Andy Martin on the explosive relationship between Barack Obama, William Ayers and Venezuelan dictator Hugh Chavez
Andy Martin with a blockbuster analysis of what Barack Obama does not want you to know. Once again, ContrarianCommentary.com scoops the mainstream media in disclosing the true extent of the long relationship between Barack Obama and William Ayers, and the disturbing possibility Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez may be planning to repeat his corrupt campaign cash caper in the United States.
ANDY MARTIN
Executive Editor
ContrarianCommentary.com
“Factually Correct, Not
Politically Correct”
AMERICA’S #1 POLITICAL
BLOG ON THE 2008 CAMPAIGN
AN EXPLOSIVE ANALYSIS OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN BARACK OBAMA, WILLIAM AYERS AND VENEZUELAN DICTATOR HUGO CHAVEZ
FOX NEWS' HANNITY & COLMES HYPES A NONEXISTENT "EXCLUSIVE" ON AYERS AND MISSES THE BIG STORY
MAINSTREAM MEDIA HYSTERIA HAS OVERLOOKED THE CHICAGO ANNENBERG CHALLENGE LINK BETWEEN OBAMA AND AYERS
(NEW YORK)(May 6, 2008) This is a three-part story: [1] Hannity & Colmes bogus "exclusive" involving Senator Barack Obama's crony William Ayers, the "mad bomber" of Weathermen fame; [2] an understanding of why a "second look" is always essential in studying transient campaign issues, especially those discussed fleetingly on television, and [3] our "explosive" look at William Ayers, his ongoing relationship to Venezuelan dictator Hugh Chavez and their potential connection to Senator Barack Obama. Fasten your seat belts.
Although a great deal has been written about Obama and Ayers, the most critical link between the two men has been ignored by the mainstream media (MSMs).
First, Hannity & Colmes' bogus "exclusive:" On May 5th Sean Hannity said he had an "exclusive" picture of William Ayers stomping the U. S. flag. We had the picture and the story at 2:06 P.M., along with Hannity and everyone else, and put the information aside for this story. Others may have chosen not to use the material, but that in no way made the information "exclusive" to Fox News. I happen to think that Sean has done a very good job of "outing" Obama and his confederates. Sean cheapens his success when he tries to claim imaginary "exclusives." He should know better.
Second, one of the things we pride ourselves at ContrarianCommentary.com is that we do analysis and interpretation better than anyone else in the media.
Broadcasters operate under extreme difficulty in a presidential campaign. The people on the screen are usually chosen for appearance and affability, not investigative experience or writing ability. Questions are initially prepared by "researchers," often young and lowly paid, and then thrown out in a debate, as they were about Ayers in ABC's now-celebrated debate. Obama gave ABC answers that were evasive and incomplete. But because a debate is not an inquisition, the opportunity for follow-up is usually very limited. And the ability to follow up can sometimes be critical to understanding the issues.
A story isn’t just a story. It is a set of facts that constitute an independent reality. How to get at the “real” reality? Not always so easy. Sort through facts to get to the core information? Often not so clear. It takes investigative experience to cull the wheat from the chaff. That’s what we found in the case of the relationships between William Ayers, Hugo Chavez and Barack Obama. So, here goes.
Third, what did the MSMs miss, and what did Chicago's pathetic print media cover up? The chronology of the aftermath of ABC's confrontation with Obama over Ayers is instructive. Once again, some media, notably the Chicago Tribune, made a concerted effort to mislead and intimidate the viewing/reading public. On April 18th the Tribune ran an editorial attacking ABC for using "guilt by association" involving Obama and Ayers. http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-0418edit3apr18,0,7443216.story
On April 18th, Lynn Sweet of the Chicago Sun-Times tried to pooh pooh the Ayers controversy by suggesting that the Obama-Ayers link was widely known in Chicago, and accepted. That was simply untrue. Sweet's claim that Ayers' past had "never bothered anyone" was misleading. http://www.suntimes.com/news/sweet/901879,CST-NWS-sweet18.article
Sweet, however, disclosed another piece of the Ayers-Obama puzzle, the link between Michelle Obama, Ayers and her husband. Yes, this information was on the net; but no one had ever gone looking for it. Or connected the dots. Perhaps in a telling admission of the low quality of Chicago journalism—which I have been insulting for its lackluster coverage of Obama--Sweet also involved "local political reporters [and]…the editorial boards of the Sun-Times or Tribune" as part of the conspiracy of silence.
