Political Pyro

When you lie down with dogs, you get up with fleas.

Barack Obama’s sudden rise through the Chicago political machine to national prominence, and now the White House, leaves many skeptics scratching their heads as to just how involved Obama may or may not have been in the sleazy dealings of the Chicago political underworld.

Illinois Senator Paul Simon and Governor Adlai Stevenson are two examples of squeaky-clean, 20th century politicians who managed to scrape their way through the machine to the national level without so much as buggering up their bow-ties, so to automatically assume that such a venture is not possible for Obama is a terrible disservice to those gentlemen.

The general consensus is that Obama did just that.

Yet, when Patrick Fitzgerald arrested Governor Rod Blagojevich in the early hours of Tuesday the 9th, many who initially hailed the zealous prosecutor for disrupting the notorious Chicago machine “in the middle of a crime spree,” soon began to set their sights on Obama and Company.

The initial knee-jerk reaction is common in journalism, and in no way implies any wrongdoing on the part of the Obama administration. For a fleeting moment, it appeared that reporters were finally willing to do their jobs and ask the President-elect some tough questions.

The response? Like shining a searchlight in an abandoned tenement kitchen.

Obama immediately stated that he had had no contact with Blagojevich concerning the Senate seat he leaves vacant, despite the fact that no such conversation would be considered unethical in any way. As a result, David Axelrod was forced to rescind his earlier statement claiming that Obama in fact had spoken with the governor. Rahm Emanuel suddenly made himself unavailable for questioning as it became widely understood he was the one doing all the communicating.

So why all the retracted statements? Why the guilty consciences?

The press has been all too eager to paint Blagojevich as a raving lunatic, but it merely underscores their willingness to throw him under the bus in order to protect Barack Obama. This should be expected from liberal media outlets, such as The New York Times, intent on reducing the governor’s credibility to that of a syphilis-ridden prostitute suffering the latter stages of dementia. But it only raises questions as to why the president-elect would need such protection if he is as squeaky clean as we are being lead to believe.

On October 17, 2008, the Chicago Tribune had this to say in their endorsement of Barack Obama for president:

On Dec. 6, 2006, this page encouraged Obama to join the presidential campaign. We wrote that he would celebrate our common values instead of exaggerate our differences. We said he would raise the tone of the campaign. We said his intellectual depth would sharpen the policy debate. In the ensuing 22 months he has done just that.

Many Americans say they’re uneasy about Obama. He’s pretty new to them.

We can provide some assurance. We have known Obama since he entered politics a dozen years ago. We have watched him, worked with him, argued with him as he rose from an effective state senator to an inspiring U.S. senator to the Democratic Party’s nominee for president.

On December 14, 2008, The Wall Street Journal wrote this about the Blagojevich investigation:

Conventional wisdom holds that U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald ordered the FBI to arrest Rod Blagojevich before sunrise Tuesday in order to stop a crime from being committed. That would have been the sale of the Senate seat vacated by President-elect Barack Obama.

But the opposite is true: Members of Fitzgerald’s team are livid the scheme didn’t advance, at least for a little longer, according to some people close to Fitzgerald’s office. Why? Because had the plot unfolded, they might have had an opportunity most feds can only dream of: A chance to catch the sale of a Senate seat on tape, including the sellers and the buyers.

The precise timing of Tuesday’s dramatic, pre-dawn arrest was not dictated by Fitzgerald, nor was it dictated by the pace of Blagojevich’s alleged “crime spree”. It was dictated by the Chicago Tribune, according to people close to the investigation and a careful reading of the FBI’s affidavit in the case.

Today, The New York Times reports:

When Patrick J. Fitzgerald, the United States attorney in Chicago, announced the arrest of the Illinois governor, Rod R. Blagojevich, Mr. Fitzgerald said he had acted to halt a political crime spree that included what he called an “appalling” effort to sell off the Senate seat vacated by President-elect Barack Obama.

But now some lawyers are beginning to suggest that the juiciest part of the case against Mr. Blagojevich, the part involving the Senate seat, may be less than airtight. There is no evidence, at least none that has been disclosed, that the governor actually received anything of value — and the Senate appointment has yet to be made.

In dealing with The Chicago Tribune, it seems Fitzgerald’s entire hand had been exposed to a newspaper whose connections within the machine remain unknown. Afterall, somebody tipped off Obama, who withdrew his preferred candidate, Valerie Jarrett, before the Tribune took it upon themselves to bust the investigation wide open on December 5th.

