Barack Obama Assassination Watch

[Brainster]

Don't know if the rest of you have noticed all the chatter about how Barack Obama is doomed to be assassinated. It's a very weird bit; about the only thing I can guess is that Obama Mania = Kennedy Mania and Kennedy was assassinated, so therefore Obama will be killed as well. A Mexican columnist hyperventilates:

The reason I fear for Obama is that despite his being an extraordinary Democratic leader and a notable promoter of change in the United States - a nation that apparently no longer wishes to greet the dawn with news of another bombing attack on a new country at the behest of George Bush - in spite of all this, and even if he manages to win his party’s nomination, goes on to beat McCain in November and becomes the next president of the United States, he could be brutally assassinated, as happened in their time to Martin Luther King and Malcolm X . There's no reason to kill a McCain - not for his skin color, nor for his political career, nor for his personal name, and it's impossible to associate him with the Muslims that arouse so much prejudice in post-Sept. 11 America …

As a McCain supporter, I'm pleased to see that last bit, although I note that "skin color" did not protect JFK, RFK, or George Wallace. The columnist does not seem to have a firm grasp of US political realities:

The U.S. Democratic Party primaries will make the final decision regarding Hillary or Obama. They will have to choose between a woman and a man of color; in both cases, there are no precedents in the political history of the United States. If Obama wins, he may lose his life … Shouldn't Hillary, just in case, accept the vice-presidential ticket?

Well, that assumes that Hillary will be offered the VP slot, which seems highly unlikely.

Nor does he seem to know much US history:

John Kennedy, Robert Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, among other political leaders, have sough to promote change in the United States and all four were cut down by bullets for one reason or another, because it is in the nature of certain ultra-conservative groups in the U.S. to deny the principles of equality to be established among all men - a necessary condition for a Black person to reach the United States presidency.

JFK was shot by a leftist nut, not an ultra-conservative group. RFK was shot by a Palestinian nut, not an ultra-conservative group MLK was shot by a small-time crook, not an ultra-conservative group. Malcolm X was shot by Nation of Islam thugs, not an ultra-conservative group.

Now, you might think that with all the nuttiness of this column that it's gotten panned, right? Think again. The Moderate Voice, a (purportedly) centrist blog writes:

One of the most disturbing questions that Barack Obama’s candidacy raises is this: What if he were murdered? If Barack Obama won the Democratic nomination and was gunned down before November, what effect would this have on the presidential race?

The topic has also appeared in the New York Times' caucus blog:

Today, in Dover, Francine Torge, a former John Edwards supporter, said this while introducing Mrs. Clinton: “Some people compare one of the other candidates to John F. Kennedy. But he was assassinated. And Lyndon Baines Johnson was the one who actually” passed the civil rights legislation.

The comment, an apparent reference to Senator Barack Obama, is particularly striking given documented fears among blacks that Mr. Obama will be assassinated if elected.

The Seattle PI blog notes a new search term popping into the Google top 100:

An ugly topic is capturing attention on the Internet: Today the phrase "assassinate Obama" appeared on a list of the top 100 Google search terms.

A top result is an article by the conservative Washington Times that reports a boost in presidential candidate Barack Obama's security following his win in Iowa, "amid fears over the safety of the man seeking to become America's first black president."

The Telegraph (UK) headlined:

Assassination fears follow Barack Obama

Any thoughts about what is going on here?

 

[Minadin]

I think that given the apparent (in both senses of the word) lengths to which Mrs. Clinton and her supporters will go, to ensure that she is the nominee, these fears are understandable. I mean, what are the chances that there's someone out there who's nutty enough to try something like this?

That said, the fact that people are worried about it and that rumors are flying, causing people to turn to the internet for information, isn't really evidence that anything is actually afoot. In fact this sort of heightened awareness might make it less likely. I think this is the 4th thread about "Obama assassination" I've seen on these boards.

 

[Oliver]

I still hope that Cheney and McCain go hunting.
On the other Hand: If Obama gets assassinated, the African-Americans will burn down the White House.

 

[becomingagodo]

If Obama gets assassinated, the African-Americans will burn down the White House.