Is it any wonder we have repeatedly beaten Chicago's print media on the Obama story, or that Chicago print coverage of Obama has been a joke and embarrassment to American journalism?
On April 19th the Sun-Times led with more asinine and incendiary coverage of Obama-Ayers. http://www.suntimes.com/news/elections/904015,CST-NWS-ayers19.article
The Sun-Times quoted Ayers' brother calling questions about William Ayers' past a "pathetic red herring," and referring to Obama's "alleged ties to so-called terrorist Bill Ayers…" Rick Ayers called any inquiry into the Obama-Ayers relationship "the most base version of McCarthyism." Well. Brotherly love and loyalty may be endearing, but Rick Ayers acted like a complete nincompoop in trying to conceal his family's sordid past—and questionable present.
A law professor, Steve Diamond, has done what appears to be excellent research on the Obama-Ayers connection. http://globallabor.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2008-04-25T06%3A43%3A00-07%3A00
I have analyzed and interpreted Diamond's facts for some of my conclusions in this column. Diamond's April 22nd chronology offers perhaps the best time line and explanation for the decades-old close association between Obama and Ayers.
First, Obama was hired at a law firm where Ayers's father controlled the major client. Obama's sponsors also were associated with that law firm. Second, Ayers sponsored Obama for leadership of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge ("CAC"), a $50 million grant program. Here, I think we strike pay dirt in understanding the longstanding close links between Ayers and Obama. Obama did not just wander into Ayers' home when Obama decided to run for the state senate. The two men had an intimate prior working relationship through Ayers' sponsorship of Obama for head of the CAC.
The 1996 state senate fundraiser at Ayer's home was not a door opener or an introduction between the two families; it was a continuing extension of the links between Ayers and the Obamas.
In classic Chicago style politics, Ayers armed Obama with $50 million to distribute to local schools. Talk about a "door opener." Thus, when Obama tried to evade ABC's questions about Ayers by saying he was "eight years old" when Ayers was bombing buildings, Obama was trying to deflect attention from the real links between the presidential candidate and the mad bomber.
Obama's Annenberg role is discussed at length in an Education week article. http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2007/03/07/26politics.h26.html
Ironically, MSM attention has focused on Obama's "board" service with Ayers, as well as the odd speaking engagement, and totally ignored the fact that Obama was Ayers' Potemkin (front) as leader of the Annenberg Challenge. In other words, Ayers used Obama as a front man to control the disbursement of CAC's $50 million patronage fund. Pretty close relationship, wouldn't you say? Pretty powerful, too. And, so, presto, properly analyzed and interpreted, we now know that Obama was a tool, or pawn, or stooge, of William Ayers as Ayers controlled the Chicago Annenberg Challenge from behind the scenes.
Sean Hannity has been sitting on a blockbuster story and, because of the limitations of cable TV, has entirely missed this "explosive" relationship as well as other potential future eruptions involving Obama.
Where do we go from here? There are three aspects that make the Ayers/Obama relationship a massive political issue, now in the primaries and later in the fall if Obama wrests the nomination from Hillary Clinton.
First, there is the Rezko/Obama/Ayers pattern of deception and concealment. When Rezko was indicted, Obama pretended Rezko was an obscure factor in his campaigns. Rezko got Obama his law firm job after law school, financed his campaigns and helped him buy the "Obama Mansion" in 2005. We now know Obama was blatantly lying (as I disclosed in November, 2006) about Rezko.
Obama has adopted the same deceptive tactics about Ayers, with his "red herring" that he was "8 years old" when Ayers was a mad bomber, when in fact it is the Ayers/Annenberg/Obama relationship that shows the longstanding relationship between the two men.
Second, while Ayers may have achieved "respectability" in a city controlled by a crooked mayor and that has long admired organized crime figures as the apotheosis of municipal manipulation, most Americans would find the "Chicago Way" grossly offensive. In most towns, associating with mad bombers would be a matter for shame, not pride. Ayers, moreover, has never apologized, has always been defiant, and continues to be a leading world proponent of fascist revolution.
The Ayers connection with Venezuela's dictator Hugo Chavez has also not surfaced in the MSMs. It is a time bomb waiting to explode. We make the connection today for the first time.
