The Iowa Republican » TEApublican

Barackisms: Obama’s 50 Lies

TEApublican — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 20:19:34 +0000

Claim: List documents fifty lies told by Barack Obama. This data is from an email I received…

Obama’s 50 Lies

1.) Selma Got Me Born – LIAR, your parents felt safe enough to have you in 1961 – Selma had no effect on your birth, as Selma was in 1965.

2.) Father Was A Goat Herder – LIAR, he was a privileged, well educated youth, who went on to work with the Kenyan Government.

3.) Father Was A Proud Freedom Fighter – L IAR, he was part of one of the most corrupt and violent governments Kenya has ever had.

4.) My Family Has Strong Ties To African Freedom – LIAR, your cousin Raila Odinga has created mass violence in attempting to overturn a legitimate election in 2007, in Kenya. It is the first widespread violence in decades.

5.) My Grandmother Has Always Been A Christian – LIAR, she does her daily Salat prayers at 5am according to her own interviews. According to the New York Times: “I am a strong believer of the Islamic faith,” Ms. Obama, 85, said in a recent interview in Kenya.’ Not to mention, Christianity wouldn’t allow her to have been one of 14 wives to 1 man.

6.) My Name is African Swahili – LIAR, your name is Arabic and ‘Baraka’ (from which Barack came) means ‘blessed’ in that language. Hussein is also Arabic and so is Obama.

7.) I Never Practiced Islam – LIAR, you practiced it daily at school, where you were registered as a Muslim and kept that faith for 31 years,until your wife made you change, so you could run for office.

8.) My School In Indonesia Was Christian – LIAR, you were registered as Muslim there and got in trouble in Koranic Studies for making faces (check your own book).

9.) I Was Fluent In Indonesian – LIAR, not one teacher says you could speak the language.

10.) Because I Lived In Indonesia, I Have More Foreign Experience – LIAR, you were there from the ages of 6 to 10, and couldn’t even spea k the language. What did you learn, how to study the Koran and watch cartoons.

11.) I Am Stronger On Foreign Affairs – LIAR, except for Africa (surprise) and the Middle East (bigger surprise), you have never been anywhere else on the planet and thus have NO experience with our closest allies. You seek to disarm America while our avowed enemy, Iran, will not subject itself to a nuclear ban. Top Hamas politica l adviser Ahmed Yousef said the Hamas terrorist group ’supports Obama’s foreign policy vision’.

12.) I Blame My Early Drug Use On Ethnic Confusion – LIAR, you were quite content in high school to be Barry Obama, no mention of Kenya and no mention of struggle to identify – your classmates said you were just fine.

13.) An Ebony Article Moved Me To Run For Office – LIAR, Ebony has yet to find the article you mention in your book. It doesn’t, and never did, exist.

14.) A Life Magazine Article Changed My Outlook On Life – LIAR, Life has yet to find the article you mention in your book. It doesn’t, and never did, exist.

15.) I Won’t Run On A National Ticket In ‘08 – LIAR, here you are, despite saying, live on TV, that you would not have enough experience by then, and you are all about having experience first.

16.) Present Votes Are Common In Illinois – LIAR, they are common for YOU, but not many others have 130 NO VOTES.

17.) Oops, I Misvoted – LIAR, only when caught by church groups and Democrats, did you beg to change your misvote.

18.) I Was A Professor Of Law – LIAR, you were a senior lecturer ON LEAVE.

19.) I Was A Constitutional Lawyer – LIAR, you were a senior lecturer ON LEAVE.

20.) Without Me, There Would Be No Ethics Bill – LIAR, you didn’t write it,introduce it, change it, or create it.

21.) The Ethics Bill Was Hard To Pass – LIAR, it took just 14 days from start to finish.

22.) I Wrote

A Tough Nuclear Bill – LIAR, your bill was rejected by your own party for its pandering and lack of all regulation – mainly because of your Nuclear Donor, Exelon, from which David Axelrod came.

23.) I Have Released My State Records – LIAR, as of March, 2008, state bills you sponsored or voted for have yet to be released, exposing all the special interests pork hidden within.

24.) I Took On The Asbestos Altgeld Gardens Mess – LIAR, you were part of a large group of people who remedied Altgeld Gardens. You failed to mention anyone else but yourself, in your books.

25.) My Economics Bill Will Help America – LIAR, your 111 economic policies were just combined into a proposal which lost 99-0, and even YOU voted against your own bill.

26.) I Have Been A Bold Leader In Illinois – LIAR, even your own supporters claim to have not seen BOLD action on your part.

27.) I Passed 26 Of My Own Bills In One Year – LIAR, they were not YOUR bills, but rather handed to you, after their creation by a fellow Senator, to assist you in a future bid for higher office.

28.) No One Contacted Canada About NAFTA – LIAR, the Candian Government issued the names and a memo of the conversation your campaign had with them.

29.) I Am Tough On Terrorism – LIAR, you missed the Iran Resolution vote on terrorism and your good friend Ali Abunimah supports the destruction of Israel. You state you will open friendly communication with the Leader of Iran who is attempting to develop nuclear weapons to destroy us, but refuse to speak to FOX news. You are against provisions of the Patriot act which would all wiretapping of the phones of suspected terrorists in the USA.

30.) I Am Not Acting As President Yet – LIAR, after the NAFTA Memo, a dead terrorist in the FARC, in Colombia, was found with a letter stating how you and he were working together on getting FARC recognized officially.

31.) I Didn’t Run Ads In Florida – LIAR, you allowed national ads to run 8-12 times per day for two weeks – and you still lost.

32.) I Won Michigan – LIAR, no you didn’t.

33.) I won Nevada – LIAR, no you did not.

34.) I Want All Votes To Count – LIAR, you said let the delegates decide.

35.) I Want Americans To Decide – LIAR, you prefer caucuses that limit the vote, confuse the voters, force a public vote, and only operate during small windows of time.

36.) I passed 900 Bills in the State Senate – LIAR, you passed 26, most of which you didn’t write yourself.

37.) My Campaign Was Extorted By A Friend – LIAR, that friend is threatening to sue if you do not stop saying this. Obama has stopped saying this.

38.) I Believe In Fairness, Not Tactics – LIAR, you used tactics to eliminate Alice Palmer from running against you.

39.) I Don’t Take PAC Money – LIAR, you take loads of it.

40.) I don’t Have Lobbysists – LIAR, you have over 47 lobbyists, and counting.

41.) My Campaign Had Nothing To Do With The 1984 Ad – LIAR, your own campaign worker made the ad on his Apple in one afternoon.

42.) My Campaign Never Took Over MySpace – LIAR, Tom, who started MySpace issued a warning about this advertising to MySpace clients.

43.) I Inspire People With My Words – LIAR, you inspire people with other people’s words.

44.) I Have Passed Bills In The U.S. Senate – LIAR, you have passed A BILL in the U.S. Senate – for Africa, which shows YOUR priorities.

45.) I Have Always Been Against Iraq – LIAR, you weren’t in office to vote against it AND you have voted to fund it every single time, unlike Kucinich, who seems to be out gutting you Obama. You also seem to be stepping back from your departure date – AGAIN.

46.) I Have Always Supported Universal Health Care – LIAR, your plan leaves us all to pay the 15,000,000 who don’t have to buy it.

47.) I Only Found Out About My Investment Conflicts Via Mail – LIAR, both companies you site as having sent you letters about this conflict have no record of any such letter ever being created or sent.

