Help me answer these Obama questions...

First off, if anyone reads my posts on Obama, the republicans, democrats or whatever they will know that I am neither for nor against this guy. However, I have tried to defend him when I feel he is being wrongfully attacked.

Here is an email I received from a co-worker that has worked on a few election campaigns in his life. Carter was one of his first (I know, not a great starting point) but he has since quit as president of the democratic party in the particular state he was in. I don't want to give names or states just because our people here are just too good at what they do. Anyway, this 'quitting' happened quite a while ago so he is definitely fixed in a republican position now. He says he received this email from a friend (a democrat from Illinois, not saying if he is in office or not, sorry, just trying to keep names out of it. I know it will probably destroy credibility but what I am after is verfications of what he states).

Well, here is his email. Please help me confirm or dispute these claims.

Obama's Not Exactly's:


1.) Selma Got Me Born - NOT EXACTLY, your parents

felt safe enough to have you in 1961 -

Selma had no effect on your birth, as

Selma was in 1965. (Google 'Obama Selma'

for his full March 4, 2007 speech and

articles about its various untruths.)



2.) Father Was A Goat Herder - NOT EXACTLY, he was a

privileged, well educated youth, who went

on to work with the Kenyan Government.



3.) Father Was A Proud Freedom Fighter - NOT

EXACTLY, he was part of one of the most corrupt

and violent governments Kenya has ever had.



4.) My Family Has Strong Ties To African Freedom -

NOT EXACTLY, your cousin Raila Odinga has

created mass violence in attempting

to overturn a legitimate election in 2007,

in Kenya . It is the first widespread violence

in decades. The current government is

pro-American but Odinga wants to overthrow it

and establish Muslim Sharia law.

Your half-brother, Abongo Obama, is Odinga's

follower. You interrupted your New Hampshire

campaigning to speak to Odinga on the phone.

Check out the following link for

verification of that....and for more.





Obama's cousin Odinga in Kenya ran for president

and tried to get Sharia muslim law in place there.

When Odinga lost the elections,

his followers have burned

Christians' homes and then burned men, women and

children alive in a Christian

church where they took shelter.. Obama SUPPORTED his

cousin before the election

process here started. Google Obama and Odinga and

see what you get. No one wants to know the truth.



5.) My Grandmother Has Always Been A Christian - NOT

EXACTLY, she does her daily

Salat prayers at 5am according to her own

interviews. Not to mention,

Christianity wouldn't allow her to have been one of

14 wives to 1 man.



6.) My Name is African Swahili - NOT EXACTLY, your

name is Arabic and 'Baraka'

(from which Barack came) means 'blessed' in that

language. Hussein is also Arabic and so is Obama.



Barack Hussein Obama is not half black. If elected,

he would be the first Arab-American President,

not the first black President. Barack Hussein Obama is

50% Caucasian from his mother's side and 43.75%

Arabic and 6.25% African Negro from his father's side.

While Barack Hussein Obama's father was from Kenya ,

his father's family was mainly Arabs.. Barack Hussein

Obama's father was only 12.5% African Negro and

87.5% Arab (his father's birth certificate even states he's

Arab, not African Negro). From....and for more....go to.....



www.arcadeathome.com...,_

only_6.25%25_African





7.) I Never Practiced Islam - NOT EXACTLY, you

practiced it daily at school,

where you were registered as a Muslim and kept that

faith for 31 years, until your wife made you change,

so you could run for office.



4-3-08 Article "Obama was 'quite religious in islam'"



www.wnd.com...





8.) My School In Indonesia Was Christian - NOT

EXACTLY, you were registered as

Muslim there and got in trouble in Koranic Studies

for making faces (check your own book).



February 28, 2008. Kristoff from the New York Times

a year ago: Mr. Obama

recalled the opening lines of the Arabic call to

prayer, reciting them with a first-rate accent.

In a remark that seemed delightfully uncalculated

(it'll give Alabama voters heart attacks),

Mr. Obama described the call to prayer as "one of

the prettiest sounds on Earth at sunset." This is

just one example of what Pamela is talking about

when she says "Obama's narrative is being altered,

enhanced and manipulated to whitewash troubling

facts."



