Obama Boffo as Queeg & O'Reilly Delivers in McCain Mutiny on Factor

O'Reilly:
The witness is understandably
agitated. I request a recess.


Obama:
I don't want a recess.

O'Reilly:
- Did you conduct such a search?
- Yes.

Obama:
My disloyal friends failed me,
and the key couldn't be found.


O'Reilly:
wasn't this whole fuss
over a quart of strawberries?

Obama:
The pilfering of food is a very
serious occurrence on board a ship.

O'Reilly:

You were told that the mess boys
ate the berries. There was no key.


Obama:

The key was not imaginary. I don't
know anything about the mess boys.

O'Reilly:

Have you no recollection of
a conversation with William Ayers?

Didn't he tell you that
the mess boys ate the strawberries?


Obama:

I remember he was grateful
for his community grant. His wife was nuts.

O'Reilly:

Do you know
where he is now?


He's in Chicago. He can be flown
up here in three hours if necessary.


- Shall we have him testify?

Obama:
- No, I ... ( takes two stell balls from the pocket of his Aramani jacket and rolls them throughout the interview)

I don't see any need of that.

Now that I recall, he might have
said something about mess boys.

I questioned many men, and Ayers
was not the most reliable Democrat.

O'Reilly:

The defence has no other recourse
than to produce William Ayers.

Obama

There's no need for that.
He'll only tell you lies.


All the candiates were disloyal.
They were always fighting me.

If the crew wanted their
shirt-tails out, they'd let them.


Take the tow line ...
defective equipment.


But they began spreading wild
rumours about steaming in circles, -


- and then "Old Yellowstain". I was
to blame for McCain's incompetence. ( rolls up a storm here!)


McCain was the perfect candidate,
but not Barack.


But the strawberries,
that's where I had them.


I proved with geometric logic that a
duplicate key to the icebox existed.


I could have produced that key. They
were protecting some candidate...


Naturally, I can only cover
these things from memory.


If I've left anything out,
just ask me specific questions -


- and I'll be glad to answer them
one by one.


O'Reilly -

Tomoorow! Don't miss Part Trois of our series of Masterpiece Theatre with Senator Barack Obama - Live from Community Orgainizer's Playhouse - On the No Spin Zone!

Cut! Cut!!!! Cut!!!!! God Damn it!!! I'll read the script! I'll write the script ! We Off? Oh That's just great!!!

Denver Hellas! Meet Zorba the Geek!

OOooooPPPah! Winfrey!
Getting all Hellenic for Thusday now that Mount Obama is featuring a Greek Temple! You can NOT make this stuff up!

Ooooooppp-ah!

"All of them, my son. It's a great sin to say this is good and that is bad." -- "Why? Can't we make a choice?" -- "No, of course we can't.". . . The aim of man and matter is to create joy, according to Zorba – others would say ‘to create spirit,’ but that comes to the same thing on another plane. But why? With what object? And when the body dissolves, does anything at all remain of what we have called the soul? Or does nothing remain, and does our unquenchable desire for immortality spring, not from the fact that we are immortal, but from the fact that during the short span of our life we are in the service of something immortal?
N. Kazantzakis speaking through Alexi Zorba - Zorba the Greek

'I've got two daughters. 9 years old and 6 years old. I am going to teach them first of all about values and morals. But if they make a mistake, I don't want them punished with a baby.'
Barack Obama the Doric God of Denver is Zorba the Geek!


Winfrey!

Tribune Updates the Cullen Davis ( Dad was Obama's Law Boss) Complicity in Boy's Death

The Tribune updated its story on the death this summer of Curtis Cooper and the complicity of the property managers United Property Advisors (UPA)that is raking in millions of dollars from the Chicago Housing Authority (CHA).

Yesterday's article deftly stepped around the 'alleged' crumb in the unhappy accident that caused Curtis Cooper's death - Cullen Davis.

Cullen Davis, like William Ayers, is the wee lad of a well-connected Lefty Dad, who has his own bundle of problems with the Feds.

Yesterday, I posted a rather piquant prose philippic that noted the obvious and glaring side-step around Cullen Davis and his well-juiced Dad.

The Tribune locked Mayor Daley into the tale, which makes sense, but seemed to give a complete pass to Allison Davis. Allison Davis, who is very white, was made to appear to be Mayor Daley's African American link to the community. Rather, Allison Davis, who is very white, was Barack Obama's Law boss.

Allison Davis is a member of the Progressive Apparatus of lefty lawyers, journalists, activists, and opportunists who get a pass from the Medill School of Journalism for peccadilloes, wallet-liftings, fund-miss appropriations and other Lefty high-jinks. Let's see if the Trib gets hot-under the bra on this story, though it may lead to the conviction of 'a licensed attorney and real estate broker bringing visionary and strategic leadership to Urban Property Advisors (UPA) plus a number of companies and ventures impacting change in urban environments:'Cullen Davis. Shucks, if the Tribune wants you to suffer - you suffer! Ask George Ryan. If a piece falling off a truck and killing six children can be made to prosecute and destroy the Governor of Illinois, how high the moon? Unless, of course the Medill Industry demands a pass for Progressives.

Today the Tribune added a bit more to the horrific tale of little Curtis Cooper's Death. They included Cullen Davis, who is very white but served as an aid to Rep. Danny K. Davis - no relation I presume - which is only fitting and should have been in the first paragraph of yesterday's feature.

Here is the thing. The Tribune had no problem linking this little boy's death to Mayor Daley - a very wholesome villain to MSM -but blanched at pointing out the very powerful connection between Allison Davis/Tony Rezko and Senator Obama. Why is that?
Tim Novak the only real newsman of the bumptious Chicago Sun Times has been a pitbull with his buckers sunk deeply in cheeks of the Progressive paragons - Obama/Rezko/Davis.

Credit where due - the Trib threw us a bone this morning:


UPA is run by Cullen Davis. His father, Allison, also has been an official with the firm, according to state records. Cullen Davis also declined to comment because of the pending lawsuit.

HUD inspectors reported that the conditions of the gates worsened over the last two years, records show. In 2006, the problem was judged to be of midlevel severity, with a rating of 2 on a scale of 1 to 3. The level was raised to 3 in two subsequent inspections, in April and December of last year.

Under HUD's inspection system, housing authorities are required to immediately fix problems regarded as pressing health and safety concerns, such as exposed wiring and blocked fire exits. Inspectors found many such violations on their last visit to the Cabrini-Green Rowhouses and gave the project a score of 30 points out of a possible total of 100—a "very bad score," Hanson said.

The condition of the gates, however, was not marked as life-threatening and thus did not require immediate repair. Hanson said HUD's computer software, in use for about 10 years, does not allow problems with gates or fences to be designated as life-threatening.

Even though it was not required to fix the gates immediately, the CHA should have made sure they were repaired, said Eleny Ladias, director of technical services for HUD in Chicago. "It's up to the housing authority. They're required to follow up with those type of repairs."

