Andy Martin on Al-Jazeera English, July 29th

Obama author and American foreign policy expert Andy Martin will be a guest on Al-Jazeera's program "Inside Story," discussing the visit of Pakistan's Prime Minister to Washington. Sanctuaries, not sovereignty, will be the issue going forward," says Martin. "The forgotten war is on the verge of being remembered; Pakistan is headed for the hot seat."

ANDY MARTIN
Executive Editor
ContrarianCommentary.com

“Factually Correct, Not
Politically Correct”

AMERICA’S #1 POLITICAL
BLOG ON THE 2008 CAMPAIGN

Obama author and American foreign policy expert Andy Martin will be a guest on Al-Jazeera's program "Inside Story," discussing the visit of Pakistan's Prime Minister to Washington.
"Sanctuaries, not sovereignty, will be the issue going forward," says Martin.

"The forgotten war is on the verge of being remembered; Pakistan is headed for the hot seat," Martin predicts.

(NEW YORK)(July 29, 2008) American foreign policy expert Andy Martin will be a guest on the Al-Jazeera English program "Inside Story" at 10:00 A.M. New York time on Tuesday, July 29th. Martin has extensive experience in Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan, as well as the Middle East, where he served as Baghdad Bureau Chief in 2003. "I was the first name on George Bush's enemies list," says Martin jokingly. "I told him in 1999 he was obsessed with Iraq, and I was right. I told them in 2003 the war would be a disaster, and they would not listen. I ended up in Baghdad as a bureau chief, and again I was early with accurate predictions of policy failures.

"To some extent the war in Afghanistan has been the 'forgotten war.' Well, it is about to be remembered. Barack Obama says Afghanistan is his policy priority. John McCain endorses that view. They are both correct.

"Up until now President Bush has been entirely too patient with Pakistani leaders. We are seven years into a 'war' that we 'won' seven years ago when we toppled the Taliban. But since then nothing has happened to resolve either the American role or NATO's role. Ten billion dollars has disappeared.

”Barack Obama brazenly told Berliners he expects them to fight and die in Afghanistan. Germans have other ideas. Berliners were willing to show up to drink Obama's free beer and to eat his free pizza; they are not going to spill their blood in a conflict that is becoming increasingly confused and has been grossly mismanaged.

"Where does leave the United States? We will most likely have to fight alone, with perhaps some British and Commonwealth support. Non-combatant allied forces will probably remain.

"And that is why the Al Qaeda/Taliban sanctuaries in Pakistan will become the paramount issue in American foreign policy in January 2009. Obama will be under extreme pressure to take out the sanctuaries if he is elected president (I do not expect him to win). Likewise, McCain will be under similar pressure to move faster. Americans are not going to support an endless conflict in Afghanistan. They are certainly not going to permit the Al Qaeda/Taliban sanctuaries to exist any longer. The 'game' is over.

"And so it is immaterial who becomes the next president. George Bush may depart the White House; his policies in the region will be toughened, not softened, by either Obama or McCain. Pakistan is going to be on the hot seat at the top of the U.S. agenda. The U. S. tolerance for Pakistani sanctuaries is at an end.

"Pakistani 'sovereignty' is not going to prevent all-out war against the sanctuaries. You can take that principle to the bank. Most likely this change in policy will play out as covert operations and not as a regular Army operation. If they are willing, the Pakistanis will be full partners, but not with veto power.

"Pakistan is once again on the road to democracy. One can only hope that Benazir Bhutto's sacrifice was not in vain. Tragically, the nation has lost thirty years of progress consumed in worthless internal fighting. The Pakistani government will face internal pressure arising out of the more aggressive U. S. policy. But the current stalemate is unacceptable," Martin states. "Anyone who believes otherwise does not know that area of the world, and is not familiar with the dynamics of a new presidency.

"No new president is going to allow Pakistani sanctuaries to be used to kill American and allied troops any longer. No nation has a right under international law to assert sovereignty as a pretext to harbor terrorists."

Al Jazeera English is available with live streaming on the Internet, http://english.aljazeera.net/watch_now/. Some Al Jazeera English programs are also available on YouTube.com.
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Andy Martin is working on a new book of his collected commentary as a Baghdad Bureau Chief in 2003, as well as his writing prior to the 2003 Iraq invasion. "Andy Martin in Iraq" is planned for publication in 2009.
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Andy Martin is a legendary Chicago muckraker, author, Internet columnist, radio talk show host, broadcaster and media critic. Andy is the Executive Editor and publisher of www.ContrarianCommentary.com. © Copyright by Andy Martin 2008. Martin covers regional, national and world events with over forty years of experience. He has almost forty years of experience in the Middle East, and is regarded overseas as America’s most respected independent foreign policy, military and intelligence analyst.

He holds a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Illinois College of Law. His columns are also posted at ContrarianCommentary.blogspot.com; contrariancommentary.wordpress.com. Andy is the author of Obama: The Man Behind The Mask, published in July 2008, see http://www.OrangeStatePress.com. MEDIA CONTACT: (866) 706-2639 E-MAIL: AndyMart20@aol.com [NOTE: We frequently correct typographical errors and additions/subtractions on our blogs, where you can find the latest edition of this release.]

Anti-Obama movement leader Andy Martin says disaffected Democrats are "surging" against Obama in the media and online.

The "surge" that threatens Obama

ANDY MARTIN
Executive Editor
ContrarianCommentary.com

“Factually Correct, Not
Politically Correct”

AMERICA’S #1 POLITICAL
BLOG ON THE 2008 CAMPAIGN

Obama Author Andy Martin says Barack Obama faces threat of an embarrassing "surge" in the Democratic Party

"2008 is proving to be like no other election I have witnessed," says Andy

Anti-Obama movement leader Martin says disaffected Democrats are "surging" against Obama in the media and online.

(NEW YORK)(July 28, 2008) The "surge" that Senator Barack Obama focuses on is the increased troop presence in Iraq that Senator John McCain uses to embarrass his opponent. Obama opposed the "surge" in Baghdad, said the plan would fail and steadfastly refuses to admit that the policy of increasing troop strength to aid in peace efforts has succeeded.

In point of fact, the U. S. Army always maintained that without adequate troops, the Army would not be able to restore order in Iraq. The 2003 invasion was a flawed policy triggered with inadequate military strength that metastasized into the desperate conditions that existed in 2006. I was and continue to be a very vocal opponent of the invasion. I also recognize that having "broken" Iraq, we can’t just pull out. And so we are stuck trying to work with the Iraqi government to withdraw on a rational "schedule." Even the word schedule is now becoming contested and controversial.

Nevertheless, this column is not about the "surge" in the Middle East. That surge does not threaten the Obama candidacy as much as the growing "surge" within the Democratic Party.
My observation of presidential campaigns goes all the way back to 1952, when president Harry Truman drove through my hometown of Middletown, Connecticut. Every campaign since then has featured a "committee" of supporters for each presidential candidate that originates in the opposing party. There were "Democrats for Nixon" and "Republicans for Gore," and so forth. With varying degrees of efficacy and energy these "opposition" groups are organized to create the impression of national campaigns drawing endorsements from the full spectrum of political activists.

2008 has been different. The "opposition" first manifested itself in the Republican Party, where so-called "conservatives" and "evangelicals" announced their lack of support after McCain won the Republican Party primaries. While "conservatives" were attacking McCain, Democrats tut-tutted that their candidates, Senator Hillary Clinton and Obama, were indistinguishable on the issues and would easily coalesce and unite after the primaries.

The Democrats' belief was that after either Clinton or Obama clinched the nomination, organized opposition within the party would cease.

That has not proven to be the case. Democrats are opposing Obama with increasing energy and increasing organization. Truly, the "surge" inside the Democratic Party endangers the Obama campaign much more than the surge in Baghdad.

First, Obama is an "image" candidate. He is obsessed with his image; his success is based on image and imagination. The existence of vocal resistance to his candidacy within the Democratic Party jeopardizes the illusion of unanimity and party unity, and shatters his image.
Second, if the opposition to Obama reaches the match point and ignites, Obama could be embarrassed in Denver. After Clinton suspended her campaign, Obama thought he had a green light to run roughshod over her supporters. That has proven to be a mistaken view. Clinton supporters want to be heard in Denver. I was surprised a couple of weeks ago to see an advertisement in the Chicago Tribune demanding that Clinton's name be placed in nomination. http://thedenvergroup.blogspot.com/

My guess is that a very strenuous effort is going to be made to place Clinton's name in nomination in Denver, forcing Obama into a roll-call vote.

The Obama campaign has sought to steamroller Clinton supporters into dropping their announced support for Clinton as the price their meaningful participation in Denver. This hauteur appears to have backfired. Many Clinton supporters, who feel she did not receive fair treatment during the primaries, are refusing to be absorbed by the Obama organization. This is not to say that most Clinton supporters did not join Obama, or won't support him. It is too soon to say. But the anti-Obama resistance is not dissolving and disappearing as his camp had predicted.

Our national political parties are delicate and to some extent artificial constructs. In the modern era they have not been designed to conduct business when there is internal opposition. Prior to 1960, conventions were spirited and untidy affairs. Today they are scripted events. The script is being shredded in Obama's case.

Third, although e-mail and the Internet were significant as early as 2000, this is the first presidential election where the "aggregation" power of the Internet is being used to collect Clinton supporters so they can be aggregated as an continuing opposition to Obama. I don't know how strong these groups are or how well organized they will prove to be. I have made no effort to measure them. See, for example:

http://www.puma08.com/,http://justsaynodeal.com/index2.html,http://www.clintons4mccain.com/
There may be other similar organizations (please contact me if you exist).
But any opposition to Obama's image could prove fatal, since image is the foundation of his campaign.

How does Obama react? I am not sure there is an easy answer. His initial Chicago-style response of threatening to crush the opposition may have backfired. The pro-Clinton Obama opposition is not under the thumb of the Democratic Party. Just as Obama energized new voters, Clinton did the same. The anti-Obama movement is independent of the Democratic Party's traditional command and control.

There is clearly a cleavage between Democrats who want to take the party more to the left, supporting Obama, and those who want the Democratic Party to be more centrist, supporting Clinton.

Clinton was criticized in 2007 for running a "centrist" presidential campaign. She was accused of acting as though she were already the nominee and maneuvering her stands on issues towards "the center." (Horrors.) The Obama surge in 2007 forced Clinton to tack to the left. Democrats as a group, however, are not any more monolithic than the Republicans. There are shades of opinion on most questions.

Many Democrats, for example, understand the surge in Iraq, and are sensitive to the potential consequences of a precipitous withdrawal from that country. However ill advised the 2003 invasion may have been, many Democrats supported the invasion. They understand we have to leave only when conditions permit sustained peace.

