Nov. 3, 2008
We Know The Real Barack Obama
National Review Online: The Democrat Wraps His Far-Left Agenda In The Veil Of Pragmastism
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Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill. speaks at a rally on the American Legion Mall in Indianapolis, Thursday, Oct. 23, 2008. (AP)
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CBS Evening News
Where They Stand
The CBS Evening News provides an in-depth look at the issues facing the 44th president.
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Photo Essay
Obama On The Trail
Sen. Barack Obama campaigns for the presidency.
Reflecting on all that I’ve written about Barack Obama over these past six months, four inter-related points stand out: Obama’s radicalism, his stealthy incrementalism, his interest in funding and organization-building, and his willingness to use - or quietly support - Alinskyite intimidation tactics. Since we stand on the cusp of the election, I’ll lay out the bottom line. For those who want to know more, go back and read the detailed studies on which I base these conclusions.
Obama’s troubling associations are more than isolated friendships or instances of bad judgment. His ties to Jeremiah Wright, Bill Ayers, Bernardine Dohrn, Rashid Khalidi, Michael Pfleger, James Meeks, ACORN, the New Party, and the Gamaliel Foundation all reflect Obama’s sympathy with radical-left ideas and causes - wealth redistribution prominent among them. At both the Woods Fund and the Chicago Annenberg Challenge, for example, Obama and Ayers channeled money into ACORN’s coffers. ACORN, a militant group pursuing economic redistribution, succeeded in undermining credit standards throughout the banking system, thereby modeling the New Party’s plans to tame capitalism itself. So the association with Ayers is not an outlier issue, but part and parcel of a network of radical ties through which Obama’s supported “major redistributive change.” Via ACORN, that project has already nearly wrecked our economy. What will happen when it’s generalized?
Similarly, Obama’s “association” with Wright was far more than a mere pastor-parishioner - or even mentor-protégé - relationship. Obama’s work with the Gamaliel Foundation required him to “organize” left-leaning churches into a larger political force. His real interest in Wright, Pfleger, and Meeks was to turn them into the nucleus of a far broader politicized coalition of radical black churches - as shown, for example, by his work with them on the Illinois racial-profiling bill. Again, we are not dealing with mere “associations,” but with intentional political partnerships.
Although media malfeasance is at the heart of our ignorance about these broader patterns, Obama’s absorption of Alinskyite strategies of stealthy incrementalism have helped to hide the truth. Following well-worn organizer strategies, Obama knows how to wrap ideological radicalism in the soothing rhetoric of “pragmatism” and classic American values. There is a kernel of truth to the pragmatism, however. Radical though his ultimate goals may be, Obama follows classic organizer strategy - pursuing his ends in tiny, incremental, and cumulative baby-steps. The municipal “living wage” campaigns supported by Obama, Wright, and groups like ACORN and the New Party were never designed, in themselves, to bring fundamental economic change. These ordinances actually applied to only a very small number of companies. The broader purpose of these battles was to build coalitions for deeper structural change on the national level, when the moment was right. Obama would likely hew to this incrementalism in power, with the same radical long-term goals in mind.
Obama was a master at channeling funding to his organizer allies. He was the key force turning the Woods Fund toward a major increase in support for community organizers, at a moment when other foundations shied away from funding the militant and confrontational tactics of groups like ACORN. In his now infamous 2001 radio remarks, Obama’s preferred strategy for promoting “major redistributive change” was through society-wide organizing from below. As president, Obama would connect his massive youth-volunteer program to his favorite community-organizer groups, thereby creating a political force for long-term restructuring of the American economy. This was the program of the New Party, and I believe it is still Obama’s long-term goal.
In pursuit of his goals, Obama has shown himself willing to quietly support, and sometimes to openly use, radical Alinskyite tactics. At the Woods Fund, Obama’s allies bragged about the way their “post-ideological” cover had allowed them to fund ACORN’s confrontational tactics, while escaping public criticism. Obama has shamelessly used Alinskyite “direct action” to silence and intimidate political foes during the current campaign (a matter well-known to conservatives, yet little noted by the mainstream press). Victory would only cement the conviction in Obama and his allies that these tactics had “won,” and therefore should be used again.
Has Obama changed? Was he merely using his radical Chicago allies to gain national renown, and thereby an opening for a more moderate political program? I find this view unconvincing. Obama has often claimed that his early community organizing, and his redistributive legislative work, were at the very core of his political identity. We’ve heard his radicalism on the radio in 2001. Does anyone really believe that he’s changed in 2008? Obama’s political radicalism consolidated his shaky personal identity. It formed him as an adult. He cannot abandon that inner stance without losing hold of an already precarious self. Obama chose to live in Hyde Park - chose that radical setting as the site of his adult self-creation. Hyde Park was never the place Obama needed to conquer in order to escape. On the contrary, it was the personally chosen home he now hopes to nationalize by spreading his organizing gospel to America’s youth.