CHA officials said non-emergency items needing repair usually are "addressed by the property manager." They declined to comment on whether the broken gates were ever fixed.

UPA got the contract to manage the rowhouses where Curtis Cooper lived at the end of 2005, taking over from a resident-run management group. Residents have been critical of the firm's work, and some said the gates have long been in bad shape. "The gates were raggedy as hell," said Sherri Montgomery, a lifelong resident of the rowhouses.

After the accident, UPA posted signs warning children not to play on or near the gates. "It's too damn late," said Clayton Wade, Curtis Cooper's father. "The baby's dead."

lcohen@tribune.com

solkon@tribune.com

jgrotto@tribune.com

Like the Ayers/Obama papers held hostage at Cement City, better late than never.

Whenever I am near a Progressive Do-Gooder, I throw both hands over the Left check of my ass to protect my wallet.

Whenever a Progressive Do-Gooder gets near poor people, they rake in millions, properties get boarded up, and people die.

John McCain: Scarlett Johansson says"I am engaged to Barack Obama,"

Uh, Uh! No, You Don't, skinny White Girl! Barack is Married! And, Barry, as your Kansas-bred maternal forebears would be wont to say, 'Dance with who brung, you, Bub!'

What's all this in the Denver Post? While squirreling around Al Gore's invention for an update on P-Diddy's Paeon to Obama ( HuffPo dogged it off the website quicker than Keith Olbermann can wolf down a 32 oz. sack of Frito Flamin'Hots) I came upon this touching, albeit self-serving, bit of cheesecake from the actress her own bad self.

"My heart belongs to Barack," she told an Associated Press reporter in January. "I am engaged to Barack Obama," she joked.

Now, you know how these hateful and vicious rumors like, ' Hey, Barry! When didn't you not refuse to blow up the Pentagon with Billy Ayers?' or ' Senator, where is your birth certificate?' I'd say something like, 'I left it ( Birth Certificate) in my jeans after biking and Michele washed them and it's in pretty bad shape. Not the Birth Certificate I remember.'

Hell, Scarlett Johansson is your e-mail buddy, Senator? Dang. I get e-mails from the good folks at Colon Cleanse, or announcements that I am the only person in the world that Nigerian Blood Diamond Martyrs trust with conducting a bank account securement - in THIS country. Here's what Obama gets:

Actress Scarlett Johansson says she is stunned that Barack Obama has the time to answer her e-mails. But he does, often, with fan messages of his own to the 23-year-old film star, the New York Daily News reports.

Johansson, star of such big-screen hits as "Lost in Translation" and "The Nanny Diaries," has campaigned tirelessly for Obama and did a turn in his celebrity-packed "Yes We Can" Internet music video.

"My heart belongs to Barack," she told an Associated Press reporter in January. "I am engaged to Barack Obama," she joked.

The New York-born actress told Politico.com she has swapped friendly e-mails with the Democratic presidential hopeful for months.

Johansson expressed shock that Obama finds time to respond to her with messages she described as "thoughtful" and more than a brief line or two.

"You'd imagine that someone like the senator who is constantly traveling and constantly 'on' - how can he return these personal e-mails?" she told the Politico website. "But he does, and in his off-time I know he also calls people who have donated the minimum to thank them."

Here's mine from a Solicitor Mark Evans in Old Blightey:

Mr. Mark Evans.
Private Email: markevansesq@gmail.com



ATTN:

We do not know each other, but you are one of the three persons I sent this email with hope to get a positive and sincere response, in order to go into a deal that would bring life fortune to both of us.

I am Barrister, Mark Evans solicitor at law. I am the personal attorney to Engr. Morris Haddad nationality of your country, who was a Contractor and has spent most of his life in my country (Spain).

On the 19th of April 2004, my client, his wife and their only son were involved in a ghastly car accident along Pinto express road. All occupants of the vehicle unfortunately lost their lives. Since then I have made several enquiries to his embassy to locate any of my clients extended relatives but all efforts was unsuccessful. After these several unsuccessful attempts, I decided to contact you and solicit for your assistance as a foreigner to execute the claim of this fund.

I have contacted you to assist in repatriating the assets and Capital valued at US$10.5million left behind by my client before they get confiscated or declared unserviceable by the BANK in, Madrid Spain where these huge deposits were lodged. The said Bank has issued me a notice to provide the next of Kin or have the account confiscated within the next twenty-one Official working days.

Since I have been unsuccessful in locating the relatives for over 2 years now, I seek the consent to present you as the Next of kin to the deceased since no-one has come for the fund, so that the proceeds of this account can be paid to you. The request of a foreigner as the next of kin in this transaction is occasioned by the fact that my client was a foreigner and it will be better for you to stand as the next of kin to my client. Therefore, on receipt of your positive response, we shall then discuss the sharing ratio and modalities for transfer. I have all necessary information and legal documents needed to back you up for claim.

All I require from you is your honest cooperation to enable us see this transaction through. I guarantee that this will be executed under a legitimate arrangement that will protect you from any breach of the law. Please reply via e-mail at; markevansesq@gmail.com

Waiting to hear from you

Best regards,

MARK EVANS

Cheers, Mark. You can set your Rolex by my reply!

I can imagine what John McCain gets from Wilford Brimley:

Dear John,

I caught you on TV in New Orleans last week. Must say, you looked mighty peekid. Seriously, Mr. President, I thought I was watching Bill 'Now, Wait a Damn Minute' Clinton with that nauseating Green Back drop and all.

Now I helped millions of Americans get healthy. Well, we all are what we are, I guess you might say by an accident of birth.

Try a week or two of Quaker Oats, Mr. President - John as your friend, but most of as one of your troops. As a man much wiser once said "It's the right thing to do and the tasty way to do it." Now that's the By God Truth, my Friend.

Any truth to the rumors, John, that Scarlett Johansen is engaged to that Obama kid? Just asking.

My Best to Cindy and kids!

Wilford

Hugo Chavez Calls Interpol Cops Clowns! Emmet Kelly Calls Edward R. Murrow ' Keith Olbermann' - Ubi Caritas, Populi?

El Jefe Hugo Chavez, the Venezuelan Dictator, who controls all the Chevron gas pumps that I pass by, has his XXL Haines in a lumpy knot over yesterday's Interpol announcement that the lap-top computer found in a backpack belonging to a bumped off FARC terrorist in Columbia that contains references to Senator Barack Obama in its evil menu of dastardly tricks is valid and untouched. Hugo protested that files of computer were altered by some Gringo scoundrels and ne'er-do-wells.

Interpol - the International Police Agency - said the FARC info is accurate - certainly if not legit. Hugo Chavez called the Interpol report 'A Clown Show!' Now what would Simon Bolivar say, Jefe?

It seems that Ayers/Chavez/Dohrn/Chesa Boudin/FARC and Senator Barack Obama have some parsing to do.




