The Obama Nation: Footnotes from ATS?

I have been skimming the notes found within this document:
Unfit for Publication

The document details a few claims made by the book "The Obama Nation" by Author: Jerome Corsi.

In this document alone, i've found marvelous examples of this claim of "600 foot notes" by the author, and how these foot notes directly correlate to talking points made here on ATS.

Now could it be that ATS talking points on likewise material in the book is reflected by simliar sources from the author?

Could it be that the book reflects talking points found right here on ATS?

Or could it be that talking points are taken FROM the book, and posted here on ATS?

All three are possibilities. My guess is "all three" are the answer, as well.




I encourage everyone to read the whole thing. There's a lot in there i wasnt aware of. Even if you're against obama after reading this document, i encourage you to read it anyway. It is spelled out - to a T - and lots of evidence to back each debunkery. I say if you are going to oppose the man, atleast make sure you're opposing him on something other than baseless lies.

I've been taking notes on my favorite parts, as it relates to a lot of threads found here in the forums. Without further a due:

The Thread

When did Obama STOP doing drugs...?

This thread rests on the premise of the book. Barack Obama never stopped using drugs: Easily twarted:

REALITY: OBAMA HAS MADE CLEAR REPEATEDLY THAT HE STOPPED USING
MARIJUANA IN COLLEGE, WHICH PEERS HAVE AFFIRMED

Obama Said He Inhaled Pot, But Said He Hadn’t Done “Anything” Since He Was 20. “When I was in highschool, I tried pot,” said Obama. “And I won’t say that I didn’t inhale. I did inhale.” He said some of the behavior extended to college. “By the time I was 20, I don’t think I indulged again,” he said. The graduate of Harvard Law School also admits there was a time “I drank six-packs of beer in a single night.”

Any other illegal drugs? “I haven’t done anything since I was 20 years old,” he said. “That’ll suffice.”

Scott: In New York, Obama “Stopped Getting High.” Janny Scott wrote in the New York Times, “Senator Obama, an Illinois Democrat now seeking the presidency, suggests in his book that his years in New York were
a pivotal period: He ran three miles a day, buckled down to work and “stopped getting high,” which he says he
had started doing in high school.”


Obama’s Roommate In New York Said He Refused Offers Of Drugs. The AP reported, “While Obama has acknowledged using marijuana and coc aine during high school in Hawaii, he writes in the memoir that he stopped using soon after his arrival in New York. His roommate had no such scruples. But Siddiqi says that during their time together here, Obama always refused his offers of drugs.”

Smith: “I Invested A Fair Amount Of Time In An Obama-In-New York Piece…The Conclusion May Be That Obama’s New York Life Was Much Less Interesting That A Few Lines In His Book Suggest.” Ben Smith wrote, “I invested a fair amount of time in an Obama-in-New-York piece earlier this
year, and eventually gave up and wrote a short blog item.

(from the document provided above. View document for links to provide factual evidence to back each claim)

The Thread

Obama's Red Mentor

This thread makes the claim that Frank Marshall Davis was a "leading role" mentor in Obama's life. The book makes the exact same claim by saying:

“But the key role Frank Marshall Davis plays in the autobiography is not to provide Obama with
words from his poems as a voice for Obama’s black rage. Instead Davis is the mentor Obama
seeks for wisdom and advice, for instance when he has a crisis with his grandmother that was so
traumatic Obama still mentions it today.”

Here's the real story:

OBAMA MEMOIR CHARACTERIZED FRANK DAVIS MARSHALL AS A FIGURE FROM HIS YOUTH WHO “FELL SHORT” AND WHOSE VIEW OF RACE WAS “INCURABLE”

Obama Wrote Of Frank As Someone Who “Fell Short” Of The “Lofty Standards” Of “Martin And Malcolm, Dubois And Mandela.” “Yes, I’d seen weakness in other men—Gramps and his disappointments, Lolo and his compromise.

