Barack Obama and John McCain on 9/11: Statements then and now

The Telegraph ^ | September 12th, 2008 | Toby Harnden

[markomalley]

"Even as I hope for some measure of peace and comfort to the bereaved families, I must also hope that we as a nation draw some measure of wisdom from this tragedy. Certain immediate lessons are clear, and we must act upon those lessons decisively. We need to step up security at our airports. We must reexamine the effectiveness of our intelligence networks. And we must be resolute in identifying the perpetrators of these heinous acts and dismantling their organizations of destruction.

"We must also engage, however, in the more difficult task of understanding the sources of such madness. The essence of this tragedy, it seems to me, derives from a fundamental absence of empathy on the part of the attackers: an inability to imagine, or connect with, the humanity and suffering of others. Such a failure of empathy, such numbness to the pain of a child or the desperation of a parent, is not innate; nor, history tells us, is it unique to a particular culture, religion, or ethnicity. It may find expression in a particular brand of violence, and may be channeled by particular demagogues or fanatics. Most often, though, it grows out of a climate of poverty and ignorance, helplessness and despair.

"We will have to make sure, despite our rage, that any U.S. military action takes into account the lives of innocent civilians abroad. We will have to be unwavering in opposing bigotry or discrimination directed against neighbors and friends of Middle Eastern descent. Finally, we will have to devote far more attention to the monumental task of raising the hopes and prospects of embittered children across the globe-children not just in the Middle East, but also in Africa, Asia, Latin America, Eastern Europe and within our own shores."

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Muslim sympathizer then and now...

[weston]

He’s changed from “we must understand” to “look at that can of woop-ass I just put on Osama Ben Laden! “

[onemiddleamerican]

FUBO

[Kaslin]

I wished the idiots who voted for him in 2008 would have thought about that

[Oratam]

Wow. Obama’s prepared remarks seem so well thought-out one might think they were written long before the attacks on 9/11.

[Kaslin]

You keep saying that Mark Halperin was right. Explain please

[ETL]

Obama studied communist "Black Liberation" under Rev Wright for 20+ years. Below fellow communist Ward Churchill mentions the "Black Liberation Army" in reference to a terror attack in downtown NY. The BLA worked closely with the Weather Underground and were responsible for terrorist attacks during the 70s and 80s. Several police officers and a Brinks security guard were murdered in the process.

Re: 911

August, 2003: Ward Churchill Caught On Tape Advocating Terrorism [vs Fellow Americans]

Audio link at Michell Malkin's website (included below)

Question from audience:
You mentioned a little bit ago, "Why did it take a bunch of Arabs to do what you all should have done a long time ago," that's my question.

Churchill: I'm gonna repeat that, tell me if I got that right: Why shouldn't we do something and how do you you move so they don't see you coming.

As to the first part, not a reason in the world that I could see. I can't find a single reason that you shouldn't in a principled way —there may be some practical considerations, such as do you know how (laughter from audience)

—you know, often these things are processes. It's not just an impulse. And certainly it's not just an event.

And the simple answer, although it probably should be more complicated, but I'm not being flip and giving the simple answer, is:
You carry the weapon. That's how they don't see it coming. You're the one...

They talk about "color blind or blind to your color." You said it yourself.

You don't send the Black Liberation Army into Wall Street to conduct an action.

You don't send the American Indian Movement into downtown Seattle to conduct an action.

Who do you send? You. Your beard shaved, your hair cut close, and wearing a banker's suit.

There's probably a whole lot more to it, you know that. But there's where you start. .."

more...

The audio is apparently no longer available -only transcript:
http://michellemalkin.com/archives/001588.htm
____________________________________________________

Here is a 4 minute video from 2006 in which Bill Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn are asked if Ward Churchill in the late 1960s, as he claims, taught the Weathermen bomb making techniques. Ayers says with a sneaky grin: "memory is a real MF-er".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjcS6QFtn_g&feature=related

[ETL]

"Their founding document [the Weather Underground's] called for the establishment of a "white fighting force" to be allied with the "Black Liberation Movement" and other "anti-colonial" movements[1] to achieve "the destruction of US imperialism and the achievement of a classless world: world communism."..."-Berger, Dan (2006). Outlaws of America: The Weather Underground and the Politics of Solidarity. AK Press, 95.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weatherman_Underground#cite_ref-Berger_0-0

Outlaws of America: The Weather Underground and the Politics of Solidarity (Paperback) by Dan Berger
http://www.amazon.com/Outlaws-America-Underground-Politics-Solidarity/dp/1904859410
____________________________________________

From the New York Times, August 24, 2003

"they [the Weather Underground] employed revolutionary jargon, advocated armed struggle and black liberation and began bombing buildings, taking responsibility for at least 20 attacks. Estimates of their number ranged at times from several dozen to several hundred."

