Difference between revisions of "Barack Obama Test"

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''click here for Barack Obama's father, [[Barak Obama]]
 
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'''Barack Hussein Obama''' (born August 4, 1961) is the 44th President of the United States of America and a former [[United States Senate|Senator]] representing Illinois.
 
'''Barack Hussein Obama''' (born August 4, 1961) is the 44th President of the United States of America and a former [[United States Senate|Senator]] representing Illinois.
  
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=Radical Associates=
 
=Radical Associates=
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The following are people affiliated with Obama throughout his life.
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==Frank Marshall Davis==
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[[Image:Smlissues01080608.jpg|left|thumb|[[Frank Marshall Davis]]]]
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Barack Obama's relationship to communist poet [[Frank Marshall Davis]], first came to light through a March 2007 speech<ref>http://www.politicalaffairs.net/article/articleview/5047/1/32/</ref> at New York University's Tamiment Library by [[Communist Party USA]] supporter and historian [[Gerald Horne]].
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Commenting on the alleged leftist sympathies of Hawaiians, Horne said;
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:''When these sources are explored, I think scholars of the future will be struck by, for example, the response in Honolulu when tens of thousands of workers went on strike when labor and CP leaders were convicted of Smith Act violations in 1953 – a response totally unlike the response on the mainland. Of course 98% of these workers were of Asian-Pacific ancestry, which suggests that scholars have also been derelict in analyzing why these workers were less anti-communist than their Euro-American counterparts.''
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:''In any case, deploring these convictions in Hawaii was an African-American poet and journalist by the name of Frank Marshall Davis, who was certainly in the orbit of the CP – if not a member – and who was born in Kansas and spent a good deal of his adult life in Chicago, before decamping to Honolulu in 1948 at the suggestion of his good friend Paul Robeson.''
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:''Eventually, he befriended another family – a Euro-American family – that had migrated to Honolulu from Kansas and a young woman from this family eventually had a child with a young student from Kenya East Africa who goes by the name of Barack Obama, who retracing the steps of Davis eventually decamped to Chicago.''
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:''In his best selling memoir ‘Dreams of my Father’, the author speaks warmly of an older black poet, he identifies simply as "Frank" as being a decisive influence in helping him to find his present identity as an African-American, a people who have been the least anticommunist and the most left-leaning of any constituency in this nation'' 
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:''At some point in the future, a teacher will add to her syllabus Barack’s memoir and instruct her students to read it alongside Frank Marshall Davis’ equally affecting memoir, "Living the Blues"...''
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It was soon revealed that [[Frank Marshall Davis]] was not merely in the Communist Party's "orbit"-he was a full fledged party member for many years, both in Chicago and Hawaii.
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===Obama/Frank Marshall Davis relationship===
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[[Barack Obama]]’s 1995 autobiography, Dreams from My Father, included several examples of Obama receiving  advice from [[Frank Marshall Davis]];   
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* Obama’s grandmother (Toot) and Gramps have an argument over whether Gramps should give Toot a ride to work after she had been threatened at a bus stop by a black panhandler. Obama looks to Frank to sort it out in his mind. (p. 89-91)
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* When Toot is having difficulty convincing the drug-abusing young Obama to apply for college, it is again Frank who is able to convince Obama that college is necessary.  (p. 96-98)
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* Frank tells the  young Obama  “…you may be a well-trained, well-paid nigger, but you’re a nigger just the same.” (p. 97)
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==Radical Harvard Mentor, Charles Ogletree==
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[[Image:Obamaogle.jpg|thumb|420px|[[Barack Obama]] and [[Charles Ogletree]]]]
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Radical Harvard law professor Ogletree claims to have mentoredmentored both [[Michelle Obama]] and [[Barack Obama]] during their respective periods  at the Ivy League university. [[Barack Obama]] participated in Ogletree's [[Saturday School Program]], which were designed to "''expose minority students, in particular, to critical issues in the study of law''.." According to Ogletree the Obama's have called on him for advice since that time<ref>http://www.essence.com/news_entertainment/news/articles/charles_ogletree_obama_</ref>.
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[[Image:Untitledmo.jpg|left|thumb|200px|[[Michelle Obama]] and [[Charles Ogletree]]]]
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:''I met Michelle when she started her legal career here at Harvard in the fall of 1985, and I was able to watch her develop into a very strong and powerful student leader. She was an active member of the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau, where she served as a student attorney for indigent clients who had civil cases and needed legal help...''
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:''I met Barack three years later when he arrived at Harvard Law School in fall of 1988. He was quiet and unassuming, but had an incredibly sharp mind and a thirst for knowledge. He was a regular participant in a program that I created called the Saturday School Program, which was a series of workshops and meetings held on Saturday mornings to expose minority students, in particular, to critical issues in the study of law. Even then I saw his ability to quickly grasp the most complicated legal issues and sort them out in a clear, concise fashion.''
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:''I was faculty adviser to the Harvard Black Law Student Association. I routinely gave career advice, and often personal advice, to students who would come in with questions about where they should work, how they should use their legal skills and talent, and was it possible to do well and do good...My advice to people like Barack and Michelle was that they could easily navigate the challenges of a corporate career and find a variety of ways to serve their community—through financial support, through volunteer legal services, and through getting involved in community efforts. So this advice started then, and I guess it must have been useful enough. They have not hesitated to call on me over the past 20-plus years as needed.''
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===Black Advisory Council===
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[[Image:1932598.47.jpg|thumb|120px|[[Cornel West]] and [[Charles Ogletree]]]]
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[[Barack Obama]] called on Ogletree and [[Democratic Socialists of America]] member [[Cornel West]], during his 2008 Presidential campaign. Ogletree and West both joined Obama's [[Black Advisory Council]]<ref>http://news.nationaljournal.com/articles/080331nj1.htm</ref>.
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''Ogletree has advised Obama on reforming the criminal-justice system as well on constitutional issues. He is a member of the Obama campaign's black advisory council, which also includes Cornel West, who teaches African-American studies at Princeton University. The group formed after Obama skipped a conference on African-American issues in Hampton, Va., to announce his presidential candidacy in Illinois.''
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==Reverend Jeremiah Wright==
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[[Image:Jeremiah wright.jpg|left|thumb|300px|[[Barack Obama]] and Rev. [[Jeremiah Wright]]]]
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Chicago alderman [[Toni Preckwinkle]] has suggested that Obama join the Rev. [[Jeremiah Wright]] led [http://www.tucc.org/ Trinity United Church of Christ] for political reasons, stating:
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:''"It’s a church that would provide you with lots of social connections and prominent parishioners. It’s a good place for a politician to be a member."''<ref>http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/07/21/080721fa_fact_lizza?currentPage=all</ref>
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==Quentin Young==
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[[Image:QDY Obama.jpg|thumb|250px|Quentin Young's 80th birthday, 2003]]
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Quentin Young is a long time member of Chicago [[Democratic Socialists of America]].
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In 1995, State Senator [[Alice Palmer]] introduced her chosen successor, [[Barack Obama]], at a gathering in the Hyde Park home of former [[Weather Underground]] terrorists [[Bill  Ayers]] and [[Bernardine Dohrn]].
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“''I can remember being one of a small group of people who came to Bill Ayers’ house to learn that Alice Palmer was stepping down from the senate and running for Congress,''” said Dr. [[Quentin Young]],  of the informal gathering at the home of Ayers and his wife, Dohrn. “[Palmer] ''identified'' [Obama] ''as her successor.”
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''
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[[Barack Obama]] and Alice Palmer “''were both there'',” he said.
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[[Quentin Young]] described Obama and Ayers as “''friends''<ref>http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0208/8630.html</ref>.”
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===Healthcare influence===
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<div class="video-small">{{#ev:youtube|MznWLC9IMp8|250}}[[Barack Obama]] on Single Payer Healthcare</div>
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[[Quentin Young]] is a long time friend and supporter of [[Barack Obama]]<ref>http://www.democracynow.org/2009/3/11/dr_quentin_young_obama_confidante_and</ref>. He was Obama's personal physician for more than 20 years<ref>http://www.facebook.com/posted.php?id=105544909634&share_id=12004239303</ref>.
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:''Quentin Young, perhaps the most well-known single-payer advocate in America. He was the Rev. Martin Luther King’s doctor when he lived in Chicago and a longtime friend and ally of Barack Obama.''
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In the 1990s [[Barack Obama]] and [[Quentin  Young]] were both supporters of "single payer" health care..
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As a state Senator, Obama and another leftist colleague and state representative [[Willie Delgado]] presented the The Health Care Justice Act to the Illinois House and Senate.
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According to blog Thomas Paine's Corner<ref>http://civillibertarian.blogspot.com/2007/02/barack-obama-hypocrisy-on-health-care.html</ref>;
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:''Barack Obama is quite familiar with the concepts and the specific merits of single payer. Back in the late 1990s, when he was an Illinois State Senator representing a mostly black district on the south side of Chicago, he took pains to consistently identify himself publicly with his neighbor Dr. Quentin Young.''
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:''He signed on as co-sponsor of the Bernardin Amendment, named after Chicago's late Catholic Archbishop, who championed the public policy idea that medical care was a human right, not a commodity. At that time, when it was to his political advantage, Obama didn't mind at all being perceived as an advocate of single payer.''
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Quentin Young has suported Obama politically for since at least 1995<ref>http://www.corporatecrimereporter.com/obama012808.htm</ref>.
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:''"I knew him before he was political, I supported him when he ran for state Senate. When he was a state Senator he did say that he supported single payer. Now, he hedges. Now he says, if we were starting from scratch, he would support single payer.”''
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:''“Barack’s a smart man, He probably calculated the political cost for being for single payer – the shower of opposition from the big boys – the drug companies and the health insurance companies. And so, like the rest of them, he fashioned a hodge podge of a health insurance plan.”''
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From a March 2009  [[Democracy Now!]] interview with [[Amy Goodman]]<ref>http://www.democracynow.org/2009/3/11/dr_quentin_young_obama_confidante_and</ref>;
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AMY GOODMAN:'' You’ve been a longtime friend of Barack Obama.''
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DR. QUENTIN YOUNG: ''Yeah''.
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AMY GOODMAN: ''How has he changed over the years?''
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DR. QUENTIN YOUNG: ''Well, Barack Obama, as we know, was a community organizer, a very lofty calling, in my book, and he made the decision, when the opportunity came, that he could get more done politically, and he accepted the nomination for the seat in the State Senate. It’s not that long ago, really. It’s about a six, eight years ago.''
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''Barack Obama, in those early days—influenced, I hope, by me and others—categorically said single payer was the best way, and he would inaugurate it if he could get the support, meaning majorities in both houses, which he’s got, and the presidency, which he’s got. And he said that on more than one occasion, and it represented the very high-grade intelligence we all know Barack has.... ''
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AMY GOODMAN: ''This brouhaha over the last week with the White House healthcare summit, 120 people, there were going to be no single-payer advocates. Congressman Conyers asked to go. At first, he was told no. He directly asked President Obama at a Congressional Black Caucus hearing. He asked to bring you and Marcia Angell—''
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DR. QUENTIN YOUNG: ''Yes.''
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AMY GOODMAN: ''—former editor-in-chief of the New England Journal of Medicine. You weren’t allowed to go. Do you have President Obama’s ear anymore? You have been an ally of his for years, for decades.''
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DR. QUENTIN YOUNG: ''Well, it’s mixed. I think we’re friends, certainly. At this gala that you mentioned, which was embarrassing, he did send a very complimentary letter. And I appreciate that, but I’d much rather have him enact single payer, to tell the truth. And we did—it’s fair to say, after a good deal of protest, I think we were told there was a—phones rang off the hook. They did allow our national president, Dr. Oliver Fein, to attend with Dr. Conyers—Congressman Conyers. That’s fine, but we need many more people representative of the American people at large to get this thing through the Congress, and Baucus, notwithstanding, be overruled.''
