Column: America Should Not Elect Obama Because Of His Shady Friends

This story was written by Derek Coulson, Daily Toreador

He had won the primary in March of that year and was in the process of campaigning for his next job.

His only political experience to that point was as a state senator for the previous seven years, working as a "community organizer." It is astonishing that he would receive the prime time spot at the DNC with seemingly such little experience. That is first in a set of quandaries that perplexes my mind, and I hope, by the end of this article, yours as well.

A senatorial position is not one typically to be a candidate's sole experience. It is simply not enough when you consider that senators are not entrusted with power except for their ability to vote. They largely rely on aides and clerks to research the issues for them, so their central responsibility is to represent their area with a voting record in that area's interest.

So, understanding that he has neither the job experience nor the wherewithal to be our president, where else has this candidate failed Americans? I assert he has failed with the relationships he accrued in his rise to political power. First let's consider the unrepentant American terrorist, William Ayers.

Ayers and Obama served together on the Woods Fund of Chicago from 1999 to 2002. They also served closely together on the Chicago Annenberg Foundation from 1995 to 2001, reported in The New York Times. For a time the men lived in the same neighborhood in Chicago. Ayers threw a fund raiser for Obama in 1995 that was instrumental in launching the senator's career.

Ironically, it was funded in large part by Tony Rezko, another neighborhood ally, reported by Fox News. It should not be overlooked that papers concerning relationship ties betweenObama and Ayers were sealed from public view, reported by the Loyola University Chicago paper. I would certainly be interested in the import of such papers if their worthy of censorship.

Antoin "Tony" Rezko was convicted of real estate fraud and bribery earlier this year. His relationship with Obama though was never hampered by legal infractions (even with Obama being a law professor), evidenced by Rezko serving on Obama's U.S. Senate Campaign Finance Committee.

In 2003, according to the Chicago Sun-Times, it was Rezko's turn to house a political fundraiser for the senator. His group raised more than 14 million and was crucial to getting Barack into Washington. As mentioned above, he also gave funding for the seminal moment in Obama's career.

Just wait, it gets better. Louis Farrakhan, mentioned before as a connection with Ayers, and as a fellow Chicago neighbor, is an outspoken Obama supporter. How outspoken is this man who has made statements that can be considered anti-Semitic, racist and homophobic, you ask? Consider this quote from a speech he delivered: "Barack has captured the youth, and has involved young people in political the political process ... When the Messiah speaks, the youth will hear, and the Messiah is absolutely speaking".

Interesting rhetoric. Would it surprise you to know that in 2007, Farrakhan received the Rev. Dr. Jeremiah A. Wright, Jr. Lifetime Achievement Trumpeteer Award? No? Good, your intuitive skills are growing.

Speaking of Wright, the same man who shouted "God Damn America" from the pulpit. The same man who eviscerated American foreign policy when he screamed 9/11 was a result of our military action. The same man who shouted in his sermon immediately after Sept. 11, 2001 that the Government lied about the HIV virus in order to use it as an instrument of terror against black people. A man who houted we are the "US of KKKA," which is how he referred to 'White America" in a 2003 sermon.

Speaking of Wright, a man who met the terrorist Omar Kodafi in Lybia in 1984 accompanied by Louis Farrakhan, as reported by the Global Politician in 2006.

If you are going to study Obama's past, it is integral that you look at Jeremiah Wright. Don't believe me? Then what about his quote from religious left leader Jim Wallis, quoted in Rolling Stone magazine in February 2007, "If you want to know where Barack gets his feeling and rhetoric from, just look at Jeremiah Wright."

This is a man who baptized Obama's children and preformed his wedding ceremony - his spiritual mentor until it became politically expedient to cut their connections. It was from one of Wright's sermons that Obama got the title of his latest memoir and for the speech he gave at the Democratic Convention.

And it is from Wright that Obama has withdrawn from as he has these other men. Are we simply to believe that he did not understand their beliefs, their lifestyles? Men that were instrumental to his political success, to his personal beliefs. Men that mentored Obama, worked constantly with him, lived close with this aspiring presidential candidate and fostered him.

Are we supposed to take Obama at his word and blindly heed him when he says he didn't really understand these men in the beginning? Are we to believe that he really is ignorant enough to sit in Wright's church for 20 years and not know about his loathsome sermons? To be friends with Ayers, Rezko and Farrakhan and not see the connections intertwining them then we would be guilty of a crime worthy of the punishment of him becoming president.

If we were to be convinced that he simply misunderstood their initiatives, their purposes and their causes, we would be overlooking the character of this man. And would be deviant in our course of rightly judging him. Do not look beyond his past; do not absolve it from any wrong doing. Do not suppose that a few press releases are enough to erase a life history of misguided decisions.

Ultimately, voting is an individual choice. That's the beauty of the American system, frustrating as it may sometimes be with many different opinions floating around. Don't be swayed by those who say yours does not matter. The blood, sweat and tears of millions of men and women have been shed to give you that individual freedom.

You determine government. You determine freedom. If that is a liberty you believe should continue and be determined democratically and with respect to God and the wise men who founded this nation, then choose today whom you wish to serve this nation as president. It is your choice, and everything hinges upon it.