But these men had become object lessons for me, men I might love but never emulate, white men and brown men whose fates didn’t speak to my own. It was into my father’s image, the black man, son of Africa, that I’d packed all the attributes I sought in myself, the attributes of Martin and
Malcolm, DuBois and Mandela. And if later I saw that the black men I knew— Frank or Ray or Will or Rafiq—fell short of such lofty standards; if I had learned to respect these men for the struggles they went through,
recognizing them as my own—my father’s voice had nevertheless remained untainted, inspiring, rebuking,granting or withholding approval. You do not work hard enough, Barry.

You must help in your people’s struggle. Wake up, black man!” [Dreams From My Father, Pg. 96] Obama Wrote That “The Relationship Between Black And White, The Meaning Of Escape, Would Never Be Quite The Same For Me As It Had Been For Frank, Or For The Old Man, Or Even For Roy.”

The relationship between black and white, the meaning of escape, would never be quite the same for me as it had been for Frank, or for the Old Man, or even for Roy.” Obama Recounted Frank’s Diatribe About What Would Happen To Him In College And Then Described Frank As “Incurable” And Living In The “Sixties Time Warp That Hawaii Had Created.” ““What had Frank called college? An advanced degree in compromise.

I thought back to the last time I had seen the old poet, a few days before I left Hawaii. We had made small talk for a while; he complained about his feet,the corns and bone spurs that he insisted were a direct result of trying to force African feet into European shoes. Finally he had asked me what it was that I expected to get out of college. I told him I didn’t know. He shook his big, hoary head…’Leaving your race at the door,” he said. “Leaving your people behind.” He studied me over the top of his reading glasses.

“Understand something, boy. You’re not going to college to get educated. You’re going there to get trained. They’ll train you to want what you don’t need. They’ll train you to manipulate words so they don’t mean anything anymore. They’ll train you to forget what it is that you already know. They’ll train you so good, you’ll start believing what they tell you about equal opportunity and the American way and all that #.

They’ll give you a corner office and invite you to fancy dinners, and tell you you’re a credit to your race. Until you want to actually start running things, and then they’ll yank on your chain and let you know that you may be a well-trained, well-paid 'n-word', but you’re a 'n-word' just the same…It made me smile, thinking back on Frank and his old Black Power, dashiki self.

In some ways he was as incurable as my mother, as certain in his faith, living in the same sixties time warp that Hawaii had created.” [Dreams From My Father, Pg. 96-97]

Davis: “I Cannot Support The African American Extremist Postulate That All White Are Our Enemies. Unless You Have Allowed Yourself To Become Completely Dehumanized By American Racism, You Value And Retain Your Proven Friends, No Matter What Their Color.” An article on Frank Marshall Davis wrote, “

Although involvement with the labor movement was Davis’s opportunity to work for better wages and conditions for both African Americans and whites, perhaps most significant about this period in Chicago was that Davis and other African American intellectuals had a chance to mix freely in interracial situations, thereby opening doors for those who came after. Davis understood more than ever that the problems in America caused by class inequities were intricately woven with racial inequities.

The Chicago Renaissance was a period when it was possible for interracial friendships to form and new levels of communication to occur.





‘I felt equal to my white peers. Around them I could not sniff the offensive odor of condescension. You see, I like people despite being basically a loner, but experience had taught me never to immediately trust anybody
white ... and in a determined effort to become cosmopolitan, I participated in all...

I still have warm personal feelings for those with whom I worked. This is a big reason why I cannot support the African American
extremist postulate that all whites are our enemies...

Unless you have allowed yourself to become completely dehumanized by American racism, you value and retain your proven friends, no matter what their color

more to come

Silly character restrictions


[edit on 8/14/2008 by Andrew E. Wiggin]

Wow very interesting find. Starred and flagged!
I smell an agenda here...but of course that was becoming obvious.

That would explain the propaganda inundation.
I hate the idea of people exploiting the site that way.



- Lee

The Thread

Barack Obama's Cousin Promised to implement sharia law if he was elected

The overlying premise of this thread was to suggest that Obama has some sort of "hidden" agenda and a tie, or "vested interest" with Kenyan Politics.

