Obama Told Sun-Times Reporter in 2004 He Attended Jeremiah Wright's Church "Every Week"

A Religion Columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times says she interviewed Sen. Barack Obama in March of 2004 on his faith, an interview in which he stated that he attended church at Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, "every week" at the 11 o'clock service:

GG:
Do you still attend Trinity?

OBAMA:
Yep. Every week. 11 oclock service.

Ever been there? Good service.

I actually wrote a book called Dreams from My Father, it’s kind of a meditation on race. There’s a whole chapter on the church in that, and my first visits to Trinity.

That simply does not jive with Obama's claim that he was not in church to hear any of Jeremiah Wright's tirades against America or his racial statements against white Americans. If Obama attended church "every week" as late as 2004, how could he have not known what his pastor was preaching?

Obama Then and Now on the "Surge Strategy" - Video

Here is video of Barack Obama in January 2007 clearly saying that the "Surge Strategy" would make no difference on the ground in Iraq. In the video, that statement is juxtaposed against his Political guru - David Axelrod - saying in late May 2008 that Obama always knew an increase in troops in Iraq would lead to a reduction in violence there. That is now Obama's talking point on the subject, but it is clearly not true:



Obama on January 14, 2007:

"We can send 15,000 more troops, 20,000 more troops, 30,000 more troops: I don't know any expert on the region or any military officer that I've spoken to privately that believes that that is going to make a substantial difference on the situation on the ground."

Wake Up America blog has a very detailed article that includes this video, and a lot of other analysis on Obama's attempt to cover-up his previous opposition of the surge and what he said about it at the time.

LA Times Writer Reports On Obama Attempt to Cover-Up His Statements Opposing the "Sure Strategy" in Iraq

If you are a liberal candidate like Sen. Barack Obama, you know you have gone too far when even the Los Angeles Times feels required to write about your crass attempt to cover-up the truth. That is exactly what has happened with Obama's attempt to purge all statements opposing the "Surge Strategy" in Iraq from his website. Listen to what Andrew Malcolm wrote on the Los Angeles Times blog:

Obama website's opposition to successful surge gets deleted

A funny thing happened over on the Barack Obama campaign website in the last few days.

The parts that stressed his opposition to the 2007 troop surge and his statement that more troops would make no difference in a civil war have somehow disappeared. John McCain and Obama have been going at it heavily in recent days over the benefits of the surge.

The Arizona senator, who advocated the surge for years before the Bush administration employed it, says the resulting reduction in violence is proof it worked with progress on 15 of 18 political benchmarks and Obama's plan to withdraw troops by now would have resulted in surrender.

When President Bush ordered the surge in January, 2007, Obama said, "I am not persuaded that 20,000 additional troops in Iraq is going to solve the sectarian violence there. In fact, I think it will do the reverse," a position he maintained throughout 2007. This year he acknowledged progress, but maintained his position that political progress was lacking.

Tuesday, while Obama gave a speech on foreign policy, the New York Daily News was first to notice the removal of parts of Obama's campaign site listing the Iraq troop surge as part of "The Problem." An Obama spokeswoman said it was just part of an "update" to "reflect changes in current events," as our colleague Frank James notes in the Swamp. The update includes a new section on the rise of al-Qaeda violence in Afghanistan.

But some might see the updating as part of Obama's skip to the political center now that he's secured the Democratic nomination. "Today," McCain said Tuesday, "we know Sen. Obama was wrong" to oppose the troop surge.

Kudos to Andrew Malcolm for telling the truth on this issue, even when many of his colleagues in the "Mainstream" Media are unwilling to do so.

New "JibJab" Campaign Cartoon - Video

Here is some Presidential Campaign humor with JibJab:

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John McCain Vows as President to Get Osama bin Laden for His Crimes - Video 7/15/08

Speaking at a Town Hall Meeting in New Mexico today, July 15, 2008, Sen. John McCain vowed to get Osama bin Laden and bring him to justice for his crimes against America:



This is the kind of grit and determination we need in a President. John McCain has the resolve and strength to do what he says he will do. This is the McCain who needs to keep showing up at every appearance on the campaign trail, and on television.

Lieberman Blasts Obama For Policies That Would Put America in Peril

Sen. Joe Lieberman blasted Barack Obama today for his lack of conviction on Iraq, and said Obama's policies, if followed, would put the nation in peril:

Despite rumblings that his advocacy for John McCain could lead to his ouster from the Democratic Party, Joseph Lieberman continued on Tuesday to take broad swipes at Barack Obama.

In a speech before the Center for U.S. Global Engagement, Lieberman described the presumptive Democratic nominee as a politician who was consistently wrong on foreign affairs and whose policy proposals -- had they been put in place - would have put America at great risk.

"I've been following Sen. Obama's comments in this campaign and particularly in the last months since the primaries were over," said Lieberman. "And I wish he would just say that the surge has worked. He doesn't have to give credit to John McCain or anyone else. He can give credit to General Petraeus and the troops who have carried it out. I wish he would acknowledge the surge is working, rather than changing his position on how and when we should exit Iraq, without acknowledging that these are changes of positions that are understandably based on conditions on the ground. A president's credibility is based on the courage of his or her convictions, his or her acceptance of reality, and consistency of views are critical elements of national leadership. A president who squanders those does so at our nation's peril."

Lieberman's remarks came just hours after Obama had delivered a foreign policy address of his own, in which the Illinois Democrat reiterated his desire to see a responsible phased withdrawal of troops from Iraq and a greater emphasis on the conflict in Afghanistan.

Working off of Obama's address, Lieberman accused him not only of being unwilling to acknowledge the success of the troop surge, but also for being inconsistent in his foreign policy approach. The 2000 Democratic vice presidential nominee then offered nearly half a dozen direct questions to the Illinois Democrat that mimicked, in large part, talking points that the McCain campaign has been using with great frequency.

"Sen. Obama said this morning that he wants a foreign policy that is tough, smart and principled," said Lieberman. "This afternoon I want to ask my colleague who I respect and like a couple of direct questions: Was it tough when Sen. Obama voted to order U.S. troops to retreat from Iraq on a fixed timeline regardless of the recommendations of our military commanders or conditions on the ground? Was it smart when Sen. Obama opposed the surge and predicted that it would fail to improve our security? ... Was it tough and principled when Sen. Obama said he would be open to changing his plan on Iraq after going there and talking to General Petraeus, which I think was the right position, only to change that position hours later after being heatedly criticized by organizations like MoveOn.org? I say respectfully the answer to all those questions is, no."

Lieberman is right on the mark. Obama is totally shameless. He thinks he is so cool that he can use his speeches to create a parallel reality that people will believe, namely that he always believed the surge would reduce violence in Iraq, when the truth is that he said he opposed it because it would not help the situation in Iraq! He counting on most Americans being too ignorant to find out the truth. We'll see if he is right.

John McCain Responds to Obama Foreign Policy Address - Video 7/15/08

Here is Sen. John McCain speaking at a Town Hall Meeting in Albuquerque, New Mexico this morning, where he responded to Barack Obama's foreign policy speech earlier in the morning:

PART I


PART II