"John McCain has served this country longer in the POW camp than his opponent has served in the United States Senate."

Thus spoke Ah-nold today at a McCain rally in Ohio.

It is quite a zinger, but it also makes a profound point. With McCain, you are getting a proven commodity, but does anyone really know who Obama is and what he stands for? I don't think anyone does, but from where I stand, Obama sure looks like a Marxist.

Obama In a Nutshell

America's Half-Blood Prince: Barack Obama's Story of Race and Inheritance

Steve Sailer has published a new book, America's Half-Blood Prince: Barack Obama's Story of Race and Inheritance, which can be downloaded for free here. Here's an excerpt:

The overarching thesis of my book is extremely simple: that there’s no secret about Obama’s big secret. He spelled out exactly what he considers the central mandates of his existence in the subtitle of his graceful 1995 memoir Dreams from My Father. To Obama, his autobiography is most definitely not a postracial parable. Instead, it is A Story of Race and Inheritance.

The then 33-year-old Obama who wrote Dreams from My Father is obsessed with ethnicity and ancestry, as he relentlessly documents across nearly each of the book’s 460 pages. For 150,000 words, nothing diverts Obama from the subject of his racial identity.

What is the precise concern about race and inheritance that galvanizes Obama’s innermost emotions?

Once again, it’s not exactly a mystery.

Obama’s 1995 memoir reveals a genetically biracial young man raised by his white relatives who incessantly interrogates himself with the same question that the 139,000 mostly turgid articles and web postings catalogued by Google have asked about him: Is he black enough?


Sailer further argues that Obama has fulfilled this lifelong quest to prove he is "black enough" by becoming a radical leftist:

To be black enough is tied up in Obama’s mind with being left enough. As someone brought up by whites far from the black mainstream, Obama lacks the freedom to be politically unorthodox enjoyed by men of such iconic blackness as boxing promoter Don King, or funk singer James Brown and basketball giant Wilt Chamberlain, both of whom endorsed Richard Nixon in 1972.

Obama's Shocking Post-9/11 Comments

Chicago Defender
Copyright 2001 Chicago Defender

October 17, 2001

Sen. Obama: Barriers `sad, symbols of fear"

The "ugly" barriers that have been erected outside of the Sears Tower, the Federal Building, the Daley Plaza and other city buildings in downtown Chicago following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks are "sad, symbols of fear" and constant reminders of just how vulnerable America is, Sen. Barack Obama (D-13th) said Monday.


"Sad symbols of fear"? Good lord -- this pansy should be on Oprah; he should under no circumstances be commander-in-chief of the U.S. armed forces. Worse still, Obama insinuated that U.S. foreign policy may have been responsible for 9/11:


"We should also examine the foreign policies of the the U.S. to make sure that we occupy the moral high ground in these conflicts. In particular, we have to examine some of the root causes of this terrorist activity," Obama said, referring to terrorist leader Osama bin Laden and his "sleeper" cells throughout the world.

Obama: Life Mission Is to Help Blacks and "Plow" Gifts Into Black Community

Some telling excerpts from a 1990 Boston Globe article in which the supposedly "post-racial" Obama frankly explains that his life mission is to help blacks and "plow" gifts into the black community:


Boston Globe (MA)
Copyright Globe Newspaper Company 1990

February 15, 1990

Section: METRO

A LAW REVIEW BREAKTHROUGH

Linda Matchan, Globe Staff

...

What seems to motivate Barack Obama is a strong identification with what he calls "the typical black experience," paired with a mission to help the black community and promote social justice.

...

In college, he specialized in international relations at Occidental College in Los Angeles and, for his final two years, at Columbia University in New York. He transferred, he said, "because I was concerned with urban issues and I wanted to be around more black folks in big cities."

After short stints as a business journalist and as an advocate for a Harlem-based public interest research group, he conducted what he refers to as a "nationwide search" for community-based social action work with a liveable salary.

He found it in Chicago. He became the director and sole paid employee of the Developing Communities Project, a church-based advocacy organization for low- and middle-income blacks. His annual salary was $13,000. By the time he left, the organization had 13 employees and a solid record of accomplishments, from the removal of asbestos in public housing units to education counseling for disadvantaged youths.

Obama plans to return to Chicago after graduation -- "I've finally found a home," he said, smiling -- and intends to resume community work and possibly to enter politics.

"Having had access to the system, to a language that is sometimes foreign" to blacks, Obama said, "I have a certain mission to make sure that the gifts I've received are plowed back into the community."