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==Supporting Alice Palmer==
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[[Image:Friends of Alice.JPG|thumb|350px|''Friends of Alice Palmer'' list]]
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In 1995, Barack Obama went to see his alderman, [[Toni Preckwinkle]],after South Side Chicago politics was upset by scandal. Local Congressman [[Mel Reynolds]], was facing charges of sexual assault of a sixteen-year-old campaign volunteer-eventually resigning his seat.) The looming vacancy interested several politicians, including state senator [[Alice Palmer]], who prepared to enter the congressional race.
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Palmer represented Hyde Park—Obama’s neighborhood—and, if she ran for Congress, she would need a replacement in Springfield, the state capital. The Palmer seat was what Barack Obama had in mind when he visited Alderman Preckwinkle<ref>http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/07/21/080721fa_fact_lizza?currentPage=all</ref>.
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:''“Barack came to me and said, ‘If Alice decides she wants to run, I want to run for her State Senate seat,’'' ”
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Barack Obama was an early supporter of [[Alice Palmer]] in her 1994 bid for U.S. Congress.
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In the mid 1990s Barack Obama was listed<ref>Undated Friends of Alice Palmer membership list. Harold Washington papers</ref>as a member of [[Friends of Alice Palmer]] (in formation),
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Others listed included at least three activists later proven to be members of [[Democratic Socialists of America]] [[Timuel Black]], [[Danny Davis]] and [[Betty Willhoite]] several DSA associates including [[David Orr]], [[Miguel del Valle]] and [[Toni Preckwinkle]] and  controversial property developer and political donor [[Tony Rezko]].
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On n September 19th 1995, Obama invited  two hundred supporters to a lakefront Ramada Inn to announce his candidacy for the State Senate, telling the crowd;
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:''“Politicians are not held to highest esteem these days...They fall somewhere lower than lawyers. . . . I want to inspire a renewal of morality in politics. I will work as hard as I can, as long as I can, on your behalf.” ''
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[[Alice Palmer]] introduced Obama, comparing him to [[Harold Washington]]<ref>http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/07/21/080721fa_fact_lizza?currentPage=all</ref>.
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:''“In this room, Harold Washington announced for mayor...Barack Obama carries on the tradition of independence in this district. . . . His candidacy is a passing of the torch.''”
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Obama had lined up support from [[Toni Preckwinkle]], his alderman, and [[Ivory Mitchell]], the local ward chairman. Alice Palmer’s endorsement brought with it local operators and local activists. The operators helped Obama get on the ballot and handled the mechanics of his election. Two key operators were [[Alan Dobry]] and his wife, [[Lois Dobry]], then in their late sixties and leaders of the Independent movement<ref>http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/07/21/080721fa_fact_lizza?currentPage=all</ref>.
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Alice Palmer  asked several people to hold fund-raising coffees for Obama. At her suggestion, [[Sam Ackerman]] and [[Martha Ackerman]], who were leaders of [[Independent Voters of Illinois]], hosted a coffee at their home. Unlike the Dobrys, they insisted on a meeting with Obama before backing him, and their support was important enough for him to spend an hour with them in their dining room, submitting to an interview<ref>http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/07/21/080721fa_fact_lizza?currentPage=all</ref>. Their reaction to him was a common one. ''“I don’t think he said he wanted to run for President, but he indicated that he was into public service for the long haul'',” said Martha Ackerman. “''I remember very clearly I said to Sam, ‘If this guy is for real, he could be the first African-American President of the United States.''’ ”
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===Defeating Alice Palmer===
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In October 1995, Obama traveled to Washington DC  for the [[Million Man March]]. By December, 1995, his South Side coalition had begun to fall apart. Alice Palmer’s congressional campaign was outshone by her Democratic-primary opponents—[[Jesse Jackson, Jr]], and [[Emil Jones]], a longtime leader in the State Senate.
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Several weeks before the primary, a group of her supporters realized that Palmer was destined for defeat and summoned Obama to a meeting. The [[Chicago Defender]] reported that Obama was asked ''“to step aside like other African Americans have done in other races for the sake of unity and to release Palmer from her commitment''”—so that she could reclaim her State Senate seat. Obama left the meeting making no commitment.
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Palmer was soundly defeated by Jackson and there were more demands that Obama withdraw. He refused, which angered Palmer and her husband, [[Buzz Palmer]]. Alice Palmer, announced that she would run against Obama.
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The South Side left  was split. The Ackermans went with Palmer, the Dobrys with Obama. [[Emil Jones]] announced his support for Palmer. [[Toni Preckwinkle]] stayed with Obama<ref>http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/07/21/080721fa_fact_lizza?currentPage=all</ref>. “
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:''I had given him my word I would support him...Alice didn’t forgive me, and she’s never going to forgive me.''”
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The Dobrys went to the Chicago board of elections and reviewed her Alice Palmer's electoral petitions. They found them full of  irregularities<ref>http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/07/21/080721fa_fact_lizza?currentPage=all</ref>.
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:''One skill that the Independents had mastered in the years of fighting the first Mayor Daley was the machine’s tactic of challenging ballot petitions, and the Dobrys were experts at this Chicago ritual. Publicly, Obama was conciliatory about the awkward political situation, telling the Hyde Park Herald that he understood that some people were upset about the “conflict between old loyalties and new enthusiasms.” Privately, however, he unleashed his operators. With the help of the Dobrys, he was able to remove not just Palmer’s name from the ballot but the name of every other opponent as well.'' “
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Barack Obama went into his first election unopposed.
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==Tony Rezko==
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[[Image:Rezko obama.jpg|left|200px]]
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Barack Obama became involved with [[Tony Rezko]] at least as early as the [[Alice Palmer]] Congressional campaign.
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:''Rezko’s rise in Illinois was intertwined with Obama’s. Like Abner Mikva and Judson Miner, he had tried to recruit Obama to work for him. Chicago had been at the forefront of an urban policy to lure developers into low-income neighborhoods with tax credits, and Rezko was an early beneficiary of the program. Miner’s law firm was eager to do the legal work on the tax-credit deals, which seemed consistent with the firm’s over-all civil-rights mission. A residual benefit was that the new developers became major donors to aldermen, state senators, and other South Side politicians who represented the poor neighborhoods in which Rezko and others operated.''
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“''Our relationship deepened when I started my first political campaign for the State Senate,''” Obama said in 2008, in an interview with Chicago reporters<ref>http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/07/21/080721fa_fact_lizza?currentPage=all</ref>.
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Rezko was one of the people Obama consulted when he considered running to replace [[Alice Palmer]]. Rezko also raised about ten per cent of Obama’s funds for that first campaign.
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As a state senator, Obama became an advocate of the tax-credit program. “''That’s an example of a smart policy,''” he told the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin in 1997. “''The developers were thinking in market terms and operating under the rules of the marketplace; but at the same time, we had government supporting and subsidizing those efforts.''”
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Obama and Rezko’s friendship blossomed<ref>http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/07/21/080721fa_fact_lizza?currentPage=all</ref>.
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:''They dined together regularly and even, on at least one occasion, retreated to Rezko’s vacation home, in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin.''
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==Bill Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn==
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'''Career launching'''
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In 1995, State Senator [[Alice Palmer]] introduced her chosen successor, Barack Obama, at a gathering in the Hyde Park home of former [[Weather Underground]] terrorists [[Bill  Ayers]] and [[Bernardine Dohrn]].
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“''I can remember being one of a small group of people who came to Bill Ayers’ house to learn that Alice Palmer was stepping down from the senate and running for Congress,''” said Dr. [[Quentin Young]], a prominent Chicago physician  of the informal gathering at the home of Ayers and his wife, Dohrn. “[Palmer] ''identified'' [Obama] as her successor.”
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Barack Obama and [[Alice Palmer]] ''“were both there,''” he said.
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[[Quentin Young]] described Obama and Ayers as “''friends''<ref>http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0208/8630.html</ref>.”
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'''Ayers book'''
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[[Image:Obama ayers book.jpg|right|thumb]]
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Obama wrote an endorsement for [[Bill Ayers]] book "A Kind and Just Parent:Children of Juvenile Court"
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'''Chicago seminar'''
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[[Bill Ayers]] and [[Barack Obama]]  spoke together at a public gathering sponsored by [[The Center for Public Intellectuals]] & the University of Illinois-Chicago, April 19th-20th, 2002, at the Chicago Illini Union;
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"Intellectuals: Who Needs Them?
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IV. Intellectuals in Times of Crisis
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Experiences and applications of intellectual work in urgent situations.
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*[[Bill Ayers]], UIC, College of Education; author of Fugitive Days
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*[[Douglass Cassel]], Northwestern University, Center for International Human Rights
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*[[Cathy Cohen]], University of Chicago, Political Science
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*[[Salim Muwakkil]], Chicago Tribune; [[In These Times]]
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*[[Barack Obama]], Illinois State Senator
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*[[Barbara Ransby]], UIC, African-American Studies (moderator)<ref>http://www.uic.edu/classes/las/las400/conferencealt.htm</ref>.
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==Meeting AlQazwini==
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[[Image:News 051408 pic1.jpg|thumb|200px|[[Barack Obama]] and [[Sayed Hassan AlQazwini]]]]
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Then Presidential candidate Barack Obama met with Iraq born, Iran educated, Michigan Muslim leader [[Sayed Hassan AlQazwini]] in May 2008, reportedly arranged through Qazwini's [[American Rights at Work]] colleague and Obama Transition Team member[[David Bonior]].
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According to Michigan journalist Debbie Schlussel<ref>http://www.debbieschlussel.com/3770/the-company-he-keeps-obama-hangs-with-hezbollahs-iranian-agent-imam/</ref>;
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:''Imam Hassan Qazwini, head of the Islamic Center of America, said in an email that he met with Obama at Macomb Community College. A mosque spokesman, Eide Alawan, confirmed that the meeting took place. During the meeting, the two discussed the Presidential election, the Arab-Israeli conflict, and the Iraq war, according to Qazwini.''
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:''At the end of the meeting, Qazwini said he gave Obama a copy of new book, "American Crescent," and invited Obama to visit his center.''
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:''The meeting with Obama came about after Qazwini had asked David Bonior, the former U.S. Rep. from Michigan, if he could meet with Obama during his visit. Qazwini was not selected to be part of a group of 20 people who met with Obama, but Qazwini later got a private meeting with Obama, Alawan said.''
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:''"They gave him an opportunity for a one-on-one," Alawan said. . .'' .
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==David Axelrod==
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[[Image:Axelrod460x276.jpg|thumb|200px|Barack Obama and David Axelrod]]
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[[David Axelrod]] is an American political consultant based in Chicago, Illinois and is a Senior Advisor to President Barack Obama.
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==Helping Blagojevich==
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In 2002 Obama helped advise then-victorious gubernatorial candidate [[Rod Blagojevich]]. According to [[Rahm Emanuel]], Blagojevich, Obama, [[David Wilhelm]] (Blagojevich’s campaign co-chair), and another Blagojevich aide were the top strategists of Blagojevich’s victory. He and Obama "participated in a small group that met weekly when Rod was running for governor,” Emanuel said. “We basically laid out the general election, Barack and I and these two." A spokesman for Blagojevich has confirmed Emanuel’s account, although David Wilhelm, who now works for Obama, said that Emanuel had overstated Obama’s role. “There was an advisory council that was inclusive of Rahm and Barack but not limited to them,” Wilhelm said, and he disputed the notion that Obama was “an architect or one of the principal strategists''<ref>http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/07/21/080721fa_fact_lizza?currentPage=all</ref>.”
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==References==
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<references/>
  
