Weeks Before the Election, Obama Remains an Enigma

Minimizing the candidate's problematic associations — or lying about them — has been the pattern of the Obama campaign.

October 10, 2008 - by Rand Simberg
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First there was Tony Rezko, a now-convicted felon (and under investigation at the time) who helped the Obamas purchase their home in Chicago on strangely favorable terms. When confronted about it, Senator Obama told us that it “wasn’t the Tony Rezko I knew.”

Next came Reverend Jeremiah Wright. Barack and Michelle Obama were members of his congregation for two decades, sat in the pews on Sunday, were married by him, had their children baptized by him, were spiritually advised by him. The title of Senator Obama’s self-aggrandizing book was taken from one of his sermons. Yet they professed surprise when his repeated bigoted and anti-American ravings were aired last spring, and then said that this was normal for an African-American church. He asks us to believe that he was unaware of his long-time pastor’s inflammatory rhetoric.

Now, with the left-wing social activist organization ACORN in the news because its Nevada office was raided in an investigation of voter fraud, Senator Obama, who has been a trainer and legal counsel for the organization, is denying his relationship with it. Of course, there are other reasons to not want to be associated with it, given it (and his) at least partial responsibility for the current financial crisis. But there’s abundant evidence to the contrary.

And now that the McCain campaign is exposing his long-standing relationship with Bill Ayers, former Weatherman and domestic terrorist (not to mention his wife Bernardine Dohrn, a founder of that group), the Obama campaign responds by saying that the bombings were something that happened when he was eight years old. As if that’s a defense of a close association with someone who has never expressed regret for his actions, and who remains unrepentant and defiant about it. And then they deny the relationship, claiming that he was “just a guy in my neighborhood.” Well, with all of the Rezkos, Wrights, Ayers and Dohrns, it’s starting to look like a pretty rough neighborhood. Perhaps he should consider moving.

Except the denials don’t hold up. Senator Obama has claimed that the fact that his initial campaign kickoff for a State Senate seat in 1996 was hosted at the home of Ayers and Dohrn was just a happenstance — that they had nothing to do with his career. But this week, CNN exposed that as a lie (though Anderson Cooper didn’t seem very happy to have to do so). When people tried to investigate their relationship in the Chicago Annenberg Challenge, in which hundreds of millions was spent to radicalize schoolchildren while contributing nothing to their actual education, the University of Illinois attempted to prevent access to the relevant history. At whose behest? If it was the Obama campaign behind the scenes, it wouldn’t be inconsistent with their recent attempts to shut down free speech in Missouri.

The latest revelation is that Senator Obama was a member of the leftist “New Party,” an offshoot of Democratic Socialists of America. If history is a guide, he’ll deny it, despite the evidence (an unsuccessful attempt has been made to scrub all references to Obama from the website). Or else, as one of the readers at my site did, simply say “Hey, we could use a little socialism now, given the state of the economy.”

Given this history, it is long past the time that Senator Obama should be given the benefit of the doubt. At this point, the question should be: why should we believe anything that he or his campaign tells us? Leave aside the ideological question of whether or not we want someone with such an apparent radical leftist history running the country. Is this kind of spin and prevarication that we want to deal with for the next four years?

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Rand Simberg is a recovering aerospace engineer and a consultant in space commercialization, space tourism and Internet security. He offers occasionally biting commentary about infinity and beyond at his weblog, Transterrestrial Musings.

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180 Comments

1. Someone75:

People: He’s been running for president for TWO YEARS. He’s been interviewed by everyone – even O’Reilly. Hillary went after him with everything she had. Don’t you think if he had some deep dark secret, she would have found it and exploited it? He admitted his own drug use for crying out loud!

Do you not trust McCain’s ability to vet Obama? Do you not think if McCain had any REAL proof of these preposterous allegations of terrorism that he’d be trumpeting them all over the media? Do you actually think there’s a hidden secret out there that McCain and his team were unable to find? And if so, what does that say about your faith in McCain?

He’s been in the national spotlight for a long time. He’s been vetted by Hillary’s people, and now by McCain. It’s a desperate attempt to paint him as an “unknown”, and we all know how frightened we are of the unknown.

If conservatives want to attack him, there are plenty of legitimate policy debates to be had. Talk about the issues – don’t bother us with petty distractions. But, I suppose that if the majority of the country thinks you’re wrong on the issues, then go ahead and pull every illegitimate tactic at your disposal.

Oct 10, 2008 - 12:20 am 2. GDT:

The issue is not that people don’t know these things about Obama – almost everyone does. The issue is that for many on the American left – it just doesn’t matter. For many on the American left – the end completely justifies the means. The fact that Obama will do every thing and ANYTHING to further his own leftist agenda is seen as a positive by many of the people on the left. When you attempt to illustrate Obama’s lack of experience and character the left laughs at you. It isn’t that they don’t believe you; it is that it is – to them – completely irrelevant. To the left, ideology trumps all.

Oct 10, 2008 - 12:40 am 3. skink:

“To the left, ideology trumps all.”

of course it does, you dill

it’s called principle and policy. It is the whole point of having a Party. The party is a collection of individuals that share the same values, and that party puts forward a candidate that best represents those values and shapes them into policy.

what kind of party would propose a candidate that does not share their values? what kind of candidate would stand for a party of free enterprise and then offer to nationalize the banking sector? what sort of candidate would represent the party that likes to cut taxes, and then offer to spend $300 billion …er…oh.

Oct 10, 2008 - 1:28 am 4. GDT:

Mr. Skink, I believe you have missed my point – and in doing so you have made my point for the other readers. Of course political parties share an ideology. Of course they promote and support people who share that ideology. With the left, however, absolutely nothing matters but that shared ideology. The left will tolerate no political descent at all (witness Joe Lieberman’s recent expulsion from the Democrat party) but forgives and ignores absolutely anything from those who do share their views. Ted Kennedy drives a girl into a creek and allows her to die while working on an alibi and is reelected. Bill Clinton sexually abuses a White House intern in much the same way that a rock star uses a groupie and that is off limits and is a private matter. Barney Frank’s boyfriend runs a prostitution ring out of Barney’s Washington D.C. apartment while Barney is in residence and bringing that up is somehow gay bashing. Obama has a long standing personal and professional relationship with an unrepentant domestic terrorist and even mentioning that is somehow racist. Conservatives seem to throw their own to the wolves for the slightest transgression but for the left ideology seems to render all else irrelevant.

Back to my original point – it is not that most people don’t know about Obama’s lack of experience and achievements or questionable associations – people predisposed to vote for a socialist do not care at all. What we know about Obama might only be the tip of the iceberg and it would not matter to his fans. As I said in my original post – for the left, ideology trumps absolutely everything.

Oct 10, 2008 - 2:40 am 5. vivo:

We know enough about Obama and McCain. All the personal attacks are just distractions to avoid facing the solutions to the mess.

Adding to distractions:
Ayers was fighting a corrupt and obscene war, Vietnam. He may have bombed statues and buildings, but McCain was blindly bombing people on the ground, thousands of miles from this land. That’s why they shot him down. That was the past. They moved on. Ayers is not going to bomb anyone anymore, but Wile E McCain and Sancho Panza could keep on killing all over again.

Oct 10, 2008 - 3:28 am 6. Jon:

I’m sorry but Obama scares the living hell out of me. The thing is, it’s not just Ayers or rev Wright. He was a member of the “New Party”. A radical socialist wing of the democratic party that had in its mantra a plan to take over the entire democratic party and then the government. If you connect the dots and look at his past, the cast of characters looks like a Legion of Doom reunion. Just do yourself a favor and start googling Ayers, jeremiah wright, Phleger farrakhan, percy sutton (black panther lawyer), sal alinsky, sorros, frank marshall davis, khalidi, al monsour, acorn and now thanks to Dr. Corsi, Odinga! These things all have something in common. Radicals radicals radicals, communists, racists, anti-Semites, socialists, marxists. No one can grow up in politics and be mentored and surrounded by all of these characters without taking some of their views and IDEOLOGY with them. Do the research people. The truth is out there.

Oct 10, 2008 - 3:40 am 7. RE:

It seems that everyone in Obama’s past is either corrupt or nefarious. Everyone.

Farrakhan’s speech yesterday literally proclaiming Obama a messiah comes as no surprise whatsoever at this point.

Oct 10, 2008 - 3:48 am 8. Sheila:

“The issue is that for many on the American left – it just doesn’t matter”

GDT you hit the nail on the head – and Someone75 and vivo proved your point – apparently the left view’s Obama’s associations as nothing more than “petty distractions”. Ho hum

Oct 10, 2008 - 4:11 am 9. Lance Woodward:

The media has not done its homework. It does not know who has influenced Obama most. Instead, it remains hung up on Ayers.
Obama’s greatest mentor died in ‘72; but Saul Alinsky’s writings and philosophy for a new economic society as laid out in “Rules for Radicals” formed the basis for Obama’s goal. Alinsky encouraged hiding the truth (i.e.justified lying) in order “to hide their true goals by any means.” You’ll see it quoted in one of the websites. Below is a letter from Alinsky’s son, published in the Boston Globe on 31 Aug. After you read it, I urge you to Google Saul Alinsky and Saul Alinsky socialist.

• Son sees father’s handiwork in convention
Barack Obama’s training in Chicago by the great community organizers is showing its effectiveness. It is an amazingly powerful format, and the method of my late father always works to get the message out and get the supporters on board. When executed meticulously and thoughtfully, it is a powerful strategy for initiating change and making it really happen. Obama learned his lesson well.

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. It is a fine tribute to Saul Alinsky as we approach his 100th birthday.

L. DAVID ALINSKY
Medfield

plus, from another website:

“After college Obama moved to Chicago to be part of the Jerry Kellman organization as a community organizer. [Kellman was a Saul Alinsky protege.] Among the primary goals of Alinsky was radical socialism and redistribution of wealth. Alinsky taught his proteges to “HIDE” their true goals by any means necessary. Lying was fine. The objective of Alinsky and Kellman was to turn people against the white establishment.”

Oct 10, 2008 - 4:36 am 10. Kim:

The issue is the left wing media. You have to admit that they have bought the ride for Obama and that the main stream public listens to the main stream media. Most individuals do not take time to research the issues/truths. Even with the importance of the election they just hop on for the ride.

I am ashamed of our media one sided reporting. Fact, when Palen had her debate, it was the media afterwards that discussed some of her inacurate comments. Did they discuss Biden’s..no, even though he did vote for the war.

I also hear if McCain gets voted in and dies, it is hard to see Palen as President because she is not qualified. I respond, she is more qualified than Obama and for them to look at the facts. They will not listen to reason nor research the facts.

McCain is comming off too soft and must challenge Obama on his past now. He cannot wait or there goes the election. We cannot wait for individuals to research nor can we wait on the main stream media because that will not happen. Main stream media is already packing up to go the White house to celebrate the opening of the new basketball court.

Oct 10, 2008 - 5:13 am 11. Chris in Toronto:

The “Alinsky” method sounds familiar. Bartender, another taqqiyah, please.

Oct 10, 2008 - 5:15 am 12. Paul from Florida:

He’s for ‘change’ and ‘hope’.

What could be more clearer?

What, are you against ‘hope’? What could be more American than ‘change’?

Come on folk, get with the program!
/sarcasm off

Oct 10, 2008 - 5:15 am 13. HardHeadedWoman:

BO is not an enigma. He has written two books and his actions and alliances speak volumes as to who he is and what his intentions are. Why everyone keeps going on about “who the real Obama is” is beyond me.

Oct 10, 2008 - 5:31 am 14. Joe Buzz:

Was I hearing things in the Obama add I saw this morning, where he states that his mother got him up at 4:30 am to do “lessons”? My wife said…”I question the sanity of any woman that wakes her children at that hour to do homework.”

Oct 10, 2008 - 5:32 am 15. Joe Buzz:

Oh and BTW the video here should be on national TV. Zo rocks!

Oct 10, 2008 - 5:37 am 16. justaworkinstiff:

After reading both candidates web sites and watching the debates such as they were it is my opinion that I simply can not afford four more years that under McCain would be an extenion of George W Bush policies and I refer to both foreign policies and at home economic policies.
I will grant that both parties have had a hand in creating the perfect storm of this financial melt down but with our loss of credibility within the world community thanks to a war launched under false pretenses, and a be reasonable do what I say attitude, our President has no leverage to get world leaders and markets to cooperate and halt or slow the financial free fall. McCain is just more Bush with only very minor differences.
For this over 50 white male I’ve had enough and it’s time to try something new…and perhaps a bit radical. Those that make bold pronouncements that Obama will bring socialism to our country don’t have enough faith in our legislature and court systems to prevent a single man’s excess?I ahve to wodner what recent events have caused this lack of faith in our system of governemt. Besides, are you telling me that what the current President just did to our banking system wasn’t socialism?
Someone show me where I’m wrong and I’ll be happy to reconsider.

Oct 10, 2008 - 5:49 am 17. Dark Helmet:

obammy is a traitor. The people that support him are either communists or complete idiots. McCain is just not as bad.

Our enemies are within and they have begun to reveal themselves. The liberals are the trolls of those who seek to completely destroy our nation.

It really is just that simple.

Oct 10, 2008 - 5:55 am 18. Peter Koester:

Vivo wrote: Ayers was fighting a corrupt and obscene war, Vietnam. He may have bombed statues and buildings, but McCain was blindly bombing people on the ground, thousands of miles from this land.

Read your history. Most of Ayers atrocities occurred AFTER the US had ended the Vietnam War. And it wasn’t buildings he was bombing. My cousin was a NYC police officer who was mere inches from being killed by Ayers bombing of OnePP. Another target, the Pentagon, was with the full intention of killing and maiming the soldiers, sailors and airman who defend the rights and freedoms of his own country! McCain, like any soldier, was obeying the orders of those above him, including the POTUS at the time, fighting an enemy of the US and our allies. Ayers was simply trying to impress his own agenda through unmitigated violence against innocents. The fact he still has no regrets, wishes he had done more, and is PROUD of his actions only go to show how dangerous a crowd Omaba considers his friends! If these radicals hate the US so much, I would much rather see them go move to somewhere more to their liking, like perhaps Iran, North Korea or Zimbabwe for example.

Oct 10, 2008 - 5:58 am 19. Kim:

Look at the handout to the Banking Industry. How was that Bush? Obama and his kronies had their hands out with the banking industry. Ask yourself who flagged the issue with the banking industry over 3 years ago. To your surprise it was McCain. Who stopped the push to investigate at that time….Obama and his Kronies. Why cut off the hand that feeds you. Wake up and do not listed to the media. Do the research. Is it guilt by assocation that you are saying McCain is like Bush? If that is the case then Obama is like his pastor Reverend Wright of 20 years and like the bomber of the trade center William Ayers that he did speeches with and rolled out his polictal career from his home. It was known at that time he admitted bombing the trade center and stated that he wish he could of done more and is non-repentive. Last, what about Tony Resko and his dealings with him? Look at the facts.

Oct 10, 2008 - 6:05 am 20. Robert Hurley:

If you bother to read his books, you will find out more about him than any other predidential candidate we have had. His whole career has been a repudiation of the blame game that Wright preached. Ayers was clearly not close to Obama. Again if you bother to read anything but right wing drivel, you will see what he stands for. The economy is in freefall and you are all worried about Wright and Ayers rather than which candidate has the policies and ability to get us out of this mess

Oct 10, 2008 - 6:14 am 21. Joe C.:

This is the same scenario as before Clinton. Everyone was told (warned) about his history of corruption, self-agrandizement, and refusal to make potentially unpopular, but they were ignored. Today, we are still digging out of from this pathology – terrorism, “affordable housing,” politics of personal destruction. Yet here we are, and the same people that gave us that mistake, are going to make it again – only this time, there’s no prospect of 4 years of a conservative Congress in the middle years to save us.

Make no mistake about it, the current economic crisis IS the Obama-Democrat economy that started after the election of ‘06 – minimum wage, not making the tiny Bush tax rate cuts permanent, turning Fannie and Freddie into their personal ATM/vote machine. All the legislative mistakes that occurred after the Crash of ‘29 that turned a typical recession into the Great Depression are being promised by Obama with a filibuster-proof Senate. The last 2 times that happened we got The Great Depression, The New Deal, WWII, “The 60’s,” and The Great Society. What self-inflicted socioeconomic immolation will be wrought this time? Universal Health Care? Living wage? “Patriotic companies” (protectionism)?

Those that do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. In this case the past is certainly prologue.

