Canadian TV (CTV) is reporting Barack Obama's campaign saying one thing privately to a foreign government and then saying something completely different, in public, to American voters. This story already has the making of a spy novel, complete with alleged back-channel conversations, covert signals, public charades and clandestine dealings with embassy officials.
CTV reports that an Obama official told the Canadian Ambassador to disregard the campaign's rhetoric on opting-out of NAFTA. That, essentially, NAFTA-bashing was just an Obama campaign trick. CTV reports:
Within the last month, a top staff member for Obama's campaign telephoned Michael Wilson, Canada's ambassador to the United States, and warned him that Obama would speak out against NAFTA, according to Canadian sources.
The staff member reassured Wilson that the criticisms would only be campaign rhetoric, and should not be taken at face value.
The Politico reports the Obama campaign and the Canadian Embassy in Washington, D.C. denies this incident.
If Obama, as President, did break the NAFTA trade agreement, families in Ohio and throughout the Midwest would see an immediate spike in gas prices given the amount of oil imported from North of our border. But that seems less likely to happen if CTV is right and the NAFTA-bashing is simply campaign speak.
The larger issue, obviously, is an alleged case of misconduct on the part of a campaign official or the outright lying by the candidate. If this CTV story has any merit and you combine it with the earlier post on Obama's flip-flopping on transparent press relations a mosaic of hypocrisy begins to take hold.
But we may never know the real validity of this story because like all government cover-ups, and the start of any trashy espionage thriller, it begins with public officials denying it.
FROM Barack Hussein: My fellow Identity-Americans. Thank you for your mindless support of me, despite my complete lack of any legislative achievement, my pastor's relations with Louis Farrakhan and Libyan dictator Moamar Quadafi, or my blatantly leftist voting record while I present myself as some sort of bi-partisan agent of change. I also like how my supporters claim my youthful drug use and criminal behavior somehow qualifies me for the Presidency after 8 years of claiming Bush's youthful drinking disqualifies him. Your hypocrisy is a beacon of hope shining over a sea of political posing. And I'd like to thank Oprah Winfrey for her support. Her love of meaningless empty platitudes will be the force that propels me to the White House. Americans should vote for me, not because of my lack of experience or achievement, but because I make people feel good. Thank You. - Hussein
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JOHN
3:52PM Feb 28th 2008
LOUIS FARAKHAN HAS ENDORSED OBAMA.YES,OBAMA IS A FLIP-FLOPPING ROOKIE.
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Jacklyn
3:49PM Feb 28th 2008
I do tend to believe this is true. It's not because I support Hillary, it is because so far Obama has given me impression that he says one thing and does the other. It is somehow so obvious. I hope there would be some dramatic development on this story. I hope the Canadian would speak out the truth.
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Robert
4:14PM Feb 28th 2008
Keep on grasping for dear life all of you Hillary fanatics. She has shown herself along with her husband to be underhanded, deceitful and willing to do anything to win and yet you blindly follow along like dumb sheep. The story of BARACK and some NAFTA talk has been denied by all responsible parties, but because it is Obama they all are lying. Folks how can someone who is gullible enough to believe the Clintons question the integrity of anyone?
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Jacklyn
4:03PM Feb 28th 2008
Now I watched this video again, and can't help myself add one thing after I see Obama's talking. Sorry but (I already felt this way long before the dem fight begun) his look irritates me, so irritating now that I wish I could move out of US IF he were elected president. I can't bear watching him on TV or hearing his voice. The way of his talking, his body language, his face (mouse eyes, pig ears, long thin face with sinking lips embedded that appear to be lack of oxygen and surrounded by strange deep grooves, eyebrows that have shape of the Chinese character eight八 that is a big sign of bad luck considered in China) - the whole package bothers me. Many of my friends said he doesn't look like a president at all - there's no 面相 of a president. Please God, help us!
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Jebinb
4:04PM Feb 28th 2008
Was it just campaign rhetoric when Barack Hussein Obama Rejected and denounced LOUIS FARAKHAN Did Barack Hussein Obama call him too ahead of time ??? What can we believe any more about him ?
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DAN
4:14PM Feb 28th 2008
HOPEFULLY THE NEXT PRESIDENT WILL HAVE A SET OF BALLS AND DO THE FOLLOWING:
RIP UP AND THROW AWAY ALL THE FREE TRADE AGREEMENTS
MAKE ENGLISH THE NATIONAL LANGUAGE
START DEPORTING THE FREELOADING ILLEGAL ALIENS
IF ANYONE DOESNT LIKE THE ABOVE YOU CAN GO STRAIGHT TO HELL
DISGUSTED AMERICAN
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Robert
4:19PM Feb 28th 2008
Jacklyn you of all people seem puzzling to me. Obama by all accounts of everyone is an attractive candidate. And yet you spend lines speaking down on his physical appearance. I suppose John McCain and Hillary are so attractive and have the look of being presidential. Please if Obama move quickly to another country. Let me guess either Canada or Europe where people look presidential. Wake up people three fourths of the world are people of color and would consider Barack Obama an excelletn president.
