Investigate Obama's ties to Violent Muslims responsible for "Kenya Killing Fields"
repo
Investigate Barack Hussein Obama's Kenyan Connections
Pamela Geller, Israel National News.com, January 9, 2008: "The recent
revelations of [Barack] Obama's ties to Raila Odinga in Kenya are
disconcerting... because Odinga is behind the terrible violence in his
country. It was he who instigated bloody riots and killing after he
lost the election.
Obama's bias for his fellow Luo was so blatant that a Kenyan
government spokesman denounced Obama during his visit as Raila's
'stooge.' And while there are few angels in Kenya, Odinga is the
source of great unrest and turmoil; and the {Memorandum of
Understanding] he signed with the Muslim Council to institute sharia
[Islamic law] is a foreshadowing of a dark fate for Kenya."
Unsurprisingly, what Joe Klein left out of his Time article extrolling
Barack ("Obama's Other Life") is much more important than what he
included and he really spun like a top for the liberal media darling.
Mr. Klein:
"One of the more extraordinary stories of the Obama campaign has been
playing out behind the scenes over the past week as the candidate has
been working on a daily basis to try to calm things down in his
father's homeland and his grandmother's home, Kenya, where a contested
election has led to riots.
"On January 1, two days before the Iowa caucuses, Obama left a message
for Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. According to Robert Gibbs,
Obama's Communications Director, Rice called back 'as we were driving
from Sioux City to Council Bluffs on January 1. They talked about the
situation and Rice asked Obama to tape a Voice of America message
calling for calm.' Obama taped the message on January 2, after a rally
in Davenport, Iowa. He said, in part:
'Despite irregularities in the vote tabulation, now is not the time to
throw that strong democracy away. Now is a time for President Kibaki,
opposition leader Odinga, and all of Kenya’s leaders to call for calm,
to come together, and to start a political process to address
peacefully the controversies that divide them. Now is the time for
this terrible violence to end.
'Kenya’s long democratic journey has at times been difficult. But at
critical moments, Kenyans have chosen unity and progress over division
and disaster. The way forward is not through violence – it is through
democracy, and the rule of law. To all of Kenya’s people, I ask you to
renew Kenya’s democratic tradition, and to seek your dreams in
peace.'
"On January 3, the day of the caucuses, he had a conversation with
Bishop Desmond Tutu, who had flown to Nairobi to see if he could begin
negotiations with the factions. In the days since his Iowa victory,
Obama has had near-daily conversations with the U.S. Ambassador in
Kenya or with opposition leader Raila Odinga. As of late this
afternoon, before his rally in Rochester, N.H., Obama was trying to
reach Kenyan President Kibaki.
"I haven't been able to talk to Obama directly about this--he is sort
of busy right now--but it does seem noteworthy that, in the midst of
the most amazing week of his life, Barack Obama has found the time to
do a some diplomatic scut-work. I suspect we'll be seeing a lot of
this sort of thing if he wins the nomination and is elected
President."
With Joe Klein in the tank for Barack and Dick Morris calling Odinga a
client, the whole story has not been told and, for America's sake, it
better unfold (very quickly, for Hillary's sake, not THAT quickly for
McCain's).
"I HAVE always believed in freedom, ...democracy, tolerance,
diversity, social justice and good governance....The strength,
resilience and spirit of the poor and disadvantaged of our country
motivated my actions. The people...deserve so much more than a list of
their problems. We have lived our lives under successive governments
that have lacked purpose and integrity. Now we need solutions. We need
action. We need leadership.
"Our country requires a different style of political leadership, as
well as a different style of politics. This means a willingness to
listen as well as to guide, a commitment to explain as well as set out
our choices, and the courage to spell out the costs as well as the
benefits of proposals and policies.
"I am weary of the failure of old policies and tired men. [The
country] is once again at the crossroads and a new society is
struggling to be born. We are on the side of the future, and [I am]
the only agent of change and hope But we cannot be agents of change if
we believe in 'business as usual' and if we are afraid of making tough
decisions and choices that will drive [our country] forward...."
Senator Barack Hussein Obama?
No, Raila Amolo Odinga.
In August 2006, Barack made his third trip to his thrice-married
Muslim father's homeland, Kenya, and publicly spoke in the Kenyan
capitol, Nairobi, in favor of his host, Odinga, enthusiastically
enough to be denounced by a Kenyan government spokesman as Odinga's
"stooge," as Ms. Geller reported.
