Picture this story a week before election day in November.
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http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/wo rld/us_and_americas/us_elections/article 3897414.ece

May 10, 2008

One of Barack Obama's Middle East policy advisers disclosed yesterday that he had held meetings with the militant Palestinian group Hamas - prompting the likely Democratic nominee to sever all links with him.

Robert Malley told The Times that he had been in regular contact with Hamas, which controls Gaza and is listed by the US State Department as a terrorist organisation. Such talks, he stressed, were related to his work for a conflict resolution think-tank and had no connection with his position on Mr Obama's Middle East advisory council.

"I've never hidden the fact that in my job with the International Crisis Group I meet all kinds of people," he added.

Ben LaBolt, a spokesman for Mr Obama, responded swiftly: "Rob Malley has, like hundreds of other experts, provided informal advice to the campaign in the past. He has no formal role in the campaign and he will not play any role in the future." The rapid departure of Mr Malley followed 48 hours of heated clashes between John McCain, the Republican nominee-elect, and Mr Obama over Middle East policy.

Mr Obama, who has been trying to assuage suspicion towards him among the influential Jewish and pro-Israel lobby, spoke at a Washington reception marking the 60th anniversary of Israeli independence on Thursday when he promised that his commitment to the country's security would be "unshakeable". However, Mr McCain has high-lighted the Democrat's pledge to negotiate directly with nations such as Iran - whose leaders talk of wiping Israel off the map - and a statement from Hamas saying that it hoped that Mr Obama would win the presidency.

This was denounced as an offensive smear by Mr Obama, who repeated earlier statements saying that Hamas was "a terrorist organisation [and] we should not negotiate with them unless they recognise Israel, renounce violence".

He went on to suggest that Mr McCain's attack showed that he was "losing his bearings". This remark triggered a furious reaction from Mark Salter, the Republican's senior adviser, who said that Mr Obama was "intentionally raising John McCain's age as an issue" - a claim the Democrat vehemently denied. The intensity of this dispute reflects both Mr Obama's desire to move beyond his battle with Hillary Clinton and how Republicans are already beginning to train their sights on him.

The Republican National Committee has amassed a 1,000-page dossier on Mr Obama, with researchers spending weeks in Chicago seeking fresh material. He is already being criticised for his links with Rashid Khalidi, a Columbia University professor who has branded Israel an "apartheid system in creation".

Mr Malley, a respected commentator on Middle Eastern issues and part of President Clinton's negotiating team at the Camp David talks, has come under attack in recent months from right-wing bloggers. Yesterday, asked if Obama campaign was aware of his contact with Hamas, he said: "They know who I am but I don't think they vet everyone in a group of informal advisers."

Randy Scheunemann, Mr McCain's foreign policy chief, suggested that Mr Malley was part of an emerging pattern in which other advisers had been repudiated after throwing confusion over policies on trade and Iraq. "Perhaps because of his inexperience Senator Obama surrounds himself with advisers that contradict his stated policies," he said.

Al Gore is at it again.  The devastation of Myanmar is his newest war cry against a warming planet.  Despite the news that the ice over the poles in increasing and has done so over the past two years.  (keep in mind that the last few years the ice melted and its now come back again)

The political expediency of his comments are very disturbing and opportunistic to say the least.  The ridiculous claims of increasing disasters caused by carbon build up is nothing more then a scare tactic to raise our taxes and remove what few freedoms we have left.

let's be logical, and please follow closely:  The major reason for global warming has nothing to do with this planet.  The sun is the major contributor of heat and for the past two decades the sun's spot activity have been more erratic, causing more fluctuations in the Earths warming and cooling patterns.

Hello?  Is anyone listening?  Its the SUN Stupid.

Number two on the list of reasons why the earth temperatures fluctuate is the oceans.  3/4 of the world is covered with Water and that water is heated or cooled due to its exposure to the sun, not our use of carbon emitting substances.  The oceans warm and cool despite what we puny humans do.  

The Chilean volcano erupted more carbon emissions into the air in once day then all the cars and factories have done in over 50 years.  Wake up folks, Al Gore is selling us a small piece of swamp land and is calling it Park avenue.  He wants nothing from us but total obedience and acquiescence.  More taxes, less freedom to chose and more obligations toward his idea of life and liberty....Wake up..    

Victim of Ayers and Dohrn Appears on National Television, Describes His Entire Family's Near Murder
by Susan UnPC

The story was based on the devastating memories of Mr. Murtagh, described in his op-ed, "Barack Obama pal is an enemy, too," in yesterday's New York Daily News. In 1970, Mr. Murtagh's entire family was targeted for murder by the Weather Underground because his father was a New York State Supreme Court justice who was presiding over the trial of the so-called "`Panther 21′, members of the Black Panther Party indicted in a plot to bomb New York landmarks and department stores." (The Weather Underground and Black Panthers were allies in their dedication to the violent overthrow of the U.S. government.)

