PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA

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Let me begin with what I hope is a credibility enhancer: For daring to write a book on the faith of Hillary Clinton, I was questioned by fellow conservatives, especially for calling Mrs. Clinton a "lifelong, committed Christian." In the final chapter of that book, I included a brief section on the faith of Barack Obama, where, taking him at his word�based on a major June 2006 speech on his faith�I felt confident in reporting, "Obama is a Christian."

I'm not disputing that here. Since then, however, I've taken a careful look at Obama's faith, and there are quite a few things that stand out as historically extremely unusual, and in some cases unprecedented for a potential president. They are worth knowing, especially given the secular media's adoration of the man.

Indeed, journalists are so worshipful of Obama that they are unfazed by his two decades of membership in the church of a ranting, blasphemous preacher who mocked everything from Bill Clinton to America itself�and who married Obama, baptized his children, and whom Obama considers a mentor and the inspiration for the title of his best-selling book. That double standard has struck even the likes of atheist Christopher Hitchens. After eight years of wailing and gnashing of teeth over a Christian Republican president, secular liberals have undergone a Saul-like conversion.

On rare occasions, however, the press has offered constructive analysis of Obama's faith. The most revealing look remains a glowing profile in Newsweek a couple of months ago. The Newsweek offering was remarkably one-sided, even venturing into evangelical phraseology, the shared-language-of-believers style characteristic of Religious Right publications. I counted ten examples of phrases like, "He found Christ," "accept Christ," "Obama went to Jesus."

Nonetheless, even in this unusually un-critical article, much can be mined about Obama's faith. Most salient is this inescapable conclusion: More than any presidential nominee this close to the White House, Barack Obama's faith is a patchwork of divergent beliefs, philosophies, and influences, from what Newsweek called a "Christian-turned-secular mother"�her own views a product of "two lapsed Christian" parents and a Bill Moyers book�to a "Muslim-turned-atheist African father" to a stepfather with a "unique brand of Islam."

As for Obama's personal path, Newsweek noted how Obama, in his younger years, enjoyed, on one hand, Augustine, and then Nietzsche and Graham Greene. Obama hopped and groped his way through Islam, Buddhism, Catholicism, Protestantism, asceticism, and eventually settled at the political church of the Reverend Jeremiah Wright.

Most interesting is what Newsweek revealed about Obama and his current family: His wife, Michelle, "also didn't go to church regularly as a child." Neither really began regular attendance until they were married. And only then, their choice was Reverend Wright. On that, Newsweek reported approvingly: "The cross under which Obama went to Jesus was at the controversial Trinity United Church of Christ. It was a good fit."

The couple, writes Newsweek, attended "fairly often�two or three times a month." That changed, becoming less frequent, with the birth of their first child. Normally, the arrival of children is the blessed event that drags young couples to church�the Bushes, the Clintons. For the Obamas, however, the hassle of getting the baby out of the house for a packed service was an obstacle. "So," explained Barack, "that would cut back our involvement."

The Obama girls have never attended Sunday school�a definite contrast with most White House children. Even wayward president's kids like Ron Reagan, a proud atheist, was taken to church every Sunday. Obama explains of his daughters' religious education: "I'm a big believer in a faith that is not imposed but taps into what's already there, their curiosity of spirit."

Once Obama ran for the U.S. Senate, he skipped church for months at a time. Now that he publicly parted ways with Reverend Wright, reports Newsweek with a gentle wink, "Obama is a little spiritually rootless again." Newsweek neglected to mention that Obama often appeared in churches in 2007 for strictly political purposes�i.e., to campaign in houses of worship, a practice that launches liberals into fits of screaming rage when done by Republicans.

On the plus side, there are some discernible spiritual practices in Obama's life: family grace at mealtime, daily prayer, Obama "sometimes" reading the Bible in evenings, and inspirational emails zapped to the senator by his "religious outreach team." Yet, even with that nod to something of a religious routine, one senses that Obama is still trying to reconcile, as Newsweek described his early life, "his rational side with his yearning for transcendence."