Odinga claims to be Barack's paternal first cousin (a much closer
relationship than Barack "enjoys" with Vice President Cheney).
BBC News, January 8, 2008 (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/
7176683.stm):
"Kenyan opposition leader Raila Odinga has said he is a cousin of US
presidential hopeful Barack Obama.
"Mr Odinga told the BBC's The World Today that Senator Obama's father
was his maternal uncle."
Most American probably now know that Barack's father was a Kenyan
Muslim and many know that Barack's Muslim paternal "grandmother" is
following the 2008 presidential race from Kenyan.
But that's about all that's generally known about Barack's Kenyan
relatives.
Voters should know much more, and sooner rather than later.
Barack has acknowledged Vice President Dick Cheney as a cousin on his
mother's side, albeit without any sign of affection.
The full extent of Barack's tie to Odinga seems to be something he
prefers not to acknowledge.
Barack should tell the voters about cousin Raila as well as cousin
Dick.
Odinga is not a household name in the United States, of course, but it
is in Kenya.
Wikipedia: "Raila Amolo Odinga (born 7 January 1945) is a Kenyan
politician. He has served as a Member of Parliament since 1992, was
Minister of Energy from 2001 to 2002, and was Minister of Roads,
Public Works and Housing from 2003 to 2005. He was the main opposition
candidate in the disputed 2007 presidential election. Odinga is the
son of the first Vice President of Kenya, Jaramogi Oginga Odinga; his
brother, Oburu Odinga, is also currently an MP."
Odinga was running for president of Kenya while Barack was running
here in the United States.
Wikipedia:
"Odinga launched his presidential campaign in Uhuru Park in Nairobi on
October 6, 2007, which saw a record attendance in this or any other
venue in independent Kenya. The police estimated an attendance of
close to 450,000."
Just as Barack (author of Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and
Inheritance, a memoir published in 1995 after Barack was elected the
first African-American president of the Harvard Law Review but before
his political career began), has been trying to distance himself from
his father's religion (Islam), Odinga has tried to distance himself
from his father's politics (socialist).
Wikipedia: "At his website, Raila lists himself as a social democrat,
thus making distance from his father, who was openly socialist. His
party, the LDP, is affiliated to the Liberal International."
Odinga's official website (/www.raila07.com) bills him (no kidding!)
as "the People's President" and "your Agent for Change" and has links
to "Register for Change" and "Vote for Change."
Odinga ran unsuccessfully for president of Kenya in 2007, claiming
that "[w]ith [his] candidacy, Kenyans finally have the opportunity to
reject 'politics as usual'...and vote for positive change" and he "is
the only candidate that represents the kind of change that Kenyans
have been yearning for."
Do those lines seem familiar?
Odinga's slogan: "Make the right decision--together, let us realize
that dream of our nation."
Odinga says that his "social, political and economic agenda...embraces
education, social empowerment, the environment, health and
infrastructure."
Odinga says that he believes in "fiscal responsibility, effective
institutions, rule of law and good governance" and insists that the
private sector "must be managed with prudence."
Odinga's very strong on generalities!
But his website included this very interesting specific nestled in the
section on the professional life of Odinga's wife Ida: "Many women in
prominent positions today passed through Ida's hands during her tenure
as a teacher....includ[ing] Auma Obama, sister to US Senator Barack
Obama. and a UK social worker."
Note: Odinga reportedly cut a deal for the Muslim vote in Kenya.
Wikipedia: "In 2007 Raila Odinga was rumored to have signed a
memorandum of understanding with the National Muslim Leaders Forum,
NAMLEF. Kenyan Muslim leaders denied that the MOU promised to
introduce Sharia for Muslims if it won elections, but said its deal
with the Orange Democratic Movement was to end the current
discrimination against Muslims."
The Evangelical Alliance of Kenya posted on its website a photographic
copy of the Memorandum of Understanding, dated and signed on August
29, 2007, between Odinga and Shiekh Abdullah Abdi, chairman of the
National Muslim Leaders Forum of Kenya.
The memorandum specified 14 actions, listed a) through n), that Odinga
would take as Kenyan president including: b) within 6 months re-
writing the Constitution of Kenya "to recognize Shariah as the only
true law sanctioned by the Holy Quran for Muslim declared regions"; c)
dismissing the Commissioner of Police "who has allowed himself to be
used by heathens and Zionists to oppress the Kenyan Muslim community";
and g) within one year facilitating the establishment of a Shariah
court in every Kenyan divisional headquarters [that is, throughout
Kenya, not just in "Muslim declared regions."].
