The Obama Timeline: Part II

[Harconen]

Obama’s Cairo speech—full of nonsense, half-truths, exaggerations, and outright lies—is examined in detail by Pamela Geller at AtlasShrugs.com. His most outrageous statement is likely: “Islam is not part of the problem in combating violent extremism—it is an important part of promoting peace.” The breathtaking naiveté of the temporary occupant of the Oval Office is revealed by this statement: “I understand those who protest that some countries have weapons that others do not. No single nation should pick and choose which nations hold nuclear weapons. That is why I strongly reaffirmed America’s commitment to seek a world in which no nations hold nuclear weapons. And any nation—including Iran—should have the right to access peaceful nuclear power if it complies with its responsibilities under the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. That commitment is at the core of the Treaty, and it must be kept for all who fully abide by it. And I am hopeful that all countries in the region can share in this goal.” Geller responds, “Such stupidity is breathtaking. At least I hope that he is stupid and not evil. Nuclear weapons in the hands of democratic, righteous nations have kept evil in check over the past 50 years. Does Hussein (Obama) believe that evil will give up its weapons of mass destruction? They say he is not a stupid man. So what is he?” (3095, 3244)

 

Obama takes advantage of America’s ignorance of Islam when he states, “The Holy Quran teaches that whoever kills an innocent is as—it is as if he has killed all mankind.”  Unstated by Obama is the fact that Muslims do not consider non-Muslims to be “innocent.” The actual Quran passage is: “To murder a single human being is as evil as to murder all mankind, unless he be causing trouble (mischief) in the land”—where “causing trouble in the land” means not living according to Islam. In other words, to a radical, decapitating a Christian or Jew is acceptable because they are not followers of Islam. Obama is certainly aware of that Muslim logic—but also knows that most Americans are not. Obama’s reference to the Quran as “holy” (four times in his speech) is beyond diplomacy, it is gratuitous and pandering; it would have been sufficient to call it the Quran. [3148, 3195]

 

CBS Outdoor, purportedly the world’s largest billboard company, refuses to sell ad space to the “Where’s the Birth Certificate?” campaign. The billboards are the idea of Joseph Farah, editor and CEO of World Net Daily, who comments, “CBS is a company that is not squeamish about feeding America’s children a steady diet of offensive movies, obscene rap music and even TV commercials that push the cultural and moral envelope, but CBS is afraid to put up a sign containing four innocent words of constitutionally protected, non-inflammatory speech. You explain that to me. This is a giant media conglomerate unworthy of operating under the protection of the First Amendment.” The local account executive at CBS Outdoor was apparently ready to sell the billboard space, but told Farah “We just received an e-mail from CBS Corporate. They are aware of this campaign and we are not allowed to install it. This came straight from corporate. Sorry!” The campaign has raised more than $60,000 so far and will have no trouble finding billboards from companies other than CBS.  [3052]

 

Obama and Congressional Democrats attempt to ram through approval of a $100 billion payment to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) by attaching it to a war supplemental funding bill. Using that technique, if Republicans oppose the measure they can be accused of “not supporting the troop”—even though the IMF cash has nothing to do with U.S. Armed Forces. The IMF would distribute the $100 billion to other nations harmed by the global financial crisis. [3057]

 

In response to criticism that the Obama stimulus legislation isn’t doing much to improve the economy, Vice-President Joe Biden recognizes “There’s been some criticism that we’ve not gotten enough money out so far,” but said spending would soon speed up for infrastructure projects. Most of the “stimulus” funds spent so far have not been for construction, but for increasing welfare and food stamp payments, education programs, and unemployment compensation. There were not as many “shovel ready” projects as Obama and Biden implied. Two-thirds of the stimulus money going to the states will be for health care; only 15 per cent will be for transportation projects. Two-thirds of the stimulus money will go to tax cuts, assistance for state budgets, and direct payments to the unemployed. California State Senator George Runner argues that “Too many of the dollars are social service dollars. The most compassionate thing we can do is to get the economy going and get jobs created.” [3058, 3087]

 

While much of the economy is losing ground, Wal-Mart plans to open about 150 new stores or expand existing stores in 2009, creating about 22,000 new jobs for sales clerks, cashiers, stock clerks, managers, and pharmacists. Although Wal-Mart receives considerable criticism from unions, those 22,000 Americans will no doubt be happy to have the jobs. [3059]

 

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, often a thorn in Obama’s side, warns that governments should not be so quick to print money to give their economies a temporary boost. “I view with great skepticism the powers of the Fed, for example, and also how, within Europe, the Bank of England has carved out its own small line,” says Merkel in a speech reported by the Wall Street Journal. Merkel no doubt recognizes that the unjustifiable deficit spending and monetary policies to cover that debt can lead massive inflation. [3060, 3074]

 

Microsoft CEO Steven Ballmer warns that the software giant will likely move many jobs overseas if Obama is able to win approval for his plan to raise taxes on companies with operations outside the United States. Obama’s plan would make “…U.S. jobs more expensive,” says Ballmer. “We’re better off taking lots of people and moving them out of the U.S. as opposed to keeping them inside the U.S.” Microsoft’s effective corporate tax rate for 2008 was 26 per cent because of IRS rules that allow deferral of some taxes on foreign profits. Obama plans to eliminate those tax breaks for all companies, which would raise Microsoft’s corporate tax rate to the standard 35 per cent for all U.S. corporations—the highest corporate tax rate in the world. Although Obama believes the change will encourage U.S. corporations to move jobs back home, it will likely have the opposite effect. Obama says he simply wants to “close a loophole,” but raising corporate taxes by 9 per cent will reduce profits, cause stock market prices to fall, and cause the loss of sales (and jobs) as businesses raise prices on products and services to pay for the higher taxes. Microsoft employees about 95,000 people worldwide; about 56,000 are in the United States. [3061]

 

[Harconen]

The Department of Justice files a brief with the U.S. Supreme Court stating that the 17 “Uigher” terrorists held at Guantanamo should not, after all, be released into the United States. (In other words, Obama finally came around to the Bush administration’s line of thinking.) Attorney General Eric Holder had previously said “the possibility exists” that some of the 17 would be released onto the streets of America. [3064]

 

In a move to make employment with the federal government more appealing, Congress considers approving four weeks of paid parental leave for federal employees. The cost would be at least $1 billion per year. (It is unclear why the government has to “sweeten the pot” inasmuch as federal employees already receive, on average, higher wages and benefits than similarly skilled workers in the private sector.) [3065]

 

A Gallup poll reports that 65 per cent of Americans oppose Obama’s plan to close the terrorist detainee center at Guantanamo; 32 per cent favor closing the facility. Americans do not believe Obama’s claim that the facility has weakened national security. (It is not clear why Obama believes the location prisoners are held makes much difference to the nation’s enemies.) Most Americans also take a “not in my backyard” stance on relocating the prisoners, with 74 per cent saying they would not want the terrorist moved to U.S. prisons. [3066]

 

On June 4, radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh explains to Sean Hannity of Fox News why he has said that he wants Obama to fail. “If you want the president, Barack Obama, to succeed, then you want the government taking over more and more of the average daily life of the American people. I don’t want that. I define America succeeding by virtue of Obama failing. I love America. I want everybody to succeed. He’s making it harder for that to happen, particularly the middle class.” Limbaugh, clearly not afraid to pull any punches, states, “Socialism is the Obama vision for America, and fascism—we must not be afraid to use that word—it’s a combination of the two,” and “If al-Qaeda wants to demolish the America we know and love, they’d better hurry because Obama is beating them to it. He wants to impose his values on America.” The conservative talk radio giant says Obama was taught “that there is something inherently immoral and unjust about America. Now that he leads it, he thinks it’s great. Finally America is moral. Finally America is just. And it’s his duty to apologize because he thinks everybody around the world hates us and doesn’t like us.” With regard to America’s energy needs, Limbaugh states that while Obama is willing to let Iran and North Korea obtain nuclear power, “…what are we doing? We’re building windmills. We’re going solar power. We’re going to build little lawn mowers with two seats on them nobody wants to drive. At (Obama’s) direction, we are letting the rest of the world go nuclear and we can’t because of a single movie ‘The China Syndrome.’” [3067]

 

House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) criticizes Obama’s Cairo speech, saying “he seemed to place equal blame on the Israelis and the Palestinians.” Obama mentioned the atrocity of the Holocaust in which Hitler murdered 6 million Jews, and then equated that with the treatment of Palestinians by Israel. “How he can allow, put in the same sentence, put them in the same box, I have concerns about that because Hamas is a terrorist organization that has been funded by the Syrians and the Iranians,” said Boehner. (The media typically neglect to mention that it was the Arab nations, not Israel, that opposed a separate sovereign state for the Palestinians in 1948.) Danielle Pletka, with the American Enterprise Institute, calls Obama’s speech a “capitulation” to repressive Arab regimes, and blasted his use of “the moral equivalency” argument “that denies right and wrong.”  Obama even receives criticism from his fellow Democrats. Congressman Anthony Weiner (D-NY) states, “I think the president went beyond where I think it was appropriate for us to go in dealing with another democracy. Any conversations about settlements, which are perfectly reasonable, have to be coupled with a sincere effort on the part of the Palestinians… We have to be careful not to cross the line where it sounds like we are exerting the overwhelming pressure that we have at our disposal on our rather isolated ally ... The concern that we have is that that line has been approached by President Obama.” Congresswoman Shelley Berkley (D-NV) comments, “We are very, very concerned that the statements were made so publicly to such a close and strong ally as the state of Israel.” [3068, 3069]

[Harconen]

Congressman Mike Pence (R-IN) comments on Obama’s Cairo address: “I think first and foremost the people of the United States stand with Israel. I think we support a Middle East peace process so long as we begin to see Palestinians follow that historic road map, disarm terrorists within their midst, and those are things we haven't seen yet. So moral equivalency between those two causes from the President of the United States of America I thought was disappointing and was a disservice to our ally Israel. It seems to me we ought to be asking not our cherished ally Israel to make yet another concession, another step. Remember, they pulled out of Gaza and then Hamas has taken all of that over completely, necessitating military action a number of months ago. We need, and I think, the President of the United States of America standing strongly with our ally Israel would have done well to at least in the first instance call on the Palestinians and their supporters across the Arab world to begin to see real concessions within the Palestinian movement, a real effort to defang Hamas, to disarm terrorists.” [3093]

