Clinton, Gates & Jones - Just What the Doctor Ordered!

Liberals in America are currently in a state of mourning now that they've learned that Hillary Clinton and Robert Gates will soon be an integral part of Barack Obama's administration. And Conservatives, well, they're absolutely ecstatic!

Suddenly, Robert Gates, whose Iraq Study Group in 2007 recommended that the United States begin withdrawing virtually all of its combat forces from Iraq, and consummate the withdrawal by early 2008 - has become a hawk in the eyes of many Liberals and Conservatives - whose memory banks [apparently] are incapable of retaining more than a few months of information at a time. Had President Bush listened to Mr. Gates' Iraq Study group, the war in Iraq would have long been lost to the insurgency.

Gates also supports direct negotiations between the US and the Mullahs of Iran. Nevertheless, the pundits insist that Robert Gates is a veritable Hawk! Hmmm......

And apparently, Hillary Clinton has also shed her Liberal credentials ever since she voted in favor of going to war with Iraq, despite the fact that almost every other Democrat in Congress voted the same way. Sen. Clinton even had the audacity to support a senate resolution labeling a renowned terrorist entity, the Iranian Revolutionary guards, as a terrorist organization! Can there be any doubt then that Sen. Clinton is anything but a true-blooded hawk?!

And how about retired Marine General James Jones, the fellow Obama tapped to be his National Security adviser? Jones - enamored with the way UN forces have been able to prevent Hezbollah terrorists from rearming and gaining undue influence inside Lebanon [ahem....] - recommended that an international force be deployed in the West Bank, instead of Israeli Defense Forces. Another hawk? Apparently so.

However, Peter Beinart of Time magazine sees things a little differently. According to Beinart [whose sentiment is also echoed by the Chicago Tribune's Steve Chapman], Jones, Gates and Clinton's foreign policy positions aren't really that much different than Obama's. It's just that their positions are perceived to be different, and more hawkish. Thus, "what distinguishes Gates, Jones and Clinton isn't their desire to shift Obama's policies to the right; it's their ability to persuade the right to give Obama's policies a chance."

"It's precisely because Obama intends to pursue a genuinely progressive foreign policy," says Beinart, "that he's surrounding himself with people who can guard his right flank at home. When George W. Bush wanted to sell the Iraq war, he trotted out Colin Powell--because Powell was nobody's idea of a hawk. Now Obama may be preparing to do the reverse. To give himself cover for a withdrawal from Iraq and a diplomatic push with Iran, he's surrounding himself with people like Gates, Clinton and Jones", who are perceived [naively] to be to the right of Obama.

And so my fellow Democrats, no need to feel dejected. Obama has clearly elucidated his self-destructive foreign policy agenda throughout the Presidential campaign, and I can assure you, he will not disappoint you anytime soon. Likewise, my fellow Conservatives, no need for you to gloat, Obama has you exactly where he wants - tucked away securely, and snugly, in his back pocket...........

Libs Waited till after Election to Express Concern About Obama

Several weeks ago, Charlie Rose had Tom Brokaw on his show. They both seemed a bit confounded by how little they really know about Barack Obama. Naturally, this drew a few laughs from conservative talk-radio host, Rush Limbaugh:



John Meacham & Evan Thomas of Newsweek Magazine appeared on the Charlie Rose program on Nov. 5 - the day after the presidential election. They both seemed to exude a bit of anxiety about Obama. Mr. Limbaugh noted at the time that only now after they got Obama into office are the Libs starting to express their fears about him. "Look at all they hid," he said. "Look at all that they refused to report. They had plenty of chances to write editorials at Newsweek magazine, and they didn't write one reflective of what they really saw and know and fear about Obama."

The 'Evil Empire' Urges Obama: Normalize Relations With Iran

Russia has consistently ignored international pleas that it cease delivering nuclear technology to Iran. And now the "evil empire" is calling on Barack Obama to normalize relations with Iran:

Russian officials are in contact with the incoming Obama administration, urging it to normalize relations with Iran and reach an agreement over its disputed nuclear program...

Bypassing the outgoing Bush administration, Russian officials have approached aides to Obama... “We are doing it through our embassy in Washington D.C. and our contacts with people who are around Barack Obama,” said Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov...

World powers have offered an incentive package to Iran with economic benefits such as wider trade and investment if it freezes enrichment and opens its program to international scrutiny. Iran has so far rebuffed the proposal...

The Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN nuclear watchdog, said Nov. 19 that Iran has produced 630 kilograms of low-enriched uranium, enough for a power station or for a weapon if the uranium were converted to bomb grade.

“Seems to me this would be a good time to send, no strings attached, a check for $200 million to Iran.”
Joe Biden shortly after 9/11

Apparently, the Russians are already drooling over the prospects of working with these pacifist clowns. But they're not about to wait till 2009 to deal with them. By bypassing the outgoing Bush administration in favor of these inept losers, the Russians may actually create "Change" sooner than any of us had expected!

Good grief.......

Raul Castro, Not So Sure He Wants to Meet with Obama

Barack Obama has said that he would be willing to meet with the leaders of Cuba, Venezuela and Iran without preconditions. But apparently, they are not so eager to meet with him...........

Actor Sean Penn recently conducted an interview with Cuban President Raul Castro on behalf of the left-wing, liberal mouthpiece, "The Nation".

"You asked if I would accept to meet with (Obama) in Washington. I would have to think about it. I would discuss it with all my comrades in the leadership," Castro tells Penn in the interview for a December 15 issue published on its website.

So Barack, it seems you have little choice but to goad Raul into meeting with you. And hopefully, you will not squander this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to meet with this most magnificent and magnanimous leader.

Oh, and by the way Barack, if Raul - out of the goodness of his heart - accepts your offer to meet with him, I beg of you, please do not discuss Al Qaeda with him.

You see, Raul's brother, Fidel, recently suggested that the U.S. government was promoting "Americans' fears about al-Qaeda" and "fabricating enemies to justify its plans for world domination". Now, I'm not sure whether you agree with his point of view or not, but it would be best not to talk with him about Al Qaeda.

However, if for some reason, Al Qaeda does come up in your conversations, tell him you agree with his point of view, namely, that the Al Qaeda terrorist organization is tiny compared to the United States - and that they don't pose a serious threat to us the way, let's say for example, John McCain and George Bush do.............

Good luck, Barack, and please bring back some Cuban cigars for me. No joy in the world is comparable to the sheer ecstasy one experiences when smoking a fine Cuban cigar, except, perhaps, the joy one feels when smoking a fine Persian cigar. But we'll save that for a later date - Ahmadinejad willing................

P.S. It seems that Raul Castro had agreed to meet with Obama, but insisted they meet in a neutral location, like Guantanamo, instead of Washington. "I think it would not be fair that I be the first to visit," he said, "because it is always the Latin American presidents who go to the United States first." So maybe he won't have to be goaded into meeting with Obama after all. Hey, what wouldn't he do for a fellow comrade! And besides, while the two are meeting in Guantanamo, Obama may be able to pull some of those suspected terrorists out of jail. It's a win-win situation! Neat!