48.) I Am As Patriotic As Anyone – LIAR, you won’t wear a flag pin and you don’t put your hand over your heart during the Anthem. There is a Cuban Flag with Che Guevara Displayed at Barack Obama Campaign Office which you allow to be displayed. You voted against making english the official language of the United States. You voted to give illegal aliens social security benefits, which would bankrupt the social security system for Americans legally paying into it.

49.) My Wife Didn’t Mean What She Said About Pride In Country – LIAR, your wife’s words follow lock-step in the vain of Rev. Wright and Louis Farrahkan, in relation to their contempt and hatred of America.

50.) Wal-Mart Is A Company I Wouldn’t Support – LIAR, your wife has received nearly a quarter of a million dollars through Treehouse, which is connected to Wal-Mart.

Origins:

Selma Got Me Born – LIAR, your parents felt safe enough to have you in 1961 – Selma had no effect on your birth, as Selma was in 1965.
This criticism is based on an overly-literal interpretation of Barack Obama’s 2007 speech in Selma, Alabama, which we covered in a separate article.

Father Was A Goat Herder – LIAR, he was a privileged, well educated youth, who went on to work with the Kenyan Government.
These attributes are not mutually exclusive: Barack Obama’s (biological) father was all of these things at different times in his life, as Obama described in his book, Dreams from My Father:

[My father] was as African, I would learn, a Kenyan of the Luo tribe, born on the shores of Lake Victoria in a place called Alego. The village was poor, but his father — my other grandfather, Hussein Onyango Obama — had been a prominent farmer, an elder of the tribe, a medicine man with healing powers. My father grew up herding his father’s goats and attending the local school, set up by the British colonial administration, where he had shown great promise. He eventually won a scholarship to study in Nairobi; and then, on the eve of Kenyan independence, he had been selected by Kenyan leaders and American sponsors to attend a university in the United States.

Father Was A Proud Freedom Fighter – LIAR, he was part of one of the most corrupt and violent governments Kenya has ever had.
We are unaware of Barack Obama’s ever having claimed his father was a “proud freedom fighter.” Obama has written (and spoken) at length about his father’s returning to Africa from America to work for the Kenyan government, with that country’s political turmoil eventually leaving him a “bitter drunk” and “a defeated, lonely bureaucrat.”

My Family Has Strong Ties To African Freedom – LIAR, your cousin Raila Odinga has created mass violence in attempting to overturn a legitimate election in 2007, in Kenya. It is the first widespread violence in decades.
As we discussed in a separate article, Kenyan politician Raila Odinga has recently claimed to be Barack Obama’s cousin, but there is no substantive evidence documenting his claim, and the two men share no meaningful familial connection.

My Grandmother Has Always Been A Christian – LIAR, she does her daily Salat prayers at 5am according to her own interviews. According to the New York Times: “I am a strong believer of the Islamic faith,” Ms. Obama, 85, said in a recent interview in Kenya.’ Not to mention, Christianity wouldn’t allow her to have been one of 14 wives to 1 man.
The author has apparently confused Obama’s grandmothers. In the instance cited above, Obama was speaking of his maternal grandmother, Madelyn Dunham, not his paternal grandmother. (In 2007 Obama described his maternal grandparents as “nonpracticing Baptists and Methodists.”)

My Name is African Swahili – LIAR, your name is Arabic and ‘Baraka’ (from which Barack came) means ‘blessed’ in that language. Hussein is also Arabic and so is Obama.
Many Swahili words and names are of Arabic origin (just as many English words originated with other languages). “Barack” is a Swahili name that entered the language via historical trade and cultural ties with Arabia.

I Never Practiced Islam – LIAR, you practiced it daily at school, where you were registered as a Muslim and kept that faith for 31 years, until your wife made you change, so you could run for office.
The topic is already covered in our separate article about the (false) claims that Barack Obama is a Muslim.

My School In Indonesia Was Christian – LIAR, you were registered as Muslim there and got in trouble in Koranic Studies for making faces (check your own book).
Barack Obama attended more than one school in Indonesia, one of which was a public school that included Islamic religious instruction among its curriculum, and one of which was a private Catholic school.

I Was Fluent In Indonesian – LIAR, not one teacher says you could speak the language.
We are unaware of Barack Obama’s ever having claimed he was “fluent” in any Indonesian language (beyond the level of competence that could reasonably be expected of the non-native child speaker he was at the time he lived in that country). He did acquire (and apparently still has) a passable command of Bahasa, as Time magazine noted in a 2007 article:

When prominent Indonesians visit the U.S., the first person they want to meet is Obama, says Parnohadiningrat Sudjadnan, the Indonesian ambassador to the U.S. “Back home people think of him as one of us, or at least one who understands us,” he says, adding that they are delighted to find that Obama speaks passable Bahasa, the language spoken in Indonesia and Malaysia.

Because I Lived In Indonesia, I Have More Foreign Experience – LIAR, you were there from the ages of 6 to 10, and couldn’t even speak the language.
We have not found any citation for Obama’s having claimed that his childhood in Indonesia qualified him as having “more foreign experience” (what the comparative “more” refers to also isn’t clear). Barack Obama did live in Indonesia for four years as a child, and he could in fact speak the local language passably well. Whether his time in that country provided him more “foreign experience” is argumentative, but people other than Obama himself have suggested that it might:

Some would argue that his childhood experiences, as well as his mixed heritage (his father was Kenyan, his mother from Kansas), gives him a better inner compass on foreign policy than most Americans. They cite the pioneering work of Ruth Hill Useem, the late sociologist of Michigan State University, who spent her career studying what she called Third Culture Kids — the millions of U.S. children (an estimated 20 million since the advent of mass air travel) who have been carted abroad by their missionary, diplomatic, corporate or military parents. These frequent-flier kids don’t spend enough time in their adopted countries to become fully bicultural, but they take pieces and add it to their home values and traditions — creating millions of “Third Cultures.” Studies have shows that kids who have spent time abroad are more likely to go to college, to relate to one another despite the influences of vastly differing cultures, and to latch on to one aspect of their culture — in Obama’s case African Americanism.

I Am Stronger On Foreign Affairs – LIAR, except for Africa (surprise) and the Middle East (bigger surprise), you have never been anywhere else on the planet and thus have NO experience with our closest allies.
Barack Obama has lived in, traveled to, or otherwise spent time in countries in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East, including Russia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Israel, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, the Palestinian Territories, Afghanistan Chad, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, and South Africa, as well as serving as a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Whether his experiences make him “stronger on foreign affairs” is argumentative, but again, people other than Obama have suggested that it might:

“Living abroad does give you a wider view of the world,” says Zbigniew Brzezinski, former National Security Adviser under Jimmy Carter, and a Polish-American who spent four years as a child living in Germany with his diplomat father. Obama is “a person with genuine sensitivity of world affairs,” says Brzenzinski, who is supporting Obama. “It’s not the conventional mouthing of culture sensitivities.” Brzezinski points to Obama’s greater willingness to meet leaders of hostile nations and his early resistance to the war in Iraq as examples of his superior intuition on foreign policy.