Obama: A Lifetime Commitment to Marxism

A timeline of Obama's lifetime commitment to Marxism:

1960s-1970s

Obama's mother and father were both Marxists. His childhood mentor, Frank Marshall Davis, was an open member of the Communist Party USA.

1980s

Obama attends Occidental College in California, where he deliberately befriends the "Marxist professors." Later, Obama transfers to New York's Columbia University, where he begins venturing to the East Village for what he calls "the socialist conferences I sometimes attended at Cooper Union."

1990s

In the 1990s, Obama launches his political career in the home of two openly-declared Marxists, Bernadine Dohrn and Bill Ayers. Also in attendance was state senator Alice Palmer, who had anointed Obama her chosen political successor. Palmer was involved in several Soviet front organizations and had made multiple pilgrimages to the Soviet Union. Also during this time, Obama comes under the tutelage of Reverend Wright, a proponent of black liberation theology, which, as Wright has explained, is Marxist in nature. Obama also becomes of a member of the New Party in Chicago, which was a socialist party.

Post-2000

In 2001, Obama gives a radio interview in which he declares that the "tragedy" of the civil rights movement was that it did not encompass "redistribution of wealth" and issues of "economic justice." Echoing those comments on the campaign trail in 2008, Obama tells "Joe the plumber" that the goal of his tax policy is to "spread the wealth around.". Finally, there is Obama's Senate voting record, which the non-partisan National Journal ranked as most liberal in the Senate in 2007. By comparison, Bernie Sanders, the self-described socialist Senator from Vermont, ranked as fourth most liberal.

So there you have it. Despite the best attempts of the mainstream media, the evidence of Obama's lifetime commitment to Marxism is there for all to see. We are now within 7 days of installing a Marxist in the Oval Office. Will Americans wake up before it is too late? Please get the word out.

Obama Wanted Housing Projects for the Homeless in 2003

Here's a description of a 2003 bill Obama co-sponsored in the Illinois state senate that would have mandated the construction of new housing projects for the homeless:

Synopsis As Introduced
Creates the Illinois Housing Initiative Act of 2003. Requires that a task force, composed of all key State agencies with functions related to housing and other experts in housing, develop an annual comprehensive housing plan that prioritizes the development of a range of permanent housing for certain underserved populations, including low-income and homeless persons.

Boy, that sounds like a great idea -- housing projects for the homeless. This is exactly the type of "economic justice" Obama will pursue if elected president. You work hard, you play by the rules, you try to save a little money for your family and then ...

"STOP! HAND OVER THAT MONEY!" The One has decreed that your property must be confiscated because "economic justice" requires it. Housing projects for the homeless? That's just the beginning.

Obama Bombshell: Civil Rights Movement Failed--Did Not Produce Redistribution of Wealth

Except it's not a bombshell. This blog and others have been trying for months to inform the public of Obama's socialist leanings. But today it's going more mainstream. Drudge Report's current headline should be a news bombshell, especially a week away from Election Day eve, but that's not the news world we live in.

But now that Obama's words have sunk in ("Wow!"), I still can't believe that Americans may vote this socialist into office.

He is no longer just telling Joe the Plumber that he wants to take some of Joe's money and give it to others who are more deserving. Rather, Obama is asserting that the civil rights movement failed because it did not convince the Supreme Court to venture "into the issues of redistribution of wealth and the sort of more basic issues of political and economic justice in this society."

Wow. Let that sink in for a bit...

Obama is revealing his belief that the civil rights movement should have resulted in the redistribution of wealth. This would mean creating a permanent welfare class that would be entitled to money earned by others for having suffered a civil rights injustice in the past. This is economic justice? I see the economy part, but where's the justice?

How about believing in the idea that people create wealth and government should stay out of that business, as much as possible? And how about believing that every American is given the opportunity to become as productive a member of society as he or she wants? And how about believing that you can't walk around feeling entitled to things without having done something to earn them?

Can you imagine the harm that Obama's redistribution of wealth would cause African-Americans (and others who consider themselves beneficiaries of the civil rights movement)? By putting segments of society into a permanent welfare class--entitled to receive a check that somebody else earned for them--Obama would be creating a whole new culture of dependency.

This idea scares me. Dependency is a very ugly thing and entitlement just became a very bad word.

The Man Who Got Obama Into Harvard Law School

Because Obama's college grades were not stellar, it follows that Obama needed some help getting into Harvard Law School. By now, many conservatives have heard that Khalid Al-Mansour was the man who helped Obama get into Harvard.

