Saturday, September 20, 2008

If it's September, time for Obama to lie about Social Security

Every September, Democrats around the United States pause to scare Seniors by lying about nefarious "plots" to take away their Social Security.

This year, Obama decided to use last week's market turmoil to frighten the poor seniors in Florida half to death.

The Obama ad is SO OUTRAGEOUS that even factcheck.org, which is owned by the Annaburg foundation, the foundation he is closely associated with and run by his friends, had to call him on it.

From Factcheck.org, harsh words for the candidate who promised he would run a clean, positive campaign, in their article "Scaring Seniors":

An Obama-Biden ad says McCain supports "cutting benefits in half" for Social Security recipients. False!

That's not "Misleading", that's "Lie".


A new Obama ad characterizes the "Bush-McCain privatization plan" as "cutting Social Security Benefits in half." This is a falsehood sure to frighten seniors who rely on their Social Security checks. In truth, McCain does not propose to cut those checks at all.


Remember, on Friday Obama said that in these difficult times, we shouldn't be playing politics, or scaring people with our economic plans.

But now we find out that Obama is quietly running these ads, using the current turmoil to scare our parents, grandparents, and others, by lying about what McCain has supported, and will do as President.

I say "quietly" because apparently Obama's campaign didn't announce these ads. Normally, the campaign makes a big deal about ads. It's clear they knew these ads were false, and they wanted to keep their "distance". As FactCheck says:

The Obama campaign made no announcement of this ad and won't say where they intend to run it. It was first aired on a station in Flint, Mich. on Sept. 16, where it was recorded by the Campaign Media Analysis Group of TNSI Media Intelligence. According to CMAG, the ad has been running in Florida, Michigan, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Wisconsin.


Factcheck had to get a recording of the ad. I don't know if that means it isn't on YouTube. If it was NOT put out on YouTube by the campaign, that would be further evidence that the campaign was trying to hide the ad for as long as possible, to take maximum advantage of last week's stock market turmoil to scare seniors, McCain's best voter group, into voting for Obama instead.

Here are the MANY DIFFERENT WAYS that Obama's secret ad lies:

The three votes featured in the ad are from 1998 and 2006. ... None would have actually resulted in changing Social Security without additional, specific legislation.
...
The ad implies that Bush's plan bets the whole lot of Social Security funds on unstable stocks. In fact, it would have "privatized" only a small portion of Social Security taxes that Americans could have invested in private accounts, if they chose to do so.
...
The ad goes on to claim that the Bush (and McCain) plan would cut "benefits in half." This is a rank misrepresentation: Nobody now getting benefits, or even close to retirement, would have seen any reduction in benefits or cost-of-living adjustments under the plan Bush proposed in April, 2005.

Factcheck also explains that only future higher-income workers would see a reduction in benefits from the current unpayable projections. Low-income people would not have a reduction. And that reduction doesn't include the extra money from the private accounts.

Factcheck then examines the "cut in half", and shows that it's based on a false premise from one of Obama's MANY economic advisors:

The Obama-Biden campaign attempts to document their "cutting benefits in half" claim by citing a report by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities written by Jason Furman, who is currently one of Obama's top economic advisers. This won't do.

What Furman's study actually says is quite different from what the ad claims. Furman's report says that the "progressive price indexing" plan Bush supported would result in benefits for the average worker who retires in 2075 that are 28 percent lower than under the current formula. Obviously 28 percent is not "half."

The Obama-Biden campaign notes that Furman's paper also says that full price indexing of benefits – even for low-income workers – would result in benefits 49 percent lower than the current formula in 2075. But that's not the plan Bush supported, and we find no evidence that McCain ever supported it either. We asked the Obama campaign to show us where McCain has ever supported full price indexing of benefits, but so far they have not done so.

Note that they don't even raise the objection of a campaign citing the statement of their own campaign worker as "proof", just that they couldn't even get that right. Now, think about that -- what kind of economic advisor would allow a campaign to misuse his own supposedly scholarly work? Is that the kind of economic advisor we need right now, when our system is teetering precisely because economic advisors allowed the decisionmakers to misuse their scholarly work?

Factcheck closes with an admission that while McCain is TRYING to fix Social Security, Obama is making it harder by playing politics:

The system isn't exactly "going broke." But the latest official projection is that the trust fund will be exhausted by the year 2041, after which current tax rates will finance only 78 percent of currently scheduled benefits. We agree that "straight talk" is needed and that finding solutions will be hard. Ads like this, however, misinform the public and make the job of fixing the system more difficult.

Obama lies about McCain, Born Alive Act.

I think Obama says so many things wrong so that we can't possibly keep up.

In this latest news, Obama is really upset about an advertisement which truthfully exposes his vote against the Born Alive Act in Illinois, which I wrote about some months ago.

So Obama has lashed out, attacking McCain for "lying" about Obama's position.

Two problems. First, as I've shown before, it's not a lie. Heck, even the Obama campaign itself had to admit it's true he opposed the bill, and that the bill was exactly what was in the Federal bill. And there is tape of Obama specifically saying he opposed the bill because it might force government between the doctor and the patient if a baby is born alive after an abortion -- which clearly shows he's fine with the doctor killing an aborted baby, without interference from the government.

But more importantly, John McCain has NEVER attacked Obama about the Born Alive bill. In fact, the advertisement running against Obama is from a woman who actually WAS born alive, and is paid for by a 527, not the McCain campaign.

But the media has printed Obama's charges against McCain, and not one mainstream media outlet has chosen to inform their readers that Obama can't even listen to a 30-second advertisement without getting it's facts wrong. That's a pretty important thing if you want to be President, and the readers and voters deserve the truth, not the whitewash the media is doing.

Thursday, September 18, 2008

Could Obama still be on drugs?

It might explain how, in the middle of the biggest crisis our economy has faced since 9/11, he can't make up his mind whether a bailout that happened on tuesday is good or bad.

It may explain why he thinks he didn't ask Iraq's foreign minister to delay negotiations, when a month earlier he told a news reporter that he had;

It may explain why he thinks Raines isn't his advisor, when the Washington Post reported it in July and it's been in Raine's Wikipedia entry for months (until tonight).

It may explain why Obama thought it would be a good idea to attack McCain for the injuries he sustained during his torture in Vietnam.

It may explain why Obama said the Sex Ed program for kindergartners that he voted for wasn't actually going to teach the Kindergartners anything about sex, when the bill explicitly said otherwise and the sponsore eventually changed it because of the outrage.

It may explain why Obama thinks that quoting his record is lying.

It may explain why Obama sat in a church "every sunday" for 20 years, and never noticed his pastor denouncing white people and America, even though he actually wrote a book about it.

It may explain why Obama hardly ever showed up for work, and why his subcommittee never held a single hearing.

And maybe he was afraid there would be a drug test if he showed up at a military base in Germany to visit the troops.



No, I don't think Obama is still on drugs (it's possible he still sneaks a smoke, but smoking is legal for now). I just think he has an audacity that makes him think he can lie all he wants, and nobody will care.

And figures if anybody DOES call him on it, he can always denounce them as racist.

Obama insists he has idea what to do.

Jonathan Marks, from the Politico, who has done his share of trying to cover for Obama, seems to have become quite exasperated at the thankless task.

Which leads him to post this, part of an article titled "Obama outraged at being accused of not supporting something he doesn't support":

Obama, on the trail in New Mexico, had this to say of McCain:"And today he accused me of not supporting what the Treasury and the Federal Reserve Bank did with AIG despite no evidence whatsoever that that’s what I had said."

To recap, when I wrote earlier today that Obama supported the bailout, I quickly was instructed by his staff that this was not the case. He just didn't oppose it, I was told.

Now he's so adamant about not opposing the Fed's move that he's complaining about McCain's portrayal.

Where, I wonder, is the line between not opposing and, ya know, supporting.

The fact is that in all of Obama's speeches, he has yet to say if he supported the AIG bailout, or opposed it. He is afraid to take a position, in case (like the surge) he comes up completely wrong again.

On the other hand, the much more experienced Sarah Palin, who has HAD TO MAKE REAL DECISIONS in her job, has made a clear statement on the bailout, as has John McCain. (Joe Biden said something about giving people toasters and how we are unpatriotic if we don't pay more taxes).

We can't afford a President who votes "Present". I guess since Obama has betrayed his economic advisor, he can't really say what position he holds until he finds somebody on the Democratic side who isn't hopelessly tainted by the corruption that led to our current monetary crisis.

Of course, by next week we'll hear how Obama actually caused the bailout to happen. Because if there is ONE THING that Barack Obama is good at, it is denying what he has done, and taking credit for good things he had nothing to do with.

Sunday, September 14, 2008

Obama: I am an instrument of God's Will

Well, he did say those "exact words". By Charles Gibson's standards, which the left seems to really support now, those are the "exact words" of Barack Obama. Which sounds like Obama thinks he is a devine messenger sent from God to work HIS will on America, like it or not.

