, Washington lobbyists and a number of foreign nationals, including his own aunt.



Barack's half-brother George

It is not my intention to belittle George Obama because he lives in poverty, but isn't it ironic that his brother — the wealthy big-city lawyer, the bleeding heart socialist, the powerful US Senator — hasn't slipped him a few bucks now and then?  Barack "spread the wealth around" Obama wants us to spend almost a trillion dollars to alleviate poverty worldwide, yet he lets his half-brother subsist on a dollar a day, living in a tiny shack in Kenya.

This is a legitimate campaign issue.  It speaks to Obama's character:  He's stingy with his own money, but not with yours.  He is concerned only with himself.

Barack Obama's 'lost' brother found in Kenya.  The Italian edition of Vanity Fair said that it had found George Hussein Onyango Obama living in a hut in a ramshackle town of Huruma on the outskirts of Nairobi.  Mr Obama, 26, the youngest of the presidential candidate's half-brothers, spoke for the first time about his life, which could not be more different than that of the Democratic contender.

Obama's half-brother calls a shack home and lives on less than $1 a month.  While the junior Illinois senator is plotting a course for the White House, his half brother lives in an African shanty, the article says.  Barack Obama has written and spoken often about his Kenyan roots and his half-siblings.

He's the ultimate liberal.
 Dreams From My Brother.  The media have discovered Senator Obama's long-lost half brother, George Hussein Onyango (also spelled Owango), living quietly in Kenya.  Among the rustics who compose the Democratic base, this discovery can only help Senator Obama. … George lives in a hut in bucolic Hurma, Kenya, a few miles outside Nairobi.  His residence is the epitome of "green," using no electricity, cooled solely by gentle breezes, and with no plumbing to pollute nearby waters, if there are nearby waters.  George leaves almost no carbon footprint.  He does not drive an automobile.

Barack Brother in Shack Shock.  Barack Obama's long-lost half-brother has surfaced in Kenya — living like a recluse on less than $1 a month and hiding his family ties.  George Hussein Onyango Obama, 25, said he's embarrassed to reveal his identity….

Life is good in my Nairobi slum, says Barack Obama's younger brother.  The muddy lanes and rickety shacks of Huruma slum are known for their poverty, disease and outbreaks of gang violence — but for Barack Obama's half-brother it is the place he calls home.

Thy brother's keeper?  [Scroll down]  The European press has now introduced us to a new character in this morality play.  Someone you are apparently not going to meet in the American press.  The Italian edition of Vanity Fair (no right wing journal) tracked down Obama's half brother, George Obama, living in penury in the kind of third world slum that only the smallest fraction of Americans have ever experienced.

'The Inconvenient Obama':  Sen. Barack Obama has a problem.  And it lives in a hut.  His name is George Hussein Onyango Obama, and he is the 26-year-old half brother of Mr. Obama, the multimillionaire autobiographer who neglected to write that his paternal sibling lives on less than a dollar a month in the outer slums of Nairobi, Kenya.  They have met twice.

Half-brother George Obama is what Barack Obama pretends to be.  George is walking proof that you don't have to live in a mansion, write a book or run for public office to have worthwhile dreams for the future. ... Without even mentioning the name "Michelle", George, who grew up in what McKenzie terms "the ramshackle slums of Nairobi", showed more class than his half-brother's wife.  That's because he doesn't blame his lot in life on the country in which he happened to be born.

Help Obama's Half-Brother Move Out of His Hut.  The biggest scandal of the election campaign is going unreported, for the most part, by the mainstream newspapers and TV shows.  Imagine if John McCain or Sarah Palin had a half-brother who was living in a hut.  Imagine if McCain, a multimillionaire, did nothing to help the guy.  Imagine if McCain came to the convention and spoke incessantly about compassion and how he was inspired by the biblical mandate:  we are our brothers' keepers!  This would be the lead story on the evening news.

George Obama, Start Packing.  Here are the facts about George Obama.  He's in his twenties.  He lives in a slum in a hut.  He wants to become a mechanic but doesn't have the money.  He reports that he gets by on a dollar a month.  He met George Obama in 2006 for a few minutes and said it was like talking to a "total stranger."  He said when people notice he has the same name as Barack Obama, he denies they are related because he is "ashamed."  The Democratic presidential candidate, who made $4 million last year, hasn't lifted a finger to help his half-brother.

Obama's brother on drugs charge.  Tomorrow morning, President Barack Obama will sit down in the White House to receive his daily intelligence briefing from security officials.  Thousands of miles away in Kenya, his half-brother will be facing a rather different audience in a Nairobi courtroom.

The latest:
 Obama's Aunt Is Still Fighting Deportation.  A spokesman for President Obama's aunt, a Kenyan immigrant who has been fighting deportation for several years while living illegally in Boston, said tonight that the aunt was still in the United States and intended to remain here.

"I think most people understand that if you're not caring for your family, then you're probably not the kind of person who's going to be caring for other people."

— Barack Obama, October 23, 2008    
in an interview on "The Early Show" (CBS)    
Sources:  [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]    



Barack's Aunt Zeituni

In my opinion, be it ever so humble, the real scandal is not that Aunt Zeituni is an illegal alien — the real scandal is that she lives in poverty while her "spread the wealth" nephew is a wealthy Chicago lawyer who wants the rest of us to be generous.

Found in a rundown Boston estate: Barack Obama's aunt Zeituni Onyango.  Barack Obama has lived one version of the American Dream that has taken him to the steps of the White House.  But a few miles from where the Democratic presidential candidate studied at Harvard, his Kenyan aunt and uncle, immigrants living in modest circumstances in Boston, have a contrasting American story.  Zeituni Onyango, the aunt so affectionately described in Mr Obama's best-selling memoir Dreams from My Father, lives in a disabled-access flat on a rundown public housing estate in South Boston.

All Charisma, No Heart.  How can Obama spare thousands for Chicago's Muntu Theater of African dance, while allowing his 56-year-old Aunt Zeituni, about whom he reminisces fondly in his best-selling "Dreams From My Father," to live in a South Boston slum, as exposed by the Times of London this week? ... Obama's Uncle Omar, also described affectionately in his book, was apparently evicted from his Boston home in 2000 after losing his job.  Then there is Obama's 26-year-old half brother, George Hussein Onyango Obama, discovered by the Italian edition of Vanity Fair to be living in a hovel near Nairobi, claiming to earn "less than a dollar a month."

Obama Campaign to Return Aunt's Donations.  The campaign of Sen. Barack Obama will refund a small number of contributions made by Obama's aunt, who has been living in the United States illegally, according to a published report.  The woman, Zeituni Onyango, lives in state-subsidized public housing in Boston and is the half-sister of Obama's late father.  The Associated Press reported today that Obama's aunt had been instructed to leave the country four years ago by an immigration judge who rejected her request for asylum from her native Kenya.

Boston Housing Authority: Aunt Zeituni okay by federal rules.  A Boston Housing Authority official said yesterday [11/1/2008] the agency was never notified of a deportation order issued for Barack Obama's aunt, who has been living in federal- and state-funded public housing in South Boston since 2003.  BHA Deputy Director William McGonagle said Zeituni Onyango, 56, a native of Kenya, met the criteria to live in federally funded housing when she applied in 2003.

Obama's Immigration Bill Helps Community Organizers but Not His Illegal Alien Aunt Zeituni.  Presidential hopeful Barack Obama's aunt, Zeituni Onyango, from Kenya is an illegal alien, according to the Associated Press.  Onyango has been illegally living in public housing in Boston, after ignoring a deportation order from an immigration judge who rejected her request for asylum four years ago.

7 Questions for Obama On His Illegal Alien Aunt (in Public Housing).  Illegal immigration (and how to deal with it) has been among the most important political issues of this election year.  In a remarkable oversight, however, Barack Obama has somehow forgotten to mention one small fact regarding the issue: his own aunt is an illegal alien. ... The silence of the Obama campaign on this revelation seems typical of an organization that, once ahead in the polls, has simply deflected all inquiries as "personal attacks" or "distractions" and apparently intends to run out the clock before Americans learn too much more about Barack Obama.

How The Times followed a trail to find Barack Obama's aunt.  The trail that led to "Aunt Zeituni", the relative of Barack Obama who was traced by The Times last week, started with Mr Obama's memoir, one of the most widely read political autobiographies of all time.  The Democrat campaign has implied that the story might have come from Republican sources ... .

How Many Laws Can One Break?  Here we are within a few hours before the election, and we get yet another reminder that we have little idea who Barack Obama is; and the media, rather than enlightening us about his background, consistency in thought, past behavior, aassociates, and character, instead turns on anyone and anything that stand in the way of his ascension.

Boston Housing Agency Barred from Checking Obama's Aunt's Immigrant Status.  A loophole in a Massachusetts state law has allowed Zeituni Onyango — Barack Obama's aunt and an illegal immigrant — to live in state-funded public housing in Boston since 2003, even though a federal immigration judge ordered Onyango to leave the country in 2004 after her request for asylum was denied.

Aunt Zeituni's Protectors:  Back in early 2007, as Obama's chief campaign strategist David Axelrod was organizing and planning the Obama campaign, he identified Obama's unique family situation — a number of half-brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, some living overseas — as a potential problem, says an employee for Axelrod's political consulting firm, and who has done work on the Obama campaign.  "Given [Obama's] father's family history here and in Africa, David wanted the campaign to know who was who, where they lived, and what they were doing.  No surprises.  We knew she was here illegally.  We knew her income levels, but I don't think anyone from the campaign had had contact with her."

Obama's Illegal Alien Aunti: The Rest of the Story.  I hope Barack Obama remembered to thank George Bush on behalf of his illegal alien aunt this week.  The lame-duck Republican president did the Democratic president-elect a generous — and dangerous — favor right before Election Day:  Putting politics above homeland security, the Bush administration ordered immigration authorities across the country to halt all deportation enforcement actions until the campaign season was over.  According to my sources, the Bush administration issued a 72-hour cease-and-desist order to all fugitive apprehension teams to spare Obama embarrassment over his Kenyan half-aunt, Zeituni Onyango.

Obamas may come out of the woodwork.  Just days before the election, the media focused briefly on the news that Barack Obama's paternal aunt was living illegally in public housing in Boston.  While the story didn't get much traction, it offered a glimpse of things to come:  With the spotlight shining so hard on the next president, distant family members are likely to get caught up in the glare.

The Editor says...
 An aunt or a half-brother is not generally considered a "distant" relative.