It is undisputed that Odinga became politically ambitious long ago and
spent many years in jail.
Wikipedia:
"[Odinga] was placed under house arrest for seven months after being
suspected of collaborating with the plotters of a failed coup attempt
against President Daniel Arap Moi in 1982. [Odinga] was charged with
treason and was detained without trial for six years.
"A biography released in July 2006 suggested that [Odinga] was more
involved in the coup than previously thought. After its publication,
some MPs called for [Odinga] to be arrested and charged, but the
statute of limitations had already passed and, since the information
was contained in a biography, Raila could not be said to have openly
confessed his involvement.
"Released on February 6th, 1988, he was rearrested in September, 1988
for his involvement with the Kenya Revolutionary Movement (KRM), an
underground organization pressing for multi-party democracy in Kenya,
which was then a one-party state.
"[Odinga] was released on June 12th, 1989, only to be incarcerated
again on July 5th, 1990, together with Kenneth Matiba, and former
Nairobi Mayor Charles Rubia. [Odinga] was released on June 21st, 1991,
and in October, he fled the country to Norway alleging government
attempts to assassinate him."
The Personal Life part of the Wikipedia article on Odinga revealed
that his older son is named after Fidel Castro and his younger
daughter after Winnie Mandella and reported that he "claims to be a
cousin of... Barack Obama through the latter's father, Barack Obama
Sr., who [he] claims was his maternal uncle" and that "Obama Sr. did
come from the same Luo community as Odinga."
Maybe that's why Barack is willing to meet with Fidel without
precondition!
Odinga's Marxist father sent him to school in EAST Germany during the
Cold War.
This information shines a new light on National Journal's designation
of Barack as the most liberal United States Senator.
Right Truth ( http://righttruth.typepad.com/right_truth/2008/01/obamas-sharia-c.html):
"Obama's Sharia Connections in Kenya
"I think everyone needs to take another look at Barack Obama, his
history, his church and his continuing connection to sharia law in
Kenya:
Obama appears to have sided with opposition leader Raila Odinga, head
of the same Luo tribe to which Obama's late Muslim father belonged.
Obama's older brother still lives there. Abongo 'Roy' Obama is a Luo
activist and a militant Muslim who argues that the black man must
"liberate himself from the poisoning influences of European culture.'
He urges his younger brother to embrace his African heritage.
Beyond family politics, these ties have potential foreign policy, even
national security, implications.
Odinga is a Marxist who reportedly has made a pact with a hard-line
Islamic group in Kenya to establish Shariah courts throughout the
country. He has also vowed to ban booze and pork and impose Muslim
dress codes on women — moves favored by Obama's brother.
With al-Qaida strengthening its beachheads in Africa — from Algeria to
Sudan to Somalia — the last thing the West needs is for pro-Western
Kenya to fall into the hands of Islamic extremists.
Yet Obama interrupted his New Hampshire campaigning to speak by phone
with Odinga, who claims to be his cousin. He did not speak with Kenyan
President Mwai Kibaki.
Would Obama put African tribal or family interests ahead of U.S.
interests? (continue reading at Investors Business Daily)
"On Jan. 1, the world learned from major news sources that some
churches and their occupants were burned in Kenya by Kenyans who
didn't like the outcome of a recent election. The media failed to
report that these were MUSLIMS killing and destroying Christians and
their churches.
Why do the Muslims back the more left-leaning Odinga? Like leftists in
Europe and America, Odinga and his faction want to use Islam to oppose
Christianity, which is seen as an impediment to the left's agenda.
[snip]
We are talking about objectivity and its dire lack in the media.
It seems pretty clear that the mainstream media have two reasons for
omitting the details of the story:
1. They sympathize with Islam because it is the 'enemy of the enemy,'
namely, Christianity.
2. They are cowards hoping to avoid a confrontation with Islam in
their home countries. (WND)
"I suggest a number 3. That Barack Obama is a media darling, has
direct connections to Kenya and Odinga, and the press doesn't want
American voters to be aware of this connection."
Bottom line: Investigate Barack's Kenyan connections!
Frank Arthur
Conmrade "repo" <kcaj...@yahoo.com> did you learn this in comrade
school?
Remarks of Senator Barack Obama: The American Promise (Democratic
Convention
Denver, CO | August 28, 2008
To Chairman Dean and my great friend Dick Durbin; and to all my fellow
citizens of this great nation;
With profound gratitude and great humility, I accept your nomination
for the presidency of the United States.
