Cynthia McKinney and the far-right. The red-brown convergence now includes the Greens.

Former U.S. Representative and 2008 Green Party presidential candidate Cynthia McKinney has joined those seeking to take advantage of the world economic crisis to promote anti-Semitism. McKinney has published a column promoting the conspiracy theories of the far-right anti-Semite Matthias Chang.


McKinney's column (read here), which accuses George Soros and Alan Greenspan of participating in a plot to deliberately destabilize the world economy in order to install a "one-world government", uses Chang's term for this purported conspiracy: "the Shadow Money-Lenders" (not coincidentally, the title of Chang's most recent book). Typical of such conspiracy theories, Chang and McKinney connect this to an ancient plot which took shape under the hidden hand of the Rothschilds. McKinney puts a somewhat confused post-colonial third-world spin on this by citing Haiti as an example of what she says is planned for the rest of the world, the apparent link being that she happens to be in Haiti at the moment. Her leftist, "shock doctrine" approach also serves to make the essentially fascist contents of her column more palatable.

"I can only guess what the endgame is", McKinney states, before telling us, in the words of Matthias Chang, that

"(a) policy of 'controlled chaos' will be implemented and we will witness in major cities of the USA, UK and Europe of street battles, orchestrated by the Intelligence Services, between the white folks and the immigrant population. In the USA it will be against the Latinos and then the blacks . . . In the UK and Europe, it will be against mainly immigrants from Turkey, the Northern Mediterranean states and Pakistan and they are essentially Muslims. There is therefore, the added fuel of Islamic radicalism, which in the first place, was the creation of the Western intelligence services."

Matthias Chang is a Malaysian attorney who served as an adviser to former Prime Minister Tun Mahathir Mohamad with whom he is still closely associated. Chang's influence was evident in Prime Minister Mahathir's infamous speech to the 2003 Islamic Summit Conference, in which he accused the Jews of world domination and oppression of the world's Muslims (read here). Chang was also behind a visit of a delegation of Holocaust deniers and "9/11 truth" advocates to Malaysia in 2006 (read here). The delegation was led by Michael Collins Piper, famous for his claim that Israel was behind the JFK assasination. During this tour, this delegation participated in a conference called “Islam, Humanity and World Peace” in which Yvonne Ridley also participated . This delegation was interviewed by the Malaysian media, addressed conferences at the University of Malaya and the International Islamic University, and visited with Prime Minister Mahathir. They also promoted the Malay translations of Pipers books. (Read here.)

Chang has made a post-politics career of writing books which expound at great length his belief in apocalyptic conspiracies involving Jewish bankers. He has also continued to advise Dr. Mahathir, working on the board of his foundation and organizing "anti-Zionist" conferences. Excerpts of "The Shadow Money-Lenders" posted online make the very confused argument that international bankers (read "Jews") have been both controlling and destabilizing the governments of the world's most powerful nations, with the exception of China, which Chang claims has somehow escaped this snare (read here). Chang blames this same international bankers conspiracy for creating both capitalism and socialism, and for the Russian Revolution, Zionism and the creation of the Federal Reserve Bank, citing familiar far-right anti-Semitic propaganda as evidence. The cover of the book warns that "THERE WILL BE BLOOD ON THE STREETS", with the word "blood" written in a blood-red, dripping typeface (read here). (Editorial note: shouldn't that be "blood in the streets"?)

While McKinney has a history of anti-Jewish and conspiracy theory beliefs, this is something new. In the past, she has blamed her political failures on a Jewish conspiracy. She has supported boycotting Israel and cutting off U.S. ties. However, by promoting the neo-fascist books of Matthias Chang, she has taken a leap from the world of the left into the world of the brown-red convergence, where anti-Semites of the extremes of right and left meet.

Cynthia McKinney must know of Matthias Chang's far-right beliefs; he wears them on his sleeve. His books are literally filled with bizarre conspiracy theories. Chang's so-called "Future Fastforward trilogy" of books, which oppose both capitalism and socialism and present a nightmarish vision of a world controlled by an evil Zionist Anglo-American conspiracy, are solidly in the tradition of fascist, anti-Semitic conspircay propaganda. His website extols as his inspiration an amazing list of Holocaust deniers and anti-Semitic crackpots (read here):

the American Free Press, The Barnes Review, The Spotlight, and the truth seekers that I have long admired, Harry Elmer Barnes, Willis Carto, Michael Collins Piper, Christopher Petherick, Eustace Mullins (whose life-long persecution by the Police State is a disgrace to the Constitution), (and) Col. Donn de Grand Pre...

Chang and Mahathir have created what they call the Kuala Lumpur Foundation to Criminalise War -- a foundation whose website is completely devoted to anti-Israel propaganda (read here), and whose blog is similarly "focused" (read here). Here's a quote from a recent post on the foundation's blog (read here):

The Jewish psychic (sic) that they are “the chosen people of God” is the bitter source of the miseries afflicting the entire World ever since the time the Jewish God, Yahweh, chose the Jews to be His chosen people. To the Jews all the non-Jews over the world including Bush, Obama, Gordon Brown and the entire Americans, Europeans and the Asian are “non-human” and “inferior souls” whom they termed as Gentiles. These Gentiles could be cheated, deprived of their property and be killed without pricking the conscience of any Jew. A dangerous physic indeed! Don’t you remember Shylock in the “Merchant of Venice”?.

The Jews had never kept their promises to the Gentiles. Why should they? As any resolution, promise, treaty, contract, mutual agreement with the Gentiles is not binding upon the Jews as the Jews are ordained higher souls than the Gentiles. Indeed, the United Nations kept a high volume of the Jews’ non-compliances and violations of the United Nations’ Resolutions.

At Chang's and Mahathir's invitation, McKinney participated in a conference their foundation sponsored called the "Expose War Crimes - Criminalise War International Conference", which was held in Kuala Lumpur in February 2007. (Read here.) Presumably, she did so at the foundation's expense, perhaps even being paid for her participation. This account of the event in a Malaysian arts website wryly notes the contradiction of the "peace activist" Chang being prominently touted by the racist British People's Party (here, for example, in a piece about his participation in the Iran Holocaust Denial conference of 2006). The description of the proceedings of this conference makes the Durban Conference seem like a meeting of B'nai Brith. At one point, McKinney stood up and declared: “Kuala Lumpur has become the peace capital of the world!” More recently, in February 2009, McKinney attended Chang and Mahathir's "Conference for Palestine" in Kuala Lumpur. (Read here.)

Gene of Harry's Place reports that McKinney participated in an anti-Israel conference sponsored by this foundation in London on March 31, 2009. (Read here.) McKinney's account of the event is online here.

Chang's website prominently features the text of his message of support for the American Free Press and Barnes Review which was delivered to the "AFP-TBR Free Speech" conference in Washington, D.C. in September, 2006. This support is reciprocal. These neo-fascist groups publish and distribute Chang's books in the United States. (Read "Future Fast Forward" here.) The homepage of the Barnes Review website promotes several of Chang's books, even offering one as a subscription promotion alongside works such as The Myth of the Six Million and The Passion Play at Oberamerrgau. (See cached version here or pdf here.) The American Free Press website promotes Chang's Future Fastforward here (in pdf), asking the question:

"Will there be a worldwide "people’s war" against the super-capitalists and their Zionist allies?."

