Obama

[Soldier4Christ]

Backlash to Obama officials
squelching political speech
Law enforcement threats, intimidation likened
to 'police-state tactics,' by Missouri governor

Following legal threats by Missouri state law-enforcement officials supporting Barack Obama against presidential campaign ads that appeared to be false or misleading, Gov. Matt Blunt today likened the intimidation to "police state tactics."

"St. Louis County Circuit Attorney Bob McCulloch, St. Louis City Circuit Attorney Jennifer Joyce, Jefferson County Sheriff Glenn Boyer, and Obama and the leader of his Missouri campaign Senator Claire McCaskill have attached the stench of police state tactics to the Obama-Biden campaign," said Blunt in a statement released today. "What Senator Obama and his helpers are doing is scandalous beyond words, the party that claims to be the party of Thomas Jefferson is abusing the justice system and offices of public trust to silence political criticism with threats of prosecution and criminal punishment."

The statement came after the law enforcement officials pledged to form a "truth squad" to halt ads that, among other things, claimed Obama was not a Christian or that he was not planning to cut taxes on Americans other than the wealthy.

"If they're not going to tell the truth, somebody's got to step up and say, 'That's not the truth. This is the truth,'" McCullogh told KMOV-TV in St. Louis.

The effort appeared to be part of a move by the Obama campaign to block advertisements to which it objects. The campaign also sent "threatening" letters to several news agencies in Pennsylvania and Ohio demanding they stop airing ads exposing Obama's gun stance, according to the National Rifle Association.

"This abuse of the law for intimidation insults the most sacred principles and ideals of Jefferson," said Blunt. "I can think of nothing more offensive to Jefferson's thinking than using the power of the state to deprive Americans of their civil rights. The only conceivable purpose of Messrs. McCulloch, Obama and the others is to frighten people away from expressing themselves, to chill free and open debate, to suppress support and donations to conservative organizations targeted by this anti-civil rights, to strangle criticism of Mr. Obama, to suppress ads about his support of higher taxes, and to choke out criticism on television, radio, the Internet, blogs, e-mail and daily conversation about the election."

Blunt concluded: "Barack Obama needs to grow up. Leftist blogs and others in the press constantly say false things about me and my family. Usually, we ignore false and scurrilous accusations because the purveyors have no credibility. When necessary, we refute them. Enlisting Missouri law enforcement to intimidate people and kill free debate is reminiscent of the Sedition Acts – not a free society."

The NRA's Political Victory Fund also condemned the effort as censorship.

"Barack Obama and his campaign are terrified of the truth," said Chris W. Cox, chairman of organization. "Sen. Obama's statements and support for restricting access to firearms, raising taxes on guns and ammunition and voting against the use of firearms for self-defense in the home are a matter of public record. NRA-PVF will make sure that everyone knows of Obama's abysmal record on guns and hunting."

The Obama campaign declined to respond to a WND request for comment.

The NRA said Obama sent "cease and desist letters" to news outlets in the two states, "denouncing the ads and demanding their removal from the airwaves."

"Barack Obama would be the most anti-gun president in our nation's history. That's the truth," said Cox. "NRA-PVF has the facts on our side. No amount of running from or lying about his record and then intimidating news outlets in the hope of deceiving American gun owners and hunters is going to work. Those strong arm tactics may work in Chicago, but not in Pennsylvania and Ohio, and not as long as NRA-PVF has anything to say about it."

The warnings were from Obama lawyer Robert Bauer, who told station managers that in order to stay in the Federal Communication commission's good graces, they should not air the ads.

Josh Marquis, an Oregon prosecutor who serves as a spokesman for the NDAA, said the comments from Missouri don't sound like the McCulloch he knows.

"I'm really surprised. I know Bob," Marquis told WND.

The KMOV report said the Obama campaign asked members of Missouri's law enforcement to target anyone who "lies" or issues misleading television ads. Formation of the Obama "Truth Squad" was the result, the report said.

McCulloch declined to return a call from WND seeking comment.

The KMOV report said the campaign was being conducted by McCulloch and another prosecutor, Jennifer Joyce, along with a number of sheriffs throughout the state.

"They will be reminding voters that Barack Obama is a Christian who wants to cut taxes for anyone who makes less than $250,000 a year. They also say they plan to respond immediately to any ads and statements that violate Missouri's ethics laws," the report said.

"We want to keep this campaign focused on issues," Joyce told the station. "We don't want people to get distracted. Missourians don't want to be distracted by the divisive character attacks."

The campaign was assembled to "set the record straight," they said.

Officials with the Missouri Sheriff's Association declined to talk about any sheriffs who might be involved in the campaign.

At the blog Gateway Pundit, the reaction was immediate.

"St. Louis and Missouri Democrat sheriffs and top prosecutors are planning to go after anyone who makes false statements against Obama during his campaign. This is so one-sided I can't even [begin] to describe how wrong this agenda is," writes blogger Jim Hoft.

Hoft said Joyce and McCulloch "are threatening to bring libel charges against those who speak out falsely against Barack Obama."

Missouri blogger Doctor Bulldog commented: "Don't think they will stop with just the local radio and television stations. Oh, no. We bloggers are NEXT on the chopping block! It doesn't matter if it is the truth. It only matters if Obama deems it a lie (i.e. – something that can cause damage to his bid to be president). Basically, NO ONE is free to criticize Obama here in Missouri!!!"