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canadian gal
4:28PM Feb 28th 2008
"The facts of our story are accurate." - Greg McIsaac, Communications Manager, News Information and Current Affairs, CTV
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Pjayee
4:32PM Feb 28th 2008
Robert Who is the dumb sheep ,buddy you had better take a long hard look in the mirror , you dumb followers, you make me puke , Obama could kill someone in front of you and you would say it was Hillary , you need an IQ test to vote infact all you Obama supporters need IQ tests
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JOHN
4:48PM Feb 28th 2008
All you Billary supporters better wake up. You have a very unattactive, rabid, scowling, and generally unlikeable candidate. No amount of blaming the media, or pundits, or debate moderators or anything else is going to change that. The American public intensely dislike (HATE) her and the slickmeister because we have already seen the disdain they have for America and all the sacred institutions that they crapped all over and completely disgraced. She has no chance because she is a horrible candidate with a despicable track record. At least the slickster was tragically likeable. Have you noticed that the more angry and desperate she has become, the more ugly and evil she appears? She is really disgusting and obnoxious. When you combine her grotesque appearance with her putrid personality and demeaner she has no chance. Try again when Hillabeast gets a personality transplant. ABH (Anybody But Hillary) Go Osama Obama yo Mama!!!!!!!!!!!(who, by the way, really should be paying me).
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Ted in Chicago
5:10PM Feb 28th 2008
WHY IS THIS NOT HEADLINED ON THE NATIONAL MEDIA?
AOL AUTHOR - PLEASE EMAIL TO THE OTHER NETWORKS AND MAJOR MEDIA SOURCES
IF THIS IF FALSE - SHAME ON YOU
IF THIS IS TRUE - NOT JUST SOME DUMB RUMOR - IT NEEDS TO BE AIRED WIDELY AND PUBLICLY
AOL THE RESPONSIBILITY IS ON YOU FOLKS TO PUSH THIS
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Davidg
5:02PM Feb 28th 2008
Obama just seems to want to get elected, and will say and do whatever it takes to get there.
When he's there it's a wild card. Nobody knows what he will do or say.
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Jacklyn
5:31PM Feb 28th 2008
That is you Obama supporters need to wake up! You are looking at someone who has been created by the media. I'm not saying Clinton is the best, I say she is better qualified overall; I'm not saying Clinton is better than Obama as a person, I'm saying Obama is no better than Clinton! Yes, many of you don't view Hillary as physically attractive, I can understand it, but don't forget more of us find Obama is so not physically attractive. That is the dem party and the media created him as someone he's not yet, someone you view as perfect, Jesus, the saver of the world, etc.; and that is the dem party and the media painted Clinton as someone who can do nothing right, and the more she falls behind, the more you see her negatives. You think all negatives about Obama are not true, only good things about him is; you see just opposite of Clinton. Is it fair? You have been brain washed and you don't even realize that. You know what, I don't even care how great Obama really is, how many good ideas he might have, whether or not he would eventually prove he could be a good president, I don't care how bad Hillary might be, how many bad ideas she might have, nothing matters at this point, I'm sick of the fact that when you praise someone you push him to the highest, you exaggerate 1 point of merit as 10 points; when you trash someone you kick her to the lowest as nothing worth to look, you don't see her merits at all, and you exaggerate her 1 point negative to 10 points, so right now Hillary can do nothing right on her campaign. Do you know Obama doesn't run his campaign himself? That is the people around him running it for him. Did he pick all these people? You know it is those advisers put the team together. So don't give the credit to him, that is the people around make his campaign successful. Having a successful campaign doesn't really reflect one's ability to be a president. Do you believe Obama writes most of his speeches? If you do you are a dumb head! So you know that is his speech writers inspirational, not him, he is just someone who delivers the speeches with raised voice and tones, any good Hollywood actors can do that! As of Hillary, she has her historical reasons to finally have a campaign that is struggling, don't just attribute any failure to her own ability, that is really unfortunate. So that is you Obama supporters blindly follow his rhetoric speeches and get too excited about it. I will never vote for him unless someone could give back a real Obama and not a man made one! You, feel free to vote for him for whatever reasons or no reasons at all, but remember the facts: he is merely another politician who has the ambition to be a president, who says and does anything to get elected, who runs for president to grab the power for himself, who flip flops, who sometimes says one thing and does the other so things can be done to his best interests (you've seen the examples, don't try to deny it simply because it happened on him or Hillary). Do you think I'm so naive and describe his physical appearance like this everywhere? That is how unfair a woman has been treated that triggered me to say anything on my mind in public to express my anger, especially to those who look down upon us women!!!!