Let me express my thanks to the historic slate of candidates who
accompanied me on this journey, and especially the one who traveled
the farthest - a champion for working Americans and an inspiration to
my daughters and to yours -- Hillary Rodham Clinton. To President
Clinton, who last night made the case for change as only he can make
it; to Ted Kennedy, who embodies the spirit of service; and to the
next Vice President of the United States, Joe Biden, I thank you. I am
grateful to finish this journey with one of the finest statesmen of
our time, a man at ease with everyone from world leaders to the
conductors on the Amtrak train he still takes home every night.
To the love of my life, our next First Lady, Michelle Obama, and to
Sasha and Malia - I love you so much, and I'm so proud of all of you.
Four years ago, I stood before you and told you my story - of the
brief union between a young man from Kenya and a young woman from
Kansas who weren't well-off or well-known, but shared a belief that in
America, their son could achieve whatever he put his mind to.
It is that promise that has always set this country apart - that
through hard work and sacrifice, each of us can pursue our individual
dreams but still come together as one American family, to ensure that
the next generation can pursue their dreams as well.
That's why I stand here tonight. Because for two hundred and thirty
two years, at each moment when that promise was in jeopardy, ordinary
men and women - students and soldiers, farmers and teachers, nurses
and janitors -- found the courage to keep it alive.
We meet at one of those defining moments - a moment when our nation is
at war, our economy is in turmoil, and the American promise has been
threatened once more.
Tonight, more Americans are out of work and more are working harder
for less. More of you have lost your homes and even more are watching
your home values plummet. More of you have cars you can't afford to
drive, credit card bills you can't afford to pay, and tuition that's
beyond your reach.
These challenges are not all of government's making. But the failure
to respond is a direct result of a broken politics in Washington and
the failed policies of George W. Bush.
America, we are better than these last eight years. We are a better
country than this.
This country is more decent than one where a woman in Ohio, on the
brink of retirement, finds herself one illness away from disaster
after a lifetime of hard work.
This country is more generous than one where a man in Indiana has to
pack up the equipment he's worked on for twenty years and watch it
shipped off to China, and then chokes up as he explains how he felt
like a failure when he went home to tell his family the news.
We are more compassionate than a government that lets veterans sleep
on our streets and families slide into poverty; that sits on its hands
while a major American city drowns before our eyes.
Tonight, I say to the American people, to Democrats and Republicans
and Independents across this great land - enough! This moment - this
election - is our chance to keep, in the 21st century, the American
promise alive. Because next week, in Minnesota, the same party that
brought you two terms of George Bush and Dick Cheney will ask this
country for a third. And we are here because we love this country too
much to let the next four years look like the last eight. On November
4th, we must stand up and say: "Eight is enough."
Now let there be no doubt. The Republican nominee, John McCain, has
worn the uniform of our country with bravery and distinction, and for
that we owe him our gratitude and respect. And next week, we'll also
hear about those occasions when he's broken with his party as evidence
that he can deliver the change that we need.
But the record's clear: John McCain has voted with George Bush ninety
percent of the time. Senator McCain likes to talk about judgment, but
really, what does it say about your judgment when you think George
Bush has been right more than ninety percent of the time? I don't know
about you, but I'm not ready to take a ten percent chance on change.
The truth is, on issue after issue that would make a difference in
your lives - on health care and education and the economy - Senator
McCain has been anything but independent. He said that our economy has
made "great progress" under this President. He said that the
fundamentals of the economy are strong. And when one of his chief
advisors - the man who wrote his economic plan - was talking about the
anxiety Americans are feeling, he said that we were just suffering
from a "mental recession," and that we've become, and I quote, "a
nation of whiners."
A nation of whiners? Tell that to the proud auto workers at a Michigan
plant who, after they found out it was closing, kept showing up every
day and working as hard as ever, because they knew there were people
who counted on the brakes that they made. Tell that to the military
families who shoulder their burdens silently as they watch their loved
ones leave for their third or fourth or fifth tour of duty. These are
not whiners. They work hard and give back and keep going without
complaint. These are the Americans that I know.
Now, I don't believe that Senator McCain doesn't care what's going on
in the lives of Americans. I just think he doesn't know. Why else
would he define middle-class as someone making under five million
dollars a year? How else could he propose hundreds of billions in tax
breaks for big corporations and oil companies but not one penny of tax
relief to more than one hundred million Americans? How else could he
offer a health care plan that would actually tax people's benefits, or
an education plan that would do nothing to help families pay for
college, or a plan that would privatize Social Security and gamble
your retirement?