 
=Radical Appointments=
 
=Radical Appointments=
  
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=[[Affiliated Organizations]]=
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Radical and Controversial Appointments made by the [[Barack Obama|Obama]] administration.
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Discover Barack Obama's involvement with the following organizations:
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<h4>[[Barack Obama and the DSA|Democratic Socialists of America]]</h4>
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==David Bonior==
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<h4>[[Barack Obama and the New Party|New Party]]</h4>
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[[David Bonior]] has connections to the radical Washington D.C. "think tank" [[Institute for Policy Studies]].<ref>http://www.farmworkers.org/let-mofi.html</ref> He has also been involved in the [[Democratic Socialists of America]].
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<h4>[[Barack Obama and the Communist Party|Communist Party USA]]</h4>
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<h4>[[Barack Obama and CoC|Committees of Correspondence]]</h4>
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Bonior was touted as a likely Obama Labor Secretary but withdrew his name from contention. Obama then delegated Bonior, a member of his Transition Economic Advisory Board, to broker a re-unification of the U.S. labor movement, bringing the [[Change To Win]] grouping and the [[AFL-CIO]] back together under one banner<ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/20/us/politics/20web-bonior.html?_r=1&emc=eta1</ref>.
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<h4>[[Barack Obama and the Labor Movement|Labor Movement]]</h4>
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<h4>[[Barack Obama - ACORN and Project Vote|ACORN & Project Vote]]</h4>
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According to the RBO blog<ref>http://therealbarackobama.wordpress.com/2009/04/21/labor-reunification/</ref>;
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''[[Barack Obama, organizations|Other organizations...]]''
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:''The NYT’s David Greenhouse reported that, on January 7, the union presidents first met with Bonior, a member of Obama’s economic transition team...Bonior helped “arrange and oversee” the meeting.''
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:''The union presidents issued their joint call after the transition team for President-elect Barack Obama signaled that it would prefer dealing with a united movement, rather than a fractured one that often had two competing voices.''
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==Rosa Brooks==
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[[Rosa Brooks]] is a senior advisor to the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, [[Michele Flournoy]]. Until her appointment to the Obama administration she served on the Georgetown Law full-time faculty. Brooks, who wrote a weekly opinion column for the Los Angeles Times, holds degrees from Harvard, Oxford, and Yale Law School.
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==Van Jones==
 +
[[Image:Barry-van-jones1.jpg|thumb|left|[[Van Jones]] and [[Barack Obama]]]]
 +
 