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TJ
5:40PM Feb 28th 2008
OBAMA WANTS TO RESCUE US FROM BUSH THEN CHANGE THE WORLD this is how he will do it HE WILL UNCONDITIONALLY TALK WITH CHAVEZ, CUBA, TERRORIsTS, IRAN . THEN WHEN HE IS DONE, HE WILL UNITE THE XTIANS AND MUSLIMS, JEWS AND DEMOCRATS AND REPUBLICANS, THE LIVING AND THE DEAD. CELESTIAL CHOIRS WILL BE SINGING. then obama would organize another million man march, only Farakan will not lead this one!!! IN THE MEANTIME EVERY STUDENT SENDING HIM $100 FOR HIS CAMPAIGN WILL GET $4000 IN RETURN-good investment! OBAMA IS A PIED PIPER AND SANTA CLAUS COMBINED CELESTIAL CHOIRS IS NOTHING COMPARED TO THIS---THE GUY IS NUT!!!
IF YOU ARE A RECOVERING OBAMAMANIAC, CHANGAMANIAC JOIN MILLIONs OF OTHERS AT
Until they know the Obama official, I wont believe this. You shouldn't believe things unless they come out of Obama's mouth. Oh and the media is reporting that Hillary Clinton will do the same, not change a thing about NAFTA, that she's just saying it for the OHIO VOTERS!
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Sondra
5:50PM Feb 28th 2008
Hillary can't and won't win. She does not have enough delegates. Just face it. Hillary can't win.
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TJ
5:51PM Feb 28th 2008
greg mcnelly, good job! this is fair journalism - not the garbage we've been force-fed by some aol editors- like david knowles- obama had been getting free ride until now and we watched the country's first lady, Hillary desimated by journalists to our utter dismay. obama tells everybody what they want to hear, just to get what he wants--they are sending this flip-flopper and inexperinced individual so much money!! he lied to blacks, farakan followers, he wont resapect our country and our flag- i call him PIED PIPER FROM ILLINOIS---- the one from Hamelin led the children right into the sea---
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Davidg
5:52PM Feb 28th 2008
The bottom line is if you don't like NAFTA, Ron Paul is the only choice for president.
Otherwise, learn to live with it the best you can.
All of the others have already sold us to Mexico. Obama will sell us to Africa too. They are all "one world" people with McCain being the least and Obama being the most.
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Larry
5:52PM Feb 28th 2008
Obama's church: More about Africa than God? Chicago congregation has 'non-negotiable commitment' to 'mother continent'
While some election commentators are looking carefully at the level of devotion Sen. Barack Obama has to Islam, it is the strong African-centered and race-based philosophy of the senator's United Church of Christ that has some bloggers crying foul.
Obama and Wright
Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago is where Obama was baptized as a Christian two decades ago, even borrowing the title for one of his books, "The Audacity of Hope," from a sermon by his senior pastor, the Rev. Dr. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr.
The first paragraph of the "About Us" section of the church's website mentions the word "black" or "Africa" five times:
We are a congregation which is Unashamedly Black and Unapologetically Christian. ... Our roots in the Black religious experience and tradition are deep, lasting and permanent. We are an African people, and remain "true to our native land," the mother continent, the cradle of civilization. God has superintended our pilgrimage through the days of slavery, the days of segregation, and the long night of racism. It is God who gives us the strength and courage to continuously address injustice as a people, and as a congregation. We constantly affirm our trust in God through cultural expression of a Black worship service and ministries which address the Black Community. Focus on the African continent continues in two of the 10-point vision of the church:
A congregation committed to ADORATION. A congregation preaching SALVATION. A congregation actively seeking RECONCILIATION. A congregation with a non-negotiable COMMITMENT TO AFRICA. A congregation committed to BIBLICAL EDUCATION. A congregation committed to CULTURAL EDUCATION. A congregation committed to the HISTORICAL EDUCATION OF AFRICAN PEOPLE IN DIASPORA. A congregation committed to LIBERATION. A congregation committed to RESTORATION. A congregation working towards ECONOMIC PARITY. Commented Florida blogger "Ric" in discussing vision No. 4: "Commitment to Africa? I thought Christians were to have a commitment to God alone?"
The blogger continued: "First off just by this 10-point layout describing Barack Obama's church, we see that on some issues they are not clear. Even though it sounds good to the reader, it still leaves one guessing and not knowing where they truly stand as a congregation.
"Second, the church seems to place Africa and African people before God, and says nothing about other races in their community or a commitment to help the people in their community.
(Story continues below)
"Third, the church seems to promote communism by the term they use called 'economic parity.' Is this what Barack Obama truly believes?"
On another page on the website, Pastor Wright explains his theology, saying it is "based upon the systematized liberation theology that started in 1969 with the publication of Dr. James Cone's book, 'Black Power and Black Theology.'
"Black theology is one of the many theologies in the Americas that became popular during the liberation theology movement. They include Hispanic theology, Native American theology, Asian theology and Womanist theology."
Wright rebuts those who might call his philosophy racist, saying, "To have a church whose theological perspective starts from the vantage point of black liberation theology being its center is not to say that African or African-American people are superior to any one else.
"African-centered thought, unlike Eurocentrism, does not assume superiority and look at everyone else as being inferior."
The church's official mission statement says it has been "called by God to be a congregation that is not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ and that does not apologize for its African roots!"