http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/05/23/trail-of-tall-tales-barack-obama/
Trail of Tall Tales: Barack Obama
by FOXNews.com
Friday, May 23, 2008
Sen. Barack Obama gestures at a campaign event. (AP Photo)
http://elections.foxnews.com/files/2008/05/012708_obama_sc.jpg
Editor’s Note: This is the last of a three-part series focusing on
misstatements, prevarications and falsehoods proclaimed by the three
major presidential candidates.
Click here to read Part One: Hillary Clinton
http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/05/21/trail-of-tall-tales-hillary-clinton/
Click here to read Part Two: John McCain
http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/05/22/trail-of-tall-tales-john-mccain/
Sen. Barack Obama has gained a fervent following by preaching messages of
hope
and change, but has a long campaign tethered him to the sphere of age-old
politics? A series of statements on the stump suggest Obama is perfectly
capable of joining the ranks of silver-tongued politicians.
1. Spiritual Adviser, April 29, 2008
Non-truth: Obama told re****ters at a news conference that his former
pastor,
Rev. Jeremiah Wright, was never his spiritual counselor.
“He was never my spiritual mentor. He was my pastor. And to some extent
how
the press characterized in the past that relation****p, I think, was
inaccurate,” Obama said.
Truth: During a June 5, 2007, speech at Hampton University, Obama
introduced
Wright by describing him as “the guy who puts up with me, counsels me,
listens
to my wife complain about me.”
Sources: CQ, Newsmaker Transcripts, Special Events April 29, 2008; “Obama
Says
White House Ignores ‘Quiet Riot’ Among Blacks,” CBS2Chicago.com, June 5
2007.
2. Jeremiah Wright, April 16, 2008
Non-truth: During a March 14 interview with FOX News, Obama said he was
never
in church when his former pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, made the now
infamous
sermons during which he proclaimed “God damn America” and asserted that
the
U.S. brought on the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks with its own “terrorism.”
“None of these statements were ones I had heard myself personally in the
pews,” Obama said, calling the sermons “unacceptable and inexcusable.”
Truth: During a March 18 speech Obama said, “Did I ever hear him make
remarks
that could be considered controversial while I sat in church? Yes.” He
added,
“The remarks that have caused this recent firestorm weren’t simply
controversial … they expressed a profoundly distorted view of this
country.”
Nearly one month later, on April 16, Obama told a group of Jewish leaders
in
Philadelphia that he “did not become aware of [Wright’s statements] until
I
started running for president,” implying that he did not hear the remarks
while he “sat in church.”
Sources: “Obama Rejects Sermons from Pastor Who Was Like an Uncle,”
FOXNews.com, March 14, 2008; “Remarks of Senator Barack Obama, ‘A More
Perfect
Union’” barackobama.com, March 18, 2008; “Obama Tells Philadelphia Jewish
leaders He Would Not Sit Down With Hamas,” Obama speech, pool re****t,
April
16, 2008.
3. Selma Voting-Rights March, March 5, 2007
Obama told an audience at a Selma Voting Rights March commemoration that
during this historic civil rights event in 1965 “there was something
stirring
across the country because of what happened in Selma.”
Non-truth: He said his parents “got together and Barack Obama Jr. was
born. So
don’t tell me I don’t have a claim on Selma, Alabama.”
Truth: Obama was born in 1961 — four years before the 1965 Selma march
occurred. He later clarified his remarks, saying, “I meant the whole civil
rights movement.”
Sources: “Sen. Obama Delivers Remarks at Selma Voting Rights March
Commemoration, Selma, Ala.,” Newsmaker Transcripts, March 4, 2007;
“Clinton
and Obama Unite, Briefly, in Pleas to Blacks,” The New York Times, March
5,
2007.
4. Lobbyist Money, April 12, 2008
Non-truth: During campaign speeches, Obama frequently makes the contention
that “I’m the only candidate who doesn’t take money from cor****ate PACs
and
lobbyists.”
Truth: Obama has raised nearly $14 million from lawyers and lobbyists. In
October, Obama raised about $125,000 at a fundraising event in the
Wa****ngton
offices of Greenberg Traurig, the law firm that once employed convicted
lobbyist Jack Abramoff.
Obama has sought to draw a distinction between “lawyer advocates” and
“lawyer
lobbyists,” but some non-partisan experts see that as “a distinction
without a
difference,” as they both operate as special interests.
Sources: “Full Text of Obama’s Speech to the Alliance for American
Manufacturing,” Time.com, April 14, 2008; “Obama Draws Fine Line Between
Lobbyists, Lawyer Donors,” Newsday, April 12, 2008.
