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*Obama: "this is not a crackpot church" *Obama: grandmother "typical white person" *A bigger problem looms for Barack *Traditional families on the rebound? *Handel's Messiah in 12 minutes 03.24.08 Briefing • Steve Elliott, Grassfire.org • Subscribe here • RSS Obama can't escape Wright controversy, defends church, says grandmother "typical white person" In an interview airing today on a Philadelphia radio station , Barack Obama again defended his Chicago church saying "this is not a crackpot church" and blaming the controversy at least in part on "the dangers of the YouTube era." Obama also added to the controversy when he told another Philadelphia station that his grandmother was a " typical white person who if she sees somebody on the street that she doesn't know, there's a reaction that's been bred into our experiences that don't go away and that sometimes come out int he wrong way." Michael Novak is now saying the Wright controversy points to the deepending dilemma facing Democrats. Michael Barone notes that the bigger dillema for Obama is how the Wright controversy could threaten his standing with his target audience: the Millennials. The bigger issue for Obama The bigger issue for the general election continues to be ...

*Obama: "this is not a crackpot church" *Obama: grandmother "typical white person" *A bigger problem looms for Barack *Traditional families on the rebound? *Handel's Messiah in 12 minutes 03.24.08 Briefing • Steve Elliott, Grassfire.org • Subscribe here • RSS Obama can't escape Wright controversy, defends church, says grandmother "typical white person" In an interview airing today on a Philadelphia radio station , Barack Obama again defended his Chicago church saying "this is not a crackpot church" and blaming the controversy at least in part on "the dangers of the YouTube era." Obama also added to the controversy when he told another Philadelphia station that his grandmother was a " typical white person who if she sees somebody on the street that she doesn't know, there's a reaction that's been bred into our experiences that don't go away and that sometimes come out int he wrong way." Michael Novak is now saying the Wright controversy points to the deepending dilemma facing Democrats. Michael Barone notes that the bigger dillema for Obama is how the Wright controversy could threaten his standing with his target audience: the Millennials. The bigger issue for Obama The bigger issue for the general election continues to be ...

*Obama speech transcript, video and comments from the grassroots *Michelle Malkin -- Globama Mystique "gone" *Liberal media loves it; better than MLK's "Dream" *Liberal groups pledge $350 million for election 03.18.08 Briefing • Steve Elliott, Grassfire.org • Subscribe here • RSS   Obama's Speech Sells But Is The Mystique Gone? I didn't think it was one of Obama's best efforts (access the video and read FS members' comments here ). Obama's critics are correctly pointing out that Obama turned his problem with the hate-speech of his pastor into America's problem with racism -- with the finger of blame clearly pointing back to white America. If we step away for a moment from the high and lofty goal of restoring the racial divide and consider the real issue here -- Obama the candidate -- the speech fell short. Thomas Sowell points out that the real question is "What did he know and when?" This is a question that strikes to the integrity of a political candidate. Sowell answers: There was no way that he didn’t know about Jeremiah Wright’s anti-American and racist diatribes from the pulpit. Someone once said that a con man’s job is not to convince skeptics but to ...

*Obama speech transcript, video and comments from the grassroots *Michelle Malkin -- Globama Mystique "gone" *Liberal media loves it; better than MLK's "Dream" *Liberal groups pledge $350 million for election 03.18.08 Briefing • Steve Elliott, Grassfire.org • Subscribe here • RSS   Obama's Speech Sells But Is The Mystique Gone? I didn't think it was one of Obama's best efforts (access the video and read FS members' comments here ). Obama's critics are correctly pointing out that Obama turned his problem with the hate-speech of his pastor into America's problem with racism -- with the finger of blame clearly pointing back to white America. If we step away for a moment from the high and lofty goal of restoring the racial divide and consider the real issue here -- Obama the candidate -- the speech fell short. Thomas Sowell points out that the real question is "What did he know and when?" This is a question that strikes to the integrity of a political candidate. Sowell answers: There was no way that he didn’t know about Jeremiah Wright’s anti-American and racist diatribes from the pulpit. Someone once said that a con man’s job is not to convince skeptics but to ...