Likewise the "young" voters that Obama touts as his base may recognize that he plans to loot their pension savings to support their elders.

Clinton supporters will no doubt continue their guerilla war over the next few weeks and into the fall. Originally I was planning to attend the Denver convention. Then I thought it would be a bore. But as the Clintonistas continue to surge, and as Obama's defenses prove porous, I am back to believing I should be in Denver.

As for McCain, are the evangelicals and "conservatives" similarly surging against their candidate? I see no evidence of that fact. The tables unexpectedly turned on the Democrats; they thought Republicans would have the greater internal problems. Today it is Democrats who face greater internecine upheaval and opposition.

FULL Disclosure: My new book, Obama: The Man Behind The Mask, comes out this week. The publisher will start shipping today. I am already working on a new book for the next phase of the presidential campaign. And, yes, I have made a choice.

Someone asked me recently if I would work "under the radar" against Senator Obama. I stated, as the Washington Post has written about me, that I do not work "under the table." I work out in the open.

The "hard left" fantasizes that I run a powerful secret organization. That's flattering. I tease the leftists by suggesting I have a clandestine bunker deep underneath Midtown Manhattan. Nevertheless, I have decided to oppose Obama's election and have become Executive Director of The Stop Obama Coalition, http://StopObamaCoalition.com. By default, I have become the national leader of the anti-Obama movement. We are going to run a very dynamic and aggressive campaign against Obama. I will continue to write my column for ContrarianCommentary.com. Book orders: http://Orangestatepress.com.
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Andy Martin is a legendary Chicago muckraker, author, Internet columnist, radio talk show host, broadcaster and media critic. Andy is the Executive Editor and publisher of www.ContrarianCommentary.com. © Copyright by Andy Martin 2008. Martin covers regional, national and world events with over forty years of experience. He holds a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Illinois College of Law. His columns are also posted at ContrarianCommentary.blogspot.com; contrariancommentary.wordpress.com. Andy is the author of Obama: The Man Behind The Mask, published in July 2008, see http://www.OrangeStatePress.com. MEDIA CONTACT: (866) 706-2639 E-MAIL: AndyMart20@aol.com [NOTE: We frequently correct typographical errors and additions/subtractions on our blogs, where you can find the latest edition of this release.]

Andy Martin on Barack Obama's triumphalism in Berlin

Barack Obama's presidential campaign increasingly takes on the fetid odor of the Third Reich

Welcome to Berlin, Mr. Obama
ANDY MARTIN
Executive Editor
ContrarianCommentary.com

“Factually Correct, Not
Politically Correct”

AMERICA’S #1 POLITICAL
BLOG ON THE 2008 CAMPAIGN


Barack Obama's presidential campaign increasingly takes on the fetid odor of the Third Reich

Obama's Berlin triumphalism parallels a similar rise to power in the 1930's

Is Obama the one? Berliners appear to think so; who would know better?

(NEW YORK)(July 24, 2008) Barack Obama's flying circus has reached Berlin, the City at the center of some of the greatest atrocities of the Twentieth Century. Obama may finally be in his element. Increasingly his campaign has the odor of a Leni Riefenstahl production. The Little Dictator of Chicago will morph into the Great Dictator of Berlin. Obama may not like the comparison. But the Third Reich is what comes to mind when I look back at the Emperor Obama and his campaignmacht in 2008.

The German masses are crying out for Obama. Rapture swooning, infatuation. Didn't their parents once worship "der Fuhrer?" Obama chose well when he chose Berlin for his European outdoor extravaganza. Germans today would deny it; but they once learned to love a little goose step, in a brown shirt. Obama will do.

Obama's speeches, of course, are filled with platitudes. He draws large crowds with a demonstrative, cadenced form of speaking. He calls for "hope" and "change." Charlie Chaplin would understand. He is Obama's real speechwriter. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDATNzpfIpI

Obama has merged the Democratic Party's army in Washington, with the Daley Machine's patronage army in Chicago. He gave himself a Chaplinesque "seal," and then quickly withdrew the gesture when the Great Seal of Obama was ridiculed. His new plane has "president" written all over his seat.

Obama may have "captured" the Democratic Party' nomination for real. He is breaking apart the party as an institution and remaking it in his own image. Obama's "new" Democratic Party. Field offices? All across the United States. Doing Fidel Castro proud.

Oprah asks "Is he the one?" The same question was asked in the 1930's, of Adolph Hitler. In the 1930's it was just as preposterous then that Hitler would storm free nations and start a war, as it is preposterous today that Obama will launch similar attacks. Still. Dictators are always preposterous at their inception. Except in their own mind. In 1999 I produced a TV commercial that said "George Bush wants to bomb Iraq." I regret the utter correctness of my admonition.

Hitler's troubled family life and psyche? Adolph meet Barack. Philandering father Barack-from-Kenya impregnates impressionable girl from Kansas-Washington-Hawaii, most likely without benefit of clergy. Father moves on and leaves a wound in his son's life. The son reverses field and receives "dreams from his father," instead of nightmares. Fantasy reigns.

People have wondered if Obama represents a return to the 1960's. He hob knobs with mad bombers such as William Ayers. Black rage is the theology of his now former church. And he defends all of these picaresque aspects of his life. But, no, Obama is not 1960's. One has to go all the way back to the 1930's to see a similar figure and similar hero-worship: Adolph Hitler.
Clifford Odets wrote a play "Waiting for Lefty." Berlin has been waiting for Obama. For two generations.

Obama ran a TV commercial in June saying he comes from a "strong family and strong values." Such "strength." All a lie. A complete illusion. Delusion. Fantasy. Liberals desperate to dethrone George Bush see a savior in this troubled man Obama. Wasn't it Joseph Goebbels who said if you repeat a lie often enough, the people will believe?

Obama repeats his lies endlessly; people believe. "Goat herd" father, married parents instead of his nonmarital birth, strong values, on and on the fairly tales are fed to the public. His family roots of uncertain origins become "strength" in his mind's eye. And the people believe. Mr. Goebbels is smiling. Obama will receive a warm welcome in Berlin.

In Jerusalem, Obama said "Never again." But it is happening again. In Jerusalem and Berlin, London and Kabul. Washington and Chicago. The world has found a new dictator. "Trust me" he says. And they do. Mass outdoors rallies? Where is Leni when we need her? Oops, Obama already has his own cinematographer.

Yes, I know, Obama-equals-the-fuhrer is a stretch. But then Hitler was a joke and a stretch in 1933. "They" thought they could control him, the same way people today in the Democratic Party think they will be able to control Barack and Michelle.

George Bush fantasized he was a "war president." So he started his own war in Iraq. Obama is already planning his own highway to greatness, and it runs through Afghanistan. We are in for another "war president."

Yes, Mr. Obama, welcome to Berlin. The City's ghosts await you. Their new Fuhrer.
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NEXT:
SHOULD PRESIDENT BUSH PROSECUTE BARACK OBAMA FOR VIOLATING THE LOGAN ACT? DOES BUSH HAVE THE GUTS TO PROTECT HIS "LEGACY?"
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Andy Martin is working on a new book of his collected commentary from Baghdad, as well as his writing prior to the 2003 Iraq invasion. "Andy Martin in Iraq" is planned for publication in 2009.
----------------------------------------------------------
Andy Martin is a legendary Chicago muckraker, author, Internet columnist, radio talk show host, broadcaster and media critic. Andy is the Executive Editor and publisher of www.ContrarianCommentary.com. © Copyright by Andy Martin 2008. Martin covers regional, national and world events with over forty years of experience. He holds a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Illinois College of Law. His columns are also posted at ContrarianCommentary.blogspot.com; contrariancommentary.wordpress.com. Andy is the author of Obama: The Man Behind The Mask, published in July 2008, see http://www.OrangeStatePress.com. MEDIA CONTACT: (866) 706-2639 E-MAIL: AndyMart20@aol.com [NOTE: We frequently correct typographical errors and additions/subtractions on our blogs, where you can find the latest edition of this release.]

Iraqi "snake" bites President Bush

Andy Martin on Al-Maliki, Obama—and Bush. Middle East expert Martin provides unique insight based on almost forty years in the region. Andy served as a Baghdad bureau chief in 2003 and was Paul Bremer's first detractor.

Iraqi snake bites President Bush
ANDY MARTIN
Executive Editor
ContrarianCommentary.com

“Factually Correct, Not
Politically Correct”

AMERICA’S #1 POLITICAL
BLOG ON THE 2008 CAMPAIGN

(NEW YORK)(July 23, 2008) This week an Iraqi snake bit President Bush. Noor Al-Maliki sought to promote the presidential candidacy of Senator Barack Obama. Maybe Saddam Hussein was right all along about Iraqis. Bush was certainly wrong.

First, a brief history for our new readers: I probably became the first name on President Bush's enemies list when I predicted--in December, 1999--he would bomb Iraq (video coming on YouTube). I knew Bush better than he knew himself.

Having spent over thirty years in the Middle East, I was a strong opponent of the Iraq invasion in 2002-2003 and predicted it would backfire. I spent most of 2003 in Baghdad, predicting the tranquility would evaporate and the chaos would return. In 2007 I surprisingly predicted President Bush's "surge" might work. Finally, I have always recognized that no nation and no people enjoy or welcome the presence of foreign troops.

Nevertheless, Al-Maliki's "endorsement" of Obama was the act of a snake, not a statesman.
President Bush is going to be regarded as a tragic figure by history. Everyone close to him betrayed him. His civilian defense officials betrayed him by endorsing the folly of an Iraq invasion. Vice president Cheney betrayed him by proffering the same advice. The entire enterprise was doomed from its inception. Saddam Hussein was a colossal nuisance in the Middle East. But he was no threat to the United States. And he played an extremely useful role in containing Iran's regional ambitions.

Bush was a "believer" who thought removing Saddam would make Iraq a fertile field for democracy. At the time of Saddam's removal, Shiite leaders such as Al-Maliki were either imprisoned and tortured, or in exile, or silenced. Goaded on by his blinded and arrogant advisers, Bush pursued his dream beyond reason. At each juncture when he could have walked away and written off his misadventure in Iraq, Bush "stayed the course."

When the Iraq mission was again failing in 2006, and the new government's enemies were creating chaos, Bush went forward with the "surge." Now that Iraqis are again enjoying relative peace in 2008, their leader Al-Maliki has bitten the hand that fed them, George Bush. Al-Maliki chose to support the one individual whose failed policies would have left Iraq either under the brutal dictatorship of Saddam in 2003, or exposed to perpetual chaos and sectarian violence in 2007--Barack Obama.

Practically speaking, Bush is stuck and the American people are stuck with the need to continue a U. S. presence in Iraq. Even opponents of the war such as myself are forced to argue for maintaining a military force to maintain order. The Powell/Pottery Barn doctrine that Bush ignored, has trapped him. We broke it. We have to fix it. We "own it."