Obama's illegal alien aunt dances the night away.  One of the happy ladies dancing the inaugural night away at the Ohio ball was an illegal alien — President Barack Hussein Obama's (D) aunt. ... Despite ignoring a deportation order and illegally collecting welfare Ms. Onyango now has a lawyer fighting for her "rights."

US says rule lifted limiting immigration arrests.  The Homeland Security Department reversed itself Monday [1/26/2009], saying that weeks after the presidential election it lifted a new rule requiring high-level approval before federal agents nationwide could arrest fugitive immigrants.  The Bush administration had imposed the unusual directive days before the election of Barack Obama, whose aunt was living in the United States illegally.

The latest:
 Back in Boston, Obama's aunt fighting deportation.  President Barack Obama's aunt, a Kenyan immigrant who ignited controversy last year for living in the United States illegally, has returned to her quiet apartment in a Boston public housing project to prepare for an April 1 deportation hearing that will be closed to the public.

Barack Obama's aunt faces crucial immigration hearing.  Zeituni Onyango, the aunt of Barack Obama who has lived in the US for the past eight years, four of them illegally, is preparing for a crucial immigration hearing in Boston on Wednesday that could see her deported back to her native Kenya.  The 56-year-old woman, described affectionately by Obama as "Auntie Zeituni" in his bestselling memoir Dreams from My Father, is thought to have come to America in about 2000, living most the time in Boston.

Obama's aunt becomes a symbol in the immigration debate.  Barack Obama's Kenyan aunt lost her bid for asylum more than four years ago, and a judge ordered her deported.  Instead, Zeituni Onyango stayed, living for years in public housing.  Now, in a case that puts the president in a tough position both personally and politically, Onyango's request is being reconsidered under a little-used provision in U.S. immigration rules that allows denied asylum claims to be reheard if applicants can show that something has changed to make them eligible.

Obama's aunt has deportation delayed.  Zeituni Onyango, an aunt of President Obama, will get to stay in the United States until at least February 2010 after an immigration judge in Boston today delayed her case.  "Praise God," Onyango said after a brief hearing that was closed at her request, holding her head high as she was surrounded by a throng of men in suits.

Immigration judge gives Obama's aunt an extension.  President Obama's aunt swept through immigration court in dramatic fashion yesterday after months in hiding, smiling broadly and saying "praise God" after a judge granted her 10 more months to fight deportation to her native Kenya.

Lost and Found on Fringes of First Family.  When Barack Obama first met his Auntie Zeituni at an airport in Kenya in 1988, his late father's sister told him, "Welcome home," and kissed him on both cheeks.  Obama was on a pilgrimage to the land where his African father lived apart from Obama's American mother.  Zeituni Onyango then told Obama's older half-sister, Auma, "Make sure he doesn't get lost again."

Barack Obama's aunt at home in Southie digs.  With her deportation hearing still six months away, the controversial Kenyan aunt of President Obama has quietly resurfaced in public housing in South Boston, the Herald has learned.

President's aunt ends her silence.  [Scroll down]  She talks about the current controversy over the President Obama's citizenship.  "Barack was born in Honolulu, Hawaii. Ann (Obama's mother) never stepped foot on Kenyan soil," Onyango says defiantly.

The Editor says...
 Aunt Z isn't exactly an unbiased source.  She's an alien fighting deportation, so she is in no position to say anything that is not supportive of the President.



The dog ate my thesis

Depending on what day it is, Obama says he doesn't remember what his senior thesis was about, or he doesn't know where he put it.  His college days weren't that long ago.  I suspect he wants to keep his thesis out of sight for the same reason that Hillary Clinton tried to keep hers locked away — it probably reveals too much about the radical thinking of a young and ambitious socialist.

Obama and the case of the missing 'thesis'.  Conservative provocateurs have been hunting for it.  Investigative journalists have been on the prowl, too.  Even a former professor has been searching through old boxes for his copy of it.  But today Barack Obama made it official:  He doesn't have and can't release any copies of the thesis-length paper he wrote 25 years ago while a senior at Columbia University.

Obama's Missing Thesis:  The Obama campaign, proving every bit as secretive as the Office of the Vice President, has been less than forthcoming with details.  "Spokesman Ben LaBolt wouldn't even say whether Sen. Obama threw out his copy or lost it."  At an earlier date, an aide actually told the New Republic the junior senator couldn't recall what he had written about, but as that editor notes, "who doesn't remember their senior thesis?"

Barack Obama, Legal Scholar.  The pattern of leaving no intellectual footprints pre-dates Harvard.  He has claimed he lost his senior thesis from Columbia University, where he majored in political science.  The thesis was on Soviet nuclear disarmament. … How likely is it that someone would lose his senior thesis — particularly someone who thought his life was compelling enough that he would write an autobiography just a few years later?




Obama favors free speech — but only for himself.

Barack "The Silencer" Obama's Gangland Assault on Free Speech:  Where are all the free speech absolutists when you need them?  Over the past month, left-wing partisans and Democratic lawyers have waged a brass-knuckled intimidation campaign against GOP donors, TV and radio stations, and even an investigative journalist because they have all dared to question the radical cult of Barack Obama.  A chill wind blows, but where the valiant protectors of political dissent are, nobody knows.

Obama campaign turns thuggish.  The Obama campaign has tonight again demonstrated that it will try to silence voices with which it does not agree.  This should chill all Americans, for it offers a preview of the tactics to which a President Obama might harness the power of the federal government.

Obama Pressures Stations to Drop NRA Spot.  The Obama campaign's effort to pressure TV stations in Pennsylvania and Ohio to stop airing a National Rifle Association ad is "frightening" and "dangerous," a campaign finance expert said.  "When a candidate threatens a broadcaster with government sanction over the content of an ad, it is very worrisome to the First Amendment and the guarantee of free political debate," said Sean Parnell, president of the Center for Competitive Campaigns, an organization that focuses on money in politics.

Obama's Assault on the First Amendment.  I'll be blunt:  Sen. Obama and his supporters despise free expression, the bedrock of American self-determinism and hence American democracy.  What's more, like garden-variety despots, they see law not as a means of ensuring liberty but as a tool to intimidate and quell dissent.

Liberals Rethink Free Speech.  When an outside group ran TV ads pointing out links between Obama and the former Weatherman terrorist Bill Ayers, the Obama campaign asked the Bush Justice Department — yes, that Bush Justice Department, the fount of all evil — to open a criminal investigation.  The Obama campaign's effort dovetails with the work of an outfit called Accountable America, run by a former MoveOn.org operative.  It is devoted to threatening conservative donors with legal action and exposure of any embarrassing details of their private lives if they give money to groups running ads against Obama.

Obama's Publicists:  Should Obama be elected and the Democrats gain large majorities in both congressional chambers, we expect the Fairness Doctrine, scrapped in 1987, to be resurrected.  To paraphrase a note from one of our contributors:  Who knew the Democrats were closet totalitarians?  We'll all know, however, when constitutionally guaranteed free speech is snuffed out.

Obama's Motion To Suppress:  It appears Team Obama will stop at nothing to intimidate and harass those who would expose his long and cozy relationship with terrorist William Ayers.  As in the '60s, lefties think freedom of speech applies only to them.

Watch What You Say.  [Scroll down]  This episode points to a very troubling pattern.  Whenever confronted by difficult questions posed by people who haven't succumbed to the creepy Obama Hypnosis, the Obama Team's reaction is to silence them.  They did it to a Chicago radio station that dared to interview someone critical of Obama's past.  They did it to Joe the Plumber, seeking to destroy him for daring to ask Obama a question about taxes.  They are threatening to do it nationwide with the Fairness Doctrine.

Did someone mention the Fairness Doctrine?




Prepare for an Obama Thugocracy

Now that Barack Obama has been elected, I predict that he and his minions (in the news media and elsewhere) will use the data-collecting power of the IRS and other organizations as a weapon against those who criticize him and his administration.  I know you're all probably sick of hearing about Joe the Plumber.  But this case shows how likely it is that the government will use its databases (and the news media) to smear and punish its critics.

Some of you may be too young to remember what happened to Patricia and Glenn Mendoza after they shouted at Bill Clinton one day in 1996.  They were arrested within minutes, and subsequently audited by the IRS.  After Mr. Obama is sworn in, expect to see the IRS used as a weapon against those who criticize him.

If you look around, you can find a long list of politically motivated IRS audits.

More about Patricia and Glenn Mendoza:  [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10]

Obama's Henchmen and the Rise of Commufascism.  The secret to selling bad ideas is to make sure they are the only ones available.  This is how totalitarian regimes take power.  Whether it was Adolf Hitler in Nazi Germany or Vladimir Lenin in Communist Russia, the pattern is largely the same — totalitarian dictators come to power by enshrining themselves as cults of personality and then creating political monopolies through often less than delicate campaigns of indoctrination and censorship — especially censorship enshrouded in the intimidating aura of state power.

Energy Secretary Chu's War On Business.  Part of the climate-change mantra is that the debate is over and the science is settled.  Just to make sure, environmental groups have sought to pressure businesses to go green or at least keep silent.  Now it would appear the whole weight of the federal government is being thrown behind this campaign to coerce and silence real and potential opposition.

That's right, people are actively silencing global warming skeptics.

New Black Panther Party Guarding Fairmount Ave. Polling Place?  So we have a bit of a dust-up about a couple of guys up at 12th and Fairmount standing outside a polling place.  Wearing clothes with the emblem of the New Black Panther Party.  And holding a night stick.  Fox News and Michelle Malkin jumped all over it.

Obama's civilian security force: Billy club-wielding security guards at Philly polls.  Just as I suspected, these guys look like NBPP from the emblem on one of the "guard's" jackets.  Maybe this is what Barack Obama was talking about when he proposed a Civilian Security Force.

U.S. Commission on Civil Rights Demands Answers.  The Obama Justice Department took the unusual action last month of dismissing a default judgment against the New Black Panther Party in connection with a case of voter intimidation on Election Day on November 4, 2008.  Members of the NBPP were caught on film blocking access to the polls and physically and verbally intimidating voters, even going so far as to wield a nightstick in front of voters and poll watchers.  The Justice Department's lawyers gathered evidence, obtained the affidavit of former civil rights advocate Bartle Bull, and filed a complaint.  When the defendants did not respond and the court invited the Justice Department to file a default judgment, the case was inexplicably withdrawn.

