Does Any of This Matter,
and if so,
Do You Care?
The Obama Timeline: 1961-2008
The following is an attempt to present the relevant aspects of Barack Obama’s life, from birth to the present. Every attempt has been made to present accurate names, information, and dates. If errors or significant omissions are noted, please free to contact the author at colony14@gmail.com. Please keep in mind, however, that it is incredibly difficult to pin down the Obama campaign on specifics regarding the candidate’s past. His staffers have released very little documentation, and requests for clarification go unanswered, or are answered in different ways by different staffers.
1961-1966
Barack Obama Jr. is allegedly born in Honolulu, Hawaii on August 4, 1961, [1] to Stanley Ann Dunham (1942-1995). [1,289] Ann Dunham (who understandably had dropped the “Stanley”) married Obama’s father, Barack Obama Sr. (1936-1982), on February 2, 1961. Obama, Sr., an African Muslim by birth, but an atheist by admission, [324] already had two children with a woman in Kenya named Kezia (1938 - ). [289] It is likely, however, that Obama, Sr. was not legally married to Kezia (their marriage was only a tribal marriage), making his marriage to Dunham (if there was a marriage) legal. [3,7,289,299] (Obama and Kezia eventually re-unite after he separates from Ann Dunham, and Kezia bears him two more children.)
If Obama, Jr. was born in Hawaii, he was both an American and a Kenyan citizen because his father was a Kenyan. If he was born in Hawaii, Obama’s Kenyan citizenship expired when he turned age 21. [219] If Obama later became a citizen of Indonesia by virtue of being adopted by his step-father, Lolo Soetoro, Obama lost his Kenyan citizenship at the point of adoption. [258]
Although the divorce of Obama, Sr. and Ann Dunham in 1964 [6] suggests they had been married on Thursday, February 2, 1961 [6,324], there are no disclosed records or witnesses to indicate a marriage [4,10], and Michelle Obama states in an interview that Ann Dunham was “very young and very single when she had him (Barack).” [8,352] In any event, Dunham was unmarried, and likely under age 18, when she became pregnant.
Dunham is an atheist [2,324], an “Adlai Stevenson liberal,” a secular humanist, [9] leftist social-activist, [10] and a student of cultural anthropology. Ann Dunham meets Barack Obama Sr. while both are studying Russian at the University of Hawaii. [4,5] Dunham is an excellent debater at school, and excels at defending the concepts of Karl Marx’ “The Communist Manifesto.” [324]
In 1962 or 1963, Obama’s parents separate; his father leaves Hawaii (probably in 1963) to attend Harvard and then returns to Kenya, with a woman named Ruth Nidesand, whom he met at Harvard. Obama, Sr. marries Nidesand in Kenya in 1967; they are eventually divorced. Obama, Sr. eventually has at least eight other children with four women (two of those additional children are borne by his former wife Kezia, while he is still married to Nidesand.) Obama, Sr. does not see his son Barack Jr. again until 1971, when he visits Hawaii for one month; he is eventually killed in 1982, at age 46, in an automobile accident. (A year earlier, Obama, Sr. had been in an automobile accident and had to have his legs amputated. Alcohol is believed to have been a factor in both accidents.) [6,7,11,271,324]
The 1961 birth certificate posted on the Internet by the Obama campaign is suspected of being a forgery, based on a modified copy of his half-sister Maya’s birth certificate. [12] If Obama does have a legitimate Hawaiian birth certificate, it possibly does not list a father if Dunham and Obama, Sr. were not married. (At that time, the custom was to omit the father’s name when the father and mother were not married). By July, 2008, it appeared that the forgery may have been perpetrated for the “Daily Kos” web site, by a Jay McKinnon, who describes himself as a “Department of Homeland Security-trained document specialist.” [325]
The Internet site “FactCheck.org” states that the birth certificate provided by the Obama campaign is legitimate, but it should be noted that FactCheck.org is funded primarily by the Annenberg Foundation, which also funded the Chicago Annenberg Challenge, where Obama and William Ayers distributed tens of millions of dollars to leftist organizations. [302] It should also be noted that most, if not all, of the people who have declared the birth certificate to be either authentic or a fake have seen only photocopies or scanned images, and not an original paper document.
There has been speculation that Obama was born in Kenya [197,199,199,248] and brought to Hawaii as an infant, because the airlines would (in 1961) not have allowed a pregnant Dunham to fly. [248] (Relatives of Obama in Kenya, who likely are unaware of the eligibility requirements of the U.S. Presidency, state that he was born in Kenya.) The Kenya birth speculation is incorrect if Dunham met Obama Sr. while both were students at the University of Hawaii and if they did not also travel to Kenya in 1961.
Although Obama’s campaign has given the names of two different Hawaiian hospitals where he was supposed to have been born (Kapiolani Women’s Center and Queens Medical Center, both in Honolulu), that may be due to campaign staff ignorance or incompetence, and not deceit. Still, no one has been able to confirm the birth from either hospital’s records. There is apparently a register of the birth in the public records office, dated August 8, 1961, one week after the birth, but it supposedly does not list a place of birth. (Note that a register of birth is not the same as a birth certificate.) [248]
A writer for “Online Journal” publishes an article on June 9, 2008 claiming that a research team went to Mombasa, Kenya, and located a certificate of the Kenyan birth of Barack Obama, Jr. It is unclear why that story, if it is true, did not get “traction.” There is also speculation that certified copies of a Kenyan birth certificate, with embossed raised seals and with birth witness signatures, are now in the hands of three individuals; the documents allegedly state that Obama was born at 7:24 p.m., on August 4, 1961, at Coast Provincial General Hospital, in Mombasa, Kenya. [248,299,301]
There have been claims that Obama’s paternal grandmother (his father’s mother), Sarah Hussein Obama (or Sarah Onyango Obama) (1922 - ), [289] told reporters that Barack Obama Jr. was born in Kenya, when her son came to visit, accompanied by a pregnant Ann Dunham - who was very close to her delivery date. Sarah Hussein Obama further states that she was present in the delivery room when Obama was born in Kenya. [299] One half-brother and one half-sister of candidate Obama also claim he was born in Kenya. [248] This would be consistent with a reported stop by Dunham in the state of Washington on the return trip to Hawaii, and with the possible existence of only a Hawaiian “register of birth,” rather than an actual birth certificate. The Chicago Tribune was told by Dunham friend Susan Blake that Dunham visited her in Seattle shortly after Obama’s birth. [324]
Note that Hawaiian law allows the State of Hawaii to issue a certificate of live birth even if the child is born outside the State, provided the parents have been legal residents of Hawaii for at least one year immediately preceding the birth. Such a certificate does, however, require that the place of birth be correctly recorded. Thus, had Obama been born in Kenya and shortly thereafter brought to Hawaii, Dunham could have had a Hawaiian birth certificate prepared, but that document would have been in addition to the birth certificate issued in Kenya. Such a Hawaiian certificate, if issued, does not make the child a United States citizen; it is merely a birth-recording convenience offered by the State. If the place of birth on a Hawaiian birth certificate is later altered, the certificate could nevertheless appear legitimate in terms of format, style, and numbering. [301]
Note that states typically have a “long form” (certificate of live birth) and a “short form” (certification of birth) for their birth documents. The long form, or vault copy, contains the more detailed information, such as the hospital name, names of parents, date, time, infant’s weight and length, footprint, doctor name, and certified signature of the doctor. In 1961, the document would obviously have been typed on a typewriter. The short form contains more limited information, and is the less desirable of the two forms when absolute proof is desired. When someone requests a copy of a birth certificate from a state (or county), the document provided is typically the short form, computer-printed at the time of the request and based on information on computer databases; the vault copy is not retrieved and examined. The short form is then usually stamped or embossed with an official seal. The document provided by the Obama campaign, whether valid or forged, is the short form.
Only a few sources have been listed here for the many Obama birth speculations; there are far too many, and rumors and stories can readily be found on the Internet. Speculation will not end until original birth and citizenship documents are released, and the likelihood of that may be minimal. A lawsuit has been filed [13] by attorney Philip Berg (a Democrat and a Clinton supporter) to block Obama from running for and becoming President without first proving he is an eligible U.S. citizen; it alleges he was born in Kenya. Whether that lawsuit leads to anything remains to be seen, but if the truth damages Obama, there will certainly be continued efforts by many to keep that truth successfully hidden.
If Obama was born in Hawaii, the more damaging issue may be whether he became and is still an Indonesian citizen. [258,305]
In 1965, Obama’s father writes in the “East Africa Journal” an article called, “Problems Facing Our Socialism,” in which he criticizes Kenya for not being socialist enough. He writes, “Theoretically, there is nothing that can stop the government from taxing 100 per cent of income so long as the people get benefits from the government commensurate with their income which is taxed." [271] Obama the Presidential candidate has so far suggested an income tax rate of “only” 39.6 per cent (not counting Social Security and Medicare taxes, and state income taxes). [271]
Obama, in his second book, “The Audacity of Hope,” clearly states that, like his father, he is also no great fan of the American system of free enterprise capitalism; he describes capitalism as “chaotic and unforgiving,” and has a desire to roll back the “ownership society.” [271]
1966-1970
In 1967 (possibly 1966), Ann Dunham marries Indonesian Muslim Lolo Soetoro Mangunharjo (1936-1987), who she meets at the University of Hawaii. [6,289,324,329] Soetoro then returns to Indonesia. (Note that Soetoro was originally from Malaysia, but lived in Indonesia.) [324] Obama and his mother later move to Indonesia to join Soetoro, probably in 1967. [6,289] Soetoro likely adopted Obama, whose name is changed to Barry Soetoro. Elementary school records in Indonesia list Obama’s name as Barry Soetoro, his religion as Islam, and his citizenship as Indonesian. Obama attends Franciscus Primary School (1967-1969) and Besuki State Elementary School Menteng 01 in Jakarta (1969-1971). [14,172,324]
Obama practices Islam half-heartedly, irregularly attending prayer services at the mosque. According to one of his Indonesian school principals, Tine Hahiyary, the young Obama studies “Mangaji” (or “Mengagi”), which involves the recitation of the Quran. [15,251] Note that Mangaji, in Indonesian schools, requires learning to recite the Quran in the Arabic language, and not the student’s native tongue. Non-Muslims or even moderate Muslims would not send their child to Mangaji classes; it is much more involved that a Christian child attending “Sunday School” class. (Many Indonesians wonder why Obama is hiding his Muslim past.) [332,336]
A former classmate of Obama in Indonesia, Rony Amiris, in 2007, described Obama as having enjoyed football, playing marbles, and being a very devout Muslim. Amir said, "Barry was previously quite religious in Islam." [332]
Publicly, Obama denies he ever was a Muslim and claims he is a devout Christian. (He also alleges he was never in church when his pastor, Reverend Jeremiah Wright, was spewing anti-white and anti-American rhetoric in his sermons.) Many, if not most, of the world’s Muslims feel that “Obama may not want to be counted as a Muslim but Muslims are eager to count him as one of their own.” One Obama problem may be that if he is seen by radical Islamists as someone who denounced the Muslim religion to become a Christian, his background can be exploited to “argue that an apostate is leading the war on terror…” which can then help terrorists “…galvanize (additional) sympathizers into action.” [252]
If it is assumed that Obama is legally adopted by his Indonesian step-father, Lolo Soetoro, Obama becomes an Indonesian citizen, according to Indonesian law. Because Indonesia does not allow dual citizenship, Obama thus loses his U.S. citizenship when he becomes an Indonesian citizen, in or about 1966. At this point Obama also ceases to be a Kenyan citizen, according to Indonesian and Kenyan law. Ann Dunham would have been required to renounce her U.S. citizenship, under Indonesian law, for her marriage to Lolo Soetoro to be considered legal in Indonesia. [258,300,305]
Note that, according to Indonesian legal experts, it is difficult for non-Indonesian citizens to enroll in public schools in that country; this further supports the assumption that Obama was adopted by Soetoro. Obama’s half-sister, Maya Soetoro, has also stated that Obama was adopted by her father. [329]
In 1967, Oginga Odinga, a comrade of Obama’s father, is arrested in Kenya for holding a rally that turns into a riot. In 2006, candidate Obama supports Odinga’s son, socialist Raila Odinga, in his run for the Presidency in Kenya. [271]
1971-1979
In 1971 or 1972, Obama is sent back to Hawaii to live with his mother’s parents; his mother remains in Indonesia. (Dunham may possibly have traveled with Obama to Hawaii, and then promptly returned to Indonesia without him, but with his half-sister, Maya Soetoro.) Obama’s grandfather, Stanley Armour Dunham (1918-1992), manages a furniture store, and his grandmother, Madelyn Lee Payne Dunham (1922- ), is a bank vice-president. [16,289,324,329]
Obama’s maternal grandmother, Madelyn Dunham, currently age 86, still resides in Hawaii. The Obama campaign has kept her off-limits, and prohibits interviews with her. [329]
Aside from a view visits to Hawaii, Ann Dunham spends most of the rest of her life “based” in Indonesia, but she travels extensively, to Ghana, Thailand, Napal, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and China. Dunham returns to Hawaii before her death in 1995. [329]
After returning to Hawaii and upon turning age 18, Obama could possibly have given up his Indonesian citizenship and become a naturalized U.S. citizen, with the proper paperwork filed through the U.S. State Department and by swearing an oath of allegiance to the United States. It is believed that Obama did not do so. [258,300,301]
If Obama did not relinquish his Indonesian citizenship and become a naturalized U.S. citizen, he remains an Indonesian citizen, and has not been a U.S. citizen since moving to Indonesia in 1966 or 1967. Thus, he is ineligible to be President of the United States. (He is also ineligible to be a United States Senator.) Obama’s repeated failure to provide documentation to prove he is a U.S. citizen suggests it does not exist, and he is therefore possibly perpetrating a colossal fraud on the 300 million citizens of the United States. Obama may, in fact, be an illegal resident alien, subject to expulsion from the United States Senate, arrest, and deportation to Indonesia. [258,300]
Obama attends the elite, expensive, private Punahou High School (1971-1979). [16,324] The school is racially diverse and whites are in the minority. The final day of school is traditionally known as “Kill Haole Day” (“Kill Whitey Day”). [17]
Because of his drug abuse, Obama’s grades are poor in his final two years of high school. Obama later writes that “Pot had helped, and booze; maybe a little blow when you could afford it. Not smack, though.” [18]
Bryon Leong, a former classmate of Obama’s at Punahou, states that Obama “…was known as a partier, as a guy looking for a good time, but not much more," and, “There was pot in Hawaii in the 1970s, but it wasn't a big deal." [332]
Dunham leaves Soetoro in 1972 and returns to Hawaii. She divorces Soetoro in 1980. [289]
Ann Dunham rarely sees Obama after 1975. [324]
By his own admission, Obama’s high school grades are not exemplary; rather than do homework, he reads the works of black authors like Langston Hughes, Ralph Ellison, James Baldwin, Richard Wright, W.E.B. DuBois, and Malcolm X. [20,190]
High school friend Keith Kakugawa relates later that Obama “…made everything out like it was all racial.” After Obama complains about being picked on at the basketball court because of his race, Kakugawa’s father tells Obama, “No, Barry, it’s not because you’re black, it’s because you missed two shots in a row.” [20]
While a teenager in Hawaii, Obama spends considerable time with Frank Marshall Davis (whose identity Obama hides by describing him only as “Frank” in his book, “Dreams From My Father”). [19] Davis is a dope-smoking drinking buddy of Obama’s grandfather, Stanley Dunham. [21] (Obama had met Davis shortly after arriving in Hawaii, at age 10, [21] but was most influenced by him during his high school years.) In place of his absent father and stepfather, Davis becomes Obama’s mentor.
Davis is a member of the Communist Party of the USA, poet, propagandist, “bitter opponent of capitalism,” and radical agitator; in 1948, Davis had fled Chicago after the FBI and the House Un-American Activities Committee investigated his subversive anti-American activities. [21,259,261] Davis is also a bi-sexual, sex pervert, child molester (bragging of repeated sexual encounters with a 13 year-old girl), and pornographer, and is the author of the book “Sex Rebel: Black” under the pseudonym Bob Greene. [21] Davis “…would cruise in Hawaii parks looking for couples or female tourists to have sex with. He derived sexual gratification from bondage, simulated rape and being flogged and urinated on. He boasted that ‘the number of white babes interested in at least one meeting with a Negro male has been far more than I can handle’ and wished ‘America were as civilised as, say, Scandinavia.’” He concluded: ‘I regret none of my experiences or unusual appetites; for me they are normal.’” [21]
Obama joins Davis at his home on most evenings, shares alcohol and drugs, is tutored in socialism, and taught not to trust the white establishment. [33] "They'll train you so good," Davis said, "you'll start believing what they tell you about equal opportunity and the American way and all that shit." Davis teaches Obama, “Black people have a reason to hate” and “You may be a well-trained, well-paid nigger, but you’re a nigger just the same.” [22,261]
Davis’ Marxist-inspired poetry includes lines like, “Smash on, victory-eating Red Army!” Titles of his poems include, “Christ is a Dixie Nigger.” [261]
It is believed that Davis was a close friend of Thomas Ayers (father of William Ayers) in Chicago, and that it was Davis who encouraged Obama to attend Columbia College in New York and hook up with William Ayers. [259]
In Davis’ autobiography, he writes of his seduction of a young white girl, age 13, named “Anne.” [21,259] This fuels speculation that the “Anne” in Davis’ book is Obama’s mother, Stanley Ann Dunham, and that Obama is actually the child of Frank Marshall Davis. [260] Obama’s grandfather and Davis were close friends, suggesting that his mother and Davis certainly knew each other, but there is no evidence that Obama’s father was Davis. Further, when Ann Dunham moved to Hawaii with her parents in 1959 she was already age 16 or 17. The suggestion that Davis was the father of Obama is most assuredly false; the topic is listed here only to refute the rumor.