Oct 10, 2008 - 6:15 am 22. BC:

The bottom line is that if you have more than half a brain and have even the most rudimentary knowledge about what’s going on in the world, you’re voting Obama. Just looking at the background of McCain’s advisers like Randy Scheunemann, one of the co-founders of the PNAC, which was behind that whole moronic “remove Saddam” scheme that Bush bought into, and Rick Davis, who was a well paid stooge for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac right up until just a month ago, should have been more than enough to scare off any responsible voter away from McCain (if that wasn’t enough, Google: John McCain Ameriquest) .

The whole Ayers thing is no more than yet another example of why so many smart, attractive women won’t date Republicans: Ayers is well respected college professor with a 48-page curriculum vitae. His radical days were from much earlier in the late 60’s and early 70’s, when America was in turmoil over the Vietnam War and Nixon. That was a different time, and Obama was just a kid then. It was the latter Ayers that Obama had dealings with, and even then, not that much. But the foul success of 2004’s swiftboating campaign has made the GOP and it’s right wing toadies think they can pull off the same despicable nonsense this year with even less “material” than they had in 2004.

If Obama wins, it would be like a strong dose of fresh air and sunshine for America, and for people who actually give a damn about its well being.

Oct 10, 2008 - 6:19 am 23. geokster:

Just a working stiff:

If it was only the presidency, perhaps Obama couldn’t do too much damage. But because the financial meltdown occurred just so conveniently for the dems, independents like you who don’t understand how the system works just might give him veto-proof majorities in both houses of Congress. And the Supreme Court cannot take action until a case is brought before it, which could take years. By then the effects will be irreversible. You want to see what Obama will do, fine, but then give the republicans a majority in the Senate, so we can be sure the issues are at least debated before being passed.

If you want to see how much the radical Alinsky is influencing this entire country right now, here is the story, which I summarized from a long, footnoted article linked to below:

In 1946 Alinsky wrote Reveille for Radicals…about the principles and tactics of “COMMUNITY ORGANIZING,” otherwise known as agitating for (Marxist) revolution…which he and his disciples euphemistically refer to as “CHANGE.” Two of his most notable modern-day disciples are Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.

Sound familiar yet? Read on.

True revolutionaries do not flaunt their radicalism, Alinsky taught. “They cut their hair, put on suits and infiltrate the system from within.” (Barack Obama)

…the organizer must deride his enemy and dismiss him as someone unworthy of being taken seriously because he is either intellectually deficient or morally bankrupt…He advised organizers to “laugh at the enemy” in an effort to provoke “an irrational anger. “Ridicule,” said Alinsky, “is man’s most potent weapon. It is almost impossible to counterattack ridicule.

…a clearly identifiable enemy; …specifically name this foe…who is to blame for the “particular evil” that is the source of the people’s angst…it should be an individual such as a CEO, a mayor, or a president. (Bush, Palin) …the enemy was to be portrayed as the very personification of evil, against whom any and all methods were fair game…

…the organizer’s task was to cultivate…a negative, visceral emotional response to the face of the enemy…to avoid the temptation to concede that his opponent was not “100 per cent devil,” or that he possessed certain admirable qualities such as being “a good churchgoing man, generous to charity, and a good husband.” (Bush/Palin Derangement Syndrome)

Men will act when they are convinced their cause is 100 percent on the side of the angels, and that the opposition are 100 percent on the side of the devil.” …the ends (in this case, the transfer of power) justify virtually whatever means are required (in this case, lying).

If the perceived oppressor surrenders or extends a hand of friendship…(t)his cannot be permitted. Eternal war, by definition, must never end.

…in order to most effectively cast themselves as defenders of moral principals and human decency, organizers must react with “shock, horror, and moral outrage” whenever their targeted enemy in any way misspeaks or fails to live up to his “book of rules.”

Does any of this ring a bell? For me it explains EVERYTHING that is going on right now: the hatred, the lies, the smears, the ridicule, the coordinated trolls, even the empty suit, his equally empty mantra of undefined “change”, and his hesitancy to explain what he did as a “community organizer”.

http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/individualProfile.asp?indid=2314

This profile was written by John Perazzo in April 2008, long before Palin, but it obviously accurately describes what happened to her, doesn’t it?

Oct 10, 2008 - 6:22 am 24. Lone Ranger:

Four years ago, Obama was just one of 59 state senators in Illinois, legislating under leadership of a state Governor. Illinois state population is 12,420,000. Assuming that State Senators are allotted to represent equal numbers of constituents, when you divide 59 into 12.42 million, you get 210,508. So – four years ago, Obama was representing 211,000 people as a legislator.

Alaska’s population is 626,000 people. Two year ago, Palin was the Governor – the Chief Executive – over that entire population.

How much distance in government experience can possibly exist between these two individuals? And – to the extent that distance exists, how can it possibly be in Obama’s favor?

Next:

How can Obama possibly obtain a Top Secret security clearance? Private travel to Pakistan during a period when US citizens were prohibited from traveling there. Various and sundry foreign relatives at the half-brother level. Proven adult (recent?) associations with felons and admitted domestic terrorists. If he traveled to Pakistan on foreign passport, representing himself as a Muslim, that should also be disqualifying.

Without a TS clearance, how can he be considered fit to be Commander in Chief?

Oct 10, 2008 - 6:30 am 25. jb:

I know exactly who Senator Obama is. Under no circumstances should “that one” even be considered for POTUS. He’s a leftist Ideologue and radical Socialist. Hillary Clinton should have been the Democratic nominee but after some of the ACORN crap has come to light, finally, I can see why she isn’t. Chicago, home of Al Capone and Barack Obama and yes I meant the comparison.

Oct 10, 2008 - 6:30 am 26. McSame:

If you right wingers think you are going to win the election by focusing on this stuff good luck! Way to go McCain you truly raised the bar when it comes to respectful campaigning. It just goes to show your true character which means you are a lying jerk which is a fine compliment to your vp pick who is a crazy, sarcastic by golly hick. Be scared conservatives 25 days and your guy loses and you will be kicking yourself in 4 years that you decided to make your case for president based on this guy Ayers. The days of fear mongering are over, people are sick of your party and come November we will get the change we need. Americans are finally ready (just look at the polls)to kick your ignorant party to the curb.

Oct 10, 2008 - 6:33 am 27. Trent Meetkat:

Good to see some sensible comments here. There is no mystery whatsoever about Obama. As stated above, he’s been running for two years; what’s not to know? He is a charismatic, capable, far-left candidate. He has the support of the center-right democrats (they’re not all commies) and they, among others, respect that he beat Hillary! and all other comers fair and square in the primaries. The number one issue for women voters, even though it’s now “the economy, stupid” is abortion. Obama is firmly pro-abortion, er “choice”, and thus the majority of women will vote for Obama (or any democrat other than, say, those fringe pro-lifers that taint – ? – their party). Obama surrounded himself with Clinton-admin economists, has the right shills shilling for him in the papers, etc. In short, he has a successful, effective machine behind him. And thus there can be no mystery except to those who need an introduction to machine politics in America.

Oct 10, 2008 - 6:36 am 28. Tina Trent:

There is a substantial difference between choosing to get into bed with an intern or choosing to get into bed with a terrorist and aspiring cop-killer. Enough hysteria.

Clinton was a successful, centrist president who accomplished what no Republican before or after him has done — controlled debt and reformed the welfare state.

Oct 10, 2008 - 6:43 am 29. Mallory:

http://www.americasright.com/2008/08/obama-sued-in-philadelphia-federal.html
Wondering why the news media has kept this under wraps?

Oct 10, 2008 - 6:48 am 30. CosmicConservative:

Obama’s history, voting record, alliances with radical Leftists, and disregard for truth are plainly visible to anyone who cares about those things.

Leftists who share Obama’s ideology simply don’t care about all that, it’s just part of the game to get their agenda pushed. They are voting for Obama BECAUSE he is such an open book.

Rightists who oppose Obama’s ideology have been screaming about Obama’s ideology, history and associations for at least a year, so they have no difficulty in seeing the real Obama and will vote against him for that reason.

So the real question is the squishy middle, those people who can’t seem to make up their minds, or who seem to think it is some virtue to be incapable of defining a personal ideology, why do they support Obama over McCain in spite of the obvious and clear evidence of Obama’s true nature?

That’s the real question. Part of the answer is that the political climate has been so poisoned since Clinton was elected that people who don’t examine the issues mostly just see a cloud of accusations and counter-accusations from both sides and they simply can’t distinguish the truth from the fiction.

I’ve talked to many of them and the ones who waffle or support Obama can’t see a significant difference between the accusations that McCain is a warmongering, cranky old man who doesn’t know how to use a fax machine, and the accusations that Obama is a closet socialist who pals around with ancient sixties radicals. They simply can’t tell the difference, and so they tend to ignore all that and make their choices based on the prevailing memes that the media puts out there. And those memes are unfailingly positive towards Obama and negative towards McCain.

The mystery isn’t why McCain is losing in such a race, the mystery is how any Republican ever wins.

Oct 10, 2008 - 6:50 am 31. jmc:

silly, superficial article – not worthy of reading.

Oct 10, 2008 - 6:56 am 32. Chris:

Clinton was so successful during his presidency that he didn’t take any action to prevent 9/11 from happening. All the dominos were set and started falling while Bill was in office. He did nothing to stop it. So please don’t tell me how successful he was.

Obama is a radical in sheep’s clothing. He is saying what he needs to for now until he is elected. But the left should not count their chickens before their hatched, I would not be surprised if McCain still wins. Voting for a radical lefty is not an easy thing to do for most Americans.

Oct 10, 2008 - 6:59 am 33. Kim:

As this question, Is Obama right for the economy in the stage that we are in? Now read this:

http://www.theyoungturks.com/story/2008/10/10/7293/4908/Diary/How-Many-Nobel-Prize-Winning-Economists-Oppose-Barack-Obama-s-Economic-Proposals-

This gives proof of experience and supports McCain ideas for the economy. It was the end of the Clinton years that our economy started to down sloap.

Oct 10, 2008 - 6:59 am 34. bobc:

Clinton corrupt?

proof? none?

then go away moron

he may have been an a****** but a genius compared to you.

Oct 10, 2008 - 7:02 am 35. HonestAbe:

“I just have to rely on the good judgment of the voters not to buy into these negative attack ads. Sooner or later, people are going to figure out if all you run is negative attack ads you don’t have much of a vision for the future or you’re not ready to articulate it.”

– John McCain, 2000

Oct 10, 2008 - 7:02 am 36. Robert Hurley:

Alinsky was a radical but he was also an important tactician in showing community organizers how to get people involved in effecting change. That tactic is as mainstream as it gets. Any community organizer whorth his or her salt would subscribe to the same tactics. Throwing out a name like Alinsky without understanding the context distorts what Obama did as a community organizer. To be an effective community organizer you don’t go to Wall Steet or hand around with banker snd read the Wall Street Journal. Obama is much more mainstream than most right wingers understand. The amount of distortion here outweighs the distortion coming from the left.

Oct 10, 2008 - 7:02 am 37. Obama hates America | Think Forward:

[...] Or Amerikkka as his friends would say. [...]

Oct 10, 2008 - 7:09 am 38. Conrad:

Pointing out the fact that Obama was a member of a socialist fringe party is not a “personal attack.” Pointing out his longstanding working relationship with a life-long “revolutionary” in doling out millions of dollars to try to radicalize schoolchildren in the name of “education reform” is not a “personal attack.” These facts go to the essence of Obama’s political and social philosophies.

Oct 10, 2008 - 7:18 am 39. fred:

Veterans of the Left like me who are now traitors to that cause have always known that ideology trumps everything else. The ethics of expediency of the Left go all the way back to Rousseau and later Robespierre. Marx and Engels codified it in their writings, and Lenin’s practice of it amplified it and sent it out into all vital organs of the Left. It is now hard wired into their body politic, except that now the matrix has metamorphosed into a thing called deconstructionism, or postmodernism, mated with the cultural Marxism of Gramsci to create a new hybrid.

And now the disciple of Saul Alinsky has taken it to a new level in American national politics.

These people on this thread who are proving GDT’s original point foul the human race with their conscienceless miasma of filth.

Oct 10, 2008 - 7:21 am 40. LeighB:

There are so many open questions about Obama and he could answer a few by releasing his college and law school transcripts and asking his team to assist with the audit of campaign donations. And exactly why did he give $800,000 to ACORN, what did he expect to get in return?

Oct 10, 2008 - 7:24 am 41. jb:

bobc: “Clinton corrupt?
proof? none?
then go away moron
he may have been an a****** but a genius compared to you.”

Funny how I remember some kind of IMPEACHMENT happening. “I did not have sexual relations with that woman” – Bill Clinton – liar

Oct 10, 2008 - 7:30 am 42. Ben:

Obama seems like a cult of personality to me. Kind of like most evil dictators start out as. Everyone seems to forget the power grabs Bush made dont go away when Obama steps into office.

Oct 10, 2008 - 7:38 am 43. MCJ:

Why don’t you people just talk plainly.

You think Obama is an Arab, Muslim terrorist who will sell our national security secrets to Iran, nationalize our entire private industry, enact martial law to prepare the way for the Mahdi, and round up all white people into internment camps.

Or am I missing the point of all of this egregious hysteria?

Oct 10, 2008 - 7:48 am 44. JD:

justaworkinstiff:

I’d try to show you where you are wrong, but if you are past 50 years old and still dont understand basic economic principles and still dont understand that the world hates us b/c the weak always resent the strong, then obviously you are too dense to be informed at this point.

And HonestAbe:

Pointing out Obama’s radical associations is hardly a typical political attack, b/c Obama is not a typical politician. Everything we know about him (other than his rhetoric) points to him being a radical leftist. When he positions himself as a moderate, he is blatantly lying about who he is and what he’ll do in office. McCain would be doing a disservice to his country if he didn’t highlight the associations that the media is so intent on supressing.
If you want to abandon the principles that made this country into the greatest success the world has ever known, in favor of the European socialist policies that are slowly killing those countries, then Obama is the change you’ve been looking for. But there aren’t enough of you to win the election, not even close. Obama can only win by fooling millions of Americans into thinking he’s somebody he isn’t. McCain must show these people who Obama really is. Ignoring Obama’s past would be terribly irresponsible.

Oct 10, 2008 - 7:57 am 45. bobc:

1sexual acts are not of corruption

MORON

2 Obama was NOT a member of a socialist fringe party

3 Obama a: did not spend money, b: money was spent to improve test scores.

4 you are NOT a Veteran of the Left

Rousseau was not of the “left”

matrix? you bene watching too many movies

next you will tell us Mother Teresa was a radical

Oct 10, 2008 - 7:58 am 46. jerry:

Vivo:

You said: “Ayers was fighting a corrupt and obscene war, Vietnam.”

We were fighting a corrupt communist regime in Hanoi. Communists murdered at least 100,000,000 people in the Twentieth Century. Communist dictators ran their nations as virtual concentration camps. The leadership lived high on the hog while their citizens starved.

By comparison, Nazi Germany was a paradise where at least the people who Hitler liked lived well.
Hitler and Nazism were pure evil. Communism is pure evil squared. Anyone who make excuses for communism and communists is lower then a Nazi in my book.

Oct 10, 2008 - 8:00 am 47. Paul from Florida:

MCJ.

Yes.

You are a lefty. Getting reality wrong is a feature, not a bug. Lefties move from one utopian vision to another, all the while explaining away the damage they do and passing off costs on to others.

Avanti! Avanti! Always forward!

Oct 10, 2008 - 8:02 am 48. McCain is a wimp:

McCain: I have every right to insist that he be candid with the American people … and he needs to be asked about it, and he needs to be forthcoming.

Gibson: … but you didn’t raise that argument at the debate the other night. I asked Senator Obama about that yesterday and he said he was suprised that ‘John didn’t say that to my face’.

McCain: … again, two things I’ve never been accused of lacking, one’s passion and the other’s courage. … I can accept alot of the other criticisms, look … it didn’t come up in the flow of the conversation.

Oct 10, 2008 - 8:03 am 49. Kenyg:

The problem I have, is I see government as the problem. The dems (and repubs too now), for the most part, see government as the solution.

I see Obama talk. I see McCain talk. I think to myself this is it? This is the choice – these are the best & the brightest? An empty suit or an old geezer? The choice of Biden was most troubling… horrible choice.

Oct 10, 2008 - 8:04 am 50. Tagg:

I see that just like McCain, you have no balls either.

Oct 10, 2008 - 8:04 am 51. justaworkinstiff:

geokster
One of the Repblican’s most conservatives voices is not terribly concerned about Obama as president as he is about Palin being a heatbeat away from the Presidency.

Yes, I know it’s a Huff post link but it is an interview with david Brooks with The Atlantic Magazine.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/08/david-brooks-sarah-palin_n_133001.html

Having served on more then one “board of directors” I can tell you sitting in the same room with people you may or may not share the same opinions with is not contagious.
This nation has suffered for the arrogance of the current adminstration and Mr McCain has not shown me the “steady hand at the tiller” he himself tells us we need (includng his history of militaristic views of foreign policy and his all over the map positins on our economy in just the last three weeks.
I’m sorry I just can not support The Republican ticket as it stands.