9.) I Was Fluent In Indonesian - NOT EXACTLY, not

one teacher says you could speak the language.







10.) Because I Lived In Indonesia , I Have More

Foreign Experience - NOT EXACTLY,

you were there from the ages of 6 to 10, and

couldn't even speak the language.

What did you learn, how to study the Koran and watch

cartoons.



11.) I Am Stronger On Foreign Affairs - NOT EXACTLY,

except for Africa (surprise) and the

Middle East (bigger surprise),

you have never been anywhere

else on the planet and thus have NO experience with

our closest allies.



12.) I Blame My Early Drug Use On Ethnic Confusion -

NOT EXACTLY, you were quite

content in high school to be Barry Obama, no mention

of Kenya and no mention of struggle to identify - your

classmates said you were just fine.



13.) An Ebony Article Moved Me To Run For Office -

NOT EXACTLY, Ebony has yet to

find the article you mention in your book. It

doesn't, and never did, exist.



14.) A Life Magazine Article Changed My Outlook On

Life - NOT EXACTLY, Life has yet to find the article

you mention in your book. It doesn't, and never did,

exist.



15.) I Won't Run On A National Ticket In '08 - NOT

EXACTLY, here you are, despite saying, live on TV,

that you would not have enough experience by then,

and you are all about having experience first.



16.) Voting "Present" is Common In Illinois Senate -

NOT EXACTLY, they are common for YOU, but

not many others have 130 NO VOTES.



17.) Oops, I Misvoted - NOT EXACTLY, only when

caught by church groups and Democrats, did you

beg to change your misvote.



18.) I Was A Professor Of Law - NOT EXACTLY, you

were a senior lecturer ON LEAVE.



19.) I Was A Constitutional Lawyer - NOT EXACTLY,

you were a senior lecturer ON LEAVE.



20.) Without Me, There Would Be No Ethics Bill - NOT

EXACTLY, you didn't write it, introduce it, change it,

or create it.



21.) The Ethics Bill Was Hard To Pass - NOT EXACTLY,

it took just 14 days from start to finish.



22.) I Wrote A Tough Nuclear Bill - NOT EXACTLY,

your bill was rejected by your own party for its

pandering and lack of all regulation - mainly

because of your Nuclear donor, Exelon,

from which David Axelrod came.



23.) I Have Released My State Records - NOT EXACTLY,

as of March, 2008, state bills you sponsored

or voted for have yet to be released, exposing all the

special interests pork hidden within.



24.) I Took On The Asbestos Altgeld Gardens Mess -

NOT EXACTLY, you were part of a large group

of people who remedied Altgeld Gardens . You failed

to mention anyone else but yourself, in your books.



25.) My Economics Bill Will Help America - NOT

EXACTLY, your 111 economic

policies were just combined into a proposal which

lost 99-0, and even YOU voted

against your own bill.



26.) I Have Been A Bold Leader In Illinois - NOT

EXACTLY, even your own supporters claim to

have not seen BOLD action on your part.



27.) I Passed 26 Of My Own Bills In One Year - NOT

EXACTLY, they were not YOUR

bills, but rather handed to you, after their

creation by a fellow Senator, to

assist you in a future bid for higher office.



28.) No One on my campaign contacted Canada about

NAFTA - NOT EXACTLY, the Candian Government

issued the names and a memo of the conversation

your campaign had with them.



29.) I Am Tough On Terrorism - NOT EXACTLY, you

missed the Iran Resolution vote

on terrorism and your good friend Ali Abunimah

supports the destruction off Israel .



30.) I Want All Votes To Count - NOT EXACTLY, you

said let the delegates decide.



31.) I Want Americans To Decide - NOT EXACTLY,

You prefer caucuses that limit the vote,

confuse the voters, force a public vote,

and only operate during small windows of time.



32.) I passed 900 Bills in the State Senate - NOT

EXACTLY, you passed 26, most

of which you didn't write yourself.



33.) I Believe In Fairness, Not Tactics - NOT

EXACTLY, you used tactics to eliminate

Alice Palmer from running against you.





34.) I Don't Take PAC Money - NOT EXACTLY,

you take loads of it.



