http://www.drudge.com/user/JeffJ New links and comments. en-us http://www.rssboard.org/rss-specification Wordzilla/0.58 10 http://www.drudge.com/news/113388/sowell-real-obama http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/10/the_real_obama.html Critics of Senator Barack Obama make a strategic mistake when they talk about his "past associations." That just gives his many defenders in the media an opportunity to counter-attack against "guilt by association."<p> We all have associations, whether at the office, in our neighborhood or in various recreational activities. Most of us neither know nor care what our associates believe or say about politics. <p>Associations are very different from alliances. Allies are not just people who happen to be where you are or who happen to be doing the same things you do. You choose allies deliberately for a reason. The kind of allies you choose says something about you. <p> Jeremiah Wright, Father Michael Pfleger, William Ayers and Antoin Rezko are not just people who happened to be at the same place at the same time as Barack Obama. They are people with whom he chose to ally himself for years, and with some of whom some serious money changed hands. <p>Some gave political support, and some gave financial support, to Obama's election campaigns, and Obama in turn contributed either his own money or the taxpayers' money to some of them. That is a familiar political alliance-- but an alliance is not just an "association" from being at the same place at the same time. <p>Obama could have allied himself with all sorts of other people. But, time and again, he allied himself with people who openly expressed their hatred of America. No amount of flags on his campaign platforms this election year can change that. <p>Unfortunately, all that most people know about Barack Obama is his own rhetoric and that of his critics. Moreover, some of his more irresponsible critics have made wild accusations-- that he is not an American citizen or that he is a Muslim, for example. <p>All that such false charges do is discredit Obama's critics in general. Fortunately, there is a documented, factual account of what Barack Obama has actually been doing over the years, as distinguished from what he has been saying during this election campaign, in a new best-selling book. <p>That book is titled "The Case Against Barack Obama" by David Freddoso. He starts off in the introduction by repudiating those critics of Obama who "have been content merely to slander him-- to claim falsely that he refuses to salute the U.S. flag or was sworn into office on a Koran, or that he was born in a foreign country." <p>This is a serious book with 35 pages of documentation in the back to support the things said in the main text. In other words, if you don't believe what the author says, he lets you know where you can go check it out. <p>Barack Obama's being the first serious black candidate for President of the United States is what most people consider remarkable but how he got there is at least equally surprising. <p>The story of Obama's political career is not a pretty story. He won his first political victory by being the only candidate on the ballot-- after hiring someone skilled at disqualifying the signers of opposing candidates' petitions, on whatever technicality he could come up with. <p>Despite his words today about "change" and "cleaning up the mess in Washington," Obama was not on the side of reformers who were trying to change the status quo of corrupt, machine politics in Chicago and clean up the mess there. Obama came out in favor of the Daley machine and against reform candidates. <p>Senator Obama is running on an image that is directly the opposite of what he has been doing for two decades. His escapes from his past have been as remarkable as the great escapes of Houdini. <p>Why much of the public and the media have been so mesmerized by the words and the image of Obama, and so little interested in learning about the factual reality, was perhaps best explained by an official of the Democratic Party: "People don't come to Obama for what he's done, they come because of what they hope he can be." <p>David Freddoso's book should be read by those people who want to know what the facts are. But neither this book nor anything else is likely to change the minds of Obama's true believers, who have made up their minds and don't want to be confused by the facts. <p> Wed, 08 Oct 2008 04:50:46 -0400 JeffJ http://www.drudge.com/news/113388/sowell-real-obama#discuss tag:drudge.com,2005:weblog.113388 discussion, 113388 http://www.drudge.com/news/113387/does-obama-have-americas-interests-heart http://www.americanthinker.com/2008/10/what_if_obama_doesnt_have_amer.html I prefer to give people the benefit of the doubt. I've said to myself and to others more than once: "While it is true that Democrats are seriously misguided, at least they believe they're doing what is right for the country." And by that I have meant that their