Obama Bars Press Scrutiny and Forces the Pentagon to Do the Media’s Jobs [Updated]
By SusanUnPC on July 22, 2008 at 10:13 AM in Andrea Mitchell, Barack Obama, Iraq, Media, Media Handling of Story, Obamedia
If you read today’s New York Times press release article, “For Obama, a First Step Is Not a Misstep,” you’d assume the two reporters were witnesses to Obama’s meetings in Iraq. However, if you check out the gripes from reporters in Politico’s 24/7 Playbook, you’d find out that reporters didn’t accompany Obama and that the PENTAGON is taking and dispersing the photos:
Appearing on MSNBC’s “Hardball” from Baghdad, NBC News chief foreign affairs correspondent Andrea Mitchell objects to the “message management” that resulted in three days of images of Senator Obama that were almost entirely – except for a lone Iraq interview with Terry Moran – produced and released by the Pentagon.
Andrea Mitchell, re Obama: “He didn’t have reporters with him. He didn’t have a press pool. He didn’t do a press conference while he was on the ground in either Afghanistan or Iraq. … You’re seeing selected pictures taken by the military … So, there’s a real press issue here. Politically, it’s smart as can be. But we have not seen a presidential candidate do this, in my recollection, ever before.
“I have great respect for the military, of what they do best, which is to fight war, keep the peace, do all sorts of economic and civil reconstruction here in Iraq. I don’t think journalism is the prime thing that we recruit them and pay them for.”
As I reported yesterday, the press plane didn’t depart from Chicago until July 20th:
[N]one of the press was allowed to go with Obama to Iraq or Afghanistan:
Obama doesn’t have press traveling on his government-arranged Iraq/Afghanistan trip. He’ll be joined in the Middle East by a plane of staff and press that took off LAST NIGHT [July 20, 2008] from Chicago.
As the Politico report above the fold indicates, Obama gave only one interview, to Terry Moran of ABC News. Watch the video (transcript included) as Obama gets testy with Moran.
::::::::
UPDATES:
Memeorandum.com has much more, including Townhall’s “No Outtakes for Obama?“:
Andrea Mitchell has made it clear that the glowing photo-ops coming from Barack’s trip aren’t the products of journalistic investigation, but rather simply selected hand-outs from either the military or the Obama campaign.
Since when did the MSM complacently and quietly (except for Mitchell, it seems) serve as nothing more than a propaganda arm for a presidential campaign — much less the military? But has any other member of the media objected to the fact that it’s quiescently beaming home simply the information that the Obama campaign wants to offer it?
Then there’s Newsbuster’s “Andrea on Obama Trip: ‘What Some Would Call Fake Interviews’“:
Andrea Mitchell might be a doyenne of the liberal media, but she has her reporter’s pride and principles, both of which have been trampled by the way the Obama campaign has managed the media during the candidate’s current trip to Afghanistan and Iraq. Mitchell let loose on this evening’s Hardball, speaking of “fake interviews” and indicating we don’t know the truth of the trip because we don’t know what was edited out of the video that’s been released.
Before Mitchell made her displeasure known, Roger Simon of Politico, Chris Matthews’s other guest during the segment, depicted the images coming out of the war zone as all Obama could have dreamed of. …
(Release: November 13)
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tsk tsk Mitchell doesnt like this does she? Perhaps she should have considered that in the months leading to this, during which she and the rest of the mainstream media allowed Uhhbama to play them like a fiddle.
Exactly. She didn’t see this sort of thing coming when she was fawning over Obama and blatently against Hillary? Well, at least she’s speaking up now. It’s more than many are doing.
Andrea had her nose so far up Obama’s ass in the primaries it wasn’t funny. And so now she’s realizing what he really is? Shame on you Andrea for not doing the real job of a journalist.
It’s not too late; you can start doing that job now.
Makes you wonder if he really was there the whole time or at all?
Maybe that shot of him shoving bacon in his mouth was fake like Bush’s faux turkey.
You know, I would love to see the transcripts of those comments literally transcribed.
They’d have to put in the half dozen or so stutters: I-I-I-I-I , y-y-y-y-ou, etc.
and the SEVENTEEN “uhhhhhs” I managed to count in his minute or so of speaking during the 2 minute clip.
I know, Zee. I drives me bat-shit that people think he’s a great orator.
So, here’s an idea (since I give them out and get no credit anyway–Burger King and Lord of the Rings, you know who you are): someone needs to do a remix of all of Obama’s uuuuhhhh’s and aaaaand’s and other grunts and fillers. Maybe it should be set to the tune of that wordless Muppet song they did many years ago. “Muh-nuh muh-nuh, dee-dee dee-dee-dee, muh-nuh muh-nuh, dee-dee-dee-dee-dee.” You know the one.
Just like GWB. Everything done or said will be in the shadows, unless he wants to convene his court of reporters. Hey, works both ways. The press got him to where he is, now he’s stiff-arming them. What goes around comes around…lets just hope the circle remains unbroken and they turn on his scrawny, arrogant ass.
I don’t even think he’s a closet Muslim. He sounds like some shape-shifting lizard person hatched out of Area 51. What is with this guy? Why all the secrecy?
May be he’s over there to thank his internet donors? And maybe he’s trying to get more from them now that he’s not accepting public financing?
You must not have listened closely to the video. Chris Matthews clearly explained what is important. We knew the country was in good hands when,after 9/11 Bush threw a great pitch at a baseball game! Now we know Barack is ready to be president because he hit that basketball shot. How could they turn on him after such proof of his abilities?
Is it any wonder that our country is in such a mess? Our top media people suffer from an epidemic of arrested development. They are all psychologically stuck in junior high desperately trying to align themselves with the popular kids.