1979-1981
Obama moves to Los Angeles, and attends Occidental College, [28] where he plays basketball and continues taking drugs. He becomes friends with Pakistani Muslims Mohammed Hasan Chandoo, (or perhaps Chandio) and Wahid Hamid, [20] and Indian Vinai Thummalapally. [189,245] At Occidental College, Obama indulges in alcohol, marijuana, and cocaine. [188] He becomes interested in the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa. While at Occidental, Obama is mentored by an openly gay professor, Lawrence Goldyn, who has a strong influence on Obama’s acceptance of gays. Fellow student Thummalapally lives with Obama in the summer of 1980. [191,332]
Obama’s freshman year roommate at Occidental is Imad Husain, a Pakistani. [332]
Obama’s friends at Occidental tend to be the more politically active blacks, foreign students, Chicanos, Marxist professors, structural feminists, and punk-rock performance poets. [187,192] Obama is rebuked on one occasion for calling another black student, who wasn’t “black enough,” an “Uncle Tom.” One female student criticizes Obama with the remark, “You always think it’s about you.”
While at Occidental, Obama joins the Students for Economic Democracy (SED), which is a branch of the Campaign for Economic Democracy (CED), a group that was founded by radical, anti-American, Marxist activist Tom Hayden (former husband of actress Jane Fonda), who was also active with the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS). [259] (William Ayers’ subsequent radical group, the Weather Underground, was comprised of many former SDS members; in 1969 the Weather Underground - then called simply “Weatherman” - declared “war on Amerikka.”) Obama’s first known public speech takes place at an Occidental College event sponsored by the SED. [259,332]
Obama may have made a 1980 trip to Kenya to visit his father. During that trip, he may also have visited Pakistan, and Indonesia (to visit his mother). It is possible, however, that the reports of a 1980 trip are mistaken, and Obama’s only such trip was in 1981. [194,195,196]
During his college years, Obama maintains contact with his father through correspondence, until his death in 1982. [271]
Probably in late 1980, Obama decides to stop using the name Barry Soetoro and returns to the name Barack Obama, Jr. [194]
Obama is disappointed in a grade he receives from political science Professor Roger Boesche, and complains he is being graded “on a different curve” because of his race. [20]
In 1981, Obama visits his mother and half-sister in Indonesia, and then continues on for three weeks to Karachi, Pakistan and Hyderabad, India, [26,194,195,196] with his friends Chandoo [23] and Hamid, [25] and finally to Kenya to visit his father’s family. [245]
One of Obama’s hosts in Pakistan is Muhammadian Mian Soomro [24], Obama’s senior by 11 years, son of a Pakistani politician and himself a politician, who later becomes interim President of Pakistan when Pervez Musharraf resigns in August of 2008. Soomro states that “someone” personally requested that he “watch over” Barack Obama, but Soomro will not name that individual - who today allegedly lives in South America. [24]
It is unknown who financed Obama’s costly 1981 trip.
Note that a trip to Pakistan in 1981 was not possible for Americans, except for those who were on official government business, because it was on the list of nations banned by the State Department for U.S. travelers. It is possible that Obama was able to enter Pakistan on an Indonesian passport. Pakistan, being almost 100 per cent Muslim, would have welcomed foreign Muslim visitors in 1981. The U.S. State Department would not have known Obama was in Pakistan had he traveled on an Indonesian passport.
Obama’s school records from Occidental College have been kept secret. This may simply be to hide poor grades. It is also possible that those records list Obama as an Indonesian, and not an American, citizen. [259]
1981-1984
Obama moves to New York City and enrolls at Columbia University. He attends socialist conferences “for inspiration.” His roommate is Pakistani Muslim Sohale Siddiqi. [26,27] Siddiqi is a drug user; Obama allegedly stops using drugs while at Columbia. Living a few blocks away from Obama and Columbia is William Ayers (at 520 West 123rd Street). [206,297]
At Columbia, Obama studies political science and international relations. His thesis is allegedly on nuclear disarmament. [29] (The Obama campaign will not release copies of that document.) [29] Obama graduates from Columbia in June of 1983, with a degree in political science, without honors. [264]
Note: Both at Occidental College in California and at Columbia College in New York, Obama’s roommates are foreign Muslims. This may be indicative of something, and it would be worth knowing if the students themselves chose roommates or had them assigned to them. Whether chosen or assigned, were the pairings because of Muslim backgrounds, or foreign backgrounds, or foreign citizenship? Do Obama’s hidden college records reveal the answers to those questions?
After graduation from Columbia, Obama joins the New York Public Interest Research Group, an organization founded by Ralph Nader. Obama becomes an organizer at Harlem’s City College, working with student volunteers on recycling programs. [31]
Like his Occidental College papers, Obama’s academic files from Columbia have been kept secret. [259] While attending Columbia, Obama lived off campus, near William Ayers. It is possible Obama first met Ayers during those years, 1981-1983. Looking for evidence of Obama’s past, Fox News contacted 400 Columbia students from that time period; none remembered Obama. [259] There is speculation that Frank Marshall Davis arranged for Obama to meet William Ayers in New York, and their being neighbors was not a coincidence; Ayers then possibly suggested that Obama return to Chicago with him. (Was Ayers the reason Obama moved to Chicago?) [259] (Years later, Obama and Ayers are neighbors in Chicago’s Hyde Park neighborhood.)
Wayne Allyn Root was, like Obama, a political science major at Columbia who also graduated in 1983. In 2008 Root says of Obama, "I don't know a single person at Columbia that knows him, and they all know me. I don't have a classmate who ever knew Barack Obama at Columbia. Ever! ... Nobody recalls him. I'm not exaggerating, I'm not kidding.” Root adds that he also was “Class of ’83 political science, pre-law” and “You don't get more exact than that. Never met him in my life, don't know anyone who ever met him. At the class reunion, our 20th reunion five years ago, 20th reunion, who was asked to be the speaker of the class? Me. No one ever heard of Barack! Who was he, and five years ago, nobody even knew who he was... the guy who writes the class notes, who's kind of the, as we say in New York, the macha who knows everybody, has yet to find a person, a human who ever met him. Is that not strange? It's very strange...” Note that Obama’s photograph does not appear n the school’s yearbook, and Obama consistently declines requests to talk about his years at Columbia, provide school records, or provide the name of any former classmates or friends while at Columbia. [332,346]
Obama and Ayers share a mutual friend, Edward Wadie Said, a Palestinian-American, political activist, anti-Israel professor at Columbia; Said was called toe “professor of terror” by the American magazine, “Commentary.” [332,334] In 1998, Obama and his wife attend a banquet at which Said is the keynote speaker; in fact, Obama is seated next to Said at dinner. [335]
Obama regularly attends Marxist-socialist conferences at Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art in Manhattan. [332,337]
Obama works briefly for Business International Corporation in New York, a small newsletter-publishing firm that prints articles relating to global business; [30] Obama later “embellishes” that job, saying he was hired as a “research assistant” by a “consulting house to multinational corporations,” had his own private secretary, and dealt with Japanese financiers and German bond traders. His former co-workers say Obama’s accounts of his job are grossly inflated – he wore jeans, shared cubicles with others in a dumpy office, had no secretary, and merely re-wrote articles for newsletters. [31] Obama remarks later in life that the job exposed him to the “coldness of capitalism.” [31,32]
In 1983, Obama falls in love with a white woman, but ends the relationship after he realizes he will have to adapt to her white world, rather than the other way around. [357]
1985-1988
Obama moves to Chicago, and hangs out with black militants and leftists. [33] Obama works as a “community organizer” for the “Industrial Areas Foundation” (IAF), an organization founded by Marxist and radical agitator Saul Alinsky. Its national activities have included a “Citizens USA” project to obtain citizenship for over one million illegal aliens. (Coincidentally, Hillary Rodham Clinton’s senior honors thesis at Wellesley College, “There is Only the Fight,” is about Alinsky; [45,192,229] in 1968 Alinsky offered Clinton a job, which she declined.) [46]
Obama also works with the Alinsky group “Developing Communities Project” (DCP), and “ACORN” (the “Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now”) and Project Vote, both Alinsky-network creations. Obama’s duties include organizing residents of the Altgeld Gardens housing project on Chicago’s south side. [45,324] ACORN is an off-shoot of what had been the National Welfare Rights League (NWRL), a militant 1960s group that staged protests in welfare offices and, often successfully, demanded increased benefits with threats of violence. ACORN was founded by William Ayers’ SDS associate, Wade Rathke, and is currently the largest and most powerful leftist organization in the United States. [227,322]
Obama’s Altgeld Gardens work allegedly involves forcing a clean-up of asbestos. Obama’s mentor during his time on the project was Hazel Johnson, who argues that she discovered the asbestos problem and led the efforts to resolve it; according to Johnson, Obama exaggerated his role in the project in his book, “Dreams From My Father.” [345]
Alinsky’s “training manual” for community organizers, “Rules for Radicals,” states that community organizers are primarily agitators, who must "Fan the resentments of the people of a community; fan the latent hostilities of many of the people to the point of overt expression - he must search out controversy and issues... An organizer must stir up dissatisfaction and discontentment [sic].... He knows that values are relative.... Truth to him is relative and changing." [315]
Note that Alinsky’s work also influenced the creation of the “Cloward-Piven Strategy,” named after Columbia University professors Richard Andrew Cloward and Frances Fox Piven. Their strategy involves taking action to force deliberate failure in society, to foster change toward socialism, by overloading the bureaucracy with impossible demands, lawsuits, holding officials to the extreme letter of the law, etc. The Cloward-Piven method is to push society into an economic collapse, thus forcing a fear and resentment of capitalism, making it easier to usher in socialism. The Cloward-Piven strategy is one of the tactics used by “community organizers” (e.g., storming welfare offices and violently demanding immediate action) to impose intentional strains on the system, like forcing the hiring of more government workers to deal with their ever-increasing demands. [327]
Obama has probably already met William Ayers by this time, and likely still remains in contact with him. [259]
While at IAF, Obama reports to Gerald Kellman. [20] Kellman is a follower of Alinsky, whose book “Rules for Radicals” was widely read by 1960s radicals, such as members of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), Weather Underground, and the youths who rioted at the 1968 Democrat Convention in Chicago. [33] (Obama’s line about “the world as it is and the world as it should be,” which his future wife swooned over and which she repeated twice in her speech to the Democrat National Convention, comes from Chapter 2 of Alinsky’s book.) [352]
Obama is hired with $25,000 Kellman receives from the Woods Fund. [33] Obama will later serve on the Woods Fund board, along with former Weather Underground domestic terrorist, Pentagon bomber, radical, leftist, communist, and fugitive from justice William Ayers. [33,204]
Note that the Woods Fund was founded by the Woods family, which owned a coal business that was a major supplier of coal to Commonwealth Edison; the CEO of Commonwealth Edison was Thomas Ayers, father of William Ayers. [346]
Gerald Kellman later relates that Obama’s job “largely consisted of interviewing community members and creating a narrative out of their experiences, the problems the community faced.” [190]
As a community organizer, Obama, despite being a “master of agitation,” [47] has limited success [35,47] working for more welfare programs for the poor on the south side of Chicago. Obama is less a “community organizer” than a “community agitator,” getting people to demand more welfare benefits and government hand-outs.
Obama also works on voter registration drives during this period, and comes into contact with leftist political groups like the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) and Socialist International (SI); Obama is likely to have met Carl Davidson during this period; Davidson is a former member of the radical group Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), and later is a member of the Committees of Correspondence for Democracy and Socialism (CCDS), which organized the 2002 rally where Obama announces his public opposition to the looming Iraq War. [34]
Obama learns from the Alinsky crowd the method for getting people to support radical change they would ordinarily not be willing to accept. "They must feel so frustrated, so defeated, so lost, so futureless in the prevailing system that they are willing to let go of the past and change the future.” [192] Thus, just as it has been the theme of most Democrat Presidential campaigns over the last 30 years, so is it Obama’s: “Everything is terrible and headed in the wrong direction, your lives are in shambles, greedy capitalism is at fault, and you need to trust a bigger government and my plans to solve all your problems.”
For three years, Obama is the director of the Developing Communities Project (DCP), part of the “Gamaliel Foundation,” another Alinsky-like group which uses “in your face” tactics and threats against banks to obtain more loans to people in poor neighborhoods. Gamaliel’s co-founder and executive director is Gregory Galluzzo, who served as a trainer and mentor during Obama’s community activist days in Chicago. [227,228,337]
Probably in 1987 or 1988, Obama joins the black liberation theology Trinity United Church of Christ (TUCC); it’s pastor is Reverend Jeremiah Wright, a fiery orator who preaches Marxism, black liberation theology (a Marxist version of Christianity that worships a white-hating black Jesus), gives controversial sermons, supports communists in Cuba and Nicaragua, and who later says America deserved the 9/11 terrorist attacks and that America intentionally spread the AIDS virus to remain wealthy at the expense of poor Africans. Some accounts state that Obama joins TUCC in 1992. [33,268,324,336]
For what it calls a “commitment to truth, education, and leadership,” Obama’s church magazine, “Trumpet Newsmagazine,” gives a “lifetime achievement award” to Louis Farrakhan, [36] a virulent anti-Semite whose quotes include, “Hitler was a very great man,” [37] “Judaism is a gutter religion,” [38] and “white people are potential humans, they haven’t evolved yet.” [39] Obama alleges that his church is “fairly conventional,” and that he “wasn’t in church” when Wright made his more inflammatory statements.
Reverend Wright, along with Louis Farrakhan, visits Libyan dictator Muammar Qaddafi in 1984. Obama’s church presents Louis Farrakhan with its “Empowerment Award.” (References to that award are, in 2008, removed from the church’s web site after Obama’s relationships with Wright and Farrakhan are questioned.) [315]
Obama considers Wright to be his “moral compass,” “sounding board,” and “confidant.” [202] Obama is likely an atheist, like his mother and father, but joins the church for “street cred,” probably to please his wife, and to end the flak he receives from people in the community for his lack of religion. [239,271,336]
Obama alleges that he was baptized at TUCC, but no one has been able to find records of the event. [336]
1988 – 1991
In the spring of1988 (possibly 1985 or 1986), Obama visits his family in Kenya. [40,329]
It is believed that Obama visited his mother, Ann Dunham, in Pakistan some time during 1987 and 1992, while she was working there. [329]
In the fall of 1988, Obama begins his studies at Harvard Law School; [43] helping Obama gain acceptance at Harvard is a letter of recommendation from civil rights activist and Malcolm X attorney Percy Sutton; Sutton is asked to write the letter by Khalid Abdullah Tariq al-Mansour (aka “Donald Ward”), a radical Muslim and vitriolic anti-Semite, mentor of Black Panther Party founders Huey Newton and Bobby Seale, close associate of Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, and acquaintance of Obama, who alleges in his 1995 book, “The Lost Books of Africa Rediscovered,” that the United States is plotting genocide against black Americans. [41]
It has been suggested that it was William Ayers who persuaded Khalid al-Mansour to raise funds for Obama’s Harvard tuition. [259]
A Harvard letter of recommendation for Obama is also written by John McKnight, who serves on the Gamaliel Foundation’s Board of Directors, as well as the board of National People’s Action (NPA), another group of Alinsky-inspired agitators that pickets homes of business leaders and politicians. The NPA consists of Alinskyite thugs and agitators who, when picketing the homes of business and government leaders to demand more benefits and hand-outs, sing: "Who's on your hit list, NPA? Who's on your hit list of today? Take no prisoner, take no names. Kick 'em in the ass when they play their games." [230,267]
It is unclear how Obama gets into Harvard Law School, which has exceptionally high admissions standards, with applicant LSAT scores expected in the 98 to 99 range, and a grade point average of 3.8 or higher. [264] It is assumed that if Obama had such scores, his campaign would be bragging about them; it has not. [56] One assumption is that Obama had connections, such as Khalid al-Mansour, who both paved his way and paid his way; al-Mansour’s friend Percy Sutton states that al-Mansour had been “raising money” for Obama. Obama denies knowing al-Mansour, but al-Mansour, in an interview with Newsmax reporter Kenneth Timmerman, admits he had spoken with Obama and told him he would keep a “low profile” in order to avoid embarrassing the candidate. [315]
It is also unclear how Obama paid for his education, especially his years at Harvard Law School. He appears not to have held any steady jobs during the period, and he also took several extensive and expensive trips overseas. He and his wife later say they needed many years to pay off student loans, but those loans are not recorded on financial disclosure statements Obama was required to submit when he became a Senator.
Attorney Percy Sutton tells reporters in 2008, “I was introduced to (Obama) by a friend who was raising money for him. The friend’s name is Dr. Khalid al-Mansour.” Gifts from al-Mansour may have funded Obama’s years at Harvard. In April of 2008, however, Obama’s wife states that Obama had “just paid off his loan debt” for his Harvard Law School education. That statement, however, is not consistent with a review of Obama’s financial disclosures, which go back to 2000 and which did not list any outstanding college loans. (As a candidate for the U.S. Senate, Obama was required, in 2004, to file a financial disclosure form detailing his assets, income, consulting contracts, and liabilities. Obama listed zero for liabilities in 2004 and in all subsequent U.S. Senate financial disclosure forms. [211]
If Obama’s school loans had been paid off earlier, then his wife’s statement that he “had just paid off his loan debt” was a lie; a pandering lie intended, no doubt, to make the two of them appear to be “just another struggling middle class family.” If the loans had, in fact, just been paid off, then the candidate lied on his financial disclosure forms, which could subject him to impeachment from the Senate.
Another possibility is that candidate Obama and his wife are both lying, and the school loans were actually gifts from Khalid al-Mansour, which were expected to be paid back with future political favors – such as promoting a Palestinian state at the expense of Israel. If Obama’s tuition and expenses were financed by others without any expectation of direct reimbursement, they were thus gifts that should have been listed on his income tax filings. Obama’s failure to do so means he violated the income tax laws and is subject to additional taxes, interest, and penalties, and perhaps criminal charges.
