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June 7, 2008

Exclusive: Saturday, June 7

Presidential Watch

Barack Obama sought the New Party's endorsement knowing it was a radical left organization

Erik, Red State.com

Last week we documented Obama's 1996 endorsement by the New Party: which raises the question: what is the New Party? It's easy to allege that this group is closely tied to former communists, but digging in to the New Party and Obama's involvement, a very dirty picture presents itself. In fact, it is abundantly apparent that Barack Obama not only knew what the New Party was when he sought its endorsement, but through his ties with ACORN, the radical left activist organization, Obama used his radical left connections to get elected to the Illinois State Senate.

Most of the New Party's history has been lost in the digital age. It was established in 1992 and started to die out in 1998, well before Google and the modern web were established. But through lengthy searches of the Nexis archive and microfilm at the local university library, I've been able to piece this together.

The New Party was established in 1992 "by union activist Sandy Pope and University of Wisconsin professor Joel Rogers," USA Today reported on November 16, 1992. The paper wrote that the new party was "self-described [as] ‘socialist democratic.'"

Throughout its creation and rise, the New Party sought to unite alienated leftists who had grown disgusted by Bill Clinton's embrace of the center-left Democratic Leadership Council. Read article.

Nation of Islam activists on Obama camp payroll

Aaron Klein, WND.com

Sen. Barack Obama employed and continues to employ senior staffers who belong to the Nation of Islam, and the presidential candidate has some "worrying" ties to the controversial group headed by Louis Farrakhan, a former key Obama insider told WND.

The former insider, who spoke on condition of anonymity, expressed particular concerned that Obama employed at least two Nation members in his early days as a state senator, when his office was staffed by only a handful of workers.

"When you're a state senator, you have little money given to you to hire staff. It is ironic that two of Obama's employees in those days were known Nation of Islam activists when Obama employed perhaps a total of maybe three or four staffers," said the former insider.

The former insider confirmed Obama is directly aware of the Nation of Islam members on his staff. Read article.

Will the Real Barack Obama Please Stand Up?

James Morris, NMJ.us

"It is easier for the world to accept a simple lie than the complex truth."

- Alexis de Tocqueville

Remember that old TV show from the 1960's and 70's; To Tell the Truth, hosted by Bud Collyer and later Gary Moore. Three people were chosen to answer questions from a celebrity panel who attempted to figure out which of the three were telling the truth about their given profession or accomplishments. Two of the three contestants were "liars" who did their best to mislead the audience and the panel. It was a very clever show and often difficult to sort out the truth from the lies.

Fast forward forty years later.

I get the same feeling every time Barack Obama comes on television to explain why his longtime associations with some of the most radical elements of the American social and political landscape (William Ayers, Frank Marshall Davis, Rev Wright, Father Pfleger) have no bearing upon his true beliefs and convictions.

Obama says he is a change agent and a uniting force but has never worked in a positive way with any piece of legislation that conservatives hold dear. Obama's actions and statements, embracing those who hold anti-Israeli sentiments and elements (David Bonoir), have many people in that country terrified about their future and existence: an existence that may, in the long run, hinge upon the results of this years US Presidential Election. Read article.

Obama's 'Identity' Beat Hillary's 'Identity'

Daniel Henninger, Online WSJ.com

"If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position." -- Geraldine Ferraro

Be that as it may, what remains is that the candidacy of the first liberal white woman to run for president is about to lose, defeated by, yes, a black man.

Some in the Clinton tong profess not to understand what happened to her. "We are filled with disappointment and amazement," said Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, who helped deliver unto her the Keystone State. "Why haven't these results caused the superdelegates to come around?"

Did Ed Rendell ever believe that the 794 superdelegates, weeded from the party's topsoil, would decide that of the two candidates' constituencies - Hillary's "women" and "white" voters and Barack's black voters - they would stiff Sen. Obama's nearly 90% black base? So long as he led her by one delegate, this was never going to happen.

Writing last week in the Boston Globe, Geraldine Ferraro now says that "sexism" contributed to Hillary's defeat. She wants a study to determine "whether either the Clinton or Obama campaign engaged in sexism and racism." Isms abound.

The irony too bitter to swallow is that Barack Obama's identity politics trumped Hillary Clinton's identity politics. Put differently, what goes around comes around. Read article.

No Liberation: Obama may have left Trinity, but he's still on the Left.

Stanley Kurtz, NRO.com

Having now left Trinity United Church of Christ, can Barack Obama escape responsibility for his decades-long ties to Michael Pfleger and Jeremiah Wright? No, he cannot. Obama's connections to the radical-left politics espoused by Pfleger and Wright are broad and deep. The real reason Obama bound himself to Wright and Pfleger in the first place is that he largely approved of their political-theological outlooks.

