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Barack Obama — Magna Cum Saudi?
By INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY | Posted Friday, September 05, 2008 4:20 PM PT
Election '08: Does Barack Obama owe his meteoric rise to an Israeli-hating adviser to a Saudi billionaire? Why did a race-baiting mentor to the Black Panthers favor this yet unknown community organizer?
In her stunning national political debut as the Republican candidate for vice president, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin described Obama as a man who had written two memoirs but no significant laws or reforms. So how did this unaccomplished community organizer rise to fame and fortune? He had some interesting help.
We know he's a Harvard graduate and was editor of the Harvard Law Review. Less known is the story of how he got into the prestigious Ivy League university. As Newsmax's Kenneth Timmerman reports, he was helped by a letter written by Percy Sutton, former Manhattan borough president and a credible candidate for mayor of New York in 1977.
In an interview earlier this year on New York's all-news cable channel NY1, the 88-year-old Sutton made some interesting revelations about his relationship with the young Obama. He told NY1 reporter Dominic Carter on "Inside City Hall" that he was introduced to Obama by a friend raising money for him. The friend asked Sutton to write a letter in support of Obama's application to Harvard law school.
"The friend's name is Dr. Khalid al-Mansour, from Texas," Sutton said. "He is the principal adviser to one of the world's richest men. He told me about Obama."
Sutton recalled that al-Mansour said, "There is a young man that has applied to Harvard. I know that you have a few friends up there because you used to go up there to speak. Would you please write a letter in support of him?" Sutton did.
According to Timmerman, "At the time Percy Sutton, a former lawyer for Malcolm X and a former business partner of al-Mansour, says he (al-Mansour) was raising money for Obama's graduate school education (and) al-Mansour was representing top members of the Saudi Royal family seeking to do business and exert influence in the United States."
One of those Saudi royals was Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, a nephew of Saudi King Abdullah. He was the Saudi prince who offered to donate $10 million to help New York rebuild after the terrorist attacks of 9/11. After the prince publicly suggested (as Obama's pastor, Jeremiah Wright, did recently) that U.S. policies brought on the attacks, then-Mayor Rudy Giuliani told Prince Alwaleed where he could deposit his check.
Dr. Khalid Abdullah Tariq al-Mansour, born Donald Warden, is another interesting fellow from Obama's past. He himself is a graduate of Harvard and has been a guest lecturer there. His writings and statements reveal him to be an ideological clone of the Rev. Wright, who married Barack and Michelle and baptized their children.
In his 1995 book, "The Lost Books of Africa Rediscovered," al-Monsour alleged that America was plotting genocide against black Americans. The first "genocide against the black man began 300 years ago," he said at a book-signing in Harlem, while a second "genocide" was on the way "to remove 15 million black people, considered disposable, of no relevance, value or benefit to the American society."
Al-Mansour told an audience in South Africa that "the Palestinians are treated like savages," something our worst ex-president, Jimmy Carter, as well as Wright might agree with. He has accused Israeli Jews of "stealing the land the same way the Christians stole the land from the Indians in America."
When he was known as Donald Warden, according to the Social Activism Project at the University of California at Berkeley, al-Monsour was the mentor of Black Panther Party founder Huey Newton and his associate, Bobby Seale.
California Congresswoman Barbara Lee entered an official statement of appreciation of Warden and his Black Panther colleagues for their role in founding a radical group known as the African-American Association into the Congressional Record of April 23, 2007.
What did this radical extremist see in young Barack Obama that he would seek to sponsor and perhaps finance Obama's education? Obama says he paid his way solely through student loans. How did they meet? Where did the money he raised come from? Now that we know who the father of Bristol Palin's baby is, maybe the mainstream media will have time to find out.
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September 8, 2008
Woman At Work
Woman At Work
By INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY | Posted Thursday, September 04, 2008 4:20 PM PT
GOP: That sound you heard Wednesday night was the political glass ceiling being shattered by a working mom. We could be looking at the first female vice president of the United States — and first grandmother.
It was fitting for Gov. Sarah Palin to introduce herself to the nation while her family — including new son Trig and her future son-in-law — watched from the stands. For Palin, "family values" is more than a political slogan; it's a way of life. For her critics, though, it's been fodder for tabloid character assassination and questions no man would be subjected to.
She should be a feminist heroine. For decades it's been a feminist mantra that women can have it all, just like men. Now they have a real heroine who walks the walk, one who did not ride her husband's coattails into power like Hillary Clinton.
Perhaps that's why feminist emeritus Gloria Steinem, in a Los Angeles Times op-ed, said: "Palin shares nothing but a chromosome with Clinton." According to Steinem, Sarah is someone who has just "one month to learn to compete with Sen. Joe Biden's 37 years' experience."
Au contraire, Ms. Steinem. It is Joe Biden who has one month to learn to compete with the genuine accomplishments of this self-described pit bull with lipstick.
The strong woman who defeated a sitting Republican governor in the primary and a two-term former Democratic governor in the general election described herself as "just your average hockey mom." Not many hockey moms can handle an automatic rifle, run a state and bake cookies, too.
In an effective reference to Barack Obama's thin resume containing no similar executive experience and a poke at those who criticize hers, she said: "I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a community organizer, except that you have actual responsibilities." And no fake Greek columns to bloviate in front of.
Sarah Palin is the governor of a state that borders the Russian bear. She has shown she knows how to turn a bear into a rug right quick. She runs a government of 24,000 employees, oversees 14 statewide Cabinet agencies and manages a $10 billion budget. Obama claims he is qualified to be president because he's running a campaign for president. Oh.
Her husband is a steelworker on Alaska's North Slope. She has actually been there. She actually has seen a caribou. As governor of an energy-rich state that supplies 20% of America's power, she knows more about energy and its effect on people's lives and her nation's security than any community organizer would.
She spoke intelligently and expertly of America's need for energy security. This governor knows of "Russia wanting to control a vital pipeline in the Caucasus, and to divide and intimidate our European allies by using energy as a weapon."
She is aware that Iran might "seek to cut off nearly a fifth of world energy supplies . . . or that terrorists might strike again at the Abqaiq facility in Saudi Arabia . . . or that Venezuela might shut off its oil deliveries."
This "gal who knows the North Slope of Alaska" has the right answer. With a background chant of "drill, baby, drill," she proclaimed: "We need American energy resources, brought to you by American ingenuity, and produced by American workers." Not tire gauges made in China.
For five days, Sarah Palin was dissed as a backwoods bumpkin. In her stunning acceptance speech Wednesday, she soared Reagan-like over the heads of the elites and into the consciences — and perhaps the hearts — of Americans everywhere. This pioneering Alaskan may just be the one to lead her party out of the wilderness.
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By INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY | Posted Thursday, September 04, 2008 4:20 PM PT
GOP: That sound you heard Wednesday night was the political glass ceiling being shattered by a working mom. We could be looking at the first female vice president of the United States — and first grandmother.
It was fitting for Gov. Sarah Palin to introduce herself to the nation while her family — including new son Trig and her future son-in-law — watched from the stands. For Palin, "family values" is more than a political slogan; it's a way of life. For her critics, though, it's been fodder for tabloid character assassination and questions no man would be subjected to.
She should be a feminist heroine. For decades it's been a feminist mantra that women can have it all, just like men. Now they have a real heroine who walks the walk, one who did not ride her husband's coattails into power like Hillary Clinton.
Perhaps that's why feminist emeritus Gloria Steinem, in a Los Angeles Times op-ed, said: "Palin shares nothing but a chromosome with Clinton." According to Steinem, Sarah is someone who has just "one month to learn to compete with Sen. Joe Biden's 37 years' experience."
Au contraire, Ms. Steinem. It is Joe Biden who has one month to learn to compete with the genuine accomplishments of this self-described pit bull with lipstick.
The strong woman who defeated a sitting Republican governor in the primary and a two-term former Democratic governor in the general election described herself as "just your average hockey mom." Not many hockey moms can handle an automatic rifle, run a state and bake cookies, too.
In an effective reference to Barack Obama's thin resume containing no similar executive experience and a poke at those who criticize hers, she said: "I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a community organizer, except that you have actual responsibilities." And no fake Greek columns to bloviate in front of.
Sarah Palin is the governor of a state that borders the Russian bear. She has shown she knows how to turn a bear into a rug right quick. She runs a government of 24,000 employees, oversees 14 statewide Cabinet agencies and manages a $10 billion budget. Obama claims he is qualified to be president because he's running a campaign for president. Oh.
Her husband is a steelworker on Alaska's North Slope. She has actually been there. She actually has seen a caribou. As governor of an energy-rich state that supplies 20% of America's power, she knows more about energy and its effect on people's lives and her nation's security than any community organizer would.
She spoke intelligently and expertly of America's need for energy security. This governor knows of "Russia wanting to control a vital pipeline in the Caucasus, and to divide and intimidate our European allies by using energy as a weapon."
She is aware that Iran might "seek to cut off nearly a fifth of world energy supplies . . . or that terrorists might strike again at the Abqaiq facility in Saudi Arabia . . . or that Venezuela might shut off its oil deliveries."
This "gal who knows the North Slope of Alaska" has the right answer. With a background chant of "drill, baby, drill," she proclaimed: "We need American energy resources, brought to you by American ingenuity, and produced by American workers." Not tire gauges made in China.
For five days, Sarah Palin was dissed as a backwoods bumpkin. In her stunning acceptance speech Wednesday, she soared Reagan-like over the heads of the elites and into the consciences — and perhaps the hearts — of Americans everywhere. This pioneering Alaskan may just be the one to lead her party out of the wilderness.
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Palin Finalized 20-Year Quest for Pipeline Deal in First 20 Months
Palin Finalized 20-Year Quest for Pipeline Deal in First 20 Months
Monday, September 08, 2008
By Josiah Ryan, Staff Writer
Stockpiling pipe (Photo courtesy of TransCanada Communications)(CNSNews.com) – In her first 20 months as governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin completed a deal for a natural gas pipeline that had been a top economic goal for the state for nearly two decades.
After battling oil companies and leading lawmakers over the project, Palin signed the bill on Aug. 27, 2008. The deal grants a Canadian company $500 million in state funds and permission to build a $36 billion pipeline to transport natural gas from Alaska's North Slope to the continental United States.
The pipeline, to which Palin referred in her acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention on Wednesday, represents a step towards leading America to energy independence, she said.
“When that deal was struck, we began a nearly $40 billion natural gas pipeline to help lead America to energy independence,” said Palin during her speech. “That pipeline, when the last section is laid and its valves are opened, will lead America one step farther away from dependence on dangerous foreign powers that do not have our interests at heart.”
GOP presidential candidate John McCain and vice presidential candidate Sarah PalinThe 1,715 miles of pipeline will begin in oil- and gas-rich fields on Alaska’s Northern Arctic Ocean and Chukchi Sea coast and continue south through Fairbanks, Alaska, ending at a hub in Alberta, Canada, where gas will be then distributed throughout North America by export pipelines and transport trucks.
A contract for the pipeline, which had been discussed for the last 20 years, was finally negotiated after Palin became Alaska’s governor in 2007.
Palin, who ran against then-incumbent Gov. Frank Murkowski in 2006 pledging to open up bidding for the pipeline in a competitive and transparent manner, rejected negotiations that Murkowski had conducted with oil companies.
Murkowski had offered the major firms exclusive contracts to build the pipeline and had agreed to freeze oil taxes for 30 years and natural gas taxes for up to 45 years.
Palin beat Murkowski in the 2006 primary and took office in January 2007. By February 2007, she had released new requirements for pipeline bidding.
Maintenance duties at a compressor station (Photo courtesy of TransCanada Communications)TransCanada, a Calgary-based independent shipper of natural gas, won the bidding, but BP, ConocoPhillips, and ExxonMobil declined to submit plans by Palin's deadline: Nov. 30, 2007.
“Integration of the pipeline with TransCanada’s Alberta System will provide access to diverse, lower 48 markets across the U.S.,” states the TransCanada Web site.
In April 2007, BP and ConocoPhillips announced they had formed a partnership called “Denali” to build their own gas pipeline.
“This project is vital for North American energy consumers and for the future of the Alaska oil and gas industry. It will allow us to keep our North Slope fields in production for another 50 years," Tony Hayward, BP Group chief executive, said on April 8, 2008 – one year after the initial announcement.
According to a TransCanada press release, planning for construction of the pipeline will likely take two more years, leading to a “regulatory review and permitting” phase, a construction phase, and then commissioning of the pipeline by late 2018.
In early August, Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama endorsed Palin’s bill, about one month before she was chosen to be the GOP vice presidential nominee.
“We should work with the Canadian government to finally build the Alaska Natural Gas Pipeline, delivering clean natural gas, and creating good jobs in the process,” Obama said Aug. 4 in Lansing, Mich.
In an interview with Time magazine in August, Palin named energy policy as one of the causes she will champion if she becomes the nation’s next vice president.
“I would push for a strong military and a sound energy policy,” said Palin. “I believe that Alaska can help set an example on energy policy.”
Monday, September 08, 2008
By Josiah Ryan, Staff Writer
Stockpiling pipe (Photo courtesy of TransCanada Communications)(CNSNews.com) – In her first 20 months as governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin completed a deal for a natural gas pipeline that had been a top economic goal for the state for nearly two decades.
After battling oil companies and leading lawmakers over the project, Palin signed the bill on Aug. 27, 2008. The deal grants a Canadian company $500 million in state funds and permission to build a $36 billion pipeline to transport natural gas from Alaska's North Slope to the continental United States.
The pipeline, to which Palin referred in her acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention on Wednesday, represents a step towards leading America to energy independence, she said.
“When that deal was struck, we began a nearly $40 billion natural gas pipeline to help lead America to energy independence,” said Palin during her speech. “That pipeline, when the last section is laid and its valves are opened, will lead America one step farther away from dependence on dangerous foreign powers that do not have our interests at heart.”
GOP presidential candidate John McCain and vice presidential candidate Sarah PalinThe 1,715 miles of pipeline will begin in oil- and gas-rich fields on Alaska’s Northern Arctic Ocean and Chukchi Sea coast and continue south through Fairbanks, Alaska, ending at a hub in Alberta, Canada, where gas will be then distributed throughout North America by export pipelines and transport trucks.
A contract for the pipeline, which had been discussed for the last 20 years, was finally negotiated after Palin became Alaska’s governor in 2007.
Palin, who ran against then-incumbent Gov. Frank Murkowski in 2006 pledging to open up bidding for the pipeline in a competitive and transparent manner, rejected negotiations that Murkowski had conducted with oil companies.
Murkowski had offered the major firms exclusive contracts to build the pipeline and had agreed to freeze oil taxes for 30 years and natural gas taxes for up to 45 years.
Palin beat Murkowski in the 2006 primary and took office in January 2007. By February 2007, she had released new requirements for pipeline bidding.
Maintenance duties at a compressor station (Photo courtesy of TransCanada Communications)TransCanada, a Calgary-based independent shipper of natural gas, won the bidding, but BP, ConocoPhillips, and ExxonMobil declined to submit plans by Palin's deadline: Nov. 30, 2007.
“Integration of the pipeline with TransCanada’s Alberta System will provide access to diverse, lower 48 markets across the U.S.,” states the TransCanada Web site.
In April 2007, BP and ConocoPhillips announced they had formed a partnership called “Denali” to build their own gas pipeline.
“This project is vital for North American energy consumers and for the future of the Alaska oil and gas industry. It will allow us to keep our North Slope fields in production for another 50 years," Tony Hayward, BP Group chief executive, said on April 8, 2008 – one year after the initial announcement.
According to a TransCanada press release, planning for construction of the pipeline will likely take two more years, leading to a “regulatory review and permitting” phase, a construction phase, and then commissioning of the pipeline by late 2018.
In early August, Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama endorsed Palin’s bill, about one month before she was chosen to be the GOP vice presidential nominee.
“We should work with the Canadian government to finally build the Alaska Natural Gas Pipeline, delivering clean natural gas, and creating good jobs in the process,” Obama said Aug. 4 in Lansing, Mich.