Mr. Murtagh is "an attorney, an adjunct professor of public policy at the Fordham University College of Liberal Studies and a member of the city council in Yonkers." It is important to note that a longer version of his op-ed is available at CityJournal.org under the title, "Fire in the Night: The Weathermen tried to kill my family."

Tonight, in a two-part interview, Fox News's Greta Van Susteran, an attorney and host of On The Record with Greta Van Sustern, interviewed John M. Murtagh, an educated, articulate and well-informed man. Mr. Murtagh is a Republican, and isn't involved in either Democratic presidential candidate's campaign. It is important to note that, in part two of the interview, Mr. Murtagh refers to the findings of Larry Johnson about Barack Obama's eight years of employment by William Ayers, reported in "Why is Obama Hiding the Truth About William Ayers? Follow the Money."

CLICK HERE TO READ THE REST AND WATCH THE COMPELLING INTERVIEW

Cross posted at Pagan Power

Barack Obama has taken a stand. He doesn't support lowering your taxes. In fact, he considers doing so a political stunt. What I am of course referring to is his adamant opposition to proposed the federal tax holiday on gasoline this summer. Obama is against it for several reasons, none of them genuine. First he opposed to it because John McCain proposed it. Then he opposed it because Hillary proposed something similar. But instead of offering McCain's deficit increasing measure Hillary insisted it be paid for.

Obama Takes Heat for Opposing Gas Tax Holiday

"Senator Clinton is following Senator McCain's lead. I mean, McCain was the first one to come out with this and Senator Clinton said `me too,'" Obama said.

So poor ole Barack feels tag teamed and as everyone knows, he doesn't like a lot of pressure. Instead he prefers to eat waffles. Or is that just waffle?

A little examination into that elusive record of Senator Obama's reveals a little known fact. He was for a gas tax holiday before he was against it. No wonder John Kerry supports him so readily.

BREAKING NEWS: Blumenthal Uses Former Right-Wing Foes To Attack Obama

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/peter-drei er/sidney-blumenthal-uses-fo_b_99695.htm lSidney

After the Bill Clinton presidency, the Democratic Party lost the White House, the Congress, the majority of the State House, state legislatures and was cast out into the political wilderness.  With unchecked Republican power we have seen the unraveling of America.

Why would we want a Restoration of the House of Clinton?

As some of you may know, I run a political blog here in Georgia called "Georgia Politics Unfiltered".  Prior to my state's February 5th primary, Sen. Clinton's presidential campaign reached out to me and my site by including me on their press list and providing me with press credentials whenever a big campaign event was held in my neck of the woods (To be fair, the Obama campaign did the same).  Even after Georgia voted, I've still received press releases from the Clinton campaign detailing her and her husband's schedule, previewing t.v. and radios ads that were about to run, and also have sat in on quite a few campaign conference calls.  

Late last week, I received a press release from the Hillary Clinton campaign which included an open letter from Maya Angelou, a legendary and lauded American poet.  In that open letter, which I posted here and on DailyKos, Dr. Angelou outlined her reasons for supporting Sen. Clinton for President.  In words that could only be described as 100% positive, Angelou wrote, "Hillary does not waver in standing up for those who need a champion.  She has endured great scrutiny, and still she dares greatly.  Hillary Clinton will not give up on you, and all she asks is that you do not give up on her.  She is a long-distance runner.  I am honored to say I am with her for the long run."

Now with such inspiring and uplifting words like that from such an inspiring and uplifting person such as Dr. Angelou, you'd think that it would be hard for anyone (even those troglodytes at DailyKos) to find something nasty to say about a living legend re-stating her reasons for supporting Sen. Clinton's presidential campaign.

Unfortunately, many over there have allowed their hate to blind them of even the smallest hint of positivity from their political opponents.  Unfortunately, the hate flowed freely from their fingertips onto their computer screens.

First, they called her old and senile:

Isn't Maya .... ...like 150 years old?  Maybe she should be stumping for her peer, McCain.

by JCarter on Thu Apr 24, 2008 at 01:58:37 PM PDT

Maya Angelou...

...Is old and infirm.

She probably doesn't have a clue what lies Mrs. Nixon has told, no clue how she has harmed Black people in this election.