Spare us. No president or candidate got a pass with reporters acting as if they were there, but not.
Susan, I absolutely second your observation. I read that article too, and thought “wait-a-minit, they aren’t there!”
The press is so pliable when they should be outraged! The Obama cult and its “tightly-wrapped message” has duped the press more than usual! The New York Times is a joke.
I don’t understand why they didn’t just green screen it. Everything with Obama is an illusion anyways.
wouldnt it be funny if during an Uhhbama greets the troops green screen one of the Jurassic Park dinos wandered on?
someone mock that up pullezze
or some death star battle scene?
Weren’t we upset with Bush when the Pentagon was producing propaganda for him and placing the stories into friendly press outlets?
Now Obama is doing the same thing.
Meet the new boss…
… same as the old boss.
ha ha the new boss…the new puppet you mean
Could the Obama LOVEFEST by the press be comming to an end? We can only hope.
That would be Change I could believe in.
What?!? the corporate media turn on their latest cash cow??
They finally had to turn on the Iraq War – another cash cow – and have now turned to Oblahma.
Obama’s positions don’t matter – nor his ability to be president.
He’s a cash cow for the corporate media and Dem Party. That’s all that matters since politics and infotainment are now ONE.
The MSM can drive up ratings just as much if not more by jumping off the Obama bus and starting to trash him.
That still keeps the O’boy in the news, where interest is high.
The MSM has a history of building up celebrity, only to cut it down to size later. I don’t think it’s intentional, but just the natural flow of covering a subject.
When the subject is new and interesting the coverage is positive and generates interest and ratings. When the subject becomes old and tired, it starts to lose interest and ratings. Rolling out the negatives regenerates interest, and ratings.
It isn’t objective journalism, it’s what makes money.
Please show me when that happens cuz I’m not at all convinced this was the start of it.
Andrea was just miffed that she didn’t get to go play. Instead dissing Military photographers and journalists (who I happen to have been one) like we can’t possibly do her job)
screw her! And Screw Barry for his lucky shot! Also during my 6 years serving I met VERY few republicans in the general population of troops. Most of the pugs were officers and nco’s
of course I am a bit parenthetically challenged! lmao
The McCain campaign has made a funny video of the Media Being in Love with Obama. You can vote here for your favorit version:
http://johnmccain.com/video/love.htm
The scene on the plane with the reporters squealling over Obama made me sick.
I pick ‘Lets Get It On’ by Marvin Gaye
Can’t go wrong with a classic.
In the video, did you notice how many men were getting “giddy, tingly & swooning” over the annointed one???
I had forgotten about that clip and literally covered my eyes on the last part of it.
Like it was a scary movie….lol.
He must control the coverage because if the press bothers to listen in or talk to any of the generals or soldiers, they would (Petraeus did) disagree with Obama. Can’t have that. How stupid do they think we are? Fact finding trip, my @#@#$#.
I almost feel sorry for the poor news anchors (not). Even one of his biggest cheerleaders, Andrea Mitchell, is upset with the level of censorship coming from the Obama camp. (Surprise, surprise) Will the NYT or any MSM outlet dare report this about their precious one? Obviously, the NY Times, and the big 3 anchors can’t or won’t (they’ll be thrown under the bus) , but let’s hope FOX, the Washington Post or some major news outlet covers Obama’s “faux” news coverage of his trip.
http://chicagoagainstobama.wordpress.com/
Today on Hardball, Ms. Mitchell explains that the Obama camp has kept the media far away from the Senator, while he has been on the ground in Iraq and Afghanistan…….Mitchell goes on to say that this level of media censorship is unprecedented……and she concludes by stating that the, Obama related, news coming out of Iraq/Afghanistan is so filtered…….that some may call it “fake”…..
Mitchell goes on to say that this level of media censorship is unprecedented……and she concludes by stating that the, Obama related, news coming out of Iraq/Afghanistan is so filtered…….that some may call it “fake”…..
Andrea, you and MSNBC are the experts in filtering and fakes about your coverage being balanced, so on this issue I will take your word for it.
I still won’t watch their crap channel except for SNL (with a grain of salt.) Fred Armisen is spot on, like uncanny, when he does Obama. He is courageous for taking on the role and handling the criticism so well, since now everyone talks about how jokes about He-Who-Will-Remain-Unnamed-But-Is-Not-A-Muslim are strictly verboten. It was very daring of SNL to take that tack, even though they softened and even turned their coverage around. I think the New Yorker will see a similar rise in esteem. But MSNBC is crap. I don’t care what they say to redeem themselves; they can’t say or do enough.
Exactly, If the press took pictures and talked with the military ans locals his entire Irag stance would be shot to hell. This man is really playing his cult. If the media was there he may have to say that the surge worked and Irag is getting better.
If he did that what little bit of platform he has would also be shot to hell.
Wrong, wrong, wrong! Obama’s platform — advocating a withdrawal from Iraq within 16 months — has been publicly endorsed by the Prime Minister of Iraq, by name and deliberately on the day that Obama was in the country. The fact that you PUMAs do not recognize what a devastating blow this is to the McCian campaign is, well, typical of your lack of political sophistication. Let me spell it out for you: Obama’s overseas trip has already been a huge success and he hasn’t even made his big speech in Berlin yet (and as ew know, he’s pretty good at big speeches). Just wait about one week for all this news to filter through to the average American, and you’ll see Obama start to pull away from Grandpa McCain in the national polls. We’ll also see McCain do something — anything — to change the subject away from foreign policy, where Obama this week is kicking his ass. This has been Obama’s best week in at leat a month.
