BARACK'S REV. 'STOLE A WIFE'

EX-HUBBY: HE COUNSELED US, THEN WED HER

By SUSANNAH CAHALAN and VERONICA HINKE in Chicago and BRAD HAMILTON in New York

FUROR: Fire-breathing Chicago pastor Jeremiah Wright (left) reportedly met his wife Ramah (right) after he counseled her and then-husband Delmer Reed in 1983. The Reeds divorced soon after the sessions.

 

May 4, 2008 -- The Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Barack Obama's loose cannon of a spiritual adviser, stole the wife of a parishioner - after the man sought Wright's help in saving his troubled marriage, the former husband told friends.

"That's exactly how he said it," Reed's divorce lawyer, Roosevelt Thomas, told The Post.

Initially, he didn't believe the rumors.

Was he wrong in the end?

Asked if Wright broke up his marriage, Reed laughed, then said, "I told my kids I wouldn't say anything to hurt their stepfather, so I'm not saying anything."

But he said he's been hounded by the press and "offered money" to tell his story.

A spokesman for the Wright family flatly denied the allegation yesterday.

But Reed, a former investigator for the Illinois secretary of state, told The Post he and his ex-wife went to Wright's Trinity United Church of Christ for counseling when their marriage hit the skids over his demanding work schedule.

"I spoke with [Wright] four times over a few months," Reed said in an interview at his upscale home in Lemont, Ill.

"Her father asked me to go to counseling. We thought we'd be together forever. I decided to try to work this out."

Asked if he's forgiven the pastor, Reed nodded.

"I let it go," he said. "I don't want my kids to hear anything negative about their stepfather."

He added: "I'm not a vindictive person; I'm a forgiving man."

But years ago, Reed did express anger about the situation, said Harold Davis, who said he learned about the matter through mutual friends.

"Everybody knew Jeremiah took the man's wife," said Davis. "It was common knowledge."

The Reeds, longtime sweethearts who grew up on the same block on Chicago's South Side, have two children, Nikol, 30, and Nathan, 27. The couple got married in 1975 and split in 1982. Their divorce was final in 1983.

Ramah, 59, married Wright, 66, six years after she divorced Reed, although she and the reverend were a couple for years before getting hitched. They remain together and have a daughter, Jamila, 13.

Wright, who divorced his wife, Janet, in 1978, has two adult children from his first marriage.

Reed said his wife served him with divorce papers in 1982 in an arrangement they worked out together. The grounds were "extreme mental cruelty."

"We agreed that she would say anything she wanted to say to get a divorce," Reed said.

"When I saw the words, I thought, 'Was this necessary?' But I decided [to] let her do what she had to do. I was innocent. I was a good boy. It was amicable. We were sitting arm in arm when we signed the divorce papers."

In 2003, Mosley said, "I called him on the carpet about the indecorous manner in which he'd obtained his wife."

But when he states and then amplifies such ridiculous propositions as the U.S. government somehow being involved in AIDS, when he suggests that Minister Farrakhan somehow represents one of the greatest voices of the 20th and 21st centuries, when he equates the United States wartime efforts with terrorism, then there are no excuses.

Last point. I’m particularly distressed that this has caused such a distraction from what this campaign should be about, which is the American people. Their situation is getting worse. And this campaign has never been about me. It’s never been about Senator Clinton or John McCain. It’s not about Reverend Wright.

So with that, let me take some questions.

QUESTION: Why the change of tone from yesterday? When you spoke to us on the tarmac yesterday, you didn’t have this sense of anger and outrage.

OBAMA: I had not. I had not seen the transcript. What I had heard was he had given a performance, and I thought at the time that it would be sufficient simply to reiterate what I had said in Philadelphia.

QUESTION: Senator, what do you plan to do about this right now to further distance (inaudible) and the need to do that? And what does this say about your judgment of super delegates, who are right now trying to decide which Democratic nominee is better? Your candidacy has been based on judgment. What does this say about…?

QUESTION: (Inaudible)

QUESTION: Senator, I’m wondering — sort of following on Jeff’s question about why it’s so different now — have you heard from some of your supporters. You have some, obviously, supporters who expressed any alarm about what this kind of thing is doing to the campaign?

OBAMA: I don’t think that it’s that hard to figure out from if it was just a purely political perspective. My reaction has more to do with what I want this campaign to be about and who I am. And I want to make certain that people understand who I am.