Here is the original source:

The prayer that I tell myself every night is a fairly simple one: I ask in the name of Jesus Christ that my sins are forgiven, that my family is protected and that I am an instrument of God's will.

See? You too can be Charles Gibson. Just find something perfectly reasonable that the candidate said, like that he is praying to do God's will, or that she is praying that our leaders would do God's will. Then skip the part about it being a prayer, or about asking God, and just quote the part about God's will.

Then accuse the candidate of being some holy warrior.

It's easy. We can say Barack is a muslim, since he talked about "my muslim faith". Never mind that he was talking about people who were NOT talking about him BEING a Muslim -- just quote the part you like.

You can do this with the interview results to. If the candidate makes you look silly, just edit that part out. If she gives a great answer, erase it -- or better yet, edit it in the middle so it looks like she is clueless.

If none of that works, you can use the Charles Gibson Mindreading Special:

"Sarah, what number am I thinking Of?"

Scott Ott responds: Barack Obama -- Still Crazy

Saturday, September 13, 2008

John Bachelor : Obama in meltdown

John Bachelor covers the story of Obama's false attack on McCain's technological prowess:

After a year of starving and abusing 32 year old John McCain, no medical attention, abandonment and isolation in a windowless cell at the North Vietnamese Potemkin Village of a prison called the Plantation, the sadistic boss of the camp, Major Bai, called "Cat" by the POWs, ordered that the torturers break the admiral's son and force him to sign a confession.
...
The torturers started by rebreaking his left arm. Then he was trussed in ropes and beaten every two or three hours. According to the definitive Naval Institute Press volume on the POWS, "Honor Bound: American Prisoners of War in Southeast Asia, 1961-1973," this sadism continued for four days.
...
What also stays with John McCain is the damage to his arms. When he was released in 1973, (left, returning to US care) his right arm was two inches shorter than his left. He cannot lift his arms above his breast. He cannot comb his own hair. And he is not dexterous enough to type at a keyboard.

But some democratic supporters say we should just get over this, that this is just whining, that a "real man" wouldn't worry about this kind of thing.

Bachelor continues:

This meltdown explains how it is possible for the Obama-Biden campaign to issue, on the eve of Hurrican Ike that will dominate the news for twenty-four hours, the most cynical and stupid of webads that attacks John McCain for not being in the economy enough to use the internet. The webad is the worst of postures-- it is snide:

"1982, John McCain goes to Washington," an announcer says over chirpy elevator music. "Things have changed in the last 26 years, but McCain hasn't. He admits he still doesn't know how to use a computer...

Bachelor tries to explain how Obama could let this happen:

Perhaps the webad writers were unaware of John McCain's disability. Perhaps they skipped the detail that John McCain depends upon Cindy McCain to type his e-mail messages. Perhaps it just does not make sense, to a campaign headed by the fresh-faced forty-something David Plouffe, that there are men walking around who have been tortured and permanently disabled by the enemy.

Perhaps, as I have been told by my best Democratic Party source, the Obama-Biden campaign is in meltdown, there is no single message, there is no unity, there is no vision, and so separate but equal parts with lots of cash but not much learning are just wandering off the trail.

Was it just last week that Obama said that his ability to run his campaign proved he was ready to be President?

Will the Obama supporters complain that Obama's ability to not mock disabled vets has nothing to do with being President?

Obama refuses to apologize for ridiculing wounded veteran

It's now been almost 24 hours since Obama, who keeps promising he's going to talk about real issues, instead ran a paid advertisement falsely mocking John McCain for his war injuries.

This was an ad which lied about McCain's knowledge of technology, making fun of him because he had someone else type into his computer. McCain does this because it hurts him to type, because of injuries inflicted on him when he was a Prisoner of War.

Stories have been written about McCain's trouble with the use of his arms, and also about how technologically savvy McCain actually is. If Obama's campaign had done ANY research, they would have known that in the Senate, McCain is a leader on technology issues (Obama might have known that if he had spent any significant time actually IN the senate).

Instead, they picked up some news item where McCain, self-deprecating as always, made fun of his injuries, talking about how he needed others to do his e-mail. And Obama, being an elitist, and looking down on anybody who isn't Obama, immediately thought -- "What a great idea for a commercial -- we can make fun of McCain and make him look stupid".

Which itself deserves an apology. For whatever else you can say, McCain has never said Obama was stupid.

But if Obama wants to make fun of every old person who doesn't use the internet, I guess that's a "campaign strategy". Some would call that age warfare, pitting his largely young and inexperienced supporters against the older, wiser general populace.

Some can't believe Obama would be ignorant of McCain's injuries -- which would suggest he purposely attacked McCain for being disabled. Yesterday, I didn't think so. I figured Obama was simply to naive to realise what he was doing.

But if that were the case, Obama, once it was pointed out that he had committed the unpardonable sin of mocking an injured war hero, would have pulled the ad and apologized. And frankly, I expected him to do so. Obama may be naive, may be inexperienced, and certainly is in no way ready to be President. But he's not suicidal.

But shockingly, we have now gone 24 hours, and Obama has NOT pulled the false, dispicable ad from YouTube. And he has not issued an apology to the wounded veterans of our country who are unable to do what people like Obama, who never served, can do easily.

As someone said, it would be like attacking the blind governor of New York because he can't drive.

So, Obama has an advertisement that says that wounded Veterans who can't use their arms to get on the internet are not qualified to be President, and are instead to be objects of ridicule. And he has refused to apologize. And that is NOT someone we want as President of the United States.

Raising Kaine: We aren't electing an American Idol Winner

I guess it had to happen. After months of the Democrats pushing an American Idol candidate (Obama), even when they had a perfectly competent, experienced candidate (Hillary Clinton), they find themselves "out-idoled" by the Republican ticket.

And so NOW they figure out that the Presidency is not about popularity, but about experience, ideas, judgment, and who can actually LEAD.

Of course, the problem with this belated reality check from the left is that, on all those counts, John McCain beats their candidate hands down.

In fact, in rankings of the "ready for President" status of the 4 candidates, Obama ranks last, even below his own VP pick.


Of course, the simple fact is that Governor Sarah Palin is not really an "American Idol" pick. She is a serious candidate. She has been in government longer than Obama, and has executive experience.

In fact, if you were trying to figure out what "experience" you would want heading into the job of President, it makes sense that you want someone who first gets a job running a small government, and then gets promoted up to running a larger executive branch, before trying out for the biggest executive lead position.

Of course, Palin is the only one running with that kind of experience. At least McCain has some leadership training, having been an Officer in our military. Was Obama even a Boy Scout?

Obama did lead the Harvard Law Review. So far as I know, they managed to publish every month, so at least he made the trains run on time, so to speak.

Friday, September 12, 2008

Why Hasn't Obama apologized and pulled the Ad?

Obama is not completely illiterate, and he has a nationwide campaign staff.

So, if I know that he lied about McCain and mocked him for his war wounds, surely Obama knows this as well.

This story has been available for over 5 hours.

What is Obama waiting for? His only POSSIBLE chance to save his career is to apologize and pull the ad right away. He needed to do this within an hour of when the story broke.

Now we are going on 4 hours. Remember how when Allen said "Macaca", each hour was considered another hour where he didn't react quickly enough.

I presume that the Washington Post will have a front-page story about how Obama has not apologized for ridiculing a war hero for his disability.

Obama Mocks McCain's War Injuries

Obama is done. If he wasn't done before, surely he is done now that he has attack John McCain for his war injuries.
In Obama's latest ad, "still", Obama approves the "message" that McCain doesn't "know how to use E-mail", saying that McCain is just technology impaired.

But it turns out that McCain not only knows how to use E-mail, but does so extensively, as we find in this Forbes article from 2000, Net Vs. Norm:

In certain ways, McCain was a natural Web candidate. Chairman of the Senate Telecommunications Subcommittee and regarded as the U.S. Senate's savviest technologist, McCain is an inveterate devotee of email. His nightly ritual is to read his email together with his wife, Cindy.

If that was all there was to the story, it would just be another of the many times Obama has lied about McCain, has made a false personal attack while pretending he is some new kind of candidate. I mean, it's pretty stupid to attack someone for being "technologically in the past" when they are known as one of the savviest technologists in the Senate. You'd think Biden could have helped Obama here -- isn't that why he picked Biden, to fill in for Obama's youthful inexperience.

But there is a kernel of truth here -- McCain doesn't actually do his OWN e-mail. And the reason why is also the reason why Obama is done. This is Obama's "Macaca" moment, except that "Macaca" was a 3-second mistake by a candidate, and Obama's "Macaca" was a premeditated advertising buy:

The injuries he incurred as a Vietnam POW make it painful for McCain to type. Instead, he dictates responses that his wife types on a laptop. "She's a whiz on the keyboard, and I'm so laborious," McCain admits.