In Future Fastforward, Chang cites anti-Semitic polemicist Eustace Mullins as his primary influence, stating:

I have learned more about international finance and banking from (Mullins on the Federal Reserve) than any textbooks that I have studied as an economics student at the university level and ever since .

[Read more about Eustace Mullins here. Mullins on the Federal Reserve is readable online here. Another book of Mullins' crackpot anti-Semitic theories is posted here. In this book, The Curse of Canaan, A Demonology of History, Mullins argues that Jews (whom he sometimes calls "Canaanites") are literally descended from Satan. It traces Mullins' international bankers conspiracy to ancient Babylon, and claims that it includes both Jews and Freemasons. (Read here.) Mullins is also the author of The Biological Jew, which argues that the Jewish people fit the scientific definition of parasitism. (Read pdf here.) Louis Farrakhan, in the culmination of his farewell speech to the Nation of Islam, cited Eustace Mullins as required reading for his followers. (Read here and here.) Eustace Mullins is also the author of Adolf Hitler: An Appreciation, (read pdf here at p. 27) in which he names the culprits responsible for starting World War II. If you guessed "international Jewish bankers", you're right]


You may be interested to know a bit more about the groups which publish Matthias Chang, and which he in turn praises so highly. A pdf of a flyer for the AFP-TBR 2006 Free Speech conference is available on the American Free Press website here. The "Nordwave" website has a description of the conference here (cached version). Here are some highlights from the first day of the conference, in the words of "Nordwave":

On Friday, September 1, the opening evening of the conference, after welcoming remarks by American Free Press editor Christopher Petherick, attendees were treated to speeches by:

James K. Warner of the Christian Defense League (CDL Report, Sons Of Liberty Books) who spoke on the subject of Proportional Representation.

Mike Bower was the next speaker, his subject being the "third way" between jewish socialism/communism and jewish capitalism ... Social Credit. Mr. Bower has made an in-depth study of C.H. Douglas nationalist no-middleman economic theories.

It was our great pleasure to meet the following speaker, Mr. Alex Hassinger of Nordwave, an up and coming leader in the Nationalist movement who spoke on the future of our European culture.

Dr. Harrell Rhome of The Eagle Newsletter, Corpus Christi, TX was the next to speak on the survival of the West. Dr. Rhome puts out an excellent newsletter every month with an eclectic mix of revisionist history, suppressed news and articles on white survival.

Master of Ceremonies Dave Von Kleist introduced Margaret Huffstickler, a contributing author to The Barnes Review who also happens to have a beautiful operatic voice. Miss Huffstickler treated the crowd to a short recital.

John Stadtmiller of the Republic Broadcasting Network (www.rbnlive.com) hosted his nightly radio show in a separate room of the hotel, as did Michael Collins Piper. Attendees were able to sit in and listen if they chose to.

A wine and cheese social followed, where we were able to see old friends and made some new ones. Veteran patriots and nationalists Ralph Forbes, Dr. Ed Fields and his wife Jane, Jim Warner of CDL Report, Chicago activist Art Jones and his wife, Eustace Mullins, Ted Gunderson and Fred Toben were just a few in attendance.

John Nugent, Nationalist activist and former congressional candidate who is now writing for the Barnes Review was in attendance. My wife and I hadn't seen John since before the birth of our first child....16 years ago. We were very happy to see him again, and he introduced us to Mr. Theo Junker, the former member of the Wiking division of the S.S. who courageously opened a Museum in Wisconsin dedicated to the memory of Adolf Hitler. It was indeed one of the highlights of the conference meeting this courageous patriot who continues to fight the good fight well into his 80's. God bless you, Herr Junker!

Here are some highlights from day two:

The 911 Panel followed. It was my pleasure meeting Mrs. Ellen Mariani, widow of a 911 victim and a gutsy lady who has a lawsuit going against the government and Bush for their complicity and cover-up of this false-flag operation. She was joined on the panel by WTC survivor William Rodriguez and Lisa Gulliani and Victor Thorn of WING TV (www.wingtv.net).

Professor Ray Goodwin spoke next on corruption and Political correctness in academia, followed by USS Liberty investigator and film producer Tito Howard on new findings on Israel's treacherous attack on the U.S. vessel in 1967.

Afternoon session:Dr. Virginia Abernathy spoke on the illegal alien invasion, followed by AFP correspondent and author Michael Collins Piper, who read aloud Malaysian Nationalist author Mathias Chang's message to attendees.

RBN Radio's John Stadtmiller then gave a short talk on reaching out to the patriot community.

Eustace Mullins, veteran nationalist author and protege of the legendary poet and nationalist thinker Ezra Pound was the next to speak on the subject of The Federal Reserve and the world-wide spiderweb of the Rothschild banking dynasty. Mr. Mullins is a legend, and has gone through a lifetime of hell at the hands of the "usual suspects" and deserves our utmost respect and thanks.

Peymon Mottahedeh of Freedom Lawschool spoke next on the Constitution, the IRS and citizen's rights.

Steve Lynch gave a talk on government mind control.

Former FBI Los Angeles bureau chief Ted Gunderson spoke next on "Why the FBI can't find missing kids" and went into detail on children being exploited by high level politicians and bureaucrats.

Michael Collins Piper spoke next about his investigative work putting together his latest book, "The Judas Goats." Subtitled "The enemy within," this book is a history of infiltration and subversion of the American nationalist movement by the ADL and other agents of jewry from before the second world war to the present day. This book names names and exposes the traitors and infiltrators in our midst.

Saturday evening was banquet night. Author Joe Sobran was the featured speaker. I have always admired Joe Sobran's articles that have never pulled punches when it came to the jewish question, and looked forward to his talk. Unfortunately, it turned into the only real disappointment of the weekend. Mr. Sobran spent most of his talk pointing out the differences between muslims and Christians....this in the presence of Muslim allies in the struggle against Zion...including Dr. Hesham Tillawi of www.currentissues.tv

Now, being a fellow Catholic I understand where Sobran was coming from... but as I've stated many times, these are no longer "The Crusades" this is the era of the "Jewsades" where Christian Janissary's are off fighting Muslims so that they can be made utter vassals of Israel. The Muslims are NOT the aggressors today... the US and its alien Anti-Christ controllers ARE. Mr. Sobran would have done well to concentrate on public enemy # 1... that same race that screamed "Crucify Him" 2000 years ago.

Here's day 3:

Father Nicholas Gruner of the "Fatima Crusader" was in attendance and was kind enough to offer the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass at 7:00 a.m. in the main ballroom for those Catholics in attendance.

Dale Crowly spoke on The Bible and the first Amendment at 8:00a.m.