I Blame My Early Drug Use On Ethnic Confusion – LIAR, you were quite content in high school to be Barry Obama, no mention of Kenya and no mention of struggle to identify – your classmates said you were just fine.
Obama wrote at length in his two books about his experiences growing up as the child of mixed-race parents and the issues that accompanied that status, and he noted in his first book, Dreams From My Father that before entering politics he had used marijuana and cocaine. His drug use, he wrote, was “… something that could push questions of who I was out of my mind, something that could flatten out the landscape of my heart, blur the edges of my memory” and said in a 2006 interview that his drug use was “… reflective of the struggles and confusion of a teenage boy. Teenage boys are frequently confused.”

An Ebony Article Moved Me To Run For Office – LIAR, Ebony has yet to find the article you mention in your book. It doesn’t, and never did, exist.
We could not find an instance in either of Barack Obama’s books (or elsewhere) where he claimed that his decision to run for public office was influenced by an article in Ebony magazine.

A Life Magazine Article Changed My Outlook On Life – LIAR, Life has yet to find the article you mention in your book. It doesn’t, and never did, exist.
In Dreams from My Father, Barack Obama writes of a childhood experience occurring on a day when his mother dropped him off at a library on her way to work, and he began thumbing through issues of LIFE magazine:

Eventually I came across a photograph of an older man in dark glasses and a raincoat walking down an empty road. I couldn’t guess what this picture was about; there seemed nothing unusual about the subject. On the next page was another photograph, this one a close-up of the same man’s hands. They had a strange, unnatural pallor, as if blood had been drawn from the flesh. Turning back to the first picture, I now saw that the man’s crinkly hair, his heavy lips and broad fleshy nose, all had this same uneven, ghostly hue.

He must be terrible sick, I thought. A radiation victim, maybem or an albino — I had seen one of those on the street a few days before, and my mother had explained about such things. Except when I read the words that went with the picture, that wasn’t it at all. The man had received a chemical treatment, the article explained, to lighten his complexion. He had paid for it with his own money. He expressed some regret about trying to pass himself off as a white man, was sorry about how badly things had turned out. But the results were irreversible. There were thousands of people like him, black men and women back in America who’d undergone the same treatment in response to advertisements that promised happiness as a white person.

I felt my face and neck get hot. My stomach knotted; the type began to blur on the page. Did my mother know about this? What about her boss — why was he so calm, reading through his reports a few feet down the hall? I had a desperate urge to jump out of my seat, to show them what I had learned, to demand some explanation or assurance. But something held me back. As in a dream, I had no voice for my newfound fear. By the time my mother came to take me home, my face wore a smile and the magazines were back in their proper place. The room, the air, was quiet as before.

As far as we know, no one has yet found any matching article in the pages of LIFE magazine. However, that does necessarily not mean Barack Obama saw no such article; it may simply mean that, writing decades after the fact, he misremembered the title of the magazine he was viewing.

I Won’t Run On A National Ticket In ‘08 – LIAR, here you are, despite saying, live on TV, that you would not have enough experience by then, and you are all about having experience first.
In 2004, just after winning election to the U.S. Senate, Barack Obama said during a press conference, in response to a question about his possibly running for national office, that:

I am a believer in knowing what you’re doing when you apply for a job, and I think that if I were to seriously consider running on a national ticket I would essentially have to start now, before having served a day in the Senate. Now, there are some people who might be comfortable doing that, but I’m not one of them.

Present Votes Are Common In Illinois – LIAR, they are common for YOU, but not many others have 130 NO VOTES.A legislative “present” vote (which essentially counts as a “No” vote but does not go on record as such) is, as the New York Times observed, “not unusual in Illinois,” a tactic often used in concert with other party members and leaders:

An examination of Illinois records shows at least 36 times when Mr. Obama was either the only state senator to vote present or was part of a group of six or fewer to vote that way.

In more than 50 votes, he seemed to be acting in concert with other Democrats as part of a strategy.

In other cases, Mr. Obama’s present votes stood out among widespread support as he tried to use them to register legal and other objections to parts of the bills.

In Illinois, political experts say voting present is a relatively common way for lawmakers to express disapproval of a measure. It can at times help avoid running the risks of voting no, they add.

Oops, I Misvoted – LIAR, only when caught by church groups and Democrats, did you beg to change your misvote.We’re unsure what supposed “misvote” this line references.

I Was A Professor Of Law – LIAR, you were a senior lecturer ON LEAVE.
Barack Obama was indeed a professor at the University of Chicago’s Law School, a fact verified by that institution itself:

The Law School has received many media requests about Barack Obama, especially about his status as “Senior Lecturer.”

From 1992 until his election to the U.S. Senate in 2004, Barack Obama served as a professor in the Law School. He was a Lecturer from 1992 to 1996. He was a Senior Lecturer from 1996 to 2004, during which time he taught three courses per year. Senior Lecturers are considered to be members of the Law School faculty and are regarded as professors, although not full-time or tenure-track. The title of Senior Lecturer is distinct from the title of Lecturer, which signifies adjunct status. Like Obama, each of the Law School’s Senior Lecturers has high-demand careers in politics or public service, which prevent full-time teaching. Several times during his 12 years as a professor in the Law School, Obama was invited to join the faculty in a full-time tenure-track position, but he declined.

I Was A Constitutional Lawyer – LIAR, you were a senior lecturer ON LEAVE.
Between 1993 and 2002, Barack Obama worked as a civil rights lawyer with the Chicago law firm of Miner, Barnhill & Galland.

Without Me, There Would Be No Ethics Bill – LIAR, you didn’t write it, introduce it, change it, or create it.It’s unclear what ethics bill this statement references. Obama did help pass a major ethics reform bill as an Illinois State Senator, and 110th U.S. Congress passed the Legislative Transparency and Accountability Act, which “closely mirrored and drew key provisions from a bill (S. 230) that Senators Obama and Feingold introduced in January 2007.” We could find no reference to document Obama’s supposedly having said that neither of those bills would exist if not for him.

The Ethics Bill Was Hard To Pass – LIAR, it took just 14 days from start to finish.Again, it’s unclear which ethics bill this statement references, nor could we find any reference to document Obama’s supposedly having said such a bill was “hard to pass.’

I Wrote A Tough Nuclear Bill – LIAR, your bill was rejected by your own party for its pandering and lack of all regulation – mainly because of your Nuclear Donor, Exelon, from which David Axelrod came.As the New York Times reported in February 2008:

When residents in Illinois voiced outrage two years ago upon learning that the Exelon Corporation had not disclosed radioactive leaks at one of its nuclear plants, the state’s freshman senator, Barack Obama, took up their cause.

Mr. Obama scolded Exelon and federal regulators for inaction and introduced a bill to require all plant owners to notify state and local authorities immediately of even small leaks. He has boasted of it on the campaign trail, telling a crowd in Iowa in December that it was “the only nuclear legislation that I’ve passed.”

“I just did that last year,” he said, to murmurs of approval.

A close look at the path his legislation took tells a very different story. While he initially fought to advance his bill, even holding up a presidential nomination to try to force a hearing on it, Mr. Obama eventually rewrote it to reflect changes sought by Senate Republicans, Exelon and nuclear regulators. The new bill removed language mandating prompt reporting and simply offered guidance to regulators, whom it charged with addressing the issue of unreported leaks.

Those revisions propelled the bill through a crucial committee. But, contrary to Mr. Obama’s comments in Iowa, it ultimately died amid parliamentary wrangling in the full Senate.

I Have Released My State Records – LIAR, as of March, 2008, state bills you sponsored or voted for have yet to be released, exposing all the special interests pork hidden within.