After demonstrating at length that Obama's belief system is an amalgam, unorthodox, and undisciplined, Newsweek wrapped up with a shot at his detractors: "Some on the right say his particular brand of Christianity is a modern amalgam�unorthodox, undisciplined...."

One can see here another reason the secular left embraces Obama: His entire religious life, including the spiritual development of his family, is relativistic�an ever-probing quest, a realization of no single truth. The left likes this Democrat more than, say, a lifelong Baptist like Bill Clinton, a lifelong Roman Catholic like John Kerry, a lifelong Methodist like Hillary Clinton, a "born-again" southerner like Jimmy Carter. Here's a believer secular liberals can accept: a relativist in the most expansive form.

A President Obama would bring to the office the most unconventional religious portfolio of any president in a long time, arguably the history of the American presidency.

But to get there, the freshman senator hopes to win just enough of those moral-religious "values voters" who twice made the difference for George W. Bush. Can Barack Obama do that?

Can Obama win the 'values voter'?
In 2000 and 2004, it was the churchgoing moral-religious "values voters" that made the difference for George W. Bush. Barack Obama hopes to peel off just enough of those voters. What are his chances? From my vantage, Obama faces five primary obstacles:

First, Reverend Jeremiah Wright remains an albatross, even given the media's best efforts to avoid him. The ranting, raving, blaspheming political sermons by an uncorked, unhinged Wright�with the congregation loving every minute�remains a cruise missile at Obama's bid for moderate to conservative churchgoers. Obama was way too close to Wright to politically extricate himself.

Second�brace yourselves, liberals�a sizable number of Americans suspect Obama is lying about Islamic roots. A Newsweek poll in June found that 12 percent of voters are convinced Obama is a Muslim, and one-in-four believe he was raised a Muslim. Such thinking has intensified with Jerome Corsi's bestselling book and with research by Islam observers like Daniel Pipes�who, though he accepts that Obama is today a Christian, says Obama is "lying" when he denies he was never a Muslim. Additional oddities continue to surface, such as a YouTube video in which Moammar Kaddafi is said to describe Obama as a fellow Muslim.

When I recently shared this factor with some liberals, their faces visibly contorted and they began yelling at me. Nonetheless, perceptions matter. This issue might become statistically important in a close election.

Third, conservative Christians are offended by how the secular left has greeted Obama as a messianic figure. The hosannas during Obama's Europe trip were so over-the-top that London Times columnist Gerard Baker ridiculed the senator's visit as akin to Christ's entrance into Jerusalem. The BBC interviewed a worshipful German who described Obama as his "redeemer." Fox found another who exalted his "new messiah." To the question, "Who do you say that I am?" some Europeans made their choice as Obama swept into their presence.

Given the agnostic left's search for salvation in politics, this is not a surprise, especially in post-modern, de-Christianized Europe.

This has only gotten worse. No less than a U.S. congressman, Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN), said on the House floor on September 10 that, "Barack Obama was a 'community organizer' like Jesus." (He then added, in reference to Governor Sarah Palin, that "Pontius Pilate was a governor.") And now there's YouTube video of Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan calling Obama "the Messiah."

This is backfiring on Obama among the values voters he is seeking. To them, this reverence by the secular left is intolerably hypocritical. Liberals went bonkers when a presidential candidate named George W. Bush merely cited Christ as his favorite philosopher. And now they can compare Obama to Christ?

Fourth, "values voters" are skeptical of this appeal to faith by the Democratic nominee. There has been a well-orchestrated, openly admitted campaign, begun just days after the 2004 vote, especially by Hillary Clinton, Howard Dean, Nancy Pelosi, and Harry Reid, to get Democrats talking faith as much as possible. Actual Democratic Party working groups and colloquia have been established, employing the Christian left's language of "social justice."

Obama himself picked this up early on. In a June 2006 address to the Call to Renewal convention, Obama appealed to religious voters. He recalled how in his 2004 Senate race, his support of abortion rankled his opponent. Obama protested, arguing there were policy issues that proved his Christianity�issues like supporting daycare subsidies and the estate tax.