Willis Carto, founder and publisher Of American Free Press and The Barnes Review then introduced keynote speaker Dr. Ingrid Zundel, wife of imprisoned "holocaust denier" Ernst Zundel, who spoke at length of Ernst's ordeal, as well as others who refuse to accept the holocaust lie and are being imprisoned and tortured as a result by "democratic" governments.

Dr. Fred Toben of Australia's Adelaide Institute spoke next on "International attitudes toward the holocaust" Dr. Toben's own thoughts as well as pictures from the conference can be viewed by visiting his website.

Harry Cooper of "Sharkhunters" spoke next on the intriguing subject " Did Hitler and Bormann escape the Fuehrerbunker?" Perhaps we'll never know for sure...

After a delicious brunch about noon, Mike Piper handed out awards to some of the worlds most daring historical researchers, including:

• Dr. Fred Toben
  
• Canada's white rights advocate Paul Fromm
  
• Dr. Ingrid Zundel
  
• Lady Michele Renouf
  
• Peymon of Freedom Lawschool
  
• Eustace Mullins
  
• Victor Thorn of WING TV
  
• William Rodriguez
  
• AFP's and Barnes Review's John Tiffany
  
• Alex Hassinger of Nordwave

Long time veteran nationalist and activist Paul Christian Wolff received an award for his efforts to expose the REAL holocaust of Dresden.

Yours truly was surprised and got a big kick out of being given the "Saddam Hussein Award" I consider it an honor!.. Thanks Mike!

Dr. Udo Walendy then spoke on World War I history from a revisionist perspective.

The "Holocaust" panel was up next with Dr. Fred Toben serving as moderator, with panel members Willis Carto, Paul Fromm, Dr. Richard Krege, and Lady Michelle Renouf.

Following the panel discussion, Lady Michelle Renouf gave a talk on the immoral jailing of David Irving, Germar Rudolf and others.

My wife Deirdre Fields then gave a short talk on the Jewish hand in the genocide and disenfranchisement of whites in her native South Africa. Of course I'm not being prejudiced when I say it was one of the best speeches of the conference.

The fireworks were reserved for the grand finale... the Middle East Panel. Attorney and JFK assassination investigator Mark Lane (Rush To Judgment) was moderator of the panel, which consisted of two "anti-zionist" orthodox rabbis of the "Naturei Karta" organization, Lebanese Catholic Mark Glenn, Hesham Tillawi and Iranian Journalist Nader Talebzadeh. One of the more memorable statements came fron Hesham Tillawi, a native of Palestine who said, " I came to America to escape the zionist occupation of Palestine, only to find that America is also occupied by the zionists." Truer words are seldom spoken.
While the rabbis were anti-zionist for religious reasons of their own, Mark Glenn took the microphone and courageously told the rabbis to their faces that the problem was their Anti-Christ religion and the hatred in their Talmud. Mark just about got a standing ovation, and it was all down-hill from there for the rabbis....who sputtered and stammered and tried to pass the Talmud off as a book of "love." They obviously didn't know what audience they were trying to "pilpul." RIGHT ON MARK...
God bless you for telling the WHOLE truth.

Best to let these bigots speak for themselves. Cynthia McKinney: any comment on your poor choice of friends?



[*NOTE: A previous version of this post stated that McKinney has gone on the record to blame Israel for 9/11 and that the U.S. Green Party platform in 2008 made the same charge. While Cynthia McKinney has endorsed the 9/11 conspiracy theories of others who have blamed Israel, "Zionists" or "neo-cons" for the attacks (read here), she does not seem to have gone on the record about her views of an Israeli connection to 9/11. She is more than welcome to clarify her views on this subject in this space. McKinney has, notoriously, claimed that President Bush had foreknowledge of the attacks and deliberately allowed them to occur to let his friends profit from the U.S. military response (read here). This charge, which she has repeated, has made her both a hero and embarasment to the "9/11 truth" movement. She has also repeatedly taken part in interviews where her questioners blamed Jews for 9/11. In each instance where this has happened, McKinney has not only failed to disagree, she has replied in ways designed to support such views.

With respect to the U.S. Green Party platform, an earlier version of this post mistook the position paper on 9/11 issued by the Washington State Green Party with the national platform. The Washington State Greens issued on their official campaign website a lengthy article outlining supposed evidence of a 9/11 conspiracy. This position paper, which was prepared by the party's 9/11 working group, cited as its only source the conspiracy theory website Serendipity.li. While the Washington State Green Party's website has disappered (much as the party itself has) the source for this material is still online and can be reviewed by those curious about the theories the Washington Greens endorsed. Anyone who still has the material published by the 9/11 Working Group of the Washington State Green Party during the 2008 campaign can send them to me at adamhollandblog@yahoo.com ]

Voter Fraud Fraud

By Ken Silverstein (Harper's Magazine)

Remember last fall when Republicans claimed that they had discovered hundreds of cases of voter fraud in Ohio? A special prosecutor was even appointed to investigate. He has reported his findings and he did find voter fraud — exactly one case, “from a Connecticut man who told on himself.”

Happy Days Are Here Again!

I can't find the Lucky Thompson version from his album on Prestige, so here's a classic:




and another one:



FOR THE ORIGINAL VERSION CHECK OUT THIS...

Palin supporters' big mistake

They mistook the Beverly Hillbillies for Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.

from The Washington Monthly (by Steve Benen):

'WASILLA HILLBILLIES LOOTING NEIMAN MARCUS'.... There's plenty of time for the Republican recriminations to get completely out of hand, but in the meantime, would you believe McCain campaign aides are still fighting over Sarah Palin's wardrobe?

NEWSWEEK has also learned that Palin's shopping spree at high-end department stores was more extensive than previously reported. While publicly supporting Palin, McCain's top advisers privately fumed at what they regarded as her outrageous profligacy. One senior aide said that Nicolle Wallace had told Palin to buy three suits for the convention and hire a stylist. But instead, the vice presidential nominee began buying for herself and her family -- clothes and accessories from top stores such as Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus. According to two knowledgeable sources, a vast majority of the clothes were bought by a wealthy donor, who was shocked when he got the bill. Palin also used low-level staffers to buy some of the clothes on their credit cards.

The McCain campaign found out last week when the aides sought reimbursement. One aide estimated that she spent "tens of thousands" more than the reported $150,000, and that $20,000 to $40,000 went to buy clothes for her husband. Some articles of clothing have apparently been lost. An angry aide characterized the shopping spree as "Wasilla hillbillies looting Neiman Marcus from coast to coast," and said the truth will eventually come out when the Republican Party audits its books.

Also yesterday, Steve Schmidt refused to say that adding Palin to the ticket was a good idea, and someone dished to Newsweek that McCain "rarely spoke to Palin during the campaign."

The point here isn't whether the Palin family behaved like "Wasilla hillbillies looting Neiman Marcus"; the point is that these reports suggest Palin will get the blame for much of what went wrong.

It started with McCain aides calling her a "diva," and progressed to at least one aide calling her a "whack job." Now she's a "Wasilla hillbilly"?

McCain's team couldn't destroy Obama, but they can certainly ruin Palin's future.