The Buying of the Presidency 2008.  In essence, we do not have a fair fight.  Obama has always liked it that way when it comes to his campaigns.  Obama said at one point that if the McCain campaign brought "a knife to the fight, we would bring a gun" — revealing that he did not care about a level playing field.  Anyone familiar with his campaign against Alice Palmer in 1996, where he used challenges to nominating petitions to completely eliminate all his challengers in the Democratic primary for the Illinois State Senate, should have realized this aspect of Obama's campaign style.

Obama's violent pal in Africa.  Barack Obama has all but telegraphed his intent to shut up anyone who dares to blow the whistle on his connections to terrorists and crooks.  Accordingly, Jerome Corsi — whose best-seller Obama Nation tells the real Obama story (complete with full documentation) would be at or near the top of Obama's enemies list.  Another major target of an Obama administration would be Mark Hyman — award-winning commentator for Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc.

Eliminating 25 million Americans:  That was the plan of the Weather Underground after taking power. ... I asked, "well what is going to happen to those people we can't reeducate, that are diehard capitalists?" and the reply was that they'd have to be eliminated.  And when I pursued this further, they estimated they would have to eliminate 25 million people in these reeducation centers. ... And they were dead serious.

Obama's M.O. — Government By Thugocracy.  "I need you to go out and talk to your friends and talk to your neighbors," Barack Obama told a crowd in Elko, Nev.  "I want you to talk to them whether they are independent or whether they are Republican.  I want you to argue with them and get in their face."  Actually, Obama supporters are doing a lot more than getting into people's faces.  They seem determined to shut people up.

Introducing Joe the Plumber...
 Obama's tax plan and the redistribution of wealth:  Want to set a conservative's hair on fire?  Just mention redistribution of wealth and watch the fireworks.  It happened Sunday [10/12/2008] when Barack Obama was canvassing a neighborhood in Toledo, Ohio.  Fox News cameras were there and captured the conversation (which is now all over the Web) between a self-employed plumber named Joe Wurzelbacher and Obama.

Kill the messenger!  It's no longer an issue about Obama's tax plan and it's effect on a foolish "Average Joe" afflicted with the American Dream disease.  Nope, the issue is the credibility of the one asking The One an uncomfortable question that demonstrated his fragility while temporarily un-cocooned.  After all, it was The One who descended upon Joe the Plumber's neighborhood, unannounced.

The Left Declares War On Joe the Plumber.  Six-term Sen. Joe Biden's got some nerve going after citizen Joe the Plumber.  But the entrenched politician from Delaware, who fancies himself the nation's No. 1 Ordinary Joe, had no choice.  Obama-Biden simply can't tolerate an outspoken citizen successfully painting the Democratic ticket as socialist overlords.  And so a dirty, desperate war against Joe Wurzelbacher is on.

Obama, Joe the plumber, and the gospel of envy.  When Barack Obama responded to the Ohio plumber who didn't want his taxes raised by saying that he wanted to "spread the wealth around," I wanted to tell the Illinois senator to spread his own wealth around.  Senator Obama, in a rare moment of candor, all but told "Joe the plumber" that his wealth should be seized in the name of equity.

The Obama Thugocracy Goes After Joe the Plumber.  Of his own free will, Obama admitted that he believes his tax plan is a good thing because when you "spread the wealth around" it's good for everybody.  Those of us who have believed Obama's policy proposals to be a socialist redistribution of wealth had everything we believed confirmed, straight from the horse's mouth.

Is 'Joe the Plumber' a plumber?  That's debatable.  The burly, bald man acknowledged he doesn't have a plumber's license, but said he didn't need one because he works for someone else at a company that does residential work.  But Wurzelbacher still would need to be a licensed apprentice or journeyman to work in Toledo, and he's not, said David Golis, manager and residential building official for the Toledo Division of Building Inspection.

Ronald Reagan Returns in Form of Joe the Plumber.  As Joe pointed out, a tradesman like himself might move into that [top 5 percent] category when he buys a plumbing business.  Joe's issue was pure Reagan:  every American is a striver.  Obama's reply ignored the universal appeal of that view.  Obama's response:  "It's not that I want to punish your success.  I just want to make sure that everybody who is behind you, that they've got a chance."  Concluded Obama:  "I think when you spread the wealth around it's good for everyone."

It's Americanism vs. Socialism on November 4th.  At a recent campaign rally, along what is called "the rope line," Senator Barack Obama was asked a question by a young prospective business owner about taxes and how Obama's economic plan would affect him, his family and his business.  Obama's response — his unscripted, from the heart, authentic, no-spin, off-the-teleprompter response — was something that would have made Karl Marx proud.

Confession of an unlicensed journalist:  Howard Wolfson was just on Fox News ranting that Joe the Plumber isn't licensed as a plumber by the state of Ohio.  This caused me untold heartache because, you see, I am an unlicensed journalist.  That's right:  Although I have worked as a journalist since 1986, I have never been licensed to practice journalism in any state.

Why the Left Hates (and Fears) Joe the Plumber:  It's been quite a week for "Joe the Plumber," aka Joe Wurzelbacher of Ohio.  His comments elicited a telling moment of candor from Barack Obama, who insisted that "when you spread the wealth around, it's good for everybody." ... Not surprisingly, things soon took an ugly turn for Joe.  In an effort to discredit him, the media camped out on his front yard and started nosing around in his past.  In just two days, America learned more about Joe the Plumber than the press has told us in two years about Barack Obama.

More examples of pro-Obama favoritism in the press.

The media vs. Joe the Plumber:  In short, Obama's explanation to Joe the Plumber that we need to "spread the wealth around" is a sincere and significant expression of his worldview, with roots stretching back to his church and his days as a community organizer.  Millions of Americans don't share this vision.  They don't see the economy as a pie, whereby your slice can only get bigger if someone else's gets smaller.  They don't begrudge the wealthy their wealth; they only ask to be given the same opportunities.

Joe the Plumber: Destroy Him!!  Isn't it interesting how predictable the American Left is?  When someone scores an indisputable point against "the One", they ignore the message and attack the messenger!  "Joe the Plumber" has revealed and highlighted Obama's socialistic agenda — and it's had an impact on Obama's support! So he must be destroyed.

The Left's War on Truth.  After Joe the Plumber voiced concern that Barack Obama's tax policies would stifle the economy, he learned what Kathleen Willey learned during Bill Clinton's reign in the 1990s:  If you accuse a Democrat of wrongdoing or question their policies, you can count on your character being attacked in the mainstream media.  You may even face legal charges.  The Left is sponsoring a war on truth, and casualties in this war continue to be those brave enough to stand up against corruption and exercise the increasingly "fringe" right of freedom of speech.

Obama Campaign Begins Systematic Destruction of Joe the Plumber.  Obama is now shouting at us as to what his presidency will be.  We already know it will be built on Marxist "principles."  But, with this recent example of Joe the Plumber clearly in our minds, we have now been told in the clearest of all possible terms — there are no more doubts — that it will, indeed, be implemented in the ways of Joseph Stalin.  No dissension will be tolerated or allowed.

Government computers used to find information on Joe the Plumber.  State and local officials are investigating if state and law-enforcement computer systems were illegally accessed when they were tapped for personal information about "Joe the Plumber." ... Public records requested by The Dispatch disclose that information on Wurzelbacher's driver's license or his sport-utility vehicle was pulled from the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles database three times shortly after the debate.

A game-changer by Obama.  [Obama] understands that he has to fly under the radar for now.  That's why his campaign apparatus moves swiftly to dismiss questions about the Obama paper trail, such as it is, and to crush anyone bold and foolish enough to inquire into the real Barack Obama.  Joe the Plumber learned the hard way what happens to such questioners ... .

Toledo police clerk cited in use of database on 'Joe the Plumber'.  An internal investigation began when Toledo police received a call from the Ohio Highway Patrol, asking why information on Samuel "Joe the Plumber" Wurzelbacher was pulled.  The chief said Ms. McConnell looked up the information at the request of a local television reporter to confirm Mr. Wurzelbacher's address.  The reporter was interviewed as part of the investigation.

Privacy violations.  Gov. Ted Strickland should order his agency directors not to snoop on private citizens who land in the campaign spotlight.  Such scrutiny could have a chilling effect on the willingness of people to stand up and be counted prior to elections.  It also undermines the confidence of all Ohioans that their state government is serious about protecting sensitive information.

Checks on 'Joe' more extensive than first acknowledged.  A state agency has revealed that its checks of computer systems for potential information on "Joe the Plumber" were more extensive than it first acknowledged.  Helen Jones-Kelley, director of the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, disclosed today that computer inquiries on Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher were not restricted to a child-support system.

Don't cross The One.  While the ACLU, shrieking right to privacy, chastises the government for legally tapping a person's phone in the interests of protecting its citizens, they have been strangely silent about the numerous Ohio government workers who plumbed the state's computers seeking personal information on dangerous private citizen Joe the Plumber after he had the audacity to question the Democratic presidential nominee.

Obama donor ordered Big Brother probe of Joe the Plumber.  Following the third presidential debate, a state agency director and maximum donor to the Barack Obama presidential campaign immediately authorized a government background check of Joe the Plumber's child-support records.

Axis Of Bias.  With both the executive and legislative branches firmly in the power of the most liberal leadership ever — Obama, Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid — it is naive to think they would not move against those who most threaten their prospects in the midterm elections of 2010.  And that is Fox News and conservative talk radio, supported by the blogosphere.  The establishment media and liberal Democrats constitute an axis of bias, arming to threaten the free speech of Americans.

State employee says she was ordered to check out Joe the Plumber.  Vanessa Niekamp said that when she was asked to run a child-support check on Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher on Oct. 16, she thought it routine.  A supervisor told her the man had contacted the state agency about his case.  Niekamp didn't know she just had checked on "Joe the Plumber," who was elevated the night before to presidential politics prominence as Republican John McCain's example in a debate of an average American.

Plundering the Plumber's Records:  If Joe the Plumber were Jawad the Suspected Terrorist, civil-liberties activists would stampede the halls of Congress on his behalf.  Liberal columnists would hyperventilate over the outrageous invasions of his privacy by Ohio state and local employees.  The ACLU would demand the Big Brother snoopers' heads.  And Democratic leaders would convene immediate hearings and parade him around the Beltway as the new poster boy/victim of unlawful domestic spying.  But because peaceful American citizen Joe Wurzelbacher is an outspoken enemy of socialism, rather than an enemy of America, the defenders of privacy have responded to his plight with an impenetrable cone of silence.

Ohio agency head probed over alleged info hunt on 'Joe the Plumber'.  The head of the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services has been placed on paid leave for allegedly approving a computer search for personal information about "Joe the Plumber."  Helen Jones-Kelley, a Democrat, is being investigated over whether a state computer or state e-mail account was used to assist in political fundraising, Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland said in a statement.