This amazing story first came to light during a television interview with Percy Sutton, the former Borough President of Manhattan. During that interview, Sutton revealed that at the time Obama was applying to Harvard, Al-Mansour was raising money for Obama and Al-Mansour also asked Sutton to pull some strings at Harvard on Obama's behalf. If you haven't seen this remarkable clip of Sutton relaying the story, I highly recommend you watch it now on YouTube. It is must-see tv.

Having established that Al-Mansour wanted Obama to get into Harvard Law, the next logical questions are: (i) who is Khalid Al-Mansour? and (ii) why did he want so badly for Obama to be accepted to Harvard Law? As to the first question, Khalid Al-Mansour is an African-American lawyer who converted to Islam in 1964 and later became a close advisor to the Saudi royal family, and in particular, Prince Alwaleed bin Talal. That is the same Saudi prince who gave Giuliani a $10 million check after 9/11 on condition that Giuliani acknowledge that 9/11 was caused by America's support for Israel. Thankfully, Giuliani told him to shove it.

As to why Al-Mansour wanted Obama to be accepted to Harvard Law, Al-Mansour ain't telling. Nevertheless, it is easy to determine the man's political goals because Al-Mansour is a prolific writer. In fact, here's a list of some of Al-Mansour's books:

The Challenges Of Spreading Islam In America

The Destruction Of Western Civilization

Americans Beware! The Zionist Plot Against Saudi Arabia

Welcome To Islam

Let those titles sink in for a moment. It is fair to say that, whomever Al-Mansour supports, any feedom-loving person should oppose. Will America wake up before it is too late? We have 12 days left and counting.

BREAKING: 71% Say McCain Qualified to be President, but Only 46% Say Obama Qualified

Conservatives are excited tonight about a new AP poll showing that Obama and McCain are now in a statistical dead heat: Obama 44% - McCain 43%.

But it gets even more interesting. Looking at the data behind the data, the same poll shows that 71% of likely voters believe McCain has "the right type of experience" to be president (20% do not), whereas only 46% believe Obama has "the right type of experience" (44% do not). In another words, the country overwhelmingly believes McCain is qualified to be president, but is evenly split as to whether Obama is qualified. That seems like awfully good news for McCain. After all, it is hard to imagine that many of the 44% of Americans who believe Obama is unqualified will actually vote for him. So that leaves merely 56% of Americans who could even potentially vote for Obama. That doesn't leave Obama much room for error.

Another extremely interesting finding: although the candidates are in a virtual dead heat, likely voters overwhelmingly believe (67%-25%) that Obama will be elected. So even though voters are evenly divided as to which candidate they prefer, the perception is that Obama is way ahead. Interesting, huh? Reminds me of a fascinating Zombietime essay I just read.

New Book by Ayers and Dohrn: "Race Course Against White Supremacy"

Here's a peek at a new book by Ayers and Dohrn scheduled to be released in June 2009. From the product description via Amazon.com:

White supremacy and its troubling endurance in American life is debated in these personal essays by two veteran political activists. Arguing that white supremacy has been the dominant political system in the United States since its earliest days—and that it is still very much with us—the discussion points to unexamined bigotry in the criminal justice system, election processes, war policy, and education. The book draws upon the authors' own confrontations with authorities during the Vietnam era, reasserts their belief that racism and war are interwoven issues, and offers personal stories about their lives today as parents, teachers, and reformers.

Got that? White supremacy is "the dominant political system in the United States" and US wars are caused by white "racism." That seems to be the essence of the new Ayers/Dohrn book. More evidence that Ayers and Dohrn are committed radicals to this day, which is precisely why it's disingenuous for Obama to say he was 8 years old when Ayers set the bombs. The issue with Obama is not that he himself is a terrorist, but that his friends/associates seem to be overwhelmingly of the anti-American, anti-white and anti-Semitic variety. Based solely on the title and product description, Race Course Against White Supremacy seems indistinguishable in tone and content from a typical "God Damn America" sermon from Jeremiah Wright or Michael Pfleger.

Now ask yourself this: are Obama's friendships with individuals such as Jeremiah Wright, Michael Pfleger, William Ayers, Bernadine Dohrn and Rashid Khalidi merely a remarkable coincidence? Is it possible that if someone examined your friends and associates, a similar array of terrorists, racists and Marxist revolutionaries would emerge? Because that is the essence of the "guilt by association" defense peddled by Obama and his friends in the media.