MORE ON PALIN FROM THE McCAIN CAMPAIGN: She didn't know that Africa was a continent. She thought it was a country. She asked how it was possible that South Africa was a separate country.



(Hat tip: Americablog)

Anti-Semitic election coverage from Greece and Saudi Arabia

from David T at Harry’s Place » The End of Jewish Domination

Andrew Apostolou sends me a shot of the front page of the centre-right, New Democracy supporting tabloid, Avriani. The headline reads:

“The End of Jewish Domination”

Here is the translation of the headline, courtesy of the Athens News Agency

AVRIANI: “The anticipated victory of Obama in US elections signals the end of the Jewish domination - Everything changes in USA and we hope that it will be more democratic and humane”.

This isn’t far Left Jew hatred. This is not a neo Nazi newspaper. It is just an ordinary, middle of the road, centre right tabloid.

Taking a contrary position, Saudi Arabia (from MEMRI, hat tip: Gene at Harry's Place):

Antisemitic Cartoon In Saudi Daily: Jews Control Both McCain And Obama

Martin Indyk declares his support for Obama ... in Israel

from Haaretz: On visit, ex-U.S. envoy Martin Indyk makes case for Obama to Israeli public

Former U.S. Ambassador Martin Indyk has taken the opportunity to declare to the Israeli public his support for U.S. Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama.

Indyk, who was born to a Jewish family in England but grew up primarily in Australia, has made a career of Middle East diplomacy and support for Israel. Among other entries on an impressive resume, he has worked at AIPAC, founded the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, and served two stints as U.S. envoy to Israel.

On a visit last week to Israel to mark the 10-year anniversary of the Peres Center for Peace, he spoke directly to widespread Israeli fears that an Obama White House would be less friendly than an administration run by his rival, John McCain.

Syrian Ambassador: Lieberman Assured Me McCain Would Talk With Syria

from Think Progress:

In a new interview with Foreign Policy magazine, Syrian ambassador Imad Moustapha said that Syria is “doing everything possible within our means” to stop insurgents from crossing into Iraq, and decried the recent U.S. strike into Syria as a “terrorist, criminal act.” Most interestingly, Moutapha said that Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) personally assured him that a McCain presidency would open up a dialogue with Syria:

FP: U.S. presidential hopeful Barack Obama says that he would be willing to sit down with states that are now considered enemies of the United States. Is that encouraging to you?

IM: I have reason to believe that even if [Senator John] McCain becomes president of the United States, he will also be inclined to sit and talk with Syria. I can tell you this on the record: Senator Joe Lieberman, who is supposed to be very close to McCain, has said this explicitly and very clearly to me personally.

I don't believe Ambassador Moustapha with respect to Syria's commitment to stopping insurgents from entering Iraq, but one aspect of his story rings true. Whichever candidate is elected, the U.S. will talk with Syria.

Florida: Republican Party's racist email campaign

I've recently written about Pennsylvania Republicans' evoking the threat of another Holocaust should Barack Obama be elected president (read here). That email was sent to 75,000 Jewish voters. One signer of that email, a former judge involved in the Pennsylvania Republicans voter suppression efforts, has subsequently apologized, claiming that she hadn't read it closely before signing it (read here.)

Now, from Hillsborough County on Florida's Gulf coast, comes another story about Republicans sending racist anti-Obama email. This time the appeal seems more pro-Nazi than anti.

from tampabays10.com (Tampa, St. Petersburg, Clearwater, Fla.): Local GOP Chairman distributes racist e-mail

The head of the Hillsborough GOP, David Storck, distributed an email from a Republican Party volunteer saying (that African-Amercian) voters are a threat.

That's because, as the volunteer says in the email, he sees "car loads of black Obama supporters coming from the inner city to cast their votes for Obama."

It goes on to say, "This is their chance to get a black president and they seem to care little the he is at minimum a socialist and probably Marxist in his core beliefs." The Republican volunteer says that is because, "After all he is black- no experience or accomplishments but he is black."

Hillsborough Commissioner Kevin White says, "There's no place in our community for those types of views." White, who can't believe the email was distributed, says Storck should resign.

White says when he reads emails like this, he realizes hatred and racism is still alive and well.

Storck says he didn't pay enough attention to the email before he sent it out. "Now I know that was a mistake. I never should have done it. I do not agree with the statement or anything else. That's not what we're all about."

Despite Storck's apology, Curtis Stokes, an African American Republican who is also the head of the Tampa NAACP chapter, echoes White's call for Storck to resign.

A pdf of the entire email is available here. The website of the county Republicans is available here. Below is the main part of the email, unedited, capital letters intact:

I SEE CARLOADS OF BLACK OBAMA SUPPORTERS COMING FROM THE INNER CITY TO CAST THEIR VOTES FOR OBAMA. THIS IS THEIR CHANCE TO GET A BLACK PRESIDENT AND THEY SEEM TO CARE LITTLE THAT HE IS AT MINIMUM, SOCIALIST, AND PROBABLY MARXIST IN HIS CORE BELIEFS. AFTER ALL, HE IS BLACK--NO EXPERIENCE OR ACCOMPLISHMENTS--BUT HE IS BLACK.

I ALSO SEE YOUNG COLLEGE STUDENTS AND THEIR PROFESSORS FROM USF PARKING THEIR CARS WITH THE PROMINENT 'OBAMA' BUMPER STICKERS. THE STUDENTS ARE ENTHUSIASTIC TO BE VOTING IN A HISTORIC ELECTION WHERE THERE MAY BE THE FIRST
BLACK PRESIDENT.

THE COLLEGE PROFESSORS, PARTICULARLY IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES, FOR THE MOST PART HAVE LITTLE OR NO EXPERIENCE IN THE WORK-A-DAY WORLD. THEIR LIFE EXPERIENCE HAS BEEN MOSTLY ACADEMIC UNDER THE TUTELAGE OF LIBERAL COLLEGE PROFESSORS. FOR THEM, A LITTLE SOCIALISM AND ANTIAMERICANISM IS A GOOD THING. AFTER ALL, IF TERRORISTS ATTACK US, WE MUST HAVE DONE SOMETHING TO PROVOKE THEM.

YOU AND I UNDERSTAND THE DANGERS THE POTENTIAL OBAMA PRESIDENCY PRESENTS TO OUR WAY OF LIFE. THE SUPPRESSION OF FREE SPEECH, INTRODUCING UNION INTIMIDATION IN THE WORKPLACE, INCREASED DANGERS TO OUR NATION BY TERRORISTS, CUTTING OUR DEFENSE BUDGET BY 25%, TURNING OUR TAX
SYSTEM INTO A NATIONAL WELFARE SYSTEM AND ECONOMIC POLICIES THAT COULD DRIVE US INTO A DEPRESSION.

The reading skills of these Republicans must be pretty poor, considering the blatant racism which Storck claims not to have noticed. This excuse is also entirely implausable considering that Storck initially defended the email (read here).

