A Young Leader's 'Change'

Let's stop to ask: What change?

Now on the home stretch of this election campaign, we, on the right of center (and on dead center), have watched as so many unexpectedly stepped into the shadow of a would-be leader—a premature and uncertain legend—who, like the Pied Piper, stands ready to lead them away to some unknown place.

They've placed their unwavering trust in him. They are mortgaging their children's lives on his promises. They follow him with blind faith against logic and reason, ignoring unanswered questions and failing to pose questions of their own.

But this is not a first in history, and many wiser than we have pointed out that history always repeats itself—if we allow it. Americans though are immune to such things, or so we like to think. We wax poetically of rocket's red glare and bombs bursting in air, finding great pride in the battles of our forefathers, but we know little about what that means. After 9/11, our hearts reached out collectively to pick up the pieces, and several generations were given an idea of what war looks like up close—too close—for the first time.

When my daughter was in fifth grade, she was asked to create a virtual society on paper. She was told she could choose any type of government, any type of economy, any number of races of people to live there and all the very specifics of society. The first task was to learn about the possibilities (note: this was not a project of the "standard" curriculum). So, I helped her research and weigh the pros and cons. I tried not to inject bias, but I did make note of the failings of certain ideologies. (Being an American who enjoys freedom of speech, possibility and opportunity, I am obviously somewhat biased.) Ultimately, she chose democracy and capitalism for reasons of fairness and freedom—the idea of a dictator did not sit well with her, and she did not choose herself as a leader. For the president of her fledging society, she chose a kid from her class—she felt, in fairness, she was not the best choice for that job. I was touched by her honesty and ability to think through the qualifications such a leader would need. She described this certain boy as very fair, always willing to help, honest, reliable, funny and ready to stick up for people: He could always find common ground, but she felt he would never try to dictate to others. The assignment was not graded or judged. It was simply a lesson in thinking—an opportunity to look at the world. It was a lesson that many Americans will never learn. Many of us choose to gamble with the casting of our vote, pulling the lever and hoping for the best.

That virtual world, I'm sure, is thriving today, but I'm not sure America's fate is as safe. Many Americans have failed to take the time, as my daughter did, to understand that character in a leader matters. Many of us are clueless about history, geography and varying forms of government and ideology that exist—and no longer exist—around the world.

Recently Barack Obama has been compared to Karl Marx, Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez—socialism and communism. It's been noted that his economic plans and ideas about "spreading the wealth" are socialist. He was, in fact, a member of the socialist New Party in Chicago, but now he claims he is not a socialist. He was named by the National Journal as the most liberal member of the Senate—his "composite liberal score" in 2007 was 95.5. The not so gradual incline from 82.5 in 2005 and 86.0 in 2006 indicates that over time Mr. Obama continues to move further and further to left—radically to the left. The National Journal provides a list of votes that were weighed:

• NO -- Define a fetus as an "unborn child." August 2. (49-50) L-3
• YES -- Make temporary guest workers eligible for the Earned Income Tax Credit. June 6. (57-40) L-3
• NO -- Make English the official language of the United States. June 6. (64-33) C-2
• YES -- Limit debate on a measure to permit labor union organizers to bypass secret-ballot requirements if a majority of eligible workers sign a union card. June 26. (51-48; 60 votes required to invoke cloture) C-3
• YES -- Limit debate on a bill raising the federal minimum wage without providing offsetting tax relief for businesses. January 24. (54-43; 60 votes required to invoke cloture) C-3
• YES -- Expand the State Children's Health Insurance Program by increasing taxes of those earning more than $1 million. August 1. (36-60) C-2
• YES -- Raise the tax rate on income over $1 million and use the revenue to increase funding for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. March 22. (38-58) C-2
• YES -- Require U.S. troops to begin withdrawing from Iraq within four months. March 15. (48-50; 60 votes required because of a unanimous consent agreement) C-3
• YES -- Limit debate on a proposal to express the sense of Congress to disagree with the president's troop increase in Iraq. February 17. (56-34; 60 votes required to invoke cloture) C-3

[...]
Q: How often did Obama vote the liberal position in 2007?
Green: He participated in 66 of the 99 votes used for the ratings. He voted the liberal position 65 times. [National Journal Editor Charles Green]

What does this mean for Americans? Do Obama's supporters understand the implications of electing a president who's policies favor an extreme shift from where we are as a country? Is this good change?

If we look to history—and to those who have experienced a similar change—we have the answer. It's time for education, America. It's time to think. It's time for change, because in America, it's always time for change. We are always evolving, growing and improving. Barack Obama is not change—you are the change that we need.

