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The Big Government Logjam

New Deal News (NDN). Monday, May 26, 2009. Matters became worse for the Obama Administration today when attorneys for the defunct L.A. Times released a controversial video tape that has serious implications that threaten to derail efforts of the Kerry Peace Junket. The attorneys admitted in sworn testimony that there was never any agreement on the part of the L.A. Times and the source of the video tape to not release it to the public. The video tape shows President Obama at a 2003 gala held to honor Rashid Khalidi, a  former spokesman for the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). On the tape, Obama is seen laughing at an anti-Israeli poem and then later praising Khalidi. The video tape was the source for an article that had been written by Times reporters in the spring of 2008, and it became a bone of contention during the final week of the election of 2008 when Senator John McCain demanded that the Times release the tape so that Americans could see it. The Times refused, stating that it had agreed with its source to keep the tape confidential. This has turned out to be untrue.

As Secretary of State John Kerry prepares to leave tomorrow for Tel Aviv to meet with Prime Minister Netanyahu, a fragile relationship between the US and Israel that is on the brink of total collapse remains in grave danger. Kerry hopes to convince the Israeli government that it should “stand down”, in the words of Obama, from its military build-up on the border of Lebanon. Kerry hopes to re-assure the Israeli leader that, in spite of Obama’s recent visit to Teheran where he met with Supreme Ruler Ayatollah Khamenei for tea, that the president has always been a friend to Israel and will continue to support Israeli interests in the Middle East. The video tape in question would severely impair that impression and cause concerns for the Israelis. Israeli leaders have also been uneasy since Vice President Joe Biden was interviewed on MSNBC last week and stated that he was planning to meet with King Assad of Syria in the near future and then joked that he hoped he wouldn’t “be shot at by Hamas”.

Appearing on Fox News today, former talk show hosts Rush Limbaugh and Laura Ingraham reminded viewers of the controversy surrounding the video tape. During the three minutes allocated for a conservative viewpoint, Limbaugh and Ingraham indicated that, had the tape been released and voters allowed to see it for themselves before the election, the results may have been different. It is not certain that the tape would have swung the election in the other direction, but the edge for Obama at 49.2% to 48.3% for McCain could have been the other way around. Limbaugh also pointed out that a significant amount of voters in the critical state of Pennsylvania, that eventually swung the electoral college to Obama, may have changed their minds. During the three minutes allocated to the liberal point of view, the standard picture of President Obama was shown with the words “Change you Can Now See” with the soundtrack of a John Bon Jovi/Bruce Springsteen mix. As is usually the case with stories on Fox News, no spokesperson for the liberal view was in attendance, even though they were invited by the Network.

The bad news for the Obama Administration comes on the heels of a controversy that broke out last month regarding a story that appeared in the Wall Street Journal that exposed wide-spread fraud and federal campaign financing violations for the Obama 2008 Campaign with regards to the campaign accepting pre-paid credit card contributions via the internet. This has caused outrage among Republican members of congress who are demanding that a special prosecutor be appointed by Attorney General Lanny Davis to investigate the matter fully. Last week Atty Gen Davis commented that his department is “overwhelmed” with the ongoing investigation of ACORN and the voter fraud that was uncovered in 11 states throughout the nation and that he would have to seek additional funds from Treasury Secretary Barney Frank in order to proceed with a new investigation.

Appearing on Meet the Press last Sunday, Senator John McCain stated that it is becoming increasingly obvious that President Obama is “finding it nearly impossible to govern effectively given all the scandal surrounding him.” In his remarks, McCain encouraged the American people to stay alert and remain strong in their convictions. Host Chris Matthews asked him if he had to resist saying “I told you so”? McCain graciously smiled and shrugged his shoulders.  

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What Did He Know and When Did He Know It?

Back in the seventies, a young lawyer from Tennessee, who was assisting Sen Howard Baker on the Watergate senate investigation, asked:  "What did the wanna-be president know, and when did he know it?"  That young attorney later became a senator himself and a presidential candidate in this last  Republican primary election.  Fred Thompson's question is apropos today for the latest scandal to break in Team Obama.  It now appears that the Obama campaign has turned off its fraud prevention mechanism on accepting credit card donations via the internet.  This means that there is no way that they, or any of us for that matter, would know who was contributing what and how much.  This is a clear violation of federal campaign contribution laws and is beyond egregious.  See this key graph from a recent article in the Washington Post just yesterday:

"Sen. Barack Obama's presidential campaign is allowing donors to use largely untraceable prepaid credit cards that could potentially be used to evade limits on how much an individual is legally allowed to give or to mask a contributor's identity, campaign officials confirmed.  Faced with a huge influx of donations over the Internet, the campaign has also chosen not to use basic security measures to prevent potentially illegal or anonymous contributions from flowing into its accounts, aides acknowledged.  Instead, the campaign is scrutinizing its books for improper donations after the money has been deposited.  The Obama organization said its extensive review has ensured that the campaign has refunded any improper contributions, and noted that Federal Election Commission rules do not require front-end screening of donations.  In recent weeks, questionable contributions have created headaches for Obama's accounting team as it has tried to explain why campaign finance filings have included itemized donations from individuals using fake names, such as Es Esh or Doodad Pro. Those revelations prompted conservative bloggers to further test Obama's finance vetting by giving money using the kind of prepaid cards that can be bought at a drugstore and cannot be traced to a donor.  The problem with such cards, campaign finance lawyers said, is that they make it impossible to tell whether foreign nationals, donors who have exceeded the limits, government contractors or others who are barred from giving to a federal campaign are making contributions.  "They have opened the floodgates to all this money coming in," said Sean Cairncross, chief counsel to the Republican National Committee. "I think they've made the determination that whatever money they have to refund on the back end doesn't outweigh the benefit of taking all this money upfront." The Obama campaign has shattered presidential fundraising records, in part by capitalizing on the ease of online giving. Of the $150 million the senator from Illinois raised in September, nearly $100 million came in over the Internet ....Page AO2, Washington Post, Tuesday, October 28, 2008 
(Hat tip to Beldar via Hugh Hewitt blog)
 
Who is giving millions to the Obama campaign?  Why is the candidate himself not outraged at what his staff has done.  Why has no one been fired and a full investigation launched?  If Obama is elected because the MSM fails to alert the public of this "flesh eating bacteria" (thank you, Beldar), he will be unable to govern with such a scandal hanging over his head, thereby opening our country up to attack from our enemies.  Wake up, everybody!   This is bad stuff!
 
Look!  Obama is a charming individual and a great orator.  He has a lovely smile and can hit a three from 24 feet; however, do not lose sight that he is a shifty Chicago pol with close ties to very disreputable individuals.  What, I ask you, was he doing at a gala in 2003 praising and honoring Rashid Khlidi, a known mouthpiece for the PLO.  Why did he not walk out of that gala when an anti-Israel poem was read, a poem that was anti-zionist and advocated violence against Israel.  Well, Khalidi was his friend.  He and his wife baby-sat the Obama children and had dinner together on a number of occasions.  IT WASN'T JUST SOMEONE IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD, MR. ROGERS!!!    Also, for your information, William Ayers was also at that gala to honor Khalidi.  The LA Times ran a story on this in the spring and is in possession of a tape that shows all this.  The Times is refusing to release the tape.   The McCain campaign has demanded that this tape be released to the public, but the Times is stating that the story they ran is sufficient.  For greater detail see  this.
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Obamaland

While not necessarily agreeing with everything Pat Buchanan says, I think this is a fairly good assessment of what the first 100 days of an Obama presidency will look like:  BUT DON'T CALL IT SOCIALISM!!  JUST CALL IT THE NEW OBAMA DEAL.
 
Just imagine what the troika of Obama/Pelosi/Reid could accomplish with a super majority and then later with a Supreme Court laden with progressive judges who think they are smarter than everyone else and know what is best for America.
 
Just remember that never in the history of this democracy has there been a candidate so far to the left, the radical left that is.  Not even when all the smart liberal elites from university campuses were brought in to "change" America during the Wilson presidency.  People, get ready.  Kindergarten was created back then so that children could be taken away from their parents earlier so as to begin re-programming them to think right.  Remember this radical approach to education, and then consider that Obama might actually believe in the radical educational ideas of William Ayers.  He did promote his book, didn't he?
 
It's not over yet.  The election is a lot closer than the polls are telling us.  Gore was farther ahead in 2000 at this point, and Carter was up over Reagan too.  Get out the vote.  Don't give up!
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Obama's Godfatwa

"Some day, and that day may never come, I'll call upon you to do a service for me.  but until that day, accept this justice as a gift on my daughter's wedding day"
 
...Vito Corleone to Bonasera in The Godfather.
 