In the St. Louis Examiner, a commentary said, "Look, politicians are all about lies. It may be annoying (I find it entertaining), but that's for their opponents and good-government groups to counter – not law enforcement. ... Even if the officeholders joining the 'truth squad' are nominally stepping out of their official roles in order to put on their (political) party hats and play politics, it's inappropriate. They wield too much power to use it to wag their fingers at people who say un-nice things about political hopefuls. Prosecutors and sheriffs are, after all, normally thought of as people with the clout to put their targets behind bars."

Marquis told WND politicians keep their right to have a political opinion and express it, but the DA's organization strives hard not to be partisan.

[Soldier4Christ]

Obama said McCain is “right” nine times

On spending cuts:

“Well, I think Senator McCain’s absolutely right that we need more responsibility, but we need it not just when there’s a crisis.”

On spending cuts II:

“Not willing to give up the need to do it but there may be individual components that we can’t do. But John is right we have to make cuts. We right now give $15 billion every year as subsidies to private insurers under the Medicare system. Doesn’t work any better through the private insurers. They just skim off $15 billion.”

On earmarks:

“Well, Senator McCain is absolutely right that the earmarks process has been abused, which is why I suspended any requests for my home state, whether it was for senior centers or what have you, until we cleaned it up.”

On lobbyists:

“He’s also right that oftentimes lobbyists and special interests are the ones that are introducing these kinds of requests, although that wasn’t the case with me.”

On business taxes being too high:

“Now, John mentioned the fact that business taxes on paper are high in this country, and he’s absolutely right.”

On violence in Iraq going down:

“Senator McCain is absolutely right that the violence has been reduced as a consequence of the extraordinary sacrifice of our troops and our military families.”

On POTUS needing to use prudent language: (but added after the McCain bomb, bomb Iran gaffe)

“And, John, I — you’re absolutely right that presidents have to be prudent in what they say.”

On Iraq being “difficult”:

“Now, Senator McCain is also right that it’s difficult. This is not an easy situation.”

On not tolerating Iran having nukes:

“Senator McCain is absolutely right, we cannot tolerate a nuclear Iran.”

[HisDaughter]

...for lack of a better place to put this...

Americans concerned about loss of world standing: poll

Prophecy News Watch

Foreign policy could play a big role in November's presidential election according to a new poll that suggests 83 percent of Americans are most concerned about improving the nation's standing in the world.

The Chicago Council on Global Affairs poll also showed majority support for Washington to take a new tack in foreign policy by talking to enemies like the leaders of Cuba, North Korea, Iran, Myanmar (Burma), Hamas and Hezbollah.

Such a stand appeared closer to that of Democratic candidate Barack Obama than that of his Republican rival John McCain.

Bipartisan concern about America's standing in the world topped the list of 14 goals presented in the survey to be officially released on Monday, even higher than protecting the jobs of US workers (80 percent).

The survey was conducted in July, before the collapse of investment giant Lehman Brothers, the unprecedented government rescue of insurer American International Group and the seizure of mortgage-finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac sparked market panic.

Eighty-three percent of Americans -- including 81 percent of Republicans and 88 percent of Democrats -- think that improving their nation's standing internationally should be a "very important" foreign policy goal, the poll said.

The survey asked respondents to comment on whether they thought their government's ability to achieve its goals abroad had increased, decreased or remained the same.

"Fifty-three percent say that is has decreased, while only 10 percent say it has increased. Thirty-six percent say it has stayed about the same," according to the Chicago Council survey.

Republicans were more likely than Democrats to say it had stayed the same.

But such concerns were not breeding new isolationism, it added. Americans remained strongly committed to have Washington retain an active role in world affairs and maintain its global military presence.

A majority of Americans also backed US government talks with leaders of unfriendly governments and groups listed by the US and other governments as terrorists.

It listed the "percentage who say US government leaders should or should not be ready to meet and talk with leaders of countries and groups with whom the US has hostile or unfriendly relations."

For Cuba, 70 percent say they should be ready versus 25 percent who say they should not; for North Korea, 68 percent versus 28 percent; for Iran, 65 percent versus 30 percent; for Myanmar, 63 percent versus 30 percent; for Zimbabwe, 61 percent versus 34 percent; for the Palestinian movement Hamas, 53 percent versus 41 percent; for the Lebanese Hezbollah, 51 percent versus 43 percent.

The survey also found that Americans considered it "very important" to secure adequate supplies of energy (80 percent), prevent the spread of nuclear weapons (73 percent), combat international terrorism (67 percent), control and reduce illegal immigration (61 percent), maintain superior military power worldwide (57 percent).

A vast majority of the remaining respondents considered the same goals to be "somewhat important," while between two percent (US standing in the world) and eight percent (controlling immigration) considered them "not important."

If responses are combined for "very important" or "somewhat important" in three categories, some 91 percent ticked combating world hunger, 82 percent marked limiting climate change, and 79 percent flagged strengthening the United Nations.

Respondents were pretty much evenly split in those three categories.

Americans either considered it "somewhat important" or "very important" to promote international trade, promote and defend human rights in other countries, protect weaker nations against foreign aggression, and help bring a form of democratic government to other nations.

[Soldier4Christ]

Combating world hunger should be at the top of that list. The other two, the climate change agenda and strengthening the UN will only cause the first one to be a complete failure. If we were to use the money put into those two things alone it would feed the hungry for many, many, many years to come.

