Obama

[Soldier4Christ]

Obama birth certificate faked?
Credibility staked on Daily Kos-derived image

Questions over a birth certificate for Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama – the document that could prove his constitutional qualifications to run for the presidency – have been revived by a report from Israel Insider.

A blogger who earlier raised the "unlikely" but circulating rumor Obama was born not within the United States, but elsewhere, possibly Kenya, eventually said he was satisfied the senator was born in Hawaii.

WND's report on the questions over his birth site followed the Obama campaign secrecy over the issue and the U.S. Constitution's requirement presidents be "natural-born" U.S. citizens.

Jim Geraghty, reporting on the Campaign Spot, a National Review blog, had cited the "unlikely" possibility that Obama's 1961 birth was not within the United States.

At the time, he wrote, "If Obama were born outside the United States, one could argue that he would not meet the legal definition of natural-born citizen … because U.S. law at the time of his birth required his natural-born parent (his mother) to have resided in the United States for '10 years, at least [f]ive of which had to be after the age of 16.'"

He then pointed out Ann Dunham, Obama's mother, was 18 when Obama was born "so she wouldn't have met the requirement of five years after the age of 16."

But when the Daily Kos website posted an image that appeared to be Obama's birth certificate, Geraghty announced he was satisfied.

However, investigative work done by the Insider now raises the possibility that the image posted on the Kos site, and an image later on the Obama campaign site, lack authenticity.

"Jay McKinnon, a self-described Department of Homeland Security-trained document specialist, has implicated himself in the production of palpably fake Hawaii birth certificate images similar to the one endorsed as genuine by the Barack Obama campaign, and appearing on the same Daily Kos blog entry where the supposedly authentic document appears," the new Insider report said.

The report said the publication had located a collection of Hawaii birth certificate images on the Photobucket site, and the result is an implication that the Kos site as well as the candidate's own "Fight the Smears" website, are "misleading the public with official-looking but manipulated document images of doubtful provenance."

"Without a valid birth certificate, the primary record of U.S. birth, Obama cannot prove that he fulfills the 'natural born citizen' requirement of the Constitution, throwing into doubt his eligibility to run for president and throwing the race into turmoil," the Insider report said.

"His presumed Kenyan-born father was foreign-born, and his mother was too young at the time of birth to confer natural born status by virtue of her American citizenship. Thus his citizenship comes down to proving he was born in the USA, and his campaign has staked its credibility on the authenticity of the Daily Kos-derived birth certificate image," the report said.

McKinnon, who uses the "opendna" screen name, has posted various images described as a "Certification of Live Birth" on Photobucket, and they have a "common visual signature" which is a dot that appears in the same location on the images, the Insider said.

The same dot appears on the Kos certificate, and on the campaign's website, it also shows up "albeit a bit … smeared," the report said. It cited other similarities between the Obama certificate and the Photobucket version, including an identical birth time of 7:24 p.m.

"The odds of an identical time occurring by chance in two certificates is 1440 to 1," the report said. "Either the former is derived from the latter, or the latter is derived from the former."

"[One possibility] is that the blank document preceded the purported Obama birth certificate, serving as a 'master' for the other," the report said.

More significant, however, is a series of blog posts about the issue.

"opendna" suggests at one point using a "blank template" to print up a birth certificate. A certificate that follows has the 7:24 p.m. birth time and the name "Haye I.B. Ahphorgerie" as the person's name, the report said.

"The Ahphorgerie crop appears seven minutes before opendna posts the 'blank template' birth certificate image with the suggestion to 'print one up' for Obama. So opendna was working on the image at that time," the report said.

The report said the Ahphorgerie image and comments later were deleted from the discussion thread, "something that could only have been done by a site administrator or Kos himself."

The Insider report said the one assumption that is valid is that the controversy "should cause the Obama campaign to reassess its reliance on the image of the birth certificate published by the Daily Kos."

"If the birth certificate endorsed by his campaign turns out to be a fraud – and the overwhelming evidence assembled points to it being precisely that – what would that say about the credentials and judgment of the presidential candidate it purports to represent? Let alone his Constitutional eligibility to serve," the report said.

The presumptive Republican nominee for president, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., already has gone through the same type of challenge, and the U.S. Senate responded with a resolution in April declaring him to be a "'natural born Citizen' under Article II, Section 1, of the Constitution of the United States."