In an interview with Time magazine in August, Palin named energy policy as one of the causes she will champion if she becomes the nation’s next vice president.
“I would push for a strong military and a sound energy policy,” said Palin. “I believe that Alaska can help set an example on energy policy.”
September 7, 2008
Michelle's Boot Camps For Radicals
HAVEN'T WE ALREADY GONE THRU THE CO-PRESIDENT BIT WITH HILLARY AND BILL DO WE REALLY WANT TO START TO TRY IT AGAIN WITH MICHELLE AND OBOMBA
Michelle's Boot Camps For Radicals
By INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY | Posted Thursday, September 04, 2008 4:20 PM PT
Election '08: Democrats' reintroduction of militant Michelle Obama in Denver was supposed to show her softer side. But it only highlighted a radical part of her resume: Public Allies.
Barack Obama was a founding member of the board of Public Allies in 1992, resigning before his wife became executive director of the Chicago chapter of Public Allies in 1993. Obama plans to use the nonprofit group, which he features on his campaign Web site, as the model for a national service corps. He calls his Orwellian program, "Universal Voluntary Public Service."
Big Brother had nothing on the Obamas. They plan to herd American youth into government-funded reeducation camps where they'll be brainwashed into thinking America is a racist, oppressive place in need of "social change."
The pitch Public Allies makes on its Web site doesn't seem all that radical. It promises to place young adults (18-30) in paid one-year "community leadership" positions with nonprofit or government agencies. They'll also be required to attend weekly training workshops and three retreats.
In exchange, they'll get a monthly stipend of up to $1,800, plus paid health and child care. They also get a post-service education award of $4,725 that can be used to pay off past student loans or fund future education.
But its real mission is to radicalize American youth and use them to bring about "social change" through threats, pressure, tension and confrontation — the tactics used by the father of community organizing, Saul "The Red" Alinsky.
"Our alumni are more than twice as likely as 18-34 year olds to . . . engage in protest activities," Public Allies boasts in a document found with its tax filings. It has already deployed an army of 2,200 community organizers like Obama to agitate for "justice" and "equality" in his hometown of Chicago and other U.S. cities, including Cincinnati, Los Angeles, Milwaukee, New York, Phoenix, Pittsburgh and Washington. "I get to practice being an activist," and get paid for it, gushed Cincinnati recruit Amy Vincent.
Public Allies promotes "diversity and inclusion," a program paper says. More than 70% of its recruits are "people of color." When they're not protesting, they're staffing AIDS clinics, handing out condoms, bailing criminals out of jail and helping illegal aliens and the homeless obtain food stamps and other welfare.
Public Allies brags that more than 80% of graduates have continued working in nonprofit or government jobs. It's training the "next generation of nonprofit leaders" — future "social entrepreneurs."
The Obamas discourage work in the private sector. "Don't go into corporate America," Michelle has exhorted youth. "Work for the community. Be social workers." Shun the "money culture," Barack added. "Individual salvation depends on collective salvation."
"If you commit to serving your community," he pledged in his Denver acceptance speech, "we will make sure you can afford a college education." So, go through government to go to college, and then go back into government.
Many of today's youth find the pitch attractive. "I may spend the rest of my life trying to create social movement," said Brian Coovert of the Cincinnati chapter. "There is always going to be work to do. Until we have a perfect country, I'll have a job."
Not all the recruits appreciate the PC indoctrination. "It was too touchy-feely," said Nelly Nieblas, 29, of the 2005 Los Angeles class. "It's a lot of talk about race, a lot of talk about sexism, a lot of talk about homophobia, talk about -isms and phobias."
One of those -isms is "heterosexism," which a Public Allies training seminar in Chicago describes as a negative byproduct of "capitalism, white supremacy, patriarchy and male-dominated privilege."
The government now funds about half of Public Allies' expenses through Clinton's AmeriCorps. Obama wants to fully fund it and expand it into a national program that some see costing $500 billion. "We've got to have a civilian national security force that's just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-funded" as the military, he said.
The gall of it: The Obamas want to create a boot camp for radicals who hate the military — and stick American taxpayers with the bill.
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Michelle's Boot Camps For Radicals
By INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY | Posted Thursday, September 04, 2008 4:20 PM PT
Election '08: Democrats' reintroduction of militant Michelle Obama in Denver was supposed to show her softer side. But it only highlighted a radical part of her resume: Public Allies.
Barack Obama was a founding member of the board of Public Allies in 1992, resigning before his wife became executive director of the Chicago chapter of Public Allies in 1993. Obama plans to use the nonprofit group, which he features on his campaign Web site, as the model for a national service corps. He calls his Orwellian program, "Universal Voluntary Public Service."
Big Brother had nothing on the Obamas. They plan to herd American youth into government-funded reeducation camps where they'll be brainwashed into thinking America is a racist, oppressive place in need of "social change."
The pitch Public Allies makes on its Web site doesn't seem all that radical. It promises to place young adults (18-30) in paid one-year "community leadership" positions with nonprofit or government agencies. They'll also be required to attend weekly training workshops and three retreats.
In exchange, they'll get a monthly stipend of up to $1,800, plus paid health and child care. They also get a post-service education award of $4,725 that can be used to pay off past student loans or fund future education.
But its real mission is to radicalize American youth and use them to bring about "social change" through threats, pressure, tension and confrontation — the tactics used by the father of community organizing, Saul "The Red" Alinsky.
"Our alumni are more than twice as likely as 18-34 year olds to . . . engage in protest activities," Public Allies boasts in a document found with its tax filings. It has already deployed an army of 2,200 community organizers like Obama to agitate for "justice" and "equality" in his hometown of Chicago and other U.S. cities, including Cincinnati, Los Angeles, Milwaukee, New York, Phoenix, Pittsburgh and Washington. "I get to practice being an activist," and get paid for it, gushed Cincinnati recruit Amy Vincent.
Public Allies promotes "diversity and inclusion," a program paper says. More than 70% of its recruits are "people of color." When they're not protesting, they're staffing AIDS clinics, handing out condoms, bailing criminals out of jail and helping illegal aliens and the homeless obtain food stamps and other welfare.
Public Allies brags that more than 80% of graduates have continued working in nonprofit or government jobs. It's training the "next generation of nonprofit leaders" — future "social entrepreneurs."
The Obamas discourage work in the private sector. "Don't go into corporate America," Michelle has exhorted youth. "Work for the community. Be social workers." Shun the "money culture," Barack added. "Individual salvation depends on collective salvation."
"If you commit to serving your community," he pledged in his Denver acceptance speech, "we will make sure you can afford a college education." So, go through government to go to college, and then go back into government.
Many of today's youth find the pitch attractive. "I may spend the rest of my life trying to create social movement," said Brian Coovert of the Cincinnati chapter. "There is always going to be work to do. Until we have a perfect country, I'll have a job."
Not all the recruits appreciate the PC indoctrination. "It was too touchy-feely," said Nelly Nieblas, 29, of the 2005 Los Angeles class. "It's a lot of talk about race, a lot of talk about sexism, a lot of talk about homophobia, talk about -isms and phobias."
One of those -isms is "heterosexism," which a Public Allies training seminar in Chicago describes as a negative byproduct of "capitalism, white supremacy, patriarchy and male-dominated privilege."
The government now funds about half of Public Allies' expenses through Clinton's AmeriCorps. Obama wants to fully fund it and expand it into a national program that some see costing $500 billion. "We've got to have a civilian national security force that's just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-funded" as the military, he said.
The gall of it: The Obamas want to create a boot camp for radicals who hate the military — and stick American taxpayers with the bill.
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Surge 'Suceeded Beyond Our Wildest Dreams,' Obama Now Says
Friday, September 05, 2008
By Susan Jones, Senior Editor
Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama prepares to board his plane in Harrisburg, Pa., Friday, Sept. 5, 2008, as he heads to another campaign stop. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)(CNSNews.com) - The troop surge in Iraq has “succeeded beyond our wildest dreams,” Sen. Barack Obama conceded in an interview with Bill O'Reilly that aired on the Fox News Channel Thursday night.
Obama not only opposed the Iraq war from the beginning, he also opposed the troop surge and predicted it would not work. Sen. John McCain, the Republican presidential candidate, was a strong supporter of the troop surge.
On Thursday, O’Reilly urged Obama to admit he was wrong about the surge.
“I think that the surge has succeeded in ways that nobody anticipated -- by the way, including President Bush and the other supporters. It has gone very well,” Obama conceded. But, he added, it still hasn’t been a total success.
“We have reduced the violence, but the Iraqis still haven’t taken responsibility, and we still don’t have the kind of political reconciliation -- we are still spending $10-$12 billion dollars a month,” Obama said.
Obama has said that as president, he would draw down U.S. troops in Iraq and send two additional combat brigades to Afghanistan, which should have been the focus of the war on terror all along, he insists.
Obama’s Web site says that “immediately upon taking office,” Obama will order an end to the Iraq war. “The removal of our troops will be responsible and phased, directed by military commanders on the ground and done in consultation with the Iraqi government,” his Web site says. He envisions having most U.S. troops out of Iraq by the summer of 2010.
Obama has said he would leave a “residual force” in Iraq for counter-terrorism missions and to protect U.S. diplomatic and civilian personnel. He says he would not build permanent bases in Iraq, but he would continue training Iraqi security forces -- “as long as Iraqi leaders move toward political reconciliation and away from sectarianism.”
‘We have to go after them’
In his interview with “The O’Reilly Factor,” Obama listed America’s enemies in the war on terror as Al Qaeda, the Taliban, and a “whole host of networks that are bent on attacking America who have a distorted ideology, who have perverted the faith of Islam -- and so we have to go after them,” he said.
He described Iran as a serious threat, and he repeated his earlier statements that it is unacceptable for Iran to possess nuclear weapons. That would be a “game-changer,” Obama told O’Reilly. He said he would “never take the military option off the table.”
Asked if he would prepare a military option, just in case, Obama said it would not be “appropriate” for a candidate to tip his hand on plans involving Iran.
“It is sufficient to say I would not take the military option off the table and that I will never hesitate to use our military force in order to protect the homeland and the United States interests,” Obama said. He indicated that diplomacy also would come into play.
Pakistan
“You’re not going to invade Pakistan, Senator, if you’re president -- you’re not going to send ground troops in there, and you know it,” O’Reilly challenged Obama.
Obama said he would put more pressure on the Pakistanis -- attaching more strings to U.S. military aid, for example.
“We’re going to provide them with additional military support targeted at terrorists, and we’re going to help build their democracy…”
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Ironsides at 10:09 PM - September 06, 2008
I have 2 points to make. If you listened to the broadcast Obama did admit the surge has worked, but that Iraq is not over and remains a multi billion dollar burden on a hurting America. ($341.4 million per day). Secondly, McCain's net worth is $40,000,000. At 42, ever the Maverick, John McCain left his first wife and "traded up" to the younger and much richer Cindy. Now that's "earned income".
Jose at 12:12 PM - September 06, 2008
The troop surge in Iraq has succeeded beyond Obama's wildest dream, McCain knew it would work.
sprite at 12:08 PM - September 06, 2008
They are ALL losers. Not one in the running is sane, honest, intelligent or ethical enough to lead this country up and out of the downward spirial in which we whirl.
SentryDan at 12:38 AM - September 06, 2008
I have 2 points to make. Point one, Obama is not a man he is a politician. He is afraid to admit when he is wrong and he was very wrong on the surge. Point two, Obama and his wife are rich. They have more than 4 million dollars in tax free bonds. His wife makes 275k a year and he makes about 150k a year. And Obama has 2 books in print from which he gets royalties. Yet he goes around telling the rest of us he feels our pain. Somehow, I find that hard to believe.
kentbyron at 09:32 PM - September 05, 2008
What some people will do for votes.
By Susan Jones, Senior Editor
Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama prepares to board his plane in Harrisburg, Pa., Friday, Sept. 5, 2008, as he heads to another campaign stop. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)(CNSNews.com) - The troop surge in Iraq has “succeeded beyond our wildest dreams,” Sen. Barack Obama conceded in an interview with Bill O'Reilly that aired on the Fox News Channel Thursday night.
Obama not only opposed the Iraq war from the beginning, he also opposed the troop surge and predicted it would not work. Sen. John McCain, the Republican presidential candidate, was a strong supporter of the troop surge.
On Thursday, O’Reilly urged Obama to admit he was wrong about the surge.
“I think that the surge has succeeded in ways that nobody anticipated -- by the way, including President Bush and the other supporters. It has gone very well,” Obama conceded. But, he added, it still hasn’t been a total success.
“We have reduced the violence, but the Iraqis still haven’t taken responsibility, and we still don’t have the kind of political reconciliation -- we are still spending $10-$12 billion dollars a month,” Obama said.
Obama has said that as president, he would draw down U.S. troops in Iraq and send two additional combat brigades to Afghanistan, which should have been the focus of the war on terror all along, he insists.
Obama’s Web site says that “immediately upon taking office,” Obama will order an end to the Iraq war. “The removal of our troops will be responsible and phased, directed by military commanders on the ground and done in consultation with the Iraqi government,” his Web site says. He envisions having most U.S. troops out of Iraq by the summer of 2010.
Obama has said he would leave a “residual force” in Iraq for counter-terrorism missions and to protect U.S. diplomatic and civilian personnel. He says he would not build permanent bases in Iraq, but he would continue training Iraqi security forces -- “as long as Iraqi leaders move toward political reconciliation and away from sectarianism.”
‘We have to go after them’
In his interview with “The O’Reilly Factor,” Obama listed America’s enemies in the war on terror as Al Qaeda, the Taliban, and a “whole host of networks that are bent on attacking America who have a distorted ideology, who have perverted the faith of Islam -- and so we have to go after them,” he said.
He described Iran as a serious threat, and he repeated his earlier statements that it is unacceptable for Iran to possess nuclear weapons. That would be a “game-changer,” Obama told O’Reilly. He said he would “never take the military option off the table.”
Asked if he would prepare a military option, just in case, Obama said it would not be “appropriate” for a candidate to tip his hand on plans involving Iran.
“It is sufficient to say I would not take the military option off the table and that I will never hesitate to use our military force in order to protect the homeland and the United States interests,” Obama said. He indicated that diplomacy also would come into play.
Pakistan
“You’re not going to invade Pakistan, Senator, if you’re president -- you’re not going to send ground troops in there, and you know it,” O’Reilly challenged Obama.
Obama said he would put more pressure on the Pakistanis -- attaching more strings to U.S. military aid, for example.
“We’re going to provide them with additional military support targeted at terrorists, and we’re going to help build their democracy…”
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Ironsides at 10:09 PM - September 06, 2008
I have 2 points to make. If you listened to the broadcast Obama did admit the surge has worked, but that Iraq is not over and remains a multi billion dollar burden on a hurting America. ($341.4 million per day). Secondly, McCain's net worth is $40,000,000. At 42, ever the Maverick, John McCain left his first wife and "traded up" to the younger and much richer Cindy. Now that's "earned income".
Jose at 12:12 PM - September 06, 2008
The troop surge in Iraq has succeeded beyond Obama's wildest dream, McCain knew it would work.
sprite at 12:08 PM - September 06, 2008
They are ALL losers. Not one in the running is sane, honest, intelligent or ethical enough to lead this country up and out of the downward spirial in which we whirl.
SentryDan at 12:38 AM - September 06, 2008
I have 2 points to make. Point one, Obama is not a man he is a politician. He is afraid to admit when he is wrong and he was very wrong on the surge. Point two, Obama and his wife are rich. They have more than 4 million dollars in tax free bonds. His wife makes 275k a year and he makes about 150k a year. And Obama has 2 books in print from which he gets royalties. Yet he goes around telling the rest of us he feels our pain. Somehow, I find that hard to believe.
kentbyron at 09:32 PM - September 05, 2008
What some people will do for votes.
"Can we drill your brains?"
"Can we drill your brains?"
That was Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi's haughty and sophomoric response to a group of American citizens exhorting her to "Drill Here and Drill Now" at a recent press event!