People seem to be so blind to the truth that the first one won't happen but the other two will be and it will be of horrific results to all of mankind.

[Soldier4Christ]

Rezko to start singing?
Convicted influence peddler may have dirt on Gov. Blagojevich, Sen. Obama

Antoin "Tony" Rezko, a convicted influence peddler who was once one of Gov. Rod Blagojevich's most trusted confidants, has met with federal prosecutors and is considering cooperating in the corruption probe of the governor's administration, sources told the Tribune.

Rezko's possible change of heart—after years of steadfast refusal—has sent ripples through a tight circle of prominent defense attorneys who represent dozens of potential witnesses and targets in the wide-ranging probe.

His cooperation would give prosecutors investigating the governor and his wife access to someone they have described as an ultimate political insider at the center of a pervasive pay-to-play scheme.

Rezko's trial this year laid bare a culture of scams, bribes and backroom deals stretching from City Hall to the Statehouse. It even became fodder in the presidential campaign of Democratic nominee Barack Obama, whose fundraising and personal ties to Rezko go back more than a decade.

Rezko has made no deal in the wake of his June corruption conviction, sources familiar with the situation said, but has had preliminary talks with prosecutors before an October sentencing that could put him in prison for years. Still, there are indications Rezko has already provided investigators with information.

Four attorneys have told the Tribune in recent days that federal prosecutors have telephoned them and other attorneys either with news Rezko is talking, or armed with details only Rezko could know. The lawyers speculated prosecutors are using the preliminary talks with Rezko to shake loose more cooperation from other witnesses.

"I had very recent a conversation with an assistant U.S. attorney that led me to believe they were getting specific information from either Mr. Rezko or Mr. Rezko's lawyer," said a defense attorney who said he represents a figure in the case. None of the attorneys interviewed would agree to be quoted by name, saying they didn't want to hurt their clients.

The U.S. attorney's office in Chicago declined to comment, as did Rezko's attorney William Ziegelmueller.

Rezko's potential worth to federal authorities extends to every aspect of their investigation, including probes of state hiring and real estate deals involving the governor's wife. Prosecutors have portrayed Rezko, a former restaurant magnate and real estate developer, as intricately involved in some of the most guarded decisions since the earliest days of the administration.

During his trial, prosecutors described Rezko as having a direct line to the governor and his top aides on issues including policy and the appointments of key department heads and members of state regulatory boards. And, they charged, Rezko traded those positions and favors for some of the millions in campaign contributions he raised for the governor, and for the allegiance of those he lifted to influential posts.

One key aspect of the federal investigation centers on the real estate dealings of the governor's wife, Patricia, who was paid hundreds of thousands of dollars over the years as a broker for Rezko, his associates and others with business before the state. Federal investigators have subpoenaed records and conducted interviews regarding her real estate dealings. The governor and his wife have denied wrongdoing.

During the trial, three convicted political insiders testified about private meetings with the governor that prosecutors cited as evidence of a scheme to buy state jobs and business with campaign donations. Each testified that Blagojevich implied campaign donors would profit from his influence.

One of those witnesses, former Illinois Finance Authority Executive Director Ali Ata, testified that he attended a meeting at Rezko's offices with Rezko and the governor before he was hired. At the meeting, Ata said, he brought a $25,000 check that was placed on the table in front of Blagojevich, who then mentioned a state job.

Rezko has adamantly denied guilt and vowed never to cooperate with federal investigators.

Two months before his conviction on fraud charges, Rezko typed a letter to his trial judge accusing "overzealous" prosecutors of pressuring him to talk about wrongdoing involving Obama or Blagojevich. Rezko said there was none to talk about.

"They are pressuring me to tell them the 'wrong' things that I supposedly know about Governor Blagojevich and Senator Obama," Rezko wrote U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve in an April bid to be released on bail during his trial.

"I have never been party to any wrongdoing that involved the governor or the senator," Rezko continued. "I will never fabricate lies about anyone else for selfish purposes. I will take what comes my way, but I will never hurt innocent people."

Rezko was a political supporter of Obama going back to when he was running for state Senate. Obama's ties to Rezko have become a political albatross for the presidential nominee, who has been forced to defend the convicted felon's fundraising activities for him and revelations Obama bought his South Side mansion on the same day in 2005 that Rezko purchased a vacant lot next door.

Officials for Obama's campaign have said prosecutors during Rezko's trial never made any suggestions that Obama was involved in anything improper.

Still, Republican presidential nominee John McCain has highlighted the ties between Obama and Rezko in a national television commercial.

[Soldier4Christ]

Indoctrinated Children Sing Praises to Dear Leader Obamessiah

There is a video hitting all of the blogs across the internet. I can't post a link to it from here because it's a youtube video. The video is causing a lot of chaos. It shows a group of children from 5 to 12 singing a song to Obama. “We’re gonna spread happiness! We’re gonna spread freeeeeeedom! Obama…”

It creeps me out even more to see children exploited - to serenade and “lighten the community” - about Dear Leader Obama, and the glorious “we” who are going to spread “happiness.” Or, more accurately, the glorious “they” who will spread happiness - partly, it seems, through control of media.

The children are wearing t-shirts that say Imagine Hope with a banner on the wall behind them that says "Sing for Obama". I don't know where this takes place but it appears to be in a school or a church and it was led by a professional music teacher.