We couldn’t find a reference for Barack Obama’s supposedly claiming that he had “released” his state records, only that he said he “didn’t have the resources available to maintain those kinds of records” and that they might not exist. Politico.com noted in October 2008 that:

Obama’s Senate files became an issue after he pressed Hillary Rodham Clinton during their nomination battle to release the schedules from her eight years as first lady.

When her campaign demanded Obama release his state Senate files, he told reporters he did not “maintain a file of eight years of work in the state Senate because I didn’t have the resources available to maintain those kinds of records.” The records “could have been thrown out. I haven’t been in the state Senate now for quite some time,” he said.

His campaign later said that “files pertinent to ongoing casework” were passed to his successor, but Obama didn’t save correspondence with the general public, state associations or lobbyists, or memos on legislation and correspondence with Illinois state agencies. Some of the records that have surfaced have done little to dampen the demand for a more complete accounting.

I Took On The Asbestos Altgeld Gardens Mess – LIAR, you were part of a large group of people who remedied Altgeld Gardens. You failed to mention anyone else but yourself, in your books.In Barack Obama’s book Dreams from My Father, beginning at the start of Chapter 9, he writes in detail about the efforts of community organizers to push a grassroots campaign advocating the removal of asbestos from the Altgeld Gardens housing project in Chicago. Although in his book Obama emphasizes his own role in the effort, many other people who took part in are indeed mentioned as well.

My Economics Bill Will Help America – LIAR, your 111 economic policies were just combined into a proposal which lost 99-0, and even YOU voted against your own bill.It is unclear to us what bill or statement is supposedly being referenced here.

I Have Been A Bold Leader In Illinois – LIAR, even your own supporters claim to have not seen BOLD action on your part.We couldn’t find a reference for Barack Obama’s having described himself as a “bold leader in Illinois,” but certainly some of his supporters have claimed that of him (just as some of his critics have claimed the opposite).

I Passed 26 Of My Own Bills In One Year – LIAR, they were not YOUR bills, but rather handed to you, after their creation by a fellow Senator, to assist you in a future bid for higher office.Barack Obama did pass 26 bills in his final year as an Illinois state senator. We could not find any reference to his claiming that all of them were “my own” bills, but he certainly received a boost in passing them from Illinois Senate President (and fellow Democrat) Emil Jones, who “helped Obama learn the ways of the state legislature and gave Obama the chance to work on the ethics legislation and death penalty reforms that Obama now boasts about in his presidential campaign”:

Emil Jones Jr. helped Obama master the intricacies of the Legislature. When Democrats took control of the state Senate, Jones, though he risked offending colleagues who had toiled futilely on key issues under Republican rule, tapped Obama to take the lead on high-profile legislative initiatives that he now boasts about in his presidential campaign.

And when Obama wanted a promotion to the U.S. Senate, Jones provided critical support that gave the little-known legislator legitimacy, keeping him from being instantly trampled by the front-runners.

No One Contacted Canada About NAFTA – LIAR, the Candian Government issued the names and a memo of the conversation your campaign had with them.As FactCheck.org noted in March 2008 about the ‘NAFTA-Gate‘ controversy:

It’s now clear that a Canadian news report that started this flap wasn’t accurate. No evidence has surfaced to show that any Obama “staffer” telephoned the Canadian ambassador in Washington, and all concerned deny that any such conversation took place. But it is equally clear that Obama’s senior economic adviser did visit Canada’s consulate in Chicago on Feb. 8, and that NAFTA was one of the several topics discussed.

Exactly what was said is not so clear, however. The memo says Obama’s anti-NAFTA stance was described as just “political maneuvering,” but the adviser says he said no such thing. The campaign says the adviser wasn’t authorized to convey any message from the candidate anyway. No audio recording or verbatim transcript of the disputed conversation is available, and there’s no reason to expect that any exists.

I Am Tough On Terrorism – LIAR, you missed the Iran Resolution vote on terrorism.In September 2007, the U.S. Senate voted on a resolution to designate the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps a terrorist organization:

Charged with defending the system put in place after Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution, the Guards answer to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and are revered by many for their defense of the country during the 1980s war with Saddam Hussein’s Iraq.

The legislative move to classify Shiite Muslim-dominated Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guard force as terrorist would be first such move against a foreign government entity and would freeze any of its assets under U.S. jurisdiction.

It would also allow the U.S. Treasury Department to move against firms subject to U.S. law that do business with the Guard, which have vast commercial interests at home and abroad.

Senator Obama was on the campaign trail at the time and did not return to Washington for the vote.

I Am Not Acting As President Yet – LIAR, after the NAFTA Memo, a dead terrorist in the FARC, in Colombia, was found with a letter stating how you and he were working together on getting FARC recognized officially.On March 1, a Columbian Army strike on a FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) rebel camp in Columbia killed 24 people, including Raul Reyes, the FARC’s foreign minister. Files in a laptop computer seized from the wreckage of the rebel camp included references to U.S. diplomatic overtures which the Associated Press described as “scintillating, if vague”:

In a Dec. 11 message to the secretariat, [Ivan] Marquez writes: “If you are in agreement, I can receive Jim and Tucker to hear the proposal of the gringos.”

Writing two days before his death, Reyes tells his comrades that “the gringos,” working through Ecuador’s government, are interested “in talking to us on various issues.”

“They say the new president of their country will be (Barack) Obama,” he writes, saying Obama rejects both the Bush administration’s free trade agreement with Colombia and the current military aid program.

Exactly who the referenced “gringos” were and whether they had any substantive connection to Barack Obama is unknown.

I Didn’t Run Ads In Florida – LIAR, you allowed national ads to run 8-12 times per day for two weeks – and you still lost.
In August 2007, major Democratic candidates signed a pledge to not campaign in Florida because that state had moved its primary election up to 29 January 2008, one week earlier than the Democratic national rules allowed. In January 2008, the Obama campaign launched national television advertisements on CNN and MSNBC that were also shown in Florida. Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton maintainted that they had asked CNN and MSNBC to pull Florida from the ad buy, but those networks said they could not.

I Won Michigan – LIAR, no you didn’t.
Senator Obama didn’t seriously claim to have “won” Michigan; during an 8 March 2008 Today Show interview he misspoke and inadvertently mentioned Michigan among a list of states which he had won. In accordance with the agreement mentioned in the previous entry, Barack Obama’s name didn’t even appear on the Michigan ballot.

I won Nevada – LIAR, no you did not.
Senator Obama didn’t claim to have “won” Nevada (a state that holds caucuses rather than direct-election primaries); he noted, correctly, that although Senator Hillary Clinton tallied more overall votes at the Nevada caucuses, he actually picked up more national delegates from that state:

Mitt Romney took Nevada’s Republican caucuses, while Democrats debated whether their party had rendered a split decision. New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton won the vote count among those at the caucuses, but Illinois Sen. Barack Obama claimed a slight advantage in national convention delegates on the strength of his showing in rural areas.

Obama said in a statement released by his campaign that he came from 25 points behind and nearly beat Clinton today because he did well across all of Nevada — “including rural areas where Democrats have traditionally struggled.”

Obama’s campaign said his performance in rural areas of the state helped him win a total of 13 national convention delegates, versus 12 for Clinton.

I Want Americans To Decide – LIAR, you prefer caucuses that limit the vote, confuse the voters, force a public vote, and only operate during small windows of time.Senator Obama has no influence or power over the holding of caucuses rather than primary elections; that choice is made by each state individually, and candidates have to abide by whatever is decided.