Obama is just showing face thats all. He is not President therefore he cannot make any decisions. Matter of fact I doubt Obama will be briefed in detail with regards to the Middle East. The Middle East situation is very fragile and sensitive, alot is happening behind the scenes that we, the public will never get to hear. The last thing anyone wants is for someone to put the spanner in the works. I also think the US military know alot more and are keeping a close eye on Obama, lets face it, Obama is inexperienced in all matters.
I actually think the Middle East can do without Obama during these delicate times.
This is all about showing face, photo ops, trying to make everyone think he is fit to lead. The American People will be the judge of that.
First let me say thank you for talking we this average amercian (even thou you and the rest of the obama group are so far above us). Second I will say that for me I am not part of the PUMA crowd. But I will also say I am glad that someone in this country is willing to say country before party. So now let’s really look at your statement. A projected withdrawal time line has been part of the Administration plan for a long time. But it is to be based on the conditions on the ground. (of course the main stream media will not report that) And obama is echoing everything that has already been said and thinks that everyone will simply believe he credited the plan. One major difference is that obama wants to tell the enemy when the military will be leaving. That’s like telling the other football team what side the ball will be ran on.
I agree that obama’s trip has done exactly what his team wanted it to do. It has created a false sense that he has already been eclected and to the best of my knowledge he has yet to be nominated by the dems. So in that frame I guess it has been a success. And yes he is fairly good at giving a speech while reading a telepromter. Take it and the speech writers words away and he is pretty much like one of us average American speakers. Actually he is worse than most speakers I know.
It’s good to see that you guys demand that no one say anything bad about obama but it is really ashame that you and alot of others in this nation no longer have respect for age and experience. So much that every time you get a chance you insult mccain because of his age.
So to sum up my thoughts on your comments I say obama may get alot of media attention out of this attempt to look presidential and mccain my lose some points in the running because of the media hype over obama, but the average Amercian will be the one that will elect the president in the fall. The DNC will not have the power to select obama the way they did in the primary. Unless they infiltrate the Republican party. He will have to win this one on his merits and platform. I can only hope that there are enough of us average American’s to make sure he is not elected.
Again, thanks for taking the time to step done form your lofty position of obama worshiper to speaking with us. Oh and one more thing I’m not even a dem.
Thanks for your reasonable note. I know my tone gets snide sometimes and I apologize for that (maybe it’s all those NQers calling me an asshole or saying shut up or go ahead or whatever). I will admit that, yes, I do believe I know significantly more about politics than most people here. But then again, I know significantly more about politics than most human beings on the planet. And I will admit that one of the reasons I keep coming back here is that I frequently read about stuff I didn’t know all that much about. This is a cool (albeit deeply, even disturbingly wrong-headed) community.
Having said that:
1. You’re so flat wrong about Bush and withdrawal from Iraq. His lip service about withdrawing someday when conditions warrant is just patent nonsense. His plan for several years now has been to refuse to admit screwing up and to hand the mess off to his successor. He has no other serious plan for Iraq and never has. The fact that violence ebbed there has far more to do with Iraqis themselves than with our much-vaunted 20,000-troop “surge;” if al Sadr decided it was once again in his interest to continue waging internecine warfare, the miracle of the surge would be forgotten in a matter of days. The truth is that Bush’s recent (like, yesterday) conciliatory statements about vague benchmarks for withdrawing troops represent tactic acknowledgement that Obama has been right on this issue for a long time now and the US. population supports him on it, by a dramatic margin. Which they do.
And Obama’s “16 month” formulation is not old news or established policy; it is a sharp break from everything McCain has been saying, and the fact that it has just been adopted, in person and by name, by the Prime Minister of Iraq is huge.
And the reason I call Grandpa McCain Grandpa McCain is not because he is old, but because he is muddled, confused, makes frequent elementary intellectual errors, contradicts himself on an almost daily basis, and frequently shows a distinct lack of energy in his public appearances. I assume this has to do with his advanced age but I can’t be certain; it’s possible that he was like this years ago and I just didn’t notice because he’s a typical right-wing warmongering hypocritical, shallow, ignorant Republican asshole and I have no use for him.
You must have a dictionary for name calling beside your terminal.
Anyway think about this. The war has happened we can not change that. Alot of good men and women have been killed in the process. I will not argue that point. You have one point of view on bush’s plan and I have a point of view on obama’s plan. I believe both plans are very much alike, except for a few points. We can go back and forth on that until next week. We are not apt to change each others opinion.
Now as for your political experience I will have to take your word on that. But the one thing we all know is that political opinion’s are like but holes we all have one. Look at mine for a moment, when obama started this thing he raved with “hope and change” then I listened to him and I read his plan (from his website). After reading this and listening to him all I see is a repackaged Chicago politician. A man with little experience in government and less experience in humbleness. He wants to take this country into socialism further than any dem or repub has in the entire history of America.
Now as far as mccain’s age and his “intellectual errors” I am not one to judge anyone intellectualism but if we wish to go there I will say this, without a teleprompter obama sounds like some of the children my wife works with in her intervention program at school. So simply judging someone’s ability by speaking erros made while on the trail is simply foolish. They both sound kind of dah sometimes. The main thing we should be looking at in this election is which canidate’s policies will carry this country forward and not backwards into Eruopean socialist policies that have been tried and have failed. We are electing the President of the US not a president of the world.
So now before you respond to this make sure you find alot of bad names to call me or anyone so I can really get a picture of how you feel.