The following is the complete lyrics:

We're gonna spread happiness
We're gonna spread freedom
Obama's gonna change it
Obama's gonna lead 'em

We're gonna change it
And rearrange it
We're gonna change the world.

Now's the moment, lift each voice to sing
Sing with all your heart!
For our children, for our families,
Nations all joined as one.
Sing for joy and sing abundant peace,
Courage, justice, hope!
Sing together, hold each precious hand,
Lifting each other up;
Sing for vision, sing for unity,
Lifting our hearts to Sing!

Yes we can
Lift each other up
In peace, in love, in hope
Change! Change!


This is very reminiscent of the Karl Marx era.

[Soldier4Christ]

VP debate moderator Ifill
releasing pro-Obama book
Focuses on blacks who are 'forging
a bold new path to political power'

The moderator of Thursday's vice presidential debate between Democrat Sen. Joe Biden and GOP Gov. Sarah Palin is writing a book, to come out about the time the next president takes the oath of office, to "shed new light" on Democratic candidate Barack Obama and other "emerging young African American politicians" who are "forging a bold new path to political power."

Gwen Ifill, of the Public Broadcasting Service program called "Washington Week," is promoting "The Breakthrough," in which she argues the "Black political structure" of the civil rights movement is giving way to men and women who have benefited from those struggles over racial equality.

Ifill declined to return a WND telephone message asking for a comment about her book project, and whether its success would be expected should Obama lose. But she has faced criticism previously for not treating candidates of both major parties the same.

During an earlier debate event she moderated, when Democrat John Edwards attacked Dick Cheney's former employer, Halliburton, the vice president said, "I can respond, Gwen, but it's going to take more than 30 seconds."

"Well, that's all you've got," she told him.

Ifill told the Associated Press Democrats were delighted with her answer, because they "thought I was being snippy to Cheney." She explains that wasn't her intent.

But she also was cited in complaints PBS Ombudsman Michael Getler said he got after Palin delivered her nomination acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention in Minneapolis this year.

The complaints cited Ifill's "dismissive" look during her report on Palin's speech. According to Getler, some complaints also said she wore a look of "disgust" while reporting on Palin.

At that time she said, "I assume there will always be critics and just shut out the noise. It is surprisingly easy."

Ifill, who also works with PBS' "NewsHour," is making preparations to moderate this week's debate between the two candidates for vice president, and told BlackAmericaWeb.com that she thinks debates "are the best opportunity most voters have to see the candidates speaking to issues."

She said she is concerned only about getting straight answers from candidates.

"You do your best to get candidates to answer your question. But I also trust the viewers to understand when questions are not answered and reach their own conclusions," Ifill told BlackAmericaWeb.

"Four years ago, when neither John Edwards nor Dick Cheney proved capable of answering a question about the domestic epidemic of AIDS among African-American women, viewers flooded me with reaction," she said.

She said she will make her own decisions about what questions to ask, and "the big questions matter."

In the Amazon.com promotion for her book, Ifill is described as "drawing on interviews with power brokers like Senator Obama, former Secretary of State Colin Powell…" and others.

In an online video promoting her book, she is enthusiastic about "taking the story of Barack Obama and extending it."

It focuses on four people, "one of them Barack Obama of course," she said.

"They are changing our politics and changing our nation," she said.

On Amazon.com, Ifill is praised for her "incisive, detailed profiles of such prominent leaders as Newark Mayor Cory booker, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick, and U.S. Congressman Artur Davis of Alabama."

"Ifill shows why this is a pivotal moment in American history," the review says.

She told AP about her views on Obama, "I still don't know if he'll be a good president." She also describes how she met him at the 2004 Democratic convention, and since then has interviewed Obama and his family.

She also boasted by the time of the debate, "I'll be a complete expert on both" Palin and Biden.

The debate will be held at Washington University in St. Louis, which has posted information about the evening's events online.

Ifill's profile there describes her as a longtime correspondent and moderator for national news programs and includes her service as moderator of the 2004 debate between Edwards and Cheney.

However, there's no mention of her upcoming book. Nor does the website for the Commission on Presidential Debates, which is organizing the meetings of the candidates, mention her book.

[Soldier4Christ]

4 Weathermen terrorists declare support for Obama
Call for 'grassroots effort' to help boost campaign

The names of four former top leaders of the Weathermen terrorist organization are listed as signatories on an online petition calling for an "independent grassroots effort" to help strengthen Sen. Barack Obama's campaign.

The petition was initiated by Progressives for Obama, an independent organization acting to ensure the Illinois senator's election.

Progressives includes among its ranks many former members of the 1960s radical organization Students for a Democratic Society, or SDS, from which the Weathermen splintered, as well as current and former members of other radical organizations, such as the Communist Party USA and the Black Radical Congress.

"We agree that Barack Obama is our best option for president in 2008, and that an independent grassroots effort can help strengthen his campaign," states the online petition. "It can also strengthen the mandate for his programs for stopping war, promoting global justice and securing our rights, liberties, and economic well-being."          

Among the names signed onto the petition are former Weathermen leaders Howard Machtinger, Jeff Jones, Steve Tappis and Mark Rudd.

Machtinger was a Weathermen founder and was co-author of the terror group's original mission statement, which called for "revolutionaries within the United States to wage a 'people's war' and attack from within. The government would fall and 'world communism' eventually would be instituted."