Got it? The reason McCain does not use a computer keyboard is because HE WAS TORTURED AS A POW IN VIETNAM. Obama just attacked a Veteran for his disabilities, he just RIDICULED the Senate's Technologist because of his war injuries.

This is the left's "new politics"? No, this is the worst kind of politics of personal destruction. Mocking a man for not using a keyboard was already juvenile. Mocking a man who CAN'T use a keyboard because he gave up his mobility in service of his country is a DISQUALIFIER for the Presidency.

Of course, if Obama knew how to use the internet, as he falsely mocks McCain, he'd have been able to find this story, and others, like THIS BOSTON GLOBE STORY:

McCain gets emotional at the mention of military families needing food stamps or veterans lacking health care. The outrage comes from inside: McCain's severe war injuries prevent him from combing his hair, typing on a keyboard, or tying his shoes. Friends marvel at McCain's encyclopedic knowledge of sports. He's an avid fan - Ted Williams is his hero - but he can't raise his arm above his shoulder to throw a baseball.


The AP of course is in bed with the Democrats. They ran THIS STORY allowing the Obama campaign to falsely mock McCain, and didn't even bother to research to see if Obama was lying:

"Our economy wouldn't survive without the Internet, and cyber-security continues to represent one our most serious national security threats," Pfeiffer said. "It's extraordinary that someone who wants to be our president and our commander in chief doesn't know how to send an e-mail."McCain has said he relies on his wife and staff to work the computer for him and that he doesn't use e-mail.

That's it. The AP never bothered to call McCain and ask WHY he didn't work the computer, or to search for old stories that would explain it. Nor did they even THINK to question the absurd notion that McCain is a technological idiot.

So, the question is, when the Democrats replace Obama, will Hillary keep Biden as VP?

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Yes, Obama voted for Sex Ed for Kindergartners

Barack Obama's campaign has attacked John McCain's honor, for apparently no good reason.

According to the Politico, The Obama camp was upset at a hard-hitting McCain ad:

"Obama's one accomplishment?" the narrator asks. "Legislation to teach 'comprehensive sex education' to kindergartners. Learning about sex before learning to read? Barack Obama. Wrong on education. Wrong for your family."

But apparently not having any substantive complaint about the facts in the advertisement, they instead decided to personally attack John McCain:

Bill Burton, Obama's press secretary, responded in a statement: “It is shameful and downright perverse for the McCain campaign to use a bill that was written to protect young children from sexual predators as a recycled and discredited political attack against a father of two young girls – a position that his friend Mitt Romney also holds. Last week, John McCain told Time magazine he couldn't define what honor was. Now we know why."


The reason they couldn't attack the ad on substance is that Barack Obama DID vote for a bill that did exactly as McCain claimed. Here is the bill's text:

23-33 (a) The program established under this Act shall include, but not be limited to, the following major educational areas as a basis for curricula in all elementary and secondary schools in this State: human ecology and health, human growth and development, the emotional, psychological, physiological, hygienic and social responsibilities of family life, including sexual abstinence and prevention of unintended pregnancy until marriage, prevention and control of disease, including age appropriate instruction in grades K 6 through 12 on the prevention of sexually transmitted infections, including the prevention, transmission and spread of HIV AIDS, public and environmental (???) health, consumer health, safety education and disaster survival, mental health and illness, personal health habits, alcohol, drug use, and abuse including the medical and legal ramifications of alcohol, drug, and tobacco use, abuse during pregnancy, sexual abstinence until marriage, tobacco, nutrition, and dental health.



Note that they even changed the law to cover Kindergarten, where it used to start at 6th grade.


Campaign commercials tend to cast the opponent in a bad light -- it's the point. So it's normal to respond by noting what you really intended. It's not normal to go off the deep end and personally attack your opponent as dishonorable simply because you can't think of a good reason to teach the "prevention of sexually transmitted infections" to a 5-year-old.

Monday, September 8, 2008

Will Obama Return Thief Jodie Evan's money?

Jodie Evans is a big-money bundler for Barack Obama. Jodie Evans is also with Code Pink. That apparently doesn't bother Obama.

Last week, at the RNC convention, Jodie Evans stormed the stage when Governor Sara Palin was speaking. She had to be subdued by Secret Service agents.

This apparently does not bother Obama either, as he has not returned her money.

Now, we find out that Jodie Evans got into the RNC convention by STEALING the credentials of a convention delegate, and then lying and saying the credentials were given to her.

From Channel 21 in Fort Wayne, Indiana: Ft. Wayne RNC Delegate gets ID stolen by Protest Group:

Fort Wayne realtor Annie Eckrich says her stolen identification was used by operatives to illegally gain entry onto the convention floor.

Eckrich, who was an alternate delegate to the Republican Party extravaganza in Minneapolis- St. Paul, says she didn't know anything about what happened until a reporter called her, asking if she'd handed over her credentials to protesters.

The story notes that Code Pink used it, but does not mention Jodie Evans by name:

Instead, it appears the "Code Pink" members got their hands on it, and got in the convention to make a scene.
...
Eckrich is particularly upset that a “Code Pink” press release suggested credentials were handed over by a disgruntled republican delegate.

She says she's firmly behind McCain, especially after the selection of Sarah Palin as McCain’s Vice-Presidential running mate.

Some of us thought it was Ron Paul supporters, but we were wrong.

Just Obama supporters willing to lie and steal for their candidate, along with bundling large amounts of money.

How much has Jodie Evans gotten for Obama? From Jonathan Martin's blog in June:

A co-founder of the anti-war group Code Pink, which has made a name for itself by interrupting hearings on Capitol Hill, is a fundraising bundler for Barack Obama.Jodie Evans has pledged to raise at least $50,000 for Obama, according the Democrat's campaign site.

According to research being circulated by GOP sources, Evans has a record of inflammatory statements such as saying that women were better off in Iraq under Saddam Hussein, "Men are dying in their Hummers in Iraq so you can drive around in yours" and, my favorite, that the invasion of Iraq amounted to "global testosterone poisoning."

Sunday, September 7, 2008

Obama Lies about Selective Service

Today, when George Stephanopolis was so busy kissing Obama's behind that he tried to correct Obama's misstatements for him, Obama lied about his selective service.

From the transcript as provided by the Newsbusters:

BARACK OBAMA: You know, I had to sign up for Selective Service when I graduated from high school. And I was growing up in Hawaii, and I had friend whose parents were in the military, there were a lot of Army, military bases there. And I always actually thought of the military as some ennobling and honorable option. But keep in mind: I graduated in 1979. The Vietnam War had come to an end. We weren't engaged in an active military conflict at that point. So it's not an option that I ever decided to pursue.


Barack Obama admits he graduated high school in 1979. But Selective Service was terminated by Gerald Ford in 1975:

On March 25, 1975, Pres. Gerald Ford signed Proclamation 4360, Terminating Registration Procedures Under Military Selective Service Act, eliminating the registration requirement for all 18-25 year old male citizens. Then on July 2, 1980, President Jimmy Carter signed Proclamation 4771, Registration Under the Military Selective Service Act, retroactively re-establishing the Selective Service registration requirement for all 18-26 year old male citizens born on or after January 1, 1960.

In 1980, as it says, Carter put the registration requirement back. For people who turned 18 between 1975 and 1980, the rules were as follows:

Only men born between March 29, 1957, and December 31, 1959, were completely exempt from Selective Service registration.[2] The first registrations after Proclamation 4771 took place on Monday, July 21, 1980, for those men born in January, February and March 1960 at U.S. Post Offices. Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays were reserved for men born in the later quarters of the year, and registration for men born in 1961 began the following week

As Barack was born in August of 1961, he was required to register starting around July 28, 1980 -- almost a full year after his graduation.

Now, a lot of people have asked if he ever really signed up for Selective Service. I have no idea, but I would be surprised if he didn't.

But what I am completely certain about is that he is lying when he says he had to sign up when he "graduated high school" in 1979.

I suppose he could just be really stupid -- but since this was obviously a planned question and Obama had all the time in the world to write the answer, you have to wonder if he is so completely stupid that he would mess up a simple fact like this in an answer that otherwise was so unbelievable that it needed SOME hook to reality.

I mean, nobody believes Obama really wanted to be in the military. And since Obama wrote two books about himself and never ONCE said he wanted to be in the military, it's likely that he only wants to HAVE BEEN in the military now that he is running for President as a totally unqualified candidate against a decorated war hero.

Sorry, Barack, but wishes aren't deeds -- and wishes aren't even wishes when you make them up 30 years later.

Obama is like a walking gaffe track

This morning on ABC, Obama stumbled through a simple explanation after he was called out for falsely implying that John McCain had anything to do with people thinking Obama was a Muslim.



