We all know that there are way too many anti-Obama videos and commentary out there. Unfortunately, my uncle is one of those people spreading and promoting such distasteful, incorrect videos and emails.
Two days ago, he sent me an email with a youtube video called "Meet the Obamas," which went on to make the false arguments we all here and contained and repeated the ridiculous associations people are trying to spread about Obama. I was fed up.
So, I responded with an email refuting all of the claims that were made, with adequate sources and videos helping to do so. I'm posting the response below the jump and I urge everyone to actively refute any of the Obama bashing emails or videos you get. If anyone would like to help me improve my response, I welcome the comments and recommendations.
Experience...He was the one who had the right judgment when deciding to invade Iraq...he would have voted against it (http://youtube.com/...). What does "experience" really mean?
Accomplishments...after college Barack Obama went to Chicago and was a community organizer, helping people who lost their jobs find new ones. Also, he managed one of the most improbable campaigns, defeating a political institution in the Clintons. (Please check...http://thomas.loc.gov/...Browse Obama's sponsored bills this congress (122 of them), browse McCains (only 38). Also, McCain has missed the most Senate floor votes out of any of the candidates ( http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/... ).
Michelle Obama...I'm proud too that more people are involved in the political process, aren't you? Pleas watch this clarification...http://youtube.com/...
Obama's FORMER pastor...The controversial remarks he heard were not anti-US remarks, they were remarks that showed Wright's personality and the manner in which he speaks (sexual innuendo), schedules reaffirm his claim he was not at church on such days, Please watch this video for real representation...http://youtube.com/...
Associations...Regarding WeatherUndergound, and acts committed when Obama was about 10 years old, he sat on a Board with a former member over 30 years later, and has publicly denounced the actions committed Here are a list of articles...
REALITY: AYERS CONNECTION IS "PHONY," TENUOUS," "A STRETCH"
Chicago Sun Times: Obama's Connection To Ayers Is A "Phony Flap". The Chicago Sun-Times wrote in an editorial, "But Ayers, it is also true to say, has since followed in the footsteps of the great Chicago social worker Jane Addams, crusading for education and juvenile justice reform. His 1997 book, A Kind and Just Parent: The Children of Juvenile Court, has been praised for exposing how Cook County's juvenile justice system all but eliminates a child's chance for redemption. Is Barack Obama consorting with a radical? Hardly. Ayers is nothing more than an aging lefty with a foolish past who is doing good. And while, yes, Obama is friendly with Ayers, it appears to be only in the way of two community activists whose circles overlap. Obama's middle name is Hussein. That doesn't make him an Islamic terrorist. He stopped wearing a flag pin. That doesn't make him unpatriotic. And he's friendly with UIC Professor William Ayers. That doesn't make him a bomb thrower. Time to move on to Phony Flap 6,537,204." [Chicago Sun-Times, 3/3/08]
Washington Post: Obama-Ayers Link "Is A Tenuous One." The Washington Post reported in a fact check, "But the Obama-Ayers link is a tenuous one. As Newsday pointed out, Clinton has her own, also tenuous, Weatherman connection. Her husband commuted the sentences of a couple of convicted Weather Underground members, Susan Rosenberg and Linda Sue Evans, shortly before leaving office in January 2001. Which is worse: pardoning a convicted terrorist or accepting a campaign contribution from a former Weatherman who was never convicted?" [Washington Post, 2/18/08]
Woods Fund President Harrington: "This Whole Connection Is A Stretch." The Washington Post reported in a fact check, "Whatever his past, Ayers is now a respected member of the Chicago intelligentsia, and still a member of the Woods Fund Board. The president of the Woods Fund, Deborah Harrington, said he had been selected for the board because of his solid academic credentials and 'passion for social justice.' 'This whole connection is a stretch,' Harrington told me. 'Barack was very well known in Chicago, and a highly respected legislator. It would be difficult to find people round here who never volunteered or contributed money to one of his campaigns.'" [Washington Post, 2/18/08]
Noam Scheiber Of TNR: "I Don't See Evidence Of Any Relationship" Between Obama And Ayers. Noam Scheiber of The New Republic wrote, "Ben says Ayers and Obama were, at best, casual friends. Even that seems to overstate things, though. I don't see evidence of any relationship. The only concrete connection we know of is the meeting, which was attended by a number of local liberals; their contemporaneous membership on the board of a local organization; and a $200-donation by Ayers to one of Obama's state senate campaigns. (Obama also once praised something Ayers had written about the juvenile justice system.) I'm not saying they couldn't have been casual friends; just that there isn't much evidence for that at this point." [The New Republic, 2/22/08]
Birdsell: Obama Links To Ayers Were "Pretty Slender Ties." The New York Sun reported, "'Those are pretty slender ties to a controversial figure,' the dean of Baruch College's School of Public Affairs, David Birdsell, said of Mr. Obama's links to Mr. Ayers." [New York Sun, 2/19/08]
Middle East...Why is the cape cut at that moment? Some may want Obama because they want peace. If bombs were constantly exploding around you wouldn't you want peace.
Bitter Comment...Please watch this video and see what he really meant (http://youtube.com/...), I know I'm frustrated, we need a president who knows that we are frustrated and instead of dividing us wants to help us all have a greater opportunity in life
"Values"...Pro-choice is not equivalent to pro baby death if you hadn't gotten the memo...Also, one has to realize how tough it would be to take care of a baby at 14 years old, abortion is a terrible thing, but its unrealistic to think that it would be a breeze for a young girl to take care of a baby
Patriotism...How often do you wear a flag pin??? Also, just because you wear an accessory or article of clothing doesn't prove anything about who you are as a person. What is real patriotism...http://youtube.com/...... and by the way he never said he was anti-flag, ok.
Overall, had foresight to make the right decision on Iraq, not the politically expedient one (5 years, 4000+ dead, no end in sight)...Understands real problems, and wants to fix them (50 million w/o health care, millions of jobs lost, planet in peril, not enough education, etc.)... I am ready for change, the last 8 years have been a disaster and John McCain would be the equivalent of a third Bush term. Don't buy into the tactics of fear and association politics...what is important to you, what would make your quality of life better, let these questions guide you. Hopefully, you will find your answer in the policies of Barack Obama. Check them out...http://www.barackobama.com/...!!!