Obama can protest all he wants, but values voters consider legislation mandating medical care for abortion survivors more important than legislation mandating estate taxes for the wealthy.

Speaking of which, and fifth, abortion is beyond doubt the overwhelming obstacle for Obama. He is the most extremist pro-choicer ever to get this close to the presidency. His stand-alone votes against bills protecting newborn babies who survive abortions were horrible. He calls abortion a "safety net" and vowed to Planned Parenthood in July 2007 that the "first thing" he would do as president is sign the Freedom of Choice Act, which would nationalize abortion policy and overturn all the perfectly reasonable state-level restrictions on abortion by bipartisan legislatures throughout America. Then there are Obama's revealing statements on the stump�such as how he would hate to see his daughters get pregnant out-of-wedlock and "punished with a baby."

Secular liberals cannot begin to imagine the opposition to Obama strictly on abortion. I've received an email several times, titled, "10 Reasons Christians Shouldn't Vote for Obama." Among the ten, seven are on abortion.

The unprecedented outcry from the religious community is further evidence. The reaction of the Catholic bishops is extraordinary. I've never witnessed them so exercised and committed to leading the flock, and doing so carefully and eloquently, especially among traditional Catholics who still think their party is run by Harry Truman and Jack Kennedy, and literally don't even know Obama is pro-choice.

A poll last week by Investor's Business Daily showed a swing of 20 points for John McCain among Catholics, from an 11-point deficit to a 9-point lead. If McCain wins Catholics, he wins the election.

It all adds up to the reality that Barack Obama will have difficulty picking up values voters. His hope that they are not energized by McCain has dissipated with the Sarah Palin pick and the steady emergence of information on his abortion fanaticism.

A summer Pew poll showed McCain leading Obama among evangelicals by 61 to 25 percent, comparable to the margin enjoyed by Bush over AL Gore in 2000. More recently, the respected scholar Dr. John Green released a study finding that evangelicals favor McCain 57.2 percent to 19.9 percent, very similar to Bush's 60.4 percent to 19.6 percent over John Kerry at the same point in 2004.

It remains to be seen where, exactly, this will finish next Tuesday. As in 2000 and 2004, however, the values voters could make the difference.

and I am very pleased to meet you.

Oh, and this is my spouse, America. Please pay her no mind, she is a complete embarrassment to me. Ours was an arranged marriage � a family thing � and now I�m stuck with her.

Although I am sure you have already been offended by them, let me enumerate some of her many faults:

1. She is fluent in only one language. Sure, me too, but the point is that I could learn a second language if I wanted to. I have just been too busy organizing communities and running for public office. On the other hand, what else does she have to do with her time?

2. America eats too much.

3. America keeps her room too warm. I, however, am from Hawaii and like my office hot enough to grow orchids. Besides, I look great in shirt sleeves.

4. America drives her car too much, and it�s the wrong kind of car.

5. I want her to take the bus, but she refuses. Me? No, I�ve been too involved in my work to take time to do that. Also I have people to drive me around.

6. America buys the wrong type of light bulbs. Her TV is too big.

7. Have you seen her wardrobe? What am I saying? Don�t look!

8. I hate her friends and relatives. I�d much rather hang out with you guys.

9. Her interests do not interest me. They�re low-class and boring.

10. Her friends all mostly have jobs and work pretty hard. Many of them hold jobs I consider menial and yet object when those jobs are sent overseas. What�s up with that? They don�t seem impressed by me. She has a couple of disabled friends who can�t work and she voluntarily supports them. I prefer to be admired by incompetent people I can �help� but she and her friends won't give me money for these folks. We�ll see about that. Since when did selfishness become a virtue?