 +
[[Van Jones]] was appointed on March 10, 2009 as Green Jobs adviser to the Obama administration - or officially, Special Adviser for Green Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation at the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ).
 +
 
 +
Jones  was one of 100 "prominent Americans" who signed an October 26 2004 statement circulated by [[911Truth.org]] calling on the U.S. Government to investigate 9/11 as a possible "inside job".<ref>[http://www.911truth.org/article.php?story=20041026093059633 911 Truth statement]</ref> In 2008 Van Jones was a Senior Fellow at the [[Center for American Progress]]<ref>http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2008/10/green_collar_economy.html/#2</ref>.
 +
 
 +
==Carol Browner==
 +
In 2005 Carol Browner served on the board of [[Center for American Progress]] as the Principal of the [[The Albright Group]].<ref>[http://www.americanprogress.org/aboutus/files/annual_report_2004-2005.pdf 2004-2005 Annual Report of the Center for American Progress]</ref>
 +
 
 +
[[Carol Browner]] is President [[Barack Obama]]'s "Global Warming Czar".  Browner ran the [[Environmental Protection Agency]] under President [[Bill Clinton]]. Until she was tapped for the Obama administration, she was on the board of directors for the [[National Audubon Society]], the [[League of Conservation Voters]], the [[Center for American Progress]] and former Vice President [[Al Gore]]'s [[Alliance for Climate Protection]].
 +
 
 +
==Heather Higginbottom==
 +
[[Heather Higginbottom]] was appointed as Deputy Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy on November 24, 2008. she was formerly with the [[Obama for America]] campaign. On October 30, 2001, while working for Senator Kerry, she addressed a Boston [[Democratic Socialists of America]] organized forum entitled "Welfare, Children and Families: The Impact of Welfare Reform".<ref>http://www.dsaboston.org/2001Wilson.htm</ref>
 +
 
 +
==Patrick Gaspard==
 +
[[Patrick Gaspard]] is a Brooklyn-based, 41-year-old Democratic operative who became, in June 2009, a White House director of the office of political affairs. In 1995 Patrick Gaspard was an organizer for the New Jersey chapter of the [[New Party]].<ref>"Jersey Man Hopes to Create Third Political Party," National Public Radio, "Morning Edition, " September 28, 1995</ref>
 +
 
 +
==Kevin Jennings==
 +
[[Kevin Jennings]] was appointed Assistant Deputy Secretary for the [[Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools]] at the [[U.S. Department of Education]] by the Obama administration.<ref name=article>[http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/09/23/critics-assail-obamas-safe-schools-czar-say-hes-wrong-man-job/ ''Fox News'', Critics Assail Obama's 'Safe Schools' Czar, Say He's Wrong Man for the Job, September 23, 2009]</ref>
 +
 
 +
Jennings has come under fire for a number of controversies during his time as a teacher, and then as the founder and director of the [[Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network]]. In 1988 a student told him that he had met an older man in a bus station bathroom, and gone home with him. Jennings understood that the boy was fifteen-years-old, however instead of reporting the incident as required under law, he said to the boy, ''"You know, I hope you knew to use a condom."''. Jennings has used a pornography and pedophilia publisher to publish three text-books he has written. Jennings' admiration for [[Harry Hay]], an outspoken supporter of the [[North American Man/Boy Love Association]] has also come under question. In his work for GLSEN, Jennings has railed against what he terms as the "promotion of heterosexuality" in schools. He was also involved in two notorious "Teach-Out" Conferences, during which student participants were given explicit instructions on a number of sexual techniques, and where [[Planned Parenthood]] distributed "fisting kits".<ref>[[Kevin Jennings|KeyWiki: Kevin Jennings]]</ref>
 +
 
 +
==Mark Lloyd==
 +
<div class="video-small">{{#ev:youtube|0gyivhkllMA|250}}[[Mark Lloyd]] praises [[Hugo Chavez]] at the [[Leadership Conference on Civil Rights]]</div>
 +
 
 +
[[Mark Lloyd]] is the associate general counsel and Chief Diversity Officer at the Federal Communications Commission of the United States. He has been a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress focusing on communications policy issues, including universal service, advanced telecommunications deployment, media concentration and diversity.
 +
 
 +
At a conference on media reform and racial justice in 2008, Lloyd made the following comment:
 +
:''"In Venezuela, with Chavez, really an incredible revolution, a democratic revolution to begin to put in place things that were going to have an impact on the people in Venezuela. The property owners and the folks who were then controlling the media in Venezuela rebelled, worked, frankly, with the folks here in the U.S. government, worked to oust him. But he came back in another revolution, and then Chavez began to take very seriously the media in his country."''
 +
 
 +
==Samantha Power==
 +
In January 2009 President Obama appointed [[Samantha Power]] to the National Security Council, as director for multilateral affairs.<ref>http://www.law.harvard.edu/news/2009/01/30_power.html</ref> Before this she had served as a senior advisor to [[Barack Obama]] in his Presidential campaign. However she resigned in March 2008 under controversy over her remarks about [[Hillary Clinton]].
 +
 
 +
In 2003 Power signed the [[Statement on Cuba]], initiated and circulated by prominent [[Democratic Socialists of America]] (DSA) member [[Leo Casey]], calling for the lifting of trade sanctions against Cuba.<ref>http://www.nathannewman.org/log/archives/000912.shtml</ref> Power has also been criticized for her hostility towards the state of Israel.<ref>[[Samantha Power|Keywiki: Samantha Power]]</ref>
 +
 
 +
==Ron Bloom==
 +
[[Image:Obama-ron-bloom.jpg|thumb|400px|from left: [[Barack Obama]], [[Ron Bloom]] and [[Lawrence Summers]]]]
 +
When President Obama came into office, [[Ron Bloom]] became an aide to Rattner at the Presidential Task Force on the Auto Industry. When Rattner resigned after just five months, Bloom took over as car czar.
 +
 
 +
In September 2009 Bloom accepted a new position overseeing manufacturing policy for the Obama administration.
 +
 
 +
Bloom said his decision to join the administration was, in part, the product of a broader sense of engagement and desire to improve the world, which he developed in his [[Habonim]] years.
 +
 
 +
:''“That’s part of what I try to do in my work life...That’s one of the things that made me want to work for Obama.”''<ref>http://money.cnn.com/2009/02/25/autos/Obama_car_czar.fortune/index.htm</ref>
 +
 
 +
==Hilda Solis==
 +
In January 2009, [[Hilda Solis]] who has claimed to be inspired by [[Cesar Chavez]] was nominated by the Obama administration for the position of Secretary in the [[Department of Labor]] and confirmed in February 2009.<ref>[http://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing_room/nominations_and_appointments/ Nominations and appointments]</ref> She enjoyed support from the [[Communist Party USA]] in her run for U.S. Congress in 2000.<ref name=peoplesweekly>People's Weekly World June 20 1996</ref> She also has indirect ties to the [[Socialist International]].<ref>http://www.socialistinternational.org/viewArticle.cfm?ArticleID=1924&ArticlePageID=1252&ModuleID=18</ref> Solis was a keynote speaker at the 2005 [[Democratic Socialists of America]] national conference "Twenty-First Century Socialism" in Los Angeles, with DSA leaders [[Peter Dreier]] and [[Harold Meyerson]].<ref>http://www.dsausa.org/dl/Winter_2006.pdf</ref>
 +
 
 +
==Cass Sunstein==
 +
In April 2009, Cass Sunstein was nominated by the Obama administration for the position of Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs in the White House [[Office of Management and Budget]].<ref>[http://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing_room/nominations_and_appointments/ Nominations and appointments]</ref>
 +
 
 +
==Antonio Villaraigosa==
 +
[[Image:Vobamam.jpg|thumb|300px|[[Barack Obama]] and [[Antonio Villaraigosa]]]]
 +
 