I find it amusing that you call Obama “socialist.” Half of NQ calls him a socialist or a Communist, the other half calls him a closet right-wing corporatist conservative (I won’t dignify the ones who say he’s as bad as Hitler and the Nazis with any of my much-vaunted name calling). Having read his website, perhaps you can let me know which of his avowed policies qualify as socialist. Certainly he has taken a lot of heat, here and elsewhere, for offering a health care plan which covers everyone who wants to join it but doesn’t mandate that every American join it, as HRC’s does. The HRC plan is a hell of a lot more socialist than Obama’s, but whatever. Please do let me know which of his policies qualify as “socialist.” I’m fairly familiar with his platform and I have no idea what you’re talking about.
Marxist, schmarxist Personally, I wouldn’t qualify Oblahblah as anything more than an empty suit bereft of an original idea. He isn’t socialist or fascist; he’s just a talented manipulator who talks a lot while saying absolutely nothing of substance. His consistency is rather like a cream-puff.
Sorry had to do some work.
Glad I could give you a laugh. As for which of his polices I believe are or lean to be socialist, well you named the first of course that is his health care plan (of course I believe any nationalized plan is socialist). Next, his gross “wealth distrubtion” in his tax plan. And by the way I am not rich so don’t go there. Next his civilian security force.(oh I forgot he removed that from his speech and plans) His belief that the gov’t can be all things to all people. And so forth and so on,
there is 64 pages in his blueprint for America
obama’s bluprint for America, gov’t is all you need gov’t can be all things to all people. Don’t worry about the furture the gov’t will give us rest. The mind set is completely socialistic.
Just to clear up a few things I do not believe he is hilter come to life, but I believe he could become dictator like if elected. And I did not/do not support clinton for pres. See I come to this website to see what the dems are saying to each other and I can occasionally find someone to have a good debate with over obama’s policies. Although I do agree with the point that obama was selected not elected.
Speaking of elementary errors, how did Obambi enjoy ht capital of Israel? How’s that 57-state thing going?
You’re too rich. Hahahahaha
why is the military helping him out with his propaganda? that really scares me.
yeah it freaked me a bit too
hopefully it is not what we were thinking, no no no
unless they r planning a coup d’etat and figure Uhhbama is their best bet for support form the masses, really how could they want the suit in charge as CIC?? disasterous
maybe they just wanted to protect him from our troops and didnt want the press to know our troops cant stand him and wont follow him LOL
because too many of them are star struck in the officer ranks
they set it up gladly I’m sure
and I’m not sure it was anything other than his snubbing of the US press in favor of the Military PAO.
jmo
You mean, as opposed to helping out the Republicans, as they’ve been doing for the past thirty years? Maybe they’re sick of incompetent, warmongering commanders in chief and want a responsible grownup in charge for once. Maybe they’re terrified of macho McCain and his 100-year Middle East war. Last I read in Stars and Stripes, about 58% of military respondents want the war in Iraq to be over as soon as possible. Given those facts, they know whom to support and whom to fear.
maybe
and maybe they area AGAIN being fed a big old heaping scoop of H)ORSE CHIT
miss lemming loo
too many typos
i quit (4 now)
Last I read more soldiers were financially supporting Ron Paul because they believed his anti-war stance more than Obama’s.
The people on the ground don’t believe Obama’s rhetoric, they believed a man they knew couldn’t be elected more than him.
Since Ron Paul dropped out maybe Obama can finally catch up with Paul’s military donations…lol
You might be right about Paul, you might even be right that a lot of military people support Obama’s positions but are leery of him on a personal level. His challenge for the rest of the year is to earn that trust, and his shifting policy positions in recent weeks has surely made that job a little bit tougher (though the shifts have also clearly brought some new voters into the fold). Regardless, your Ron Paul comment points out — again — how John McCain is completely out of touch with the American people — and even American soldiers — on the crucial issues of the day. It’s one of many reasons that it will be very difficult (not impossible, but really hard) for im to win this election.
If they want a responsible grownup, Obambi ain’t gonna make it, Goob.
because he’s NOT BUSH
that’s what gw has done
I swear every DEM that is NOT a big BHO fan will tell you how bad it had become …. we have about had enough of the lies, fraud, theft, etc
NOW I swear it’s like a bad movie and I’m a unwilling witness but it’s all repeating itself on the other side of the damn extreme coin
I just keep pinching myself to make sure I’m not having some BAD nightmare deja vous matter/anti matter experience
this must have been what tripping was like (I missed all that serving my country) partied yes, never tripped!
an
an not a
it’s frustrating
I mess up
They’re a captive audience, so to speak.
Well anyone who is expecting loyalty from Obama can wish in one hand and shit in the other.
And see which hand fills up fastest.
Maybe Mitchell should challenge BO to a game of one-on-one…If she won, would she be called a RACIST?
Yes, she would. They would turn it around that she was racist against his white heritage.
Great article-as usual Susan.
Also, look at what I ran across this morning:
http://chicagoagainstobama.wordpress.com/
Another good blog containing important facts and discussion about what is happening in this campaign
Sorry Susan-I posted this comment on wrong blog!
Thanks for the lead to the website. I am passing it on to others.
Fakes and frauds don’t do well off the cuff. I’m hoping he gets skewered by the press soon.
How about BO taking the flag off his plane and putting on a big ‘O’ instead…Havent seen that in the press…Maybe he doesnt want to offend his Muslim brothers, oh excuse me, since he never PRACTICED Islam, he would still be considered an INFIDEL by them…
Obama claims he was never a Muslim but he can recite Evening Prayers, I think Nick kristoff wrote about it. Obama is a people pleaser and I’m sure he wanted to please the rest of the Muslims.
Who the *$&* does this ass think he is. Has he forgotten that he is only a SENATOR and PRESUMPTIVE nominee…
This secrecy and Pentagon involvement should gravely concern supporters of Obama, but I am beginning to think they have, quite literally, all been subject to lobotomies.
God help us. Honestly. God help us if this man is elected POTUS.