No records to back agency director's claims over 'Joe' investigation.  The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services has no records to support the assertion of its now-suspended director that computer checks often are run on people "thrust quickly into the public spotlight."  In response to a public-records request, the state agency said today [11/13/2008] that it had no records involving prior checks of the type that Director Helen Jones-Kelley authorized on "Joe the Plumber."

Update:
 State official resigns over 'Joe the Plumber' affair.  Helen Jones-Kelley, the state official placed on unpaid leave for improperly accessing confidential information from state databases on "Joe the Plumber," has resigned.  Two senior managers involved in the incident also are leaving, The Dispatch has learned.

Another update:
 Prosecutor looking into phone records.  [Helen] Jones-Kelley resigned Wednesday as director of the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.  However, she still could face criminal charges for authorizing the improper search of computer databases.

Domestic Spying.  Ohio workingman Joe Wurzelbacher came in for a lot of abuse two months ago, after he asked a question of Barack Obama and John McCain immortalized him as "Joe the Plumber."  Obama backers accused him of being everything from a skinhead to a relative to Charles Keating to an inadequately credentialed plumber.  That's politics.  But when Ohio state officials went fishing through confidential government records in search of dirt on Wurzelbacher, that was an abuse of power.

Joe the Plumber case still dripping.  The election is over, but the Joe the Plumber case is not.  Ohio Inspector General Tom Charles said his office is now looking at a half-dozen agencies that accessed state records on Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher.  The Beacon Journal has learned that, in addition to the Department of Job and Family Services, two other state offices — the Ohio Department of Taxation and Ohio Attorney General Nancy Rogers — conducted database searches of Joe the Plumber.

Report:  Records search on Joe the Plumber improper.  An agency director improperly used state computers to find personal information on "Joe the Plumber," a government watchdog said in a report released Thursday [11/20/2008].  There was no legitimate business purpose for the head of Ohio's Department of Job and Family Services to order staff to look up the records, Inspector General Tom Charles said.

4 more punished over 'Joe the Plumber' searches.  Two more senior managers at the Ohio agency where computers were used to dig up information about "Joe the Plumber" have been suspended without pay for their roles in the searches, an official at the agency said Friday [11/21/2008].  Fred Williams, the Department of Job and Family Services' assistant director, will be placed on two weeks unpaid suspension beginning Monday, spokeswoman Scarlett Bouder said in a statement.  Doug Thompson, the department's deputy director of child support, is facing a four-week unpaid suspension, also starting on Monday.

Just say no!
 Worker says 'Joe the Plumber' cover-up was forced upon her.  The state worker who unwittingly ran an improper child-support check on the man known as Joe the Plumber told lawmakers yesterday [12/4/2008] that a deputy director later "dictated" how she was supposed to cover it up.

Let down by the press.  The fact is, of course, that the press treated Joe Wurzelbacher as if here Public Enemy No. One, investigating him with a vengeance that never came Obama's way.  His sin was having the temerity as a U.S. citizen to ask this supposed saint a question, thereby producing a highly revelatory answer.  The answer was the news, a fact the press didn't seem to understand.  But then, it long ago forgot what news is.

The Silencing of Bill Ayers and Jeremiah Wright.  I continue to be quite perplexed by a few things that are surely related:  Where is Bill Ayers?  Where is the Reverend Jeremiah Wright?  They seem to have fallen off the face of the Earth. ... Could it be that the Obama-Biden campaign has somehow silenced Ayers and Wright?  If so, by what means?  That's a deeply disturbing thought for a ticket that soon [will] be running the world's leading democracy, one that ought to be posed to not only Ayers and Wright but to the Obama-Biden campaign and to Senators Obama and Biden themselves.

Sure enough...
 Election Over, Ayers, Wright & Farrakhan Emerge.  Obama (or somebody) did a good job of keeping them quiet until after election day.

Obama Executive Order:  Destroy Rush Limbaugh.  The first move of President Barrack Obama was to order the White House website to be turned into a Gay Hotline (see previous post).  The 2nd major move was to order the complete destruction of his major opposition in the form of Rush Limbaugh the radio personality.  Earlier during his campaign President Obama had singled out Sean Hannity.  Limbaugh represents the one single largest economic conservative opposition to socialist control or new socialist programs.

Alinsky-ites at the Gates of Talk Radio.  Fellow citizens, if you like what ACORN did to the home mortgage industry, then you're going to just plum love what the Democrats have in mind for talk radio.  For the past few years, hardly a week goes without some Democratic Party Senator or Representative throwing out the term, "Fairness Doctrine."  Hardly a month passes without a Democrat spurning the so-called "dangers" of conservative talk radio, often invoking Rush Limbaugh by name.

Rush 1, Obama 0.  The numbers are in  — Rush Limbaugh has won a dramatic victory over the Democrats.  The White House's unprecedented assault on the talk-radio host has driven his ratings to number one in many of America's biggest, most liberal radio markets.  The anti-Limbaugh offensive was a calculated move promoted by Democratic strategists Stanley Greenberg and James Carville to make Rush a new conservative bogeyman, in the same way they stigmatized Newt Gingrich in the 1990s.

The Next Enemy:  Having undergone training by students of Saul Alinsky, President Obama knows the value of a good enemy.  By stirring up fear and hatred toward a key figure on the other side of the battlefield, Alinsky taught, organizers can fill their war chests and rally their troops.  In the 1990s, the Democrats' designated demon was Newt Gingrich.  For the past several years, they counted on President Bush and Vice President Cheney.  Now that Bush and Cheney are out of power, who is next?

The President Is 'Keeping Score'.  Senior presidential adviser Valerie Jarrett and her chief of staff, Michael Strautmanis, are in regular contact with MoveOn.Org, Americans United for Change and other liberal interest groups.  Deputy Chief of Staff Jim Messina has collaborated with Americans United for Change on strategy and even ad copy. ... Members of Congress should also worry about how Mr. Obama is "keeping score."  He is steeped in the ways of Chicago politics and has not forgotten his training in the methods once used by Saul Alinsky, the radical Chicago community organizer.

Obama's Attack Machine.  The thing about fear is that you can see it.  For an insight as to what the left today fears most, witness its attempted political assassination of Eric Cantor. ... But the real ugly was unleashed a few weeks ago, when the goon squad set on Mr. Cantor's wife.

White House Denies that Administration Threatened to Destroy Investment Firm's Reputation.  A leading bankruptcy attorney representing hedge funds and money managers told ABC News Saturday that Steve Rattner, the leader of the Obama administration's Auto Industry Task Force, threatened one of the firms, an investment bank, that if it continued to oppose the administration's Chrysler bankruptcy plan, the White House would use the White House press corps to destroy its reputation.

The Obama Thugocracy Has Arrived.  A nationally respected bankruptcy attorney who, by the way, is also a huge donor to Democrats, say the White House told him the White House would destroy his clients in the press if they did not adhere to White House demands.  The White House denies that is true.  Then the President of the United States attacks [Thomas] Lauria's clients in a press conference.  Who do you believe?  The businessmen or the thugocracy?

New Allegations Of White House Threats Over Chrysler.  Creditors to Chrysler describe negotiations with the company and the Obama administration as "a farce," saying the administration was bent on forcing their hands using hardball tactics and threats.  Conversations with administration officials left them expecting that they would be politically targeted, two participants in the negotiations said.

Obama Democrats Accent Bullying Over Governing.  [Scroll down]  We're used to such vitriol in campaign time.  What is surprising is that the attacks are continuing after an election.  In the past, politicians and policy thinkers tended to be magnanimous in victory.  They and their friends focused, post- victory, on policy and strategy — not on trashing individuals. ... Indeed, the closer the Democrats get to total power, the nastier the commentators friendly to them have become.

Bye-bye sanctity of contracts.  IMHO this is just about the most egregious abuse of government power of all time.  How long before the Obamachine just takes dissidents out back and threatens to shoot them?  Nah, they'll never dispense with all the legal formalities, will they?

Threatened by the White House.  The Obama administration's War on Capital — as National Review's editors have aptly named it — claimed its first victim last week, as the lawyer for the investment firm Perella Weinberg Partners says it was threatened by the White House into accepting a deal for a measly 29 cents on their investment dollar.

How Obama Applies Alinsky's Rules:  Barack Obama's mocking of John McCain, while urging his followers to "get in their face," are tactics right out of his radical hero Saul Alinsky's playbook:  ridicule and agitation.

Obama and the Birth of Mobocracy in America.  What we are witnessing is the death of democracy in America and the birth of ochlocracy, the end of America's representative government and the beginning of mob rule.  Such mobocracies under the sway of charismatic leaders lead to de facto dictatorships and one-man rule.  Democracy has never been in a greater danger than it is today.  America, the world's first and most robust democracy has been hijacked by an impostor and the mobs of his supporters that have placed their emotions ahead of reason.  Many of these supporters do not/will not shy away from acting like thugs to defend their Fuehrer.

Project Vote sues whistleblower: ObamACORN bully tactics exposed.  The White House is on a witch hunt against inspectors general who blow the whistle on waste, fraud, and abuse of taxpayer dollars.  And now, taxpayer-subsidized ACORN affiliate Project Vote — where President Obama cut his teeth as a community organizer and learned Leftist intimidation tactics up close and personal — is going after whistleblower Anita MonCrief and an anonymous "John Doe" defendant for posting invaluable documents that reveal the money-shuffling racket.  Obama.  ACORN.  Project Vote.  Corrupt birds of a feather bully together.

The seventh time he's asked...
 Obama's Transportation Secretary gives a straight answer.  Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood had to be asked the same question seven times in Friday's House Budget Committee hearing before he would finally give a straight answer.  Rep. Scott Garrett, R-N.J., was grilling LaHood about a letter he had sent Arizona's governor, after an Arizona Republican senator questioned the effectiveness of the stimulus package.  The letter was widely viewed as a political threat in retaliation for criticism of the stimulus.

Bully Boys:  A Brief History of White House Thuggery.  Six months into the Obama administration, it should now be clear to all Americans: Hope and Change came to the White House wrapped in brass knuckles.  Ask the Congressional Budget Office.  Last week, President Obama spilled the beans on the "Today Show" that he had met with CBO Director Douglas Elmendorf — just as the number crunchers were casting ruinous doubt on White House cost-saving claims.  Yes, question the timing.