That article declares that "no person except a natural born citizen … shall be eligible to the Office of president."

McCain was challenged because he was born to two U.S. citizens in the Panama Canal Zone.

[Soldier4Christ]

This needs to be investigated and settled immediately. I am surprised that Obama hasn't put this one to rest quickly as it will simply do nothing but hurt his campaign if he doesn't prove his legal birth status. The longer he puts this off the more it will hurt him.

It really does look like he is afraid to let the truth be known.

[nChrist]

This needs to be investigated and settled immediately. I am surprised that Obama hasn't put this one to rest quickly as it will simply do nothing but hurt his campaign if he doesn't prove his legal birth status. The longer he puts this off the more it will hurt him.

It really does look like he is afraid to let the truth be known.

Brother, I agree.

I doubt that he really wants this matter to be resolved by competent authorities because it would make him subject to criminal prosecution. As far as I'm concerned, I would hope there are plenty of voters who demand this matter be resolved by competent authorities. There are many highly trained document experts in law enforcement who could settle this matter once and for all, and that's exactly what must happen. This must not simply be a matter of opinion. Proof beyond a reasonable doubt can be provided in a PROPER INVESTIGATION.

[Shammu]

Obama to sponsor Cup car at Pocono race
July 11, 2008

SI.com has learned that for the first time in history, a major presidential candidate may sponsor a race car in NASCAR's premier series. According to sources, Barack Obama's campaign is in talks to become the primary sponsor of BAM Racing's No. 49 Sprint Cup car for the Pocono race on August 3. Details of the agreement are expected to be worked out over the coming days.

A BAM spokesperson has revealed the team will hold a press conference July 23 in Miami to reveal the partnership, currently a proposed one-race deal with an option to continue. Obama will be at the briefing, which will be tied to the "Get Out The Vote" campaign message he spread throughout the 2008 primary season.

Racing sources claim one of the options being considered would allow individual campaign donors to get their name on the race car for as little as $100. Obama will also be present for a second private fundraiser on July 30 in Miami, in which team owners Beth Ann and Tony Morgenthau -- staunch Republicans -- will give the Democrat an opportunity to spread his message of change. Randy Moss and Fergie are among the celebrities confirmed to be a part of that fundraiser in support of the candidate and his venture into NASCAR.

According to sources within the sport, the Association for Diversity in Motorsports (AFDIM) was an integral part of bringing the two camps together. Founded in '01, the organization works to heighten awareness of diversity in all forms of motorsports. They hope to tie their efforts in with a "Driving The Vote: Bridging The Gap" campaign to increase voter registration regardless of party affiliation.

While George Bush was prominently featured on Kirk Shelmerdine's No. 72 car in '04, this is the first time a national presidential campaign has actually given its own money to make itself a primary sponsor of a race car. The sport has typically shown itself to be a Republican stronghold, a trend two-time champ Jimmie Johnson recently alluded to when he said he believed John McCain was the candidate of choice for most NASCAR fans this year.

Ken Schrader will drive the entry, a Toyota, at Pocono for BAM, which is outside the top 35 in owner points and must qualify for the race on speed. The team has run just once since Martinsville due to sponsorship concerns, and has just six top-10 finishes in 167 career starts in the Cup series dating back to '02. According to sources, the team will stick with Toyota after making a switch from Dodge back in the spring.

Obama to sponsor Cup car at Pocono race

[Shammu]

Obama to sponsor Cup car at Pocono race

Obama must have money to throw away, if he sponsors the 49 car.

Right at the moment, they are sitting 46^th, in owners points. Only the top 35 are guaranteed a starting spot. Though Kenny Schrader is a good driver, he is way out of his prime.

[Soldier4Christ]

Just more of a political maneuver on his part and probably the only car that would accept his money.

[Shammu]

Just more of a political maneuver on his part and probably the only car that would accept his money.

Chances are your right, Beth Ann Morgenthau is desparite for money for their race team. So far, the 49 car has made 3 races on time. By the way, there have been 18 races run so far.

[Soldier4Christ]

Backlash: 2 million angry
Democrats reject Obama?
Raise $10 million for Clinton
campaign debt, urge her return

More than two million angry Democrats are rejecting Sen. Barack Obama as the likely Democratic nominee for the presidency this year, according to a new protest organization.