motives are far less insidious than is our wont to portray them. ...Surely the average Democrat at least imagines his way of thinking-a way that resists thinking things through-serves his country well. Can I assume that most Democrats are not actually trying to undermine America? <p>...But here's the thing: While I continue to use this idea of "populistic ignorance" to describe Democrats, including most of their leaders (Joe Biden might serve as their poster child), I'm not so sure about Obama. When I compare him to other prominent Democrats, I come away with a very different appraisal, one in which my own fear becomes nearly as pronounced as the admiration felt by his followers. <p> In thinking of Hillary Clinton, for example, I don't sense in Obama Hillary's obsessive drive for historical significance. In thinking of Hillary's husband, I don't see an Obama lusting for narcissistic fulfillment (not to mention just plain lusting). In thinking of Nancy Pelosi or Harry Reid, I don't find in Obama fecklessness or stupidity. In thinking of Ted Kennedy, I can't imagine an Obama of old money entrenchment built upon the encouragement of class warfare (not yet, anyway). <p> It is probably very true that we will find in Obama all these things and more, but the point is, if they are in there, he hides them very well. And that's what frightens me about him. <p>...The reaction to Obama by the people of America is disturbing, to say the least. I have not seen anything quite like it in America. Ronald Reagan, for example, was also very popular, but his name evoked enthusiasm and, at his death, reverence. But never the sort of idolatry inspired by Obama. Even Obama's detractors do not seem to loathe him, at least not in the way that they have loathed the Clintons or Gore or Kerry. I have heard more than one Republican say, "Well, if I have to put up with him for four or more years, at least he's tolerable." Obama's mass appeal is uncommon and frightening. <p> So, I am now imagining a very real scenario -- similar to what I have seen on a smaller scale in the corporate world -- about to be played out on a national, and possibly global, level. Our country seems to be ready to put into the seat of power a man -- good-looking, charismatic, silver-tongued, to be sure -- who has almost no experience, has never served in an executive capacity, has barely held a real job, and has no record of success other than his remarkable campaign. <p> This is a man who in less than two years has arisen as a political messiah. He has mesmerized an emergent block of college-age voters (whose chief sources of information, by the way, are comedians). He has inspired "Obama youth" corps and Maoist-style choirs of praise. He has been dubbed "the One" by his Matrix-saturated worshippers. He has captured the hearts and minds of half of America, nearly all of the media, and most of the world itself. <p> This is also a man whose voting record (meager as it is) puts him in the "far left" category. He brazenly proposes heavy taxation in the face of a tax-hating citizenry. He is unapologetic about his support of entitlements and has consistently voted for bills laden with pork and earmarks. He believes redistribution of wealth is moral, not immoral, despite his supposed biblical roots. He supports every form of abortion, including infanticide. He has alarming ties to extremists, criminals, radicals, and foreign thugs. He started out as a lawyer who learned, and eventually taught, shakedown tactics. He is not afraid to use the race card even as he touts his biracialism as proof that he is "beyond" race. And his idea of defending our country from enemies is to first understand them. <p> If Obama is just another bumbling Democrat, who, armed with a lot of really bad policies, simply wants to do America proud, well, then, if elected, he will muddle through the next four to eight years trying to implement change, will be hindered by the American political system, will enervate liberals and thus energize conservatives, and, eventually, the tide will turn. Like the aftermath of a very disagreeable season, we will have weathered the storm, will survey the damage, and will send in the rescue teams to rebuild. <p> <p> Wed, 08 Oct 2008 04:24:27 -0400 JeffJ http://www.drudge.com/news/113387/does-obama-have-americas-interests-heart#discuss tag:drudge.com,2005:weblog.113387 discussion, 113387 http://www.drudge.com/news/113151/sarah-palin-and-experience-factor http://www.americanthinker.com/2008/10/sarah_palin_and_the_experience.html Why is it that liberal misrepresentations are never fully addressed before they become established as received wisdom? Whatever the topic may be, the left is consistently allowed to set the terms on which the argument takes place. Opponents may then debate minor points, split hairs, and count angels, but nobody ever seems to get around to looking the basic premises over, even when they're transparently bogus... <p>In the 2008 election, one of these ruling