 
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He Can't Close the Sale

Obama had a terribly difficult time dragging himself across the finish line in the Democratic Primary with literally every member of the MSM pushing and pulling.  Hilary's brave minions just couldn't withstand the final push.  Had there been another week of campaigning, she might easily have caught and overtaken Obama, his huge early string of victories and his vast war chest filled with internet collections notwithstanding.  
With over $600 million raised in campaign contributions, after re-neging on his agreement to accept public funds, with a country fed up with the "failed policies of George Bush" making it easy for guilt by association,  and now an economic crisis, arguably caused by the lack of oversight by Democrats, although successfully blamed on Republicans, Obama should be way ahead.  Instead, he is barely holding on to a slim lead in the polls.  This is remarkable.
 
K-Lo, a regular contributor to NRO (National Review Online) has an interesting piece that speaks to this phenomenon, and you can read about it here
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Parsed Economic Phraseology and Robo-SPIN vs. THE WORLD

I don't think anyone summarizes the vast difference between the two presidential candidates better than Charles Krauthammer.  See this for an argument well put.  Word is also coming in that Netanyahu may be positioned to take over power in Israel in a snap election held in early 2009.  See here for further detail.  Netanyahu, the conservative, who will take pre-emptive action to protect the sovereinty and safety of Israel.  This would greatly challenge an Obama presidency.  Maybe Slow Joe Biden knows what he is talking about.
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Obfuscation and Dissembling as a Fine Art

I just finished watching the Obama Press Conference Extroadinaire.  This event had been hyped by cable news outlets by showing scenes of Obama meeting in his "cabinet room", that looks purposely like a White House meeting room I might add, with his "foreign policy advisors" seated around the large table, all eyes focused on the One.  Then it was on to the actual press conference behind a podium that had the Obama Seal on it and two carefully folded American flags -- quite presidential.  If I didn't know that it was only October 22, I would have thought that this was sometime after the, you know, election! 
 
What pontificating!  Obama the Great telling us about how the world works.  How dangerous the world is, and of course how we can't afford four more years of failed foreign policy!  Only he, Obama, knows the way out of this quagmire.  After the pontificating, there were several questions related to the strange and disturbing comments made by Slow Joe Biden regarding the imminent "testing" of a young president that will definitely come within the first six months of an Obama presidency.   Was this meeting of his foreign policy advisors called as a result of those comments?  Of course not, Obama said.  This was planned weeks ago!  Yeah, right!  And then came the great dissembling.  He smiled that dismissive smile that he is now quite good at and stated:   "Look, Joe often is given to rhetorical flourishes" -- what he really meant to say, Obama went on to say, was that any new president will be tested by the dangerous forces in the world, and that John McCain has shown such extraordinary erratic behavior that he can't be trusted to be put to that test.  Of course, he, the Great One, can.  Unbelievable!!
 
Team Obama has also been using another one of its surrogates, the LA Times to further obfuscate the nature of Obama's relationship with the un-repentant terrorist, Willima Ayers.  See this, courtesy of Bill Dyer via Hugh Hewitt.
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Developing the Closing Argument

OK.  Courtesy of Guy Benson and Mary Katherine Ham, here is a great closing argument for you to use and send to all your Obama-leaning friends and associates.http://hotair.com/archives/2008/10/21/the-comprehensive-argument-against-barack-obama/
Clear, concise and quite rational without any diatribe. 
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Couple of Cups of Joes

From time to time I hear from friends old and young:  "Why should I be interested in history, that all happened a long time ago.  It's all over and done with.  I am only concerned with what is going on now!"  One friend actually told me that he was uninterested in travelling anywhere outside of this country, because he knew nothing about those countries since he had never studied their history and to see things there from the past would be of no importance to him, that they would have no significance.  
There is, of course, the old adage that those who are ignorant of the past are doomed to repeat the mistakes made therein.  The McCain campaign was handed a great gift by the gaffe-meister, Sloe Joe Biden, when Joe reminded us of the pathetic inexperience of the One Who We Have Been Waiting For.  In his comments at a recent appearance out west, Joe told us that a new President Obama would be "tested" within six months of assuming the office by an international crisis, a test that Obama, this "brilliant 47-year old" would answer, but we Americans would probably not like his response.  Joe wants us to remember to stand strong and hang in there with Obama, that the new president is going to need our support.  That we may not think his decision is the right thing.  Just hang in there. 
 
I can't help but be reminded by Biden's own words during the primary that the office of the president is not the place for "on the job training".  In the same debate, Obama clearly stated that he would meet with Ahmadinejad, Chavez, and the Castro brothers without pre-conditions.  Hillary, when asked the same question, categorically stated that she would not, and Slow Joe called Obama naive. 
 
One of my favorite bloggers, Beldar (aka Bill Dyer) is a guest blogger at Hugh Hewitt's Townhall blog.  See his comments on this subject hereAlso see Hugh's comments here. 
 