5. Nuclear Legislation, Dec. 30, 2007
During a campaign event in Newton, Iowa, Obama touted his sponsor****p of a
bill in the Senate that required nuclear power plant owners to notify
authorities immediately of all radioactive leaks, no matter how small.
Non-truth: That was “the only nuclear legislation that I’ve passed” he
told
the crowd.
Truth: Obama had rewritten the bill to ease its passage and removed the
language requiring the re****ting of leaks. The bill died when it reached
the
full Senate, and did not pass as he claimed.
Source: “Nuclear Leaks and Response Tested Obama in Senate,” New York
Times,
Feb. 3, 2008.
6. Law Professor, March 30, 2008
Non-truth: During a campaign fundraiser in Tallahassee, Fla., in March
2007,
Obama spoke of his time as a “constitutional law professor” at the
University
of Chicago, “which means unlike the current president, I actually respect
the
Constitution.”
Truth: Obama never held a professor position at the University of Chicago.
The
university said he was a lecturer and taught courses to students at the
law
school, but “did not hold the title of professor of law.”
Sources: “Obama: Bush Fails to Respect the Constitution,” Associated
Press,
March 30, 2007; “No ‘Professor’ Obama at U. of C,” Chicago Sun-Times,
March
30, 2008.
7. Life Magazine Claims in Obama’s Autobiography, March 25, 2007
In his 1995 autobiography, “Dreams From My Father,” Obama cited a copy of
Life
magazine as having stirred a racial awakening in him.
Non-truth: He wrote that when he was 9 years old, living in Indonesia, he
flipped through Life magazine and read an article about a black man who
had
scarred and ruined his skin applying chemicals that promised to make his
skin
white. “I imagine other black children, then and now, undergoing similar
moments of revelation,” he wrote.
Truth: No article or pictures exist of any such story, according to Life
historians. When questioned about the mix-up, Obama couldn’t name the
specific
magazine in which he read the article.
Source: “The Not-So-Simple Story of Barack Obama’s Youth,” Chicago
Tribune,
March 25, 2007.
8. Obama’s Fluency, March 25, 2007
Non-truth: Obama has claimed on numerous occasions that, as a boy growing
up
in Indonesia, he was fluent in the country’s language. “It had taken me
less
than six months to learn Indonesia’s language, its customs, and its
legends,”
he wrote in “Dreams From My Father.”
Truth: His first-grade teacher in Jakarta said he struggled with the
language,
needing help with pronunciation and vowel sounds, and teachers and friends
remembered him as a being a quiet boy as a result of his difficulties.
Source: “The Not-So-Simple Story of Barack Obama’s Youth,” Chicago
Tribune,
March 25, 2007.
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Comment by Nina
May 26th, 2008 at 9:49 pm
If Obama is the nominee I will not vote for him because he is a lying,
controlling, racist. He lied about being different. He neglected to
mention
that the change was NOT going to be positive for most Americans. He wants
to
control our speech, living habits and wants to control the use of our
weapons
for self protection. It is evident that he, his wife and associates hold a
deep grudge against Whites and possibly Jews. For the first time in my
adult
life, I will vote Republican before I vote for Senator Obama to be
President.
Comment by Nina
May 26th, 2008 at 9:42 pm
If Obama is the nominee I will not vote for him because he is a lying,
controlling, racist. He lied about being different. He neglected to
mention
that the change was NOT going to be positive for most Americans. He wants
to
control our speech, living habits and wants to control the use of our
weapons
for self protection. It is evident that he, his wife and associates hold a
deep grudge against Whites and possibly Jews. For the first time in my
adult
life, I will vote Republican before I vote for Senator Obama to be
President.
Comment by Smuhamm
May 26th, 2008 at 9:11 pm
Why does the news point out the negatives isn’t the positives news also.
Hillary has 35 yrs worth of baggage no way can Baracks papers be more than
hers or Mccains. This is all spin for each candidate. I believe nothing
you
guys say, I google everything for my self, which is what others need to
do.
Oh, and do not forget to vote for Obama it is unstopplable 2008.
Comment by Toni S. from Minnesota
May 26th, 2008 at 8:53 pm
He has to answer to God someday for whatever errors of omission he
can/cannot
recall, just like the rest of us. Let him go to Indonesia and help out
there.
We don’t need him. If he gets into office, Ellis Island will need a huge
sign
that says, “VACANCY”. God Bless America, and God help us all.
2008 FOX News Network, LLC.
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