11. America has this weird idea that if our bank account is low, we should stop spending money. What�s up with that?

12. America would do just about anything to help her friends, both here and overseas. She will stand up for them and she will voluntarily send them her own money. Voluntarily? If everybody had the right to decide that would be chaos! Somebody needs to be in charge. (Since I don�t much like my wife or her family and friends, no skin off my nose if they have a problem. Let them work it out on their own.)

So anyhow, I do apologize for bringing America to the party. Did I mention that it was an arranged marriage? The best I can do at this point is try to give her the benefit of my superior intellect, my deeper understanding of geopolitics, economics and the environment, my fabulous taste in clothing and just hope that I can make her less uncomfortable for all of you people to be around. Until I get her shaped up, please pay her no mind and accept my apologies.....

Nice place you�ve got here!

I agree that this is a huge issue. We have the technology to be virtually independent energy wise, but too many crooked politicians have too much money invested in the oil companies and have no interest in seeing alternative energy sources take away any of their profit. That, in my opinion, is a huge source of our problem. Below I will post a portion of what Obama plans to do about the energy crisis (from his website - barackobama.com). He has a much more detailed plan listed on his website. I'm posting a link if anyone would like to read more.

"Barack Obama believes we have a moral, environmental, economic, and security imperative to address our dependence on foreign oil and tackle climate change in a serious, sustainable manner.

Obama lists his favorite music as Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Bob Dylan, Stevie Wonder, Johann Sebastian Bach (cello suites), and The Fugees.

Q: How many Obamunists does it take to change a light bulb?
A: None. It's enough to hope that it gets changed.

I'm waiting to be called a racist. I'm sure somewhere in that those jokes, some Obamunist will find racism.

Bill Ayers and Barrack Obama: Both Obama and Ayers were members of the board of an anti-poverty group, the Woods Fund of Chicago, between 1999 and 2002. In addition, Ayers contributed $200 to Obama's re-election fund to the Illinois State Senate in April 2001. They lived within a few blocks of each other in the trendy Hyde Park section of Chicago, and moved in the same liberal-progressive circles.

1987 William Ayers meets Barack Obama

1988 Ayers solicits Khalid Al-Mansour to raise money for Obama's Harvard law School education

1989 Tom Ayers and William Ayers get Obama a summer job at Sidley & Austin (where he meets Michelle Obama); Ayers' wife Bernadine Dohrn also worked at Sidley at about the same time as Barack and Michelle.

1993 Ayers places Obama on Woods Foundation

1995 Ayers makes Obama Chairman of Annenberg Challenge

1995 Ayers hosts a coffee klatch for Obama's political debut (Obama falsely claims this is when he met Ayers)

Raila Odinga and Barrack Obama: Odinga claims to be Obama's 1st cousin although the Obama campaign denies this. Raila Odinga has, in his own words, a 'close personal friendship' with Barrack Hussein Obama Junior.When Obama went to Kenya in August of 2006, he was hosted by Raila and spoke in praise of him at rallies in Nairobi: Obama's bias for his fellow Luo was so blatant that a Kenya government spokesman denounced Obama during his visit as Raila's �stooge.� When Raila Odinga lost the presidential election to Mwai Kibaki, he claimed the vote was rigged, whereupon his tribal followers went on murderous rampages such as in the town of Eldoret, where on New Years Day dozens of people were burned to death in a church set on fire

Clearly, Obama campaigned for someone who is corrupt, ruthless and has financial ties to terrorists. More importantly, Obama campaigned for a candidate who had the stated objective of dismantling US & Kenyan government efforts to root out AL Queda and other terrorist organizations. Organizations that had already caused the deaths of hundreds of Americans and Africans in embassy bombings. Senator Obama�s actions�intentional or not�were in direct conflict with the efforts and interests of US national security. I think this raises serious questions about the judgment, maturity and readiness of Senator Obama.