Obama Tacitly Concedes: The Surge Was a Success

From the New York Times:

President-elect Barack Obama has decided to keep Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates in his post... [It] will be the first time a Pentagon chief has been carried over from a president of a different party...

Some advisers worried that the decision to turn to a Republican appointee... would reinforce the notion that Democrats could not manage the military. “It makes them look like they’re too wimpy to be trusted to run the building,” said one adviser who asked not to be named.

Keeping Mr. Gates after a polarizing campaign on the war also seemed incongruous to some. “I really can’t begin to understand from a political point of view how Barack Obama, a person who got the nomination because he ran against the Iraq war, can keep around the guy who’s been in charge of it for the last two years,” said Loren B. Thompson, head of the Lexington Institute, a research organization.

However, Pejman Yousefzadeh sees things a little differently:

I have to believe that if Barack Obama did not actually believe that the surge overseen by Secretary Gates really has been successful, he would not have consented to keep the Secretary on. By agreeing to retain Secretary Gates at the Pentagon, the President-elect has not-too-subtly endorsed the very surge and counterinsurgency efforts he spent time denouncing on the campaign trail.

One wishes that he would finally admit as much.... I think it is finally safe for him to say that when it came to figuring out what to do in Iraq, President Bush, Secretary Gates, General Petraeus and Senator McCain were right . . . and Barack Obama was wrong.

Barring such a verbal admission, I suppose that we will have to take this reappointment of Secretary Gates to constitute the closest thing to an admission of error the President-elect can bring himself to offer the rest of the country....

Obama: "Don't Worry Mom, I'm a Well-mannered Young Black Man!"

From the Times Online:

Early on in his book, Dreams From My Father, Mr Obama tries to reassure his mother during his senior year in high school when his grades were slipping and he was falling into what seemed to her bad company:

“I had given her a reassuring smile and patted her hand and told her not to worry, I wouldn’t do anything stupid. It was usually an effective tactic, another one of those tricks I had learned: people were satisfied so long as you were courteous and smiled and made no sudden moves. They were more than satisfied – they were relieved – such a pleasant surprise to find a well-mannered young black man who didn’t seem angry all the time".

Neat trick! I'm sure Obama's bigoted mother must have been pleasantly surprised, indeed!

Obama/Ahmadinejad Peace Talks

NPR Analyst: If Obama Is satisfied, I suppose We Must All Be!

On NPR's 'Weekend Edition' on Saturday, host Scott Simon asked NPR senior news analyst Daniel Schorr if there was a conflict of interest between Bill Clinton's foreign connections and Hillary Clinton's duties as secretary of State:

SCOTT SIMON: Does Bill Clinton become a complicating factor? Because he not only has financial interests all over the world one way or another, but in some ways, he's been conducting his own foreign policy campaign.

SCHORR: Well, somewhat. Well, he could be a problem but apparently he has satisfied Mr. Obama that he will not be a problem. He has surfaced everything that he got in the way of money from Arab and other countries for his library and for himself. He apparently has given a promise that in the future, he will not do anything in his own travels around the world that will interfere with his wife as secretary of state. And if the president-elect is satisfied, I suppose we must all be.

Audio

H/T Newsbusters

Eddie Izzard, UK Citizen, Admits He Contributed Money to Obama Campaign

Watch the following YouTube video as renowned British comedian, Eddie Izzard, tells CNN that he made a donation to Barack Obama's Presidential campaign. Izzard says that as a citizen of the UK he couldn't vote for Obama, so he supported his candidacy by making a donation to his campaign.



According to the FEC's records, Mr. Izzard donated $2,300 to Obama's campaign - under an LA address.

Now, Mr. Izzard may be a stand-up comedian, but a $2,300 foreign contribution to Obama is no laughing matter - and neither are the countless other foreign donations that Obama received.

Obama, Iran, Al Qaeda, and Castro

Reuters recently reported as follows:

President-elect Barack Obama plans to try a more regional approach to the war in Afghanistan including possible talks with Iran....

Iran, on Afghanistan's western border, has been kept at arm's length by the Bush administration, but should be considered in formulating a new Afghanistan strategy, a senior U.S. military official was cited as saying.

Unfortunately, Barack Obama fails to comprehend [or doesn't want to comprehend] that Iran is working in cahoots with Al Qaeda.

From today's Telegraph:

Fresh links between Iran's Revolutionary Guards and al-Qaeda have been uncovered following interception of a letter from the terrorist leadership that hails Tehran's support for a recent attack on the American embassy in Yemen, which killed 16 people.

Delivery of the letter exposed the rising role of Saad bin Laden, son of the al-Qaeda leader, Osama as an intermediary between the organization and Iran. Saad bin Laden has been living in Iran since the fall of the Taliban in Afghanistan in 2001...

The letter, which was signed by Ayman al-Zawahiri, al-Qaeda's second in command, was written after the American embassy in Yemen was attacked by simultaneous suicide car bombs in September.

Western security officials said the missive thanked the leadership of Iran's Revolutionary Guards for providing assistance to al-Qaeda to set up its terrorist network in Yemen, which has suffered ten al-Qaeda-related terror attacks in the past year, including two bomb attacks against the American embassy.

In the letter al-Qaeda's leadership pays tribute to Iran's generosity, stating that without its "monetary and infrastructure assistance" it would have not been possible for the group to carry out the terror attacks. It also thanked Iran for having the "vision" to help the terror organization establish new bases in Yemen after al-Qaeda was forced to abandon much of its terrorist infrastructure in Iraq and Saudi Arabia.

There has been intense speculation about the level of Iranian support for al-Qaeda since the 9/11 Commission report into al-Qaeda's terror attacks against the U.S. in 2001 concluded that Iran had provided safe passage for many of the 9/11 hijackers traveling between Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia prior to the attacks.

Scores of senior al Qaeda activists - including Saad bin Laden - sought sanctuary in Iran following the overthrow of the Taliban, and have remained in Tehran ever since. The activities of Saad bin Laden, 29, have been a source of Western concern despite Tehran's assurances that he is under official confinement.

But Iran was a key transit route for al Qaeda loyalists moving between battlefields in the Middle East and Asia. Western security officials have also concluded Iran's Revolutionary Guards have supported al-Qaeda terror cells, despite religious divisions between Iran's Shia Muslim revolutionaries and the Sunni Muslim terrorists.

Iran is active in Yemen, Osama bin Laden's ancestral homeland. The country has been a focal point for al-Qaeda, which has found relatively easy targets in its lawless environment. "Yemen is now a key strategic base for al-Qaeda's operations, as well as being fertile recruitment territory," said a senior Western security official. "Iran's Revolutionary Guards have provided important support in helping al-Qaeda to turn Yemen into a major center of operations...."

During the Presidential primaries, Joe Biden vehemently assailed lawmakers for supporting a senate resolution that labeled the Iranian Revolutionary Guards a terrorist organization. Apparently, Barack Obama and Mr. Biden plan to enlist the help of the Iranians to stabilize both Afghanistan and Iraq. If that is so, I would like to wish Barack Obama, Joe Biden and their beloved allies, the Iranian Revolutionary guards and Al Qaeda the best of luck. They're gonna need it! And so will we........

