Ron Mills- News And Commentary: Obama Words Don't Match Deeds

Obama Words Don't Match Deeds

There are many examples in the Obama banquet of presidential propaganda, but one of my very favorites comes from FactCheck: Selective, embellished and out-of-context quotes from newspapers pump up Obama's health plan. It comes under the banner headline of: Obama's Creative Clippings, which is then followed by sub-headings of "Obama Writes His Own Reviews," "Obama Strengthens His Own Reviews," and let's not forget "Obama Edits His Own Reviews."

Let's just call this the politics of pure fiction.

I was dismayed, however, at what I found when I read Dreams from My Father. Composite characters. Changed names. And reams of dialogue between Obama and other people that moves the narrative along but is an approximation'' of the actual conversation.

Except for public figures and his family, it is impossible to know who is real and who is not. ... ..

Obama's book: What's real, what's not

There's also this beauty from the same piece by Lynn Sweet: ... .. Several direct-mail pieces issued for Obama's primary campaign said he was a law professor at the University of Chicago. He is not. He is a senior lecturer (now on leave) at the school. In academia, there is a vast difference between the two titles. Details matter. ... ..

One can only wonder what Iowans would have done with the Rev. Wright revelations if they'd known about them. But what if they were made aware that Obama told a tall tale about legislation he said he passed,

which actually hadn't, while he really rewrote it favoring one of his major contributors? I wrote about this when the story broke (also see NBC news follow up). Where were the Obama blogs? **crickets** The fiction Obama told on his big nuke contributors Exelon is a whopper of jaw dropping proportions.

Mr. Obama scolded Exelon and federal regulators for inaction and introduced a bill to require all plant owners to notify state and local authorities immediately of even small leaks. He has boasted of it on the campaign trail, telling a crowd in Iowa in December that it was "the only nuclear legislation that I've passed."

"I just did that last year," he said, to murmurs of approval.

A close look at the path his legislation took tells a very different story. While he initially fought to advance his bill, even holding up a presidential nomination to try to force a hearing on it, Mr. Obama eventually rewrote it to reflect changes sought by Senate Republicans, Exelon and nuclear regulators. The new bill removed language mandating prompt reporting and simply offered guidance to regulators, whom it charged with addressing the issue of unreported leaks.

Those revisions propelled the bill through a crucial committee. But, contrary to Mr. Obama's comments in Iowa, it ultimately died amid parliamentary wrangling in the full Senate. ... ..

Oh, and about that civil rights love story he spun regarding his mother and father, false, as well:

Mr. Obama relayed a story of how his Kenyan father and his Kansan mother fell in love because of the tumult of Selma, but he was born in 1961, four years before the confrontation at Selma took place. When asked later, Mr. Obama clarified himself, saying: "I meant the whole civil rights movement."

Hey, but let's not nitpick.

White House hopeful Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) was forced to revise a critical stump line of his on Saturday -- a flat declaration that lobbyists "won't work in my White House" after it turned out his own written plan says they could, with some restrictions. ... ..

Obama softens stump speech pledge not to employ lobbyists

Let's just put this next one as also belonging in the Exelon (see above) category of exaggerating your accomplishments 2.0:

Earlier this year, Obama sponsored an amendment in the Senate requiring lobbyists to disclose the candidates, leadership PACs, or political parties for whom they bundle. Obama's amendment would not, however, require candidates to release the names of their bundlers. What's more, although Obama's amendment was agreed to in the Senate by unanimous consent, the measure never become law as Obama seemed to suggest.

But this one is simply Bush stupid.

Then sometimes, arrogance can be greeted by a senatorial slap:

Immigration is a case in point for Obama, but not the only one. In 2007, after the first comprehensive immigration bill had died, the senators were back at it, and again, Obama was notably absent, staffers and senators said. At one meeting, three key negotiators recalled, he entered late and raised a number of questions about the bill's employment verification system. Kennedy and Specter both rebuked him, saying that the issue had already been resolved and that he was coming late to the discussion. Kennedy dressed him down, according to witnesses, and Obama left shortly thereafter.

"Senator Obama came in late, brought up issues that had been hashed and rehashed," Specter recalled. "He didn't stay long."

This week brought another false claim of credit from Obama:

Just this week, as the financial markets were roiling in the wake of the Bear Stearns collapse, Obama made another claim that was greeted with disbelief in some corners of Capitol Hill. On March 13, Dodd, the chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, and Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, unveiled legislative proposals to allow the Federal Housing Administration to guarantee new loans from banks willing to help homeowners in or approaching foreclosure.

But a couple of gaping holes in Obama's resume that have always bothered me include Iraq. Why he wasn't a leader on Iraq in the Senate once he had the chance? Nothing, until he decided to run for president. Obama's disinterest in foreign policy imperatives extends to ducking out on the Kyl-Lieberman vote as well. I disagreed strongly with Clinton on that vote, but she took a stand and did her job. Then there's Obama's foreign relations committee where he couldn't bother to do his job, because he was too busy looking for a better job. Let's just say I'm not all that impressed with Obama's work ethic, which seems a lot more talk than action; as he seems a lot more interested with titles than the hard work that's required to get something done.

...and we haven't even gotten back into all the ramblings on Obama and Rezko, or to the current status of Rev. Wright, where Obama said he hadn't heard his preacher's anti-American screeds, before he had to admit he had. As they say in blogworld... this one is still developing. However, unlike the other stories that the press shrugs off, Rev. Wright seems to be sticking. Something about it goes deeper than policies and politics, and Obama's team senses it, too.

posted at taylormarsh.com

For News And Commentary:

http://www.RonMills.us

Broward News And Politics

http://BrowardForChange.com/blog

For Florida Election News See:

http://www.ChangeInTallahassee.com