Obama is selected as one of 40 editors of the Harvard Law Review (HLR), [55] but he apparently wrote only one article for the HLR, in which he argued against placing any limits on abortion, with the remarkable statement that abortions would “…prevent increasing numbers of children born into lives of pain and despair.” [56] His fellow editors elect Obama President of the HLR, partly in response to the demands of Professor Derrick Bell that a black woman be appointed to the law faculty. [56]
While at Harvard, Obama is already planning his political career. Former Harvard classmate Christine Spurell states, "It was clear to me from the day I met him that he was thinking about politics.” [332]
While on a break from class at Harvard, Obama spends eight days in Los Angeles taking a national training course taught by Saul Alinsky's “Industrial Areas Foundation.” [47]
In 1989, Obama works briefly at the Sidley Austin LLP Law Firm, [55] as a summer associate from Harvard law School, where he meets future wife Michelle LaVaughan Robinson; she is his mentor at the law firm. [324] Also working at the firm is Bernadine Dohrn (1984-1988), former Weather Underground radical, terrorist bomber, fugitive from the FBI, and wife of fellow radical William Ayers. (Although Dohrn works for the law firm, her criminal record prevents her from being admitted to the Illinois bar.) [50]
Obama’s summer job at Sidley Austin is likely arranged by William Ayers and Ayers’ father, Tom Ayers, (CEO of Commonwealth Edison, 1975-1986). [259]
In 1990, Obama serves as a summer associate at the law firm Hopkins and Sutter in Chicago. [357]
In 1990, Obama turns down a job offer from Antoin “Tony” Rezko’s low-income housing development company; this may have been Obama’s first contact with Tony “the fixer” Rezko. [48] Rezko, born in Aleppo, Syria, maintains varied contacts with Obama until he is convicted and jailed in 2008. It is not known how Obama first met Rezko. [245] (Ayers, Obama, and Rezko have all dealt with the Broadway Bank in Chicago, run by the mob-tied Giannoulias family, and it may have been Ayers or a Giannoulias family member who brought Obama’s name to the attention of Rezko.)
In 1991 Obama receives his law degree. [55]
1991-1992
Obama returns to Chicago in 1991, where he is named the Illinois State head of “Project Vote” (an affiliate of “ACORN,” a group infamous for its involvement in vote fraud), to help increase the number of black voters. Project Vote is expected to remain non-partisan to retain its tax-exempt status as a 501(c)(3) organization under the IRS Code, but it adds an estimated 125,000 new voters in Illinois in 1992, mostly Democrats, to help Carol Moseley Braun win a United States Senate seat. [45,240,283]
In 1991, Michelle Robinson is hired by Valerie Jarrett to work for the City of Chicago, for $60,000 per year; Jarrett is rumored to be the likely chief of staff in an Obama Administration; she was born in Iran in 1956, to American parents, while her father was working there on the staff of the Nemazee hospital. It is said that Obama makes few major decisions without referring to Jarrett. [245,246,352]
On December 17, 1991, Obama is admitted to Illinois Bar, enabling him to practice law. On his application he lies at least three times, failing to disclose that he had previously used the name “Barry Soetoro,” neglecting to disclose his record of drug use, and failing to disclose his approximate $400 in unpaid parking fines. [345]
In 1992 Obama marries Michelle LaVaughan Robinson. The ceremony is performed by Reverend Jeremiah Wright, at Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago. [329]
One of Obama’s tasks at ACORN, where he works with Madeline Talbott, [227] is training “community activists” how to use “direct action” and be more forceful in demanding change. The “in your face” style is preached by Obama, and used by activists to stage sit-ins and demonstrations at banks to garner publicity and support for more bank loans for unqualified poor people. (ACORN stages a two-day sit-in at the House Banking Committee room in1991.) Tactics include picketing at the homes of bank executives and calling them racists for not lending to the poor. Among the banks targeted is Chicago’s Bell Federal Savings (which no longer exists). The Chicago Tribune, in September of 1992, referred to the ACORN agenda as “affirmative action lending.” Critics later refer to those types of loans as “Ninja” loans (“No Income, No Job, no Assets”). [225]
Obama plans his first book, “Dreams From My Father.” He receives a $125,000 advance from publisher Simon and Shuster, but fails to write the book. Obama travels with his wife to Bali to gain the “peace and quite” to write, but still produces no manuscript. The contract is canceled, and Obama is asked to return part of the advance payment he receives. Obama returns to Chicago, signs a new contract (with Times Book, a Random House Division) for $40,000, and subsequently delivers a completed manuscript. It is believed that “Dreams From My Father” was ghost-written by Obama’s friend, William Ayers, based on the startling similarities of Ayers’ writings and the Obama book, the fact that Obama’s only previous public writings were atrocious poetry he had written in college, and Obama’s inability to speak well when not reading from a script or off a teleprompter. The book is a critical and financial dud – until Obama becomes famous and it is re-printed. [57,58,224,250]
In 1992, Obama helps found “Public Allies,” a voluntary public service organization (modeled after Alinsky’s AIF) that recruits youths to perform “public service” while they are indoctrinated in socialist ideology; Obama’s wife Michelle becomes the group’s executive Director in 1993. The program is the model for Presidential candidate Obama’s “Universal Voluntary Public Service” program, which he stealthily promotes as an expansion of Kennedy’s “Peace Corps.” [51,52]
1993 – 1996
Obama is hired by Miner, Banhill and Galland, a law firm that specializes in making government deals to develop low-income housing, and which deals with Tony Rezko’s firm “Rezar.” [245] Obama’s specific duties at the law firm are not known. (He refuses to provide a list of his clients.) Obama is also a law lecturer at the University of Chicago during these years. Obama likely remained on the payroll of the law firm until his 2004 Senate campaign, although his law license became inactive in 2002; working only during the summers after 1996. [42,53,324,345]
Note that Judson Miner had been a classmate of Bernadine Dohrn at the University of Chicago Law School in the late 1960s, when both were involved in anti-war activity. Miner had also been counsel to Chicago Mayor Harold Washington, and former Illinois Senator Carol Mosely Braun had worked briefly at the firm. Allison Davis, co-founder of the firm, later became a Chicago land developer, with ties to Tony Rezko. [345]
In 1993, Obama is placed on the board of the Woods Fund by William Ayers. (The period Obama serves on the Woods Fund board may be 1997 to 2002; conflicting dates have been presented in the media.) [259,297]
In 1993, Obama runs leadership training sessions on the subject of “power” for ACORN leaders, and continues to do so until at least 2003. Obama also helps train the staff of high-ranking ACORN leader Madeline Talbott; Talbott is arrested for heading a protest confrontation at the Chicago City Council. [283]
About 1993 (possibly later), Obama buys a townhouse in Chicago, with a loan provided by the city’s Broadway Bank. His down payment is $110,000. The bank, owned by the politically-connected Giannoulias family, is alleged to have long-standing mob ties, as well as connections with Tony Rezko and William Ayers. Allegedly Obama gets a “sweetheart” deal on the townhouse, ostensibly in exchange for future favors. (Obama later endorses Alexi Giannoulias when he runs for Illinois State Treasurer.) [281,291,329]
Obama’s townhouse is allegedly purchased by or for him in 1993, but various names are listed as the owner and the payer of the property tax while Obama lives there. The Warranty Deed changes from the name of the prior owner, Stephen Anderson, to Obama, in 1993, but the release of the Anderson mortgage is not recorded until 1998, at which point it is sent to Obama’s former law firm. There may be reasonable explanations for the various names and events, or Cook County bookkeeping may be less than perfect, but the oddities (not all of which are listed here) may also be the result of a complicated real estate “deal” arranged for Obama. [291
In 1994, Obama represents ACORN in a lawsuit against redlining. [225]
In 1994, Obama represents a client suing Citibank for denying mortgages to blacks. [263]
In the fall of 1994, Obama’s mother becomes ill with ovarian cancer. [324]
In 1995 Obama’s first book, “Dreams From My Father,” is published. It sells only a few thousand copies and has to be remaindered; [58] critics call it “overwrought” [57] and “self-indulgent.” The book is re-published in 2004, with some changes, after Obama becomes famous, and earns him a fortune. [58]
A 1995 article in the “Chicago Reader” describes how Obama had rejected the “…unrealistic politics of integrationist assimilation.” [264]
In 1995, Obama sues the State of Illinois on behalf of ACORN to get the state to comply with the federal “Motor Voter Law” law, which Republican Governor Jim Edgar correctly argues will invite voter fraud, partly because government officers registering new voters are “under orders not to ask anyone for identification or proof of citizenship.” ACORN has been prominent in the fight against photo I.D. for voting and other means of voter identification. ACORN specifically sought out Obama to represent them in the lawsuit; it was not simply assigned to him by a law firm. [54,240,255,284]
In 1995, urged by Obama, the Woods Fund gives more money to “community organizer” groups like ACORN. The Woods Fund publicly lies about its ideology, which allows it to obtain donations from many who aren’t aware of its radical intentions. Obama’s committee’s own report even brags that its claim to be “non-ideological has enabled the Trustees to make grants to organizations that use confrontational tactics against the business and government ‘establishments’ without undue risk of being criticized of partisanship.” During Obama’s tenure with the Woods Fund, the organization gives out more than $200,000 to ACORN. [232,297]
William Ayers (who may have met Obama as early as 1981) selects Obama as chairman (1995-2000) of the “Chicago Annenberg Challenge on Excellence in Education” (CAC) [59,60], an educational reform program that proves to be remarkably unsuccessful [60,204]; Ayers and Obama approve grants of $175,000 and $482,662 to groups founded by Ayers and run by former communist party leader Mike Klonsky. [61,155,156,201] Obama may have worked with the CAC as early as 1993.
Obama approves enough grants with CAC money that the “Chicago Reader” refers to Obama as a “philanthropist.” Obama’s time with the CAC is his only “executive experience.” While with the CAC, Obama and Ayers distribute an amount in the neighborhood of $100 million, and achieve essentially none of the group’s stated goals. [297]
It should be noted that the selection of Obama, a 33 year-old junior lawyer at a small law firm, as chairman of the educational reform group CAC is strange, inasmuch as the board also includes several older and experienced university presidents – one of whom, Stanley O. Ikenberry of the University of Illinois, later remarks, “It was unusual, here you had a person trained in the law chairing a board on school reform.” [65]
In 1995, Obama’s political career starts with a fundraiser at the home of Ayers and his wife Bernadine Dohrn [60,66]. Ayers and Dohrn are former 1960s radicals and former Weather Underground militants, who disappeared in 1970 after their bomb, designed to kill army officers in New Jersey, accidentally destroys a Greenwich Village townhouse; they eventually turn themselves in to authorities in 1980; but because of improper FBI surveillance Ayers and Dohrn are never prosecuted for their involvement in 25 bombings; [67,71]
Ayers and Dohrn (who has met with communists in Cuba and Viet Cong representatives in Budapest) [68,69] are alleged to have been occasional baby-sitters for the Obama children. [70,71] Obama falsely claims that this 1995 fundraiser is the first time he met William Ayers. [259]
The North Vietnamese have presented both Ayers and Dohrn with rings made with metal from an American plane shot down in North Viet Nam. [69]
An interesting side note: Ayers and Dohrn are the adoptive parents of Chesa Boudin, whose parents, David Gilbert and Kathy Boudin, are serving three consecutive 25 year prison terms for felony murder, having killed three Brinks guards in a 1981 robbery to get cash to fund their Weather Underground, SDS, Black Liberation Army, and Black Panther Party activities. Chesa Boudin was named a Rhodes Scholar, through the help of Dennis Hutchinson, a professor at the University of Chicago, where Ayers and Obama taught. [205]
In October of 1995, Obama attends the male-only “Million Man March,” organized by Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan. [284,286]
Obama successfully seeks the endorsement of the “New Party” (NP), a Marxist third party in Chicago, for his 1996 state senate run. The endorsement of the New Party requires that the candidate “…sign a contract with the NP. The contract mandates that they must have a visible and active relationship with the NP.” Obama receives the endorsement with an in-person appearance with the NP; it is not an unsolicited endorsement. After his victory in the election, the NP states that “Barack Obama, victor in the 13th State Senate District, encouraged NPers to join in his task forces on Voter Education and Voter Registration.” [72,243,253]
Obama also receives the support of the Democrat Socialists of America (DSA); Obama was then (and may still be) an associate of the DSA’s Chicago branch. [239] The members of the New Party, the DSA, and ACORN are, to a great extent, interchangeable. [243,253]
The Marxist New Party refers to Obama as one of its own party members in an October, 1996 “Running to Win: The Key Races” announcement, that reads, “Illinois: Three NP-members won Democratic primaries last Spring and face off against Republican opponents on election day: Danny Davis (U.S. House), Barack Obama (State Senate) and Patricia Martin (Cook County Judiciary).” [244]
The “Progressive Populist” magazine runs an editorial that says, “New Party member Barack Obama was uncontested for a State Senate seat from Chicago.” The New Party’s parent organization is the Democrat Socialists of America (DSA). The New Party’s short-term objective is to move the Democrat Party far to the left, helping establish the conditions for an eventual Marxist party. [253]
Obama’s state senate run also receives the support of Dr. Quentin Young, a neighbor of Obama’s and a long-time advocate of a single-payer, national health care system; Young is believed to be a member of the Communist Party of the USA, and had been active in Chicago socialist circles since the 1930s; in 1992 Young received from the Chicago Democratic Socialists its highest honor, the (Eugene) Debs Award; while in the Illinois State Senate, Obama supports Young’s single-payer health care program and introduces several bills in failed attempts to get it established. [73,74]
On November 7, 1995, Obama’s mother dies of ovarian cancer. Involved with his State Senate campaign, Obama is not with her in her final days. [324]
1996-1997
Obama is elected to the Illinois State Senate in 1996; he takes the seat long held by Democrat State Senator Alice Palmer (also an official of the U.S. Peace Council, an affiliate of the World Peace Council, a Soviet front group), who agrees to let Obama run for her state seat only if she loses her bid for U.S. Congress; Palmer loses the Congressional primary, but Obama reneges on the deal and works with lawyers to get Palmer and three other opponents removed from the primary ballot on technicalities, in order to insure his opponent-free victory. On January 2, 1996, a group of Obama operatives descend on the offices of the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners to challenge, one by one, all the signatures on the nominating petitions of all of Obama’s challengers; they do not stop until Obama is the sole name on the ballot. [75,269]
The Congressional seat Alice Palmer had tried to win had been held by disgraced Congressman Mel (“won the Lotto”) Reynolds, who resigned after allegations of sex with an underage campaign volunteer; Alice Palmer lost the primary to Jesse Jackson Jr. [269] (Note: This explains some of the animosity between Obama and Jesse Jackson; had Jackson’s son not entered the Congressional race, Alice Palmer would have won the seat and Obama would not have had to resort to signature challenges to get Palmer off the State Senate ballot. The main animosity, of course, is that Obama may win the Presidency which Jackson failed to win because he was considered too “radical,” when, in fact, Obama is exponentially more radical than Jackson ever was.)
With the Palmer petition signature challenges, Obama follows the practice preached by Davis and Alinsky (and Axelrod): don’t try to beat the opponent, remove them from the playing field entirely. Obama’s reliance on petition challenges runs counter to his self-made image of a reformer and crusader for voter’s rights. (Palmer will campaign for Hillary Clinton in 2008.) [75,329]
Timuel Black, a mutual friend, tries unsuccessfully to mend the rift between Obama and Palmer; Black is a long-time socialist, who associated with communists and Trotskyists in the 1930s, allegedly joined the Communist Party of the USA, was active in the Progressive Party, was president of the local chapter of the allegedly communist Negro American Labor Council, and was frequently involved with the annual Chicago Debs Day Dinners, an awards celebration for Illinois socialists. [74]
Obama’s campaign is alleged to have received financial assistance from the politically-connected Giannoulias family, possibly in exchange for future favors. (Obama will later support and endorse the young, inexperienced Alexi Giannoulias in his run for Illinois State Treasurer.) [281]
In January and February of 1997, renters of several Chicago slum tenements owned by Tony “the fixer” Rezko go without heat for five weeks; Rezko doesn’t come up with the money to turn on the heat, but manages to contribute $1,000 to Obama’s Illinois State Senate political campaign; [76] Obama then seeks state funds for even more Rezko housing developments. (The Syrian-born Rezko can afford to travel widely in the Middle East.) Obama continues to have associations with Rezko and other corrupt housing developers in Chicago; Obama gets state money for them and, in exchange, they contribute to his campaigns. Obama becomes, indirectly, one of the biggest slum-lords in Chicago. [238]
In the Illinois State Senate, Obama introduces Senate Resolution 110, declaring November 1, 1997 “Islamic Community Day.” [347]
In 1997, Obama and Ayers appear together as speakers on several occasions; at the University of Chicago, their topic is, "Should a child ever be called a ‘super predator?’” [71,83] The announcement of their November, 1997 appearance together states, “Ayers will be joined by Sen. Barack Obama, Senior Lecturer in the Law School, who is working to combat legislation that would put more juvenile offenders into the adult system.” [237]
In 1997, Obama endorses William Ayers’ book on juvenile justice, with an article praising it in the Chicago Tribune in which Obama calls the Ayers book a “searing and timely account of the juvenile court system.” Michelle Obama (who at this time is the University of Chicago’s dean of student services and director of the school’s Community Service Center), hosts a panel discussion of the book, in which both Obama and Ayers participate. In 2008, seeking to distance to Obama from Ayers, the campaign claims Obama did not “write a blurb for his book.” [77,84,279,333]
Ayers mentions Obama in his book, where he writes, “Our neighbors include Muhammad Ali, former mayor Eugene Sawyer, poets Gwendolyn Brooks and Elizabeth Alexander, and writer Barack Obama. Minister Louis Farrakhan lives a block from our home and adds, we think, a unique dimension to the idea of 'safe neighborhood watch': the Fruit of Islam, his security force, has an eye on things twenty-four-hours a day." [78,297,333] In April of 2008, when Obama’s relationship with Ayers is brought up in a primary debate, Obama lies, saying he doesn’t know him well and that he is only “a guy who lives in my neighborhood.” [78,279]
1998-1999
In March, 1998, Obama delivers the eulogy at the funeral of Saul Mendelsen, a leader of Chicago’s far left and a socialist “community organizer” and activist. [79]
In October, 1998, Obama writes a letter supporting plans for low-income senior citizen housing. The project’s site, an empty lot owned by the city of Chicago, is sold to Obama’s friend Tony Rezko, and Obama’s former law-firm boss, Mr. Allison Davis, for one dollar. The project, “Cottage View Terrace,” eventually consumes $14.6 million in taxpayer dollars, with a substantial amount going to Rezko and Davis as development fees. Taxpayer funds are later given to Rezko for additional housing projects, despite the fact that some of his prior projects fell into significant disrepair. In 2007 and 2008, Obama says he “never did any favors” for Rezko. Obama’s former boss, Davis, donates more that $400,000 to dozens of political campaigns, including those of Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich and Obama. [80]
In 1998 Obama is re-elected to Illinois State Senate.