And we don’t even know if he would be relected to the Senate for a 2nd term yet or not – without dirty tricks of course.
Would a lobotomy performed on an Obama supporter be an Obotomy?? All the Obots have been Obotomized!
Thanks Susan,
Nothing surprises me anymore.
News brought to you by, Obama’s spin zone.
The anchors really just read the scripts these days.
Reporting is not an accurate description of what they do. We should call them Repeaters.
BO reminds me of Napoleon Dynamite, he ‘dances’ well, but he lacks any redeeming value as a leader…He is ’scripted’ and his ‘handlers’ are making a nominee, not electing one….
I heard he doesn’t dance well or play basketball well.
I have a suggestion. Each time an Obambibot posts something here, ID them with a phrase so no one will respond to their dumbed asses.
Like SHUT UP YOU IDIOT
or BLAH..BLAH…BLAH…BLAH
Then we will know they are on OBOT and we can ignore them and the rest of us can skip their comment so we can read the ones we know are good comments
Weed out the trash, so to speak!
That’s right — only read the “good comments!” Do not allow conflicting information into your brain! Because you PUMAs are independent thinkers who want the truth!
lol
At least you know your comment suck. LOL that’s a start I suppose
SHUT UP TROLL
Dude, I post here extensively, on most days, I respond to as many comments as possible and never represent myself as something I am not, and as another regular, Steven Mather, can confirm, I’ve even spoken with him by phone to arrange having a blog-radio debate later this summer. By any rational definition of the word, I am not a troll. Your conflation of “troll” with “someone who’s going to vote for Obama” is symptomatic of the cultish vibe that emanates from so much PUMA content. It’s really kind of weird.
What scares me is Obama doesn’t seem the least bit concerned about diminishing poll numbers or who he offends. Does he have something planned to take the Presidency without a valid election – like the primary only bigger?
I think he’s so used to being handing whatever he wants, that he just expects he’ll get whatever he wants.
Unfortunately he does get whatever he wants. A big question is – why are all the powers that be so afraid of him now and afraid to cross him?
‘White Guilt’….They can go home at night and sleep on their consciences that ‘they are the diverse ones’, not the rest of ‘racist’ America…They have the ultimate candidate to ‘cleanse’ their conscience of any ‘guilt’, well, that is until the country pays ‘raperations’…How about just giving people a good education, and letting people get a ‘job’ based on qualifications, and NOT preferences…Oh, I forgot, that is why Hillary was snubbed…
why are all the powers that be so afraid of him now
Opposition gets “noted in the building”.
In order to pull off that kind of upset, voter turnout must be depressed. Otherwise, the time constraints of election night work against the swindle like in FL in 2000 and in IN during the primaries. There are only so many votes they can change in that window. Brad blog is a good place to read up on that.
It is my opinion that the GOP are just hunkering down in wait. After the convention they will begin the negative campaign – and that will be unlike anything we have ever seen. I think that most of the media is in on it – if you remember the Gore and Kerry campaigns, they were certainly not on the Dem side. They are waiting until after the convention, because there is still the faint chance of a Hillary bid – and they don’t want to run against her. Obama is such an easy mark. So McCain is lying low and the media is sounding pro-Obama, and they are letting him begin the destruction process, as he seems to think he already is president.
Get your popcorn, folks! It is going to be an interesting few months…..
I agree…I think that is exactly what they are doing.
HIS RACE
No — only the Republicans have the relationships with Diebold and control of the Justice Department to seriously steal a national election. Obama’s confidence today reflects his knowledge that, right now, even as we speak — while you cute little PUMAs are sitting here wringing your hands and linking to one another’s teeny blogs and making yourselves feel good by pretending you’re part of a vast movement — hundreds of thousands of Obama campaign volunteers — the real, true, genuine vast movement — are busy in all 50 states registering new voters, mapping out precincts, analyzing polling lists, recruiting more volunteers, and in general building the most overwhelming campaign organization in U.S. political history. Just like he did in the primary. And with the same result.
LOL now if you can only get someone to vote for BOBO.
Just you wait, Wild Child.
Seriously — this election will be a real education for many people here.
The press is the Renfield to his Dracula
“Fact finding mission” that we are paying for…
Are any of these media hacks going to “report” on that? He’s campaigning on our dime, creating a distraction for our troops! did the DNC or Ponies for All pay for the fuel for that helicopter, the time of a 4-star general and staff to brief this moron? The security for the press? Any of it?
no
Good comparison. I wonder if they will use their own handbook on foreign travel expenses for senators:
“Reasonableness of Expenses 21
As a threshold matter, the Ethics Committee will give weight to the Member’s or Senate
officer’s determination (either for that Member or Senate officer, or for an employee supervised
by that Member or Senate officer) that the travel will not create the appearance that the Senate
traveler is using his or her public office for private gain. The Committee will consider that this
determination by the Member or Senate officer includes the Member’s or Senate officer’s
evaluation that the expenses for the trip are necessary and reasonable.
A complaint to the Senate “ethics” committee would be a waste of time.
Sorry, I didnt know where to post this and it may be old news….I cut and pasted from WND.com
Barack Obama may be on a world tour surrounded by a fawning media, but Sunday an expert in electronic document forensics released a detailed report on the purported birth certificate — actually a “Certification of Live Birth” or COLB — claimed as genuine by his campaign. The expert concludes with 100% certainty that it is a crudely forged fake: “a horribly forgery,” according to the analysis published on the popular right-wing Atlas Shrugs blog.