Oh! I almost forgot to mention what Fidel Castro said today.

From USA Today:

Fidel Castro suggested Sunday that the U.S. government has promoted Americans' fears about al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups to justify its plans for world domination....

He said the terrorist group was "a typical example of an enemy that the hegemonic power dangles in a place of its choosing where it needs to justify its actions, as it has done throughout its history, fabricating enemies and attacks destined to strengthen its plans of domination."...

Barack Obama has indicated that he would like to meet with Fidel Castro and hopefully reestablish ties with Cuba. And I assume that Mr. Castro will soon be working together with Barack Obama, the Iranian regime and Al Qaeda's finest to secure the war torn countries of Afghanistan and Iraq.

My fellow Americans, this is the 'change' we had all hoped for. Thank heaven, it has finally arrived......

Hillary Clinton & the "Emoluments Clause"

A new roadblock for Hillary?

Excerpted from the Washington Post:

Even if the vetting problems involving former president Bill Clinton's finances can be resolved, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton may face another roadblock on her way to the secretary of state's chair.

It's called the Constitution of the United States, specifically, Article One, Section Six, also known as the emoluments clause. ("Emoluments" means things like salaries.) It says that no member of Congress, during the term for which he was elected, shall be named to any office "the emoluments whereof shall have been increased during his term." This applies, we're advised, whether the member actually voted on the raises or not.

In Clinton's case, during her current term in the Senate, which began in January 2007, cabinet salaries were increased from $186,600 to $191,300. This situation has arisen before, most famously in the case called "The Saxbe Fix," but it involves a controversial, somewhat tortured reading of the Sacred Document.

That "fix" came in 1973, when President Nixon nominated Ohio Sen. William Saxbe (R) to be attorney general...Saxbe was in the Senate in 1969 when the AG's pay was raised...President George H.W. Bush... approved a Saxbe fix so that Treasury Secretary Lloyded Bentsen could move from the Senate to take that job.

But Democrats in the past have inveighed against this sleight-of-hand. In the Saxbe case, 10 senators, all Democrats, voted against the ploy on constitutional grounds. Sen. Robert C. Byrd (D-W.Va.), the only one of them who remains in the Senate, said at the time that the Constitution was explicit and "we should not delude the American people into thinking a way can be found around the constitutional obstacle."

Call it the Hillary Amendment?

H/T - Law Professors' Blog

I wonder who it is that reminded the Washington Post about this piece of legislation. Hmmm....

Hillary Clinton, Sec. of State - Part II

On Friday I remarked how mind-boggling it was to see someone like Barack Obama - who's received numerous campaign contributions from abroad - make such a fuss over the foreign donations that Bill Clinton received for his private foundation and library. And I wondered if Obama was simply looking for a pretext to deny Hillary Clinton the position of Secretary of State.

Now, I'm not denying that there's a conflict of interest between the hundreds of millions of dollars that Bill Clinton received from foreign sources - including a $10 million gift from the Saudi royal family - and the duties that Hillary Clinton's will perform as Secretary of State. But it still seemed a bit ironic [and hypocritical] that Barack Obama would vet Bill Clinton's international funds when he himself received numerous campaign contributions from abroad.

Hence, I suggested that Barack Obama was simply looking for a pretext to deny Hillary Clinton the top job in the State Dept. And although I posited the aforementioned theory with a bit of skepticism, it seems there are some in the Clinton camp who believe this to be true.

From the Telegraph:

Those in Mrs Clinton’s camp who wanted her to take the [Sec. of State] job wanted the financial issue [Bill Clinton's international funds] off the table believing Mr Obama would find any excuse not to give her the job.

I suppose we'll never really know what happened. However, suffice it to say that while Barack Obama may be the smoothest and shrewdest politician in modern times, Bill Clinton is certainly no slouch himself. And this time around [by agreeing to disclose the names of thousands of his past donors and offering to submit his future business and charitable activities to ethics reviews], he might have beaten the king of foxes at his own game.

P.S. On a side note, Mr. Clinton has also agreed to distance himself from his own foundation - whatever that's supposed to mean:

To clear a path for his wife's appointment, Bill Clinton agreed to several concessions: He gave the Obama team the names of more than 200,000 donors to his foundation and library; he agreed to clear any future paid speeches with the White House and State Department; and he said he would distance himself from his foundation.

Hmmm........

Hillary Clinton to be Secretary of State

From Fox News:

Sen. Hillary Clinton has accepted the position of secretary of state in the Obama administration, FOX News has confirmed...

One transition aide told FOX News that the two camps have worked out financial disclosure issues involving Clinton's husband, former President Bill Clinton, and the complicated international funding of his foundation that operates in 27 countries...

It's mind-boggling to see someone like Barack Obama - who's received countless campaign contributions from abroad - make such a fuss over Bill Clinton's foreign donations.

Was Obama simply looking for a pretext to keep Hillary out of the picture? I don't know. But if that was his plan, it failed miserably. Hillary Clinton is now Obama's Secretary of State - for better or for worse......

Patrick Gaspard Joins Obama Team

From the Washington Post:

Patrick Gaspard, a longtime labor operative, will be the White House political director for President-elect Barack Obama, sources with knowledge of the negotiations confirmed today. Gaspard served as national political director for much of Obama's general election campaign...

Gaspard was the national field director for 'America Coming Together' [ACT] during the 2004 cycle. In October of 2004, St. Louis County Board of Election Commissioners trashed hundreds of faulty voter registrations, most of them collected by voter drive groups like ACT. Many voters registered twice by using variations of their names.

In 2004, the AP reported that ACT under Gaspard had paid convicted felons to canvass homes and solicit private information (including Social Security numbers) from voters as part of its "Get out the vote effort".

In 2007, ACT was fined $750,000 by the FEC for violating election finance rules.

Before joining the Obama campaign, Gaspard had been a registered and current lobbyist for 1199 SEIU United Healthcare Workers East - as well as being its Executive Vice President.

H /T - Red State

"Lobbyists Won’t Find a Job in My White House!"

Eric Holder, Renowned Terrorist Sympathizer, named new Attorney General

Seeking to distance himself from the Bush administration's discriminatory and anti-terrorist policies, Barack Obama on Tuesday tapped terrorist sympathizer, Eric Holder as his attorney general.

In 1999, Mr. Holder, then-Deputy Attorney General in the Clinton Administration, played a key role in the pardoning of a notorious Puerto Rican terrorist group - responsible for several deaths here in the US., including the demise of a Mr. Frank Connor:

From Frank Connor's son, Joseph F. Connor - Excerpted from a Human Events article - Aug. 20, 2008:

As an “ordinary American,” I sincerely question whether Barack Obama has the judgment to be president. His lack of judgment in choosing Eric Holder as a top adviser on his campaign -- the man partly responsible for pardoning terrorists who proudly claimed responsibility for my father’s murder -- serves as primary evidence supporting that judgment...