Issa wants answers from Emanuel.  The House investigative committee's top-ranking Republican wants White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel to answer for allegations that he used "Chicago-style scare tactics" to intimidate lawmakers who say the economic stimulus has failed.  In a letter sent to Emanuel on Tuesday [8/4/2009], House Oversight and Government Reform Committee ranking member Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) demanded to know how involved the chief of staff was in an effort to "threaten" Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer after Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) said the president's Recovery Act was a failure.

Did Secretary LaHood lie to Congress?.  Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., the ranking member on the Government Oversight Committee, has written White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel requesting information about whether Emanuel coordinated a political multi-agency response to Republican criticisms of the stimulus.  Specifically, the question is whether he put four cabinet secretaries up to writing bullying letters to Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer, (R).  The letters asked whether Arizona wanted its stimulus funds cut off, shortly after Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., suggested repealing the stimulus package.

Obama's Plan to Desecrate 9/11:  Color of Change is the extremist racial grievance group that isn't happy that TV's Glenn Beck did several news packages on Van Jones, the self-described "communist" and "rowdy black nationalist" who became the president's green jobs czar after jumping on the environmentalist bandwagon.  The White House may be behind a push to destroy Beck by convincing advertisers to stop buying time on his show.  Jones was also on the board of the Apollo Alliance, a hard-left environmentalist group that is now running large chunks of the Obama administration.  The group has acknowledged that it dictated parts of the February stimulus bill to Congress.

Obama and the Thugs.  According to Dr. [Lynette] Long, in a personal interview, reports from caucus attendees are pretty horrifying at worst, wholly undemocratic at best.  Female Clinton supporters reported being called "c***s" and other sexual epithets, being spat upon by Obama supporters, being threatened physically, and an overall environment of hostility. ... In the end, it was the caucus states, where such strong-arm tactics were employed by Obama supporters, which finally gave Obama the victory.  As Dr. Long points out, the only caucus in the entire nominating contest that Obama lost was Nevada.  In every other caucus, relying heavily on thug intimidation, Obama prevailed.

The Storm Upon Us:  [Scroll down]  The SEIU (Service Employees International Union) is run by Andy Stern, a militant Far-Left thug, and Anna Burger, another Far-Left radical.  The SEIU has increased its size and power through arm-twisting intimidation tactics, and other nefarious means.  Two years ago Obama said before an SEIU rally, "I've spent my entire adult life working with SEIU."  That is not good news.  Once you've looked into the corruption, ruthlessness, and Far-Left agenda of the SEIU leadership, you will know that it is not good news at all.

Publisher Accuses Reid of 'Bullying' Nevada Newspaper.  The publisher of the Las Vegas Review-Journal says Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid told his advertising director he wants the newspaper "out of business."

An offer he can't refuse?
 Obama administration asks Gov. Paterson not to seek reelection in 2010.  In a stunning request, the Obama administration has made it clear to poll-challenged Gov. Paterson that the White House would prefer he not seek election to a full four-year term next year.  The Obama administration sent the message through White House political affairs director Patrick Gaspard, who met with the governor at his campaign headquarters for nearly two hours last Monday [9/14/2009], according to a source with knowledge of the conversation.

Steele 'curious' that W.H. asks black governor to not seek reelection.  Michael Steele said it was "curious" on why the White House would ask New York Gov. David Paterson (D) not to run for reelection in 2010.  "I found that to be stunning, that the White House would send word to one of only two black governors in the country not to run for reelection," Steele, the chairman of the Republican National Committee (RNC), said on CBS's Face The Nation.

Obama wants Paterson to disappear because of their many similarities!
 Gov. Paterson:  In The Way, Under The Bus.  It will do Obama no good if New York goes Republican and it will do the rest of the state's Democrats no good either if the top of the ticket can, outside of his immediate family, draw virtually no one to the polls.  Paterson's insufficiencies are legion.  Among other things, he can get almost nothing done.

Wife:  Gov 'stunned' O wants him out.  Gov. Paterson's wife — emotionally stunned at President Obama's request that her husband not run for another term — ripped into him today, saying that it's "very unfair" the president asked New York's "first African-American governor" not to seek office.

New York Democrats urged W.H. to push David Paterson.  The White House asked New York Gov. David Paterson to step aside at least in part because the administration was asked to intervene by members of Congress and state legislators who raised serious alarms about a potential Paterson drag on the ticket in 2010.

Is the New York Times one of Obama's tools?
 New York Times to Paterson:  You're outta here.  In a new editorial, the New York Times is calling on New York Gov. David Paterson, the state's first African-American chief executive, to withdraw from the 2010 governor's race. ... The paper says the Obama administration's effort to give Paterson the hook was "unwelcome and amateurish."

The Elephant in the Room:  Promises have been broken.  [Scroll down]  These broken promises have become a sore spot for Democratic congressional leaders such as Senate finance chairman Max Baucus.  He and administration officials have gone so far as to threaten Medicare Advantage insurers with sanctions if they continue to tell seniors the facts about Obamacare.

More Dem Censorship on Healthcare Debate.  When [Congressman John] Carter tried to describe Obamacare as "government-run healthcare" the House Franking Commission told him he couldn't use the term in a constituent mailing that would be mailed for free as are most constituent mailings.  Not only could he not use those words, he couldn't use the words "Democratic Party."  Now, the Democratic Party (i.e., the Obama administration) wants to censor the mailings sent out by private insurance companies warning of benefit cuts in the Obamacare (i.e., government-run healthcare "reform" plan.)

Paterson under the bus.  What do New York Gov. David Paterson and former Illinois State Assemblywoman Alice Palmer have in common?  Aside from both being Democrats and African-American, both hold the distinction of being elbowed out of running for office by one Barack Obama.

Insurer Gagged, AARP Rewarded.  [Scroll down]  To further keep the American people in the dark, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), which administer benefits under Medicare, issued what can only be called a gag order after Humana warned its Medicare Advantage customers in a letter that the president's plan might cause them to lose some benefits.

Update:
 Obama Administration Drops 'Gag Order' on Private Health Insurer.  U.S. health officials announced Friday that private insurers can send seniors information on health-related issues as long as they allow their members to opt out of receiving the communications, effectively ending its probe of Humana.

Gag Order Admission.  There's nothing like a Friday evening news release to hide a Washington embarrassment.  In last week's episode, President Obama's health appointees lifted their outrageous gag order against health insurers for the sin of informing their customers about how ObamaCare would affect their insurance.

Limbaugh Targeted By Obama Official.  The plot thickens on the media's character-lynching of Rush Limbaugh. ... Historically politicians have been prone to vindictive and petty behavior, but never in American history has someone had so much power to pummel his political opponents as President Obama.  With control over banks, insurance companies, car companies, media (sports media included) and unions (like the NFL players union), Obama tentacles seem to penetrate into nearly every corner of the nation.

Not socialism — Gangsterism.  Arguments go back and forth about whether or not the Obama administration is really "socialist" in the sense that they wish to control the means of production, takeover all businesses, and put the "people" (unions) in charge.  Wherever you come down on this issue, there is no denying the straight line from Obama's Chicago roots and ways of getting things done to the White House. ... The Obama Mob has come down like a ton of bricks on numerous other targets, using tactics not seen since the Nixon administration — and some that Nixon would never have dared to try.

'Media Matters for America' Will Slime Anyone Who Takes on ACORN.  Throughout the ACORN undercover sting video saga, no one has been more willing to assassinate the character of ACORN's opponents than the hired guns at the left-wing group Media Matters for America.

America's Mobocracy.  A minor facet of the Obama administration itself is the Chicago "gangster government" character of his White House staff and his cabinet and departmental appointees.  Not all of his appointees are from Chicago.  They just have that odor about them, of professional political parasites who have scurried in and out of sight and up and down the totem pole of Washington politics over the years as their chosen career choices, to a soul advancing or pimping for collectivism, most of them never having worked a productive day in their lives.

The Chicago Way:  When Barack Obama promised to deliver "a new kind of politics" to Washington, most folk didn't picture Rahm Emanuel with a baseball bat. ... This summer Arizona Sen. Jon Kyl criticized stimulus dollars.  Obama cabinet secretaries sent letters to Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer.  One read:  "if you prefer to forfeit the money we are making available to the state, as Senator Kyl suggests," let us know.  The Arizona Republic wrote:  "Let's not mince words here:  The White House is intent on shutting Kyl up ... using whatever means necessary."

Business Fights Back.  Most recently [Tom Donohue has] ginned up opposition to union "card check," the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) plans to regulate carbon emissions, and parts of the proposed financial overhaul.  The Obama administration's response has been to treat the Chamber like it has Fox News Channel:  with brass knuckles.

Obamadrama.  Obama is constantly pretending to have power that he doesn't have.  It's obvious:  Cut salaries 90%.  Does Obama have that power?  No.  It's a head-fake. ... The Gang from Chicago is like any thugocracy:  They do most of their work by fear and intimidation.

Silencing Voices for School Choice.  President Obama isn't taking kindly to a television ad that criticizes his opposition to a popular scholarship program for poor children, and his administration wants the ad pulled.  Former D.C. Councilmember Kevin Chavous of D.C. Children First said October 16 that U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder had recently approached him and told him to kill the ad.

Obama's astroturf pitchfork brigade.  Reverting to Chicago-style politics in the open last April, Barack Obama told the heads of 13 mega-banks, "My administration is the only thing between you and the pitchforks."  This sort of indirect verbal thuggery needs periodic refreshment to remain effective extortion.  So yesterday David Axelrod's pioneering work in ginning up demonstrations ("astroturfing") once again provided some muscle.

How the FCC and Liberal Churches Are Scheming To Shut You Up.  The "interfaith coalition for media justice" is led by the United Church of Christ.  Yes, that's the same church of Obama's race-baiting, Jew-bashing ex-pastor Jeremiah Wright.  Other members include the Presbyterian News Service, the Evangelical Lutheran Church and the National Council of Churches.  These religious liberals have partnered with the National Hispanic Media Coalition, which filed a petition in January demanding that the FCC collect data, seek public comment and "explore options" for combating "hate speech" from staunch critics of illegal immigration.

Service.gov And Its Soviet Similarities.  "Progressives" control the government.  Children in some public schools sing songs about the president and study his directives. ... The mainstream media are aligned with the government.  Those media outlets critical of government policy are publicly criticized by government officials and are in danger of suffering repercussions.

Terrified Voter says NJ Dems Using Gangbangers for GOTV.  How would you like to be a New Jersey police officer and look out your window and see several known criminals, including a man you arrested several weeks ago and another who had just been released from prison for shooting a cop?  And then find out that the men were sent into the neighborhood by the Democratic Party for GOTV operations — complete with lists of voters names, addresses and phones numbers!