Hat Tip to one of my favorite tree stands of boffo news items and ripping yarns torn from cyberspace IBD Editorials!

John McCain: Neil Steinberg's 'Riot of the Heart' is Important Reading

Chicago Sun Times columnist Neil Steinberg writes from the heart and uses a powerful noggin in support of that organism. Today, again, Neil Steinberg sticks his neck out with commentary on the debate about race, begun when Barack Obama's bat-guano crazy Uncle Jeremiah's bitter and hateful lectures on themes of victimhood and loopy conspiracies sprinted around the media. Barack Obama was in the jack-pot for not explaining exactly how his close and decades-long discipleship to Wright does not, in any way, affect his own view of America.

Like a good politician, Senator Obama changed the subject and deftly avoided answering the question and simultaneously crafting an artificial National Dialogue on Race: Black America ( really, the Victim Cottage Industry) tells everyone else how horrible whites are, have been and shall always be, while the monologues plays out. This National Dialogue consists of the position that White Supremacy makes life hell on earth for black Americans - now, nod with conviction.

Dollar Store black author and showman,Michael Eric Dyson celebrated the Anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King's assassination with this bit of prose:

“Before 1965, King was upbeat and bright, his belief in white America 's ability to change by moral suasion resilient and durable. That is the leader we have come to know during annual King commemorations. After 1965, King was darker and angrier; he grew more skeptical about the willingness of America to change without great social coercion.

King's skepticism and anger were often muted when he spoke to white America , but they routinely resonated in black sanctuaries and meeting halls across the land. Nothing highlights that split -- or white America 's ignorance of it and the prophetic black church King inspired -- more than recalling King's post-1965 odyssey, as he grappled bravely with poverty, war and entrenched racism. That is the King who emerges as we recall the meaning of his death. After the grand victories of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the 1965 Voting Rights Act, King turned his attention to poverty, economic injustice and class inequality. King argued that those "legislative and judicial victories did very little to improve" Northern ghettos or to "penetrate the lower depths of Negro deprivation." In a frank assessment of the civil rights movement, King said the changes that came about from 1955 to 1965 "were at best surface changes" that were "limited mainly to the Negro middle class." In seeking to end black poverty, King told his staff in 1966 that blacks "are now making demands that will cost the nation something. ... You're really tampering and getting on dangerous ground because you are messing with folk then."

Neil Steinberg offers a profound antiphon to the all-too familiar voices in the Media who would verbally nod with conviction over Dyson's pettifogging nonsense:

Of course they had cause ( to riot -infinitive, my own) -- their lives mired in poverty, cramped by lack of opportunity, rubbed raw against racism, and their best hope for change, a man of enormous wisdom and eloquence, cut down by a white racist.

But were they right to do it? I'd say no. Who did they hurt? They hurt themselves -- burned their own community, killed and wounded each other, largely.

Connect that to today. I'm not commenting on the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, personally, because I don't know him and refuse to judge him based on snippets posted by political shills. But his infamous "God damn America" is an attitude not unknown in the black community, where victimhood and bitterness and anger are too addictive for some to avoid.

We see this attitude in Wright's congregation, and its fervid, knee-jerk reply to critics -- we were wronged! Which shows they don't understand that many Americans don't know and don't care about the troubles they've seen, but do notice and do care when somebody trashes our country -- a riot of the heart, as it were. Like the West Side rioters, they only hurt themselves or, rather, they hurt the first black candidate with a real shot at the White House.

Click My post title for Neil Steinberg's fine Column

Gabby Barry Obama's Cracker Barrel Funhouse - Set a Spell!

'Right There's Where the Big Man went Back into the sea . . .'


Hat Tip to John Rubery - Marthon Pundit


Click my post title for the whopper yarned up by Gabby Barry back in Atlanta a while back - after a new snappy yarn around Gabby Barry's Cracker Barrel!


http://marathonpundit.blogspot.com/


Why, pull up a cracker barrel and let Old Gabby Barry spin a whopping good yarn that'll tickle yer funny bones and melt your hearts . . .Well, you see now, it was way back in '69, when my Pappy went a lobster prospectin' offa Martha's Vineyard Hawaii, I was just a sprat then, ya see and I mighta gotta couple a couplets just a . . .tad off'n this here drama-poem . . . let's see, now . .

Ol' Pap Obama borry'd a skiff that leaked like the Bush Administration when Scooter had couple a pulls from the Old Clay Keg, ya see ( Old Gabby Barry pulls out and snaps open a Buck knife and commences to whittle away at a piece of driftwood) and that old skiff 'n he rode out through the surf offa Nantucket, Hawaii. Surf was particular sharp and durn'd if that Ol Skiff didn't sprung a leak and the Atlantic -Pacific Ocean started a bubblin' up through the planks and Pap set to all the balin' and a whupping the wet stuff up over the gunwhales and the waters wouldn't help none 'cuz they was that determined to have Ol Pap. Pap was a By-God Kenyan and No Kenyan'll allow that old bubbly stuff to stop him. No, Sir!

Well Sir, ( Gabby Barry sets down the driftwood and goes snake-eyed) the Atlantic-Pacific said "She'd have Pap - the Ol Sea-Witch Herself!

Pap, weren't a swimmer; and he was an Economics Major Lobstering Man! Down the Old Ocean pulled Pap!

Pap went into what he thought was a dream - he dreamed of a Huge black car a flyin' like a BOAC 727! A Huge Black 1967 Oldsmobile Delmont 88. And down in the foamy brine it plunged! SA WHOSH! Down into the foamy brine! A Giant of Man popped through a busted window of the '67 Delmont and swam like a Mark IV Torpedo straight to where Pap Obama - a Kenyan Lobstering' Economics Man - was sinking to Davvy Jones' Locker.

Down Pap Obama went and he thought he's gonner when he's grabbed by the powerful fist of this mighty man around the scruff of Pap's brand new White Arrow Shirt Size 14 1/2" collar - Pap was wiry.

Pap was groggy and poppin' in and out of his dreamy state. He sorta came to . . . and saw the Huge Man with Thick curly hair and a Manly Jaw-line that woulda done Tom Mix Proud, Sir!

The Man was not even wet.

Pap managed 'Thankee, Stranger.' But the Big Man Moved off to the Surf Again.

'Where to Friend?,' yelled Pap.

'Gotta Go, Mary Jo . . .' and into the crashing surf offa Martha's Vineyard Hawaii disappeared the BIGGEST MAN Pap would ever hope to meet. That Big Man Saved Pap's Bacon! Pap give up the bacon - an all manner of pork with time -but Pap was a-mighty troubled.

'Why'd that Big Feller call me Mary Jo? My Name's Barry Senior! Ain't that wonderment?'

Well young 'uns. I'm done with my yarn and done a whittlin' this here $100 Dime outta this here driftwood an' it's got Ol Pap's likeness on it. Can I make Change, or what, young fellers? Now, scat - listen to yer folks, eat yer vegetables, mind yer manners, an believe ever' word ya here on MSNBC- The Tool Shed! Now, scat and get to yer chores! See you all, next week, around Gabby Barry's Cracker Barrel!

