Barack Hussein Obama said the Muslim call to prayer is “one of the prettiest sounds on Earth.”

Barack Hussein Obama said the Muslim call to prayer is “one of the prettiest sounds on Earth.”

In an interview with Nicholas Kristof, published in The New York Times, Obama recited the Muslim call to prayer, the Adhan, “with a first-class [Arabic] accent.”

The opening lines of the Adhan (Azaan) is the Shahada:

“Allah is Supreme! Allah is Supreme!
Allah is Supreme! Allah is Supreme!
I witness that there is no god but Allah
I witness that there is no god but Allah
I witness that Muhammad is his prophet… ”

According to Islamic scholars, reciting the Shahada, the Muslim declaration of faith, makes one a Muslim. This simple yet profound statement expresses a Muslim’s complete acceptance of, and total commitment to, the message of Islam.

Obama knows this from his Quranic studies — and he knows the New York Times will publish this fact and it will be seen throughout the Islamic world.

Click HERE to read the New York Times Article.

Fact Check.Org: Obama Ad Against McCain A 'Rank Misrepresentation'

FactCheck.org says the new Obama-Biden ad claiming John McCain's Social Security (SS) plan would cut SS benefits in half is a "falsehood" and a "rank misrepresentation" which would scare senior citizens who rely on SS checks.

According to Fact Check in an article titled "Scaring Seniors" the "promise" ad says John McCain voted for privatizing social security and quotes him as saying he "campaigned in support of President Bush's proposal."  

That is true, as shown by John McCain saying in March of 2008, "I'm totally in favor of personal savings accounts and I think they are an important opportunity for young workers. I campaigned in support of President Bush's proposal and I campaigned with him, and I did town hall meetings with him."More...

The ad implies that Bush's plan bets the whole lot of Social Security funds on unstable stocks. In fact, it would have "privatized" only a small portion of Social Security taxes that Americans could have invested in private accounts, if they chose to do so.

The "rank misrepresentation" come in when the Obama ad claims it would cut "benefits in half."

Fact check states:

Nobody now getting benefits, or even close to retirement, would have seen any reduction in benefits or cost-of-living adjustments under the plan Bush proposed in April, 2005. What Bush proposed – in addition to creating private Social Security accounts – was to hold down the growth of benefits received by those retiring in the future. He embraced a proposal for "progressive price indexing" of future benefits. This would have been a "cut" only in relation to what the current formula would produce for future retirees, assuming that taxes are increased sufficiently to keep the system going.

The "price indexing" would have tied the growth to the rate of price inflation, rather than to the growth of wages, as is the case now. Wages have historically risen faster than prices, so the current wage-indexed system pushes benefits for future retirees up faster than the rate of inflation. The "progressive" part would have held down the growth only for higher-income and middle-income workers, while allowing benefits for lower-income workers to rise in line with the current wage-based formula.

Fact Check goes on to point out the claims in the new ad attempts to use a report by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities written by Jason Furman, with Furman now being one of Obama's top economic advisers, then finds the report they are documenting to make their claims actually is "quite different from what the ad claims."

They end their fact checking by saying ads like the Obama-Biden as "misinform" the public and only make the job of fixing the system more difficult.

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Posted by Susan Duclos at WakeUpAmerica, reposted here to share.
 

The Domino Effect—I a liberal journo no longer trust the Times to cover even international news without Obama Bias

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Clinton's bailout statement - Ben Smith, Politico

Hillary puts out the kind of harsh, skeptical statement on the Bush administration's plans that Obama —embracing a bipartisan moment — did not, and offers a glimpse of how different her campaign would have been:More...

When the American people, facing a foreclosure crisis and struggling economy, turned to this administration for help, the answer was no. Now, the administration is turning to the American people for help, to rescue the credit markets and take on hundreds of billions in debt and financial obligations as a consequence of that same foreclosure crisis. The truth is, Main Street came to Washington and got little. Now Washington is coming to Main Street and asking for a lot. The American people deserve to know that this isn't a blank check. While the need to address the current crisis is clear, I will only support steps that will prevent a widening crisis, tackle the worst kinds of abuse tolerated for too long by the Bush administration, and address the root problems at work.


