-Senator Obama in an interview with Charles Gibson
REUTERS/Jim Young
We know John McCain. We don’t know Barack Obama.
Peter Nicholas, staff writer for the Los Angeles Times, wrote an interesting piece in yesterday’s Times on trying to get to know the man behind the image, spending 18 hour days on the campaign trail with the Illinois Senator. What comes across to him, is how well-disciplined Senator Obama is, making every word and action deliberate and calculated, with few instances of spontaneity. The mask is constantly kept on. Nicholas concludes:
First Clinton, then John McCain made the argument that Obama is someone we don’t really know. Obama’s supporters counter that we have his record in the U.S. and Illinois senates, two memoirs that reveal his inner thinking and a vast trove of public speaking. Ironically, those of us who were sent out to take his measure in person can’t offer much help in answering who he is, or if he is ready. The barriers set in place between us and him were just too great.
Obama detractors also argue that
“we have his record in the U.S. and Illinois senates,
What has he even accomplished as a U.S. Senator, other than running for president within his first term? He said it himself in the Gibson interview, he’s been running for president for the last 2 years; that gives little time for the freshman senator to actually do his duties as a legislator.
Where is the evidence that he has ever “reached across the aisle” to accomplish any bipartisan legislation?
At the Saddleback Forum Debate back in August:
REV. WARREN: Can you give me a good example of where you went against party loyalty and maybe even went against your own best interest for the good of America.
SEN. OBAMA: Well, you know, I’ll give you an example that in fact I worked with John McCain on, and that was the issue of campaign ethics reform and finance reform. That wasn’t probably in my interest or his, for that matter, because the truth was that both Democrats and Republicans sort of like the status quo. And I was new to the Senate, and it didn’t necessarily then engender a lot of popularity when I started saying, you know, we’re going to eliminate meals and gifts from corporate lobbyists. I remember one of my colleagues, whose name will be unmentioned, who said, well, where do you expect us to eat, McDonald’s?
That’s a completely dishonest account by the resume-padding Senator from Illinois. Factcheck.org:
Obama claimed that “I worked with John McCain” on ethics legislation. In fact, the two worked together for barely a week, after which McCain accused Obama of “partisan posturing” and added, “I won’t make the same mistake again.” McCain later voted against the ethics bill that Obama supported, stating that it was written by Democrats with “no input” from Republicans.
Here is the letter McCain sent to Obama.
Resume-padding doesn’t stand up to even light scrutiny:
Very little has been made of two instances, reported last month by the Washington Post, where Mr Obama exaggerated his role in legislative accomplishments. When a bipartisan attempt was made to reform America’s immigration policy, Mr Obama claimed to be one of the senators who in 2006 “had to wake up early to try to hammer this stuff out.” If it were true, it would’ve boosted his repuation as a uniter of Republicans and Democrats. But miffed Senate staffers say Mr Obama never attended the critical early morning negotiating sessions where the bill was hammered out. And he played an even smaller role when the issue was re-visited in 2007—after showing up late for a meeting he was even upbraided by Ted Kennedy.
More recently, when referring to housing legislation unveiled this year, Mr Obama called it “the legislation I put forward with my colleague Chris Dodd”. Mr Dodd, an Obama supporter, may be too kind to say so, but this simply isn’t accurate. Mr Obama backed the measure, as did Mrs Clinton, but he did not author or sponsor the legislation, which is to say he didn’t put it forward anymore than Mrs Clinton did.
In yet another instance Mr Obama claimed to have passed a bill on nuclear regulation that never made it out of the Senate.
“two memoirs that reveal his inner thinking”
Hugh Hewitt played the audio tapes, Dreams from My Father, read by Senator Obama himself. It is worth noting that the book was published in 1998 and mentions Frank Marshall Davis. But the audio version was recorded in 2005, after Senator Obama entered public office, and any mention of Frank Davis, an early influence and mentor in Obama’s life, is conspicuously made absent. Another one of those things that makes you go, “Hmmmm…..?”