This appeal to the racist right, a message which is not only anti-black, but red-baiting, anti-labor and anti-intellectual, is largely consistent with the message of the Republicans' 2008 campaign. Storck made the mistake, as did Representative Michele Bachmann (read here: "Minnesota's smiley-faced Joseph McCarthy"), of spelling out what the Republicans have preferred to imply with code words like "welfare" and "terrorist". Although unsubtle, their rhetoric flies just below the racial radar of the mainstream media while sending a clearly fear-mongering message to insecure white Americans. (Note: in fairness to the Florida Republican party and McCain campaign, they have both, when asked about it, condemned the email -- read here.)

Storck's email has received the unqualified support of the nation's top neo-Nazi radio broadcast, the aptly-named Political Cesspool (read here), which called Storck's comments "the truth". Concerning his apology, the Cesspool folks write on their blog:

Storck is now apologizing and groveling as only a white man can, and I hope the spineless wimp does resign, or is forced out.

Political Cesspool host and blogger James Edwards is associated with the Pat Buchanan wing of the Republican Party.

UPDATE: McCAIN CAMPAIGN SPREADING 'OBAMA IS NOT A CITIZEN' RUMOR IN FLORIDA 'ATLAS SHRUGS' BLOGGER HOLDS ANTI-OBAMA RALLY.

from The Daily Beast: Waaay Off-Message (by Benjamin Sarlin)

In the battleground state of Florida, one McCain official wonders if the man leading in the polls is actually Indonesian.

In Florida, volunteers for John McCain’s campaign have been buzzing about a discredited rumor that Barack Obama is not a natural born United States citizen, but either Kenyan or Indonesian. That’s not surprising—the rumor has enjoyed a long life on the Internet. But now a McCain campaign official in Broward County, Fla., is indulging in the same fantasizing. Tim McClellan, the Northeast Broward County regional manager for the McCain campaign, told me on Friday that he has doubts about Obama’s citizenship.

“I have strong concerns that Obama is not a citizen,” McClellan said. “Did he go to Indonesia and become an Indonesian citizen? And if so, did he take steps to regain his citizenship?”

According to McClellan, Obama’s birth certificate—a copy of which has been independently verified by news organizations—is a forgery. McClellan pointed to a recently dismissed lawsuit by Pennsylvania resident and 9/11 truth advocate Philip J. Berg alleging that Obama is really a Kenyan citizen as evidence that the Democratic nominee will eventually be removed from office when the truth comes out.

“I suspect the U.S. Supreme Court will prove that Obama’s not a citizen,” McClellan said.

I asked McClellan if he was frustrated that McCain was not making the case that Obama is not a genuine American.

“Yes, and I think that’s true of a good majority of Republicans,” McClellan said, “You have to look at why more of it isn’t getting attention, though. The mainstream media is very liberal and the word doesn’t get out.”

Broward County, of course, was the battleground of the 2000 recount. But if McClellan was off-message in his campaign duties, he was hardly alone. Several volunteers at rallies this week mentioned the birth certificate issue, among other Obama conspiracy theories. Pamela Geller, author of the popular conservative blog Atlas Shrugs, even held a rally in Sunrise, Fla., on Friday to call on the Federal Election Commission to bar Obama from further campaign spending on the basis that he is not a natural born US citizen. Geller made news earlier in the week when she argued in a rambling 12,000-word essay that Malcolm X may be Barack Obama’s biological father. Politico reporter Ben Smith described the piece as the “frontiers of craziness.”

What was most fascinating about McClellan and other conspiracy-minded Republicans in Broward was that they did not seem to believe there was any conflict between their theories and the McCain campaign’s own claims. McCain himself walks a fine line when raising questions about Obama’s past (“Who is the real Barack Obama?”). His staff, it seems, is working overtime to fill in the blanks.

Geller's blog posts about her counter-shlep start here. (I'm getting whiplash from clicking between blogs claiming Obama is too pro-Jewish, like this one, to those claiming he's anti-Jewish. At least they can agree that Obama is bad and the Jews are involved in some way.)

Poster for Pamela Geller's Florida anti-Obama rally: "Obama Lethal for the Jews"

Dennis Ross on Israel and Obama

Dennis Ross speaking at a shul in Florida on what the Bush administration has not done for Israel, and what Obama will do.

Ex-Pa. judge: Sorry for email linking Obama to threat of new Holocaust

Former Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice Sandra Schultz Newman has apologized for signing an offensive email which evoked the threat of another Holocaust if Barack Obama is elected president. Newman claims that she did had not read the email closely before it was sent and had been unaware of its offensive contents. The email was also signed by Mitchell L. Morgan, a major Republican fund-raiser, and I. Michael Coslov, CEO of a steel company. (Read here, here and here.)

The email, which was mass-mailed to approximately 75,000 Jews in Pennsylvania, was co-written by Bryan Rudnick, a Republican Party consultant working on outreach to Pennsylvania's Jewish community. According to reports, Rudnick says that he was authorized by the Pennsylvania Republican Party to send the offensive spam email. Pennsylvania GOP spokesman Michael Barley has issued an apology for the email, but claims that they did not authorize it. In addition to the offensive reference to the Holocaust, the GOP also disavowed an allegation in the email that Barack Obama “taught members of Acorn to commit voter registration fraud,” which Barley acknowledged was baseless. The Republicans have not revealed who co-authored the email with Rudnick.

Judge Newman is a member of the Republican Party's national task-force monitoring Election Day voting. She has been involved in a law suit against ACORN and the Pennsylvania Secretary of State alleging that submissions of false voter registrations will taint the upcoming election. The State of Pennsylvania say that there are safeguards in place to prevent voter fraud and that Newman's allegations are false. Democrats have alleged that Newman's task-force is part of a Republican effort to suppress the vote.

Read more at Philly.com: Ex-Pa. judge: Sorry for anti-Obama Jewish e-mail

McCain Adviser Endorses Obama

from The New Republic blog The Plank: Reagan Appointee and (Recent) McCain Adviser Charles Fried Supports Obama

Charles Fried, a professor at Harvard Law School, has long been one of the most important conservative thinkers in the United States. Under President Reagan, he served, with great distinction, as Solicitor General of the United States. Since then, he has been prominently associated with several Republican leaders and candidates, most recently John McCain, for whom he expressed his enthusiastic support in January.

This week, Fried announced that he has voted for Obama-Biden by absentee ballot. In his letter to Trevor Potter, the General Counsel to the McCain-Palin campaign, he asked that his name be removed from the several campaign-related committees on which he serves. In that letter, he said that chief among the reasons for his decision "is the choice of Sarah Palin at a time of deep national crisis."

Fried is exceptionally thoughtful and principled; his vote for Obama is especially noteworthy.

--Cass. R. Sunstein

UPDATE: Fried writes to TNR: I admire Senator McCain and was glad to help in his campaign, and to be listed as doing so; but when I concluded that I must vote for Obama for the reason stated in my letter, I felt it wrong to appear to be recommending to others a vote that I was not prepared to cast myself. So it was more of an erasure than an affirmation.

Stay classy, Wasilla

The McCain campaign has been very successful

They've convinced me that I don't want Bill Ayers to be president.

