Barack Hussein Obama - 50 Lies and Counting

[HummerHippy]

It's politics baby! Spin it anyway you want. I love hearing about the dirty tactics that Nixon's campaign used to get him elected.


Anyway, here's one man's research into the 50 claims of lying...

Part 1

1. Selma Got Me Born. Senator Obama meant that the civil rights movement helped foster greater understanding between people of different races, which made it possible for his mother and father to have a relationship. He didn?t mean that the events in Selma literally led to his being conceived. Here is a section from that speech: http://www.barackobama.com/2007/03/0...march_comm.php

2. Father Was A Goat Herder. Barack Obama Sr. did grow up herding sheep in a village in Kenya, and only got to go to America because he earned a scholarship to study abroad at the age of 23. ?Due to a program offering Western educational opportunities to outstanding Kenyan students that was organized by nationalist leader Tom Mboya, Obama Sr. was awarded a scholarship in economics, and at the age of 23 he enrolled at the University of Hawaii.?

3. Father Was A Proud Freedom Fighter. Senator Obama never claimed that his father was a ?proud freedom fighter.? He has spoken frankly about how his father went back to Kenya and served as a government bureaucrat, until political problems led him to become a disillusioned alcoholic in his later years.

4. My Family Has Strong Ties To African Freedom. Kenyan politician Raila Odinga has claimed that he and Obama are related, though there does not seem to be much evidence. In any case, Obama is actually related to Dick Cheney, and I wouldn?t hold that against him. See the BBC: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7176683.stm

5. My Grandmother Has Always Been A Christian. Obama?s grandmother IS a Christian ? he was referring to his grandmother in Kansas. As most people understand, a person has TWO grandmothers. The author confuses Obama?s U.S. and African-born grandmothers.

6. My Name is African Swahili. His first name, ?Barack,? is a word in both Swahili and Arabic. See this page from the University of Pennsylvania:
http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/langu...es/004187.html

7. I Never Practiced Islam. Senator Obama?s mother did not raise him with any religion. He attended both public and Catholic schools in Indonesia. He never attended a ?madrassah.? See Time Magazine: http://time-blog.com/swampland/2007/01/disgusting.html. and See CNN.COM: http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/01/22/obama.madrassa/

8. My School In Indonesia Was Christian. He attended a Catholic school in Indonesia for two years. The other two years were spent in public schools.

9. I Was Fluent In Indonesian. Sen. Obama never claimed to be able to speak Indonesian fluently. See Time Magazine: http://www.time.com/time/politics/ar...695803,00.html

10. Because I Lived In Indonesia , I Have More Foreign Experience. The smear emails don?t make much sense: they claim that Sen. Obama?s time in Indonesia was enough to turn him into a Muslim fanatic, but not enough for him to have experience in foreign countries. Obama said that his view of the world is different because of his childhood. Anyone with a similar experience, as well as psychologists and sociologists, can confirm this statement too (TPM).

See Time Magazine: http://www.time.com/time/politics/ar...695803,00.html

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. If Obama?s travels in Africa, Asia and the Middle East don?t have any relevance to foreign affairs, what would? A visit to Antarctica?

12. I Blame My Early Drug Use On Ethnic Confusion. The smear email suggests that Sen. Obama had no problems growing up as a biracial kid in the 1960s and 1970s. The anonymous people who put out these emails must know him better than he does.

13. An Ebony Article Moved Me To Run For Office. This may be an incorrect memory from childhood. The article may have appeared in another magazine.

14. A Life Magazine Article Changed My Outlook On Life. The book recites a memory from his childhood. Several advertisements depicting the whitening creams that Obama described did appear in magazines at that time (and still do today.)

15. I Won?t Run On A National Ticket In ?08. The quotation is false: Obama said he had ?no plans? to run, which is the standard cover used by politicians. In fact, out of all candidates in the primaries, every single one had stated this at one point?including Sen. Clinton and McCain.

16. Present Votes Are Common In Illinois. Present votes ARE common in Illinois, as has been explained by Illinois legislators, newspapers and researchers. Present votes are made strategically to help weaker representatives in your party?for example Planned Parenthood ASKED Obama to vote ?present? instead of ?no? on some abortion bills so that other Democratic State Senators would have cover.

