The Pink Flamingo :: Wright, Wrong, Anti-Semitism & Obama's Fat Cat Donors

I have been challenged by someone I respect (a Canadian liberal) over my dislike of Barack Obama. He thinks I am demonizing Obama. It started me thinking. I try to be fair. Am I being fair to him simply because he is a Democrat. My friend thinks Obama is a great man that I am treating unfairly. Is he? I am seriously trying to go after Obama only on the issues and the fact that I think he is a liar. Is he really a liar with shady friends, or am I nit-picking because he is going to be the Dem nominee?

Do I dislike his preachy messianic style? Yes I do. But – anyone who knows me knows I dislike this in anyone, period. I find preachy “religious” leaders repulsive, so why would I not feel the same way when it comes to Obama? I have an aversion to anyone who acts like this, white, black, Christian, Republican or Democrat. I find the style hypocritical, fake, and pandering. BUT – I also feel this way about white religious leaders, so is this something personal aimed specifically at Barack Obama or my personal taste?

One of my other problems with Barack Obama is his racist church and the fact that he did not separate himself from Jeremiah Wright or the church. I think of all the problems I have with Barack Obama, this is the most serious. If I’d not been through a multi-year journey where I was forced to walk away from my church home because I did not approve of the actions of the leadership, I could not complain about Obama’s remaining in Wright’s church. I walked away from my church, with-held funds, and did not hesitate to tell people why. When the church leadership changed, I went back. (I spent 2 hours there this AM working).

I see a man who is weak. He is incapable of standing on principle for fear of antagonizing any given interest group at any given time. I also see a man who speaks out of both sides of his mouth – the most hypocritical of individuals. He is a man who denounces special interests and lobbyists, but built his campaign on their foundation. He does not speak out when something is done in his name, and is wrong.

He is a man who cannot accept or allow criticism. He apparently cannot take responsibility for a mistake.
Am I turning Barack Obama into a monster, picking on him? I hope not. I hope I can be honest enough to judge the man on his own merits.

NO CANDIDATE IS PERFECT
No one is perfect. Hillary Clinton is an extremely flawed candidate, a manufactured person. As a woman who has fought to survive in a man's world, I resent the fact that she is doing "it" on her husband's coat-tails. She's not a strong enough to do it on her own. I also dislike the fact that she is so unsure of herself that she can't take a stand, but fluctuates in the wind, just like her husband. That said, I prefer her to Barack Obama.

John McCain is not a perfect person. He will be the first to tell you he his not. He is snarky, sarcastic, sometimes grumpy, has a hair-trigger temper, and is constantly shooting himself in the foot while it is on its way to his mouth. Those are the traits I like about him. I like the fact that he has 'shot his mouth off' so often, half the country is against him simply because he has insulted them at one time or another. I can identify with that. To me that is "human". He has a mouth and an opinion and knows how to use both. He isn't afraid to take a stand on a subject and get shot at doing it. If he goes down in flames taking that stand, so be it.

I like that in anyone. To find that in a political figure is refreshing and rather endearing. It also helps that I approve of his position on about 85-90% of things. He is probably more my "brand" of Republican. I find Hillary Clinton way too liberal for my taste. But, I would take her above Barack Obama. Both are extremely flawed candidates but I think Hillary's shortcomings have been vetted. My honest opinion of Barack Obama is he has the potential to go down in flames. There are just too many wild-fires around him. They could be nothing, but these are not the kind of things you "vet" during a national campaign. I think they will be his undoing.

PROMOTING ANTI-SEMITISM
Have you ever had a friend who’s mind works like yours? Sally Vee and I seem to be cut from the same cloth. I don’t know if that is good or bad (for her) but she sent a link to a PJ Media on the anti-Semitism being promoted by Obama’s supporters. I think the real problem is people are not speaking out about this. Are Barack Obama’s “Christian” supporters using the Jewish people as a new enemy to pander for votes?

Roger Simon has more at PJ Media. This is tragic.

I do not approve of the complete lack of honor Obama is showing toward John McCain.