One suggestion for Fitzgerald the next time he deals with the Chicago Tribune in an investigation surrounding the presidential candidate they have endorsed: bug their offices first.

Current political score and predicted outcome: Chicago Machine, 1 — Justice, 0

Forget It, Fitz…….. It’s Chi-Town.

This morning, I woke up early enough to stumble across a Baltimore-based Christian program called “Empowerment Temple.” Like Obama’s church, it seems to have a backward identity: it is black first, political second, and religious last.

ADD sufferers: Fast forward to about 4:00 and don’t forget to turn your volume down… (more…)

To the best of my knowledge, no president-elect of the United States has ever had such a dense veil of secrecy surrounding his Constitutional eligibility to serve. With several cases being brought before the Supreme Court, one would think a definite Yay or Nay would exist at this point. (more…)

PYROmeter: 5.0

5 — Classic
4 — Excellent
3 — Good
2 — Fair
1 — Poor

This was a Rush Limbaugh recommendation. Had I paid attention a few years ago, I would have noticed this was the movie that denied “Pan’s Labyrinth” the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. That says a lot. Once you get past the fact you are reading a movie (3 minutes into the film), you will discover the long-forgotten Hell of living in Communist East Germany. (more…)

While this country seems to be in the midst of a whole-hearted lurch toward European-style Socialism, I must confess to being among those of a shrinking minority who still have grave doubts about Obamanomics and the direction we are headed.

The following chart provides statistics available online from The Heritage Foundation, The CIA’s World Factbook, and the Human Development Reports. Take the Free Market vs. Socialism Challenge. (more…)

This is very interesting and thought provoking. It will illuminate some of the things happening in America right now. This election is a watershed event in America and its future. Vote carefully, as it will effect you and your children for a long time in the future. –Val

Yuri Bezmenov, expert on Soviet propaganda and disinformation, escaped to the United States in 1970.

This entire sixteen minute interview, recorded twenty-four years ago, is an alarming prophesy of the Communist infiltration rapidly taking root even during the Reagan years. (more…)

When it comes to running for President, there are five simple truths that apply time and time again:

#1 – The best time for a bold, new kind of politician to run for the presidency is after eight long years of the opposing party running the show. John F. Kennedy understood this, as did Barack Obama. In each instance, the new guy won… (more…)

On December 5th, the Supreme Court will decide whether or not to pursue a case against Barack Obama claiming he is ineligible to serve as President of the United States. (more…)

The Guardian says it’s official. Hillary Clinton will be the next Secretary of State. (more…)

Now that the political dust has settled after an exhaustive two-year presidential campaign, I can honestly admit to feeling no bitterness at the outcome.

First, there is something powerful about listening to the voice of the people. Collective opinion must always outweigh the individual. For this, I will always humbly concede defeat.

Second, John McCain is no more a remedy to the ills of the Republican Party than George W. Bush was. In fact, he is part of what is wrong with it. Having your picture taken with Ronald Reagan twenty-eight years ago in the Oval Office is no substitute for ‘The Gipper’ himself. (more…)

“Sarah P.” is the first of two Obama insiders to reveal the candidate’s campaign of lies and mass deception. “Anonymous_14″ has revealed similar insight in her letter posted here. Both are must-reads. (more…)

For those of you who live and die for Real Clear Politics as the source for the most relevant news links of the day, I would like to draw your attention to a couple of articles that seemed to have slipped beneath their radar.

The first is Business Week, September 24, 2008:

Bill Clinton on the Banking Crisis, McCain, and Hillary

In this article, Bill Clinton explains that Obama’s deregulation myth has nothing to do with the current financial crisis. (more…)

Barack Obama’s staunch support for Raila Odinga (now Prime Minister of Kenya) during his bid for the Kenyan presidency was casually reported by the mainstream media last year. When Odinga lost, he encouraged an uprising by his supporters that resulted in genocide. (more…)

The recent financial meltdown on Wall Street may have been years in the making, but the climax has certainly come at a questionable time: two months before Election Day. The only problem is — no one seems to be asking the question:

How is it that trillion dollar corporations sliding into a hole of bad debt, hundreds of billions of dollars deep, suddenly decide to throw in the towel two months before Election Day? (more…)

The fact that John McCain’s polling numbers have been in steady decline since the beginning of the financial meltdown a few weeks ago, without any serious offensive to make a comeback, leads me to believe that the McCain camp is up to something really big.