Oh, and big deal Michelle Obama said she had never in her entire adult life been proud of her country. Hey, it was "out of context" and it's easy to imagine Laura Bush saying the same exact thing in an unguarded moment, right? And if you believe that, I have a bridge to sell you.

We are at a critical stage in US history. We have two "official" wars against radical Islamists that need to be won in Iraq and Afghanistan, and we are facing a global jihadist threat from Islamists all over, including in our own country. Yet we are on the verge of handing over the White House to a hard-core leftist who was raised Muslim as a child, who has numerous Muslim members of his family, and who's made clear that he still identifies to some extent with his Islamic past.

Change!

NY Times Features Bizarre Photo from McCain Rally on Front Page

Above is a photo from a McCain rally that is currently running on the front page of the NY Times webpage (link is here, but it will probably soon change). Look carefully. In the front row is a white guy wearing a Halloween mask that makes it appear that he is black. And immediately to his left is a woman wearing what appears to be a Sarah Palin mask.

What does this mean? No idea -- but the Times' caption merely says, "Above, a McCain rally in Concord, N.C."

Any thoughts on what is going on here?

UPDATE: As predicted, the photo is now off the front page, but you can still get it here. And there's a new caption: "Jason Waller, left, in an Obama mask, and Elazbeth Waller as Gov. Sarah Palin while Senator John McCain talks in Concord, N.C., on Saturday."

"I Was Born in Colombia, But I Was Made in the USA"

I was bursting with pride when I read this account of Colombian-born Tito Munoz giving the liberal media a piece of his mind at a McCain rally in Virginia. Anyone who loves America can relate to Tito, but his story particularly resonates with me. Byron York of the National Review has the scoop:

Someone asked why Munoz had come to the rally. “I support McCain, but I’ve come to face you guys because I’m disgusted with you guys,” he said. “Why the hell are you going after Joe the Plumber? Joe the Plumber has an idea. He has a future. He wants to be something else. Why is that wrong? Everything is possible in America. I made it. Joe the Plumber could make it even better than me. . . . I was born in Colombia, but I was made in the U.S.A.”

Exactly right. Everything is possible in America and that's why so many of us immigrated here in the first place, from Colombia or elsewhere. What I suspect is driving Munoz is the fear that, under an Obama adminstration, no longer will America be the land of limitless opportunity, but will instead become a stagnant socialist economy supposedly built on "fairness" -- just like, say, France. Indeed, Obama's "fundamental change" mantra seems to call into question the very idea that America is fundamentally good and fair, for if it were, why would "fundamental change" be necessary?

Meanwhile, the great debate was continuing, with Tito the Construction Worker and David the Journalist trading points. Much of it wasn’t terribly informative, but there was one lovely moment when a shouting match turned into a lesson on the fundamental meaning of American constitutional rights — and the immigrant was the teacher.

“Let me talk,” Munoz said to Corn. “I know the Constitution, and I know my First Amendment — ”

“I’m not the state,” Corn said. “I can’t take that right away from you.”

“No, no,” Munoz shot back. “Even the state, the state cannot take that right away.”

“Right, right,” Corn quickly agreed.

“Nobody can take that away,” Munoz said.

Gotta love it! The Washington bureau chief for Mother Jones gets schooled by little ol' Tito Munoz! That, folks, is America.

Colin Powell's Bizarre Rant about Obama and Islam

Colin Powell launched into a bizarre rant on Meet the Press today in which he endorsed Obama largely because of anti-Muslim bigotry that Powell believes has become commonplace in the Republican party. Here is what Powell said:

I'm also troubled by – not what Senator McCain says – but what members of the Party say, and it is permitted to be said: such things as, "Well, you know that Mr. Obama is a Muslim." Well, the correct answer is he is not a Muslim. He's a Christian; has always been a Christian.

It is puzzling that Powell would claim that Obama "has always been a Christian" whereas in fact the evidence shows that Obama was raised as a Muslim in his early years in Indonesia. In any event, Powell continued:

But the really right answer is, "What if he is? Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in this country?" The answer's "No, that's not America." Is there something wrong with some seven-year-old Muslim American kid believing that he or she could be President? Yet, I have heard senior members of my own Party drop the suggestion he's Muslim and he might be associated with terrorists. This is not the way we should be doing it in America. ... Now, we have got to stop polarizing ourself in this way. And John McCain is as non-discriminatory as anyone I know. But I'm troubled about the fact that within the Party we have these kinds of expressions.