Jeremiah Wright -Well Past Time to Get Right with Italian- Americans, But Never Too Late!

Had Barack Obama's Pastor been introduced to the warmth, style, grace, devotion, patriotism, charity and musical genius of Italian Americans, he might not have uttered the ugly, bitter, hateful slurs against these great Americans.

Click my post title and pass this along to Rev. Jeremiah Wright - it is never too late.


Obama's Pastor Slurs Italians in Latest Magazine
By Penny Starr
CNSNews.com Senior Staff Writer
March 26, 2008

(CNSNews.com) - Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr., pastor emeritus of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago where Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) has been a member for two decades, slurred Italians in a piece published in the most recent issue of Trumpet Newsmagazine.

"(Jesus') enemies had their opinion about Him," Wright wrote in a eulogy of the late scholar Asa Hilliard in the November/December 2007 issue. "The Italians for the most part looked down their garlic noses at the Galileans."

Wright continued, "From the circumstances surrounding Jesus' birth (in a barn in a township that was under the Apartheid Roman government that said his daddy had to be in), up to and including the circumstances surrounding Jesus' death on a cross, a Roman cross, public lynching Italian style. ...

"He refused to be defined by others and Dr. Asa Hilliard also refused to be defined by others. The government runs everything from the White House to the schoolhouse, from the Capitol to the Klan, white supremacy is clearly in charge, but Asa, like Jesus, refused to be defined by an oppressive government because Asa got his identity from an Omnipotent God."

Every issue of the magazine published last year included Wright's column, "The Message," in which he covered a range of subjects, including his views on other African-American churches as expressed in his April 2007 commentary "Facing the Rising Sun."

"In a world that is controlled by white supremacy, in a country that is on its way to hell in a hand basket because of lying politicians, in a culture that still thinks 'white is right' and with young people who do not have a clue as to our story, our history, our legacy or our destiny, we still have African-American Christians who are more concerned about 'bling bling' than about freeing our minds," Wright wrote.

In a nationally broadcast speech on March 18, Obama distanced himself from Wright by saying he "condemned, in unequivocal terms, the statements of Reverend Wright that have caused such controversy." But Obama also said, "I could no more disown him than I could disown the black community."

According to his federal income tax return for 2006, Obama gave the Trinity United church that year $22,500 in contributions.

The Clinton campaign has not commented on the controversy, but in an interview Tuesday with the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) said actions speak louder than words.

"He would not have been my pastor," Clinton said. "You don't choose your family, but you choose what church you want to attend.

"You know, I spoke out against Don Imus (a radio talk show host who was fired for making racially insensitive remarks about black female basketball players at Rutgers University), saying that hate speech was unacceptable in any setting, and I believe that," Clinton said.

"I just think you have to speak out against that. You certainly have to do that, if not explicitly, then implicitly by getting up and moving," she added.

Trumpet Newsmagazine started publication in the 1980s in Chicago and distribution expanded in March 2006 to several other cities, with broader circulation through subscriptions. On the magazine's masthead, Wright is named as the magazine's CEO and Wright's daughter, Jeri Wright, is the publisher.

Requests for comments from Jeri Wright, the magazine's marketing staff, and the Obama campaign were not answered by press time.

The last Trumpet to be published was the November/December edition, a double issue that featured a remembrance of "Pan-Africanist" Hilliard and a profile of Louis Farrakhan, who was the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement "Dr. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr. Trumpeter" award at the magazine's 25th anniversary gala late last year.

Farrakhan has called Judaism a "gutter religion" and said Jews are "bloodsuckers," as reported in The New York Times.

Trumpet Newsmagazine also included myriad articles and regular features geared toward the black community, ranging from health, parenting, music and the arts, to profiles of successful members of the community and tips on everything from dating to spiritual well-being.

Many political observers have said that Obama's speech last week limited the damage of the ongoing Wright controversy, but others say the issue is continuing to hamper his campaign.

"I don't think it's going to go away," Ralph Reed, a long-time conservative activist and political strategist who now runs Century Strategies based in Duluth, Ga., told Cybercast News Service.

"Because while Obama's speech was thoughtful and eloquent, it didn't address the central issue, and that's why he would have someone as such a close spiritual advisor with such extreme views," Reed added.

"Let me be clear," Reed added. "I don't think any candidate should have to answer for the theological views of their pastor, church or denomination. But (Wright's) were not theological views, but political statements."

"I think it's more likely to be a serious issue in the general election, more than in the primaries," Reed said.

http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewPolitics.asp?Page=/Politics/archive/200803/POL20080326a.html

Code Stupid, Part VI: Snow Runs Off The Committed Mopes from Last Night's Action at Cardinal's Residence

My Godson, Bart, questioned the choice of 'domestic terrorist' in describing the violent assault on worshippers this past Sunday at the Easter Mass of Holy Name Cathedral by The Catholic Schoolgirls Against the War. Bart is a wonderful and thoughtful young man. Yep, domestic terrorist works here. Any act of violence perpetrated upon persons with no direct involvment in policy, strategy, or tactical involvement in any conflict is an act of terror. Bart thought that I have been watching too much Fox Cable News - Bill-O, Hannity, and that crew - the guys that Hate McCain. Not so, young nephew. I watch only local news NBC Channel 5, because the only news person with any brains or integrity is Mary Ann Ahern. But for comic relief, I tune in to the clown opera at MSNBC - The Tool Shed. MSNBC has more Tools on hand than the Sears Hardware Outlet on 111th Street.

Yesterday, the network sent out a press release calling for an 'Action' at Cardinal George's residence.

Didn't happen - the snow covered the commitment. 'These are Times that Try Men's Souls' and snow and Chicago wind off of LaSalle Drive and State parkway is tough on the timid.

Here is a report on the activities of the radical network that sparked the Easter Guerrilla Theatre:

First, we should examine the base element of the Catholic Schoolgirls Against the War and their supporters.

Catholic School Girls Against the War
The website for the Illinois Coalition for Peace and Justice (which evidently hosts the group’s Internet presence) describes the group as:

“...a humorous, political street theatre group composed of college students and young adults.”

It is obvious to even the most intellectually challenged that the designation “street theatre group” is an attempt to inoculate their actions; an attempt to re-define any of their civil disobedience – criminal acts – as “theatre.”

As far as the “humorous” description goes, I suppose humor is in the eye of the beholder, although I don’t believe that any of the young children in attendance at Holy Name Cathedral, children who were frightened by the actions of this group – in their place of worship, a place that is meant to provide sanctuary, found the splattering of fake blood and shrieks of agenda-driven insolence “humorous.”

Illinois Coalition for Peace & Justice
In their Structure & Statement of Values, the Illinois Coalition for Peace & Justice, which is linked to the Progressive Democrats of America website, claims their organization:

“...models a just and peaceful society...[resolving] to use our work in the Illinois Coalition for Peace and Justice as a model of equal and supportive relationships in a peaceful and just society...”