35.) I don't Have Lobbysists - NOT EXACTLY,

you have over 47 lobbyists, and counting.



36.) My Campaign Had Nothing To Do With The 1984 Ad

- NOT EXACTLY, your own campaign worker made

the ad on his Apple in one afternoon.



37.) I Have Always Been Against Iraq - NOT EXACTLY,

you weren't in office to vote against it AND

you have voted to fund it every single time.



38.) I Have Always Supported Universal Health Care -

NOT EXACTL Y, your plan leaves us all to

pay for the 15,000,000 who don't have to buy it.

Here are some of my replies to the points made in this email:

1.) Selma Got Me Born - NOT EXACTLY, your parents

felt safe enough to have you in 1961 -

Selma had no effect on your birth, as

Selma was in 1965. (Google 'Obama Selma'

for his full March 4, 2007 speech and

articles about its various untruths.)

True. Selma happened 9 years after his birth (not in '65 but in 1970 on November 1st.) Kind of interesting how his mother and father had the foresight to bring his birth about due to this storm. However, I also remember a story my mother told me about why I was born. It wasn’t true. It was a ‘nice story’.

7.) I Never Practiced Islam - NOT EXACTLY, you

practiced it daily at school,

where you were registered as a Muslim and kept that

faith for 31 years, until your wife made you change,

so you could run for office.

Actually, I have found various reports on this that he attended school but was NOT a good Muslim at all. That he randomly practiced it because it was what his step father wanted. I will admit that I became a Mormon when I was 10 because my mom had a whim. She then moved on to try the Catholic faith, the Jehovah’s Witnesses, and all variations of the Christian faith. I stopped getting drug around when I finally decided I would learn on my own. So, to pin this on him because when he was 6 to 10 he was forced to attend a school that taught him whatever religion his parents scheduled him for is not good practice.


Also, I have yet to confirm anywhere that he was a registered Muslim for 31 years. You see, the timeframe doesn’t quite fit for me. He has been attending the ‘controversial’ church where Reverend Wright preached for over 20 years. If he was a Muslim for 31 years and Christian for a little more than 20 and then you add in the 6 years of his childhood before he was forced to attend school in Indonesia….well, that would put him close to 60 years old. It doesn’t add up.


This is why I begin to question things. I’m positive that there is SOME truth in almost all of these statements but there is the very real fact that just a little bit of truth wrapped in a ton of lies. This is a basic principle of psychology. If you want someone to believe you then lie with the truth. J

reply to post by dariousg


10.) Because I Lived In Indonesia , I Have More

Foreign Experience - NOT EXACTLY,

you were there from the ages of 6 to 10, and

couldn't even speak the language.

What did you learn, how to study the Koran and watch

cartoons.



Speculation. I have ignored this statement. I haven’t been to MOST of the countries of this world but I have a VERY good grasp of what the people are like and what their customs are like. You do not have to have gone there to be a good foreign policy maker.

12.) I Blame My Early Drug Use On Ethnic Confusion -

NOT EXACTLY, you were quite

content in high school to be Barry Obama, no mention

of Kenya and no mention of struggle to identify - your

classmates said you were just fine.

Speculation again. Who are the classmates that they chose to interview? Where are the articles? I could comment on someone I went to school with but that was 20 years ago. Would my comments be completely accurate? As times change my views on some of the people I knew had changed too. I found this out in an embarrassing way during my last reunion.

reply to post by dariousg


15.) I Won't Run On A National Ticket In '08 - NOT

EXACTLY, here you are, despite saying, live on TV,

that you would not have enough experience by then,

and you are all about having experience first.

I remember him saying this. It was at a time when I absolutely did not want this man to run. I hadn’t done any research on him and had only heard these rumors and many of the other ones such as being sworn in on the Quran. Which was a total farce.

reply to post by dariousg

If you really want to know the truth, I would think you will search out the answers to these accusations on your own, as I did. In fact, doing my own research on these questions and other similar accusations is want made me decide to vote for Barack Obama.

Here on ATS, you may get many OPINIONS and links to blogs and other non-credible "sources", including emails and just plain rumors, which will have you more confused than you are now. If you want to know the truth, look for it yourself. That's my advice.