Mr. Holder, formerly the No. 2 official in former President Bill Clinton’s Justice Department, often is mentioned as a potential attorney general in an Obama administration. This is the same man who was a driving force behind President Clinton’s pardons of members of the notorious Puerto Rican terrorist group, the Armed Forces for National Liberation (FALN).

The FALN was one of the most prolific terrorist organizations ever to wage war against the American people. They proudly claimed responsibility for over 130 bombings and incendiary attacks in the U.S. and Puerto Rico between 1974 and 1983, killing six and wounding scores.

Among these vicious, cold-blooded attacks was the Jan. 24, 1975, lunchtime bombing at New York City’s historic Fraunces Tavern. Four innocent men were murdered that day, and one of them was my 33-year-old father, Frank Connor....

Eight of these FALN terrorists later would receive pardons from President Clinton, even though they remained unrepentant...

[Unrepentant? Where have I heard that one before?... Oh that's right! Bill Ayers, the "unrepentant" terrorist.]

How does this outrageous and tragic story reflect on Barack Obama’s judgment? Holder played a central role in freeing these terrorists. As the deputy attorney general, he was responsible for signing off on all clemency matters forwarded to the President, and in this case he recommended that clemency be granted -- despite vehement opposition from the FBI, the Bureau of Prisons, and his own Justice Department...

Yet, according to Edward Lewine of the New York Daily News, despite this opposition, “Deputy Attorney General Eric Holder, the Justice Department official most involved with this issue, reportedly supported clemency..."

The Connor family was shattered on Jan. 24, 1975. Eventually, some healing began. While not a day goes by without us thinking of him, my mom got remarried to a good man. My brother and I graduated college and established families of our own. Regrettably, Frank Connor would never get to hug his four beautiful grandchildren...

Releasing the terrorists placed the American people in danger. When I helped introduce the Pardon Attorney Reform and Integrity Act in February 2000, I warned about “the encouragement would-be terrorists must have received by the” FALN clemency grants. Unfortunately, that warning proved prophetic, and Sept. 11, 2001, took the life of my father’s 41-year-old godson, Steve Schlag, and 3,000 other innocent lives as my brother and I watched in horror from our downtown offices.

As Obama declares America needs his presidency because “ordinary Americans are hurting,” I recall the pain - which one of his top advisers and a potential attorney general was an accomplice to - that was inflicted on at least one “ordinary American” family. And then I am reminded how Holder’s actions also helped place America in harm’s way. When he elevated Holder to such a senior campaign position, did Obama reflect the kind of judgment we need in a president? Absolutely not.

Sadly, I recall reading a similar story written by an individual whose father was the target of a firebomb explosion set off by the Weather Underground. [Fortunately, both father and son survived the explosion.] However, if President-elect Obama is going to bring about the kind of change he envisions for this country, he'll need the assistance of each and every terrorist-sympathizer he can possibly find - and that includes the likes of Eric Holder, Gregory Craig, Jeremiah Wright - and yes, Bill Ayers too.

Mr. Connor, I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but we are all going to have make some kind of sacrifice in order to facilitate Barack Obama's grandiose vision of change. To quote the sagacious Sen. Joe Biden: 'You need to be a little bit more patriotic.' Sacrificing your father's life for both the good of this country and the benefit of global terrorism is the least you can do to show your true patriotism and love of country.

Bill Ayers, The Hypocrisy and Twisted Mind of a Left-Wing Terrorist

“There was something about it [the execution of John Wayne Gacy] that was sickening to me, there was something about the glee…. What were we being happy about?!"
Former Weather Underground terrorist, William Ayers, on the court-ordered execution of serial Killer John Wayne Gacy. - [George Town University, November 17 2008.]

"Stuff several pounds of this... [dynamite] into a…gas or water pipe... insert a cap with a fuse attached, place this in the immediate vicinity of a lot of rich loafers... and light the fuse. A most cheerful and gratifying result will follow..."
Former Weather Underground terrorist, William Ayers, in his memoir "Fugitive Days", quoting from an editorial of an old socialist magazine, "The Alarm".

"Kill all the rich people... Bring the revolution home, Kill your parents. That's where it's really at."
William Ayers, summing up the 'Weather Underground's' political ideology.

"Everything was absolutely ideal... The sky was blue. The birds were singing. And the bastards were finally going to get what was coming to them."
William Ayers, gleefully reminiscing about the day he bombed the Pentagon

"There was something about it that was sickening to me, there was something about the glee.... What were we being happy about?!"
William Ayers, bemoaning the execution of serial killer, John Wayne Gacy!

Craig, Hinckley & Sirhan, Sirhan

The mainstream media seems to believe that Barack Obama will name Sen. Hillary Clinton as his Secretary of State. According to the New York Daily News, Sen. Obama even hinted to that effect in an interview Sunday on "60 Minutes".

However, I am a bit skeptical about that for the following reason:

Sen. Obama has named Gregory Craig as his White House counsel. Mr. Craig, who defended former President Bill Clinton against impeachment during the Monica Lewinsky scandal, later went on to become a senior adviser to Barack Obama's campaign. During the Presidential primaries, the Obama campaign released a memorandum from Mr. Craig, in which he assailed Hillary Clinton, claiming that despite her claims to the contrary, she had very little foreign policy experience.

So the question is: Will Barack Obama ignore his campaign's own memorandum and appoint someone who purportedly has very little foreign policy experience to be his Secretary of State?

And here's another question that begs to be asked: Mr. Craig represented John Hinckley Jr., the would-be assassin, who shot President Ronald Reagan in 1981. Bill Ayers dedicated his 1972 manifesto - "Prairie Fire" - in part, to Robert Kennedy's assassin, Sirhan, Sirhan. Barack Obama is quite friendly with Mr. Ayers. And now he's tapping Greg Craig - who represented Ronald Reagan's would-be-assassin - as White House Counsel.

Why is it that Sen. Obama takes comfort in associating with people who adore Presidential assassins?

I'm just asking.........

[It should also be noted that Mr. Craig represented several other high-profile thugs, including Pedro Miguel González Pinzón, a Panamanian legislator wanted in the US for the murder in 1992 of a US soldier and the attempted murder of another, and former Bolivian Defense Minister Carlos Sanchez-Berzain in a “crimes against humanity” trial. He also represented the father of Elian Gonzales during Elian's immigration/deportation ordeal.]

The Obama, Ayers "Fundraising" Lie!

From the Chicago Sun Times via Ace of Spades:

In a new afterword to his 2001 book ["Fugitive Days"], Bill Ayers, former leader of the 1960s radical group Weather Underground, describes President-elect Barack Obama as a family friend....

“We had served together on the board of a foundation, knew one another as neighbors and family friends, held an initial fund-raiser at my house, where I’d made a small donation to his earliest political campaign,” he writes....

Okay, so now Mr. Ayers has confirmed that he and Obama were "family friends". However, there's another point that needs to be made:

On October 6 of this year, the Obama campaign released a memorandum, entitled, "Will the McCain Camp be Challenged on their Lies?":

The memorandum states: "Please find, below, a list of the most common lies the McCain campaign tells about Ayers and the actual facts that prove them false."