Yes, it wasn't hard to figure out that it was purely political.

QUESTION: Senator, did you discuss with your wife after having seen Reverend Wright’s performance in what was…?

QUESTION: Reverend Wright said it was not an attack on him, but an attack on the black church. First of all, do you agree with that? And second of all, the strain of theology that he preached — black liberation theology — explain something about the anger that seems to be some of the sentiments in the church in (inaudible). How important a strain, then, is liberation theology in the black church? And why did you choose to enter the church then?

I didn’t see it as an attack on the black church. And probably the only aspect of it that probably had to do with specifically the black church is the fact that some people were surprised when he was shouting.

QUESTION: (Inaudible) on Sunday, you were asked whether to respond to (inaudible) saying that Bill Clinton had (inaudible). Is the decision (inaudible) irreparable damage? Is this relationship with Reverend Wright irreparable damage, do you think?

OBAMA: There has been great damage. It may have been unintentional on his part, but I do not see that relationship being the same after this.

Thank you, guys. Appreciate it.

http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/04/29/transcript-obama-press-conference-on-jeremiah-wright/

“We now face an opportunity – and an obligation – to turn the page on the failed politics of yesterday’s health care debates.... My plan begins by covering every American. If you already have health insurance, the only thing that will change for you under this plan is the amount of money you will spend on premiums. That will be less. If you are one of the 45 million Americans who don’t have health insurance, you will have it after this plan becomes law. No one will be turned away because of a preexisting condition or illness.”

• Subsidies:

• Portability and Choice: Participants in the new public plan and the National Health Insurance Exchange (see below) will be able to move from job to job without changing or jeopardizing their health care coverage.

• Quality and Efficiency: Participating insurance companies in the new public program will be required to report data to ensure that standards for quality, health information technology and administration are being met.

Increase Competition: The insurance business today is dominated by a small group of large companies that has been gobbling up their rivals. There have been over 400 health care mergers in the last 10 years, and just two companies dominate a full third of the national market. These changes were supposed to make the industry more efficient, but instead premiums have skyrocketed by over 87 percent.

A Mesage from Barack:

Thank you for taking a look at this booklet.

But it is because of their failures that this moment of challenge is also a moment of opportunity. We have a chance to bring the country together in a new majority - to finally tackle problems that Washington has ignored for too long. And that is why the same old Washington textbook campaigns just won’t do in this election.

The Democratic Party has always made the biggest difference in the lives of the American people when we’ve led not by polls, but by principle; not by calculation, but by conviction; when we summoned the entire nation to a common purpose - a higher purpose (usually defined as unConstitutional BIG GOVERNMENT!). And I run for the presidency because that’s the party America needs us to be right now. I run to offer this country change that we can believe in.

America, our moment is now. I don’t want to spend the next year or the next four years re-fighting the same fights that we had in the 1990s. I don’t want to pit Red America against Blue America (oh REALLY???  That's right, you want to pit Black America against White America!), I want to be the President of the United States of America.

That’s why I’m asking you to stand with me, that’s why I’m asking you to caucus for me, that’s why I’m asking you to stop settling for what the cynics say we have to accept. In this election - in this moment - let us reach for what we know is possible. A nation healed. A world repaired. An America that believes again.

Barack Obama

But inserting Jesus within a group portrait of historic figures at the courthouse is permissible, the judge said.

In a ruling filed Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Ivan Lemelle awarded "nominal" damages plus attorneys' fees and costs to the American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana in its case against Slidell City Court, Judge James Lamz and St. Tammany Parish, which partially finances the court.

Lemelle said during a hearing last September that he would have ordered court officials to remove the Jesus icon if they hadn't already expanded the display to include portraits of other historic "lawgivers," including Moses, Charlemagne and Napoleon Bonaparte.

His ruling this week echoes those remarks and explains that the expanded display is constitutional because a reasonable observer wouldn't see it as sending a religious message.

However, Lemelle concluded that the plaintiffs' constitutional rights were violated by the original display, which depicted Jesus presenting the New Testament above the words, "To Know Peace, Obey These Laws."

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a Ten Commandments display on the grounds of the Texas state capitol was constitutional, in part, because it was accompanied by other monuments and historical markers, Lemelle noted.

J. Michael Johnson, an attorney representing the defendants for the Alliance Defense Fund, a Christian civil rights group, said he is disappointed by Lemelle's ruling and may file an appeal.