Indeed, so does the book, in fact, both the thread and the book link Obama to the same man:

(from the book)

“Senator Barack Obama came full circle with his father’s
Odinga during his visit to Africa in 2006. He took up his father’s
forces with the most extreme Luo in Kenyan politics, Raila
Odinga Odinga, who was ousted by Kenyatta.” [p 103]

What really happened:

REALITY: OBAMA WAS IMPARTIAL IN KENYAN POLITICS

Obama Did Not Take Sides, Said That Each Leader Should Go To Negotiations “Unconditionally.”

“Obama said President Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga should sit down and unconditionally,’ and he urged them to ‘welcome the assistance if your concerned friends.’ said he gave the statement after consulting with U.S. Ambassador Mike Rannenberger, at the Nairobi.

The address was broadcast live during the morning commute in Kenya on Capital FM Nairobi.”

Awiti: Raila Odinga Was Using Obama To Add Some Political Points And It Should Be Disregarded.

“Alex Awiti, a Kenyan postdoctoral fellow at Columbia University, says you the context of when Odinga was speaking, that being in the middle of a political crisis. ‘Raila groping all over the place, trying to find some political legitimacy to get on a high pedestal to and using Obama was basically going to add some political points,’ said Awiti, who lived in years ago. ‘This is very opportunistic and it should be totally disregarded.’”

The Threads (plural)

These two are quite possibly my favorite. One talking point completely dispels the other.

1.) Obama is constitutionally ineligible to be president

2.) The debate . There are many posts that exist discussing this option. "Obama is a dual citizen"

What makes this my favorite segment is because how can the first one be right, if the second one is another "valid" talking point. If the first one is right, and he's not a citizen and can't be POTUS, then how can the second one be right?

IF we follow this chronologically, we assess that #2 has to be what they're sticking with. As #1 came first, stayed a while, got dispelled in and of its self, and now they counteract with #2.

Now, Dispelling #2:

(from the book "Obama Nation" :

“Senator Obama could claim to be a citizen of Kenya, as well as of the United States. Obama can
trace his heritage back to his mother, who was born in the United States and was an American
citizen when he was born, and to his father, who was born in Kenya and was a Kenyan citizen
when Obama was born.” [p 103]





The truth:

Kenya Does Not Allow Dual Citizenship Applications for People Over 21 Years of Age.

The U.S. Office of Personnel Management writes of Kenya, “DUAL CITIZENSHIP: Not recognized except for persons under 21 years old.” The Kenyan Constitution writes, “A person who, but for the proviso to section 87 (1), would be a citizen of Kenya by virtue of that subsection shall be entitled, upon making application before the specified date in such manner as may be prescribed by or under an Act of Parliament, to be registered as a citizen of Kenya: Provided that a person who has not attained the age of twenty-one years (other than a woman who is or has been married) may not himself make an application under this subsection, but an application may be made on his behalf by his parent or guardian.” [U.S. Office of Personnel Management; Kenyan Constitution]

Even if Obama Had Applied for Dual Citizenship Before He Was 21—Which He Did Not—It Would Have Expired. ”A person who, upon the attainment of the age of twenty-one years, is a citizen of Kenya and also a citizen of some other country other than Kenya shall, subject to subsection (7), cease to be a citizen of Kenya upon the specified date unless he has renounced his citizenship of that other country, taken the oath of allegiance and, in the case of a person who was born outside Kenya, made and registered such declaration of his intentions concerning residence as may be prescribed by or under an Act of Parliament.” [Kenyan Constitution]

Please review the document provided Here for links to view the actual Kenyan Constitution for factual backing of this claim.