I wish we could all leave Iraq tomorrow. I wish we had never gone in. Obama supporter Governor Bill Richardson wants Americans to throw down their weapons and flee Iraq in panic, thereby creating a new round of mayhem, murder and instability throughout the region. I cannot endorse such an irrational policy today, any more than I could endorse the irrational invasion in 2003.

The Iraqis, of course have deeply conflicted attitudes. On one hand, American men and women enforce relative peace. They know we destroyed the existing social and military structures in 2003; we have not yet built robust and solid replacements. Military and paramilitary organizations such as local police cannot be created overnight. It takes years. The New York Police are 150 years old, and they still have to struggle every day to maintain order and discipline both internally in the police force itself and out among the people. Maintaining public safety is not an easy task under the best of conditions.

Some Americans, moreover, are crass and impractical. The Democratic Congress created a surge-related list of goals for the Iraqi government in 2007. Obama has relentlessly criticized the lack of "political progress" in Iraq. Oh? Here in the United States we have over 200 years of experience with freedom and democracy, and we still do not have everything just right and perfect. We fight over health care, labor policies, financial regulation and other matters of national importance.

"Politics" does not germinate overnight either. It takes years for people to learn to negotiate, bargain, accept defeat, compromise. The Democrats' demand that Iraq become a fully functional democracy in a year was always sheer nonsense.

Sadly, the Middle East and Arab nations have not developed deep democratic foundations since the end of the colonial era. I vividly remember the day the Iraqi king was overthrown in 1958. Decades of chaos followed. Dictators and kleptocracies predominate throughout the region. Bush was always unrealistic to believe he could force feed democracy into this cauldron of instability.
No one likes to have foreign forces on their soil. Iraqis are no different I know from "my year in Baghdad" that even the best of Iraqis would like us gone—as long as we did not leave a new blood bath and renewed disintegration in our wake.

Nevertheless, when the history of this era is written, Bush will be seen as a leader who was betrayed by his closest associates, and who launched a forlorn war. He sacrificed the goodwill of his family's dynasty on the alter of Iraqi "democracy." He sacrificed tens of thousands of American lives in wounded and dead, to "free" Iraq.

Al-Maliki would not be a leader today if Bush had not removed Saddam Hussein. Al-Maliki would be in jail or exile, or possibly even dead. So the current Shiite-dominated ruling class of Iraq owes President George Bush a great debt of gratitude. However wrongfully, however mistakenly, however foolishly, Bush freed Iraq from Saddam.

Al-Maliki's "thank you" to Bush? He endorsed Obama and endorsed the senator's asinine plan to withdraw on a rigid fixed schedule. No doubt Bush's White house was shocked to learn Al-Maliki had given a German magazine an interview in which A-M endorsed Obama's plans. Bush must have been even more shocked when A-M's spokesman repeated the endorsement this week after Obama was given a royal welcome by Al-Maliki. Al-Maliki, of course, was pandering to the emotions of Iraqi citizens. Maybe they are learning politics after all; the snakes are biting their benefactor.

Here's a lessen Mr. Al-Maliki should learn from American politics: "you have to dance with the one that brung you." http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/texas/entry/dance_with_the_one_who_brung_you_darrell_royal/ Dumping Bush and backing Barack may backfire.

Bush and his partisans feel history well treat them better than today's news media. I am doubtful. It is very possible the worst is yet to come. In 2003, I predicted the two big losers from the invasion would be the United States and Israel. Sadly, my prediction was accurate. In my opinion, history will judge Bush even more harshly than his contemporaries have.

"Mookie" Al-Sadr is no friend of Bush or America. He wants us out of Iraq "yesterday." Al-Maliki and his "party" at least have been working with Bush, apparently on a two-faced basis. But, with the loyalty of snakes, Al-Maliki & Co. betrayed Bush this week by endorsing Obama's puerile and facile plan for a fixed American withdrawal. Ironically, a premature American departure may doom Al-Maliki's own government. Talk about biting your nose to spite your face.

President Bush: welcome to the Middle East. Enjoy your stay.

Saddam Hussein, anyone?
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NEXT:
SHOULD PRESIDENT BUSH PROSECUTE BARACK OBAMA FOR VIOLATING THE LOGAN ACT? DOES BUSH HAVE THE GUTS TO PROTECT HIS "LEGACY?"
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Andy Martin is working on a new book of his collected commentary from Baghdad, as well as his writing prior to the 2003 Iraq invasion. "Andy Martin in Iraq" is planned for publication in 2009.
----------------------------------------------------------
Andy Martin is a legendary Chicago muckraker, author, Internet columnist, radio talk show host, broadcaster and media critic. Andy is the Executive Editor and publisher of www.ContrarianCommentary.com. © Copyright by Andy Martin 2008. Martin covers regional, national and world events with over forty years of experience. He holds a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Illinois College of Law. His columns are also posted at ContrarianCommentary.blogspot.com; contrariancommentary.wordpress.com. Andy is the author of Obama: The Man Behind The Mask, published in July 2008, see http://www.OrangeStatePress.com. MEDIA CONTACT: (866) 706-2639 E-MAIL: AndyMart20@aol.com [NOTE: We frequently correct typographical errors and additions/subtractions on our blogs, where you can find the latest edition of this release.]

Palm Beach meetings will develop a structure for future efforts to defeat Barack Obama

Obama author Andy Martin proffers a plan of action, will deliver a draft "Palm Beach Statement." Martin stresses the need for "truth" and "facts" in fighting Obama.

PALM BEACH: NONPARTISAN MEETING CHARTS FUTURE ANTI-OBAMA COURSE

ANDY MARTIN
Executive Editor
ContrarianCommentary.com

“Factually Correct, Not
Politically Correct”

ATTENTION DAYBOOK/ASSIGNMENT EDITORS

ANNOUNCEMENT OF PALM BEACH MEDIA AVAILABILITY

AMERICA’S #1 POLITICAL
BLOG ON THE 2008 CAMPAIGN

HOW SHOULD THE ANTI-OBAMA MOVEMENT BE ORGANIZED?

OBAMA AUTHOR ANDY MARTIN PROFFERS A PLAN OF ACTION, WILL DELIVER A DRAFT "PALM BEACH STATEMENT"

PALM BEACH MEETINGS WILL DEVELOP A STRUCTURE FOR FUTURE EFFORTS TO DEFEAT BARACK OBAMA

MARTIN STRESSES THE NEED FOR "TRUTH" AND "FACTS" IN FIGHTING OBAMA

(NEW YORK)(July 19, 2008) Obama author Andy Martin will participate in a series of private meetings in Palm Beach this weekend; the conference is intended to chart future efforts to defeat Barack Obama.

"There are an awful lot of people opposed to Barack Obama," Martin will state at Palm Beach International Airport when he arrives at 11:00 A.M. Saturday. "But the movement lacks structure, lacks coherence, lacks a theme. In the meantime, Obama is flying across Europe and the Middle East embarrassing the United States and acting as though he has already been elected president. What a complete clown.

"The circus is in full swing. They were pretending on the Keith Olbermann show Friday night that there was a 'secret' Obama trip in progress. Some 'secrecy.' All you had to do was log on to the Daily Telegraph site in London to know that the DT was reporting Obama was headed to Britain: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/uselection2008/barackobama/2307785/No-free-ride-for-Europe%2C-says-top-Barack-Obama-aide.html

"One of Obama's African-American 'advisers,' Susan Rice, was quoted as saying Obama is going to 'demand' more of a contribution from Europe in world affairs. I am sure the British are going to take wonderfully to having a Kenyan order them around. The Lion King will be lecturing the lion tamers.

"The British will also be delighted to learn that Germany is going to be the centerpiece of Obama's photo-ops. So much for loyalty. By the end of this trip Obama will have advertised to the entire world that he is an arrogant twit with an ego the size of a ham.

"Obama's wife Michelle has also stated he is going to make 'demands.' What a demanding bunch of people.

"Obama is being endorsed with tens of millions of dollars in free mainstream media and network television support for his obscene travelogue. On his return he must be met with a more coherent and organized opposition. Hillary Clinton's loss shows that Obama will capitalize on complacency and confusion.

"My new book, Obama: The Man Behind The Mask, was conceived in Palm Beach. We are heading back to the island for a weekend conference on the future, structure and nature of the Obama opposition. Can we coalesce? Is there common ground on which to build a platform for Obama's opponents? How do we remain nonpartisan?

"We must be committed to the expression of opinions that are based on a foundation of available facts and truth. I drive the Obama campaign 'nuts' because I work hard to dig out the facts and get at the truth. Truth and facts will be at the core of what I present during the weekend meetings. Obama tried to undermine my research and analysis with his dilettante 'genius' Danielle Allen; her Washington Post scam backfired when we exposed she really was an Obama campaign shill.

"I have drafted a proposed plan of action. We need a 'Special Forces' style organization. The opposition must be light, mobile and hard-hitting. We must confront Obama with the facts and truth, to counter his imaginary resume and his malleable 'faith,' most recently fictionalized in Newsweek, http://www.newsweek.com/id/145971.

"Obama's Achilles Heel is the truth. Our psychological warfare must be directed at breaking him down with his own lies, contradictions and fantasies. ContrarianCommentary.com foreshadowed this strategy when we presented our 'psychological study' of Obama 18 months ago. The 2007 study is reprinted in 'Obama: The Man Behind The Mask.'

"'Obama: The Man Behind The Mask' is the de facto handbook of the anti-Obama movement. It is a work of prophetic journalism," Martin will state.

Andy arrives at 11:03 A.M. on Delta Airlines Flight 1493. He does not plan to conduct a formal news conference but will be available to media as he enters the concourse. His cell phone will be on once the plane is on the ground, (917) 664-9329. Messages left at his Chicago office will also be returned.

NEWS AVAILABILITY DETAILS:

WHO: Internet Columnist-Author/Editor/Andy Martin

WHAT: Andy Martin attends Palm Beach meeting to chart future opposition to Barack Obama.

WHERE: Palm Beach International Airport, West Palm Beach

WHEN: Saturday, July 19, 11:10 A. M.

MEDIA CONTACT: Tel. (866) 706-2639; cell phone: (917) 664-9329

TO PURCHASE BOOK: http://www.OrangeStatePress.com

ANDY E-MAIL: AndyMart20@aol.com
---------------------------------------------------------------
Andy Martin is a legendary Chicago muckraker, author, Internet columnist, radio talk show host, broadcaster and media critic. Andy is the Executive Editor and publisher of www.ContrarianCommentary.com. © Copyright by Andy Martin 2008. Martin covers regional, national and world events with over forty years of experience. He holds a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Illinois College of Law. His columns are also posted at ContrarianCommentary.blogspot.com; contrariancommentary.wordpress.com. Andy is the author of Obama: The Man Behind The Mask, published in July 2008, see http://www.OrangeStatePress.com. MEDIA CONTACT: (866) 706-2639 E-MAIL: AndyMart20@aol.com [NOTE: We frequently correct typographical errors and additions/subtractions on our blogs, where you can find the latest edition of this release.]