The ICPJ is by definition an anti-war protest organization. Where they claim to act as a coordinating organization, they facilitate the activities of a number of activist groups, including the American Muslim Council, the Campus Anti-War Network and Code Pink, to name just three.

Interestingly, their Structure & Statement of Values declaration says they:

“...work in common for: alternatives to militarism, global community, lives of active nonviolence, human rights for all, preservation of the environment...”

By disrupting a religious service and, in the process, creating fear among children and angst among adults, it is hard to see how the ICPJ – through its member organization, the Catholic Schoolgirls Against the War – promoted any of these tenets and/or values, especially “global community,” “nonviolence” or “human rights.”

International Solidarity Movement
The organization that sent a representative to act as a “witness” for the protesters, the International Solidarity Movement, is an anti-war organization but only where the United States and the West are concerned. In fact, it can be argued that they are vehemently anti-Western and anti-American.

The International Solidarity Movement is, according to Discover the Networks,

“...a radical, anti-Israel organization that recruits Westerners to travel to Israel to obstruct Israeli security operations...[they justify] Palestinian terrorism against Israeli civilians...”

Though the organization claims to adhere to a commitment to non-violence, its members openly call for the "liberation of Palestinians by any means necessary...[including] legitimate armed struggle."

One of the groups officials, Hisham Jam Joun, a veteran of the Marxist-Leninist terror group Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, led pro-Palestinian protests against the Israeli security barrier.

In 2003, two British nationals executed a suicide bombing in an Israeli bar that killed three people and wounded more than 50. In the course of their investigation into the bombing Israeli officials discovered that the bombers had met with International Solidarity Movement leaders just prior to carrying out the attack. This prompted the Israeli government to formally accuse the organization of maintaining ties to Palestinian terror entities. Said one IDF officer:

“...as far as we are concerned, ISM is not an international organization or a peace organization. It's a pro-Palestinian organization, set up by Palestinians, funded by Palestinians and linked to Palestinian terror."

In addition, the group continues to advocate for the release of Marwan Barghouti, a leader in the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades. Barghouti was convicted of committing acts of terrorism and with the murders of 26 people through the facilitation of several suicide bombing events that took place in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.

To put it mildly, there is nothing peaceful about the International Solidarity Movement or their actions. The causes for which they advocate are about as far away from “humorous, political street theatre” as one can get.

The Question of Constitutional Rights
The violent, intolerant, hypocritical and narcissistic nature of these groups exposed, the facet of this story that is truly shocking is this: These intellectually stunted malcontents attempted to deny the people attending Catholic Mass at Holy Name Cathedral their constitutionally guaranteed right to practice their religion, yet charges to this affect are not being explored. Instead they are being charged with felony criminal damage to property and misdemeanor simple battery.

The First Amendment to the United States Constitution specifically states:

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

This guarantee of non-intervention by government with regard to religion, speech and assembly has been interpreted over the years to provide for the sanctity of religious practice, the protection of free speech and the inviolability of peaceable assembly.

By interrupting a religious service on its most holy of days (the resurrection of Christ, signified by the celebration of Easter, is the most glorified event in the Catholic faith, not Christmas, which signifies the birth of Christ) the Catholic Schoolgirls Against the War denied the parishioners their constitutional right to freely practice religion, they denied Cardinal Francis George his constitutional right to freedom of speech and religious practice and both their right to peaceably assemble.

That federal authorities are not exploring the possibility of charging, not only the six malcontents from Catholic Schoolgirls Against the War but the leaders of both the Illinois Coalition for Peace & Justice and the International Solidarity Movement, with violating the constitutional rights of the Cardinal and the parishioners of Holy Name Cathedral is a testimony to how little value we place on our constitutional rights, how delinquent we are in understanding the ideology behind our constitutional rights and our apathy in defending them when they are attacked.

Ingenuous protest is one thing and it is perfectly acceptable, but anarchist indignance goes beyond anything that can be deemed acceptable. Charge them, prosecute them and make an example out of them.

by Frank Salvato

Frank Salvato is a political media consultant, a freelance writer from the Midwest and the Managing Editor for www.TheRant.us . He is a contributing writer to OpinionEditorials.com and AmericanDaily.com. He has appeared as a guest panelist on The O’Reilly Factor and his pieces are regularly featured in Townhall.com and occasionally featured in The Washington Times as well as other national publications.


http://www.opinioneditorials.com/guestcontributors/fsalvato_20080328.html

A young woman in New York, by the name of Katie O'Malley, offers this insight:

Once content to thump drums and dig deep for chants that rhyme, the “peace” movement’s foothold on the public soapbox has slipped. The peaceniks -- ANSWER, MoveOn.org, Code Pink and the rest -- are in the midst of very public identity crisis. They are facing, for the first time, visible and vocal opposition to both their words and their methods. And it has made them angry….very angry….angry enough to (pause for dramatic effect) use violence as an option!

As organizations have come together to face them in the streets (and have successfully released the left’s stranglehold on activism and the media) the lefties have revealed their inner violent streak to which they have always proclaimed an immunity.

We have certainly seen incidents of violence within the misnamed “peace” movement since its inception decades ago. These lovers of dialogue and group hugs have bombed buildings (just ask Obama’s “acquaintance” William Ayers of the Weather Underground), stormed institutions and screamed vile and evil comments to Vietnam Veterans, since they first began their activism. In Ayers memoir, “Fugitive Days,” he goes so far as to write, “I don’t regret setting bombs. I didn’t do enough.” At least he is honest about it. ( emphasis my own)
His disturbing perspective and the inherently un-peaceful legacy of the 1960s peace movement has been enthusiastically embraced by the newest generation, tutored by the aging hippies of yore.

A steady uptick in violence against the military has been unfolding in recent months. The recruiting station in Washington, DC at 14th & L, the site of a storming and trashing on February 15, received additional overtures of “peace” last week when rocks were thrown at the windows and the exterior of the building, DC Metro police and counter protestors there to support the recruiters, were covered in red paint lobbed at them. What happened to daisies? They don’t stain and they don’t hurt!

The Times Square recruiting station in New York was the site of a bombing on March 6. Recruiters in Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Texas and Tennessee have all been the recipients of this special kind of leftist love in the last 12 months, just to name a few. Counter protestors in Berkley have not received hugs and love, but instead have been shoved and hit with signs proclaiming “Give Peace a Chance.”

Katie O'Malley of New York

Click my post title for more of Katie O'Malley's thoughts.

Obama's Uncle Jere - God Damn 'Mother Cabrini, Enrico Fermi, Father Groppi and Their Garlic Noses!