Chavez' alleged associates were indicted in Miami for trying to funnel illegal campaign cash to Argentina. Can Chavez be planning similar machinations on behalf of Obama? Only Chavez and Ayers know. The fact that Ayers is totally unrepentant, and continues to associate with vicious dictators who espouse violent revolution, makes the Ayers/Obama/Chavez connection one with long legs through November. The fact that a Chavez stooge recently pleaded guilty to participation in the Venezuelan campaign cash scheme raises the bar in so far as possible Venezuelan intervention in the U.S. campaign is concerned. http://www.miamiherald.com/775/story/506633.html
Well, I could go on, but you get the point. Barack Obama's links to unsavory people such as William Ayers raise not only historical questions about his past poor judgment and serving as a lackey and front man for unrepentant violent revolutionaries, but also provide concern for the present and future, that Ayers' associate Chavez may attempt to reprise in the United States the same kind of clandestine cash operation in support of Obama that Chavez was caught financing in Argentina. "Oh, what a tangled web they weave."
Obama isn't as dumb as he claims, and he's a lot more slick, and crooked, than he admits. A lot more than the MSMs have told Democratic voters.
Barry Obama, meet William Ayers and Hugo Chavez. MSMs, meet the "secret life of Barack Obama." Democrats. Is this the man you want to be your candidate?
-------------------------------------------------------------
We’re not always first because we are #1;
We are #1 because we're always first.
-------------------------------------------------------------
Andy Martin, Chicago's #1 Internet columnist, broadcaster and media critic, is the Executive Editor and publisher of http://www.ContrarianCommentary.com. © Copyright by Andy Martin 2008. Martin covers regional, national and world events with more than forty years of experience. He is a chronicler of all things Midwestern and the authentic Voice of Middle America. He holds a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Illinois College of Law. He has been a candidate for U. S. Senator from Illinois. www.AndyforUSSenator.com. Comments? E-mail: AndyMart20@aol.com. Media contact: (866) 706-2639. Columns also posted at ContrarianCommentary.blogspot.com; contrariancommentary.wordpress.com. [Editing note: we make typos, and we can’t recall every posting or e-mail; but updated versions are usually found on our blogs and web site.]
Andy Martin with a blockbuster analysis of what Barack Obama does not want you to know. Once again, ContrarianCommentary.com scoops the mainstream media in disclosing the true extent of the long relationship between Barack Obama and William Ayers, and the disturbing possibility Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez may be planning to repeat his corrupt campaign cash caper in the United States.
ANDY MARTIN
Executive Editor
ContrarianCommentary.com
“Factually Correct, Not
Politically Correct”
AMERICA’S #1 POLITICAL
BLOG ON THE 2008 CAMPAIGN
AN EXPLOSIVE ANALYSIS OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN BARACK OBAMA, WILLIAM AYERS AND VENEZUELAN DICTATOR HUGO CHAVEZ
FOX NEWS' HANNITY & COLMES HYPES A NONEXISTENT "EXCLUSIVE" ON AYERS AND MISSES THE BIG STORY
MAINSTREAM MEDIA HYSTERIA HAS OVERLOOKED THE CHICAGO ANNENBERG CHALLENGE LINK BETWEEN OBAMA AND AYERS
(NEW YORK)(May 6, 2008) This is a three-part story: [1] Hannity & Colmes bogus "exclusive" involving Senator Barack Obama's crony William Ayers, the "mad bomber" of Weathermen fame; [2] an understanding of why a "second look" is always essential in studying transient campaign issues, especially those discussed fleetingly on television, and [3] our "explosive" look at William Ayers, his ongoing relationship to Venezuelan dictator Hugh Chavez and their potential connection to Senator Barack Obama. Fasten your seat belts.
Although a great deal has been written about Obama and Ayers, the most critical link between the two men has been ignored by the mainstream media (MSMs).
First, Hannity & Colmes' bogus "exclusive:" On May 5th Sean Hannity said he had an "exclusive" picture of William Ayers stomping the U. S. flag. We had the picture and the story at 2:06 P.M., along with Hannity and everyone else, and put the information aside for this story. Others may have chosen not to use the material, but that in no way made the information "exclusive" to Fox News. I happen to think that Sean has done a very good job of "outing" Obama and his confederates. Sean cheapens his success when he tries to claim imaginary "exclusives." He should know better.