Lemelle gave the plaintiffs 10 days to propose a "reasonable" award for attorney's fees and costs. The ACLU has asked for only $1 in damages.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,351537,00.html

So…who is this judge that has never read the 1^st Amendment??????

Lemelle, Ivan L. R.

January 29, 2008

To the Campus Community:

I am writing to inform you of a very difficult decision I have made about blood drives on campus. After extensive consultation, I am suspending all blood drives at San José State University on the grounds that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s lifetime blood donor deferral affecting gay men violates our non-discrimination policy. This suspension is effective immediately and applies to blood drives arranged by employees representing the university and/or by recognized student organizations.

A university employee brought this matter to my attention. He referred to the language in San José State University's non-discrimination policy, which says "discrimination of any kind, including … sexual orientation is an affront to the entire university community and is strictly prohibited."

In an effort to resolve this issue, my staff and I consulted many experts and reviewed background material on the FDA Web site. We learned from the FDA that the deferral dates back to 1983, "when the risk of AIDS from transfusion was first recognized." We also learned nucleic acid testing has since greatly reduced the risk HIV/AIDS once posed to blood supply safety. "In fact, our current risks are now so low that they cannot be measured directly and, hence, we rely on [mathematical] models," Jay S. Epstein, M.D., said at a March 2006 FDA Workshop on Behavior-Based Donor Deferrals.

Yet, the FDA remains reluctant to relax the deferral affecting gay men. We agree that more research may be needed given "current scientific data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicate that, as a group, men who have sex with other men are at a higher risk for transmitting infectious diseases or HIV than are individuals in other risk categories," as stated in the "FDA Policy on Blood Donations from Men Who Have Sex with Other Men."

However, AABB, America's Blood Centers and the American Red Cross -- three organizations that stake their reputations on blood supply safety -- have reviewed the same data and come out in favor of relaxing the deferral. In a joint statement, they said they "believe that the current lifetime deferral for men who have had sex with other men is medically and scientifically unwarranted and recommend that deferral criteria be modified and made comparable with criteria for other groups at increased risk for sexual transmission of transfusion-transmitted infections." The FDA deferral for such groups is 12 months, according to the AABB Full-Length Donor History Questionnaire.

AABB, America's Blood Centers and the American Red Cross also offered their vast resources -- a great many of the nation's blood collection centers -- to assist with any additional research required by the FDA. I am troubled the FDA has not, to our knowledge, made progress with additional research, nor disclosed if and/or when an FDA committee will vote again on the deferral for men who have sex with other men. Meanwhile, the lifetime deferral affecting gay males as a group remains in place when it may be safe and appropriate for these men to be treated individually, as is the case with people of other sexual orientations.

With these concerns in mind, I decided to suspend blood drives on campus and have notified the FDA of our decision. In doing so, our purpose is to respect our policy of non-discrimination and the climate that the policy is intended to create on our campus. I have also asked the FDA to contact me so we can discuss this issue further. Specifically, I’d like to discuss timing for additional studies and the next FDA committee vote on the matter.

I recognize the importance of giving blood and we know that universities are a significant source of blood. Our campus alone accounts for 32,000 students and 5,700 employees. However, lacking further action by the FDA, we are guided by the clear mandates of our non-discrimination policy. Our hope is that the FDA will revisit its deferral policy in a timely manner and we may soon be able to hold blood drives on this campus again.

Larry Carr, associate vice president for public affairs, is available to answer questions and address concerns about this decision at 408-924-1166 and by e-mail. See links to more information and background about the issue in general.

Sincerely,

"FOX NEWS SUNDAY" HOST CHRIS WALLACE: Here to discuss it is former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, national co-chair of the Obama campaign, and Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter, a Clinton supporter from joins us from his city.

Well, gentlemen, let's start with the latest controversy over comments that Barack Obama made last Sunday at a California fundraiser, where he talked about small towns in Pennsylvania that have lost jobs and that he says Washington has failed. Here they are.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

SEN. BARACK OBAMA, D-ILL.: It's not surprising, then, that they get bitter — they cling to guns, or religion, or antipathy toward people who aren't like them, or anti-immigrant sentiment, or antitrade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

WALLACE: Mayor Nutter, Barack Obama now says that he regrets not the remarks, but the way that he phrased them. How damaging is this whole controversy in Pennsylvania?

