Obama Calls Out Bill---Who's Telling The Truth?

In a pre-taped interview with ABC's Good Morning America, set to air tomorrow, Sen. Barack Obama claimed that Bill Clinton had recently been making "factually inaccurate" statements concerning him(Obama) and his campaign.  So, the question has to be asked: Who's telling the truth, Barack or Bill?  Let's look at the facts on some of the issues of which Barack claims Bill was not telling the truth:

1)President Clinton said that Obama's radio ad told Republicans to register as Democrats and vote for him.  Here are the President's exact words:

"There’s a radio ad up in the northern part of Nevada telling Republicans that they ought to just register as Democrats for a day so they can beat Hillary and go out and be Republicans next week and vote in the primary. Doesn’t sound like the new politics to me."

Obama claims that is not true.  But here is exactly what Obama's radio ad said:

"Caucus for Barack Obama Saturday the 19th 11am. You can register right at the caucus. Independents and Republicans who want real change can attend and switch registration." 

In addition to the radio ad, Obama's campaign was also distributing pamphlets in Nevada that urged Republicans to caucus for Obama "if you think a Democrat will win in November and you don't want Hillary."

2) President Clinton told a Nevada crowd that he and Chelsea witnessed voter suppression first hand at casinos:

"There was a representative of the organization following along behind us going up to everybody who said that, saying 'if you’re not gonna vote for our guy were gonna give you a schedule tomorrow so you can’t be there.'"

Obama claims that Bill lied and saw no such thing.  However, the local Las Vegas Sun has confirmed that dirty tactics were indeed being employed by Obama supporters:

"Union representatives, he(Ruben Beltran, a Culinary Union member) said, are telling employees they must caucus for Obama on Saturday, making it sound more like a demand than a suggestion. Beltran said workers feel intimidated because the union holds sway over their jobs."

3) Obama claims that Bill Clinton lied concerning Obama's evolving Iraq War positions.  Here is how Bill characterized Obama's positions:

"It is wrong that Senator Obama got to go through 15 debates trumpeting his superior judgment and how he had been against the war in every year, enumerating the years, and never got asked one time, not once, well, how could you say that when you said in 2004 you didn't know how you would have voted on the resolution, you said in 2004 there was no difference between you and George Bush on the war, and you took that speech you're now running on off your Web site in 2004, and there's no difference in your voting record and Hillary's ever since."

Well, here are quotes that prove President Clinton's points:

a. "When asked about Senators Kerry and Edwards' votes on the Iraq war," Obama said, "I'm not privy to Senate intelligence reports. What would I have done? I don't know. What I know is that from my vantage point the case was not made."

b. “On Iraq, on paper, there's not as much difference, I think, between the Bush administration and a Kerry administration as there would have been a year ago. […] There's not much of a difference between my position and George Bush's position at this stage.” (Chicago Tribune, 07/27/04)

c. Specifically, State Senator Obama maintains that an October 2002 anti-war speech was removed from his campaign web site because “the speech was dated once the formal phase of the war was over."

d. "Obama's Senate voting record on Iraq is nearly identical to Clinton's. Over the two years Obama has been in the Senate, the only Iraq-related vote on which they differed was the confirmation earlier this year of General George Casey to be Chief of Staff of the Army, which Obama voted for and Clinton voted against. " (ABC News, 5/17/07)

So, my friends, there are the quotes and the facts, do with them what you please.  

Rev. Dr. Calvin O. Butts III Endorses Sen. Clinton

Abyssinian Baptist Church Pastor Reverend Dr. Calvin O. Butts, III, has endorsed Sen. Clinton for President.  Here is what he had to say:

Rev. Butts said it best when he said:

"As a nation, we cannot afford four more years of uninspired and uninspiring leadership. In our quest for change, it's time that we returned to the fundamentals - experience, ability, respect, character. It's time for Senator Hillary Clinton."

Mike Huckabee: The Facts

The following post is from my friend Johnny, who often comments on my posts.  He sent this to me concerning Mike Huckabee:

Many people have become enamored with Mike Huckabee, the "evangelical" candidate for president. We all know that evangelicals are much more moral than the rest of us and thus would make better presidents. Here's a few things you might NOT know about Huckabee:

 

-FACT: Mike Huckabee is an ordained evangelical Baptist minister of the SBC (Southern Baptist Convention).(Source: Montanaro, Domenico; Lauren Appelbaum. "HUCK ON ''THEOLOGY'' DEGREE", MSNBC, 2007-12-14. Retrieved on 2007-12-16.)

-FACT: The SBC (Southern Baptist Convention) was formed because of its decision to separate from other Baptists in defense of the institution of slavery.(Source: McBeth, H. Leon. The Baptist Heritage: Four Centuries of Baptist Witness. Nashville: Broadman, 1987.)

