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•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 ...

Briefing 03.06.08 From the Desk of Steve Elliott Illegal Alien Crisis Crippling Border Counties A study by an organization representing border counties is estimating that the unreimbursed cost to border counties of incarcerating illegal aliens totals $200 million per year. See the press release . Lou Dobbs' show reported that counties receive less than 5 cents on the dollar of such costs. By the way, Dobbs just launched a new daily talk radio show . McCain not attracting evangelicals Exit polling from Tuesday's primaries reveals that John McCain is still not attracting evangelicals. In fact, evangelicals were the only group that did not go for McCain. In Texas , McCain lost to Huck 49-42 among evangelicals. In Ohio , McCain lost 48-45. This shows that McCain still has quite a bit of work to do to get the base behind him. One pro-family leader warns that values voters "are not mobilized right now." And isn't it interesting that ithe evangelicals --who received the most criticism from Rush et. al. during the primaries -- are the last group to hold out against McCain. (By the way, the best resource I've found for primary and exit polling results is at MSNBC . ...

Briefing 03.06.08 From the Desk of Steve Elliott Illegal Alien Crisis Crippling Border Counties A study by an organization representing border counties is estimating that the unreimbursed cost to border counties of incarcerating illegal aliens totals $200 million per year. See the press release . Lou Dobbs' show reported that counties receive less than 5 cents on the dollar of such costs. By the way, Dobbs just launched a new daily talk radio show . McCain not attracting evangelicals Exit polling from Tuesday's primaries reveals that John McCain is still not attracting evangelicals. In fact, evangelicals were the only group that did not go for McCain. In Texas , McCain lost to Huck 49-42 among evangelicals. In Ohio , McCain lost 48-45. This shows that McCain still has quite a bit of work to do to get the base behind him. One pro-family leader warns that values voters "are not mobilized right now." And isn't it interesting that ithe evangelicals --who received the most criticism from Rush et. al. during the primaries -- are the last group to hold out against McCain. (By the way, the best resource I've found for primary and exit polling results is at MSNBC . ...

Briefing 03.05.08 From the Desk of STeve Elliot Senate Announcing Bills To Secure Border, Stop Illegal Immigration Yesterday, one of our contacts on Capitol Hill gave us a heads-up that a group of senators led by Sen. Sessions is holding a press conference today to announce a package of bills designed to curb illegal immigration. These Senators are rolling out 11 bills under the banner "Immigration Enforcement and Assimilation." The provisions include: --mandatory minimum jail time for illegals entering the U.S. --allowing DHS to use SSN "no match" letters as evidence --worksite enforcement act of 2008 --Complete the Fence Act (see Grassfire's petition which just crossed 100,000 signers) --No COPS funding for sanctuary cities --National Language Act: makes English national language and eliminates entitlement of getting govt. docs printed in other languages --extending role of National Guard at the border --discourage and penalize states that still make it easy for illegals to get driver's licenses. Grassfire is working with our contacts on the Hill on pushing these measures. Read our more detailed briefing here and be watching for more on this from our research team. Hillary Wins, But Where's the "Big Mo" If Barack Obama had swept Ohio, Texas, and ...

Briefing 03.05.08 From the Desk of STeve Elliot Senate Announcing Bills To Secure Border, Stop Illegal Immigration Yesterday, one of our contacts on Capitol Hill gave us a heads-up that a group of senators led by Sen. Sessions is holding a press conference today to announce a package of bills designed to curb illegal immigration. These Senators are rolling out 11 bills under the banner "Immigration Enforcement and Assimilation." The provisions include: --mandatory minimum jail time for illegals entering the U.S. --allowing DHS to use SSN "no match" letters as evidence --worksite enforcement act of 2008 --Complete the Fence Act (see Grassfire's petition which just crossed 100,000 signers) --No COPS funding for sanctuary cities --National Language Act: makes English national language and eliminates entitlement of getting govt. docs printed in other languages --extending role of National Guard at the border --discourage and penalize states that still make it easy for illegals to get driver's licenses. Grassfire is working with our contacts on the Hill on pushing these measures. Read our more detailed briefing here and be watching for more on this from our research team. Hillary Wins, But Where's the "Big Mo" If Barack Obama had swept Ohio, Texas, and ...

03.04.08 Briefing From the Desk of Steve Elliott If so many Republicans oppose illegal immigration, why is McCain the nominee? The NYTimes' "Week in Review" features a lengthy article by David Leonhardt entitled " The Border and the Ballot Box " which tries to make sense of the recent grassroots uprising against illegal immigration juxtaposed against McCain's surprising success -- all on a backdrop of America's history of immigration. With the strong possibility that McCain will formally wrap up the nomination tonight, perhaps it is a good time to stop and consider what just happened and what it means. The thesis of the article is captured in a quote from a UC Davis historian: “While immigration has always roiled large sections of the electorate,” said Eric Rauchway, a historian at the University of California, Davis, “it has never been the basis for a national election, one way or the other.” As Newsbusters pointed out today, the article has the very typical NYTimes slant against those who oppose illegal immigration. Recognizing this bias, the article still offers some interesting answers to the puzzle of McCain's success. Here's Leonhardt's assessment of the current politial landscape in relation to immigration: So, eight months ...

