Yearly Archives: 2008

Obama’s most significant statement

Analysis: Presidential candidate Barack Obama uttered the words that finally placed his true perspective in public.  He said, “I think when you spread the wealth around, it’s good for everybody.”  That is what is called “redistribution of wealth” a foundation of socialism.  Note that the only difference between socialism and communism is that communists put military on the streets where socialists indoctrinate your children.  Thus, the truth of Obama’s much heralded “change” is to end America’s representative form of government in favor of Big Mamma government – she can care for us all.

This type of change is something socialists have been working to accomplish for generations.  They have said so in our offices and homes.  They are protected within American academia.  They dominate traditional media and hold overwhelming influence with Hollywood.  They hate America because history proves traditional American values are successful whereas every socialist system has failed or is failing.

Obama is buying the election in part with what is identified as $426.9 million from small donors whose names Obama will not disclose (click here for more).  An analyst for the Federal Election Commission is urging a full investigation including “millions of dollars of illegal foreign donations” (click here for more).

The McCain campaign has made its complete donor database available online; the Obama campaign has not identified donors for nearly half the amount he has raised, according to the Center for Responsive Politics (CRP).

Obama’s oft touted experience as a community organizer is from his work with the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN).  He was their lawyer and a trainer.  Obama hired them to work for his campaign and they are under felony investigations in more than a dozen states for illegal voter registrations.  This qualifies as organized crime and betrays the entire election system and the sanctity of the election process.  It should fall within the RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations) Act.

Oklahoma Congressman Tom Cole recently wrote, “In Nevada it has been revealed that ACORN hired inmates in the state penitentiary to register new voters. They registered the Dallas Cowboys to vote in Nevada. Another Nevada canvasser was caught filling out voter registration forms using names and addresses copied out of the telephone book. Needless to say, this scandal is not confined to Nevada. Election officials in Ohio, Missouri, Michigan, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and New Mexico have all uncovered similar instances of fraud. A state prosecutor in Washington State put it very well when he described the activities of ACORN as ‘an act of vandalism against our voter rolls.’

“Voting in free and fair elections is the very foundation of our system of self governance. Who can ever forget the remarkable election of 2000 when the candidate who actually received fewer popular votes won the election? This was after an extended recount – in the state [where] his bother served as Governor – and a 5-4 Supreme Court decision. Yet at no time did we see tanks rolling through the streets. There was no martial law. Americans tuned into the Tonight Show every night to see Jay Leno cracking jokes about hanging chads. This was possible because Americans had faith that despite the problems we had in that election, the process was fundamentally honest and fair. Organizations like ACORN undermine that trust and as a result they undermine the very political stability of the United States,” Congressman Cole added.

William AyersFurther, Barack Obama’s first campaign “meet and greet” was held in the home of admitted terrorist William Ayers.  Ayers sought to overthrow the American government by force (the communist approach) which failed.  Then, with his wife and fellow terrorist, Bernardine Dohrn, began the more subtle “indoctrinate the children” effort that continues today.

Every political candidate at every level of political service is well aware of the political background and influence of people who host “meet and greets.”  Those functions raise money for political campaigns.  An analysis of the host’s influence is an important part of the decision to hold the event – especially when launching the first of such gatherings.  That Obama would deny such careful consideration of his function at the Ayers home is an obvious lie, but not the first old friend he has thrown under the high-speed advance of his ambitions.

Obama’s decades of association with Rev. Jeremiah Wright of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago also becomes highly relevant in the socialist context.  Wright hates America, promotes Black superiority (rather than equality) and preaches an unchristian “revolution theology” of marginal intellectual and no theological accuracy.  Click here for outrageous comments from Wright and click here for his defense of those comments at the National Press Club.

At the National Press Club one questioner asked Wright, “Do Christians and Muslims both go to heaven?”  Wright answered, “All God’s children go to heaven.”  That position is not Christian or Muslim.  Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6) and the first of the primary ritual requirements of Islam (arkan ad-din) demands Muslims sincerely utter the creed, “There is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is his messenger” (shahada).