And among those lies and facts, it states the following:

LIE: Senator Obama's political career was launched at a fundraiser hosted by Ayers.
FACT:....As the New York Times [10/3/08] confirmed, previous coffees had been hosted for Obama's State Senate campaign. State Senator Alice Palmer, Obama's predecessor, introduced some of her longtime supporters to Obama at Ayers home. That's it. It wasn't even a fundraiser.

And on October 30, the New York Times also colluded with the Obama campaign in this farce, and wrote the following:

"An article in some editions on Monday about an appearance by William Ayers, the 1960s radical, at a symposium in Manhattan referred incorrectly to the event he held in 1995 for Barack Obama , who was then running for a seat in the Illinois Senate. It was a neighborhood gathering, not a fund-raiser."

But now we know from Bill Ayers' own pen that the aforementioned gathering was indeed, a political fundraiser. As Bill Ayers writes in the afterword to his 2001 book: “We... knew one another as neighbors and family friends, held an initial fund-raiser at my house, where I’d made a small donation to his earliest political campaign."

Hopefully, the Obama campaign will add the October 6 memorandum/smear to their "Fight the Smears" website. It's the least they can do to atone for their many blatant lies and smears.

Obama, the Ayatollahs and the Third Imam

Barack Obama and the Ayatollahs of Iran have a lot in common, according to Omid Memarian, an Iranian native and a guest columnist at the Huffington Post. As a matter of fact, Barack Obama and the "Third Imam" have a lot in common too!:

Excerpted from the Huffington Post:

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was the first leader from the "axis of evil club", and its affiliates, to congratulate Barack Hussein Obama on his November 4th victory...It is a significant symbolic step that, in a long run, can turn to a dramatic shift in the U.S. foreign policy toward its major issues in the region...

Iran is the ideological and political engine for Shiite Muslims around the world...Shiite is among the few sects on the Islamic faith that strongly believes in ruling nations under the Islamic law, or Sharia, a belief that has given birth to political Islam. The founder of Islamic Republic of Iran named the United States the 'Great Satan'; since then anti-Americanism has become part of Iran's identity and fuel for Shiite movements in the entire Middles East.

But now, Iran's anti-American image is in a paradoxical situation. President-elect Barack Obama ran a campaign based on ideals like government for people, justice, equality and the other populist social slogans that have also been centerpieces of the Ayatollahs' premise to change the world and pave the way to heaven for their people...

So apparently - according to Mr. Memarian - Barack Obama and the Ayatollahs are both working towards the same goal of creating "change", by promoting "justice" in the world!

Let's hope their bipartisan endeavor succeeds and eventually leads them to the promised land.........

But how are the Ayatollahs going to "change the world and pave the way to heaven for their people"?

Well, I suppose one method of achieving that goal is through 'Martyrdom'.

To quote the ineffable President of Iran: “Is there art that is more beautiful, more divine, and more eternal than the art of martyrdom? A nation with martyrdom knows no captivity. Those who wish to undermine this principle...,undermine the foundation of our eternity. The message of the (Islamic) Revolution is global... It is a human message, and it will move forward. Have no doubt... Allah willing, Islam will conquer what? It will conquer all the mountain tops of the world."

Ah yes, the sweet taste of "Change"!

Now, let's continue on with Mr. Memarian's profound words of wisdom:

Paradoxically, Obama's middle name, Hussein, is the name of the third Imam of the Shiites [Hussein Ibn Ali], a sacred symbol of freedom and dignity... No single other moral symbol in Shiite history is more important than Hussein in fights against enemies and infidels. The name Hussein is mixed with respect, honor and glory, a man who lost his life tragically in fight with infidels... Shiites mourn his death and discuss it mixed in their literature, art, folklore, and daily life.

Obama's name and his unique stories from childhood, to his time as a community organizer, to his campaign against John McCain, which is read as a fight against the infamous George W. Bush, resonates strongly with millions of Shiites. Thus, Obama's victory fits into their mythology and prompts them to celebrate it...

You see, the third Imam battled the infidels of his time, and similarly, Barack Obama has taken on President Bush and John McCain - the infidels of our time!

What a brilliant analogy! Kudos to the Huffington Post for providing us with such enlightening material. It is truly remarkable to see just how 'progressive' the Huffington Post and the 'Left' have become over the years!

Now, bear in mind that Mr. Memarian is not the first Iranian to compare Barack Obama to the third Imam.

A pro-government website in Iran recently drew a similar comparison between the two.

From Amir Taheri in Forbes Magazine:

Is Barack Obama the "promised warrior" coming to help the Hidden Imam of Shiite Muslims conquer the world?

The question has made the rounds in Iran since last month, when a pro-government Web site published a Hadith (or tradition) from a Shiite text of the 17th century. The tradition comes from Bahar al-Anvar (meaning Oceans of Light) by Mullah Majlisi, a magnum opus in 132 volumes and the basis of modern Shiite Islam.

According to the tradition, Imam Ali Ibn Abi-Talib (the prophet's cousin and son-in-law) prophesied that at the End of Times and just before the return of the Mahdi, the Ultimate Savior, a "tall black man will assume the reins of government in the West." Commanding "the strongest army on earth," the new ruler in the West will carry "a clear sign" from the third imam, whose name was Hussein Ibn Ali. The tradition concludes: "Shiites should have no doubt that he is with us."

In a curious coincidence Obama's first and second names--Barack Hussein--mean "the blessing of Hussein" in Arabic and Persian. His family name, Obama, written in the Persian alphabet, reads O Ba Ma, which means "he is with us," the magic formula in Majlisi's tradition.

Mystical reasons aside, the Khomeinist establishment sees Obama's rise as another sign of the West's decline and the triumph of Islam. Obama's promise to seek unconditional talks with the Islamic Republic is cited as a sign that the U.S. is ready to admit defeat...

Tehran's penchant for Obama... increased when the Illinois senator chose Joseph Biden as his vice-presidential running mate. Biden... has been a consistent advocate of recognizing the Islamic Republic as a regional power. He has close ties with Khomeinist lobbyists in the U.S. and has always voted against sanctions on Iran...

Yes indeed, the Messiah is with us..... and so is the third Imam.........

P.S. According to a prominent Shiite scholar, not everything mentioned in the aforementioned 17th century text is necessarily true. Thus, the third Imam may not be with us after all... Sorry for getting your hopes up. My bad.........

Giannoulias: I Can't Believe my Mentor is President of the United States!

"Illinois State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias is pushing a plan for the legislature to formally congratulate President-elect Barack Obama with a resolution that recognizes the “indelible mark” Obama has left on Illinois and throughout the world...

"Giannoulias, who has known Obama for about 10 years, played basketball with the candidate on Election Day and was backstage at the rally in Chicago’s Grant Park when the news came that Obama had won.

“I was totally overcome with emotion. I tried not to, but I started crying,” Giannoulias said.

“I just couldn’t believe that my mentor was now president of the United States of America. I was just full of pride for this country and full of excitement for the future".”
The State Journal Register - Nov 12, 2008

"A man who has long been dogged by charges that the bank his family owns helped finance a Chicago crime figure will host a Windy City fund-raiser tonight for Sen. Barack Obama.