Second, one of the things we pride ourselves at ContrarianCommentary.com is that we do analysis and interpretation better than anyone else in the media.
Broadcasters operate under extreme difficulty in a presidential campaign. The people on the screen are usually chosen for appearance and affability, not investigative experience or writing ability. Questions are initially prepared by "researchers," often young and lowly paid, and then thrown out in a debate, as they were about Ayers in ABC's now-celebrated debate. Obama gave ABC answers that were evasive and incomplete. But because a debate is not an inquisition, the opportunity for follow-up is usually very limited. And the ability to follow up can sometimes be critical to understanding the issues.
A story isn’t just a story. It is a set of facts that constitute an independent reality. How to get at the “real” reality? Not always so easy. Sort through facts to get to the core information? Often not so clear. It takes investigative experience to cull the wheat from the chaff. That’s what we found in the case of the relationships between William Ayers, Hugo Chavez and Barack Obama. So, here goes.
Third, what did the MSMs miss, and what did Chicago's pathetic print media cover up? The chronology of the aftermath of ABC's confrontation with Obama over Ayers is instructive. Once again, some media, notably the Chicago Tribune, made a concerted effort to mislead and intimidate the viewing/reading public. On April 18th the Tribune ran an editorial attacking ABC for using "guilt by association" involving Obama and Ayers. http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-0418edit3apr18,0,7443216.story
On April 18th, Lynn Sweet of the Chicago Sun-Times tried to pooh pooh the Ayers controversy by suggesting that the Obama-Ayers link was widely known in Chicago, and accepted. That was simply untrue. Sweet's claim that Ayers' past had "never bothered anyone" was misleading. http://www.suntimes.com/news/sweet/901879,CST-NWS-sweet18.article
Sweet, however, disclosed another piece of the Ayers-Obama puzzle, the link between Michelle Obama, Ayers and her husband. Yes, this information was on the net; but no one had ever gone looking for it. Or connected the dots. Perhaps in a telling admission of the low quality of Chicago journalism—which I have been insulting for its lackluster coverage of Obama--Sweet also involved "local political reporters [and]…the editorial boards of the Sun-Times or Tribune" as part of the conspiracy of silence.
Is it any wonder we have repeatedly beaten Chicago's print media on the Obama story, or that Chicago print coverage of Obama has been a joke and embarrassment to American journalism?
On April 19th the Sun-Times led with more asinine and incendiary coverage of Obama-Ayers. http://www.suntimes.com/news/elections/904015,CST-NWS-ayers19.article
The Sun-Times quoted Ayers' brother calling questions about William Ayers' past a "pathetic red herring," and referring to Obama's "alleged ties to so-called terrorist Bill Ayers…" Rick Ayers called any inquiry into the Obama-Ayers relationship "the most base version of McCarthyism." Well. Brotherly love and loyalty may be endearing, but Rick Ayers acted like a complete nincompoop in trying to conceal his family's sordid past—and questionable present.
A law professor, Steve Diamond, has done what appears to be excellent research on the Obama-Ayers connection. http://globallabor.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2008-04-25T06%3A43%3A00-07%3A00
I have analyzed and interpreted Diamond's facts for some of my conclusions in this column. Diamond's April 22nd chronology offers perhaps the best time line and explanation for the decades-old close association between Obama and Ayers.
First, Obama was hired at a law firm where Ayers's father controlled the major client. Obama's sponsors also were associated with that law firm. Second, Ayers sponsored Obama for leadership of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge ("CAC"), a $50 million grant program. Here, I think we strike pay dirt in understanding the longstanding close links between Ayers and Obama. Obama did not just wander into Ayers' home when Obama decided to run for the state senate. The two men had an intimate prior working relationship through Ayers' sponsorship of Obama for head of the CAC.
The 1996 state senate fundraiser at Ayer's home was not a door opener or an introduction between the two families; it was a continuing extension of the links between Ayers and the Obamas.
In classic Chicago style politics, Ayers armed Obama with $50 million to distribute to local schools. Talk about a "door opener." Thus, when Obama tried to evade ABC's questions about Ayers by saying he was "eight years old" when Ayers was bombing buildings, Obama was trying to deflect attention from the real links between the presidential candidate and the mad bomber.