Just in case you were still wondering whether Pelosi really intends to allow a vote on domestic drilling, look no further than the following report from Politico.com:
"House Democratic leaders and protesters waving McCain signs had a war of words Tuesday at a press event outside an old train station. The demonstrators interrupted House Speaker Nancy Pelosi with chants of 'Drill here! Drill now!'
"Pelosi paused and asked the group, 'Right here?' Seeming to enjoy the back and forth, she followed with another question: 'Can we drill your brains?'
"... Arguing that increased offshore drilling would only reduce gas prices two cents in 10 years, she referred to the demonstrators as the 'two-cents-in-ten-years-crowd.'
”Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer swiped at the demonstrators, too, saying that 'sophomoric chanting' won’t solve the energy crisis and that 'all thinking Americans know' -- stressing the word 'thinking' and looking at the crowd -- that America doesn’t have a quarter of the word’s fossil fuels yet uses a quarter of the world’s energy.”
But what "thinking Americans" really know is that the facts firmly contradict Pelosi's ludicrous statements. Events of the past several weeks prove the sheer bullheaded idiocy behind her contentions.
Indeed, when President Bush challenged Congress to lift the congressional moratorium on domestic drilling, oil prices immediately went into free fall and prices at the pump followed suit.
In fact, oil prices have fallen more than 25 percent -- from over $145 per barrel to under $110 per barrel after Labor Day -- based in part on mere TALK about increasing domestic drilling.
And the price of gasoline at the pump has gone down significantly too. If Pelosi was actually interested in the truth, she would have referred to her "hecklers" as the "twenty-five-dollars-per-barrel- in-two-month-crowd."
Make no mistake, Pelosi and her liberal cohorts in Congress are feeling the heat!
Now it's time to really force the issue!
Use the hyperlink below to send your urgent and personalized Blast Fax Messages to President George W. Bush, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and each and every Member of the Republican Leadership of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. Tell them that stalls and fake promises will not work! Let it be known that if Nancy Pelosi is really serious about lifting the moratorium on drilling she can prove it RIGHT HERE and RIGHT NOW by calling Congress back into session TODAY and holding an up-or-down vote.
And furthermore, let it be known that the American people DO NOT want so-called "compromise legislation" that will do nothing to reduce prices at the pump and reduce our nations reliance on foreign oil. That tactic didn't work with amnesty last year and it's NOT going to work now. Come back to Washington and vote on lifting the moratorium on domestic drilling ... PERIOD... END OF SENTENCE! DO IT NOW!
That was Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi's haughty and sophomoric response to a group of American citizens exhorting her to "Drill Here and Drill Now" at a recent press event!
Just in case you were still wondering whether Pelosi really intends to allow a vote on domestic drilling, look no further than the following report from Politico.com:
"House Democratic leaders and protesters waving McCain signs had a war of words Tuesday at a press event outside an old train station. The demonstrators interrupted House Speaker Nancy Pelosi with chants of 'Drill here! Drill now!'
"Pelosi paused and asked the group, 'Right here?' Seeming to enjoy the back and forth, she followed with another question: 'Can we drill your brains?'
"... Arguing that increased offshore drilling would only reduce gas prices two cents in 10 years, she referred to the demonstrators as the 'two-cents-in-ten-years-crowd.'
”Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer swiped at the demonstrators, too, saying that 'sophomoric chanting' won’t solve the energy crisis and that 'all thinking Americans know' -- stressing the word 'thinking' and looking at the crowd -- that America doesn’t have a quarter of the word’s fossil fuels yet uses a quarter of the world’s energy.”
But what "thinking Americans" really know is that the facts firmly contradict Pelosi's ludicrous statements. Events of the past several weeks prove the sheer bullheaded idiocy behind her contentions.
Indeed, when President Bush challenged Congress to lift the congressional moratorium on domestic drilling, oil prices immediately went into free fall and prices at the pump followed suit.
In fact, oil prices have fallen more than 25 percent -- from over $145 per barrel to under $110 per barrel after Labor Day -- based in part on mere TALK about increasing domestic drilling.
And the price of gasoline at the pump has gone down significantly too. If Pelosi was actually interested in the truth, she would have referred to her "hecklers" as the "twenty-five-dollars-per-barrel- in-two-month-crowd."
Make no mistake, Pelosi and her liberal cohorts in Congress are feeling the heat!
Now it's time to really force the issue!
Use the hyperlink below to send your urgent and personalized Blast Fax Messages to President George W. Bush, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and each and every Member of the Republican Leadership of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. Tell them that stalls and fake promises will not work! Let it be known that if Nancy Pelosi is really serious about lifting the moratorium on drilling she can prove it RIGHT HERE and RIGHT NOW by calling Congress back into session TODAY and holding an up-or-down vote.
And furthermore, let it be known that the American people DO NOT want so-called "compromise legislation" that will do nothing to reduce prices at the pump and reduce our nations reliance on foreign oil. That tactic didn't work with amnesty last year and it's NOT going to work now. Come back to Washington and vote on lifting the moratorium on domestic drilling ... PERIOD... END OF SENTENCE! DO IT NOW!
Obama May Bring Criminal Charges Against Bush
Obama May Bring Criminal Charges Against Bush
Thursday, September 4, 2008 10:15 AM
By: Jim Meyers Article Font Size
Democratic vice presidential nominee Joe Biden said he and presidential hopeful Barack Obama could bring criminal charges against the Bush administration if they are elected in November.
“If there has been a basis upon which you can pursue someone for a criminal violation, they will be pursued,” Biden said during a campaign stop in Florida on Monday, ABC News reported.
“Not out of vengeance, not out of retribution. Out of the need to preserve the notion that no one, no attorney general, no president — no one is above the law.”
Biden promised that an Obama-Biden government would go through Bush administration data with "a fine-toothed comb" and pursue criminal charges if necessary.
Democrats in Congress have issued subpoenas this year to senior Bush administration aides as part of an investigation into the authorization of torture tactics at the detention center in Guantanamo Bay.
And Obama vowed in April that if elected, he would ask his attorney general to investigate Bush administration actions to see if “genuine crimes” have been committed.
He told the Philadelphia Daily News: “If crimes have been committed, they should be investigated.”
Biden: 'We Will Pursue the Bush Administration'
Thursday, September 4, 2008 10:15 AM
By: Jim Meyers Article Font Size
Democratic vice presidential nominee Joe Biden said he and presidential hopeful Barack Obama could bring criminal charges against the Bush administration if they are elected in November.
“If there has been a basis upon which you can pursue someone for a criminal violation, they will be pursued,” Biden said during a campaign stop in Florida on Monday, ABC News reported.
“Not out of vengeance, not out of retribution. Out of the need to preserve the notion that no one, no attorney general, no president — no one is above the law.”
Biden promised that an Obama-Biden government would go through Bush administration data with "a fine-toothed comb" and pursue criminal charges if necessary.
Democrats in Congress have issued subpoenas this year to senior Bush administration aides as part of an investigation into the authorization of torture tactics at the detention center in Guantanamo Bay.
And Obama vowed in April that if elected, he would ask his attorney general to investigate Bush administration actions to see if “genuine crimes” have been committed.
He told the Philadelphia Daily News: “If crimes have been committed, they should be investigated.”
Biden: 'We Will Pursue the Bush Administration'
Sarah Palin Emerges As New Ronald Reagan
Sarah Palin Emerges As New Ronald Reagan
Thursday, September 4, 2008 3:16 PM
By: Michael Reagan
I’ve been trying to convince my fellow conservatives that they have been wasting their time in a fruitless quest for a new Ronald Reagan to emerge and lead our party and our nation. I insisted that we’d never see his like again because he was one of a kind.
I was wrong!
Wednesday night I watched the Republican National Convention on television and there, before my very eyes, I saw my dad reborn; only this time he's a she.
And what a she!
In one blockbuster of a speech, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin resurrected my dad’s indomitable spirit and sent it soaring above the convention center, shooting shock waves through the cynical media’s assigned spaces and electrifying the huge audience with the kind of inspiring rhetoric we haven’t heard since my dad left the scene.
This was Ronald Reagan at his best — the same Ronald Reagan who made the address known now solely as “The Speech,” which during the Goldwater campaign set the tone and the agenda for the rebirth of the traditional conservative movement that later sent him to the White House for eight years and revived the moribund GOP.
Last night was an extraordinary event. Widely seen beforehand as a make-or-break effort — either an opportunity for Sarah Palin to show that she was the happy warrior that John McCain assured us she was, or a disaster that would dash McCain’s presidential hopes and send her back to Alaska, sadder but wiser.
Obviously unintimidated by either the savage onslaught to which the left-leaning media had subjected her, or the incredible challenge she faced, and oozing with confidence, she strode defiantly to the podium and proved she was everything and even more than John McCain told us.
Much has been made of the fact that she is a woman. What we saw last night, however, was something much more than a just a woman accomplishing something no Republican woman has ever achieved. What we saw was a red-blooded American with that rare, God-given ability to rally her dispirited fellow Republicans and take up the daunting task of leading them, and all her fellow Americans, on a pilgrimage to that shining city on the hill my father envisioned as our nation’s real destination.
In a few words she managed to rip the mask from the faces of her Democratic rivals and reveal them for what they are — a pair of old-fashioned liberals making promises that cannot be kept without bankrupting the nation and reducing most Americans to the status of mendicants begging for their daily bread at the feet of an all-powerful government.
Most important, by comparing her own stunning record of achievement with his, she exposed Barack Obama for the sham that he is, a man without any solid accomplishments beyond conspicuous self-aggrandizement.
Like Ronald Reagan, Sarah Palin is one of us. She knows how most of us live because that’s the way she lives. She shares our homespun values and our beliefs, and she glories in her status as a small-town woman who put her shoulder to the wheel and made life better for her neighbors.
Her astonishing rise up from the grass roots, her total lack of self-importance, and her ordinary American values and modest lifestyle reveal her to be the kind of hard-working, optimistic, ordinary American who made this country the greatest, most powerful nation on the face of the earth.
As hard as you might try, you won’t find that kind of plain-spoken, down-to-earth, self-reliant American in the upper ranks of the liberal-infested, elitist Democratic Party, or in the Obama campaign.
Sarah Palin didn’t go to Harvard, or fiddle around in urban neighborhood leftist activism while engaging in opportunism within the ranks of one of the nation’s most corrupt political machines, never challenging it and going along to get along, like Barack Obama.
Instead she took on the corrupt establishment in Alaska and beat it, rising to the governorship while bringing reforms to every level of government she served in on her way up the ladder.
Welcome back, Dad, even if you’re wearing a dress and bearing children this time around.
© 2008 Mike Reagan
Thursday, September 4, 2008 3:16 PM
By: Michael Reagan
I’ve been trying to convince my fellow conservatives that they have been wasting their time in a fruitless quest for a new Ronald Reagan to emerge and lead our party and our nation. I insisted that we’d never see his like again because he was one of a kind.
I was wrong!
Wednesday night I watched the Republican National Convention on television and there, before my very eyes, I saw my dad reborn; only this time he's a she.
And what a she!
In one blockbuster of a speech, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin resurrected my dad’s indomitable spirit and sent it soaring above the convention center, shooting shock waves through the cynical media’s assigned spaces and electrifying the huge audience with the kind of inspiring rhetoric we haven’t heard since my dad left the scene.
This was Ronald Reagan at his best — the same Ronald Reagan who made the address known now solely as “The Speech,” which during the Goldwater campaign set the tone and the agenda for the rebirth of the traditional conservative movement that later sent him to the White House for eight years and revived the moribund GOP.
Last night was an extraordinary event. Widely seen beforehand as a make-or-break effort — either an opportunity for Sarah Palin to show that she was the happy warrior that John McCain assured us she was, or a disaster that would dash McCain’s presidential hopes and send her back to Alaska, sadder but wiser.
Obviously unintimidated by either the savage onslaught to which the left-leaning media had subjected her, or the incredible challenge she faced, and oozing with confidence, she strode defiantly to the podium and proved she was everything and even more than John McCain told us.
Much has been made of the fact that she is a woman. What we saw last night, however, was something much more than a just a woman accomplishing something no Republican woman has ever achieved. What we saw was a red-blooded American with that rare, God-given ability to rally her dispirited fellow Republicans and take up the daunting task of leading them, and all her fellow Americans, on a pilgrimage to that shining city on the hill my father envisioned as our nation’s real destination.
In a few words she managed to rip the mask from the faces of her Democratic rivals and reveal them for what they are — a pair of old-fashioned liberals making promises that cannot be kept without bankrupting the nation and reducing most Americans to the status of mendicants begging for their daily bread at the feet of an all-powerful government.
Most important, by comparing her own stunning record of achievement with his, she exposed Barack Obama for the sham that he is, a man without any solid accomplishments beyond conspicuous self-aggrandizement.
Like Ronald Reagan, Sarah Palin is one of us. She knows how most of us live because that’s the way she lives. She shares our homespun values and our beliefs, and she glories in her status as a small-town woman who put her shoulder to the wheel and made life better for her neighbors.
Her astonishing rise up from the grass roots, her total lack of self-importance, and her ordinary American values and modest lifestyle reveal her to be the kind of hard-working, optimistic, ordinary American who made this country the greatest, most powerful nation on the face of the earth.
As hard as you might try, you won’t find that kind of plain-spoken, down-to-earth, self-reliant American in the upper ranks of the liberal-infested, elitist Democratic Party, or in the Obama campaign.
Sarah Palin didn’t go to Harvard, or fiddle around in urban neighborhood leftist activism while engaging in opportunism within the ranks of one of the nation’s most corrupt political machines, never challenging it and going along to get along, like Barack Obama.
Instead she took on the corrupt establishment in Alaska and beat it, rising to the governorship while bringing reforms to every level of government she served in on her way up the ladder.
Welcome back, Dad, even if you’re wearing a dress and bearing children this time around.
© 2008 Mike Reagan
Will Sarah Palin’s Energy Wisdom Be Contagious?
Will Sarah Palin’s Energy Wisdom Be Contagious?
Alaska Governor May Bring Much-Needed Sobriety to White House Race
Whether you’re a Republican or Democrat, the current election season has already seen its share of foolish, superficial and counterproductive policy positions from both sides.
Nowhere is this more true than with regard to the critical matter of energy policy. After all, despite burdensome fuel prices and ever-increasing dependence upon foreign oil, both major candidates continue to oppose domestic drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), they both bow to the false prophets of human-caused climate change and they both favor destructive carbon cap-and-trade legislation.
Now, along comes Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. And with her, the welcome opportunity to bring some much-needed sobriety to this campaign season.
The question now is whether the candidates, the chattering pundits and the voting public will follow her wisdom.
On the issue of domestic energy exploration and ANWR, Governor Palin is particularly well-positioned because of her Alaskan roots. Environmental extremists desperately attempt to characterize ANWR as some sort of pristine, scenic, spectacular nature preserve brimming with fragile animal populations and delicate beauty. People who have actually visited ANWR, however, know first-hand that it is a remote, barren, icy moonscape that is covered in darkness during winter and mosquito-infested swamps during summer. Furthermore, ANWR itself is the size of South Carolina, but only an area the size of Dulles International Airport would be drilled.
Governor Palin is one such person, which explains why she actively supports energy exploration and drilling there. As she stated so well in her speech before the Republican National Convention this week:
“When a hurricane strikes in the Gulf of Mexico, this country should not be so dependent on imported oil that we’re forced to draw from our Strategic Petroleum Reserve. And families cannot throw more and more of their paychecks on gas and heating oil. With Russia wanting to control a vital pipeline in the Caucasus, and to divide and intimidate our European allies by using energy as a weapon, we cannot leave ourselves at the mercy of foreign suppliers. To confront the threat that Iran might seek to cut off nearly a fifth of the world’s energy supplies, or that terrorists might strike again at the Abqaiq facility in Saudi Arabia, or that Venezuela might shut off its oil discoveries and deliveries of that source, Americans, we need to produce more of our own oil and gas.