Oct 10, 2008 - 8:07 am 52. justaworkinstiff:

jd

Your tone of condescension is amazing. Economic principals would seem to manifest themselves in cause and affect actions of the market. Based upon the last 8 years of running a war off the books and on credit (which everyone on both sides of the asile has said is wrong and bad policy) as well as bein debilitating to our military
As to the world hating us because we’re strong…everyone hates a school yard bully and it has been my experience that most shool yard bullies are wrong a large portion of the time. Being the strongest changes over time and in time we may find ourselves in need of friends and they’ll be hard to find if we do not regain some of the moral high ground e used to have.
I have asked someone to present logical arguments
as to why McCain would be different than GWB or better than Obama. You’re certainly free to act condescening because I don’t currently hold your views but that is hardly constructive at this critical point in our nations history

Oct 10, 2008 - 8:19 am 53. fred:

bobc,

You are a slathering, babbling moron as well as a liar by publicly denouncing the discovery of Obama as being a member of an attempted socialist party hijacking of the Democratic Party back in the Nineties. Thank God the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that this “fusion” concept was unconstitutional.

I most certainly am a veteran of the Left, albeit from the more academic, bookish side of it. No, I was not the activist kind, especially the ones today, whose brains are nothing more than containers within which placard-flipping of inane slogans and talking points are supposed to pass for thought.

People like you are a waste of protoplasm, and you find new “handles” to jump into any attempts at intelligent discussion to spam it with adolescent taunts and amateur verbal grenades. You lob them, laugh, and then scram. Only to come back and repeat the process.

Folks, if this is what we have as examples of Obama’s new Brownshirts, then I don’t know if we should break out into unrestrained laughter or be exceedingly alarmed at what is coming our way in January. No matter, if that side wants to really play rough, let ‘em try it. We’re logistically prepared, if you get my meaning.

Oct 10, 2008 - 8:22 am 54. jb:

bobc:
“1sexual acts are not of corruption”
Lying to a grand jury is – moron

Oct 10, 2008 - 8:27 am 55. Richard:

The fact that Kenya is going Ga-Ga over their “home town boy” should alert everyone that this guy has no deep rooted feelings for America. He’s another African-(American) dictator wanabe. When I was young I was saying the pledge of allegience to the flag. Obama was learning Islamic doctrine.

Oct 10, 2008 - 8:33 am 56. SAF:

GDT:

I agree with you 100%.

There is plenty out there on Obama. The right thinks it matters the left doesn’t.

He would be neither be the candidate or be up in the polls without the MSM bias.

Oct 10, 2008 - 8:33 am 57. Will Sharpe:

Dark Knight: “McCain is just not as bad.”

How’s that for a campaign slogan!

Oct 10, 2008 - 8:39 am 58. Jbl:

This is a no brainer. If you want to know a man’s character, look at his friends.

Oct 10, 2008 - 8:49 am 59. Rand Simberg:

Repblican’s most conservatives voices

David Brooks is one of the Republicans’ “most conservative voices”? Who knew?

Oct 10, 2008 - 8:50 am 60. Croisan:

What choice did the media have??? The other choice was Hillary… You have painted the picture very well why they didn’t want Clinton’s wife (and partner in everything) to be their nominee. I’m not crazy about Obama either but I support Hillary even less. Her ability to lie with such uncanny ease makes me shudder. I hope Obama doesn’t give her any responsibilities in his administration.

It’s another Democrat year to take the White House and it probably wouldn’t matter who made it though the democratic primaries.

Oct 10, 2008 - 8:50 am 61. Magic2171:

When your national media quit doing their overpaid jobs and simply join the PR department of the DNC what else can you expect. The Obama administation (god save us) will be worse, because they own the House and Senate and the future restiction on free speach will fly thru the process. The sheeple of america don’t even see it coming and the democrats could care less as long as it leave them in absolute power.

Oct 10, 2008 - 8:51 am 62. MCJ:

Paul from Florida:

Obama’s such an awesome super secret Muslim that he doesn’t even make Michelle wear a hijab. THAT WOULD JUST GIVE HIS SECRET IDENTITY AWAY! He’s much too devious for that. He’ll do anything to see the Mahdi on earth.

Right?

Oct 10, 2008 - 8:52 am 63. MCJ:

Richard:

I second!

The founding fathers meant for all Presidents to be rich, white people who everyone in the world hates except 50% of Americans!

Oct 10, 2008 - 9:02 am 64. proud elitist:

MCJ — sounds about right. Obama is dangerous to them. Real great, Americans, associated an African-American man (1/2) as dangerous. Cripes, a man was recently shot 3 times in London for wearing an Obama T-shirt…

Recall, the right on this board doesn’t care about the stirrings of hatred towards Obama (”Terrorist!” “Kill him!”) that are occuring at the McCain and Palin rallies. They do not care that this is dangerous territory and we should be above such attacks. They do not care that their own candidates do not address it at the rallies — do not admonish the people and say that “Obama is not a terrorist and no one should think about killing them.”

They’ve sunk to a pathetic, tragic, delusional, and now borderline dangerous campaigning tactics.

So, dear members of the right, cling to your “Ayers!” and “ACORN!” and “Liberal MSM!” war cries.

And come November, take a good look at your Republican Party. If you really want America to change, you might want to ensure that the Rove mentality, Rove associates and all GWB associates are removed from your party. I mean, have you been reading about Norm Coleman lately?

Oct 10, 2008 - 9:03 am 65. tanstaafl:

But this week, CNN exposed that as a lie (though Anderson Cooper didn’t seem very happy to have to do so).

No, he didn’t.

At the end of the report, Cooper said something about the Chicago Annenberg Challange to the effect(what was wrong ? they were just) “…trying to help education in Chicago”.

More like using Annenberg money to further Ayers’ radical goals, Cooper.

The CNN reporter gave away a lot of his own personal bias in that rather incorrect observation relative to CAC.

Oct 10, 2008 - 9:06 am 66. Shakespeare's Fool:

Barack Obama is The Mystery Candidate, the man with no past, no record, no experience…and no vetting. And the mainstream media intends to keep it that way.

Oct 10, 2008 - 9:11 am 67. tanstaafl:

…apparently the left view’s Obama’s associations as nothing more than “petty distractions”. Ho hum

It fits with the theme here.

After all, a sitting President having dalliances in the Oval office and proceeding to lie about it under oath was “just” about sex.

WhatsDaBigDeal ?

Oct 10, 2008 - 9:15 am 68. momof3:

I am a former democrat, and woman, and I am really tired of people assuming women only vote on abortion. That wold be stupid, and not all women are stupid. There are much, much more important issues right now than a supreme court case that won’t be overturned no matter what.

Obama creeps me out. That’s exactly the best way to put it. I look at him and get the same feeling I got from Bush 8 years ago-this guy will listen only to himself and do what he wants, the country be damned. It’s a disastrous recipe for President. I have no clue how Bush got his second term, but I still have hope Americans won’t be that stupid a second time.

Oct 10, 2008 - 9:18 am 69. betheweb:

Folks, the swarm of trolls chanting long discredited talking points that ignore reality going back more than 40 years is a sign of how scared sh*tless they are of these stories about Obama’s murky past and the known lies he has told to shield that past from scrutiny. Most Americans who embrace democracy and capitalism know the the horrors of Socialism from long exposure to the incomprehensible evil of the Gulags and Great Leaps and do not want that for this country. That is why, like bees protecting the hive, the trolls attack in frenzied rage.

Just remember folks, one way to stop a hive attack is to smoke the suckers out. Keep digging out and exposing The One’s multiple and serial lies. Eventually, sane Americans, not infected with the desire to turn this country into the next Venezuela will figure it out. As to those who see Venezuela/Cuba/Zimbabwe as your goal, you had better hope you don’t get your wish. Recall that one of the first things to happen in a Communist takeover is that the True Believers are liquidated as dangerous. When True Believers learn that Communism is nothing more than a dead mackrel shining in the moonlight, the psychological instability that made them drink the Kool Aid makes them turn on the regime. Obviously, The One cannot permit that.

Oct 10, 2008 - 9:19 am 70. Robert Hurley:

Richard:

How does it feel to repeat these lies about Obama? I thought that was covered in one of the 10 Commandments

Oct 10, 2008 - 9:19 am 71. Robert Hurley:

I just read that Republican Senator Chuck Hagel’s wife will endorse Obama

Oct 10, 2008 - 9:25 am 72. jerry:

Proud Elitist:

So, You don’t think Obama’s long term association with a criminal organzation like ACORN means much?

Oct 10, 2008 - 9:29 am 73. tanstaafl:

The founding fathers meant for all Presidents to be rich, white people who everyone in the world hates except 50% of Americans!

Actually, the foundingfather persons anticipated that the country’s best and brightest (and most accomplished) would achieve the highest office in the land.

There are more than a few qualified black persons (or even mulatto persons) who fit that description.

They just don’t happen to be running for President.

Some of you people are so hung up on the “privilege” idea (and choosing a candidate on the basis of sticking it to “white privilege”) that you completely miss the “quality” idea and discount and rationalize any and all of your guy’s negatives.

This is dangerous in selecting a President of the United States.

Recently, Obama noted he’d been “running” for something like 19 months. Probably 20 months by now. Since he began running so long ago, he has missed in excess of 70% of Senate votes.

You know, his, uh, job. He hasn’t even been there to vote “present”.

And I still don’t know what the hell he’s saying (I’ve listened for 20 months) except “elect me”.

Oct 10, 2008 - 9:32 am 74. Manfred:

This article is simply NUTS.

I’m eagerly awaiting the author writing a similar hit piece about the female thug who could be a heartbeat away from the Presidency.

In the latter case, unlike this article, there is no need to suppose or associate or infer. The facts about her are crystal clear and they stink to high heaven.

As regards McCain, when are we going to talk about Keating and Liddy? Two criminals McCain loves and has spoken glowingly about. When has Obama praised Ayers? Is Annenberg a lefty radical or a Republican?

I’d like to hear about the Keating scandal in the next debate. Let’s rip McCain-Palin up.

Oct 10, 2008 - 9:32 am 75. Robert Hurley:

Tanstaafl:

Funny it seems that most of the people here know exactly what he stands for. You can’t have it both ways. Usually you are against a candidate becaue of the policies he or she puts forward. Since Obama has written a cople of books about himself and his beliefs and is running on a platform, I can only assume you have not bothered to read anything

Oct 10, 2008 - 9:43 am 76. Lupe Smit:

I believe anyone voting for Obama has to be dumb, Why? How can anyone tell us with a straight face that he sat in a pew for 20 years and never knew how his pastor acutally felt? That is all I need to know….ThaT person has to be DUMB…be he/SHE white, red, latino(i’m one)or blue…but then again our educational system has been dumbing down America…sO WE WILL HAVE A DUMMY? OR A LIAR IN THE WHITE HOUSE CHOOSE…What can we expect?

Oct 10, 2008 - 9:51 am 77. susan:

BC :Ayers is well respected college professor with a 48-page curriculum vitae.

Sorry but I do not consider bombings the kind of CV I want to have for the teachers in my school.

If he so much beyond the bombings (that didn’t kill anybody only thanks to ayers ineptitude) why he’s un unrepentant terrorits? Why he claimed he is sorry he didn’t do more (bombings).

You leftist are always prone to defend the undefendable.

Oct 10, 2008 - 10:18 am 78. Robert Hurley:

Lupe – there is a great article in teh New York Review of Books that helps explain Obama’s elations to the Black Church. You should read it. It might help you understand

Oct 10, 2008 - 10:28 am 79. susan:

proud elitist you are truly pathetic

“Recall, the right on this board doesn’t care about the stirrings of hatred towards Obama (”Terrorist!” “Kill him!”) that are occuring at the McCain and Palin rallies.”

whiner, have you ever bothered to look at the daily kos with all sorts of disgusting posts about sara palin’s children?

Have you seen the vans with mccain stickers vandalized?

Give me a break, you leftist have no problem burning up americans and israeli flags at your rallies…

Oct 10, 2008 - 10:29 am 80. Believer:

Jerome Corsi, author of bestseller “The Obama Nation”, is recovering in London after being detained without food and incommunicado for a day in Kenya. He’d gone there to learn what he could about Obama’s relationship with Odinga, especially re his campaign and the subsequent violence following his loss. He was prevented from holding the press conference he’d called there to reveal what he’d discovered.

What he found is Obama and Odinga were in contact by phone daily during that time. And more recently, through Mark Lippert (who is a creepy one himself – look out Navy!). And there is more he’ll be revealing.

It appears to me Obama was encouraging Odinga to use the Alinsky methods he knows so well and we’ve come to see he’s used himself over the years. It’s as I’ve long suspected: what has occured in Kenya, we’ll may likely see Obama do here: Violence is not out of the question. It may be what’s needed to realize the goal. And he’d love to see marshall law needed here.

This is a man who plants seeds that he hopes will later sprout chaos, panic and need. Need of a savior, and “government.”

We’re watching it now with our economy – the Community Reinvestment Act got it started – Obama’s lawsuit against Citibank, threatening them and others if they didn’t offer these subprime loans. Calling “racism” at every opportunity.

And he’ll consider it perfect if his ACORN people succeed in throwing chaos into our election process. They’re working hard and probably like that we know how much fraud is going on. It only feeds the anger between the parties, resulting in a better chance for riots afterward. You do hear them warning of riots all the time – heard Carville the other night on CNN?

I’m sure, too, they’ve managed to get biased poll results in order – should he lose – to further upset and inflame the dashed hopes of a community he’s taught to distrust – and hate – whitey for decades.

This man is evil. He needs to be crushed on November 4. And everything about him needs to be revealed. Every bit of truth: the ugliness he’s hidden for two years now.

Oct 10, 2008 - 10:35 am 81. CALIndie:

betheweb – Well said! The trolls (read: socialist kool-aid drinkers) are scared sh**less. They are liars, cheats and cons who have foisted their hatred of America on 45% of the populace through the useful idiots in the MSM. Barack Obama is the personification of their twisted ideology.

We know Barack Obama. Barack Obama is a well polished actor playing a role. He is a master illusionist. Obama’s life is motivated by his narcissism and ultimately all narcissists are eaily manipulated by the lowest common denominator of influence; greed and power that feeds their love of self and masks their enormous feelings of inferiority.

Such is the case with Barack Hussein Obama. His short lived relationship with his father and his mother manipulated his love of self to their radical muslim (father) and socialist (mother) end. His doting grandmother combined with Frank Marshall in Hawaii manipulated his love of self to Frank’s communist end. Rev. Wright’s Black Liberation Theology manipulated his love of self to his hate white America end. Tony Rezko’s Chicago underworld connections manipulated his love of self to his criminal end. Bill Ayers and his circle of academic elites manipulated his love of self for their radical socialist end. The MSM manipulates his self love of self for their socialist psychopathological end. Michelle manipulates his love of self in public and privately humiliates him by reminding him of his inferiority working both sides of his psychopathology for her socialist, hate white America end.

So, what do you get? You get a narcissist who has found the instrument by which he can increase his self love… liberal socialism, communism (little c) and redistribution of wealth that creates endless opportunity for self love.

This is the very reason the liberal socialist, communist, marxist philosophy that they claim is for America’s benefit sounds like a bunch of psychobabble to clear thinking patriots… liberalism is a mental illness.

Read: The Liberal Mind – The Psychological Causes of Political Madness by Lyle H. Rossiter, Jr., M.D.

Dr. Rossiter is board certified in general and forensic psychiatry and has diagnosed and treated mental disorders for more than 40 years. He has consulted in more than 2,700 civil and criminal cases in both state and federal jurisdictions.

Oct 10, 2008 - 10:38 am 82. thedoctor:

It’s a fine line between “enigma” and A$$hole.

Oct 10, 2008 - 10:39 am 83. fred:

Paul Kengor has an excellent article over at americanthinker.com this morning. It explains why the fecal matter about Obama’s relations with Marxists, socialists, and communists do not stick to him at all.

The followers of Antonio Gramsci have done an excellent job during the last few decades. The anti-anti-communists control the narrative.

http://www.americanthinker.com/2008/10/why_obamas_communist_connectio.html

Oct 10, 2008 - 10:52 am 84. fred:

bobc said I was lying about being a veteran of the Left. What he does not know is that I was an academic and a Jesuit seminarian who was studying all of the various intellectual traditions of the Left for many years. Even when I was an undergraduate student. I am a personal witness to the Gramscian “long march through the institutions.” It has been successful beyond the Communists’ wildest expectations.