This one is just funny

Just to show how easily flawed the book really is


(from the book)

“The year 1995 was a banner one for Obama. He had just married Michelle and the couple bought
a Hyde Park condo, the first home Obama ever owned.[p 145]

The truth:

REALITY: OBAMAS MARRIED IN 1992 AND BOUGHT A CONDO IN 1993
10/3/92 Obama And Michelle Robinson Were Married. [Chicago Sun-Times, 10/3/07]
1993 Obama Bought a Condo for $277,550. [Chicago Sun-Times, 1/22/06]

(visit the document listed above for links to support each claim)

The Thread

Obama calls me White folk

The premise of this thread is that Barack Obama supported the message behind Farakahns "Million Man March"

The book also supports this claim:

(from the book "Obama Nation")

“When the 1995 Chicago Reader article surfaced in 2008, Obama supporters predictably tried to
distance him from the Million Man March, arguing Obama had attended the event as an observer, not as a participant. Still, Obama’s reaction at the time was enthusiastic.” [p 191]

The truth:

Obama Praised The March For Bringing African American Men Together, But Criticized The March For Its Lack Of Positive Agenda And For Its Separatist Goals.

Obama said, “What I saw was a powerful demonstration of an impulse and need for African-American men to come together to recognize each other and affirm our rightful place in the society…here was a profound sense that African-American men were ready to make a commitment to bring about change in our communities and lives.

But what was lacking among march organizers was a positive agenda, a coherent agenda for change. Without this agenda a lot of this energy is going to dissipate. Just as holding hands and singing ‘We shall overcome’ is not going to do it, exhorting youth to have pride in their race, give up drugs and crime, is not going to do it if we can’t find jobs and futures for the 50 percent of black youth who are unemployed, underemployed, and full of bitterness and rage.

Exhortations are not enough, nor are the notions that we can create a black economy within America that is hermetically sealed from the rest of the economy and seriously tackle the major issues confronting us.” [Chicago Reader, 12/8/95] Obama Said That Solutions For Black America Must Come From A “Multicultural, Interdependent, And International Economy” Because “Cursing Out White Folks Is Not Going To Get The Job Done. Anti-Semitic And Anti-Asian Statement Are Not Going To Lift Us Up.” Obama said, “Any solution to our 27 unemployment catastrophe must arise from us working creatively within a multicultural, interdependent, and international economy.

Any African-Americans who are only talking about racism as a barrier to our success are seriously misled if they don’t also come to grips with the larger economic forces that are creating economic insecurity for all workers--whites, Latinos, and Asians.

We must deal with the forces that are depressing wages, lopping off people’s benefits right and left, and creating an earnings gap between CEOs and the lowest-paid worker that has risen in the last 20 years from a ratio of 10 to 1 to one of better than 100 to 1. This doesn’t suggest that the need to look inward emphasized by the march isn’t important, and that these African-American tribal affinities aren’t legitimate.

These are mean, cruel times, exemplified by a ‘lock ‘em up, take no prisoners’ mentality that dominates the Republican-led Congress. Historically, African-Americans have turned inward and towards black nationalism whenever they have a sense, as we do now, that the mainstream has rebuffed us, and that white Americans couldn’t care less about the profound problems African-Americans are facing. But cursing out white folks is not going to get the job done. Anti-Semitic and anti-Asian statements are not going to lift us up. We’ve got some hard nuts-and-bolts organizing and planning to do.

We’ve got communities to build.

(visit the document provided link above for links to factual evidence to back claim)

More to Come

There is a lot to talk about for now.... any comments so far?


[edit on 8/15/2008 by Andrew E. Wiggin]

Keep it up Andrew

Im pritty sure the majority of anti-Obamanians get their ideas from this book and im not surprised, their arguements lack foundation, any legit sources, they clearly reflect Corsi and his credibility.

The man outright lied in his book about Kerry but Iv come to realise a pattern from him, he obviously knows that these little stories of his are a load of BS and will be debunked sooner or later, this is why he brings out these books within afew months of the general elections. He wants these lies to last.

His accusations are greatly inline with those of the neocons and their campaign in 2001-2003 to mislead the public, likewise though there will always be righties who "want to believe".

Lets just hope we have enough americans to wake up this time around.

[edit on 15-8-2008 by southern_Guardian]

You're right. We can only hope.