No they won't. Seriously, no they won't. Also, your comment seems abit racist. White people didn't burn down the white house when JFK got assassinated, so why would black people?

 

[Tricky]

I still hope that Cheney and McCain go hunting.
On the other Hand: If Obama gets assassinated, the African-Americans will burn down the White House.

Seems like it was only a short time ago I heard some prominant African-Americans complaining that Obama wasn't really "black". I guess Oprah must have swung them.

 

[gtc]

White people didn't burn down the white house when JFK got assassinated, so why would black people?

White people already tried it; didn't work out.

 

[kosai]

I am an Obama supporter who also is very concerned about a possible assasination however I think Brainster made very good points. The article author is completely out of touch with both American history as well as American politics.

Interesting the author says "no one" would be against McCain... for one he is. Maybe a nutter Vietnamese who doesn't know the war is over yet? What about those folks who we are CURRENTLY AT WAR with?

I also like his "cut down by bullets for one reason or another"... He's basically dismissing the who, what, and why for all the assasinations through history. It almost seems as if he is appealing to a belief of vast conspiracy theory of a shadowy ultra-conservatives that \really\ run America.

This is America, where every nut can buy a gun. We currently have one of the least liked and in my opinion one of the worst presidents of all time and nobody worries much about him taking a bullet. If we really want to use the VP as a deterent for ultra-conservatives to not kill Obama I say forget Hillary Clinton we need Richard Simmons.

I still hope that Cheney and McCain go hunting.
On the other Hand: If Obama gets assassinated, the African-Americans will burn down the White House.

I don't think this would really happen, I do think much of the nation would be in mourning. I agree with earlier posters that it sounds borderline racist to suggest this.

 

[INRM]

I doubt Obama would get assassinated. He's not even that good a candidate. None of them are.


INRM

 

[Dr Adequate]

We currently have one of the least liked and in my opinion one of the worst presidents of all time and nobody worries much about him taking a bullet.

Ah me, the sweet subtle ambiguities of our English tongue.

 

[Oliver]

No they won't. Seriously, no they won't. Also, your comment seems abit racist. White people didn't burn down the white house when JFK got assassinated, so why would black people?

It seems as if the "Whites"-remark is abit racist as well.
Anyway: There is much more hope at stake on part of the Afro-Americans - plus the respect towards the government isn't "1960's" anymore. And the racial issue is a much bigger one in the US anyway. (See current "Race/Gender/Age-Election", for example)

 

[Darth Rotor]

It seems as if the "Whites"-remark is abit racist as well.
Anyway: There is much more hope at stake on part of the Afro-Americans - plus the respect towards the government isn't "1960's" anymore. And the racial issue is a much bigger one in the US anyway. (See current "Race/Gender/Age-Election", for example)

Pray tell us, Oliver, authority on all things American, how this racial issue is much bigger. I'll get a coffee. I am sure you'll have much of substance to offer.

Regarding assassinations: the Last President who got shot was Ronald Reagan, white guy, one each. Two tries at Gerald Ford, white guy, one each. (I'd have to look up the attempts on Carter, IIRC there were a few foiled by SS.)

There was a child genius who flew a plane that crashed into the White House when Clinton was President. That might classify as an attempt, in the Sirhan Sirhan category of loose cannon, or Hinkley tries to impress Jodie Foster by shooting Reagan.

Frank Eugene Corder, a 38-year-old truck driver from Maryland. His relatives said he had struggled with vertiginous moods, alcohol, a drug conviction, financial problems, the recent rupture of his third marriage and the death of his father.

The obvious answer to such problems is to fly a Cessna into the White House. Comes right out of the manual for mental problem mitigation, Section 8.

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9903E1D6173BF930A2575AC0A962958260

Patrick Porter, 46, a software engineer for General Electric from Portland, Ore., looked at the South Lawn from behind yellow police tapes. "It just proves you can make all the plans in the world and there's nothing you can do to plan against a lunatic who doesn't think rationally," he said.

In Aberdeen, a small Maryland town 25 miles northeast of Baltimore, Mr. Corder's brother did not seem to know of any particular grudge that he might have held against Mr. Clinton. "Shock," said Mr. Corder's brother, John. "Surprise. It hit us right out of the blue."