The proposed intervention outlined today by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson would be a watershed moment for our economy. I believe that such an intervention demands that we fundamentally alter the priorities and policies of our nation under the Bush administration that allowed this crisis to take place and escalate. Corporations that will benefit must be held accountable not only to large shareholders but also to the American people. And American taxpayers deserve to know that their money will not allow for a continuation of the status quo: short-term profit at the expense of long-term viability; obscene bonuses and golden parachutes regardless of performance; reckless risk taking that have placed the markets in so much jeopardy; rewards for those who foreclose on middle-class families and sell mortgages designed to fail to turn a profit; and outsourcing of good jobs to serve short-term stock prices instead of America's long-term economic health. The prevailing dynamic of corporate America, where the sole priority was the dividend, the inflated bonus and the quarterly earnings report, must give way to a new respect for the long-term prosperity of the American worker and the well-being of the middle class.


After eight years of failed policies — and two years of an absentee administration — our only option left may be an unprecedented government intervention into the private markets. The markets must be stabilized to stave off wider turmoil. Nevertheless, the urgency of this crisis does not mean that we should offer a blank check to financial institutions or the privileged few. Nor can we simply allow the administration to use the taxpayers like a "reset button." We cannot allow Wall Street to act without oversight by a vigilant SEC and administration — and without regard for the American people, who will now have paid twice: in falling prey to a widening credit crisis, and in paying the bill to hopefully bring it to an end.


I will be examining the administration's proposal very closely to ensure that we do not approve a policy that may stabilize the markets in the short term without addressing the root problems facing middle-class families or the kinds of reckless gambling that was permitted for far too long by the administration. The Bush administration may have changed its tune once the crisis facing Main Street hit Wall Street. But we need to be sure that the American taxpayers — asked to shoulder yet more risk and responsibility — have a voice.

Early US presidential voting starts in battleground states

                        40 million could go to polls before November 4
 Florence Dziamniski, 82, is one of thousands registering to vote

Voting in the US presidential race began yesterday as the first ballots were cast in the state of Virginia, part of an unprecedented nationwide surge in early voting that is forcing Barack Obama and John McCain to recalculate their campaign strategies.

With more than six weeks before election day, Virginia is the first of 36 states to allow early voting this year, with at least a third of the electorate predicted to vote before November 4. It is a record-high number that has forced both candidates to change turnout plans, travelling schedules and the timing of advertisements.More...

Early voting is taking place in a string of key battleground states – including Ohio, Wisconsin, Florida and Minnesota – where Mr Obama and Mr McCain are tied, and where a few thousand votes could decide the outcome in each state.

The large number of states allowing early voting has rendered traditional campaign strategies obsolete. No sooner had Mr Obama and Mr McCain picked running-mates and held their conventions than they had to turn their attention to “closing messages” in many states at a time when they would usually have just begun stumping. Only 11 states permitted the practice in 2000 – part of a strategy to increase voter turnout. Democrats have pushed for it because they believe that it reduces the disenfranchisement of poor and black voters.

Iowa, a key swing state, starts early voting on Tuesday, less than three weeks after the end of the Republican convention. Ohio – allowing early ballots for the first time – opens on September 30, with Florida opening certain polling stations on October 20.

“We could have 40 million people voting before November 4,” said Tad Devine, a Democratic strategist. “The candidates are changing their schedules and changing their media buys. It is having an unprecedented impact.”

Meanwhile, the turmoil on Wall Street and the government rescue package for the US financial markets announced by President Bush yesterday – expected to cost hundreds of billions of dollars – continued to dominate the campaign. Polls this week suggest that the crisis has shifted the momentum slightly back in Mr Obama’s favour. Yet a big survey of ten battleground states showed the reality of the race: it is too close to call.

In another development, Todd Palin, the husband of John McCain’s running-mate, refused to testify in an Alaskan investigation into whether his wife abused her powers by dismissing her police chief to settle a score.

Mr McCain and Mr Obama gave speeches fleshing out how they would solve the financial crisis if elected.

Speaking in Wisconsin, Mr McCain said that the US Federal Reserve should stop bailing out failed financial institutions. He again railed against the greed of Wall Street, and criticised Mr Obama for his links to Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, the mortgage giants bailed out by the Government.