“and a vast trove of public speaking”.
The problem with this, is that things he’s said in public that could be most damaging to his bid for the presidency is either suppressed by the media, or does not receive the frontpage splash headline news and wide-circulation it might warrant. As Senator Obama likes to say, any of this kind of negative coverage that questions his character and judgment are “distractions”. “Talk about the issues“. And a fawning media is all but happy to comply and rewrite the narrative so that Joe “the Plumber” is the one whose character is under scrutiny, as if that in itself is not the real distraction from the validity of the question and the moment of candor in Senator Obama’s response. It was a window into his soul; a glimpse into how he truly feels and thinks behind the carefully crafted image of a centrist.
Public records have been made inaccessible:
a large cache of documents housed in the Richard J. Daley Library at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), is likely to flesh out the story. That document cache contains the internal files of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge. The records in question are extensive, consisting of 132 boxes, containing 947 file folders, a total of about 70 linear feet of material. Not only would these files illuminate the working relationship between Obama and Bill Ayers, they would also provide significant insight into a web of ties linking Obama to various radical organizations, including Obama-approved foundation gifts to political allies. Obama’s leadership style and abilities are also sure to be illuminated by the documents in question.
Unfortunately, I don’t yet have access to the documents. The Special Collections section of the Richard J. Daley Library agreed to let me read them, but just before I boarded my flight to Chicago, the top library officials mysteriously intervened to bar access. Circumstances strongly suggest the likelihood that Bill Ayers himself may have played a pivotal role in this denial.
What we don’t know:
1. Occidental College records — Not released
2. Columbia College records — Not released
3. Columbia Thesis paper — “not available”
4. Harvard College records — Not released
5. Selective Service Registration — Not released
6. Medical records — Not released
7. Illinois State Senate schedule — “not available”
8. Law practice client list — Not released
9. Certified Copy of original Birth certificate — Not released
10. Embossed, signed paper Certification of Live Birth — Not released
11. Harvard Law Review articles published — None
12. University of Chicago scholarly articles — None
Yet, somehow we’re supposed to know Barack Obama….
The Jerusalem Post notes:
Obama, in fact, has held some major job titles which are noteworthy all by themselves: United States Senator, Lecturer at the University of Chicago Law School, Harvard Law Review President-each of these titles puts him in rarefied company. Tack on a few Illinois State Senate terms, and his resume actually appears solid. Yet, in spite of these prestigious positions, Obama has increasingly resorted to making claims of accomplishment that are so patently inflated that even his cheerleaders at CNN and the New York Times are taking notice. Why?
It seems that Obama recognizes that while his résumé titles are impressive, his actual accomplishments are weak.
Who is the real Senator Barack Obama? I only know enough to believe that he is wrong for the country.
A former fetus, the “wordsmith from nantucket” was born in Phoenix, Arizona in 1968. Adopted at birth, wordsmith grew up a military brat. He achieved his B.A. in English from the University of California, Los Angeles (graduating in the top 97% of his class), where he also competed rings for the UCLA mens gymnastics team. The events of 9/11 woke him from his political slumber and malaise. Currently a personal trainer and gymnastics coach.
The wordsmith has never been to Nantucket.
What I have noticed is that it is mostly, almost exclusively, the MSM that, with their pseudo polls with skewing and slanting, have been suggesting that Barack Obama might win.
However, much to the contrary, and given that of the 12% Blacks in America — an estimated less than 5% will vote for Obama (less than 14 million Black adult voters in a country of more than 305 million!) — McCain has a better than most chance to win big time on next Tuesday.
Over the last several months, we have learned that Obama is a radical, repugnant, and incessant liar. Obama is a thug much like the many, many “friends” and “mentors” he hangs with — Rezko, Farrakhan, Rev. Wright, Khalidi, communist Frank Marshall David and others. Now we learn that Obama is definitively a socialist and extremist leftist. Obama gets upset when TV hosts point this out — why? — because it’s the truth. Barack Hussein Obama is a loser.