Think, America.

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Che Guevara, Castro's right hand man—a Marxist, atheist, socialist, communist: A flag with this man's picture was hanging on the wall in an Obama campaign office in Houston, Texas.
Notice the star on Che Guevara's hat—it's a symbol of the Cuban flag and represents socialism and communism. Guess who else wore this symbol recently:

China's Takeover by Communism


Socialism Destroyed Rome / What is Capitalism?


Marx and the Communist Manifesto -- Your Capital


1959: Mike Wallace interviews Ayn Rand, author of The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged

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Links to more information:
- Che Guevara and the Obama Campaign
- http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1847/11/prin-com.htm
- http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/10/13/europe/letter.php?page=1
- http://www.allaboutphilosophy.org/communism.htm
- http://www.communism.org/
- http://www.marx2mao.com/RG.html
- http://struggle.net/proletarism/index.htm?cco
-

Previous posts on Communism and Obama:
- Is Obama a Communist?
- ACORN's Communist Roots: Ayers and Obama
- Barack Obama and Bill Ayers
- Barack Obama, Bill Ayers and Public Education
- 'Joe the Plumber' Sums It Up
- Kenya's Change They 'Could Believe In'

ACORN's Communist Roots: Ayers-Obama

Obama has tried to squirrel away his history, but Americans are digging for the truth.

Bill Ayers and Barack Obama worked together to fund ACORN, Trinity United church (Rev. Jeremiah Wright) and other left-wing organizations. But to understand why, you have to dig a little deeper and examine the roots of the ACORN tree—they connect to the communist manifesto of a misguided youth-cum-professor, his communist comrades and a Harvard lawyer who found the spirit of "change" in their cause.

Wade Rathke, founder of ACORN, turns out to be one of Ayers' radical friends from the '60s. Both Ayers and Rathke were members of the Student Democratic Society (SDS), which later gave way to the Weathermen faction and ultimately the Weather Underground.



This week Daniel J. Flynn wrote about the unraveling of ACORN amidst voter fraud allegations in "Obama: The Oak Grown from Acorn." Flynn cites examples from Stealing Elections, Revised and Updated: How Voter Fraud Threatens Our Democracy, by John Fund.

In St. Louis, dogs join the dead on the election rolls. In 2000, voters nationwide let out a collective gasp in the waning hours of Election Day. Lawyers for Jesse Jackson and Al Gore convinced judges in St. Louis to keep polls open in selected African-American neighborhoods, altering election law by extending voting hours for those most likely to support Gore...

A common thread in many of the cases that Fund spotlights is the shadowy presence of Acorn. ... In St. Louis, eight Acorn workers pled guilty to election fraud this past April. On the other side of Missouri, in 2006, four Kansas City Acorn workers were indicted after officials deemed nearly 15,000 of their 35,000 registrations phony.

In the mid-nineties, Barack Obama ran Acorn’s Project Vote campaign in Illinois. He sued the state of Illinois on the group’s behalf in 1995 to implement the Motor Voter law. “After he joined the board of the Woods Fund,” Stealing Elections notes, “Obama saw to it that substantial grants were given to Acorn.” Senator Obama has championed Acorn’s legislative priorities in Congress. His presidential campaign even donated more than $800,000 to Acorn...

For those who still think Obama's relationship with Ayers was irrelevant, consider that the views of a communist radical have already been woven into our education system—Obama helped Ayers to fund his education programs, and Ayers has published a series of books for educators. (Is it a coincidence that Obama is already starting to pop up in children's school books?) Americans need to understand that Obama's connections to this entire group of people is certainly no coincidence. What we need to understand is that Bill Ayers—the "respected" professor— is not a reformed terrorist but rather a devoted communist rebel who simply found a new course of action. We should not look at Obama's association with Ayers—instead we should ask ourselves: Why Obama? Why did Ayers choose Obama? Why did Ayers, who hates the United States government, support Obama's rise to the top—even launching his career from his own living room? The answers lie not in Obama's association with Ayers but Ayers' selection of the man that stands before America asking for our vote.

But how does this affect the economy? If you're reading this, you're likely someone who already understands how Obama's communist, Marxist, socialist grooming affects not only our economy but the future of our country. Electing Obama is a vote for socialism. It's a vote for communism. It's a vote for the destruction of America as we now know it.