Mr Obama took large campaign donations from both companies and the former head of his vice-presidential vetting team, Jim Johnson, is the former head of Fannie Mae. “While Fannie and Freddie were working to keep Congress away from their house of cards, Senator Obama was taking their money,” Mr McCain said.

Mr Obama largely refrained from attacking Mr McCain, and instead asked him to work with him on legislation to help middle-class families. Yet his campaign released its own advert criticising Mr McCain’s “fundamentally wrong” economic advisers – a reference to his opponent’s blunder on Monday that “the fundamentals of our economy are strong”.

Obama Bundler Who Stormed Palin Convention Speech Welcomed at Obama’s Elite Hollywood Fundraiser

 Posted at Clinton Dems, reposted here to share:


Obama campaign activist Jodie Evans
I don’t normally like to quote Free Republic, but in this case facts are facts. Disgraceful.

Democrat presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois put his seal of approval on the woman who attempted to storm the stage during the acceptance speech by Republican vice presidential nominee Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska at the Republican National Convention by welcoming her to his $28,500 per person fundraiser held in Hollywood on Tuesday night.

Less than two weeks after garnering worldwide attention by getting within feet of the stage where Palin stood before getting dragged away by security personnel, Obama bundler Jodie Evans, co-founder of the anti-American group Code Pink, was one of about 300 donors attending the high-priced fundraiser Obama held at the Greystone Mansion in Beverly Hills that brought in approximately $8 million for the Obama campaign and the Democratic party, according to Entertainment Weekly, which published the donor list for the event. More...

Obama greeted the elite donors individually and posed for photos with them.
Days after Palin’s speech, the National Review’s Jim Geraghty suggested to Obama that he cut his ties to Evans.

Others have urged Obama to cut his ties to Evans over much more egregious behavior. Specifically her support for the terrorists in Iraq, her sympathy for Osama bin Laden, her work with state sponsors of terrorism to undermine America’s war effort, her embrace of Hugo Chavez and

Evans has been part of the Obama campaign from its beginning. She co-hosted his breakthrough Hollywood fundraiser in February 2007, the month he launched his candidacy.

Evans has contributed the maximum $4600 total to Obama’s presidential primary and general election funds. Evans is also listed by the Obama campaign as a bundler of between $50,000 and $100,000 in contributions to his campaign.

Evans and Code Pink also delivered $600,000 in cash and humanitarian aid to the families of what Code Pink called “the other side” in Fallujah, Iraq as the Marines were liberating that city from al Qaeda in Iraq in late 2004.

Evans and Code Pink will be in New York City next week where they will be calling for President Bush to be arrested at the United Nations and put on trial for being “the world’s number one war criminal.”

Barack Obama’s close embrace of Evans as one of the key members of his campaign has been virtually ignored by the media. With six weeks left in the campaign, will they inform the American people that the man who aspires to be commander-in-chief is intimately allied with someone who is working to get American soldiers killed and America defeated in the war on terror?

From the table seating arrangement published by Entertainment Weekly:
Table No. 29
Jodie Evans, Amanda Fairey, Shepard Fairey, Ellen Grinstein, Rami Kolahi, Ken Luskin, Jonathan Palevsky, Max Palevsky, Sylvie Rabineau, Frank Smith

Vote, or Risk Having Your vote Stolen

 Posted on September 20, 2008 by garychapelhill  at the Confluence, reposted here to share:

I sincerely believe that Obama for America intends to try to steal the presidential election, just as George W. Bush did in 2000.  Obama’s track record proves that he has absolutely zero integrity and an utter disregard for democratic prinicples.  That is the primary reason that I do not support him and think that he would be a danger to our country, and perhaps put the final nail in the coffin of our democratic process.  People like Bush and Obama want to make voters More...irrelevant.  They care only about the corporate vote, which is cast not with a ballot, but EXwith a greenback.
They still need to pretend, however, that the voters actually did make the final decision.  Obama can only use his shills in the media to get him close to the finish line.  That provides the cover for when the “ground game” comes in and makes sure that the actual vote count is in their favor.
Republicans and Democrats have different methods for doing this.  But make no mistake, both sides do it.  The republicans like “vote caging”, which effectively eliminates their opposition’s voters from the rolls.  The Democrats prefer to inflate their voter turnout by mainpulating and falsifying voter registration forms.  This can lead to people voting “early and often” or votes from the “living impaired”, or even voting for people who do not bother to show up to vote.