Jones, according to his own website, was "elected, along with (Weathermen terrorist) Bill Ayers and Mark Rudd, to the SDS national office. Then, in the spring of 1970, he disappeared. As a leader of the Weather Underground, Jeff evaded an intense FBI manhunt for more than a decade. In 1981, they finally got him. Twenty special agents battered down the door of the Bronx apartment where he was living with his wife and four-year-old son."

Jones' site says he traveled to Cambodia in 1966 to meet with high-level leaders of the anti-American National Liberation Front. In 1967 and 1968 he served as an SDS regional organizer for New York City.

Contacted by WND, Jones said he is not involved in any Obama advocacy.

Tappis was one of 11 people who signed the original Weathermen statement, which was infamously titled, "You Don't Need a Weatherman to Know Which Way the Wind Blows."

Rudd, a petition supporter as well as a main signatory to the Progressives for Obama group, was one of the main founders of the Weathermen terrorist organization. A biography published on his website explains Rudd worked to form the Weathermen as a radical alternative to the SDS and for white Americans to eject their "white skin privilege" and begin "armed struggle" against the U.S. government.

Rudd went underground in 1970, when a bomb exploded in a townhouse in Greenwich Village in New York City, killing three of his comrades. He lived for seven and a half years in hiding as a fugitive, finally surrendering in 1977, facing only low-level state charges after federal charges against Weathermen leaders had been dropped. He resurfaced as a teacher in New Mexico.

As late as 2005, Rudd wrote an editorial in the Los Angeles Times lamenting the state of the antiwar movement in the U.S.

"What's hard to understand – given the revelations about the rush to war, the use of torture and the loss of more than 2,000 soldiers – is why the antiwar movement isn't further along than it is," he wrote. "Given that President Bush is now talking about Iraq as only one skirmish in an unlimited struggle against a global Islamic enemy, a struggle comparable to the titanic, 40-year Cold War against communism, shouldn't a massive critique of the global war on terrorism already be underway?"

In the piece, Rudd condemned the Weathermen's decision to embark on an "armed-struggle," calling it "stupid" since the violent acts led to the group's demise. But he didn't condemn the terrorism itself, only its contribution to the downfall of the Weathermen.

Rudd declined to speak on the record to WND, explaining an interview may spark more Weathermen controversy for Obama.

All former Weathermen leaders who signed the pro-Obama petition worked closely for years with Weathermen terrorist William Ayers, whose association with Obama has generated controversy for the presidential candidate.

The Weathermen took responsibility for bombing U.S. governmental buildings in the 1970s.

Trevor Louden of the New Zeal blog commented, "Clearly Bill Ayers and his wife, Bernardine Dohrn, are not the only former Weathermen backing Obama. Add their old comrades Jeff Jones, Howie Machtinger, Mark Rudd and even Steve Tappis to the mix and you are starting to get beyond coincidence. That former terrorists are working with Marxist groups to elect Barack Obama is beyond doubt."

Progressives for Obama, which initiated the online petition, first published its creed in March in the Nation magazine, explaining the organization descended from the "proud tradition of independent social movements that have made America a more just and democratic country."

Progressives for Obama stated it can help the Illinois senator's ascent to highest office by contributing funds, using the Internet to reach "millions of swing voters;" defending Obama against negative attacks and making its agenda known at the Democratic National Convention.

"Progressives can make a difference in close primary races like Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Oregon and Puerto Rico, and in the November general election," the founders state.

The founders stress it is crucial to form a grassroots leftist movement to ensure Obama does not stray too far to the center, claiming other grassroots liberal movements have successfully pressured U.S. presidents into creating new policy:

    It was the industrial strikes and radical organizers in the 1930s who pushed Roosevelt to support the New Deal. It was the civil rights and student movements that brought about voting rights legislation under Lyndon Johnson and propelled Eugene McCarthy and Bobby Kennedy's antiwar campaigns. It was the original Earth Day that led Richard Nixon to sign environmental laws.

    And it will be the Obama movement that will make it necessary and possible to end the war in Iraq, renew our economy with a populist emphasis, and confront the challenge of global warming. We should not only keep the pressure on [Obama] but also connect the issues that Obama has made central to his campaign into an overarching progressive vision.

The group was founded by four individuals with ties to extremist groups:

    * Tom Hayden, a former state senator who was a founder and principal organizer of the SDS. Discover the Networks notes Hayden, previously married to actress Jane Fonda, traveled many times to North Vietnam, Czechoslovakia and Paris to strategize with communist North Vietnamese and Viet Cong leaders on how to defeat America's anti-communist efforts.

    * Bill Fletcher, a former Maoist and current leader of Democratic Socialists of America or DSA. The New Zeal blog notes Fletcher was also a founder of the Black Radical Congress, closely linked to the Communist Party USA, which advocated for "progressive social justice, racial equality and economic justice goals within the U.S.

    * Barbara Ehenreich, an honorary chairman of DSA who was formerly active in antiwar movements in which some notorious radicals took part.

    * Actor Danny Glover, a member of the Black Students Union, who has visited Venezuela, making guest appearances on President Hugo Chavez's television and radio talk show. He reportedly has accepted loans of about $20 million from the Venezuelan government to make a movie about a Haitian revolutionary leader.