The purported birth certificate was published by the left wing Daily Kos blog on June 12 in response to unconfirmed reports that Obama was not in fact born in the United States (Canada and Kenya were suggested as the possible locations of his actual birth). Since he would in that case not be a natural born US citizen (his mother was not present in the US sufficiently long as an adult to pass American citizenship on to him automatically), he would not be eligible to be president. Israel Insider has followed the story in five previous articles (the previous one here) and uncovered evidence, most recently, of admitted forgery among Daily Kos bloggers, tolerance of electronic forgeries on the blog site, as well as efforts by a blog administrator to conceal the admission of forgery.
The latest examinaton of the purported documents is by far the most detailed and technically sophisticated to date.
Atlas Shrugs publisher Pamela Geller reports that the expert analyst, who goes by the screen name “Techdude”, is “an active member of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, American College of Forensic Examiners, The International Society of Forensic Computer Examiners, International Information Systems Forensics Association — the list goes on. He also a board certified as a forensic computer examiner, a certificated legal investigator, and a licensed private investigator. He has been performing computer-based forensic investigations since 1993 (although back then it did not even have a formal name yet) and he has performed countless investigations since then.”
Perhaps the outspoken Israeli press corps will be able to do what their fawning American counterparts have failed to do so far. Obama’s visit this week to Israel will be an opportunity to begin asking the tough questions — however unpolitically correct — about his apparently forged birth certificate and what that means for his citizenship status and Constitutional fitness to be the next leader of the free world.
The pseudonym was apparently inadequate to prevent Techdude’s identity from being exposed. He reports that last week one or more persons “decided to track me down and vandalize my car and hang a dead mutilated rabbit from my front door in a lame attempt to intimidate me from proceeding with releasing any details of my analysis. They did succeed in delaying the report by a few days but instead of deterring me they just really pissed me off. To their credit, if I had not taken a few days off from the analysis I would have missed the most damning piece of evidence — the remnants of the previous security border.”
Techdude’s detailed report, which runs more than 3000 words and 20 pages with extensive magnified illustrations and comparisons, reaches the following conclusion about the documented that was first published on the Daily Kos extreme left-wing blog and subsequently publicly endorsed by the Obama campaign, both in statements by official spokesmen, and featured on its “Fight the Smears” website. Here are some of conclusions:
“The (Daily) KOS image security border pattern does not match any known specimen from any known year. It does not match the pre-2006 nor does it match the post-2006 certificate patterns. The placement of the text in all of the pre-2006 and post-2006 certificates are almost identical pixel location matches while the image?s text placement does not match any known specimen from any known year. The shape and kerning of the fonts used in the 2006 through 2008 certificates are identical while the shape and kerning of the fonts used in the image does not match any known specimen. The KOS image shows clear signs of tampering such as the mismatch in RGB and error levels, visible indications of the previous location of the erased security border, easily detectable patterns of repeating flaws around the new security border, EXIF data that says the image was last saved with Photoshop CS3 for Macintosh, and finally a technician from Hawaii who confirms it just looks wrong.”
The evidence, he says, allows for two possible scenarios by which the document was fabricated:
“There are two obvious scenarios used to create the image that can be ascertained from evidence. Either a real COLB was scanned into Photoshop and digitally edited or a real COLB was first scanned to obtain the graphic layout then blanked by soaking the document in solvent to remove the toner. After rescanning the blank page to a separate image the graphics from the previously obtained scan could then be easily applied to the blank scan after some editing and rebuilding. It would also explain why date stamp bleeds through the paper and the various bits of toner located around the image as well as the remnants of the previous location of a security border.”
The purported birth certificate was published by the Daily Kos on June 12 in response to unconfirmed reports that Obama was not in fact born in the United States (Canada and Kenya were suggested as the possible locations of his actual birth). Since he would in that case not be a natural born US citizen (his mother was not present in the US sufficiently long as an adult to pass American citizenship on to him automatically), he would not be eligible to be president.
After more than a month of controversy and demands that the Obama campaign produce a paper birth certificate for analysis, this damning new evidence raises the stakes for the democratic party and its front-runner.
Will Obama and his people continue to stonewall in the facing of the mounting evidence of forgery, and provide paper proof of an authentic, original birth certificate or even a genuine secondary Certificate of Live Birth? And will the mass media and mainstream pundits — which so far have hesitated to touch the hot potato — finally address the loaded issue of his possible unfitness to meet the basic Constitutional requirement for a President?
Perhaps the outspoken Israeli press corps will be able to do what their fawning American counterparts have failed to do so far. Obama’s visit this week to Israel will be an opportunity to begin asking the tough questions — however unpolitically correct — about his apparently forged birth certificate and what that means for his citizenship status and Constitutional fitness to be the next leader of the free world.
Where’s the real birth certificate?
There probably isn’t ANY…Friends of BO in Hawaii gov will MANUFACTURE one for him..Forged, Stealed, and De-eviled,….
Your comments have gone from silly to just plain ridiculous! This has to be a comedy routine because it is so funny.
The supposed “PUMA’s” are throwing everything but the kitchen sink @ Obama and none of these conspiracy theories stick.
You do know your lord and master, barky, has forbidden the colour green to be used at this time. You have been warned and when you return to the collective you will be duly punished.
~”…he would in that case not be a natural born US citizen (his mother was not present in the US sufficiently long as an adult to pass American citizenship on to him automatically), he would not be eligible to be president….”
Dunham’s citizenship is not the only issue to consider. The only natural U. S. born citizens not born in the U. S. are those who are born on U. S. soil, like McCain, to members of the Diplomatic Corps stationed abroad (Embassies are considered U.S. soil) and military bases maintained by the U. S. in foreign countries. Stanley Ann Dunham Soetoro was never a diplomat, never a member of the armed Forces. Therefore, the origin of Obama’s birth is very important to his eligibility to run for president, as is an accurate birthdate.