PHILADELPHIA MAYOR MICHAEL NUTTER: Well, it's hard to completely assess the damage. Of course, that will be left to the voters. But certainly, it seems damaging to the campaign.

I'm certainly saddened to hear those kinds of comments. I've lived in Philadelphia and, of course, Pennsylvania for almost 51 years. They don't represent the thoughts of people throughout this great commonwealth.

And I don't understand why Senator Obama would make such comments. I'm sure he can explain them for himself.

WALLACE: But, Mayor, specifically what do you find objectionable?

NUTTER: Well, they don't represent the views of small-town America or certainly even folks here in Philadelphia or in our nearby suburbs.

People are optimistic about the future. (Then why are all liberals continually saying how we’re on the edge of doom, on ALL issues?) They have a lot to look forward to. They're energized about this campaign. They're looking for and want to support a candidate who supports their issues and concerns.

I've talked about this urban agenda and urban conversation. So it just demonstrates a complete misunderstanding of what small-town America is about.

URBAN agenda? When did ‘urban’ stop meaning ‘of or from the city’ and start meaning BLACK?

WALLACE: Senator Daschle, Hillary Clinton, not surprisingly, went after Obama big time this weekend already. She said that these comments were elitist and out of touch. Let's watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON, D-N.Y.: The people of faith whom I know don't cling to religion because they're bitter. In fact, they embrace their faith because it gives them so much in return.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

What people of faith do you know, Hitlery!(tm)???  You’ve put down all people of faith for years.

WALLACE: Obama says that he regrets the phrases he used, that his words were ill-chosen.

But let's talk about the deeper meaning there. Does he believe that people in small towns and depressed areas turn to guns or turn to religion out of frustration?

FORMER SEN. TOM DASCHLE, D-S.D.: Well, Chris, first of all, you've got to remember that this is a man who was raised by a single mother, who chose — who volunteered to work in one of the poorest neighborhoods of Chicago, who spent his whole life working with the disenfranchised.

And what does that have to do with the question? He only worked in that neighborhood for political purposes!

This is a man who understands when you go into an emergency room and you see people lined up in the hallways, there's something wrong, who understands that we've got 80 percent unemployment on reservations, who understands that 81 percent of the American people think we're on the wrong track.

You’re doing nothing but dodging, Puffy! What does an emergency room have to do with the O-Zebra quote?

So there may be some optimistic people out there like Mayor Nutter suggests, but I will tell you the vast majority of the people in this country want to see change. They think that Washington is out of sync with their lives, who want to see...

Yes, most people want CHANGE in the forms of increased border security, deportation of non-drybacks, lower taxes, less government intrusion in their lives….you know, everything O-Zebra opposes!

WALLACE: I understand the economic frustration, but what about this comment that people turn to guns and to religion out of frustration? I mean, don't people turn to guns and religion because they mean something to them?

Oh Chris….don’t forget that the rest of the quote says that our frustration leads us to be anti-gay, racist, and against non-drybacks.

DASCHLE: Well, what he was saying is that there are those who use guns and religion, use faith and guns, as a divisive issue.

Correct. Those people are called Dim-ocrats!

And when you're angry, when you feel disenfranchised, you're more susceptible to those kinds of divisive politics, that those who thrive on that divisive nature of these emotional issues really are the ones that he was faulting here, not the people that hear this.

That is NOT what he said!

But there is a great deal of anger out there, a great deal of sentiment that we've got to see change in this country, and that unless Washington breaks with its past and accepts the fact that this sentiment is really deep-seated, it's palpable, we're not going to see the change we need in this country.

WALLACE: Mayor Nutter, does that explain it to you?

NUTTER: No. And as a matter of fact, I've not heard any of that kind of conversation during the course of this campaign here in Pennsylvania. I mean, that's not what people are talking about.

Of course not! Good job hitting Puffy between the eyes!

People are talking about, whether in small-town Pennsylvania or some of the larger cities like Philadelphia and Pittsburgh — we're talking about real issues and real concerns.

They're concerned about public safety. (That’s good for the GOP) They worry about their education of their children. (They want vouchers to get their kids out of the union controlled failing schools, but your party opposes that) They want to see who has ideas about jobs and economic development to bring our economy back and turn our big cities and small towns around, going in a positive direction.