The Progressives for Obama webmaster is Carl Davidson, a former vice president of the Students for a Democratic Society, who has traveled to Cuba to meet with Fidel Castro.

The signatories and endorsers of the Obama activist group, listed on the Progressives website, include scores of well known communist, socialist and anarchist activists and former SDS members.

[Soldier4Christ]

WND's Corsi in Kenya to probe Obama ties
Also plans to meet with candidate's brother living in 6-by-9-foot shack

WND author and staff writer Jerome Corsi has arrived in the Kenyan capital to investigate Sen. Barack Obama's ties to the prime minister, Raila Odinga, who was appointed to the position to stop a wave of violence by Muslim supporters.

Corsi came at the invitation of Christian missionaries who contend the rise of Islam in the African nation has been spurred by an agreement Odinga signed with Muslim leaders in an effort to win the presidency last December. Odinga lost but now shares power with the Kenyan president to appease Islamic leaders.

Corsi's highly critical book examining Obama's career, "The Obama Nation: Leftist Politics and the Cult of Personality," remains on the New York Times best-seller list after its publication Aug. 1. The book was No. 1 on the list for four straight weeks after its launch.

Corsi plans to file daily dispatches from Kenya for the next week.

In a chapter of "The Obama Nation" titled "Kenya, Odinga, Communism, and Islam," Corsi says Obama supported the candidacy of Odinga, a Luo tribesman like Obama's father, in the 2007 Kenyan presidential election, opposing current president Mwai Kibaki, a member of Kenya's largest tribe, the Kikuyu.

WND previously reported a segment by Chicago's WBBM-TV that documented Obama attacking Kibaki with critical comments during a 2006 Senate "fact-finding trip" to Kenya.

The WBBM news team interviewed on camera Kenyan government spokesman Alfred Matua, who accused Obama of meddling inappropriately in Kenyan politics.

Matua said politely but pointedly, "I think Obama has to look at critically where he is receiving his advice from. Just because somebody somewhere wants to run for president, and he is using Senator Obama as his stooge, as his puppet, to be able to get where he wants to get."

Odinga continued to consult with Obama by telephone, even in January 2008, while the senator was campaigning in the New Hampshire primary.

Odinga, as prime minister, shares the position of Kenyan head-of-state with Kibaki, who retains the title of president.

Corsi also plans to utilize contacts in Kenya and the Kenyan media to set up a private meeting with Obama's "lost brother," George Hussein Onyango Obama, who was featured in a London Telegraph story.

George Obama said he lives on $12 a year in a six-by-nine-foot shack in the shantytown of Huruma on the outskirts of Nairobi, according to the Italian edition of Vanity Fair.

Obama met his brother on two trips to Africa, according to the Telegraph, including during the Illinois Democrat's 2006 fact-finding tour. Corsi said he is carrying a $1,000 check for George Obama from WND founder and CEO Joseph Farah.

The Telegraph reported George Obama is a half-brother to the senator, who shares the same father. George, according to the paper, was born to a woman named Jael.

Corsi reports in "The Obama Nation" that Obama's father, Barack Obama Sr., was a polygamist.

Sayid Obama, the senior Barack Obama's brother, told Corsi in a telephone interview reported in "The Obama Nation" that the Obama family did not know for certain how many wives and children Barack Sr. had.

A report published in Thaindian News reported George Obama was into "all sorts of vices" and "has tried all the drugs you can imagine."

In Sen. Obama's autobiography "Dreams from My Father," he writes of meeting his brother George in Kenya, saying, "And I took comfort in the fact that perhaps one day, when he was older, George, too, might want to know who his father had been, and who his brothers and sisters were, and that if he ever came to me I would be there for him, to tell him the story I knew."

[Shammu]

The names of four former top leaders of the Weathermen terrorist organization are listed as signatories on an online petition calling for an "independent grassroots effort" to help strengthen Sen. Barack Obama's campaign.

All former Weathermen leaders who signed the pro-Obama petition worked closely for years with Weathermen terrorist William Ayers, whose association with Obama has generated controversy for the presidential candidate.

The Weathermen took responsibility for bombing U.S. governmental buildings in the 1970s.

Trevor Louden of the New Zeal blog commented, "Clearly Bill Ayers and his wife, Bernardine Dohrn, are not the only former Weathermen backing Obama. Add their old comrades Jeff Jones, Howie Machtinger, Mark Rudd and even Steve Tappis to the mix and you are starting to get beyond coincidence. That former terrorists are working with Marxist groups to elect Barack Obama is beyond doubt."

So four (former) leaders of the Weathermen terrorist organization are endorsing Obama. I also see there are other (former) terrorist, in support of Obama. One more reason NOT to vote for Obama!!

[Soldier4Christ]

Obama buys own satellite TV channel
Plays his 2-minute ad about economic plan on a loop

Channel 73 on the Dish Network is now The Obama Channel.

Obama's media buying strategy has been marked by a willingness to work the angles and to try to pick up a few votes at the margins. The decision to go to everything from extensive radio buys to odd-hour infomercials reflects the fact that the campaign media buyers spend a lot of time thinking about how much persuasion any given dollar can buy, and given a very cheap format — late night cable channels that need filler, for instance — will settle for a thimblefull of persuasion.

The satellite channel is the latest of these marginal gambits: Three readers from different parts of the country email that Channel 073-00 on the Dish Network is now labeled OBAMA. ("What is up with Sen. Obama having his own channel?" asks a St. Louis reader.) The channel plays his two-minute ad laying out his economic plan on a loop, over and over.

