Obama supporters. What do you do when your candidate of “hope” and “change” starts doing a George Bush imitation? Did you hear what he said at the convention of the American Israeli Political Action Committee (AIPAC)? James Abourezk reports in COUNTERPUNCH that:

Obama declared Jerusalem indivisible, presumably for the Israelis only, in contrast to the United Nations’ holding that Jerusalem was, and is, an international city, belonging to neither side.

You can watch him here:

But the very next day, Barack Obama sounded a different tune. (more…)

Yet another video that the Republicans are rejoicing over while Independents are gasping:

Barack Obama, the presumptive presidential candidate who has hung out for over two decades with violent extremists, radical and racist preachers, and both backed and enabled the now-convicted Tony Rezko who bilked taxpayers out of millions and left poor people in uninhabitable housing he failed to renovate, said this last night in Philadelphia, a city plagued by crime and violence:

“If they bring a knife to the fight, we bring a gun. Because from what I understand, folks in Philly like a good brawl. I’ve seen Eagles fans.”

This man’s arrogance is so boundless, he believes that he can get away with anything.

– He grabs his wife’s behind  on stage before a TV audience of millions.

– He has invoked hip-hop singer’s Jay-Z “battle” anthem: “Stab the Ladies…Middle Finga To The Law” by giving Hillary Clinton the middle finger (by running his middle digit down his cheeck) and dusting her off his shoulder. Obama is a professed fan of Jay-Z, whose lyrics begin:

If you feelin’ like a @imp @igga, go and brush your shoulders off
Ladies is pimps too, go and brush your shoulders off
@iggaz is crazy baby, don’t forget that boy told you
Get, that, dirt off your shoulder (Read all.)

– He has quoted, numerous times, the words of Malcolm X in Spike Lee’s film (see the “Bamboozled” video below the fold).

As Mike’s America at the Flopping Aces blog asks, depressingly, “And they call Bush a cowboy?” Tom Maguire hits the nail on the head in his post, “The Chicago Way” at his blog Just One Minute:

1. I deplore this exhortation to random gunplay - what sort of a message does this send to America’s youth, too many of whom have grown up in a culture glorifying violence? Is Obama a serious Presidential candidate or yet another rapper with yet another beef?

2. I deplore the imagery of a black man waving a gun to settle a dispute …

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After reading two fine pieces at No Quarter, the first by Bud White and Medusa and the second by TexasDarlin I began to look at some similarities. So while researching into the life of Stokley Carmichael, the mentor of Michelle Obama, the first thing that popped out at me was an amazing similarity between the rantings of Carmichael and the ravings of spiritual mentor to Barack Obama, Jeremiah Wright.

It is no coincidence that both Obamas have an affinity for this black separatist mentality. Just consider one of the more radical statements from Jeremiah Wright. The one where he blames the US government of creating AIDS to kill black folk. Now look at what Carmichael stated:

His last words !

In 1967, U.S. imperialism was seriously planning to assassinate me. It still is, this time by an FBI induced cancer, the latest in the white man’s arsenal of chemical and biological warfare, as I am more determined to destroy it today than in 1967.

One should note that this belief of institutionalized oppression predates the work of Cone and his Black Liberation Theology. In other words, it was from The Nation of Islam that Black Liberation Theology had it’s real roots, not from Cone as some would have you believe. Witness this praise from Carmichael to the Nation of Islam.

In 1966, when I had just been elected Chairperson of the Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee, my first official act, was to visit the Honorable Elijah Muhammad and the Nation of Islam. It is then that he ordered all members of the Fruit of Islam to protect me wherever I traveled, anywhere in the world. I am still under that umbrella of protection today, here in Africa, in Guinea. I could never be ungrateful to the Nation of Islam, to the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, nor to his incarnation - Minister Louis Farrakhan.

Carmichael was not a real civil rights leader as some proclaim. He wasn’t interested in reconciliation and integration. He was into separation and revolution. Very pro black and anti-white.
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I’ve received at least five copies of this during the past week — and another one today — from neighbors and acquaintances who are Republicans. They’re having so much fun mocking Obama. You regulars will remember this one, but it’s worth posting again. Not just because 740,000+ people have viewed this video (and more the other copies online). But because it’s a sobering reminder of the problem that all Obama supporters face: What has he accomplished that they can point to?

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Original published on 6/9/08, along with comments, lost to server error.

“Senator Obama is minimizing his association with Rashid Khalidi…former member of the Palestinian Liberation Organization…”

Here’s the meat of the Obama-Khalidi story, as reported in the investigative piece by Sean Hannity, which is part of his “The Real Barack Obama” series:

Obama was asked recently in a forum with Jewish voters in Florida about his relationship with Palestinian activist Rashid Khalidi. Khalidi, an outspoken critic of the US policy in Israel, was an employee of the Palestinian Liberation Organization “at a time when that was a designated terrorist organization,” according to Daniel Pipes of the Middle East Forum.

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One of the criticisms of Obama’s portfolio for becoming president is his lack of travel. Although his campaign has long touted his youth in Indonesia as evidence of his international street cred, Obama is nowhere near as traveled as his rival John McCain.

Looks like the Obama campaign is going to combat this perception by arranging the “Obama World Tour.”

Susan Rice is Obama’s senior foreign-policy advisor. She confirmed the campaign is looking at travel before August.

Rice, who was an assistant secretary of state to President Clinton, said that Obama’s international appeal stemmed from the fact that he “represents to the rest of the world the best of the American dream at a time when they have become disillusioned and disappointed with America. He’s a new generation of leadership that’s globally oriented and aware. By virtue of his family background and having lived abroad in his youth, he has a unique appreciation of different cultures, different societies, and represents an American leadership that’s committed to more cooperative solutions.”

But, apparently choosing which countries to grace and which to leave for later is causing some headaches. (more…)

Original published on 6/11/08, along with comments, lost to server error.

Memo to: Sen. Barack Obama
Subject: Missing Documents

Now that you are the “presumptive nominee” for the Democratic Party, it’s important to unlock the file cabinet and disclose key documents that seem to be in hiding. It’s best to make your life an open book now rather than get hammered by the GOP and 527s for secrecy. They’ve already started, in case you have not noticed.

Missing documents to be released ASAP should include:

1. Birth certificate — read the Internet…There is a growing buzz about your reported refusal to release it. Put these silly rumors to rest, and publish immediately!

2. College records. It’s said that you refuse to release them, especially those from Columbia. Surely this must be inaccurate information. Please provide them right away in order to quash these pesky allegations! (more…)