03.04.08 Briefing From the Desk of Steve Elliott If so many Republicans oppose illegal immigration, why is McCain the nominee? The NYTimes' "Week in Review" features a lengthy article by David Leonhardt entitled " The Border and the Ballot Box " which tries to make sense of the recent grassroots uprising against illegal immigration juxtaposed against McCain's surprising success -- all on a backdrop of America's history of immigration. With the strong possibility that McCain will formally wrap up the nomination tonight, perhaps it is a good time to stop and consider what just happened and what it means. The thesis of the article is captured in a quote from a UC Davis historian: “While immigration has always roiled large sections of the electorate,” said Eric Rauchway, a historian at the University of California, Davis, “it has never been the basis for a national election, one way or the other.” As Newsbusters pointed out today, the article has the very typical NYTimes slant against those who oppose illegal immigration. Recognizing this bias, the article still offers some interesting answers to the puzzle of McCain's success. Here's Leonhardt's assessment of the current politial landscape in relation to immigration: So, eight months ...

03.03.09 Briefing From the Desk of STeve Elliott Obama Fully Out Of The Closet On Homosexual Rights Over the past few days, Barack Obama has come out very strongly in favor of homosexual rights, even using a reference to Jesus' Sermon on the Mount as justification for his position. He most clearly articulated the position last Thursday in an open letter on LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transexual) equality. You can read that here . Interestingly, he only used the abbreviation LGBT and never in the letter articulates those "bisexual" or "transsexual." In the letter, he states his strong support of LGBT rights, including urging states "to treat same-sex couples with full equality in their family and adoption laws." He endorses civil unions and pledges to use the "bully pulpit" to push for these changes Obama tries to draw a bright line distinction between "homosexual marriage" (which he says he doesn't "believe in") and "civil unions" (which he heartily endorses. It is a distinction without a difference since Obama's civil unions would convey all the rights and privileges of marriage -- including full adoption rights. It sounds entirely Clintonesque to me (Bill Clinton, that is). On Sunday Obama used the Bible ...

03.03.09 Briefing From the Desk of STeve Elliott Obama Fully Out Of The Closet On Homosexual Rights Over the past few days, Barack Obama has come out very strongly in favor of homosexual rights, even using a reference to Jesus' Sermon on the Mount as justification for his position. He most clearly articulated the position last Thursday in an open letter on LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transexual) equality. You can read that here . Interestingly, he only used the abbreviation LGBT and never in the letter articulates those "bisexual" or "transsexual." In the letter, he states his strong support of LGBT rights, including urging states "to treat same-sex couples with full equality in their family and adoption laws." He endorses civil unions and pledges to use the "bully pulpit" to push for these changes Obama tries to draw a bright line distinction between "homosexual marriage" (which he says he doesn't "believe in") and "civil unions" (which he heartily endorses. It is a distinction without a difference since Obama's civil unions would convey all the rights and privileges of marriage -- including full adoption rights. It sounds entirely Clintonesque to me (Bill Clinton, that is). On Sunday Obama used the Bible ...

02.28.08 Briefing From the Desk of Steve Elliott (revised 12:24p) (Not-So) Shocking Development: Virtual Border Fence Fails! Washington Post is reporting that the 28-mile stretch of virtual fence (that Chertoff just trumpeted as a success last week ) is an abject failure. As a result, the project has been delayed at least three years and it is now unclear if any virtual fencing will actually ever work on the border. Plus, the cost numbers are making the test virtual fence just as if not more expensive than the double-layer fencing that Bush and DHS refuse to build! Time for a Full-Court Press It's time for a full-court press on the border fence. First, we must insist that the original mandates of the Secure Fence Act be restored. Grassfire has a new petition that supports two bills in the House that will do just that (over 76,000 signers in less a week). Second, we need to expose the double-talk, lies and deception coming out of the Administration on the fence. Get this -- DHS is claliming it will have completed some 670 miles of what it calls "fencing" or "vehicle barriers" by the end of this year. This is from the ...

02.28.08 Briefing From the Desk of Steve Elliott (revised 12:24p) (Not-So) Shocking Development: Virtual Border Fence Fails! Washington Post is reporting that the 28-mile stretch of virtual fence (that Chertoff just trumpeted as a success last week ) is an abject failure. As a result, the project has been delayed at least three years and it is now unclear if any virtual fencing will actually ever work on the border. Plus, the cost numbers are making the test virtual fence just as if not more expensive than the double-layer fencing that Bush and DHS refuse to build! Time for a Full-Court Press It's time for a full-court press on the border fence. First, we must insist that the original mandates of the Secure Fence Act be restored. Grassfire has a new petition that supports two bills in the House that will do just that (over 76,000 signers in less a week). Second, we need to expose the double-talk, lies and deception coming out of the Administration on the fence. Get this -- DHS is claliming it will have completed some 670 miles of what it calls "fencing" or "vehicle barriers" by the end of this year. This is from the ...