If Barack Obama was born outside of the U. S., as some information indicates, he would not be born on U.S. soil and as Stanley Ann Dunham Soetoro was never a diplomat, never a member of the Armed Forces, he would not be considered a natural born citizen; especially if he was born in a country his father was a citizen of; but the son of a citizen residing in a foreign country which would depend upon whether or not she renounced her U. S. citizenship.
Hawaii became a state in 1959 and his age has been published as both 59 and 57. If he is older than 57, then he may have been born in a territory and thus other legal questions need to be settled.
The only reason for Obama to refuse (yes, REFUSE) to clarifiy his qualifications is that he does not meet them or he is arrogant enough to feel the “rules” do not apply to him. If he can’t abide by the rules set forth for candidates for president he has no business being part of the election process. And with an unresponsive government/media also refusing to treat him by the same rules the other candidate had to abide by…well, America you’ve got a problem.
Again with the citizenship… Obama is an American citizen. You nor any of your PUMA pals can go back 46 years and rewrite history.
Maybe you should spend more time on a subject that makes sense!
HOTGREEN-pile of stemming groat clusters…\
He is not a natural born citizen or otherwise until he simply releases his actual BC, verified by the State of Hawaii or Kenya or Canada.
Hi Andria,
I’m your tour guide, for “under the bus”, back here we have O’s grandmother, and huddling in the corner repeating the mantra,”but I really am smart” is Samantha
Power, Jesse Jackson is comforting her in a rocking motion but making odd slashing gestures.
My group,(the largest one)are the ones wearing PUMA items or sharing their lunches with a group of sad and tired folks who have FISA etched on their foreheads- moaning something about “but you promised”.
We really don’t have enough room for all of the press, and since it is my understanding you don’t mind whoring yourselves for what you want, we will be dropping you off at the next truck stop, so you can blow your way back to your network.
Thanks for traveling United Under the Bus.
Uhh BUH bye
[snarkness]
OMG…LMAO!!
HA!
well deserved snark
I love that the one writer called Mitchell “the doyenne of the liberal media.”
Uh, really? Since when??
Note to the press: Be careful what you ask for.
I have now heard the most disgusting disingenuous statement out of the mouth of the defeat America boy.
If I had to do it again I still would not support the surge.
What a jerk!!!!
Yet another example of Obama saying whatever he thinks the listener wants to hear.
He’s spinning so fast, the Tasmanian Devil would be jealous.
eVERYone is giving it to GW
he said the same thing about going in to Iraq
so did Cheney
this is so childish
now the DEMS are doing EXACTLY and sounding EXACTLY like that which they professed to be “so much smarter than”
LMAO yea right MO RONS
I know, God forbid, he should let the troops know, they at least have done a good job.
Illegal immigrants will get Obama’s Health Care
http://www.nypost.com/seven/07212008/postopinion/opedcolumnists/os_health_rx__cover_illegals_120816.htm
Saw this one coming. If McCain picks a moderate VP and still hits hard on these issues and economics, he can still win over the conservatives. The political landscape has changed with this election; I think Obama has inadvertently brought more from the right to the center, unwittingly benefiting McCain. Polls show more Republicans support McCain than during the early primaries. Dobson might even come around. McCain could pick a moderate and win by a landslide.
If McCain picks Bobby Jindahl, he is a shoe in to win…Jindahl is the perfect conservative compliment to gather the conservs for McCain
I’m inclined to agree with you.
Of course every one has a different view of what the goal lines for MODERATION truly are……… but I can be general if you don’t mind?
not about jindyl
Crist would be good
That woman from Alaska would be good if she moderated her tone on woman’s rights
Mitt forgave his $45 million in lending to his bid. This is fueling speculation that he will be the VP pick.
Smartest comment on this thread. Mitt’s your guy, McCain fans!
you’re still an asshole
lol
I still wish he’d choose Hillary. She could bring over more voters than any conservative he could pick. That would put her in a position to accomplish many of her plans and Hillary doesn’t have a radical left agenda. Plus, she was a Republican at one time so she knows how the game is played. Bill worked many times with Republicans while he was in office. Just look at the pictures of them together. You can see they respect each other and are friends. They compliment each other. It just works. I know blah, blah, blah.
I think the Republicans are pushing him to choose Romney. I really don’t like Romney, but at least I know where he stands on the issues. Unlike Obama who’s all over the map and I have no idea what he “really” stands for.
Romney is like a rich Evan Bayh
(yawning) lol
Barack makes them all look like fools every day, yet they slobber at the mention of his name, like Pavlov’s dogs. They’re as pathetic as it gets.
Oh, Keith! Can you hear me now?!
No bump from the trip so far on Rasmussen? (Gallup seemed to have a mild one.)
Obama was suppossed to have gotten a bump by taking a trip abroad, eh?
The down side to Obama’s trip abroad is that he will be coming back.
Ohh hohohoho I used to say that when Cheney or W would go overseas!@!!
WOW what a turned upside down world!
You know I never watch anything Obama on the news. This is the first clip I’ve seen in months. ugh….I couldn’t even watch the whole thing.
I think we’re getting more than a glimpse of the kind of president Barack Obama would be and it ain’t pretty! He may not be occupying Bush’s old office but he thinks he’s wearing his crown.
Obama’s undemocratic totalitarian march to Our White House shows not just a lack of respect for the Democratic country he lives in but total contempt for its citizens. He has won nothing and yet he is adding the powers of Caesar this very moment. Can’t you just envision Caesar’s crown on that photo of him looking down on Hillary Clinton.
We have to stop this madness.