“And take it from a gal who knows the North Slope of Alaska – we’ve got lots of both. Our opponents say again and again that drilling will not solve all of America’s energy problems, as if we didn’t know that already. But the fact that drilling won’t solve every problem is no excuse to do nothing at all.”
She is absolutely correct. Domestic drilling promises a secure, plentiful, reliable source of energy that will not only relieve burdened families, but reduce our dependence upon foreign oil as well. Senator McCain has learned from other past misjudgments on such things as tax cuts and the Second Amendment, and altered his position accordingly. Hopefully, naming Palin as his running mate will bring him around on this matter as well.
On the larger issue of climate alarmism, Governor Palin has also shown welcome leadership in the face of political correctness. This past May, the federal Interior Department foolishly listed the polar bear as “threatened,” despite the fact that its population has increased during the past forty years. According to a study by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), scientists estimated that between 5,000 and 19,000 polar bears existed during the 1950s and 1960s. By 2005, according to the study, that population had increased to 20,000 to 25,000.
Ignoring this population increase, the Interior Department succumbed to environmental alarmists and bizarrely listed polar bears as “endangered.” The Department rationalized this decision by speculating that alleged polar ice melts might someday lead to a population reduction, illustrating a classic case of putting the proverbial cart before the horse.
Opposing the Interior Department’s designation, Governor Palin demonstrated responsible leadership even though it was politically unfashionable. Mere days after becoming Governor, Palin contacted Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne and expressed her opposition to the Department’s atrocious decision.
Then, even before Senator John McCain chose her as his running mate, Governor Palin sued the federal government to challenge Interior’s decision. As an avid outdoorswoman, she obviously sympathizes with efforts to protect polar bears. Demonstrating her wisdom, however, she also maintains that we must favor grounded science over trendy climate alarmism.
In this way, Governor Palin already brings a refreshing change to a political arena saturated with environmental foolishness. The question now is whether Senator McCain or Senator Obama wake up and smell the coffee on energy policy.
Alaska Governor May Bring Much-Needed Sobriety to White House Race
Whether you’re a Republican or Democrat, the current election season has already seen its share of foolish, superficial and counterproductive policy positions from both sides.
Nowhere is this more true than with regard to the critical matter of energy policy. After all, despite burdensome fuel prices and ever-increasing dependence upon foreign oil, both major candidates continue to oppose domestic drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), they both bow to the false prophets of human-caused climate change and they both favor destructive carbon cap-and-trade legislation.
Now, along comes Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. And with her, the welcome opportunity to bring some much-needed sobriety to this campaign season.
The question now is whether the candidates, the chattering pundits and the voting public will follow her wisdom.
On the issue of domestic energy exploration and ANWR, Governor Palin is particularly well-positioned because of her Alaskan roots. Environmental extremists desperately attempt to characterize ANWR as some sort of pristine, scenic, spectacular nature preserve brimming with fragile animal populations and delicate beauty. People who have actually visited ANWR, however, know first-hand that it is a remote, barren, icy moonscape that is covered in darkness during winter and mosquito-infested swamps during summer. Furthermore, ANWR itself is the size of South Carolina, but only an area the size of Dulles International Airport would be drilled.
Governor Palin is one such person, which explains why she actively supports energy exploration and drilling there. As she stated so well in her speech before the Republican National Convention this week:
“When a hurricane strikes in the Gulf of Mexico, this country should not be so dependent on imported oil that we’re forced to draw from our Strategic Petroleum Reserve. And families cannot throw more and more of their paychecks on gas and heating oil. With Russia wanting to control a vital pipeline in the Caucasus, and to divide and intimidate our European allies by using energy as a weapon, we cannot leave ourselves at the mercy of foreign suppliers. To confront the threat that Iran might seek to cut off nearly a fifth of the world’s energy supplies, or that terrorists might strike again at the Abqaiq facility in Saudi Arabia, or that Venezuela might shut off its oil discoveries and deliveries of that source, Americans, we need to produce more of our own oil and gas.
“And take it from a gal who knows the North Slope of Alaska – we’ve got lots of both. Our opponents say again and again that drilling will not solve all of America’s energy problems, as if we didn’t know that already. But the fact that drilling won’t solve every problem is no excuse to do nothing at all.”
She is absolutely correct. Domestic drilling promises a secure, plentiful, reliable source of energy that will not only relieve burdened families, but reduce our dependence upon foreign oil as well. Senator McCain has learned from other past misjudgments on such things as tax cuts and the Second Amendment, and altered his position accordingly. Hopefully, naming Palin as his running mate will bring him around on this matter as well.
On the larger issue of climate alarmism, Governor Palin has also shown welcome leadership in the face of political correctness. This past May, the federal Interior Department foolishly listed the polar bear as “threatened,” despite the fact that its population has increased during the past forty years. According to a study by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), scientists estimated that between 5,000 and 19,000 polar bears existed during the 1950s and 1960s. By 2005, according to the study, that population had increased to 20,000 to 25,000.
Ignoring this population increase, the Interior Department succumbed to environmental alarmists and bizarrely listed polar bears as “endangered.” The Department rationalized this decision by speculating that alleged polar ice melts might someday lead to a population reduction, illustrating a classic case of putting the proverbial cart before the horse.
Opposing the Interior Department’s designation, Governor Palin demonstrated responsible leadership even though it was politically unfashionable. Mere days after becoming Governor, Palin contacted Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne and expressed her opposition to the Department’s atrocious decision.
Then, even before Senator John McCain chose her as his running mate, Governor Palin sued the federal government to challenge Interior’s decision. As an avid outdoorswoman, she obviously sympathizes with efforts to protect polar bears. Demonstrating her wisdom, however, she also maintains that we must favor grounded science over trendy climate alarmism.
In this way, Governor Palin already brings a refreshing change to a political arena saturated with environmental foolishness. The question now is whether Senator McCain or Senator Obama wake up and smell the coffee on energy policy.
HOW THE SARAH PALIN PICK TRUMPS OBAMA-BIDEN
SPECIAL THANKS BILL FOR THE HEADS UP
HOW THE SARAH PALIN PICK TRUMPS OBAMA-BIDEN
On August 29, 2008, Republican Presidential nominee, John McCain, announced Sarah Palin, Governor of Alaska as his VP running mate. That selection has trumped and checkmated the Obama-Biden ticket.
Coming the day after Obama's historic acceptance speech at the Democratic convention, which speech and Obama's earlier pick of Joe Biden as his own VP running mate, were expected to be the top news item leading into the Republican convention the following week, McCain's pick of Sarah Palin however completely eclipsed those events.
In less than 24 hours, Obama's day in the sun had been come under a cloud of shadow and was relegated to history being completely upstaged by the Palin choice. The news cycles have talked about nothing else since in terms of the presidential politics.
The choice by McCain has stunningly energized the conservative base of the Republican party, an important segment McCain had his own problems with. But by choosing Palin, a staunch conservative, he has revitalized his commitment and perception in that area. Many conservatives who had relegated themselves to simply voting against Obama, are now more than willing to for "for" Palin.
The choice also reached out directly to independents and disaffected Democratic voters, particularly women, who were so sorely disappointed by Hillary Clinton's narrow loss and the way they had been treated since Obama sealed the nomination. Particularly in overlooking Hillary Clinton, who won 18 million votes in the primaries, and actually had more votes than Obama, those disaffected women are also excited about Palin, and indicating by the tens of thousands on blogs and disaffected Hillary voter sites on the web that they intend to cross over and vote for her and McCain.
The Obama campaign and DNC, curiously, have already launched all out attacks against the choice and Palin herself, indicating that she does not have enough executive or national experience.
Excuse me? She does not have enough executive experience?
A simple analysis of the relative experience levels of Sarah Palin compared to either Democratic candidate puts this to rest. For over the past decade, Sarah Palin has been involved in executive decision making at increasing levels of elected positions of public trust. Obama has no executive experience, Biden has no executive experience. During that time, Palin left off running an actual private business in Alaska , a commercial fishing business and was elected to her city council and then, in quick order to be Mayor of her home town. She did so well there that she was ultimately elected to be Governor of the State of Alaska , managing 17,000 personnel and a 9 billion dollar budget. Obama and Biden have absolutely no comparable experience at all, neither of them.
Mayor Sarah Palin executing her duties as Mayor.
Sarah Palin being sworn in as Governor
Governor Sarah Palin executing her duties as Governor, signing legislation.
Governor Sarah Palin acting in her capacity as the executive of the State.
In Alaska , as Governor, Sarah is also the Commander in Chief (CINC) for the Alaskan National Guard. This is a critical national assignment as Alaska sits on the border with Russia where Air National Guard aircraft intercept Russian Bear aircraft. Sarah Palin has taken her role as the Commander seriously, regularly visiting the units and coming to understand their duties and capabilities.
Governor Sarah Palin meeting in the field with Guard Units.
Governor Sarah Palin, an avid shooter herself, learns the operation of equipment of guard units (She's manning the gun).
As Governor, Sarah has helped devise and push through a project for the largest natural gas line in the history of the US ...taking on entrenched politicians (on both sides of the aisle), lobby groups, and large corporations in the process. Her involvement with, and her understanding of, the Energy issue is unmatched by either Democratic candidate.
Outside of her direct role as Governor and speaking more to her personal values and commitment to them, Sarah walks the walk on the pro-life issue. Having found out well in advance of delivery that her youngest child would have downs syndrome, she and her husband thanked God for the blessing and brought the baby into a loving home. (By contrast, Obama has stated publically that he doesn't want his children "punished" with a baby).
As Governor, Palin actually visited the wounded soldiers in Germany , while Obama, when given the same opportunity in Europe , refused to comply with Defense Department guidelines regarding his entourage, and skipped that part of his schedule.
Beyond all of this, there is also a part of Sarah Palin that most hard working, patriotic, and committed Americans are coming to adore about her. She is real. She is authentic. Not only has she stood up to corrupt politics and the old networks 1that have produced so much waste, fraud, and "bridges to nowhere", she is also a regular person, and authentic all-American girl, wife, mother, and citizen.
She has actually walked the walk of reform and change instead of just talking about it.
She does not come from privilege, did not aspire to it, or become placed in it. She did not attend the Ivy League or prestigious schools. She has gotten to where she is by pure honesty, integrity, and strength of charachter and has been raising five kids and enjoying life while doing so.
Sarah Palin loves to Four-wheel and fly with her family in Alaska .
Sarah Palin loves to fish in Alaska .
Sarah Palin loves to hunt in Alaska .
and, oh, did I mention? Sarah Palin loves to shoot.
All of this drives the leftist and anti-American crowd mad. Sarah Palin is the real deal. Young, refreshing, committed wife, mother, American citizen. She is the real deal when it comes to the change that is so much needed in American politics, particularly in Washington . John McCain must be congratulated for vetting her, seeing this, and putting her on the national stage.
She represents in fact, and in her own actions, what so many others (including Obama and the entrenched Biden) only talk about, and then go on with business as usual.
Obama, in his own actions and positions as a State Senator (voted merely present so many time in the State Senate, but voted no defending the Born Alive Abortion Protection Act there), in his own actions and positions as a US Senator (spent only 144 days on the job before beginning his campaign for the President, but in those short days was recognized as the Senator with the furthest left record), and particularly in his own willful associations of long standing with hateful, racists individuals like Jeremiah Wright (who preached "Not God bless American, No, No, No, God Damn America!) to Obama and his children, and with the likes of Bill Ayers, the unrepentant, arrogant, and militantly anti-American political connection where Obama kicked off his own political career, who bomber the US Pentagon, the US Capitol, and NY City Polic Headquarters and then claimed in an interview published on 911 that his only regreet was that he had not done enough...no with such actions and such associations (npot to mention TOni Rezco, Pleger, and others), Obama has proven that his change is precisely the type we do not want or need in Washington.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------Jeff Head.com--------------------------------------
[CHOOSING THE NEXT PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES
[NOBAMANATION2008]-[AUDACITY OF TRUTH]-[OBAMA IN HIS OWN WORDS]-[OBAMA'S FRIENDS][CHOOSING THE NEXT PRESIDENT]-[OBAMA & BLACK LIB THEOLOGY]-[OBAMA'S UPBRINGING]-[BARACK CHAMBERLAIN OBAMA]
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
At this time in America, two men are campaigning for the Presidency of the United States.
It is a time of war, a war against Islamic Jiahd, who hate America and want to destroy her. In dealing with this very real and imminent threat, both men had the opportunity earlier in their lives to travel abroad:
As a result of that travel and their experiences during it, one heard the call to serve America, the other heard the call to, by his own admission, "change" America.
As a result, in the ensuing years, one sought to befriend other American patriots in government in order to serve his country, while the other has entered government service through befriending radical domestic terrorists and hateful preachers who championed his "change" during those years.
More recently, one, because of his prior experience in the military, and his visits with the troops and their commanders in harm's way, has championed a surge that has dramatically improved our military stance in one theater of the war, Iraq, the other man, who would not so much as salute the flag during the national anthem, or wear an American flag on his lapel, calling it "false patriotism", seeks to immediately withdraw and retreat from that same theater in this war.
Now, both want to be president. My only question regarding this choice is simple...ARE WE OUT OF OUR MINDS!
NOBAMA MOVEMENT SPREADS ACROSS THE NATION
Barack Hussein Obama is the most liberal, left-leaning, & has more direct anti-American associations than any candidate ever nominated for president by a major US political party. His ardent followers, caught up in the rock-star media blitz his campagn is engineered to evoke, are not interested in reason, logic, or facts. But serious minded Americans, who hold dear the foundational principles & moral values this nation rests upon are. We must bring the Audacity of Truth regarding Obama to their attention. They will then act, communicate, & vote accordingly. Of this I have great faith & to this, this site is dedicated. Please use the links above to educate & inform. - Jeff Head, June 2008.
HOW THE SARAH PALIN PICK TRUMPS OBAMA-BIDEN
On August 29, 2008, Republican Presidential nominee, John McCain, announced Sarah Palin, Governor of Alaska as his VP running mate. That selection has trumped and checkmated the Obama-Biden ticket.
Coming the day after Obama's historic acceptance speech at the Democratic convention, which speech and Obama's earlier pick of Joe Biden as his own VP running mate, were expected to be the top news item leading into the Republican convention the following week, McCain's pick of Sarah Palin however completely eclipsed those events.
In less than 24 hours, Obama's day in the sun had been come under a cloud of shadow and was relegated to history being completely upstaged by the Palin choice. The news cycles have talked about nothing else since in terms of the presidential politics.
The choice by McCain has stunningly energized the conservative base of the Republican party, an important segment McCain had his own problems with. But by choosing Palin, a staunch conservative, he has revitalized his commitment and perception in that area. Many conservatives who had relegated themselves to simply voting against Obama, are now more than willing to for "for" Palin.
The choice also reached out directly to independents and disaffected Democratic voters, particularly women, who were so sorely disappointed by Hillary Clinton's narrow loss and the way they had been treated since Obama sealed the nomination. Particularly in overlooking Hillary Clinton, who won 18 million votes in the primaries, and actually had more votes than Obama, those disaffected women are also excited about Palin, and indicating by the tens of thousands on blogs and disaffected Hillary voter sites on the web that they intend to cross over and vote for her and McCain.
The Obama campaign and DNC, curiously, have already launched all out attacks against the choice and Palin herself, indicating that she does not have enough executive or national experience.
Excuse me? She does not have enough executive experience?
A simple analysis of the relative experience levels of Sarah Palin compared to either Democratic candidate puts this to rest. For over the past decade, Sarah Palin has been involved in executive decision making at increasing levels of elected positions of public trust. Obama has no executive experience, Biden has no executive experience. During that time, Palin left off running an actual private business in Alaska , a commercial fishing business and was elected to her city council and then, in quick order to be Mayor of her home town. She did so well there that she was ultimately elected to be Governor of the State of Alaska , managing 17,000 personnel and a 9 billion dollar budget. Obama and Biden have absolutely no comparable experience at all, neither of them.
Mayor Sarah Palin executing her duties as Mayor.
Sarah Palin being sworn in as Governor
Governor Sarah Palin executing her duties as Governor, signing legislation.