Reverend Wright and Barrack Obama: Obama met Wright when he moved to Chicago after college. Here is a quote from Obama, "And that's where I met Rev. Wright and started going to Trinity United Church of Christ and he helped me on another journey and introduced me to someone named Jesus Christ. And I learned that my sins could be redeemed. I learned that those things that I was too weak to accomplish myself, maybe he could accomplish them for me if I placed my trust in him. And I learned that ordinary people can achieve extraordinary things when they believe in him and they come together and are guided by him." And yet another quote from Obama...."And then I've got to give a special shout out to my Pastor. The guy who puts up with me, counsels me, listens to my wife complain about me. He's a friend and a great leader not just in Chicago but all across the country, so please everybody give an extraordinary welcome to my pastor Dr. Jeremiah Wright, Jr., Trinity United Church of Christ." First of all, for all you people screaming about Sarah Palin being a nut job Christian and praying for our country......what do you have to say about Obama and finding Jesus Christ? Talk about a double standard there. Furthermore, this goes to show that Obama was close to Rev. Wright and his claim that he had no idea about Wright's views are just untrue. You cannot attend a church for 20 years and seek counsel from a man and not know what that man stands for.....pure hatred and racism. Barrack Obama also refused to denounce Rev. Wright stating that he could no sooner denounce a family member. However, as Rev. Wright continued to spew out hatred from his mouth.....in Obama's best political interest...he threw his mentor and pastor of 20 years under the bus to try and save his career.

These are just three associations of Barrack Obama. This doesn't include Rezko and the monies given to Obama's campaign and the help he received in buying his house at a substantial lower price. This doesn't include Obama's association with ACORN and the fact that Obama himself trained ACORN members in Chicago.

But the point is, President Obama made a promise to the American people and he needs to do his best to keep it. Otherwise he did not mean what he said, was only saying something to get elected. Our President needs to put the American people first. He made the promise to help American workers have jobs here in America. I heard him say it.

But the point is, President Obama made a promise to the American people and he needs to do his best to keep it, to change all the offshoring. Otherwise he did not mean what he said, was only saying something to get elected. Our President needs to put the American people first. He made the promise to help American workers have jobs here in America. I heard him say it. We cannot buy if we have no jobs and no money because of offshoring.

who wants to sit down and civilly discuss things without preconditions. Now either he is lying about converting to Christianity and that doesn't bode well for Americans if he sides with the Islamic extremists OR they want him dead too for switching his faith in which case there will be no discussing of anything with those people. So where does that leave us? If Obama converted after being raised Muslim, he should know better than anyone the rule for converting.

So either Obama will turn on us and side with the Muslims or the extremists will do all in their power to try and kill our president for being an infidel. Either way.....how is this good for the US.

Congratulations President Obama! "Tonight we mark the end of one historic journey with the beginning of another � a journey that will bring a new and better day to America." I am so happy I lived long enough to be a part of history in the making.

Oh, wait....no...it can't be....the audacity of this man. He isn't even president yet, and just look at how he has changed this country. He has given people hope for a brighter future....the nerve. Things were much better when we could just torture people at will, invade who we want, pi$$ off the world, and not have to deal with those pesky civil rights. Oh, those were the days!

-- hit the ground running. Just got done watching TV to see what his first day was like. Just for fun, I looked up Bush's first day in 2001. Here's what I found:

"On his first day in office, Bush moved to block federal aid to foreign groups that offered counseling or any other assistance to women in obtaining abortions.Days later, he announced his commitment to channeling more federal aid to faith-based service organizations. At the time, critics feared this would dissolve the traditional separation of church and state. Bush created the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives to assist faith-based service organizations. In a televised address on Aug. 9, 2001, Bush would announce a national policy on stem cell research that authorized funding and research work, with federal restrictions over the use of human embryos."

Yeah, that whack-job started whacking way at women's control over their own bodies, tried to integrate government and the church (HUGE mistake!), and to outlaw one of the most promising medical breakthroughs. I'm surprised witch-trials and book-burning didn't come back into fashion again under his "leadership".

I think where he belongs is in some isolated, authoritarian religious cult out in the middle of nowhere.

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA

President Barrack Obama has made a huge list of promises. As you can see, some promises he has already broken and we aren't even into his presidency a whole week yet.

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