Obama is clever and pragmatic, it’s true. But his pragmatism is deployed on behalf of radical goals. Obama’s heart is, and will remain, with the Far Left. Yet he will surely be cautious about grasping for more, at any given moment, than the political traffic will bear. That should not be mistaken for genuine moderation. It will merely be the beginning stages of a habitually incremental radicalism. In his heart and soul, Barack Obama was and remains a radical-stealthy, organizationally sophisticated, and - when necessary - tactically ruthless. The real Obama - the man beyond the feel-good symbol - is no mystery. He’s there for anyone willing to look. Sad to say, few are.
By Stanley Kurtz
Reprinted with permission from National Review Online.




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See all 87 CommentsIs that what makes conservatives proud? Is corruption and deceit now Christian? Time to thin the herd maybe. VOTE FOR OBAMA FOR REAL CHANGE WE NEED. Vote against right wing and Christian fascism.
Bush team rushes environment policy changes
Whether it''s getting wolves off the Endangered Species List, allowing power plants to operate near national parks, loosening regulations for factory farm waste or making it easier for mountaintop coal-mining operations, these proposed changes have found little favor with environmental groups.
Even some free-market organizations have joined conservation groups to urge a moratorium on last-minute rules proposed by the Interior Department and the Environmental Protection Agency, among others.
John Kostyack of the National Wildlife Federation, which joined Lehrer''s group to call for a ban on these last-minute rules, said citizens are cut out of the process, allowing changes in U.S. law that the public opposes, such as rolling back protections under the Endangered Species Act.
Industry is likely to benefit if Bush''s rules on the environment become effective, Madia said.
"Whether it''s the electricity industry or the mining industry or the agriculture industry, this is going to remove government restrictions on their activity and in turn they''re going to be allowed to pollute more and that ends up harming the public," Madia said in a telephone interview.
What is unusual is the speedy trip some of these environmental measures are taking through the process.
Obama,with the help of his evil cohorts: Jeremiah Wright, Bill Ayers, Bernardine Dohrn, Rashid Khalidi, Michael Pfleger, will together raise the communist flag on the White House lawn come January?
Do they really have time to fluoridate the water
by then?
they often do and denial is the first stage of dealing with a crisis. Or anger, seeing some of that too.
Best just to be firm with them now--let them know they have done wrong and caused a lot of trouble and are going to be held accountable for it, but they will make it through.
Wow! that is brilliant and so right on. Love that image. That is the essence of GOP: make fiction appear real and make nonsense seem like common sense. When that facade falls, it does it in a spectacular way as we are seeing.
Shouldn''t you be spewing your garbage on Fox News?
NRO tranlates to: "No Real Observations"
This country is not mostly white people anymore. Get over it. We are heading towards a real melting pot where we''ve got many conflicting ideals and beliefs. I''m sorry Obama doesn''t drive a big chevy, listen to country music, fish, hunt, watch nascar, or where ignorance on his sleeve. Things have changed.
(AP) A suburban Detroit woman has decided to scare up the vote among neighborhood children by just offering treats to John McCain supporters.
Shirley Nagel of Grosse Pointe Farms, Mich., handed out candy Friday only to those who shared her support for the Republican presidential candidate and his running mate Sarah Palin. Others were turned away empty-handed.
TV station WJBK says a sign outside Nagel''s house warned: "No handouts for Obama supporters, liars, tricksters or kids of supporters."
Nagel calls Democrat Barack Obama "scary." When asked about children who were turned away empty-handed and crying, she said: "Oh well. Everybody has a choice."
Fax and phone messages left at numbers for Nagel were not returned.
President Obama will **** off the left wing as much as the right wing during his presidency. He is far too centrist for the left wingers. This %u201Cjournalistic%u201D piece (of sh*t) is just far right talking points%u2026 no basis in reality whatsoever.
Fax and phone messages left at numbers for Nagel were not returned.
Posted by mswolfestock
Wow, the civility and class of GOP supporters. Even if I did not like Obama, I would never vote for a party whose people are like this.
Why because it benefits me a blue collar worker.
Not one single thing the far right sided George Bush has done has benefitted me, not one single thing.
So republicans who are afraid of Obama be elected should have thought of this possibility when they pushed Bush / Cheney.
Did anyone really beleive a far right sided government was going to work. It benefitted the welathy only and left the rest of us scared broke and worried.
I think I will embrace far left politics for a long while after Bush Cheney.
"friends of hussein": "To avoid being mistaken for a sellout, I chose my friends carefully. The more politically active black students. The foreign students. The Chicanos. The Marxist professors and structural feminists." ...From his self-glorifying memoir, "Dreams From My Father".
"Real Americans": hard-working, tax-paying, American citizen who would NEVER, unlike michelle, give America a one-finger salute by saying: "For the FIRST TIME in my life I am proud of my country."
Every Real American should be afraid, very afraid of hussein''s plans to socialize America by RE-DISTRUBUTING YOUR WEALTH to his "friends".
Reject this shallow, arrogant, platitude-spouting, inexperienced, Marxist, drug-addicted, elitist, narcissistic, flip-flopping gas-bag who is so mentally deficient from extensive drug use he even has to plagiarize his hollow platitudes.