At least I hope she has no clue.

by Craig Hickman on Thu Apr 24, 2008 at 01:34:48 PM PDT

i for one don't think this has any influence (besides maybe helping HRC's supporters think that they have a chance).  she's 80 years old, which automatically makes me wonder if her powers of judgment have already passed.

by distraught on Thu Apr 24, 2008 at 01:57:34 PM PDT

Then they said Maya Angelou wasn't an informed voter:

Angelou is certainly intelligent to know...

...not to endorse without sufficient information.  If she hasn't been watching these campaigns closely, she should say so and then add her lack of attention makes her endorsement negligible.

by planetclaire4 on Thu Apr 24, 2008 at 04:46:52 PM PDT

And finally, they attacked her work on behalf of Civil Rights by calling her a "radical poet":

Just what is Hillary's relationship with this...

...radical poet???

Friends with MALCOLM X??????

This raises serious, serious  questions about Hillary's fitness to lead this country.

by Dartagnan on Thu Apr 24, 2008 at 01:31:53 PM PDT

How can anyone attack Dr. Angelou's work with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. as Northern Coordinator for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and her work with Malcolm X in building build the Organization of African American Unity?  [Source:  Maya Angelou from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia]

Sadly, this is what many have come to expect from that bastion of progressive idealism known as DailyKos.

As I wrote way back on February 18th, "The caustic rhetoric that I see from many Obama supporters both here on MyDD and over at Daily Kos is reminiscent of the 'don't you dare say anything against President Bush' rhetoric spewed forth by the Republicans right after September 11th."  [Source:  2/18/2008 MyDD diary "Note To Obamanics: Cut This Crap Out!"]  The unfortunate reality now is that not only are they attacking anyone who has to say anything that can be perceived as negative against their candidate, they are also attacking anyone who has something positive to say about their opponent.

So, I guess what I'm trying to say is the Obama supporters need to tone down the rhetoric.  Support your candidate, but don't belittle the supporters of other candidates.  

Show a little respect.

Show a little class.

And show a little tact.  Your behavior in February was freaking a lot of people out and your behavior in April is still freaking people out.  

O'DRAMA - IS it a CULT?

Obama supporters, worried friends, significant others, scared parents, adult children of Odramas, etc. .. Lets all take the totalism test together!

Context.. In his book, Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism: A Study of "Brainwashing" in China, Robert Jay Lifton, M.D. laid out a number of criteria which are common to all groups that practice coercive mind-control techniques on their members.

These criteria were originally written about the Communists in China, but time has shown that they apply in varying amounts to all cults, so they can and do help us evaluate the relative cult-like ness of many other groups, from Om Shinrikyo to Freepers..

If YOUR group is a cult, IT IS DANGEROUS. You need to leave.
MOST of the WORST disasters in human history have been CAUSED by cults. It could be you in that movie.
YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.

Does it apply to the 'Odrama' campaign? Lets see.

In the book, Lifton outlines the "Eight Criteria for Thought Reform":

  "1. Milieu Control. This involves the control of information and communication both within the environment and, ultimately, within the individual, resulting in a significant degree of isolation from society at large.
   2. Mystical Manipulation. There is manipulation of experiences that appear spontaneous but in fact were planned and orchestrated by the group or its leaders in order to demonstrate divine authority or spiritual advancement or some special gift or talent that will then allow the leader to reinterpret events, scripture, and experiences as he or she wishes.
   3. Demand for Purity. The world is viewed as black and white and the members are constantly exhorted to conform to the ideology of the group and strive for perfection. The induction of guilt and/or shame is a powerful control device used here.
   4. Confession. Sins, as defined by the group, are to be confessed either to a personal monitor or publicly to the group. There is no confidentiality; members' "sins," "attitudes," and "faults" are discussed and exploited by the leaders.
   5. Sacred Science. The group's doctrine or ideology is considered to be the ultimate Truth, beyond all questioning or dispute. Truth is not to be found outside the group. The leader, as the spokesperson for God or for all humanity, is likewise above criticism.
   6. Loading the Language. The group interprets or uses words and phrases in new ways so that often the outside world does not understand. This jargon consists of thought-terminating clichés, which serve to alter members' thought processes to conform to the group's way of thinking.
   7. Doctrine over person. Member's personal experiences are subordinated to the sacred science and any contrary experiences must be denied or reinterpreted to fit the ideology of the group.
   8. Dispensing of existence. The group has the prerogative to decide who has the right to exist and who does not. This is usually not literal but means that those in the outside world are not saved, unenlightened, unconscious and they must be converted to the group's ideology. If they do not join the group or are critical of the group, then they must be rejected by the members. Thus, the outside world loses all credibility. In conjunction, should any member leave the group, he or she must be rejected also."