In 1998, Obama’s daughter Malia Ann is born.
In 1999, Obama casts the only vote against Illinois Senate Bill 485, which makes felons convicted of sexual abuse crimes serve their full sentences without getting credit for time served in the county jail. [93]
Obama votes against a bill that specifically allows homeowners the right to use a gun in self-defense during a home invasion. The Illinois Governor vetoes the bill; Obama votes to uphold the veto. [315]
Until 2002, Obama serves, with William Ayers, on the board of the Woods Fund, a liberal Chicago non-profit organization. [81] Grants from the fund are given out to Reverend James T. Meeks (a fiery, anti-white and anti-Semitic Chicago preacher, in the style of Obama’s reverend Jeremiah Wright), and Father Michael Pfleger (perhaps best known encouraging his parishioners to buy time from prostitutes as a way of inviting the women to counseling and job training).
The Woods Fund also gives money to ACORN, which registers voters in poor black neighborhoods, to garner additional support for Obama. Arguably, these actions by Obama and ACORN are illegal because, as an allegedly independent, apolitical, tax-exempt, non-profit group, ACORN cannot legally “pimp for Obama” - but that is essentially what it does in registering voters while drumming up support for the candidate who is financing its operations; its tax-exempt status is thus flagrantly violated by ACORN. [227]
2000-2001
In January of 2000, Obama and the controversial Father Michael L. Pfleger are involved in an ACORN demonstration protesting “payday loans.” [284]
In 2000, Obama enters the primary for U.S. Congress. In a television interview he gives during the campaign, he cites as a qualification his experience with the Chicago Annenberg Challenge, the educational reform project on which he worked with William Ayers. (The project ends up wasting over $100 million, without accomplishing any of its stated goals.) [60,204]
To help finance his run for Congress, Obama secures a $20,000 personal loan. [332]
The Chicago scuttlebutt is that Obama’s 2000 campaign for Congress is funded by what some call the “Hyde Park mafia,” a group of University of Chicago leftists, and that there is a master plan to “push him up the political ladder.” [86]
Obama’s tone in the campaign comes off as condescending by many (“I gave up a career with a high-priced law firm to run for public office”), and he loses the primary to opponent Bobby Rush, who defeats him by 30 per cent; Rush describes Obama as an “elitist” who is not “black enough” to serve the district. [87,193] Obama reviews the demographics of his loss and works with Democrat consultant John Corrigan to get the district’s borders re-drawn (“gerrymandered’) to favor his political goals; they establish a new district that is still heavily black, but which also includes liberal North Shore whites who would be more inclined to vote for Obama than Rush (a former member of the radical Black Panthers). [88]
In 2000, Obama campaign volunteer Kenny B. Smith donates $550 to Obama’s Illinois State Senate campaign; in 2001, Obama steers $100,000 in tax dollars to a newly-formed Smith organization to build a gazebo, “parrot sanctuary,” and “walk of fame” in a blighted Chicago neighborhood; by 2008 only the gazebo has been built, the neighborhood is still blighted, and there is no sign of the rest of the $100,000. [89]
In 2001, Obama’s daughter Natasha is born.
While Obama serves on the board of the Woods Fund, it approves (in 2001) a $40,000 grant to the “Arab American Action Network” (AAAN); a second grant, for $35,000, is approved in 2002. President of the AAAN is Mona Khalidi, wife of Rashid Khalidi, a professor Obama met while at Columbia University. Khalidi, a former spokesman for Yassir Arafat, anti-Semite, strong critic of Israel, and supporter of Palestinian terrorism and the PLO, later holds fundraisers for candidate Obama. AAAN calls the founding of Israel a “catastrophe,” supports liberal immigration reform in the United States, and encourages giving drivers licenses to illegal aliens. [85]
Serving on the board of the AAAN is Ali Abunimah, a Palestinian-American, anti-Semite, and long-time friend of Obama. Abunimah refers to Jews as malicious liars, and even suggests they lied about the Holocaust, writing, “if Zionists could lie about their present and ongoing torment of my (Palestinian) people, usurpation of my homeland and arrogation of my rights, and they do it rather obscenely, couldn't they likewise lie, equally obscenely, about the holocaust, an event that took place over half a century ago?" [335]
Other groups receiving money from the Woods Fund include the voter-registration group ACORN [62,82] (which has been highly criticized for thousands of questionable and illegal registrations), [63,64] Bernadine Dohrn’s “Children and Family Justice Center,” and Trinity United Church of Christ (Obama’s church, and home of Reverend Jeremiah “God Damn America” Wright). [82]
After the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Obama writes, in a “blame America” op-ed piece in the Hyde Park Herald, that the essence of the tragedy “derives from the fundamental absence of empathy on the part of the attackers: an inability to imagine, or connect with, the humanity and suffering of others,” that the terrorist attackers “lacked empathy,” and their attitude “…grows out of a climate of poverty and ignorance, helplessness and despair.” [90]
In August of 2001, William Ayers is photographed trampling on the American Flag, for a cover article in the “Chicago Magazine” titled “No Regrets.” [279] (Note: the magazine is very popular in Chicago and is prominently displayed on newsstands throughout the city; Obama would have had a difficult time not seeing the magazine cover.) [279]
In a September 11, 2001 article in the New York Times, William Ayers is quoted as saying, “I don’t regret setting bombs… I feel we didn’t do enough.” At the time Ayers makes that statement, he and Obama are serving together on the Board of the Woods Fund. [279]
At least six of the 19 terrorists involved in the attacks of September 11 are illegally registered to vote in the United States, partly because of ACORN’s activities in spreading “motor voter” laws. [240]
IN 2001, Obama introduces Senate Bill 750, the “Halal Food Act,” which requires the Department of Agriculture to conduct inspections to insure that all food labeled Halal is prepared according to Islamic law. [348]
Obama opposes a bill that defines as a “person” a fully born baby who survives an abortion. [346]
Obama votes “present” on legislation that would require doctors to give medical attention to babies who survive abortions. Obama argues that defining “…a pre-viable fetus" that survived an abortion as a "person" or "child would essentially bar abortions, because the Equal Protection Clause does not allow somebody to kill a child, and if this is a child, then this would be an anti-abortion statute." [346]
2002-2003
Obama is re-elected to Illinois State Senate, with no opponent on the ballot.
In 2002, Obama, as an Illinois legislator, votes against the “Induced Infant Liability Act,” a law meant to protect the lives of babies who “inadvertently” survive attempted abortions and then need medical attention to survive; Obama’s is the sole vote against the bill, and a similar bill later passes unanimously in the United States Senate. This vote is consistent with the Alinsky philosophy (in “Rules for Radicals”) that “…all values are relative in a world of political relativity.” [91,272]
Obama votes against an Illinois bill banning state funding of late term abortions.
Obama is the only Illinois State Senator to vote against a bill that prohibits early release for sexual predators. Obama votes to make a criminal out of a homeowner who used a gun in his own defense in his own home. Obama refuses to vote for a bill in the Illinois State Senate that would increase penalties for drug traffickers. Obama votes against making it a criminal offense for convicts on probation or on bail to have contact with a street gang. Obama votes against a bill that imposes the death penalty to gang members who murder first responders. [346]
In 2001, Obama votes against Illinois House Bill 1812, a law designed to toughen penalties for crimes committed in furtherance of organized gang activities. [92]
In 2002, Ayers and Obama appear together at the University of Illinois for a discussion called, “Intellectuals: Who Needs Them?" [94]
During the course of his Illinois State Senate career, Obama votes “present” at least 130 times, in an effort to avoid being pinned down on issues that might later be used against him by an opponent in a campaign. [95,96]
Obama was the sole “present” vote on a bill to allow victims of sexual crimes to petition judges to seal court records to protect their privacy. The other58 State Senators (Democrats and Republicans alike) voted in favor of the bill. [328]
While a State Senator, Obama votes for a bill that would ban most hunting rifles, shotguns, and target rifles; the bill would also authorize the Illinois State Police to raid homes to forcibly confiscate banned guns. Obama also votes for a bill that would shut down Illinois firearm manufacturing businesses (Springfield Armory, Armalite, Rock River Arms, and Les Baer). Obama votes for a bill prohibiting Illinois citizens from purchasing more than one gun per month. [326]
Obama votes four times during his Illinois State Senate career against legislation that would allow a homeowner to use a firearm in defense of his home and family. To avoid criticism of his anti-gun agenda, Obama enlists an organization known as the “American Hunters and Shooters Association” (AHSA) to distribute literature stating that he is “pro-Second Amendment;” the AHSA supports hunting, but also supports strict gun controls on non-hunters. (The AHSA is known to be a “sham” organization set up solely to endorse leftists who need political cover for their anti-gun leanings.) [326,353]
Democrats take control of the Illinois Senate after the November 2002 election. Essentially non-productive during his previous years in the State Senate, Obama persuades Senate President Emil Jones to “steer bills” his way in 2003 so he can make a name for himself; Democrat colleagues in the Illinois State Senate are critical of Obama’s legislative tactics in getting credit for bills he had virtually nothing to do with; State Senator Ricky Hendon says, “No one wants to carry the ball 99 yards all the way to the one-yard line, and then give it to the half-back who gets all the credit and the stats in the record book.” (Hendon is the original sponsor of racial profiling and videotaped confession legislation; Jones takes it away from Hendon to give to Obama so Obama can put his name on it as his.) Once in the U.S. Senate, Obama repays Jones with tens of millions of dollars in federal spending for his district, which Jones glibly refers to as “steak” rather than “pork.” [98,99,239,292]
With a slew of Jones-fed legislation now under his belt and “substance” for him to run on, Obama starts working on his plans to enter the 2004 U.S. Senate race; aiding him is longtime Chicago political pro David Axelrod.
In 2003, Tony Rezko arranges a fundraiser for Obama’s 2004 Senate campaign. [245]
The Illinois State Archives never receives any request from Obama to archive any records in his possession, suggesting it was his intention to keep details of his work - or he didn’t do much work. [346]
During Obama’s seven year Illinois State Senate career he works, on average, less than two days per week, has virtually no accomplishments during his first six years, and then gets 26 bills passed in his final year – with the help of Senate President Emil Jones, who has Obama’s name placed on bills that others wrote. [346]
2004
Obama, in 2004, illegally uses state funds for a political mailing. [97]
Obama pushes legislation (Senate Bill 1332) to reduce the number of members of the Health Facilities Planning Board from 15 to 9, and (with the help of Tony Rezko, Stuart Levine, and Governor Rod Blogojevich) gets three of his campaign contributors appointed to the Board. One of the doctors on the Board, Robert Weinstein, is later convicted, along with Stuart Levine, of embezzling millions from charities and a medical school. FBI agents record Rezko telling Levine that he influences the Board. Michael Malek, one of the people appointed to the board, donates $10,000 to Obama on June 3, 2003, and $25,000 to Governor Rod Blagojevich in July 25, 2003; appointee Fortunee Massuda gives the governor $25,000, and $2,000 to Obama; Dr. Imad Almanaseer gives $3,000 to Obama. [207,209,346]
In 2004 Obama enters the Democrat primary for U.S. Senate; there are 15 candidates, Obama’s most formidable is wealthy executive Blair Hull; Obama’s campaign manager is David Axelrod, a long-time political pro in Chicago; Hull leads in the polls, but four weeks before the primary, Axelrod leaks to the Chicago Tribune information that Hull’s divorce documents reveal a request for an “order of protection” from Hull’s wife; a wife-beating assumption (true or not) sinks Hull, and Obama wins the primary handily with the help of Chicago’s large black population. [100]
By 2004, Obama and ACORN are “old friends.” Over the years Obama receives campaign support and voter registration help from ACORN; in exchange, Obama helps obtain funding for ACORN via the Woods Fund, Joyce Foundation, and the legislature, and attempts to introduce “ACORN-friendly” legislation (like massive minimum wage increases, preventing the construction of new Wal-Mart stores, forcing banks to lend more to poor people and donate to voter turn-out drives, rolling back welfare reform, and forcing businesses that flee the city of Chicago to pay “exit fees”). [243]
While serving as director of the Joyce Foundation board, Obama gave millions of dollars to gun control organizations like the Council Against Handguns and the Violence Policy Center. [346]
The Chicago Communist Party endorses Obama for the U.S. Senate; he receives volunteer support from the Young Communist League. [101]
In April of 2004, Iraqi-born billionaire Nadhmi Auchi attends a dinner party held in his honor at the home of Tony Rezko. In 2005, Auchi lends Rezko $3.5 million, three few weeks before Rezko’s wife pays full price ($625,000) for an empty lot adjacent to a $1.95 million mansion Obama buys on the same day – at a $300,000 discount, for $1.65 million. [296]
In June of 2004, leftist billionaire George Soros (who bankrolls the radical web site moveon.org) hosts a fundraiser in New York for Obama’s Senate campaign; Soros chips in $60,000; the total “take” for the evening is unknown. [239]
On July 27, 2004, Obama gives the keynote address at the Democrat National Convention which nominates John Kerry for President.
On July 28, 2004, Obama tells in Boston that the United States has an "absolute obligation" to remain in Iraq long enough to make it a success. "The failure of the Iraqi state would be a disaster," he then says at a Christian Science Monitor luncheon. "It would dishonor the 900-plus men and women who have already died. It would be a betrayal of the promise that we made to the Iraqi people, and it would be hugely destabilizing from a national security perspective." [346] Needless to say, Obama later changed his tune.
Obama’s Republican opponent in the fall campaign for the U.S. Senate is Jack Ryan, a handsome, articulate, and wealthy investment broker with three Ivy League degrees. The press works to get Ryan’s sealed divorce documents unsealed (his ex-wife is actress Jeri Lynn Ryan), and an embarrassed Ryan withdraws from the race. The Republicans field a last-minute replacement, Alan Keyes, a black, anti-abortion, fiery speaker who is ridiculed by the press and never taken seriously. (The ultra-conservative Keyes does not help his case saying things like “Jesus Christ himself would not vote for Barack Obama.”) Obama wins easily. [102,103,359]
In 2004, the “Code Pink” anti-war group delivers $600,000 in cash and supplies to Iraq – not to American soldiers, but to the terrorists who are fighting them in Fallujah. Jodie Evans, co-founder of Code Pink, later donates $2,300 to the Obama Presidential campaign. Evans said in a June, 2008 interview that Osama bin Laden had a “valid argument” for the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 [104,355]
In 2004, Iraqi billionaire Nadhmi Auchi (who lives in London) flies to Chicago in a private jet and meets at the Four Season Hotel with Tony Rezko, Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, and Obama. At this point, both Blagojevich and Obama are aware that Rezko is already under investigation for illegal activities involving kickbacks for political favors. [249]
In November of 2004, before he is even sworn in as a United States Senator, Obama has “toe in the water” conversations with close associates about his running for President in 2008. [210] Publicly, however, Obama says “I can unequivocally say I will not be running for national office in four years, and my entire focus is making sure that I’m the best possible senator on behalf of the people of Illinois.” [239]
2005
After Obama is elected to the U.S. Senate, he tells reporters who ask if he will run for President that is “a silly question." He continued, “I’ve never worked in Washington. I can unequivocally say I will not be running for national office in four years, and my entire focus is making sure that I’m the best possible senator on behalf of the people of Illinois." [351]
In early 2005, the mass media adopts its long-term “suck up to and cover up for Obama” posture, with Time Magazine naming Obama one of “The World’s Most Influential People.” (MSNBC’s Chris Matthews will later say of Obama, “He seems to have the answers. This is the New Testament." A starry-eyed Oprah Winfrey will gush that Obama's "tongue (is) dipped in the unvarnished truth,” and author Deepak Chopra will predict that an Obama Presidency will "represent a quantum leap in American consciousness.”) [239,351,358]
Obama buys more than $50,000 stock in two companies whose major investors include his biggest political donors. One of the companies is developing a drug to treat avian flu. Two weeks after buying shares in the company, Obama pushes for federal spending to battle the disease; the fear of the diseases is hyped way out of proportion by the media, with incessant scare stories not backed up by facts. Obama also buys stock in a satellite communications business backed by four friends and donors who had raised $150,000 for him. [351]
In June, 2005, Obama purchases a mansion in Chicago’s Hyde Park neighborhood, for $1.65 million ($300,000 less than the asking price), with the help of friend, fundraiser, and political “fixer” Tony Rezko; Rezko’s wife, who earns $37,000 per year, purchases the empty lot adjacent to the Obama house for the full price of $625,000, with a down payment of $125,000. Obama’s 5.625 per cent mortgage is for $1.32 million, through the Northern Trust Bank. At the time of the purchase, it is already widely known that Rezko is under investigation; Obama deals with him anyway. Three weeks before the purchase, $3.5 million is loaned to Rezko by Nadhmi Auchi, a wealthy Iraqi who lives in England. (Rezko is convicted in 2008 of receiving kickbacks for political favors.) Mrs. Rezko then sells a 10-foot strip of the empty lot to Obama, for $104,500. (The transaction leaves Rezko with an unusable empty lot with no street access.) Rezko later asks Obama to help Auchi obtain a visa to travel in the United States in 2005; the State Department refuses – partly because Auchi, a member of Saddam Hussein’s Baath Party and former high-ranking official in his oil Ministry, had been found guilty of corruption charges in France. [105,106,249,329]
Living within a few blocks of Obama’s mansion are Louis Farrakhan, William Ayers, and Toni Preckwinkle. Preckwinkle in Chicago’s 4th Ward Alderwoman [329]
The Syrian-born Rezko’s money ties to Iraq may go back decades, and to Saddam Hussein. Nadhmi Auchi, who is apparently Rezko’s main money man, dealt with Hussein as early as 1959 and in a failed assassination attempt on Prime Minister Abdul Karim Qasim. [249]
In May of 2005, a Panamanian company, Fintrade Services, lends money to Obama fundraiser Rezko. On Fintrade’s board of directors is Ibtisam Auchi, wife of Nadhmi Auchi. [249,351]
One of Auchi’s companies helps finance a power plant in Iraq, working with Rezko and Aiham Alsamarrae; Alsamarrae is a Chicago resident with dual (U.S. and Iraqi) citizenship, and is accused of graft with Iraqi construction projects; Alsamarrae is imprisoned for four months in Iraq in a $2 billion corruption case. Obama is thus a critic of the War in Iraq at the same time he is receiving political favors and contributions from Rezko, who is, in turn, dealing with Iraqis and kickback schemes. [249]
In April of 2005, while Alsammarae is Iraq’s Minister of Electricity, a $50 million contract is negotiated with “Companion Security” to train Iraqi security guards in Illinois; Companion Security is run by Daniel T. Frawley and a partnership between Tony Rezko and Daniel Mehru. [249]
In 2005, Virginia officials reject 83 per cent of ACORN’s Project Vote new voter registrations as fraudulent. [204]
Obama votes against the Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act, which would prevent minors from being taken across state lines without the consent of the parents in order to have an abortion. [108]
In 2005, Obama votes for an energy bill that includes billions of dollars in subsidies for oil and natural gas production. [109]
During 2004 and 2005, the FBI takes note of repeated visits by Obama and Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich to the offices of Rezmar Corporation, a joint business venture of Daniel Mahru and Tony Rezko. The purpose of the visits is unclear. [207]
Suggesting he cares less about the letter of the law and more about the status of the litigants, Obama argues against the nomination of Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, saying that the role of the justice is to favor the weak over the strong; “I hope he will recognize who the weak are and who the strong are in our society.” [344]
2006
Obama’s second book, “The Audacity of Hope,” is published. The book’s title is inspired by Obama’s controversial pastor, Reverend “Jeremiah “God Damn America” Wright. [137]
Obama pushes for a $1 million earmark for the University of Chicago Hospitals; his wife, Michelle Obama, is promoted to “Vice President of Community and External Affairs” for the hospitals; her salary jumps from $121,900 to $316,962; her main responsibilities, in promoting an “Urban Health Initiative,” are to encourage the poor, uninsured to go to neighborhood clinics rather than diminish hospital profits by using the hospital emergency rooms; assisting her with the public relations nightmare is David Axelrod. [110,111,112]
The Board of Trustees of Chicago’s Adler Planetarium raises $250,000 for Obama’s Presidential campaign; Obama then obtains a $3 million earmark for the planetarium; $300,000 had been sought by the Trustees to upgrade a projector system. [113]
In April of 2006, Companion Security (run by Frawley, Rezko, and Mehru) works with Governor Rod Blagojevich to lease an Illinois military facility for training Iraqi security guards. In August of 2006, Frawley works with Obama’s Senate staff to complete the deal. [249]
Obama is Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Europe, but never convenes the committee for a meeting. [114]
On May 5, 2006, John McCain and 19 other Republican Senators send a letter to the Senate Majority Leader urging the passage of Senate Bill S190, which is intended to rein in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (and could possibly have reduced the likelihood of the economic crisis in 2008). Obama does not sign the letter of support. The bill is not approved. When McCain introduces it again in 2007, it is blocked by Senator Chris Dodd, Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, and his fellow Democrats, and the bill never makes it to the Senate floor for a vote. [278]
McCain's letter -- signed by nineteen other senators -- said that it was "...vitally important that Congress take the necessary steps to ensure that [Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac]...operate in a safe and sound manner. More importantly, Congress must ensure that the American taxpayer is protected in the event that either...should fail."
