Message #162873

[Harconen]

Obama, advisor Valerie Jarrett, and chief of staff Rahm Emanuel meet with Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan to discuss the possibility of her running for his former Senate seat. A spokesman for Madigan says that she “is still considering all of her options. She is trying to figure out how she can best serve the public, and talking to the president is an important part of that process.” Some believe that Obama will run for governor, but with Illinois’ significant budget problems she may feel that is a financial mess she does not want to inherit. The meeting suggests that whichever Democrat runs for the Senate seat, it will be someone with the blessings of “higher ups”—not necessarily the choice of the voters of Illinois. [3411]

 

On June 19, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei states that the Iranian election was not rigged, called Ahmadinejad’s win a “definitive victory,” and warned that demonstrators must stop protesting in the streets. “If the difference (in votes) was 100,000 or 200,000 or one million, one may say fraud could happen. But how can one rig 11 million votes?” said Khamenei. He warns the protestors, “It must be determined at the ballot box what the people want and what they don't want, not in the streets. I call on all to put an end to this method… If they don’t, they will be held responsible for the chaos and the consequences.” Although Obama has tried to “avoid meddling” in the Iranian situation, Khamenei says, “The American president was quoted as saying that he expected the people of Iran to take to the streets.” (Obama did not in fact say that.) “On the one hand, they (the Obama administration) write a letter to us to express their respect for the Islamic Republic and for re-establishment of ties, and on the other hand they make these remarks. Which one of these remarks are we supposed to believe? Inside the country, their agents were activated. Vandalism started. Sabotaging and setting fires on the streets started. Some shops were looted. They wanted to create chaos. Public security was violated. The violators are not the public or the supporters of the candidates. They are the ill-wishers, mercenaries and agents of the Western intelligence services and the Zionists.” Richard Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations, says “any talk of engagement” with Iran should be avoided by the Obama administration until the political unrest in Tehran subsides. “The fact is,” says Haass, “we will by necessity engage, but not at the moment. I don’t think we want to suggest it will be business as usual, regardless of the outcome.” [3424, 3547]

 

Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) states that he supports legislation requiring a formal procedure for establishing that future presidential candidates are in fact qualified to serve if elected. Coburn would support a Senate bill similar to the one proposed in the House buy Congressman Posey. In Coburn’s home state of Oklahoma, a bill has been proposed that requires “any candidate filing with the Oklahoma State Election Board to provide proof of citizenship by providing a state government-issued birth certificate with a raised seal.’” [3425]

 

A June 19 ABC promotional ad for its Obama health care infomercial states, “What’s more important than having good health care when you need it? Nothing. That’s why Wednesday at 10 on ABC Charlie Gibson and Diane Sawyer take you inside his house: the White House, for a television event as President Obama answers all of your tough questions about your health care.” ABC’s questions are unlikely to be tough, and the network also refuses to give or sell broadcast time to opponents who wish to challenge Obama’s scheme to take over the nation’s health care system. AtlasShrugs.com points out that “Rick Scott, chairman of Conservatives for Patients Rights, submitted an ad to ABC that offers a free-market alternative to President Obama’s $1 trillion plus health care reform plan, but the ad was rejected. A spokesperson for ABC said the ad was rejected because the network does not accept ‘advocacy advertising.’ This is absurd, as ABC is itself advocating state-run health care.” [3472, 3494]