"Alexi Giannoulias, who became Illinois state treasurer last year after Obama vouched for him, has pledged to raise $100,000 for the senator's Oval Office bid.

"Before he promised to raise funds for Obama, Giannoulias bankrolled Michael "Jaws" Giorango, a Chicagoan twice convicted of bookmaking and promoting prostitution.

"Giannoulias is so tainted by reputed mob links that several top Illinois Dems, including the state's speaker of the House and party chairman, refused to endorse him even after he won the Democratic nomination with Obama's help."
New York Post - Sept. 5 2007

“I just couldn’t believe that my mentor was now president of the United States of America......"

Is Obama 'The Messiah' Receiving Preferential Treatment?

You remember back in August, when the Obama campaign got caught in the act of selling tickets to Barack Obama's acceptance speech [at the Democratic National Convention], despite the fact that the tickets were supposed to be free of charge?

Well, let me refresh your memory.

From Digital Journal - Aug., 2008:

CBS4 news has confirmed that 2 known Democratic supporters have expressed outrage after being solicited to buy tickets to Barack Obama's acceptance speech. The tickets were supposed to be free. The Obama campaign spokesman in Colorado says the tickets are free and the convention committee says the tickets are free, but one source told CBS4 he was solicited 3 times to buy tickets for one thousand dollars a piece. The solicitor is a consultant for the Obama campaign.The source, a known Democratic supporter, says the Obama campaign is apparently running an underground, unethical fund raising operation that is being kept secret from the public.

An e mail directed the source to a link on Obama's official campaign website. The link takes you to a little known page to buy tickets for one thousand dollars a piece. The email says "don't be concerned about the voter address on the website, it's the secret code that will get you club level access at Invesco Field".

A CBS4 reporter made several attempts to access the same page on the Obama website, but was not able to do so. It appears to be limited to big donors actively being pursued by party insiders. Only after the CBS4 reporter copied the link from the source was she able to access the "underground operation". And after the reporter made calls and pressed the Obama campaign for answers the web-page - mysteriously - shut down, saying "no more tickets available"...

[You could read what I wrote back then, if you so desire]

So why am I bringing this up right now?

Well, read the following news item and you'll understand why:

The senator overseeing Barack Obama's swearing-in ceremony said Monday she's writing to Internet sites like eBay asking them not to sell scalped inauguration tickets. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., also said she's crafting a bill that would make a federal crime of selling tickets to the historic event Jan. 20...

The tickets are supposed to be free to the public...

"These tickets are given for free to people. This is a major civic event of the time, and no one pays for their tickets, and we believe no one should be required to pay for their tickets," Feinstein said in an interview...

Feinstein said she was readying legislation for Congress' lame duck session, which begins next week, to make scalping the tickets a misdemeanor punishable by a yet-to-be-determined fine...

So apparently, it's okay when the 'Messiah' scalps free tickets [to fund his campaign], but as far as everyone else is concerned..., well, that's an entirely different story altogether!

Sigh.......

Obama & Robert Malley

“Rob Malley has, like hundreds of other experts, provided informal advice to the campaign in the past. He has no formal role in the campaign and he will not play any role in the future.”
Obama spokesman, Ben LaBolt in May of 2008, after Robert Malley, a Middle East policy adviser to Obama, disclosed that he had held meetings with the militant Palestinian group, Hamas.

"Aides said President-elect Obama had sent senior foreign policy adviser Robert Malley to Egypt and Syria to outline the Democratic candidate's policy on the Middle East. The aides said Malley... relayed a pledge from Obama that the United States would seek to reconcile with Damascus... regarded by the Bush administration as a leading supporter of the Al Qaida insurgency in Iraq...."
World Tribune - November 5, 2008

Farrakhan Praises Obama!

Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan on Sunday hailed Barack Obama as a leader with extraordinary vision, during a sermon delivered at Mosque Maryam, the movement's headquarters.

Farrakhan went on to say that "There are some who believe that the reason" the White House "is called the White House is because only a White person should be in that house. And for a black person being there other than as a baker or a cook or a security person, some would see that as sacrilege...."

Farrakhan also echoed Obama's contention that Iran does not pose a serious threat to the US:

"Iran is pressing for more nuclear knowledge and nuclear proficiency. Is that against International law? No, it is not," he said. "Iran says that she's not interested in producing weapons of mass destruction. That she wants to have nuclear energy plants that would allow her not to depend on the oil beneath her surface! Are there ways that Iran can be monitored and the truth of their assertions verified? Yes, there are!"

I suppose that's why IAEA chief, Mohamed ElBaradei conceded several weeks ago that he could not "achieve full clarity regarding the absence of undeclared nuclear material and activities in Iran," and why US intelligence experts are having difficulty monitoring Iran's nuclear activity.

"Don't you think it would be foolish for Iran to do anything with a nuclear weapon knowing that Israel has many more and is much more proficient with nuclear technology...," Farrakhan continued. "It would be suicide for Iran to even entertain the thought of using any nuclear weapon against Israel or any country in that region. Regardless to how she feels [about Israel]! A lot of people don't feel good about other people, but as long as they don't attack them, they'd gladly just get over your damn feelings!"

I must admit, it's reassuring to know that someone of Farrakhan's stature is in total agreement with Barack Obama's political views. Ultimately, if Obama is to succeed in carrying out his political agenda, he'll need all the support he can get. And what better means of support can he get, than Louis Farrakhan's stamp of approval.........

Obama Campaign Workers Enraged Over Unpaid Wages

Here's a YouTube video related to a news item that I linked to on Thursday.



"They will try and compensate them"? Hmmm.......

Additional information can be found in this video and here.

Congratulations, Jeremiah Wright!

'History would note that Trinity [church] was the sacred place where "a young man's soul was stirred and put on the path to the presidency".'
Rev. Otis Moss, Trinity United Church, Chicago - November, 9 2008

Thank you Rev Moss for those comforting and reassuring words.

And we owe it all to Rev. Jeremiah Wright. After all the hard work he put in, his chickens have finally come home to roost...............

Obama Campaign Workers Angry Over Unpaid Wages

From Reg Space:

Apparently, there are some very upset folks that worked long and hard to get Obama elected, standing in line in Indianapolis only to find HALF their earnings missing and in some cases, none at all.

Over 400 people are standing in line at the Obama Campaign Head Quarters waiting for their paychecks in the form of pre-paid VISA cards, ironically, the same method of payment from which Obama received 300 Million dollars in untraceable donations...

"I want my money today! It's my money. I want it right now!" yelled one former campaign worker.

People complaining of not getting their money or being shorted were instructed to file a claim with the campaign and someone would get back with them.

"Still that's not right. I'm disappointed. I'm glad for the president, but I'm disappointed in this system," said Diane Jefferson, a temporary campaign worker.

"It should have been $480. It's $230," said Imani Sankofa

"They gave us $10 an hour. So we added it. I added up all the hours and it was supposed to be at least $120. All I got is $90," said Charles Martin.