In the summer of 2006, homes in Obama’s Chicago neighborhood are reassessed for property tax purposes. Houses surrounding Obama’s are reassessed for, on average, 28 per cent more. Obama’s house is assessed at six per cent more, saving him a considerable amount in property taxes. [329]
The federal government, in 2006, shuts down an Islamic charity called “KindHearts” because of its fund-raising for terrorist groups, including Hamas; the chairman of the organization, Hatem El-Hady, then directs his fund-raising efforts to Obama’s election. [115]
Obama proposes legislation prohibiting gun stores from operating within five miles of a school or a park; inasmuch as most communities have schools and parks scattered widely throughout their areas, the legislation would effectively ban gun stores. [339]
Obama visits Kenya in 2006, and gives support to Raila Odinga, a Muslim socialist candidate for President who has ties to both al Qaeda and Libya’s Muammar Qaddafi, and who hopes to get Sharia Muslim law established. (Odinga is a cousin of Obama; Odinga’s mother is the sister of Obama’s father; one source of that relationship allegation has been deleted from the web site, www.bbc.co.uk.) [294,329]
During his 2006 Kenya visit, Obama makes a speech to university students in Nairobi, in which he criticizes the existing pro-American Kenyan government, rallies the students against it, and talks of the need for change. This action is seen as an endorsement by Obama of Odinga, the Kenyan President’s opponent. By making his speech, supporting Odinga, and standing beside Odinga at rallies, Obama violates the stated conditions of his Official Government Visa (“to nurture relations between the (African) Continent and the United States”). The Kenyan government lodges an official protest of Obama’s passport abuse and misconduct. Obama’s actions are denounced by the U.S. State Department as being in direct opposition to U. S. National Security. After Odinga loses the election in December of 2007, his followers burn women and children alive - in a Christian church where they had sought refuge. Over 1,500 people are ultimately killed in riots, and Odinga is ultimately given the position of Prime Minister to placate his radical supporters and stop further bloodshed. [126,127,207,208,271,293,313,329]
In support of Odinga, Obama raises approximately $950,000. The cash for Odinga comes from private meetings in 2006 arranged for Odinga by Mark Lippert, a foreign policy advisor on Obama’s staff. Odinga visits Obama during three separate trips to Washington in 2004, 2005, and 2006. Odinga promises his supporters in Kenya that he will “rewrite the Constitution of Kenya to recognize Shariah as the only true law sanctioned by the Holy Quran for Muslim declared religion.” [313]
In early 2006, Lippert had been sent by Obama to Kenya, at taxpayer expense, on a “fact-finding” mission, and to do advance work for Obama’s later visit.
In a December 22, 2006 e-mail, Obama personally informs Odinga that "all our correspondence [should be] handled by Mr. Mark Lippert,” and using Lippert as their common contact would be for his (Obama’s) “…own security now and in future." [313] These actions by Obama and Lippert may have been in violation of the Logan Act.
Note the following pledges of candidate Odinga, who received support from Obama: Re-write the Constitution of Kenya to recognize Muslim Sharia law for Muslim regions; facilitate the establishment of a Sharia court in every Kenyan divisional headquarters; order every primary school to conduct daily Madrassa classes; impose a total ban on open-air Christian gospel crusades; outlaw gospel programs on KBC; impose a total ban on the consumption of alcoholic beverages; and impose an immediate ban on women’s public dressing styles that are considered immoral and offensive to the Muslim faith. [329]
Alexi Giannoulias runs for Illinois State Treasurer in 2006 and receives a strong endorsement from Obama, who states Giannoulias is “…one of the most outstanding young men I could ever hope to meet” - despite the candidate’s youth (he is 29), total lack of experience, mob connections, and his family bank’s (Broadway Bank) financing of a Chicago crime figure; one year later Giannoulias raises $100,000 for Obama’s Presidential campaign. Giannoulias is elected, but very likely would not have won without Obama’s endorsement. Ten years earlier, the Giannoulias family had been rumored to have helped Obama with campaign financing, and also provided an alleged “sweetheart deal” mortgage for his Chicago townhouse (which he owned before Tony Rezko helped him buy his Hyde Park mansion). [116,117,281]
Giannoulias is the money-man for Michael “Jaws” Giorango, a Chicago thug with convictions for bookmaking and promoting prostitution. Giannoulias is so tainted by mob connections that the powerful Illinois Speaker of the House and State Democrat Party Chairman Michael Madigan refused to endorse Giannoulias for State Treasurer; the Democrat Party does not endorse Democrat Giannoulias in the November election; Obama endorses him anyway. Obama uses Giannoulias’ Broadway Bank for his personal business and his Senate campaign fund. [318,319]
Obama campaigns in Vermont for socialist Senator Bernie Sanders; Sanders calls rookie Senator Obama “one of the great leaders of the United States Senate;” by the 2008 Presidential election, Obama’s voting record is more to the left than that of socialist Sanders. [118]
Illinois’ Cook County Board President John Stroger becomes ill during the 2006 primary election campaign; Chicago Democrats keep his illness a secret until the deadline for candidate filings passes, and then manage to place the name of his son, Todd Stroger, on the ballot. Despite his total lack of experience and history as a corrupt, machine-style ward boss, Obama supports the young Stroger, calling him a “good, progressive Democrat.” More qualified Democrats are outraged, especially those who support reform of the corrupt and deficit-spending Cook County Board. As predicted by many, Stroger proves to be a disaster. [119]
In an article in the Jakarta Post of November 29, 2006, Julia Suryakusuma, a long-time friend of Obama’s mother and an outspoken feminist writer, states that Obama could run for President of Indonesia; it is assumed she means that Obama retains his Indonesian citizenship; because Indonesia does not allow dual citizenship, Obama cannot be an American citizen if he has not renounced his Indonesian citizenship. [120]
2007
In early 2007, Obama announces his candidacy for U. S. President; Obama’s main campaign strategist is David Axelrod (the “Karl Rove” of the Obama campaign). Two weeks before he launches his Presidential campaign, Obama pays $375-$400 for two decades worth of parking tickets received wile at Harvard Law School. (He manages to avoid the late fees and penalties a “normal” person would be charged.) [121,353,356]
Arguably (and putting his tremendous ego aside), Obama may have decided to run for President, rather than attempting first to be the Vice-President of the more likely candidate, Hillary Clinton, partly because he knows he would never make it through the VP vetting process.
At the time of his candidacy announcement, Obama had actually been present for work in the Senate a total of 143 days. Obama’s announcement includes this statement, “I know that I haven’t spent a lot of time learning the ways of Washington. But I’ve been there long enough to know that the ways of Washington must change." [349,351,353]
On January 24, the “Obama Exploratory Committee” releases this statement, “To be clear, Senator Obama has never been a Muslim, was not raised a Muslim, and is a committed Christian who attends the (Trinity) United Church of Christ in Chicago.” On March 14, that statement is clarified, as follows: "Obama was never a practicing Muslim." Obama’s web site eventually includes this: "Obama Has Never Been A Muslim." [353]
New York Times reporter Nicholas Kristof interviews Obama and writes, “Mr. Obama recalled the opening lines of the Arabic call to prayer, reciting them with a first-rate accent. In a remark that seemed delightfully uncalculated... Mr. Obama described the Muslim call to prayer as ‘one of the prettiest sounds on Earth at sunset.’” The interview has since been deleted from the New York Times web pages. (Interestingly, although Obama says he was never a Muslim and never practiced the religion, he is able to recite from memory something he learned in a school in Indonesia more than 30 years previously.) [122,353]
Robert Wolf, CEO of the American branch of the Swiss banking giant USB, collects more than $370,000 in campaign contributions for Obama; USB lies to the government and conceals the identities of over 19,000 clients in order to help them avoid paying U. S. income taxes. [123]
In 2007, the Obama campaign receives $32,000 from companies affiliated with Robert Blackwell. While an Illinois State Senator, Obama received $112,000 from Blackwell in monthly $8,000 retainers, funneled through the law firm where he had previously worked. Obama persuaded the Illinois legislature to award $320,000 in state grants to Blackwell’s company, “Killerspin.” (Killerspin is a company that promotes table tennis (“ping pong”) and sells equipment and apparel and promotes tournaments.) [207]
Note that the University of Chicago Medical Center, with Michelle Obama’s encouragement, had granted a $650,000 contract to a local contractor for upgrading the center’s intranet; that contractor was (Robert) Blackwell Consulting. [352]
In July, 2007, Obama says he would meet, without pre-conditions, the leaders of Iran, Syria, North Korea, Cuba, and Venezuela. [353]
On July 25, Obama tells media big-wigs and corporate CEOs in a meeting at the Time-Warner Center in Manhattan, “One thing I'm very confident about is my judgment in foreign policy is, I believe, better than any other candidate in this race, Republican or Democrat.” [353]
To raise money for her husband’s campaign, Obama’s wife charges $500 to have a photo taken with her. [124]
Obama gets Marshall Ganz to help train organizers and volunteers for his presidential campaign; employees and volunteers go through several days of intense training session, called “Camp Obama.” The sessions are led by Ganz and Mike Kruglik (one of Obama’s past fellow “community organizers”). Ganz, Krugli, and Obama all have long associations with ACORN and Alinsky-style activism and agitation methods. [284,287]
Five ACORN employees are convicted in Washington State in “the worst case of election fraud” in the state’s history. [240]
In 2007, Obama works to stop Hans von Spakovsky, an official in the Justice Department, from being named to the Federal Election Commission, because von Spakovsky had supported a Georgia photo I.D. law. Like his ACORN supporters, Obama opposes voter I.D. laws. ACORN also opposes welfare reform and the strengthening of U.S. border security. [255]
In an April, 2007 speech, Obama, paraphrasing a line from Saul Alinsky’s book, “Rules for Radicals,” says “We don't care about the world as it is, we imagine the world as it might be.” [353]
In April, 2007, Obama endorses the idea of “comparable worth pay” by supporting a bill by Iowa Senator Tom Harkin. Under a “comparable worth” scheme, the federal government would define the value of every job in the United States, and then force employers to follow those rules. (A kindergarten teacher, for example, might be considered “worth” 82.7 per cent of a truck driver, while a truck driver might be considered to be “worth” 34.6 per cent of an electrical engineer. (The alleged “logic” of the plan is that it would eliminate “wage discrimination.” In practice, it would lead to substantially increased costs for all businesses, and introduce lawsuits into every aspect of wages and salary determinations.) [354]
In April, 2007, chief campaign strategist David Axelrod meets with Obama in Obama’s Senate office; Congressional ethics rules prohibit such use of federal office space for political and campaign activity. [356]
On April 30, 2007, in an interview with the New York Times, Obama’s half-sister, Maya Soetoro-Ng, says, “My whole family was Muslim, and most of the people I knew were Muslim.” [353]
On May 8, Obama criticizes U.S. automakers for not making more hybrid vehicles, like those manufactured by Honda and Toyota; Obama drives a Chrysler 300C with a large V-8 engine. [353]
On May 24, 2007, Obama votes to cut off all funding of military efforts in Afghanistan; on the campaign trail Obama says more American troops need to be shifted from Iraq to Afghanistan. [125]
Despite a long history of corruption in the Teamsters Union, Obama tells the union he will end its federal oversight if he is elected. Obama receives substantial campaign donations from the Teamsters Union. [128] Obama also promises to support legislation allowing unions to avoid secret ballots in organizing campaigns. [256]
On July 18, 2007, ABC News reports that Obama told Planned Parenthood that sex education for kindergartners is “the right thing to do.” [337]
In a Colorado campaign appearance, in a proposal worthy of Hugo Chavez or Fidel Castro, Obama announces plans for a “civilian national security force.” After a flurry of inquiries about Obama’s intentions with his “security force,” the proposal is dropped from his speeches and all references to it are deleted from the campaign’s official web site. [129,276]
Obama tells friend Ali Abunimah, a Palestinian rights activist in Chicago, that he was sorry he wasn’t talking more about the Palestinian cause, but his primary campaign had “constrained” what he could say. Abunimah tells radio talk show “Democracy Now!” he knew Obama for many years and “when he used to attend events in the Palestinian community in Chicago all the time.” Abunimah responds to Obama’s sudden about-face and soft support of Israel during the campaign by remarking, "He is merely doing what he thinks is necessary to get elected and he will continue doing it as long as it keeps him in power." 130,223,335]
Obama receives support from Zbigniew Bzrezinski (Obama’s Chief Foreign policy Advisor and Carter Administration re-tread), Robert O. Malley, Samantha Power (senior foreign policy advisor), General Merrill A. McPeak (senior military advisor, who believes the U.S. drive Iran to hate Israel and America), Joseph Cirincione (Obama’s advisor on nuclear threats, who denies the known fact that North Korea assisted Syria in the development of a plutonium plant), and Daniel Kurtzer (Middle East advisor) – all known for their anti-Israel views. [356]
Also advising Obama are Richard Clark (foreign policy advisor), who has said that if he is captured, Osama bin Laden should be allowed to appeal his case in U.S. courts, Wesley Clark (who commanded the military forces at the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas, in which 76 people – including 21 children – were killed), Richard Danzig (national security advisor, who said the U.S. war on terrorism should follow a lesson from the pages of Winnie the Pooh), Sam Grahan-Felsen (Obama’s official “blogger,” who has written a socialist magazine), Austan Goolsbee (chief economic advisor who, in 2007, wrote a defense of sub-prime mortgage loans), Penny Pritzker (financial chairperson, and former head of Chicago’s Superior Bank, which failed because many of its assets were invested in sub-prime mortgages, resulting in $360 million in penalties), and Susan Rice (senior foreign policy advisor who, as assistant secretary of state under Bill Clinton, and with Richard Clark, persuaded Clinton not to accept Sudan’s offer to hand over Osama bin Laden to the U.S.). [356,360]
Obama ousts his campaign’s Muslim outreach director, Chicago lawyer Mazen Asbahi, when questions about his ties to a radical Muslim imam and the Muslim Brotherhood surface. [131]
On September 17, at a gathering in Indianola, Iowa, Obama is photographed holding his hands together below his waist, while primary opponents Bill Richardson and Hillary Clinton respectfully hold their right hand over their heart during the playing of the National Anthem. [353]
In September, Obama agrees to use public financing for his campaign; he breaks that promise. [353]
In October of 2007, Obama co-sponsors legislation, the “Helping Families Save their Homes in Bankruptcy Act of 2007,” which makes it easier for homeowners to protect themselves from losing their homes; the bill is written to also intentionally shield ACORN and other “middleman” groups from being charged for violations of the “Truth in Lending Act” in connection with obtaining mortgages for clients. [310]
The New York Times, on October 30, 2007, reports that “Obama has declined repeated requests to talk about his New York years, release his Columbia transcript or identify even a single fellow student, co-worker, roommate or friend from those years…”
Obama promises Planned Parenthood the first piece of legislation he will sign if elected will be the “Freedom of Choice Act,” which would overturn all state pro-life laws, including prohibitions against partial-birth abortions and parental notification requirements for minors seeking abortions. [132,133]
On November 1, Obama says, “We’ve got to make sure that people who have more money help the people who have less money.” [353]
In a November, 2007 speech to ACORN members, Obama brags that when he “…ran the Project Vote voter registration drive in Illinois, ACORN was smack dab in the middle of it.” When, in 2008, critics connect Obama to ACORN and Project Vote, Obama disavows having working for or with the groups. [283]