Obama is having to admit that John McCain has never claimed Barack was a Muslim. So he says: "What I was suggesting is, You are absolutely right that John McCain has not, uh, talked about my Muslim faith, and you're absolutely right that is not come....

It's clear George is expecting Barack to say the wrong thing, because he quickly tries to "correct" Obama by saying "Your Christian Faith".

And Obama, clueless as always, takes George's command and repeats it, and them stumbles around until he remembers that he really DID mean "Muslim".
"What I am saying is that he has not suggested that I'm, um, that I am a Muslim."

This is another GREAT example of how, when you get Barack Obama away from a teleprompter, he is an idiot. His whole hand-waving, um-um'ing through even simple answers to trivial questions shows that he is NOT the man we want to stand up to our enemies, or to represent us to our allies.

If you can't put it on a teleprompter, Obama doesn't appear to be able to say it.

Saturday, September 6, 2008

Obama Took $700 million in earmarks.

Obama continues to act like he's running against VP candidate Palin. It's not a bad strategy -- he certainly can't compare himself to John McCcain. But he compares poorly to Palin as well.

According to Politico, Obama today attacked Palin for accepting money from Congress when she was a mayor:

Barack Obama took his first direct swipe at Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin on Saturday, criticizing her for supporting congressional earmarks before opposing them. “I know the governor of Alaska has been, you know, saying she is change,” Obama said at a town hall meeting here. “And that is great. She is a skillful politician. But when you [have] been taking all these earmarks when it is convenient and then suddenly you are the champion anti-earmark person.

“That is not change, come on,” Obama continued. “I mean, words mean something. You can’t just make stuff up. You can’t just make stuff up. We have a choice to make and the choice is clear.”

(Once gain, a great example of how the "orator" Obama can't speak clearly, but I digress).

So, Obama says that it isn't change if you took earmarks. Then how to explain this from the New York Times? Obama Lists His Earmarks:

Senator Barack Obama on Thursday released a list of $740 million in earmarked spending requests that he had made over the last three years, and his campaign challenged Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton to do the same.

SEVEN HUNDRED FORTY MILLION DOLLARS. That's a lot of "change". Come on Obama, you can't "make stuff up". The choice is clear. McCain asked for ZERO dollars for earmarks.

Obama has a history of getting taxpayer money for his friends and supporters, first in the illinois state senate and then as a U.S. Senator. He wouldn't vote against earmarks, and the ethics reforms he supported didn't include earmarks.

Even today, the Democratic congress has allowed earmarks to be added to bills in secret in the conference committees.

Obama made a big mistake discussing earmarks. He is tainted on that subject, and it is clear he is not the change we need.

Obama is Half White

I'm not a fan of the politics of race. But apparently, the Democratic Party is.

And apparently, in parts of Pennsylvania, they believe that being black is a negative. And so, when appealing to the white blue-collar base of their supposedly colorblind party, they have a solution to their problem of a "black candidate" -- point out that Barack Obama isn't all black:

Mike McAleer, the veteran Democratic ward leader of the 66th ward in the far Northeast, said Obama and Biden haven't closed the deal yet.

"The Dunkin' Donut crowd tells me that we've got everything going for us but Obama," McAleer said. "They can't give me a direct answer. Do I have them right now in the 66th ward? No. But I got 60 days to get them."

Asked what the problem is with Obama, McAleer paused and said: "It's his color . . . I tell them he's half white and half black. "

Oh, I hear the defender's say "That's just one Democrat, it doesn't reflect our entire party." And as one who has to put up with the left's constant petty attacks on all republicans as racist, I can sympathise.

But it's not just one guy. The story continues:

Joe Dougherty, business manager for Ironworkers Local 401, which hosted Biden's morning event, also said race is an issue for many Democrats.

"I hear it in the neighborhood, and I hear it in the union," Dougherty said. "But I remind them (Obama's) mother was white.

This is the mother that Obama said was a "typical white person", a racist who was scared of black people on the street. But sure, that somehow shows that Obama understands "both sides".

Maybe the problem isn't Obama's race, but his 20-year-association with a church with a racist pastor who preached that white people were the enemy.

Barack Obama, Fighting for the "Little People"

The L.A. Times decides Obama needs some help on his resume, so they give us an article about Obama's time as a lawyer, in an article helpfully titled "Obama's law days effective but brief":

Senior attorneys at the small firm where he worked say he was a strong writer and researcher, but was involved in relatively few cases – about 30 – and spent only four years as a full-time lawyer before entering politics.

[off-topic, but once again indicating that those around Obama never saw him as leadership material]

So what kind of clients did he represent?:

In one instance, Obama defended a nonprofit corporation that owns low-income housing projects against a lawsuit in which a man alleged that he slipped and fell because of poor maintenance. Obama got the suit dismissed.

Wait a second. Obama defended the owner of a building against a poor tenant who was injured because the property wasn't maintained?


In another case, Obama appeared on behalf of a nonprofit corporation that provided healthcare for poor people. A woman who claimed income of less than $8,000 a year had sued Obama’s client to obtain a $336 payment for baby-sitting services; Obama’s client paid up, and the case was settled.

And he represented another corporate client who had failed to pay a poor woman for services rendered -- a client that had to pay up?


In 1994, Obama appeared in Cook County court on behalf of Woodlawn Preservation & Investment Corp., defending it against a suit by the city, which alleged that the company failed to provide heat for low-income tenants on the South Side during the winter.

Whoa. He defended another building owner who failed to provide heat for poor people?

Apparently, Obama was the lawyer for the slumlords. I suppose having a young black community-organizer lawyer to defend the clients who have wronged poor black people is a good move for a law firm.

But mostly he was just an average worker:

“He was doing the work that any first-year or second-year associate would do,” Miner said. “In litigation, he was doing basic research and writing memos… . In the first couple years he would play a very minor role. He wouldn’t know [much], so he would take the lead from whoever was supervising his work.”

Obama was a good follower. Other lead, Obama followed. Palin took over her PTA, Obama had his work supervised.

And while nobody who knew him from then seemed to think he would be a good leader, they all seem to know that his REAL goal was to get elected to public office:

People who knew Obama in the early 1990s said he made it clear that he aspired to run for public office. For that, the firm, now called Miner, Barnhill & Gallard, was a good place to start.
The firm has been a force in Chicago politics. Carol Moseley Braun, one of Obama’s predecessors in the U.S. Senate from Illinois, briefly worked there.


One thing he apparently did not learn in his time as a lawyer is a real day's labor for a day's pay, a lack of concern for showing up for work that he carried with him into the U.S. Senate, where he's absent more than he's present:

The law firm says Obama logged 3,723 billable hours during his tenure from 1993 to 2004, most of it during the first four years.

That's about 310 hours a year. For comparison, according to this article, the standard minimum billable hours at a typical law firm would be about 2000, but for small and solo firms you would expect about 1200:

Back in my law factory days I regularly billed 2200 - 2400 hours per year. 2000 hours per year was considered the absolute minimum acceptable number of billable hours for associates. Since opening my solo office in 1998, I have been billing and collecting around 1200 hours per year, though I work more hours than I did at the law factories (there is a lot to be said for having staff members waiting on you hand and foot so you are free to bill, bill, bill).

Obama's excuse was that for many years, he was also a legislator (which means he treated the state senate job as another part-time position). But note that he worked 4 years before becoming senator, and if you assume he worked ALL of his hours during that first 4 years, and did NOTHING the last 8 years for the money he was paid, that's still less than 1000 hours a year. In case you didn't know, the number of hours available a year for a typical 8-hour, 5-day-a-week job is 2000 hours.

So, you can ask the question, what did Obama do those last 8 years to earn his money, since he apparently wasn't actually working billable hours for the law firm. Well, this article explains that as well -- he WAS working for his clients, in his job as State Senator (which kind of ruins his "different kind of politician" meme):

In some instances, Illinois state Sen. Obama took action that could have benefited some of his firm’s clients. In 1998, for instance, he used state Senate stationery to urge that state and city officials provide tax subsidies to help a partnership consisting of Davis and Rezko develop low-income housing, the Chicago Sun-Times reported last year.

In 2001, Obama was coauthor of a law that created a tax credit for people who donate land, buildings or construction material to help develop low-income housing.

Illinois state Rep. Jack D. Franks, a Democrat, lauded the bill, which garnered near-unanimous support. But Franks said that while the measure helped Obama’s low-income constituents, it raises questions because his law firm’s clients could have benefited from it.

Franks says he understands why Obama did this, but it does show a lack of judgment:

“I can’t fault him for the idea. But he is wearing two hats. He is a legislator, and he is serving as a private attorney whose client interests benefited here. This goes to the judgment issue.”