Is Wright tarnishing Obama’s Image?
Steve Stark – RCP:

“…But what Obama will never be able to explain away is why, of all the people in the world who could inspire him on a weekly basis, he chose the one who was known to exclaim, "God damn America," and preached a gospel not particularly distinguished by an appeal to everyone's better nature. Alas, we are judged by the company we keep -- as well we should be, when the company is a chief spiritual advisor.
In truth, Americans are an understanding lot and can tolerate the thunderings of the Wrights among us. Professors, prophets, and priests have hurled fire and brimstone before, and now radio talk-show hosts do the same.But political leaders in our system, going back to Winthrop, have a different role: we look to them to elevate and inspire the body politic. Until now, Obama appeared uniquely qualified to assume that role. After hearing his reverend preach, however, it's an open question whether a majority of Americans will ever look at him the same way again….”

EXTREME FRIENDS
Is a political figure to be held accountable for their friends and associates? Does this only apply to Republicans and conservatives, but in our Two Americas (Republican v Democrat) Democrats are not held accountable? I am infamous for holding Republicans accountable for their associations and their friends. Not to do this with Barack Obama would betray everything I believe. Thus, I must hold Barack Obama as accountable for his pro-Palestinian, pro-Marxist associates as I do Tom Tancredo and his nasty little ultra conservative friends. It is all the same. You are responsible for the company you keep. If you don't want to get up with fleas, quit sleeping with dogs. Obama's friends and associates, like Tom Tancredo's, do not pass the smell test. It's that simple. Hyscience brings us information about some of Obama’s friends and fundraisers. They include a former PLO operative. That former PLO operative is no different to me than the far right anti-immigration person who has ties to the CofCC or the KKK.
LA Times
Memeorandum
Gateway on Obama’s racial double-speak.

Memeorandum

SHOW ME THE MONEY
The WSJ on Obama’s public financing double-speak.

“…What he is proposing sounds pretty much like what the system would look like if campaign-finance restrictions didn't exist. But they do exist, thanks to reformers like him. Shortly after the candidate made his remarks, a spokesman hurried to say it "was not a policy statement," but merely a description of the nature of his donor base. Barack Obama raised $40 million in the month of March – twice the $20 million Hillary Clinton's campaign took in. His totals are now more than $230 million. Good for him. But Mr. Obama is unmistakably talking about abandoning the virtuous world that campaign finance reformers have in mind. The reformers' agenda has always been to limit "the influence of money" in politics, and do so by capping the amount candidates can spend. This naturally appealed to Mr. Obama when he was the underdog. But now that he's top dog, standing on principle isn't as appealing as the prospect of a colossal war chest….”

Obama doesn’t do big money, wealthy donors, etc. right? WPost

“…Seventy-nine "bundlers," five of them billionaires, have tapped their personal networks to raise at least $200,000 each. They have helped the campaign recruit more than 27,000 donors to write checks for $2,300, the maximum allowed. Donors who have given more than $200 account for about half of Obama's total haul, which stands at nearly $240 million. Obama's success in assembling bundlers offers another perspective on a campaign that promotes itself as a grass-roots effort. While the senator from Illinois has had unprecedented success generating small donations, many made online, the work of bundlers first signaled the seriousness of his candidacy a year ago and will be crucial as he heads into the final Democratic primaries with a lead against Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.). The bundler list also sheds light on those who might seek to influence an Obama White House. It includes traditional Democratic givers -- Hollywood, trial lawyers and Wall Street -- and newcomers such as young hedge fund executives, Silicon Valley entrepreneurs, Chicago-based developers and members of the black business elite. One-third had never contributed to a presidential campaign, much less raised money. The list includes partners from 18 top law firms, 21 Wall Street executives and power brokers from Fortune 500 companies. California is the top source, with 19 bundlers. Both Illinois and Washington, D.C., have six, and five hail from New York. Among the group are businessmen such as Kenneth Griffin, a famously private 39-year-old billionaire who threw his support behind Obama's presidential campaign just as he hired a team of lobbyists to urge Congress to preserve a lucrative tax loophole. A year ago, Griffin invited Obama to speak to employees of his Chicago hedge fund, Citadel Investment Group, and in subsequent months, employees and their families gave the candidate nearly $200,000. Griffin had previously backed Republicans, including Obama's initial U.S. Senate opponent….”