Most of these dope, placard carrying, slogan chanting Leftists do not even know who Antonio Gramsci or Theodor Adorno were. They don’t know who Jurgen Habermas was. Or Paolo Friere. Or any of the New Left thinkers most responsible for the contours of the Left in Western Europe and North America. If you don’t know the provenance of the ideas you carry around in your head, what does it say about you?

Oct 10, 2008 - 10:57 am 85. BC:

susan wrote: “If he so much beyond the bombings (that didn’t kill anybody only thanks to ayers ineptitude) why he’s un unrepentant terrorists? Why he claimed he is sorry he didn’t do more (bombings).”

“You leftist are always prone to defend the undefendable.”

Except that I was commenting on how Obama only dealt with, and not at all to any great extent, the much latter Ayers, the distinguished professor who was active in trying to improve the local neighborhood schools Chicago. It’s true that Ayers is unrepentant about his anti-war activities, but you have to bear in mind that the hard feelings over the Iraq war are but a pale shadow to how extreme the feelings were about Vietnam in the day, pro and against.

And why ignore my points about who McCain has on his team currently? We’re not talking about the 60’s here — we are talking here and now, this year. You right wingers have absolutely no morals whatsoever — you hypocritically call abortion supporters baby murderers while supporting turning Iraq into a wasteland of destruction and blood, ignoring every single lie of Bush no matter how blatent, and fully embracing whatever lying, nasty swiftboating BS if you think it helps your side, and all the while blissfully ignoring any and all evidence that indicates how your side would be bad, bad news to this country if it wins.

You guys are all despicable.

Oct 10, 2008 - 11:05 am 86. jerry:

I see that the Obama-minions are following Il Duce’s orders to get in our faces. They follow the standard Fascist tactics of projection and the big lie. They are cowards who run in large packs or hide behind anonymity. It is unfortunate that the Internet has provided the perfect environment for the Fascist revival.

Oct 10, 2008 - 11:09 am 87. Robert Hurley:

Believer:

What are you going to do if he wins?

Oct 10, 2008 - 11:10 am 88. cfbleachers:

Hmmm. This discussion is a bit wayward for my tastes. Anyone defending William Ayers and his wife of no soul…is either devoid of facts, devoid of critical thinking ability or devoid of scruples.

Watering down precisely who these two cretins are today, by suggesting that they were mere enthusiastic pups, putting muddy feet on the furniture in the 60’s…is blathering drivel and intentional deceit.

Ayers and Dorhn were and ARE…”tear down the system” purveyors of hatred for this country, and engage in despicable acts of attempted murder. For all the sanctimonious breast beating about “why” they were “fighting” …their targets were young kids in uniform and their innocent dates at Ft. Dix., a Brinks truck driver, average Jane’s and Joe’s at the Pentagon and New York’s finest in police stations. How…exactly…those folks were tied to the “war” effort…is beyond even the most tortured logic…especially given the timeframe and alleged purpose of the effort.

So, spare me the leftist claptrap about how poor Bill Ayers and his sociopath wife are now beyond reproach. They STILL hold the same frothing, raging and irrational hatreds that they always did. They STILL wish to overthrow the present system and will do so …by any means necessary.

And also spare me the vacuous homilies about Sen. Obama’s New Part associations, and his lifelong attraction to radical fringe Alynski-style misdirections and head fakes not being relevant…or as a “distraction” to the the voting public. If you aren’t afraid to let people know about these “guiding principles”…then great. Let’s get them out in the open and discuss them.

As for being “afraid” of his belief system…you can disabuse yourself of that arrogant and self-serving notion as well. I’m not “afraid” that he’s a Muslim…I could care less. I’m not “afraid” that he’s a Socialist or as Bill Ayers says a “small ‘c’ Communist”…I could care less. I wouldn’t vote for him if he was a communist, no matter how he capitalized it, but I’m not afraid of it.

But why not have that discussion HONESTLY…OUT IN THE OPEN AIR? Precisely because of…the seminal point that Rand made in this article. The real cowards…are the ones who are hiding this belief system and pretending to hold a different one. If you guys want Socialism…fine. Let’s call the question…does the rest of the country want it to…I’m HAPPY to have THAT discussion out in the open air. Are you?

Didn’t think so.

Oct 10, 2008 - 11:15 am 89. Chaz:

To all you astroturfers on the board: I hope you’re right, because like it or not this man could very well be our president. But if he does, and everything goes to hell in a handbasket, don’t come to my door looking for guns and ammo! I’ll gladly give them to you… bullets first.

This man could very well with a supreme court nomination or two, a veto proof congress and senate turn this nation upside down and do almost irreversible harm. His past is absolutely disgusting. We use these associations because being a state senator and a Senator for the state of Illinois (both of which he served only part of one term) doesn’t give us much in terms of previous performance (he voted present a lot! not much to go on there). Smear me if you will, but if worse comes to worse don’t come knocking on my door!

Oct 10, 2008 - 11:21 am 90. tanstaafl:

Since Obama has written a cople of books about himself and his beliefs and is running on a platform, I can only assume you have not bothered to read anything

Dear Robert,

I would hardly read a self aggrandizing (auto) biography (Obama himself says it’s a pastiche of truth and fiction) in which Barack Obama celebrates the heritage of his philandering Daddy (Barack Sr. left Ann and Barack in Hawaii when Barack was 2)who saw his son something like twice.

I prefer real time assessment, not idealized and fictionalized accounts. As for a “platform”, Barack Obama has been all over every side of everything (gee, he even once called the surge in Iraq a “resounding success”) , so it’s a little hard to pin down. Guns in private DC ? Once, against ‘em, after the Supreme Court decision, Obama found a “constitutional right” to private gun ownership.

(you want me to go on ?)

Speaking of self-aggrandizement, you should watch this cute little video on the 60 something Bill Ayers, yakking about his goals. He’s reminiscent of every mass killer in history, including, most recently, Islamists.

You know, the guy in whose home Obama “launched” his political career in 1995 and the guy Obama “served” on the Chicago Annenberg Challenge with for 7 years ?!

BTW, Barack Obama was 13 (not 8) when the Weather Underground carried out one of their last missions, bombing the state dept. in 1975.

LINK: Once a self serving egomaniac, always a self-serving egomaniac

Oct 10, 2008 - 11:22 am 91. CALIndie:

Robert Hurley – “Believer: What are you going to do if he wins?”

I can’t speak for Believer but I can speak for my own family. We will do what we’ve always done for America. My family has fought in every war to defeat tyranny since the American Revolution. This will be no different.

Oct 10, 2008 - 11:27 am 92. vivo:

I made my point.

Thanks for the comments.

Oct 10, 2008 - 11:37 am 93. proud elitist:

The Daily Kos is a web-based site. What commenters (disgustingly) say about the Palin children is NOT equivalent to standing at rallies and shouting “Terrorist!” and “Kill Him!”.

If that is where you stand, I fear for your soul/morality.

And before you cling too much to that, recall the nastiness your side flung about Chelsea. McCain himself said nasty Chelsea comments.

So do not equivocate a sentiment on a board with such actionable hatred that is coming from your side of the color wheel…

Since I am a pagan and do not attend church, I take what pastors say with a grain of salt. All of my varied church experiences have had tinges of discrimination and my moral philosophy is not along that line. We either are a cosmic accident or were created. Either way, we exist.

And, personally, I don’t trust your far-right Christian wackjobs to not cause violence to an Obama…

Oct 10, 2008 - 11:38 am 94. cfbleachers:

If you don’t know the provenance of the ideas you carry around in your head, what does it say about you?

Fred, you are a good man and a sound, solid, rational thinker. Look at who (what) you are talking to, and imagine trying to hold an intellectual conversation with them. Can you picture such an event in your mind?

The troubling thing about “the New Leftist” Fred…is not so much that he/she is a lemming. It’s not so much that they parrot leftist talking points. Hell, it’s not even that they engage in fomenting their handlers sophistry and deceit without a hint of conscience…it’s that they aren’t even worthy adversaries in an intellectual debate. They treat facts like plutonium. They treat integrity like refuse. They treat logic as cotton candy.

Anyone who honestly wants to learn something and discuss the issues, Fred…will simply see this as a spitball contest, because they lower the discussion to their level and then you are forced to play in their cesspool or ignore them…in either case they will spout empty rhetoric and claim victory. It’s a useless endeavor. I love reading your posts, and enjoy your style. Don’t waste your superior talents trying to fill empty vessels.

Oct 10, 2008 - 11:41 am 95. tanstaafl:

If you don’t know the provenance of the ideas you carry around in your head, what does it say about you?

It says you are a Useful Idiot.

Our public schools have sufficiently deteriorated over recent decades that we’re awash in UI’s.

Who haven’t even a clue that they’re being used as foot soldiers in service to a much bigger agenda than themselves.

Oct 10, 2008 - 12:04 pm 96. BC:

Chaz wrote “To all you astroturfers on the board: I hope you’re right, because like it or not this man could very well be our president. But if he does, and everything goes to hell in a handbasket, don’t come to my door looking for guns and ammo!”

Where do you think things are going right now, with the current President most of guys likely voted for despite a then massive pile of evidence and indicators showing that it was a stupid, stupid thing to do?

Oct 10, 2008 - 12:07 pm 97. Occam's Beard:

what kind of party would propose a candidate that does not share their values?

Exactly. And what kind of board member would propose a prospective board member that does not share his values?

Oct 10, 2008 - 12:12 pm 98. Robert Hurley:

Tansaafl:

Bill Buckley’s son just had some very nice things to say about Obama. Check it out on National Review on line I think I would trust him rather than your rants

Oct 10, 2008 - 12:17 pm 99. Robert Hurley:

Cal Indie:

What war will you fight in?

Oct 10, 2008 - 12:19 pm 100. Robert Hurley:

Jerry:

It must be tough on you when people ask you questions that make you think

Oct 10, 2008 - 12:21 pm 101. cfbleachers:

FDR wanted a New Deal, Al Gore wanted a re-deal and apparently Sen. Obama wants to bottom deal.

The leftists and their stolen informatin stream aren’t happy unless the deck is rigged.

Sorry, I prefer my cards dealt face up from the top of the deck. The secrecy and shrouding of facts that surrounds the campaign, the refusal to allow inquiry into all manner of records, documents, dealings and associations certainly does not comport with the “persona” of a “brilliant and accomplished scholar”. Why would anyone hide evidence of that, if it were true?

Why the “calls to action” to shout down and snuff out inquiry into his past work life? If it was the very hallmark of greatness that qualifies him as President…why not hand carry it out in boxes, with ready duplicates for Fox News and talk radio?

Why hide the pride?

The leftists arguments and intellect display in response…like wet cement. There is an appearance of gray matter, but it’s the wrong kind, it hasn’t quite set up yet, and when it does, nothing of substance can penetrate it.

Oct 10, 2008 - 12:25 pm 102. BMoon:

The Daily Kos is a web-based site. What commenters (disgustingly) say about the Palin children is NOT equivalent to standing at rallies and shouting “Terrorist!” and “Kill Him!”.

Have you been asleep or dead for the past eight years? By the untold thousands, the core voters of the Obama campaign has ceaslessly propagandized that Bush is a terrorist, Hitler and deserves jail or worse, that we need violent revolution in the streets to overthrow the capitalist Jewish, neocon cabal. I read those cesspools of Leftism. And you compare that to one or two nutballs in a McCain crowd? What the Leftist media has tried to do to Palin and her children to a few jokes about Chelsea?

You simply have no perspective, credibility or honesty.

Oct 10, 2008 - 12:31 pm 103. Someone75:

Dark Helmet:

Where do I even begin? It’s amazing how defensive you are. You cannot DEAL with any ideas other than your own. You’re a sad little person, and my heart goes out to you. You live in a cruel, harsh world. Fortunately, that’s not the world I live in. Mine has hope.

It’s people like you that I worry about. I thought small town values meant common, decency – not borderline racism and intolerance. And for the record, you’ve thrown more personal attacks at me than I can count (and I can count really high). Ad-hominem attacks are the crutch of a cretin who is fighting against logic and reason. Keep them coming though – they amuse me and my scumbag, liberal, traitor friends. We also enjoy your butchery of the English language. Maybe if you had finished school, you’d know there’s more to life than guns and killing people that don’t agree with you.

Believer:

Jerome Corsi is a hack. Anyone who uses anonymous message board posts as “references” in a book purporting to be factual is not a journalist, nor a scholar. He’s a liar and an opportunist.

Oct 10, 2008 - 12:34 pm 104. proud elitist:

I point to Believer above regarding spewing hate/evil.

For the record, Cheney is evil. Just look what his philosophy has done to America.

And we do know Obama as he has been out/about for years.

McCain, we also know. Hothead. Maver-ICK. Womanizer through is late 30’s. Privileged “Son” of two very respected Admirals who is best known for being a tempered, mediocre, plane-crashing POW. Read reports of those who were in the Hanoi Hilton with him. Read reports of actual men who didn’t blather like McCain did in his prison.

A man who once railed against those who attacked his family in 2000 only to have them on his campaign for 2008.

A man whose sole purpose now is to WIN. And the conservatives are coming out against him for his campaign tactics. he has lost all credibility with those who used to support him. He’s old, he’s doddering and he’s too d*mn dangerous for America’s foreign policy.

“Bomb bomb Iran…”

Oct 10, 2008 - 12:40 pm 105. tanstaafl:

I’m not “ranting” Robert Hurley.

Everything I’ve written is factual.

I could write some “nice things” about Barack Obama, too.

Gee, even his running mate once called him “clean and articulate” :)

Oh, and last fall, that same running mate declared that Barack Obama was not sufficiently qualified to be President of the United States.

See, I’m agreeable :)

Oct 10, 2008 - 12:41 pm 106. Matt:

From a Fox News poll:

There has been some discussion of Barack Obama’s relationship with the former radical activist William Ayers. Because Ayers is linked to plots to bomb the Pentagon and the U.S. Capitol in the 1970s, and because Ayres recently said he wished he had done more, some people say Obama’s association with Ayers calls into question his judgment. Does Obama’s connection with Ayers make you less likely to vote for him for president or does it not really make a difference to your vote?

Less Likely 32%

No Difference 61%

Meanwhile, McCain and other Republicans continue plummeting in the polls.

But you guys who are so concerned about Obama and his “terrorist friends” keep it up. We need your support!

Oct 10, 2008 - 12:57 pm 107. More ACORN Fraud « Tai-Chi Policy:

[...] what Obama claims, he’s got many ties to the organization. It’s yet another thing about Obama that the media is choosing to remain blind on, out of their love for him. Do we really need a repeat of the Clinton years of [...]

Oct 10, 2008 - 12:59 pm 108. CALIndie:

Robert Hurley – “What war will you fight in?”

You and your socialist comrades are so predictable! And, I might add, you have quite a grasp for the obvious. Good luck!

P.S. Have you taken your medication today?

cfbleachers – Brilliant, as usual and quite funny too!

Oct 10, 2008 - 1:08 pm 109. Robert Hurley:

I thought you might enjoy what Buckley had to say. I don’t agree with all he says, but he is very thoughful and reasonable:

The son of William F. Buckley has decided—shock!—to vote for a Democrat.

Let me be the latest conservative/libertarian/whatever to leap onto the Barack Obama bandwagon. It’s a good thing my dear old mum and pup are no longer alive. They’d cut off my allowance.

Or would they? But let’s get that part out of the way. The only reason my vote would be of any interest to anyone is that my last name happens to be Buckley—a name I inherited. So in the event anyone notices or cares, the headline will be: “William F. Buckley’s Son Says He Is Pro-Obama.” I know, I know: It lacks the throw-weight of “Ron Reagan Jr. to Address Democratic Convention,” but it’ll have to do.

Dear Pup once said to me, “You know, I’ve spent my entire life time separating the Right from the kooks.”

I am—drum roll, please, cue trumpets—making this announcement in the cyberpages of The Daily Beast (what joy to be writing for a publication so named!) rather than in the pages of National Review, where I write the back-page column. For a reason: My colleague, the superb and very dishy Kathleen Parker, recently wrote in National Review Online a column stating what John Cleese as Basil Fawlty would call “the bleeding obvious”: namely, that Sarah Palin is an embarrassment, and a dangerous one at that. She’s not exactly alone. New York Times columnist David Brooks, who began his career at NR, just called Governor Palin “a cancer on the Republican Party.”

As for Kathleen, she has to date received 12,000 (quite literally) foam-at-the-mouth hate-emails. One correspondent, if that’s quite the right word, suggested that Kathleen’s mother should have aborted her and tossed the fetus into a Dumpster. There’s Socratic dialogue for you. Dear Pup once said to me sighfully after a right-winger who fancied himself a WFB protégé had said something transcendently and provocatively cretinous, “You know, I’ve spent my entire life time separating the Right from the kooks.” Well, the dear man did his best. At any rate, I don’t have the kidney at the moment for 12,000 emails saying how good it is he’s no longer alive to see his Judas of a son endorse for the presidency a covert Muslim who pals around with the Weather Underground. So, you’re reading it here first.