Let me get this straight. John McCain is as non-discriminatory as anyone Powell knows, yet Powell is endorsing Obama to combat the bigotry of other, unnamed members of the Republican party? So by Powell's own admission, McCain is no bigot, whereas it is an established fact that Obama attended an openly racist church for 20 years and considers the racist Reverend Wright to be his personal mentor. And if the bigotry of other members of each party were somehow relevant, why is it not appropriate to mention that the most senior Democrat in the Senate is a former KKK leader?

McCain's Greatest Act of Patriotism Yet

Ok, I'll admit it -- I've been as puzzled as anyone about McCain's refusal to use Reverend Wright against Obama. But I'm starting to look at things differently.

Let's be clear about something: Reverend Wright is Kryptonite to Obama. Wright is a racist, America-hating, Farrakhan-supporting lunatic who just happens to have been a father figure to Obama. If I were running McCain's campaign, I'd spend every last dollar running ads juxtaposing Reverend Wright's hate-filled rants with Obama's lavish praise for the man. And I'm sure it would work.

By resisting this tactic, McCain is likely sowing the seeds of his own defeat. The only plausible explanation for McCain's decision is a moral conviction that doing so would greatly diminish the ability of our next president to be a leader for all Americans. That McCain is willing to go down in defeat rather than hang Reverend Wright around Obama's neck is an act of patriotism like none of us has ever before witnessed. This, above all else, may be the greatest act of patriotism that John McCain has ever given his country.

Would I make the same decision as McCain? In all honesty, no. But I am not the patriot that John McCain is.

Confirmed: Vera Baker - - Alleged Obama Girlfriend - - *Was* His Finance Director

The conservative blogosphere is buzzing about a potential bombshell -- Obama may have had an affair with a former staffer named Vera Baker. See here, here, here and here. According to the rumor, Baker has now been "exiled" to the Caribbean on Michelle Obama's orders.

Who is Vera Baker and is this story true? I don't know. Apparently, some of the uncertainty centers on whether Baker actually served on Obama's staff, in particular as finance director. Although this hardly constitutes proof of an affair, this 2004 piece from the National Journal confirms that Baker did in fact serve as Obama's finance director:

Congress Daily
Copyright 2004 National Journal, Inc.

April 29, 2004

HOME SWEET HOME. Doug Thornell says his experience as former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean's traveling secretary during the Democratic presidential campaign was "thrilling," but he's happy to be back in Washington. "It's nice to get to sleep in the same bed every night now," says the Silver Spring, Md., native, who returned to D.C. in mid-March after a vacation in California. Thornell just started his new job as a deputy political director at the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. He replaced Vera Baker, who is now the national finance director for Illinois state Sen. Barack Obama's Democratic U.S. Senate campaign. Thornell shares the deputy political director title with colleague Jamie Linski, former assistant political director at the DSCC, who was promoted to the deputy slot.


And here is some additional background information on Vera Baker:

African American professionals can build prosperous careers in the capital city, especially those hoping to play a role in national politics. "There's a mentality here that there's enough for everyone; you're not competing for what feels like a limited number of opportunities," says 29-year-old Muthoni Wambu.

Like most Washingtonians, Wambu is a transplant. She left New York City's Upper West Side to study journalism at Howard University and then networked her way into a political fundraising job with the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. This was a new aspect of politics for Wambu, who soon discovered that it "brought together my strengths in a way that I'd never anticipated."

In 2000, Wambu and Vera Baker, another Howard alum, started Baker-Wambu & Associates. The firm has raised over $3 million for the campaigns of members of Congress and other politicians. "Washington is the best place for our firm to blossom and grow, and one of the only cities where two 24-year-old African American women [could have built a successful business] with pennies and a dream," she says.

Explosive New Details About Osama's Older Brother

Steve Coll's book, The Bin Ladens, has some explosive new details about Osama's older brother, Salem Bin Laden:

He had a particular habit, remembered by many of his friends and employees, of speaking frankly about the gas he passed. Once, in the company of the august governor of Riyadh, Salman bin Abdulaziz, Salem noisily let himself go. This was as taboo in Bedouin culture as in a French drawing room. Prince Salman asked Salem what had happened. "I just farted, Prince," he answered. Don't you fart sometimes?" [p. 163]

Osama's big bro was even willing to let loose around the King, himself. Once, when King Fahd complained that he was tired of so many Bedouins waiting in a line to meet him, Salem proposed a ripping solution:

"I can solve this problem," Salem replied. You let me know one day before, and all day long I'll eat food. Some dark beans. You put me in front of the queue, and I'll start farting, and all the Bedouins will disappear." Fahd laughed so hard that his doctor feared he might have a heart attack, so Salem was hauled away." [p. 166]