Governor Sarah Palin acting in her capacity as the executive of the State.
In Alaska , as Governor, Sarah is also the Commander in Chief (CINC) for the Alaskan National Guard. This is a critical national assignment as Alaska sits on the border with Russia where Air National Guard aircraft intercept Russian Bear aircraft. Sarah Palin has taken her role as the Commander seriously, regularly visiting the units and coming to understand their duties and capabilities.
Governor Sarah Palin meeting in the field with Guard Units.
Governor Sarah Palin, an avid shooter herself, learns the operation of equipment of guard units (She's manning the gun).
As Governor, Sarah has helped devise and push through a project for the largest natural gas line in the history of the US ...taking on entrenched politicians (on both sides of the aisle), lobby groups, and large corporations in the process. Her involvement with, and her understanding of, the Energy issue is unmatched by either Democratic candidate.
Outside of her direct role as Governor and speaking more to her personal values and commitment to them, Sarah walks the walk on the pro-life issue. Having found out well in advance of delivery that her youngest child would have downs syndrome, she and her husband thanked God for the blessing and brought the baby into a loving home. (By contrast, Obama has stated publically that he doesn't want his children "punished" with a baby).
As Governor, Palin actually visited the wounded soldiers in Germany , while Obama, when given the same opportunity in Europe , refused to comply with Defense Department guidelines regarding his entourage, and skipped that part of his schedule.
Beyond all of this, there is also a part of Sarah Palin that most hard working, patriotic, and committed Americans are coming to adore about her. She is real. She is authentic. Not only has she stood up to corrupt politics and the old networks 1that have produced so much waste, fraud, and "bridges to nowhere", she is also a regular person, and authentic all-American girl, wife, mother, and citizen.
She has actually walked the walk of reform and change instead of just talking about it.
She does not come from privilege, did not aspire to it, or become placed in it. She did not attend the Ivy League or prestigious schools. She has gotten to where she is by pure honesty, integrity, and strength of charachter and has been raising five kids and enjoying life while doing so.
Sarah Palin loves to Four-wheel and fly with her family in Alaska .
Sarah Palin loves to fish in Alaska .
Sarah Palin loves to hunt in Alaska .
and, oh, did I mention? Sarah Palin loves to shoot.
All of this drives the leftist and anti-American crowd mad. Sarah Palin is the real deal. Young, refreshing, committed wife, mother, American citizen. She is the real deal when it comes to the change that is so much needed in American politics, particularly in Washington . John McCain must be congratulated for vetting her, seeing this, and putting her on the national stage.
She represents in fact, and in her own actions, what so many others (including Obama and the entrenched Biden) only talk about, and then go on with business as usual.
Obama, in his own actions and positions as a State Senator (voted merely present so many time in the State Senate, but voted no defending the Born Alive Abortion Protection Act there), in his own actions and positions as a US Senator (spent only 144 days on the job before beginning his campaign for the President, but in those short days was recognized as the Senator with the furthest left record), and particularly in his own willful associations of long standing with hateful, racists individuals like Jeremiah Wright (who preached "Not God bless American, No, No, No, God Damn America!) to Obama and his children, and with the likes of Bill Ayers, the unrepentant, arrogant, and militantly anti-American political connection where Obama kicked off his own political career, who bomber the US Pentagon, the US Capitol, and NY City Polic Headquarters and then claimed in an interview published on 911 that his only regreet was that he had not done enough...no with such actions and such associations (npot to mention TOni Rezco, Pleger, and others), Obama has proven that his change is precisely the type we do not want or need in Washington.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------Jeff Head.com--------------------------------------
[CHOOSING THE NEXT PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES
[NOBAMANATION2008]-[AUDACITY OF TRUTH]-[OBAMA IN HIS OWN WORDS]-[OBAMA'S FRIENDS][CHOOSING THE NEXT PRESIDENT]-[OBAMA & BLACK LIB THEOLOGY]-[OBAMA'S UPBRINGING]-[BARACK CHAMBERLAIN OBAMA]
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
At this time in America, two men are campaigning for the Presidency of the United States.
It is a time of war, a war against Islamic Jiahd, who hate America and want to destroy her. In dealing with this very real and imminent threat, both men had the opportunity earlier in their lives to travel abroad:
As a result of that travel and their experiences during it, one heard the call to serve America, the other heard the call to, by his own admission, "change" America.
As a result, in the ensuing years, one sought to befriend other American patriots in government in order to serve his country, while the other has entered government service through befriending radical domestic terrorists and hateful preachers who championed his "change" during those years.
More recently, one, because of his prior experience in the military, and his visits with the troops and their commanders in harm's way, has championed a surge that has dramatically improved our military stance in one theater of the war, Iraq, the other man, who would not so much as salute the flag during the national anthem, or wear an American flag on his lapel, calling it "false patriotism", seeks to immediately withdraw and retreat from that same theater in this war.
Now, both want to be president. My only question regarding this choice is simple...ARE WE OUT OF OUR MINDS!
NOBAMA MOVEMENT SPREADS ACROSS THE NATION
Barack Hussein Obama is the most liberal, left-leaning, & has more direct anti-American associations than any candidate ever nominated for president by a major US political party. His ardent followers, caught up in the rock-star media blitz his campagn is engineered to evoke, are not interested in reason, logic, or facts. But serious minded Americans, who hold dear the foundational principles & moral values this nation rests upon are. We must bring the Audacity of Truth regarding Obama to their attention. They will then act, communicate, & vote accordingly. Of this I have great faith & to this, this site is dedicated. Please use the links above to educate & inform. - Jeff Head, June 2008.
‘Impressive, But…’ Says Biden of Palin’s Speech
‘Impressive, But…’ Says Biden of Palin’s Speech
Thursday, September 04, 2008
By Susan Jones, Senior Editor
Democratic Sens. Barack Obama and Joe Biden (AP Photo)(CNSNews.com) - “I think she was impressive,” Democratic vice presidential candidate Sen. Joe Biden said of Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin. He also back-pedaled on reports that an Obama-Biden administration would pursue criminal charges against members of the Bush administration.
Speaking to Fox & Friends Thursday morning, the Delaware Democrat said he caught only the second half of Palin’s speech to the Republican National Convention because his plane was in the air.
“She was strong, she was tough, and she delivered that speech extremely well,” he said. “The thing that impressed me equally as well is what she didn’t talk about. She never mentioned the word health care, she never mentioned college tuition, she never mentioned anything about how they’re going to create jobs, she never mentioned Afghanistan or Pakistan where al Qaeda lives, but it was extremely well-delivered and she was impressive.”
Biden said he expects his debate with Palin to be “tough,” because Palin will be an “incredibly skilled debater.” He said he won’t attack Palin personally, but he will “make the case” about where he and Obama want to take the country.
Biden agreed that the attacks on Sarah Palin’s family have been out of line. He said she has a “beautiful family.” “I think the way she handled it has been absolutely exemplary.”
Biden also agreed that some of the attacks on Palin have been sexist. He blamed the media -- and “some of the right-wing guys” who have implied that women are incapable of being a mother and a great leader.
Asked if Biden and Obama plan to pursue criminal charges against the Bush administration -- as ABC News and the Guardian newspaper reported -- Biden said the report was not true.
(ABC News on Wednesday quoted Biden as saying that he and Obama, if elected, would look into possible criminal misdeeds by the Bush administration. "If there has been a basis upon which you can pursue someone for a criminal violation, they will be pursued," Biden was quoted as saying at a campaign stop in Florida. "[N]ot out of vengeance, not out of retribution," he added, but "out of the need to preserve the notion that no one, no attorney general, no president -- no one is above the law.")
“That’s not true. I don’t know where that report’s coming from,” Biden told Fox & Friends on Wednesday.
He said the truth is that the United States Congress right now is “trying to preserve records on questions that relate to whether or not the law has been violated by anyone.”
Biden said he and Obama would do what any administration should do it:
“And if it turns out after the fact that there is substantial evidence that somebody violated the law, the fact that they’re no longer in office” won’t matter, he said. “And the mere fact that it occurred in a previous administration doesn’t mean the Justice Department…shouldn’t pursue it.”
Biden insisted that no one’s talking about investigating President Bush. “I’ve never heard anybody mention President Bush in that context. But, you know, there’s been an awful lot of unsavory stuff that’s gone on,” he said.
Biden mentioned the firing of U.S. attorneys -- “whether anybody perjured themselves or lied about it.”
“The Obama-Biden administration is not going to start off saying, ‘God, let’s go take at what this [is].’ The American people want to know what we’re going to do, not what happened.”
Thursday, September 04, 2008
By Susan Jones, Senior Editor
Democratic Sens. Barack Obama and Joe Biden (AP Photo)(CNSNews.com) - “I think she was impressive,” Democratic vice presidential candidate Sen. Joe Biden said of Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin. He also back-pedaled on reports that an Obama-Biden administration would pursue criminal charges against members of the Bush administration.
Speaking to Fox & Friends Thursday morning, the Delaware Democrat said he caught only the second half of Palin’s speech to the Republican National Convention because his plane was in the air.
“She was strong, she was tough, and she delivered that speech extremely well,” he said. “The thing that impressed me equally as well is what she didn’t talk about. She never mentioned the word health care, she never mentioned college tuition, she never mentioned anything about how they’re going to create jobs, she never mentioned Afghanistan or Pakistan where al Qaeda lives, but it was extremely well-delivered and she was impressive.”
Biden said he expects his debate with Palin to be “tough,” because Palin will be an “incredibly skilled debater.” He said he won’t attack Palin personally, but he will “make the case” about where he and Obama want to take the country.
Biden agreed that the attacks on Sarah Palin’s family have been out of line. He said she has a “beautiful family.” “I think the way she handled it has been absolutely exemplary.”
Biden also agreed that some of the attacks on Palin have been sexist. He blamed the media -- and “some of the right-wing guys” who have implied that women are incapable of being a mother and a great leader.
Asked if Biden and Obama plan to pursue criminal charges against the Bush administration -- as ABC News and the Guardian newspaper reported -- Biden said the report was not true.
(ABC News on Wednesday quoted Biden as saying that he and Obama, if elected, would look into possible criminal misdeeds by the Bush administration. "If there has been a basis upon which you can pursue someone for a criminal violation, they will be pursued," Biden was quoted as saying at a campaign stop in Florida. "[N]ot out of vengeance, not out of retribution," he added, but "out of the need to preserve the notion that no one, no attorney general, no president -- no one is above the law.")
“That’s not true. I don’t know where that report’s coming from,” Biden told Fox & Friends on Wednesday.
He said the truth is that the United States Congress right now is “trying to preserve records on questions that relate to whether or not the law has been violated by anyone.”
Biden said he and Obama would do what any administration should do it:
“And if it turns out after the fact that there is substantial evidence that somebody violated the law, the fact that they’re no longer in office” won’t matter, he said. “And the mere fact that it occurred in a previous administration doesn’t mean the Justice Department…shouldn’t pursue it.”
Biden insisted that no one’s talking about investigating President Bush. “I’ve never heard anybody mention President Bush in that context. But, you know, there’s been an awful lot of unsavory stuff that’s gone on,” he said.
Biden mentioned the firing of U.S. attorneys -- “whether anybody perjured themselves or lied about it.”
“The Obama-Biden administration is not going to start off saying, ‘God, let’s go take at what this [is].’ The American people want to know what we’re going to do, not what happened.”
CBS Poll: Presidential Race Tied
CBS Poll: Presidential Race Tied
Friday, September 5, 2008 12:30 PM
By: Dick Morris & Eileen McGann The convention floor was abuzz all yesterday with the news of the CBS poll showing a dead tie (42-42) in the presidential race. And the poll, conducted through Wednesday, couldn't reflect the impact of John McCain's speech, or the full impact of Sarah Palin's late Wednesday night.
It reflected opinions only after the Democrats' convention, Barack Obama's incredible speech, the Palin selection, and the early, Gustav-depressed GOP gathering.
That bodes ill for the Democrats. Tonight's polling could bring evidence that the Obama candidacy is in big trouble.
First, the GOP convention managed to disprove the central premise of the Democratic assault on McCain: that he is a clone of President Bush. The Republicans wisely marginalized Bush to a non-prime-time videotaped speech, and sprinkled disappearing dust on Dick Cheney.
The speeches, and the very fact of the Palin designation, repudiated Washington and focused on how McCain is an agent of change — this ticket is populist, reformist, anti-establishment, grass roots and anti-corruption.
And McCain last night made the point plain, "Let me offer an advance warning to the old, big-spending, do-nothing, me-first-country-second Washington crowd: Change is coming."
If Bush were the nominee, this campaign wouldn't suffice to push voters away from Obama. But now that McCain has moved decisively away from the administration, Obama's lost much (at least) of his advantage on the issue of reform. Now other doubts about Obama could elect McCain.
The turning point was the designation of Palin and the personal attacks on her. By stirring up a storm, Democrats assured that Palin would speak to 37 million Americans — just a million fewer than watched Obama's acceptance speech.
Anecdotal evidence already suggests that women may have a gut reaction to the establishment's sexist assault on a woman candidate and flock to McCain. They've seen him stake everything on this one big move of turning toward a woman, in direct contrast to Obama's deliberate decision not to name a woman.
They've seen the media and Democrats gang up on her and do their worst. And they've seen Palin stand up and stuff the challenge right back down the establishment's throat. All this may have created an entirely new dynamic in the race.
Now the Republicans must battle to underscore the threats this country faces, economically and internationally, and that we can't let an ingenue take over. They must capitalize on McCain's aggressive determination to bring reform to Washington and to emphasize Obama's inexperience and failure to grasp how to change Washington.
But it was McCain's gutsy selection of Palin that opened the door to victory.
© 2008 Dick Morris & Eileen McGann
Friday, September 5, 2008 12:30 PM
By: Dick Morris & Eileen McGann The convention floor was abuzz all yesterday with the news of the CBS poll showing a dead tie (42-42) in the presidential race. And the poll, conducted through Wednesday, couldn't reflect the impact of John McCain's speech, or the full impact of Sarah Palin's late Wednesday night.
It reflected opinions only after the Democrats' convention, Barack Obama's incredible speech, the Palin selection, and the early, Gustav-depressed GOP gathering.
That bodes ill for the Democrats. Tonight's polling could bring evidence that the Obama candidacy is in big trouble.
First, the GOP convention managed to disprove the central premise of the Democratic assault on McCain: that he is a clone of President Bush. The Republicans wisely marginalized Bush to a non-prime-time videotaped speech, and sprinkled disappearing dust on Dick Cheney.
The speeches, and the very fact of the Palin designation, repudiated Washington and focused on how McCain is an agent of change — this ticket is populist, reformist, anti-establishment, grass roots and anti-corruption.
And McCain last night made the point plain, "Let me offer an advance warning to the old, big-spending, do-nothing, me-first-country-second Washington crowd: Change is coming."
If Bush were the nominee, this campaign wouldn't suffice to push voters away from Obama. But now that McCain has moved decisively away from the administration, Obama's lost much (at least) of his advantage on the issue of reform. Now other doubts about Obama could elect McCain.
The turning point was the designation of Palin and the personal attacks on her. By stirring up a storm, Democrats assured that Palin would speak to 37 million Americans — just a million fewer than watched Obama's acceptance speech.
Anecdotal evidence already suggests that women may have a gut reaction to the establishment's sexist assault on a woman candidate and flock to McCain. They've seen him stake everything on this one big move of turning toward a woman, in direct contrast to Obama's deliberate decision not to name a woman.
They've seen the media and Democrats gang up on her and do their worst. And they've seen Palin stand up and stuff the challenge right back down the establishment's throat. All this may have created an entirely new dynamic in the race.
Now the Republicans must battle to underscore the threats this country faces, economically and internationally, and that we can't let an ingenue take over. They must capitalize on McCain's aggressive determination to bring reform to Washington and to emphasize Obama's inexperience and failure to grasp how to change Washington.
But it was McCain's gutsy selection of Palin that opened the door to victory.