 +
Shortly after winning the November 2008 election President-Elect [[Barack Obama]] appointed Mayor of Los Angeles, [[Antonio Villaraigosa]] to his Transition Economic Advisory Board. In 2009, Antonio Vilaraigosa was listed as an Endorsor of the [[Communist Party USA]] initiated [[Cesar E. Chavez National Holiday]] organization<ref>http://www.cesarchavezholiday.org/index.html</ref> As of March 2009, Antonio Villaraigosa was serving on the board of [[Institute for Americas Future]].{{Cite}}
 +
 
 +
==References==
 +
<references/>
 +
 
 +
=Ties to Islam=
 +
 
 +
[[Barack Obama]] - Ties to Islam and Islamic radicals.
 +
 
 +
==Obama hiding pro-Palestinian views?==
 +
In a March 2007 post on his website [[The Electronic Intifada]], Chicago activist [[Ali Abuminah]]  criticized Barack Obama, for an apparent reversal  of his previous pro-Palestinian views.<ref>http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article6619.shtml</ref>
 +
 
 +
:''"I first met Democratic presidential hopeful Senator Barack Obama almost ten years ago when, as my representative in the Illinois state senate, he came to speak at the University of Chicago. He impressed me as progressive, intelligent and charismatic. I distinctly remember thinking 'if only a man of this calibre could become president one day.'''
 +
 
 +
:''On Friday Obama gave a speech to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) in Chicago. It had been much anticipated in American Jewish political circles which buzzed about his intensive efforts to woo wealthy pro-Israel campaign donors who up to now have generally leaned towards his main rival Senator Hillary Clinton.''
 +
 
 +
:''Reviewing the speech, Ha'aretz Washington correspondent Shmuel Rosner concluded that Obama "sounded as strong as Clinton, as supportive as Bush, as friendly as Giuliani. At least rhetorically, Obama passed any test anyone might have wanted him to pass. So, he is pro-Israel. Period."''
 +
 
 +
:''Israel is "our strongest ally in the region and its only established democracy," Obama said, assuring his audience that "we must preserve our total commitment to our unique defense relationship with Israel by fully funding military assistance and continuing work on the Arrow and related missile defense programs." Such advanced multi-billion dollar systems he asserted, would help Israel "deter missile attacks from as far as Tehran and as close as Gaza." As if the starved, besieged and traumatized population of Gaza are about to develop intercontinental ballistic missiles.''
 +
 
 +
:''Obama offered not a single word of criticism of Israel, of its relentless settlement and wall construction, of the closures that make life unlivable for millions of Palestinians."''
 +
 
 +
Abunimah then went on to give, a different perspective on  Obama's views and told of the Obamas dining with radical Arab academic [[Edward Said]].
 +
[[Image:Barackobama483.jpg|left|thumb|400px|[[Michelle Obama]], then Illinois state senator [[Barack Obama]], Columbia University Professor [[Edward Said]] and [[Mariam Said]] at a May 1998 Arab community event in Chicago at which Edward Said gave the keynote speech.]]
 +
 
 +
:''"Over the years since I first saw Obama speak I met him about half a dozen times, often at Palestinian and Arab-American community events in Chicago including a May 1998 community fundraiser at which Edward Said was the keynote speaker. In 2000, when Obama unsuccessfully ran for Congress I heard him speak at a campaign fundraiser hosted by a University of Chicago professor. On that occasion and others Obama was forthright in his criticism of U.S. policy and his call for an even-handed approach to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.''
 +
 
 +
:''The last time I spoke to Obama was in the winter of 2004 at a gathering in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. He was in the midst of a primary campaign to secure the Democratic nomination for the United States Senate seat he now occupies. But at that time polls showed him trailing.''
 +
 
 +
:''As he came in from the cold and took off his coat, I went up to greet him. He responded warmly, and volunteered, "Hey, I'm sorry I haven't said more about Palestine right now, but we are in a tough primary race. I'm hoping when things calm down I can be more up front." He referred to my activism, including columns I was contributing to the The Chicago Tribune critical of Israeli and U.S. policy, "Keep up the good work!"''
 +
 
 +
:''If disappointing, given his historically close relations to Palestinian-Americans, Obama's about-face is not surprising. He is merely doing what he thinks is necessary to get elected and he will continue doing it as long as it keeps him in power. Palestinian-Americans are in the same position as civil libertarians who watched with dismay as Obama voted to reauthorize the USA Patriot Act, or immigrant rights advocates who were horrified as he voted in favor of a Republican bill to authorize the construction of a 700-mile fence on the border with Mexico."''
 +
 
 +
==Friendship with Rashid Khalidi==
 +
In 2003, then-Illinois state Senator [[Barack Obama]] spoke at a farewell event for [[Rashid Khalidi]] who was leaving Chicago for a professor job at Columbia University in New York. Obama was a friend of Khalidi and his frequent dinner companion. He had many in-depth conversations over meals prepared by Khalidi's wife, [[Mona Khalidi|Mona]] at their home in Chicago.
 +
 
 +
Khalidi also stated that while he strongly disagrees with Obama's current views on Israel, and has often disagreed with him during their talks over the years, he thinks that Obama would be more understanding of the Palestinian experience than typical American politicians due to his unusual background, with family ties to Kenya and Indonesia. He commented,
 +
:''"He has family literally all over the world. I feel a kindred spirit from that."''<ref name=latimes>[http://articles.latimes.com/2008/apr/10/nation/na-obamamideast10 LA Times: ''Allies of Palestinians see a friend in Obama'', April 10, 2008]</ref>
 +
 
 +
In 2000 Rashid Khalidi held a fundraiser for Obama's unsuccessful run for congress.<ref>[http://www.wnd.com/index.php?pageId=57231 World Net Daily: ''Obama worked with terrorist'', Feb. 24, 2008]</ref>
 +
 
 +
The [[Woods Fund of Chicago]] made grants totaling $75,000 to Khalidi's Arab American Action Network in 2001 and 2002, while Obama served as the Director of the Fund.{{Cite}}
 +
 
 +
==Meeting AlQazwini==
 +
[[Image:News 051408 pic1.jpg|thumb|200px|Obama and [[Sayed Hassan AlQazwini]] ]]
 +
Then Presidential candidate Barack Obama met with Iraq born, Iran educated, Michigan Muslim leader [[Sayed Hassan AlQazwini]] in May 2008, reportedly arranged through Qazwini's [[American Rights at Work]] colleague and Obama Transition Team member [[David Bonior]].
 +
 
 +
According to Michigan journalist Debbie Schlussel:<ref>http://www.debbieschlussel.com/3770/the-company-he-keeps-obama-hangs-with-hezbollahs-iranian-agent-imam/</ref>
 +
 
 +
:''"Imam Hassan Qazwini, head of the Islamic Center of America, said in an email that he met with Obama at Macomb Community College. A mosque spokesman, Eide Alawan, confirmed that the meeting took place. During the meeting, the two discussed the Presidential election, the Arab-Israeli conflict, and the Iraq war, according to Qazwini.''
 +
 
 +
:''At the end of the meeting, Qazwini said he gave Obama a copy of new book, "American Crescent," and invited Obama to visit his center.''
 +
 
 +
:''The meeting with Obama came about after Qazwini had asked David Bonior, the former U.S. Rep. from Michigan, if he could meet with Obama during his visit. Qazwini was not selected to be part of a group of 20 people who met with Obama, but Qazwini later got a private meeting with Obama, Alawan said.''
 +
 
 +
:''They gave him an opportunity for a one-on-one."''
 +
 
 +
==References==
 +
<references/>
 +
 
 +
=Chicago Socialist Movement=
 +
 
 +
'''Barack Obama and the Chicago Socialist Movement'''
 +
 
 +
==Chicago socialist alliance==
 +
[[Barack Obama]] did not rise to prominence from a political vacuum.
 +
 
 +
His political career has been supported since its earliest stages by  a coalition of Chicago socialists.
 +
 
 +
This alliance, centered around the [[Communist Party USA]],  Democratic Socialists of America and the far left of the [[Democratic Party]] came into its own in Chicago in the early  1980s.
 +
 
 +
One of the alliance's major successes was the election of  Chicago's first black Mayor, [[Harold Washington]] in 1983. A Democratic Party Congressman, Washington bravely and successfully ran for mayor against the remnants of the once  invincible Daley machine.
 +
 
 +
Washington died in office in 1987, but the alliance remained intact, incorporating the Communist Party spin-off [[Committees of Correspondence]] and went on to elect  [[Carol Moseley Braun]], to the U.S. Senate in 1992.
 +
 
 +
The same alliance worked to elect [[Barack Obama]], to Moseley Braun's former Senate seat in 2004. In 2008, they worked with their allies nationwide to help put Barack Obama into the  White House.
 +
 