*Pastor Wright reveals "central contradiction" of Obama's campaign *National Review, Politico, Sowell, Farah and more on Obama controversy *Fed to slash rates today *New New York Governor admits to adultery 03.18.08 Briefing • Steve Elliott, Grassfire.org • Subscribe here • RSS Obama Controversy Continues; Damage Control Speech Today Today, Barack Obama will deliver an address on the issue of race, clearly an effort at damage control as the story of his pastor Jeremiah Wright's outrageously racist, hateful and profane views continues to escalate. Update 10:52am-- Drudge link to text of speech Rich Lowry of National Review points out that Obama's denials are quite hollow since, in his book, Obama recounts how in the first sermon he ever heard from Wright the pastor used many of the same themes that are at the center of the controvery. Lowry says Wright reveals the "central contradiction of the Obama campaign": "an orthodox liberal politician who rose to prominence in a left-wing milieu in Chicago and has never broken with his party on anything of consequence is campaigning on unifying the country. There is nothing particularly unifying about Obama’s past and his voting record. The senator has risen on his words, and will be ...

*Pastor Wright reveals "central contradiction" of Obama's campaign *National Review, Politico, Sowell, Farah and more on Obama controversy *Fed to slash rates today *New New York Governor admits to adultery 03.18.08 Briefing • Steve Elliott, Grassfire.org • Subscribe here • RSS Obama Controversy Continues; Damage Control Speech Today Today, Barack Obama will deliver an address on the issue of race, clearly an effort at damage control as the story of his pastor Jeremiah Wright's outrageously racist, hateful and profane views continues to escalate. Update 10:52am-- Drudge link to text of speech Rich Lowry of National Review points out that Obama's denials are quite hollow since, in his book, Obama recounts how in the first sermon he ever heard from Wright the pastor used many of the same themes that are at the center of the controvery. Lowry says Wright reveals the "central contradiction of the Obama campaign": "an orthodox liberal politician who rose to prominence in a left-wing milieu in Chicago and has never broken with his party on anything of consequence is campaigning on unifying the country. There is nothing particularly unifying about Obama’s past and his voting record. The senator has risen on his words, and will be ...

•Obama denies knowledge of pastor's statements but... •NewsMax reporter confirms Obama was in attendance • Collapse of Bear Stearns; Greenspan says "worst since WWII" • Southern Poverty attacks border security activists 03.17.08 Briefing • Steve Elliott, Grassfire.org • Subscribe here • RSS Report: Obama Was In Attendance For Pastor's Racially Charged Sermon Barack Obama responded Friday to the reports (here and elsewhere) regarding his pastor's anti-American, racially divisive and profane statement from the pulpit by saying he wasn't very familiar with those statements: "I wasn't in church during the time that these statements were made. I did not hear such incendiary language myself, personally. Either in conversations with him or when I was in the pew, he always preached the social gospel. ... If I had heard them repeated, I would have quit. ... If I thought that was the repeated tenor of the church, then I wouldn’t feel comfortable there." Obama even went on Foxnews and did an interview with Major Garrett. Obama, in my opinion, was terrible and Garrett was on his game. You can read and view the interview here . Fox's Garrett pinned Obama down and left little credibilty in Obama's denials. Obama acknowledged that he ...

•Obama denies knowledge of pastor's statements but... •NewsMax reporter confirms Obama was in attendance • Collapse of Bear Stearns; Greenspan says "worst since WWII" • Southern Poverty attacks border security activists 03.17.08 Briefing • Steve Elliott, Grassfire.org • Subscribe here • RSS Report: Obama Was In Attendance For Pastor's Racially Charged Sermon Barack Obama responded Friday to the reports (here and elsewhere) regarding his pastor's anti-American, racially divisive and profane statement from the pulpit by saying he wasn't very familiar with those statements: "I wasn't in church during the time that these statements were made. I did not hear such incendiary language myself, personally. Either in conversations with him or when I was in the pew, he always preached the social gospel. ... If I had heard them repeated, I would have quit. ... If I thought that was the repeated tenor of the church, then I wouldn’t feel comfortable there." Obama even went on Foxnews and did an interview with Major Garrett. Obama, in my opinion, was terrible and Garrett was on his game. You can read and view the interview here . Fox's Garrett pinned Obama down and left little credibilty in Obama's denials. Obama acknowledged that he ...