Obama shared Wright's rejection of black "assimilation." Obama also shared Wright's suspicion of the traditional American ethos of individual self-improvement and the pursuit of "middle-classness." In common with Wright, Obama had deep misgivings about America's criminal justice system. And with the exception of their direct attacks on whites, Obama largely approved of his preacher-friends' fiery rhetoric. Obama's goal was not to repudiate religious radicalism but to channel its fervor into an effective and permanent activist organization. How do we know all this? We know it because Obama himself has told us.

Although it's been discussed before (because it confirms that Obama attended Louis Farrakhan's Million Man March), a 1995 background piece on Obama from the Chicago Reader has received far too little attention. Careful consideration of this important profile makes it clear that Obama's long-standing ties to Chicago's most rabidly radical preachers call into question far more than Obama's judgment and character (although they certainly do that, as well). Obama's two-decades at Trinity open a critically important window onto his radical-left political leanings. No mere change of church membership can erase that truth. Read article.

Psycho Pastor or Killer Clown?

Erik Rush, NMJ.us

It's official: The "pastor issue" as regards the campaign of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama is old hat. Why? Because it's not about radical pastors anyway, and never was; it's an issue of whether or not it is plausible that Obama sat in a church which teaches the racist, Marxist, anti-American doctrine of Black Liberation Theology for 20 years and somehow missed the core values thereof. It is also an issue of the candidate's numerous shady associates within the far Left Chicago cabal, the lack of scrutiny the establishment press has employed on the subject, and the feeble explanations Obama has offered on those rare occasions when he is queried in these areas.

But before we move on: The example of Catholic Father Michael Pfleger's May 25 outing as guest speaker at Chicago's Trinity United Church (which precipitated the candidate's leaving the church this weekend) warrants analysis, the reason being that it illustrates key aspects of the behavior of racist far Left whites, whose actions are really those which militate to keep black Americans down (as opposed to the faceless and largely nonexistent white oppressors against whom adherents to Black Liberation Theology and other activists rail).

To recap: Father Pfleger is a Catholic priest and head of the Faith Community of Saint Sabina church in Chicago, a predominantly black congregation. He is also an Obama supporter and contributor whose church has benefitted financially due to the senator's influence.

Despite being white, Pfleger is a proponent of Black Liberation Theology and has a long history of gratuitous civil rights activism in the tradition of Rev. Jeremiah Wright and others. The ultimate useful white idiot, he has called Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan "my brother" and has had him speak at St. Sabina's. Yes, Farrakhan - one of the most odious racists and anti-Semites in America. Read article.

Welcome to Nixonland

Thomas Frank, Online WSJ.com

Now the main events of the '60s are 40 years behind us, and still we can't shake them. In the last national election, we redebated the Vietnam War. In the one coming up, we will be forced to debate Barack Obama's not-even-tenuous connection to the Weathermen. (We will probably not be asked to judge the poisonous legacy of the Young Americans for Freedom, although McCain adviser Charlie Black was actually a leader of that group.)

We can also be fairly sure of the word that will be used as the demon decade is again wheeled out: elitism. In the '60s-as-remembered, the conflict that overlays all the others from that period was between ordinary, hard-working Americans and the privileged kids who went to fancy schools where they learned to disrespect the American flag and call the police names. Like the ghost of Archie Bunker, this peculiar class war has appeared over the years whenever some well-polished liberal is in need of a comeuppance.

The politician who fashioned a permanent Republican parable out of the decade's antagonisms was Richard Nixon. The man was born for the backlash. In "Nixonland," a brilliant and engrossing study of the politician and the period, Rick Perlstein uses, as a motif for the future president's career, the society of outsiders Nixon started at college in opposition to the establishment club. Read article.

John McCain's Smart Choice for a Running Mate

Patrick Hurley, Political Mavens.com

It is likely that John McCain will be our next President if he is still breathing in November. I mean, he is OLD! But, he is white, safe, grandfatherly looking, vanilla...basically, the perfect set of assets for another boring President. Barack Obama is much more exciting, but let's face it, he scares the heck out of most people who do not reside in Cuba. He is good-looking, vibrant, exciting, charismatic and once the curtains close behind voters in the red states, he will be the second-place finisher on election night. If...John McCain doesn't screw up with his choice of a running mate...

The two main problems Senator McCain has right now are his battles with the Religious Right and the fact he looks like the Pillsbury Doughboy who has just been pounded out from from the cannister. He is as inspiring as cream of wheat. (which could pass for his cousin) He is a war hero and a distinguished statesman, but he needs to do something with his image. Like dye his hair or walk faster.