The only explanation: The media buyers think they can reach enough people per dollar to make it worth the odd buy.

The channel's appearance has provoked scorn and alarm on conservative blogs, though, and some discussion on a forum for Satellite TV aficionados, where one user writes that a Dish Network executive e-mailed to reassure the user that  it "is paid advertising by the Obama campaign and is not an endorsement of Sen. Obama by DISH Network" and will broadcast through Nov. 4.

"DISH Network Channel 73 is paid advertising by the Obama campaign and is not an endorsement of Senator Obama by DISH Network. DISH Network made the same offer to the McCain campaign, an offer that remains open," Dish Network spokesman Parker McConachie emailed Politico.

UPDATE: Thursday, viewers said, the Obama channel started airing a wider variety of Obama content than just his two-minute ad, including other ads and the video that introduced him at the Democratic National Convention.

I'm glad that I don't have Dish Network. I would have to block that channel if I did have it.

[Soldier4Christ]

Teachers union e-mail touting Obama scorned
Encourages members to wear blue in classroom in support of Democrat

An e-mail distributed by a Virginia teachers union encouraged members to bring politics into the classroom by wearing blue in support of Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama and simultaneously suggested that the union's voter registration efforts include those "you teach."

The Virginia Education Association (VEA) e-mail drew strong criticism Wednesday from elected Republican officials and some residents after the state Republican Party obtained a copy. The author of the e-mail conceded Wednesday that the e-mail should have been worded differently.

The VEA is an affiliate of the National Education Association, the country's largest teachers union.

"Schools should be perfectly neutral," Virginia resident Julie Aurora said Wednesday. "They should teach students how to think, not what to think."

The e-mail said teachers should wear blue Tuesday for "Obama Blue Day" and to "register two voters or talk to two people who may be on the fence/or a McCain supporter and sway them to become a Obama supporter."

The e-mail also states: "There are people out there not yet registered. You teach some of them."

Delegate Jeffrey M. Frederick, Prince William Republican and chairman of the state party, said: "It is an outrageous breach of public trust and an abuse of taxpayer resources that teachers chose to use school grounds as a political base."

Mr. Frederick said the words "you teach some of them" suggest that the e-mail was meant to encourage teachers to recruit their students, not just ordinary residents, into the Obama camp.

"That is patently wrong and it should be illegal if it not already is," he said.

VEA President Kitty Boitnott said the charges are baseless and that the e-mail does not suggest teachers rally support for Mr. Obama, Illinois Democrat, from students.

"It's a ridiculous statement," said Mrs. Boitnott, a librarian at Chamberlayne Elementary School in Henrico County.

It was "certainly not the author's intent" to encourage teachers to recruit students for Mr. Obama, she also said. The reference to students stems from the union's long-standing, nonpartisan youth-registration efforts, she said.

She told the Richmond Times-Dispatch that participation in Tuesday's Obama Blue Day was "miserable" and that she herself had forgotten and worn red — the color representing Republicans.

Dorris Boitnott, a VEA member and author of the e-mail, said that in hindsight she should not have paired the idea of supporting Mr. Obama with that of registering young voters. Mrs. Boitnott, who said she is not related to Kitty Boitnott, also said she had no intention of encouraging teachers to recruit students into a political campaign.

She pointed out that the e-mail discourages teachers from wearing T-shirts or campaign buttons in the classroom that specifically name Mr. Obama.

"Teachers know they are not allowed to partake in partisan activities during school hours, and so if this e-mail somehow looks like it does encourage teachers to recruit students, then I'm very sorry," she said.

The NEA voted in June to endorse Mr. Obama. The recommendation is based solely on a candidate's position on education-related issues, Kitty Boitnott said.

"This e-mail was in the spirit of that recommendation, to give resources and advice to those VEA members who are already energized about the Obama campaign," she said. "We do not advise that any teacher actively recruit a student to any particular political campaign during school hours."

Mr. Frederick disagreed.

"The Virginia Education Association has systematically brought election politics into the classroom, and this is not the first time they have done so," he said. "The political views of teachers have no place in the classroom or on school grounds."

J. Tucker Martin, spokesman for Virginia Attorney General Robert F. McDonnell, called the e-mail "highly inappropriate."

"One-sided, partisan political advocacy should stay out of the classroom," he said.

[HisDaughter]

Obama buys own satellite TV channel
Plays his 2-minute ad about economic plan on a loop

Channel 73 on the Dish Network is now The Obama Channel.

Obama's media buying strategy has been marked by a willingness to work the angles and to try to pick up a few votes at the margins. The decision to go to everything from extensive radio buys to odd-hour infomercials reflects the fact that the campaign media buyers spend a lot of time thinking about how much persuasion any given dollar can buy, and given a very cheap format — late night cable channels that need filler, for instance — will settle for a thimblefull of persuasion.

The satellite channel is the latest of these marginal gambits: Three readers from different parts of the country email that Channel 073-00 on the Dish Network is now labeled OBAMA. ("What is up with Sen. Obama having his own channel?" asks a St. Louis reader.) The channel plays his two-minute ad laying out his economic plan on a loop, over and over.

The only explanation: The media buyers think they can reach enough people per dollar to make it worth the odd buy.