It's not because John McCain doesn't care. It's because John McCain
doesn't get it.
For over two decades, he's subscribed to that old, discredited
Republican philosophy - give more and more to those with the most and
hope that prosperity trickles down to everyone else. In Washington,
they call this the Ownership Society, but what it really means is -
you're on your own. Out of work? Tough luck. No health care? The
market will fix it. Born into poverty? Pull yourself up by your own
bootstraps - even if you don't have boots. You're on your own.
Well it's time for them to own their failure. It's time for us to
change America.
You see, we Democrats have a very different measure of what
constitutes progress in this country.
We measure progress by how many people can find a job that pays the
mortgage; whether you can put a little extra money away at the end of
each month so you can someday watch your child receive her college
diploma. We measure progress in the 23 million new jobs that were
created when Bill Clinton was President - when the average American
family saw its income go up $7,500 instead of down $2,000 like it has
under George Bush.
We measure the strength of our economy not by the number of
billionaires we have or the profits of the Fortune 500, but by whether
someone with a good idea can take a risk and start a new business, or
whether the waitress who lives on tips can take a day off to look
after a sick kid without losing her job - an economy that honors the
dignity of work.
The fundamentals we use to measure economic strength are whether we
are living up to that fundamental promise that has made this country
great - a promise that is the only reason I am standing here tonight.
Because in the faces of those young veterans who come back from Iraq
and Afghanistan, I see my grandfather, who signed up after Pearl
Harbor, marched in Patton's Army, and was rewarded by a grateful
nation with the chance to go to college on the GI Bill.
In the face of that young student who sleeps just three hours before
working the night shift, I think about my mom, who raised my sister
and me on her own while she worked and earned her degree; who once
turned to food stamps but was still able to send us to the best
schools in the country with the help of student loans and
scholarships.
When I listen to another worker tell me that his factory has shut
down, I remember all those men and women on the South Side of Chicago
who I stood by and fought for two decades ago after the local steel
plant closed.
And when I hear a woman talk about the difficulties of starting her
own business, I think about my grandmother, who worked her way up from
the secretarial pool to middle-management, despite years of being
passed over for promotions because she was a woman. She's the one who
taught me about hard work. She's the one who put off buying a new car
or a new dress for herself so that I could have a better life. She
poured everything she had into me. And although she can no longer
travel, I know that she's watching tonight, and that tonight is her
night as well.
I don't know what kind of lives John McCain thinks that celebrities
lead, but this has been mine. These are my heroes. Theirs are the
stories that shaped me. And it is on their behalf that I intend to win
this election and keep our promise alive as President of the United
States.
What is that promise?
It's a promise that says each of us has the freedom to make of our own
lives what we will, but that we also have the obligation to treat each
other with dignity and respect.
It's a promise that says the market should reward drive and innovation
and generate growth, but that businesses should live up to their
responsibilities to create American jobs, look out for American
workers, and play by the rules of the road.
Ours is a promise that says government cannot solve all our problems,
but what it should do is that which we cannot do for ourselves -
protect us from harm and provide every child a decent education; keep
our water clean and our toys safe; invest in new schools and new roads
and new science and technology.
Our government should work for us, not against us. It should help us,
not hurt us. It should ensure opportunity not just for those with the
most money and influence, but for every American who's willing to
work.
That's the promise of America - the idea that we are responsible for
ourselves, but that we also rise or fall as one nation; the
fundamental belief that I am my brother's keeper; I am my sister's
keeper.
That's the promise we need to keep. That's the change we need right
now. So let me spell out exactly what that change would mean if I am
President.
Change means a tax code that doesn't reward the lobbyists who wrote
it, but the American workers and small businesses who deserve it.
Unlike John McCain, I will stop giving tax breaks to corporations that
ship jobs overseas, and I will start giving them to companies that
create good jobs right here in America.
I will eliminate capital gains taxes for the small businesses and the
start-ups that will create the high-wage, high-tech jobs of tomorrow.
I will cut taxes - cut taxes - for 95% of all working families.
Because in an economy like this, the last thing we should do is raise
taxes on the middle-class.
And for the sake of our economy, our security, and the future of our
planet, I will set a clear goal as President: in ten years, we will
finally end our dependence on oil from the Middle East.