© 2008 Dick Morris & Eileen McGann
The Assault on Sarah Palin
The Assault on Sarah Palin
The liberal assault on Sarah Palin went to Defcon Five Squared within seconds of John McCain’s announcement that she would be his Vice Presidential running mate.
That assault was aided, abetted, fostered and furthered by “journalists,” pundits and commentators who have rarely so thoroughly embarrassed and discredited themselves in such numbers in such a short period of time before so many.
In fact, the journalistic wing of the assault had been announced, openly on at least one cable network, hours before it was even known that the choice was Palin.
That was because the McCain campaign had done the unthinkable and unacceptable: kept the secret and not leaked it to the precious little darlings who must have their daily bread (fine, flaky croissant, please), have never sought forgiveness for their trespasses and would forgive those who trespass against their crumbling kingdom not even at the gates of hell, to which they are rapidly taking their profession.
As Yuval Levin so sharply put it at National Review Online: “The ignorant assault on Palin’s accomplishments and experience, the breathless careless airing of deranged rumors about her private life, the staggeringly indecent mistreatment of her teenage daughter in a difficult time, the ill-informed piling on about the vetting process, the self-intensifying circle of tisking nodding heads utterly detached from a straightforward political event, have been amazing and eye-opening.
“The reigning emotion of it all has been anger – anger at being surprised, anger at being denied the spectacle of a Republican circular firing squad, anger that a conservative pro-life Republican could also be a woman and might represent the aspirations of other women, anger at being handed a person they did not know and who did not know them, anger that this upstart thinks she can ruin their coronation party. And the anger was fed by, and was indicative of, a profound elitism – a sense that we were dealing with some redneck moron from a state with no decent restaurants. The Republican candidate for president chose as his running mate a young, charismatic, female Republican governor – probably the most popular governor in the country – whose attitude and resume ring precisely of McCain’s kind of politics, and who has been on most people’s short-list since he won the nomination, and the press treats it as a symptom of some terrible and reckless madness.”
For five days, the Wonder Woman of Wasilla held her tongue. But when she unleashed it, it was no common tongue at all, but the Hammer of Thor’s daughter, wrenched from the annals of mythology to be put in service against the giants who think they own, define and control today’s American reality.
“I’m not a member of the permanent political establishment. And I’ve learned quickly, these past few days, that if you’re not a member in good standing of the Washington elite, then some in the media consider a candidate unqualified for that reason alone. But here’s a little news flash for all those reporters and commentators: I’m not going to Washington to seek their good opinion – I’m going to Washington to serve the people of this country.” Thus spake Sarah.
Were we the gray hairs who run the media establishments, we’d be firing and replacing people in droves this week, trying to find the objectivity and balance necessary for survival.
Thor’s hammer magically returned to his hand after finding its target. “Small-town” Sarah will speak again and again and again. She may or may not become Vice President this time. But hers is a voice that resonates and it has found its targets. In another context, Hillary Clinton used to say, “it takes a village.” What happens when there is a political figurehead who can give united voice to thousands of villages together?
That would be a political revolution.
The liberal assault on Sarah Palin went to Defcon Five Squared within seconds of John McCain’s announcement that she would be his Vice Presidential running mate.
That assault was aided, abetted, fostered and furthered by “journalists,” pundits and commentators who have rarely so thoroughly embarrassed and discredited themselves in such numbers in such a short period of time before so many.
In fact, the journalistic wing of the assault had been announced, openly on at least one cable network, hours before it was even known that the choice was Palin.
That was because the McCain campaign had done the unthinkable and unacceptable: kept the secret and not leaked it to the precious little darlings who must have their daily bread (fine, flaky croissant, please), have never sought forgiveness for their trespasses and would forgive those who trespass against their crumbling kingdom not even at the gates of hell, to which they are rapidly taking their profession.
As Yuval Levin so sharply put it at National Review Online: “The ignorant assault on Palin’s accomplishments and experience, the breathless careless airing of deranged rumors about her private life, the staggeringly indecent mistreatment of her teenage daughter in a difficult time, the ill-informed piling on about the vetting process, the self-intensifying circle of tisking nodding heads utterly detached from a straightforward political event, have been amazing and eye-opening.
“The reigning emotion of it all has been anger – anger at being surprised, anger at being denied the spectacle of a Republican circular firing squad, anger that a conservative pro-life Republican could also be a woman and might represent the aspirations of other women, anger at being handed a person they did not know and who did not know them, anger that this upstart thinks she can ruin their coronation party. And the anger was fed by, and was indicative of, a profound elitism – a sense that we were dealing with some redneck moron from a state with no decent restaurants. The Republican candidate for president chose as his running mate a young, charismatic, female Republican governor – probably the most popular governor in the country – whose attitude and resume ring precisely of McCain’s kind of politics, and who has been on most people’s short-list since he won the nomination, and the press treats it as a symptom of some terrible and reckless madness.”
For five days, the Wonder Woman of Wasilla held her tongue. But when she unleashed it, it was no common tongue at all, but the Hammer of Thor’s daughter, wrenched from the annals of mythology to be put in service against the giants who think they own, define and control today’s American reality.
“I’m not a member of the permanent political establishment. And I’ve learned quickly, these past few days, that if you’re not a member in good standing of the Washington elite, then some in the media consider a candidate unqualified for that reason alone. But here’s a little news flash for all those reporters and commentators: I’m not going to Washington to seek their good opinion – I’m going to Washington to serve the people of this country.” Thus spake Sarah.
Were we the gray hairs who run the media establishments, we’d be firing and replacing people in droves this week, trying to find the objectivity and balance necessary for survival.
Thor’s hammer magically returned to his hand after finding its target. “Small-town” Sarah will speak again and again and again. She may or may not become Vice President this time. But hers is a voice that resonates and it has found its targets. In another context, Hillary Clinton used to say, “it takes a village.” What happens when there is a political figurehead who can give united voice to thousands of villages together?
That would be a political revolution.
September 4, 2008
Sarah Palin — an American Margaret Thatcher
Sarah Palin — an American Margaret Thatcher
Thursday, September 4, 2008 2:30 PM
By: Dick Morris & Eileen McGann
With sass and wit, sarcasm and sincerity, and courage and strength, Sarah Palin last night showed us a new model of female politician.
Her family stories were genuine and real. Her commitment to special-needs children was moving. Her contempt for special interests was obvious. And her putdowns of Barack Obama's rhetoric and her praise of John McCain's character and achievements were welcome and well delivered.
Many women look bad when they attack their opponents, too often seeming strident and shrill. But Palin was funny and irreverant, with a biting wit and a joy of combat that was exhilarating to watch.
Sometimes she reminded us of the hockey mom she is. Other times, she was an American Margaret Thatcher — mobilizing humor and biting satire to mock the opposition.
Where Hillary Clinton has but two speeds — full forward and stop — Palin displayed a range of rhetoric, emotion and language that sometimes evoked moving patriotism, at other times hilarious irony, and, frequently, a strong dose of common sense.
If her style in attacking and mocking her opponent was Thatcher-esque, her range of rhetorical style was Rooseveltian. She is, in fact, one of the best public speakers in our politics today.
Now the Democrats are stuck in a trap. They've demeaned, patronized and smeared a woman who's well on her way to becoming very, very popular. Her speech will create legions of fans; the Democratic smears of the last few days will create, for Obama, legions of enemies.
This man who dedicated two years to stopping a woman from being president now has to answer for spending two months stopping one from becoming vice president — a task he hopes to accomplish using women's votes.
Remember — the swing vote in this election are single moms. Just as the soccer moms dominated in 1996 and security moms in 2004, now unmarried women, mostly with children, will determine the outcome of the 2008 race. And they're finding in Sarah Palin an advocate whose life isn't far different from their own and whose priorities mirror theirs.
As withering in her contempt for the country-club elites of the Republican establishment as for the pandering of the Democrats, Palin stands in stark contrast to the inherited elitism of the Bushes, the Romneys and the Kennedys. She's a woman of the people.
Was this a Republican attacking big oil? Was it the nominee for vice president of a major party who laced into earmarks and lobbyists and PACs? Yes it was — and how refreshing!
In her sincere embrace of her family and her nonjudgmental introduction of her pregnant daughter, Palin won the hearts of many single moms. By evoking life in a modest, middle-class town, she established an empathy with voters akin to what Bill Clinton built when he ate at McDonald's.
How are the Democrats to live down their assaults on Sarah? How not to seem the enemies of the very voters they have to get?
Strategically, Palin achieved the convention's core goal: to show how McCain is not a clone of George Bush, but a man of the people eager for change and demanding of reforms.
Now the gap between Obama and McCain is not so wide. Now it is clear that they both stand for change.
So now the fear of a naive and untried Obama leading the nation through perilous times at home and abroad can work to drive voters over the narrower synapse and get them to vote for McCain.
Mission accomplished, Sarah.
© 2008 Dick Morris & Eileen McGann
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Thursday, September 4, 2008 2:30 PM
By: Dick Morris & Eileen McGann
With sass and wit, sarcasm and sincerity, and courage and strength, Sarah Palin last night showed us a new model of female politician.
Her family stories were genuine and real. Her commitment to special-needs children was moving. Her contempt for special interests was obvious. And her putdowns of Barack Obama's rhetoric and her praise of John McCain's character and achievements were welcome and well delivered.
Many women look bad when they attack their opponents, too often seeming strident and shrill. But Palin was funny and irreverant, with a biting wit and a joy of combat that was exhilarating to watch.
Sometimes she reminded us of the hockey mom she is. Other times, she was an American Margaret Thatcher — mobilizing humor and biting satire to mock the opposition.
Where Hillary Clinton has but two speeds — full forward and stop — Palin displayed a range of rhetoric, emotion and language that sometimes evoked moving patriotism, at other times hilarious irony, and, frequently, a strong dose of common sense.
If her style in attacking and mocking her opponent was Thatcher-esque, her range of rhetorical style was Rooseveltian. She is, in fact, one of the best public speakers in our politics today.
Now the Democrats are stuck in a trap. They've demeaned, patronized and smeared a woman who's well on her way to becoming very, very popular. Her speech will create legions of fans; the Democratic smears of the last few days will create, for Obama, legions of enemies.
This man who dedicated two years to stopping a woman from being president now has to answer for spending two months stopping one from becoming vice president — a task he hopes to accomplish using women's votes.
Remember — the swing vote in this election are single moms. Just as the soccer moms dominated in 1996 and security moms in 2004, now unmarried women, mostly with children, will determine the outcome of the 2008 race. And they're finding in Sarah Palin an advocate whose life isn't far different from their own and whose priorities mirror theirs.
As withering in her contempt for the country-club elites of the Republican establishment as for the pandering of the Democrats, Palin stands in stark contrast to the inherited elitism of the Bushes, the Romneys and the Kennedys. She's a woman of the people.
Was this a Republican attacking big oil? Was it the nominee for vice president of a major party who laced into earmarks and lobbyists and PACs? Yes it was — and how refreshing!
In her sincere embrace of her family and her nonjudgmental introduction of her pregnant daughter, Palin won the hearts of many single moms. By evoking life in a modest, middle-class town, she established an empathy with voters akin to what Bill Clinton built when he ate at McDonald's.
How are the Democrats to live down their assaults on Sarah? How not to seem the enemies of the very voters they have to get?
Strategically, Palin achieved the convention's core goal: to show how McCain is not a clone of George Bush, but a man of the people eager for change and demanding of reforms.
Now the gap between Obama and McCain is not so wide. Now it is clear that they both stand for change.
So now the fear of a naive and untried Obama leading the nation through perilous times at home and abroad can work to drive voters over the narrower synapse and get them to vote for McCain.
Mission accomplished, Sarah.
© 2008 Dick Morris & Eileen McGann
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Obama Campaign Defends Community Organizing
Obama Campaign Defends Community Organizing
Thursday, September 04, 2008
By Susan Jones, Senior Editor
Sen. John McCain's running mate Sarah Palin addresses the Republican National Convention on Sept. 3. - Sen. Barack Obama’s presidential Campaign Manager David Plouffe said he wasn’t planning to post a message on the campaign Web site Wednesday night -- “But if you saw what I saw from the Republican convention, you know that it demands a response,” he wrote.
“I saw John McCain's attack squad of negative, cynical politicians,” said Plouffe, referring to former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.
“They lied about Barack Obama and Joe Biden, and they attacked you for being a part of this campaign. But worst of all -- and this deserves to be noted -- they insulted the very idea that ordinary people have a role to play in our political process.”
Plouffe then defended Obama’s experience as a community organizer, which John McCain’s running mate mocked in her speech:
“Before I became governor of the great state of Alaska, I was mayor of my hometown,” Sarah Palin said. “And since our opponents in this presidential election seem to look down on that experience, let me explain to them what the job involves.
“I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a ‘community organizer,’ except that you have actual responsibilities,” she said as cheers erupted. “I might add that in small towns, we don't quite know what to make of a candidate who lavishes praise on working people when they are listening, and then talks about how bitterly they cling to their religion and guns when those people aren't listening. We tend to prefer candidates who don't talk about us one way in Scranton and another way in San Francisco,” she said.
The remarks stung the Obama campaign:
“Let's clarify something for them right now,” Plouffe said in his Wednesday night posting. “Community organizing is how ordinary people respond to out-of-touch politicians and their failed policies.”
Plouffe mentioned that community organizing is the foundation of the civil rights movement, the women’s suffrage movement, and labor rights. “Throughout our history, ordinary people have made good on America's promise by organizing for change from the bottom up,” he said.
It’s still happening today, he said, as Americans rebel against the policies of President George W. Bush.
“Meanwhile, we still haven't gotten a single idea during the entire Republican convention about the economy and how to lift a middle class so harmed by the Bush-McCain policies,” Plouffe said.
In her speech Wednesday night, Palin referred to the many promises Obama has made in the course of his campaign, asking “how are you going to be better off” if he does what he said he’s going to do:
“What does he actually seek to accomplish, after he's done turning back the waters and healing the planet?” Palin asked, joking about Obama’s reputation as the “messiah.”
“The answer is to make government bigger -- take more of your money, give you more orders from Washington, and to reduce the strength of America in a dangerous world. America needs more energy, our opponent is against producing it.
“Victory in Iraq is finally in sight -- he wants to forfeit. Terrorist states are seeking new-clear weapons without delay -- he wants to meet them without preconditions. Al Qaeda terrorists still plot to inflict catastrophic harm on America -- he's worried that someone won't read them their rights? Government is too big -- he wants to grow it. Congress spends too much -- he promises more. Taxes are too high -- he wants to raise them…,” Palin said.
Plouffe accused the McCain campaign of employing “desperate lies and personal attacks” to earn a third term for “Bush policies that McCain has supported more than 90 percent of the time.”
Plouffe also made two requests for donations, one in the fourth paragraph and one at the end of his message, in the 13th paragraph.
Thursday, September 04, 2008
By Susan Jones, Senior Editor
Sen. John McCain's running mate Sarah Palin addresses the Republican National Convention on Sept. 3. - Sen. Barack Obama’s presidential Campaign Manager David Plouffe said he wasn’t planning to post a message on the campaign Web site Wednesday night -- “But if you saw what I saw from the Republican convention, you know that it demands a response,” he wrote.
“I saw John McCain's attack squad of negative, cynical politicians,” said Plouffe, referring to former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.
“They lied about Barack Obama and Joe Biden, and they attacked you for being a part of this campaign. But worst of all -- and this deserves to be noted -- they insulted the very idea that ordinary people have a role to play in our political process.”
Plouffe then defended Obama’s experience as a community organizer, which John McCain’s running mate mocked in her speech:
“Before I became governor of the great state of Alaska, I was mayor of my hometown,” Sarah Palin said. “And since our opponents in this presidential election seem to look down on that experience, let me explain to them what the job involves.
“I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a ‘community organizer,’ except that you have actual responsibilities,” she said as cheers erupted. “I might add that in small towns, we don't quite know what to make of a candidate who lavishes praise on working people when they are listening, and then talks about how bitterly they cling to their religion and guns when those people aren't listening. We tend to prefer candidates who don't talk about us one way in Scranton and another way in San Francisco,” she said.