High School student in danger for disagreeing with Obama.  [Scroll down]  Leadership comes from the top down.  When SEIU (Service Employees International Union) thugs attacked and beat a black conservative for selling "Don't Tread On Me" flags at a town hall meeting, I believe the thugs felt Obama would approve.  Some believe the thugs acted on orders.  Folks, they put Kenneth Gladney, a kind and gentle man in the hospital.  Kenneth had been laid off his job.  He was selling Gadsden Flags simply attempting to earn a living while spreading his belief in conservative principles.

More Liberal Violence.  We are beginning to see way too many echoes of the 1930s, as national socialist and Marxian socialist thugs try to drive competing political views off the streets.  The worst offenders so far have been the Service Employees' International Union, which has repeatedly sent its members out into the streets to beat up anyone who isn't toeing the Obama line on issues like socialized medicine.  Most recently it's International ANSWER, a hard-core Communist group supported by shadowy funding sources that have never been made public, but appear to consist of a handful of rich people.

See the Obama thugocracy in action.



Obama the victim

Obama plays the race card, then claims that everyone who opposes him must be a racist.

Sorry, Your Race Card Has Been Declined.  Obama's entire life has been devoted to fomenting racial animus.  All of his mentors, from the rancid racist and surrogate father, Frank Marshall Davis to Fan of Farrakhan, Jeremiah Wright, have been rabid, whitey despising racists.  In his fictional "autobiography", Obama is consumed by bigotry.  He can find ersatz discrimination in nearly any situation.  Even his white mother was preoccupied with race.

Who's Playing the Race Card?  What makes the charges against McCain especially revolting is that he has been scrupulous in eschewing the race card.  He has gone far beyond what is right and necessary, refusing even to make an issue of Obama's deep, self-declared connection with the race-baiting Jeremiah Wright. ... What makes it doubly Orwellian is that these charges are being made on behalf of the one presidential candidate who has repeatedly, and indeed quite brilliantly, deployed the race card.

40 Acres and a President.  During the election, despite having been portrayed as America's first post-racial candidate, Barack Obama actually represented the complete opposite.  With astonishing cunning and guile, a type that his opponents could have never imagined possible, Obama and his campaign unabashedly and tenaciously used race to goad Americans into believing that voting for him would right the wrongs of America's racial history.

Sebelius:  Expect scare tactics.  Echoing comments by Barack Obama, Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius predicts that Republicans would undertake "a major effort to try and frighten people about him" because of his race.  "That has been the Republican playbook for the last eight years," said Sebelius, an Obama ally.  "'He's not qualified, he's somebody who should scare you.  He's too liberal.'"

The Editor says...
 A careful examination of a presidential candidate's voting record and ideology are essential, if we are to avoid another dreadful era like the years between 1992 and 2000.  It is not a "scare tactic" to point out that Obama is a liberal extremist, or that he attended a hate-filled church for 20 years, or that he has changed his positions on several important issues, or that a number of credible people believe that he is a closet Muslim.  If you're scared of Obama just because he's black, you are truly a hick.

Racy Content.  Transcend means "to move beyond, to surpass."  At least that's what I always thought.  But I'm beginning to wonder whether it means instead:  "Much, much more of the same, only this time really stupid." ... Obama has set off a case of full-blown race dementia among precisely the crowd that swears Obama is leading us out of the racial wilderness.

Criticizing Obama has been made off limits.  Let me give you a few helpful survival tips for the next four years.  The most important rule in this coming age is to remember that one must take great caution when criticizing Barack Obama.  Remember, even Democratic hero Bill Clinton was accused of being a bigot for calling Obama's political biography a "fairy tale."  Former Democratic vice presidential nominee Geraldine Ferraro was compared to David Duke for suggesting that Barack Obama gained some advantages from being black.

The Rule Book for Criticizing Obama.  Rule 1:  Don't criticize family no matter who they are or what they do.  Rule 2:  Don't criticize any policy that the candidate might have even if he is not mentioned by name. … Rule 4:  Don't examine any of Obama's anti-American, racist, terrorist, or criminal associates.

Obama is who he is.  It's getting tricky to know how to refer to he who presumes to be the next president.  It was made clear several months ago that mentioning his middle name was a forbidden act.  (Pass out more egg shells.)  Then, last week "he" warned his followers that, having nothing honorable to say, Sen. John McCain would try to scare voters by pointing to Barack Obama's "funny name" and the fact that "he doesn't look like all those other presidents on those dollar bills."  Now, putting aside for the moment the racial component of his warning, what are we to make of the "funny name" reference?

Obama's acolytes turn it ugly.  The race issue has been well and truly joined, and John McCain didn't do it.  Barack Obama, who has flirted with it, left it to his surrogates in Congress and his cheerleaders in the mainstream media to stir the ugliest pot in politics, and the easiest to bring to boil.

Whitey Need Not Apply.  "Will race be an issue in this campaign?"  Hearing the cable talk-show host solemnly pose the question, I could not suppress a belly laugh.  For the anchor was fearful that some white folks might reject Obama because he is African-American — even as a Rasmussen poll was reporting that Barack is beating McCain among black voters 94 to 1.

The Bottom of the Deck.  Obama is no longer just preemptively defining the opposition to him as illegitimate; he is defining it as racist.  Republicans have been slow to respond to this provocation.  McCain is often said to be someone who responds indignantly to attacks on his honor.  In this case, he ought to do so.

Injecting Race Into the Campaign.  It's true; Obama is black.  And the person who keeps mentioning that Barack Obama is black most often is Barack Obama.  In fact, Obama has preemptively accused the entire McCain campaign of racism and the entire electorate of being susceptible to racism.  So now, those of you who find Obama's inexperience or his policy prescriptions — or even his personality — lacking, have fallen prey to bigoted politics.  You are too frightened to see the light.  The hope.

Obama and the Racism Card:  In a statement Obama repeated three times, he said what George Bush and John McCain are "going to try to do is make you scared of me.  You know, he's not patriotic enough.  He's got a funny name.  You know, he doesn't look like all those other presidents on those dollar bills." … Obama clearly was talking about race.  He said much the same thing in Berlin:  "I don't look like the Americans who've previously spoken in this great city."

Ugly game of who's the bigot.  Barack Obama is not even Jewish, but he speaks fluent chutzpah, the Yiddish word to describe "nerve," as in, "he's got a lot of nerve."  ... The senator himself played the race card this week and accused John McCain of raising the race issue.

Obama Aide Concedes 'Dollar Bill' Remark Referred to His Race.  Sen. Barack Obama's chief strategist conceded that the Democratic presidential candidate was referring to his race when he said Republicans were trying to scare voters by suggesting Obama "doesn't look like all those other presidents on the dollar bills."  The comment had triggered a charge Thursday from Sen. John McCain's campaign manager that Obama had "played the race card... from the bottom of the deck."

Why is Obama foolishly evoking race time after time?  The voter is starting to hear serially from Obama about race; they were promised a racially transcendent candidate, but so far Obama seems obsessed with identity, either accusing others of racism, or using heritage himself for political advantage.  This is a tragic blunder.

Slate Writer Claims Racism Is Only Reason Obama Will Lose.  The liberals have already come up with their excuse for why Barack Obama might lose the election in November.  It wouldn't be because of his inexperience, poor judgement, or far left political views.  No, the real reason according to Slate's Jacob Weisberg is racism.

The Racism Cry Returns.  Having begun softly during the primary season, an incessant drumbeat has steadily gained strength and will soon reach its deafening crescendo as we march toward November:  If you are white and vote for anyone other than Sen. Barack Obama (Savior-IL) for president you are a racist.

25 Reasons You May Be A Racist:
(# 1).  If you think Obama's the most liberal member of the senate you...may be a racist.
(# 2).  If you object to Obama raising your payroll, capital gains and estate taxes you...may be a racist.
(# 3).  If you'd prefer a president have at least some foreign policy experience you...may be a racist.

The Race Card Returns.  Last week Barack Obama did the unthinkable — he played the race card.  In an unusually clumsy attempt to pre-empt the onslaught of McCain's increasing negative campaign, Senator Obama made a huge mistake.

Graham:  It's A "lie" To Say Obama Not Injecting Race Into Campaign.  "To say that Barack Obama did not intentionally inject the idea of his name and his race is a lie," [Sen. Lindsey] Graham said in an interview on "Fox News Sunday." [8/3/2008]  "There is no doubt in my mind that Sen. Obama is trying to suggest that he is the victim of something,"

Barack Obama:  Pretense galore.  In a lousy year for Republicans, against a GOP nominee who combines the youthful effervescence of Wilford Brimley with the soaring oratory of a life insurance seminar, Obama is actually losing ground.  Why?  Obama, sadly, blames race.  It's all about evil Republicans, he claims, trying to scare voters by telling them "I don't look like those guys on the dollar bills" and "Did I mention he's black?"

The Race Libel.  "Much of America's political conversation is couched in code," says Anna Quindlen, writing earlier this month in Newsweek.  And what's the code telling us?  That the campaign of John McCain is playing a "Caucasian card," Quindlen's way of saying that it's appealing to white racism.

The Racism Excuse.  In this week's Newsweek (and on Slate), Jacob Weisberg reasoned that only some "crazy irrationality over race" could prevent Mr. Obama from winning the White House. … Wow.  Vote for Barack, or America is as irredeemable as many foreigners believe.

Obama, Justice Thomas and Col. West: On Morality.  Senator Obama has a tendency to claim special protection from criticism because he is black, and therefore a victim — although he has no slavery in his family background (at least slaves), and has never encountered the degradations of the Dixiecrat South in which Clarence Thomas grew up.  Obama is a lifelong child of privilege, from birth all the way to Harvard Law School and the US Senate.  Yes his mother was a single mom, but one with a PhD and a mother who was a bank vice president, enabling her to spend her time overseas mostly unencumbered by a child.

Obama Has Lost His Mojo.  In the blink of an eye, the novelty of Obama's race has given way to the novelty of Sarah's gender.  Point, counterpoint.  With Sarah Palin on the scene, the Obama camp loses a valuable asset, the race card.  Charges of racism for those stupid enough not to vote for Obama can now be credibly countered with the sexism card.  Obama is finding out that life isn't fair and that what goes around, comes around.