To do that, we need to lower taxes (or go to the Fair Tax) and get the gummint out of the way!  We need to restrict spending to only what the Constitution allows.  Oh, sorry….you’re talking about Dim-ocrat talking points, which oppose a positive economy.

So I don't know where this is coming from. I don't know what would possess Senator Obama to say this, because you won't see it, you don't hear it, in the course of dialogue of real people in these cities.

I know he took a six-day bus tour, but clearly he does not understand what's going on here in Pennsylvania and expressing the concerns of real people on the ground.

WALLACE: Senator Daschle, Obama already had a problem reaching out to white working-class Democrats, the so-called Reagan Democrats. Aren't these comments going to make it even harder?

DASCHLE: Just the opposite, Chris. (ARE YOU HIGH?????) I really think Mayor Nutter ought to go to his own emergency room. (You’re dodging AGAIN!)He ought to go to the unemployment lines today in Philadelphia where people are standing in line without the hope of a good job.

EVERYBODY has the hope of a good job, if they WORK FOR IT!

They ought to worry about the jobs being displaced and being sent overseas. (Because of liberal tax policies and unions) You know, obviously, people are — want to be hopeful, and that's really the message of the Obama campaign, why the Obama campaign has such traction, because he talks about hope.

But you know, if things are so rosy, why change? Let's just have a third Bush administration. That's really what...

No. We’re tired of having liberals in the White House!

WALLACE: Mayor Nutter, I want to bring something else...

NUTTER: Chris, with every respect...

WALLACE: Mayor Nutter?

NUTTER: Yes, sir. Go ahead.

WALLACE: Mayor Nutter, may I please ask — bring something else into this? Because one of the issues I think you would agree that a lot of workers in Pennsylvania and across the country are worried about is trade.

Now, Senator Clinton says that she's against the trade deal with Colombia, but her chief strategist, Mark Penn, was actually working for the deal, helping Colombia, when he was still working with the campaign, which he still is, at the same time that he was advising Clinton.

We now find out that former President Clinton got paid $800,000 by a Colombia group to support and promote the free trade deal. So Senator Clinton doesn't exactly have clean hands on these issues either, does she?

NUTTER: Well, first, I would say Senator Clinton is an independent person. She'll exercise independent judgment. Mr. Penn — I think that issue has been dealt with.

Yes. She has decided to support the drug lords, Hugo Chavez, and the unions, while opposing Colombia.

Senator Clinton stands on her own as an independent person, and so her position on these issues is very clear. She's talked about fair trade, that NAFTA needs to be renegotiated. And so her position I think goes without question.

But I would go back again and say, with every respect to Senator Daschle, I've been to a few emergency rooms. I've walked the streets of Philadelphia. And just because people are having problems doesn't mean, as Senator Obama has articulated, that they're turning to their religion or to guns as a means of expressing something.

There's a rich history of sportsmanship and legal gun use all across Pennsylvania. (The 2^nd Amendment isn’t just about hunting. It is about self-protection and opposition to tyrannical government!)  People support their religion because of deep faith. And so there is a complete disconnect here, (There’s always a disconnect between Dim-ocrats and people who actually believe in what Christianity and Judaism stand for!) with every respect to Senator Daschle, who I've admired for a long time.

If you’ve admired him, then there’s no wonder you’re a Hitlery!(tm) supporter, since his history of lies is almost worthy of her!

WALLACE: They clearly feel that they have got the hammer in their hands on this one. You can hear it from Senator Clinton. You can hear it from Mayor Nutter. I mean, this is a problem for the Obama campaign.

DASCHLE: Well, Chris, of course, you can distort what Senator Obama said, and that's really what we're hearing again this morning. That isn't what Senator Obama said.

What part of a FULL AND DIRECT QUOTE isn’t what O-Zebra said?

What Senator Obama said is that faith and guns are very important. He has talked about that for the entire campaign. He has spoken specifically to his own faith and how important it is to him. He understands that.

His faith, as expressed by his “pastor” and the website of his “church” are based on Black Liberation Theology, which is nothing more than hatred of whitey.  He has no understanding of actual Christianity.

But what he's saying is that there are those who use these issues as very, very divisive issues to try to disenfranchise further the people that are susceptible to that.

Yes, the Dim-ocrats and ACLU have been trying to get God out of America in spite of what the 1^st Amendment actually says, and have opposed the 2^nd Amendment almost as vigorously!