Jonah Goldberg endorses fraudulent donations to Obama campaign

Jonah Goldberg of the National Review has promoted a call for fraudulent donations to be made to the Obama campaign. Perhaps fearing the legal implications of this, he then back-tracked to claim it was all just a joke. Sure it was.

from The Corner on National Review Online: Someone Put On His Thinking Cap

From a reader:

If the donations list is published we could always do a bunch of donations as William Ayers, Jeremiah Wright etc. and then publicize that Obama's taking donations from these indidividuals.
The only way to avoid the connection is to admit that they allow anonymous donation which, if I understand correctly, is a violation of federal law.
I'd think an amusing ad could be put together from the already published donor list. The tag line is that if Obama would let his contributors lie to give him money who else is lying to him? That plays off the trust, experience and judgement angles all at the same time.

Update: Hey, enraged lefty blog minions emailing me with all this name-calling b.s.: A) Calm down, I was being sarcastic, not serious. B) What are you people so furious about? That your candidate will continue to get more fraudulent donations? That conservatives will give money to your candidate? That all of this exposes how shoddy and irresponsible Obama's operation is? Why the rage? Somehow I find it hard to believe that apologists for ACORN and Chicago politics are suddenly horrified by any chicanery with the integrity of the campaign finance system.

Thanks for clarifying that Jonah. The entire nation is getting a pretty good sense of the Republican establishment's ethics. The Republicans have consistently accused their adversaries of the dirty deeds they do. Karl Rove wrote the book on that one, didn't he?

Goldberg may find it hard to believe that Americans are horrified by his actions and those of his fellow Republicans, but they are. And they intend to say so on election day.

Intemperate, rancorous reactions to Obama endorsements

Emory University Professor Deborah Lipstadt, who has endorsed Barack Obama for the presidency (read here), has a blog post detailing the venomous attacks she's received from Republicans in response (read here).

I have been inundated with emails that are replete with all sorts of idiocy. They are, by and large, too stupid to recount. There is a sense of real hysteria in them. There may be good reasons to support McCain but these people are off the wall.

I have been told that Obama is: pro-Muslim, anti-American,pro-Farrakhan [that Farrakhan is a close associate of Obama], anti-Israel, (and) a Manchurian candidate [this from a nameless person who was described as a top U.S. analyst in DC... ].

I have been told that I have spun and skewed, engaged in major distortions, shown a lack of critical scholarship,offered arguments with no intellectual credibility [all of the above came with no examples of how I did so... just the charges], am a self-hating liberal Jew, (and that I) don't know Jewish law.

Then today these folks really hit bottom: they sent an email out contending that the O people form with their two hands [it is akin to the three fingers people used to hold aloft as a sign of support for George W.] is the same as a Hitler salute..... This is hardly worth comment... are they suggesting that Obama and Hitler were in cahoots? Maybe they don't know that Hitler had been dead 15 years when Obama was born.... that neo-Nazis are behind his campaign?

Finally, many of these emails repeat [in exactly the same language... as if it came out of a mimeograph machine... if you remember what that is] that I told people to vote for Obama because he is Black. Give me a break. Anyone who can read that into my last paragraph smells to me like a latent racist or maybe like someone who can't read.

Jews have prospered in this country in countless and unimaginable ways. America has given us tremendous opportunities. While no one should vote for Barack Obama because he is black, the fact that a black man is a nominee for the highest office in the land constitutes an affirmation of the fact that at long last, some of the final barriers of discrimination are crumbling. For Jews it is yet another reminder of the blessings this country has offered them and other minorities.

I wonder if these folks will say the same thing about Gen. Powell's statement this morning on Meet the Press

And I can't deny that it will be a historic event for an African-American to become president. And should that happen, all Americans should be proud--not just African-Americans, but all Americans--that we have reached this point in our national history where such a thing could happen. It will also not only electrify our country, I think it'll electrify the world.

* * *

Professor Lipstadt need wonder no longer whether General Powell will be similarly slandered. Here's historian Judith Apter Klinghoffer writing at George Mason University's History News Network (read here):

Do you believe that Colin Powell would have endorsed a WHITE DEMOCRATIC Candidate for president? Me neither. Do you believe Colin Powell would not have run for president had he been WHITE? Me neither. Do you believe that Barack Obama would have offered Powell or any other black man who failed to endorse him a seat at the table? Me neither.

To be honest, I never liked the man. He struck me as a coward. Yes, he was a general but he let fear of assassination prevent him from running for the presidency and he betrayed those who gave him a seat at the table in ill timed books.

Well, the two man deserve each other. Honor, gratitude and loyalty are not values familiar to either of them. Throwing old friends under bus is a common sport for them. All we can hope is that the American people will see through the media hype and give them their just dessert. A defeat in the polls.

Disgusting.

Klinghoffer's intemperate statement stands in sharp contrast to General Powell's thoughtful, well-reasoned one (view here). Klinghoffer is unable to mount a coherent argument against General Powell's endorsement of Obama, so instead slings senseless insults. On the other hand, in his statement, General Powell details the strengths of both McCain and Obama, explains why he supports Obama, and explicitly disavows the sort of racial bias Klinghoffer imputes. He also explicitly condemns the rancor of the Republican campaign. Klinghoffer, in her angry response, senselessly calls General Powell "a coward" in spite of his distinguished record of service in combat. Equally senselessly, she calls Powell "disloyal" in spite of his loyalty -- excessive loyalty, in fact -- to the Bush administration, who, it must be said, used him very badly indeed. Most senselessly of all, Kilinghoffer also tells us, as if we should care, that she "never liked" Powell. Her ad hominem argument (such as it is -- it's more invective than argument) tells me that, in addition to having a problem with anger management, she's also a very poor judge of character.


This blog has received a comment similarly accusing General Powell of being motivated by racial bias to endorse Obama. Here's part of my response:

(W)hy are you suspicious when one African-American supports another? Are you similarly suspicious of whites supporting other whites, or do you take that for granted? You need to examine your own racial bias. I believe that psychologists call what you're doing "projection".

* * *

Harvard University Law School Professor Alan Dershowitz, a notable supporter of Israel, and, like Professor Lipstadt, a backer of Hilary Clinton's run for the Democratic nomination, has also come out in support of Barack Obama (read here). He has subsequently come under attack from the left.

Blogger Richard Silverstein, whose idealistically titled blog Tikkun Olam has a reputation for being harshly combative (especially behind the scenes), is especially harsh in his critique of Dershowitz' endorsement statement (read here).

Though Dershowitz is a nominal Democrat, I still find it odd and off-putting that he’d endorse Obama. He’s clearly far out of sync with Obama’s world view. Dersh endorsed Hillary in the primaries and certainly seems much more comfortable with her hawkish, slavishly pro-Israel line.