The remarks stung the Obama campaign:
“Let's clarify something for them right now,” Plouffe said in his Wednesday night posting. “Community organizing is how ordinary people respond to out-of-touch politicians and their failed policies.”
Plouffe mentioned that community organizing is the foundation of the civil rights movement, the women’s suffrage movement, and labor rights. “Throughout our history, ordinary people have made good on America's promise by organizing for change from the bottom up,” he said.
It’s still happening today, he said, as Americans rebel against the policies of President George W. Bush.
“Meanwhile, we still haven't gotten a single idea during the entire Republican convention about the economy and how to lift a middle class so harmed by the Bush-McCain policies,” Plouffe said.
In her speech Wednesday night, Palin referred to the many promises Obama has made in the course of his campaign, asking “how are you going to be better off” if he does what he said he’s going to do:
“What does he actually seek to accomplish, after he's done turning back the waters and healing the planet?” Palin asked, joking about Obama’s reputation as the “messiah.”
“The answer is to make government bigger -- take more of your money, give you more orders from Washington, and to reduce the strength of America in a dangerous world. America needs more energy, our opponent is against producing it.
“Victory in Iraq is finally in sight -- he wants to forfeit. Terrorist states are seeking new-clear weapons without delay -- he wants to meet them without preconditions. Al Qaeda terrorists still plot to inflict catastrophic harm on America -- he's worried that someone won't read them their rights? Government is too big -- he wants to grow it. Congress spends too much -- he promises more. Taxes are too high -- he wants to raise them…,” Palin said.
Plouffe accused the McCain campaign of employing “desperate lies and personal attacks” to earn a third term for “Bush policies that McCain has supported more than 90 percent of the time.”
Plouffe also made two requests for donations, one in the fourth paragraph and one at the end of his message, in the 13th paragraph.
JOE LIEBERMAN URGES VOTE FOR McCAIN
September 03, 2008
By Fred Lucas, Staff Writer
JOE LIEBERMAN URGES VOTE FOR McCAIN
Sen. Joseph Lieberman urges Democrats to support his good friend Republican Sen. John McCain for president. (AP Photo)St. Paul (CNSNews.com) – Speaking to the 2008 Republican National Convention Tuesday, Independent Democrat Sen. Joe Lieberman said that only Republican Sen. John McCain can reform Washington and bridge the partisan divide.
“Being a Democrat or a Republican is important. But it is nowhere near as important as being an American,” Lieberman told an approving crowd.
In 2000, Lieberman was Al Gore’s running mate on the Democratic presidential ticket. In 2004, he came up short in his bid for the Democratic presidential nomination, then ended up endorsing Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.).
Lieberman lost the 2006 Democratic Senate primary in Connecticut because of liberal outrage over his support for the Iraq war. He kept his Senate seat, however, by running as an independent and winning broad Republican support. Lieberman still caucuses with Senate Democrats and he calls himself an independent Democrat.
“Both presidential candidates this year talk about changing the culture of Washington, about breaking through the partisan gridlock and special interests that are poisoning our politics,” Lieberman told Republicans Tuesday night. “But only one of them has actually done it. Only one leader has shown the courage and the capability to rise above the smallness of our politics to get big things done for our country and our people.”
Lieberman has been as much a thorn in the side of the Democratic Party because of his support for the Bush administration’s war on terror as McCain has often been to the Republican Party for his support of campaign finance reform and environmental regulations.
“My Democratic friends know all about John’s record of independence and accomplishment,” Lieberman said. “Maybe that’s why some of them are spending so much time and so much money trying to convince voters that John McCain is someone else. I’m here, as a Democrat myself, to tell you -- don’t be fooled.”
Lieberman mentioned that McCain -- not “just another go-along politician” -- has taken on corrupt Republican lobbyists, big corporations that were cheating the American people, and powerful congressional colleagues who waste taxpayer money. “As a matter of fact, if John McCain is just another partisan Republican, then I'm Michael Moore’s favorite Democrat,” he joked.
Several news outlets reported that Lieberman had been on McCain’s short list for vice presidential candidates. However, many prominent conservatives warned McCain that choosing the liberal Lieberman could alienate the GOP’s conservative base.
Still, some delegates at the convention said they were happy to have Lieberman speak at the gathering.
“Republican put him over the top in Connecticut,” Johnnie Morgan, a delegate from Los Angeles, Calif., told CNSNews.com. “The reason is that he was at least receptive to Republican policies and Republican ideas.”
While Morgan thinks Lieberman would not have been a good choice for vice president, he believes McCain might name him to a Cabinet position. “We can trust McCain to make the best decision, given that situation,” Morgan said.
North Carolina delegate James Proctor compared Lieberman’s speech to the Republican Convention to Democratic Sen. Zell Miller’s speech to Republicans at the 2004 convention. “The other side has deserted him (Lieberman) so he came here,” Proctor said. “The Democrats are out of touch.”
Lieberman teamed with McCain on global warming legislation in the Senate and also co-sponsored a 1998 bill with McCain that made it official U.S. policy to bring about regime change in Iraq. The latter bill was signed into law by President Clinton.
On Tuesday night, Lieberman brought up some issues that are not particularly popular with Republicans.
“I have personally seen John, over and over again, bring people together from both parties to tackle our toughest problems we face -- to reform our campaign finance, lobbying and ethics laws, to create the 9/11 Commission and pass its critical national security reforms, and to end the partisan paralysis over judicial confirmations,” Lieberman said.
Lieberman did not attack Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois, but he did question his experience to take on issues such as the economy, energy independence and the war on terror.
“Sen. Obama is a gifted and eloquent young man who can do great things for our country in the years ahead,” Lieberman said. “But eloquence is no substitute for a record -- not in these tough times.”
Lieberman appealed to his fellow Democrats to discard party loyalty in November for the good of the country.
“So tonight, I ask you whether you are an Independent, a Reagan Democrat or a Clinton Democrat, or just a Democrat: This year, when you vote for President, vote for the person you believe is best for the country, not for the party you happen to belong to,” Lieberman said.
By Fred Lucas, Staff Writer
JOE LIEBERMAN URGES VOTE FOR McCAIN
Sen. Joseph Lieberman urges Democrats to support his good friend Republican Sen. John McCain for president. (AP Photo)St. Paul (CNSNews.com) – Speaking to the 2008 Republican National Convention Tuesday, Independent Democrat Sen. Joe Lieberman said that only Republican Sen. John McCain can reform Washington and bridge the partisan divide.
“Being a Democrat or a Republican is important. But it is nowhere near as important as being an American,” Lieberman told an approving crowd.
In 2000, Lieberman was Al Gore’s running mate on the Democratic presidential ticket. In 2004, he came up short in his bid for the Democratic presidential nomination, then ended up endorsing Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.).
Lieberman lost the 2006 Democratic Senate primary in Connecticut because of liberal outrage over his support for the Iraq war. He kept his Senate seat, however, by running as an independent and winning broad Republican support. Lieberman still caucuses with Senate Democrats and he calls himself an independent Democrat.
“Both presidential candidates this year talk about changing the culture of Washington, about breaking through the partisan gridlock and special interests that are poisoning our politics,” Lieberman told Republicans Tuesday night. “But only one of them has actually done it. Only one leader has shown the courage and the capability to rise above the smallness of our politics to get big things done for our country and our people.”
Lieberman has been as much a thorn in the side of the Democratic Party because of his support for the Bush administration’s war on terror as McCain has often been to the Republican Party for his support of campaign finance reform and environmental regulations.
“My Democratic friends know all about John’s record of independence and accomplishment,” Lieberman said. “Maybe that’s why some of them are spending so much time and so much money trying to convince voters that John McCain is someone else. I’m here, as a Democrat myself, to tell you -- don’t be fooled.”
Lieberman mentioned that McCain -- not “just another go-along politician” -- has taken on corrupt Republican lobbyists, big corporations that were cheating the American people, and powerful congressional colleagues who waste taxpayer money. “As a matter of fact, if John McCain is just another partisan Republican, then I'm Michael Moore’s favorite Democrat,” he joked.
Several news outlets reported that Lieberman had been on McCain’s short list for vice presidential candidates. However, many prominent conservatives warned McCain that choosing the liberal Lieberman could alienate the GOP’s conservative base.
Still, some delegates at the convention said they were happy to have Lieberman speak at the gathering.
“Republican put him over the top in Connecticut,” Johnnie Morgan, a delegate from Los Angeles, Calif., told CNSNews.com. “The reason is that he was at least receptive to Republican policies and Republican ideas.”
While Morgan thinks Lieberman would not have been a good choice for vice president, he believes McCain might name him to a Cabinet position. “We can trust McCain to make the best decision, given that situation,” Morgan said.
North Carolina delegate James Proctor compared Lieberman’s speech to the Republican Convention to Democratic Sen. Zell Miller’s speech to Republicans at the 2004 convention. “The other side has deserted him (Lieberman) so he came here,” Proctor said. “The Democrats are out of touch.”
Lieberman teamed with McCain on global warming legislation in the Senate and also co-sponsored a 1998 bill with McCain that made it official U.S. policy to bring about regime change in Iraq. The latter bill was signed into law by President Clinton.
On Tuesday night, Lieberman brought up some issues that are not particularly popular with Republicans.
“I have personally seen John, over and over again, bring people together from both parties to tackle our toughest problems we face -- to reform our campaign finance, lobbying and ethics laws, to create the 9/11 Commission and pass its critical national security reforms, and to end the partisan paralysis over judicial confirmations,” Lieberman said.
Lieberman did not attack Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois, but he did question his experience to take on issues such as the economy, energy independence and the war on terror.
“Sen. Obama is a gifted and eloquent young man who can do great things for our country in the years ahead,” Lieberman said. “But eloquence is no substitute for a record -- not in these tough times.”
Lieberman appealed to his fellow Democrats to discard party loyalty in November for the good of the country.
“So tonight, I ask you whether you are an Independent, a Reagan Democrat or a Clinton Democrat, or just a Democrat: This year, when you vote for President, vote for the person you believe is best for the country, not for the party you happen to belong to,” Lieberman said.
Choice of Sarah Palin Prompts Praise and Protest
Choice of Sarah Palin Prompts Praise and Protest
Wednesday, September 03, 2008
By Fred Lucas, Staff Writer
Republican presidential candidate John McCain after introducing his vice presidential running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, during a campaign rally in Dayton, Ohio, Friday, Aug. 29, 2008. (AP Photo/Stephan Savoia)St. Paul (CNSNews.com) – Pro-life activists did not waver in their support of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, one day after the Republican vice presidential candidate announced that her 17-year-old daughter was pregnant and would have the baby.
In fact, based on the crowd’s reaction at a gathering of the Republican National Coalition for Life, the news might have helped Palin.
Twice during the gathering, anti-war protesters stormed the stage, denouncing political candidates who say they are pro-life and support the war in Iraq.
The pro-life Republican group planned to honor Palin with its 2008 “Life of the Party Award” even before GOP presidential candidate John McCain picked her as a running mate. Palin, however, canceled her scheduled speech to the group. (The McCain campaign said she was writing her speech, which she will deliver to the convention Wednesday night.)
Conservative talk radio show host Laura Ingraham drew roars from the crowd of about 700 in praising Palin, who chose to give birth to a son with Down syndrome in April.
“Sarah Palin does not just talk about life, she is a woman who lives that principle,” Ingraham said. “There is no bigger threat to elites in this country than a woman who is strong and knows her conservative credentials.”
Ingraham accused the news media, specifically MSNBC and The New York Times, of attacking Palin and her family over her daughter’s pregnancy.
Ingraham said that if a vice presidential candidate’s daughter had “made the choice to abort the baby, she would have been hailed by the same elites.”
“Why do they treat this woman like dirt?” Ingraham said. “One reason: life.”
Before Ingraham spoke, Phyllis Schlafly, president of the conservative Eagle Forum, had similar high praise for Palin.
“I am so excited about how Sarah Palin has invigorated the Republican Party,” Schlafly told the crowd. “All of the Republicans that were holding back are ready to electe McCain-Palin.”
It was after the Schlafly speech that a member of Code Pink stormed the stage, waiving a sign, shouting, “Peaceful protesters for pro-life…” until Schlafly snatched her sign and the protester was led away from the podium.
Shortly after Ingraham spoke, two other protesters rushed the stage, shouting. While they were being escorted out of the hotel, they continued to tell security officials that Iraq is an “illegal war” and “no one can be pro-life and be pro-war.”
“I am pro-life, a mother of four children, all of whom are draft age, and I want my kids and those kids and the children of Iraq to be safe,” Sue Eleuterio of Indiana, a member of Code Pink Women for Peace, told CNSNews.com.
“The people who claim to be pro-life seem to think that life ends at birth instead of continues until we pass away. I think when someone makes a choice about life in terms of contraception or abortion, it’s a personal choice. If you were a woman, you would not want someone coming to tell you what to do with your body.”
Aside from the protesters, not all Republicans at this convention support pro-life policies. A group called Republican Majority for Choice released a poll in late August showing that 80 percent of Republicans believed the platform language on abortion should be changed.
“These numbers conclusively demonstrate that a strong majority of Republicans support the ‘big tent’ philosophy and our party’s core belief in individual freedom,” said Jennifer Blei Stockman, National Chair of Republican Majority for Choice in a statement last week urging McCain to pick a pro-abortion running mate.
“Sen. McCain and the Republican Party have two major opportunities next week, with the release of the GOP platform and the announcement of our vice presidential nominee, to reach out to the broad spectrum of voters needed to deliver victory in November.”
Palin, who will accept her party’s nomination for vice president Wednesday night, has an 80 percent approval rating in Alaska. She was elected after defeating incumbent Republican Gov. Frank Murkowski in a primary, and she is known as a party maverick in her state. She is the first Republican woman vice presidential candidate and only the second female vice presidential candidate in history of either party
Gary Bauer, who sought the GOP presidential nomination in 2000 running on a strong pro-life platform, believes the attacks on Palin could backfire.
“Sen. McCain hit a grand slam homerun and Democrats know he hit a grand slam homerun,” Bauer told CNSNews.com. “That’s why in the last 72 hours there has been an effort to destroy her, even using Gov. Palin’s 17-year-old daughter as a club to attack Gov. Palin’s conservative Christian values.
“I commend Sen. McCain for picking her, even though he knew ahead of time about the out-of-wedlock pregnancy of her daughter,” Bauer said.
Wednesday, September 03, 2008
By Fred Lucas, Staff Writer
Republican presidential candidate John McCain after introducing his vice presidential running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, during a campaign rally in Dayton, Ohio, Friday, Aug. 29, 2008. (AP Photo/Stephan Savoia)St. Paul (CNSNews.com) – Pro-life activists did not waver in their support of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, one day after the Republican vice presidential candidate announced that her 17-year-old daughter was pregnant and would have the baby.
In fact, based on the crowd’s reaction at a gathering of the Republican National Coalition for Life, the news might have helped Palin.
Twice during the gathering, anti-war protesters stormed the stage, denouncing political candidates who say they are pro-life and support the war in Iraq.
The pro-life Republican group planned to honor Palin with its 2008 “Life of the Party Award” even before GOP presidential candidate John McCain picked her as a running mate. Palin, however, canceled her scheduled speech to the group. (The McCain campaign said she was writing her speech, which she will deliver to the convention Wednesday night.)
Conservative talk radio show host Laura Ingraham drew roars from the crowd of about 700 in praising Palin, who chose to give birth to a son with Down syndrome in April.
“Sarah Palin does not just talk about life, she is a woman who lives that principle,” Ingraham said. “There is no bigger threat to elites in this country than a woman who is strong and knows her conservative credentials.”
Ingraham accused the news media, specifically MSNBC and The New York Times, of attacking Palin and her family over her daughter’s pregnancy.
Ingraham said that if a vice presidential candidate’s daughter had “made the choice to abort the baby, she would have been hailed by the same elites.”
“Why do they treat this woman like dirt?” Ingraham said. “One reason: life.”