•Obama's denials of knowledge of pastor's statements •NewsMax reporter confirms Obama was in attendance • Collapse of Bear Stearns; Greenspan says "worst since WWII" • Southern Poverty attacks border security activists 03.17.08 Briefing • Steve Elliott, Grassfire.org • Subscribe here • RSS Report: Obama Was In Attendance For Pastor's "Hate America" Sermon Barack Obama responded Friday tot he reports (here and elsewhere) regarding his pastor's anti-American, racially divisive and profane statement from the pulpit by saying he wasn't very familiar with those statements: "I wasn't in church during the time that these statements were made. I did not hear such incendiary language myself, personally. Either in conversations with him or when I was in the pew, he always preached the social gospel. ... If I had heard them repeated, I would have quit. ... If I thought that was the repeated tenor of the church, then I wouldn’t feel comfortable there." Obama even went on Foxnews and did an interview with Major Garrett. Obama, in my opinion, was terrible and Garret was on his game. You can read and view the interview here . Fox's Garrett pinned Obama down and left little credibilty in Obama's denials. Obama acknowledged that he ...

•Obama's denials of knowledge of pastor's statements •NewsMax reporter confirms Obama was in attendance • Collapse of Bear Stearns; Greenspan says "worst since WWII" • Southern Poverty attacks border security activists 03.17.08 Briefing • Steve Elliott, Grassfire.org • Subscribe here • RSS Report: Obama Was In Attendance For Pastor's "Hate America" Sermon Barack Obama responded Friday tot he reports (here and elsewhere) regarding his pastor's anti-American, racially divisive and profane statement from the pulpit by saying he wasn't very familiar with those statements: "I wasn't in church during the time that these statements were made. I did not hear such incendiary language myself, personally. Either in conversations with him or when I was in the pew, he always preached the social gospel. ... If I had heard them repeated, I would have quit. ... If I thought that was the repeated tenor of the church, then I wouldn’t feel comfortable there." Obama even went on Foxnews and did an interview with Major Garrett. Obama, in my opinion, was terrible and Garret was on his game. You can read and view the interview here . Fox's Garrett pinned Obama down and left little credibilty in Obama's denials. Obama acknowledged that he ...

•Obama's Pastor: "Jesus was a black man" (video and downloadable audio) •Obama's Pastor: "God Damn America" (video) •What Obama's "Trinity Church" believes •Source of anti-American backdrop to Obama's campaign? •Senators betray taxpayers by upholding Earmarks 03.14.08 Briefing • Steve Elliott, Grassfire.org • Subscribe here • RSS Inside Jeremiah Wright: Obama's Controversial Pastor Yesterday, Rush Limbaugh picked up on a story that Sean Hannity had promoted on Wednesday by playing clips from sermons given by Jeremiah Wright, the controversial pastor of Barack Obama My goal with this post is to provide you with some resource materials on Wright and his role in Obama's life. The controversy centers around Wright's church's black-centric views and specific statements by Wright -- as well as Obama's unwillingness to specifically reject or distance himself from Wright. And he will have trouble downplaying the role Wright has played in his life considering that Obama credits Wright for the central theme and title of his book, "The Audacity of Hope." "Jesus was a black man... Hillary ain't never been called a nigger" Here is the YouTube video of the quote featured by Rush and Sean in which Wright says, among other things: "Jesus was a poor black man... ...

•Obama's Pastor: "Jesus was a black man" (video and downloadable audio) •Obama's Pastor: "God Damn America" (video) •What Obama's "Trinity Church" believes •Source of anti-American backdrop to Obama's campaign? •Senators betray taxpayers by upholding Earmarks 03.14.08 Briefing • Steve Elliott, Grassfire.org • Subscribe here • RSS Inside Jeremiah Wright: Obama's Controversial Pastor Yesterday, Rush Limbaugh picked up on a story that Sean Hannity had promoted on Wednesday by playing clips from sermons given by Jeremiah Wright, the controversial pastor of Barack Obama My goal with this post is to provide you with some resource materials on Wright and his role in Obama's life. The controversy centers around Wright's church's black-centric views and specific statements by Wright -- as well as Obama's unwillingness to specifically reject or distance himself from Wright. And he will have trouble downplaying the role Wright has played in his life considering that Obama credits Wright for the central theme and title of his book, "The Audacity of Hope." "Jesus was a black man... Hillary ain't never been called a nigger" Here is the YouTube video of the quote featured by Rush and Sean in which Wright says, among other things: "Jesus was a poor black man... ...