But all kidding aside, it seems there was something profoundly wrong with Salem Bin Laden:

His need for constant companionship grew increasingly awkward. When he used the bathroom, for example, he kept the door open and demanded that his friends sit nearby and talk to him as he sat. If no members of his entourage were around, he called down to the front desk and offered to pay for a maid or maintenance man to come to his room, to sit outside the bathroom and keep him company while he did his business. [p. 316-17]

The New Republic Says It: Obama Hates White People

A must-read article from The New Republic:

The Barack Obama who appears in Dreams, and, one presumes, in his own continuing interior life, is not a comforting multiracial or post-racial figure like Tiger Woods or Derek Jeter who prefers to be looked at through a kaleidoscope. Though there are many structural parallels between Dreams and Invisible Man, Obama believes in the old-fashioned, unabashedly romantic, and, in the end, quite weird idea of racial authenticity that Ellison rejected. He embraces his racial identity despite his mixed parentage through a kind of Kierkegaardian leap into blackness, through which he hopes to become a whole, untroubled person.
....

Obama's decision to identify with the lineage of his black Kenyan father to the exclusion of his white U.S.-born mother, Stanley Ann Dunham, and her parents allows him a measure of release from the cruel racial logic that binds Ellison's narrator--he comes from outside American society, and therefore he is not entirely bound by the overdetermined racial logic that unites the children of slaves and masters. Yet, while Obama's rejection of his "white blood" may seem familiar from the writings of African American authors like Malcolm X, it is actually much stranger; Obama's partial "whiteness" is not the product of an ancient rape by an anonymous slave-master but is instead the color of the mother who raised him.
...

The assumption that Obama racially identifies to some strong extent with his white mother and grandparents comes naturally to white people, but it is contradicted by the evidence of his work. ... Dreams from My Father does not end with the expected discovery that we are all radically alone in the world, but rather with the discovery that he is a member of a strong and loving black African family--even if the father he identified with as a child is a myth created by guilty white liberals. Throughout his narrative, Obama's evolving "blackness" requires a deliberate and increasing degree of mental and physical alienation from the white relatives who cared for him as a child.

And as the author also observes, Obama's campaign is one big cover-up -- he simply cannot reveal who he really is to the American people:

While the identity that he constructed for himself in his autobiography has allowed him to blossom as a man and as a politician, it bears little resemblance to the conventional narratives of white men who run for president--and contains elements that are likely to frighten off large portions of the electorate, before or after November 4. The story of a man who identifies with a foreign father, and with people who are not Americans, and who does so on the basis of the color of their skin, flies in the face of the simplistic racial pieties that white Americans have embraced since the end of Jim Crow. The identity that Obama so painstakingly created for himself is not one that he can share with the electorate, and so the price of his political success is that he is forced to sublimate the material he had so painfully excavated and again become invisible.

Read the entire piece. It is probably the most accurate depiction of Obama I've seen in any mainstream publication.

Was Obama a Member of the Socialist "New Party"?

I've been attempting to shine light on Obama's hidden Marxist past, so I've been excited to see a buzz in the blogosphere today about Obama's affiliation with a socialist party called the New Party. See here, here and here, for example.

I just wanted to mention that this month's issue of the invaluable Commentary Magazine has the low-down on Obama and the New Party (and much more) in an article entitled Obama's Leftism, which I have linked to before. The article should be mandatory reading for all Americans. In any event, here's the excerpt on Obama and the New Party:

In his campaign for the Illinois senate, Obama was endorsed by the New Party (NP), a coalition of socialists, Communists, and other leftists. According to the newsletter of the local chapter of Democratic Socialists of America, whose members were said to constitute 15 percent of the Chicago New Party, “Once approved, candidates must sign a contract with the NP [which] mandates that they must have a visible and active relationship with the NP.” Apparently, Obama signed such a pledge. After winning the primary (unopposed because his lawyers had succeeded in knocking all three opponents off the ballot), he appeared at a New Party membership meeting to voice his thanks.

Amazing, isn't it? Four weeks to go and a socialist with a 20-year membership in a black supremacist church is the odds on favorite to be president.

Hamas Offering Jihad Courses Online

As Israel National News reports, the desperately impoverished Palestinians -- who are dying of starvation but somehow can afford computers and high-speed Internet connections -- have taken the jihad online:

The Islamist Hamas terrorist organization has initiated an online course in explosives, military weapons and tactics for would-be jihad fighters. Aimed at the population of the Palestinian Authority, the course is called "Get Ready" and is designed to prepare the population for war with Israel.