Obama author Andy Martin on How Obama fumbled the New Yorker cover story

Did Barack Obama's response to the New Yorker create a mountain out of a molehill? Andy says Obama is "no Jack Kennedy."

HOW OBAMA BOTCHED THE "NEW YORKER COVER" ISSUE
ANDY MARTIN
Executive Editor
ContrarianCommentary.com

“Factually Correct, Not
Politically Correct”

AMERICA’S #1 POLITICAL
BLOG ON THE 2008 CAMPAIGN

Obama Author Andy Martin on how Obama fumbled the New Yorker cover story

"Senator Obama, I knew Jack Kennedy, and you're no Jack Kennedy"
(NEW YORK)(July 17, 2008) One of the great lines in American political history is Senator Lloyd's Bentsen's 1988 retort to Senator Dan Quayle, "Senator, I knew Jack Kennedy, and you're no Jack Kenney." Senator Barack Obama daydreams that he's the "new Kennedy." In your dreams.

The remnants of the Kennedy dynasty have pronounced Obama "the new Kennedy." Defunct dynasties are like that. They still want to pretend the dynasty lives. But the entire Kennedy/Obama spectacle is farce and charade. Obama is a great actor and entertainer. Kennedy was neither. On the contrary, Kennedy had great personal charm and incredible grace. Obama is the spitting image of the fictional Sammy Glick, not the legendary John F. Kennedy.

I have learned a few lessons about grace along the way, and I vividly remember one lesson administered by Senator Charles Percy in 1978 on a snowy day at the Palmer House in Chicago. Senator Percy could not have been more gracious and more welcoming, and humorous, in introducing me to his audience.

As a talk radio host in Palm Beach, I often raised controversial topics. But callers always felt I was gracious and fair to even my harshest critics. I never screamed, never hung up the phone, never insulted anyone—all while raising the blood pressure of my audience with hot button topics. As so graciousness and gracefulness come with time and experience.

Let's start with the obvious: The New Yorker cover was laughable. It was ridiculous. And it was funny. I know the East Side of New York well, and the West Side too; and in those neighborhoods where the New Yorker is targeted people would have laughed and moved on.
Obama made the story by bungling his response to the New Yorker.

I was in New York last Sunday and saw the new New Yorker issue at the newsstand where I buy the Washington Post. The newsstand editions a wrapper that obscured the full cover, so I missed a view of the outrageous NY cartoon.

Obama's initial response to the cover cartoon was correct. He shrugged his shoulders. That's what Kennedy would have done, and maybe tossed off a quip. End of story.

Obama's handlers then issued a denunciation of the New Yorker cover, and the story exploded. Obama made the incident, not the New Yorker. Senator John McCain also chimed in, and he made the ruckus even louder. Good move, John; if that's what you intended. Obama's denunciation was all the talking heads on cable TV needed to create the gonsa megillah. As a result, Obama took what should have been a nothingburger and converted the cover cartoon into a media extravaganza.

Outrageous political cartoons have a long history in the United States. Thomas Nast's cartoon attacks on corrupt New York City leaders a century and a half ago are part of American history. Richard Nixon endured biting attacks. Even President Franklin Roosevelt was targeted by conservative opponents. So the goofy New Yorker cover on Obama was nothing special.
Ironically, by reacting the way he did, Obama made something out of nothing. He showed that he lacked the grace and graciousness to "blow off" the New Yorker with a genuine Kennedyesque quip and maybe a roll of the eyes.

The bottom line: it's not enough to daydream you are the "new Kennedy." Dreamin' ain't bein'. I won’t take anything away from Barack Obama. He is intelligent, attractive and suave. He knows how to work the rope line. He is going to make mega millions after he leaves the senate.
But I knew Jack Kennedy. And Barry Obama is no Jack Kennedy.

Not now. Not ever. Not inshallah.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Andy Martin is a legendary Chicago muckraker, author, Internet columnist, radio talk show host, broadcaster and media critic. Andy is the Executive Editor and publisher of www.ContrarianCommentary.com. © Copyright by Andy Martin 2008. Martin covers regional, national and world events with over forty years of experience. He holds a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Illinois College of Law. His columns are also posted at ContrarianCommentary.blogspot.com; contrariancommentary.wordpress.com. Andy is the author of Obama: The Man Behind The Mask, published in July 2008, see http://www.OrangeStatePress.com. MEDIA CONTACT: (866) 706-2639 E-MAIL: AndyMart20@aol.com [NOTE: We frequently correct typographical errors and additions/subtractions on our blogs, where you can find the latest edition of this release.]

NEW YORK News Conference:
Barack Obama panics: Andy Martin's book forces Obama to admit he is illegitimate

ANDY MARTIN
Executive Editor
ContrarianCommentary.com

“Factually Correct, Not
Politically Correct”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

ATTENTION DAYBOOK/ASSIGNMENT EDITORS

ANNOUNCEMENT OF NEW YORK NEWS CONFERENCE JULY 14, 2008

OBAMA AUTHOR ANDY MARTIN FORCES OBAMA TO ADMIT HE'S ILLEGITIMATE

MARTIN SAYS RELEASE OF HIS BEST-SELLING BOOK PROMPTS OBAMA TO PANIC, MAKE ADMISSION OF ILLEGITIMACY

MARTIN ACCUSES OBAMA OF KNOWINGLY AND PERSISTENTLY LYING TO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE FOR DECADES OVER HIS PARENTS' "NON-MARRIAGE"

MARTIN'S CONTROVERSIAL BEST SELLER STARTS TO IMPACT THE PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN

MARTIN CALLS OBAMA A "GIRLY MAN" FOR USING HIS WIFE TO ADMIT HE'S ILLEGITIMATE; OBAMA'S NO COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF ANDY SAYS

(NEW YORK)(July 14, 2008) Legendary Chicago Internet columnist and Obama author Andy Martin will hold a New York news conference Monday, July 14th to drop the first of several bombs on the Obama campaign: Obama is illegitimate and his parents were never married.

For the past four years one man has made Obama miserable: Chicago writer Andy Martin. Martin's accurate original article is cited as the source of later rumors concerning Obama's Islamic family roots. Martin has relentlessly and accurately investigated Barack Obama's lies.

"Obama knew we were working the 'illegitimate' story, and we were preparing a series of news conferences in conjunction with my book Obama: The Man Behind The Mask," Martin will state. "The Obama campaign also knew we were planning a lawsuit over his illegitimate birth. So they tried to use Obama's wife to do damage control. It was one of the most cowardly gestures in American political history.

"Jesse Jackson does not have to perform surgery. Obama is a 'girly man' who used his wife to ooze out the truth about his lies and his parents' lies. What kind of a commander-in-chief would the cowardly Obama be? Who would follow a leader into battle that was afraid to admit his parents were not married?

"Barack Obama, Senior, and Anne Dunham never married. Obama knows this fact. This is also why he keeps his white grandmother a virtual prisoner; she knows too, and she won't lie.

"Through the past several decades Obama has pretended he 'didn't know' the facts about his illegitimate birth. He thought he could get away with the big lie. And he almost did get away with it. But we kept digging. And we are still digging. We have more to come.

"We plan two weeks of news conferences and other Obama-related disclosures, all timed to coincide with release of my book. The book was mailed to some Washington media last Friday, and Monday afternoon it will be delivered in Midtown to Fox News, MSNBC and others. Demand for review copies has been so heavy we have already had to reorder. We expect the first truckload of Obama books to reach the warehouse early next week, depending on production schedules at the printer.

"The release of my book and attendant publicity has prompted Obama to panic. My book is the literary equivalent of a bone-jarring tackle in football, causing the ball carrier to fumble. Obama has been forced to drop the pretense his parents were married. It is time he told us the truth. His parents were never married, he knew his parents were never married; he repeatedly lied about his lack of knowledge concerning his parents' non-marriage. He should admit that is why he keeps his white grandmother virtually imprisoned and away from any media contact. He should beg the American people for forgiveness. Otherwise, his campaign is bakacht.

"If Obama had simply told the truth, the matter would probably be forgiven. But he repeatedly lies and pretends he 'doesn't know.' The cover-up is always worse than the crime. Jesse knows the truth. That is why Jackson has contempt for Obama.

"I criticized Obama for running a bogus campaign ad saying he grew up with a 'strong family and strong values.' The whole commercial was a lie. His father was a rake who never married his mother, and his mother showed abysmally poor judgment in being impregnated by a married man. Hardly a 'strong family' and certainly not 'strong values.' Quite the contrary. Shameful values is more like it.

"His mother was promiscuous and had a child out of wedlock, in 1961, when that was still scandalous behavior. Is this Obama's idea of 'family values?' Obviously, he has been deceiving the American people and hoping his advertising lies could overcome the truth. He has failed. My book is only the first step in our organized effort to deconstruct the mirage Obama created for the Democratic Party, and is now trying to re-create for the American people. Ironically, we're running a better and more focused campaign against Obama than John McCain is.

"We will have more to say about Obama later in the week," Martin will state.

REVIEW COPIES: A second printing of review copies has been ordered. Media requesting a copy can do so by e-mail to: contact@orangestatepress.com.
NEWS CONFERENCE DETAILS:

WHO:

Internet Columnist-Author/Editor/Andy Martin

WHAT:

Andy Martin discloses Barack Obama's parents were never married and Obama has concealed his illegitimate birth for decades

WHERE:

909 Third Avenue, public sidewalk in front of FDR Station, New York

WHEN: Monday, July 14, 1:00 P. M.

MEDIA CONTACT: (866) 706-2639

TO PURCHASE BOOK: http://www.OrangeStatePress.com

ANDY E-MAIL: AndyMart20@aol.com
---------------------------------------------------------
Legendary Chicago muckraker, author, Internet columnist, radio talk show host, broadcaster and media critic Andy Martin is the Executive Editor and publisher of http://www.ContrarianCommentary.com. © Copyright by Andy Martin 2008. Martin covers regional, national and world events with over forty years of experience. Andy is the author of Obama: The Man behind the Mask, being published in July 2008, see http://www.OrangeStatePress.com. He holds a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Illinois College of Law. Columns also posted at ContrarianCommentary.blogspot.com; contrariancommentary.wordpress.com. [NOTE: We frequently correct typographical errors and additions/subtractions on our blogs, where you can find the latest edition of this release.]

Did Friday night's entertainment choice offer us a peak at an Obama White House?