"I hate to use this word but it's fascist, and that's the approach they're taking to silence any Hillary Clinton supporters," Will Bower, co-founder of PUMA/Just Say No Deal, an exploding coalition of voters who say they have raised $10 million in just days to pay down Clinton's campaign debt.

"Barack Obama wants to give his acceptance speech in a stadium because he intends to minimize any pro-Hillary supporter dissent. It's not because he wants to include more people. He knows that if they pull any shenanigans at convention, the Hillary delegates will walk out, and they don't want that to be seen or heard. They're bringing as many Obama supporters as they can to fill that stadium. It's fascism," he said.

The voters who still are supporting Clinton are doing everything they can to make sure that doesn't happen, raising an estimated $10 million since Independence Day to retire her debt.

Nearly 18 million people voted for Hillary Clinton in the 2008 presidential primaries and many of them believe their candidate was cheated out of being the Democratic nominee for president.

Now more than two million, based on donation and other records, are determined to protest the nominating process and push for an open convention in Denver this August.

"The seeds of discontent for the birth of the PUMA/Just Say No Deal movement were planted during Barack's poor performances at the debates, the media assault on Clinton after Iowa, Obama's arrogance on the campaign trail, and the DNC's selective application of its own rules," Bower explained.

"We said we are not falling in line just because Obama and (David) Axelrod and the DNC were saying 'All right, this is over, let's all get behind Barack Obama.' There are plenty of us out here saying, 'No this is not over. You have treated us very unfairly and in fact, anti-democratically,'" he said.

Bower said Hillary supporters were so incensed with the DNC's action they wrote about it at their blogsites. The issue went viral, spreading rapidly across the Internet. One irate blogger came up with the acronym PUMA after blogging "Party Unity, My A**." The abbreviation eventually evolved into the puma cat logo used at multiple sites.

It took only days for PUMA and dozens of other grassroots organizations and political activists to discover one another and convene a conference call. They agreed to band together and call the movement Just Say No Deal.

"We formed this coalition to give people time to say 'Look, everything is still on the table. You still have months before November to make this decision' " Bower explained.

PUMA/Just Say No Deal now represents and gives voice to more than 230 grassroots organizations, blogs and millions of self- professed PUMAs intent on one mission: NOBAMA!

"On June 8th the coalition was born and within 24 hours we were on Fox News," Bower said. Since then, he and several other coalition members have done dozens of television, radio and print interviews. And they've met with the Republican presumptive nominee, Sen. John McCain and his campaign advisor Carly Fiorina.

"We felt reassured after that meeting that come November, we'd be voting for McCain, but we still haven't made that choice. We want him to work for our vote," Bower said.

PUMA/Just Say No Deal members are pushing varying agendas and voting strategies, but the factions are united in their unwavering decision to not "fall in line" in supporting Barack Obama. For many of the disenfranchised Democrats, the choice will be John McCain. For others, it will be a third party candidate, a write-in, or no vote at all.

"A lot of us still want Hillary to get the nomination, but we all agree that none of us want Obama to be the next president," Bower said.

"We're letting the Democratic National Committee and other party leaders know that PUMA/Just Say No Deal members are serious. We're not going to take this lightly and we're prepared to vote for John McCain if need be."

Bower said he believes his group is creating an impact with the Democratic National Committee.

"They are worried. They saw these past few weeks how much money we're still raising for Hillary Clinton. Originally they said 'Hillary has until the convention to pay off her debt if she wants to be on the roll call.' Well, then we started making money for her. And then they moved it up to July 15th. So we started making a lot of money for her."

"We started an initiative just before the 4th of July to raise money for Hillary, and so far we've raised approximately $10 million. Sources tell us that's less than $5 million away from being in the black. By this weekend Hillary's debt will be finished."

Bower makes it clear that Sen. Clinton has not asked the organization to do anything. "We're doing this on our own. We don't want the DNC to use her debt as a strong-arm tactic to keep her or her supporters from having a voice at the convention. All of us are contributing what we can. None of us want Barack Obama to be the next president."

Coalition members donate in increments of $20.08. "That way they know it's from us," Bower explained.

It's not just the money giving the DNC angst.

"Some of their superstars are now having to spend all of their time addressing us specifically," Bower said. “Donna Brazile's (superdelegate and DNC rules committee member) job now is fighting the PUMAs. Ed Rendell created a group called Hound to address the PUMAs. So some of their best people are having to devote all of their time and energy just to address us."