 

Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is not as impressed with Obama’s speech as is the American media, and says that “beautiful” speeches alone will not improve U.S.-Muslim relations. Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei states that mere “slogans” from Obama are not enough to reduce the hatred felt toward the United States. “The nations of this part of the world… deeply hate America because during many years they have seen violence, military interference, rights violations, discrimination…from America. Even if they give sweet and beautiful talks to the Muslim nation ... that will not create a change. Nothing will change with speeches and slogans.” Khamenei adds, in his televised speech to Iranian citizens, that Israel remains “a cancerous tumor in the heart” of the Muslim world. [3070]

 

James Kirchick of The New Republic writes that Obama “…exhibited the amazing spectacle of an American president taking an equidistant position between the country he leads and its detractors and enemies. It is as if he saw himself as a judge in some legal dispute, People of the Islamic World v. United States. But the job to which he was elected was not that of impartial judge, but that of leader and champion of the American nation.” Kirchick remarks that although Obama says he does not want to “impose” American values on the rest of the world, the least he could do is show some enthusiasm and passion for democracy and human rights and against terrorism. Obama states that “Threatening Israel with destruction—or repeating vile stereotypes about Jews—is deeply wrong, and only serves to evoke in the minds of Israelis this most painful of memories while preventing the peace that the people of this region deserve.” Yet he does not have the courage to point out who is making the threats of doing the repeating. The evidence is in, but Obama cannot bring himself to tell Iran to stop funding the terrorist activities of Hamas and Hizbullah. Obama lectures that “No single nation should pick and choose which nations hold nuclear weapons.” Kirchick points out that the comment is meaningless in a world that already has nuclear powers, and if South Korea had nuclear weapons the threat of North Korea lobbing theirs southward might be significantly reduced. [3134]

 

Obama chose to deliver his speech in Egypt because it is “the heart of the Arab world.” Just weeks before his speech, the nation’s Administrative Court ruled that Egyptian citizenship would be taken away from any Egyptian who marries an Israeli. Egypt is a restrictive society where women are treated as third-class citizens and more than 40 per cent of the population lives beneath the poverty line. (The line itself is incredibly low by U.S. standards.) Despite the hatred felt by Arabs toward Jews, it may not be surprising that Arab women would marry Israeli men; their lives in Israel are exponentially better than most wives of Middle Eastern men. [3116]

 

Congresswoman Michele Bachmann (R-MN) starts a petition drive to get signatures from Americans who demand that ACORN not be funded with tax dollars. Bachmann had inserted language in a mortgage reform bill for that purpose, but Hose Democrats removed that wording to protect ACORN’s cash stream. [3072]

 

Because Obama finds it increasingly difficult to believe he can force a “two-state solution” between Israel and Palestine with the tough negotiating stances of Israel’s Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, some suggest that the administration will work behind the scenes to assist his opposition, the Kadima Party. (Obama had hoped that Kadima leader Tzipi Livni would become Israel’s Prime Minister, because of her weaker positions and willingness to negotiate away prime Israeli real estate.) Former State Department official Aaron Miller says “It may be that the Obama administration has concluded that they cannot achieve the two-state solution with the Netanyahu government and perhaps want another Israeli prime minister.” Obama’s tactic will therefore likely be to paint Netanyahu as the person blocking peace, in an effort to turn Israeli voters against him. (Secretary of State Hillary Clinton or members of her staff remain in contact with Livni, who failed to form a coalition majority in Israel’s 2009 elections.) To further pressure the Prime Minister, Obama is reducing U.S. financial and military aid to Israel, hoping the Israelis will blame Netanyahu and not him. “We have made this very clear that our intention is to bring about an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement regardless of the leadership in Israel,” states an Obama administration official. Netanyahu wants assurances of peace and a cessation of rocket attacks from Hamas and Hizbullah terrorists before giving up territory to the Palestinians; Obama wants the concession first, and is willing to trust the Palestinians to keep their end of the bargain. Netanyahu knows better but Livni does not; Obama therefore prefers working with Livni. [3128]

 

Obama arrives in Dresden, Germany the evening of June 4, for a later visit to the site of the former Buchenwald concentration camp, and the American military hospital in Landstuhl. Obama is not visiting Berlin, which the German media interprets as a snub at Chancellor Merkel, who angered him by refusing to accept prisoners he wanted to unload from Guantanamo, offering virtually no military assistance for the escalation of his war in Afghanistan, and refusing to go on an Obama-like deficit spending spree to “stimulate” the European economy. [3074]

 

Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC) states he will fight the “hate crimes” legislation and launch a filibuster if necessary. Critics have called the bill the “**** Protection Act” because it will be make it a federal crime to condemn anyone with an “alternative” lifestyle. DeMint is the first Senator to openly oppose the legislation. Obama will sign the bill if it passes, despite the fact that it will give protection to a wide range of morally objectionable and even disgusting perversions. In the meantime, the 9th Circuit Court has ruled in support of a San Francisco Board of Supervisors resolution that condemned the Vatican for opposing adoption by gay couples and told the Catholic archdiocese to “defy all discriminatory directives.” A government entity is therefore allowed to be critical of the church, saying it is “hateful and discriminatory,” “insulting and callous,” and “shows a level of insensitivity and ignorance which has seldom been encountered by this board…”—but if a clergyman condemns cross-dressing, homosexuality, and pedophilia or refuses to conduct a gay wedding he can be charged with a hate crime. (Activists in Massachusetts are attempting to add transgenders to that state’s list of “oppressed people” who need protection under hate crime laws. A proposed “bathroom bill” would allow a man who believes he is or who pretends to be a woman to use a public women’s restroom, shower, locker room, or fitness facility—and it would be a “hate crime” to prevent him from entering.) [3082, 3083, 3310]

 

[Harconen]

Critics of Obama begin to keep track of the “misery index” to chart the rise of unemployment and inflation. The misery index, which reached its peak under the administration of Jimmy Carter, is the unemployment rate added to the inflation rate. The index averaged 16.26 under Carter, and was at 19.72 when he left office. Despite an 8.9 per cent unemployment rate, Obama is avoiding a double-digit misery index because inflation is currently low. That is likely to change once all the money being printed to finance his deficits enters the economy. The misery index dropped the most under Presidents Truman, Reagan, and Ford; it increased the most under Presidents Nixon and Carter. [3084]

 

Attorney General issues a statement as a follow-up to Obama’s Cairo speech: “The President’s pledge for a new beginning between the United States and the Muslim community takes root here in the Justice Department where we are committed to using criminal and civil rights laws to protect Muslim Americans. A top priority of this Justice Department is a return to robust civil rights enforcement and outreach in defending religious freedoms and other fundamental rights of all of our fellow citizens in the workplace, in the housing market, in our schools and in the voting booth. There are those who will continue to want to divide by fear—to pit our national security against our civil liberties—but that is a false choice. We have a solemn responsibility to protect our people while we also protect our principles.” The statement is a clear message that Obama and Holder believe any American worried about further Islamic jihad against the United States “wants to divide by fear.” [3092]

 

While many Americans are concerned about illegal immigrants crossing into the United States from Mexico, few are likely aware of the Obama administration’s easing of restrictions for immigrants coming from other countries. Obama has removed almost all requirements for those entering the United States on “religious visas” for “missionaries”—which can include Muslim imams. The United States also has “diversity visas” for countries with low immigration rates. The eligibility requirements are minimal. For June 2009, the number of immigrants allowed by the Obama administration are Africa (39,600), Egypt/Palestinians (20,650), Nigeria (12,750), Asia (30,350), Europe (28,500 – which includes many Muslims in Europe), North America, such as the Bahamas (15), Oceania/Pacific Islands (930), South America (1,100). [3096]

 

Although most American Jews may not yet have figured out that Obama does not have Israel’s best interests at heart, Jews in Israel are upset by his actions and his Cairo speech. The National Jewish Front organizes protest demonstrations throughout Israel, and issues the statement “We decided to launch a campaign against the president of the United States and to say that Barack Hussein Obama is bad for the Jews. From the moment that he entered the White House, we have been feeling anti-Semitism and hatred toward Israel. We have a number of plans, among which are demonstrations in the U.S. and protests in front of the consulate and homes of the ambassadors.” In protests outside the U.S. Consulate in Tel Aviv, demonstrators chanted, “No, you can’t!” and carried placards critical of Obama. [3097]

 

In a speech in Anchorage to introduce Michael Reagan, Alaska Governor Sarah Plain accuses Obama of “planning to bail out debt ridden states” so the federal government can “get in there and control the people.” She asks, “Since when can you get out of huge national debt by creating trillions of dollars of new debt? It all really is so backwards and skewed as to sound like absolute nonsense when some of this economic policy is explained.” She adds, “Some in Washington would approach our economic woes in ways that absolutely defy Economics 101, and they fly in the face of principles, providing opportunity for industrious Americans to succeed or to fail on their own accord. Those principles it makes you wonder what the heck some in Washington are trying to accomplish here.” [3098]

 

Republican members of the House Intelligence Committee argue that “enhanced interrogation techniques” such as “waterboarding” resulted in the gathering of information that prevented terrorist attacks. House Democrats blast the Republicans for giving out information that was gained “behind locked doors.” Democrats want to be able to freely criticize Republicans for interrogation methods, but do not want the public to understand that the methods themselves saved lives. [3099]

 

In an interview prior to his visit to the site of the Nazi concentration camp at Buchenwald, NBC’s Tom Brokaw asks Obama know: “What can the Israelis learn from your visit to Buchenwald? And what should they be thinking about their treatment of Palestinians?” The question is incredibly insensitive to Jews because it equates their treatment with the horrors of Hitler, who murdered six millions Jews. When Israeli responds to Hamas rocket attacks it is not persecuting Palestinians; it is simply defending itself from terrorists. Obama, to his credit, does not accept the premise of Brokaw’s questions and says, “Look, there’s no equivalency here”—although in his Cairo speech he engaged in just that sort of moral equivalency. [3100]

 