17. Oops, I Misvoted. No idea what this one is even referring to. Here is a complete list of Obama?s voting record: http://projects.washingtonpost.com/c...mbers/o000167/

18. I Was A Professor Of Law. Sen. Obama taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago; according to UC, he was a professor of law. It does not get any simpler than this, even if the academic titles seem confusing. Obama was also NOT on leave when he was teaching? he has been on leave since his election to U.S. Senate. Here is the U of Chicago School of Law statement on this very issue: http://www.law.uchicago.edu/media/index.html

19. I Was A Constitutional Lawyer. Sen. Obama worked as a civil rights lawyer in Chicago from 1993 to 2002. See Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early_l...f_Barack_Obama. Also here is the website of the law firm he worked for: http://www.lawmbg.com/index.cfm/PageID/2674

20. Without Me, There Would Be No Ethics Bill. Sen. Obama did propose and pass the toughest ethics legislation in Congress yet, banning many different ways that lobbyists got legislators to do favors for them. Find the text of the Legislative Transparency and Accountability Act at http://obama.senate.gov/issues/ethic...bbying_reform/

21. The Ethics Bill Was Hard To Pass. Just because a bill passed in two weeks does not mean it was not difficult to pass. The full process actually took more than 14 days. However, if your opponent accuses you of getting bills passed TOO fast, you obviously do not have many vulnerabilities.

22. I Wrote A Tough Nuclear Bill. Sen. Obama?s original bill was much tougher but the Republicans required it toned down before it was allowed to pass (this was prior to 2006 takeover) in its final form?which still established new regulations which no-one else did. Obama also worked with Republican Senator Dick Lugar to pass a bill to keep nukes out of the hands of terrorists. See coverage at http://www.democraticunderground.com...dress=388?3353

23. I Have Released My State Records. All IL Senate records are available through Illinois State. Read What Media Matters Had to Say: ?The Associated Press reported that Sen. Barack Obama ?says he can?t step up and produce his own records from his days in the Illinois state Senate. He says he hasn?t got any.? But Obama did not claim that the documents do not exist. In fact, the article quoted Obama saying: ?I don?t have ? I don?t 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.?

24. I Took On The Asbestos Altgeld Gardens Mess. Sen. Obama can legitimately take credit for this but other people were involved also.

From: http://www.dispatchpolitics.com/live...bamaearly.html
?Key players who worked with Obama at Altgeld Gardens said he deserves credit for pulling together a team of hundreds of residents who rallied for improvements at their housing projects. Obama helped secure grants for a jobs program and pushed for asbestos removal. His biggest accomplishment may have been to leave in place a group of activist mothers, some of whom continue to work or live at Altgeld Gardens.?

25. My Economics Bill Will Help America. It is unclear what Senate bill contained Sen. Obama?s ?111 economic policies.? In any case, Sen. Obama?s economic program has many positive features, including cutting loopholes exploited by corporations and wealthy Americans, cutting taxes on the middle class, and shoring up Social Security by ensuring that the rich pay as much of the rest of the us into the system.

[HummerHippy]

Part 2...

26. I Have Been A Bold Leader In Illinois. The ?supporter? who said Obama was not bold was actually a Republican state senator. Whether Obama was a bold leader is a value judgement left for the reader. He did some good work on healthcare and criminal justice in Illinois.

27. I Passed 26 Of My Own Bills In One Year. Untrue accusation, which also contradicts claim #36.

28. No One Contacted Canada About NAFTA. The Canadian embassy contacted Mr. Goolsbee in his civilian role, not the other way around. The statement is imprecise, though.

From: http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2...afta-gate.html

?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.?

29. I Am Tough On Terrorism. Sen. Obama did not vote for the resolution designating the Iranian group a terrorist organization because he did not want to give George W. Bush an excuse to start another war.

30. I Am Not Acting As President Yet. Not sure what it means to be ?acting as President? when you?re a candidate. In any case, the FARC accusation is false. It?s a false quotation.

31. I Didn?t Run Ads In Florida. Obama advertised on national cable. Some adverts would be seen in Florida due to inability of disabling that from happening. The decision was cleared beforehand through the South Carolina DNC head as required by DNC rules. The Herald Tribune wrote, ?Obama?s campaign launched national television advertisements on CNN and MSNBC that are shown in Florida ? and ?Obama?s campaign spokesman Bill Burton disputes the pledge was broken. He said the campaign asked CNN and MSNBC to pull Florida from the ad buy, but the networks said they could not.? From: http://www.heraldtribune.com/article...NEWS/801230668

32. I Won Michigan. Sen. Obama never claimed to win Michigan; he wasn?t even on the ballot there. He mistakenly said ?Michigan? in one interview when discussing the states he had won, but it was a gaffe. Clearly tired, he also called the interviewer by the wrong name.