ANDY MARTIN
Executive Editor
ContrarianCommentary.com

“Factually Correct, Not
Politically Correct”

AMERICA’S #1 POLITICAL
BLOG ON THE 2008 CAMPAIGN

OBAMA AUTHOR ANDY MARTIN ASKS WHETHER THE PROFANITY AND MISOGYNY-LACED PRESENTATION AT AN OBAMA FUND RAISER IN CHICAGO FRIDAY NIGHT OFFERS US A PREVIEW OF AN OBAMA WHITE HOUSE

IS BERNIE MAC WHAT AMERICANS HAVE TO LOOK FORWARD TO?

DO THE LIBERAL MEDIA HAVE A DOUBLE STANDARD FOR MCCAIN AND OBAMA REMARKS?
(NEW YORK)(July 13, 2008) Friday night the Barack Obama campaign hosted a fund-raiser for wealthy contributors at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Chicago. The event may have offered Americans a preview of what an Obama White House would be like.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/sns-ap-obama-bernie-mac,0,1245527.story
http://www.suntimes.com/news/politics/obama/1052688,obama071208.article
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-campaign_satjul12,0,3038084.story
There was Bernie Mac, Obama's "great friend" and a "king of comedy" in Obama's humble opinion, insulting 600 financial heavy hitters of the Democratic Party. One outraged Democrat finally had enough of the offensive "comedy" and told Bernie to shut up and sit down. What gives?
For those who are too blinded by Obama to see the reality of his campaign, Obama was giving us a sneak preview into an Obama White House: entertainment laced with vulgarity, profanity and misogyny.
Common sense says that if you invite 600 Chicagoans to a political fundraiser, you try to inspire the crowd, not shock them into an awareness that Obama and his troupe are not ready for the presidency.
Last week Obama called for more Americans to speak French. Using his preferred language, what is breathtaking about the Obamas is how nouveau riche, parvenu and arriviste they are. Are the Obamas elitists? Not really. They are elitist pretenders.
They apparently think that crass ghetto humor is just what the presidential campaign and the Democratic Party needs.
Let me instruct Mr. Obama, since he obviously needs a lesson in campaign civility: Yes, Senator Obama, there is a double standard for what happens in the White House and what happens outside the White House. Properly so. Likewise, there is a double standard for what a presidential candidate can sponsor or endorse, and what a mere senator may support.
Personally, I would find the prospect of the Obamas and their raunchy comedians inappropriate for the White House. President Kennedy and Mrs. Kennedy brought great culture to the nation's home. From all that appeared Friday night, Obama would bring his dirty jokes and racial humor.
Obama increasingly appears to be living in a dream world. He may have temporarily vanquished Senator Hillary Clinton, but a very large segment of the Democratic Party remains intensely suspicious of him. Raunchy humor is not the way to recruit or reassure these Democrats. (Note: the skeptical Democrats are often described as "cultural conservatives.")
No sooner has Jesse Jackson exposed his castration fantasies because Obama was "talking down to African-Americans," than Obama himself showed us what he thought of his new role as presumptive nominee: tasteless humor for Democratic Party contributors. The problem with Obama is that he has become intoxicated with his own "coolness;" his sense of "cool" increasingly reflects ghetto humor and not mainstream American culture.
Jackson may have accused Obama of dissing Blacks but Jesse was wrong. Bernie Mac has a minority-focused shtick. Obama is not ignoring the minority community; he is confirming that his humor and his culture are 100 minority oriented. Jesse, repent. Barry O is a brother. Really. Just ask Bernie Mac.
Most Americans, I am sure, believe that people should be free to enjoy their own entertainment. We are a pluralistic, multicultural society with all kinds of high and low amusements. But when that entertainment is foisted upon wealthy Democrats in Chicago, or previewed by a potential future White House occupant, we are entitled to express our concerns. How many would want Bernie Mac's style of humor headlining the White House's entertainment marquee? I strongly support the view that people should be free to choose their own entertainment; but I am a cultural conservative myself. Where the entertainment slate at the White House is concerned, I am even more protective.
The "hard left" media, starting with the Olbermann show on MSNBC, attacked Senator John McCain for making a limp joke about exporting cigarettes to Iran to kill Iranians. Will Olbermann be as offended by Obama's sponsorship of Bernie Mac's comedy routines? Is there a liberal-news-media double standard for McCain jokes and Obama jokes?
Since Obama claims that he and Bernie Mac are "great friends," one can assume Obama knew what was coming when he invited the comedian to entertain. Later his "just messing with you man" refrain suggested that Obama thought the entire kerfuffle was a joke. Another episode of something "overblown" that Obama just can't understand. Obama's campaign later offered a weak retraction of Mac's remarks. The damage had been done.
People may continue to support Obama, and a hapless Republican Party may even allow Obama & Company to seize the White House. But we now know what we have coming when a new "first family" takes over, and "great friends" such as Bernie Mac are featured entertainers at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. What else does Obama have planned for the White House. Fifty cent? Obama is living in a dream world if he thinks most Americans want Fifty Cent doing his thing in the White House.
Democrats, wake up. Republicans wake up. Barry O (Obama) wake up. America wake up. Is this the kind of amusement you are looking forward to in the White House? The kind of taste-setter and opinion-maker you will be as president?
Obama's choice of entertainment? That's no joke.
But no one can say he didn't warn us.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Andy Martin is a legendary Chicago muckraker, author, Internet columnist, radio talk show host, broadcaster and media critic. Andy is the Executive Editor and publisher of www.ContrarianCommentary.com. © Copyright by Andy Martin 2008. Martin covers regional, national and world events with over forty years of experience. He holds a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Illinois College of Law. His columns are also posted at ContrarianCommentary.blogspot.com; contrariancommentary.wordpress.com. Andy is the author of Obama: The Man Behind The Mask, being published in July 2008, see http://www.OrangeStatePress.com. MEDIA CONTACT: (866) 706-2639 E-MAIL: AndyMart20@aol.com [NOTE: We frequently correct typographical errors and additions/subtractions on our blogs, where you can find the latest edition of this release.]

Andy Martin delivers “free lunch” to the Chicago Tribune newsroom
Martin tells Sam Zell that Zell can’t cut newspaper quality and expect to maintain monopoly profits. Martin says Zell is running a “Tony Soprano-style” organization based on the failed Clear Channel Communications model.
ANDY MARTIN
Executive Editor
ContrarianCommentary.com

“Factually Correct, Not
Politically Correct”

AMERICA’S #1 POLITICAL
BLOG ON THE 2008 CAMPAIGN

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

ATTENTION DAYBOOK/ASSIGNMENT EDITORS

ANNOUNCEMENT OF CHICAGO NEWS CONFERENCE JULY 12, 2008

ANDY MARTIN DELIVERS “FREE LUNCH” PACKAGE TO THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE NEWSROOM

INTERNET COLUMNIST/PERFORMANCE ARTIST MARTIN SAYS “WE CAN’T LET SAM ZELL STARVE HIS EMPLOYEES INTO SUBMISSION”

ANDY COMES TO THE TRIBUNE COMPANY’S RESCUE WITH ANOTHER CARE PACKAGE FOR EMBATTLED AND EMBITTERED TRIBUNE STAFFERS

IS ZELL BANKRUPTING AN AMERICAN INSTITUTION?
(CHICAGO)(July 12, 2008) Andy Martin will come to the rescue of the embattled and embittered Chicago Tribune newsroom with a “free lunch” on Saturday. This is Andy’s second “care package” to the suffering Tribune staff.
“Friday’s (July 11th) paper was obese with ads. And Zell wants to add more advertising? Does this man’s greed have no limits? Zell wants to cheapen the Tribune Company product but charge the same price. Is he a genius, or what?
“Zell seemingly wants to run a mafia-style ‘bust-out’ instead of a genuine newspaper/TV/communications company. He’ll sell everything off as he destroys the company. This is Sam Zell’s Tony Soprano version of ‘journalism.’
“The Tribune Tower? Peddle that. Put the employees in a sweltering strip mall.
“Markets fluctuate and the economy certainly fluctuates. Zell wants to use the recession to destroy the Tribune Company’s newspapers. He has begun by cutting the L. A. Times to the bone, and by introducing mind-numbing measurement statistics, as well an asinine orientation on human/animal sex. I am sure Zell could temporarily trump up more interest if he put space ‘aliens’ on the front page. But how long would that trick last?
“The fact that Mr. Zell is an ignoramus, or that he feels his success squeezing higher rents out of old ladies in trailer parks entitles him to be a management guru, is not the issue. Even stupid people are often smart enough to hire experienced employees. Zell wants to chase experienced people out the door, cut the newsroom staff to barely above national Enquirer levels, and then ramp up profits. It won’t happen.
“The Clear Channel Communications model Zell is using destroyed the radio industry, shafted stockholders, and left behind a company no one wanted. They had to file a lawsuit to get someone to buy Clear Channel.
“Newspapers undoubtedly face a difficult economic environment. But instead of dismantling news organization, I believe that keeping these operations intact is a far better long-term strategy. Newspapers are never going to return monopoly profits again. But if you look at Friday’s Tribune, fat as it is with ads and special sections, the print media can still be very profitable. It is greed that gets you in trouble. And Zell’s ego makes him greedy.
“Can you cover the growing Los Angeles market with half the reporters the former owners used? Can you cover the growing Chicago area with half the reporters the Tribune had? Orlando, Florida with half the reporters? That’s where Zell is heading.
“Cutting is easy; destroying is easy. Building is hard. Zell is a destroyer, not a builder. If you follow Zell’s reasoning, he should fire all his newsroom staff and let a computer assemble the paper ‘Google News’-style. But that would not be a newspaper anyone would pay to read. So you can’t cut your product to boost profitability. Worse, no one would advertise in a McZell paper produced by automatons.
“Zell is not going to save the Tribune Company. He will sell off parts-–some of them unrelated to communications such as the Chicago Clubs, and thus justifiably saleable—and continue to shrink his news staff and dilute the quality of his remaining product. Will he attract new readers with a cheaper product? Oy, vey, Sammy. Even young internet-focused readers will see a pig-in-a-poke when you water down the Tribune and the other company newspapers.
“Ultimately, Zell has overleveraged, and he may have to file for Chapter 11. He will end up having an ego trip and destroying the value created over a hundred years. The employees? They get wiped out, United Airlines-style. ESOPS? A legalized scam to steal from employees. It’s all very sad for American journalism, “Martin will state. “Zell will end up in bankruptcy or liquidation. Thirteen billion dollars is too much debt.
After his news conference Martin will deliver a “free lunch” to the embattled Tribune newsroom. “It’s the least I can do,” says Andy. “There are a lot of good writers and fine journalists at the Tribune. I feel for them being abused by a jerk such as Zell. My conscience will not let me stand by in silence as Zell hacks away at a great newspaper company. We are witnessing a tragedy in the making.”
SUNDAY: Andy Martin offers Sam Zell a cost-saving measure.
NEWS CONFERENCE DETAILS:

WHO: Internet Columnist/media critic/artist Andy Martin
WHERE: Public sidewalk, 435 N. Michigan Avenue, Chicago

WHEN: Saturday July 12, 12:00 P. M. (noon)

MEDIA CONTACT: (866) 706-2639

WEBSITE: SaveTheTribune.blogspot.com

E-MAIL: AndyMart20@aol.com
---------------------------------------------------------
Andy Martin is a legendary Chicago muckraker, media critic, author, Internet columnist, radio talk show host and broadcaster. Andy is the Executive Editor and publisher of www.ContrarianCommentary.com. © Copyright by Andy Martin 2008. Martin covers regional, national and world events with over forty years of experience. He holds a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Illinois College of Law. Columns are also posted at ContrarianCommentary.blogspot.com; contrariancommentary.wordpress.com. Andy is the author of Obama: The Man Behind The Mask, being published in July 2008, see http://www.OrangeStatePress.com. MEDIA CONTACT: (866) 706-2639 E-MAIL: AndyMart20@aol.com [NOTE: We frequently correct typographical errors and additions/subtractions on our blogs, where you can find the latest edition of this release.]