Preaching both are equal is Universalism or Unitarian, but it is not Christian or Muslim.  Sadly, national traditional media missed that or have not gathered the brass to ask Obama the same question asked his preacher; the man that married Obama, baptized his children, and served as mentor for multiple decades or until Wright became a political liability.

Maybe Obama is just using whatever religion is handy whenever and however long as it is helpful to his career.  Most socialists despise faith and the faithful of any religion and blame both for evil in the world – they typically worship government to achive the “Socialist Utopia.”  Of course they fail to recognize that the most deadly governments and leaders have been atheists.

While conservatives can rightly question Republicans who voted to allow the recent Federal financial bailout as tilting socialist – that was a temporary emergency funding effort to stabilize credit availability.  The root cause of that disaster is government policy which pushed lenders since 1995 to provide “Subprime” loans to people who could not and should not have qualified otherwise.  Add predator lending with greedy fraud and presto – welcome to a financial crisis.  Government regulation by Congress failed.

Both parties are responsible to some degree, but Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac lived the good life under government regulation because the Democrat Party wanted it that way.  Democrats – including Barrack Obama – and their campaign contributors profited.  Republicans complained – especially that historically rebellious reformer Senator John McCain. (Click here for “Fed and fraud fails financials.”)

Is the recent financial crisis solely America’s fault?  Of course not, we have been told for years that we now live in a “global economy.”  Is it possible that global financiers like convicted criminal George Soros (Insider Trading: France 2002) a socialist, who is funding moveon.org and other extreme politically-manipulative groups are moving money for a purpose?  Is it possible that foreign governments or terrorists are manipulating the financial markets to promote this crisis helpful to the candidate closest to their philosophy and one much more willing to “talk without preconditions?”

Soros was an early fan of Obama and for good reason.  Barack (using his legal middle name is racist) Obama is the most socialist US Senator in history.  Why has Obama never released his birth certificate?  William Owens writes, “Barack Hussein Obama is half-white from his mother’s side, but 43.75% Arab from his father’s side (his father was 87.5% Arab and 12.5% African Negro). Barack (which in Arabic means “blessed”) is only 6.25% African Negro. Perhaps this is why the Obama campaign refuses to release his birth certificate.” (click here for more).

In “Obama fails the first questions” published May 12, I wrote, “No one should ever want anyone to come from nowhere to become President of the United States of America.  Not from the Left.  Not from the right.  Vetting a candidate is the purpose of this public spectacle and very important as once elected; it takes four years to get them out of office.”

American should ask questions and be critical of “glittering generalities” within the answers, but when Samuel “Joe the Plumber” Wurzelbacher walked outside his home in the Springfield Township to ask about tax proposals, Obama said, “It’s not that I want to punish your success. I just want to make sure that everybody that is behind you, that they have a chance for success, too. I think that when you spread the wealth around, it’s good for everybody.”

Punishing success is exactly what Obama will do.  Raising taxes during troubled economic times is exactly what Obama will do without restraint with a “super majority” of Democrats in Congress which is guaranteed to drive the economy into a depression as history proves.  President Herbert Hoover tried to combat the Great Depression with higher taxes and volunteer efforts and government action, none of which produced economic recovery during his term.

 

Obama says he will give a tax break to 95 percent of Americans, but 40 percent of Americans don’t pay taxes.  That means those people will be getting direct payments from the government – that is called welfare, the dole, or, in short, socialism.

Government doesn’t make money.  Individuals make money.  Government only has the money it takes from people by force of law – seizures by physical force if necessary.  If we cannot keep what we earn from our labors – why labor in the first place?  Didn’t the Soviet Union prove that point?

As Dr. Eugene Narrett, PhD wrote, “As it grows more unjust, a culture lives by the official lies it tells itself and teaches or imposes on its people that make its injustice look like ‘equity,’ its ferocity, compassion, that terms its diminishing batch of permitted opinions, ‘diversity;’ its oppressive and pitiless prejudices, ‘tolerance,’ and so on. The song of a cynical cult of power is a lullaby of lies.