I passed 900 Bills in the State Senate – LIAR, you passed 26, most of which you didn’t write yourself.We could not find any reference to document Barack Obama’s having claimed he passied “900 bills in the [Illinois] state senate.”

My Campaign Was Extorted By A Friend – LIAR, that friend is threatening to sue if you do not stop saying this. Obama has stopped saying this.We are unsure what “extortion” claim this statement supposedly references.

I Believe In Fairness, Not Tactics – LIAR, you used tactics to eliminate Alice Palmer from running against you.In April 2007, the Chicago Tribune wrote of Barack Obama’s first campaign for public office:

The day after New Year’s 1996, operatives for Barack Obama filed into a barren hearing room of the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners.

There they began the tedious process of challenging hundreds of signatures on the nominating petitions of state Sen. Alice Palmer, the longtime progressive activist from the city’s South Side. And they kept challenging petitions until every one of Obama’s four Democratic primary rivals was forced off the ballot.

Fresh from his work as a civil rights lawyer and head of a voter registration project that expanded access to the ballot box, Obama launched his first campaign for the Illinois Senate saying he wanted to empower disenfranchised citizens.

But in that initial bid for political office, Obama quickly mastered the bare-knuckled arts of Chicago electoral politics. His overwhelming legal onslaught signaled his impatience to gain office, even if that meant elbowing aside an elder stateswoman like Palmer.

I Don’t Take PAC Money – LIAR, you take loads of it.
Senator Obama didn’t say that has never accepted money from political action committees. (He used PAC money in his previous U.S. Senate and Illinois state Senate races.) He pledged that he would not accept PAC money for his 2008 presidential bid, a pledge that he has upheld.

I don’t Have Lobbysists – LIAR, you have over 47 lobbyists, and counting.
As Politico.com noted in May 2008:

In his campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination, Obama is refusing donations from federally registered lobbyists and excluding them from his official campaign staff. (They can still be advisers and volunteers, and their spouses’ checks are certainly welcome.)

The Wall Street Journal observed in November 2008 that:

Democratic lobbyists are wondering about their future in an Obama administration. Although Sen. Obama has taken a tough line toward registered lobbyists, he has allowed himself some maneuvering room. Like Sen. McCain, Sen. Obama has banned lobbyists from working on his campaign until after they quit their lobbying jobs.

Senator Obama also said that his administration would not employ federally registered lobbyists, although (as the New York Times noted) he has allowed himself some “wiggle room” in that regard:

Turning to campaign promises in which he pledged sweeping ethics restrictions, President-elect Barack Obama will bar lobbyists from helping to pay the costs of his transition to power or working for it in any area in which they have represented clients in the last year, his transition team said.

The new rules do seem to leave some wiggle room. Aides to Mr. Obama, who declared during the campaign that lobbyists would not “find a job in my White House,” said the guidelines allowed for lobbyists to work on the transition in areas where they have not done any lobbying.

Further, the rules apply to lobbyists who must register with the federal government; many people who work for lobbying firms or in other areas of the influence business in Washington do not have to register, because they do not personally lobby federal officials on specific issues.

My Campaign Had Nothing To Do With The 1984 Ad – LIAR, your own campaign worker made the ad on his Apple in one afternoon.
A widely-circulated spoof of Apple Computer’s famous 1984 television advertisement for their (then-new) Macintosh computer was not created by an Obama campaign worker. It was, as explained in a statement issued by the managing director of Blue State Digital (a firm contracted to provide technology services to the Obama Campaign), created without authorization by an employee of that company:

Statement from Thomas Gensemer, Managing Director, Blue State Digital

On Wednesday afternoon, March the 21st, an employee at our firm, Phillip de Vellis, received a call from Arianna Huffington of “The Huffington Post” regarding the “1984″ video currently circulating online. Initially, de Vellis refused to respond to her requests. He has since acknowledged to Blue State Digital that he was the creator of the video.

Pursuant to company policy regarding outside political work or commentary on behalf of our clients or otherwise, Mr. de Vellis has been terminated from Blue State Digital effective immediately.

Blue State Digital is under contract with the Obama Campaign for technology pursuits including software development and hosting. Additionally, one of our founding partners is on leave from the company to work directly for the campaign at headquarters.

However, Blue State Digital is not currently engaged in any relationship with the Obama Campaign for creative or non-technical services.

Mr. de Vellis created this video on his own time. It was done without the knowledge of management, and was in no way tied to his work at the firm or our formal engagement [on technology pursuits] with the Obama campaign.

I have spoken with David Plouffe, Sen. Obama’s campaign manager, to inform him of this action and am appreciative of his understanding and ongoing support of our work.

I Have Always Been Against Iraq – LIAR, you weren’t in office to vote against it AND you have voted to fund it every single time, unlike Kucinich, who seems to be out gutting you Obama. You also seem to be stepping back from your departure date – AGAIN.
Senator Obama expressed opposition to the war in Iraq well before he gained a seat in the U.S. Senate in 2004. (The vote that authorized U.S. military action in Iraq was held in 2002.) He has since voted in the Senate to authorize funding for that war, for reasons he defended in a February 2008 Democratic debate:

The two Democrats exchanged pointed words over each other’s records on the war in Iraq, which contrast sharply even as economic and domestic concerns become dominant in the race. Clinton voted in 2002 to authorize the invasion, which Obama opposed from the start. After Obama again touted a high-profile antiwar speech he gave in Chicago before the war, Clinton pointed out that he, like her, had subsequently voted for war funding, and that their records on Iraq were similar since he came to the Senate in 2005.

“When it wasn’t just a speech, but it was actually action, where is the difference?” she said. “Where is the comparison that would in some way give a real credibility to the speech that he gave against the war?”

Obama shot back: “Once we had driven the bus into the ditch, there were only so many ways we could get out.”

I Am As Patriotic As Anyone – LIAR, you won’t wear a flag pin and you don’t put your hand over your heart during the Anthem. There is a Cuban Flag with Che Guevara Displayed at Barack Obama Campaign Office which you allow to be displayed. You voted against making english the official language of the United States. You voted to give illegal aliens social security benefits, which would bankrupt the social security system for Americans legally paying into it.
These items are covered here in separate articles about the national anthem, Che Guevara, and Social Security.