 +
==Legacy of Harold Washington==
 +
[[Image:Imagewshing.jpg|left|Harold Washington|frame]]
 +
On February 25, 2008  the  the [[Communist Party USA]] online journal [[Political Affairs]] published an article by [[Joel Wendland]] entitled "Harold Washington: The People’s Mayor".
 +
 
 +
In the article Wendland suggested that [[Barack Obama]]'s rise was attributable the legacy of [[Harold Washington]];
 +
 
 +
:''Another unquantifiable part of Washington’s legacy is his enduring influence on national politics. Just about everyone interviewed for this story eventually came around to talking about another emerging Chicagoan – Barack Obama. Perhaps it is no accident that he too talks in broad, hopeful terms about change, reform, and empowering the people to reclaim democracy.''
 +
 
 +
:''Indeed, is it mere chance that Obama’s main campaign image is a rising sun over a flag and the words “Obama for America”? Those blue buttons that dotted Chicago’s landscape in those exciting days of 1982 and 1983 showed rays of the sun like hope rising above the words “Washington for Chicago.”''
 +
 
 +
:''Perhaps Washington’s very greatest legacy is the insurgent challenge to politics as usual Obama represents on a national stage. Perhaps “the peoples’ mayor” will inspire the making of “the peoples’ president.”''
 +
 
 +
[[Elwood Flowers]], former vice president of the Illinois [[AFL-CIO]] and was a close friend and political ally of [[Harold Washington]].
 +
 
 +
In a 2008 interview with [[Communist Party USA]] member [[Pepe Lozano]],  Flowers asserted that the  movement to elect [[Barack Obama]] in 2008 was "almost identical to Washington’s, but nationwide". According to  Flowers. “Our members wanted to be involved in the political process, similar to people today for Obama,”
 +
 
 +
:''“What Obama can do for the country will help all communities including providing jobs and health care. And the number one issue is stopping the Iraq war, which is draining our economic resources. If those things bear fruit, then they will benefit all working-class communities...<ref>http://communistpartyillinois.blogspot.com/2008/02/harold-washington-wore-union-label.html</ref>''”
 +
 
 +
==Barack Obama and Harold Washington==
 +
Barack Obama was reportedly inspired to move to Chicago by the election of [[Harold Washington]] as Mayor in 1983;
 +
 
 +
:''When Barack Obama was 22 years old, just out of Columbia University, he took a $10,000-a-year job as a community organizer on the South Side of Chicago. It was a shrewd move for a young black man with an interest in politics...''
 +
 
 +
:''The politician who truly set the stage for Obama's rise was also a South Side congressman: Harold Washington, who was elected mayor of Chicago in 1983...In New York, Obama read about Washington's victory and wrote to City Hall, asking for a job. He never heard back, but he made it to Chicago just months after Washington took office...''
 +
 
 +
Washington died of a heart  attack in 1987, at the beginning of his  second term;
 +
 
 +
:''But the confidence he instilled in black leaders became a permanent factor in Chicago politics. His success inspired Jesse Jackson to run for president in 1984, which in turn inspired Obama...Washington also strengthened the community organizations in which Obama was cutting his teeth...Obama's Project Vote, which put him on the local political map, was a successor to the South Side voter registration drive that made Washington's election possible.''
 +
 
 +
==Washington/Moseley Braun/Obama==
 +
Radical Chicago journalist [[Don Rose]] worked for [[Harold Washington]], [[Carol Moseley Braun]] and mentored senior Obama adviser [[David Axelrod]].
 +
 
 +
According to [[Don Rose]], Chicago has two unique advantages.
 +
 
 +
First, it's in Cook County, which contains nearly half of Illinois' voters. Second, the local [[Democratic Party]] is a county wide organization. After Chicago's [[Carol Moseley Braun]] beat two white men to win the 1992 Democratic Senate primary, precinct captains in white Chicago neighborhoods and the suburbs whipped up votes for her in the general election.
 +
 
 +
"''They had to go out and sell the black person to demonstrate that the party was still open,''" says Rose, who sees "''direct links''" from [[Harold Washington]] to [[Carol Moseley Braun]] to [[Barack Obama]].
 +
 
 +
==Marilyn Katz "Barack Obama  could only have emerged in Chicago"==
 +
[[Marilyn Katz]] has worked closely with [[Barack Obama]] since meeting him through his position at [[Miner, Barnhill & Galland]] in the 1990s.<ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/11/us/politics/11chicago.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1</ref>
 +
:''It was through the law firm that Mr. Obama met Marilyn Katz, who gave him entry into another activist network: the foot soldiers of the white student and black power movements that helped define Chicago in the 1960s.
 +
 
 +
:''As a leader of Students for a Democratic Society then, Ms. Katz organized Vietnam War protests, throwing nails in the street to thwart the police. But like many from that era, Ms. Katz had gone on to become a politically active member of the Chicago establishment, playing in a regular poker game with Mr. Miner while working as a consultant to his nemesis, Mayor Daley.''
 +
:''“For better or worse, this is Chicago,” said Ms. Katz, who has held fund-raisers for Mr. Obama at her home. “Everyone is connected to everyone.”''''
 +
 
 +
In August 2008 [[Don Rose]] and [[Marilyn Katz]] gave an interview to the [[Democratic Socialists of America]]  linked journal [[In These Times]], just before Obama's "coronation" at the [[Democratic Party]] Convention in Denver.
 +
 
 +
'''ITT''' ''40 years ago this week, Chicago police battled protesters at the DNC. Two ’60s radicals remember the madness, and look to Denver for change...''
 +
 
 +
''The ‘68 Democratic National Convention debacle remains a symbol of everything that went wrong with American politics, society and culture in that tumultuous and iconic year. It was five days of mayhem in the Windy City, five days that left the Democratic Party in shambles...''
 +
 
 +
''In August 1968, those explosive battles put Chicago at the epicenter of one of the most searing political and social upheavals of the 20th century. In August 2008, a U.S. senator from Chicago will be anointed the first black major-party nominee for the presidency of the United States.''
 +
 
 +
''Don Rose...the political wise man has helped elect mayors and senators since then, from Harold Washington to Paul Simon. Now 77, Rose - a mentor to David Axelrod, Obama’s top campaign strategist...''
 +
 
 +
''The 1983 election of Harold Washington as Chicago’s first black mayor came courtesy of a progressive coalition of blacks, Latinos and so-called “Lakefront liberals.” Katz and Rose were there, once again, as advisors and operatives.''
 +
 
 +
'''Katz''' ''My straight line goes from ‘66/’68 to the folks who began to work together and formed the core group of the Harold Washington campaign. (Almost) everyone I worked with in 1982 I had met as a kid in ‘68. I believe that Barack Obama could only have emerged in Chicago. Why? Because since ‘68 there was a web of relationships between black civil rights groups, anti-war groups, women’s activities, immigrant rights activities, that has sustained and grown...''
 +
 
 +
'''ITT''' ''The Democratic Party will gather once again later this month. Everybody is expecting a big party in Denver. Will it be an Obama coronation? Is that what we should be looking for?''
 +
 
 +
''So how do you resolve Obama’s move to the center? What about holding his feet to the fire? Don’t we need to keep him true to progressive issues?''
 +
 
 +
'''Katz''' ''We have to get him into office so then we can be the left opposition. I think it is a delicate balance between those of us who are progressive, how much you push, how much you don’t want to put him in very difficult positions that would embarrass him or give John McCain some advantage..''.
 +
 
 +
==Axelrod on the Washington/Obama connection==
 +
Obama chief campaign strategist and senior adviser [[David Axelrod]] has also commented on the [[Harold Washington]]/ Obama connection.
 +
 
 +
From [[The Nation]] February 6th 2007<ref>http://www.thenation.com/doc/20070219/hayes</ref>;
 +
 
 +
:''Axelrod and Forest Claypool...opened their own consulting shop, handling mostly long-shot candidates until 1987, when Chicago Mayor Harold Washington hired the firm to help with his re-election. Four years earlier, Washington had won a historic victory...As the Tribune's city hall bureau chief, Axelrod had ringside seats. "Nineteen eighty-three, that was a phenomenal election. Harold Washington--extraordinary guy. I mean, he was the most kinetic campaigner and politician that I've ever met. It was inspiring the way the African-American community came alive around the prospect of electing Harold...''
 +
 
 +
:''Axelrod sees Obama, who was working in Chicago as a community organizer during the Washington years, as a marker of progress, writing the second act of a story that Washington started...''
 +
 