So, his choice of a running mate needs to add vivacity to his campaign. Mitt Romney has been mentioned. Mitt is good. He has that youthful look, is a great business leader and smiles a lot. But, Mitt scares people almost as much as Obama. Since John McCain will be the oldest President elected, Mitt stands a reasonable chance of succeeding him in the event our Commander in Chief salutes a little too heavily and keels over. Read article.

McCain Going After 'Hillary Supporters,' Democrats, Independents

Susan Jones, CNSNews.com

"I hope I can attract Democratic voters, including Sen. Clinton's supporters," Sen. John McCain told Fox News on Tuesday.

The presumed Republican presidential nominee wasted no time making a pitch to Sen. Hillary Clinton's supporters: "As the father of three daughters, I owe her a debt for inspiring millions of women to believe there is no opportunity in this great country beyond their reach," McCain (R-Ariz.) said in a speech Tuesday night in New Orleans. "I am proud to call her my friend."

To win the election, McCain told Fox News he must also attract independents and Reagan Democrats.

"When it comes to many of the challenges facing the nation, "I think I can offer a plan of action that will attract Democrats and Independents." He said he wants to "represent all Americans," and he emphasized his "record or reaching across the aisle and working in a bipartisan fashion."

In his Fox News interview, McCain admitted that his reaching across the aisle has produced some "dismay" among Republicans. Many conservatives, in fact, don't trust McCain to represent their interests. Read article.

McCain's Gotta Have Faith - Inspiring enthusiasm

David Klinghoffer, NRO.com

It's hard to picture how John McCain, who stirs little passion, could end up beating a man like Barack Obama for whom many people care deeply. Indeed, many recent polls have shown Obama running ahead, either by a slight or a significant margin. Whether lukewarm McCain supporters like me will even show up to vote should be a major concern for the Arizona senator's campaign.

Is there anything McCain can do to generate even a hint of Obama-style enthusiasm? Yes, but it would require an act of soul-searching and self-revelation, taking a lesson from Obama.

According to conventional wisdom, so many hearts swell for Obama because of the prospect of electing our first black president. That's part of it, but surely not all. Among white voters, there is no recent precedent for such emotional extremes being evoked by issues of race.

Ah but religion - that certainly has the power to call forth swoons and palpitations.

Obama has been shrewd to cast himself as an explicitly religious candidate, as in the campaign flier that's been circulated in southern states. It shows the candidate standing at a church pulpit with a glowing cross behind him, surmounting inspirational quotes from Obama such as: "My faith teaches me that I can sit in church and pray all I want, but I won't be fulfilling God's will unless I go out and do the Lord's work."

Obama courts the perception that his campaign isn't just a campaign but a spiritual quest that voters are invited to join. Read article.

"Naive" Obama? Egotist Is More Like It

Arnold Ahlert, Political Mavens.com

One of the primary reasons the divorce rate hovers around fifty percent is that people enter marriage with unreasonable expectations. The number one unreasonable expectation? One partner can "change the other one for the better."

What drives such thinking? Hubris. It is the idea that one actually has the power to: a) completely alter another person's worldview to suit their own, and b) that their own worldview is inherently superior to everyone else's.

Such hubris is the essence of liberalism. And it is precisely why Barack Obama and other Democrats went ballistic when George W. Bush brought up the issue of appeasement in Israel last week.

Winston Churchill once remarked, "it is better to jaw-jaw than war-war." Yet Churchill knew when the time came to stop talking and start fighting. If truth be told, so did Democrats at one time. But their party has been hijacked by the "hubrists," for whom no transgression-not even 9/11, apparently-will convince them that world peace cannot be secured by some clever conversation.

If not for hubris, even a cursory understanding of Islamo-fascism would make one realize the limits of jaw-jaw with those who believe suicide-with an optimum number of murder victims included-is a "viable" means of political expression. Read article.

The Way Back to a Republican Majority is to the Right

Rep. Mike Pence, Human Events.com

I am deeply honored to have this opportunity to address the 41st Annual Silver Elephant Dinner here in South Carolina. I am grateful for the leadership of Chairman Katon Dawson and for the gracious introduction by Senator Jim DeMint. Senator Jim DeMint is a hero to his former colleagues in the House and has done more, in less time, to shake up the United States Senate than any other conservative in recent history.

While Jim's introduction was overly generous, there really are some great men here. I am humbled to share the stage so many great conservatives in South Carolina, like Gov Mark Sanford and Sen. Lindsey Graham. I am also grateful to be joined by two of my favorite conservative colleagues in the House. There is no stronger advocate for victory in Iraq in Congress than Rep. Joe Wilson. I am grateful for his leadership and friendship. And when I think of integrity, principle and faith in Congress, one name comes to mind first: Rep. Gresham Barrett. These men are tall trees on the American political landscape and this Hoosier is grateful for their commitment to principle, personal integrity and devotion to freedom. Read article.