The tens of millions, and more, voters that have learned the ugly truths about Barack Obama are NOT going to vote for him. They will defeat Obama.
Obamalies or Lies Obama Tells:
http://www.nextgenerationcorp.com/NextGenBlog/?p=73
The best hope we have for our economy, our military, our health, and our freedom is to vote for John McCain — honorable, with integrity, and a true patriot.
God Bless America.
How can we possibly know anything about a man who has systematically disavowed everyone he has been associated with as soon as that person becomes a political liability. In fact, consider:
Frank Marshall Davis, mentor from the time his grandfather turned him over to Davis until he left for the mainland for college (about 9 years) Frank was mentioned in his book as an influence in his life – Now Obama doesn’t know him, doesn’t talk about him, and Frank is dead so he ain’t talking either.
Jeremy Wright, pastor, family friend, confidant for 20 or more years – disavowed for allegedly making hateful racist remarks as well as denigrating the United States and other questionable statements made during the time Obama attended his church. Unfortunately he is still talking though, just not in church.
Billy Ayers, small ‘c’ communist, wannabe terrorist, rich sociopath white kid who married the star witness against him and together they hosted the launch of Obama’s political career in their home – Obama doesn’t know that Ayers was a small time terrorist because he was in Hawaii and 8 years old at the time (he was listening to Frank back then). As a child Obama was apparently not precocious in current events. And Ayers takes pride in noting that Louis Farakhan was a neighbor in the same neighborhood as Obama.
Tony Rezko, a disgraced Chicago political influence, had some shady dealings that got him sentenced to prison. One of his deals with Obama involved selling Obama some property to enlarge his adjacent lot. Apparently though the rest of Rezko’s lot is inaccessible because of the placement of the property behind Obama’s. Since Rezko will be in prison for some time it is possible that Obama can file a claim for the rest of that property under adverse possession as the owner has ‘abandoned’ it and complete a sweetheart of a deal. But Rezko was never a friend of the Obamas.
Bet he doesn’t know John McCain either because Obama was only about 8 years old when McCain was shot down and imprisoned while fighting the war in Viet Nam that Bill Ayers was bombing domestic targets to protest.
Together these three people cover the bulk of his lifetime from 10 years old to today and he doesn’t know these people anymore?
Somebody should do some research into this. Isn’t that the job of the free press?
Do we? I can’t think of a single issue where I know where John McCain stands. Every position he has ever stood for he has reneged on in one way or another. Name one consistency.
Simple, Fit… “Country First”
Ha!
Sarah Palin=Campaign first
Right… picking a woman with more executive experience than everyone else is “campaign first”. Selecting a politician with a history or going after lawmakers and corruption, despite the letter following their name, doesn’t have anything to do with his “maverick” image.
Kewl talking point tho, if not old and musty from overuse. Fact is McCain may have done much better for himself had he not picked someone so controversial, and in the midst of a high profile witch hunt. So the “campaign first” BS don’t hold water.
Your terse answer demonstrates your own opinion, Fit. Of which, of course, I place not an iota of credibility.
On the other hand, Obama’s campaign has been all about Obama and his plans to make government the center of your world. Since he’ll be the head of that government… in his mind… I’d say he’s about as overt a power hungry mongrel as I’ve ever seen attempt to take the WH.
Fit Fit, we’re talking about a 35-year paper trail of being in the media spotlight, in serving public office and public scrutiny. Not policy issues, which isn’t argued about in this post. I’m talking character history.
I’ve defended McCain during the primaries, btw, in regards to apparent “flip flops”. Obama has no high road, when it comes to that.
And remind me again on Senator Obama’s consistent tax plans for this country.
Moody Deep Thinker:
Excellent!
Also curious to know if you think Obama has been honest and transparent in his past history and depth and breadth of past alliances with characters apparently not unsavory to him; but which he knew would be unsavory for digestion by the American mainstream public.