 +
:''Twenty-one years later, when Barack ran for the U.S. Senate in the primary against six very strong candidates, he carried every ward on the northwest side except one...I was thinking, and I told Barack, that Harold Washington is smiling down on us."''
 +
 
 +
==Communist Party on the Washington/Obama connection==
 +
In a November 23 2007 report to a Chicago Special District Meeting on African American Equality, [[Communist Party USA]] National Board member [[John Bachtell]] wrote<ref>http://www.cpusa.org/article/articleview/858/1/39/</ref>;
 +
 
 +
:''The historic election of'' {Harold} ''Washington was the culmination of many years of struggle. It reflected a high degree of unity of the African American community and the alliance with a section of labor, the Latino community and progressive minded whites. This legacy of political independence also endures...''
 +
 
 +
:''This was also reflected in the historic election of Barack Obama. Our Party actively supported Obama during the primary election. Once again Obama’s campaign reflected the electoral voting unity of the African American community, but also the alliances built with several key trade unions, and forces in the Latino and white communities.''
 +
 
 +
:''It also reflected a breakthrough among white voters. In the primary, Obama won 35% of the white vote and 7 north side wards, in a crowded field. During the general election he won every ward in the city and all the collar counties. This appeal has continued in his presidential run.''
 +
 
 +
==References==
 +
<references/>
 +
 
 +
=Executive Orders=
 +
 
 +
 
 +
{| class="wikitable"
 +
|-
 +
! Number
 +
! Title/Description
 +
! Date Signed
 +
|-
 +
| [[EO 13489]]
 +
| Presidential Records
 +
| 2009-01-21
 +
|-
 +
| [[EO 13490]]
 +
| Ethics Commitments by Executive Branch Personnel
 +
| 2009-01-21
 +
|-
 +
| [[EO 13491]]
 +
| Ensuring Lawful Interrogations
 +
| 2009-01-22
 +
|-
 +
| [[EO 13492]]
 +
| Review and Disposition of Individuals Detained at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base and Closure of Detention Facilities
 +
| 2009-01-22
 +
|-
 +
| [[EO 13493]]
 +
| Review of Detention Policy Options
 +
| 2009-01-26
 +
|-
 +
| [[EO 13494]]
 +
| Economy in Government Contracting
 +
| 2009-01-30
 +
|-
 +
| [[EO 13495]]
 +
| Nondisplacement of Qualified Workers Under Service
 +
| 2009-01-30
 +
|-
 +
| [[EO 13496]]
 +
| Notification of Employee Rights Under Federal Labor Law
 +
| 2009-01-30
 +
|-
 +
| [[EO 13497]]
 +
| Revocation of Certain Executive Orders Concerning Regulatory Planning and Review
 +
| 2009-01-30
 +
|-
 +
| [[EO 13498]]
 +
| Amendments to Executive Order 13199 and Establishment of the [[President's Advisory Council for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships]]
 +
| 2009-02-05
 +
|-
 +
| [[EO 13499]]
 +
| Further Amendments to Executive Order 12835, Establishment of the [[National Economic Council]]
 +
| 2009-02-05
 +
|-
 +
| [[EO 13500]]
 +
| Further Amendments to Executive Order 12859, Establishment of the [[Domestic Policy Council]]
 +
| 2009-02-05
 +
|-
 +
| [[EO 13501]]
 +
| Establishment of the President’s [[Economic Recovery Advisory Board]]
 +
| 2009-02-06
 +
|-
 +
| [[EO 13502]]
 +
| Use of Project Labor Agreements for Federal Construction Projects
 +
| 2009-02-06
 +
|-
 +
| [[EO 13503]]
 +
| Establishment of the White House [[Office of Urban Affairs]]
 +
| 2009-02-19
 +
|-
 +
| [[EO 13504]]
 +
| Amending Executive Order 13390
 +
| 2009-02-20
 +
|-
 +
| [[EO 13505]]
 +
| Removing Barriers to Responsible Scientific Research Involving Human Stem Cells
 +
| 2009-03-09
 +
|-
 +
| [[EO 13506]]
 +
| Establishing a White House [[Council on Women and Girls]]
 +
| 2009-03-11
 +
|-
 +
| [[EO 13507]]
 +
| Establishment of the White House [[Office of Health Reform]]
 +
| 2009-04-08
 +
|-
 +
| [[EO 13508]]
 +
| Chesapeake Bay Protection and Restoration
 +
| 2009-05-12
 +
|-
 +
| [[EO 13509]]
 +
| Establishing a White House [[Council on Automotive Communities and Workers]]
 +
| 2009-06-23
 +
|-
 +
| [[EO 13510]]
 +
| Waiver Under the Trade Act of 1974 With Respect to the Republic of Belarus
 +
| 2009-07-10
 +
|-
 +
| [[EO 13511]]
 +
| Continuance of Certain Federal Advisory Committees
 +
| 2009-09-29
 +
|-
 +
| [[EO 13512]]
 +
| Amending Executive Order 13390
 +
| 2009-09-29
 +
|-
 +
| [[EO 13513]]
 +
| Federal Leadership on Reducing Text Messaging While Driving
 +
| 2009-10-01
 +
|-
 +
| [[EO 13514]]
 +
| Federal Leadership in Environmental, Energy, and Economic Performance
 +
| 2009-10-05
 +
|-
 +
| [[EO 13515]]
 +
| Increasing Participation of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in Federal Programs
 +
| 2009-10-14
 +
|-
 +
| [[EO 13516]]
 +
| Amending Executive Order 13462
 +
| 2009-10-28
 +
|-
 +
| [[EO 13517]]
 +
| Amendments to Executive Orders 13183 and 13494
 +
| 2009-10-30
 +
|-
 +
| [[EO 13518]]
 +
| Employment of Veterans in the Federal Government
 +
| 2009-11-09
 +
|-
 +
| [[EO 13519]]
 +
| Establishment of the [[Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force]]
 +
| 2009-11-17
 +
|-
 +
| [[EO 13520]]
 +
| Reducing Improper Payments
 +
| 2009-11-20
 +
|-
 +
| [[EO 13521]]
 +
| Establishing the Presidential [[Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues]]
 +
| 2009-11-24
 +
|-
 +
| [[EO 13522]]
 +
| Creating Labor-Management Forums to Improve Delivery of Government Services
 +
| 2009-12-11
 +
|-
 +
| [[EO 13523]]
 +
| Half-Day Closing of Executive Departments and Agencies on Thursday, December 24, 2009
 +
| 2009-12-11
 +
|-
 +
| [[EO 13524]]
 +
| Amending Executive Order 12425 Designating [[Interpol]] as a Public International Organization Entitled to Enjoy Certain Privileges, Exemptions, and Immunities
 +
| 2009-12-16
 +
|-
 +
| [[EO 13525]]
 +
| Adjustments of Certain Rates of Pay
 +
| 2009-12-23
 +
|-
 +
| [[EO 13526]]
 +
| Classified National Security Information
 +
| 2009-12-29
 +
|-
 +
| [[EO 13527]]
 +
| Establishing Federal Capability for the Timely Provision of Medical Countermeasures Following a Biological Attack
 +
| 2009-12-30
 +
|-
 +
| [[EO 13528]]
 +
| Establishment of the [[Council of Governors]]
 +
| 2010-01-11
 +
|-
 +
| [[EO 13529]]
 +
| Ordering the Selected Reserve and Certain Individual Ready Reserve Members of the Armed Forces to Active Duty
 +
| 2010-01-16
 +
|-
 +
| [[EO 13530]]
 +
| President's [[Advisory Council on Financial Capability]]
 +
| 2010-01-29
 +
|-
 +
| [[EO 13531]]
 +
| [[National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform]]
 +
| 2010-02-18
 +
|-
 +
| [[EO 13532]]
 +
| Promoting Excellence, Innovation, and Sustainability at Historically Black Colleges and Universities
 +
| 2010-02-26
 +
|-
 +
| [[EO 13533]]
 +
| Providing an Order of Succession within the Department of Defense
 +
| 2010-03-01
 +
|-
 +
| [[EO 13534]]
 +
| [[National Export Initiative]]
 +
| 2010-03-11
 +
|-
 +
| [[EO 13535]]
 +
| Ensuring Enforcement and Implementation of Abortion Restrictions in the [[Patient Protection And Affordable Care Act]]
 +
| 2010-03-24
 +
|-
 +
| [[EO 13536]]
 +
| Blocking Property of Certain Persons Contributing to the Conflict in Somalia
 +
| 2010-04-12
 +
|-
 +
| [[EO 13537]]
 +
| [[Interagency Group on Insular Areas]]
 +
| 2010-04-14
 +
|-
 +
| [[EO 13538]]
 +
| Establishing the President's [[Management Advisory Board]]
 +
| 2010-04-19
 +
|-
 +
| [[EO 13539]]
 +
| President's [[Council of Advisors on Science and Technology]]
 +
| 2010-04-21
 +
|-
 +
| [[EO 13540]]
 +
| [[Interagency Task Force on Veterans Small Business Development]]
 +
| 2010-04-26
 +
|-
 +
|}
 +
 