Before Ingraham spoke, Phyllis Schlafly, president of the conservative Eagle Forum, had similar high praise for Palin.
“I am so excited about how Sarah Palin has invigorated the Republican Party,” Schlafly told the crowd. “All of the Republicans that were holding back are ready to electe McCain-Palin.”
It was after the Schlafly speech that a member of Code Pink stormed the stage, waiving a sign, shouting, “Peaceful protesters for pro-life…” until Schlafly snatched her sign and the protester was led away from the podium.
Shortly after Ingraham spoke, two other protesters rushed the stage, shouting. While they were being escorted out of the hotel, they continued to tell security officials that Iraq is an “illegal war” and “no one can be pro-life and be pro-war.”
“I am pro-life, a mother of four children, all of whom are draft age, and I want my kids and those kids and the children of Iraq to be safe,” Sue Eleuterio of Indiana, a member of Code Pink Women for Peace, told CNSNews.com.
“The people who claim to be pro-life seem to think that life ends at birth instead of continues until we pass away. I think when someone makes a choice about life in terms of contraception or abortion, it’s a personal choice. If you were a woman, you would not want someone coming to tell you what to do with your body.”
Aside from the protesters, not all Republicans at this convention support pro-life policies. A group called Republican Majority for Choice released a poll in late August showing that 80 percent of Republicans believed the platform language on abortion should be changed.
“These numbers conclusively demonstrate that a strong majority of Republicans support the ‘big tent’ philosophy and our party’s core belief in individual freedom,” said Jennifer Blei Stockman, National Chair of Republican Majority for Choice in a statement last week urging McCain to pick a pro-abortion running mate.
“Sen. McCain and the Republican Party have two major opportunities next week, with the release of the GOP platform and the announcement of our vice presidential nominee, to reach out to the broad spectrum of voters needed to deliver victory in November.”
Palin, who will accept her party’s nomination for vice president Wednesday night, has an 80 percent approval rating in Alaska. She was elected after defeating incumbent Republican Gov. Frank Murkowski in a primary, and she is known as a party maverick in her state. She is the first Republican woman vice presidential candidate and only the second female vice presidential candidate in history of either party
Gary Bauer, who sought the GOP presidential nomination in 2000 running on a strong pro-life platform, believes the attacks on Palin could backfire.
“Sen. McCain hit a grand slam homerun and Democrats know he hit a grand slam homerun,” Bauer told CNSNews.com. “That’s why in the last 72 hours there has been an effort to destroy her, even using Gov. Palin’s 17-year-old daughter as a club to attack Gov. Palin’s conservative Christian values.
“I commend Sen. McCain for picking her, even though he knew ahead of time about the out-of-wedlock pregnancy of her daughter,” Bauer said.
She Is Woman, Hear Her Roar
She Is Woman, Hear Her Roar
By INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY | Posted Tuesday, September 02, 2008 4:20 PM PT
Election '08: The attacks on John McCain's bold veep pick have begun. But if the critics think Sarah Palin is an easy target, they'd better think again. She can fire back. Working moms of the world, unite.
"There's a gigantic difference between John McCain and Barack Obama and between me and I suspect my vice-presidential opponent," Joe Biden said while campaigning in Toledo Sunday. "She's good-looking." It's a dismissive put-down we would expect from Biden, one a Republican couldn't get away with.
Obama spokesman Bill Burton was more direct, saying that McCain had irresponsibly put "the former mayor of a town of 9,000 with zero foreign policy experience a heartbeat away from the presidency." This said while he's trying to elect a former Illinois state senator who voted "present" 135 times and who spent just 143 business days in the Senate before deciding he was ready to lead the free world.
This is a reminder of Obama's similarly dismissive remark about bitter, small town Pennsylvanians who cling to their guns and their Bibles. Well, Sarah Palin has a Bible she reads regularly and is a lifetime member of the National Rifle Association who can fire a gun.
Her more than 12 years of executive experience actually making decisions that affect the lives of real people certainly stack up against the meager record of Geraldine Ferraro who in 1984 "made history" by bringing her six years in Congress nearly a heartbeat away from the presidency.
Sarah Palin has more executive experience actually running a government than Barack Obama and Joe Biden combined. Those who dismiss her as an adviser to McCain forget she is a sitting governor of an energy-rich state in a world in which energy is both an economic and national security issue.
She knows her stuff on energy. Barack Obama makes incredibly dumb statements about inflating our tires saving an equivalent amount of oil as is to be found in the Outer Continental Shelf. Governor Palin builds a $40 billion pipeline to bring Alaskan natural gas to the lower 48 states. Her steelworker husband works in the North Slope oil fields and she is the only candidate on either ticket who has actually been to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
Maureen Dowd of the New York Times calls her "Vice In Go-Go Boots" and calls Governor Palin "a cute, cool unknown from Alaska who has never even been on 'Meet the Press.' " We wonder if she makes MSNBC's Chris Matthews' legs tingle like he said Barack Obama does. Those boots were made for campaigning and they walked all over the corrupt good-ole-boy network in Alaska.
Ruth Marcus of the Washington Post says: "McCain runs the risk that Palin will turn out to be Dan Quayle with an up-do — except with less experience." She can not only spell "potato" but this union member can also fire an AK-15. Democrats run the risk of dismissing this working mother of five as a "Dan Quayle" with an up-do at their peril. Remember those 18 million cracks in the glass ceiling.
The Associated Press in a photo caption described her as "the so-called 'hockey mom' credited with reforms of her tiny, out-of-the-way state." This "tiny" state is 10 times the size of Obama's Illinois and over 250 times the size of Biden's Delaware. This "out-of-the-way" state produces 20% of our domestic energy, and could produce much more.
She actually runs her "tiny" state, unlike Delaware's Joe Biden, who rides the taxpayer-subsidized Amtrak to his job bloviating on the major issues of the day. Biden is said to have infinitely more foreign policy experience. Perhaps he can tell Obama that Iran is not a "tiny" country that poses no threat.
Governor Palin has been to Iraq. She is commander of the Alaska National Guard, units of which are serving in Iraq. Her son is going there to serve in an infantry brigade on Sept. 11.
For working moms across America, that may be the only experience she needs.
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By INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY | Posted Tuesday, September 02, 2008 4:20 PM PT
Election '08: The attacks on John McCain's bold veep pick have begun. But if the critics think Sarah Palin is an easy target, they'd better think again. She can fire back. Working moms of the world, unite.
"There's a gigantic difference between John McCain and Barack Obama and between me and I suspect my vice-presidential opponent," Joe Biden said while campaigning in Toledo Sunday. "She's good-looking." It's a dismissive put-down we would expect from Biden, one a Republican couldn't get away with.
Obama spokesman Bill Burton was more direct, saying that McCain had irresponsibly put "the former mayor of a town of 9,000 with zero foreign policy experience a heartbeat away from the presidency." This said while he's trying to elect a former Illinois state senator who voted "present" 135 times and who spent just 143 business days in the Senate before deciding he was ready to lead the free world.
This is a reminder of Obama's similarly dismissive remark about bitter, small town Pennsylvanians who cling to their guns and their Bibles. Well, Sarah Palin has a Bible she reads regularly and is a lifetime member of the National Rifle Association who can fire a gun.
Her more than 12 years of executive experience actually making decisions that affect the lives of real people certainly stack up against the meager record of Geraldine Ferraro who in 1984 "made history" by bringing her six years in Congress nearly a heartbeat away from the presidency.
Sarah Palin has more executive experience actually running a government than Barack Obama and Joe Biden combined. Those who dismiss her as an adviser to McCain forget she is a sitting governor of an energy-rich state in a world in which energy is both an economic and national security issue.
She knows her stuff on energy. Barack Obama makes incredibly dumb statements about inflating our tires saving an equivalent amount of oil as is to be found in the Outer Continental Shelf. Governor Palin builds a $40 billion pipeline to bring Alaskan natural gas to the lower 48 states. Her steelworker husband works in the North Slope oil fields and she is the only candidate on either ticket who has actually been to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
Maureen Dowd of the New York Times calls her "Vice In Go-Go Boots" and calls Governor Palin "a cute, cool unknown from Alaska who has never even been on 'Meet the Press.' " We wonder if she makes MSNBC's Chris Matthews' legs tingle like he said Barack Obama does. Those boots were made for campaigning and they walked all over the corrupt good-ole-boy network in Alaska.
Ruth Marcus of the Washington Post says: "McCain runs the risk that Palin will turn out to be Dan Quayle with an up-do — except with less experience." She can not only spell "potato" but this union member can also fire an AK-15. Democrats run the risk of dismissing this working mother of five as a "Dan Quayle" with an up-do at their peril. Remember those 18 million cracks in the glass ceiling.
The Associated Press in a photo caption described her as "the so-called 'hockey mom' credited with reforms of her tiny, out-of-the-way state." This "tiny" state is 10 times the size of Obama's Illinois and over 250 times the size of Biden's Delaware. This "out-of-the-way" state produces 20% of our domestic energy, and could produce much more.
She actually runs her "tiny" state, unlike Delaware's Joe Biden, who rides the taxpayer-subsidized Amtrak to his job bloviating on the major issues of the day. Biden is said to have infinitely more foreign policy experience. Perhaps he can tell Obama that Iran is not a "tiny" country that poses no threat.
Governor Palin has been to Iraq. She is commander of the Alaska National Guard, units of which are serving in Iraq. Her son is going there to serve in an infantry brigade on Sept. 11.
For working moms across America, that may be the only experience she needs.
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Obama's Motion To Suppress
Obama's Motion To Suppress
By INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY | Posted Tuesday, September 02, 2008 4:20 PM PT
Free Speech: It appears Team Obama will stop at nothing to intimidate and harass those who would expose his long and cozy relationship with terrorist William Ayers. As in the '60s, lefties think freedom of speech applies only to them.
We have written extensively on the socialist past of Barack Obama as expressed in his proposals and associations, both personal and organizational. One of those associations is between Obama and Ayers, a leader of the Weather Underground, a '60s terrorist group.
It's true Obama has condemned and disassociated himself from the terrorist actions of Ayers and the Underground. But Ayers has never repudiated or apologized for his past, and if there's one word that should always precede his name, it would be "unrepentant."
Obama claims Ayers was just a "guy in the neighborhood," but clearly he was more than that. Obama misrepresents his relationship with the man in whose home his first fundraiser was held. Leading the expose of the true nature of that relationship has been National Review writer Stanley Kurtz.
Kurtz was in Chicago on Aug. 26 for the release of the papers of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge, a school reform project in which Ayers and Obama were involved. The papers had long been sought by Kurtz, who'd met with a stone wall erected by Obama's friends at the University of Illinois, Chicago. UIC had denied access to the supposedly public archives after Kurtz initially inquired, but his persistence paid off.
When local radio station WGN found out Kurtz was in town, he was invited to appear on its "Extension 720" radio show hosted by University of Chicago professor Milt Rosenberg that Wednesday night, Aug. 27.
Producer Zack Christenson said: "I called the Obama campaign, let them know that we were going to have Stanley Kurtz on the show, and offered them a chance to come on the show as well to rebut anything that he said." Christenson said the Obama campaign's response was, "This guy's a liar" and hung up.
The Obama Action Wire, which touts itself as an independent grass-roots organization dedicated to fighting "smears" against its candidate, sprang into action. It sent an e-mail to its members saying "we have a crucial opportunity to fight one of the most cynical and offensive smears ever launched against Barack."
Obamatons were given e-mail addresses, phone numbers and talking points. Christenson says there's no way to gauge the number of calls, but the lines were lit up all night. An estimated 5,000 e-mails were received.
"They were all using the same talking points that were sent out in the original Obama e-mail," Christenson noted. "They were all boilerplate e-mails."
One of the talking points in the Obama e-mail was: "Tell WGN that by providing Kurtz with airtime, they are legitimizing baseless attacks from a smear merchant and lowering the standards of political discourse. . . . It is absolutely unacceptable that WGN would give a slimy character assassin like Kurtz time for his divisive, destructive ranting on the public airwaves."
Earlier, the Obama camp bombarded Sinclair Communications with 93,000 e-mails attacking its broadcast of an ad by the independent group American Issues Project, linking Obama with Ayers in more than a casual way.
Obama campaign lawyer Robert Bauer has warned station managers, suggesting their broadcast license might be at risk: "Your station is committed to operating in the public interest, an objective that cannot be satisfied by accepting for compensation material of such malicious falsity."
Bauer has also written twice to the Justice Department, demanding it "take prompt action to investigate and to prosecute" the group and Dallas billionaire Harold Simmons, who funded the ad.
What's scary is the Obama camp may soon have control of the public airwaves through a badly misnamed Fairness Doctrine resurrected by an Obama administration and a veto-proof Congress. And those threatened lawsuits may yet be filed by an Obama Justice Department.
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By INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY | Posted Tuesday, September 02, 2008 4:20 PM PT
Free Speech: It appears Team Obama will stop at nothing to intimidate and harass those who would expose his long and cozy relationship with terrorist William Ayers. As in the '60s, lefties think freedom of speech applies only to them.
We have written extensively on the socialist past of Barack Obama as expressed in his proposals and associations, both personal and organizational. One of those associations is between Obama and Ayers, a leader of the Weather Underground, a '60s terrorist group.
It's true Obama has condemned and disassociated himself from the terrorist actions of Ayers and the Underground. But Ayers has never repudiated or apologized for his past, and if there's one word that should always precede his name, it would be "unrepentant."
Obama claims Ayers was just a "guy in the neighborhood," but clearly he was more than that. Obama misrepresents his relationship with the man in whose home his first fundraiser was held. Leading the expose of the true nature of that relationship has been National Review writer Stanley Kurtz.
Kurtz was in Chicago on Aug. 26 for the release of the papers of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge, a school reform project in which Ayers and Obama were involved. The papers had long been sought by Kurtz, who'd met with a stone wall erected by Obama's friends at the University of Illinois, Chicago. UIC had denied access to the supposedly public archives after Kurtz initially inquired, but his persistence paid off.
When local radio station WGN found out Kurtz was in town, he was invited to appear on its "Extension 720" radio show hosted by University of Chicago professor Milt Rosenberg that Wednesday night, Aug. 27.
Producer Zack Christenson said: "I called the Obama campaign, let them know that we were going to have Stanley Kurtz on the show, and offered them a chance to come on the show as well to rebut anything that he said." Christenson said the Obama campaign's response was, "This guy's a liar" and hung up.
The Obama Action Wire, which touts itself as an independent grass-roots organization dedicated to fighting "smears" against its candidate, sprang into action. It sent an e-mail to its members saying "we have a crucial opportunity to fight one of the most cynical and offensive smears ever launched against Barack."
Obamatons were given e-mail addresses, phone numbers and talking points. Christenson says there's no way to gauge the number of calls, but the lines were lit up all night. An estimated 5,000 e-mails were received.
"They were all using the same talking points that were sent out in the original Obama e-mail," Christenson noted. "They were all boilerplate e-mails."
One of the talking points in the Obama e-mail was: "Tell WGN that by providing Kurtz with airtime, they are legitimizing baseless attacks from a smear merchant and lowering the standards of political discourse. . . . It is absolutely unacceptable that WGN would give a slimy character assassin like Kurtz time for his divisive, destructive ranting on the public airwaves."
Earlier, the Obama camp bombarded Sinclair Communications with 93,000 e-mails attacking its broadcast of an ad by the independent group American Issues Project, linking Obama with Ayers in more than a casual way.
Obama campaign lawyer Robert Bauer has warned station managers, suggesting their broadcast license might be at risk: "Your station is committed to operating in the public interest, an objective that cannot be satisfied by accepting for compensation material of such malicious falsity."
Bauer has also written twice to the Justice Department, demanding it "take prompt action to investigate and to prosecute" the group and Dallas billionaire Harold Simmons, who funded the ad.
What's scary is the Obama camp may soon have control of the public airwaves through a badly misnamed Fairness Doctrine resurrected by an Obama administration and a veto-proof Congress. And those threatened lawsuits may yet be filed by an Obama Justice Department.
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