Mata (or should I say Cleopatra),
McCain could count on one finger then number of times he had met Palin before deciding to put her in the safety position for the most important job in the world. He didn’t go with who he wanted but with who he was told could help him win. If that’s “Country First” in your world, then I guess there’s not much you’re ever going to find wrong with Senator McCain.
Don’t listen to me, just look at every single conservative endorsement of Obama, every single editorial from a newpaper that endorsed Bush in 04′ (ignore the lib ones). The Palin pick is the prime reason for going with Obama over McCain. Your “Executive” experience dosen’t cut it. A manager at Blockbuster has more executive experience than McCain or Obama. Her main “controversy” is that she is grossly underqualified as a person.
Fit, don’t lay your disjointed thoughts on me. You asked what has McCain been consistent on, I said Country First.
It was *you* and you alone who tried to tie that basic sense of service to America to Palin.
You don’t like her… so be it. You don’t like McCain, and never intended to vote for him. Frankly I don’t give a rat’s asp (Cleo joke, there…) whether you like Palin or not. But don’t be so pompous as to assume you, personally, know McCain’s reasons for his choice. Because you or the press come up with some reason just don’t make it so.
INRE “endorsements”… the difference between you and I is you look around and “justify” your choices by seeing others that may agree with you. I don’t need others to reinforce my own judgment calls. Could care less if Bush himself endorsed Obama. It would not change my opinion of “that one”.
Hey, Fit Fit, read this:
WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT SARAH PALIN?
Question: What is America ’s first line of missile interceptor defense that protects the entire United States ?
Answer: 49th Missile Defense Battalion of Alaska National Guard.
Question: What is the ONLY National Guard unit on permanent active duty?
Answer: 49th Missile Defense Battalion of Alaska National Guard
Question: Who is the Commander in Chief of the 49th Missile Defense Battalion of Alaska National Guard?
Answer: Governor Sarah Palin, Alaska
Question: What U.S. governor is routinely briefed on highly classified military issues, homeland security, and counter terrorism?
Answer: Governor Sarah Palin, Alaska
Question: What U.S. governor has a higher classified security rating than either candidate of the Democrat Party?
Answer: Governor Sarah Palin, Alaska. According to the Washington Post, she first met with McCain in February, but nobody ever found out. This is a woman used to keeping secrets. She can be entrusted with our national security, because she already is.
Now you DO know!
http://www.stoptheaclu.com/archives/2008/10/17/what-you-dont-know-about
P.S.: And by the way, Fit Fit, read Rocky_B reply (comment #9) on that same article that I had posted in the thread: “Compare” (October 28)
MO’s thoughts on BO running for POTUS.
Priceless.
Roll the tape:
We know very little about BHO. When anybody tries to find out more or tell more they are denied access or denied their right to free speech. The very people we would like to depend on to get the facts, the media, are witholding information.
One of the many disturbing quotes from his book: “I will stand with the Muslims should the political winds shift in an ugly direction.”. Where will he stand with the Americans if the political winds shift in an ugly direction?
Buckeye,
You have chocked on the very same sentence in Obama’s book that I have: “I will stand with the Muslims should the political winds shift in an ugly direction.”
INRE to your question: “Where will he stand with the Americans if the political winds shift in an ugly direction?”
No reason to ask that question, he has already answered it: “I will stand with the Muslims should the political winds shift in an ugly direction.”
Jeff Sachs cannot name a single BO accomplishment:
Link:
We don’t know who you are because you keep hiding your past. Your associations with hateful people and the depth of your relations with them. Your stopping all access to your school records including your thesis. Not to mention what the media has been hiding for you. The first promises you made early on in your candidacy you said you would take public funding and you lied! This shows a lack of integrity and integrity is like virginity. When you give it up its gone!