Obama avoids voting on a November, 2007 resolution that declares the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, an elite part of the Iranian military, a terrorist organization. [351]
On December 1, 2007, Obama speaks to the “Heartland Democratic Presidential Forum,” at a gathering held exclusively for community organizers and members of the Gamaliel Foundation and ACORN; Obama tells the group that even before he is sworn in as President, “During the transition (period) we’re gonna be calling all of you in to help us shape the agenda,” and assures them that they will be actively involved in the first 100 days of his administration. [280]
In December of 2007, Donald Young, the gay choir director of Obama’s church is murdered, gangland style; the choir director “knew more,” according to a man named Larry Sinclair, who says he once shared drugs and homosexual “activities” with Barack Obama in the back of a Chicago cab. (It should be noted that Sinclair has a long arrest record, and has committed crimes involving fraud and deceit. Sinclair’s accusations may be true, or may be for the sole purpose of receiving donations from visitors to his web site; the media has chosen not to interview the cab driver, Paramjit Singh Multani.) [134,135,136]
During the Christmas service at Trinity United Church of Christ, Obama’s pastor, Reverend Jeremiah Wright says, “Barack knows what it means to be a black man living in a country and a process that is controlled by rich white men. Hillary can never know that, Hillary ain't ever been called a nigger!” (Yes, he said that during a Christmas service.) Obama contends he never heard such remarks from Wright, or he would have condemned them. Apparently the allegedly church-going Obama (who was in Chicago at Christmas in 2007) failed to catch that part of Wright’s sermon. [357]
2008
Obama is one of the Illinois politicians cited in the indictment of his long-time friend and fund-raiser, Tony Rezko, for having received political contributions from Rezko’s kickback funds. Obama allegedly returns between $85,000 and $250,000 in political contributions received from Rezko. [138,139,207]
In 2008, ACORN feverishly registers new Democrat voters in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Florida, and other states to boost Obama’s chances of winning the primaries and the general election. In Cuyahoga County, Ohio alone, ACORN registers more than 75,000 new voters; fraud is certainly involved, inasmuch as the voter rolls in that county already exceed the number of adult residents living there by 200,000. [54] ACORN’s Project Vote activity has a tax-exempt status under Section 501(c)(3) of the IRS code, which prohibits its involvement in partisan political activity; it’s workers consistently violate those laws when they pass out Obama literature and advocate his candidacy as they register new voters. [240]
During 2007 and 2008, Obama requests $860 million in “earmarks” (according to Taxpayers for Common sense); they include $1 million for his wife Michelle’s employer, $62 million for the “Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy,” $8 million for “Human Genome Expression,” $4.8 million for a “Light Emitting Diode Healing Program,” $2 million for a “Soybean Disease Biotechnology Center,” and money for projects linked to campaign donors. [140]
In January of 2008, Obama confirms that he supports drivers licenses for illegal immigrants (which his campaign refers to as “undocumented people”) and will take up immigration reform during his first year in office. [341]
In January, Obama tells “American Morning” host John Roberts that high taxes are in the best interest of the American economy. [ 53]
In January of 2008, Michelle Obama says, “…sometimes it's easier to hold on to your own stereotypes and misconceptions. It makes you feel justified in your own ignorance. That's America.” [352]
On January 30, 2008, Obama reiterates his support for drivers licenses for illegal immigrants. [353]
In February of 2008, the Obama campaign releases copies of his wife Michelle’s Princeton thesis on racial divisions (it had originally planned on keeping it secret until after the election). In the introduction to the thesis, Mrs. Obama writes, "It is possible that Black individuals either chose to or felt pressured to come together… because of the belief that Blacks must join in solidarity to combat a White oppressor." The thesis also includes this statement, "By actually working with the Black lower class or within their communities as a result of their ideologies, a separationist may better understand the desparation (sic) of their situation and feel more hopeless about a resolution as opposed to an integrationist who is ignorant to (sic) their plight." Critics who have read the thesis say it is the most sophomoric, non-scholarly piece of drivel ever, and claim it exposes a lack of academic rigor at Princeton. [352]
In February of 2008, Michelle Obama remarks at a rally in Milwaukee, “…for the first time in my adult life, I am proud of my country.” The comment draws severe criticism and allegations that she is at least unappreciative of the wealth she has been able to accumulate, if not anti-American. [352]
On February 29, February 29th, Michelle Obama visits a daycare center in Zanesville, Ohio, where she complains about how difficult it is to survive financially in America, because she has to spend, for example, $10,000, on "piano and dance and sports supplements" and "summer programs and so on and so forth," for her daughters. [352]
In February, a photo is released that show a Cuban flag adorned with the picture of communist murdered Che Guevara hanging on the wall of Obama’s Houston campaign office. [353]
In February, Obama denies that a member of his staff told the Canadian government he does not mean what he says publicly about opting out of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The Canadian government confirms that the statement was made. [353]
Obama names Penny Pritzker his national finance chairman; Pritzker is the former chairman of the board of the Superior Bank S&L, which went under because of irresponsible subprime mortgage lending in the 1990s. [353]
Obama defends his association with William Ayers and Bernadine Dohrn with the statement, “The notion that…me knowing somebody who engaged in detestable acts 40 years ago… somehow reflects on me and my values doesn’t make much sense.” [141] Dohrn once publicly praised Charles Manson and his followers for killing actress Sharon Tate. Dohrn’s words were, “Dig it. First they killed those pigs, then they ate dinner in the same room with them. They even shoved a fork into a victim’s stomach! Wild!” [142] In 2007, Ayers describes the United States as an “…incipient fascist country,” and talks about overthrowing capitalism, [143] while Dohrn, at a reunion of the radical group Students for a Democratic Society, says that “…living in America constitutes living in the belly of the beast” and “the heart of the monster.” [143]
When further criticized for his friendship with William Ayers and Bernadine Dohrn, the Obama campaign issues a lengthy document trivializing their actions as 1960s radicals and defending them as “respectable fixtures of the mainstream in Chicago.” [143] In a September 11, 2001 New York Times interview, Ayers says of the bombings history, “I don't regret setting bombs; I feel we didn't do enough.” [144] In a memoir published by Ayers after 9/11, he wrote that America is “not a just and fair and decent place… it makes me want to puke.” [144] The cover of Ayers’ book is a photograph of him trampling on an American flag.
“Accountable America,” an organization which supports Obama, sends letters to nearly 10,000 citizens who often contribute to Republican causes, threatening them with potential legal problems if they finance conservative groups. [145,146,338]
Obama supports a Democrat housing bill that provides $200 million to community groups (including ACORN) for homeowner foreclosure counseling; ACORN pledges to spend $35 million in 2008 to register new Democrat voters. [147,148,149]
The audio book version of Obama’s “Dreams From My Father” is released; a line-by-line comparison with the print version shows that the audio version Obama recorded omits a substantial number of references that many white people might call controversial.
When Reverend Jeremiah’s controversial, anti-American sermons are brought up by the media, Obama says he knows nothing about such remarks, and adds, “I wasn’t in church that day.” [239]
Before the Ohio primary in 2008, Obama’s campaign gives ACORN $832,598, allegedly for get-out-the-vote activities; ACORN has a shameful track record of fraudulent and illegal activities. [240]
In March, 2008, Obama says of his controversial pastor, Jeremiah Wright, “I can no more disown him than I can disown the black community.” [150]
On March 3, 2008, in San Antonio, several Chicago reporters question Obama about his connections with Tony Rezko. Obama avoids the questions, saying “These requests, I think, could just go on forever. At some point, what we need to try to do is respond to what's pertinent.” [249]
In March of 2008, Obama’s foreign policy advisor, Samantha Powers, resigns from his campaign after having been caught calling Hillary Clinton a “monster.” [234,235] Powers nevertheless expects a top position in an Obama Administration, despite having publicly discussed the possibility of invading Israel to help create a Palestinian state. [233,236]
On March 18, Obama makes this remarkable comment, “All of the statements that have been the subject of controversy are ones that I vehemently condemn.” (In other words, “If anyone has ever said anything that offended you, then I’m against what he said!”) [353]
In April of 2008, Obama remarks that residents of small-town America, because of lost jobs, “…get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or (become) anti-immigrant.” His comment draws severe criticism from gun-owners and church-goers. [273,315]
On April 10, Obama says he favors repealing Bill Clinton’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” practice for gays serving in the military. [337]
In April of 2008, Michelle Obama addresses a Pennsylvania crowd; the rally is staffed by volunteers from Carnegie Mellon student organizations, including Carnegie Mellon Students for Barack Obama, Student Senate, AB Political Speakers, and College Democrats. Obama’s staffers made a special effort to control the seating of people who would appear on camera behind Mrs. Obama. Witnesses hear one coordinator say to another, “Get me more white people, we need more white people.” [352]
In a debate on April 17, Obama states, “I believe that the Constitution confers an individual right to bear arms. But just because you have an individual right does not mean that the state or local government can't constrain the exercise of that right." (While an Illinois State Senator, Obama voted four times against legislation that would allow citizens to use firearms to defend their homes and families.) [337]
Under political pressure, Obama, in May of 2008, half-heartedly disowns Reverend Jeremiah Wright and (at least temporarily) quits his controversial church. It is not clear if his wife and children still attend the church. [151]
When questioned about attempts by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to introduce legislation that would restrict conservative radio talk show hosts like Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity, Obama’s campaign press secretary, Michael Ortiz, says Obama supports “media-ownership caps, network neutrality” and more “public broadcasting.” [152]
A birth certificate purported to be Obama’s turns out to be that of his younger half-sister, Maya Kassandra Soetoro (1970 - ), which was altered to make it look like the candidate’s. [153,289]
On April 10, Senator Claire McCaskill (D-MO) introduces Senate Resolution S. Res. 511 to “recognize that John Sidney McCain is a natural born citizen.” The resolution is allegedly meant to clarify that McCain is eligible to be President even though he was born in Panama. Because McCain’s parents were both Americans and he was born in Panama because his father was stationed there while in the military, existing law already covers McCain and he is eligible to be President. McCaskill’s resolution thus serves no purpose – except that language is included to try and provide a “blanket cover” for other foreign born candidates without military backgrounds, in order to enable Obama to be eligible to be President. [301,303]
On April 29, Obama states, I still believe in affirmative action as a means of overcoming both historic and potentially current discrimination.” [337]
In a primary debate statement that reveals Obama’s hatred of capitalism, Obama tells ABC’s Charlie Gibson, "I would look at raising the capital-gains tax for purposes of fairness," even though raising that tax would ultimately result in shrinking federal revenues. A higher capital gains tax typically means less tax revenue for the federal government, but Obama would raise it anyway - just to punish people who made money through the capitalist system. [265,295]
In May of 2008, the New York Times reports that Obama quietly dumps his anti-Israel advisor Robert Malley after the media learns he has regular contacts with the Iran-financed terrorist group Hamas.
On May 15, Obama blows off a female reporter, WXYZ’s Peggy Agar, by ignoring her question and calling her “Sweetie.” [353]
In a commencement address at Wesleyan University, Obama advises graduates not to pursue the American dream, but to serve others, saying, “You can take your diploma, walk off this stage and chase only after the big house and the nice suits and all the other things that our money culture says you should. But I hope you don't." In other words, “Do as Obama says, and not as he and his wife did.” [276]
In June, Obama tours a solar power plant in Nevada, where he says that renewable energy “isn’t some pie-in-the-sky, far off future, it is now… providing cheap alternatives to $140 per barrel oil.” That facility powers only 75 homes, and took ten years to build, at a cost of almost $300,000 per home. [154]
On June 4, 2008, Obama says, “I am absolutely certain that generations from now, we will be able to look back and tell our children that this was the moment when we began to provide care for the sick and good jobs to the jobless; this was the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal." [353]
By June of 2008, apparently in support of Obama, Google had sporadically restricted access to at least seven anti-Obama (mostly Hillary Clinton-supporting) web sites. [353]
A writer for “Online Journal,” Wayne Madsen, publishes an article on June 9, 2008 claiming a research team went to Mombassa, Kenya, and located a certificate of the Kenyan birth of Barack Obama, Jr. [248]
Fearing additional publicity of his links to radical socialists, Obama removes all of Mike Klonsky’s blogs from his official campaign web site; [155,201] Klonsky, a political activist and leader of the New Communist Movement, was a 1960s radical in the Students for a Democratic Society, and an avid advocate of Maoism, who formed a pro-Chinese sect called the October League, which then evolved into a Beijing-recognized Communist Party. Klonsky, a disciple of Saul Alinsky, was chairman of the party.
In an interview with the New Republic, Mike Kruglik, one of Obama’s early mentors in the fine art of community agitation, said of Obama, “He was a natural, the undisputed master of agitation, who could engage a room full of recruiting targets in a rapid-fire Socratic dialogue, nudging them to admit that they were not living up to their own standards. As with the panhandler, he could be aggressive and confrontational. With probing, sometimes personal questions, he would pinpoint the source of pain in their lives, tearing down their egos just enough before dangling a carrot of hope that they could make things better.” [239,337] That modus operandi is what Obama follows on the campaign trail: quickly rattle off many things that people believe are wrong with America, get the crowd riled up and angry and feeling hopeless, and then present himself as the one who can save them from their problems – regardless of whether he can.
Obama’s lawyers file a complaint with the Justice Department, in an effort to stop the broadcasting of an “American Leadership Project” campaign ad linking Obama to William Ayers. [157]
According to the State Department, Obama’s federal passport file was improperly viewed at least three times, at least once by someone sympathetic to his campaign. [158]
In June of 2008, Michelle Obama tells a crowd, "The truth is, in order to get things like universal health care and a revamped education system, then someone is going to have to give up a piece of their pie so that someone else can have more. [352]
In July of 2008, a complaint is filed with the Illinois Bar Association alleging that Obama should be disbarred as a result of lying on his bar application. His application conceals his felony drug use (cocaine) in New York, as well as approximately $400 in unpaid parking fines. (The bar application requires listing fines in excess of $200.) [217]
In a July speech, Obama says, “But understand this, instead of worrying whether immigrants should learn English, they’ll learn English, you need to make sure your child can speak Spanish.” [257] It is not known if Obama can speak another language.