myths is "Sarah Palin does not have the experience to be vice-president." <p> Well, let's stomp that one flat right away: out of all four candidates, Sarah Palin is the only one with any of the requisite executive experience required for office. She is the sole candidate who has ever run anything larger than a college debating society. If she is not qualified, none of them are, and we'd better dump em all and start over... <p>The value of having been a governor is obvious, the progression from there to the presidency apparent. Not so with senators. Whatever it is they do when not traipsing around Washington in their purple-trimmed togas, walking their pet ocelots while the Vestal Virgins strew rose petals in their path, it has nothing in common with executive experience. Typically they get out of law school, work awhile as lawyers, go on to local or state office, then to the House, then to the Senate. At no point do they run anything larger than their own offices. The governor of the smallest state or territory in the union easily trumps them on that score. Often, that's all that's necessary. After his Three Stooges first term, the only edge that Bill Clinton had on Robert Dole was his gubernatorial experience. That was enough. <p> Only one person in this race has ever held that kind of responsibility. Only one person has ever actually run a government. Only one person has the necessary experience, and that is Sarah Palin. Yet thanks to a media as obtuse as it is vicious, this undeniable record of experience has been thrust aside in favor of the myth that at least two of the senators in the race -- Obama and Biden -- possess superior experience... <p>The last point involves the question of success. Wasilla, the town of which Palin served as mayor, increased its population by 2,000 -- nearly a full third -- under her stewardship. Not bad for a hockey mom... <p>None of this being the case, we have to ask what precisely is wrong with the progression, city council-mayor-governor-VP candidate. And the answer is -- absolutely nothing. It's as perfectly natural a progression as can be found in politics, the only remarkable element of it being the swiftness with which Palin has traversed it. This implies that she is very good at what she does. Which means, according the media and the Democrats, that we're supposed to question her skill and abilities. Everybody got that? <p> Which brings us to the third objection -- that she wasn't governor for long enough. Only eighteen months, according to the stopwatch. Barely a flicker of the eye, the way they judge time in Washington... Though it happens that Woodrow Wilson was elected governor of New Jersey in 1910, and went on to be elected president in 1912. Are we to take it that the extra six months make all the difference? Experience is not simply a matter of duration, but what you do with the time you have. Palin accomplished more in that year-and-a-half than most governors do over full terms, including facing down a corrupt and entrenched old-boys network and bringing the oil companies -- the state's biggest business -- to heel. <p>And finally, there's the fact that she has no foreign policy experience. None. Zero. Why, no less than Charles Gibson clearly demonstrated that on the tube, with plenty in the way of sighs and head shakes, too. <p> ...except for the easily demonstrated fact that Governor Palin, on August 27th of this year, completed a pipeline agreement with Canada, which is a foreign country. The agreement had been stymied for over two decades by various interests in Alaskan state government. Palin got it wrapped up in that busy eighteen months. <p> Now, anyone present who has ever successfully concluded an agreement with a foreign country please raise their hands. Uhh... not you, Sen. Obama? Or you either, Sen. Biden? Hmm... I see... <p>Palin has gained her experience where it counts. Not in the Ivy League, not at the think tanks, not in the Senate. But down in the trenches, where life is for real, and the work gets done because it must be done. There is no more common figure in American history than the "unprepared" backwoods politician who steps forward in the midst of crisis. From Lincoln through Truman, there is no end of them, at all levels of the political sphere... <p> <p> <p> Thu, 02 Oct 2008 07:32:02 -0400 jeffj http://www.drudge.com/news/113151/sarah-palin-and-experience-factor#discuss tag:drudge.com,2005:weblog.113151 discussion, 113151 http://www.drudge.com/news/112766/warnings-obama-loss-may http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/09/liberals_warnings_about_obama.html Seven weeks before the 2008 presidential election, liberals are warning America that if Barack Obama loses, it is because Americans are racist. Of course, that this means that Democrats (and independents) are racist, since Republicans will vote Republican regardless of the race of the Democrat, is an irony apparently lost on the Democrats making these charges.