Instead, vote for somebody who will reform the Washington mess - instead of making it an even more horrific monster.
Which of course is exactly what Obama wants.
Another swing in the dark by the National Nazi.
Funny how much history McCain supporters ignore. Remember that he already sold out his constituents, his party and America already? For $112,000 in campaign contributions, free air travel for 3 years on a private jet and luxury accommodations at Charles Keating owned properties across the country, John McCain just had to cast votes for legislation favorable to Lincoln Savings. When it was discovered what he was doing, he blew the whistle on the other congressmen in on the deal with him. What a guy!
c r a p that the Republicans have been spouting for months. It didn''t work then and it ain''t working now. The only people that would take any of this stuff seriously from NR were already going to vote Republican.
Which of course is exactly what Obama wants.
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Posted by greeneyes222 at 05:09 PM : Nov 03, 2008
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LMAO. Hey green. You might want to check out the electoral map and see which states are "strongly red" and then check the level of education, poverty, etc., in those states compared to strongly "blue states." It is a little far fetched for you to use intellectual snobism against a candidate that the higher the education level of the voter, the more likely they are to support Obama.
"friends of hussein": "To avoid being mistaken for a sellout, I chose my friends carefully. The more politically active black students. The foreign students. The Chicanos. The Marxist professors and structural feminists." ...From his self-glorifying memoir, "Dreams From My Father".
"Real Americans": hard-working, tax-paying, American citizen who would NEVER, unlike michelle, give America a one-finger salute by saying: "For the FIRST TIME in my life I am proud of my country."
Every Real American should be afraid, very afraid of hussein''''s plans to socialize America by RE-DISTRUBUTING YOUR WEALTH to his "friends".
Reject this shallow, arrogant, platitude-spouting, inexperienced, Marxist, drug-addicted, elitist, narcissistic, flip-flopping gas-bag who is so mentally deficient from extensive drug use he even has to plagiarize his hollow platitudes.
Instead, vote for somebody who will reform the Washington mess - instead of making it an even more horrific monster.
Loony-Left,
We are about to end 8 years of the Loony-Right,
You comments insinuate that
- Politically Active Black Students are not Real Americans
-That foreign students are not Real Americans
-That Chicanos are not Real Americans
-That in a land of FREEDOM that Marxist Professors and Structural Feminists are not Real Americans
The only thing that your post has proven is that you%u2019re a Real Dumb@s$!
Don''t hate participate for change
McCain is a very sick, grumpy and erratic old man with very poor judgement. Case in point: Bimbo Sarah Palin. Case 2: fake "suspending his campaign", FAILING to get a deal on the bailout, claiming credit for the bailout that didn''t happen, then bashing the bailout that did happen, then taking credit for it, then bashing it, etc. Case 3: "Joe the Plumber"-- his name isn''t "Joe", he''s not a licensed plumber, he had no real plan to buy the business, the business would pay less taxes under Obama than McCain, and he hasn''t paid the taxes he does owe, and "Joe, the ''Average Guy''" is NO average guy-- he has a Hollywood deal in the works and his 15 minutes of fame is OVER. Case 3: isn''t that enough? McCain is the biggest flip-flopper of all time. Every day he contradicts something he previously stood firmly by, as does Palin. What a pair!
How do you counter such failure? LIE about the opponent! So that''s what the NRO does every day.
Or maybe Adolph Hitler in disguise.
Oh oh, he is SATAN.
Yeah, that''s the ticket.
Reality check. Why should I trust Obama?
Instead, vote for somebody who will reform the Washington mess - instead of making it an even more horrific monster.
Loony-Left,
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You just don''t get it. This is why you are losing. Since you are so obsessed with Obama''s drug use when he was very young, a teenager, I imagine that you didn''t vote for Bush. A drunk and drug abuser until he was forty years old and found Jesus.
At least Obama had the good sense as a younster to put down the drugs and pick up his education. This sort of political rhetoric will shrink the Republican party to nothing.
Hard to be an Real American when you are a citizen of another country - cause that''s the definition of "Foreign" OR have you decided to re-write the definition of foreign.
I am taking great pleasure in seeing you flail around like this. You and your magazine and your neo-con movement have been (or will shortly be) totally repudiated by the American people in an unmistakable message on Election Day.
Really frosts you, doesn''t it? :-)
But I also enjoy seeing that your childish temper-tantrum has not prevented your normal irrationality from coming to the fore.
You have the unmitigated nerve to bash Obama for his association with Khalidi, when your own candidate has an infinitely closer (not to mention more expensive: $832,000) association with the same man? I always thought you neo-cons were baically evil. Until now, I didn''t realize that you were also stupid.
One blessed byproduct of the election of Obama as President is that it will marginialize you and your ilk.
Go, Obama!
The were dressed as Republicans!
The sad part is that America would rather elect a president that is not even an American and the only interests he has is making us a weak country.
It is true that over the history of the world that the powerful nations fell from with-in.
We are on our way. This election will be the down fall.
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