In the end, the Obama campaign tries to defend him against these actions Obama took, by explaining Obama's socialist philosophy that the government exists to solve people's problems for them:

Obama strategist Axelrod scoffed at the notion that Obama should have avoided such legislation. ...
“His view of public policy is that you should use the tools of government to deal with some of the crying social needs that we have.”

A bunch of old white guys

Several times during the RNC convention, the media made fun of how we were all "old white guys", even when half tha major speakers were black or women. Truth doesn't matter much to the media when they are spinning their tales.

Anyway, that's why I like this commercial from John McCain. Forget the words -- it's the same stuff you've heard before about what Obama's plan is for America. Turn down the volume and just watch.

It's all old white guys. And these are all the leaders of the Senate where Barack occasionally works when he's not running for Office. The party of inclusion is run by a bunch of old white guys. And Barack Obama picked an old white guy as his VP pick.

Obama has a very lmited imagination

He must, to say this:

“I think that the surge has succeeded in ways that nobody anticipated,” Obama said while refusing to retract his initial opposition to the surge. “I’ve already said it’s succeeded beyond our wildest dreams.”

Apparently Obama has a very small imagination, and a very limited ability to dream or anticipate.

Because there are a LOT of people who anticipated the surge would succeed, and are not at all surprised that we are winning the war.

In fact, Obama is like the LAST person to figure out that the Surge would work, and has worked. Petraeus dreamed about this, and anticipated it. Senator John McCain of course also knew this was the right thing to do.

Imagine in 1945, a politician running for President who opposed the D-Day invasion, and now says "D-Day worked in ways nobody anticipated".

They wouldn't be elected President, they would be laughed at. Because what we need as President is a man who DOES anticipate what will bring success.

Barack Obama opposed the winning strategy in Iraq. And he STILL says he would have opposed it. Which means that, as President, he is likely to not see how to defeat our other enemies.

Why would anybody elect a man who not only admits he had no idea how to win in Iraq, but even after seeing EXACTLY how to do it, says he would not learn that lesson?

Barack Obama demonstrates an intransigence, a lack of ability to lead, a lack of ability to learn from his profound mistakes, and a rigid adherance to a far-left ideological purity even if the face of compelling evidence that even he admits showing his ideology to be bankrupt and useless.

Say what you will about McCain, the man has shown that he puts Country first, and he's shown the ability to "anticipate" things that work, when Obama claims that nobody could do so. Clearly Obama can't anticipate how to do things right, but McCain can.

Monday, September 1, 2008

Obama wakes up, calls off attack dogs.

Obama, either out of sincere belief or because he's at least smart enough to know that smearing families doesn't sell, has asked his left-wing hit-squad to stop attacking Palin's children:

Let me be a clear as possible: I have said before and I will repeat again, I think people's families are off limits," Obama said, "and people's children are especially off limits."This shouldn't be part of our politics," he continued, "It has no relevance to Gov. Palin's performance as governor, or her potential performance as a vice president."And so I would strongly urge people to back off these kinds of stories," he said.

"You know my mother had me when she was 18, and how a family deals with issues and, you know, teenage children, that shouldn't be the topic of our politics and I hope that anybody who is supporting me understands that's off limits."

Obama also denied his campaign was directly involved. Although, since the attacks started at Daily KOS, which has as it's members several of the Democratic leadership, including Senator Harry Reid, it's really hard to explain why he waited 3 days to denounce this -- they started with the "Palin's kid had a child" lies last Friday.

The Democratic presidential nominee said, "There is no evidence at all that any of this involved us. I hope I am as clear as can be – so in case I’m not, let me repeat: We don't go after people's families, we don't get them involved in the politics. It's not appropriate and it's not relevant."

Concluded Obama before getting on his campaign bus headed to Milwaukee, Wisc., "Our people were not involved in any way in this and they will not be. And if I ever thought that it was somebody in my campaign that was involved in something like that, they'd be fired."

I think, just like with the Wilson/Plame thing, we need an independent counsel to question every member of Obama's staff, just so we can find out who among them supported this rumor so Obama can fire them.

But in fact, nobody will ever be fired over these scurilous attacks.

UPDATE: Redstate makes a very important point I forgot which makes Obama's attempts to distance his campaign seem hollow:

When Hillary Clinton supporters started questioning whether Obama actually was born in the United States, who published the birth certificate?Daily Kos did. Barack Obama sent it to Daily Kos to get it out there. They have a close relationship, the campaign and website do.

When Barack Obama wanted to reach out to the netroots, where did he go to blog?At Daily Kos.

What site does Barack Obama have in his RSS reader?Daily Kos.

Barack Obama himself admits he reads Daily Kos


The first point is the most damning. Obama used Daily Kos as an official source of information for his campaign. Having done so, he can't really pretend he had no knowledge of what they were saying about Palin's children, and he had an obligation to denounce the DailyKos posts and distance his campaign from their lies and disgusting attacks.

But he did nothing of the sort, even in this denunciation. DailyKos is a part of the Obama campaign, just not officially (convenient to violate campaign finance laws which Obama has little interest in anyway).

Update #2: This is an excellent test of Obama's leadership capabilities, and he has failed. TO the degree you believe Obama was sincerely telling his party and his supporters to knock it off, it seems they have no interest in following his lead, as the attacks on Bristol Palin continue unabated.

Obama is no leader -- he can't even get his own supporters to do what is clearly right when he comes right out and screams it at them. Obama only looks like a leader when he occasionally is pointed to where the front of the mob is and runs there.

Obama Surrogate Wexler lies about Palin

COngressman Wexler, who couldn't be bothered to live in the district he represented, today took up the cause of lying for Barack Obama.

As reported in the story "Democratic Rep.: Palin pick is 'direct affront to all Jewish Americans'":

"John McCain's decision to select a vice presidential running mate that endorsed Pat Buchanan for president in 2000 is a direct affront to all Jewish Americans," said a statement by Wexler.

"Pat Buchanan is a Nazi sympathizer with a uniquely atrocious record on Israel, even going as far as to denounce bringing former Nazi soldiers to justice and praising Adolf Hitler for his 'great courage'".

Wexler went on to accuse McCain of having "failed his first test of leadership."

On a day when Joe Biden told Israel they would just have to live with Iran having the bomb, Wexler of course had to do SOMETHING to not drive away MORE Jewish voters.

But the problem is, Sarah Palin did not endorse Pat Buchanon in 2000. In fact, she was supporting another candidate. No, not John McCain. And not George Bush. Palin in fact was a Steve Forbes worker:

From the Associate Press State & Local Wire, August 7th, 1999:

"State Sen. Mike Miller of Fairbanks will head the Alaska campaign chairman for Republican presidential candidate Steve Forbes, campaign officials said.Joining the Fairbanks Republican on the leadership committee will be Wasilla Mayor Sarah Palin, and former state GOP chairman Pete Hallgren, who will serve as co-chairs."


Of course, we don't expect the truth to be a concern to elected democratic party leaders who are supporting Barack Obama. The Obama supporters have been spreading a vicious attack on Palin's daughter and newborn son, without Obama raising any objections, strange given how vehemently he whined about people dragging his wife into the campaign (I think we can all agree that wives are of some interest, but children not at all).

Saturday, August 30, 2008

Obama on Abortion

Nancy Pelosi's Words, redirected.

I took Nancy Pelosi's comments on the selection of Governor Sarah Palin (10 years executive experience), and redirected it at a more important candidate for a more important office, who has even less experience:

Nancy Pelosi on the Importance of the Lack of Experience of Barack Obama:

"The selection of a presidential candidate is one of the most significant and telling decisions a political party can make.

The Democratic Party selection of Barack Obama raises serious questions about their judgment. Why, when the country is fighting two wars, facing an uncertain economy and an energy crisis, did the DNC make the choice that they did?

Why, with so many other qualified women and men in their party, did the Democrats choose Barack Obama? Barack Obama is not the right choice. He shares the Far Lest's commitment to murdering the unborn and continuing The Pelosi-Reid failed economic policies.

Barack Obama and Joe Biden will not bring the American people the New Direction they need."


Simple fact is, Biden has NEVER been about change or a new direction. Biden is part of the old-old guard of democrats, who were in charge in the 70s and 80s, who gave us the Carter malaise, double-digit inflation, a stagnant stock market, and a prolonged cold war.

And Obama has done NOTHING to change the direction of the failed liberal policies still clung to by the current leadership of Pelosi and Harry Reid. He has sponsored virtually no interesting legislation, and has to take credit for bills he had nothing to do with and didn't even VOTE for in order to have any resume whatsoever.

Meanwhile, McCain has a long history of standing up for principle, against his own party. Many time he was wrong to do so, in my opinion, but McCain is about a new direction, a more ethical approach. And Sarah Palin is the ultimate outsider -- only one Governor is further physically from Washington, and few have shown the commitment to take on corruption even in their own party as Palin.