America’s media critic Andy Martin slams the New York Times for anti-McCain bias. Martin asks, “Why is the New York Times covering questions about Senator John McCain’s citizenship, and ignoring glaring gaps in the record concerning Senator Barack Obama’s citizenship and eligibility to be president?” Is there a double standard? Adam Liptak, are you working on a companion article about Obama’s “family secrets?” Or will the American people, once again, have to rely exclusively on the investigative journalism of ContrarianCommentary.com for the truth during the 2008 campaign?

Andy Martin asks: is there anti-McCain media bias at the New York Times?
ANDY MARTIN
Executive Editor
ContrarianCommentary.com

“Factually Correct, Not
Politically Correct”

AMERICA’S #1 POLITICAL
BLOG OF THE 2008 CAMPAIGN

OBAMA AUTHOR ANDY MARTIN ASKS WHETHER THERE IS ANTI-MCCAIN MEDIA BIAS AT THE NEW YORK TIMES

IS BARACK OBAMA ELIGIBLE TO BE ELECTED PRESIDENT? THE NEW YORK TIMES IGNORES SERIOUS QUESTIONS

MARTIN CHARGES LIBERAL MEDIA CONTINUE TO SLANT THEIR NEWS COVERAGE AGAINST JOHN MCCAIN
(NEW YORK)(July 11, 2008) We have planned to hold a blockbuster series of news conference in New York City next week. The “hard left” accuses me of being the mastermind of an operation to undermine Barack Obama’s campaign; I have pleaded guilty to having a clandestine command-and-control bunker deep beneath midtown Manhattan, where I manipulate the mainstream media and cause agita to liberals.
A story in Friday’s New York Times, however, has forced me to respond earlier than scheduled to anti-Senator John McCain media bias in the New York Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/11/us/politics/11mccain.html?hp
The Times gives national prominence to the ruminations of a quack law professor (I am an adjunct professor of law myself) who suggests Senator John McCain is not eligible to be president because his father was serving in the U. S. Navy in the Panama Canal Zone when the senator was born. Professor Gabriel Chin’s legal theories are loopy. But they trigged a different response with me. I immediately had questions about unbalanced coverage and media bias.
Why is the Times writing about McCain’s citizenship, which seems clear, and not writing about Obama’s citizenship, which appears opaque?
As long scheduled, I am going to be taking action next week on the topic of Obama’s eligibility to serve as president. In the meantime, in response to Adam Liptak of the New York Times, here is an advance peek at my concerns.
Barack Obama was born to a married, itinerant huckster from Kenya. Obama, unlike McCain, has not been forthcoming about his heritage. Once again, ContrarianCommentary.com has been the leading force behind raising questions about Obama’s citizenship and parentage. The "hard left" media may hate me, but the American people are paying extreme attention to my writings. We call ourselves "#1" without exaggeration.
I am incorrectly identified as a New York Times writer in a very entertaining video about Obama’s status:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXNLLAk9gek
One of the unusual aspects of the Internet, and my dual role as America's only national media critic and political columnist, is that I often get written into the story without having any role in that writing. Someone has produced a video. I had no role in the video, have no idea who produced it, and am misidentified as a N.Y. Times employee. Nevertheless, the video relies heavily on my prior writing and my earlier columns which raised questions about Obama’s citizenship.
(My new book, coming out next week, also deals with the citizenship topic; a tip of the hat to Mr. Liptak for giving me a bona fide opening to plug my original research and the book itself.)
Obama’s attack-lady-in-chief, Danielle Allen, wants to outlaw internet anonymity. I have no problem with anonymity. The anonymous YouTube video is entertaining, Ms. Allen’s antipathy notwithstanding.
The video tries to raise serious questions about Obama’s citizenship and eligibility to serve as president.
With my customary thoroughness, I have conducted extensive research on the claims in the video and I will be announcing some of my findings at a series of New York news conferences next week. I will also be taking legal action to pry open the vault of Obama’s “family secrets.”
But it is sufficient for today to raise my questions as a media critic: why is the Times obsessed with stale questions about McCain’s citizenship and eligibility to serve as president, when the Times is ignoring the much more serious questions which are apparent about Obama’s citizenship and eligibility? Why the liberal media bias? Why the one-sided news coverage? Is Adam Liptak working on a companion piece delving into Obama’s hidden “family secrets” about his citizenship and nationality? I doubt it.
In closing, a word about my new book. http//:orangestatepress.com. I did not write the book. The liberal mainstream media wrote it for me. What I found and find shocking is the way that initially the Chicago media, and eventually the media establishments in New York and Washington, have sought to cover-up the truth abut Barack Obama.
The Times runs a front-page story about McCain’s citizenship, when his family history is clear and open, while ignoring the massively complex and concealed facts about Obama’s bizarre family history and potential questions about his citizenship. There is a total lack of any analysis of what Obama’s tortured family history reflects about his character and psyche. Do the liberal media have an agenda? You bet.
How can Americans continue to have confidence in mainstream media if these media are, as Rush Limbaugh suggests, on a mission from God to anoint Obama as a political messiah?
Now you know why ContrarianCommentary.com is #1, and why my book has become a pre-publication international bestseller. And now you also know why Obama keeps his white grandmother under lock and key in Hawai’i. She knows some of the family secrets.
Watch for the New York news conferences next week. All of us “in the bunker” have just one goal: “Just the facts, ma’am.”
---------------------------------------------------------------
Andy Martin is a legendary Chicago muckraker, author, Internet columnist, radio talk show host, broadcaster and media critic. Andy is the Executive Editor and publisher of www.ContrarianCommentary.com. © Copyright by Andy Martin 2008. Martin covers regional, national and world events with over forty years of experience. He holds a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Illinois College of Law. His columns are also posted at ContrarianCommentary.blogspot.com; contrariancommentary.wordpress.com. Andy is the author of Obama: The Man Behind The Mask, being published in July 2008, see http://www.OrangeStatePress.com. MEDIA CONTACT: (866) 706-2639 E-MAIL: AndyMart20@aol.com [NOTE: We frequently correct typographical errors and additions/subtractions on our blogs, where you can find the latest edition of this release.]

Andy Martin’s worldwide bestseller goes to press as Obama campaign trembles. Obama: The Man Behind The Mask is coming.

Chicago news conference: Obama book is on the presses!
ANDY MARTIN
Executive Editor
ContrarianCommentary.com

“Factually Correct, Not
Politically Correct”

AMERICA’S #1 POLITICAL
BLOG OF THE 2008 CAMPAIGN

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

ATTENTION DAYBOOK/ASSIGNMENT EDITORS

ANNOUNCEMENT OF CHICAGO NEWS CONFERENCE JULY 10, 2008

OBAMA BOOK GOES ON THE PRESSES

CHICAGO COLUMNIST ANDY MARTIN ANNOUNCES HIS NEW BOOK, OBAMA: THE MAN BEHIND THE MASK, HAS STARTED PRINTING

(CHICAGO)(July 11, 2008) Legendary Chicago Internet columnist and muckraker Andy Martin will hold a news conference Thursday, July 10th to announce that his new book on Senator Barack Obama is on the presses. Based on pre-publication sales, the book is already an international bestseller.

“We are so excited,” Martin will state. “They are doing an initial print run for review copies to book reviews, media, etc. In a few days they are going to start printing truckloads, and the publisher will be shipping copies to pre-pub orders. The shipping date is estimated to be July 25th.

“I have over forty years of experience in the cesspools of Illinois politics. I worked for an Illinois senator, knew several of them personally, have been in and out of Washington for decades and was the first writer to start questioning Barack Obama’s resume and life story. No other writer can match my background. No other author can match my book.

“I am the only political columnist who ‘adopted’ Hillary Clinton as a candidate during the dark days of February. In Europe, I’m not known as a political author. Rather, I was the courageous and confrontational Baghdad bureau chief who took on Paul Bremer, and earned a place on my second presidential enemies list (Nixon, Bush). I spoke truth to power in Baghdad, and when I returned to Chicago I began to speak the truth about Barack Obama. Media bias is overwhelmingly in Obama’s favor so I am always swimming upstream with both my facts and opinions.

“‛The Mask’ is a compilation of my original columns combined with a series of startling new essays on every aspect of Obama’s life. Some of my comments are short and tart, some sharp and long, others derisory. The new material is sure to be controversial. None of it has been published anywhere before. My original news conference about Obama in 2004 has become one of the most Googled items on the Internet. The new book has already exceeded our expectations.

“Obama has relentlessly tried to stop me. He has thrown his recent ‘Manchurian Surrogate,’ Danielle Allen, into the fray. But we keep fighting back, with the truth abut Barry O. Obama is a political version of Budd Schulberg’s Sammy Glick. He is a crass opportunist who has thrown everybody under the bus in his rise to power. And if people are foolish enough to elect Obama, he’s going to throw America under the bus as well,” Martin states.

“My book catalogs Obama’s operations through the nomination victory last month. Now he has reversed himself, moving from the extreme left to ‘who knows where?’ Next week we are going to begin a medley of new columns on Obama’s mendacity. And we are already working on the second book. ‘Barry O’ is good copy.

.
“People in Chicago do not want to hear the truth. I love it. They are in deep denial. They are so desperate for a ‘president.’ As we Episcopalians like to remark, ‘Be careful what you pray for; your prayers may be answered.’ Putting a Daley Machine stooge in the White House is not my idea of ‘change’ or ‘hope.’ And tomorrow, Friday, I will be out on the beat, in the sewers of Chicago politics, digging deeper for the real ‘Obama Story.’ There is much more to come.”