Let's try an Obama-ism here:
Americans are smart enough to understand that we need the truth. Americans are smart enough to understand that communism is un-American. Americans are smart enough to see through the lies of a smooth-talking agent. Americans are proud and hard-working, and we need to worry first about our government. We are smart enough not be swindled by a man with no experience and empty promises of "change." Just words? Just words? America. Just words?

Read related articles:
- Obama Demand DOJ Stop ACORN Probe (Sweetness & Light)
- Power to the People: Thirty-five Years of Community Organizing
- Just Words? Hoodwinked & Bamboozled
- Can We Stop Talking About Bill Ayers?
- Barack Obama, Bill Ayers and Public Education

Sources:
- Obama: The Oak Grown from Acorn (City Journal, Oct. 16, 2008)
- WADE RATHKE: ACORN’S FOUNDER, AYERS’ COMPATRIOT

Please vote American. Vote for John McCain.

Can We Stop Talking about Bill Ayers?

Why Bill Ayers matters in this election.

The Obama-Bill Ayers connection has recently taken center stage in the media, casting a threatening shadow on the issues Obama would prefer to address. Some are wondering how '60s radical Ayers is relevant and accuse the McCain campaign of steering off course. So why are we still talking about Bill Ayers, a man who was bombing buildings when Barack Obama was only eight years old? This is a man who is now a "respected" professor paying his dues to society. Right? Or, on the flip side, is this a man who, given a second chance at living the American dream, found another avenue to employ his radical beliefs?

Teaching them to our children (more about that here).

For those who believe there is a disconnect between Bill Ayers' past, Obama's ideology and our collective future, I ask you to read this article, which presents a clear and concise connection.

"Starting college in 1979, Obama describes how he chose his friends carefully: 'The more politically active black students. The Chicanos. The Marxist professors and the structural feminists and punk-rock performers.'

He describes how they discussed 'neo-colonialism, Frantz Fanon (the Black Power hero and apostle of cleansing violence), Eurocentrism, and patriarchy'; and how he read Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness 'to help me understand just what it is that makes white people so afraid ... Their demons.'"

Guilt by association is not the issue at hand, and Bill Ayers is not the core issue facing Americans leading up to this election. What America needs to contemplate is Who is Barack Obama? This is a young politician with ideas for "change." But what are his core beliefs and how do they apply to his leadership?

We choose our friends and associates—they are not forced upon us. Why is it then that Obama has chosen—and even sought out—radicals as his mentors, his friends, his neighbors and his colleagues. Why is it that all of these "associations" and allies in Obama's world share a common thread: revolution, socialism, communism, radicalism. Why is it that so many of these very same people can be traced back to relationships with groups like the Black Panthers and with ideologies like that of Malcolm X and Louis Farrakhan?

Americans need to ask the tough questions and think about how this really affects our entire country, our children, our jobs, our lives.

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"It's hard to say when it started ... 1970 to 1980. It was underground for 11 years." —Bernardine Dohrn, Weather Underground member and wife of Bill Ayers

"There's no way to be committed to non-violence in the middle of the most violent society that history's ever created. I'm not committed to non-violence."
—Bernardine Dohrn, 1969

"During his fugitive years, Mr. Ayers said, he lived in 15 states, taking names of dead babies in cemeteries who were born in the same year as he. He describes the typical safe house: there were usually books by Malcolm X and Ho Chi Minh, and Che Guevara's picture in the bedroom; fermented Vietnamese fish sauce in the refrigerator, and live sourdough starter donated by a Native American that was reputed to have passed from hand to hand over a century." (New York Times, Sept. 11, 2001)

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Sal Stern, in the City Journal, Summer 2006, wrote about Bill Ayers' entry into the American educational system. Attending Columbia Unversity's Teacher's College in 1984 (incidentally, during the same years Obama attended Columbia University -- both in NY), he experienced an "epiphany" while taking a class taught by Prof. Maxine Greene.

Greene told future teachers that they could help change this bleak landscape by developing a "transformative" vision of social justice and democracy in their classrooms. Her vision, though, was a far cry from the democratic optimism of the Founding Fathers, Abraham Lincoln, and Martin Luther King Jr., which most parents would endorse. Instead, critical pedagogy theorists nurse a rancorous view of an America in which it is always two minutes to midnight and a knock on the door by the thought police is imminent. The education professors feel themselves anointed to use the nation’s K–12 classrooms to resist this oppressive system. Thus Maxine Greene urged teachers not to mince words with children about the evils of the existing social order. They should portray "homelessness as a consequence of the private dealings of landlords, an arms buildup as a consequence of corporate decisions, racial exclusion as a consequence of a private property-holder’s choice." In other words, they should turn the little ones into young socialists and critical theorists.