In a conference call with reporters, Del. Jeffrey M. Frederick (R-Prince William), the chairman of the state party, seized on the arrests last week of three paid canvassers charged with submitting false names on voter registration forms in Hampton.
The controversy comes during one of the most aggressive efforts in a generation to register new voters, especially African Americans, in Virginia.
Convinced that there are tens of thousands of unregistered African Americans and otherwise Democratic-leaning Virginia residents, the Democrats are trying to register 151,000 new voters before the Oct. 6 deadline. A dozen other private organizations have sent canvassers into the streets to register voters. Democrats think this is their best chance of carrying the state in a presidential election since 1964.
Frederick said the criminal charges in Hampton prove that some groups are trying to register voters through fraudulent means. “Unfortunately, there appears to be a coordinated and widespread effort in Virginia to commit voter fraud,” he said.
Frederick said the state Republican Party has obtained an affidavit from a Richmond woman who contends that her Social Security number was used by someone who was trying to register to vote.

This is happening in many battleground states.  Obama is attempting to “cross the finish line” by falsifying voter registration rolls, and if anyone calls him on it, he screams racism.  Pretty sneaky, right?  In fact, I am quite alarmed to find out that this is happening in my own county.  First of all, take a look at the voter registration activity going on in my area.  Within a 50 mile radius of my house, there are 263 “events” being held by Obama for America.  Most of these are voter registration events.

But these events are not all run by the campaign itself.  They are aided by nefarious groups such as ACORN, whose history of voter fraud has been covered here and here, from the WSJ, which actually ties ACORN to recently failed Fannie and Freddie.

Operating in at least 38 states (as well as Canada and Mexico), Acorn pushes a highly partisan agenda, and its organizers are best understood as shock troops for the AFL-CIO and even the Democratic Party. As part of the Fannie Mae reform bill, House Democrats pushed an “affordable housing trust fund” designed to use Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac profits to subsidize Acorn, among other groups. A version of this trust fund actually passed the Republican House and will surely be on the agenda again next year.

I have been generally ambivalent about the claims of voter fraud, because I believed that this was mainly a Republican tactic.  I can’t afford to be that way any longer, especially since the vote that is stolen may very well be my own.  I am a resident of Durham County and this is what I read in my local paper (free registration required) this morning:

The move by RNC Chief Counsel Sean Cairncross and Communications Director Danny Diaz followed a Herald-Sun report that Durham County Board of Elections Director Mike Ashe wants state officials to check about 80 voter registration forms for possible fraud.

The forms came from a group called the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now. The group is more commonly known by its acronym, ACORN…

Ashe’s move this week came after elections officials discovered that ACORN workers had registered a 14-year-old, claiming the youth was born in 1989. The minimum voting age is 18.

They also knew of “less than half a dozen” people who, after receiving a formal notice from the board telling them they’d registered, got in touch with officials to say they’d never filled out a registration form, Ashe said.
In addition, election workers also noticed that ACORN-submitted registration forms so far have included up to 125 duplicate names. It appeared that ACORN registrars — who are paid and subject to a per-shift quota — were using the same names repeatedly, Ashe said.
“I got like 15 Brenda Greens,” Ashe said. “We’re starting to get enough now that the names are looking familiar.”
Similar problems tied to ACORN have been reported this summer by media outlets in New Mexico and Ohio, which like North Carolina are battlegrounds and potential swing states in this year’s presidential election.

It is important to understand that Durham Co. is a Democratic bastion in an otherwise red state.  This is not an investigation that is being led by GOP operatives.  There must be some serious problems if it has gotten attention of both the local paper and the county’s board of elections director.  In fact it appears that the GOP only chimed in after being tipped off by the Herald-Sun. 

The Obama campaign may try to distance themselves from ACORN, but Obama has a long history with the group.  In fact, much of his touted “community organizing” was done on behalf of the group. 