Not once in my conversations with him have I heard him talk about any ethnic group in derogatory terms, or treat whites with whom he interacted with anything but courtesy and respect. He contains within him the contradictions - the good and the bad - of the community that he has served diligently for so many years.

from Senator Barack Obama's March 18,2008 Lecture to America on Race Relations - One Day before St. Joseph's Day.

Okay. . . again.

Obama's got problems. His 'Crazy Uncle," Rev. Jeremiah Wright defames Italians in the magazine that he publishes and for which he Wrights a column.

Click my post title to read Pastor Wright's Wrongs.

The great theologian should consider these facts:


Two of the signers of the Declaration of Independence were of Italian descent: Maryland's William Paca and Delaware's Caesar Rodney. God Damn!

During the Civil War, the 39th New York Infantry consisted of 830 Italian Americans, known as "the Garibaldi Guard," who fought in the Union Army from Bull Run to Appomattox. Two Italian Americans also were Union generals: Brigadier General Francis Spinola and General Luigi Palma di Cesnola.

Fought to Fight Slavery!

God Damn!

The first American to be named a saint was the Italian American nun, Mother Frances Cabrini, who was canonized in 1946.

God Damn!

The only man in U.S. history to win the country's two highest military honors -- the Navy Cross and the U.S. Congressional Medal of Honor -- was John Basilone, a U.S. marine who died during the Battle of Iwo Jima in 1945.

God Damn!

Hank Luisetti - invented the one-handed layup in basketball .

Now, Hold On!

Barack Obama should have, but did not get out in front of his discipleship and friendship with a serial hater and bitter man.

Read more.

http://www.italian-american.com/famnot.htm

MSNBC-The Tool Shed: Olbermann and Maddow, The Doublemint Twins of Androgeny Insult McCain's Service and Experience with Insults to Age

From: Keith Olbermann and Ageism

Enter Keith Olbermann. In practically every one of his recent programs he has made a habit of referring to McCain as a tottering old man, implying that because of his age he’s obviously senile, out-of-it and incompetent. Tonight Olbermann was at his worst, denigrating the senator because he had admitted to remembering Pearl Harbor and mocking him as a witness to the original Depression. Olbermann also made a tasteless remark alluding to McCain’s alleged use of “Depends,” an incontinence diaper.

Why is ageism all “okay” in this country? Why would Olbermann feel free to make these kinds of remarks when I doubt he’d dare to make sexist or racist or homophobic remarks in the public forum?

Alfred McGuire


Click my Post Title for Olbermann's assault on Age


Wearing identical gray pinstriped suits and those signature pomade unction ed waves of tress, MSNBC's Keith Olbermann, America's Audio Shepherd's Pie of Pop Politics, and his twin Rachel Maddow sneered at Senator John McCain's speech on Foreign Policy in their continuation of gender neutral Wildean farce - Countdown for March 25, 2008:


It is a very sad thing that nowadays there is so little useless information, Rachel, that McCain would lead into his speech on foreign policy by pacing his thoughts within the historical context of his life - Pearl Harbor!

It is always a silly thing to give advice, but to give good advice is fatal. , Keithie, since he is doing so well in the polls, that he would allow the Democrats an open door to his age.

Depends - of Course Depends,One can survive everything, nowadays, except death, and live down everything except a good reputation. You may remove yourself from my last comment, Rachel.


I suppose that I shall have to die beyond my means. We ARE such things as Dweebs are made of , Keith!

Rachel, It is better to have a permanent income than to be fascinating. Wait a minute. . .!

'Typical White Person' Gaffe, Conviction, Endgame for Obama?

'Typical White Persons" - Gettysburg July 4, 1863



Barack Obama is a politician: Schooled, Glib, Impressive, and all too Human. His remarks about his white Grandmother being a 'typical white person' generally would be considered a safe slide to the base; but, this being a Presidential Campaign, Obama was tagged out.

Reaction to the document of his lecture on Race in America is being generally greeted with high praise. I thought it was thin beer - a political dodge to avoid speaking to his years of friendship and discipleship with Rev. Jeremiah Wright a Black Liberation preacher whose theology is a tangle of Marxism and Gospel.

Instead of explaining the appeal of Black Liberation theology to his heart, Obama lectured America with a moral equivalence dualism: Wright harbors hate; so does Obama's white Grandmother. That works with radical lawyers making lawsuits for criminals against police and plays very well in the press: Mr. 'A' murdered seven people, by incinerating them in their home, but he says that police 'tortured' him in custody.'
It works in court and in the press, but I do not believe that it will work at the polls.

Obama was in the 'jackpot' over Wright, Rezko, and his long and friendly association with domestic terrorists Ayers and Dohrn and so it seemed to make sense to throw out a moral equivalence defense.

This is the court of public opinion and not one where clever applications of statutes and ambiguities can garner a victory over right and wrong. Lecturing the country on what the typical black, white, red, brown, and grey American knows full well, lives day-to-day, deals with day-to-day, and emerges almost universally triumphant day-to-day. Americans treat each other with respect, dignity and fairness. Deeds not words, as Obama cited in his text.

Barack Obama's speech was a calculated political tactic. It failed. His subsequent remarks about his Grandmother being 'a typical white person' - fatal.

Brits Bash Barack's Babcia Bus Bounce!

Let the Heel-ing Begin! Rev. Al swings by to compliment Barack for his deft toss of Granny Dunham - The white Nana, Babcia, Busha, Blue-Hair, & etc. - under the metaphorical bus! We're rolling now!

The British Press thinks little of Obama's toss. Click my post title for The Spectator piece.

Hat Tip to Redbeard of Ankle Biting Pundits

John McCain: Americans, or Demographic Victims?

There is a clear choice in our upcoming Presidential Election - a unified America of serving citizens, or Balkan Republic of demographically cut interest groups. John McCain or the Democratic Candidates.

Senator Obama's Phildelphia Lecture on Race identified groups of voters that he needs to shore up the gaps widening in his campaign.

While explaining Black America to America, Barack Obama tossed some Hope to ethnic white blue collar voters ( how about that for a sociological disection of persons), Hispanics and Jews.

JIM VANDEHEI & JOHN F. HARRIS (click my post title for thefull report) reported that:

For working-class whites — whose coolness toward Obama helped tilt Ohio to Hillary Rodham Clinton — Obama spoke with understanding about why they dislike busing and affirmative action. “Like the anger in the black community, these resentments aren’t always shared in polite company,” he said.

For Hispanics, who have sided with Clinton in the vast majority of states this election, he lashed pundits scouring polls for signs of tension between “black and brown” and said the two communities face a common heritage of discrimination and inadequate public services.

Finally, Obama sought to connect with white Jewish voters — potentially one of the rawest nerves of all amid the Wright controversy — denouncing those blacks who see “the conflicts in the Middle East as rooted primarily in the actions of stalwart allies like Israel, instead of emanating from the perverse and hateful ideologies of radical Islam.”

It will take weeks, at least until the April 22 Pennsylvania primary, to know whether all of Obama’s political and cultural base-touching succeeded.