Obama's Annenberg role is discussed at length in an Education week article. http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2007/03/07/26politics.h26.html
Ironically, MSM attention has focused on Obama's "board" service with Ayers, as well as the odd speaking engagement, and totally ignored the fact that Obama was Ayers' Potemkin (front) as leader of the Annenberg Challenge. In other words, Ayers used Obama as a front man to control the disbursement of CAC's $50 million patronage fund. Pretty close relationship, wouldn't you say? Pretty powerful, too. And, so, presto, properly analyzed and interpreted, we now know that Obama was a tool, or pawn, or stooge, of William Ayers as Ayers controlled the Chicago Annenberg Challenge from behind the scenes.
Sean Hannity has been sitting on a blockbuster story and, because of the limitations of cable TV, has entirely missed this "explosive" relationship as well as other potential future eruptions involving Obama.
Where do we go from here? There are three aspects that make the Ayers/Obama relationship a massive political issue, now in the primaries and later in the fall if Obama wrests the nomination from Hillary Clinton.
First, there is the Rezko/Obama/Ayers pattern of deception and concealment. When Rezko was indicted, Obama pretended Rezko was an obscure factor in his campaigns. Rezko got Obama his law firm job after law school, financed his campaigns and helped him buy the "Obama Mansion" in 2005. We now know Obama was blatantly lying (as I disclosed in November, 2006) about Rezko.
Obama has adopted the same deceptive tactics about Ayers, with his "red herring" that he was "8 years old" when Ayers was a mad bomber, when in fact it is the Ayers/Annenberg/Obama relationship that shows the longstanding relationship between the two men.
Second, while Ayers may have achieved "respectability" in a city controlled by a crooked mayor and that has long admired organized crime figures as the apotheosis of municipal manipulation, most Americans would find the "Chicago Way" grossly offensive. In most towns, associating with mad bombers would be a matter for shame, not pride. Ayers, moreover, has never apologized, has always been defiant, and continues to be a leading world proponent of fascist revolution.
The Ayers connection with Venezuela's dictator Hugo Chavez has also not surfaced in the MSMs. It is a time bomb waiting to explode. We make the connection today for the first time.
Chavez' alleged associates were indicted in Miami for trying to funnel illegal campaign cash to Argentina. Can Chavez be planning similar machinations on behalf of Obama? Only Chavez and Ayers know. The fact that Ayers is totally unrepentant, and continues to associate with vicious dictators who espouse violent revolution, makes the Ayers/Obama/Chavez connection one with long legs through November. The fact that a Chavez stooge recently pleaded guilty to participation in the Venezuelan campaign cash scheme raises the bar in so far as possible Venezuelan intervention in the U.S. campaign is concerned. http://www.miamiherald.com/775/story/506633.html
Well, I could go on, but you get the point. Barack Obama's links to unsavory people such as William Ayers raise not only historical questions about his past poor judgment and serving as a lackey and front man for unrepentant violent revolutionaries, but also provide concern for the present and future, that Ayers' associate Chavez may attempt to reprise in the United States the same kind of clandestine cash operation in support of Obama that Chavez was caught financing in Argentina. "Oh, what a tangled web they weave."
Obama isn't as dumb as he claims, and he's a lot more slick, and crooked, than he admits. A lot more than the MSMs have told Democratic voters.
Barry Obama, meet William Ayers and Hugo Chavez. MSMs, meet the "secret life of Barack Obama." Democrats. Is this the man you want to be your candidate?
-------------------------------------------------------------
We’re not always first because we are #1;
We are #1 because we're always first.
-------------------------------------------------------------
Andy Martin, Chicago's #1 Internet columnist, broadcaster and media critic, is the Executive Editor and publisher of http://www.ContrarianCommentary.com. © Copyright by Andy Martin 2008. Martin covers regional, national and world events with more than forty years of experience. He is a chronicler of all things Midwestern and the authentic Voice of Middle America. He holds a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Illinois College of Law. He has been a candidate for U. S. Senator from Illinois. www.AndyforUSSenator.com. Comments? E-mail: AndyMart20@aol.com. Media contact: (866) 706-2639. Columns also posted at ContrarianCommentary.blogspot.com; contrariancommentary.wordpress.com. [Editing note: we make typos, and we can’t recall every posting or e-mail; but updated versions are usually found on our blogs and web site.]
posted by Andy Martin | 1:45 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home