REQUEST FOR AN INVESTIGATION OF BARICK H. OBAMA
Every American citizen should want the amount of security and stability necessary to support their country, as well as themselves. The recent Presidential election has caused so much turmoil. To quiet the unrest, I would hope every American regardless of political conviction would be willing to put away their prejudice and join in the belief that “united we stand, divided we fall, best represents the United States of America we stand for and its people. To be able to stand behind the newly elected President, the opposing party needs to clarify there is no collusion with enemy forces to cause civil unrest or the downfall of our country, the candidate possesses required credentials and is fully qualified according to our constitution. To best accomplish this there is a need for an independent, non-bias investigation team be assigned to clarify the eleven (11) areas questioning Obama’s qualification:
1. For those who voted for Obama, by requesting this investigation, you will be supporting your choice was not racial motivated but was based on his overall qualifications and integrity so the other non-believers will see the truth.
2. For those who did not vote for Obama, by requesting this investigation, you will be eliminating the racial bias issue and will be able to adequately receive answers to those eleven (11) issues to re-confirm or change your vote.
THE MOST IMPORTANT THING YOU NEED TO DO IS TO CLEAN UP THE ISSUES CRITICAL TO OUR SECURITY AND THAT OF OUR COUNTRY AND TO SHOW THE WORLD, AMERICA CAN STILL BE IDENTIFIED AS AN OUTSTANDING LEADER, ONE TO BE MIRRORED BY OTHERS.
Please take the time to retrieve, sign and immediately forward on the following form to the United States Supreme Court, to each of the nine (9) Justices :
PETITION
We the undersigned wish to request a full expedient investigation into the election process involving Barack H. Obama as well as the Democratic Party:
Since the recent Presidential election has caused so much turmoil and to quiet the unrest prevalent throughout the country, the following issues need supportive conclusions as to their accuracy:
1. Has Obama failed to fully disclose his campaign contributions?
2. Has Obama failed to secure a full National Security Clearance (prior to his election) which is a necessary requirement of any high governmental position?
3. Has Obama failed to provide medical and school records which were requested of the other candidates and provided?
4. Has Obama failed to provide a valid birth certificate prior to his election? Did he make an attempt to secure the birth certificate when he was in Hawaii recently?
5. Was a thorough Background check accomplished on Obama? Since no one is considered for employment without a background check, has he attempted to fight its necessity?
6. Since Obama states he was never a Muslim, what does the picture of Obama (when he was 18-20 years old) in Muslim garb represent?
7. Has payment from Obama’s campaign funds to Acorn for $800,000 to secure voter registration been thoroughly investigated? Has voter applications been checked against actual voter booth registrations in Florida, Illinois and Ohio, to name a few?
8. Did Barack Obama violate the stated intention of his 2006 official government visa to Africa by publicly protesting and campaigning on foreign soil, (for his cousin, Railla Odinga) against the US democratic ally of Kenya?
9. Did Obama together with the Democrats defend Fannie Mae and Freddie Max and accuse Bush and McCain of raising unnecessary alarm bells and of being too tough? Did Obama and the Democratic Party, even after McCain notified them of the 10.6 billion accounting scandal that occurred at Fannie Mae, fail to take action? Did Obama and the Democratic Party pass full blame onto the Republican Party for the financial crisis?
10. Why was Obama, Dodd and Kerry signaled out to receive over $100,000 contributions each from Fannie Mae/Freddie Max?
11. In his World Tour in July, why did Obama assume authority not yet conveyed to him by the American public and attempt to sway Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari to delay U..S. troop withdrawal (in opposition to his campaign promise) until after the election?
We as American citizens have the right to demand these issues be fully investigated, determine if and how far corruption has spread, identify all the key players and assess the degree of punishment deemed adequate for the offense.
The safety of our country and our people should never receive such little consideration as that which has taken place during this political campaign. We demanded better security as a result of the NY terrorist attack and then brush it aside when it’s not convenient.
The following voter(s) request this investigation be accomplished as expediently as possible.
Date Name City State
Attn: Chief Justice John Roberts @ United States Supreme Court
Justice John Stevens 1 First Street NE
Justice Antonin Scalia Washington, DC 20543
Justice Anthony Kennedy
Justice David Souter
Justice Clarence Thomas
Justice Ruth Ginsburg
Justice Stephen Breyer
Justice Samual Alito