The nation’s unemployment rate climbed to 9.4 per cent in May, according to the Labor Department. The economy lost 345,000 jobs during the month. Millions who have not lost their jobs are working fewer hours and therefore earning less. Some argue that although the unemployment rate is at the highest point in 25 years, it is an encouraging sign that the number of jobs being lost each month is going down. White House economic advisor Christina Romer says “Today is a sign we are making progress.” Others believe the economy is merely “in the eye of the storm.” Economist Ian Shepherdson of High Frequency Economics states These are still terrible numbers. We’re a million miles away from a recovery.” As more foreclosed homes are offered for sale, housing prices continue to fall. Americans are saving and paying down debt, rather than purchasing big-ticket items—and consumer spending makes up 70 per cent of economic activity. Few people are taking out home equity loans to buy new cars and plasma televisions. Unemployment figures can also be misleading, as the government tracks the number of people filing for unemployment benefits but has no idea how many people exhausted benefits and simply gave up looking for work; the percentage of Americans who are unemployed is therefore always higher than the official numbers. Perhaps not surprisingly, the New York Times reports the loss of 345,000 jobs and a whopping 9.4 per cent unemployment rate under Obama with the cheerful headline, “Hints of Hope in Jobless Data Even as Rate Jumps to 9.4%.” When the unemployment rate was 4.6 per cent in October of 2006 and 51,000 jobs were added to the economy under George W. Bush, the headline was, “Job Growth Was Slack Last Month.” (For the Times, the glass is apparently always half-full with a socialist in the White House.) [3101, 3107, 3154]

 

Based on April numbers, the Obama “stimulus” bill has done nothing to improve the economy. Virtually all of the additional income generated by Obama’s minimal tax cuts was either saved or used to pay down debt. It was not used on consumer purchases; personal consumption dropped 0.1 per cent in April. At the same time, the federal deficit quadrupled from Bush’s final $455 billion amount to Obama’s $1.75 trillion. That deficit is raising interest rates higher, which further discourages spending. As the government borrows more money to finance its debt, less is available for consumer and business loans. In the end, the increase in the personal savings rate will lead to additional cash available for those loans—but that would have happened even without Obama’s stimulus bill. The recession would eventually end on its own, but in his impatience to end it quickly Obama has instead extended it—by spending trillions he doesn’t have and putting Americans in debt for generations to come. [3104]

 

Forecaster Gerald Celente, president of Trends Research Institute, predicts that the future appears bleak. (Celente’s popular Trend Report has been predicting major future trends for 30 years.) In an interview with Human Events, Celente says “We’re sounding the alarm about the ongoing downward economic cycle.” Celente blames the federal government and Federal Reserve Board chairman Ben Bernanke. “They’re the same people who didn’t see it coming—are now telling us the worst is over, that ‘green shoots are spouting upwards.’ But they were wrong before. They’re wrong on this too. When you pump out tons of money manure into this system based on nothing—printing press paper, it’s like giving a patient with a chronic disease a pain killer—it won’t cure the patient.” Outside government, warns Celente, “Morality is missing from our American public consciousness. Start with Wall Street. It’s run by a criminal gang. The only question is ‘how much can you make, how much can you steal?’ At the bottom, the welfare recipient says ‘how much can I take?’ And the government is in on the take.” Celente predicts “continuing deflation of real estate, followed by extreme currency inflation— ultimately becoming worthless. This is why gold is the only honest money—the government can’t counterfeit it. Look for it to top at least $2000 an ounce… The only way we can ever recover is to return to individual community, personal responsibility, local government.  Next, average will disappear, quality will return. Look at GM. Junk cars financed by junk bonds. Now owned by a junk government. As a consumer, don’t consume quantity— consume quality.” [3102, 3103]

 

[Harconen]

On June 5, Obama visits the site of the Buchenwald concentration camp, where 56,000 innocent civilians—mostly Jews—were murdered by Hitler’s Nazis. Accompanying him are German Chancellor Merkel and Holocaust survivor and Nobel Peace Prize recipient Elie Wiesel. [3115]

 

A Rasmussen poll shows Obama’s Presidential Approval Index at zero on June 5, his lowest rating to date. The figure represents the percentage of people polled who “strongly approve” of his performance (34 per cent) minus the percentage who strongly disapprove (also 34 per cent). [2693]

 

After leaving Buchenwald, Obama travels to Paris, where he is joined by his wife. Obama, who the voters believed was going to “restore relations” between the United States and the rest of the world, declines a dinner information from the French President, Nicolas Sarkozy. (Some might argue that Obama’s wife called the shots on that decision because she dislikes being upstaged by Sarkozy’s elegant and beautiful wife, Carla Bruni.) Obama will be criticized for the snub, but Sarkozy himself has been pummeled in the press for his failure to invite England’s Queen Elizabeth (who wore a uniform and served in World War II) to the June 6 ceremony on the 65th anniversary of the D-Day invasion at Normandy. Obama reportedly refused to meet privately with Sarkozy while in France, and has repeatedly nixed the idea of an official Sarkozy visit to Washington, D.C. [3108, 3159]

 

The administration’s move to keep Michelle Obama out of Egypt costs taxpayers a fortune, because it involves a Boeing 757 (C-32), additional security, and armored cars—separate from Air Force One. (In February, Obama said, “You can’t get corporate jets, you can’t go take a trip to Las Vegas or go down to the Super Bowl on the taxpayers dime.”) Mrs. Obama, who brings her two daughters to Paris and London for sightseeing and shopping, manages to give the London press a chance to criticize her strange apparel with “…three-dimensional flowers” and a “strange orange snake working its way around her middle.” [2756, 3040, 3160, 3202]

 

Showing that not all members of the media are consistent Obama sycophants, Bill Moyers is critical of a recent two-hour NBC Obama-admiration report hosted by Brian Williams. On the June 5 broadcast of Bill Moyers Journal, the host says that Williams had “delivered a Candygram” to Obama. Williams notes that “People react strongly to this President. We’ve seen people moved to tears after just the briefest encounter with him,” and talks at length about the bowls of apples and M&M candies throughout the White House. Moyers remarks, “Now, I’ve been there, done that… I can tell you this is the kind of Valentine every White House press secretary yearns to hand the boss. And it’s not all that hard to achieve, because many of our watchdogs are as housebroken as Bo the White House puppy.” The leftist Moyers himself has been known to toss his share of softball questions during his interviews; his criticism of Williams is therefore a clear indication that the media’s Obama-worship has gone beyond simple outrageousness. [3165]

 

While in Strasbourg, France, Obama is asked by Ed Luce of the Financial Times if, like his predecessors, Obama believed in American exceptionalism.  Obama responds, “I believe in American exceptionalism, just as I suspect that the Brits believe in British exceptionalism and the Greeks believe in Greek exceptionalism”—in other words, Obama does not believe America is exceptional, it is just one nation among many and isn’t all that special. Obama’s comment and his apologies for the United States are what prompt people to say, “He sounds like a European.” During the 1988 campaign, George H.W. Bush said of Democrat candidate Michael Dukakis, “He sees America as another pleasant country on the U.N. roll call, somewhere between Albania and Zimbabwe. I see America as the leader—a unique nation with a special role in the world.” The remark applies to Obama more than it did Dukakis. [3279, 3280]

 

On June 6, Obama visits Normandy, France, where thousands of American and British forces landed after crossing the English Channel to take on Hitler’s forces and liberate Europe. Present for the ceremony were Obama and his wife, French President Sarkozy, Britain’s Prince Charles and Prime Minister Gordon Brown, and Canada’s Prime Minster, Stephen Harper. Assembled before them were some of the survivors of the invasion. Brown inadvertently refers to Omaha Beach as “Obama Beach.” Obama states, “At an hour of maximum danger, amid the bleakest of circumstances, men who thought themselves ordinary found it within themselves to do the extraordinary. They fought for their moms and sweethearts back home, for the fellow warriors they came to know as brothers. And they fought out of a simple sense of duty—a duty sustained by the same ideals for which their countrymen had fought and bled for over two centuries.” Obama’s grandmother’s brother, Charles Payne, attends the ceremony. Although Payne was not part of the D-Day invasion, he was among the troops that liberate one of the camps in the Buchenwald complex. [3112]

 

[Harconen]

Russia’s President Dmitri Medvedev says the dollar is no longer a desirable currency for central bank reserves because of irresponsible American economic policies. [3260]

 

Dickinson, North Dakota reports several inches of snow on June 6, the first time in 60 years it has fallen in that city after May. In Green Bay, Wisconsin the high temperature is only 52 degrees, breaking the record of 53 degrees set in 1943.  Obama still believes in man-caused global warming and wants a cap-and-trade tax to raise energy costs for all Americans [3131, 3144, 3145]

 

It is reported that the late mother of David Axelrod, Obama’s chief political strategist, was a writer for PM, a leftist newspaper published between 1940 and 1948. The paper’s staff consisted of liberals and communists. PM received funding from Marshall Field III, a leftist millionaire. Field also funded the Industrial Areas Foundation (IAF), a radical organization founded by Marxist agitator Saul Alinsky. (Obama worked as a community organizer and activist for the IAF, and attended an eight-day IAF workshop while on a break from Harvard Law School.) Axelrod’s parents separated when he was 8 years old; his father was a psychologist who committed suicide. Axelrod helped to elect Deval Patrick Governor of Massachusetts, largely by selling personality rather than policy. (Most observers consider Patrick a failure as governor.) Axelrod followed the same “personality over policy” process to get Obama elected, making sure that the voters only heard “hope and change” and were never exposed to many of the details of what Obama had in store for them. [3113, 3121]

 

Newsweek editor Evan Thomas appears on Inside Washington and tones down his “Obama is… he’s sort of God” praise, saying merely that Obama “…stands above everybody.” (Criticism of his “Obama-is-God” comment led Thomas to move Obama to a lower position in between God and humanity. Obama’s response to the announcement of the demotion was not discussed by White House press secretary Robert Gibbs.) Thomas calls Obama’s Middle East peace plan a “…pretty brave role, in many ways.” Columnist Charles Krauthammer throws water on that evaluation, stating “What (Obama) said about Iran, it was the weakest statement on Iran’s nuclear program ever given by a president, weaker than anything heard in the last seven or eight years.” Obama “…did more in three minutes to delegitimize the existence of Israel than any president in American history,” added Krauthammer. [3136]