Or else believe what's been handed to you by someone with an obvious agenda. It's up to you.

May I suggest Snopes, FactCheck and Fight the Smears to start. Good luck in your search for the truth.

First I don't care for his politics. With that out of the way I will say that I am tired of the outright lies perpitrated on the people from both parties. When you really have to dig to find the truth you know that as a nation we are being spoonfed b.s. What ever happened to truth forthrightfulness and honesty. Please can't the politicians truly stick with the issues! I am sick and tired of political commercials that don't tell us anything about the views and platforms of the candidates. Rant over.

respectfully

reluctantpawn

reply to post by dariousg


if you think this is bad, it is just going to get worse...obama needs a team just to fight off the lies and half-truths here at ATS. does that mean i think he's perfect...hell no!!! but isn't it obvious that this type of life scrutiny, hasn't (as far as i have seen) been applied to McCain here on ATS??? c'mon, blaming obama for something when he was a child??!!! it appears that there isn't as much open-mindedness here, then one is led to believe. i'm starting to believe that all political threads, should first be vetted by a super-moderator before being posted. this is looking like one of those neo-con right-wing blogger sites

reply to post by Benevolent Heretic


I'm not confused. I'm just not for or against this man that everyone (conservative wise) is deciding to try and obliterate. There are some questions however that I have found that do NOT add up but are they campaign killers? No. The story about being born because of Selma for one is a 'cute' story but nonetheless just a story. It cannot be true because of the date in which Selma occurred.

I have gone through and investigated what I can that is why I am asking for help and input from this group of people here at ATS. The key ones are the ones I haven't touched on yet. The voting policies and actions he has taken and so forth.

I'm not trying to smear this man at all. I am absolutely against trying to smear anyone that does not deserve it. The links to Kenya and such are kind of important though.

Now, someone will probably come out and say that I smear Bush and ass..ociates all of the time but I truly believe them to be justified.

I would defend McCain if I felt that he was being attacked as vehemently as Obama if I found the attacks to be unfounded. The problem is that most of the 'violent/vehement' attacks are usually started by so-called republican/conservatives. Yes, it does happen from both sides but the sick thing is that the truly bad attacks have come from the right.

reply to post by reluctantpawn


I hear you there. That is why I am asking for 'VERIFIABLE' proof for or against the accusations. I'm sick of it too. I have found support for some of the points and support that destroys some of the points. Politics is a sick business to have to witness.

The scary thing is that all of this crap makes me want to enter into politics to hopefully do what I can. The problem is that I don't have the money to do so which is obviously needed. I won't sell my soul just to get in which seems to be needed.

reply to post by jimmyx


Exactly my point Jimmy. I have NOT seen the same attacks put forth against McCain. It's disgusting and is why I have begun to try and fight the lies that I have found to be such.

You have seen my posts. You know I don't support Obama and am most likely not voting for either one of the 'two parties'. But you also know that I cannot stand slandering someone with lies. I want answers to these points made above so I can put the lies to rest once and for all. It should be about the candidates and what they will bring to the table. What they will do for this country. Right now I am not convinced either way that either candidate will do any good for this nation with some of the plans each has proposed.

What we need is a president that is elected from NO PARTY. Then again we would most likely find that to be corrupted quickly enough.

Like I said above, I would LOVE to get into politics just to see if I could actually make a difference but I fear all of the corruption and such that would be thrown my way. I am a strong willed man but I would not willingly put my family at risk in what seems to be a nasty world.

We need to go back to the early days of our country, when leaders were pulled kicking and screaming away from family and business and place into office. Now it seems that politics is business as well as family. We now have to drag them out of office kicking and screaming the whole time. We need reform and need it now!


respectfully

reluctantpawn

Originally posted by dariousg
I'm not confused.

I see. I meant no offense. I thought you were "confused" as to the validity of these claims.

I started doing some of the background work to help you out and look what I came across!

Snopes: Obama "50 Lies"

Thanks for bringing this up. It makes clear what's going on here.

Edited to add another link. Truth or Fiction

[edit on 13-6-2008 by Benevolent Heretic]