 +
==Sources==
 +
* [http://www.archives.gov/federal-register/executive-orders/obama.html Disposition Tables of Executive Orders Signed by President Barack Obama] U.S. National Archives and Records Administration
 +
* [http://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/executive-orders Executive Orders] The White House
 +
 
 +
=Affiliated Organizations=
 +
==Barack Obama and the Democratic Socialists of America==
 +
==Barack Obama and the New Party==
 +
==Barack Obama and the Communist Party==
 +
==Barack Obama and Committees of Correspondence==
 +
==Barack Obama and the Labor Movement==
 +
==Barack Obama - ACORN and Project Vote==
 +
==Other Organizations==
  
 
__NOTOC__
 
__NOTOC__

Revision as of 15:34, 18 May 2010

Barack Hussein Obama (born August 4, 1961) is the 44th President of the United States of America and a former Senator representing Illinois.

[edit]

Obama's parents separated when he was two years old and then divorced. Obama's father went to Harvard to pursue Ph.D. studies and then returned to Kenya. The young Barack Obama grew up in Indonesia and Hawaii, seeing his father only once more when he was ten-years-old, before moving to Los Angeles to begin his high-school and tertiary education.[1]

Family Members

Father: Barak Obama

Barak Obama, Sr. was born of Luo ethnicity in Nyanza Province, Kenya. He grew up herding goats in Africa, eventually earning a scholarship that allowed him to leave Kenya and pursue his dreams of college in Hawaii. While studying at the University of Hawaii in Manoa, Obama, Sr. met fellow student, Ann Dunham. They married on February 2, 1961. Barack was born six months later in Honolulu, Hawaii. He received a Masters degree in Economics from Harvard University, then returned to Kenya, where he became a finance minister before dying in an automobile accident in 1982.[1]

Mother: Stanley Ann Dunham

Stanley Ann Dunham was born on November 29, 1942 in Wichita, Kansas. She married Barak Obama, Sr. on February 2, 1961 when she was eighteen-years-old. She gave birth to her first son, Barack Obama at the age of 18, on August 4, 1961. In 1967, following her divorce with her husband, Barak Obama Sr., she married Lolo Soetoro and the family moved to Jakarta, where Obama's half-sister Maya Soetoro-Ng was born. Stanley Ann died ov ovarian cancer in 1995.[1]

Early Life

Birth in Hawaii

Obama-birth-notice.jpg
Barack Obama and his mother, Stanley Ann Dunham in Hawaii

In August, 1961, the two major Honolulu newspaper, the Advertiser and the Star-Bulletin published birth notices documenting the birth, in Honolulu, Hawaii, of a son to Mr. and Mrs. Barrack H. Obama" on August 4, 1961. Barack Obama was born August 4, 1961, in Honolulu, Hawaii to Stanley Ann Dunham and Barak Obama.

Parents' Divorce

In 1963, Barack's father won a scholarship to study at Harvard, but didn't have the money to take his young family with him. In Jan. 1964 Barack's mother filed for divorce, citing "grievous mental suffering," according to court documents. However Stanley Ann did not speak ill of her ex-husband to her son Barack.

Life in Indonesia

In 1967, he moved with his mother and new stepfather to Jakarta, Indonesia. He attended a Catholic elementary school for two years, followed by an Indonesian public school for two years. At these schools, classes were taught in the Indonesian language.[1] Media scrutiny revealed that the secular public school he attended was not a madrassa, which teaches Islam. On days off in observance of Islamic holidays he spent praying in a Mosque with his stepfather.[2]

Life Back in Hawaii

Barak Obama Sr. with his son, Barack Obama in 1971

Afraid for his safety and his education, Barack's mother sent him back to Hawaii when he was 10 years old, to live with his maternal grandparents Madelyn Dunham and Stanley Dunham. She and Barack's half-sister, Maya Soetoro Ng later joined them.

In 1971 Barak Obama Sr. sent word from Kenya that he wished to come to Hawaii to visit his son Barack Obama. His father stayed around for one month, speaking to his son's fifth-grade class and taking him to a Dave Brubeck concert, but never quite reestablished himself.[3]

Tertiary Education

After high school, Obama studied at Occidental College in Los Angeles for two years. He then transferred to Columbia University in New York, graduating in 1983 with a degree in political science.[1]

After returning from Kenya and working as a community organizer in New York City and Chicago, Illinois, Obama enrolled at Harvard Law School in 1988. He became a member of the Harvard Law Review, which uses racial quotas, in 1989. He was then elected by popular vote as its first African American president in 1990, a story that was immediately promoted in the New York Times.[4] He graduated magna cum laude with his J.D. in 1991, but did not serve in a clerkship. Federal clerkships are the typical post-graduate position for top law students.

Marriage to Michelle Robinson

In 1989 Obama met Michelle Robinson, an associate at Sidley & Austin law firm in Chicago. She was assigned to be Obama's adviser during a summer internship at the firm, and soon the couple began dating.

On October 3, 1992, Barack and Michelle were married by Reverend Jeremiah Wright at Trinity United Church of Christ.

Family Life

The newly married Barack and Michelle Obama moved to Kenwood, on Chicago's South Side, where they had two daughters: Malia (born July 4, 1998) and Sasha (born June 10, 2001).

Their two daughters currently attend Sidwell Friends School, a Quaker private school located in Washington, D.C. The school has been popular with past presidents and other high-ranking government personnel.

Employment

After law school, Obama returned to Chicago to practice as a civil rights lawyer, joining the firm of Miner, Barnhill & Galland. He also taught at the University of Chicago Law School, and helped organize voter registration drives during Bill Clinton's1992 presidential campaign.

Obama has described himself as a constitutional law professor at the University of Chicago. He held the position of Lecturer, an adjunct position, from 1992 to 1996. He held the position of Senior Lecturer from 1996 until his election to the senate in 2004.

Obama's advocacy work would later lead him to run for the Illinois State Senate as a Democrat, where he was elected in 1996.

Religion

In his autobiographical book, The Audacity of Hope, Obama wrote that he "was not raised in a religious household".

Speaking of his faith in an article in TIME Magazine in 2006, Obama stated,

"I [am not] sure what happens when we die, any more than I [am] sure of where the soul resides or what existed before the Big Bang."[5]

During his time working as a community organizer for low-income residents in the Roseland and the Altgeld Gardens communities, Obama joined the Trinity United Church of Christ. Obama has stated that he became a Christian around 1987, stating in his address to the participants in the annual National Prayer Breakfast held in Washington on Feb. 5, 2009:

"I didn’t become a Christian until many years later, when I moved to the South Side of Chicago after college. It happened not because of indoctrination or a sudden revelation, but because I spent month after month working with church folks who simply wanted to help neighbors who were down on their luck – no matter what they looked like, or where they came from, or who they prayed to. It was on those streets, in those neighborhoods, that I first heard God’s spirit beckon me. It was there that I felt called to a higher purpose – His purpose.
...For it is only through common struggle and common effort, as brothers and sisters, that we fulfill our highest purpose as beloved children of God. I ask you to join me in that effort, and I also ask that you pray for me, for my family, and for the continued perfection of our union."

Obama also mentioned at the prayer-meeting that faith had always been a guiding force in his family’s life.[6]

In 1988 Obama was baptized at the Trinity United Church of Christ.[7]

References

  1. ↑ Jump up to: 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Barack Obama on Biography.com
  2. ↑ NewsMax.com: Obama 'Lying' About Muslim Past, Expert Says, Oct. 9, 2008
  3. ↑ Washington Post: The Ghost of a Father, Dec. 14, 2007
  4. ↑ New York Times: First Black Elected to Head Harvard's Law Review
  5. ↑ TIME Magazine: Barack Obama: My Spiritual Journey, Oct 16, 2006
  6. ↑ Times Live: Obama’s remarks at the annual prayer meeting, Feb. 5, 2009
  7. ↑ New York Times: Barack Obama's search for faith, April 30, 2007

External links

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