Money raised by PUMAs also doesn't go to Obama's campaign or the DNC coffers.

Bower also pointed to polls indicating shrinking support for Obama.

"CNN did a poll at the beginning of June that showed 1 of every 5 Clinton supporters would not vote for Obama. Well, just one month later that's now 1 in 3. So we're getting our numbers up and we're growing strong. And if the DNC's not worried about us, then they're clueless as to this movement."

They also credit Obama with helping their effort.

"In the last two weeks we've seen Obama go back on his campaign promises – FISA, campaign finance, especially the Iraq war," Bower said.

"There is a movement afoot," Bower confided. "It hasn't hit the ground yet, but we want to target down-ticket Democrats who have been complicit in the DNC's dealings these past few months. You'll probably be hearing more about that soon. Some of Obama's original supporters are leaving him. Eight super-delegates left Obama this week. People are realizing Obama will be a dead weight to them and that's why these eight delegates have switched back over to Hillary's column. And I'm expecting there'll be more to follow."

"He's only the presumptive nominee. And he's doing everything he can, the DNC is doing everything it can, to shove Hillary out of the process when she has received more votes than any primary candidate in history," he said.

The coalition believes the Democrat leadership in Congress is supporting Obama because they want a weakened executive branch and Obama is an inexperienced, manufactured candidate who'll have to rely on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

"Hillary won't do that," Bower assured.

[HisDaughter]

Backlash: 2 million angry
Democrats reject Obama?
Raise $10 million for Clinton
campaign debt, urge her return

More than two million angry Democrats are rejecting Sen. Barack Obama as the likely Democratic nominee for the presidency this year, according to a new protest organization.

"I hate to use this word but it's fascist, and that's the approach they're taking to silence any Hillary Clinton supporters," Will Bower, co-founder of PUMA/Just Say No Deal, an exploding coalition of voters who say they have raised $10 million in just days to pay down Clinton's campaign debt.

"Barack Obama wants to give his acceptance speech in a stadium because he intends to minimize any pro-Hillary supporter dissent. It's not because he wants to include more people. He knows that if they pull any shenanigans at convention, the Hillary delegates will walk out, and they don't want that to be seen or heard. They're bringing as many Obama supporters as they can to fill that stadium. It's fascism," he said.

The voters who still are supporting Clinton are doing everything they can to make sure that doesn't happen, raising an estimated $10 million since Independence Day to retire her debt.

Nearly 18 million people voted for Hillary Clinton in the 2008 presidential primaries and many of them believe their candidate was cheated out of being the Democratic nominee for president.

Now more than two million, based on donation and other records, are determined to protest the nominating process and push for an open convention in Denver this August.

"The seeds of discontent for the birth of the PUMA/Just Say No Deal movement were planted during Barack's poor performances at the debates, the media assault on Clinton after Iowa, Obama's arrogance on the campaign trail, and the DNC's selective application of its own rules," Bower explained.

"We said we are not falling in line just because Obama and (David) Axelrod and the DNC were saying 'All right, this is over, let's all get behind Barack Obama.' There are plenty of us out here saying, 'No this is not over. You have treated us very unfairly and in fact, anti-democratically,'" he said.

Bower said Hillary supporters were so incensed with the DNC's action they wrote about it at their blogsites. The issue went viral, spreading rapidly across the Internet. One irate blogger came up with the acronym PUMA after blogging "Party Unity, My A**." The abbreviation eventually evolved into the puma cat logo used at multiple sites.

It took only days for PUMA and dozens of other grassroots organizations and political activists to discover one another and convene a conference call. They agreed to band together and call the movement Just Say No Deal.

"We formed this coalition to give people time to say 'Look, everything is still on the table. You still have months before November to make this decision' " Bower explained.

PUMA/Just Say No Deal now represents and gives voice to more than 230 grassroots organizations, blogs and millions of self- professed PUMAs intent on one mission: NOBAMA!

"On June 8th the coalition was born and within 24 hours we were on Fox News," Bower said. Since then, he and several other coalition members have done dozens of television, radio and print interviews. And they've met with the Republican presumptive nominee, Sen. John McCain and his campaign advisor Carly Fiorina.

"We felt reassured after that meeting that come November, we'd be voting for McCain, but we still haven't made that choice. We want him to work for our vote," Bower said.