Obama and Biden have zero years of experience being in charge of anything. Palin was an executive for 10 years, a governor for nearly two years, was the co-owner of a successful business, and had a career as a journalist. Obama was a community organizer who used questionable ties to gain a position in the state senate where he accomplished nothing (his campaign claimed 3 achievements in his years of service, two of which he had nothing to do with).

Palin respects life -- Obama thinks babies are a burden he doesn't want for his children. Palin supports the 2nd amendment, Obama thinks citizens can't be trusted with weapons. Palin knows "global warming" is a political construct, Obama uses it to steal liberty from the people.

In a Presidential race between Obama and Palin, Palin would be the more experienced executive, and the better leader. Obama has never lead anything -- even his campaign is run by others, and he tags along (remember his complaint that he wanted to visit all the states but his campaign only let him visit "57"?).

McCain chose wisely when he chose Palin. She isn't the most experienced Republican, but she matches McCain well, and is well-qualified to be 2nd in line for the Presidency.

When the Democrats claim otherwise, just remember -- not only did they pick a less-experienced person for hte TOP of their ticket, when they had to pick the Majority leader, 3rd in line for the President, they picked Nancy Pelosi, who isn't qualified to run anything.

Saturday, August 2, 2008

Change you can count on -- Obama-style

I don't think Obama is so much a flip-flopper, as he is a candidate who has no idea what he really believes, because he has so few of his own policies, because he has no real grounded philosophy. He's just drifted through life having things handed to him, like a typical spoiled rich kid.

So obviously, he regularly says whatever he feels people want to hear.

In today's example, Obama was with Bill Nelson, from Florida. Now, Bill Nelson is a former Astronaut. And Obama has previously said he wants to cut the space program. But next to Bill, Obama sings a different tune:

TITUSVILLE, Fla - Standing with Florida Senator and former astronaut Bill Nelson 20 minutes north of the spiritual home of America’s space program in Cape Canaveral, Barack Obama committed to keeping NASA exploring the outer reaches of the cosmos for years to come - reversing a pledge to cut funding for new space flights.

Now, usually when Obama changes his mind, he pretends he didn't.

However, this time the campaign slipped up and admitted he had switched positions. Worse for Obama, they essentially admited that he did so because he just figured out NASA was important -- which isn't surprising, Obama is learning a lot of things "on-th-job":

But the Obama campaign claims that the Illinois Senator simply changed his mind about cutting NASA funds, and now supports the Constellation program – finding another way to pay for his education plans.

“Barack Obama understands how critical NASA is to America’s scientific and economic edge,” said spokesman Jen Paski. “That is why we have an alternative offset to pay for his early edcuation plan by reforming and reducing earmark spending, reforming federal contracting procedures.”

What is this "alternative offset"? If it was like his "energy plan", it would involve taxing spacecraft manufacturers of their "windfall profits".

But don't be surprised if Obama opposes this funding next week when he's in some state that doesn't depend on NASA spending. The campaign can't even figure out WHEN Obama changed his mind -- but it seems to be sometime when he stepped into Florida:

The campaign couldn’t say when the candidate had his change of heart, however.

Friday, August 1, 2008

Hey, Obama, real Presidents can do two things at once.

John McCain is running a series of internet advertisements highlighting statements made by Obama in a way that is, frankly, hilarious.

Obama's campaign for some reason is responding to these internet ads, giving them television airplay as the pundits show us what Obama is complaining about.

Today, Obama's campaign whined about the McCain commercial "The One", which has an hilarious ending with Charlton Heston parting the seas:


Anyway, as I said, Obama's campaign responded today:
Of McCain's new messiah web video, released today, Obama campaign spokesman Hari Sevugan says, "it’s downright sad that on a day when we learned that 51,000 Americans lost their jobs, a candidate for the presidency is spending all of his time and the powerful platform he has on these sorts of juvenile antics.
Of course, Barack is doing nothing about people losing their jobs, or the high price of gasoline, or doing something simple like passing appropriations bills. Nor is he pressuring the Democrats in charge to get their work done.
But the funny thing is how the Obama campaign seems to think you can't seriously discuss the issues AND put out funny ads at the same time. I guess for a inexperienced and unprepared candidate like Obama, he has to work really hard to focus on one thing at a time.
But John McCain is an experienced leader, and will have no trouble discussing his real solutions for the problems that we face, while also being able to poke some fun at all the idiotic things Obama does.
"But seriously if we have differences, we should have appeared at the Urban League convention today," McCain continued. "I've asked him time after time to appear with me on the same stage so we can discuss the issues that are important to the American people."
Of course, Obama can hardly walk and chew gum at the same time, and he is terrified to show up on the same stage as McCain, lest people see that the emperor has no clothes, that Obama is all hat and no cattle. Even when the invitation is in front of an obviously Obama-friendly crowd like the Urban League convention.

Thursday, July 31, 2008

Obama isn't playing race card, just touting lack of experience

Yesterday, Barack Obama once again claimed the McCain would attack him for how he looks:

So what they are going to try to do is make you scared of me," Obama told a crowd in Springfield. "You know, 'He's not patriotic enough. He's got a funny name.' You know, 'He doesn't look like all of those other presidents on the dollar bills.' "

McCain's camp hit back, saying :

Obama "played the race card, and he played it from the bottom of the deck," McCain campaign manager Rick Davis said in a statement. He called Obama's remarks "divisive, negative, shameful and wrong."

Well now, Obama's campaign has come back and claimed that Obama, when he said "doesn't look like all those other presidents", wasn't talking about skin color, but about experience:

Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs said Thursday that the senator was not referring to race.

"What Barack Obama was talking about was that he didn't get here after spending decades in Washington," Gibbs said. "There is nothing more to this than the fact that he was describing that he was new to the political scene. He was referring to the fact that he didn't come into the race with the history of others. It is not about race."

I don't believe it for a minute, especially since Obama regularly says things like:

Addressing supporters Tuesday night at a fundraiser in Springfield, Mo., he said, "It's a leap, electing a 46-year-old black guy named Barack Obama."


But if Obama wants to argue that what he meant was that he doesn't have the experience that every other President we've elected has had, I'm not going to argue with that. Obama is the most inexperienced, incapable, unready person we have ever picked as a major party nominee for President. He looks nothing like ANY other president we have ever chosen when it comes to being capable and knowledgeable enough for the job.

Saturday, July 26, 2008

Obama Denounces American Ability to Solve our Problems

Of course, Barack knows he is incapable of being President, he knows he is inexperienced. But now Obama has claimed that America can not solve our problems, that we need to be rescued by Europeans. And not just our "foreign" problems, but our domestic ones as well.

From US needs overseas partners to resolve domestic problems: Obama:

XinhuaLondon, July 26 (Xinhua) The US needs the help of overseas partners to solve its domestic problems, US Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said here Saturday.

Now, he's not saying we are entirely helpless. He just thinks that unless we make Europeans like us so that they will help us, our DOMESTIC problems will be harder to solve:

“The reason that I thought this trip was important as I am convinced that many issues we face at home are not going to be solved as effectively unless we have strong partners abroad,” he told a news conference.

He also made several more of his banal, self-evident statements, the ones he thinks makes him sound "presidential":

Commenting on his meeting with British Prime Minister Gorden Brown, Obama said, “We share the same language and the same belief and Britain and the US have gone through the world wars together and share same views on the world order.”

Of course, that includes Britain being our number one ally in the war in Iraq -- a war that Obama wanted to surrender over a year ago. So while America and Britain shared the same views, Obama and Britain do not -- and the America of Obama will not.

Obama lies about snubbing troops in Germany

Barack Obama, as part of his magical mystery tour where he would learn where countries were on the map, was scheduled to meet with wounded soldiers at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany.

Barack was treading a fine line on campaign finance with this trip. Part of the trip was a "senatorial fact-finding mission", paid for by we taxpayers. There were campaign-like events on that part of the trip, like Obama's trip to the Wailing Wall complete with campaign banners strung up on the fence. But when he visited military bases, no campaigning was possible -- the pictures were even shot by military photographers, not the campaign or the campaign volunteers in the media.

But halfway through the trip, the congressional visit ended, and his campaign began. The entire Germany visit was part of his campaign, he flew on his campaign plane, and he had his campaign staff, not his senatorial staff.

But he scheduled a visit to the military hospital as part of his senatorial duties -- because you can't campaign there. The rules are easy to understand. However, since Obama had sent his senate staff away, and since apparently he's scared to be alone, he tried to bring one of his campaign advisors, General Scott Gration -- thinking that since he previously served at the base and was retired military that the base would make an exception to the "no campaign staff" rule.

And when the base said sorry, you are welcome, but Gration must stay in the waiting room, Obama decided to cancel the trip rather than risk being alone with the troops.