Wurzelbacher nailed it – Obama’s most significant statement.  Funny, but rather than celebrate or even admit Joe found what traditional media had failed to discover of the candidate’s true nature, the media went on attack against him – a regular “Joe.”  What a circus of fools with “thrill going up [their] leg” as the clown Chris Matthews said.
Thanks Joe, Americans are smarter now – assuming enough of them are awake.

 


About the author:David Arnett began his career in professional journalism in 1985 and has published Tulsa Today since 1996 – before Al Gore invented the Internet.  He has won two national awards as a First Amendment Publisher.  Arnett is an idea guy, a Constitutional Republican, a Conservative Media Critic and a proud pain in the political derriere of the disingenuous.

This analysis may be reproduced without charge with proper attribution and links to the original source.  Arnett is available for interview by recognized media.

Flobots music builds community

There was a time when hip-hop had the power to bring people together. When it first appeared, if was the voice of community, a source of common identification and political action. It’s hard to say exactly what happened; perhaps it was when MTV and the music industry caught on. Once it was commercialized, it was dumbed down, homogenized, and marketed under the only pretense that the record companies have understood since the 1970s: youth rebellion. Messages of unity, liberation and social action gave way to depressing gangsta jeremiads, pointless thug posturing and mind-numbing booty-shaking. It was depressing to see a new musical genre with so much potential crash and burn so quickly.

Thursday night, I saw it resurrected.

Somewhere in between the political outrage of Rage Against the Machine, the social conscience of Bob Marley, the schizophrenic eclecticism of Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, the positive outlook of 311, the east coast hip-hop of Talib Kweli, and the knack for classical composition of Jethro Tull—plus hundreds of other possible influences I could name—there exists a band called Flobots. When they took the stage at Cain’s Ballroom, the air was electric with the vibe of love for music, love for humankind, and a longing for positive change. The evening was—without exaggeration—an incredible experience, and I will not soon be forgetting it.

With the large, eclectic crowd (a crowd composed of every imaginable high school sub-clique—goths, nerds, preps, metalheads, you name it) solidly packed around the stage, roaring with anticipation, the seven-piece band—which comprises emcees Jonny 5 and Brer Rabbit, guitarist Andy Guerrero, bassist Jesse Walker, drummer Kenny Ortiz, and violinist Mackenzie Roberts (trumpeter Joe Ferrone was unexplainedly absent)—launched into a soaring anthem that went from poetry-slam rap to a metal-influenced guitar solo to a neoclassical violin breakdown and back—in just a few minutes. And that was, of course, just the beginning.

After a pair of other alternative hip-hop acts (Kawnar and HipHopotamus, who both put on good shows) set the tone, the Flobots were more than up to the task of knocking ‘em down—and lifting ‘em up. After working the crowd into a frenzy (Walker, Brer Rabbit, and Roberts all argued for a while over which section was the “hyper” one—say what you will, but they clearly have experience in “working” a crowd), the band hammered home its progressive political message with songs about Hurricane Katrina (“Stand Up”), human power and pride run amok (“Handlebars”) and ending poverty (“Fight with Tools”). Also on the program was “I.R.A.Q.,” a song about—well, you know—in which all the lyrics spell out the name of the country over and over, climaxing in a refrain of “It’s Really A Quagmire / It’s Really A Quagmire,” etc., etc.—okay, so it’s not very subtle, but their heart is in the right place.

Musically, the band is nothing short of proof-positive that hip-hop is, in fact, at the forefront of American musical innovation. Those who would write off the genre can be forgiven—after all, they’ve probably only heard the stale gangsta jams on top-40 radio—but the Bots played like nothing I’d ever heard before: a style that was simultaneously older than old school and newer than new school; one that owed as much to dub reggae as to bluegrass (and everything in between); one that loves composition as much as grooves and beats; one that you simply can’t not dance to. Yes, they even manage the perilous prospect of combining classical and popular influences without sounding like Muzak (yes, I’m talking about you, Josh Groban).