A remembrance ceremony is held in Arkansas in honor of Private William Long, the U.S. Army soldier murdered by Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad. A Muslim woman wearing a burqa crashes the event, holding a homemade sign and yelling anti-American and anti-Semitic remarks. [3118]

 

In another example of “media objectivity,” Newsweek editor Evan Thomas appears on MSNBC and comments on Obama’s Cairo speech, “I mean in a way Obama’s standing above the country, above… above the world, he's sort of God.” [3117]

 

Joe Mwangi Symmon, a 59-year-old from Rancho Cucamonga, California announces he will enter the Democrat primary for governor. He will face former governor Jerry Brown, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, and Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. Symmon, who was born in Murang’a, Kenya, hopes his Kenyan background may help his candidacy as it helped Obama. Displaying a quick grasp of Obama campaign techniques, Symmon says he supports a “giving back plan”—that will be revealed during his first 100 days in office. [3119]

 

A “Ballistic and Cruise Missile Threat” report from the National Air and Space Intelligence Center states that the odds of a missile attack against the United States are growing. The Obama administration is reducing spending on missile defense systems by at least $1.5 billion. Since 2006, North Korea has deployed nearly 50 new missiles. Its latest, the Taeposong-2, has a range of 3,400 miles, and could be sold to other nations in exchange for cash that is desperately needed by the Communist regime. The report says that China has “the most active and diverse ballistic missile development program in the world.” Russia has hundreds of SS-18 Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs), and is working on technology to defeat U.S. missile defense systems.  [3120]

 

In response to North Korea’s missile and nuclear tests, Obama states on June 6, “We are going to take a very hard look at how we move forward on these issues, and I don’t think that there should be an assumption that we will simply continue down a path in which North Korea is constantly destabilizing the region and we just react in the same ways by, after they've done these things for a while, then we reward them… North Korea’s actions over the last several months have been extraordinarily provocative and they have made no bones about the fact that they are testing nuclear weapons, testing missiles that potentially would have intercontinental capacity.” The Bush administration was excoriated by the left for being too tough on North Korea and calling it part of an “axis of evil” (along with Iraq and Iran), and Bush was encouraged to negotiate. Those negotiations led, not surprisingly, to North Korea’s breaking it promises and failing to dismantle its nuclear facilities. Obama is perhaps now learning that Kim Jong-Il is not to be trusted, and that George W. Bush’s initial evaluation of North Korea was the correct one. Kim Jong-Il will not respond to Obama’s alleged charm and syrupy speeches as did 52.8 per cent of the voters. Even if Obama agrees with Jimmy Carter that America should “get over” its “inordinate fear of communism” and is personally willing to live with it, for the sake of those Americans  who are less naïve he should at least be wary of nuclear missiles in the hands of lunatics. (North Korea has nuclear capabilities because Bill Clinton inked a deal in 1994 that gave them 500,000 tons of fuel oil and $4 billion to build nuclear power plants on the condition that it not build nuclear weapons. North Korea cheated on Bill Clinton as eagerly as he had cheated on Hillary Rodham.) [3122]

 

[Harconen]

The Justice Department announces that it is looking for “all actors” in the slaying of abortionist George Tiller. It issues the statement, “The Department of Justice will work tirelessly to determine the full involvement of any and all actors in this horrible crime, and to ensure that anyone who played a role in the offense is prosecuted to the full extent of federal law.” There is no indication that the Justice Department will also “work tirelessly” and look for “all actors” in the murder of Army Private William Long. Because Long’s murderer had been trained for jihad while in Yemen, one might suspect that there are more “actors” involved in Long’s murder than in Tiller’s. [3124]

 

North Korea sentences Laura Ling and Euna Lee, American television journalists with San Francisco’s Current TV, to 12 years in labor prison for a “grave crime” against the communist state. They were tried by the highest court in North Korea and cannot appeal. A State Department spokesman says, “We are deeply concerned by the reported sentencing of the two American citizen journalists by North Korean authorities, and we are engaged through all possible channels to secure their release.” Before the verdict, former Vice-President Al Gore, the founder of Current TV, was reportedly considering traveling to Pyongyang to attempt to get the two women released. Laura Ling is the sister of CNN’s Lisa Ling. The trial and verdict is another in a series of provocations from the regime of Kim Jong-Il, who is likely pushing Obama as hard as he can just to see how much—or how little—he will do in response. North Korea wants something for the release of the two journalists, but it is not clear what that may be. (As time passes and it is clear that Al Gore intends not to get involved, the media stops mentioning his affiliation with the two jailed journalists. Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, and Jimmy Carter also fail to come forward to negotiate the release of the women.) [3126, 3140, 3371]

 

Obama appoints Arif Alikhan to the position of assistant secretary for the Office of Policy Development at the Department of Homeland Security. Alikhan, a devout Sunni Muslim and the son of Pakistani immigrants, is the deputy mayor of Los Angeles. Alikhan is associated with the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC). MPAC has chapters in California, Texas, Kansas, Nevada, and Iowa. Its senior advisor, Maher Hathout, has close ties to the radical Muslim Brotherhood. According to Pamela Geller’s AtlasShrugs.com, Alikhan was recently a guest speaker at a fundraiser for the Islamic Shura Council of Southern California. Another speaker called for an end to the Justice Department’s “infiltration by spies of mosques” and a “…cessation of attempts to undermine Muslim groups such as the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR).” Alikhan has no counterterrorism experience, and attended a fundraiser at which a fellow speaker demanded that the federal government end some of its counterterrorism tactics. In 2007, “Alikhan was instrumental in removing the Muslim terror tracking plan in L.A.” With the appointment of Alikhan, Obama has placed in the Department of Homeland Security someone who has worked against counterterrorism efforts. [3127]

 

Suggesting that liberals tend to listen only to other liberals, Newsweek’s Eleanor Clift, surprised by criticism of Obama’s Cairo speech by guests on the McLaughlin Group program of June 7, says, “Until I came on this set, I heard nothing but rave reviews for this speech. I feel like I’m in a total parallel reality.” Responding to a question from host John McLaughlin about Obama’s incessant anti-American criticism and apologies, New York Daily News publisher Mort Zuckerman states “You’re darn right” Obama is bad-mouthing the United States, yet “…we saved the… Iranian regime, after World War II, from Soviet domination. The United States was the only country in the world that stood up to Soviet attempts to dominate Europe. I mean, we have done an extraordinary job. No other country in history, I think, has expended as much treasure and blood to try and preserve democracy and freedom in the world.” Monica Crowley adds, “It is not an appropriate exercise of American presidential leadership. I am sick and tired of this man running down his country when he’s on foreign soil. You hire a President to represent the United States of America. I guess he fancies himself the President of the world.” Pat Buchanan chimes in with, “Everywhere he has gone, he has acted like—I mean, he’s a good speaker, but he has acted like a guilt-besotted liberal. He goes to Latin America, apologizing to these guys… He sat there and took abuse for 45 minutes from Danny Ortega....” An exasperated Clift responds that Obama is simply “saying things that the rest of the world says about us all the time… You cannot talk about the smote (sic)… or whatever it is… in the other person’s eye until you recognize what’s in your own, and he is acknowledging where America has gone awry, and he is re-setting a relationship with the rest of the world....” [3135]

 

Lebanon holds national elections on June 7 and the pro-Western coalition declares victory over candidates from the terrorist group Hizbullah. Some in the American media attempt to give credit for the victory to Obama because he called for “hope and change,” but New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman is told by some voters, “Without George Bush standing up to the Syrians in 2005… this free election would not have happened.” [3560, 3561]

 

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) schedules a “Tier 1 National Level Exercise,” called a “National Level Exercise 2009” (NLE 09) for July 27–31. FEMA describes the event as “…the first major exercise conducted by the United States government that will focus exclusively on terrorism prevention and protection, as opposed to incident response and recovery.” NLE 09 will “…focus on intelligence and information sharing among intelligence and law enforcement communities, and between international, federal, regional, state, tribal, local and private sector participants,” and “This year the United States welcomes the participation of Australia, Canada, Mexico and the United Kingdom in NLE 09.” The FEMA announcement states, “The full-scale exercise offers agencies and jurisdictions a way to test their plans and skills in a real-time, realistic environment and to gain the in-depth knowledge that only experience can provide. Participants will exercise prevention and information sharing functions that are critical to preventing terrorist attacks. Lessons learned from the exercise will provide valuable insights to guide future planning for securing the nation against terrorist attacks, disasters, and other emergencies.” [3132, 3133]

 

[Harconen]

Janet Napolitano, Secretary of Homeland Security, names Syrian-born Kareem Shora to her advisory council. Shora is the head of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination League (ADC), which has close ties to Obama’s anti-Israel friend and PLO-apologist Rashid Khalidi. The anti-Semitic ADC has consistently fought against domestic anti-terrorism measures taken after the September attacks, opposing watch lists, background check delays for travel visas, and improved screening of visitors from the Middle East. Former ADC president Hamzi Moghrabi has said he would nit call Hamas a terrorist organization, and stated “I don’t believe Hamas, as an organization, is a violent organization.” Moghrabi’s successor, Imad Hamad, said he found it “shocking” that anyone would call Hizbullah a terrorist group. Few in the mainstream media bother to ask why someone who opposes anti-terrorism measures should be an advisor to the Department of Homeland Security. [3139]

 