"I worked nine hours a day for 4 days and got paid half of what I should have earned," said Randall Waldon...

Perhaps Obama is just "Spreading their Wealth around" or perhaps it was just poor community Organizing or perhaps it's just Obama's first real executive financial management on display.........

"Impeach Obama"?

Already?

[h/t - New Republican Party Blog]

Apparently, this idea has already been out there for a while.

Illinois Hopes 'Obama Buzz' Will Boost Tourism

From Business Week:

Tourism officials in Illinois say they expect a boost from Barack Obama's election, and they're doing what they can to capitalize on the Obama buzz.

A Chicago tourism Web site invites travel-planners to "experience the city the Obamas enjoy." The Illinois Bureau of Tourism plans to launch a three-day getaway featuring Obama sites... A hand-lettered sign in one Chicago bookstore window congratulates "longtime customer" Obama. And a nearby restaurant has sold 3,000 T-shirts that read "Obama Eats Here."...

There's only one problem. I checked out some of these tourism sites and neither Bill Ayers' home, Jeremiah Wright's residence, Trinity church, or even Michael Pfleger's church, are listed in their itineraries. [neither is the Chicago Democratic Socialists of America's headquarters]

These important landmarks provide much more insight into Obama's character and lifestyle than do the restaurants he eats in or the bookstores he frequents. Americans are simply not interested in Obama's dietary habits or his scholarly pursuits. They want to get to know the real Barack Obama. They want to find out more about his character: his friends and associates - and his firebrand preachers.

Unless such historic landmarks, like Bill Ayers' home, are included in the itinerary, the 'Obama Get Away' tour will turn out to be an abysmal failure and the Illinois tourism business will end up going broke!

Ahmadinejad congratulates Obama on Victory and Embraces his Message of "Change"

From the LA Times blog:

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad today posted a congratulatory message to President-elect Barack Obama on his official website.

But his lengthy note also cautioned Obama to change America's ways and to reverse policies based on what he described as "belligerency, occupation, bullying, demagoguery," among other things...

To read more of Ahmadinejad's message, click on the link above.

Now, to be perfectly honest with you, if I didn't know this message came from Ahmadinejad, I would have thought it came straight out of one Obama's campaign speeches.

It just goes to show you that 'great minds', do indeed, 'think alike'!

But I have a couple of questions for you:

Number one: Is Ahmadinejad vying for a spot in Obama's administration? And number two: Will Obama offer him the coveted position of Secretary of State? Such a move would certainly improve relations between the US and Iran.

Hmmm, I suppose there's no use speculating - only time will tell.........

Indonesian Islamic Fundamentalists Cheer Obama Win

Excerpted from Adnkronos International:

Jakarta - Nov. 5 - Representatives of some of Indonesia’s fundamentalist Islamic groups on Wednesday celebrated United States President-elect Barack Obama’s sweeping victory in Tuesday’s presidential polls, claiming the win will be good for interracial relations and world peace...

Achmad Sobry Lubis, secretary general of the militant, anti-American Front Pambela Islam (FPI) said that he “praised Allah for Obama’s win.”

“This is what we all wanted and we are now very hopeful that he can restore peace in the world."...

He also said that Obama’s multicultural upbringing should give him the tools to better understand the Muslim world...

Founded in 1998, the FPI has gained notoriety for violent raids on bars and nightclubs during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

The FPI has also stated it intends to send ‘mujahadeen’ to fight the US and Israel. Its two leaders, Rizieq Shihab and Munarman, were last week sentenced to 18 months in jail for organising an attack against a pro-freedom of religion rally held in Jakarta on June 1.

Obama spent part of his childhood in Indonesia, where he attended a local elementary school.

Suddenly, it's Cool to be an American Again!

Based on an article written by William J. Kole of the Associated Press:

Suddenly It's Cool To Be An American Again!

He was a stranger, and he kissed me. Just for being an American.

It happened on the bus on my way to work Wednesday morning, a few hours after compatriots clamoring for change swept Barack Obama to his historic victory. I was on the phone, and a 20 year old Talibani insurgent was seated in front of me. He overheard me speaking English.

Without a word, he turned, kissed me on the cheek, pulled a cord from under his shirt and suddenly shards of metal were flying all over the place.

Nothing was said, just a simple kiss and a genuine display of affection. But the message was clear: Today, we are all Americans!

For longtime U.S. expatriates like me — who've never been kissed before by a terrorist and who've never had tiny, sharp pieces of metal penetrating into their skin before — it feels like an extraordinary turnabout.

Like a long journey over a very bumpy road has abruptly come to an end with a kiss, and a sudden exhilarating explosion.

And it's not just me.

An American colleague in Iraq says several Al Aqaeda insurgents came up to her on the streets of Baghdad and said: "America, hooray!" They celebrated througout the evening, hurling grenades at American pedestrians, screaming exuberantly, "yes we can"!

Another colleague in Iran says several Mullahs stopped her on the street, and that one of them described how he wept with joy upon hearing that Barack Obama had won the election.

Today, my best friend and training partner — who is French — just gave me his stamp of approval.

"Will you wear your Stars and Stripes shirt now? You're allowed!" he told me.

As incredible as it may sound, I no longer have to worry that perhaps my best friend - a Frenchman with a noble and kind-hearted soul - will strangle me for wearing my Stars and Stripes shirt!

It's the kind of change I had hoped for.

And I owe it all to Barack Obama!

Read the original article here.

"So This is How Liberty Dies, With a Thunderous applause!"

H/T - The Jawa Report

Joe 'The Plumber' Talks "Principles", But Rick Sanchez Just Doesn't Get It!

Apparently,CNN host, Rick Sanchez has been so indoctrinated by Liberal/Communist ideologies that he's totally incapable of understanding what Joe 'The Plumber' is saying.

Unfortunately millions of Americans have been subjected to these same ideologies and they too, can not understand what Joe Wurzelbacher is saying.

It's sad, very sad, indeed......

Voter Intimidation? No Problem!

There appears to be some kind of voter intimidation taking place outside polling booths in Philadelphia and other parts of the country. Now, Sen. McCain needs to win in Pennsylvania in order to win this election - which is why Obama supporters are using scare tactics there. Nevertheless, for those of you who feel intimidated to go to the polling booths - I have some advice for you - via Rush Limbaugh.

Some of you may feel a bit uncomfortable doing this, but it's the only way to defeat these people, who rely on scare tactics to intimidate those who disagree with them.

Here's the deal: Go out and pick up an Obama/Biden campaign button, place it on your lapel, and go out to the polling booths and vote.

These campaign buttons shouldn't be too difficult to find. Just head out to your nearest ACORN facility and tell them you'd like an Obama campaign button. Better yet, ask them for 2 campaign buttons and explain to them that you're planning on voting for Obama TWICE! Then, place both campaign buttons on your lapel. This will undoubtedly endear you to the ACORN crowd and it should get into you into the polling booth without any hitch.

Good luck and may you return home alive, unharmed - and in one piece........

Viva La France! Viva La Obama!

French President, Nicolas Sarkozy may be a bit apprehensive over the prospect of an Obama Presidency, but many of his fellow countrymen are ecstatic over the idea.