Now, however, Obama is making things worse, by lying about the entire event. He's actually told several lies, but the last lie is such a blatant one that it can't be ignored. Not that the media won't ignore it -- few reporters bothered to tell us that Obama lied about being on the Banking Committee, for example.

Let's go over all the lies he told just about this one thing, starting from when the press figured out he had cancelled a scheduled visit to the base.

First, his campaign issued the statement that "The senator decided out of respect for these servicemen and women that it would be inappropriate to make a stop to visit troops at a U.S. military facility as part of a trip funded by the campaign."

Of course, that raised the question as to why they had ever scheduled it, and why the Senator felt he couldn't visit the troops without making them into political props.

So then the campaign tried to float the lie that the pentagon had changed the rules and raised the issue of a "political visit", and that was why they cancelled: "We learned from the Pentagon last night that the visit would be viewed instead as a campaign event. Sen. Obama did not want to have a trip to see our wounded warriors perveived as a campaign event when his visit was to show his appreciation for our troops and decided instead not to go."

That didn't go over well, so then the campaign tried to stir up a rumor that it was all John McCain's fault, getting Andrea Mitchell to carry the water for him. But nobody bought that lie.

So now Obama has a new lie. In this lie, he claims the event was never even on the schedule:

"The staff was working this so I don’t know each and every detail but here is what I understand happened," Obama said. "We had scheduled to go, we had no problem at all in leaving, we always leave press and staff off -- that is why we left it off the schedule.

Except if you go back to where this started, you find out it was ON the schedule, until they removed it. As the Washington Post reports:

When Obama arrived in Germany on Thursday, a printed schedule said he would fly to the military hospital Friday. Asked at the time about the schedule, an Obama adviser said it was incorrect, that the stop had been considered but ultimately rejected.

Senior adviser Robert Gibbs said in a statement, "The senator decided out of respect for these servicemen and women that it would be inappropriate to make a stop to visit troops at a U.S. military facility as part of a trip funded by the campaign."

Get it? In three short days, we went from an event on the schedule that was removed at the last minute out of a belated respect for the troops, to Obama claiming the event was left off the schedule because it wasn't a political event.

It is clear they made a mistake, just like Obama was wrong about the Surge. And just like the surge, Obama simply cannot admit he makes any errors. When he's not pretending that he said the opposite of what he really said, he stubbornly sticks to wrong-headed decisions, even insisting he refuses to learn from his mistakes or fix them. When Fox news asked Obama if it was a mistake not to take time for the troops, Obama said "No".

Of course, if you saw the picture of the girl he got to work out with instead of seeing the troops....

Friday, July 25, 2008

Obama's challenge: Pick a VP that doesn't show him up

Barack Obama is about the least experienced major-party candidate for President in modern history.

Generally, even if a candidate lacks some particular experience, say in foreign policy, they have an overall proven capability to lead (like Bill Clinton).

But Barack Obama has nothing. He never really ran a business. He was a "community activist" but wasn't even president of his Homeowner's association. He was a low-level member of the state legislature for a while, and has 150 days or so of work in the Senate spanning about 3 1/2 years.

He wasn't in the military, he wasn't a law firm partner, he wasn't an elder in his church, he didn't captain a sports team, he wasn't even a boy scout senior patrol leader.

Barack Obama actually has less leadership experience than I do.

So Barack has a unique challenge -- to pick a Vice Presidential candidate who doesn't immediately make people think "why isn't this person the Presidential Pick?", while at the same time not picking a candidate who people say "wow, that person couldn't be dog catcher".

In his latest attempt to thread the needle of an inexperienced but not spooky-scary VP candidate, the Obama campaign has floated the name of a Republican Cabinet Official from the Bush administration, Ann Veneman:

Barack Obama's vice presidential search team has floated the name of a member of President Bush's first-term Cabinet, Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman, as Obama's running mate.
...
But Veneman, 59, has a biography that could be suited to Obama's unifying message. A Republican raised on a California peach farm, she rose to become the nation’s first female agriculture secretary. In 2002 she was diagnosed with breast cancer, which was treated successfully. Today she serves as executive director of the United Nations children's agency, UNICEF.

As you can see, she is properly inexperienced in elected office. However, her directorship of Unicef means she has more executive experience than Obama, and as Agriculture Secretary she showed an ability to lead an executive department with a multi-billion-dollar budget. Obama has barely shown an ability to keep his own staff operating without embarassing him.

This is a crass political move -- and they admit it:

"You select a strong independent woman who appeals to Republicans and independents, and so that's hard to beat," the Hill source said, explaining the logic of the possible choice. "Choosing someone like [Veneman] doesn't hurt you with the Democrats. It just doesn't hurt you. But it helps you with Independents and Republicans."

Of course, in the real world none of us really remember Anne, or care much about her. She wouldn't make any Republicans or Independents vote for McCain, and I doubt she would draw any to vote for Obama, unless he swapped places with her.


Not that there is any chance of this happening. Some democrats are already blasting the idea:


... the mention of her name was met with incredulity on Capitol Hill."Are you serious?" one lawmaker asked vetters when Veneman's name came up, a second source familiar with the conversations said.

The surprise stems from the fact that, while Veneman was seen as an experienced leader for her department, she often clashed with Democrats on a central battle front of the Bush years: regulation. Venemen was criticized by some Democrats and environmentalists, and praised by agriculture and food interests, for lightly regulating the industries and for encouraging trade and biotechnology during her tenure.
...
also clashed with Democrats — including then-Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, who is now an Obama confidant — over subsidies for small farmers, which they sought to expand.

On 2nd thought, I think I like this woman. All the more reason Obama won't pick her, and if he tries, his handlers will slap him down.

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Obama Signs desecrate Wailing Wall

Obama doesn't know what Senate Committee he's on.

I'm actually wlling to give him a pass on this one. He's only been a senator for a few years, and during that time he's hardly been in the senate itself, about 150 days or so total.

And during that short 150 days of work, he had to attend lots of meetings, listen to a lot of other senators give speeches, meet with lobbyists and money-men, and who knows what else.

Heck, he never even had time to hold a hearing for the subcommittee he actually leads.

So when Obama claims that he is on the Banking committee, maybe he really just doesn't know what committees he was assigned to since he never shows up (he showed up once for one committee he's on that deals with Afghanistan). It's not like Barack Obama is a leader. He's just a follower, a go-along-to-get-along guy.

A guy who would sit in a church for 20 years, fostering close personal relationships with the pastor only to be shocked to find the church is a racist church with a racist, anti-american pastor.

A guy who would take mortgages that look bad because he is told it's how things are done. A guy who lets a criminal buy the lot next to him and sell it to him at a discount.

Senator Reid, no real leader himself but obviously considered a much better leader than Barack Obama, simply assigns people to committees, and Barack shows up where he's told (or actually doesn't show up because they probably told him they didn't really need him, like the 3rd-string right-fielder on the softball team).

Barack Obama says that if you want to know what a man can do, look at what he's done. Well, if you look at what responsibility the Democratic Senators have given to Barack, you'll see they aren't really all that excited about his abilities. He's not the one they call on to lead or sit on the big committees, or to write the major legislation, or to make the big floor speeches. He's not doing the hard grunt work, or even heading the press conferences to explain the Democratic position.

He's just "good old Barack Obama", the guy they assign to committees but don't care if he shows up.

Hey, at least he didn't confuse himself with another Senator with a similar name, like John Kerry did.

So, as I said, it doesn't really bother me that CNN reports that Obama lied about membership in the Senate Banking Committee:

“Just this past week, we passed out of the out of the U.S. Senate Banking Committee - which is my committee - a bill to call for divestment from Iran as way of ratcheting up the pressure to ensure that they don’t obtain a nuclear weapon,” Obama said at a press conference in Sderot, Israel.
...
Except that he isn’t a member of the Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs.


I wonder if Obama will throw himself under the bus for embarrassing himself with this -- "That's not the Barack Obama I knew", he'd say.....

Sunday, July 20, 2008

Obama Can't Count?

A few months ago, Barack Obama told how he had visited 57 states during his primary run. While this was humorous, and was just one of many stupid things Barack has said, it seemed nothing more than a simple mis-statement.

But now there is additional evidence that Obama just doesn't know how to count. For example, several of his childhood stories show that he can't count from his age back to his birth.

In his latest indication that Barack is not ready to be the leader of anything, from Jake Tapper:

Today on CBS's Face the Nation, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., in Afghanistan, told the paparazzi-pursued correspondent Lara Logan that "the objective of this trip was to have substantive discussions with people like President Karzai or Prime Minister Maliki or President Sarkozy or others who I expect to be dealing with over the next eight to 10 years.

Ignore the blatant arrogance of Barack speaking as if he is already President (which goes along with Obama creating his own Presidential Seal). If Barack wins the Presidency, he will serve at most two terms. Which, as those with a 3rd-grade education know, is in fact 8 years long, not 10.