PUMA/Just Say No Deal members are pushing varying agendas and voting strategies, but the factions are united in their unwavering decision to not "fall in line" in supporting Barack Obama. For many of the disenfranchised Democrats, the choice will be John McCain. For others, it will be a third party candidate, a write-in, or no vote at all.

"A lot of us still want Hillary to get the nomination, but we all agree that none of us want Obama to be the next president," Bower said.

"We're letting the Democratic National Committee and other party leaders know that PUMA/Just Say No Deal members are serious. We're not going to take this lightly and we're prepared to vote for John McCain if need be."

Bower said he believes his group is creating an impact with the Democratic National Committee.

"They are worried. They saw these past few weeks how much money we're still raising for Hillary Clinton. Originally they said 'Hillary has until the convention to pay off her debt if she wants to be on the roll call.' Well, then we started making money for her. And then they moved it up to July 15th. So we started making a lot of money for her."

"We started an initiative just before the 4th of July to raise money for Hillary, and so far we've raised approximately $10 million. Sources tell us that's less than $5 million away from being in the black. By this weekend Hillary's debt will be finished."

Bower makes it clear that Sen. Clinton has not asked the organization to do anything. "We're doing this on our own. We don't want the DNC to use her debt as a strong-arm tactic to keep her or her supporters from having a voice at the convention. All of us are contributing what we can. None of us want Barack Obama to be the next president."

Coalition members donate in increments of $20.08. "That way they know it's from us," Bower explained.

It's not just the money giving the DNC angst.

"Some of their superstars are now having to spend all of their time addressing us specifically," Bower said. “Donna Brazile's (superdelegate and DNC rules committee member) job now is fighting the PUMAs. Ed Rendell created a group called Hound to address the PUMAs. So some of their best people are having to devote all of their time and energy just to address us."

Money raised by PUMAs also doesn't go to Obama's campaign or the DNC coffers.

Bower also pointed to polls indicating shrinking support for Obama.

"CNN did a poll at the beginning of June that showed 1 of every 5 Clinton supporters would not vote for Obama. Well, just one month later that's now 1 in 3. So we're getting our numbers up and we're growing strong. And if the DNC's not worried about us, then they're clueless as to this movement."

They also credit Obama with helping their effort.

"In the last two weeks we've seen Obama go back on his campaign promises – FISA, campaign finance, especially the Iraq war," Bower said.

"There is a movement afoot," Bower confided. "It hasn't hit the ground yet, but we want to target down-ticket Democrats who have been complicit in the DNC's dealings these past few months. You'll probably be hearing more about that soon. Some of Obama's original supporters are leaving him. Eight super-delegates left Obama this week. People are realizing Obama will be a dead weight to them and that's why these eight delegates have switched back over to Hillary's column. And I'm expecting there'll be more to follow."

"He's only the presumptive nominee. And he's doing everything he can, the DNC is doing everything it can, to shove Hillary out of the process when she has received more votes than any primary candidate in history," he said.

The coalition believes the Democrat leadership in Congress is supporting Obama because they want a weakened executive branch and Obama is an inexperienced, manufactured candidate who'll have to rely on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

"Hillary won't do that," Bower assured.

Well............isn't THIS interesting.  This presidential race has more turn arounds than a basketball game!

[Soldier4Christ]

The New King of Flip-flops.

Obama changes tune on united Jerusalem
Takes back speech advocating holy city as Israel's 'undivided capital'

U.S. Sen. Barack Obama has once again changed his tune regarding his recent exclamation at a pro-Israel event that he supports Jerusalem as the Jewish state's undivided capital.

"You know, the truth is that this was an example where we had some poor phrasing in the speech, and we immediately tried to correct the interpretation that was given," Obama stated yesterday during an interview on CNN's show, "Fareed Zakaria – GPS."

"The point we were simply making was, is that we don't want barbed wire running through Jerusalem, similar to the way it was prior to the '67 war, that it is possible for us to create a Jerusalem that is cohesive and coherent. I was not trying to predetermine what are essentially final-status issues."

Obama was referring to a speech he gave this past November to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee during which he stated if he is elected president, "Jerusalem would remain the capital of Israel and it must remain undivided."

His statement then promoted outcry from the Palestinian Authority and numerous Palestinian American organizations.

The day after the speech, Obama flip-flopped, also during a CNN appearance.

"Well, obviously, it's going to be up to the parties to negotiate a range of these issues. And Jerusalem will be part of those negotiations," he said in response to a question about whether Palestinians have a legitimate claim to the city.