Take a look at the following YouTube video. But first read the description in the sidebar of the video. Here's what it says:

"In partnership with the French Committee of Support for Barack Obama, French and European citizens come together with Americans and other nationalities on Monday, November 3rd, 2008 on the Esplanade of Trocadéro to release a red, white, and blue flock of balloons for the election of Barack Obama. The Eiffel Tower sparkles in the background in a special show for Obama."



Please show your support for Senator Obama and his French constituents by visiting the 'France For Obama' blog. But please be forewarned that in order to read this blog you must understand French - which, I assume, is the reason Sen. Obama wants us all to learn French.......

Rezko & Obama, A "Mutual" Charade?

Kenneth J. Conner once had a nice and prestigious job working as a real estate analyst at the Mutual Bank in Harvey, Illinois. But Conner is no longer working at the bank, he is now officially unemployed. That's right, he was fired for blowing the whistle on his employees over a collaborative scheme worked out between the bank, Tony Rezko and Presidential candidate, Barack Obama.

Here's what happened:

In June of 2005, Mutual Bank approved a loan for Rita Rezko, the wife of now-indicted financier,Tony Rezko, that enabled her to purchase a lot adjacent to the home Barack Obama was buying. The bank obtained a real estate appraisal from the Adams Valuation Corporation, which assessed the value of the property at $625,000. Rita Rezko closed on the purchase of the property at a purchase price of $625,000 along with a loan for $500,000 from the bank.

However, Mr. Conner later made his own assessment of the value of the lot, and concluded that the Adams' appraisal overvalued the property by $125,000 and that the lot was worth no more than $500,000.

As it turned out, Obama bought his home for $1.65 million - $300,000 under the asking price - on the same day that Rita Rezko bought the neighboring lot for the asking price of $625,000 in 2005.

Hmmm..... Do I hear 'Kickback'?

Conner notified the bank's CEO's of his findings, and his ARR was filed in the "Rezko 5050 Greenwood" loan file at Mutual Bank. On one or more subsequent occasions, Conner re-examined the loan file and there were no other appraisal reviews, reports or checklists of the Adams appraisal in the file other than his own.

Later that year, Mutual Bank received a Grand Jury subpoena requiring the bank to produce Rita Rezko's "5050 Greenwood file". However, instead of submitting Mr. Conner's file to the GJS, the bank submitted an appraisal checklist - "purportedly" dated 6/15/05 - from senior Vice President James Murphy. In 2007, Conner noticed that his ARR of the property was not in the "Rezko Greenwood 5050" file, but in its place was the Murphy checklist, ["purportedly"] dated 6/15/05.

Hmmm......

Conner subsequently sent an email to James Murphy complaining about the matter, and on October 2007 Conner sent an email to the bank's Human Resources Department representative, Lana Schlabach, expressing "resentment" over the removal of his ARR from the "Rezko Greenwood" file, adding that he was under the impression that the FBI had examined the file, but apparently, had not seen his ARR because it was removed from the file. Conner also wrote that if the FBI were to ask him "about such matters", he would have to "tell them the truth."

And guess what happened after that.

Eight days after Conner's email to Schlabach, Conner was fired for "pretextual" reasons.

Hmmm.....

Conner is suing the bank for $4,2 million. And the bank could be guilty of making false statements, willfully overvaluing property, bank fraud, witness retaliation, willful violation of a lawful subpoena, FDIC violations, and state banking regulations.

Let's see: Mr. Conner lost his job, and the bank CEO's could end up in jail, right alongside Tony Rezko. But Barack Obama, well, he's headed to the White House, of course - and in all fairness, I wouldn't expect anything less for the "Messiah".........

PDF file of Mr. Conner's suit

And the latest from the Washington Times.

Hillary Clinton RoboCall Against Obama

I'm sorry CNN - I know that as "fair and balanced" journalists you are required to be 'in the tank' for Obama, but please don't misrepresent what Hillary said or make her retract her remarks.... Let her words speak for themselves. She may not be very happy about it, but she said it, and she meant it!

Case closed!

Bin Laden: Obama and I Have Much in Common

Obama-Farrakhan Ties Are Close, Ex-Farrakhan Aide Says

Excerpted from Newsmax:

A former top deputy to Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan tells Newsmax that Barack Obama’s ties to the black nationalist movement in Chicago run deep, and that for many years the two men have had “an open line between them” to discuss policy and strategy, either directly or through intermediaries...

Dr. Vibert White Jr., who spent most of his adult life as a member and ultimately top officer of the Nation of Islam,... broke with the group in 1995 and is now a professor of African-American history at the University of Central Florida in Orlando.

White said Obama was “part of the Chicago scene” where Farrakhan, Jesse Jackson, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr. and radicals would go to each other’s events and support each other’s causes.

"Even though Chicago is the third-largest city in the country, within the black community, the political and militant nationalist community is very small. So it wouldn’t be uncommon for [Obama and Farrakhan] to show up at events together, or at least be there and communicate with each other,” White told Newsmax...

In 1995, according to a profile of Obama that appeared in the Chicago Reader newspaper, Obama “took time off from attending campaign coffees to attend October’s Million Man March in Washington, D.C.”...

Obama spoke at length with the Chicago Reader upon his return from the Million Man March...

“Historically, African-Americans have turned inward and towards black nationalism whenever they have a sense, as we do now, that the mainstream has rebuffed us, and that white Americans couldn't care less about the profound problems African-Americans are facing," Obama said.

“Black nationalism” is a current of thought and political action in the African-American community that has been championed by the likes of Farrakhan, Wright, Malcolm X, the Black Panthers and Khalid al-Mansour. Obama discussed his attraction to black nationalism at length in his 1995 memoir “Dreams of My Father.”

Obama further parsed his words in a Feb. 25, 2008, presentation to a Jewish community meeting in Cleveland, Ohio, where he insisted that [Rev. Jeremiah] Wright “does not have a close relationship with Louis Farrakhan.”

And yet, just months earlier, Wright’s Trumpet magazine gave Farrakhan its Lifetime Achievement Dr. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr. Trumpeter Award, saying that Farrakhan “truly epitomized greatness.”

That award was the fruit of a long and deep relationship between the two men, White told Newsmax. In 1984, Wright accompanied Farrakhan on his much-criticized trip to meet Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, at a time when Gadhafi was considered an enemy of the United States...

White began in the late 1970s as a foot soldier in the Fruit of Islam, the military branch of Farrakhan’s Black Muslim group, then rose to become a minister of the Nation of Islam and a top deputy to Farrakhan himself... He parted ways with Farrakhan not long after the Million Man March, after nearly 25 years within the organization.

White’s 2002 book “Inside the Nation of Islam” prompted death threats by Farrakhan loyalists, so he left Illinois and moved to Florida to teach at the University of Central Florida.

He told Newsmax that Obama’s remarkable speaking style, even his manner of standing at a podium to appear larger than life, is directly copied from Farrakhan.

“If the Nation of Islam can’t do anything else, it can train people how to speak. And nobody can outspeak a Muslim minister,” he said.