The purpose of my "blasting" this book and its credibility, and drawing lines to like-minded threads covering the exact same issues here on ATS is not to muster support for Obama.

It really is not.

If you are not going to support Barack Obama. Fine.
But don't pick reasons like that are listed in this book.

He'll "destroy" america? How can any reasonably intelligent person come to that conclusion?

If by "destroying" america he means he'll give the people what they want, ok, fine he'll destroy america (:shk: )

Im still working on drawing more lines. I just got back from the library - and have checked out the book.

It'll be interesting to use the rest of the book to draw comparisons

To be honest - i'm glad this book exists.

If it didnt exist - then the document provided in this thread would never have been released.

If it'd never have been released, then the lies that smear D'08 forums would have that much more difficult to disprove.

Well, I don't know. I can tell you this, there has been stuff taken from ATS and plagiarized on the internet. There was one poster, I don't remember who, who had his stuff plagiarized by another poster on another site.

OH yeah - it happens all the time. I've personally caught a couple of members plagiarizing outside articles, claiming 100% of it their own work.

It happens. But in a nationally publicized book? I don't know. The possibility certainly exists.

The talking points are the same. The accusations are the same. The methodology is the same.

The book was released August 1st, 2008. So obviously not EVERYTHING in book is going to be reflected here. It'd not be possible for members to copy any thing from the book pre-8/1/08

But

That doesnt mean the author didnt get a lot of his material from ATS.

You can literally draw a line from a lot of claims to precise threads on ATS. The book seems to use identical "sources" and draw identical "lines in the sand" to make its claims. Same as many posts here.

Coincidence? Maybe.
But im not willing to let it slide on the hint that it might be nothing

Excellent thread, Andrew! I knew this book would come up sooner or later and you did a great job of handling it.

I like Obama's stand that he will not be swiftboated! Corsi's attempt to swiftboat Kerry with "Unfit for Command" was pretty successful, but Obama seemingly isn't going to roll over and take it.

Just to get an idea of the kind of guy Corsi is, here are some quotes from him:

* Corsi on Islam: "a worthless, dangerous Satanic religion"

* Corsi on Catholicism: "Boy buggering in both Islam and Catholicism is okay with the Pope as long as it isn't reported by the liberal press"
...
* Corsi on Senator "FAT HOG" Clinton: "Anybody ask why HELLary couldn't keep BJ Bill satisfied? Not lesbo or anything, is she?"

Source

Isn't he just a lovely man? Someone you want to believe?

I have a feeling I know where a lot of the garbage about Obama comes from...

Corsi is also a frequent participant in FreeRepublic.com's online forums, posting under the pseudonym "jrlc" since 2001. (Click here to read a full set of Corsi's posts; click here to read the post in which "jrlc" admits to being Jerome Corsi.)

Why anyone would believe anything this bigoted excuse for an American has to say, I have no clue.

I've been reading this book (glance at a time) while i'm at work..and i have to say...so far its a good read......


Seriously though. Its very entertaining from the standpoint that it brings back many memories of when we were all discussing the EXACT same arguments in these very threads.

Its as if the "600 footnotes" claim that the book makes came from the 600 different threads about the 600 different lies about Obama.

man oh man if i could only prove there's a connection...

:shk:


Still trying

[edit on 8/15/2008 by Andrew E. Wiggin]

reply to post by Andrew E. Wiggin



Andrew,

I don't think that there is a direct connection apart from a lot of sources that are sometimes linked from these threads. Jerome Corsi posts at World Net Daily which is often used as a source. Look into his footnotes and see how many of them reference his own reporting. Gotta go, family in from out of town. Great thread, I'll post more on this later.

reply to post by Multiple Junkie


Well i appreciate your feedback

If he's a forum troll on one website, whats to stop him from being one here?

i find the similarities in the talking points striking.

It is possible that its a coincidence.

I just think its not. I'm at work right now - so its hard to really post much about the book its self.....(exerts from the book that is)

but i will be posting some more references. I've already came across a few sections that might even be verbatim. I have to compare them to the threads though