Washington's been talking about our oil addiction for the last thirty
years, and John McCain has been there for twenty-six of them. In that
time, he's said no to higher fuel-efficiency standards for cars, no to
investments in renewable energy, no to renewable fuels. And today, we
import triple the amount of oil as the day that Senator McCain took
office.
Now is the time to end this addiction, and to understand that drilling
is a stop-gap measure, not a long-term solution. Not even close.
As President, I will tap our natural gas reserves, invest in clean
coal technology, and find ways to safely harness nuclear power. I'll
help our auto companies re-tool, so that the fuel-efficient cars of
the future are built right here in America. I'll make it easier for
the American people to afford these new cars. And I'll invest 150
billion dollars over the next decade in affordable, renewable sources
of energy - wind power and solar power and the next generation of
biofuels; an investment that will lead to new industries and five
million new jobs that pay well and can't ever be outsourced.
America, now is not the time for small plans.
Now is the time to finally meet our moral obligation to provide every
child a world-class education, because it will take nothing less to
compete in the global economy. Michelle and I are only here tonight
because we were given a chance at an education. And I will not settle
for an America where some kids don't have that chance. I'll invest in
early childhood education. I'll recruit an army of new teachers, and
pay them higher salaries and give them more support. And in exchange,
I'll ask for higher standards and more accountability. And we will
keep our promise to every young American - if you commit to serving
your community or your country, we will make sure you can afford a
college education.
Now is the time to finally keep the promise of affordable, accessible
health care for every single American. If you have health care, my
plan will lower your premiums. If you don't, you'll be able to get the
same kind of coverage that members of Congress give themselves. And as
someone who watched my mother argue with insurance companies while she
lay in bed dying of cancer, I will make certain those companies stop
discriminating against those who are sick and need care the most.
Now is the time to help families with paid sick days and better family
leave, because nobody in America should have to choose between keeping
their jobs and caring for a sick child or ailing parent.
Now is the time to change our bankruptcy laws, so that your pensions
are protected ahead of CEO bonuses; and the time to protect Social
Security for future generations.
And now is the time to keep the promise of equal pay for an equal
day's work, because I want my daughters to have exactly the same
opportunities as your sons.
Now, many of these plans will cost money, which is why I've laid out
how I'll pay for every dime - by closing corporate loopholes and tax
havens that don't help America grow. But I will also go through the
federal budget, line by line, eliminating programs that no longer work
and making the ones we do need work better and cost less - because we
cannot meet twenty-first century challenges with a twentieth century
bureaucracy.
And Democrats, we must also admit that fulfilling America's promise
will require more than just money. It will require a renewed sense of
responsibility from each of us to recover what John F. Kennedy called
our "intellectual and moral strength." Yes, government must lead on
energy independence, but each of us must do our part to make our homes
and businesses more efficient. Yes, we must provide more ladders to
success for young men who fall into lives of crime and despair. But we
must also admit that programs alone can't replace parents; that
government can't turn off the television and make a child do her
homework; that fathers must take more responsibility for providing the
love and guidance their children need.
Individual responsibility and mutual responsibility - that's the
essence of America's promise.
And just as we keep our keep our promise to the next generation here
at home, so must we keep America's promise abroad. If John McCain
wants to have a debate about who has the temperament, and judgment, to
serve as the next Commander-in-Chief, that's a debate I'm ready to
have.
For while Senator McCain was turning his sights to Iraq just days
after 9/11, I stood up and opposed this war, knowing that it would
distract us from the real threats we face. When John McCain said we
could just "muddle through" in Afghanistan, I argued for more
resources and more troops to finish the fight against the terrorists
who actually attacked us on 9/11, and made clear that we must take out
Osama bin Laden and his lieutenants if we have them in our sights.
John McCain likes to say that he'll follow bin Laden to the Gates of
Hell - but he won't even go to the cave where he lives.
And today, as my call for a time frame to remove our troops from Iraq
has been echoed by the Iraqi government and even the Bush
Administration, even after we learned that Iraq has a $79 billion
surplus while we're wallowing in deficits, John McCain stands alone in
his stubborn refusal to end a misguided war.
That's not the judgment we need. That won't keep America safe. We need
a President who can face the threats of the future, not keep grasping
at the ideas of the past.