The channel's appearance has provoked scorn and alarm on conservative blogs, though, and some discussion on a forum for Satellite TV aficionados, where one user writes that a Dish Network executive e-mailed to reassure the user that  it "is paid advertising by the Obama campaign and is not an endorsement of Sen. Obama by DISH Network" and will broadcast through Nov. 4.

"DISH Network Channel 73 is paid advertising by the Obama campaign and is not an endorsement of Senator Obama by DISH Network. DISH Network made the same offer to the McCain campaign, an offer that remains open," Dish Network spokesman Parker McConachie emailed Politico.

UPDATE: Thursday, viewers said, the Obama channel started airing a wider variety of Obama content than just his two-minute ad, including other ads and the video that introduced him at the Democratic National Convention.

I'm glad that I don't have Dish Network. I would have to block that channel if I did have it.

There is just no end to the lengths this maniac will go to.

[Soldier4Christ]

DISPATCH FROM KENYA
Prospect of Obama victory raises fears
Democrat backed leader allied with Muslims promoting Islamic law

Sen. Barack Obama is positioned to easily win the presidential election, former U.S. Rep. Walter Fauntroy told participants in Kenya's National Prayer Breakfast at the Safari Park Hotel in Nairobi in June.

Fauntroy – an African-American noted as the first congressman to represent the District of Columbia in 100 years and a founding member of the Congressional Black Caucus – said an Obama victory would make Kenya the most important nation in the world, as the place where the first U.S. black president "is to come from," elected "to teach the world how to live in the 21st century."

Not all present necessarily felt as enthusiastic at the prospect of an Obama presidency.

The prayer breakfast was attended by Kenya's President Mwai Kibaki, Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka, both of the Kikuyu tribe, and newly-appointed Prime Minister Raila Odinga, a Luo tribesman. Obama supported Odinga's challenge to Kibaki for the presidency when the Illinois Democrat visited Kenya on a U.S. Senate "fact-finding" mission in 2006.

One of President Kibaki's top advisers – interviewed by WND in Nairobi yesterday under an assurance of anonymity – pointed to Fauntroy's remarks at the prayer breakfast as the type of "inappropriate partisan comments" that continue to reveal deep racial and tribal divisions within Kenyan politics.

Many Kikuyu politicians quietly express concerns that an Obama win in the 2008 U.S. presidential election could reverse power in Kenya, in favor of Luo tribesman such as Odinga, a perennial presidential challenger of Kikuyu presidential candidates.

Top politicians of Kenya's largest tribe, the Kikuyu, have controlled the presidency in Kenya dating back to 1963 and Jomo Kenyatta, a Kikuyu tribesman who was the nation's first president following independence.

Obama, a Luo tribesman by virtue of his Kenyan father's heritage, is seen as allied to Odinga, who was appointed prime minister in a power-sharing deal to quell violent protests by supporters charging voter fraud.

Obama's father, Barack Obama Sr., served as an economist in the Kenyatta administration, while Odinga Odinga, the father of Raila Odinga, was the nation's first vice president.

Luo politicians openly fear an Obama presidency would add impetus to Raila Odinga's continuing drive to become Kenyan president in the country's scheduled 2012 election, if not sooner.

Christian missionaries in Kenya fear an Obama presidency would encourage Odinga to fulfill campaign promises by pushing to alter the country's constitution to specify the application of Islamic Shariah law in regions dominated by Muslims.

As WND has reported, Odinga was appointed prime minister last February after he lost the December 2007 election to Kibaki, and Odinga encouraged his Luo tribe supporters to protest alleged voter fraud engineered by the Kibaki government to steal victory.

In the wave of violence that followed Odinga's charges of voter fraud, some 1,000 Kenyans were killed and another 350,000 dislocated as mobs of Luo supporters of Odinga viciously attacked Kibaki's supporters, primarily members of the majority Kikuyu tribe.

Muslims also attacked Christians in the post-election violence, killing some 50 in a particularly horrific incident in the village of Eldoret.

In Eldoret, a group of some 50 Christians sought refuge in a Christian church, trying to escape from a rampaging Luo mob that ultimately set fire to the church and burned the refugees to death, including women and children.

WND has also reported Odinga signed a memorandum of understanding with Muslims in Kenya prior to the December 2007 election in an effort to win Muslim support of his candidacy.

In the post-election violence, an estimated 800 Christian churches were damaged by mobs, while not a single mosque was harmed.

About 85 percent of all Kenyans are considered Christian, with fewer than 10 percent Muslim.

Islam, however, has gained a strong foothold in the Kenyan northeastern provinces bordering Somalia and along the coastal areas to the south of Somalia.

At the National Prayer Breakfast in June, President Kibaki steered clear of partisan politics, reserving his comments to expressing hope for reconciliation following the post-election violence.

"If we decide to repair the damage, we shall be able to do it," Kibaki said. "God wants us to repair Kenya, and I have no doubt we shall succeed. Those who have little doubt, please ask for forgiveness."

[HisDaughter]

Everything about this guy scares the beegeebies right out me.  If he gets in, this country will have no future at all, not that it has much of a one as it is.  I spend so much time in prayer for us, because if I didn't and didn't put my hope in the Lord and the Rapture, which I pray is SOON, I would be fighting severe depression daily.  As it is, it's tough to read the scandal on this guy DAILY and know that 1/2 of America can be so fooled.