Hardly "out of sync" with Obama, here's what the life-long Democrat Dershowitz actually said in his endorsement:

I support (Obama) on policies unrelated to Israel, such as the Supreme Court, women's rights, separation of church and state and the economy. But I also prefer Obama to McCain on the issue of Israel ... because I think it is better for Israel to have a liberal supporter in the White House than to have a conservative supporter in the oval office. Obama's views on Israel will have greater impact on young people, on Europe, on the media and on others who tend to identify with the liberal perspective. Although I believe that centrists liberals in general tend to support Israel, I acknowledge that support from the left seems to be weakening as support from the right strengthens. The election of Barack Obama -- a liberal supporter of Israel -- will enhance Israel's position among wavering liberals.

For Silverstein, a harsh critic of Israel with no interest in enhancing Israel's position among liberals, that's a bit too much. Silverstein, who refers to Dershowitz as "Dersh" (maybe he's using the Norman Finkelstein style guide), claims without any evidence or supportive argument, that the timing of the Dershowitz endorsement was cynically based on a desire to be on the winning side. In a moment of venting, he admits his bias, stating "I can’t tell whether I despise Marty Peretz or Alan Dershowitz more," and questions why Harvard would allow Dershowitz on its faculty.

Silverstein appears to be operating under the misimpression that Barack Obama and Hilary Clinton are at opposite ends of a political spectrum, the nature of which he does not spell out. If he truly believes that Clinton and Obama disagree so completely about Israel (or, for that matter, about the economy or globalization or a wide range of other issues), I'm afraid that it's Silverstein and not Dershowitz who's in for a severe disappointment should Obama win.

By the way, Silverstein has already been disappointed by Obama's support for Israel. Silverstein advocates divesting stock in corporations doing business in Israel, and earlier this year supported a deceptive anti-Israel divestment referendum aimed at the Seattle municipal employee pension fund (read here) -- a referendum which was subsequently struck down by a Washington State judge as illegal (read here). When Obama gave his well-received speech at AIPAC in June of this year, Silverstein accused him of "pandering to his audience's prejudices", without specifying what he thought these prejudices were. Silverstein then complained that Obama linked anti-Israel divestiture (which Silverstein supports) with anti-Israel boycotts (which Silverstein claims to oppose). (Read here.) It seems to me that Obama's inclination to connect divestment and boycott is entirely rational, while Silverstein's attempt to differentiate between the two is either salesmanship or wishful thinking.

Something tells me that Silverstein and others on the left are in for more severe disappointments if they're hoping for Obama to demonize Israel.

Republican voter registration fraud: arrest in California

The CEO of a firm hired by the California Republican Party has been arrested for voter registration fraud. The firm is accused of systematically defrauding people into registering as Republicans by telling them that they were signing a petition against child molestation. The McCain campaign's accusations against the Democrats notwithstanding, this is the first and only arrest for voter registration fraud on this scale thus far this year. Read:

from the Los Angeles Times: Ontario police arrest man in voter fraud case (by Evan Halper)

The owner of a firm that the California Republican Party hired to register tens of thousands of voters this year was arrested in Ontario over the weekend on suspicion of voter registration fraud.

State and local investigators allege that Mark Jacoby fraudulently registered himself to vote at a childhood California address where he no longer lives so he would appear to meet the legal requirement that all signature gatherers be eligible to vote in California. His firm, Young Political Majors, or YPM, collects petition signatures and registers voters in California and other states.

Jacoby's arrest by state investigators and the Ontario Police Department late Saturday came after dozens of voters said they were duped into registering as Republicans by people employed by YPM. The voters said YPM workers tricked them by saying they were signing a petition to toughen penalties against child molesters.

The firm was paid $7 to $12 for every Californian it registered as a member of the GOP.

Colin Powell endorses Obama for presidency

General Colin Powell has given a thoughtful, well-reasoned endorsement to Barack Obama's presidential candidacy. An excerpt from his statement on Meet the Press this morning is embedded below:

Michele Bachmann: smiley face Joseph McCarthy

Representative Michele Bachmann, a Republican member of Congress from Minnesota, has called for an investigation into anti-Americanism among members of Congress. Without citing any factual evidence, she, along with her fellow Republicans, have made baseless, politically motivated charges of disloyalty by Democrats within the U.S. government the mainstay of their political advocacy.

Washington has not seen anything quite like this since the days of Joseph McCarthy and Pat McCarran. In the decade following World War II, those two senators and many others made careers of demonizing liberals as anti-American. Their actions terrorized countless innocent scapegoats and silenced political debate. Back then, the witch hunters allegedly acted in the name of anti-Communism. Now, the enemies are less clear -- even to Bachmann, who included Jeremiah Wright, Tony Rezko, ACORN and Sol Alinsky in some sort of vague domestic axis of evil. Thankfully, only true believers among the Republican right will buy into a witch hunt in which the nature of the alleged witches is so ill-defined. Sadly, those true believers are sometimes taking matter into their own hands (read here).

By the way, Bachmann is in a tight race for reelection. Apparently her constituents aren't exactly thrilled with her performance on the job or stands on the issues. It seems that she, like McCain and Palin and many other Republicans, are anxious to change the subject from questions of past performance, basic competence and stands on policy to something, anything, else. (Read the Democratic view of her reelection race here.)

from Sam Stein at the Huffington Post: Michele Bachmann Channels McCarthy: Obama "Very Anti-American," Congressional Witch Hunt Needed:

In a television appearance that outraged Democrats are already describing as Joseph McCarthy politics, Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann claimed on Friday that Barack Obama and his wife Michelle held anti-American views and couldn't be trusted in the White House. She even called for the major newspapers of the country to investigate other members of Congress to "find out if they are pro-America or anti-America."

Appearing on MSNBC's Hardball, Bachmann went well off the reservation when it comes to leveling political charges against the Democratic nominee.

"If we look at the collection of friends that Barack Obama has had in his life," she said, "it calls into question what Barack Obama's true beliefs and values and thoughts are. His attitudes, values, and beliefs with Jeremiah Wright on his view of the United States...is negative; Bill Ayers, his negative view of the United States. We have seen one friend after another call into question his judgment -- but also, what it is that Barack Obama really believes?"

Goaded by a Chris Matthews to explain exactly what she was talking about (at one point Bachmann seemed to imply that liberalism was anti-Americanism), the congresswoman waded deeper into the mud.

"Remember it was Michele Obama who said she is only recently proud of her country and so these are very anti-American views," she said. "That's not the way that most Americans feel about our country. Most Americans are wild about America and they are very concerned to have a president who doesn't share those values."

Matthews later pressed her to name a single member of Congress other than Obama who she thought was anti-American. Bachmann, who initially wouldn't budge, called for a major "expose" into the matter.

"What I would say is that the news media should do a penetrating expose and take a look. I wish they would. I wish the American media would take a great look at the views of the people in Congress and find out if they are pro-America or anti-America," she said.

There were additional nuggets here and there. But the whole episode was a sight to behold. It is hard to imagine how this type of message actually helps the McCain campaign. For starters, there has been a relatively respected rule to leave candidate's wives out of campaign attacks. Moreover, there is already a deep resentment towards the severity of the political attacks McCain and his surrogates have launched against Barack Obama. Having a like-minded member of Congress essentially call for a witch hunt within Congress isn't the practical-minded message that the Arizona Republican wants out there.