Unfortunately, with such a diverse crowd packed so tightly (and so worked up), there were bound to be a few problems. A few songs into the show (ironically enough, during a cover of The Turtles’ “Happy Together”), a rather violent mosh pit broke out briefly, and a bystander was injured (note to Midwestern teens everywhere: will you please learn how to actually mosh, instead of being total jerks and trying to kill each other?); without batting an eye, Jonny 5 (who was dressed in a shirt reading “build community”—with “unity” highlighted in red) stopped in the middle of the song and calmly addressed the crowd. “Let’s be safe, okay guys? I know if you can make peace around you, we can make peace tonight.”

And peace was made. (There were, in fact, no major incidents after that.) Jonny and the band had the full attention of the crowd as they did their best to inspire them. “We all want change,” he said, “but before we can make external changes, we have to make internal changes, within ourselves.” I can only hope that it was a message that will inspire the crowd to real action. (When the woman standing next to me took my notebook—where I was taking notes to write this review—and scribbled “I love you, brother” in it, I was praying it was a true feeling of camaraderie and not just the smoke in the air.)

But as the band left the stage (after an encore demanded by the roaring crowd) and the lights came up, the sound system started playing a recording of Bill Withers’ “Ain’t No Sunshine,” and pretty much the entire crowd joined in. I think I even heard some harmony in there. So yeah, the song might not have been entirely appropriate, but there was no denying the emotion behind it. 
 


About the author:
A graduate of the University of Nebraska, Luke Harrington currently resides in Tulsa and works in the aerospace industry–but, at any given moment, would probably rather be reviewing movies and music.  In his spare time, he’s off playing blues piano, pretending to be Assistant Editor for MovieZeal.com, or reviewing the many musical events in Northeastern Oklahoma for Tulsa Today.

DNA evidence expert to speak

Monday, 20 October 2008
The University of Tulsa College of Law welcomes Brandon L. Garrett, nationally respected DNA evidence expert, to present the Ninth Annual Buck Colbert Franklin Memorial Civil Rights Lecture Tuesday, October 21 at 7:30 pm in John Rogers Hall.

The lecture is free and open to the public.

Garrett, an associate professor of law at the University of Virginia School of Law, is at the forefront of efforts to use DNA evidence to battle wrongful convictions and to understand how innocent people were wrongfully convicted. His research has shed light on dire problems within the legal system and helped establish programs of review that have exonerated dozens of innocent people.

Garrett joined the faculty of the University of Virginia School of Law in 2005 as an associate professor of law. His areas of research and publication include criminal procedure, wrongful convictions, habeas corpus, corporate crime, civil rights and civil procedure. He received a B.A. from Yale University in 1997 and a J.D. from Columbia University School of Law in 2001. He worked as an associate at Cochran, Neufeld & Scheck LLP in New York City from 2002-2004, litigating wrongful conviction cases.

The Buck Colbert Franklin Memorial Civil Rights Lecture honors one of the first black attorneys in Tulsa and in Oklahoma. In the aftermath of the 1921 Tulsa Race Riot, Franklin served his community and his profession by assisting victims of the riot. Working in a tent (his office and home were destroyed during the riot), he represented clients, filed briefs and fought back against the injustice of the riot and the city’s assault on the Tulsa black community. He won a critical court decision striking down a city ordinance designed to prevent blacks from rebuilding their homes in Tulsa.

The TU College of Law provides an academically rigorous, yet congenial atmosphere with opportunities for scholarship, leadership and faculty mentoring. Students develop practical skills through participation with student-driven legal journals, award-winning moot court teams, two on-campus clinics and a new pro bono program. Joint interdisciplinary degrees include a JD/MBA and JD/MTAX and unique specialties include energy and environmental law and Native American law. The Mabee Legal Information Center is recognized as one of the nation’s top university law libraries. The TU College of Law is one of the four colleges of The University of Tulsa, which is ranked among U.S. News and World Report’s Top 100 Universities. To find out more visit: http://www.law.utulsa.edu/.

Last Updated ( Monday, 20 October 2008 )

Expect musical gems Monday night

It’s vaguely possible that you haven’t yet heard of Needtobreathe, but don’t expect things to continue that way much longer. They’ve already had a couple of hits on Christian and adult rock radio, and have been nominated for two Dove Awards; their single “More Time” was featured in the soundtrack of the hit film P.S. I Love You; besides all that, they’re just a talented and hard-working group that will play Cain’s Ballroom Monday evening.