As to the particulars, assuming anyone gives a fig, here goes:

I have known John McCain personally since 1982. I wrote a well-received speech for him. Earlier this year, I wrote in The New York Times—I’m beginning to sound like Paul Krugman, who cannot begin a column without saying, “As I warned the world in my last column…”—a highly favorable Op-Ed about McCain, taking Rush Limbaugh and the others in the Right Wing Sanhedrin to task for going after McCain for being insufficiently conservative. I don’t—still—doubt that McCain’s instincts remain fundamentally conservative. But the problem is otherwise.

McCain rose to power on his personality and biography. He was authentic. He spoke truth to power. He told the media they were “jerks” (a sure sign of authenticity, to say nothing of good taste; we are jerks). He was real. He was unconventional. He embraced former anti-war leaders. He brought resolution to the awful missing-POW business. He brought about normalization with Vietnam—his former torturers! Yes, he erred in accepting plane rides and vacations from Charles Keating, but then, having been cleared on technicalities, groveled in apology before the nation. He told me across a lunch table, “The Keating business was much worse than my five and a half years in Hanoi, because I at least walked away from that with my honor.” Your heart went out to the guy. I thought at the time, God, this guy should be president someday.

A year ago, when everyone, including the man I’m about to endorse, was caterwauling to get out of Iraq on the next available flight, John McCain, practically alone, said no, no—bad move. Surge. It seemed a suicidal position to take, an act of political bravery of the kind you don’t see a whole lot of anymore.

But that was—sigh—then. John McCain has changed. He said, famously, apropos the Republican debacle post-1994, “We came to Washington to change it, and Washington changed us.” This campaign has changed John McCain. It has made him inauthentic. A once-first class temperament has become irascible and snarly; his positions change, and lack coherence; he makes unrealistic promises, such as balancing the federal budget “by the end of my first term.” Who, really, believes that? Then there was the self-dramatizing and feckless suspension of his campaign over the financial crisis. His ninth-inning attack ads are mean-spirited and pointless. And finally, not to belabor it, there was the Palin nomination. What on earth can he have been thinking?

All this is genuinely saddening, and for the country is perhaps even tragic, for America ought, really, to be governed by men like John McCain—who have spent their entire lives in its service, even willing to give the last full measure of their devotion to it. If he goes out losing ugly, it will be beyond tragic, graffiti on a marble bust.

As for Senator Obama: He has exhibited throughout a “first-class temperament,” pace Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.’s famous comment about FDR. As for his intellect, well, he’s a Harvard man, though that’s sure as heck no guarantee of anything, these days. Vietnam was brought to you by Harvard and (one or two) Yale men. As for our current adventure in Mesopotamia, consider this lustrous alumni roster. Bush 43: Yale. Rumsfeld: Princeton. Paul Bremer: Yale and Harvard. What do they all have in common? Andover! The best and the brightest.

I’ve read Obama’s books, and they are first-rate. He is that rara avis, the politician who writes his own books. Imagine. He is also a lefty. I am not. I am a small-government conservative who clings tenaciously and old-fashionedly to the idea that one ought to have balanced budgets. On abortion, gay marriage, et al, I’m libertarian. I believe with my sage and epigrammatic friend P.J. O’Rourke that a government big enough to give you everything you want is also big enough to take it all away.

But having a first-class temperament and a first-class intellect, President Obama will (I pray, secularly) surely understand that traditional left-politics aren’t going to get us out of this pit we’ve dug for ourselves. If he raises taxes and throws up tariff walls and opens the coffers of the DNC to bribe-money from the special interest groups against whom he has (somewhat disingenuously) railed during the campaign trail, then he will almost certainly reap a whirlwind that will make Katrina look like a balmy summer zephyr.

Obama has in him—I think, despite his sometimes airy-fairy “We are the people we have been waiting for” silly rhetoric—the potential to be a good, perhaps even great leader. He is, it seems clear enough, what the historical moment seems to be calling for.

So, I wish him all the best. We are all in this together. Necessity is the mother of bipartisanship. And so, for the first time in my life, I’ll be pulling the Democratic lever in November. As the saying goes, God save the United States of America.

Oct 10, 2008 - 1:15 pm 110. Robert Hurley:

It is tough to call Buckley a Socialist or Marxist and Facist, but I know that someone here will

Oct 10, 2008 - 1:36 pm 111. Bob Miller:

A case is made that Ayers ghost-wrote an Obama autobiography:

http://www.americanthinker.com/2008/10/who_wrote_dreams_from_my_fathe_1.html

Oct 10, 2008 - 1:37 pm 112. Robert Hurley:

Bob Miller:

I suppose there is sopmeone out there who would believe anything

Oct 10, 2008 - 1:40 pm 113. gmsc:

Excellent article!

The McCain campaign needs to start ads with the “Obama enigma” meme going. I’ve already run across one ad idea ( http://www.karridine.com/a-mp3/McCain-on-Obama.mp3 ) that would work well for this.

Oct 10, 2008 - 1:43 pm 114. MJC:

Folks, the swarm of trolls chanting long discredited talking points that ignore reality going back more than 40 years is a sign of how scared sh*tless they are of these stories about Obama’s murky past and the known lies he has told to shield that past from scrutiny.

These same kinds of talking points were used against one person who most right-wingers fake venerate now, but used to hate with a great passion–good ole’ Martin Luther King Jr. MLK was called a socialist and a communist and a traitor who hung around with radical leftists. (Oh great, I brought up MLK–here comes history revisionism in response: “MLK WAS REPABLIKEN LOL”)

Have you been asleep or dead for the past eight years? By the untold thousands, the core voters of the Obama campaign has ceaslessly propagandized that Bush is a terrorist, Hitler and deserves jail or worse, that we need violent revolution in the streets to overthrow the capitalist Jewish, neocon cabal. I read those cesspools of Leftism.

Wow.. whining about terrorist accusations? That’s like, the whole McCain campaign strategy at this point. Terrorist pot meet terrorist kettle.

Oct 10, 2008 - 1:49 pm 115. justaworkinstiff:

Mr Buckley, via Mr Hurley… I believe I hear the masses that post here spewing into their coffee…I have on a precous few occassions (see three somehwere above this post) tried to engage this community in a discussion of the topics of the day only to be mostly ignored or sneered at. I read many blogs from Powerline to Huffington, Townhall to Talking Points Memo, I have become appaled at the tone of some of the regular paid bloggers but mostly of the posters who will repeat various positions regardless of evidence to the contrary.
I fear for this great nation, her decline in moral standing abroad, the assult on her greatest assests her people and her drive. I greatly fear the loss of true rule of law (the precedents of this current administration that are beig, for now, allowed to stand should frighten everyone on both sides of the aslie) here when one branch of government spends so greatly of time and manpower to hide details from the other branches and therby from We the People.
Conservatism will surly rise again but I doubt until a great and painful purging of radicalism has wrought havoc.

Oct 10, 2008 - 1:52 pm 116. Nine-of-Diamonds:

Spare us all the howling for the “True McCain” to come back. The only thing McC. could do to get Leftist’s respect would be to drop dead, and even then they’d grumble that he did it the wrong way. The Left loved McC. when he could be used as a bludgeon against the Bush Administration – they promptly dropped him like a bad habit as soon as it was convenient. The fact is, not everyone’s going to vote for Rev.Goddam America’s little Affirmative Action protege, so get used to it and can the faux-regret over the “Real McCain’s” demise – it’s not going to get the Messiah any more votes. And the babbling about “first class intellect” is rich, considering how Obama wrote next to nothing on the Law Review & can’t get simple issues of USSC precedent right when he’s asked. If the Obamessiah represents a “first class” intellect, then Hah-vahd must have been hard up for token Blacks back in the day. Or Half-Blacks – whatever.

And I wish someone would explain to me what a “Facist” [sic] is. I see that word quite often in the Leftist screeds on PJM…

Oct 10, 2008 - 1:59 pm 117. tanstaafl:

Rev.Goddam America’s little Affirmative Action protege…

Well, that’s a keeper :)

Oct 10, 2008 - 2:20 pm 118. willem:

It’s beginning to look like our national discourse has entirely collapsed. Commenter “Skink” is model for what’s gone wrong. We have created a highly educated “technician class” of economic eunuchs; imperial parlor swill spouting platitudes about “Social Justice” and “Working People” as if such things have just been discovered. There is no redeeming quality of wisdom to this hungry crowd of idealizing narcissists; these neuvo Royalists without a dominion to rule. What other purpose remains for a deconstructed parasite but to be busy, busy, busy.

We built this nation on the right to be left alone; the right to own property; the right to be independent and to profit.

We are now tearing this nation down by doing the opposite.

Oct 10, 2008 - 2:20 pm 119. proud elitist:

Um…yeah…oh-kay…

The “left” didn’t “drop McC” like he was hot or something. The “left” used to have more respect for McCain until he traveled down this disgusting campaign road.

As his ol’ MSM buddies who are now appalled by his behavior…

And, once again, for you fake-haytah’s out there: the LEFT doesn’t want McCain, Palin or Bush to drop dead. We’re too hippied-up in our cloud of ganja-smoke to do anything crazy like that.

Now, as recently seen in Tennessee, if you read O’Reilly or something, you may actually kill people. In a church, no less. Or, claim to be a Christianist and bomb a Federal Building in Oklahoma…

Nine of Diamods…if you want to know what ANYTHING is…look it up… For cripes sake, people, look things up!

Of course, you can be ignorant and say “Italian!” if you want…

Oct 10, 2008 - 2:21 pm 120. Someone75:

I don’t understand why we’re even talking about this. The economy is collapsing!! It’s like discussing what color to paint the walls while the house is on fire. PJMedia is really disappointing me. Nothing on big issues – the economy. We can debate party politics later, after we ensure that we’re not going into the second great depression.

Look, I’m not doing anything other than being a sensible, small town values guy. Ask any guy on main street which he thinks is more important – the failing economy, or the risk that Obama maybe just maybe has known a former terrorist. If the town folk are as sensible as they like to remind us, they will agree that the economy trumps just about everything else. We’re sure not going to catch Bin Laden if we’re broke.

Oct 10, 2008 - 2:29 pm 121. susan:

bc you are out of your mind.

With abortion you are killing an innocent by definition.

In Iraq, well I think we should NEVER help muslim countries in any way or shape but we removed their beloved dictator and they cannot function without their backward 7th century laws.

This is at least a GOOD lesson for the future, so Iraq didn’t happen in vain.

What is the difference from removing hitler and removing saddam? If you think saddam could stay there murdering shiites and kurds, so hitler could too. According to your distorted logic the iraquis didn’t diserve a chance? To me they didn’t, but I believe islam is the biggest threat for humanity.

Other than that, can you point me one single muslim country that respect human rights? None, which means at least we gave them a chance to improve. The fact that it is like giving pearl to pigs doesn’t change the good intentions

Oct 10, 2008 - 2:38 pm 122. susan:

oh and again BC, stop calling ayers “the distinguished professor” because brainwashing kinds into believing marxism and class clash is the answer doesn’t make him “distinguished”, it’s just another Goebbels of the left.

BTW, I suppose chicago now has got the best schools of the country thanks to your favourite una-bomber, isn’t it? err no…

Oct 10, 2008 - 2:41 pm 123. Marc Malone:

BC – You accuse the U.S. of turning Iraq into a wasteland of blood and destruction.

How is it we did that? Were we carpet bombing their cities? Did we use suicide bombers to blow up hospitals, market places, and police stations? Were we the ones intentonally blowing up vital srvices like power plants and water suppliers? Were we the ones killing off “collaborators”? Were we the ones moving in and instituting Sharia Law?

Or, were we, instead, the ones trying to rebuild the infrastructure? Weren’t we the ones trying to protect the people from the wolves? The Iraqis turned on the insurgents for a reason. U.S. troops patrolling the streets became very popular, even moreso when we patrolled alongside Iraqi troops, the very troops we trained. People didn’t flee Iraq to escape the Americans. They fled the Islamo-Fascists and their genocide.

Wasn’t Iraq a wasteland of blood when Saddam Hussein was in charge? Didn’t HE kill some 600,000 Iraqis? We stomped out Hussein’s Army, then set about to improve the land. The insurgents then started blowing stuff up.

Iraq is now a far better place than when we went in. They will soon be the economically dominant force in the Mid-East… and our friend and ally. Sure, many Iraqis died, but we weren’t the ones doing the killing of most of them. Besides, the killing was going on long before we got there. The Iraqis DID welcome us as liberators. Remember the toppling of Hussein’s statue?

Iraq is now a far happier place than it was when we went in.

Oct 10, 2008 - 2:41 pm 124. susan:

proud elitist get off your high horse

Is there any evidence, proof, video, audio of the shouts. I believe it’s all your fabrication (yours and the leftist media)

What is written on a website is THERE WRITTEN. Ever heard of Verba Volant Scripta Manent? or you only know the latin sentence of your messiah?

Again, which side of the political spectrum are the gentle kids burning up israel flags and USA flags?

which side of the political spectrum are the brain deads with CHE tshirts and covered faces destroying stuff outside the political conventions?

They are all from the left. Nothing else to add.

And Pym Fortuyn in the Netherlands (a gay politician from the right) was murdered by a leftist.

Oct 10, 2008 - 2:48 pm 125. susan:

proud elitist, your lack of brain and double standards trumpet everything you say (not that is something relevant or remotely intelligent anyway).

So Mccain is a womanizer? well deal with it, your beloved clinton set the standard.

Oct 10, 2008 - 2:53 pm 126. tanstaafl:

Look what up, élitist ?

Barack Obama’s grades at Columbia ? His grades at Harvard?

Unavailable. At least a sterling academic record would confirm (some peoples’) definition of smart.

His Law Review writings at Harvard ? His thoughtful dissertations on the human condition while teaching in Chicago ?

Non-existent.

I did “look up” and read Michelle Obama’s college Thesis on Blacks and Whites (she capitalized throughout) once. Her ideas and her more recent comments on how we’re “mean” “lazy” and complacent fit well with the worldview of Jeremiah Wright, Michael Pfleger, Louis Farrakhan et al.

The vicious anti-semite Louis Farrakhan recently referred to Barack Obama as the Messiah. (I’ll bet Barry shuddered at that endorsement)

And for a proud élitist like yourself, you must have appreciated it when Barack Obama told a crowd of (very) wealthy San Franciscans how you expiate your frustrations on this Earth by clinging to guns and religion.

(I wonder if Robert Hurley liked Barack describing him that way.)

These days, Michelle’s muzzled, and Barack has become more adept at concealment as this way too long march lurches towards its (finally, we hope !) conclusion.

Oct 10, 2008 - 2:53 pm 127. Believer:

Robert Hurley:

If Obama is elected, I will trust God that He has allowed this for a reason. I will pray with increased fervor for my country. We’re a nation of laws and I will hope they’ll aid us in the days ahead.

But we’re a nation, too, of far too many blind, sleeping citizens. We don’t recognize evil. And so it overcomes us.

Our nation has fallen away; we’ve been on a path toward destruction for decades. We need an awakening. Obama’s election might very well do it. But I am human, and my automatic response is to fight it. I want to warn those who don’t see the danger before us.

Instead, I want ours to be a nation of leaders, who by their examples of faith and character, help guide us — especially in troubled times.

I know my words are harsh – and to some, evil – perhaps they should be tempered. But in my heart I know Obama knows not what he does. If he knew Truth, he could not have made the choices he has. Not a one. He too is blind. And is ultimately to be forgiven.

If I’ve understood the reason God has allowed evil in my life, it was to discover I needed Him to help me forgive others as He’s forgiven me. Though it wasn’t learned easily, it was the greatest blessing of my life.

Too often, it’s only when we’re stripped of what we value most in this life, that we finally return to the One we should have been trusting all along. “Have no other Gods before Me.” If only the lesson could be learned more easily.

Oct 10, 2008 - 3:18 pm 128. 888:

Body count: in the last six months, Chicago – 292 killed (murdered) and Iraq – 221. Chicago is a combat zone. Who is in charge? Here’s the leadership in Illinois:
Senator Barack Obama (Democrat)
Senator Dick Durbin (Democrat)
Representative Jesse Jackson Jr. (Democrat) Governor Rod Blogojevich (Democrat)
House leader Mike Madigan (Democrat)
Attorney General Lisa Madigan (Democrat)
Mayor Richard M. Daley (Democrat)
Of course they’re all blaming each other. Why? They can’t blame Republicans, there aren’t any to blame at the state level or locally!
State pension fund $44 Billion in debt, worst in country.
Cook County (Chicago) Sales tax 10.25% highest in country.
Chicago school system one of the worst in the country. (Hey, whatever happened to that Bill Ayers/Barack Obama education fund??)
This is the political culture that Obama comes from in Illinois. And he says he is going to ‘fix’ Washington politics and America’s schools and economy?