What makes the incident even more bizarre is that Bachmann is in a close congressional race and just this past week offered warm words to the Illinois Democrat. "If the presidency would somehow go to Barack Obama, I would welcome him to the 6th District as well," she said after a debate. "As a matter of fact, I would put my hand on his shoulder and give him a kiss if he wanted to."

A Democratic campaign official emailed that Bachmann's Democratic opponent has raised at least $23,000 online since the Hardball segment aired.

After Bachmann's appearance, Nation editor Katrina vanden Heuvel labeled the comments McCarthyist:

Update: A campaign to censure Rep. Michele Bachmann over her remarks has been launched.

Watch this.

Amir Taheri in NY Post: Jesse Jackson claims Obama will tilt U.S. policy against Israel

A grain of salt warning is not sufficient for this story. Maybe a boulder of salt is required. Amir Taheri has been accused of falsifying stories for political reasons on several occasions. (Read here and here.) Shaul Bakhash (professor of Persian Studies at George Mason University) reviewing Taheri's book Nest of Spies in the New Republic, found that many of its footnotes referred to non-existent documents, i.e. they were deliberately falsified. Taheri's previous "reporting" included an invented claim that Iranian Jews were being forced to wear yellow stripes reminiscent of the yellow stars that Nazis forced on Jews -- a claim that was taken seriously and entered the debate over U.S. foreign policy until it was debunked.

Most recently, Amir Taheri was the author of a disputed story (also in the Post) claiming that Obama was secretly working behind the scenes with Iraqi back channels to delay the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq (read here). This story was promoted by the likes of Melanie Phillips who wrote of it in a typical state of selective distress "(y)et more disturbing evidence of Barack Obama’s patent unsuitability for high office has dropped like a stone having briefly surfaced in the mainstream media" (read here), and repeated as true by Sarah Palin (read here). Palin must know how to judge accuracy in news because, as she told Katie Couric, when it comes to newspapers and magazines, she "read(s) most of 'em / all of 'em" (view here). What Phillips and Palin fail to address is the fact that Obama's alleged contact, Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, denies this ever happened or that he even talked to Taheri, and Taheri's other source seems a bit iffy on whether the discussion he overheard concerned the Status of Forces agreement or a Strategic Framework Agreement (read here and here). Taheri's source appears to be playing a dangerous game of telephone.

So Taheri is clearly not a reliable reporter, just a sometimes reliable, sometimes unreliable, source who has repeatedly evidenced a vested interest in distorting stories for political reasons. In order to repeat what he reports as news requires another confirming source. If anyone knows of a second, confirming source, feel free to post it to the comments below. In the meantime, I give the possibility of this story being accurate even odds at best. My sole reason for repeating it is to point out the absurd lengths the anti-Obama smear artists are going to, and (Melanie Phillips statement to the contrary notwithstanding) how their biased and/or false reporting reaches the mainstream media and helps distort our political discourse.

With that lengthy proviso in mind: Taheri, writing in Rupert Murdoch's New York Post, says that Jesse Jackson has told a conference of the World Policy Forum meeting in Evian that Obama is planning to tilt U.S. foreign policy against Israel. He allegedly went on to accuse "Zionists" of controlling the U.S. If Jackson truly said this, I put as much stock in Jackson's view of Obama's intentions with respect to Israel as I do with respect to Jackson's other views about Israel: not much. I also can't help but recall the last time Jackson made the news by latching onto Obama's fame. For reasons known only to himself (most likely a need for for attention), he called for Obama to be given a form of radical involuntary surgery usually done by lynch mobs, not doctors. That joking threat is the sort of verbal weapon used on school playgrounds by bullies, not by reasonable adults who claim to be your friends.

Now another story concerning Jackson's view of Obama is spreading through the Republican blogosphere. Republicans are anxiously looking for ways to cast Obama as dangerous in general and anti-Israel in particular. They may choose to promote Jackson's (alleged) statement as an accurate view of Obama. But choosing to believe Jesse Jackson, or for that matter Amir Taheri, about this merely because it's convenient is no excuse. To be frank, neither man's opinion is worth a hill of beans.

Now can someone confirm Taheri's story, or will it permanently reside in the netherworld of purported news from reporters of dubious reliability?

from the New York Post: REV. JESSE JACKSON PREDICTS CHANGE IN U.S. FOREIGN POLICY WITH OBAMA, by Amir Taheri

Prepare for a new America: That's the message that the Rev. Jesse Jackson conveyed to participants in the first World Policy Forum, held at this French lakeside resort last week.

He promised "fundamental changes" in US foreign policy - saying America must "heal wounds" it has caused to other nations, revive its alliances and apologize for the "arrogance of the Bush administration."

The most important change would occur in the Middle East, where "decades of putting Israel's interests first" would end.

Jackson believes that, although "Zionists who have controlled American policy for decades" remain strong, they'll lose a great deal of their clout when Barack Obama enters the White House.

"Obama is about change," Jackson told me in a wide-ranging conversation. "And the change that Obama promises is not limited to what we do in America itself. It is a change of the way America looks at the world and its place in it."

UPDATE 10/16/2008:

Jesse Jackson has issued what must be considered a non-denial denial of this story. (Read here.) He condemns Taheri for reporting on his statement but does not deny making it. That as good as confirms the story's truth. I apologize for doubting Amir Taheri's reporting on this. I had no idea that Jesse Jackson was giving such frank exclusive interviews to conservative columnists. I stand by what I wrote about Taheri's earlier questinable reporting.

By the way, does this remind anyone else of Jackson's condemnation of the Washington Post reporter Milton Coleman for reporting Jackson's childish, bigoted reference to Jews as "Hymies" and New York as "Hymietown"? (Read here.) His statements about Barack Obama, Israel and Zionism were similarly reckless, childish and bigoted and his condemnation of Taheri for reporting about this were similarly ill-advised.

And for the Republicans attempting to capitalize on Jackson's meaningless ravings: Obama has utterly disavowed Jackson's comments and stated unequivocally that he Jackson is in no way privy to any information about Obama's positions beyond what is available in the media. Obama's national security spokeswoman, Wendy Morigi, said Obama has an "unshakable commitment to Israel's security." She went on to say:

"Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. is not an adviser to the Obama campaign and is therefore in no position to interpret or share Barack Obama's views on Israel and foreign policy. As he has made clear throughout his career and throughout this campaign, Barack Obama has a fundamental commitment to a strong U.S.-Israel relationship, and he is advised by people like Dennis Ross, Daniel Kurtzer, Rep. Robert Wexler, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, and Senator Joe Biden who share that commitment."

For his part, Jackson has admitted that he "has never had a conversation with Sen. Obama about Israel or the Middle East." His statement was based on nothing and consisted of his own distorted, wishful thinking. Anyone among the Republicans who chooses to believe Jesse Jackson about this subject has to explain how Jackson could be wrong about everything else he says about Israel, but somehow is a reliable source about this.