Prior to law school, Barack Obama worked as an organizer for their affiliates in New York and Chicago. He always has been an ACORN person — meeting and working with them to advance their causes. Through his membership on the board of the Woods Fund for Chicago and his friendship with Teresa Heinz Kerry, Obama has helped ensure that they remain funded well.
Since he graduated from law school, Obama’s work with ACORN and the Midwest Academy has ranged from training and fundraising, to legal representation and promoting their work.

I have come to the conclusion that staying at home, or leaving the ballot blank for President could very well end up being a vote for Obama.  The mere thought that this might occur is absolutely repugnant to me.  Therefore I feel very strongly that I must vote for SOMEONE for President.  I am in no way endorsing anybody, and honestly I’m still not sure who I intend to vote for.  But I will vote for somebody, and it won’t be Obama.

Obama fails his second 3 AM call

Posted at "Not Your Sweetie"- reposted here to share:

3

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In spite of both calls coming during working hours.

He was in Hawaii eating shave ice when Russia attacked Georgia - couldn’t be bothered with a coherent statement.

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He is…not doing homework on Fridays when the markets need swift measures as the LA Times reports :

- Sen. Barack Obama today met with some of his many economic advisors and made an announcement that he was not going to make an announcement about any new plan to plan plans.

Being from LA, we get the Leno take:

Obama’s inaction prompted Jay Leno in his opening monologue tonight on “The Tonight Show” to point out an essential presidential campaign unfairness, that Obama has criticized McCain’s economic plan but the Republican can’t respond because “nobody knows” what Obama’s is yet.

More...



and then back to Obama:

“Given the gravity of this situation,” Obama said with gravity, “based on conversations I’ve had with both Secretary Paulson and Chairman Bernanke, I will refrain from presenting a …
… more detailed blueprint about how an immediate plan might be structured until I can fully review details of the plan proposed by the Treasury and Federal Reserve.”

Should we remind Barack that the lady already has one? And what to make of the media indignation that Bill Clinton praised Hillary’s plan (instead of Obama’s  lack of it).

And let’s recall Obama’s outrage about being accused of not supporting something he doesn’t support. McCain’s ad was on the spot.

He is repeating his debate performances. Only now, as he’s not following Hillary, he’s less sure he should say “what he sad”.   At the Swamp, one comment captures it

Yesterday Messiah
“John McCain can’t decide whether he’s Barry Goldwater or Dennis Kucinich,” he said, referencing one of the heroes of Republican politics and the populist representative from Ohio. “He’s not clear about what he thinks or what he believes.”
+++++








Todays Messiah:
“Given the gravity of this situation, based on conversations I’ve had with both Secretary Paulson and Chairman Bernanke, I will refrain from presenting a more detailed blueprint about how an immediate plan might be structured until I can fully review details of the plan proposed by the Treasury and Federal Reserve,” Obama said.
“I think it’s critical at this point that the markets and the public have confidence that their work will be unimpeded by partisan wrangling.”

Update
In spite of this pathetic failure, Politico declares Obama winner of the day, the week, the decade and the millennium (I just skipped a bit ahead the predictable little book):

Obama’s performance today made this business week a clean sweep for the Democrats. When the Illinois senator called McCain “panicked” during a campaign stop in Florida, he was overstating the case, but this week the Democrats have defined the economic debate every single day. And though Obama has yet to lay out an especially detailed or substantive response to the economic crisis, he’s kept up an series of attacks on McCain-Palin that have taken their toll.

While a few days ago, polls were totally ignored, they are now back in the news - as they can support the preordained “win”.

Change We Can Believe In: Dodd Still In Power, Rangel Not So 'Neighborly' With His Own Taxes

Is this the Change You Can Believe In, whereas Senator Obama is quick to blame Republicans for every challenge this nation faces, but is eerily silent about the acts of those in his own party?

Take for instance Senator Dodd (D-CT), the chairman of the Banking Committee who has done nothing over the past 18 months to address the 'credit crunch'. In February of 2007, Merrill Lynch, then under the of Obama supporter, Stanley Price, announced the write-off of billions of dollars due to bad mortgages. The markets took a hit, but rebounded when companies such as Lehman Brothers and Goldman-Sachs announced their companies were stable. Dodd would take no action then and would continue this pattern for the next 18 months. Today we know that Senator Dodd has received more than $10 million from Financial Firms and Industry Lobbyists since the beginning of 2007, an amount only surpassed by the Presidential candidates. Yet, despite his utter dereliction of duty he has not resigned position and Democratic leadership, including the party leader Senator Obama, has not called for his removal. In the coming days and weeks, Dodd's role as Chairman of the Banking Committee will become more important than ever; yet despite 'sweetheart' personal deals and accepting millions in campaign donations from this sector, Democratic leadership expects us to continue to trust his judgment.More...