June 7 elections throughout much of Europe are good news for many conservative candidates, as voters punished left-leaning political parties in France, Germany, Italy, Belgium, Great Britain, and Spain. Some say the results show that voters believe their governments are engaged in too much deficit spending for “stimulus” purposes. In France in particular, the voters were likely showing their dissatisfaction with overindulged labor unions, high taxes, bloated bureaucracies, and too-generous welfare benefits. “Tonight is a very difficult evening for Socialists in many nations in Europe,” says Martin Schulz, leader of the Socialists in the European Parliament, and Graham Watson, leader of the European Union’s center-right Liberal Democrat group states “People don’t want a return to socialism and that's why the majority here will be a center-right majority.” Geert Wilders’ party succeeds in taking 4 of 25 seats in the Netherlands, in a victory for  supporters who believe that too many Muslims have moved to Europe, have refused to assimilate into the culture, and engaged in violence. Wilders has been on a passionate mission to preserve his country’s—and Europe’s—culture, despite being ostracized by the “politically correct” crowd that would rather sacrifice a continent than dare be critical of violent thugs. (Wilders has been banned from entering Great Britain because it is afraid of upsetting England’s large Muslim population. AtlasShrugs.com provides readers with the most comprehensive coverage of what Wilders has been up against, and why it is important for him to succeed.) The results of the European elections are bad news for Obama, who will now face even stiffer resistance to requests for stimulus spending or safe havens for terrorists he releases from the detainee camp at Guantanamo. Dr. Nile Gardiner, director of the Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom at The Heritage Foundation, comments, “Across Europe there is a broader rejection of the notion that the government should be spending more money, that there should be more bailouts. And these results show that European voters are rejecting Obama-style economic stimulus spending packages of which voters see as wasteful and too expensive.” [3142, 3172, 3177]

 

June 7 elections in Lebanon give pro-Western candidates decisive victories (68 seats) over the Iranian-backed Shi’ite Hizbullah and its allies (57 seats) and independents (3 seats). The pro-Western candidates are mostly Sunni Muslims, Christians, and Druze. The results show that the public has tired of the continuing violence prompted by Hizbullah, which the opposition party pledged to disarm. Disarming Hizbullah will be next to impossible; some suggest assimilating their fighters into the Lebanese army. [3187]

 

Yields on 10-year Treasury notes reach as high as 3.7 per cent, up from 2.5 per cent in March. Rates on 30-year mortgages jump more than a quarter point, to 5.29 per cent—the highest rate since December 2008. As the federal government borrows more money to finance its massive deficits, less is available for private lending. That pushes up interest rates, as businesses, consumers, and the federal government all try to borrow from a limited supply of cash. Rising mortgage rates will slow down the housing market even more, which will prolong the recession. Simply printing more money will not help because it leads to inflation—which is essentially a hidden tax on everyone. (The devaluation of the dollar also makes foreign products more expensive.) Obama and the Democrat Congress have created a situation from which they cannot escape. The  remedy, which they will not apply, is to stop stimulus spending, cancel spending that is not already in the pipeline, and slash the federal budget to a level where federal borrowing is significantly reduced and the possibility of a balanced budget appears in the distant future—rather than nowhere in sight. The bond market is essentially calling Obama’s bluff, refusing to believe that he can work miracles and print money without prompting hyperinflation. Purchasers of bonds therefore demand higher rates of interest, knowing that the value of their investment will drop along with the value of an inflation-ravaged dollar. (Those who expect 4 per cent annual inflation, for example, demand more than 4 per cent interest for the bonds they purchase. Those who expect 10 per cent inflation buy gold or other commodities they believe will outperform bonds.) Federal Reserve Board chairman Ben Bernanke tells the House Budget Committee, “Even as we take steps to address the recession and threats to financial stability, maintaining the confidence of the financial markets requires that we, as a nation, begin planning now for the restoration of fiscal balance.” In other words, Obama and Congress should stop spending money they do not have; Bernanke’s warning is six months too late. [3143]

 

[Harconen]

Richard Ebeling, senior fellow at the American Institute for Economic Research, states that much of the federal “stimulus money” will not stimulate jobs but will go “down a rat hole of special-interest politics.” Ebeling says “All this money—almost a trillion dollars—is spread over many departments, bureaus, and agencies of the federal government, each of them obviously evaluating supposedly the ‘shovel-ready’ and other related government to-be-funded programs. And at the end of the day, a lot of the money is going to serve special-interest groups, constituencies that particular congressmen or senators are concerned with satisfying—because every politician is always running for the next election already.” [3149]

 

By early June, the count of “czars” appointed by Obama is over 30. They include:

 

Pay Czar: Kenneth Feinberg, who will decide which Americans are paid too much,

Health Czar: Nancy-Ann DeParle, who will decide whether it is worth extending the life of the elderly,

Car Czar: Steve Rattner, who will force General Motors to build cars no one wants,

Great Lakes Cleanup Czar: Cameron Davis,

Cybersecurity Czar: Melissa Hathaway,

Bank Bailout Czar: Herb Ellison,

Economic Czars: Lawrence Summers, Paul Volcker,

Energy Czar: Carol Browner,

Drug Czar: Gil Kerlikowske,

Border Czar: Alan Bersin,

Urban Czar: Adolfo Carrion,

Regulatory Czar: Cass Sunstein (Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs),

Stimulus Accountability Czar: Joe Biden,

Stimulus Oversight Czar: Earl Devaney,

Iran Czar: Dennis Ross,

Middle East Czar: George Mitchell,

Afghanistan-Pakistan Czar: Richard Holbrooke,

AIDS Czar: Jeffrey Crowley,

Counterterrorism Czar: John Brennan,

Green Jobs Czar: Van Jones,

Guantanamo Closure Czar: Daniel Fried,

Info-Tech Czar: Vivek Kundra,

Intelligence Czar: Dennis Blair,

Religion/Faith-Based Czar: Joshua DuBois,

Science Czar: John Holdren,

Trade Czar: Ron Kirk,

Weapons of Mass destruction Czar: Gary Samore,

TARP Czar: Elizabeth Warren,

Climate Czar: Todd Stern,

Copyright Czar: to be named,

Government Performance czar: to be named, and

Domestic Violence Czar: to be named

 

Senator John McCain (R-AZ) claims that Obama has “more czars than the Romanovs.” (The Romanovs were the royal family that ruled Russia for centuries). These Soviet-like czars (whose official titles do not actually use the word “czar”) report directly to Obama and are accountable only to him; they are unelected and unaccountable to the voters. Should Obama wish to stage a coup, completely take over the government and cancel future elections, it appears he already has his accomplices in place. (Congresswoman Michele Bachmann (R-MN) later delivers a scathing attack of Obama’s appointment of power-abusing czar.) Obama is apparently the “czar czar,” but he may want to keep in mind that the first Russian czar was known as “Ivan the Terrible.” (Regulatory Czar Cass Sunstein might be considered “Cass the Crazy” by some. In a 2007 speech Sunstein supported “eliminating current practices such as… meat eating. …We ought to ban hunting, I suggest, if there isn’t a purpose other than sport and fun. That should be against the law. It’s time now.” In his book Animal Rights: Current Debates and New Directions, Sunstein wrote, “animals should be permitted to bring suit, with human beings as their representatives. Any animals that are entitled to bring suit would be represented by (human) counsel, who would owe guardian-like obligations and make decisions, subject to those obligations, on their clients’ behalf.” [3150, 3179, 3180, 3182, 3200, 3564, 3738]

 

On June 8, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin comments on the state of the economy, telling Fox News’ Sean Hannity, “Well, when you consider that the federal government is about eleven trillion dollars in debt, and we’re borrowing more to spend more… it defies any sensible economic policy that any of us ever learned through college. It defies economy practices and principles that tell you ‘you gotta quit digging that hole when you are in that financial hole.’” Palin warns about coming socialism, saying “…that is where we are headed. That is where we have to be blunt enough and candid enough and honest enough with Americans to let them know that if we keep going down these roads… nationalizing many of our services, our projects, our businesses, yes that is where we would head. And that is why Americans have to be paying attention. And we have to have our voices heard. And ultimately it need to be our will, the American people’s will imposed on Washington, instead of the other way around.” [3151]

 

On or about June 8, the Obama administration releases terrorist Laith Qazali in a deal with the Asaib al-Haq (“the league of the righteous”) organization. According to General David Petraeus, Qazali was a “key member” of a network of “extremist secret cells” that trains in and is financed by Iran to attack Americans in Iraq. Qazali was involved in the abduction and murder of four American soldiers in January 2007. The Bush administration had refused to release Qazali—holding to the longstanding U.S. policy against trading prisoners for hostages—but Obama agreed to the release in exchange for five British civilians who were being held hostage by the terrorists. After Qazali was released the terrorists turned over not five living Brits, but two corpses; they had apparently been dead for weeks. (In describing the events, contributing editor Andrew McCarthy writes in nationalreview.com: “Back in May 2008, in a speech before the Israeli Knesset, President Bush derided ‘foolish delusion’ of unidentified, naïve politicians who ‘seem to believe we should negotiate with terrorists and radicals, as if some ingenious argument will persuade them they have been wrong all along.’ Exhibiting a thin-skinned consciousness of guilt, Sen. Barack Obama assumed Bush had been referring to him, and lashed out: ‘George Bush knows that I have never supported engagement with terrorists.’” Obama has proven that President Bush was correct.) Obama is also considering releasing Qazali’s brother, Qais Qazali. [3571]

 

[Harconen]

Senator Arlen Specter (D-PA) tells labor union activists they be “satisfied” with his vote on the Employee Free Choice Act (the “card check” bill). His strange statement is, “I believe that you’ll be satisfied with my vote on this issue. And if you’re not, I recognize your right, in a free society, to cast your vote as you choose. But I think you will be satisfied with my vote on this issue.” It is unclear whether Specter will vote for the legislation, which will give labor unions unprecedented power by allowing them to organize workers without the need for secret ballots that usually provide protection against excessive intimidation. Specter will have a difficult time winning the 2010 primary election if he votes against the EFCA, but if he votes for the legislation, he will cause job losses that may cost him a victory in November. [3301]

 

Even the presidential-pandering MSNBC starts to mock Obama’s consistent use of teleprompters, suggesting he needs it to avoid his stuttering, stammering and constant use of “uh” when he is without the crutch. Watching Obama speak is “like watching a tennis match” as his head goes left and right to read the text from the two screens. [3152]

 

Columnist Greg Mankiw points out that Obama’s desire for a “public option” to compete with private health insurers is merely a sneaky way to force a single-payer national system. If any public plan were subsidized with taxpayer dollars, “…then the public plan would not offer honest competition to private plans. The taxpayer subsidies would tilt the playing field in favor of the public plan. In this case, the whole idea of a public option seems to be a disingenuous route toward a single-payer system, which many on the left favor but recognize is a political nonstarter.” If the “public option” does not use federal tax dollars, “…then the public plan would need to stand on its own financially and, in essence, would be a private nonprofit plan. But then what’s the point? If advocates of a public plan want to start a nonprofit company offering health insurance on better terms than existing insurance companies, nothing is stopping them from doing so right now. There is free entry into the market for health insurance. If a public plan without taxpayer support would succeed, so would a nonprofit insurance company.” [3153]