Pumas overpaid Hillary’s debt by 1 million!
http://edgeoforever.wordpress.com/2008/07/21/pumas-paid-off-hillarys-debt/
It was reported yesterday that Hillary lent her campaign another $1 million in June. Wonder what that is about.
But what does this mean?
Date of last report: Jul 29 2008? but it is the 22 july 2008.
I am confused, considering that I thought the figures would be out in August, regarding the boost of fund raising??
I’m not an expert, but maybe “Date of last report” refers to the final reporting date for a monthly period. Maybe they are a month or so behind in their reports. That is, maybe they report June’s totals in a report dated July 29th.
Soo good. Thank you for letting us know.
Obama’s Trip to Germany: Campaign Event or Not?
http://www.obama-wire.com
It’s a field trip, that’s what it is. I hope he had a properly signed permission slip.
Hahahahahha!
So now the military is working for Obama. What’s next? I hate this man more than anyone I have ever come across in my lifetime. Obama must be stopped. His minions must be stopped, the democratic party and its elites. Everyone but Clinton does not deserve reelection.
Source. BBB News..read more…
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7518581.stm
sorry. source is the BBC News
What I find REALLY offensive is that Obama and his campaign are promoting this trip as a “fact finding” mission, as if they have no other reliable means to do this. Obama is the only one that can get the real truth… yuck. How belittling to all Americans that have been serving our country around the world.
This is nothing other than a propaganda tour and the MSM is abiding willingly. This presumptuous move reeks of pomp and grandiosity on the most arrogant and completely clueless scale.
Unbelievable…
Never in my lifetime have I seen a Presidential candidate who is allowed an “internship” to the position during the campaign. This is absolutely remarkable that in these times he is being carted all over the world for photo ops to provide some foreign policy credibility. This is not a “learn as you go” position. We just had two terms of that and we are painfully feeling the results. What the hell is going on?
I think the republicans are shooting themselves in the foot. They didn’t want Hillary to win the nomination so they held back everything on Obama. No Obama is like a runaway train which now I doubt the republicans will be able to stop. They wait way too long to get off their butts.
It may be some kind of
Universal (interruptus) Karmic Reversal DOUBLE play THANG
that will SLAP BOTH PARTIES IN THE FACE!! (and I’ll laugh and laugh and laugh while I pay and pay and pay either in gas, taxes, security or the price of TEA IN Hwang Chao CHINA
Dictator Obama is getting ready the press
used to privations of his (Brzezinski’s) march to
war against Russia & China!
I tell you what Russia or China won’t put up with Obama shit. I wonder if Obama realizes that the USA is no longer classed as a SuperPower.
we need to REMOVE the kryptonite from Obama’s I-POD jingle phones before…..
before….
but seriously, he has something SOME people find attractive and/or charismatic
I see NOTHING
I didn’t see it with Bush I, II, RayGUN, Ford, Carter, not even Bill really….. except he IS charismatic for sure just not my type of attractive
I don’t get it
and I won’t vote for it
I’m with you.
I didn’t get it, I don’t get it, and I never will get it. No charisma, no personality, a boring speaker, no ideas of his own – no charm whatsoever. I’ll never get it.
That was my first hint that a cult mentality was afoot. Only certain people, with something lacking within, get caught up in cults. The rest of us don’t see it.
Why isn’t the MSM reporting this? This has never happened before.
http://rawstory.com//news/2008/Night_before_Obama_flies_abroad_Rice_0721.html
Change CHANGE,CHANGE Get Over It.Is this where Obama got his Language from?
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&VideoID=9319375
Hope he’s not part of the White House.
Obama is a fraud. Please world. Wake UP.
Hey KAT!
How’s this for a WAKE UP?
They are hinting McCain will announce his VP this week. If it is Hillary
that would take the wind out of the Obama campaign.
that would be a BEAUTIFUL conclusion to this whole mystery
an acceptable one from me
2nd to HILLARY being TOP
So, the little “sweeties” have been jilted! Isn’t that just delicious? The MSM have been smoozin for the inside track -and the best seats at the White House affairs, and they get dumped in the desert! I love it when a plan comes together! HAHAHA!
I guess we all saw Obama’s plane and/or press plane used for the current trip, with the USA flag removed and the Obama campaign logo on the tail. It appears that his planes are not representing the USA but The United States of Obama (or The Obamanation). You remeber those 60 states:
uh, uh, uh 57 states and I’m going to one more = 58, but not going to Hawaii and Alaska = 60. Maybe those 60 states could better be listed as:
The Obamanation recognizes the Great States of:
1. Arrogance
2. Beyond the Beyond
3. Chameleon
4. Corruption
5. Deception
6. Disenfranchisement
7. Effetism
8. Egotism
9. Equivocation
10. Evasion
11. Exclusion
12. Fallibilty
13. Fanaticism
14. Fiasco
15. Flimflam
16. Flip-flop
17. Flippancy
18. Foolery
19. Foppery
20. Gaudiness
21. Greed
22. Hallelujah & GD America
23. Hegemony
24. Hereunder The Bus
25. Hocus-pocus
26. Illusion
27. Inadequate
28. Inane
29. Incapable
30. Incredulity
31. Inept
32. Infuriation
33. Jabberwocky
34. Lucrative Contracts
35. Manipulation
36. Masquerade
37. Misogyny
38. Ostentation
39. Over the Top
40. Patriarchy
41. Peril
42. Perk
…………
Keep going; I’m sure you can add a few states to the list!
The question arises: why is Bush’s Pentagon doing this?
Is it the same reason Chalabi pulls strings for Obama?
http://edgeoforever.wordpress.com/2008/07/22/chalabi-maneuvers-for-obama/
Combined with the fact that Hillary was going to ban Blackwater, but not B0?
Do we see the neocons pulling a fast one here?