03.13.08 Briefing • Steve Elliott, Grassfire.org 1. Is McCain really "efforting" for conservative voters? 2. Senators hiding from their earmarks scandal 3. Ramos/Compean appeal decision 100 days pending 4. The future of the Internet from the web's founder 5. Obama changing beyond "change"? 6. On the web today 1. Is McCain "efforting"? It doesn't seem like John McCain is making a real effort to court conservatives. For example, Sen. Rick Santorum reports on McCain's speech last week before the Council for National Policy -- an exclusive association that consists of the leaders of the conservative and social conservative movement. Santorum points out that McCain picked up "two legs of the Republican stool - spending/taxes and national security. But the third leg - social issues - went unmentioned." Santorum raises questions about McCain's positions on marraige, stem cell researdh, and global warming. I think there's a fourth leg of the grassroots conservative base -- immigration. And since we know McCain will not really touch that leg, that leaves us with a stool that simply will not stay upright. National Review editors are weighing in on the conservatives' delicate dance with McCain, noting that delegates to the GOP convention have real power ...

03.13.08 Briefing • Steve Elliott, Grassfire.org 1. Is McCain really "efforting" for conservative voters? 2. Senators hiding from their earmarks scandal 3. Ramos/Compean appeal decision 100 days pending 4. The future of the Internet from the web's founder 5. Obama changing beyond "change"? 6. On the web today 1. Is McCain "efforting"? It doesn't seem like John McCain is making a real effort to court conservatives. For example, Sen. Rick Santorum reports on McCain's speech last week before the Council for National Policy -- an exclusive association that consists of the leaders of the conservative and social conservative movement. Santorum points out that McCain picked up "two legs of the Republican stool - spending/taxes and national security. But the third leg - social issues - went unmentioned." Santorum raises questions about McCain's positions on marraige, stem cell researdh, and global warming. I think there's a fourth leg of the grassroots conservative base -- immigration. And since we know McCain will not really touch that leg, that leaves us with a stool that simply will not stay upright. National Review editors are weighing in on the conservatives' delicate dance with McCain, noting that delegates to the GOP convention have real power ...

03.12.08 Briefing From the Desk of Steve Elliott Earmarks Showdown In Senate This Week... The "Pig" Is Out Of The Bag Yesterday, Ron De Jong (our Communications Director) and I were in D.C. for a press conference with Sen. Jim DeMint and other members of Congress to present more than 107,000 petitions from Grassfire team members calling for an immediate moratorium on earmarks. View slideshow here . The conference was held at what is called the "Senate Swamp," just west of the Russell Senate building and across the street from the U.S. Capitol. Many very important press conferences have been held in this same spot. At least two dozen members of the media were on hand and it was my privege to present the petitions on the behalf of our team members. As Americans begin to understand what earmarks are, I believe the "pig" of pork spending is now out of the bag. Earmarking is a procedural gimmick that allows Congressmen to funnel billions of our taxpayer dollars to their pet projects and and personal supporters. And 95% of these earmarks are never voted on, never submitted for public debate. It's done in the "smoke-filled rooms" on Capitol HIll. We ...

03.12.08 Briefing From the Desk of Steve Elliott Earmarks Showdown In Senate This Week... The "Pig" Is Out Of The Bag Yesterday, Ron De Jong (our Communications Director) and I were in D.C. for a press conference with Sen. Jim DeMint and other members of Congress to present more than 107,000 petitions from Grassfire team members calling for an immediate moratorium on earmarks. View slideshow here . The conference was held at what is called the "Senate Swamp," just west of the Russell Senate building and across the street from the U.S. Capitol. Many very important press conferences have been held in this same spot. At least two dozen members of the media were on hand and it was my privege to present the petitions on the behalf of our team members. As Americans begin to understand what earmarks are, I believe the "pig" of pork spending is now out of the bag. Earmarking is a procedural gimmick that allows Congressmen to funnel billions of our taxpayer dollars to their pet projects and and personal supporters. And 95% of these earmarks are never voted on, never submitted for public debate. It's done in the "smoke-filled rooms" on Capitol HIll. We ...