Article: Quieter Lives for 60's Militants, but Intensity of Beliefs Hasn't Faded
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F04E4DE1539F937A1575BC0A9659C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=2
____________________________________________

Rev. Dr. Jeremiah Wright and Dr. William Ayers
are greeted by Rebekah Levin with the Committee
for a Just Peace in Israel and Palestine.
(Chuck Berman/Chicago Tribune / May 17, 2009)
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-ayers_wrightmay18,0,6689521.story
____________________________________________

"It was at the Chicago home of [Bill] Ayers and [Bernardine] Dohrn that Obama, then an up-and-coming 'community organizer,' had his political coming out party in 1995. Not content with this rite of passage in Lefty World — where unrepentant terrorists are regarded as progressive luminaries, still working 'only to educate' — both Obamas tended to the relationship with the Ayers."
Article: The Company He Keeps:
Meet Obama’s circle: The same old America-hating Left
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=YThjYTU1ZDBjNmQ2YzcwNzU1MmYwN2JiMWY0ZGI0NDA=&w=MA==

[Right Wing Assault]

Mark Halperin was right.

Dick Obama agrees.

[markomalley]

update.

See BS had an article from August 21st with Soetoro's "recollection"

Perhaps somebody would want to do a compare and contrast exercise:

"I remember going home and Sasha had just been born, and I usually had night duty so Michelle could get some sleep," Mr. Obama told Mason, of his memory of the day. "I remember staying up into, late into the middle of the night burping my child and changing her diapers and wondering, you know, what kind of world is she going to be inheriting?"

"I hope that the American people recognize that, as severe of a blow that was to America, as wrenching as it was for the families involved, we came out of that stronger than anybody expected," he continued. "That was a moment where the country unified because they understood this was a threat to our way of life.

"The crises that we're dealing today with may not be as spectacular, obviously don't have the same tragic dimensions in terms of loss of life, but these are also urgent times. And if we can reclaim that kind of spirit of pulling together then I'm confident we'll be just as strong coming out of this as we were coming out of 9/11."

Manchurian.

[Right Wing Assault]

William Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn – Weather Underground

“Guilty as sin, free as a bird, America is a great country.” – William Ayers, 1981

“I don’t regret setting bombs. I feel we didn’t do enough.” – William Ayers, September 11, 2001

“Ayers is now mainstream…” – Barack Obama, 2001

“Ayers is now a respected member of the Chicago intelligentsia…” – Barack Obama, 2008

7 October 1969 – Bombing of Haymarket Police Statue in Chicago, apparently as a “kickoff” for the “Days of Rage” riots in the city October 8-11, 1969. The Weathermen later claimed credit for the bombing in their book, “Prairie Fire.”

8-11 October 1969 – The “Days of Rage” riots occur in Chicago in which 287 Weatherman members from throughout the country were arrested and a large amount of property damage was done.

6 December 1969 – Bombing of several Chicago Police cars parked in a precinct parking lot at 3600 North Halsted Street, Chicago. The WUO stated in their book “Prairie Fire” that they had did the explosion.

27-31 December 1969 – Weathermen hold a “War Council” meeting in Flint, MI, where they finalize their plans to submerge into an underground status from which they plan to commit strategic acts of sabotage against the government. Thereafter they are called the “Weather Underground Organization” (WUO).

13 February 1970 - Bombing of several police vehicles of the Berkeley, California, Police Department .

16 February 1970 – Bombing of Golden Gate Park branch of the San Francisco Police Department, killing one officer and injuring a number of other policemen.

6 March 1970 – Bombing in the 13th Police District of the Detroit, Michigan. 34 sticks of dynamite are discovered. During February and early March, 1970, members of the WUO, led by Bill Ayers, are reported to be in Detroit, during that period, for the purpose of bombing a police facility.

6 March 1970 – “bomb factory” located in New York’s Greenwich Village accidentally explodes. WUO members die, including Ayers’ girlfriend, Diana Oughton. The bomb was intended to be planted at a non-commissioned officer’s dance at Fort Dix, New Jersey. The bomb was packed with nails TO INFILICT MAXIMUM CASUALTIES UPON DETONATION.

30 March 1970 – Chicago Police discover a WUO “bomb factory” on Chicago’s north side. A subsequent discovery of a WUO “weapons cache” in a south side Chicago apartment several days later ends WUO activity in the city.

10 May 1970 – Bombing of The National Guard Association building in Washington, D.C..

21 May 1970 – The WUO under Bernardine Dohrn’s (Ayers’ current wife) name releases its “Declaration of a State of War” communique.