First exposed outside Palestinian Authority and jihadist circles on Monday by Israel's Channel 10 TV, the sophisticated course includes highly detailed practical and theoretical lessons, as well as sample videos of jihadist attacks. All manner of weapons are described, analyzed and their proper use explained by masked Hamas instructors.

Students also learn about such things as the manufacture and detonation of explosives, the functioning of rocket launchers, weak points on IDF tanks, and the physics of firing at a moving vehicle. Lessons cover possible scenarios such as an IDF ground incursion into Hamas-controlled Gaza or an airborne Israeli commando assault.

Each instructive section concludes with test questions. For example, a fatigues-wearing Hamas teacher asks, "A truck is moving at a rate of 15 meters per second, at a distance of 200 meters, from left to right. How will you succeed in hitting this truck?"

When reached at his Georgia home, Jimmy Carter reiterated his previous calls for the United States to fund the Hamas government because he continues to believe "there's a good chance" Hamas will renounce violence. Carter still hasn't cracked open the Hamas charter, apparently.

Three Things Obama Said Tonight That Spoke Volumes

1. Obama used the phrase "the tragedy of 9/11." But 9/11 wasn't a "tragedy." It was an unprovoked act of mass murder of 3000 innocent civilians carried out by Islamic terrorists.

2. When asked directly if he would commit US troops to support Israel in the event of an Iranian attack, Obama refused to answer, but said the key point was to start changing Iran's "cost-benefit analysis" so that Iran could "rejoin the community of nations." Not only was Obama's non-answer an unmistakable signal to Israel that it'll be on its own, but it also betrayed a fundamental misunderstanding of what motivates Iran and its radical Islamic leaders. Ahmadinejad is not a rational actor who engages in cost-benefit analysis, but a Holocaust-denying madman whose main goal is to nuke Israel and do whatever it takes to bring about the return of the Mahdi.

3. Finally, in referring to Pakistan/Afghanistan, Obama said that "the war against terrorism began in that region and that's where it will end." Obama doesn't appear to grasp that we are not up against a small band of fighters confined to a single country or region, but rather a global enemy tied together by a single unifying ideology. Despite what Obama would have you believe, none of the 9/11 hijackers came from Pakistan or Afghanistan; they instead came from Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt and Lebanon. And the essential planning for those attacks occurred not in Pakistan or Afghanistan, but Hamburg, Germany. Similarly, the terrorists who bombed the World Trade Center in 1993 were not Pakistani or Afghani, but instead hailed from Iraq, Kuwait, Egypt and the Palestinian territories. And to go back further still, the main terrorist threat we've faced since 1979 originates in Iran, whose proxy force -- Hezbollah -- has struck all over the world, even in Argentina.

Beyond the unbelievable arrogance in suggesting that he will "end" the war on terror, what strikes me most about Obama is his stunning ignorance of the enemy we face. But hey, he pronounces Pakistan "Pok-ee-stan" so he must know what he's talking about, right?

Barack "Know-Nothing" Obama

First Obama's racist pastor was exposed. Obama's response: "I might not know him as well as I thought."

Then Obama's buddy, Tony Rezko, went to jail. Obama's response: "This isn't the Tony Rezko I knew."

And now Obama's friend, William Ayers, is being scrutinized. The response from Obama's camp? Obama "didn't know the history."

Folks, Obama is either lying through his teeth or he is the stupidest man on the planet. Either possibility should disqualify him from the presidency.

AP: Obama Is "Certainly Friendly" With Ayers, But To Claim They "Pal Around" Is Racist

The AP writes:

In February, Obama strategist David Axelrod told the Politico Web site: "Bill Ayers lives in his neighborhood. Their kids attend the same school. They're certainly friendly, they know each other, as anyone whose kids go to school together." But while Ayers and Obama are acquainted, the charge that they "pal around" is a stretch of any reading of the public record.

Are they friendly?
Certainly.

Do they pal around?
Certainly not.

Anyone who disagrees is a racist. And this concludes today's lesson.