03.10.08 Briefing From the desk of Steve Elliott Big Brother on the Web; Bozell's Warning for McCain; Ahhh... iPhone 2.0 is coming Big Brother on the Web? Have you noticed that banner ads are starting to mirror your desires? If you haven't yet, it's probably because you thought it was just a "coincidence" that you saw that ad for a Dodge Caravan the day after you visited Dodge.com. The trend is clearly narrowcasting and the web has it hands-down over television and radio. From today's NYtimes : The Web companies are, in effect, taking the trail of crumbs people leave behind as they move around the Internet, and then analyzing them to anticipate people’s next steps. So anybody who searches for information on such disparate topics as iron supplements, airlines, hotels and soft drinks may see ads for those products and services later on. Much of the data is being gathered through searches (Americans did 14.6 billion searches in January and google et. al tracked some 336 billion "transmission events" according to the Times). Is this bad? I think it's inevitable and the public may not resist as long as the gathering is done on the back-end and the data ...

03.10.08 Briefing From the desk of Steve Elliott Big Brother on the Web; Bozell's Warning for McCain; Ahhh... iPhone 2.0 is coming Big Brother on the Web? Have you noticed that banner ads are starting to mirror your desires? If you haven't yet, it's probably because you thought it was just a "coincidence" that you saw that ad for a Dodge Caravan the day after you visited Dodge.com. The trend is clearly narrowcasting and the web has it hands-down over television and radio. From today's NYtimes : The Web companies are, in effect, taking the trail of crumbs people leave behind as they move around the Internet, and then analyzing them to anticipate people’s next steps. So anybody who searches for information on such disparate topics as iron supplements, airlines, hotels and soft drinks may see ads for those products and services later on. Much of the data is being gathered through searches (Americans did 14.6 billion searches in January and google et. al tracked some 336 billion "transmission events" according to the Times). Is this bad? I think it's inevitable and the public may not resist as long as the gathering is done on the back-end and the data ...

3.07.08 Briefing From the Desk of Steve Elliott "Groundbreaking" Conference Challenges Global Warming Consensus As New Data Bucks Warming Trend  In what is being called a "grounbreaking conference," hundreds gathered in New York City for the "2008 International Conference on Climate Change." This event featured presentations by leaders of the movement that is challenging the AlGore man-made global warming consensus. The "trump card" that Gore and others always play is that there is "consensus" in the scientific community that: a--The earth is warming at a dangerous pace b--That man is the primary cause of this warming c--That man can do something to save the planet  from the man-made warming As it turns out, there is not as much "consensus" as Gore would have us believe. Here's a good report from Sen. Inhofe's website that references some 400 scientists who do not share the Gore consensus. It also talks about the "horror stories" of intimidation against those who oppose the consensus. More inconvenient truths for AlGore AlGore's global warming thesis is being challenged by the reality of a 13-month trend of cooling temperatures and more evidence that sunspot activity (and the sun in general) is more likely the real player in ...

3.07.08 Briefing From the Desk of Steve Elliott "Groundbreaking" Conference Challenges Global Warming Consensus As New Data Bucks Warming Trend  In what is being called a "grounbreaking conference," hundreds gathered in New York City for the "2008 International Conference on Climate Change." This event featured presentations by leaders of the movement that is challenging the AlGore man-made global warming consensus. The "trump card" that Gore and others always play is that there is "consensus" in the scientific community that: a--The earth is warming at a dangerous pace b--That man is the primary cause of this warming c--That man can do something to save the planet  from the man-made warming As it turns out, there is not as much "consensus" as Gore would have us believe. Here's a good report from Sen. Inhofe's website that references some 400 scientists who do not share the Gore consensus. It also talks about the "horror stories" of intimidation against those who oppose the consensus. More inconvenient truths for AlGore AlGore's global warming thesis is being challenged by the reality of a 13-month trend of cooling temperatures and more evidence that sunspot activity (and the sun in general) is more likely the real player in ...