The bottom line, the only way Obama got where he is – PACS and Special Interests. Now I don't care if a candidate takes money from PACS or special interests. I think it is laughable when they say they don't while they keep their hand out. It's basically lying.

AD SENSE
So Obama’s new ad is about the undue influence of lobbyists and PACS on politics.

“…The ad features footage of Obama talking to a small crowd, offering what he calls "an example of the same old game playing in Washington." He tells the story of former Rep. Billy Tauzin, R-La., who headed the House Energy and Commerce Committee from 2001 to 2004, and is now president of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA). While the ad itself doesn't directly answer Clinton's charge, it pushes largely the same message as the previous Obama spot now under attack from Clinton: that Obama is an outsider candidate, uninfluenced by lobbyists. More broadly, it attempts to rebut the argument that Obama does not have enough Washington experience. "You know I don't want to learn how to play the game better," Obama says of D.C. politics. "I want to put an end to the game playing."…”

Too bad about this:

“…Mr. Obama has also made much of his campaign's pledge not to accept money from political action committees, raising the majority of his funds from small private donations. PACs typically make up less than 1% of overall election donations to Presidential candidates, so that's no sacrifice. Industry PACs may not give directly to his campaign, but employees of industries may do so, and many of his contributors have come from executives and their spouses. For example, Mr. Obama leads all candidates in donations from the pharmaceutical industry and commercial banks, among other industries. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, which tracks fundraising in elections, Mr. Obama has received $528,765 from people in the pharmaceutical industry and $1,380,108 from commercial banks. He comes in second to Mrs. Clinton in donations from lawyers with $13,690,170, just over a million shy of her total. There is in fact a real parallel financing system already in place and ready to support Mr. Obama. It's called George Soros and so-called 527 groups such as the Democrat-supporting Fund for America or the newly named Progressive Media USA. Progressive Media recently announced plans for a $40 million, four-month campaign against Mr. McCain, and that's only one group in the game….”

I AM NOT A CROOK!
If you have not been following the Tony Rezko Dog & Pony show, I hope you will begin doing so. You will also need a scorecard. One of the best sites is The Rezko Watch.

AIHAM ALSAMMARAE is an international fugitive, friend of Tony Recko and a big time Iraqi fixer. John Batchelor is working on the story for Human Events.

“…The fugitive is Aiham Alsammarae, 57, and he is listed on an Interpol warrant as being wanted by the Republic of Iraq. Iraqi-born, Mr. Alsammarae is also an American citizen with a residence in greater Chicago. He served two turbulent years, July 2003-May 2005, as the CPA Minister of Electricity, and he was convicted by a Baghdad court in October 2006 of helping to plunder his ministry of $650 million. Escaping from Baghdad under little-explained circumstances in December 2006, Mr. Alsammarae fled via Amman to Chicago, where he has been at work at his engineering consulting firm these last fifteen months.  According to an Iraqi official with knowledge of the case, Jordanian plain-clothes security men accompanied Mr. Alsammarae into the first-class lounge last month. "He has the protection of the Jordanians," the official said. "He has the protection of several countries, but not Iraq."… Here is the breakthrough. The third bidder on the Chamchamal deal was most likely Companion Security of Illinois. Companion Security was an Illinois company, concocted by Mr. Rezko along with his long-time Rezmar partner Daniel Mahru and an ex-Chicago policeman Donald Frawley, that proposed to train 150 Iraqis to be a security force at the new Chamchamal plant; and it included the novel concept to fly the Iraqis to Illinois for this training. Companion Security signed a contract April 18, 2005 with CPA Minister of Electricity Alsammarae – for which, it is alleged by now cooperating government witness Mr. Mahru, Mr. Alsammarae was paid a $1.5 million bribe.  Companion Security’s linkage to the Chamchamal deal is most critical to understand, because that is how this international scheme arrives at the doorstep of Senator Obama in August 2006.  Until now, what was known about the fate of Companion Security was that in April 2006, Daniel Mahru (by then a secret cooperating government witness), directed Daniel Frawley to appeal to the office of Mr. Rezko’s patron, Illinois Governor Blagojevich, in order to locate a training site. Mr. Frawley communicated with the governor’s chief of staff John Harris and then was directed to Illinois's Homeland Security adviser Jill Morgenthaler. In June 2006, Mr. Frawley was offered a former military base at Savanna, Illinois for a training center. … Mr. Rezko said, “…We protested the cancellation.” How did they protest? It appears that part of the protest was to send Mr. Frawley to Senator Obama in August 2006 to seek help reviving the deal.  Senator Obama declined to help, though not right away. According to Obama staff spokesman Tim LaBolt in mid 2007: "The Senate staff had two meetings, one conference call, and sporadically e-mailed with representatives of Companion Security about their request for Senator Obama to write a letter introducing the company to senior officials in the Iraqi government. That is not the kind of action Senator Obama usually takes for individual companies, and our staff concluded on that basis to decline the requested assistance."