NY Times On Obama-Ayers Relationship: "Obama Lied, But Nothing To See Here, Move Along"

The NY Times has finally gotten around to covering the Obama-Ayers relationship:

Obama and ’60s Bomber: A Look Into Crossed Paths

By SCOTT SHANE
Published: October 3, 2008

CHICAGO — At a tumultuous meeting of anti-Vietnam War militants at the Chicago Coliseum in 1969, Bill Ayers helped found the radical Weathermen, launching a campaign of bombings that would target the Pentagon and United States Capitol. Twenty-six years later, at a lunchtime meeting about school reform in a Chicago skyscraper, Barack Obama met Mr. Ayers, by then an education professor. Their paths have crossed sporadically since then, at a coffee Mr. Ayers hosted for Mr. Obama’s first run for office, on the schools project and a charitable board, and in casual encounters as Hyde Park neighbors.

Notice how the Times attempts to frame the Obama-Ayers relationship as "paths crossing sporadically." Never mind that Obama consciously chose to launch his political career in Obama's home. It's just "paths crossing sporadically" -- nothing to get worked up about. The article continues:

More recently, conservative critics who accuse Mr. Obama of a stealth radical agenda have asserted that he has misleadingly minimized his relationship with Mr. Ayers, whom the candidate has dismissed as “a guy who lives in my neighborhood” and “somebody who worked on education issues in Chicago that I know.”

So it's just "conservative critics" who could even possibly see a problem with Obama's relationship with a committed Marxist who bombed the Pentagon and wishes he had done more? But then it gets better. The Times admits that those "conservative critics" are actually right:

A review of records of the schools project and interviews with a dozen people who know both men, suggest that Mr. Obama, 47, has played down his contacts with Mr. Ayers, 63.

So there you have it. According to the Times, Obama has in fact deliberately misled about the nature of his relationship with Ayers. But stop reading there, folks -- the rest of article is pure spin. The relationship has been "greatly exaggerated" and anyone who says otherwise is simply attempting to "smear" Obama. Oh, and Ayers is a great guy now, he's a well-respected professor who "has done a lot of good" for the country. In short, Ayers is a true patriot.

Of course, the Times declines to tell its readers that Ayers is still a committed Marxist who as recently as November 2006 visited Hugo Chavez in Venezuela to celebrate socialism and urge Venezuelans "to continue to overcome the failings of capitalist education as you seek to create something truly new and deeply humane."


UPDATE: Sarahcuda slams Obama for Ayers connection during talk in Colorado:

"There's been a lot of interest in what I read lately. Well, I was reading my copy of today’s New York Times and I was really interested to read about Barack’s friends from Chicago. Turns out, one of his earliest supporters is a man who, according to The New York Times was a domestic terrorist and part of a group that, quote, ‘launched a campaign of bombings that would target the Pentagon and the U.S. Capitol.’ These are the same guys who think patriotism is paying higher taxes. This is not a man who sees America as you and I do - as the greatest force for good in the world. This is someone who sees America as imperfect enough to pal around with terrorists who targeted their own country. This, ladies and gentlemen, has nothing to do with the kind of change anyone can believe in - not my kids and not your kids. The only man who can take on Washington is John McCain."

It Was Third and Long For The Republicans

And the Democrats nearly had the White House in their grasp.







But then something amazing happened. Fighting for dear life, the Republicans somehow managed to elude the Democrats' death grip.







. . . And launch one down field. . .








Got it! What a catch! Palin pulls a David Tyree!




* * *
It's a whole new ballgame, folks.

Biden Telling Tales Again

Joe Biden, aka the gift that keeps on giving, is at it again. Here's the latest tall tale from Biden:

Fact check: Biden spins a helicopter tale

WASHINGTON (AP) - When Joe Biden tells voters he understands the threat posed by Afghan extremists, he dramatically illustrates one reason why: His helicopter was "forced down" on "the superhighway of terror." Actually, snow, not the enemy, persuaded the helicopter pilot to land and wait out a storm.

The Democratic vice presidential candidate has repeatedly left that part out, in an episode that Republicans hope will become an echo of Hillary Rodham Clinton's errant tale during the primaries of landing in Bosnia under sniper fire.

Ah, Joe Biden. He's full of crap and entirely unqualified to be vice president. Now, there's a winning combination.

Meanwhile, since we're on the subject of veeps and heading into tomorrow night's debate, it seems appropriate to revisit this post where I suggested Palin merely needs to beat the points spread to "win" the debate. But given Palin's rather uninspiring recent performances with Couric and elsewhere, I'd say she's now a solid two-touchdown underdog. How will she do? I predict she covers the spread, but that may no longer be enough. Indeed, with the recent Obama surge, we may need a flat-out win from Palin to get back into this thing.

Will it happen? Ya never know -- the Giants were nearly two touchdown underdogs heading into the Superbowl against the Pats. I'll certainly be watching to see if Palin can pull a Tyree.