Last updated: 1 July 2009

The URL for this page is http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/50lies.asp

Sources:

Cooper, Helene and Jeff Zeleny. “Obama’s Transition Team Restricts Lobbyists’ Role ”: The New York Times. 11 November 2008.
Cummings, Jeanne. “Lobbyists: This Is Our Thanks?”: Politico.com. 21 May 2008.
Helman, Scott. “Clinton Attacks on All Fronts.”: The Boston Globe. 27 February 2008.
Hernandez, Raymond and Christopher Drew. “Obama’s Vote in Illinois Was Often Just ‘Present.’”: The New York Times. 20 December 2007.
Jackson, David. “Obama Forced Opponents from Race in First Campaign.”: Chicago Tribune. 3 April 2007.
Lawrence, Jill. “Clinton, Romney Win Nevada; Obama Claims Delegate Victory.”: USA Today. 19 January 2008.
McIntire, Mike. “Nuclear Leaks and Response Tested Obama in Senate.”: The New York Times. 3 February 2008.
Moran, Terry. “Obama as a State Senator: Does He ‘Deserve a Promotion?’”: ABC News. 25 February 2008.
Mullins, Brody, et al. “Obama Team Plans for Hiring Lobbyists”: The Wall Street Journal. 1 November 2008.
Nakaso, Dan. “Family Precedent: Obama’s Grandmother Blazed Trails.”: USA Today. 7 April 2008.
Newton-Small, Jay. “Obama’s Foreign-Policy Problem.”: Time. 18 December 2007.
Obama, Barack. Dreams from My Father.: New York: Three Rivers Press, 1995. ISBN 1-4000-8277-3.
Radelat, Ana. “Selma March Raises Political Stakes for Obama, Clinton.”: USA Today. 2 March 2007.
Robinson, Mike. “Obama Got Start in Civil Rights Practice.”: Associated Press. 20 February 2007.
Schor, Elana. “The Other Obama-Kennedy Connection.”: The Guardian. 10 January 2008.
Seelye, Katharine Q. “Obama Offers More Variations from the Norm.”: The New York Times 24 October 2006.
Vogel, Kenneth P. “What Are the Candidates Hiding?”: Politico.com. 23 October 2008.
Wallace, Jeremy. “Clinton Camp: Obama’s Florida Ads Bust Pledge.”: [Sarasota] Herald-Tribune. 23 January 2008.
Associated Press. “Obama, the Clintons Turn Selma Marches into Campaign Event.”: International Herald Tribune. 4 March 2007.
Associated Press. “Iran Government Backs Parliament’s ‘Terrorist’ Label for US Army, CIA.”: International Herald Tribune. 30 September 2007.
Associated Press. “Obama’s Political ‘Godfather’ In Illinois.”: CBS News. 31 March 2008.
Associated Press. “Seized Laptop Indicates Chavez Tied to Rebels.”: CTV.ca. 5 March 2008.
Time. “The African Question.”: 29 August 1960.

PHOTO BY DAVE DAVIDSON

BP Coffee Spill

TEApublican — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 17:33:58 +0000

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BP must get a handle on their waves of irresponsible destruction…

Newt Campaigns With Zaun

TEApublican — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 17:30:41 +0000

Former speaker of the house, Newt Gingrich campaigned with Iowa 3rd congressional district republican candidate Brad Zaun at a breakfast held at the Des Moines Christian school Monday morning. Photos by Dave Davidson. All 85 images at HereInIowa.com

Des Moines Tea Party: Coverage of Joe The Plumber, Herman Cain, Brad Zaun Plus More Parade Images

TEApublican — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 16:26:57 +0000

Browse videos with Joe the Plumber, Herman Cain, Brad Zaun from the Des Moines Tea Party & more July 4th West Des Moines parade fuzography by Dave Davidson.

4th of July Fuzography-
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Joe The Plumber at the Des Moines Tea Party-
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Herman Cain at the Des Moines Tea Party-
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Brad Zaun – Boswell Isn’t Listening
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A Campaign I Wholeheartedly Endorse

TEApublican — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 23:17:54 +0000

I have been involved in a whole new campaign since the primary and I’m excited to share it. I have split my time between reading all the anti Bob Vander Plaats’s entries here at theIowaRepublican.com and looking into sending my son Nate to China for a short term missions trip. Both require a lot of time. lol (C’mon that was funny)

Its very inspiring to see my son drop everything and focus on serving overseas for two weeks. Once he heard about the chance to get bibles to China’s underground church he immediately made the commitment. He was all in with a bold step of faith.

After scrambling to get a passport and visa the past two weeks we found out today everything is a go. His flights are booked and his financial support level is at 76% of what he needs to pull in. So God is working fast matching Nate’s faith.

Already that faith has already been tested on the account that the baseball all-star team he recently made just earned a berth to the USSA World Series in Kansas City that will play during the same time when Nate is gone. Nate took the news in stride knowing he could not foresee that happening beforehand and he stuck true to his China commitment unfazed.

Understand two things: I’ve spent my life as Nate’s dad teaching him about Christ and how to throw a fastball. I am humbled and pleased he has put serving God ahead of the game he loves so much.

This story includes the key detail that the youth leaders, I was blessed to have influenced me so much when I was a teen, are also going on the trip to serve as bible couriers to serve China’s underground church. Mom says it is the only reason she is allowing her 14-year-old son to go since he will travel with trusted friends. I say God is at work.

For me it was a no-brainer to send him. He is active in sharing his faith and it will be a great discipleship opportunity for him to be with my former youth ministry mentors. Of course serving God in China is exciting and will no doubt be a life changing experience for him. He will be the only teen on a team of a dozen primarily from Indiana.

China is the largest populated country in the world with 1 out of 6 people living there.

China law states that people are free to believe in God or not to, but it is against the law to ‘evangelize’ a minor. In Beijing for example there are 12 million people, but only 7 “approved’ churches. That is where the underground church comes in and that is why they need couriers to bring them bibles. Nate will go back and forth across the border at least three times a day for 10 days with scripture suitcases in tow.

While I shouldn’t mention the sending ministry name or exact location where Nate will be here in this article for security purposes you can certainly figure out the ministry name if you request a receipt from any gift given for Nate’s trip. I encourage you to follow Nate’s travels at his facebook page found directly at SendNate.com

As Nate’s dad I had to share his step of faith to encourage you my republican friends in hopes his trip will inspire you to pray for the spiritual needs of China and for you to be prompted to get on board with Nate. We certainly need an active prayer team behind him.

It has been a refreshing break to sit back and only soak in Iowa politics for a few weeks and focus my attention to an international need.

Coincidence or irony, but it wasn’t long after Nate started wearing the T-shirt (pictured at right) that reads, “This Shirt Is Illegal In 50 Countries,” that he now has the chance to make a difference where bibles are either forbidden or hard to get a hold of.

Some of you over the past year have asked me for photos and I say grab them at HereInIowa.com. Its always fun to see a facebook avatar a photo I have taken. It a way for me to have a personal touch with a person. Many have asked, “What do I owe you for that?” My bad business response is, “My compliments.”

Well if since Nate is in need of more support and asking for it too it sure would be a great encouragement to me if you followed Nate’s world mission vision play out at his site SendNate.com. Our family covets your prayers for saftey and God’s will and appreciate any donations towards his China project. If it helps the generosity, think of it as a photo tip jar to encourage my son in mission work. Also please leave Nate a note on his facebook wall and share SendNate.com with teens and believers who may be interested in keeping up with him.

Also I have to mention a gift from a youth pastor friend I have here in central Iowa. Ryan McMahan’s band Syndrome of Fire is having a FREE benefit concert this Friday July 2nd for Nate’s trip. It will be a fun family orientated event full of prayers for China. Come on over!

Thanks for reading. – Dave

photos by Dave Davidson

Happy (Founding) Father’s Day!