 

An editorial in the Wall Street Journal charges that the media has fallen for Obama’s “phony jobs claims.” Obama has argued that his stimulus legislation has already “saved or created” more than 150,000 jobs—even though unemployment continues to rise and is at 9.4 per cent. While drumming up support for the $787 billion spending bill, Obama had said the plan would “…save or create three to four million jobs over the next two years.” Tony Fratto, former senior member of the Bush administration’s White House communications staff, says, “We would never have used a formula like ‘save or create.’ To begin with, the number is pure fiction—the administration has no way to measure how many jobs are actually being ‘saved.’ And if we (the Bush administration) had tried to use something this flimsy, the press would never have let us get away with it.” The New York Times, reluctant to call Obama a liar, states that his claim is “based on macroeconomic estimates, not an actual counting of jobs.” Even the Democrats know Obama is “cooking the books.” Senator Max Baucus (D-MN) criticized Secretary Treasurer Geithner’s “saved or created” claim, saying “You created a situation where you cannot be wrong. If the economy loses two million jobs over the next few years, you can say yes, but it would’ve lost 5.5 million jobs. If we create a million jobs, you can say, well, it would have lost 2.5 million jobs. You've given yourself complete leverage where you cannot be wrong, because you can take any scenario and make yourself look correct.” The Journal emphasizes that “…something’s wrong when the president invokes a formula that makes it impossible for him to be wrong and it goes largely unchallenged. It’s true that almost any government spending will create some jobs and save others. But as (economist and Nobel Prize winner) Milton Friedman once pointed out, that doesn’t tell you much: The government, after all, can create jobs by hiring people to dig holes and fill them in.” Some say Obama’s “saved or created” deception is brilliant—but without the media’s willingness to go along with the deception, it is ludicrous. [3156]

 

On the June 7 broadcast of CBS’ Sunday Morning, White House correspondent Chip Reid gives glowing praise to Obama’s recent trip, saying “A trip laden with symbolism and elegant words, asking the world to look beyond old hatreds and wounds. In doing so, he hopes to create a world where there never has to be another D-Day.” [3164]

 

MSNBC commentators go berserk over Rush Limbaugh’s remark, “If al-Qaeda wants to demolish the America we know and love, they better hurry, because Obama is beating them to it.” Anchor Tamron Hall asks, “You tell me now if it is right… is it right to compare the President of the United States to al-Qaeda?” As later pointed out by columnist Lorie Byrd, Hall and comrades David Shuster and Bill Press forgot that MSNBC’s own Keith Olbermann has compared former President George W. Bush to Adolph Hitler and charged, Mr. Bush, you are accomplishing in part what Osama Bin Laden and others seek—a fearful American populace, easily manipulated, and willing to throw away any measure of restraint, any loyalty to our own ideals and freedoms, for the comforting illusion of safety.” According to MSNBC, Bush can be criticized but Obama cannot. [3067, 3157]

 

[Harconen]

Many columnists point out that Obama lied when he stated that health care costs are “causing a bankruptcy every 30 seconds.” Obama’s number equates to 1,051,200 bankruptcies per year because of illness, or virtually all of 2008’s 1.1 million bankruptcies—clearly an impossibility. [3158]

 

Lamar Outdoor, a billboard advertising company, joins CBS Outdoor in refusing to rent billboards for the “Where’s the Birth Certificate?” campaign. Lamar spokesman Hal Kilshaw states, “We’re just not going to accept that copy. We think it’s a settled matter. We think it’s misleading to indicate there’s any question about the president’s birth certificate. We looked at it and we made the call.” [3161]

 

On his June 8 radio broadcast, Rush Limbaugh says, “Ladies and gentlemen, there can be no other way to say this now. The gloves have to come off. It’s time for people to sober up. The president of the United States, Barack Obama, is destroying the United States economy. There is no other way to describe this, systematically destroying it.” [3162]

 

A recent poll shows that only 29 per cent of Iranians have a favorable view of the United States, down from 34 per cent in February of 2008 one year ago. (“Hope and change” may not translate well into Persian/Farsi or Kurdish.) [3272]

 

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg issues a temporary stay on the sale of Chrysler’s assets to Italian automaker Fiat. Fiat Group SpA has the option of walking away from the deal if it is not finalized by June 15. A group of Indiana state pension and construction funds are fighting the Obama-imposed deal, arguing that it illegally favors unsecured stakeholder, placing them ahead of secured bondholders. The funds also argue that the deal is illegal because billions of dollars in TARP money has been given to Chrysler, even though those funds were only authorized for banks and other financial institutions. (The media, annoyed that anyone would dare challenge Obama—especially a liberal on the Supreme Court—quickly goes into emergency mode with stories of how important it is to save Chrysler from bankruptcy.) [3155, 3173, 3198]

 

In a more acceptable response to a disgusting Playboy article listing 10 conservative women its author would like to ****, RightWingNews.com presents a list of “The 15 Hottest Conservative Women in The New Media.” (Entertainer Julia Gorin jokingly wonders why she wasn’t included in the Playboy list, writing “Nothing says too fat and not famous enough like being excluded from the angry-sex fantasies of a liberal who despises conservative women. I mean, I’m the most famous conservative female comedian in the country, by virtue of being the only conservative female comedian in the country.”) [3163, 3443]

 

On his June 8 television program, David Letterman says that Alaska Governor Sarah Palin has the style of a “slutty flight attendant.” He also “jokes” about “One awkward moment for Sarah Palin at the Yankee game… During the seventh inning, her daughter was knocked up by Alex Rodriguez.” (Palin had taken her 14-year-old daughter to the baseball game.) Conservatives are immediately outraged, while most liberals seem not to understand why the “joke” is offensive. Palin later accuses Letterman of making “sexually perverted” and “inappropriate” comments she doubted he would “ever dare make” about anyone else’s daughter. Todd Palin states, “Any ‘jokes’ about raping my 14-year-old are despicable. Alaskans know it, and I believe the rest of the world knows it, too.” (One might also expect Palin and the nation’s flight attendants to be less than amused by Letterman’s “slutty” remark.) It does not take long for a “fire David Letterman” campaign to start, and some companies (including the Embassy Suites hotel chain) quickly pull their advertising from his Late Show. (Neither Gloria Steinem nor the National Organization for Women come to Palin’s defense or criticized Letterman for his anti-woman remark.) The media, full of hatred for Palin and her conservatism, struggle to find a way to criticize her for the vulgar Letterman remark. [3222, 3233]

 

On NBC’s Today show on June 9, one commentator attempts to defend Obama’s “I’m sorry for the evil Americans have caused” Cairo speech, saying, “On the one hand he was kind of, I mean not necessarily apologizing for American policy, but certainly explaining American policy… So it was very much, you know, in keeping with this whole idea of resetting America’s image abroad, so you saw him in that speech quote from the Bible. He quoted from the Talmud; he quoted from the Koran. So it was a very different tone.” Another remarks, “…the thing that struck me about (Obama’s) speech was there seemed to be a respect for the audience, and a respect for that part of the world, as opposed to sort of a wagging the finger at that part of the world.” Showing no audience respect and his own “different tone,” a guest says of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin that “…she is very much like herpes, she’s not going away.” [3166]

 

The New York Times refuses to print an open letter to Obama by Lou Pritchett, retired former vice-president of Procter & **** and author of Stop Paddling and Start Rocking the Boat. Pritchett’s “You scare me” letter nevertheless receives widespread attention via the Internet. [3167]

 

On June 9, the Supreme Court vacates the temporary stay ordered by Justice Ginsberg and allows the Chrysler sale to Fiat to go through. The court’s two-page order states that the plaintiffs had not met their burden f showing that a delay was justified. The White House states, “We are delighted that the Chrysler-Fiat alliance can now go forward, allowing Chrysler to reemerge as a competitive and viable automaker.” The court’s decision does not validate the Obama administration’s actions, which some call illegal; it merely states that the challengers did not bring enough legal ammunition. [3199]

 

The court grants Obama and his co-defendants a second extension (to June 29) to respond to the charges in Kerchner, et al v. Barack Hussein Obama II, et al. U.S. Magistrate Joel Schneider writes, “In their complaint Plaintiffs assert violations of their constitutional rights alleging that Defendants have failed to conclusively prove that President Obama is a natural born citizen and therefore may not be eligible to serve as President of the United States,” and “Plaintiffs’ Complaint raises significant issues necessitating that the named Defendants engage competent counsel to represent their interests. Given the high ranking positions of the defendants, the decision as to who will represent them in this case is not simple and straightforward.” The lawsuit quotes the U.S. Constitution’s requirement that “…Congress must fully qualify the candidate ‘elected’ by the Electoral College Electors,” and charges that “There existed significant public doubt and grievances from plaintiffs and other concerned Americans regarding Obama’s eligibility to be president and defendants had the sworn duty to protect and preserve the Constitution and specifically under the 20th Amendment, Section 3, a Constitutional obligation to confirm whether Obama, once the electors elected him, was qualified.” The defendants therefore violated the 20th Amendment by not ensuring that Obama satisfied the eligibility requirements. Judge Schneider appears to be taking the case seriously, and has permitted public comments on the case to be placed on Public Access to Court Electronic records (PACER). [3479, 3480, 3481, 3482, 3585, 3602, 3607]

 

[Harconen]

Construction companies across the nation complain that stimulus funds are being given to large multinational corporations rather than to local firms. An example is Montana’s Swank Enterprises, which has built federal U.S.-Canada border stations in the past and expected to get additional business because of its experience and expertise. Instead, a California company—that has been criticized for its waste and abuse in projects in Iraq—is getting the business. Dewey Swank says, “It’s a farce. It stinks of politics and big special interests,” and charges that the California firm, Parson’s Corporation, got the business because “someone’s palm is getting greased.” [3168]

 

Phil Bronstein writes in the San Francisco Chronicle, “Obama and the fawning press need to get a room.” [3169]

 

Word spreads that Congress is considering a value-added tax (VAT) to increase revenue to help offset Obama’s massive deficits. A VAT is essentially a sales tax—collected at each stage of the production process—and is common in European nations. Some Republicans and conservatives have suggested a VAT instead of the federal income tax; Democrats are suggesting it in addition to the income tax. The Obama administration also wants new limits to itemized deductions as a way to collect even more tax revenue. The Tax Policy Center’s Roberton Williams says, “The bottom line is that the income tax cannot support the level of spending that’s projected.” The government either has to raise taxes or cut spending. [3170]

 

The New York Times makes the ludicrous statement that Obama’s Cairo speech “was the most important strategic step we’ve taken in this war,” and “That’s why al-Qaeda is on the run.” While Obama “was polished and poised” and “his speech broadcast from the elegant surroundings of an ancient Arab university,” says the Times, Osama bin-Laden’s recent threat was “on an audiotape, crackling and hard to hear, broadcast on Al Jazeera.” The newspaper argues that “The (terrorist) message no longer resonates with Muslims the way it did in the late 90s and after 2001.” (The Times may not have noticed that radical Islamists are still waging war around the world.) [3171]

 

In a June 9 election upset, State Senator Creigh Deeds wins the Virginia Democrat gubernatorial primary, beating former DNC chairman Terry McAuliffe (who had been endorsed by Bill Clinton) and David Moran. The moderate Deeds had not been expected to win, and his campaign spent the least money of the three candidates.