33. I won Nevada. Sen. Obama never claimed to win Nevada, although he did get one more delegate from the state due to the rules for proportionally allocating delegates by voting district. From USA Today, ?Obama said in a statement released by his campaign around 6:15 p.m. ET 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.?? From:http://www.usatoday.com/news/politic...9-nevada_N.htm

34. I Want All Votes To Count. Sen. Obama wanted the primary votes to count according to the rules everyone (including Senator Clinton) agreed to in the beginning.

35. I Want Americans To Decide. It?s not Sen. Obama?s fault that some states use caucuses to choose their delegates and others use primaries. Caucuses may be less representative, but this is the way states like Iowa and Nebraska do their voting. He has won big victories in primaries (e.g. Virginia, Wisconsin, Louisiana) as well as caucuses.

36. I passed 900 Bills in the State Senate. - LIAR, you passed 26, most of which you didn?t write yourself. Quotation is false. In addition, the number 26 is the number of bills he passed in his last year ALONE.

37. My Campaign Was Extorted By A Friend. No idea what this is about. Accusers give no details, evidence, reference.

38. I Believe In Fairness, Not Tactics - LIAR, you used tactics to eliminate Alice Palmer from running against you. Alice Palmer held Obama?s seat in the Illinois state senate before him, and she decided she wanted to run for the spot again after his first term. However, she was unable to get enough legitimate signatures to run for the seat.

39. I Don?t Take PAC Money. Obama has not accepted PAC money directly or indirectly in this election. According to Factcheck.org: ?We?ve seen no evidence that Obama is not adhering to the letter of his pledge.? From: http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2...-ing_heat.html

40. I don?t Have Lobbysists - LIAR, you have over 47 lobbyists, and counting. Obama never made that statement. His statement is that he does not employ federally registered lobbyists and his administration will not include any. That statement is correct.

41. My Campaign Had Nothing To Do With The 1984 Ad. The author of the 1984 ad was not a campaign worker of the Obama campaign. The author of the ad was exposed to be Phillip de Vellis of Blue State Digital. See: http://www.bluestatedigital.com/2007...984_video.html

42. My Campaign Never Took Over MySpace. Author makes a completely nonsensical claim that Obama?s campaign ?took over? MySpace which is A) not true and B) technically not possible without criminal activity.

43. I Inspire People With My Words - LIAR, you inspire people with other people?s words. Sen. Obama made use of similar words from a speech given by his friend and supporter, Governor Deval Patrick of Massachussetts. He has inspired people with plenty of other words before.

44. I Have Passed Bills In The U.S. Senate. Sen. Obama has passed several important bills and amendments in the U.S. Senate. Information is available on the US Senate website.

45. I Have Always Been Against Iraq. Sen. Obama has consistently opposed the WAR in Iraq. Unlike the author of the list, Obama does not believe that funding of the troops should be cut immediately without being able to ensure a safe and orderly redeployment. As Obama explained: ?Once the bus is in the ditch, there are only so many ways to get it out.? (for quote see: http://www.boston.com/news/nation/ar...fronts/?page=2)

46. I Have Always Supported Universal Health Care. ?Universal healthcare? is defined as ?healthcare that is available universally.? Obama?s plan makes healthcare universally available. Take a look at his plan and judge for yourself: http://www.barackobama.com/issues/healthcare/

47. I Only Found Out About My Investment Conflicts Via Mail. No evidence for this accusation - it is unclear what it is referring to.

48. I Am As Patriotic As Anyone - LIAR, you won?t wear a flag pin. The author assumes that everyone has to wear a flag pin to be patriotic. I love this country and I don?t wear one ? do you? You could at least hear him out: http://www.barackobama.com/factcheck..._a_patriot.php

49. My Wife Didn?t Mean What She Said About Pride In Country. Michelle Obama said she was proud of her country. Her statement did imply that she had been less proud before than she is now. I know I was a little less proud of my country when its government started torturing people and invading countries for no reason.

50. Wal-Mart Is A Company I Wouldn?t Support. Sen. Obama does not support Wal-Mart?s policies. TreeHouse is not ?affiliated with? Wal-Mart. The latter is a customer of TreeHouse. Michelle Obama has left TreeHouse. It should be noted that while Obama is not lying as the author suggests, even this type of ?connection? with Wal-Mart should be considered bad in the opinion of yours truly.