<p> That an Obama loss will be due to racism is becoming as normative a liberal belief as "Bush Lied, People Died," a belief that has generated intense rage among many liberals. But "Obama lost because of white racism" will be even more enraging. Rage over the Iraq War has largely focused on President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney. But if Obama loses, liberal rage will focus on millions of fellow Americans and on American society. <p>And it could become a rage the likes of which America has not seen in a long time, if ever. It will first and foremost come from within black America. The deep emotional connection that nearly every black American has to an Obama victory is difficult for even empathetic non-blacks to measure. A major evangelical pastor told me that even evangelical black pastors who share every conservative value with white evangelical pastors, including pro-life views on abortion, will vote for Obama. They feel their very dignity is on the line. <p>That is why the growing chorus -- already nearing unanimity -- of liberal commentators and politicians ascribing an Obama loss to American racism is so dangerous... <p> Tue, 23 Sep 2008 13:21:17 -0400 JeffJ http://www.drudge.com/news/112766/warnings-obama-loss-may#discuss tag:drudge.com,2005:weblog.112766 discussion, 112766 http://www.drudge.com/news/112765/credit-mess-its-dems-fault http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122212948811465427.html Many errors contributed to the financial turmoil in which we find ourselves. Nevertheless, the accumulation of bad mortgage debt that poisoned the global finance system was driven by the aggressive buying of subprime and Alt-A mortgages, by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The poor choices of these two government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) and their sponsors are largely to blame for this mess.<p> .....In 2005, the Senate Banking Committee, then under Republican control, adopted a strong reform bill, introduced by Republican Sens. Elizabeth Dole, John Sununu and Chuck Hagel, and supported by then chairman Richard Shelby. The bill prohibited the GSEs from holding portfolios, and gave their regulator prudential authority (such as setting capital requirements) roughly equivalent to a bank regulator. In light of the current financial crisis, this bill was probably the most important piece of financial regulation before Congress in 2005 and 2006. All the Republicans on the Committee supported the bill, and all the Democrats voted against it. Mr. McCain endorsed the legislation..... Tue, 23 Sep 2008 13:01:44 -0400 jeffj http://www.drudge.com/news/112765/credit-mess-its-dems-fault#discuss tag:drudge.com,2005:weblog.112765 discussion, 112765 http://www.drudge.com/news/112693/democrats-and-double-standards http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/015/586pbxqj.asp When Barack Obama announced his presidential candidacy in Springfield, Illinois, on February 10, 2007, he promised to change the practice of American politics.<p>This campaign must be the occasion, the vehicle, of your hopes, and your dreams. It will take your time, your energy, and your advice--to push us forward when we're doing right, and to let us know when we're not. <p> Obama told the crowd on that chilly day that he was running "not just to hold an office, but to gather with you to transform a nation." He was particularly concerned with the way politicians run for office. He decried "the smallness of our politics" and "the chronic avoidance of tough decisions" and politicians who win by "scoring cheap political points." All of this, he said, had led voters to look away in "disillusionment and frustration."........ <p> Mon, 22 Sep 2008 08:33:40 -0400 JeffJ http://www.drudge.com/news/112693/democrats-and-double-standards#discuss tag:drudge.com,2005:weblog.112693 discussion, 112693 http://www.drudge.com/news/112690/big-labors-billion-dollar-bet-obama http://www.americanthinker.com/2008/09/big_labors_billion_dollar_bet_1.html The dirty little secret of Big Labor's massive support for the Obama campaign is the anticipated end to state right-to-work-laws and secret ballots in unionization campaigns.<p> Mon, 22 Sep 2008 07:48:47 -0400 jeffj http://www.drudge.com/news/112690/big-labors-billion-dollar-bet-obama#discuss tag:drudge.com,2005:weblog.112690 discussion, 112690 http://www.drudge.com/news/112587/why-islamists-cheer-obama http://www.americanthinker.com/2008/09/why_islamists_cheer_for_obama.html One of the most striking aspects of this presidential campaign is the enthusiasm the candidacy of Barack Obama has engendered among Muslims both at home and abroad. Fri, 19 Sep 2008 14:48:37 -0400 jeffj http://www.drudge.com/news/112587/why-islamists-cheer-obama#discuss tag:drudge.com,2005:weblog.112587 discussion, 112587 http://www.drudge.com/news/112475/problem-medias-palin-coverage http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/09/palin_and_the_partisan_press.html ..a