Details on the book can be found at http://www.OrangeStatePress.com. Advance orders from Orange State Press are available now. Available worldwide in days: Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com, even Blackwell’s online bookstore in Oxford. Because of the expected heavy demand, advance orders will be filled by date of order.

Review copies are available by request at: contact@orangestatepress.com

NEWS CONFERENCE DETAILS:

WHO: Internet Columnist-Editor/media critic Andy Martin

WHAT: Printing begins for Obama: The Man behind the Mask

WHERE: Southeast corner of Huron and Wabash Streets, Chicago

WHEN: Thursday, July 10, 7:00 P.M.

MEDIA
CONTACT: (866) 706-2639

ANDY
WEBSITE: ContrarianCommentary.com

TO PURCHASE
BOOK: http://www.OrangeStatePress.com

ANDY
E-MAIL: AndyMart20@aol.com
---------------------------------------------------------
Andy Martin is a legendary Chicago muckraker, author, Internet columnist, radio talk show host, broadcaster and media critic. Andy is the Executive Editor and publisher of www.ContrarianCommentary.com. © Copyright by Andy Martin 2008. Martin covers regional, national and world events with over forty years of experience. He holds a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Illinois College of Law. His columns are also posted at ContrarianCommentary.blogspot.com; contrariancommentary.wordpress.com. Andy is the author of Obama: The Man Behind The Mask, being published in July 2008, see http://www.OrangeStatePress.com. MEDIA CONTACT: (866) 706-2639 E-MAIL: AndyMart20@aol.com [NOTE: We frequently correct typographical errors and additions/subtractions on our blogs, where you can find the latest edition of this release.]

Barack Obama’s “Manchurian Surrogate,” Danielle Allen, surfaces again

ANDY MARTIN
Executive Editor
ContrarianCommentary.com

“Factually Correct, Not
Politically Correct”

AMERICA’S #1 POLITICAL
BLOG ON THE 2008 CAMPAIGN

OBAMA AUTHOR ANDY MARTIN EXPOSES NEW TRICKS AND TRIBULATIONS BY THE WASHINGTON POST

PSEUDO-“SCHOLAR” DANIELLE ALLEN RIDES AGAIN, THIS TIME TRYING TO UNDO CENTURIES OF FREE SPEECH

IS THE WASHINGTON POST GROOMING AN INCOMPETENT OBAMA “FRONT,” ALLEN, AS A CREDIBLE SOURCE IN AN EFFORT TO UNDERMINE THE INTERNET?
(NEW YORK)(July 10, 2008) Danielle Allen, Senator Barack Obama’s pseudo-“scholar” and campaign hatchet-girl, has surfaced again. This time she wants to repeal the U. S. Constitution to protect Obama. Will wonders never cease? And the moribund print media, in the face of the Washington Post, are using Allen as a “front” to further their own agenda of discrediting the Internet as a competing source of information. Affirmative action, anyone?
For those just joining the controversy, on June 28th Danielle Allen suddenly appeared, “out of the ether” to use the Post’s own phrase, claiming to be a “political expert” and being presented by the Washington Post (WP) as “razor-sharp.” It turned out Allen was a distinctly dull blade. The WP neglected to disclose Allen was an Obama campaign operative.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/27/AR2008062703781.html
I expressed surprise at how and why Allen had surfaced. Her sudden appearance looked very suspicious. On further inquiry, I documented she was indeed a suspicious character. Allen and I conducted a very civilized e-mail correspondence, up to a point. When I started asking probing questions about her links to the Obama campaign, she went silent. [I will try to remember to post my unanswered questions to Allen.]
The WP lied about Allen’s status, concealed her agenda, and presented a misleading picture of a legitimate campaign issue: how were voters dealing with Barack Obama’s family roots in the Islamic religion?
Today, July 10th, Allen surfaces again, baring her true agenda and telling us something abut the malign agenda of the Obama campaign: to stamp out anonymous speech on the Internet. Anti-Obama anonymous speech. I realize that affirmative action has deep roots in the academic community. Universities have resisted removing quotas for students and faculty. But do we simply accept unqualified opinions on the pages of the Washington Post, without asking why someone manifestly incompetent is being promoted into the status of a commentator?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/09/AR2008070901937.html?hpid=opinionsbox1
Does Allen have any qualifications to be a “scholar” in the political arena, or is she just what I have called her, a “Manchurian Surrogate?”
Allen argues that we should create a new category of speech, “calumny.” What is calumny, and what is not, would be determined by Barack Obama and Obama alone. Obama day-by-day takes on the increasing pretensions of his doppelganger, Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe. The Big Baba Obama finds any criticism of his views, any analysis of his flip-flops, any challenge to his entitlement to live in the White House and any searching inquiry into his fanciful and fabricated family history, to be verboten. [I am trying to use as any foreign words as possible in this column, because Big Baba has demanded we all become multilingual. And who can argue with Obama? Not the mainstream media (“MSM”). He’s their man.]
There is only one problem with Danielle Allen and the Washington Post. She is utterly and completely incompetent to express intelligent opinions in the political arena, because she has no idea what she is talking about. She is either too stupid or too biased or—heaven forefend—too arrogant to make basic inquiries about the United States Constitution and U. S. Supreme court precedent before popping and tooting. Some scholar, she.
Allen says she wants to outlaw anonymous speech on the Internet as prohibited “calumny.”
There is only one problem with her ridiculous suggestion that we ban anonymous speech. The U. S. Supreme Court has expressly and repeatedly rejected such nonsense. Even the most conservative member of the court, Justice Clarence Thomas, has joined liberals in rejecting Allen’s silly ideas. In McIntyre v. Ohio, 514 U.S. 334 (1995) Justice Thomas traced and confirmed the long history of anonymous speech in American history. The Supreme Court has repeatedly adhered to McIntyre’s views, see e.g. Watchtower v. Stratton, 536 U.S. 150 (2002); Buckley v. American, 525 U. S. 182 (1999). So if the Supreme Court and justices both right and left have endorsed historical First Amendment protections for anonymous speech, what is Allen’s drivel doing in the Washington Post?
There is a two-fold agenda.
First, the Post is desperate to elect Obama. Every day that Barack Obama stumbles, flip-flops and passes off lies, distortions and misrepresentations as his political “philosophy,” liberals tremble that Obama will fumble and Republicans will snatch victory from the jaws of defeat in November. They rally do live in fear.
Second, the Post has a selfish commercial interest in trying to undermine political speech on the Internet. It was not too long ago that printed newspapers monopolized political speech and dictated the outcomes of elections. Internet speech has repeatedly exposed Obama’s lies, undermined his campaign and revealed the utter mendacity and corruption of the MSM. Who needs competition that that reveals your lies and undermines the credibility of your printed newspaper?
The Obama-is-a-Muslim issue is a classic example of MSM mendacity. The Muslim question is a peripheral matter. But peripheral matters do matter. Concealment of Obama’s childhood Muslim roots became part of his three ring circus of lies, damn lies and statistics. And his bogus rumor-fighting, “truth-telling” web sites. But it was precisely because the MSM tried desperately to cover up Obama’s Islamic family roots that the Muslim question propagated and mushroomed on the internet.
The MSM have met the enemy, and it is them. The harder the MSM’s fought to cover up the simple truths about Obama, by suppressing the facts, concocting complex lies and proffering prevarications, the harder the internet community fought back. In my case I relentlessly fought back. With the truth.
The Post doesn’t like me. That is why the paper devoted a full page to minimizing my writing and elevating Allen to the status of a competing “scholar,” when she is merely just another pampered blossom in the affirmative action hothouse. Allen is full of hot air. I cite Supreme Court case law to document my response to her silly proposal to censor the Internet. Which is more credible? Her hot air or my case law?
Where do we go from here? I urge readers to constantly be on the watch for hidden agendas. When people mysteriously surface out of nowhere, such as Danielle Allen in the Washington Post, ask why? When people such as Allen are promoted as experts in the MSM despite their obvious and complete lack of qualifications and experience, ask why? When Allen is portrayed as a “scholar” when in reality she is an Obama campaign operative, ask why? Ask yourself, why is the Post lying? Why is the Post trying to fool me?
And, finally, ask “What are they afraid of? The truth?”
---------------------------------------------------------------
Good news. We hope to have an update on a publication date for my new book, Obama: The Man Behind The Mask, later today. See http://OrangeStatePress.com
---------------------------------------------------------------
Andy Martin is a legendary Chicago muckraker, author, Internet columnist, radio talk show host, broadcaster and media critic. Andy is the Executive Editor and publisher of www.ContrarianCommentary.com. © Copyright by Andy Martin 2008. Martin covers regional, national and world events with over forty years of experience. He holds a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Illinois College of Law. His columns are also posted at ContrarianCommentary.blogspot.com; contrariancommentary.wordpress.com. Andy is the author of Obama: The Man Behind The Mask, being published in July 2008, see http://www.OrangeStatePress.com. MEDIA CONTACT: (866) 706-2639 E-MAIL: AndyMart20@aol.com [NOTE: We frequently correct typographical errors and additions/subtractions on our blogs, where you can find the latest edition of this release.]

Andy Martin delivers “care package” to the Chicago Tribune newsroom
Martin says Zell is trying to humiliate and degrade Tribune employees by treating them with the same cheap attitude that he apparently learned at home. Andy points out that Zell owes his employees strict fiduciary duties under the ESOP plan that financed his Tribune acquisition.

ANDY MARTIN
Executive Editor
ContrarianCommentary.com

“Factually Correct, Not
Politically Correct”

AMERICA’S #1 POLITICAL
BLOG ON THE 2008 CAMPAIGN

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

ATTENTION DAYBOOK/ASSIGNMENT EDITORS

ANNOUNCEMENT OF CHICAGO NEWS CONFERENCE JULY 9, 2008

ANDY MARTIN DELIVERS “CARE PACKAGE TO THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE NEWSROOM

INTERNET COLUMNIST/PERFORMANCE ARTIST MARTIN SAYS “HOW CAN THEY PUT OUT A NEWSPAPER WITHOUT PENS AND PAPER TO TAKE NOTES, POST-IT NOTES, AND ALL THE PARAPHERNALIA OF A MODERN OFFICE ENVIRONMENT?”