You don't defeat a terrorist network that operates in eighty countries
by occupying Iraq. You don't protect Israel and deter Iran just by
talking tough in Washington. You can't truly stand up for Georgia when
you've strained our oldest alliances. If John McCain wants to follow
George Bush with more tough talk and bad strategy, that is his
choice - but it is not the change we need.
We are the party of Roosevelt. We are the party of Kennedy. So don't
tell me that Democrats won't defend this country. Don't tell me that
Democrats won't keep us safe. The Bush-McCain foreign policy has
squandered the legacy that generations of Americans -- Democrats and
Republicans - have built, and we are here to restore that legacy.
As Commander-in-Chief, I will never hesitate to defend this nation,
but I will only send our troops into harm's way with a clear mission
and a sacred commitment to give them the equipment they need in battle
and the care and benefits they deserve when they come home.
I will end this war in Iraq responsibly, and finish the fight against
al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan. I will rebuild our military
to meet future conflicts. But I will also renew the tough, direct
diplomacy that can prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons and
curb Russian aggression. I will build new partnerships to defeat the
threats of the 21st century: terrorism and nuclear proliferation;
poverty and genocide; climate change and disease. And I will restore
our moral standing, so that America is once again that last, best hope
for all who are called to the cause of freedom, who long for lives of
peace, and who yearn for a better future.
These are the policies I will pursue. And in the weeks ahead, I look
forward to debating them with John McCain.
But what I will not do is suggest that the Senator takes his positions
for political purposes. Because one of the things that we have to
change in our politics is the idea that people cannot disagree without
challenging each other's character and patriotism.
The times are too serious, the stakes are too high for this same
partisan playbook. So let us agree that patriotism has no party. I
love this country, and so do you, and so does John McCain. The men and
women who serve in our battlefields may be Democrats and Republicans
and Independents, but they have fought together and bled together and
some died together under the same proud flag. They have not served a
Red America or a Blue America - they have served the United States of
America.
So I've got news for you, John McCain. We all put our country first.
America, our work will not be easy. The challenges we face require
tough choices, and Democrats as well as Republicans will need to cast
off the worn-out ideas and politics of the past. For part of what has
been lost these past eight years can't just be measured by lost wages
or bigger trade deficits. What has also been lost is our sense of
common purpose - our sense of higher purpose. And that's what we have
to restore.
We may not agree on abortion, but surely we can agree on reducing the
number of unwanted pregnancies in this country. The reality of gun
ownership may be different for hunters in rural Ohio than for those
plagued by gang-violence in Cleveland, but don't tell me we can't
uphold the Second Amendment while keeping AK-47s out of the hands of
criminals. I know there are differences on same-sex marriage, but
surely we can agree that our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters
deserve to visit the person they love in the hospital and to live
lives free of discrimination. Passions fly on immigration, but I don't
know anyone who benefits when a mother is separated from her infant
child or an employer undercuts American wages by hiring illegal
workers. This too is part of America's promise - the promise of a
democracy where we can find the strength and grace to bridge divides
and unite in common effort.
I know there are those who dismiss such beliefs as happy talk. They
claim that our insistence on something larger, something firmer and
more honest in our public life is just a Trojan Horse for higher taxes
and the abandonment of traditional values. And that's to be expected.
Because if you don't have any fresh ideas, then you use stale tactics
to scare the voters. If you don't have a record to run on, then you
paint your opponent as someone people should run from.
You make a big election about small things.
And you know what - it's worked before. Because it feeds into the
cynicism we all have about government. When Washington doesn't work,
all its promises seem empty. If your hopes have been dashed again and
again, then it's best to stop hoping, and settle for what you already
know.
I get it. I realize that I am not the likeliest candidate for this
office. I don't fit the typical pedigree, and I haven't spent my
career in the halls of Washington.
But I stand before you tonight because all across America something is
stirring. What the nay-sayers don't understand is that this election
has never been about me. It's been about you.
For eighteen long months, you have stood up, one by one, and said
enough to the politics of the past. You understand that in this
election, the greatest risk we can take is to try the same old
politics with the same old players and expect a different result. You
have shown what history teaches us - that at defining moments like
this one, the change we need doesn't come from Washington. Change
comes to Washington. Change happens because the American people demand
it - because they rise up and insist on new ideas and new leadership,
a new politics for a new time.
America, this is one of those moments.
I believe that as hard as it will be, the change we need is coming.
Because I've seen it. Because I've lived it. I've seen it in Illinois,
when we provided health care to more children and moved more families
from welfare to work. I've seen it in Washington, when we worked
across party lines to open up government and hold lobbyists more
accountable, to give better care for our veterans and keep nuclear
weapons out of terrorist hands.