John McCain speaks to all Americans, not balakanized identity groups clamoring for their piece of the pie. 'When, oh when, will America have moral capacity to elect a third generation Laplander Swedenborgian?'

John McCain laid out these points last year for all Americans.

Americans have lost faith and trust in their government - Americans have lost trust that their government and its elected officials will serve the Nation's interest and not their own. Special interests have too much influence in Washington. Americans want a courageous leader who will stand up to the trial lawyers and labor bosses and other special interests, govern by principle rather than political expedience, keep their promises, and solve problems instead of leaving them for our children. Restoring Americans' confidence in their government is what's at stake in this election.

Americans want judges who will strictly interpret the law and not legislate from the bench - The next president will appoint many federal judges and perhaps even a Supreme Court justice. The recent victory on partial birth abortion is an example of how important the Supreme Court is in protecting our values and interpreting the law as it is written. America needs a president who will provide strong moral leadership. A Democrat president will appoint judges who make law with disregard for the will of the people, but to the cheers of those advancing a liberal social agenda. America needs a leader who recognizes that that the people and states should decide what's best, not the courts. The future of the U.S. Supreme Court is what's at stake in this election.

We are the Captains of our Fate, or Victims. Clear choice to me.

John McCain: 35 Years of Freedom to Serve his Country - Obama is Finished

John McCain 2008 Launches 'Journey to Freedom' Commemorating the 35th Anniversary of John McCain's Return Home from Vietnam

Contact: Press Office, 703-650-5550; www.JohnMcCain.com



ARLINGTON, Va., March 14 /Standard Newswire/ -- U.S. Senator John McCain's presidential campaign today launched a new web video entitled "Journey to Freedom," commemorating the 35th anniversary of John McCain's release on March 15, 1973 from the infamous "Hanoi Hilton" after being held for 5 ½ years as a prisoner of war.



The web video features fellow former POWs LtCol. Orson Swindle, USMC (Ret.) and Cdr. Paul Galanti, USN (Ret.), as well as John McCain's mother, Mrs. Roberta McCain.



John McCain is a decorated navy captain with a distinguished personal record and family history of service to our country. The son and grandson of two Admirals, McCain spent 5 ½ years as a POW in Vietnam. He commanded the U.S. Navy's largest squadron. His Naval honors include the Silver Star, Bronze Star, Legion of Merit, Purple Heart, and the Distinguished Flying Cross.



VIEW THE NEW WEB VIDEO HERE: http://www.johnmccain.com/journeyfreedom; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ypn76M0Wm-k


A group of John McCain's fellow former POWs released the following letter commemorating the 35th Anniversary of his release:



Dear Friend,

March is a memorable time for the Americans who were released from captivity in North Vietnam during the month back in 1973. The pathway to freedom began in February, as the war in Vietnam was concluding for America.

John McCain, one of those American heroes, returned to freedom on March 15th, 1973, released from Hanoi that day along with other very happy American Prisoners of War. His journey home was the continuation of a remarkable story with chapters yet to be written. Having survived life-threatening and disabling injuries, along with the brutality of the POW experience, John had steadfastly resisted communist efforts to exploit him and his fellow POWs. John's homecoming began a new phase of his life. His courageous service and his political career are well known today, and now he is the presumptive nominee for the Republican Party to be the next President of the United States.

We are but representatives of over eighty former POWs who shared those heady days of freedom and those years of captivity and suffering with John McCain. Collectively, we are proudly doing all we can to help our dear friend, John McCain, become our next commander in chief. We are campaigning with him, helping him raise money, speaking on his behalf and, in constant conversations, promoting his candidacy among our friends and family all over the country. We are doing so because we believe in John McCain.

Our convictions about John's character were born in the crucible of adversity. We have witnessed his courage, integrity, character and intellect. We know and respect his sense of honor and his tenacity in the face of grave danger and prolonged hardship. These qualities, combined with his life experiences, make John ready for the enormous challenges facing the leader of our country. No one -- no one -- is more qualified to be president, to lead our country, to protect our nation and our children and grandchildren. We know him. We know his strengths, his love of country and his commitment to serve it. He has been severely tested, and we have witnessed him under pressure. We trust his judgment and his ability to lead our country in these difficult times.

We are joined in that trust by over 130 retired Flag and General officers who are members of Senator McCain's Military Advisory Council. They know and have worked with John McCain over the past three decades dealing with major national security challenges. They know leadership and they know danger and challenges. They know experience. They know quality. And they chose John McCain for president.

We must elect a leader who is ready on day one for these difficult and dangerous times. We need a leader who will insist that we win in the struggle against radical Islam. John is committed to let our troops win! We need a leader who will take on the big problems that most politicians seek to avoid. Leaders take on the tough issues. John McCain is that sort of leader. He knows the American spirit -- he has lived it like no other candidate. He knows we can do better and that America's best days are ahead.

Sincerely,

Commander Everett Alvarez, USN (Ret.)
POW for 8 1/2 years

Colonel Bud Day, USAF (Ret.)
Medal of Honor
POW Over 5 Years

Rear Admiral Robert Shumaker, USN (Ret.)
POW for 8 years

Colonel Leo Thorsness, USAF (Ret.)
Medal of Honor
POW for 6 years

Commander Paul Galanti, USN (Ret.)
POW for over 6 1/2 Years

Captain Mike Cronin, USN (Ret.)
POW for over 6 years

Major General John Borling, USAF (Ret.)
POW for over 6 1/2 years

Captain Richard Stratton, USN (Ret.)
POW for over 6 years

Lt Colonel Orson Swindle, USMC (Ret.)
POW for over 6 years.


Issuers of press releases and not Earned Media™ are solely responsible for the accuracy of the content.
Click post title for terms and conditions, including restrictions on redistribution.

Copyright © 2008 Earned Media™. All Rights Reserved.


Click my post title and Make Yourselves Proud!

Side Note I caught Hannity and Colmes after St. Cajetan 7th Grade presented Living Stations of the Cross - Anthony Reya was stunning as Jesus of Nazareth King of the Jews and Danny Bohlmann his oily best as Pontius Pilate the Hand Washer - Clare Hickey was a 'Give Us Barabbas Crowd Guy and one of the Ladies at the Cross. Good Theatre and Great Lenten Service! Clare played 'Jail Break' with the Warrior Mob around the Church so beat it for home.

I wanted to catch The Wire Finale, but was snagged in the surf by the announcement that Senator Obama would speak to his Pastor's Ant-American and racist sermons. Normally Fat Boy Hannity and Skelator Colmes get short shrift from this Boyo. But I watched. Obama, thank God, did not talk to to the motor-mouthed Mick Hannity, but to Major Dude Something. Hannity never lets anyone get a word in edge-wise, especially if Hannity has determined the guest is not an 'America' - like Willie Cunnigham.