 

Deeds’ Republican opponent will be the state’s former attorney general, Bob McDonnell. [3175]

 

Prime Minister Netanyahu tells Obama’s Middle East envoy George Mitchell that Israel will not agree to halt settlement expansion. Afterward, Netanyahu states “Israel is working to promote peace and security with our Palestinian neighbors and the wider Arab world,” and Mitchell emphasizes “clearly and emphatically, beyond any doubt, that the United States’ commitment to the security of Israel remains unshakable.” Public statements aside, the Obama administration is clearly pressuring Israel to give concessions to the Palestinians, expecting it to believe that it will then no longer be subjected to rocket attacks from Hamas terrorists. [3176, 3186]

 

Obama’s economic advisor, Austan Goolsbee, appears on Fox News Sunday on June 7 and says “It’s going to take more than a few months to turn (the economy) around.” (In January, another Obama economic advisor, Lawrence Summers, said the economy would start improving “within weeks” if the $787 billion stimulus bill were passed.) Goolsbee claims that “Obama is cutting the deficit more than $2 trillion over the (next) 10 years compared with what he was inheriting,” but the Congressional Budget Office estimates that Obama will add $9.3 trillion to the deficit over 10 years. They can’t both be correct. [3178]

 

During the month of May there were a reported 464,983 foreclosures out of 3.2 million subprime and Alt-A mortgages. Fewer than 20,000 were modified under Obama’s mortgage relief plan to help 5 million homeowners, proving it a colossal failure. The situation is unlikely to improve inasmuch as interest rates are now rising. [3181]

 

On the floor of the House of Representatives, Congresswoman Michele Bachman (R-MN) charges the administration with abuse of power for allowing Democrat Senators and Congressman Barney Frank to get some Chrysler dealers that are scheduled to be closed removed from the “hit list.” Bachmann decries Obama’s “gangster government” and use of power-abusing “czars” to get around the law and the will of Congress. Even Senator Robert Byrd (D-WV), certainly no opponent of large, abusive government, is critical of the czar appointments. In March, Byrd criticized the czars, who rarely testify before Congress and “often shield” information about their activities. “The rapid and easy accumulation of power by White House staff can threaten the constitutional system of checks and balances.” [3182, 3200]

 

As the public loses patience with Obama’s ineffective stimulus plans, the White House says it will speed up the stimulus expenditures and would “save or create” 600,000 jobs in the next 100 days. (Advisor Jared Bernstein later clarifies the pledge, telling CNBC “The 600,000 jobs are full-time equivalence, meaning that if there are two part-time jobs, they count as one full-time job.” The Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics is asked if Obama’s previous claim of having “saved or created” 150,000 new jobs can be validated. Commissioner Keith Hall states, “No. That would be a very difficult thing for anybody to substantiate.” Even if the 150,000 and 600,000 figures were correct, the stimulus legislation cost the taxpayers $787 billion—or about $1,049,333 for each job Obama claims he “saved or created.” [3183]

 

[Harconen]

A proposal from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency could lead to the outlawing of 80 per cent of all pocketknives in the nation. The proposal affects all knives that contain springs or other devices to make it easier to open the blade. [3184]

 

The Washington Blade, a homosexual publication, indicates that with increasing Senate opposition to the so-called “hate crimes” legislation, it may be attached to another bill as an amendment in order to get it passed without providing opponents a chance for a hearing on its merits. The Human Rights Campaign’s Trevor Thomas states, “We understand that Senate leadership does not believe a hearing or mark up on the bill is necessary and plans to bring it directly to the floor as an amendment to another moving vehicle.” Obama supports the legislation, which critics have called the “**** protection Act.” [3185]

 

According to a Rasmussen poll, 41 per cent of Americans expect the quality of vehicles produced by General Motors to decline with the federal government and UAW union as the new owners of the company. Improvement in quality is expected by 19 per cent, 16 per cent expect little change, and 24 per cent are unsure. Sixty-nine per cent of those polled do not believe Obama when says he and the government won’t be involved in making decisions at GM. [3188]

 

As of late May, only $36 billion of the $787 billion in stimulus funds had been spent. According to a Rasmussen poll, 45 per cent of Americans believe the rest of the program should be canceled. Not surprisingly, most government workers believe speeding up stimulus spending would be good for the economy, while those employed in the private sector disagree. [3188, 3191]

 

Democrats push in the House and the Senate to speed up Obama’s national health care legislation. Budget Director Peter Orszag, telling perhaps one of the biggest lies of the year, says, “We are going to be deficit-neutral—even—over five or 10 years.” Obama’s plan will cost over $1 trillion over 10 years and can be “deficit-neutral” only if he raises taxes by $1 trillion—and if his plan doesn’t end up costing more than is currently projected. The administration hopes to pick up at $300–$600 billion in savings from Medicare and Medicaid—but that means cutting benefits or reducing fees to hospitals and physicians. The health legislation would force individuals to buy insurance if they can afford it, and calls for penalties—so far unspecified—for those who refuse to comply. Obama and his fellow Democrats plan to pass the legislation by early August, regardless of whether they have the money to pay for it. Congressman Henry Waxman (D-CA) states “This is the year to do it,” meaning the Democrats want to pass it while Obama’s approval ratings are still high and before the American people find out what is in the bill. [3190]

 

Israelis are angered by a photograph of Obama with his feet up on his desk while talking to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu; showing someone the sole of your shoes is considered an insult in the Middle East. Abu Ahmed, a Hamas military leader in Gaza, comments, “Just as a journalist humiliated (President) Bush with (throwing) his shoes, this is how Obama is humiliating the Israeli government.” Adding insult to insult, an Obama administration official in Jerusalem tells Netanyahu, “We are going to change the world. Please don’t interfere.” Netanyahu’s aides interpret the statement as a threat. [3192, 3218]

 

Actor Jon Voight tells the Washington Times, “Democracy is an extraordinary adventure. It’s difficult, full of daring and risk and danger. But it’s the greatest gift we have. The people who voted for President Obama are just beginning to wake up to exactly what they brought in. The ‘change’ they envisioned is not the ‘change’ they have gotten.” Academy Award winner Voight says “Obama is a very good actor. He knows how to play it. And he is very adept at creating this ‘Obama’—this character who is there whenever the world needs something.” [3194]

 

It is reported that the federal government lost $5.25 billion in the first quarter of 2009 on securities it acquired to bail out Bear Stearns and AIG. Counting late 2008, the loss to the taxpayers on those holdings is $16.46 billion. [3194]

 

Reverend Jeremiah Wright, the fiery, anti-Semitic, anti-white, and anti-American pastor, says he has not spoken with Obama since early 2008. “Them Jews (in the Obama administration) aren’t going to let him talk to me,” claims Wright. (The Chicago Sun-Times reports that Obama had a secret meeting with Wright near the end of the primaries. Obama persuaded Wright to limit his public appearances because they were hurting his presidential campaign. Obama was only partially successful in keeping Wright out of the spotlight, winning North Carolina despite Wright and losing Indiana, possibly because of Wright.) Obama refuses to condemn Wright; Obama attended the racist pastor’s Chicago church for 20 years. [3196, 3232, 3311]

 

The May deficit for the federal government was $189.65 billion, bringing the deficit total since the fiscal year began in October to $991.95 billion—the largest deficit in the history of the world.… and still growing. Because of income tax receipts after April 15, the April deficit was $20.91 billion—the first April deficit in 26 years. On June 9, Obama urges Congress to adopt a “pay as you go” policy, fully paying for new programs with budget cuts elsewhere or tax increases. (Most would say that advice is at least $991.95 billion too late.) Obama—who relentlessly pushed for a $787 billion stimulus bill and $410 billion appropriations bill—has the audacity to remark, “Paying for what you spend is basic common sense. Perhaps that’s why, here in Washington, it has been so elusive.” (Obama quickly breaks his own rules, stating that his national health care plan should be exempted from the “pay as you go” policy because he says it will “pay for itself” in the long run, so America shouldn’t worry about short-term deficits it causes. Obama expects the taxpayers to believe that his enormous health scheme will be the first major federal program in history to cost less than initial government estimates.) The CATO Institute’s Michael Cannon, director of health policy studies, says that Obama and the Democrats “have no way to do it. All the aura they have about health care (paying for itself) is just a complete façade.” Veronique DeRugy of the Mercatus Institute is less charitable when she says, “Obama stands in front of the TV and he lies. He does not talk about taxes. He talks about spending money.” [3197, 3297]

 

[Harconen]

