Who Is Barack Obama?

The nasty email campaigns about Barack Obama have already started, full of lies and disinformation -- a sure sign the GOP is out of ammunition at the start.

After all, why would anyone start a conversation with a lie when they could win with the truth?

They wouldn't.

A lie is a sign of defeat. It's a sign of intellectual and moral bankruptcy.

Of course these sly little political emails are a kind of intelligence test, aren't they? If you forward them to anyone else, you fail the test.

The email spew I got today is called "Who is Barack Obama?" and it is distinctive in that almost every single line in it is demonstrably wrong.

Whole web sites are devoted to its errors.

No matter. It is a useful thing.

Let us make a silk purse from this sow's ear and answer the question: Who is Barack Obama?

In fact, a lot of people do not know, and so I am going to take this opportunity to give folks a quick synopsis of what they should know, while responding to a little of that which is coming from those who would divide the nation with lies because they are unable to unite the nation with truth.

Who is Barack Obama?

Barack Obama was born in Hawaii to a white woman from Kansas and a very talented and intellectually gifted man from Kenya.

Barack's father was not a Muslim; in fact he was not religious at all. Neither was his mother. Judging by how many people attend houses of worship on a weekly basis in this country (only about 10 percent), Obama's parents seem to be in pretty good company.

Since Obama's mother and father were divorced when Obama was just two years old, Obama did not have much contact with his father or his father's family. Obama's non-religious father went on to to pursue his PhD at Harvard, showing a remarkable degree of talent for anyone anywhere, much less an immigrant from Kenya.

When Obama was age 5, his mother married an Indonesian oil executive who was not religious, and from the ages of 6-10 Barack attended both Catholic and non-denominational schools in Jakarta.

At the age of 10, Obama moved back to Hawaii (where he was born) to attend Fifth Grade and live with his white maternal grandparents while attending Punahou School.

Obama attend Punahou School in Hawaii from the Fifth Grade until his High School graduation in 1979.

Upon graduation from high school, Obama moved to Los Angeles where he studied at Occidental College for two years (average SAT score at Occidental College is 1280) before transferring to Columbia University in New York City (average SAT score is 1409).

Obama then went on to Harvard Law School where he was elected the first black president of The Harvard Law Review in its 104-year history, and where he graduated magna cum laude.

Upon graduation from Harvard Law School, Obama could have made a lot of money working for any major corporation or law firm, but instead he chose to engage in public service law at the legal firm of Miner, Barnhill & Galland where, among other things, he wrote the successful Supreme Court brief in the Chandler decision that resulted in millions of dollars stolen from the American people being returned to the U.S. Treasury.

Obama was a lecturer in U.S. Constitutional Law at the University of Chicago Law School from 1993 until his election to the U.S. Senate in 2004.

Obama is not a Muslim -- he is a devout Christian, as is his wife. Unlike most Americans, Obama attends church on a weekly basis.

Obama recites the Pledge of Allegiance, honors the flag, and sings the National Anthem in a rich baritone. He can quote any part of the the U.S. Constitution from memory, and he can recite large chunks of the Declaration of Independence from memory as well.

Obama's father was killed in car accident in 1982 when Obama was just 21 years old.

Obama's mother died of ovarian cancer in 1995, just before he was elected to the Illinois legislature.

As an elected official in Illinois, Obama worked closely with Democrats and Republicans in drafting successful health care and ethics legislation. He also worked to increase child care assistance for working mothers, and he led the push for legislation mandating the videotaping of homicide interrogations so that they would stand up in court.

Because of his support for law enforcement, Obama won the endorsement of the Fraternal Order of Police when he ran for the U.S. Senate.

In the U.S. Senate, Obama sponsored 152 bills and resolutions brought before the 109th Congress, and cosponsored another 427.

In the immigration arena, Obama was a strong supporter of the Secure Fence Act authorizing construction of fencing and other security improvements along the border -- a bill signed into law by President Bush in October of 2006.

Obama was a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and as a member of this committee he was privy to classified briefings and he traveled to Russia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Kuwait, Iraq, Jordan, Israel, and the Palestinian territories.

While visiting the Palestinian territories as a U.S. Senator, Obama warned the Palestinians that "the U.S. will never recognize winning Hamas candidates unless the group renounces its fundamental mission to eliminate Israel."

Obama wrote and delivered the keynote address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention. His message then was the same one he uses now: National unity.

"The pundits like to slice-and-dice our country into Red States and Blue States; Red States for Republicans, Blue States for Democrats. But I've got news for them too. We worship an awesome God in the Blue States, and we don't like federal agents poking around in our libraries in the Red States. We coach Little League in the Blue States and yes, we have some gay friends in the Red States. There are patriots who opposed the war in Iraq and patriots who supported the war in Iraq. We are one people, all of us pledging allegiance to the stars and stripes, all of us defending the United States of America."

So that's it. This is who Barack Obama REALLY is and what he is REALLY about.

Apparently, his track record is so solid that folks are having to make up lies in order to find something negative to say.

No matter.

The facts are pure and simple, and the more people see of Barack Obama, the more folks will be able to make up their own minds about what he is about, and what the liars and hate-mongers are about.

As I have said before, whispered lies and sly nigger jokes are not going to work for the GOP this time. Not with this candidate. This one is the real deal, and the real deal cannot be sunk with cheap shots. >> See for yourself.

The good news is that the American people are watching Obama, and they are voting with their hearts, minds, feet and wallet.

Obama's campaign raised $58 million during the first half of 2007, topping all other candidates and exceeding previous records for the first six months of any year before the start of an election year.

Obama won the caucus in Iowa -- one of the the whitest and most rural states in the U.S.

Tomorrow Obama will win in New Hampshire, another almost entirely white and rural state.

In South Carolina -- one of the most conservative states in the nation -- Obama will kick the doors off their hinges.

Meanwhile, the Republicans are still trying to figure out who they will vote for.

Do they vote for the flip-flopping Mormon from Massachusettes, the gun grabbing abortion-defending wife-cheater from New York City, the "Christian Socialist" from Hope, Arkansas who raised taxes, or the old guy who wants an illegal alien amnesty and whose primary claim to fame is that he is "none of the above?"

Those are the Republican choices right now. Well, those and Ron Paul. And the guy from Law and Order. Is he still in it?

In theory, the Republicans should be giving us a reason to vote for one of the candidates they have in the race.

But, of course, that's not really an option is it? Not with these Republican candidates.

And so the party which cannot unite us with hope and vision, now tries to divide us with lies and hate.

"Good luck with that," I say. "You're going to need it."

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Read this follow up post.


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