I can see why Mayor Nutter would change the subject on Colombia. People don't like to be misled. They don't like it when they're not told the truth. (Which is why the Dim-ocrat led Congress has an 11% approval rating and nobody believes anything Dim-ocrat politicians ever say!) I mean, the fact is that Hillary Clinton has a questionable record with regard to Colombia.

Her own top adviser, Mark Penn, was fired recently for advocating for Colombia. So you've got her adviser advocating for Colombia, Hillary Clinton saying that she supports the effort not to pass the Colombian free trade agreement.

Okay, so her advisor was also being paid by his company to support the Colombian deal.  She disagreed with it and that became an issue. She fired him. Simple enough.

I think the people of Pennsylvania, the people of the country, really deserve a better explanation than the one we've gotten.

Well, she’s not going to come out and state that she supports Hugo Chavez against Colombia, or that she supports FARC (a socialist terrorist group that is also into cocaine manufacturing and distribution) against Colombia, or that she opposes Colombia because the unions have informed her that she WILL oppose Colombia…  Her explanation of firing Penn was simply to the point.

WALLACE: All right. We've got a little bit more than a minute left, and let me get you both to do a little forecasting.

Mayor Nutter, the RealClearPolitics average of recent polls — and let's put it up on the screen. The most recent average shows that the race had, at least before this latest controversy, tightened.

Obama was closing the gap with Clinton, who once led by double digits, and now, according to the most recent polls, which predate this controversy, she now leads by seven points.

Your sense: Is the race tightening? Does Clinton have a safe lead? What do you think this is going to do, this latest controversy, to the primary in Pennsylvania?

NUTTER: Well, people will continue to assess that during the course of the week. You always expect these races, especially in Pennsylvania, to tighten.

But the reason Senator Clinton is doing very well in Pennsylvania is, one, because she understands the state; two, she was here the other day talking about issues of substance that people really care about — public safety, and urban economic issues. She understands it.

And as I've said on T.V., she gets it. She knows what really is going on all across the state.

WALLACE: Mayor, let me bring in Senator Daschle for one — basically, to get him to respond to that.

If Obama loses Pennsylvania after losing Ohio, and if again he shows weakness among white working-class Democrats, especially after this latest controversy, isn't that serious trouble?

DASCHLE: Chris, he's won the popular vote. (No…the vote ain’t until next week!) He's won by far the vast majority of the states all across this country. Look. Pennsylvania is Hillary Clinton's second state. She's lived there for virtually her whole life in and out.

So we've always known this is a very, very heavy lift.

He dodged the question again! He is in SERIOUS trouble with the working-class white voters in the country!

WALLACE: Pennsylvania is her second — I thought Arkansas was her second state.

DASCHLE: Well, she's had a lot of second states. She's claiming it as her second state these days.

Let’s see….born in PA, raised in Illinios, years as wife of the AG and GOV in Ar-Kansas, became a Yankees fan (after being a life-long Cubs fan) in 2000…

NUTTER: I can see why Senator Daschle might want to use that as the excuse.

WALLACE: All right. In any case, we're going to have to leave it there.

Mayor Nutter, Senator Daschle, thank you so much, both of you, for talking with us today.

NUTTER: Thank you.

DASCHLE: Thank you, Chris.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,351180,00.html

An Incoherent Campaign with Lots of Lies

By BETH FOUHY, Associated Press Writer Mon Apr 7, 7:19 AM ET

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - Hillary Rodham Clinton is turning to her communications chief and pollster to plan her presidential election strategy after giving the boot to a polarizing top aide because of his work on behalf of a trade agreement Clinton opposes.

Mark Penn, a lightning rod for controversy throughout Clinton's presidential campaign, left the campaign Sunday after it was disclosed he had met with representatives of the Colombian government to help promote the trade agreement.

Why does she oppose the agreement? Colombia’s government is actually working against the drug lords! Is she getting paid off by some unions to oppose it? Is she opposed to it because of her support for the socialist government of Hugo Chavez that opposes the free government of Colombia? Is she supporting the drug lords and FARC (the socialist revolutionaries)? (O-Zebra has been endorsed by FARC)  Is she supporting the drug lords in order to keep American poor druggies in their current state, so they continue voting Dim-ocrat?

"The worst kept secret in the whole Democratic race was that Penn's campaign strategy was not working and that the Clinton campaign has unfortunately paid the price," Kofinis said. "The truth is this the best move the Clinton campaign could have made and something that I imagine most Clinton supporters wished had happened months ago."