TEApublican — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 14:50:33 +0000

Enjoy this mix of quotes from Founding Fathers and modern day thoughts on fatherhood…

I hope some future day will bring me the happiness of seeing my family again collected under our own roof, happy in ourselves and blessed in each other.
Abigail Adams, letter to John Adams, March 15, 1784

By the time a man realizes that maybe his father was right, he usually has a son who thinks he’s wrong.
Charles Wadsworth

How much more do they deserve our reverence and praise, whose lives are devoted to the formation of institutions, which, when they and their children are mingled in the common dust, may continue to cherish the principles and the practice of liberty in perpetual freshness and vigour.
Joseph Story, Commentaries on the Constitution, 1833

Being a great father is like shaving. No matter how good you shaved today, you have to do it again tomorrow.
Reed Markham

Patriotism is as much a virtue as justice, and is as necessary for the support of societies as natural affection is for the support of families.
Benjamin Rush, letter to His Fellow Countrymen: On Patriotism, October 20, 1773

The fundamental defect of fathers is that they want their children to be a credit to them.
Bertrand Russell

One of the most essential branches of English liberty is the freedom of one’s house. A man’s house is his castle.
James Otis, On the Writs of Assistance, 1761

My father didn’t tell me how to live; he lived, and let me watch him do it.
Clarence Budington Kelland

Life was a lot simpler when what we honored was father and mother rather than all major credit cards.
Robert Orben

It is a wise father that knows his own child.
William Shakespeare

Religion, morality and knowledge being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged.
The Northwest Ordinance, July 23, 1787

It doesn’t matter who my father was; it matters who I remember he was.
Anne Sexton

The three phrases I try to tell my kids most often are: I love you so much. I thank God for you. You’re such a blessing to me.
Dave Davidson

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and pursuit of Happiness: that to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.
Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776

The father is always a Republican toward his son, and his mother’s always a Democrat.
Robert Frost

A father is a man who expects his son to be as good a man as he meant to be.
Frank A. Clark

The most important thing a father can do for his children is to love their mother.
Rev. Theodore Hesburgh

Make kids glad, you’re their dad.
Cyrano De Words-u-lac

photo by Dave Davidson

A Primary Prayer To Pray Along

TEApublican — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 08:26:24 +0000

Here is a quick easy to recite prayer to pray along to for today.
Dear Lord we ask for wisdom, discernment and guidance today. Show us by your leading who to vote for. Give us Your conviction as You reveal Your heart to us.

We pray for Your will to be done today as new leaders are chosen through voting. Bring out the people you want to vote. Thank You Lord for the privilege of voting.

Despite many depraved flaws of our country Lord we thank You for the freedom to cast our vote in comparison to other countries where it is either not possible or dangerous. Bless those who chose to run and strengthen their families during this stressful time.

Lord we pray that we elect godly trustworthy candidates with strong convictions to the various congressional primaries. May we nominate and send to Washington excellent representatives from our state.

Reveal to us prompting from Your Spirit as we vote and recruit to vote others as well.

Dear God give us a state treasurer who has integrity and live by a code of ethical honesty and high morals that we as a state can be a better steward with financial resources.

Father may we elect a great secretary of state that would bring honor to You and this state. Grant us Your provision of wisdom.

Lord may Your sovereign will be done in the governor’s race. Bless each candidate and move the hearts of voter’s like a king’s heart or a river’s course. Guide us Lord today as we vote in such a time such as this. May Your will be done.

Hear our prayer Oh Lord as we exercise our faith. Test our motives and give us clean hearts today as spiritual battles are in full activity.

Breakthrough with your peace, understanding and mighty hand of hope that we may honor you in this time.

We humble ourselves as we ask you to heal our land. Thank You Lord. God Bless Iowa. In Your Name, Amen

DEFINING REFINING: What Does The Word “ATTACK” Mean In A Primary?

TEApublican — Fri, 28 May 2010 17:23:21 +0000

Is it an attack or not an attack? That is the question. Let’s define the word and knock this around a bit.

at·tack [uh-tak] –verb (used with object)

1. to set upon in a forceful, violent, hostile, or aggressive way, with or without a weapon; begin fighting with: He attacked him with his bare hands.

2. to begin hostilities against; start an offensive against: to attack the enemy.

3. to blame or abuse violently or bitterly.

4. to direct unfavorable criticism against; criticize severely; argue with strongly: He attacked his opponent’s statement.

5. to try to destroy, esp. with verbal abuse: to attack the mayor’s reputation.

6. to set about (a task) or go to work on (a thing) vigorously: to attack housecleaning; to attack the hamburger hungrily.

7. (of disease, destructive agencies, etc.) to begin to affect.

So that is what Dictionary.com says an attack is. What say you? What says Reagan? Does either my opinion, Craig Robinson’s opinion, Branstad’s opinion, Vander Plaats’ opinion, Stacia’s opinion, Deace Voted For Obama’s opinion Iowans Rock’s opinion or Red247’s opinion matter when it comes to whether a news bite, headline, comeback or speech zinger is indeed an attack or not? Sorry to burst all of our bubbles at once, but fact of attack or not probably doesn’t matter in the primary to primary voters.

Is it an attack if Branstad vows he will speak no ill of a fellow republican (like Reagan advocates) then he calls Vander Plaats a dictator for pledging to put a stay on same sex marriage via executive order? Is it an attack if Vander Plaats distinguishes himself from Branstad and Culver in a ad about immigration? Is it an attack if Craig Robinson omits in his headline that the ad also equally mentions Culver? Either way it is likely on purpose and meant to make a point or it is a real question that begs an answer to genuine curiosity.

Is it only an attack when name calling comes into question? Does it matter or does it just make us want to be more like Reagan in image while in reality sometimes we would rather respond like a rebounding Dennis Rodman? Hey its politics right? Is it an attack to question the record of a former CEO? Is it an attack to question how the media in general plays pretend to the emperor’s new clothes legacy of former a governor’s track record of keeping 2 sets of books? Did I say that sarcastically? Was that an attack or just articulate literature?

Is it an attack if I say as a baseball coach I would bench a player who was 0-16 at the plate and send him back to the minors? Is it an attack if I honestly say that I do not trust a candidate for governor who indeed was 0-16 years on shrinking government. If I honestly just say I don’t believe for a second that just because its popular now to say that a candidate will shrink government when that candidate already had sixteen chances I highly doubt it. For coach Dave that is one of many game changers, I mean are you serious… ZERO FOR SIXTEEN? Is it an attack to use caps to bring attention to a point? How about if I use bold font too… ZERO FOR SIXTEEN! What if I just mention it in an baseball analogy without the caps? Is that okay then?

Is it an attack if I simply state I’m perplexed that Branstad is now claiming he is the honest conservative? I’m not saying he is not honest. That is between him and God. I’m just saying I’m perplexed. I’m just saying that if you can sell honestly that means all the counts against him are false right? I mean a politician who has served for 16 years has never lied, right?

Is it an attack if I bring to your attention that when Vander Plaats confronted Branstad in the final debate non biased experts in body language would agree Vander Plaats who was confidently looking right in his opponent’s eye appeared more truthful than Branstad with his head shaking looking down and away appeared to be the non truthful candidate.

Hmmm. Is that an attack just to mention that or is that just a simple question. Or does it matter who asks the question? After all it wasn’t Craig Robinson or Nathan Tucker, it was Dave Davidson. Maybe I should question Vander Plaats on a number of issues just so people will look into the Branstad deficiency more.

Is it an attack if 50 comments light up after this article slamming me and anyone that sticks up for Vander Plaats? When it comes to the primary who cares? If I can take attacks. If Craig Robinson the TIR founder can take attacks on a daily basis for running this site, I think the gubernatorial candidates can and do handle it. Even Branstad, who is attempting to rebound from wounds by the “attack” ads by democrats had to spend half his speech at the Polk Gop event Wednesday day pandering or do you say defending to the GOP faithful crowd claiming, “That they were just to intelligent to fall for such false attacks.”

