Occasionally it is good to recognize the obvious. No matter how deftly the artful dodge it.
In this case, the obvious is that Senator Barack Obama comes from a very suspect neighborhood. Residing within blocks of the Democrat nominee for President are a domestic terrorist, an anti-Semitic Black Muslim potentate, and a corrupt real-estate developer. And residing within his self-acknowledged sphere of influence are a disgustingly vulgar racist minister, a communist father figure, and a radical political mentor. All of these people are connected to Senator Obama in a deeper way than he has had the courage or candor to admit.
And that’s alarming. For as P.J. O’Rourke once observed, “It’s not just the cat, it’s what the cat drags in.” Senator Obama has had some strange friends and business partners, to put it mildly. And there is every reason to believe that they are indicative of the type of miscreants with which he would people his Hard Left administration. After all, just as the leopard doesn’t change his spots, he doesn’t stray far from the lair.
Obama, for his part, has, of course, denied that he relies on, hobnobs – or, for the most part, even knows — his infamous friends. In fact, put to the test, he denies they were even on the same planet (at least in their same lifeform). Since mounting his campaign for the presidency, the mantra “That’s not the (fill in the erstwhile friend’s name) I knew” has become as much a part of his vocabulary as “hope,” “change,” and “spread the wealth.”
There’s Jeremiah Wright, the man who Obama at one time thought was his “spiritual advisor” and “mentor.” Or, at least he said so in one of his glowing autobiographies. For 20-plus years Obama sat under Wright’s bigoted ministry and learned at the racist’s knee. As a director of the Woods Foundation, Obama (along with his other non-friend Bill Ayers) even funneled hundreds of thousands of dollars to Wright to start the reverend’s black separatist church. But, of course, once the heat was turned up, Obama denied ever having really been in the kitchen. And he certainly did not know the chef.
Then there’s Bill Ayers. Ayers was a guy Obama palled around with for 20 years on three different foundations, at numerous speaking forums, and even out raking the leaves in their Hyde Park neighborhood. Barack wrote an adoring review of one of Bill’s radical tomes. And Bill, in turn, boasted in another of his books that his pal Barack (along with their pal Louie Farrakhan) were next-door neighbors. Bill and Barack’s wives (the ascerbic Michelle Obama and the murderous Bernadine Dohrn) worked in the same law firm. But, when the topic turned to the presidency, Obama was quick to proclaim, “I know him not.”
When reminded that he did know him well, Barack protested that he thought the unrepentant terrorist was “rehabilitated.” This despite the fact that the loud-mouthed Ayers, noted for never having a thought that goes unexpressed – to everyone within earshot — has repeatedly proclaimed himself a “communist with a small c,” adding on his blog just this past April, “Capitalism is exhausted as a force for progress: built on exploitation, theft, conquest, war, and racism, capitalism and imperialism must be defeated and a world revolution–a revolution against war and racism and materialism, a revolution based on human solidarity and love — must prevail.”
Ah, well, what’s a little communist revolution between friends? (And, by the way, don’t be too taken in by the “all we need is love” mumbo-jumbo. Ayers idea of love, as enunciated by the Love Doctor himself is, “Kill all the rich people. Break up their cars and apartments. Bring the revolution home, Kill your parents.” Must have been a real joy for Ma and Pa Ayers to have that nut sleeping in the next room.)
Barack’s childhood father figure (necessitated by the fact that his real father had long-since abandoned his real mother) was none other than self-avowed communist Franklin Marshall Davis. Obama almost acknowledged this carnal cat in his self-adoring autobiographies, but not quite. He refers to him in Dreams of My Father simply as “Frank,” apparently hoping concerned readers will confuse the kooky, child-molesting, America-hating Marshall as one of the other hundred million or so Franks in the world. Or, perhaps, a German wiener. The only hint that he gives that his beloved Frank may be a bit of a screwball is when he tells us of embracing Frank’s admonition not to “start believing what they tell you about equal opportunity and the American way and all that ####.”
Then, there is Barack’s real father, himself, whose perverse aspirations Obama tells us he hopes to fulfill in Dreams of My Father. And what, exactly, were Barack Senior’s dreams (besides abandoning his wife and child)? He was, you guessed it, a communist, who believed in 100% taxation, communal farms, the nationalization of businesses, and most importantly a classless society. In short, he would have been deeply proud of Barack’s plan to “spread the wealth.”
And let’s not forget Barack Obama’s finance manager, one Tony “The Slumlord” Rezko. Now ensconced in a Chicago prison awaiting sentencing, Rezko taught Barack everything the latter ever needed to know about shaking down welfare recipients to drain the last dollar from their barren accounts. And when Barack and Michelle decided to move into the Hyde Park neighborhood along with “non-friends” Bill Ayers, Crazy Looie Farrakhan, Mohammed Ali, and Abu Zyad (whoops, sorry, I already said “Bill Ayers,” didn’t I – or, perhaps, didn’t know him by the Muslim name he gave himself), it was Rezko who slipped him the under-the-table lot loan.
Finally, there is Obama’s strange relationship with his cousin, friend, and/or fellow Luo tribesman (take your choice’ there are ample indications he is one, or all) Raila Odinga. For some reason, Obama felt compelled to journey to Kenya in 2006 and campaign on Odinga’s behalf in that beleaguered country’s presidential election. Odinga’s platform, by the way, called for imposing Sharia law on Kenya – 80 percent of whose people are Christian. Clearly, Obama adheres to Michael Corleone’s admonition, “Never go against the family” – even if it means enslaving pretty much the entire population.
So, what does all of this have to do with whether or not Barack Obama is fit to run the country? Well, nothing, if you believe the mainstream media. But, if, on the other hand, you believe that perhaps “birds of a feather flock together,” “apples don’t fall far from the trees,” and in the words of philosophy/author James Allen, “You don’t merely attract what you want; you attract what you are,” it might be a good idea to recognize the obvious. Otherwise, welcome to Mr. Dodger’s Neighborhood.