The Weekly Standard reports that “the Obama Justice Department has quietly ordered FBI agents to read Miranda rights to high value detainees captured and held at U.S. detention facilities in Afghanistan.” Knowing it would likely be less than pleased by the decision, Obama chose not to brief Congress on the new policy. Prisoners on the field of battle will now therefore be told, “You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to speak to an attorney, and to have an attorney present during any questioning. If you cannot afford a lawyer, one will be provided for you at government expense.” Stunningly, Obama is reducing fighting a war to an episode of a television cop show. Congressman Peter Hoekstra (R-MI), ranking Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, comments, “When they ‘mirandize’ a suspect, the first thing they do is warn them that they have the ‘right to remain silent.’ It would seem the last thing we want is Khalid Sheikh Mohammed or any other al-Qaeda terrorist to remain silent. Our focus should be on preventing the next attack, not giving radical jihadists a new tactic to resist interrogation—lawyering up.” There is no legal basis for Obama’s order. Captured terrorists are prisoners of war—they are not American citizens entitled to the protection of the U.S. Constitution. In fact, even for Americans there is no specific constitutional requirement that the police “read people their rights.” Congressman Mike Rogers (R-MI), who recently returned from Afghanistan, warns, “The problem is you take that guy at three in the morning off of a compound right outside of Kabul where he’s building bomb materials to kill U.S. soldiers, and read him his rights by four, and the Red Cross is saying take the lawyer—you have now created quite a confusion amongst the FBI, the CIA and the United States military. And confusion is the last thing you want in a combat zone.” During his campaign against Senator John McCain, Obama said “Of course” captured terrorists  would not be given  Miranda warnings; that pledge lasted less than four months. [3204, 3205, 3219, 3225, 3235, 3322, 3381, 3420, 3446]

 

The Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution states that no person “shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself.” Although all Americans therefore have the “right to remain silent,” there is no constitutional requirement that police officers remind people of that right. (Some people who confess to crimes are set free because they are able to argue successfully that they were not “read their rights.”) The police officer who states, “You have the right to remain silent…” does so only because of the 5–4 Supreme Court decision in the case Miranda v. Arizona. In March 1963, Ernesto Arturo Miranda had confessed to raping an 18-year-old woman and was tried, convicted, and sentenced. In 1966 the Supreme Court overturned the conviction, and declared “The person in custody must, prior to interrogation, be clearly informed that he has the right to remain silent, and that anything he says will be used against him in the court of law; he must be clearly informed that he has the right to consult with a lawyer and to have the lawyer with him during interrogation, and that, if he is indigent, a lawyer will be appointed to represent him.” The Supreme Court certainly did not intend that its decision be applied to enemy combatants during war. Obama’s ridiculous order will no doubt give terrorists yet another reason to laugh at the United States. Worse, it may limit the amount of information U.S. soldiers can obtain from captured terrorists, putting the lives of Americans in danger—but Obama cares more about his image in the “Muslim world” than protecting Americans. (Luckily for citizens of the United States the 9/11 mastermind, Khalid Sheikh Mohammad, was captured and interrogated before Obama was elected.) [3204, 3205, 3219, 3225, 3235, 3381, 3420, 3446]

 

On June 10, 88-year-old James Von Brunn opens fire in a crowd of visitors at Washington, D.C.’s Holocaust Museum. He wounds one person and kills security guard Stephen Tyrone Jones; two other guards then wound Von Brunn, who is taken to a hospital. Von Brunn is immediately branded a “right-wing extremist” by the media, but his on-line writings show that he is very much an “equal opportunity” hater who despises conservatives, whites, the Bible, Christians, Jews, big corporations, big government, “neo-con,” and both Bush presidents. Von Brunn’s web site claims that “socialism is the future of the world.” The media is no doubt relieved that the Holocaust Museum killer is not a Muslim. While the media does its best to charge that conservative radio talk shows incite killers like Von Brunn to violence, they ignore the fact that Obama is inciting hatred against Jews, by ludicrously and hatefully suggesting in his Cairo speech that the treatment of Palestinians by Israel is tantamount to Hitler’s mass murder of six million Jews during World War II. [3207, 3213, 3244, 3247]

 

It is reported that two passengers on Air France flight 447, which crashed into the Atlantic Ocean en route to Paris from Rio de Janeiro, allegedly had names linked to terrorism. The names appear on classified documents with lists of radical Muslims the French government considers a threat. (The Iranian-backed, Lebanese terrorist group Hizbullah has a strong presence in South America. The tri-border or triple frontier where Argentina, Paraguay, and Brazil meet is poorly patrolled, and corrupt border guards make infiltration easy.) [3209, 3221, 3276, 3277, 3401]

 

North Korea states it would consider a U.S. pledge to protect South Korea and Japan from military attacks from Pyongyang a declaration of war. Russia reports that North Korea is poised to test launch another ballistic missile. “Information is coming to us that there are signs of preparations for the launch of missiles,” states an unnamed Russian source. After demands from the political left, former President George W. Bush removed North Korea from the list of terrorist states; Republican Senators are now demanding it be placed back on the list. The missile launches likely serve two purposes: test their accuracy and range for their own purposes, and display them for any nations willing to buy them from Kim Jong-Il, including Iran and Venezuela. [3210]

 

More than $75,000 has been raised for “Where’s the Birth Certificate?” billboards to maintain public awareness of doubts about Obama’s eligibility to serve as president. The latest billboard was placed on the Santa Ana Freeway, outside Los Angeles. Bumper stickers and yard signs have also been made available. A billboard has been put up in Buena Park, California (Interstate 5), a location passed by tens of thousands of commuters every day. Lamar Outdoor, a billboard company that has refused to display the birth certificate message, starts losing business from other customers who are angered by its censorship. [3214, 3216]

 

[Harconen]

On his June 10 radio program, Rush Limbaugh asks what God has in common with Obama: “Neither has a birth certificate.” Limbaugh then answers the question, “How do they differ?” with “God does not think he’s Obama,” “Liberals love Obama,” “God asks for only 10 per cent of your money,” “God gives you freedom to live your life as you choose,” and “God’s plan to save you is actually written down for you to read.” [3215]

 

Congressman Ron Paul (R-TX) has 213 co-sponsors for his bill (H.R. 1207, the Federal Reserve Transparency Act of 2009), which calls for an audit of the Federal Reserve Board. A similar bill, S. 604, has been introduced in the Senate by Bernie Sanders (I-VT). Paul has long argued that there is no authority for the Federal Reserve to interfere with the economy and influence the money supply, because the U.S. Constitution gives only Congress “the authority to coin money and regulate the value of money.” Paul states, “Throughout its nearly 100-year history, the Federal Reserve has presided over the near-complete destruction of the United States dollar. Since 1913 the dollar has lost over 95 percent of its purchasing power, aided and abetted by the Federal Reserve’s loose monetary policy. How long will we as a Congress stand idly by while hard-working Americans see their savings eaten away by inflation? Only big-spending politicians and politically favored bankers benefit from inflation.” Paul’s last point is why most Democrats will fight against the passage of his bill; without the ability to cover deficit spending by inflating the money supply, they cannot pass expensive bills to buy votes. [3217]

 

Obama economic advisor says a quick, strong recovery from the recession is unlikely. “A long slog, with continuing high levels of unemployment, seems to be in store.” [3220]

Obama travels to Green Bay, Wisconsin to drum up support for his national health care plan. Along the motorcade are several hundred protestors with signs reading “No Health care,” “No socialism,” and “Taxed Enough Yet?” At the town-hall style meeting, Obama argues that his plan must be enacted in order to cut health care costs. (His plan will cost at least $1.2 trillion over 10 years.) [3223]

 

Senator James DeMint (R-SC) meets with Obama’s Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor. Although he says they “had a good meeting,” he relates that he is disturbed that “…she was unwilling to say the Second Amendment protects a fundamental right that applies to all Americans, which raises serious questions about her view of the Bill of Rights.” On the subject of abortion, DeMint notes that Sotomayor “…said she had never thought about it.” [3224]

 

Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) says he will delay a vote on the “card check” bill until Al Franken is sworn in as Senator from Minnesota. (Franken has not yet been seated because of lawsuits over the close vote count in the election.) The legislation will make it possible fro unions to organize without secret ballots, allowing them to pressure workers to join the union—even against their will. Obama has promised he will sign the bill, which will cause prices to rise nationwide as suddenly unionized pass on the costs of increased labor to their customers. Many companies will go out of business if they cannot pass n the added costs or compete effectively with their competitors. [3226]

 

Former president Jimmy Carter says there can be no Middle East peace unless the terrorist group Hamas is involved in the negotiations. “I don’t believe there is a possibility to have any peace between the Palestinians and Israel unless Hamas is involved directly in harmony with Fatah,” states Carter. He then meets with Hamas’ Syrian leader, Khaled Mashaal. (The Bush administration complained when Carter met previously with Mashaal, arguing that he was legitimizing the terrorists; Obama has no such qualms.) Carter claims he is in Syria as a private citizen, and not acting on behalf of the U.S. government. In that case, carter’s actions may be in violation of the Logan Act, which prohibits unauthorized citizens from negotiating with foreign governments. Carter cannot legally “make deals” with Syria, but Obama no doubt sanctions Carter’s interference with genocidal terrorists. In fact, Obama gave Carter a message to deliver to Hamas. The terrorist group’s political advisor, Ahmed Yousef, states, “"If we have anything to communicate, Carter will be the right person to convey messages from the movement (Hamas) to this (Obama) administration or from the administration to the movement.” [3227, 3228, 3273, 3360]

 

It is barely reported (only by DebbieSchlussel.com, not by the mainstream media) that Jimmy Carter also met in Beirut, Lebanon with Sheik Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah, the spiritual leader of Hizbullah. It was Fadlallah who personally ordered the October 1983 bombing of the Marine barracks that killed 241 servicemen and U.S. officials while they slept. For Carter to meet with Fadlallah and shake his hand is unconscionable, anti-American, and anti-Semitic. As Debbie Schlussel points out, not only is Hizbullah a “designated terrorist group,” Fadlallah himself has received the label “Specially Designated Global terrorist” by the U.S. government. (Fadlallah also heads the Al-Mabarrat Charitable Association, a phony charity that raises funds for Hizbullah martyrs.) There is no question that Obama was aware of Carter’s meeting with Fadlallah. Both Carter and Obama are apparently willing to meet with anyone without regard to how offensive it may be to Americans. (Of course, they know the media will likely not report their most offensive activities.) [3274, 3275, 3278]