6 June 1970 – The WUO sends a letter claiming credit for bombing of the San Francisco Hall of Justice; however, no explosion actually took place. Months later, workmen in this building located an unexploded device which had apparently been dormant for some time.

9 June 1970 - Bombing of The New York City Police Headquarters.

27 July 1970 - Bombing of The Presidio army base in San Francisco. [NYT, 7/27/70]

12 September 1970 – The WUO helps Dr. Timothy Leary, break out and escape from the California Men’s Colony prison.

8 October 1970 - Bombing of Marin County courthouse. [NYT, 8/10/70]

10 October 1970 - Bombing of Queens traffic-court building . [NYT, 10/10/70, p. 12]

14 October 1970 - Bombing of The Harvard Center for International Affairs [NYT, 10/14/70, p. 30]

1 March 1971 - Bombing of The United States Capitol . “ [NYT, 3/2/71]

April, 1971 – abandoned WUO “bomb factory” discovered in San Francisco, California.

29 August, 1971 - Bombing of the Office of California Prisons . [LAT, 8/29/71]

17 September 1971 - Bombing of The New York Department of Corrections in Albany, NY [NYT, 9/18/71]

15 October 1971 - Bombing of William Bundy’s office in the MIT research center. [NYT, 10/16/71]

19 May 1972 - Bombing of The Pentagon . [NYT, 5/19/72]

18 May 1973 - Bombing of the 103rd Police Precinct in New York

28 September 1973 - Bombing of ITT headquarters in New York and Rome, Italy . [NYT, 9/28/73]

6 March 1974 - Bombing of the Department of Health, Education and Welfare offices in San Francisco

31 May 1974 - Bombing of The Office of the California Attorney General.

17 June 1974 - Bombing of Gulf Oil’s Pittsburgh headquarters .

11 September 1974 – Bombing of Anaconda Corporation (part of the Rockefeller Corporation).

29 January 1975 - Bombing of the State Department in (AP. “State Department Rattled by Blast,” The Daily Times-News, January 29 1975, p.1)

16 June 1975 - Bombing of Banco de Ponce (a Puerto Rican bank) in New York .

September, 1975 – Bombing of the Kennecott Corporation .

October 20, 1981 - Brinks robbery in which several members of the Weather Underground stole over $1 million from a Brinks armored car near Nyack, New York. The robbers murdered 2 police officers and 1 Brinks guard. Several others were wounded.

1981 “Guilty as hell. Free as a bird. America is a great country,” Ayers said when interviewed by David Horowitz.

September 11, 2001 “I don’t regret setting bombs. I feel we didn’t do enough.” Ayers is quoted in a New York Times article.

[Steamburg]

You have to wonder who did his writing for him then and who kept him from running out in the street to celebrate with his brothers.

[ETL]

YouTube video...

Bernardine Dohrn: “Overthrowing Capitalism” (from 2007!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dba7_D3m1UU&feature=related

Recall, in the 90s, Obama launched his political career in Dohrn and her husband’s (Bill Ayers) home. The above was recorded in 2007.

[FarRightFanatic]

He, and those like him, make me sick. I still cannot believe, only 10 years after the attacks, that when I turn on the news, I see “President Obama.” I cannot believe we’ve elected Barack Hussein Obama, whose family is the SAME religion of those who have been KILLING Americans, Jews, and Christians (and everyone else they are able to kill or mutilate). It is disgusting and our great national SHAME.

Years on, when people really get to the meat of who he is, who his other associations are, the world is going to be shocked that we actually elected the ENEMY to lead our great country.

His comments right after 9/11 are truly despicable and unforgivable. If McCain had said anything even remotely close to Obama’s blame America first view, he would have been torn to shreds in the “media.”

[Right Wing Assault]

Found as I was looking at the link you sent:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Db7N9aBRPMw&feature=related

[Art II Sec 1]

I had this thought a while ago. This seems like as good a time as any to share it.

Obama was elected in 2008, seven years after 9/11.

Harry Truman was elected in 1948, seven years after Pearl Harbor.

Can you imagine Truman travelling around the world, apologizing for the fact that we were in the Japs’ way on December 7, 1941, apologizing for the loss of Japanese life, etc., etc.?

Neither can I.

[Oratam]

equally contrived.

there's just nothing real about this guy.

[ETL]

Communist terrorist, Weather Underground leader, wife of Bill Ayers, Bernardine Dohrn, with the co-founder of the, er hum, "peace" group Code Pink (Medea Benjamin).

[Free in Texas]

He’s the one that called Obumma a d*ck and got suspended.

[oust the louse]

“I remember staying up into, late into the middle of the night burping my child and changing her diapers and wondering, you know, what kind of world is she going to be inheriting?”

This man is supposed to be brilliant?...I’d say he’s a dim bulb.