Oct 10, 2008 - 3:24 pm 129. proud elitist:

Right, tans, because I was talking to you/referring to you…

Um Susan…Clinton isn’t my “beloved” anything… I was simply describing JohnnyPOWMac.

But, if y’all need references because FauxNews doesn’t exactly report on this, here’s a start: http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=mccain+rally+terrorist&search_type=&aq=f

Except, tans, that YOU DO CLING to your guns and your God. D*mn personal responsibility. D*mn caring about others and d*mn making the world a better place for your children.

I have higher standards for mine than you do for yours. Higher expectations.

Call me an elitist.

BTW, the weather here today in SF is a little brisk, but lovely and Fleet Week is commencing.

Oct 10, 2008 - 3:29 pm 130. cfbleachers:

Economists Statement on Barack Obama’s Risky Economic Proposals
100 Economists Warn That With Current Weak Financial Conditions Barack Obama’s Proposals Run A High Risk Of Throwing The US Into A Deep Recession

ARLINGTON, VA — Today, McCain-Palin 2008 released the following statement signed by 100 distinguished and experienced economists at major American universities and research organizations, including five Nobel Prize winners Gary Becker, James Buchanan, Robert Mundell, Edward Prescott, and Vernon Smith. The economists explain why Barack Obama’s proposals, including “misguided tax hikes,” would “decrease the number of jobs in America.” The prospects of such tax rate increases under Barack Obama are already harming the economy. The economists conclude that “Barack Obama’s economic proposals are wrong for the American economy.” The proposals “defy both economic reason and economic experience.”

The full economists’ statement on Barack Obama’s economic proposals and a complete list of economists who support it follows:

Barack Obama argues that his proposals to raise tax rates and halt international trade agreements would benefit the American economy. They would do nothing of the sort. Economic analysis and historical experience show that they would do the opposite. They would reduce economic growth and decrease the number of jobs in America. Moreover, with the credit crunch, the housing slump, and high energy prices weakening the U.S. economy, his proposals run a high risk of throwing the economy into a deep recession. It was exactly such misguided tax hikes and protectionism, enacted when the U.S. economy was weak in the early 1930s, that greatly increased the severity of the Great Depression.

We are very concerned with Barack Obama’s opposition to trade agreements such as the pending one with Colombia, the new one with Central America, or the established one with Canada and Mexico. Exports from the United States to other countries create jobs for Americans. Imports make goods available to Americans at lower prices and are a particular benefit to families and individuals with low incomes. International trade is also a powerful source of strength in a weak economy. In the second quarter of this year, for example, increased international trade did far more to stimulate the U.S. economy than the federal government’s “stimulus” package.

Ironically, rather than supporting international trade, Barack Obama is now proposing yet another so-called stimulus package, which would do very little to grow the economy. And his proposal to finance the package with higher taxes on oil would raise oil prices directly and by reducing exploration and production.

We are equally concerned with his proposals to increase tax rates on labor income and investment. His dividend and capital gains tax increases would reduce investment and cut into the savings of millions of Americans. His proposals to increase income and payroll tax rates would discourage the formation and expansion of small businesses and reduce employment and take-home pay, as would his mandates on firms to provide expensive health insurance.

After hearing such economic criticism of his proposals, Barack Obama has apparently suggested to some people that he might postpone his tax increases, perhaps to 2010. But it is a mistake to think that postponing such tax increases would prevent their harmful effect on the economy today. The prospect of such tax rate increases in 2010 is already a drag on the economy. Businesses considering whether to hire workers today and expand their operations have time horizons longer than a year or two, so the prospect of higher taxes starting in 2009 or 2010 reduces hiring and investment in 2008.

In sum, Barack Obama’s economic proposals are wrong for the American economy. They defy both economic reason and economic experience.

Robert Barro, Harvard University

Gary Becker, University of Chicago

Sanjai Bhagat, University of Colorado

Michael Block, University of Arizona

Brock Blomberg, Claremont-McKenna University

Michael Bordo, Rutgers University

Michael Boskin, Stanford University

Ike Brannon, McCain-Palin 2008

James Buchanan, George Mason University

Todd Buchholtz, Two Oceans Fund

Charles Calomiris, Columbia University

Jim Carter, Vienna VA

Barry Chiswick, University of Illinois at Chicago

John Cogan, Hoover Institution

Kathleen Cooper, Southern Methodist University

Ted Covey, McLean VA

Dan Crippen, former CBO Director

Mario Crucini, Vanderbilt

Steve Davis, University of Chicago

Christopher DeMuth, American Enterprise Institute

William Dewald, Ohio State University

Frank Diebold, University of Pennsylvania

Isaac Ehrlich, State University of New York at Buffalo

Paul Evans, Ohio State University

Dan Feenberg, NBER

Martin Feldstein, Harvard University

Eric Fisher, California Polytechnic State University

Kristin Forbes, MIT

Timothy Fuerst, Bowling Green State University

Diana Furchtgott-Roth, Hudson Institute

Paul Gregory, University of Houston

Earl Grinols, Baylor University

Rik Hafer, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville

Gary Hansen, UCLA

Eric Hanushek, Hoover Institutions

Kevin Hassett, American Enterprise Institute

Arlene Holen, Technology Policy Institute

Douglas Holtz-Eakin, McCain-Palin 2008

Glenn Hubbard, Columbia University

Owen Irvine, Michigan State University

Mike Jensen, Harvard University

Steven Kaplan, University of Chicago

Robert King, Boston University

Meir Kohn, Dartmouth

Marvin Kosters, American Enterprise Institute

Anne Krueger, Johns Hopkins University

Phil Levy, American Enterprise Institute

Larry Lindsey, The Lindsey Group

Paul W. MacAvoy. Yale University

John Makin, American Enterprise Institute

Burton Malkiel, Princeton University

Bennett McCallum, Carnegie-Mellon University

Paul McCracken, University of Michigan

Will Melick, Kenyon College

Allan Meltzer, Carnegie-Mellon University

Enrique Mendoza, University of Maryland

Jim Miller, George Mason University

Michael Moore, George Washington University

Robert Mundell, Columbia University

Tim Muris, George Mason University

Kevin Murphy, University of Chicago

Richard Muth, Emory University

Charles Nelson, University of Washington

Bill Niskanen, Cato Institute

June O’Neill, Baruch College, CUNY

Lydia Ortega, San Jose State University

Steve Parente, University of Minnesota

William Poole, University of Delaware

Michael Porter, Harvard University

Barry Poulson, University of Colorado, Boulder

Edward Prescott, Arizona State University

Kenneth Rogoff, Harvard University

Richard Roll, UCLA

Harvey Rosen, Princeton University

Robert Rossana, Wayne State University

Mark Rush, University of Florida

Tom Saving, Texas A&M University

Anna Schwartz, NBER

George Shultz, Stanford University

Chester Spatt, Carnegie-Mellon University

David Spencer, Brigham Young University

Beryl Sprinkle, Former Chair Council of Economic Advisers

Houston Stokes, University of Illinois in Chicago

Robert Tamura, Clemson University

Jack Tatum, Indiana State University

John Taylor, Stanford University

Richard Vedder, Ohio University

William B. Walstad, University of Nebraska

Murray Weidenbaum, Washington University in St. Louis

Arnold Zellner, University of Chicago

Oct 10, 2008 - 3:30 pm 131. 888:

Obama continues to link McCain to Bush because that’s all Obama and his surrogates have against McCain, and in this election, it seems he who shouts loudest, wins, regardless of the accuracy of the rants. But anyone with half a brain knows that McCain fought Bush and the Republicans countless times over the years, and that’s why the Republicans at one time thought he was more of a Democrat than a true Republican. Remember McCain is “friends” with Ted Kennedy, Biden and Lieberman (all Democrats), unlike Obama who is totally beholden to his party and could never cross the aisle to compromise on anything. That Bush-McCain ‘link’ is all Obama has because Obama is no war hero, always votes the party line, uses the most unsavory characters to get ahead, has been voted the most liberal politician in Washington, is a typical tax-n-spend Democrat, and has no experience or record to show for — only grand rhetoric and empty, but VERY expensive promises.

And especially now that McCain has come up with that great economic recovery plan to allow homeowners to stay in their homes and pay their mortgages at the home’s current value — Obama is shouting louder than ever that McCain is just a continuation of Bush. His camp couldn’t come up with a brilliant idea like McCain’s (remember they’re for $1 trillion worth of NEW spending and taxing large and small businesses), so they’re hitting hard on the same boring lies. And lately, Obama’s been saying McCain’s recovery plan will cost $300 billion. People who aren’t mesmerized by Obama should be able to see that McCain has a plan that will help the homeowner and businesses, and by extension, allow the economy to stabilize and grow, unlike Obama’s $1 TRILLION spending plan that will kill jobs, keep people forever on welfare, does not do anything for homeowners facing foreclosure and bankruptcies, cut defense spending while we’re at war with radical terrorists, and worsen America’s already badly beaten economy. In short, Obama will be a disaster for America, and by extension again, he’ll be disastrous for the world. Of course, he’s fooled so many in the last 2 years he’s been campaigning, that these enamoured, gullible people refuse to see him for what he truly is — a charlatan.

I’ll paraphrase a famous Englishman who said ‘Give me the man, and he will think. Give me the crowd, and they’ll be easily led.’ In contemporary parlance, we refer to that as groupthink.

Oct 10, 2008 - 4:14 pm 132. tanstaafl:

Except, tans, that YOU DO CLING to your guns and your God. D*mn personal responsibility. D*mn caring about others and d*mn making the world a better place for your children.

Really ? You project all that onto me ? Extraordinary !

BTW, the weather here today in SF is a little brisk, but lovely and Fleet Week is commencing.

Oh, you’re in San Francisco ? Did you attend any of Barack’s sundry fund raising gatherings with your fellow “élitists” this past April ? Did you yuk it up with Barry over all we bitter clingers out here in the hinterlands ?

(he never intended that those private remarks would become public)

Do you plan on going downtown for the next Gay Pride gathering, where the boyz give each other BJ’s in the street in broad daylight ?

Ruined a great city, you Leftists have.

Oct 10, 2008 - 4:29 pm 133. tanstaafl:

Yeah, Chicago’s a freakin’ mess. Murder rate this summer exceeded Iraq.

School dropout rate still around 50%. So much for the good all that freakin’ “Annenberg” money did (actually, much of it went to Ayers’ cronies and didn’t even make it into schools for programs to brainwash the kiddies into good “radical” thinking)

So much for all of Barry’s community organizing efforts and all those ACORN people arm twisting banks to give 110% home loans to people. (you know, the steel industry left Chicago ’cause the entrenched Democrat machine didn’t provide a business friendly environment and a lot of people were out of work)

Obama actually got frustrated with the “work” he so vociferously defends these days, “community organizing”, which is why he boogied to Harvard Law.

Oct 10, 2008 - 4:39 pm 134. Nine-of-Diamonds:

“Now, as recently seen in Tennessee, if you read O’Reilly or something, you may actually kill people. In a church, no less. Or, claim to be a Christianist and bomb a Federal Building in Oklahoma…”

Like that notorious right winger Bill Ayers, killing people for not being Conservative enough? Right. It’s comments like that that make me WANT to have the little Magic Negro Messiah elected – I’m starting to think his supporters deserve four years of him.

Now we find out that he plans to implement a de facto INCREASE in taxation for many lower-middle class voters:

http://www.patterico.com/2008/10/10/marginal-tax-rates-and-the-middle-class/

So much for the Magic Negro’s “tax cuts for 95%” garbage during the debates.

Get your mind off of Melanin, take off your Obama Jugend armbands, and wake up:

1) Your token Half-Black Affirmative Action case knows sweet FA about economics.

2) Based on his political associations, he has little experience with governing from the center.

3) He has no record of achievment. $50-100 mil. spent on “education” to no effect. No significant bipartisanship. No challenges to his own party’s corruption. A poor work ethic when he was a State Senator.

Each position has been merely a stepping stone for another ambitious jump – no doubt abetted by guilt-stricken whites who want another “bright”, “articulate”, “clean” Black man to have opportunities. As a minority, I see this phenomenon all the time myself. And although I understand that many of these White liberals mean well, I’m a little sick of all the trafficking in racial guilt. We’re electing a president here. We can’t afford to look at the office as some Affirmative Action sinecure designed to foster “Racial Dialogue” and “Healing”.

Oct 10, 2008 - 4:44 pm 135. bobc:

I guess you morons did not hear
Obama already said tax cuts have to wait!

Oct 10, 2008 - 4:48 pm 136. bobc:

Barry Poulson is a republican

Oct 10, 2008 - 4:49 pm 137. FreedomLover:

MCJ said: Why don’t you people just talk plainly. [sic on punctuation] You think Obama is an Arab, Muslim terrorist who will sell our national security secrets to Iran, nationalize our entire private industry, enact martial law to prepare the way for the Mahdi, and round up all white people into internment camps.
—————————–
No, dear. We don’t think that. We simply know that Obama will:

1. Increase taxes in an economic downturn, prolonging the nation’s suffering;
3. Redstribute wealth from productive, job-producing, income-tax-paying citizens to much less productive, non-job-producing, non-income-tax-paying citizens.
2. Appoint liberal, non-constructionist judges;
3. Commit another $25 billion of our nation’s wealth to foreign aid at a time we can ill afford it;
4. Replace American exceptionalism with world citizenship.
5. Increase the number of Americans who believe that government is the fixer for all instances of unfairness in their lives.

There may be more, but that’s enough. An Obama presidency would be an attractive disaster.

Oct 10, 2008 - 4:51 pm 138. bobc:

Vernon Smith is a Rainman
he knows numbers and not people

Oct 10, 2008 - 4:57 pm 139. tanstaafl:

If you read Article II of the Constitution, there’s nothing in the job description of the President of the United States that in any way relates to taxes, raising them, lowering them, supervising them or anything to do with them.

Congress in Article I is granted a very limited power of taxation for well defined and limited goals.

In short, the President, in his official capacity, has nothing to do with taxes

And for the record, the bottom 50% of earners pay a grand total of 3% of federal taxes. The bottom 30% pays nothing at all !

And since you quote the foundingfather-persons, here’s one for yall who don’t seem to have a concept of the Constitution and how Barack Obama’s notions of “community organizin’” the federal government are completely antithetical to the kind of government those founders devised.

“I cannot undertake to lay my finger on that article of the Constitution which granted a right to Congress of expending, on objects of benevolence, the money of their constituents.” ~James Madison

Oct 10, 2008 - 5:01 pm 140. bobc:

Becker wants poor peopel to sell kidneys to rich people

I think I now see what kind of people were quoted in that letter!

Oct 10, 2008 - 5:03 pm 141. MJC:

Yeah, Chicago’s a freakin’ mess. Murder rate this summer exceeded Iraq.

This is an amusing argument. I wonder why the murder rate is lower in Iraq. Could it possibly have anything to do with the hundreds of thousands of U.S. soldiers and billions of dollars in military equipment we have over there? Or maybe it’s the hundred thousand contractors. Maybe if we just paid criminals in Chicago to stop murdering, like we pay the militias in Iraq to stop murdering, there would be less violence in Chicago!

Oct 10, 2008 - 6:12 pm 142. MJC:

If you read Article II of the Constitution, there’s nothing in the job description of the President of the United States that in any way relates to taxes, raising them, lowering them, supervising them or anything to do with them.

How about signing tax bills into law? Does that count? Jesus, this is like middle school stuff.

And for the record, the bottom 50% of earners pay a grand total of 3% of federal taxes. The bottom 30% pays nothing at all !

This is a meaningless use of statistics. The price of goods in an economy doesn’t scale depending on how much you make. Someone who makes $200,000 a year has vastly more purchasing power than someone who makes $20,000.

Oct 10, 2008 - 6:25 pm 143. Former DoD Person:

This article is not even the tip of this iceberg. It is a reflection of the reality kept below the water by Obama and a full time disinformation and denial team. The flow of money from Rezko to Obama dated from before he graduated from Harvard Law School.It included much more than the quarter million dollars in campaign contributions over the last few years. It has floated his entire career. It has, moreover, all been Iraqi money provided by Nadhmi Auchi, originally Saddam’s international financial bag man and Godfather of the UN Oil for Food scheme. It predated Saddam’s fall and bought influence in Illinois at the same time it purchased influence in Washington and post-war Baghdad. It got both Rezko and Auchi into the Clinton White House and the Bush White House. It made Auchi into the ringmaster of Iraqi corruption and even had Rezko as part of it, with million dollar bribes to get contracts (and 22 trips to Damascus and Baghdad by Rezko since the war started). A DoD report of May 11, 2004 detailed the Iraqi side of Auchi corruption, the Rezko trial his role in it. The Middle East came to the Middle West to share a culture of corruption. And the American press chose not to look.

