Jim Johnson, head of Barack Obama's vice presidential selection committee, has stepped down after the public became aware that he benefited -- to the tune of several million dollars -- from Countrywide Financial, an organization that Obama has made a living condemning on the campaign trail.
The Obama camp's original response to mention of the Johnson contradiction -- that it was "the height of hypocrisy" for McCain supporters to dare point out the politics-as-usual conduct of Obama's campaign -- was a flat, pathetic, and short-lived defense that didn't help Johnson last the week
The throwing-under-the-bus of associates for actions they committed while Obama knew them, accompanied by the obligatory (verbatim) "That's not the [insert name here] I knew," is reaching Saturday Night Live-running joke proportions. It has become supremely predictable, and has resulted not in shock at the dastardly things the people around Obama have betrayed his trust by doing, but rather in jokes and wagers about who will be next -- and when.
For now, the operative question on Johnson is this: will he be back, like Austan "Don't take Obama's NAFTA denouncements seriously, Canadians!" Goolsbee, or will he remain cast aside by the Man who first tried to defend him, then decided -- based on political expediency -- to simply disavow him?
Update - 6/11@1419CDT: RedState's Ben Domenech had the following wonderfully concise analysis:
I'm beginning to like Barack Obama. He's so wonderfully predictable. Each time there's a blowup - a friend of his who highlights the hypocrisy of his HopeChange message, a connection to the corruption of Chicago politics, an adviser or spiritual mentor saying offensively wacky things - Obama responds with the same round of obfuscations:
1. Obama denies there is a problem.
2. Obama insists he was misunderstood.
4. Obama caves.
This is awesome.
OBAMA'S NOT EXACTLY¢S: UNPUBLISHED FACTS ABOUT OBAMA. WHY?
1.) Selma Got Me Born - NOT EXACTLY, your parents felt safe enough to have
you in 1961 - Selma had no effect on your birth, as Selma was in 1965. (Google
'Obama Selma' for his full March 4, 2007 speech and articles about its
various untruths.)
2.) Father Was A Goat Herder - NOT EXACTLY, he was a privileged, well
educated youth, who went on to work with the Kenyan Government.
3.) Father Was A Proud Freedom Fighter - NOT EXACTLY, he was part of one of
the most corrupt and violent governments Kenya has ever had.
4.) My Family Has Strong Ties To African Freedom - NOT EXACTLY, your cousin
Raila Odinga has created mass violence in attempting to overturn a legitimate
election in 2007, in Kenya. It is the first widespread violence in decades.
The current government is pro-American but Odinga wants to overthrow it and
establish Muslim Sharia law. Your half-brother, Abongo Oba ma, is Odinga's
follower. You interrupted your New Hampshire campaigning to speak to Odinga on
the phone. Check out the following link for verification of that....and for more.
Obama's cousin Odinga in Kenya ran for president and tried to get Sharia
muslim law in place there. When Odinga lost the elections, his followers have
burned Christians' homes and then burned men, women and children alive in a
Christian church where they took shelter. Obama SUPPORTED his cousin before the
election process here started. Google Obama and Odinga and see what you get.
No one wants to know the truth.
5.) My Grandmother Has Always Been A Christian - NOT EXACTLY, she does her
daily Salat prayers at 5am according to her own interviews. Not to mention,
Christianity wouldn't allow her to have been one of 14 wives to 1 man.
6.) My Name is African Swahili - NOT EXACTLY, your name is Arabic and
'Baraka' (from which Barack came) means 'blessed' in that language. Hussein is
also Arabic and so is Obama.
Barack Hussein Obama is not half black. If elected, he would be the first
Arab-American President, not the first black President. Barack Hussein Obama is
50% Caucasian from his mother's side and 43.75% Arabic and 6.25% African
Negro from his father's side. While Barack Hussein Obama's father was from
Kenya, his father's family was mainly Arabs. Barack Hussein Obama's father was
only 12.5% African Negro and 87.5% Arab (his father's birth certificate even
states he's Arab, not African Negro). From....and for more....go to.....
http://www.arcadeathome.com/newsboy.phtml?Barack_Hussein_Obama_-_Arab-Am... (http://www.arcadeathome.com/newsboy.phtml?Barack_Hussein_Obama_-_Arab-Am...)