And I've seen it in this campaign. In the young people who voted for
the first time, and in those who got involved again after a very long
time. In the Republicans who never thought they'd pick up a Democratic
ballot, but did. I've seen it in the workers who would rather cut
their hours back a day than see their friends lose their jobs, in the
soldiers who re-enlist after losing a limb, in the good neighbors who
take a stranger in when a hurricane strikes and the floodwaters rise.
This country of ours has more wealth than any nation, but that's not
what makes us rich. We have the most powerful military on Earth, but
that's not what makes us strong. Our universities and our culture are
the envy of the world, but that's not what keeps the world coming to
our shores.
Instead, it is that American spirit - that American promise - that
pushes us forward even when the path is uncertain; that binds us
together in spite of our differences; that makes us fix our eye not on
what is seen, but what is unseen, that better place around the bend.
That promise is our greatest inheritance. It's a promise I make to my
daughters when I tuck them in at night, and a promise that you make to
yours - a promise that has led immigrants to cross oceans and pioneers
to travel west; a promise that led workers to picket lines, and women
to reach for the ballot.
And it is that promise that forty five years ago today, brought
Americans from every corner of this land to stand together on a Mall
in Washington, before Lincoln's Memorial, and hear a young preacher
from Georgia speak of his dream.
The men and women who gathered there could've heard many things. They
could've heard words of anger and discord. They could've been told to
succumb to the fear and frustration of so many dreams deferred.
But what the people heard instead - people of every creed and color,
from every walk of life - is that in America, our destiny is
inextricably linked. That together, our dreams can be one.
"We cannot walk alone," the preacher cried. "And as we walk, we must
make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn
back."
America, we cannot turn back. Not with so much work to be done. Not
with so many children to educate, and so many veterans to care for.
Not with an economy to fix and cities to rebuild and farms to save.
Not with so many families to protect and so many lives to mend.
America, we cannot turn back. We cannot walk alone. At this moment, in
this election, we must pledge once more to march into the future. Let
us keep that promise - that American promise - and in the words of
Scripture hold firmly, without wavering, to the hope that we confess.
Thank you, God Bless you, and God Bless the United States of America.
*us*
ßDoüg±Ç
to move BACK to Kenya, your native country.
"Frank Arthur" <A...@Arthurian.com> wrote in message
news:LaZvk.22061$IB6....@bignews8.bellsouth.net...
*us*
he lacks the strength to be moral/ethical.
repo
>
> read more »
Obama is not like Black Kenyans or Black Americans, Obama
is like Odinga in mentality and backs the radical muslim up.
Wikipedia: "In 2007 Raila Odinga was rumored to have signed a
memorandum of understanding with the National Muslim Leaders Forum,
NAMLEF. Kenyan Muslim leaders denied that the MOU promised to
introduce Sharia for Muslims if it won elections, but said its deal
with the Orange Democratic Movement was to end the current
discrimination against Muslims."
The Evangelical Alliance of Kenya posted on its website a
photographic
copy of the Memorandum of Understanding, dated and signed on August
29, 2007, between Odinga and Shiekh Abdullah Abdi, chairman of the
National Muslim Leaders Forum of Kenya.
The memorandum specified 14 actions, listed a) through n), that
Odinga
would take as Kenyan president including: b) within 6 months re-
writing the Constitution of Kenya "to recognize Shariah as the only
true law sanctioned by the Holy Quran for Muslim declared regions";
c)
dismissing the Commissioner of Police "who has allowed himself to be
used by heathens and Zionists to oppress the Kenyan Muslim
community";
and g) within one year facilitating the establishment of a Shariah
court in every Kenyan divisional headquarters ...
read more »
repo
> Maybe it would be better if you and Obamanation were
> to move BACK to Kenya, your native country.
The problem is Not Kenyans, but the Luo
Obama backs close relative, a Militant Muslim Luo,
Luo calls itseslf the "Taliban".
http://groups.google.com/group/alt.politics.immigration/msg/7a9b15cbea186bc0
*us*
*us*
>The problem ...
Why do you want to impoverish, sicken, maim, kill,
and defame Americans, bushfilth?
repo
Obama is a Luo, are there investigations into
his ties to his uncle and cousin who are the
leleaders in Christian murders in Kenya?
*us*
>The problem ...
Why are you so afraid and so filled with hate?