Also, according to a report by the Chicago Sun Times, Mr. Frawley negotiated over a six-month period with Senator Obama's staffer Seamus Ahern at the Moline, Illinois office. The explanation at the time was that the senator regarded Companion Security as an employment opportunity for the troubled Quad Cities area around Moline.  It is confounding to the point of incredibility that the senator’s staff, in its routine due diligence with constituents seeking Mr. Obama’s assistance, was unable to discover that Mr. Frawley was in partnership with Mr. Rezko and Mr. Mahru. To believe that Mr. Obama’s office had no knowledge of the context of the Companion Security contract is to believe that no one asked for Mr. Frawley’s bona fides, no one contacted the Iraqi government about the bona fides, no one in Mr. Obama’s office thought to call the governor’s office to discover on what basis the Savanna training site had been offered.   And what did Mr. Ahern of Senator Obama’s Moline office talk to Mr. Frawley about over months? Was there a question as to how an ex-Chicago policeman who has no Arabic comes to represent an Illinois company with a $50 million CPA contract with Baghdad? Did they ever learn the contract was cancelled? Did they learn that the contract was to provide security for the Chamchamal plant? Did anyone look up the Chamchamal power plant reporting from the year before and see how Rezko’s Rezmar boasted to the Chicago press of the deal? What did Mr. Obama’s staff discuss in those “two staff meetings, one conference call,” and “e-mails?” And who were the Companion Security representatives, plural, who discussed apparently deceptive facts with the senator’s less than persnickety staff?

TONY REZKO

“…n fact, Obama told the Tribune that Rezko "might have raised $50,000 to $75,000" for one campaign alone in his failed run for Congress in 2000.

The Rezmar connection is a gift that keeps on giving. In February 2007, David Brint gave Obama $4,600, and his wife, Elizabeth gave contributed $2,300. Brint also hosted a fundraiser for Obama in June 2007. Elizabeth donated a couple thousand in 2002 and $2,000 more in 2003 as well.

On March 17, 2000, Mahru gave Obama $1,000, listing himself as president of Rezmar. On March 4, 2004, he donated a whopping $5,000. Mahru also tossed $1,000 to Mayor Daley in 2001 and gave him another $1,500 in 2003.

But then Rezko and Mahru had plenty of money to throw around. By 1998, Rezko had a reported net worth of $34 million and Mahru was worth $14.6 million, according to the "Rezmar who's who list," published in the April 24, 2007 Sun-Times.

After turning down the surprise job offer from Rezko, Obama expects voters to believe that he just happened to get hired at the small 12-attorney [Davis Miner Barnhill & Galland] law firm, which just happened to represent Rezmar in development deals. And then a couple years later, Rezko's companies just happened to appear on the very first contributions made to the "Friends of Obama" committee to launch his political career as a state senator. …”

And there’s a heck of a lot more where this came from!

And then there is…
LARRY SINCLAIR
There are new bombshells coming out on this one.