-FACT: It wasn't until the Southern Baptist Convention of 1995 that it voted to adopt a resolution renouncing its racist roots and apologizing for its past defense of slavery.(Source: This Side of Heaven: Race, Ethnicity, and Christian Faith. Edited by Robert J. Priest and Alvaro L. Nieves. Oxford University Press, 2007, pp 275 and 339)

 

-FACT: The ethics commission fined Huckabee $1,000 for failing to report that he paid himself $14,000 from his 1992 U.S. Senate campaign and $43,000 from his 1994 lieutenant governor's campaign. (Source: POLITICO, Huckabee rivals unearth ethics complaints Kenneth P. Vogel Nov 21, 2007)

-FACT: Huckabee accepted more than 300 gifts worth at least $130,000, ranging from $3,700 cowboy boots to a $600 chainsaw. (Source: POLITICO, Huckabee rivals unearth ethics complaints Kenneth P. Vogel Nov 21, 2007)

 

-FACT: Mike Huckabee granted 1,033 pardons and commutations, including 12 convicted murderers, one of which "Wayne DuMond" shortly after his release moved to Missouri where he raped and murdered Carol Sue Shields. He was convicted and sentenced to life in prison in Clay County, Mo., in 2003. He died in prison in 2005. (Source: The Leader, Arkansas clemencies outpace other states, Garrick Feldman, 2004) Can anyone say Willie Horton?

 

-FACT: Mike Huckabee raised more taxes in 10 years in office than Bill Clinton did in his 12 years. (Source: The Leader, 08/30/2006)

-FACT: Mike Huckabee''s substantial tax hikes far surpassed his modest tax cuts, with the average tax burden increasing by a whopping 47% over his tenure. (Source: Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, 10/09/07)

-FACT: Mike Huckabee opposed a congressional measure to ban internet taxes in 2003. (Source: Arkansas News Bureau, 11/21/03)

-FACT: Mike Huckabee, in 2004, allowed a 17% sales tax increase to become law. (Source: The Gurdon Times, 03/02/04)

 

-FACT: Mike Huckabee stole over $70,000 worth of furniture from the Arkansas governors mansion. (Source: Arkansas Times Counting the Furniture, 12/14/06 Leslie Newell Peacock)

-FACT: Mike Huckabee set up a nonprofit entity so he could give paid "inspirational'' speeches without having to disclose the donors. (SOURCE: Bloomberg Dec 12, 2007 Margaret Carlson)

 

-FACT: During the 2001 regular session of the Arkansas Legislature, Mike Huckabee supported giving driver's licenses to illegal aliens. (Source Arkansas Journal, Mike Huckabee Supported Bill to Give Driver''s Licenses to Illegal Aliens, Henry Rearden, 11/22/2007)

-FACT: Mike Huckabee supported in-state higher education benefits for children of illegal immigrants. (Laura Kellams, "Senators research U.S. law on aliens," Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, 1/27/05)

-FACT: Mike Huckabee opposed a bill requiring proof of citizenship to vote in his own state. (Source CNS NEWS, Some GOP Concerned about Huckabee''s Immigration Views, Fred Lucas, 12/04/2007)

-FACT: Mike Huckabee says he has a degree in theology. Further investigation discovers he does not. (Source: The Carpetbagger Report, Mike Huckabee has a theology degree -- or does he?, 12/14/2007)

-FACT: Mike Huckabee wants "to amend the Constitution so it's in God's standards rather than try to change God's standards so it lines up with some contemporary view." (Source: msnbc, HUCK, THE CONSTITUTION AND ''GOD'S STANDARDS'', 01/16/08)

Look through his "Awe Schucks" act and see him for what he really is. Mike Huckabee is a typical Washington type politician.

Afghanistan: Failing Because Of Iraq (Part 2)

Once again Secretary of Defense Robert Gates is telling the American people how we are failing in Afghanistan.  The Los Angeles Times reports that Gates said he believes NATO forces currently deployed in the southern part of that country do not know how to combat a guerrilla insurgency.

 

While at the same time, many NATO officials blame inadequate U.S. troop numbers earlier in the war in part for a Taliban resurgence.  Does that sound familiar and reminiscent of our track record in Iraq, where we used too little troops in a completely unnecessary invasion?  Afghanistan was where our enemies were.  We should have been fighting there instead of worrying bout Iraq. So now Gates decides to send an additional 3200 Marines to continue this 6 year old war. 

 

Gates went to Scotland last month and met with NATO leaders to try and convince them to send more NATO troops, but said no one at the table stood up and agreed.  The incompetence of this administration and Mr. Gates in trying to bully other nations is historic.  The U.S. under Mr. Bush has lost all creditability in fighting this war on terror.  Other nations hear that we call this the War on Terror, but they see that the U.S. practically abandoned Afghanistan, where bin-Laden and al-Qaeda were, and focused on Iraq, who was no threat to the U.S.   

 

Iraq seems to have been pushed to the back burner because of the Presidential primaries, that's the way the people in this administration would like it to be.  Get it out of the news.  I truly hope the American people never forget the tragic loss of life among our men and women in uniform because of the reckless behavior of Mr. Bush and his surrogates.  Never again should the people accept such incompetence and reckless behavior in our President.  Our troops and our country deserve better.