The worst kept secret is that Hitlery!(tm) is a liar of the 1^st degree, has extremely high negatives, and is unelectable, so it doesn’t matter what the campaign strategy is!

Penn was known to get into angry shouting matches with other members of Clinton's team, including longtime adviser Harold Ickes (son of a known communist operative) and media strategist Mandy Grunwald, who often disagreed with his strategic advice and resented his unchecked authority to design the candidate's message.

Penn pushed Clinton to adopt a meat-and-potatoes, issue-based campaign that stressed her "strength and experience" but managed to overlook voters' desire for fundamental political change, which rival Obama was able to capture.

She has no “experience” at all. Obama’s strategy has been to avoid all issues and speak in platitudes.

According to Justice Department filings, Colombia agreed last year to pay Burson-Marsteller $300,000 to help "educate members of the U.S. Congress and other audiences" about the trade deal and secure continued U.S. funding for the $5 billion anti-narcotics program Plan Colombia.

So there it is! Hitlery!(tm) opposes anti-narcotics programs at the source!

The Colombian government announced Saturday it had fired Burson-Marsteller after Penn apologized for meeting with its representatives, saying his statement conveyed a "lack of respect" for the country.

As if you expected Hitlery!(tm) and her people to show any RESPECT for non-socialists???

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080407/ap_on_el_pr/clinton_penn;_ylt=AjZebZAEOPHMAiXUN9VLvJWs0NUE

THEN THERE’S THIS ONE

From Steve Brusk
CNN

(CNN) -- Sen. Hillary Clinton will stop telling an emotional story about a uninsured pregnant woman who died after being denied medical care, Clinton's campaign said.

Sen. Hillary Clinton was lying again.  She just can't help it.

A hospital has raised questions over the accuracy of the story, and Clinton's campaign has said although they had no reason to doubt the story, they were unable to confirm the details.

In the story, Clinton describes a woman from rural Ohio who was making minimum wage at a local pizza shop. The woman, who was uninsured, became pregnant.

Clinton said the woman ran into trouble and went to a hospital in a nearby county but was denied treatment because she couldn't afford a $100 payment.

In her speeches, Clinton said the woman later was taken to the hospital by ambulance and lost the baby. The young woman was then taken by helicopter to a Columbus hospital where she died of complications. Watch why the story is raising questions »

The New York senator heard the story during a campaign visit to a family's living room in Pomeroy, Ohio, in late February. Bryan Holman was hosting the candidate and told Clinton the story. She has repeated it frequently since then.

While Clinton never named the hospital in her speech, the woman she was referring to was treated at O'Bleness Memorial Hospital in Athens, Ohio. The hospital said the woman did indeed have insurance, and, at least at their hospital, she was never turned away.

Hospital Chief Executive Officer Rick Castrop in a statement said, "we reviewed the medical and patient accounts of the patient" after she was named in a newspaper story about Clinton's stump speech.

"There is no indication that she was ever denied medical care at any time, for any reason. We clearly reject any perception that we ever denied any care to this woman."

A hospital spokesperson confirmed to CNN the woman had insurance. She said the hospital decided to come forward after people in the community began to question if they had denied her care.

Clinton spokesman Mo Elleithee said, "She had no reason to doubt his word."

"Candidates are told stories by people all the time, and it's common for candidates to retell those stories. It's not always possible to fully vet them, but we try. For example, medical records are confidential. In this case, we tried but weren't able to fully vet the story," he said.

Elleithee added, "If the hospital claims it didn't happen that way, we certainly respect that, and she won't repeat the story."

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/04/06/clinton.hospital/?iref=hpmostpop

A report posted on Islam Watch, a site run by Muslims who oppose intolerant teachings and hatred for unbelievers, exposes a prominent Islamic cleric and lawyer who support extreme punishment for non-Muslims — including killing and rape.

A question-and-answer session with Imam Abdul Makin in an East London mosque asks why Allah would tell Muslims to kill and rape innocent non-Muslims, including their wives and daughters, according to Islam Watch.

"Because non-Muslims are never innocent, they are guilty of denying Allah and his prophet," the Imam says, according to the report. "If you don't believe me, here is the legal authority, the top Muslim lawyer of Britain."

Click here to watch the interview with Islamic lawyer Anjem Choudary.