In the past, whenever McCain looked as if he were fading, his campaign under the steady leadership of Steve Schmidt would suddenly snap out of it and launch a massive attack.

In essence, the pattern of attack that McCain has consistently shown he prefers is one that was no doubt learned from five and a half years in the Hanoi Hilton: strength through the perception of weakness. (more…)

Greta van Susteren recently sat down with Bill Clinton, who is in the middle of a media blitz promoting the Clinton Global Initiative, and asked a simple question that caught the former president uncharacteristically off guard:

VAN SUSTEREN: You raise the issue of values. And let me ask you a question that I ask very carefully because I don’t want to be misinterpreted. I don’t want anyone to read anything into my question and — you know, because this is one of the hottest items that any of us can talk about and we have to face it.

But what is the difference between an association with someone like David Duke and an association with someone like Reverend Wright? (more…)

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The current financial meltdown on Wall Street has editorial boards across the nation scurrying to find a culprit in what has become the largest market dump since 9/11.

Regardless of the accusations of corporate greed and risky miscalculations, the root of the problem for all of the faltering Wall Street giants seems to be in their mortgage investments. (more…)

Just before the South Carolina primary, Bill Clinton was slammed as a “racist” for saying two things:

First, Bill Clinton compared the historical candidacy of Barack Obama with the other historical candidacy of Jesse Jackson. In hindsight, the comparison seems fairly benign, but the Obama campaign tarred and feathered the former President with a charge so outrageous, it threatened Clinton’s legacy. (more…)

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Occasionally, ships need to be hauled into dry dock so the barnacles can be scraped off and a fresh coat of paint applied to the hull. Likewise, every few miles the Obama campaign bus needs to pull over so Axelrod can hose off the sludge from Barry’s past. (more…)

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On August 4th, incumbent Jewish congressman and Barack Obama supporter Steve Cohen won the Democratic primary against his racist black opponent, Nikki Tinker, in a landslide: 79 percent to 19 percent. This is what congressman Cohen was up against:

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John McCain recently revealed in an interview with George Stephanopoulos that he supported the proposed amendment to the Arizona Constitution that would ban “preferential treatment” on the basis of “race, sex, color, ethnicity or national origin.” Barack Obama immediately fired back saying he was “disappointed” in McCain’s position.

“You know, the truth of the matter is, these are not designed to solve a big problem, but they’re all too often designed to drive a wedge between people,” Obama said, speaking to a conference of minority journalists.

With this statement, yet again, Barack Obama displays his concern with speeches over action — design over finished product. The sinister intentions of the architects of this referendum are about as relevant to the law as what they had for breakfast that morning or what color tie they were sporting. The truth of the matter is, Senator Obama, the proposed amendment advocates total equality — something you do not advocate as you pander to the minority voter. (more…)

The state of Maryland, affectionately referred to as "The Nanny State" by most residents here, is a prime example in a microcosm of what the entire country will be like under a Marxist Obama administration with a Democratic majority in Congress. (more…)

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In my last post, Confessions of a White Man, I decided to use the words of Barack and Michelle Obama to apply to a white person. I believe their words and opinions to be racist, yet I knew no one would be upset until I changed "black" to "white". The following is a comment posted on that page — and then a response… (more…)

My experiences during this election year have made me far more aware of my ‘whiteness’ than ever before. I have found in America today, no matter how liberal and open-minded some of the black leaders and citizens try to be toward me, I sometimes feel like a visitor in this country; as if I really don’t belong. Regardless of the circumstances underwhich I interact with blacks in America, it often seems as if, to them, I will always be white first and an American second. (more…)

Part of my problem with the media coverage of the Obama campaign has been its blatant hypocrisy toward dealing with the issue of racism in America. Somehow, white people can be racist, black people cannot. West Virginians are racist. South Carolinians are not.

In truth, anyone can be a racist. One does not have to utter racial slurs to qualify as a racist either. It’s what’s in your heart and mind that counts… Or in your college thesis. (more…)

In an earlier post I described Barack Obama as a Marxist. A reader left a comment so irritating, I had to make a new post…

You are so off base. Obama is just trying to help the little guy. This has nothing to do with Marxism. There is only so many resources in the world and the corporate fatcats are making a profit off of all of our backs. As Michelle said: “someone is going to have to give up a piece of their pie so that someone else can have more. — Mike K

Mike — You say I am off base, yet you provide a quote by Michelle Obama that pretty much sums up the typical Marxist mantra. Unbelievable.