It's Gettin' Ugly Out There.  During an Obama campaign appearance, a bland governor from Kansas made the not-so-bland assertion that the reason the current polls are so close is because "one of the candidates" is half-black. ... When Gov. Kathleen Sebelius injects the stale, tired old claim that racism might just keep Obama out of the White House, don't think for a moment that isn't done with the total blessing of the Obama campaign.

The media play the race card on Obama.  Many journalists are so convinced that racism is the only possible explanation for an Obama loss that they are beginning to see any effective anti-Obama ad as an attempt by John McCain to "viciously exacerbate" America's "race-fueled angst," in the words of one New York magazine writer.  For example, a McCain ad (citing the Washington Post) noted that Franklin Raines, the Clinton-appointed former head of Fannie Mae who helped bring about the current Wall Street meltdown, advised the Obama campaign.  Time's Karen Tumulty proclaims that because Raines is black, McCain is "playing the race card."

Liberals' Warnings About Obama Loss May Prove Self-Fulfilling.  If Barack Obama loses the 2008 election, liberal hell will break loose.  Seven weeks before the 2008 presidential election, liberals are warning America that if Barack Obama loses, it is because Americans are racist.  Of course, that this means that Democrats (and independents) are racist, since Republicans will vote Republican regardless of the race of the Democrat, is an irony apparently lost on the Democrats making these charges.

Race To The Finish.  [The Democrat] candidate's very nomination and rise to fame and fortune belie his charges of racism.  Martin Luther King once dreamed of a day when people would be judged by the content of their character and not the color of their skin.  Sadly for Barack Obama, that day has arrived.

Enter The Race Card.  When Barney Frank & Co. rave on about Republican "racism," what they're really doing is deflecting attention from their own sins — and trying to score some cheap political points for the Obama campaign.

The Obama Witch Project.  Republicans don't need to dress up for Halloween this year.  They're scaring the pants off Barack Obama's followers by their mere presence.  Anything they say, wear or do provokes instant cries of "RAAAAACISM!"  Wink, blink or think critical thoughts about Obama?  You're a bigot!  How many racial bogeymen have Obama operatives and sympathetic journalists discovered lurking in "coded language" and attire?  Let us count the ways.

How Obama Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the R-Bomb.  History reveals that when the measure of a candidate meets America's standards, he or she will be elected — regardless of outward appearance.  Consider this:  In 2000, black Republican J.C. Watts earned 65% of the vote to be reelected to a fourth term as Congressman of Oklahoma's Fourth District, which is only 6.7% black.

Castro:  Racism in US keeps many away from Obama.  Fidel Castro says a "profound racism" in the United States will stop millions from voting for Barack Obama in next month's presidential election.  The ailing, 82-year-old former Cuban president says it is "a miracle that the Democratic candidate hasn't suffered the same luck as (assassinated leaders) Martin Luther King, Malcolm X and others who harbored dreams of equality and justice."

To The Undecided Voter:  During the campaign there have been some rather amazing charges of racism.  Let's see if we can remember a few:  Using the word "skinny" to refer to Obama is racist.  "Community organizer" is a racist term.  Any reference to a connection between Obama and Franklin Raines, the former head of Fannie Mae is racist ... that would be because Raines is black.  All references to Jeremiah Wright are racist; that being due to Wright being black.  Referring to Obama as "eloquent" is racist because it infers that other blacks are not eloquent.  For goodness' sake, don't say that Obama is "clean."  This just in from The Kansas City Star: Calling Obama a "socialist" is also racist because "socialist" is just another code word for black.  And so it goes.

The Left Keeps Hate Alive.  As McCain and Palin campaign throughout the country it seems impossible for them to open their mouths without somebody accusing them of being racists.  The most recent accusation comes from columnist Lewis Diuguid of the Kansas City Star.  The editorial page writer claims that their use of the word "Socialist" to label Barack Obama is "an old code word for black."

Obama And His Silly White Women Behind Him.  If anybody really believes that Race is not an issue in this 2008 election, then they are grossly deceived, because that denial is being used as a shield to deflect criticism from the Obamaniacs when they spew out their accusations of racism against whites and anybody else who won't go along with their predominantly black agendas, which many have yet to understand their agendas have been in place for decades.  And they have made no secret that those plans are in place to the exclusion of everybody else except the blacks and all those whom they now call "people of color."  But, is that what the majority of Americans want for America?  I believe not!

Has Obama Overplayed the Race Card?  How ironic that the same Senator sponsoring the Deceptive Practices and Voter Intimidation Prevention Act of 2007 (S.453) would not only tacitly condone, but actually participate in racial intimidation to advance his presidential prospects.  Obama keeps cautioning crowds that "the race is not over," all the while knowing his race most certainly is over:  all over every facet of his ambitious strategy to make political history.

Don't call me Socialist, Whitey.  [Scroll down]  For instance:
 •  As Black racism is the direct result of White racism, any mention of racist Jeremiah Wright or the Obamas' 20 years of receiving his anti-American anti-White sermons, is itself, racist.
 •  As ACORN is largely a black organization concerned primarily with minority issues, any questions about the multi-state vote-rigging allegations against them or Obama's involvement therein is racist.
 •  Suggesting minority-centric lending policies were factors in the Fannie/Freddie collapse is racist; more so if former Fannie Mae CEO Franklin Raines' name is surfaced.
 •  Calling a black man "articulate and bright and clean" is racist as it apparently implies most are not.
 • "Socialist" is a code-word for black.
 •  "Community Organizer" is also a code-word for black
 •  Even "Inexperienced" is a code-word for black.

Liberals:  A Black President Is No Proof Against Racism in America.  Obama was never foolish enough to admit that America is not a racist country.  After all, that would have undermined his own claim to the presidency, which was based on the notion that Americans could disprove their racism by electing him.  Instead, Obama's campaign — and his supporters in the media — promised us that his election to the White House would start a new era in America's racial history.

Obama Doesn't Fulfill Martin Luther King's Dream.  Obama's camp uses race, emphasizing his color to heighten "white guilt" and win support.  That's not the colorblindness MLK preached.

Cracks in the Facade:  Far from bringing us together, I think Obama's serial emphasis on race may achieve the unintended opposite of polarization.  He should have learned in the campaign (Rev. Wright, Trinity Church, typical white person, clingers, call for reparations, his grandmother — the purported prejudicial stereotyper, etc.), the perils of seeing the world through skin color.  Yet to establish his own diplomatic fides abroad, he immediately evokes race at the South American summit.  His interview with al Arabiya highlights his race and family's religion.  Race appears in presidential jokes.  He distances himself from America prior to his coming of age.  Stranger still, Obama's heritage is unlike that of a Clarence Thomas, Tom Sowell, or Bill Cosby, who all knew real prejudice in 1950s America.

At the NAACP, Obama Removes His Mask of the Great Unifier.  It is truly a sad day in America when the president of the United States fans the flames of racial hatred.  The man elected to be president of all the people, in his speech at the NAACP basically said, though America is racist, sexist and homophobic, you can make it in spite of those white [people]'s attempts to stop you.  Wonderful.  How inspiring.  The NAACP audience erupted in applause.  Obama's condemnation was "red meat" to the liberal, protective of their victim status, organization.

Race Baiter in Chief.  If the country wanted to elect Jessie Jackson or Al Sharpton as president we already had that chance.  Many thought Obama was an educated, reasonable, objective man.  Instead, I think we have just had confirmed what some feared and suspected:  we have elected the Race Baiter in Chief.

Obama's Criticism of Police Is Nothing New for Him.  Serving up a pack of falsehoods for public consumption does absolutely nothing to promote "unity."  It only promotes grievance mongering and resentment.  Moreover, Obama's lies about the justice system were far more than mere unfortunate failures to "calibrate" — as he puts it — his words with greater precision.  Rather, those lies were part of a longstanding Obama tradition of:  (a) lamenting the alleged racial "disparities in criminal sentencing"; (b) asserting that blacks and whites "receive very different sentences ... for the same crime"; and (c) complaining that "certain sentences ... are based less on the kind of crime you commit than on what you look like and where you come from."  The empirical evidence against Obama's claims is weighty indeed.

What Happened to Our Postracial President?  A black politician who once struggled to establish African-American credentials has now become our collective arbiter of race in a way former African-American national figures could hardly imagine.  Whether due to the utility of identity politics or simply to his own comfort with racial emphases, Obama has highlighted, rather than downplayed, his own mixed heritage in efforts to accentuate an African-American identity.

A Post-Racial President?  Many people hoped that the election of a black President of the United States would mark our entering a "post-racial" era, when we could finally put some ugly aspects of our history behind us.  That is quite understandable.  But it takes two to tango.  Those of us who want to see racism on its way out need to realize that others benefit greatly from crying racism.  They benefit politically, financially, and socially.  Barack Obama has been allied with such people for decades.

Obama told us more than he intended — or wanted.  Did our president sit at the knee of that Harvard teacher, who, like the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, preached sermons of insurrection, racial hatred and national destruction?  Obama's reflex reaction to defend Professor Gates seems to say that he did.  That should be cause for concern to any thinking person.  Is our president a barely contained volcano of racial prejudice and resentment?

How Obama and Henry "Yo Mama" Gates Can Woo Back the "White Devils":  The generational wounds of discrimination will not heal with Obama calling one of our nation's best and brightest fair-skinned cops "stupid."  FYI to BHO:  That kind of talk, thoughtlessly slurring one of our finer whiteys' intelligence, will leave a negative mark on our Caucasian consciousness.  You can say we can't jump, or we can't dance, but you cannot call one of our tribe stupid when, in reality, the guy was just doing his job in an excellent manner while apprehending one of your belligerent, bigoted buddies...

There Is a Pattern Here ...  The point here is that the public is starting to sense two things:  One, Obama's first impulse when speaking out on race is his most genuine and most disturbing; and two, his statesmanlike disavowals always come not out of genuine embarrassment over his initial remark (such as praising the racist Wright), but out of real concern that he is going to be hurt politically without such a "correction" — an awareness that in turn seems to engender only more anger, and leads to the next incident in the series.

What happened to post-racial America?  Whatever happened to that "post-racial" America we were supposed to be living in?  Whatever happened to those warm and fuzzy feelings we got when we elected America's first black president?  Whatever happened to being so proud of ourselves for having bridged the racial divide?  Didn't last very long.

Obama's Seven Deadly Political Sins.  Many Americans believed Barack Obama's election would lead the country into a post-racial world.  After all, Obama's rhetoric during the campaign was very different from previous "black leaders" like Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson.  Besides, if a black man could become President, how racist could the country really be?  However, that wonderful dream has turned into a nightmare since Obama was elected. ... The last thing most Americans thought they were doing when they voted for Obama was increasing how often the word "racist" was going to be errantly tossed around.