John Kennedy, another young President, with far greater experience than the Great One, was also "tested" early on into his presidency by Nikita Kruschev.  Remember?  OK, well maybe not, because you may be one of those who cares not for history.  Anyway, Team Obama is hailing this moment as a young president taking the first steps to bring the Cold War to and end.  The fact is that this was a disasterous meeting.  By his own accounts, history tells us, Kennedy felt that Kruschev cleaned his clock.  Then we had the Bay of Pigs invasion, and shortly within 18 months the Cuban missile crisis, as close as we have ever come to nuclear war. 
 
On the domestic front, S. J. Wurzelburger (Joe the Plumber) was just trying to play catch with a football with his son in front of his house when Obama shows up in the neighborhood.  He didn't ask for Obama to come there, but Obama walked up onto his driveway and Joe asked him a question, simply because he noticed that the other questions people were asking were of no substance.  This was a question that no MSM reporter would dared have asked.  "I'm a guy who is trying to buy a small business, and you want to raise my taxes, why would you want to do that?"  Obama's response revealed his hidden economic agenda when he stated that he wanted to take Joe's hard-earned income, his profits,  and "spread the wealth around" to those who were at the bottom of the food chain. 
 
Is this what America is about?  Government taking from the rich and re-distributing that wealth to whoever the government deems should receive it?  To those who contribute nothing?  This is not the American way.  This is not what has built this exceptional country.
 
Team Obama is already back-tracking and employing their standard cover-up for their mis speak.  That's not what they really meant, what they really meant is...blah, blah blah.  MSM will cover them and let them get away with it. 
 
We cannot afford a dangerously naive individual who may plunge our allies into grave peril (Israel, Georgia, Ukraine).  A president who would recklessly invade an ally (Pakistan).  A president who will negotiate with terrorists!  Our economy will collapse with the troika of Obama/Reid/Pelosi at the helm raising our taxes and spending billions on social programs and increasing the size of government.  You don't have to go back into history very far, just to the late seventies, friends, to see the results of this kind of domestic and international incompetence.  History does have great lessons for us.  I am finding myself very thankful for these two couple of Joes.  Each in their own stumbling way has put the spotlight on what really needs to be seen by the undecideds, as well as those who have been led down the utopian path by a unicorn.  Don't be fooled by rhetoric and clever quips from the silver-tongued orator.  Think.  Use the brain God gave you.  This is survival time.  We are close to the finish line.  In spite of over $600 million dollars that he has raised, flooding the airwaves with 4-5 times as many ads a McCain, and buying a 30-minute prime time info-mercial, Obama can't seem to close the deal.  The same thing happened in the primary.  The MSM dragged him across the finish line with Hillary breathing down his neck.  Don't let that happen now.  The stakes are too high.   
 
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Obama's Insane Tax Plan

For a cogent, clear-headed review of the Obama tax plan, go here.  Human Events.com contains several up-to-the minute articles that explain the dangerous nature of an Obama presidency especially in light of the economic woes in which we now find ourselves.  The tax policies of the Reagan administration created an un-precedented economic growth, with average Americans benefitting the most.  The Earned Income Tax Credits actually eliminated the tax burden for low and moderate income workers.  This is already in place and is greater than the payroll tax liability for these workers.  Obama's plan for a $500 tax credit to all of the "bottom 95%" of us would be just be another check-cutting burden on the Federal Government, raising the deficit and 're-distributing' hard-earned income to those who already pay no income tax.  This, my friends, is neo-Socialism.  Read the work of Saul Alinsky, Obama's mentor and his idol from Columbia University and the 'father' of Community Organization.
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The Time for Serious Critical Thinking

With less than thirty days remaining in the campaign for the presidency, Americans need to step up to the plate and begin to employ serious critical thinking about the decision they are getting ready to make.  At this point in every campaign, conventional wisdom informs us that usually 80% of the probable voters have already made up their mind.  That leaves us with 20% +/- voters who may still be undecided.  Much of the remaining strategy used by each campaign staff will be to try and convince those undecideds that they should vote for their candidate. Of course this is especially critical in the "swing states" of Ohio, Virginia, Florida, etc which McCain must win if there is to be any hope of victory for the GOP.  
What I find remarkable in these latter days is that Obama has edged ahead by doing virtually nothing but sit on the sidelines and take advantage of the economic crisis we find ourselves in to use the fear that many Americans are feeling right now to justify  his own "cotton candy" positions.  As the debate in Nashville looms under dark, rainy skies, it is time for John McCain to take the gloves off and go right at this untested, unproven neophyte wannabe.  He needs to make it crystal clear to the American voters that Obama, or his running mate for that matter,  has never once stood for anything substantial that was remotely in opposition of the party line, thus nullifying Obama's self-described messiah message of bringing people together.  At the same time, McCain needs to once again stress his own historical efforts in this regard, as well as those of Sarah Palin, as they have a proven record of reform and standing against the establishment.  If Obama goes off on one of his rabbit trail talking point paths, McCain needs to confront him directly by asking him to name the one thing that he has accomplished that would lead the American voter to believe that he could deliver on his grandiose schemes. 
 