And what has been the agenda of the reformed Bill Ayers of the 2000s? Sol Stern, of City Journal, reminds of us Bill Ayers' rendevous with Hugo Chavez in November 2006 in an article published Oct. 6, 2008:

Calling Bill Ayers a school reformer is a bit like calling Joseph Stalin an agricultural reformer. (If you find the metaphor strained, consider that Walter Duranty, the infamous New York Times reporter covering the Soviet Union in the 1930s, did, in fact, depict Stalin as a great land reformer who created happy, productive collective farms.) For instance, at a November 2006 education forum in Caracas, Venezuela, with President Hugo Chávez at his side, Ayers proclaimed his support for "the profound educational reforms under way here in Venezuela under the leadership of President Chávez. We share the belief that education is the motor-force of revolution. ... I look forward to seeing how you continue to overcome the failings of capitalist education as you seek to create something truly new and deeply humane." Ayers concluded his speech by declaring that "Venezuela is poised to offer the world a new model of education—a humanizing and revolutionary model whose twin missions are enlightenment and liberation," and then, as in days of old, raised his fist and chanted: "Viva Presidente Chávez! Viva la Revolucion Bolivariana! Hasta la Victoria Siempre!"

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(Updated 10/14/2008)

As if underpinning education with socialism and communism (disguised as "social justice") weren't bad enough, the Bill Ayers agenda goes even further. Linda Harvey writes this about the Bill Ayers "gay agenda" for schools:

In 2007, a group from the American Educational Research Association, or AERA, including Ayers, demanded major accrediting organization for schools, colleges, and departments of education include categories of "social justice, sexual orientation and gender identity" in its standards. Ayers and colleagues called their effort "Call to Action: A RED Campaign for Social Justice and Queer Lives." Ayers, formerly vice president for curriculum of the AERA, was the spokesman on behalf of the effort, calling on the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education, or NCATE, to include these categories.

What would an Obama administration do? The record shows that Obama supported Illinois Senate Bill 99 in 2003, which, despite denials by Obama and false claims by the mainstream media, was not a bill to protect children from sexual predators. It was a sweeping, comprehensive sex-education bill that lowered the age of instruction from sixth grade to kindergarten, gutted an abstinence emphasis and prohibited "bias" based on "sexual orientation." The term "sexual predator" is nowhere in the bill, with inappropriate touching by peers included in a laundry list of the many aspects of explicit sex ed.

As a member of the Weather Underground, Ayers and Dohrn took part in sexual exploration which included group sex and homosexuality. This was somehow part of the groups manifesto. Impressing sexual education on children—and more specifically, homosexuality&mdashis part of the Ayers plan for education. But what should disturb Americans even more is the face you see plastered across your TV screen, your computers, your neighborhoods: Yes, Barack Obama supported lowering the age for sexual education&mdashto include your kindergartner.

" ... we'd do it again. I wish that we'd done more. I wish we'd been more militant ..."—Bernardine Dohrn, 1998 interview with Connie Chung (and William Ayers)


(Connie Chung interview, skip to the end of the video)

View the nine-part Weather Underground series here.

Sources:
- Obama's Weatherman shows which way the wind blows (The Australian, 10/13/2008)
- The Eds' Schools Latest—And Worst—Humbug (City Journal, Summer 2006)
- No Regrets for a Love Of Explosives; In a Memoir of Sorts, a War Protester Talks of Life With the Weathermen (New York Times, 9/11/2001)
- The Bomber as School Reformer (City Journal, 10/6/2008)
- Bill Ayers' 'gay' agenda for your kids

More information:
- Ayers Has Not Left Radicalism Behind
- Exclusive: Forget Bill Ayers - Here Are Over a Dozen More Virulently Anti-American Obama Friends
- UIC was asked not to show Ayers papers

Read more about the Barack Obama and Bill Ayers connection in original post here.

The Weather Underground Documentary

Nine-part documentary takes you inside the Underground.

" ... we'd do it again. I wish that we'd done more. I wish we'd been more militant ..."—Bernardine Dohrn, 1998 interview with Connie Chung (and William Ayers)


(Connie Chung interview, skip to the end of the video)



"It was cultish." Group sex, homosexuality ...



Ties to the Black Panther party:



Bring the war home — the goal of this group. "They were ready to be mass murderers."



Part 6



Part 7



Part 8



Part 9: Getting away with murder