The Barry Lynn of The South.  Throughout the presidential campaign last year, liberals were champing at the bit to accuse Americans of racism for not supporting Barack Obama.  That was a tough argument on account of the obvious facts that:  (1) for every vote he lost because he's black, Obama picked up another 20 votes for being black; (2) Obama won the election in (3) a country that's 87 percent non-black.  So the accusations of racism had to be put on hold until ... the first note of dissent from his agenda was sounded.  Inasmuch as Obama was just elected and his policies have turned out to be the most left-wing the country has ever seen, it wasn't going to be easy to claim the electorate suddenly decided they didn't like the mammoth spending bills or socialist health care bills because they just noticed Obama is black.

You're A Racist!  The Ultimate Emotional Intimidation.  Many sincere white Americans thought by electing a black president America could never again be characterized as a "racist country."  Shamefully, this characterless administration betrayed Obama voters by exploiting race, using it as a tool to implement their far left agenda.  If you don't agree with everything Obama wants, you must be a racist.  Rather than the election of America's first black president bringing the races together, Obama's administration is tearing us apart.  They will continue to play the tired, old and tattered geriatric "race card" as long as it is effective.

Obama vs. Obama:  In short, Obama is now simply a normal President with sliding polls; if he tries to evoke his singular heritage in his decline for political advantage as he did in his ascendancy with real profit, his Presidency could implode.  The current public has had it with blame-gaming and victimization of any sort, and will have little tolerance for any who play that card.

The race bullies:  When "communist" was the allegation of the day, it lost its sting in due course.  Today, in spite of sixty years of immense black progress since Martin Luther King and the Civil Rights laws, the media and Demagogues love to read "racism!" into the minds of ordinary, decent Americans.  It is pure a Stalinist tactic to shut up opposition.  It is done with malice aforethought as a power play.  For Democrats there are no "racists" on the Left, just revered old Ku Klux Klanners like Senator Robert Byrd.

Criticism Is Racism.  Sadly, it's not enough to expect that people who level the racism charge at least try to back it up.  The claim is no longer about facts, but about silencing or discrediting critics.  The evidence suggests that the right should expect this slanderous strategy to continue as long as Obama is in office.

Democrats Jumping the Race-Card Shark.  Welcome to the post-racial presidency of Barack Obama, in which it has suddenly become a racial issue when American citizens dare to criticize the president.  Now, this is so silly, so asinine that it boggles the mind of any rational person. ... How easy did these people think it was going to be when they decided to elect a man whose resume fits nicely on a postage stamp to the highest office in the land?  Racism?  No.  Incompetence with a capital "I."  Yes, we can object.

That's right, Obama and his team are incompetent.

Who's a Racist?  Do Barack Obama and the Democrat Party foster racism and use it as a political tool?  The cold, hard truth that no one on the Left wants to admit is that they do.

More about liberals and minorities.

Democrats see race factor for Barack Obama foes.  Eight months into Barack Obama's presidency, as criticism of his administration seems to reach new levels of volume and intensity each week, the whispers among some of his allies are growing louder:  That those who loathe the nation's first African-American president, and especially those who would deny his citizenship, are driven at least in part by racism.

Race to the Bottom.  Last year Geraldine Ferraro called Barack Obama's race an advantage.  "If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position," she said to a California newspaper, the Daily Breeze.  "He happens to be very lucky to be who he is.  And the country is caught up in the concept."  Now Jimmy Carter says his race is a disadvantage.  Which is it?

Dems will stoop to any depth to tar Obama critics.  Sometimes losing in the political arena brings out the lowest depths of behavior.  This sad fact is on display now in the form of the slanderous mischaracterization of President Barack Obama's critics.

The Obsolescence of a Slur.  Are Obama's critics really racists?  It is a serious charge.  If true, it means the hope of a color-blind society is essentially over after a half-century of civil-rights progress.  If false, it means that we have institutionalized vicious smears as legitimate political tactics — and, in the process, discredited the entire dialogue that surrounds racial prejudice.  How do we determine the accuracy of the "racism" charges?

Hating Whitey Makes Unexpected Comeback.  Here we are only nine months into the ubiquitously proclaimed "post-racial presidency," and all that promised harmony among the races has disappeared faster than a Chicago minute.  All it took for addled minds to conjure shadows of racism behind every whitey tree in the whole American forest were voices raised in dissent over the President's far-left policies.



Is Obama Black?

Calling Obama black is an insult to his mother.  Only in one important sense can Obama be legitimately termed "black".  In the US and the UK too, until fairly recently, "black" was a political identification, shorthand for "not white" in the long game of power held almost entirely in white, male hands.  So his win does represent, as with Colin Powell and Condi Rice, an historical shift as some top jobs finally get into the hands of non-white Americans.

See Obama for who he is.  The closer Obama gets to representing us all, the more people struggle with the notion of him as a black man — reflecting in growing detail America's chronic schizophrenia about racial identity.  The question of race that has been raised repeatedly in Obama's campaign is both straightforward and existential: Is he really black?  Isn't he really biracial?  Or maybe post-racial, even nonracial?

Would Obama be 'the black president'?  For many black activists in Obama's adopted home state, who might be expected to form the core of his political base, a central question still looms about the man who has risen speedily over 11 years from state lawmaker to U.S. senator to a sensation in the 2008 presidential campaign:  As he works to appeal to voters across the nation, will Obama stand firm for black people and black causes?

[As long as there are "black causes" there will be racial division and strife in this country.]

Some Black Voters May Find Obama 'Too White'.  Being black doesn't necessarily mean White House hopeful Sen. Barack Obama has a lock on black voters.  In wooing a faithful Democratic constituency, Obama faces two-term New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, the party front-runner who enjoys strong support in the black community.

Barack Obama and the Breakdown in Family:  Barack Obama, the Illinois freshman senator who hopes to occupy the Oval Office, strikes me as a man uncomfortable in his own skin.  I say that having just finished reading Obama's first book, "Dreams from My Father:  A Story of Race and Inheritance," written before he decided to enter the political world and was therefore less careful about revealing his own doubts, fears and confusion.

The N-word and why black power could keep Obama out of the White House.  [Scroll down]  Many older, more traditional, blacks are [mistrustful] of Obama.  They believe him an unworthy heir to their political inheritance and don't consider him properly 'black'.  The older generation trace their ancestry back to the days of slavery, and remember vividly the battles of the civil rights movement of the Sixties.  Obama did not build his political career through this movement, or the institutions it spawned. … And while he makes all the right noises about the civil rights movement of the Sixties, many question whether he really believes what he says.

Jesse, Barack, and African-American Support.  It may be difficult for Obama to grasp, given his intense self-identification with the black community as revealed by his stint as a community activist and as a representative of ACORN, that he remains an outsider.  But [Jesse] Jackson's words, and the coolness of the response from the blacks who comprise the core of his support, suggest it's something he needs to consider.

Could Obama be the first Asian American president?  He was born and raised in Hawaii, the only majority-Asian state in the union; he spent four formative years in Jakarta, the home of his Indonesian stepfather Lolo Soetoro, where he attended local schools and learned passable Bahasa Indonesia.  The family with whom he's closest — half-sister Maya Soetoro-Ng and her Chinese Canadian husband, Konrad Ng — are Asian American.

Why is Obama black?  I have one question concerning Barack Obama.  Why does he refer to himself as black?  Here is a man who is of mixed race, 50 percent black and 50 percent white, who was raised almost exclusively by his white mother.  Other than providing 50 percent of his genes, his black father played no more than an absentee role as parent.  So why does this man identify himself as black and not white, or at least as mixed race?

Is Barack Obama black?  For some of us, the heralding of Barack Obama as the first black president of the United States seems a rather uncontroversial claim.  Not so for others.  One well-known African American writer, Debra Dickerson, famously objected that Obama is not of the people properly defined as "black" on the grounds that because he is not descended from slaves.  Ergo, he is not black — at all.

He's Not Black.  He is also half white.  Unless the one-drop rule still applies, our president-elect is not black.  We call him that — he calls himself that — because we use dated language and logic.  After more than 300 years and much difficult history, we hew to the old racist rule:  Part-black is all black.

Yep, he's black.
 Blacks, whites hear Obama differently.  On matters of racial identity, many observers in the African-American community say he benefits from what's known as "dog-whistle politics."  His language, mannerisms and symbols resonate deeply with his black supporters, even as the references largely sail over the heads of white audiences.  This is part of the reason that as a candidate, Obama won intense support among African-Americans while never being branded, in the fashion of a Jesse Jackson, as a candidate defined by race. ... Beyond speech, blacks have picked up certain of Obama's mannerisms, particularly his walk, that signal authenticity.  Bush had his cowboy strut, and Obama has a swagger — a rhythmic lope that says cool and confident and undeniably black.

Wait — maybe he's not.
 Understanding the Black Experience?  Touting Obama as the poster child for blackness is a ridiculous notion.  Further, the idea that Obama can teach me "blackness" is equally ridiculous.  Unlike me, Obama is only half-black — as much white, as he is black.  Obama's formative years were spent mostly in the white world.  He was raised by his white grandparents in upper middle-class lifestyle.  He attended expensive mostly white private schools in his youth, his education culminating with Harvard.

What Happened to Our Postracial President?  Unlike [Colin] Powell, [Condoleezza] Rice, or [Clarence] Thomas, Obama was not born into, but rather piggy-backed onto, the African-American experience.  He came of age well after the South's oppressive Jim Crow culture began to wane.  He grew up in a multiracial Hawaii that was always somewhat more relaxed, and was exempt from the tensions inside the continental United States.  Obama was of half-white ancestry, and raised by white grandparents.  Finally, Obama's father was a Kenyan national and Muslim, not a descendant of American slaves, and so he lacked an African-American pedigree altogether.

Every Critic a Racist.  Every president eventually is criticized by the media — even one as "transcendent" as Obama.  The President's supporters should engage his critics with facts, not charges of racism.

Stop playing the race card.  It was Obama who quoted Wright admiringly in his book, The Audacity of Hope, "white folks greed runs a world in need."  Recently his administration dropped charges of voter intimidation against the virulently racist New Black Panther Party even though the Justice Department has already won the case.  Based on his writings and past associations, the President is not post-racial, but race obsessed.  Like his mentors and leftists colleagues, he believes that our country is essentially racist, particularly its "white folks."


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