Furthermore, above all else, McCain should stress in the clearest, most straight-talking way possible, that an Obama/Reid/Pelosi triumverate would plunge our ailing economy into the greatest peril we have faced since the late 20's.  McCain has a plan that makes economic sense by cutting taxes on those who will ultimately produce the capital we so sorely need and thereby continue to provide new jobs that will stimulate growth.  The folks need to know that if they think things have been bad the last two weeks, just wait until the Obamacrats take charge.
 
What is really sad though, in my humble opinion, is that we have come this far without a thorough vetting of who Obama really is.  Aside from what he has said about himself in his two memoirs, most Americans know very little about him.  Much has been said about the MSM love affair with this great orator, and that relationship will turn out, after all is said and done, to be the un-doing of critical thinking in our electoral process.  I see it as the dumbing down of the electorate.  Both Obama and Biden get away with saying outrageous things that are never challenged by the MSM.  Two examples of this are:  (1)  the 10-12 "mis-representations" that Biden spewed forth in the VP debate with Palin.  Yes, Sarah made two mistakes that I was able to note.  She got the name of the commander in Afghanistan wrong and she was off by a few thousand with the count of the pre-surge troops.  But Biden was clearly wrong on several statements of "facts" that he rattled off.  Only the center-right blogosphere called him on it, but certainly not the MSM.  (2) Obama outrageously states that our American troops are merely air-raiding villages and killing civilians in Afghanistan, and no one calls him on it.  What kind of statement is this to make for one who purports to be the Commander-in-Chief?
 
Obama as President of the United States is quite simply a dangerous proposition!   Not only would his economic plan of significantly raising taxes on all those making over $250,000 plunge the US economy into disaster for years to come, his reckless naivete in foreign policy would embolden our sworn enemies and cause greater harm to not only our troops on the battlefield, but to all citizens right here at home.  Underlying all this is the carefully-hidden agenda of a radical left-wing politician. 
 
In what little time you have left, I urge you to investigate this man's background by availing yourselves of Stanley Kurtz's research into Obama's affiliation with the Chicago Annenberg Challenge (CAC).  You can find this at the National Review Online, a respected publication where journalistic principles are still in effect.  See here for greater detail and outlined by Hugh Hewitt in his interview with Mr. Kurtz.  His connections with radical individuals are far from casual.  William Ayers formed the CAC to receive millions of dollars from donors to dole out to radical groups that agreed with his disgusting view of educational reform.  He hired Obama to run the process.  Obama worked closely with ACORN, a community-organizing group that has been charged with voter fraud and intimidating banks to make home loans to un-qualified low income families.  Where did that lead us?  Just last week, the Pelosi congressional acolytes wanted to include ACORN as a recipient in the $770B bailout package.  Cooler heads on the Republican side prevailed, thank God.
 
No one is suggesting that Obama currently shares the exact radical views of Ayers (Weather Underground), Jeremiah Wright (Black Liberation Theology), Father Pfleger (blame white America for all our societal ills), Rashid Khalidi (apologist for the Palestine Liberation Organization), the convicted slum lord felon Tony Rezko,but there can be no doubt that there is a proven record that he is friendly with these people.  He has served in organizations with them, attended their churches for more than twenty years, had real estate dealings with them and has close ties and long-established connections.  All of this -- ignored by the MSM!!.  Obama needs to be confronted directly with these relationships, and he needs to undergo the same scrutiny that John McCain underwent when he was pulled into the Keating Five investigation over twenty years ago -- an association for which John McCain admitted he used bad judgement, but was totally exonerated by Democratic-appointed special prosecutors.  Obama has undergone no such examination.  The American people have the right to know the extent and the nature of these relationships if Obama wants them to trust him to be the leader of the free world and Commander-in-Chief of our brave men and women fighting to keep all of us free to exercise our 1st Amendment rights. 
 
It is not too late to exercise our brain to ask intelligent questions of this man and to demand the truth from him.  Our country deserves it.
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