After four years of touring and releasing independent records, the four-piece band debuted on Atlantic with Daylight; they only waited a year before following that one up with their excellent sophomore album The Heat.

A quick listen reveals a band that’s serious about crafting introspective pop gems with real teeth: audacious percussion, funky bass, sparkling guitars and passionate vocals—even an occasional jazzy piano—all combine into a style of music that recalls everything from the 1930’s the 1970’s but sounds altogether modern. The group’s press notes point out that they’ve has toured with Collective Soul, Jars of Clay and Train, and that’s not a bad picture of their music: pop sensibilities, unapologetic gospel roots, and a deep appreciation for rock history.

“Some people call us southern rock,” drummer Joe Stillwell told me over the phone, “but like a friend once told me, saying ‘southern rock’ is really just saying ‘rock-rock’ since rock is a style that originated in the south to begin with. But we are fans of southern music like Ryan Adams, Tom Petty, etc.”
Needtobreathe should prove to be the perfect complement to the east coast piano and guitar pop of Gavin DeGraw when they open for him at Cain’s Ballroom the night of October 20th. It’ll be their first show in Tulsa, and their first show with DeGraw, but the group is embarking on an extended tour with him later this year. “We also just finished renovating a house in Charleston,” Stillwell added, “to use as our personal recording studio.” In other words, Needtobreathe has been around nearly a decade, but they’re just getting started.
Needtobreathe will be opening for Gavin DeGraw at Cain’s Ballroom 10/20. Tickets are $23 in advance or $26 at the door. Doors open at 7 pm; show is at 8 pm.


About the author:
A graduate of the University of Nebraska, Luke Harrington currently resides in Tulsa and works in the aerospace industry–but, at any given moment, would probably rather be reviewing movies and music.  In his spare time, he’s off playing blues piano, pretending to be Assistant Editor for MovieZeal.com, or reviewing the many musical events in Northeastern Oklahoma for Tulsa Today.

Psychedelic returns to Cain’s

Sunday evening “The Black Angels” take the stage with their interpretation on psychedelic rock.  Yes you read that right, 40 years later, all that was old is new again.
The Austin-based Black Angels take their name from a Velvet Underground song (“The Black Angel’s Death Song”). Their bass drum is adorned with the band’s logo, which depicts Nico of the Velvet Underground.  Clearly, this is a band fascinated by the 1960’s; and indeed, their music has as much to do with the droning psychedelia of Iron Butterfly, the Byrds, and the Grateful Dead as it does with Nico and company.

When I say “droning,” I do, of course, mean droning—this is a band that refers to their organist as a “drone machine” in the liner notes of their first album. A quick listen to their sophomore effort, Directions to See a Ghost, reveals a band that has no trouble conjuring up images of endless drug trips—all backed by steady B3 chords.
To say that they’re stuck in the sixties, though, would be to sell them short. As Joshua Ragusa of Under the Radar magazine points out, “the band face up to an examine today’s political climate on their own terms, pulling larger sociopolitical question into an abstract musical realm.” In other words, they’re socially conscious, but they’re introspective as well—they know they’re operating in a post-punk world. Indeed, the lyrics and song arrangements on their latest album occasionally tip their hat to nineties alt-industrial paranoia as much as anything.
When the group takes the stage at Cain’s Ballroom with similarly-minded groups The Strange Boys and Rainbows are Free, it should be an evening of droning, more droning and—yes—performance art. Blogger Mairead Case reports that band often performs “awash in old film clips…Black Angels projectionist Richard Whymark splices zombie flicks and talking heads.”
Zombie flicks and psychedelic rock. What more could anyone possibly want?


About the author:
A graduate of the University of Nebraska, Luke Harrington currently resides in Tulsa and works in the aerospace industry–but, at any given moment, would probably rather be reviewing movies and music.  In his spare time, he’s off playing blues piano, pretending to be Assistant Editor for MovieZeal.com, or reviewing the many musical events in Northeastern Oklahoma for Tulsa Today.