ANDY COMES TO THE TRIBUNE COMPANY’S RESCUE WITH STATIONARY SUPPLIES FOR THE CASH-CHALLENGED MEDIA EMPIRE

COLONEL MCCORMICK WOULD BE PROUD

MARTIN ALSO OFFERS THE TRIBUNE FREQUENT FLYER MILES FOR TRAVEL
(CHICAGO)(July 9, 2008) Andy Martin will come to the rescue of the embattled and embittered Chicago Tribune newsroom Wednesday, with a “care package” of paper, paper clips, pads and pens.
“It broke my heart to read that Tribune employees were being told to count papers clips and economize on post-it notes and who knows what else?” says Martin. “Colonel McCormick must be turning in his grave. Not to worry. I am coming to the rescue. To use the Democrats’ old phrase, ‘Help is on the way.’
“Wednesday at 4:00 P.M. I am going to deliver a ‘care package’ of stationary supplies to the Tribune newsroom. If billionaire Sam Zell, who is busy filing frivolous lawsuits against San Diego County, California, can’t afford to provide office supplies for his employees, I will. They have a word for people like Zell: ‘cheap.’ What is Zell going to do next? Lower the lighting level as an ‘energy conservation’ measure?
“I am also advising Mr. Zell that I will make 50,000 of my frequent flyer miles available to Tribune employees, so they can travel to news events. I’ll even throw in a couple of extra bucks for drinks. What good is a reporter on the road without a little distilled lubricant?
“Sam Zell has been a greedy cheapskate all his life, and he is trying to make more money by trying to put up the rent on helpless old ladies who live in trailer parks. Maybe that’s the way Zell was brought up by his parents. I couldn’t sleep at night if I made my billions that way. Now Zell is exporting his stingy tactics to the Tribune Company.
“Well, I have ‘news’ for Mr. Zell. Quality is not cheap. And highly motivated professionals cannot work for peanuts. Zell is trying to convert the Tribune Company’s newspapers across the United States into what we Floridians call ‘mullet wrappers,’” says Martin, “into the Chicago Tribune Supermarket Circular.”
NEWS CONFERENCE DETAILS:

WHO: Internet Columnist/media critic/artist Andy Martin
WHERE: Public sidewalk, 435 N. Michigan Avenue, Chicago

WHEN: Wednesday, July 9, 4:00 P. M.

MEDIA CONTACT: (866) 706-2639

WEBSITE: SaveTheTribune.blogspot.com

E-MAIL: AndyMart20@aol.com
[THURSDAY/FRIDAY NEWS CONFERENCES TO BE ANNOUNCED]
---------------------------------------------------------
Andy Martin is a legendary Chicago muckraker, media critic, author, Internet columnist, radio talk show host and broadcaster. Andy is the Executive Editor and publisher of www.ContrarianCommentary.com. © Copyright by Andy Martin 2008. Martin covers regional, national and world events with over forty years of experience. He holds a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Illinois College of Law. Columns are also posted at ContrarianCommentary.blogspot.com; contrariancommentary.wordpress.com. Andy is the author of Obama: The Man Behind The Mask, being published in July 2008, see http://www.OrangeStatePress.com. MEDIA CONTACT: (866) 706-2639 E-MAIL: AndyMart20@aol.com [NOTE: We frequently correct typographical errors and additions/subtractions on our blogs, where you can find the latest edition of this release.]

Andy Martin launches a campaign to “Save the Chicago Tribune”

ANDY MARTIN
Executive Editor
ContrarianCommentary.com

“Factually Correct, Not
Politically Correct”

AMERICA’S #1 POLITICAL
BLOG ON THE 2008 CAMPAIGN

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

ATTENTION DAYBOOK/ASSIGNMENT EDITORS

ANNOUNCEMENT OF CHICAGO NEWS CONFERENCE JULY 8, 2008

ANDY MARTIN LAUNCHES A CAMPAIGN TO SAVE THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE FROM DEVASTATION AT THE HANDS OF SAM ZELL

CAN AMERICAN JOURNALISM BE SAVED?

FORMER NEWSPAPER DELIVERY BOY ANDY MARTIN TRIES TO SAVE THE TRIBUNE “BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE”
(CHICAGO)(July 8, 2008) Andy Martin asks: can the Chicago Tribune be saved? Can the Tribune Company newspapers in Los Angeles, Hartford (where he used to be a carrier boy), Baltimore, Orlando and Fort Lauderdale be rescued? Can American journalism survive? Martin believes a tragedy is unfolding in Chicago: an ignorant, arrogant, incompetent swindler has gained control of the Tribune Company and is systematically destroying the company’s assets, particularly its newspapers.

“The barbarians are not at the gate, they are inside the gate,” says Martin. “The Chicago Tribune is a great asset; the Los Angeles Times, Hartford Courant, Baltimore Sun and other Tribune newspapers have always been highly professional. Now an ignoramus has taken over with a 2% down payment and claims he knows more about journalism than the entire newspaper industry.

“Zell has decided that what people want is less news, lower quality news, more pretty pictures and less substance. So Zell is cutting news coverage, dumbing down the product and adding more advertising. Who is going to be left holding the bag? Why Tribune Company employees, of course; they are the majority owners of the post-public company. Zell only has a few hundred million dollars invested in a $13 billion enterprise. He can walk away at any time, leaving the employees with the results of his destructive policies.

“This week I am going to focus on the future of American journalism. Can it be saved? From itself? Through a series of news conferences and performance art we are going to try to get the public to focus on Zell's acts of urban vandalism. Proud, profitable institutions across America are being destroyed by Zell’s larceny and infamy.

“There is no surprise that Zell is seeking to ‘strip’ the Tribune Company’s assets, no doubt with a healthy percentage being placed in his own family’s hands. I predicted this over a year ago. Zell has leased his daughter space in the Tribune Tower. Is she paying a market rent? Doubtful. Zell may be stealing from his own employees.

“Zell acts as though he owns the Tribune outright. But he doesn’t. The company is now owned by an employee ESOP, or employ stock ownership plan. Zell has an option to purchase a significant share of the company but employees are still the majority owners. Employees are being raped and robbed by Zell and his crew of pirates.

“Newspapers are undeniably facing a challenge. Marginal companies such as Knight-Ridder have been absorbed. But newspaper managements are largely the architects of their own demise. If you check what the Tribune charges for a classified ad, they want hundreds of dollars for something that others are giving away. The choice is no longer between a reasonably priced Tribune ad and a competitor, but between an outrageously overpriced Tribune classified ad and competitors offering similar products at lower prices. Right across the newspaper industry classified advertising rates have become a delusional operation in which papers are forfeiting revenue because they still charge monopoly prices for a competitive product.

”Long after their monopolies have dissolved, newspaper managers continue to believe they are entitled to a monopoly rate of return. That is no longer the case. Newspaper media dominance is dissolving.

“What solution do newspaper managements and asset strippers such as Zell propose? They constantly cut staff, cut the quality of the news they are providing, and cry about poor results when papers are still stuffed with ads. At a time when they should be rebuilding they are destroying. How long before Zell ‘discovers’ readers don’t want foreign news, and fires the Tribune’s foreign correspondents? Not long I suspect. Zell makes all kinds of ‘discoveries,’ and all of them are designed to cheapen his product and chase readers away.

“Today we launch a campaign to alert the good citizens of Chicago to the threat facing their media. I may not like the odd Trib employee but I have no hesitation in declaring that the company’s newspapers are outstanding products. Now that Gerald Spector, the quality-cutter-in-chief, has demanded that Tribune employees cut back on paper and paper clips, the time is right to sound the alarm. Spector’s actions are ridiculous, a parody of a Gilbert & Sullivan operetta. His save-the-clips memo is cut straight from Dilbert.

“I am launching ‘Save the Chicago Tribune, Stop Sam Zell’ week. We kick off the campaign with Tuesday’s news conference, and Wednesday and Thursday’s performance art.
“What’s the bottom line? If Zell is not stopped, the Tribune Company’s newspapers are gong to be destroyed. The destruction will not be long in coming. The public will abandon the deracinated remnants of Tribune products. Ironically, by virtue of his destruction Zell will claim a new mandate to keep cutting until the Tribune suspends publication or goes bankrupt.
“Reports that Zell is now using receivables financing are a warning sign of impending bankruptcy. Zell’s ‘asset-backed commercial paper’ borrowing confirms in my mind that he is driving the company into the grave. His receivables ‘factoring’ is recourse to a desperate form of borrowing that is usually a refuge for endangered enterprises.

“There is a world of difference between redirecting a strong institution facing temporary challenges and stripping a moribund enterprise. Zell is treating the Tribune Company as dead meat. His actions will ensure its demise. But that’s what the old buzzard has done his whole life, eat what he kills. He obviously knows nothing about journalism. Journ students take notice: journalism schools are an endangered species if Zell succeeds. Northwestern University’s decision to rename its journ school may be a harbinger.

“Mr. Zell and his confederates may yet get their comeuppance. He is still a fiduciary. He owes the shareholders—his own employees—a fiduciary duty. He owes his employees, whose own lifetime savings are the bulk of the company’s capital, a fiduciary duty not to slash away at a successful company. The fiduciary duty he owes his employees is a legal duty, one that is enforceable by his employees in a court of law. He can be prevented from stripping away the company’s assets and transferring them to his own wolf pack of real estate speculators.
“Right now I am fighting this campaign alone. But Tribune employees need to wake up. The stench emanating for Zell’s abattoir is overwhelming. He has brought with him a bunch of small bore asset strippers to dismember the Tribune company. The Trib is a complex communications conglomerate that needed more focused management. But the company will surely perish from the depredations of Zell and his predators.

“In my characteristic way, composed partly of legal arguments and plenty of tongue-in-cheek activity, maybe more cheek and less tongue, I am focusing attention on Zell’s vandalism of the Chicago Tribune and, by implication, on the endangered future of American journalism. If Zell is not stopped, and if incompetent newspaper management is not replaced, the bell will toll for the First Amendment; newspapers and journalism as we know them will cease to exist” Martin says.
NEWS CONFERENCE DETAILS:

WHO: Internet Columnist/media critic Andy Martin

WHERE: Southeast corner of Huron and Wabash Streets, Chicago

WHEN: Tuesday, July 8, 4:00 P. M.

MEDIA CONTACT: (866) 706-2639

WEBSITE: SaveTheTribune.blogspot.com

E-MAIL: AndyMart20@aol.com
[WEDNESDAY/THURSDAY/FRIDAY NEWS CONFERENCES TO BE ANNOUNCED]
---------------------------------------------------------
Andy Martin is a legendary Chicago muckraker, media critic, author, Internet columnist, radio talk show host and broadcaster. Andy is the Executive Editor and publisher of www.ContrarianCommentary.com. © Copyright by Andy Martin 2008. Martin covers regional, national and world events with over forty years of experience. He holds a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Illinois College of Law. Columns are also posted at ContrarianCommentary.blogspot.com; contrariancommentary.wordpress.com. Andy is the author of Obama: The Man Behind The Mask, being published in July 2008, see http://www.OrangeStatePress.com. MEDIA CONTACT: (866) 706-2639 E-MAIL: AndyMart20@aol.com [NOTE: We frequently correct typographical errors and additions/subtractions on our blogs, where you can find the latest edition of this release.]