Oct 10, 2008 - 6:36 pm 144. MJC:

LOL @ “Former DoD Person”

What an utter crock. Former DoD people often troll random message boards proclaiming their status as Former DoD People–because they’re the authority on all matters pertaining to anything. Except not. Especially when pretending to be a Former DoD Person.

Oct 10, 2008 - 7:19 pm 145. BC:

To Marc Malone:

Are you are out of your friggin’ mind?. Seriously.

If it wasn’t bad enough we gave up on bin Laden and Afghanistan before the job was done, and that we used 9/11 as an excuse to cherry pick intel and outright lie about the reasons to invade Iraq, (whose *only* support of terrorism began and ended with the Palestinians), we also made an absolute complete botch of maintaining order and infrastructure, starting with the looting that occurred at the very beginning of our watch. And under out watch, al-Qaeda and its allies came on in to party, and then the Sunnis and Shiite’s went for each other’s throats, and what do we have to show for it 5 years later: 4100+ American soldiers killed, 30,000+ wounded, upwards to over a million Iraqi casualties (before you protest this number — 2 of the most rigorous peer-reviewed studies have it in that range), widespread defacto bribery of Sunni insurgents to behave themselves and the US having to split its already overworked military to send more troops back to Afghanistan to deal a resurgent Taliban.

By any sane account, the whole enterprise was the mother of all clusterf*cks from beginning to end.

Oct 10, 2008 - 7:28 pm 146. bobc:

hmm I CURRENTLY work at DoD site
and we have no record of what that moron above posted,

oh, wait I found it, along with the dead Martians!

Oct 10, 2008 - 7:46 pm 147. fred:

I lay before you two choices. You can only choose ONE, not both. You have to choose how to allocate your resources, strategy, and time.

1. You focus on capturing or killing Osama bin Laden.

2. You focus on destroying his organization and all other Islamic jihad organizations, and being aggressive towards state sponsors of terrorism.

Which do you choose? I have my own theories about who will choose which option and why they will do so.

My choice: Option #2. It has the best chance of having the best long-term effect of hemming in Islamic jihad and enhancing our deterrence posture. Will save more lives in the long run too.

I’ve heard just about all the reasons given for those who choose option #1. And sometimes they won’t give you the real reasons why they choose it.

Oct 10, 2008 - 7:47 pm 148. Someone75:

Susan:

Here’s $5 – buy yourself a clue. You’re the true elitist. You refuse to listen to reason, you feel everyone is out to get you, you love playing the victim of the horrible liberals that just want to give you affordable health care. All you know about Marxism is that you’re supposed to be scared of it. If you hadn’t dosed off in high school government class, you’d understand what it’s about, why it’s not scary, and why it will never happen in the USA. We don’t want it. Nobody wants it.

Also, abortion is a non-issue. It will never go away. Are you actually against it in cases where the mother will die without aborting the fetus? Doesn’t God tell us to preserve life? Isn’t a living mother better than a dead mother and a dead baby?

You really need to stop being so ignorant. You can shut everyone out and stay in your insular world, but if you opened your mind, you’d be the better for it. Looks like small town values = narrow-mindedness.

Oct 10, 2008 - 8:48 pm 149. Nine-of-Diamonds:

I doubt that the average Leftist even cares about viable anti-terrorist strategies, fred. When you believe that the real terrorists are your domestic political opponents, is it really such a bad thing that Bin Laden is “still at large”? While they are willing to use Bin Laden’s freedom as an anti-Republican talking point, the fact is that he remains a folk hero of sorts to many anti-American elements within the US and overseas.

All the same, yes – I agree that it’s better to destroy professional terrorists in the field than to hunt for their leadership. It’s much more important to kill mid-level explosive experts, recruiters, etc in the field than it is to nail a handful of clerics. The former generate high body counts – the latter produce nothing deadlier than a few grainy Jihad videos.

And BC, it’s 10 trillion Eye Rackies dead – not 1 Million. Don’t you forget it.

Oct 10, 2008 - 9:51 pm 150. 888:

During Clinton’s administration, the CIA and DOD had more than one opportunity to kill bin Laden, but Clinton was so busy with Lewinsky, both before and after he was caught with her, that bin Laden got away. Don’t blame Bush, McCain or any Republican on the fact that we didn’t kill bin Laden when we had the opportunity — that is a purely Clinton fault, and history has shown that. Clinton has publicly stated his one big regret was sleeping on the job during the start of, and the actual, genocide in Darfur. Well, he fails to mention his other big mistake was not letting his DOD and CIA experts take down bin Laden when they had the chance.

Oct 10, 2008 - 9:56 pm 151. Dave Surls:

“You right wingers have absolutely no morals whatsoever — you hypocritically call abortion supporters baby murderers while supporting turning Iraq into a wasteland of destruction and blood…”

More people killed by Americans in just three bombing raids ordered by lib Dem heroes Roosevelt/Truman (Tokyo, Hiroshima, Nagasaki) than in all the wars the Republicans have gotten us into combined (way more).

Four major Lib/Dem wars in last 100 years cost 600,000 American lives (that’s well over 90% of American war deaths for that period). Evil right wing Republicans have NEVER gotten the USA into a major war. Never.

More American lives lost maintaining garrisons in Europe/Japan/Korea created by Lib/Dems than have been lost in Iraq and Afghanistan campaigns (also way more…check out peacetime USA casualty rates in Cold War period).

And, that’s not even counting all the unborn babies they’ve helped to kill.

Spare me the “no morals” and “wasteland of blood” crap. It’s total hypocrisy coming from lefty Democrat supporters.

Oct 11, 2008 - 12:09 am 152. HawkWatcher:

When a bad Congress is controlled by one party, we traditionally elect a President of the opposite party to counteract the fools. This election, we have a leftist Democrat Congress with a 9% approval rating. John McCain will be elected in November, and the Democrats will lose seats in the House and Senate. You libs will be fine, so don’t have a cow when all your MSM pundits are proved wrong.

Oct 11, 2008 - 2:01 am 153. Ed Wallis:

To add to “Dave Surls’” 12:09am post, I found this 2-minute video of interest about the “morals” [sic] of Obama.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaNXqZGDYWc

Oct 11, 2008 - 2:13 am 154. Jeff:

I highly recommend that Mr. Roger L. Simon, as the founder of PajamasMedia and a Jewish person, get re-acquainted with history, especially with World War II and Hitler. Mr. Simon should read all of the books and watch all of the documentaries and get himself re-acquainted with that era again. It was a time when one ignorant powerful man preached a lot of propaganda, stirred up a lot of hate, and led an army that created the largest human massacre ever known to human history. It led to millions and millions of innocent lives lost. This was the biggest example of what ignorance and bigotry had accomplished and it is evident that human mentalities have not gone very far since that time.

Mr. Simon should get acquainted with that time period again because he will discover the true power of ignorance, hate, and bigotry. It is a very powerful force and only one result can come about with this powerful force – SUFFERING. At night, he should close his eyes and dig deep within himself and ask himself what he is truly using his power for. Is it for right or wrong, good or evil, truth or lies?

One man seeing right could be seen as wrong by others. One man looking to do good could be seen as evil by others. One man’s truth could be seen as lies by others.

Men like Genghis Khan, Napoleon, Hitler, and now Osama Bin Laden truly feels that what they did or is doing are right, in their own eyes. They also believe that their belief systems are good and are the only truth. They don’t stop to listen to what the world believes but only listen to what their own inner voices tell them. There is a lesson to learn about these men in that, the voices of the world could not be heard by them because their own voices were what ONLY mattered.

Oct 11, 2008 - 3:18 am 155. RE:

Jeff,

For your own sake, learn the difference between indoctrination and education. Pursue the latter, reject the former.

Again, do it for your own sake.

Oct 11, 2008 - 4:49 am 156. cfbleachers:

I don’t know who used to work at the DoD, or who currently works there, but there indeed was an official report in 2004 linking Auchi, a former oil minister in Iraq, in the Oil for Food scandal and for shipping weapons into Iraq.

From the Chicago Sun-Times

“Mr. Obama has admitted that the 2005 land deal that he and Mr. Rezko were involved in was a “boneheaded” mistake, in part because his friend was already rumored to be under federal investigation. The newly elected Mr. Obama bought his $1.65 million home on the same day, June 15, that Mr. Rezko’s wife bought the plot of land next to it from the same seller for $625,000. Seven months later she sold a slice of the land to the trust that Mr. Obama had put the house into, so the senator could expand his garden.

Mr. Obama has strenuously denied suggestions that the same-day sale enabled him to pay $300,000 under the house’s asking price because Mrs. Rezko paid full price for the adjoining lot, or that he asked the Rezkos for help in the matter. Both actions would be clear violations of Senate ethics rules barring the granting or asking of favors.

Still, there are anomalies. Mr. Obama admits that he and Mr. Rezko took a tour of the house before it and the adjoining plot were sold. Financial records given to federal prosecutors a year later show Mrs. Rezko had a salary of only $37,000 and assets of $35,000. In court proceedings at that time, to explain how much his bail should be, Mr. Rezko declared that he had “no income, negative cash flow, no liquid assets.”

So where did the money for Mrs. Rezko’s $125,000 down payment — and the collateral for her $500,000 loan from a local bank controlled by Amrish Mahajan, like Mr. Rezko a Chicago political fixer — come from?

The London Times reports that, three weeks before the land transactions, Nadhmi Auchi, an Iraqi billionaire living in London, loaned $3.5 million to Mr. Rezko, who was his Chicago business partner. Mr. Auchi’s office says he had “no involvement in or knowledge of” the property purchase. Mr. Auchi is a press-shy property developer (estimated worth: $4 billion) who was convicted of corruption in France in 2003 for his involvement in the Elf affair, the biggest political and corporate fraud inquiry in Europe since World War II. He was fined $3 million and given a 15-month prison term that was suspended provided he committed no further crimes.

Mr. Auchi was also a top official in the Iraqi oil ministry in the 1970s. He has for years vigorously denied charges he had dealings with Saddam Hussein after the first Gulf War. However, an official report to the Pentagon inspector general in 2004 obtained by the Washington Times cited “significant and credible evidence” of involvement by Mr. Auchi’s companies in the Oil for Food scandal and illicit smuggling of weapons to the Hussein regime.

In 2003, Mr. Auchi began investing in Chicago real estate with Mr. Rezko. In April 2007, after his indictment, Mr. Auchi loaned another $3.5 million to Mr. Rezko, a loan that Mr. Rezko hid from U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald’s office. When Mr. Fitzgerald learned that the money was being parceled out to Mr. Rezko’s lawyers, family and friends, he got Mr. Rezko’s bond revoked in January and had him put in jail as a potential flight risk.

In court papers, the prosecutor noted that Mr. Rezko had traveled 26 times to the Middle East between 2002 and 2006, mostly to his native Syria and other countries that lack extradition treaties with the U.S. Curiously, Mr. Auchi has also lent an unknown sum of money to Chris Kelly, who, like Mr. Rezko, was a significant fund-raiser for Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich (himself under investigation by a federal grand jury as an alleged beneficiary of the Rezko shakedowns). Mr. Kelly is himself under indictment for obstructing an IRS probe into his activities.

There is some slight evidence that Sen. Obama and Auchi may have met once, very briefly, at the Four Seasons in Chicago, but it really amounts to not much of anything.

Therefore, the ties of Sen. Obama to Auchi are tenuous at best and non-existent at the moment. However, my read of the comment by the former DoD poster is precisely in line with the information available. Sen. Obama indeed met Rezco before Harvard, Rezco indeed offered him a job at that time, Rezco indeed was involved with Auchi, Auchi was indeed an architect of a sea of corruption…and there is credible evidence tying him to the Oil for Food scandal among other things.

Here’s how it ties together, as far as I can discern. Sen. Obama and Rezco were more than mere acquaintances. The Syrian born fixer was a shady character and Sen. Obama has known that for 18 years…it’s not much of a secret.

The Sen. and Michelle had a chance to garner a mansion and Rezco was able to arrange or “fix” the deal so that several hundred thousand dollars would be laundered and hidden from public view.

Sen. Obama and Rezco tour the house together, then…rather idiotically…hold a same day, simultaneous transaction for the purchase of the entire plot that Senator Obama and Michelle want…with the Obamas taking a $300,000 sweetened “fixed” deal, while Mrs. Rezco pays a ton of money for a strip of useless land. Mrs. Rezco then gives the land to the Obamas some months later…to complete the transaction.

Anyone who suggests that this doesn’t stink of a “fixer” scheme, is not mature enough to engage in the conversation. If the money came from Auchi (Rezco is now singing like a bird, so we may know AFTER the election)…the only question that remains, is did Senator Obama know that the money that Rezco was going to use to “fix” this land deal…was coming from Auchi.

If he did, then he was complicit in the scheme to take a “fix” favor for his personal use and he knew that Rezco was really the bagman for Auchi. Does Auchi really add much more to the story in that case?

I suppose the answer is yes…but, if that’s the sum total of the tie to Auchi and there is nothing more there…then the amount it adds is merely intrigue and not substantively worse than if Rezco had gotten the money from some other shady character.

The crux of the story is, Senator Obama knew Rezco since at least 1990 and well enough to be offered a job by him and to later tour this house together. To suggest that they don’t know each other is a sham. The way this deal was financed with simultaneous signings, a local fixer banker and a later transfer to the Obamas by Mrs. Rezco stinks to high heaven.

Whether Rezco was involved with Khalid al Mansour, Percy Sutton and the payment for Senator Obama’s Harvard education is still an incomplete picture…which may not come to light until after the election. What is clear about the Harvard “loan” situation…is that there is not a shred of evidence that Sen. Obama took out school loans or paid them back…on any records he has released to date…that would have been sufficient to pay for his attendance there.

SOMEBODY paid for that schooling. Right now, it is shrouded in darkness and coverup as to whom that might be. And the SOS Media (shroud our sins) isn’t interested in looking…they are too busy wondering about Gov. Palin’s kids.

Oct 11, 2008 - 5:36 am 157. susan:

proud elitist

“I have higher standards for mine than you do for yours. Higher expectations.

Call me an elitist.”

if your higher standards are in plan in socialist countries why don’t you move into one?

I don’t call you elitist, I call you moron.

Someone75 “Here’s $5 – buy yourself a clue. You’re the true elitist. You refuse to listen to reason, you feel everyone is out to get you, you love playing the victim of the horrible liberals that just want to give you affordable health care.”

I am born and living in Italy. I have socialized medicine already, idiot. I know first hand what marxist ideology is doing to europe that’s why they are pretty much kicked out of every decent government as we speak.

“If you hadn’t dosed off in high school government class, you’d understand what it’s about, why it’s not scary, and why it will never happen in the USA. We don’t want it. Nobody wants it.”

hey genius, supposedly, nobody in germany wanted nazism and guess what happened

“Are you actually against it in cases where the mother will die without aborting the fetus?”

yes those women usually make it on the first pages of magazines, sacrificing their own life for the life of their children. Admirable. For everybody except the idiots like yourself

“You really need to stop being so ignorant. You can shut everyone out and stay in your insular world, but if you opened your mind, you’d be the better for it. Looks like small town values = narrow-mindedness.”

Idiot again, I live in Milan, the most cosmopolitan city in Italy. Try to turn on your poor brain before making assumptions.

Oct 11, 2008 - 6:04 am 158. Dave Surls:

“upwards to over a million Iraqi casualties”

Dream on.

Oct 11, 2008 - 10:43 am 159. Chip:

“The bottom line is that if you have more than half a brain and have even the most rudimentary knowledge about what’s going on in the world, you’re voting Obama.”

OK, let us take one simple world issue…

Why is Obama saying that Pakistan should be invaded at the very same time that Pakistan gave the US permission to go into Pakistani territory to hunt down terrorists?

And somehow the media has let it slip that the Taliban now want to separate themselves from Al Qaeda. Can any of you liberals who trust Obama tell me why? Could it be something that any JTAC observer could tell you?

Fact is, Obama is once again twisting facts about what the US strategy in the Middle East is all about. Also, he won’t even tell the truth about the tactical realities in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Personally, I will never support a politician who LIES about what the US is doing in a war zone. OBAMA IS A BLATANT LIAR!