Both parties are responsible for our countries budgetary, credit and economic challenges. While President Bush was pushing for expanded home ownership, Democrats were at his side touting the increase in home ownership in low income areas; and now that those areas at hard hit by foreclosures they want to accept no responsibility. When regulations separating the insurance, mortgage and investment industries were loosened to allow consolidated services, Democrats, including President Clinton overwhelmingly supported the move. As merger after merger creating mega-financial institutions and shrinking competition occurred throughout the 90's and 00's, Democrats and Republicans both supported those mergers. Today is an example of what occurs when regulatory policy limits competition instead of promoting competition. In the 1980's when the S&L bailout occurred (Summer 1989), there was minimal economic impact on our nation (recession was not caused by S&L, recession occurred July 1990-March 1991) because our banking system was diverse and largely regionalized. Today, our banking system has shrunk as we are paying the price of mega-financials who control large swaths of our wealth.

Senator Dodd has neglected his duties under his chairmanship and it is time that Democratic Leadership accepts responsibility and removes his chairmanship.

Meanwhile, Representative Rangel (D-NY) who has come under investigation for ethics abuses finally stepped up to the plate yesterday and paid $10,800 in back taxes, not including penalties, that he owed the federal government. First, let me state that there is something extremely disturbing that we would allow a Representative to remain in Federal Office when he has clearly worked to avoid paying taxes. The taxes were the results of unclaimed rental income on a beach house in the Dominican Republic extending back to 2004. In addition, Rangel has come under fire for use of three rent-controlled apartments in Harlem (one was used as a campaign office) and more importantly his use of Congressional stationary to raise private funds.

Rangel is currently under investigation by the House Ethics Committee, but in three months, Democratic Leadership has done little to progress with the investigation. In addition, Rangel is the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee which is charged with writing tax law. That’s right; a man, who has purposely avoided paying taxes, is in charge of the primary committee for writing tax law. Democratic leadership, including the party leader Senator Obama, needs to remove Rangel's chairmanship. It is disgusting that once again political power has trumped common sense.

Rangel, in a letter emailed by his campaign this week addressed his tax and ethics troubles by writing, “Last July, the Republican Party declared guerrilla war against Democrats and since then has made every effort to smear me and members of my party…My record in the Ways and Means Committee and 38 years in Congress is unassailable, so they've pried into my private life and used insinuation and half-truths to write stories that sell papers.” Yes, that’s right; the Republicans are to blame for Rangel’s attempts to avoid paying taxes, misuse of rent-controlled properties and violation of congressional ethics laws concerning private fundraising. So much for personal responsibility.

Dodd and Rangel do not deserve the positions in which they have been entrusted. If current Democratic Leadership is unwilling to police their own party members, then how are we to trust them with continuing to lead this country forward? Senator Obama is quick to talk about change, but perhaps he should first work to change the power-hungry leadership of his own political party. Perhaps he should stop placing blame at the feet of the George Bush and begin placing blame on 20 years of leadership that has deregulated certain aspects of the financial sector while over-regulating operational sides of the sector; over-regulation that forced smaller companies out of the industry and helped to create the mega-financials of today. Perhaps Obama should take responsibility for his own lack of leadership by subverting his duties as a Senator by doing nothing more than campaigning during the past 18 months.

J Brown
September 20th, 2008

McCain's Closing Argument By George Will

Excerpt:

Divided government compels compromises that curb each party's excesses, especially both parties' proclivities for excessive spending when unconstrained by an institution controlled by the other party. William Niskanen, chairman of the libertarian Cato Institute, notes that in the last 50 years, "government spending has increased an average of only 1.73 percent annually during periods of divided government. This number more than triples, to 5.26 percent, for periods of unified government."
By picking Palin, McCain got the country's attention. That is a perishable thing and before it dissipates, he should show the country his veto pen.

(Click here to read the full article)