Obama said "as a practical matter, it would be very difficult to execute" a division of the city. "And I think that it is smart for us to, to work through a system in which everybody has access to the extraordinary religious sites in Old Jerusalem but that Israel has a legitimate claim on that city."

Israel recaptured eastern Jerusalem, including the Temple Mount – Judaism's holiest site – during the 1967 Six Day War. The Palestinians have claimed eastern Jerusalem as a future capital; the area has large Arab neighborhoods, a significant Jewish population and sites holy to Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

WND previously exposed that tens of thousands of Arab complexes in eastern Jerusalem were constructed illegally on land purchased by the Jewish National Fund, a Jewish nonprofit that purportedly raises donor funds for the purpose of Jewish settlement.

Perhaps indicating his true policy on Jerusalem, Obama has chosen an adviser on Israel-Palestinian issues well-known for his support of dividing Jerusalem.

"It will be impossible to make progress on serious peace talks without putting the future of Jerusalem on the table," adviser Daniel Kurtzer said as recently as last month at conference organized by the Jewish People Policy Planning Institute, or JPPPI.

According to top Israeli diplomatic sources, Obama is expected to appoint Kurtzer as a top U.S. broker on Israeli-Palestinian issues.

Kurtzer, a former U.S. ambassador to Israel, has long been recognized by Israeli leaders, including prime ministers, as biased against Israel and is notorious for urging extreme concessions from the Jewish state. He was appointed as a primary Obama adviser on the Middle East earlier this year.

Obama's appointment of Kurtzer raised eyebrows among the pro-Israel Jewish community.

"We oppose the appointment of Kurtzer because of his long, documented record of hostility to and severe pressure upon Israel," said Zionist Organization of America National Chairman Morton Klein.

Kurtzer has been blasted by mainstream Jewish organizations, including the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.

He has angered Israeli leaders many times for pushing Israel into what they described as extreme concessions to the Palestinians.

"With Jews like Kurtzer, it is impossible to build a healthy relationship between Israel and the United States," Benjamin Nentanyahu was quoted saying in 2001 by Israel's Haaretz newspaper.

Former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir said Kurtzer "frequently pressured Israel to make one-sided concessions to the Arabs; he constantly blamed Israel for the absence of Mideast peace, and paid little or no attention to the fact that the Palestinians were carrying out terrorist attacks and openly calling for the destruction of Israel."

Morris Amitay, former executive director of the America-Israel Public Affairs Committee, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency in 2001: "Kurtzer … will use his Jewishness as a protective cover for his anti-Israel views."

The ZOA points out Israel's leading daily, Yediot Ahronot, editorialized on Kurtzer's negative influence against Israel:

"Possibly more than any other U.S. State Department official, Kurtzer has been instrumental in promoting the goals of the Palestinians and in raising their afflictions to the center of the U.S. policymakers' agenda," the paper stated.

Kurtzer first rose to prominence in 1988 when as a State Department adviser he counseled the Reagan administration to recognize the Palestine Liberation Organization led by Yasser Arafat. The PLO had carried out scores of anti-Western attacks, but in the late '80s Arafat claimed to have renounced violence.

In 1988, Kurtzer was noted as the principal author of a major policy speech by then-Secretary of State George Shultz in which the U.S. government first recognized the "legitimate rights" of the Palestinians.

Haaretz reported in 2001 that Kurtzer had a "vocal conflict" with an Israeli government official in Philadelphia in the summer of 1990 after Kurtzer "attacked the Israeli government for refusing to include the PLO in the peace process [and] said that this constituted the main obstacle to peace"

In Kurtzer's latest book, "Negotiating Arab-Israeli Peace: American Leadership in the Middle East," he largely blames Israel for the collapse of U.S.-brokered negotiations at Camp David. Contradicting accounts by President Bill Clinton and Prime Minister Ehud Barak, both of whom squarely blamed Arafat for refusing to make peace, Kurtzer argues in his book Israel did not offer enough concessions to the Palestinians.

At Camp David, Israel offered Arafat a state in the Gaza Strip, West Bank and eastern Jerusalem. According to multiple reports, Barak also offered Arafat the upper sections of the Temple Mount.

[HisDaughter]

coherent.

[nChrist]

Well............isn't THIS interesting.  This presidential race has more turn arounds than a basketball game!