Candidate Obama remarks about Hillary Clinton, "I am confident I will get her votes if I'm the nominee. It's not clear she would get the votes I got if she were the nominee." [159]
When discussing “slavery reparations” with a group of “minority journalists,” Obama states, “'I consistently believe that when it comes to . . . reparations, the most important thing for the U.S. government to do is not just offer words, but offer deeds." Several days later, to calm fears of white taxpayers who read his remarks, Obama adds that he’s not calling for direct cash payments to descendents of slaves, but indirect aid through government programs to “close the gap” between white America and black America. The government programs will be “universal” - such as universal health care, mortgage credits, college tuition, job training, and even universal 401(k)s - programs that Obama feels "disproportionately affect people of color." In other words, Obama does not dare propose a program to directly tax whites to give payments to blacks, so he instead offers “universal” programs for everyone, but will design them so that blacks will benefit disproportionately. [275]
Obama continues to oppose school voucher systems, including the extremely successful experimental program in the Washington, D.C. system (where students do better using $7,500 vouchers at private schools than they do at the $13,400 per-student public schools). To gain the endorsement of the American Federation of Teachers (union), Obama tells its members he won’t be swayed by “tired rhetoric about vouchers and school choice.” Obama’s own children attend the private University of Chicago Laboratory Schools, where tuition ranges from $15,528 for kindergarten to $20,445 for high school; in a YouTube debate, Obama says that was “the best option” for his children. [274]
Dr. Alveda King, a niece of Dr. Martin Luther King, remarks that Obama’s “…answer to the ills of society, of higher government spending, weaker national defense, continued tax dollars to Planned Parenthood, and support of gay marriage, are diametrically opposed to everything African Americans truly believe and an anathema to the dream of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.” [160]
Obama defeats Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton in the primaries to become the Democrat candidate for President of the United States. Obama arrives at the Democrat National Convention without having won enough delegates in the primaries to win the nomination, but manages to persuade enough “super delegates” to vote for him to win the nomination; the “persuasion techniques” include DNC Chairman Dean and his surrogates telling delegates they must vote for Obama or he will unseat them by funding primary challengers in their Congressional or local races. [161]
In an appearance at the Saddleback Church, Pastor Rick Warren asks Obama when he believes human life begins. Obama, not wanting to discuss his controversial abortion votes, avoids an answer by responding, “That's above my pay grade.” [315]
Obama’s campaign accuses the McCain campaign of being fed in advance the questions asked Senator McCain by Pastor Rick Warren at the Saddleback Church appearance, and makes sure NBC reporter Andrea Mitchell repeats the unfounded charges on the evening news; Warren categorically denies the charge; no apology to Warren or McCain is issued. [162]
Reverend Leah Daughtry is named by Obama and DNC chair Howard Dean to be the Democrat convention chief; in Daughtry’s home-town “House of the Lord Church” in Brooklyn hangs a banner supporting slavery reparations, which reads, “They Owe Us.” [163]
Eric Holder, who was instrumental in persuading Bill Clinton to pardon members of the terrorist group FALN and fugitive financier Mark Rich, leads Obama’s team to select his Vice-Presidential running mate, and is rumored to be a potential Attorney General in an Obama Administration. [164] Working with Holder on the selection committee is James Johnson, former CEO of Fannie Mae, who was found “cooking the books” at the mortgage giant to inflate its earnings and boost his executive bonus. Former CFO of Fannie Mae, Tim Howard, is a chief economic advisor to Obama. [353]
Among the groups supporting Obama is “Progressives for Obama,” founded by Mark Rudd (who had been trained by the KGB in Cuba); former Weather Underground member and close ally of William Ayers; Tom Hayden, former husband of actress Jane Fonda and principle founder of the radical Students for a Democratic Society, who traveled to North Vietnam to give support to the Viet Cong; Bill Fletcher, founder of the Marxist Black Radical Congress; Barbara Ehenreich, honorary chairman of the Democratic Socialists of America; and actor Danny Glover, recipient of $20 million from Venezuela’s dictator Hugo Chavez to make a movie about a Haitian communist revolutionary. Ayers is on the board of a Venezuelan government think tank tasked to bring Cuban-style education to Venezuela. [218,262]
During the campaign, in support of abortion, Obama remarks that if his daughters ever make a mistake and get pregnant, he wouldn’t “want them punished with a baby.” [165,315]
In May of 2008, Nevada issues an arrest warrant for Tony Rezko, for having written at least $450,000 in bad checks to Caesar’s Palace and Bally’s; he also allegedly owes $331,000 to the Bellagio casino. The checks are from Rezko’s account at Broadway Bank, which is run by the mob-connected Giannoulias family. The checks date back to 2006, when the bank’s vice-president, Obama-endorsed Alexi Giannoulias, was running for Illinois State Treasurer. [319]
Obama tells Jeffrey Goldberg of “The Atlantic” that Israel is a “constant sore” that “infects all of our foreign policy” [343]
On June 4, Obama’s main money-man, Tony “the fixer” Rezko, is convicted of 16 (of 24) counts of felony charges for influence-peddling, fraud, money laundering, and bribery conspiracy. Obama’s response is, “I'm saddened by today's verdict. This isn’t the Tony Rezko I knew, but now he has been convicted by a jury on multiple charges that once again shine a spotlight on the need for reform.” [316]
On June 12, 2008, Obama votes to raise income taxes from 25 to 28 per cent for individuals with gross incomes over $32,000. [315]
In June, 2008, two Muslim women, at an Obama rally in Detroit, were prevented from sitting behind Obama, in order to prevent the women’s headscarves from appearing in photographs or on television with the candidate. [353]
In June of 2008, Obama’s campaign reveals a customized “Obama Presidential Seal” that hangs from the lectern as he speaks. The “seal” doesn’t last long, and its use is discontinued after intense criticism of Obama’s arrogance, and after the campaign learns it is illegal to create and use a false seal. [353]
Obama takes credit in ads for “…extending health care for wounded troops who had been neglected,” referring to the 2008 National Defense Authorization Act; Obama was not present for voting when that bill was passed, nor was it drafted by him. [351]
A review of campaign donations filed with Federal Election Commission shows that Obama’s campaign receives a substantial number of contributions in unusual amounts, such as $74.37 or $42.95, suggesting they were illegal foreign contributions originally made in “even amounts,” which were then converted to U.S. dollars, resulting in “odd amounts;” the Obama campaign appears to have made no effort to identify or return illegal foreign contributions. Obama has over $200 million in contributions of less than $200, but his campaign has done little to insure that they are legal. [166,167]
Obama’s wife criticizes President Bush’s $600 economic stimulus checks at a “working-women’s round table discussion,” saying ”The short-term quick fix kinda sounds good, and it may even feel good that first month when you get that check, and then you go out and buy a pair of earrings.” [168]
Obama visits Iraq in July; although campaigning publicly for a quick and steady withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq, Obama - not wanting the Bush Administration to receive credit for any successes - tries, in private, to persuade Iraqi leaders to delay an agreement on a reduction of American troops. Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari confirms that Obama demanded the delay during discussions with Iraqi leaders, stating that Obama “…asked why we were not prepared to delay an agreement until after the US elections and the formation of a new administration in Washington.” Obama tells the Iraqis it is in the interests of both sides not to have an agreement negotiated by the Bush administration in its "state of weakness and political confusion." Zebari relates that he responded to Obama, “As an Iraqi, I believe that even if there is a Democratic administration in the White House it had better continue the present policy instead of wasting a lot of time thinking what to do,” meaning that Obama was attempting to thwart U.S. policy, and Zebari was telling Obama not to "waste time." [169,200,350]
That action by Obama in Iraq is likely in violation of the Logan Act, which prohibits unauthorized citizens from negotiating with foreign governments; the crime is a felony, and can be punished with a three year prison sentence. After the information comes out, Obama denies having made the statements; either Obama or Zebari is therefore lying, but even Obama’s own protestations suggest Obama is making the false statements. (Note that Zebari is fluent in English, and likely would not have misinterpreted Obama’s words.) [203]
At a meeting with Democratic lawmakers on July 29, Obama says he represents the “world’s hopes for America” and “This is the moment the world is waiting for.” He then adds, “I have become a symbol of restoring America to its best traditions.” [170]
On a daily basis, Obama receives two e-mails from his staff. One briefs him on major world events over the prior 24 hours, the other is a set of questions he is likely to be asked during the day, with suggested answers. [353]
In July of 2008, Obama sponsors the Global AIDS Spending Bill; the bill adds $50 billion to the $200 billion in tax dollars already spent on fighting HIV/AIDS around the world; the bill also lifts a ban on entry into the U.S. of AIDS-infected aliens; The Congressional Budget Office estimates that U.S. taxpayers will end up spending $83 billion treating those aliens and their infected children. [351]
In July, the American flag is removed from the tail of the Obama campaign plane and replaced with his trademark “O” symbol. (After receiving criticism, a much smaller flag is added.) [353]
On July 14, Obama speaks to the National Council of La Raza (“The Race” - the nation’s largest Hispanic special interest group) and promises amnesty for the 12 million or more illegal immigrants in the United States, saying, “That's why we need to offer those who are willing to make amends a pathway to citizenship. That way, we can reconcile our values as both a nation of immigrants and a nation of laws.” [342]
In Berlin, Germany in July, Obama addresses a crowd estimated at 200,000 (already gathered for a rock concert), pretty much telling it what it wants to hear in order to ensure enthusiastic applause. During the same trip, Obama cancels a visit to wounded soldiers at an Army hospital after he learns the military won’t allow campaign photographers to politicize the event. [353]
In July and August of 2008, the head of Nigeria’s stock market holds Obama fundraisers in Lagos, Nigeria; an estimated $900,000 is raised for Obama, despite the fact that it is illegal for the campaign to collect contributions from foreign countries. The media fails to investigate illegal Obama campaign contributions, but sends a reporter to remote Little Diomede island in Alaska, in order to see if Republican Vice-Presidential candidate Sarah Palin can “actually see” Russia from Alaska. [245]
The “Las Vegas Review-Journal” reports that a Clark Count (Nevada) official “sees rampant fraud in the 2,000 to 3,000 registrations ACORN turns in every week.” [240] Nevada is one of the states targeted by Obama as one he can switch from Republican to Democrat; vote fraud may be the reason for his confidence.
In August of 2008, Obama vacations in Hawaii. He spends one hour with his maternal grandmother, Madelyn Dunham; he is not accompanied by his wife or two daughters, who may very likely never again see Dunham, age 86. [329]
In an August, 2008 letter to a homosexual rights group called the “Family Equality Council,” Obama pledges he will overturn the Defense of Marriage Act. [337]
The nonpartisan Tax Policy Center estimates that Obama’s tax plan would add $3.4 trillion to the national debt, including interest, by 2018. [171]
The media reports that Obama’s half-brother, George Obama (1982 - ), [289] lives in poverty in a slum outside Nairobi; [173] Obama provides his brother with no assistance, but supports a United nations “anti-global poverty tax” that would cost Americans approximately $65 billion per year, with much of it going to Africa (through the United Nations). [174,175,277]
Obama’s “global poverty program,” to the extent it follows the United Nations “Millennium Goals” on which it is based, would be paid for with a "currency transfer tax," a "tax on the rental value of land and natural resources," a "royalty on worldwide fossil energy production - oil, natural gas, coal… fees for the commercial use of the oceans, fees for the airplane use of the skies, fees for the use of the electromagnetic spectrum, fees on foreign exchange transactions, and a tax on the carbon content of fuels." Obama has already introduced the legislation as Senate Bill S. 2433; co-sponsors of the bill include Democrats Maria Cantwell of Washington, Dianne Feinstein of California, Richard Durbin of Illinois, Robert Menendez of New Jersey, and liberal Republicans Chuck Hagel of Nebraska and Richard Lugar of Indiana. [277]
Reporter Stanley Kurtz asks to view the historical public records of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge (CAC), an education reform program led by Obama and William Ayers; there is an initial refusal to release the records, orchestrated by Ken Rolling, former executive director of the CAC and an associate of Obama and Ayers, but the records are later released - after being “cleansed” of sensitive documents by Rolling and others. Rolling, like Obama and Ayers, is a former board member of the Woods Fund. [176,177]
Obama states, “Nobody has spoken out more fiercely on the issue of anti-Semitism than I have,” a claim that is widely ridiculed for its outrageousness. [202] Obama also states that Hezbollah and Hamas have legitimate grievances, and offers to sit down with their leaders and the leaders of Muslim nations to listen to their complaints. [202] (Their number one grievance, of course, is the very existence of Israel and Jews.)
At the Democrat National Convention, although the convention center is good enough for Kennedy and Clinton speeches, Obama insists on giving his acceptance speech at a football stadium that seats 76,000. Saul Alinsky’s son, Lee David Alinsky, praises Obama for learning his father’s socialist revolution “lesson well.” [267] The over-inflated Obama ego is consistent with Alinsky’s advice that “Ego must be so all-pervading that the personality of the organizer is contagious, that it converts the people from despair to defiance, creating a mass ego." [272]
Obama is able to get away with such arrogance because he knows how to “play the crowd.” In his book, “Dreams From my Father,” he wrote, “It was usually an effective tactic, another one of those tricks I had learned: People were satisfied so long as you were courteous and smiled and made no sudden moves. They were more than satisfied, they were relieved -- such a pleasant surprise to find a well-mannered young black man who didn’t seem angry all the time." [337]
In September of 2008, the federal government takes over the failed mortgage buyers, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac; Federal Election Commission records reveal that Obama received $137,950 (Fannie Mae) and $68,750 (Freddie Mac) in campaign contributions from them, second only to Christopher Dodd (who received $165,400); John Kerry is in third place with $111,000. [178]
As of September, 2008, Obama’s Senate and Presidential campaigns had received significant contributions from failed financial institutions, including Bear Stearns ($570,614), Fannie Mae ($137,950), Freddie Mac ($68,750), and Lehman Brothers ($370,524). Lehman Brothers is owed at least $250 million by BNP Paribas, a French bank whose biggest shareholder is Nadhmi Auchi (friend and financer of Toney Rezko, and contributor to Obama campaigns), and which made a fortune through the United Nations “Oil for Food” scandal with Saddam Hussein. [179,180,181,182]
Obama receives about $300,000 per year from Goldman Sachs, Lehman Brothers, Bear Stearns, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, AIG, Countrywide Financial, and Washington Mutual. After less than four years in office those companies and their employees had given Obama a total of $1,093,329.00; just over half is from Goldman Sachs alone. [212]
When Chicago’s WGN radio interviews David Freddoso, author of “The Case Against Barack Obama,” Obama’s campaign sends an “Obama Action Wire” to key supporters, encouraging them to protest the program and call in repeatedly to tie up its telephone lines so that listeners can’t get through; the same had been done when WGN interviewed Stanley Kurtz, a reporter who had been prevented from trying to gain access to public documents of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge. [183,184]
It is learned that the Obama campaign funneled over $800,000 to “Citizens Services, Inc.” (CSI), a “shell corporation” set up by ACORN in December of 2004. To hide the fact that Obama was giving money to a vote fraud organization, ACORN, the money was given to CSI. The campaign then misled the Federal Elections Commission by listing the funds as going toward “stage, lighting, and sound” expenses when, in fact, the cash went toward get-out-the-vote projects. CSI and ACORN headquarters have the same address. [284,285]
The Obama campaign runs an anti-McCain ad criticizing him for not being computer savvy and not sending e-mails; apparently Obama’s team did not realize McCain has other people type e-mail responses for him because the North Vietnamese broke his fingers and shattered his arms while imprisoned in Hanoi. [185]
On September 13, Obama suggests re-instating the military draft, with his remarks that his job as President would include demanding that the American people recognize an “obligation” for military service. “If we are going into war, then all of us go, not just some.” [340]
In September of 2008, mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac fail, partly because of Enron-like accounting practices, and are rescued in a multi-billion dollar federal bail-out. An Obama economic and housing policy advisor, Franklin Raines, had been chief executive of Fannie Mae; in 2002, when staff advised him of bookkeeping problems and earnings manipulations, Raines fired the whistleblowers rather than correct the problems; Raines also forced Fannie Mae employees to falsify accounting records to enable him to receive larger pay bonuses; also receiving inflated bonuses were Jamie Gorelick (formerly of the Clinton Administration); Raines was eventually forced out of Fannie Mae because of accounting fraud, after obtaining nearly $50 million in improperly calculated bonuses; Raines paid back only a small portion of that amount; Obama and Christopher Dodd are the top Senate recipients of campaign contributions from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Raines was also involved in the collapse of Countrywide Financial, which provided “special loan rates” for connected people like James Johnson, advisor to Obama who was on his vice-presidential selection team, and who preceded Raines as CEO of Fannie Mae, and Senator Christopher Dodd. Note that Democrats added tens of millions of dollars for ACORN in the original “bail out” bill; those funds were removed before the final bill was passed. [179,284]
Obama encourages supporters to be rude to Republicans and undecided independents, telling them, “I want you to argue with them and get in their face.” [213,214]
Obama fundraiser and Code Pink co-founder Jodie Evans meets with Iranian President Ahmadinejad while he is in New York in September, 2008. [215]
September 24, 2008, lawyers for Obama and the Democrat National Committee file a Joint Motion to Dismiss (on the last day to file a response) the case of Berg v. Obama, No. 08-CV-04083, which purports that Obama is ineligible to be President of the United States because he was born in Kenya. [216] Inasmuch as it should have been easier to produce proof of Obama’s American birth and citizenship than fight the lawsuit, this delay tactic suggests Obama does not, in fact, have the proof. One of Obama’s lawyers is Joe Sanders, of the Washington law firm of Sandler, Reiff, and Young; Sanders also represents the Council of American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), an organization with terrorist ties, and is an un-indicted co-conspirator in the Holyland Foundation Hamas Funding trial. (Interestingly, out of more than one million lawyers in the United States available to represent Obama, he chose one with direct ties to CAIR.) [226,325]
Leading Code Pink activists and Obama fundraisers Jodie Evans and Medea Benjamin meet with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in New York. [220]
Obama enlists St. Louis County Circuit Attorney Bob McCulloch, St. Louis City Circuit Attorney Jennifer Joyce, and Jefferson County Sheriff Glenn Boyer as a so-called “truth squad” in an effort to intimidate radio and television stations into not airing ads critical of Obama; they warn citizens that they will bring criminal libel prosecutions against anyone who makes false statements about Obama. The tactic is immediately criticized by Missouri Governor Matt Blunt, who says, “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.” [221,256]
In the first Presidential debate with Senator McCain, Obama brings attention to a bracelet he is wearing in honor of a slain Wisconsin soldier, Brian Jopek, despite requests from Jopek’s family that Obama stop wearing it and stop referring to it. [222]
In September and October of 2008, an auditor at the federal Election Commission requests a formal investigation into Obama campaign contributions, suspecting it of collecting $200 million or more in illegal contributions, including illegal foreign donations; the auditor states, “I believe we are looking at a hijacking of our political system that makes the Clinton and Gore fundraising scandals pale in comparison.” [231]
In September, all references to Obama’s opposition to the troop surge in Iraq are removed from the official Obama web sites. [270]
The Obama staffers in charge of the campaign’s “small” (less than $200) Internet campaign contributions are Obama’s former college roommates from Pakistan, Muhammad Hasan Chandoo and Wahid Hamid; those “small” contributions total at least $223 million; many are believed to be illegal contributions from foreign countries. Campaigns are required to keep track of names of those who contribute more than $200 in aggregate, and verify their nationality as U.S., but the Obama campaign does not – in direct violation of federal election laws. [245]
Note that, in addition to working directly for the Obama campaign, Chandoo, with his brother, maintains a web site (www.chandoo.com) that is arguably anti-American, anti-Semitic, anti-women, and vulgar. [332]
In September of 2008, allegations surface that proof of Obama’s Indonesian citizenship and adoption are being suppressed by the Indonesian government in exchange for cash and political favors. U.S. Congressman Eni Faleomavaega (a non-voting Democrat Congressman from American Samoa), an Obama supporter, visited Indonesia’s President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in July of 2007 and is suspected of securing government records damaging to Obama’s candidacy. In exchange for document turnover and document suppression, thousands of dollars would be given to the school attended by Obama, more cash would come later, and the Congressman would attempt to foster a “hands off” policy with regard to the Indonesian government’s continuing suppression of rights of Christians in Papua. If these allegations are true, and Faleomavaega acted at Obama’s request, both are guilty of felonies and violations of the Logan Act. [303,321,323,337]
In October of 2008, Congress passes a “bail-out bill” to give more than $700 billion to Wall Street to rescue them from their investments in sub-prime mortgages – mortgages that had been aggressively encouraged by the government itself for 15 years. The bail-out bill includes over $112 billion in “pork,” including $6 million in tax breaks for wooden-arrow manufacturers in Oregon, $148 million in tax breaks for wool-producing companies, $128 million in tax breaks for the manufacturers of car-racing tracks, $10 million in tax breaks for small television and film producers, $223 million in tax breaks for Alaskan fishermen, $33 million in tax breaks for corporations operating in American Samoa, and $192 million in tax breaks for rum producers in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Both Obama and his opponent, John McCain, vote for the bail-out bill. [247]
On October 6, 2008, Obama and the Democrat National Committee file a “Joint Motion for Protective Order to Stay Discovery Pending a Decision on the (9/24/2008) Motion to Dismiss.” With that motion, Obama and the DNC attempt to further stall the lawsuit demanding that Obama provide his actual birth certificate to prove he is technically a U.S. citizen eligible to become President; the assumption is that Obama cannot provide a certified copy of a Hawaiian “vault” birth certificate because it does not exist. The attorney who filed the lawsuit, attorney Philip Berg, asserts that Obama is ineligible to be President, and that he “…is an illegal alien and therefore should be arrested, tried, and deported. He certainly cannot hold his Senate seat.” [241,299]
On October 7, WND staff reporter, researcher, and author (“The Obama Nation”) Jerome Corsi is detained by authorities in Kenya just as he is about to hold a press conference in which he planned to describe evidence of Obama’s dealings and connections with controversial Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga. The news conference would allegedly be used to "expose details of deep secret ties between U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama and a section of Kenya government leaders, their connection to certain sectoral groups in Kenya and subsequent plot to be executed in Kenya should Senator Obama win the American presidency." [242]
In October of 2008, Obama’s newly appointed “Muslim Outreach Advisor,” Minha Husaini, is criticized for having met with extremist Islamic groups on September 15; Husaini’s predecessor had resigned because of connections to a radical Muslim cleric. Among those meeting Husaini was Mahdi Bray, who has publicly supported Hamas and Hezbollah, and Johari Abdul Malik, a Falls Church, Virginia cleric, who told followers in November of 2004, “You will see Islam move from being the second largest religion in America – to being the first religion in America.” [254]
In October of 2008, ACORN works to remove potentially damaging information connecting Obama with the group from its web pages; among the items deleted is an article that discusses Obama’s training of ACORN leaders. By October of 2008, the Obama campaign claims he had never organized with ACORN and had nothing to do with voter registration. [283]
On October 10, stories surface that Tony “the fixer” Rezko may be giving up incriminating information about Illinois State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias, Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, and Obama, in order to receive a lighter prison sentence for his 16 felony convictions for receiving kick-backs for political favors. [281,290,315]
On October 10, word leaks that federal prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald is leading a team of FBI investigators in 10 states working on a RICO case involving ACORN; the investigation may be focused on a conspiracy to commit multi-state voter fraud on Obama’s behalf. Fitzgerald is the same prosecutor who convicted Tony Rezko (and Lewis “Scooter” Libby). [281,282]
At an October 12 campaign appearance in Holland, Ohio, Obama is asked by a self-employed plumber who is considering starting his own business, why he must pay more for everyone else. Obama’s response is, “It’s not that I want to punish your success. I just want to make sure that everybody that is behind you, that they have a chance for success too.” Obama then added a sentiment straight from the socialist handbook, “I think when you spread the wealth around, it’s good for everybody.” [295,312]
It is noted that Obama’s public relations staffer, Marilyn Katz, was the “security chief” for the Students for a Democratic Society; involved in the 1968 Democrat Party Convention riots, Katz advocated throwing studded nails in front of approaching police car tires, and throwing plastic bags of human excrement, cans of urine, and golf balls with nails at the police. As PR person for Obama, one of Katz’ jobs is to downplay the candidate’s past relationship with William Ayers; Katz herself, as a prominent SDS leader, was likely an associate of Ayers in the 1960s. [320]
On October 15, 2008, “African Press International” (API) reports that Michelle Obama called to complain about reports of people challenging her husband’s eligibility to be President. In the conversation, she states, “I can tell the American people that my husband loves this country and his adoption never changed his love for this country. He was born in Hawaii, yes, and that gives him all the right to be an American citizen even though he was adopted by a foreigner.” Obama’s wife adds, “My husband and I know that there is no law that will stop him from becoming the president, just because some American white racists are bringing up the issue of my husband’s adoption by his stepfather.”