The Clintons were not in the WH that evening, due to some work being done on that wing. The pilot had not, thankfully, packed a few hundred pounds of explosives into the plane, or the damage to the White House might have been considerably more, and some people there killed. had he done so, and had the Pres been there, WJC and Hillary might have been killed. The suicide attack was, in terms of operational surprise and fulfilling an intent, successful. The target simply wasn't there, and the weapon wasn't robust enough to have the effect on the target this man desired.

1996, September 13. Hmmm, 2001 September 11.

Obviously, he was part of the ZoG.

DR

 

[Bob Klase]

Originally Posted by becomingagodo View Post
White people didn't burn down the white house when JFK got assassinated, so why would black people?

White people already tried it; didn't work out.

If we ignore the fact that the War of 1812 was 105 years before Kennedy was born and 151 years before he was assassinated, that would be a good response to what becomingagodo wrote.

 

[dudalb]

The reason for the Obama Is A Big Target For Assisination Vibe is because he is the first Afro American who stands a very good chance of becoming President.That makes him a HUGE target for all the white supremists nutcases out there,who have a long history of violence.

 

[kosai]

What about isalmic terrorist nutcases and our current president? They have a pretty long history of violence as well... I'm not sure the risk changes that much just because Obama happens to be half black.

 

[Pardalis]

Just about everyone wants a piece of Bush, and he's still around 8 years later.

 

[Dr Adequate]

Just about everyone wants a piece of Bush, and he's still around 8 years later.

Well that's down to sheer frickin' incompetence. I ask for sharks with laser beams, and all I get are irritable sea-bass.

We nearly got him with that pretzel.

 

[Darth Rotor]

Well that's down to sheer frickin' incompetence. I ask for sharks with laser beams, and all I get are irritable sea-bass.

We nearly got him with that pretzel.

You don't see many sharks in the Potomac River. They'd have stood out. Likewise near Crawford, Texas: too far inland, rivers to shallow and rough.

The sea bass were actually a better agent for the mission.

How were you to know he'd stopped drinking beer?

Are you nominating your self for the von Stauffenberg award?

DR

 

[gtc]

Land sharks with scuba gear. Didn't you get the new NWO catalogue?

 

[Darth Rotor]

Land sharks with scuba gear. Didn't you get the new NWO catalogue?

OK, here's a bit of what may be "character assassination" reported in the Washington Post: (Posted at 7:03 PM ET on Feb 26, 2008 on the WP web site "The Trail" http://blog.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/ )

What is behind this, I wonder?

IRS Investigating Obama's Church

By Jacqueline L. Salmon

The United Church of Christ, Sen. Barack Obama's spiritual home, is in hot water with the Internal Revenue Service over a speech Obama gave to its national convention last June.

The IRS has notified the UCC that it has opened an investigation into Obama's address at the UCC's 2007 General Synod in Hartford, Conn., the UCC said yesterday.

According to a copy of an IRS letter that the church received Monday, the IRS is launching the inquiry "because reasonable belief exists that the United Church of Christ has engaged in political activities that could jeopardize its tax-exempt status."

Under federal law, churches are barred from becoming directly or indirectly involved in campaigns of political candidates.

According to a text of the speech posted on the church's Web site, Obama promised to sign a universal health care bill in his first term as president, and he denounced the Iraq war.

"I have a plan that would have already begun redeploying our troops with the goal of bringing all our combat brigades home by March 31st of next year" according to the text. He also said "our conscience cannot rest" until genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan is stopped and 12 million illegal immigrants get a chance to earn their citizenship.

An IRS spokesperson declined to comment. But a UCC spokesman, the Rev. J. Bennett Guess, said the investigation is "disturbing news."

"We went to great lengths to make sure no laws were broken," he said

Routine IRS move, or someone calling in a favor?

DR

 

[gtc]

I suspect IRS employee with time enough to trawl their website figured that the Church wouldn't contest any assessment right now and would be in a big hurry to pay up to avoid jeopardising Obamapalooza 2008.