The Marxist/Socialist premise is that success should be punished while the non-producer heaps the rewards. I can’t think of a single country in history that has succeeded by governing with those low standards. I can’t think of a single person who has grown one ounce of pride by living “up” to those pathetic standards. (more…)

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As a white, male member of the Democratic Party since 1989, I am constantly accused of harboring some evil racist tendencies concerning my refusal to support Barack Obama. This accusation could not be further from the truth. I would like to set the record straight. (more…)

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When Ronald Reagan took office 27 years ago the threat of a nuclear showdown between the U.S. and the Soviet Union was ubiquitous in the American psyche.

Part of the “national fear” was knowing hundreds of nuclear weapons were pointed at our heads, but the greater fear by far was the possibility of losing the Cold War and surrendering our liberties to Soviet-style Communism.

As we understood it, “The Evil Empire”, gained complete control over the lives of every Soviet citizen. It was the supreme ruler of every thought and action. All property, all industry, in fact all artistic expression was under constant government regulation. (more…)

In the consumer age of federally mandated regulation and transparency, no product can be released to the public without a series of intense evaluations, tests, labels, and warnings.

Make that: Almost no product.

Look on the back of a soda can, or a box of Twinkies, and you will find a federally mandated list of ingredients. In music, check out the latest releases by Lupe Fiasco or Ghostface Killah and you will see a parental advisory warning on the cover. In movies and television, look for a rating flashed before the credits. Video games are rated. Bags come with a suffocation warning. Small items are choking hazards. Coffee is hot. Don’t eat the lead paint. Not intended to be a cure… (more…)

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Is Reverend Manning telling the truth when he says that Barack Obama is a closet homosexual? Hmmmmm…………….. (more…)

As a soon-to-be former member of the Democratic Party (meaning: when Howard Dean steals the nomination for Barack Obama by disenfranchising voters in Michigan and Florida… I’m out!), I’m trying to get used to the idea of defending John McCain. This is my first attempt. It goes against my 20 years of voting for the Democratic nominee, but considering the insidious campaign of the most un-American, lying, corrupt, hateful, polarizing, demeaning, race-baiting con with the thinnest resume in Presidential history……. it isn’t all that difficult. (more…)

Nicholas D. Kristof of The New York Times reported last year: “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 (it’ll give Alabama voters heart attacks), Mr. Obama described the call to prayer as ‘one of the prettiest sounds on Earth at sunset‘”. (more…)

Barack Obama’s staunch support for his cousin Raila Odinga’s bid for the Kenyan Presidency has long been forgotten by the American mainstream media. The ethnic cleansing that followed, however, is well-documented and quite disturbing…

The UK’s Telegraph reported:

“Hundreds of women and children, including boys as young as five, have been gang-raped in a wave of sexual violence that has swept Kenya in the aftermath of last week’s disputed presidential election.”

… Even more disturbing when you discover that it was planned all along. (more…)

Okay. I know the idea of Barack Obama being a closet Muslim has been debunked time and time again by Washington insiders and the media alike. We all know he has been attending Rev. Jeremiah Wright’s church for the past 20 years. I also know that not all Muslims are radical…

So then - why do I still feel like I’m being hoodwinked?

I did some online research to see if there was any “new” information I could find about Sen. Obama since the mainstream media is absolutely unwilling to do their job. Sure enough I found some… (more…)

I’ve long held the suspicion that Bill Clinton’s “slip-ups” of the past few months - arguing with reporters and hecklers alike, wagging his finger at the camera on several occasions, resurrecting the Bosnia sniper story when it had all but died, comparing Obama with Jesse Jackson in South Carolina, etc. - has been nothing short of a brilliant political move on the part of the Clintons.

The MSM has, on many occasions, questioned whether Bill was working for or against his wife’s candidacy. The pundits have been all too eager to psychoanalyze the rantings of the former President as if he were a man on a downward slide of sanity. They can’t seem to comprehend how Bill could possibly have lost his political savvy. I suggest he hasn’t. (more…)

When Al Gore lost the presidency to George W. Bush nearly eight years ago, Democrats all across the country were outraged that their candidate was defeated despite winning the popular vote by over a half-million votes.

Today, when media darling Barack Obama looks like he will repeat the Bush role (more delegates, less votes), the uproar is nowhere to be found. Everyone is focused on the delegates. Nevermind that neither candidate will score enough delegates to secure the nomination. Nevermind that each candidate will require the assistance of the superdelegates to push him or her over the top. Nevermind the popular vote entirely… It’s all about the delegates. (more…)

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