The notion that Obama will be dealing with world leaders for eighjt-to-ten years, possibly up through July 2018, suggests that either (a) he believes that not only will he be elected and re-elected, but the 22nd amendment will be repealed and he will be elected for a third term, OR (b) he was speaking casually and just meant two terms.

Of course, he probably was thinking "8", but then realised he wasn't President yet, and then couldn't figure out how many more months that would be, so gave a broad range so as not to get into trouble.

Jake had his own theory about Obama's inability to say things that aren't stupid:

Some Democratic allies of Obama's are -- off the record -- concerned that the senator too often doesn't consider the potential butterfly effect of his diction.

Take his support for an "undivided Jerusalem," or his remarks about women seeking abortions when they're "feeling blue," which upset feminist leaders.

Or the media kerfuffle after his "refine my policies" presser.

On his press plane on July 5, after that incident, Obama said, "I’m surprised at how finely calibrated every single word was measured."

A reporter noted that that is precisely what happens with the president, he can change world affairs with one word, finely calibrating your words is what happens.

Oops. As I noted in a post yesterday, Obama's campaign statement about Maliki put our ally in a terrible bind. But Obama isn't serious enough of seasoned enough to understand:

"Well, of course, no, I understand," Obama said. "But for me to say that I’m going to refine my policies, you know, I don’t think in anyway is inconsistent with prior statements and doesn’t change my strategic view that this war has to end and that I am going to end it as president."

Btw, of course the "war has to end". Generally that happens when you win the war, or when you lose the war. Sometimes it happens when the Democrats take over and surrender in the hope that people won't realise they just gave up.

All About Obama

OK, I've always wanted a blog to be about issues. And while what Obama does is an issue, it's not really the only issues around.

So I've created this blog to host all my posts about Obama. I might throw something about McCain here as well in contrast from time to time, but mostly this will be all about Obama.

Saturday, July 12, 2008

Obama like the Cowardly Lion from Wizard of Oz

IN the movie "Wizard of Oz", when we first meet the Cowardly Lion, he is quite the talker. Standing before the cowering trio of Dorothy, Tin Man, and Scarecrow, he challenges them to a fight:

Put 'em up! Put 'em up! Which one of you first? I'll fight you both together if you want! I'll fight you with one paw tied behind my back. I'll fight you standing on one foot. I'll fight you with my eyes closed.

So long as the Tin man and the Scarecrow are intimidated, Lion continues his brave front:

How long can you stay fresh in that can? (laughs) Come on -- get up and fight, you shivering junk yard! Put your hands up, you lop-sided bag of hay!

Of course, we all know what happens next. Lion goes after Toto, and Dorothy, ever the brave young girl, slaps his hand. And the brave Lion broke into tears.

Obama reminds me of the Cowardly Lion, hardly the picture you want to project if you are looking to be the leader of the Free World.

See, when he still had the reputation as a great speaker, while McCain was ridiculed as being unable to string sentences together, Obama gave the equivalent of the Cowardly Lion's calling-out (Chicago Tribune, May 17, 2008):

Challenging McCain to a debate on foreign policy "anywhere, any time," the Democratic front-runner said the Arizonan shared a "naive and irresponsible belief that tough talk from Washington will somehow cause Iran to give up its nuclear program and support for terrorism."

But it turns out that McCain, a decorated war hero, wasn't as easy to intimidate as a scarecrow. McCain took up Obama on his challenge, offering a series of town hall meetings on various subjects including foreign policy.

The New York Times now reports that Obama, like the Cowardly Lion, has chickened out:

Obama Won’t Commit to Event at Military Base

A coalition of military groups is planning a nationally televised town-hall-style meeting with the presidential candidates near Fort Hood, Tex., the largest active-duty military installation in the country. But so far, only Senator John McCain of Arizona, the presumptive Republican nominee, has agreed to attend.
...
Carissa Picard, managing director of the Fort Hood Presidential Town Hall Consortium, said she had suggested Aug. 11 and asked the campaign to suggest other dates if that was not convenient, but after several conversations she had not been able to work anything out.

“I’m having extreme difficulty getting the Obama campaign to commit to this event, and we do not understand why,” said Ms. Picard, whose husband is deployed in Iraq. “We made it very clear to them that if they would commit to the event, we would work with them on dates.”

The Cowardly Lion shirked away from his promised battle because he lacked courage. Maybe that is why Obama won't appear on stage with McCain anytime, anywhere.

Obama has made a lot of promises in his short campaign for President. Time and again, he has broken those promises. Whether he is backing out of debates, reversing his pledge to adhere to public financing guidelines, or even stupid promises like his promise to filibuster the FISA bill, One thing is certain -- Obama is the "change" candidate.

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Obama to Rob America for next four years

In 2006, a young Barack Obama spoke on the Senate floor, as recounted at his web site:

“The cost of our debt is one of the fastest growing expenses in the federal budget. This rising debt is a hidden domestic enemy, robbing our cities and states of critical investments in infrastructure like bridges, ports, and levees; robbing our families and our children of critical investments in education and health care reform; robbing our seniors of the retirement and health security they have counted on. . . . If Washington were serious about honest tax relief in this country, we'd see an effort to reduce our national debt by returning to responsible fiscal policies.”
— Barack Obama, Speech in the U.S. Senate, March 13, 2006

As this is listed on his campaign web site, one might assume this is a major campaign promise, to reduce our debt. But if you assumed that, you would be wrong, as Associated Press reports:

Barack Obama says John McCain's plan to balance the budget doesn't add up. Easy for him to say: It's not a goal he's even trying to reach.

Not only does Obama say he won't eliminate the deficit in his first term, as McCain aims to do, he frankly says he's not sure he'd bring it down at all in four years, considering his own spending plans.

"I do not make a promise that we can reduce it by 2013 because I think it is important for us to make some critical investments right now in America's families," Obama told reporters this week when asked if he'd match McCain's pledge.

So the debt is robbing America, and Obama wants to continue to rob America for the next four years.

I guess he's not serious about honest tax relief. Because if he was, according to Obama, he'd at least make an effort to reduce the national debt.

Obama -- Change you can count on.

Sunday, July 6, 2008

Obama opposes mental health abortions -- no, he supports them.

Barack Obama is just about the most pro-abortion person ever to get nominated for Congress. You have to look pretty hard to find candidates who actually support post-birth abortions.

So it was a bit of a shock when Barack recently claimed that he opposed late-term abortions for the mental health of a mother. From Relevant Magazine:

Obama: I absolutely can, so please don’t believe the emails. I have repeatedly said that I think it’s entirely appropriate for states to restrict or even prohibit late-term abortions as long as there is a strict, well-defined exception for the health of the mother. Now, I don’t think that “mental distress” qualifies as the health of the mother. I think it has to be a serious physical issue that arises in pregnancy, where there are real, significant problems to the mother carrying that child to term.

Online pro-abortion lefties went nuts. For example:

NARAL leaders ought to feel like idiots.
...
Looks like no one will be pleased with his new position. As I've said all along about his religious outreach, you don't get something for nothing and if he wants the evangelical vote, he's going to have to offer them something. Is this it?

Well, Obama couldn't take the heat. So his campaign has "clarified" his obviously inartful words:

Reporter: You said that mental distress shouldn't be a reason for late-term abortion?
Obama: "My only point is this -- historically I have been a strong believer in a women's right to choose with her doctor, her pastor and her family. And it is ..I have consistently been saying that you have to have a health exception on many significant restrictions or bans on abortions including late-term abortions.

In the past there has been some fear on the part of people who, not only people who are anti-abortion, but people who may be in the middle, that that means that if a woman just doesn't feel good then that is an exception. That's never been the case.

I don't think that is how it has been interpreted. My only point is that in an area like partial-
birth abortion having a mental, having a health exception can be defined rigorously. It can be defined through physical health, It can be defined by serious clinical mental-health diseases. It is not just a matter of feeling blue. I don't think that's how pro-choice folks have interpreted it. I don't think that's how the courts have interpreted it and I think that's important to emphasize and understand."

I'm not surprised. After all, Obama has already said that his own children should be allowed to have abortions so they wouldn't be "punished with a baby".

But did Obama just make a mistake in his previous statement? Or was he, as some left-wing groups insist, trying to buy off the evangelical vote by taking their side on the notion of a mental health exception.

Current late-term abortion law mostly just has a life-of-the-mother exception, not a health exception. The reason is that health exceptions invariably are no exceptions at all. And before anybody says I'm being unfair and that women and doctors wouldn't lie, remember this;

In Roe Vs Wade, "Roe" presented herself, with expert testimony support, as a victim of rape, even though she admitted later she was never raped. It was a lie to try to win popular support for her case. (Some probably don't know that Roe never aborted her child, her child is now pro-life, as is Roe. Not surprising, as being able to love and be loved by a human being you were trying to kill can have that effect on you).