In that statement, the candidate’s wife unknowingly admits that Obama was adopted, which may mean he is still an Indonesian citizen ineligible to be U.S. President. She is incorrect in saying there is “no law” that will stop him; there certainly are laws defining the eligibility requirements, and if he doesn’t satisfy them he cannot be President. Note: Obama’s wife also tells API that if it writes a “complimentary story” about her husband they will then be invited to an Obama inauguration ceremony. The Obama campaign denies that his wife spoke with API. API says the conversation was recorded and the tape released, after it gives Mrs. Obama a chance to clarify her side of the story. [306,307,308,309,317]
A lawsuit is filed in the State of Washington demanding that the Secretary of State obtain proof that Obama is eligible to be President of the United States or remove his name from the November 4 ballot. [307,331]
James Pethokopukis, reporter for the U.S. News and World Reports, relates on October 16 that a University of Chicago professor he spoke with and who knew Obama considered him “…as close to a full-out Marxist as anyone who has ever run for President of the United States.” [314]
The media reports that, at an October 15 Sarah Palin campaign event in Scranton, Pennsylvania, someone in the crowd shouted “Kill him!” when Obama’s name was mentioned by the speaker, Congressional candidate Chris Hackett. The report gets quick, widespread coverage by the pro-Obama media, despite the fact that no one in the crowd heard the shout – except the reporter for the ScrantonTimes-Tribune. Secret Service agents and police officers present state they did not hear the threat, and interviewed attendees who all denied having heard it. [311]
Key Obama policy aide Jason Grunet, executive director of the “National Commission on Energy Policy,” states that if Congress doesn’t move within 18 months to tighten rules with regard to carbon dioxide emissions, Obama would instruct the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to institute its own unilateral enforcement crackdown anyway. (In other words, if Congress doesn’t pass the laws Obama wants, he’ll go ahead and make up his own regulations on carbon dioxide emissions.) The issue is that Congress – even a Democrat Congress – will be unlikely to go along with excessive taxes on carbon emissions, because they would cause prices to skyrocket and businesses to fail. Obama would simply avoid that problem by forcing the EPA to enforce strict “pollution” guidelines, which will have the same negative effects. [330]
There is speculation that Obama would reward Hillary Clinton with a Supreme Court nomination if he is elected. [337]
The Urban Institute Brookings Institution Tax Policy Center analyzes the McCain and Obama tax policies and calculates that McCain’s proposals would cut taxes by $628 billion over 10 years, while Obama’s would raise them by $734 billion over the same period. [337]
Obama’s list of accomplishments in the U.S. Senate consists of getting two bills passed: one to send foreign aid to the Congo and another to name a post office. [337]
Obama continues to refuse to provide the media with school records, passports, college theses, law school records, law firm clients, medical records, Illinois State Senate files, and other documents about his record.
Original birth certificate - not released
Obama/Dunham marriage license - not released
Soetoro/Dunham marriage license - not released
Soetoro adoption records - not released
Besuki School application - released
Punahou School records - not released
Selective Service Registration - released
Occidental College records - not released
Passport (Pakistan) - not released
Columbia College records - not released
Columbia thesis - not released
Harvard College records - not released
Harvard Law Review articles - none
Baptism certificate - none
Medical records - not released
Illinois State Senate records - none
Illinois State Senate schedule – not released (alleged to have been lost)
Law practice client list - not released
University of Chicago scholarly articles - none [23,29,56,186,239]
REFERENCES
Tim Jones (2007-03-27). "Obama's mom: Not just a girl from Kansas: Strong personalities shaped a future senator", Chicago Tribune
http://www.everything2.org/e2node/Kill%2520Haole%2520Day, also http://starbulletin.com/1999/03/24/news/story7.html
http://colony14.net/id40.html, Obama’s Spring Break in Pakistan
http://www.timesleader.com/news/breakingnews/Secret_Service_says_Kill_him_allegation_unfounded_.html
FT,
ReplyDeleteWe in the blogosphere are so very aware of these facts. Those who rely on the msm are unaware and REFUSE to look anywhere except in the msm, the "enemedia," as you call that venue.
America has been had by Trojan Horse Obama.
What a vanilla white-bread upbringing! ;)
ReplyDeleteNo, it doesn't matter. The people have spoken and he's president.
ReplyDeleteThis crap means nothing. Got to go after him based upon his horrible record as the worst president in our nation's history.
"The people have spoken."
ReplyDeleteWhat an appalling indictment that is of the electorate, Kurt!
If this enormous pile of damning data does not matter to "the people," the nation might as well be given up for lost.
What matters most is that, apparently, it does NOT matter –– even to supposed champions of liberty such as yourself.
We have no standards any longer, and no regard whatsoever for the truth.
Every bit of this material has been out there since the 2008 campaign. It was blithely ignored or glossed over -- or blatantly DENIED -- by the enemedia.
The people are being fed a steady diet of DUNG -- and by God! they have developed a TASTE for it.
No amount of statistical evidence you could provide is ever going to cure a nation addicted to coprophagia.
The People have been rendered impervious to Reason.
The United States of America designed by our Founding Fathers is terminally ill.
~ FreeThinke
Phony Document Gives Birth
ReplyDeleteto a Cover-up
Jewish World Review, by Diana West
Original Article
EXCERPT:
I'm sorry to report that the substantive findings of the latest press conference held by Maricopa County (Ariz.) Sheriff Joe Arpaio's Cold Case Posse will not be appearing on Fox, on CNN or in The Washington Post. They will not be appearing in the media, period. I guess the nation's press corps is too busy submitting its work to Obama and Romney campaign officials for "quote approval" -- (snip) The bottom line is this: The posse investigation has amassed extensive computer forensics and other evidence that the Barack Obama birth certificate posted on the White House website is a forgery.
COMMENT:
A good summary of the stonewalling that Arpaio's Cold Case Posse investigators received from Hawaii officials; proof positive that the BC PDF released by the White House is a forgery; and indirect confirmation that the PDF does not match what Hawaii has in its files.
I have to admit one thing. Reading through that pile of denigratory, accusatory data is almost as daunting as trying to digest the contents of the 2,700 page healthcare bill.
ReplyDeleteMeaning: I'll bet NO ONE has actually DONE it yet.
Congress passes laws they haven't studied and understood. The Supreme Court -- or rather ONE lousy Justice -- John "Benedict Arnold" Roberts -- decides the Fate of the Nation without having read and fully comprehended the document to which he gave his imprimatur [Prove to me he did, and I'll give you a ten-pound gold medal!] and "We the People" are too ignorant, too lazy, too apathetic -- and too busy trying to survive and feed our families -- to do ANYTHING other than grouse among ourselves.
And a guy as bright, articulate and well-informed as our self-identified libertarian friend Silver Fiddle dismisses all this data as "crap."
He says it does not MATTER. What I think he means is "I DON'T CARE."
What a pity!
Our future prospects do not seem not encouraging in the least.
~ FreeThinke
I have a splitting headache, time for about 3200mg's of ibuprofen!
ReplyDeleteSilver does have a point. At this juncture the best and likely most effective efforts to unseat the "O" man is by proving him incompetent and exposing his record in office for what it really is, disastrous.
Of course it would be very helpful if the opposition party were to put forth a plan the people understood and had faith in.
I've about thrown up my hands in dismay and disgust. The candidate candidate that just might actually do something isn't even being looked at seriously. And why?
MONEY TALKS. MONEY IS POWER. MONEY HAS CORRUPTED OUR SYSTEM AND THUS OUR REPUBLIC.
But the majority of the good American sheeples of both major parties will dutifully pull the leer, or mark the paper ballot as they've always done. JUST LIKE GOOD SOLDIERS.
FT, (yes, here I am :-)...
ReplyDeleteIt's not that this information doesn't matter to us, but it doesn't matter to most Americans.
It's 'crap' now just as the apparent truth about the birth certificate is 'crap'...
the point is, it MIGHT AS WELL BE FOR ALL THE ATTENTION IT'S GETTING.
Which is nil.
(now THAT is true crap!)
I am a libtard.
ReplyDeleteI can't afford to care.
I need my money fix.
I need to maintain my fantasy life.
I... well what else is there?
PS, thanks for presenting it in fairly complete form. This will be a nice link to refer losers and morons (libtards and democrats) to as a quick and easy.
ReplyDeleteZ, You see the point very well. The problem is not so much President Obama, himself, or his dreadful background as our failure as a people to do our "due diligence" in checking him out before it's too late. I would say too -- and I am sure you'd agree with me -- that the media is so biased in favor of "liberalism" that it's impossible for the conservative point of view ever to get a fair shake. It's great to see you here. I appreciate the visit very much. Please try to make it a habit.
ReplyDelete~ FT
Kid,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the thumbs up. Every bit of this gargantuan amount of stuff is years old, but because none of it was given enough attention and proper consideration before the 2008 election I think it's still worthwhile to look it over and use bits and pieces whenever and wherever they might apply.
And thank you too for stopping by. It's much appreciated.
~ FT
Les,
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean about money. Personally, I love the stuff and am ever so grateful to have a little more than "enough" -- or at least to fee that way about it -- unfortunately, some people can never feel they have enough. I regard that as a sickness, frankly -- not that I would ever favor putting any limits on how much an individual "should" be permitted to acquire. THAT's Marxism, and I know darned well I don't ever want to go "there," if I can possibly help it.
As a retiree who lives almost entirely on interest and dividends from investments, I naturally feel elated when the market makes substantial gains as it has these past two days. It's great to the DJIA above 13K once again. HOWEVER, a big part of me is cynical enough to suspect that shadowy individuals of George Soros' vile ilk have been busily pulling strings behind the scenes to manipulate the market.
IF the market were not being supported artificially by The Fed in conjunction with The Big Money Men in International Banking and Finance, I'm pretty sure the averages would drop precipitously, and that would create a climate of fear and dismay in which The Big O would have great difficulty getting reelected.
I'd love to see the bastard roundly and decisively defeated, but I'd hate to have lose half my fortune to accomplish it.
I am morally certain that George Herbert Walker Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Hussein Obama have been playing surreptitiously for the same team all along.
This New World Order thing ought by all that's holy to be taken seriously.
A quick backward glance shows clearly that a very few fanatically ambitious, unprincipled, megalomaniacal individuals have through ruthless determination been able to change the course of history in disastrous ways.
Most of us are followers by nature. Most are eager to find a Father-Mother-God-like Figure to lead them through the maze. Thinking is a great luxury few can afford -- they haven't the time for it OR the IQ. And so we get a endless succession of vicious, power mad despots who've been exploiting the masses and making men miserable for aeons.
There is ALWAYS an active "plot" somewhere to usurp legitimate power and use the stolen authority to SUBJUGATE "the world."
The president is nothing more than a puppet in the latest attempt to achieve world domination.
~ FreeThinke
You know, Z, I just realized an implication more frightening than usual in our understanding of the enemedia's role:
ReplyDeleteWhat we're really saying here is this:
If the enemedia says something is "crap" long enough, and treats it like "crap" often enough, it literally BECOMES "crap" in the public's eye.
In other words the "truth" is ONLY what those in control SAY it is.
Orwell, of course, made that exact point brilliantly and chillingly in Nineteen-Eighty-Four, but we could never remind ourselves of it often enough.
Moves and television have literally HYPNOTIZED the vast majority into believing white is black, black is white, etc.
It's as fascinating as it is scary.
If enough people COULD realize the truth, it WOULD "set us free," but instead they'll just laughingly and scornfully tell me to put on my tinfoil hat -- or go back into my padded cell.
Even knowing one can never win, one still must keep on trying.
Enervating, isn't it? (:-x
~ FT
"In other words the "truth" is ONLY what those in control SAY it is."
ReplyDeleteBINGO Free Thinker.
As I've been saying all along, all roads ultimately end at the same cliff.
Paths vary, destination same. What a choice. What a world.
Z and FT,
ReplyDeleteFor DECADES, I've been concerned about the media's influence.
At first, my concerns related directly to teaching as I was teaching elementary school. Too much television watching always meant that the children's brains were being sucked out. See the graphic that I used at Mr. AOW's recent post.
Let's see....The media and the public education system have combined to be a powerful force in shaping young minds. Most children of school age spend SO MUCH TIME in front of the one-eyed monster, the latter including both the television set and the computer monitor. I believe that those combined times have a lot to do with undoing parents' influence.
In my teaching career, I have known four families who didn't have a television set (except, perhaps, to watch selected DVDs). Outcomes:
1. One family's children went on to become PhD's in engineering. Geniuses in every way, I tell you! They are also accomplished musicians (violin and cello).
2. One family's children went on to great things: engineering degrees and a nursing degree. Again, fine musicians all! ONe is an accomplished harpist!
3. One family's children has one daughter about to graduate from college (full-ride scholarship based on merit) and one son still in my classes. Top students in every regard! And wonderful children as well -- a delight to be around.
4. One family's son has gone on to be an accomplished pipe organist and composer. And I do mean ACCOMPLISHED! One of these days very shortly, you will see his name "up in lights"! He got his PhD in pipe organ at the age of 16. I kid you not!
All of the above families homeschooled to a certain extent, if not in entirety, up through high school.
Who writes your material, Jerome Corsi, Allen Keyes?
ReplyDeleteNo one has ever been able to DISPROVE anything Glenn Beck and Jerome Corsi have presented, Ducky.
ReplyDeleteIronic that Alan Keyes is the most African looking of all the African-Americans who entered public life, and is also -- on certain levels -- far and away the brightest. I have never heard a more articulate debater, and there are few Caucasians today who can use the language as well as Mr. Keyes.
HOWEVER, Alan Keyes has about him the aura of a FANATIC. He's too intense -- too TRUTHFUL -- too CHALLENGING to the stats quo. Americans don't like that. We have an aversion to overt demonstrations of fanaticism. As a people we shy away from intensity and favor a more casual approach. And that's why we are so easily taken in by shallow, glib, meretricious, poorly motivated, gilded claptrap -- like Barack Hussein Obama -- the toothsome spawn of an ill conceived union between a white bitch and a black barbarian.
The ironies and absurdities in American politics abound, do they not?
Phineas T. Barnum might as well be running the government. I'm sure he'd do a better job. At least it would be INTERESTING.
~ FT
Sir, you've got an excellent blog. You've done a prodigious amount of work compiling this post, and I know I'm late posting here on this. I had bookmarked it to come back to read later.
ReplyDeleteObama would not have been born a citizen of Kenya in 1961. Kenya did not gain independence until 1963.
ReplyDeleteUntil independence it was known as British East Africa. It only became Kenya when it became independent.
He would have had a British passport
had he been born there in 1961.