Senator Barack Obama blinked like a five year old locked over the weekend in Beverly Cigar, while answering Major Dude from Fox News. I like Barack Obama. Whoever is handling his campaign is arrogant and smug. I can just hear the Progressive NPR Low-Talker -'Ignore your critics Barry, if they ask you any questions, They are the racists.' I would say that this marks the end of a pretty good run for the Office, But it is very clear that Senator Obama is not ready The Presidency of the United States.

John McCain: Steve Huntley Raises the Bar and few more Questions for Obama

Yesterday, Steve Chapman of the Chicago Tribune presented a 'passive voice' larded attack piece on John McCain. If you take a look at the comments ( including mine) over at the Trib or at Real Clear Politics.com you find that Steve Chapman is roundly and soundly cuffed for his offering - and well he should be.


Chicago journalism's other Steve - Steve Huntley - was one of the last sparks evident in a once great Chicago newspaper. The Chicago Sun Times was commandeered for months by a loopy Progressive agenda that drove a stake through its heart and through those goofy days Steve Huntley offered thoughtful and well-written columns on local and national affairs.

Today, Steve Huntley presents a sharp contrast between John McCain and Barack Obama. Huntley presents the Obama's sophomoric and fleet-footed dash from questions raised about his involvement with indicted bundler Tony Rezko, in Texas last week. Obama could not pry himself away scrutiny quick enough. Contast that with Senator John McCain's open and challenging presence in front of the world media following the New York Times protracted, dated and daffy attempt to smear an American hero.

Click on my post title for Steve Huntley's insightful study of the contrast between Obama, the Rhetorical Bard and Feckless Youth, and John McCain, the Prosaic, Tested and Forthright Leader.

John McCain: Mark Halperin's Help Can't Help - Obama will Unravel On His Own

Mark Halperin's point-by-point analysis - 'not advice' - on how to beat Barack Obama is nice - thanks Mark. Put it in the closet with the fruitcakes and the lint rollers.

Barack Obama's record and Illinois Legislative past with a thick emphasis on ties to indicted Tony Rezko will unravel his campaign on its own. In today' Chicago Tribune it is reported that:

In her ruling, St. Eve said the government contends that Rezko directed business associates Joseph Aramanda and Elie Maloof to make contributions to an unnamed political candidate in late 2003 and 2004 because Rezko had already contributed the maximum legal amount.

The only candidate Maloof and Aramanda contributed to during that time frame was Obama, then running for the U.S. Senate in Illinois. Maloof and Aramanda each gave $10,000 to Obama's campaign.

Maloof of Vernon Hills had supported Obama in an earlier political campaign, and disclosure reports from that effort listed her as a vice president of operations for a Rezko pizzeria management firm. Aramanda is a Glenview businessman whose son received a coveted summer internship in Obama's Capitol Hill office in 2005.

Until his recent legal troubles, Rezko had been a longtime friend and financial supporter of Obama's political career. Prosecutors have not alleged any wrongdoing on Obama's part, but the developments come at an awkward time as Obama faces crucial March 4 primary contests, one day after the scheduled start of the trial.

Obama's campaign says it has given more than $150,000 in Rezko-linked contributions to charity, including the money from Aramanda and Maloof.

"We had no knowledge of any straw donations and have returned any of the donations about which we have any reasonable question," Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton said in a statement late Monday.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-obama-rezko_both26feb26,0,5062637.story

Even Leftie Mother Jones is piling on to the calls from Illinois Democratic legislative former colleagues who learned to their collective surprise that Obama took credit for 823 pieces of legislation:

In 1999, Barack Obama was faced with a difficult vote in the Illinois legislature — to support a bill that would let some juveniles be tried as adults, a position that risked drawing fire from African-Americans, or to oppose it, possibly undermining his image as a tough-on-crime moderate.
In the end, Mr. Obama chose neither to vote for nor against the bill. He voted “present,” effectively sidestepping the issue, an option he invoked nearly 130 times as a state senator.
Sometimes the “present’ votes were in line with instructions from Democratic leaders or because he objected to provisions in bills that he might otherwise support. At other times, Mr. Obama voted present on questions that had overwhelming bipartisan support. In at least a few cases, the issue was politically sensitive
.

http://www.motherjones.com/mojoblog/archives/2007/12/6659_yesterday_the_n.html


Barack Obama's Campaign will unravel on its own. Halperin means well, but give him a pass. Keep being John McCain. Keep things respectful - tough but respectful - like you did in Cincinnati when the disc jockey started to sneer at Barak Obama's name. Keep it McCain-like and dignified. Barack Obama's mummy like rhetorical wrapping is unwinding.

John McCain: Neil Steinberg Praises John McCain

My buddy Neil Steinberg, of the Chicago Sun Times along with legendary colunist Bob Novak, Pulitzer Prize winning Political Cartoonist Jack Higgins, Fran Spielmann, and the great Sports Departmemt - less Mariotti of course, are the only true Chicago voices that sinking paper has kept on.

Neil Steinberg is a patriot and an independent voice who honors Veterans, Law Enforcement and caring committed citizens. He writes about how people approach their jobs and offers insight to the heart behind their hands. Steinberg is free of the smarmy doctrinaire cant that saturates the prose of too many of in his profession. He is very much like John Kass, but for his Ohio roots and the editorial tether that limits his column space.

Here are Neil's thoughts on the candidates for President and he is especially poignant in his consideration of John McCain - like McCain, Steinberg is a Straight Talker.

N.B. - I will highlight, what I believe to be some pearls from Neil Steinberg - emphasis my own.

Give the Republicans credit. Just when they seemed determined to stake their presidential hopes on Mitt Romney, a pretty-boy plutocrat feverishly sculpting his beliefs to mirror political fashion, or Mike Huckabee, a snake-handling preacher offended by scientific knowledge, up pops John McCain, like Lazarus risen from the grave. He smiles, brushes the dirt of his recent political burial from his shoulders, and assumes his place as front-runner.

Amazing. A genuine war hero, with the courage of his convictions (true, his convictions include humming a hallelujah chorus to George Bush's Iraq war, but nobody's perfect.) And if experience is what we want, McCain has it. Sure, he groveled at the feet of his party's lunatic fringe, cuddling up with the late Rev. Jerry Falwell. But he was just visiting where people like Huckabee live year-round, and, besides, the fringe will always hate McCain for offering a reality-based solution to illegal immigration, a problem that will only grow larger until somebody fixes it. John McCain is the one man on the Republican bench who stands a chance of becoming a president we could all be proud of.

That's a good thing. If, like many, I preferred party devotion to patriotism, I might be reluctant to say that. But I don't. The race is shaping up as a win-win-win situation, a choice among: a) the exciting, inspirational freshness of Barack Obama; or b) the wily, willful effectiveness of Hillary Clinton; or c) the fearless, nimble maturity of John McCain. That's a dilemma to celebrate.

Well said and true Neil. I will be voting for John McCain; I really like and admire Barack Obama and hope that he will become Governor of Illinois; Hillary Clinton is wildly capable - so was Bismark.