BUT why would democrats spend so much money making stuff up rather than use content that which was true when facts are facts? I mean if you’re gonna make stuff up via hyperbole method why not just say Branstad is an stem cell clone of Culver, Vander Plaats is now the head of One Iowa and that Roberts is a transvestite alien Communist. Of course all that is nonsense and a joke, but to me in my opinion that type of crazy ebellishment and exaggeration makes as much sense as the actual ITR endorsement of Branstad. And yes that was a snarky attack or was it merely a joke with a false confession?

Hey voters I say go for it. Find out the facts of the candidates. Find out why on one recent morning Branstad’s website touted an endorsement by former presidential candidate Mitt Romney, but then by afternoon the bragging rites and even the archive of the mention vanished. Why has no other TIR writer picked up on any of this?

Why did Branstad fail to mention the Romney endorsement in the press avail after the debate when he mentioned the ITR endorsement? After all Romney is famous. Wouldn’t that help Branstad? Hmmm. I dunno, but why didn’t the press ask him either? Is it an attack to wonder why or should I just fall in line and say, “Hey emperor your clothes look great.” Sorry not today, I question it. I question things because I am not all knowing, but I do want the truthful fact even if I ask while being sarcastic.

As Harry S. Truman said, “I never did give anybody hell. I just told the truth and they thought it was hell.” So are “attacks” always an attack or do they more often than not resemble an expression of conviction? Was Harry just joking around? Am I?

Branstad, Romney,baseball & “Roomates” Quotophoto image by Dave Davidson
& “Hugh Myrrh” is a pen name of Dave Davidson too.

———————————————————————–

Oh yeah, one more question… Is it an attack to again bring up that I do not hide behind an anonymous commenter name, insinuating how others do so at this site and do so multiple times and any pen name like Hugh Myrrh I do have I take 100% responsibility for? Does that matter in the primary? No, of course not.

I will keep asking questions like I do with my real name and even if we disagree, may the conversation help us both think better and find the truth and discover the best candidate. I thank you for your time and respect your right to free speech. Let’s seek the truth together.

So what is your definition of an attack? Should we now all cite which of the 7 examples the dictionary gives? What say you about this loaded word “attack?” When should a candidate lay low and when should they go on the offense? - Dave

Friday Night’s Campaign For Liberty Coverage with Ron Paul

TEApublican — Sat, 15 May 2010 15:49:06 +0000

The American spirit is alive and well in Des Moines at the Campaign For Liberty event through Sunday.

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http://www.campaignforliberty.com/event/2010iowa.php?page=agenda

photos by Dave Davidson

Obradovich Glitch: “David Loebsack Has A Safe Seat”

TEApublican — Thu, 13 May 2010 17:20:59 +0000

Once again Kathie Obradovich, the beloved all-knowing Des Moines Moines Register time traveling political warlock writer, (who just seems to know everything and write like her words are gospel green mildewy fact) has written opinion like its the real deal with the following words in her blog today… “David Loebsack has a safe seat.”

Gosh if she had only told republican candidates this months ago we would have never let Meeks, Reed, Rathje and Gettemy on the ballot. So much money could have been saved by simply throwing in the towel. I mean what a waste of time for republican candidates it has been to even run, because after all Obradovich says the seat is safe and she often times writes opinion like its the truth, right? I guess the rest of the race is just a show since back-the-future Obradovich knows what will happen.

Hey I believe in the flux capacitor. Its just getting those pesky 1.21 gigawatts to cooperate at the right time is the challenge. Hmmm. So maybe there is an Obradovich glitch after all… The battle between presupposed liberal agenda vs. actual truth, fact and reality.

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From the tea party front I bet Obradovich is aware that U.S. Rep. Dave Loebsack is among the “54 most dangerous” members of Congress appearing on a deck of tea party–produced playing cards modeled after those created in 2003 to hunt “Iraq’s Most Wanted, but like so many other factors working against Loebsack that just doesn’t matter to her.

Loebsack has the distinct honor to appear as the Eight of Hearts, not as famous of a antagonist as “Jokers” like House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. He is no “Ace” like Democratic U.S. Rep. Henry Waxman and Republican U.S. Sen. John McCain, but hey he Eight of Hearts is part of the deck. I will wait for the blogger deck to see where Obradovich fits.

No matter what the vote total is after the votes are counted for the June 8^th primary I suppose we will have to wait until the Des Moines Register’s Kathie Obradovich posts her blog to tells us who wins. Same thing for November 2^nd, I mean after all things like poll numbers and public opinion have no bearing on “victory,” only Kathie’s opinion does. Right? Never mind the nationwide anti democratic movement. Obradovich thinks Iowa voters can’t catch a clue.

For example the polls numbers immediately following the first gubernatorial debate from the station which aired it had Branstad and Roberts at 26% each and Vander Plaats at 48%. While the unscientific poll was based on online viewers who had just watched the debate, it is safe to say the online poll was more accurate depiction of Iowa voters than Kathie Obradovich’s biased lazy conclusion, which gave the Branstad campaign bragging rights.

At the time Obradovich claimed, “There were really no game-changing moments in the debate, which means Branstad won.”

I personally asked Kathie about this a few days later at the Des Moines Tea Party and explained to her the data of the KTIV online poll. She responded saying, “That’s not data.” Well excuse me I though to myself. Gee I thought numbers where part of the definition of the word data and should enter into the conclusion wielding process. Never mind.

Kathie is certainly entitled to her opinion, but I think at least those poll numbers they could have been cited in her work. Her contributions to the our capitol city newspaper wavers from column style writing to news reporting and opinion blogging. And there you have it… The difference in a news story and a blog where a news story should provide a story telling narrative of facts while a blog has the expectation of many points of view, one of which is opinion only. The challenge with Obradovich is you never know from what context she seems to be writing from and readers can fall prey to taking the bait that her opinion and fact are congruent.

Obradovich’s conclusions should change the history of the planet if only it were true and had any salt of reasonable logic supporting it. Hey Kathie in the final Olympic hockey game between USA and Canada, the Canadians only had a few goals more than USA so really in your mind USA won because it really wasn’t a death blow. After all USA was still skating at the end of the game. Hmmm I don’t remember any gold medals for that. I’m glad she doesn’t cover sports.

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As Obradovich minimizes the consequence, relevance and importance of the issues ranging from the so call safety of Loebsack’s congressional seat to the effectiveness of Bob Vander Plaats in debates the problem is that some people actually believes her.

It’s not Kathie’s fault that weeks ago the Branstad campaign used your blog “victory headline” in their e-newsletter, but after all that is all they could find after the debate to prop themselves up and feed their supporters a thrown bone. I’m not sure what was more pathetic Kathie, your lame conclusion on scoring a debate victory or Branstad’s campaign for promoting it? I suppose Loebsack should have a press conference declaring victory already. What is the use of elections with Obradovich around?

So should we expect an actual election to determine Loebsack’s fate? Whether by constitutional law, tradition or strange old habits maybe we should just just go ahead with the election process after all and see who voters choose in June and November instead of letting Kathie decide. Seriously Kathie your blog opinion to quote yourself, is often as relevant as a toothpick making a dent in an iceberg. Please turn up the objective part of your brain the next month. People know the liberal agenda of the Register. You’re not fooling everyone.

It’s will be over when voters sing, not until Kathie Obradovich says it’s over.

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