vice-president tends to become the incumbent president's successor as his party's candidate eight years from now, with the potential to shape the direction of the party for decades to come..So if Sarah Palin is potentially the future of the Republican Party, it is vitally important to ask: who is Sarah Palin? What does she stand for? In what direction will she take her party? Wed, 17 Sep 2008 05:42:55 -0400 jeffj http://www.drudge.com/news/112475/problem-medias-palin-coverage#discuss tag:drudge.com,2005:weblog.112475 discussion, 112475 http://www.drudge.com/news/112452/mccain-ad-attacking-obamas-sex-ed http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=NzI3ZDUzOTE0ZThlMTU3MTY0MDI4ZTY0MTZhY2I2MGY=&w=Mw== What was that Illinois sex-education bill really about?<p> Tue, 16 Sep 2008 12:58:04 -0400 JeffJ http://www.drudge.com/news/112452/mccain-ad-attacking-obamas-sex-ed#discuss tag:drudge.com,2005:weblog.112452 discussion, 112452 http://www.drudge.com/news/112406/its-not-just-palin-its-message http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/09/its_not_just_palin_its_the_mes.html There is no question that John McCain's pick of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin has changed the dynamic of the 2008 Presidential campaign, moved the current wave of polling to the GOP's favor, and altered the terrain the rest of the election will likely be fought on. The Obama campaign's ability to recognize the shifting ground, understand that it is real, and adjust accordingly will determine the outcome. And the outcome, for the first time, is in doubt. <p>The Obama campaign went into the Democratic National Convention believing that the race would be fought out on Washington experience and "more of the same" vs change. This was essentially the same frame of the race the Obama camp had sustained for the first 16 months or so of the nominating fight with New York Senator Hillary Clinton. It worked in the primaries until the Clinton campaign shifted from "35 years of experience" to a much more "woman for change" oriented message in the later stages of the fight and nearly came back to win the nomination. <p> But the McCain campaign learned something from watching the Democratic primary fight. Throughout the 2008 primary season no matter how many polls said that Hillary Clinton had more experience to be President, no matter how wide her margin over Obama on "ready to be President on day one" it did not matter. Obama and his message of change won...... Mon, 15 Sep 2008 14:06:43 -0400 JeffJ http://www.drudge.com/news/112406/its-not-just-palin-its-message#discuss tag:drudge.com,2005:weblog.112406 discussion, 112406 http://www.drudge.com/news/112238/obamas-lipstick-fiasco http://www.suntimes.com/news/brown/1157191,CST-NWS-brown11.article For those who might not realize it, Barack Obama's line about "putting lipstick on a pig" is one of those down-home colloquialisms that national politicians love to overuse -- along Thu, 11 Sep 2008 11:46:49 -0400 JeffJ http://www.drudge.com/news/112238/obamas-lipstick-fiasco#discuss tag:drudge.com,2005:weblog.112238 discussion, 112238 http://www.drudge.com/news/112234/words-obama-regret http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/09/words_obama_will_regret.html On Monday, Senator Obama uttered one sentence that could haunt him until Election Day. He said of Senator McCain and Governor Palin telling voters they would bring change, "they must think you're stupid." Given his stances on the surge, social issues, and his past, Mr. Obama will regret those words.<p> ..........These actions have made a pattern. Mr. Obama has changed his position on numerous occasions, cannot explain why he has done so, and yet his campaign expects us to believe that he never changed his mind on any of those issues. <p>He must think we're stupid. <p> Thu, 11 Sep 2008 10:40:05 -0400 jeffj http://www.drudge.com/news/112234/words-obama-regret#discuss tag:drudge.com,2005:weblog.112234 discussion, 112234 http://www.drudge.com/news/112198/has-site-moderation-gotten-out-hand http://www.drudge.com/deleted-comments Look at the number of suspended members and my point becomes evident. The following users are currently suspended from posting: Pinche_Mao, ozzieoswald, truthhurts, eberly, celisary, Lipzoidial, TheOneBS, furio. <p> Wed, 10 Sep 2008 14:20:00 -0400 JeffJ http://www.drudge.com/news/112198/has-site-moderation-gotten-out-hand#discuss tag:drudge.com,2005:weblog.112198 discussion, 112198 http://www.drudge.com/news/112130/why-does-left-hate-sarah-palin http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/09/one_of_them_and_one_of_us.html One wonders: What did Sarah Palin ever do to inspire the rage and bile that exploded on her selection by John McCain? What is there either in this woman's record or resume to elicit such feline ferocity?<p> Tue, 09 Sep 2008 12:08:12 -0400 JeffJ http://www.drudge.com/news/112130/why-does-left-hate-sarah-palin#discuss tag:drudge.com,2005:weblog.112130 discussion, 112130