       

I had to catch up on the news today, and nearly all of it but this one was gloom and doom. I hardly ever watch basketball, so what is it called:  sudden death overtime?  I probably got that wrong, but I think you get the drift. We needed some excitement in politics. They could involve activity from several sports and make their own rules - OOOOOPhs - they're already doing this. Maybe they could do something unusual - NAH! - That's already happened. I'm leaning toward something different - maybe trial by combat and the best man wins - OOOOOphs - no best men in the contest. I'm all out of ideas unless we can send them all home and start over. YEP! - THAT'S IT! - OVERS!

[Soldier4Christ]

I wanta hear Olly olly oxen free from those few good politicians that have been hiding that might still be out there. (If there are any that haven't been destroyed yet.)

[Soldier4Christ]

Obama: Immigration enforcement equals terror
Decries raids with 'nursing mothers torn from babies'

Sen. Barack Obama, speaking to the annual conference of the National Council of La Raza yesterday, pumped up the crowd by describing how Hispanic communities are "terrorized" by government immigration officers.

"When communities are terrorized by ICE immigration raids," Obama said, "when nursing mothers are torn from their babies, when children come home from school to find their parents missing, when people are detained without access to legal counsel, when all that is happening, the system just isn’t working, and we need to change it."

The crowd, quietly listening before Obama began his tirade, reacted immediately to the sentiment that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials are terrorizing communities. Applause, shouts and cheering swelled through the audience as Obama characterized atrocities allegedly committed by government officials.

"Our duty is to ensure laws are enforced," San Diego ICE spokesperson Lauren Mack told WND. "The people who violate those laws should understand they are subject to arrest and removal."

Mack explained that the ICE's enforcement operations are not random acts of shock meant to intimidate or terrorize, but carefully planned and targeted arrests, backed by months of investigation and surveillance, similar to the steps police take to apprehend any form of criminal.

"Our agents are experienced and well-trained," she said. "They know ICE policies on dealing with families and always take humanitarian issues into account in any arrest situation."

The ICE is the largest investigative branch of the Department of Homeland Security, formed in March 2003 by combining the law enforcement arms of the former Immigration and Naturalization Service and the former U.S. Customs Service.

Though ICE performs numerous national security and customs operations, the agency is often the subject of headlines when it executes its duty to enforce immigration and deportation laws.

In November of last year, following an incident where a mother and nursing baby actually were separated by ICE action, the agency released new written guidelines for handling single parents, pregnant women, nursing mothers and other special child or family care situations. The New York Times reported the new guidelines allow nursing mothers to be released unless they pose a national security risk.

"We are faced with these sorts of situations frequently, where a large number of individuals come illegally or overstay and have children in the United States," an ICE spokesperson told the Times. "Unfortunately, the parents are putting their children in these difficult situations."

KNSD-TV, San Diego, estimated that more than 2,000 people gathered in a ballroom at the San Diego Convention Center to hear Obama speak at a brunch titled "The Power to Change History" as part of the National Council of La Raza's 40th annual conference.

The Natonal Council of La Raza, whose name (La Raza) means "the race," defines itself as the nation's largest Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization.

The theme of Obama's speech was summarized in his frequently repeated statement, "The system isn't working," and his concluding statement, in which he said we need to "make the system work for everyone."

Obama slammed his presumed GOP rival McCain for changing stances on immigration reform legislation and promised that he wouldn't "walk away from something as important as comprehensive immigration reform just because it becomes politically unpopular."

Obama also demanded health care for every American, subsidized by the government if necessary, and announced the addition of a new strategy to his health care plan: tax credits to small businesses that provide health insurance to their employees.

On the touchy issue of immigration, Obama referenced an estimated number of illegal immigrants living in the U.S. when he said, "Yes they broke the law, and we should not excuse that, we should require them to pay a fine, we should require them to learn English. They should go to the back of the line for citizenship … but we should not have 12 million people in the shadows."

Obama promised a "pathway to citizenship" for current illegal aliens living in the U.S. and said, "Nation of immigrants and a nation of laws – we can do both."

As part of his concluding remarks, Obama stressed the importance of Hispanic voters in deciding the next president. "Make no mistake about it," he said, "the Latino community holds this election in its hands."

[Soldier4Christ]

"Make no mistake about it," he said, "the Latino community holds this election in its hands."

Sounds like he wants the illegal votes of the illegal aliens.