Oct 11, 2008 - 12:05 pm 160. 888:

Susan, have you already sent in your absentee ballot? I live in Japan, and my husband and I just sent in ours last week. Luckily, our home of record isn’t Ohio or Florida, where the ballots can easily be destroyed or God knows what they do with them once they see the blackened circle next to McCain’s name. Darn ACORN…and they’re getting a pass, too, just like Obama on everything. It was more orderly and proper during the Iraqi election (purple fingers) than what they’re doing in the US (corrupting our most precious right). It’s a shame that Americans have to sink to such shameful acts.

Oct 11, 2008 - 1:48 pm 161. Believer:

Thomas Lifson at americanthinker.com has written about what he thinks is the “game changer.”

After so many reported “game changers,” I’m not too hopeful this will do it. And this issue has been hanging out there forever, getting little interest.

The 10min. video features attorney Phillip(?) Berg explaining his case making its way through the courts and BO’s unwillingness to produce the evidence to prove he’s a natural born citizen qualified to run for President.

As much as BO is guilty of leaving this huge question out there, the Democrat Party is equally guilty — they should provide evidence that they’ve nominated a qualified candidate. It should be required of them as their duty to the American voter.

Beyond unhealthy is a relationship that begins with a lack of trust.

The bottom line here is this: Are we a nation of laws? Or are some of us above them? Beware the one who breaks – or even bends – the law with ease. Unchecked, it usually leads to far more egregious acts.

Oct 11, 2008 - 1:57 pm 162. 888:

cfbleachers, thank you for providing us that list of 100 prominent economists stating Obama’s economic proposal would be disastrous for America. I’m glad to see Dr. Lydia Ortega from my alma mater, San Jose State, was on that list.

Oct 11, 2008 - 2:52 pm 163. tanstaafl:

How about signing tax bills into law? Does that count? Jesus, this is like middle school stuff.

MJC, my observation related Presidential candidate hype and the Constitution, which delinates the job.

Barack Obama tries to buy you off saying he’ll change tax policy to stick it to the rich guy. It’s not his job, but the parameters of the Constitution don’t slow him down in promising you “stuff”.

“The rich guy” in America (the top 1% of earners) already pays about 40% of total federal taxes. Without the entrepreneur, we only have the deadening and “equalizing” socialism that you might think is really cool. Everyone could then be as mediocre as everyone else, just as the public schools have been working to bring about for decades.

This is a meaningless use of statistics.

Meaningless ? The bottom 50% of earners pays 3% of total federal taxes and their (already) minimal or nil contribution to federal taxes is “meaningless” ? Tell me what it is, exactly, that Obama promises people who pay very little or no federal taxes already ?

What it is that Barack Obama proposes to “rectify” on your behalf ?

Levelling the domestic playing field (according to his own personal, “community organizer” definition of “fairness”) is not the job of a United States President.

Are we there yet ?

Oct 11, 2008 - 4:24 pm 164. Sarge:

Unsavory Associations:
Tony Rezko Convicted felon’
Jeremiah Write Minister
Bill Ayers & Wife (weatherman)
Terror Organization
Acorn
New Party member
Demo. Socialist Party
Voting Record : The most Liberal Senator in
Congress

What else do you need to know????

Oct 11, 2008 - 7:11 pm 165. Cary:

to the leftwing bloggers worrying about what’s to be done about the economy, in response to a direct question from Charles Gibson the big O said he would do just about the same actions that Pres. Bush would do. Except that the American people need a president that they can trust. IMO that means we need to look even closer at the Opaque ones
history and associates even if it does freak out his acolytes.

Oct 11, 2008 - 11:12 pm 166. BC:

Dave Surls wrote: “upwards to over a million Iraqi casualties”

“Dream on.”

Yeah, you and your gullible, factless, comrades in idiocy are so much smarter than these guys:
http://web.mit.edu/humancostiraq/reports.html

Oct 12, 2008 - 12:00 am 167. tanstaafl:

BC, your link cites the Johns Hopkins study and the Lancet (among others), which, on the one hand (Johns Hopkins) performed the funny money statistical analyses in Iraq (extrapolating numbers based on the “reporting” of a small number of households) and on the other (respected (or formerly respected) The Lancet ( editor in chief is rabid anti war) who propagated the Johns Hopkins numbers.

Civilian deaths for the duration are cited at Iraq Body Count, whereas the number is egregious in and of itself, in no way does it approach the HYPE you so willingly accept.

Iraq Body Count

One of the more frightening aspects of Obamabots is their complete gullibility.

Oct 12, 2008 - 11:13 am 168. HawkWatcher:

Obama is no enigma to me. He is a radical leftist and will not be elected president. Sorry, hopechangebelievers…you want us to elect a president whose ideology is incompatible with individual liberty, property rights, and Constitutional law, and it won’t fly. The word is spreading every day.

Oct 12, 2008 - 2:00 pm 169. BC:

To tanstaafl: Are you claiming that you know something that MIT doesn’t? That “funny money statistical analyses in Iraq” claim against the Lancet study and others was actually never more that funny dummy extrapolating by right wingers who apparently do their math by pooping their pants and seeing how many wash cycles it takes to clean them.

Might I perchance recommend that you actually read those PDF reports that MIT gracefully provided, especially the bits about how exactly really the data was gathered and how the analyses done? A little knowledge won’t kill ya. It might make you mad or upset, but it really won’t kill ya.

Oct 12, 2008 - 5:03 pm 170. Dave Surls:

“Yeah, you and your gullible, factless, comrades in idiocy are so much smarter than these guys:”

No doubt. Comes with the territory when you have a really high I.Q.

However, that’s not nearly as important as:

We’re not anti-American propagandists (and in the case of the Lancet guys…out and out traitors, who not only were working with the Baathist enemy, they even bragged about it) who are deliberately trying to mislead.

Some of us have also done extensive studies of military history, so we can compare the war in Iraq to other wars where casualty rates are fairly well known.

For example 1,000,000 dead Iraqis, during the period 2003-2008, out of a population of about 25,000,000 would be a higher rate of deaths than that suffered by the Japanese in WWII, 1937-45 (rough estimate 2,500,000 deaths out of a population of 72,000,000), and I can assure you that not only is that not the case, it’s nowhere near the case.

The 1,000,000 figure is utterly absurd. Our side could probably kill that many people if we set out to systematically exterminate the civilian population the way the Nazis did in Russia and other places, but that’s obviously not the case, and the level of fighting is nowhere near the intensity that would cause that many deaths (our very low casualty figures bear that out).

The other side lacks the means to kill anywhere near that number of people. They have neither the weaponry nor the organization to carry out that sort of mass slaughter.

One of us is a gullible halfwit…but it ain’t me.

Oct 13, 2008 - 2:43 am 171. tanstaafl:

…Might I perchance recommend…

Dear BC,

Might you perchance grow a brain (or a pair) and not simply accept writings at a website with the initials MIT attached to it ?

Johns Hopkins did 2 studies on Iraqi deaths, one rather early on, one later. Both employed the statistical method of determining numbers of deaths by interviewing less than 1000 Iraqi households (I’m going on memory) and what householders “reported” and then (quite theoretically) multiplying that number to the population at large.

And they came up with wildly (and I mean wildly) exaggerated numbers of Iraqi deaths. For the consumption of LeftWing propaganda mongers, like yourself.

Iraq Body Count (the site I linked) should be LeftWing enough for your tastes. At least they’ve given accuracy a reasonable shot, unlike the stuff that, apparently, impresses you.

Love,

“there ain’t no such thing as a free lunch”

Oct 13, 2008 - 6:21 am 172. tanstaafl:

MJC

Barack Obama offers free lunches all around !

Obama’s 95% Illusion

“All but the clean car credit would be “refundable,” which is Washington-speak for the fact that you can receive these checks even if you have no income-tax liability. In other words, they are an income transfer — a federal check — from taxpayers to nontaxpayers.”

MJC, would you please write Barry and tell him income redistribution isn’t within the parameters of the job of President as described in the United States Constitution ?

Many thanks.

Oct 13, 2008 - 6:52 am 173. John E.:

Senator Barack H. Obama likes to say that he is the only politician who objected to the war in Iraq as if to say he knew more than anyone else. He is no prophet. The sole reason he objected to the war against Iraq is because he is a Muslem sympathiser. He has stated in so many words that if things go bad for Muslems he will come down on the side of Muslems and not the West. Seeing what is happening all over Europe with Muslems multiplying and not assimilating with host nations is not what we should allow in the United States.

Oct 13, 2008 - 7:58 am 174. edeldoug:

http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/publications/id.1445/pub_detail.asp

Information so explosive it could potentially be a game changer!

Oct 13, 2008 - 5:31 pm 175. Payne W:

I don’t care so much about his associations, although I believe they are enough to not support him. But all these articles about his associations are a distraction from the real issues. Instead why don’t we all focus on his record. Can anyone tell me the outcome of the Annenberg Challenge? What positive results were achieved by spending as much as $160 M to improve the school system? Can anyone tell me how the poor and needy benefited from Obama’s involvement in his effort to improve or create more “affordable housing”? He saw to it that 10’s of millions went to this effort and yet the buildings that were to be redone were either torn down, foreclosed or declared unsafe. These buildings were in Obamas own district. He could see them from his office but he kept seeing that Tony Rezko’s company kept getting more and more money. Can anyone tell me how Tony Rezko benefited from Obama’s involvement in affordable housing? How did Obama benefit? Can anyone tell me whatever happened to his promise to provide a middle class tax cut for his constituents in Illinois?

If all of you who are in love with Obama will look at how well Obama spent 100’s of millions of tax payer and private funds with no positive result you will have to recognize that he can’t do any better on a national level. Call me crazy but if a senator hasn’t shown that he can handle a relatively small amount of money I believe I shouldn’t expect anything different on a national level; other than wasting more money on a larger scale.

But as the article says “love is blind” so I don’t really expect any of you to actually look at his record. Just keep listening to the music.

Oct 14, 2008 - 8:37 am 176. BC:

To Dave Surls and tanstaafl:
A couple of years back in some debates on Usenet with other right wingers regarding the Iraqi civilian casualties, I did some very basic calculations, using both high and low crime crime rates as baselines, to determine what was likely more realistic in a time of war for a country the size of Iraq: the Lancet study estimate of 426,369 – 793,663 or the IBC number of the time of about 50,000, which Bush and his people unofficially endorsed.

The short version is that if you want to believe that, at the time, 50,000 was more realistic than 600,000, then you have to also believe that visiting Iraq, at the very worst, was only about twice as dangerous as visiting DC. At best, it was only about as dangerous or even less so than visiting Washington DC. Violent death rates in US cities can go up or down by close to a factor of 3 with just changes in the economy and (presumably) better policing. So how much would you expect the rate to raise in a full blown war? 10x perhaps?

Well if you accept that the 10x increase in the rate of violent deaths is reasonable, then for a population the size of Iraq (I used 26 million at the time), this translates to an increase in the total number of violent rates in Iraq over a 3 1/2 yr period as being 455,000 — which is in the Lancet range at the low end. And it doesn’t matter if you try to fix things by starting with a high prewar murder rate or a low one — the 50,000 number pushed by Bush and his people at time turns out to have to have been absolutely, nonsensically way, WAY too low. If you have even modest mathematical skills, you can do/verify the same calcs with little problem.

For proof, check out the long version of all this: http://tinyurl.com/4qybhq (scroll down for the “Gawd…you people on this thread” bit where it starts.)

Hope this clarifies and purifies….

Oct 14, 2008 - 8:51 pm 177. tanstaafl:

Hope this clarifies and purifies….

Don’t hold your breath.

…which is in the Lancet range at the low end

It’s not the Lancet range, it’s the Johns Hopkins range, reported in the British medical journal, The Lancet, whose editor, Dr. Richard Horton, probably makes your bias, BC, look tame. (in this video, the charming Dr. Horton is discussing the first Johns Hopkins statistics, reported in ‘04 or ‘05, at which time the highly extrapolated and exaggerated number of Iraqi deaths was “only” 100,000…)

How can I be nuts ? I’m an important Editor !

Oct 15, 2008 - 9:29 am 178. Cira:

The Socialists are Coming! The Socialists are Coming!!!

I sit before my television set and listen to that which bound our country together unwind, the thread Democracy. My stomach clenches at the knowledge that my fellow Americans, brothers. ..sisters united by our love of this great land to which we have been blest and privileged to belong whether by birth or immigration, might not recognize the fading of our country’s heart. Why, you might ask do I wince at the obvious use of twisted media toward a man who I can not believe is rising to such power?

Let me start with the fact that Obama has been accepting outrageous amounts of money from lobbyists to fund his campaign which he STATED he would not do. Now my compatriots, this is just the first of lies. Let’s move to his remaining in a church which was most obviously prejudiced against white Americans. A church leader who DAMNED America! Let me repeat this once more just in case you did not take in the relevance of this particular statement. He DAMNED our own country! I ask you, how would the media react to the fact that John McCain was participating for 20 years with a church which spoke in such a manner of the blacks in our country? Yes, I said blacks and not African Americans because I have had numerous black people from countries such a Jamaica correct me on my misuse of this term. What if the Republican presidential nomination had met in a previous Klu Klux Klan member’s home and planned for his election? How comfortable would you be by this and would you expect it to be swept under the rug as the well paid media has done during this election?

I am troubled that many believe the lies of which Obama so artfully speaks. Think carefully my friends at the logic behind his taxation plan. Do you REALLY believe that Obama can gain all the money he needs for his programs by simply taxing the top 5% of wage earners in our nation? What would YOU do if your company was looking at having it taxed in such a manner? The corporations in our country pay the second highest taxes in the World today. Using logic, wouldn’t you MOVE your business to a less taxed country? What do you think would happen to those working for these companies? Ahhh right! Unemployment would increase and the number of taxable businesses would no longer be in our country to gain the moneys of which Obama speaks.

Do you see my growing concern my brothers and sisters? Please do not be swayed by the talented speech writers have been well paid by special interest money. You may wonder why I called my small note a warning to the fact that Democracy is falling to Socialism. Obama actually looked into the camera and angrily stated that McCain called him a socialist. This just shows his ignorance of the term. His health plan is just one proponent of nearly all socialist countries. It sounds wonderful but I ask you to speak to Canadians. Where do they go when they need surgery and are placed on a long waiting list? Yes my brethren, they come HERE!!

I ask you to consider carefully before you pull that lever. Think of the true repercussions of that choice between a man who has been presented as nearly perfect…a man who has only been representing you for not even a term. A man who when voting on difficult issues usually chooses to claim only his presence. Not to support or oppose important issues. Just that he was in the room.

Then we have John McCain. A man who fought for this country. A man who literally gave his very blood. He has made numerous difficult decisions while in the Congress and Senate. A few issues you may have not agreed with but at least he has stood up for what he believed was best for our country. He has the experience we need to face these difficult times before us. I do not want issues of such great importance left in the hands of someone who considers ‘spreading the wealth’, a term of which numerous Socialists have presented as the backbone for their ideals.

So I SCREAM..and scream loudly. Just as Paul Revere, I raise my voice to awaken my friends, neighbors, family ..my Nation. AWAKE…be prepared for the threat is nearly upon us!!

Oct 20, 2008 - 9:57 am 179. aformerdemocrat:

Percy Sutton, who I know well, and who is a respected black lawyer, businessman politician, in New York City stated that he was asked by a black muslim to write a letter to get obama into harvard and further that obama was being supported by the Saudis. Obama tried to say that Percy Sutton was mistaken; but the family of Percy Sutton denies it. Look it up yourself.

Obama says in his own book that communist, bi-sexual, child molester Frank Marshall Davis was his mentorfrom 8 to 18. Obama’s 1/2 sister says its true. Davis wrote a book admitting his sexual proclivities. Davis was a dyed in the wool communist. Look it up yourself.

Ayers, Obama’s friend is a socialist married to a former weatherman 60’s radical. Some people say that Ayers ghosted Obama’s book. Obama never wrote anything prior to this book except one medicore poem. Look it up yourself.

Obama sat and listened to Rev Wright’s anti-american, anti white ravings for 20 years. I’m a christian, I would not sit in a church listening to those sentiments. Look it up yourself.

The list goes on and on. He’s a socialist; he’ll take the whole country down with him. On Election day, I’ll vote Democratic EXCEPT for Obama. He’s dangerous, extremely dangerous. Don’t get fooled by the charisma. Hitler was charismatic – look what happened with him.

Oct 24, 2008 - 12:47 pm 180. aformerdemocrat:

Also, Obama never wrote anything for the law review at Harvard, which was an elected position. I’m sure he was just as charimatic there. His grades at Columbia were medicore…. that’s why he needed Percy Sutton to help him get into Harvard.

Also, why not produce the real birth certificate? What is he hiding? The certificate on the internet is only what the State releases as certification…. the real one is in the state records. Obama could release it but doesn’t. Why? Only reason is he has something to hide. What is it?

Oct 24, 2008 - 12:52 pm

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