7.) I Never Practiced Islam - NOT EXACTLY, you practiced it daily at school,
where you were registered as a Muslim and kept that faith for 31 years,
until your wife made you change, so you could run for office.
4-3-08 Article "Obama was 'quite religious in islam'"
_http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=60559_
(http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=60559)
8.) My School In Indonesia Was Christian - NOT EXACTLY, you were registered
as Muslim there and got in trouble in Koranic Studies for making faces (check
your own book).
February 28, 2008. Kristoff from the New York Times a year ago:
Mr. Obama recalled the opening lines of the Arabic call to prayer, reciting
them with a first-rate accent. In a remark that seemed delightfully
uncalculated (it'll give Alabama voters heart attacks), Mr. Obama described
the call to prayer as "one of the prettiest sounds on Earth at sunset."
This is just one example of what Pamela is talking about when she says
"Obama's narrative is being altered, enhanced and manipulated to whitewash
troubling facts."
9.) I Was Fluent In Indonesian - NOT EXACTLY, not one teacher says you could
speak the language.
10.) Because I Lived In Indonesia, I Have More Foreign Experience - NOT
EXACTLY, you were there from the ages of 6 to 10, and couldn't even speak the
language. What did you learn: how to study the Koran and watch cartoons.
11.) I Am Stronger On Foreign Affairs - NOT EXACTLY, except for Africa
(surprise) and the Middle East (bigger surprise), you have never been anywhere
else on the planet and thus have NO experience with our closest allies.
12.) I Blame My Early Drug Use On Ethnic Confusion - NOT EXACTLY, you were
quite content in high school to be Barry Obama, no mention of Kenya and no
mention of struggle to identify - your classmates said you were just fine.
13.) An Ebony Article Moved Me To Run For Office - NOT EXACTLY, Ebony has yet
to find the article you mention in your book. It doesn't, and never did,
exist.
14.) A Life Magazine Article Changed My Outlook On Life - NOT EXACTLY, Life
has yet to find the article you mention in your book. It doesn't, and never
did, exist.
15.) I Won't Run On A National Ticket In '08 - NOT EXACTLY, here you are,
despite saying, live on TV, that you would not have enough experience by then,
and you are all about having experience first.
16.) Voting "Present" is Common In Illinois Senate - NOT EXACTLY, they are
common for YOU, but not many others have 130 NO VOTES.
17.) Oops, I Misvoted - NOT EXACTLY, only when caught by church groups and
Democrats, did you beg to change your misvote.
18.) I Was A Professor Of Law - NOT EXACTLY, you were a senior lecturer ON
LEAVE.
19.) I Was A Constitutional Lawyer - NOT EXACTLY, you were a senior lecturer
ON LEAVE.
20.) Without Me, There Would Be No Ethics Bill - NOT EXACTLY, you didn't
write it, introduce it, change it, or create it.
21.) The Ethics Bill Was Hard To Pass - NOT EXACTLY, it took just 14 days
from start to finish.
22.) I Wrote A Tough Nuclear Bill - NOT EXACTLY, your bill was rejected by
your own party for its pandering and lack of all regulation - mainly because
of your Nuclear donor, Exelon, from which David Axelrod came.
23.) I Have Released My State Records - NOT EXACTLY, as of March, 2008,
state bills you sponsored or voted for have yet to be released, exposing all
the special interests pork hidden within.
24.) I Took On The Asbestos Altgeld Gardens Mess - NOT EXACTLY, you were
part of a large group of people who remedied Altgeld Gardens. You failed to
mention anyone else but yourself, in your books.
25.) My Economics Bill Will Help America - NOT EXACTLY, your 111 economic
policies were just combined into a proposal which lost 99-0, and even YOU voted
against your own bill.
26.) I Have Been A Bold Leader In Illinois - NOT EXACTLY, even your own
supporters claim to have not seen BOLD action on your part.
27.) I Passed 26 Of My Own Bills In One Year - NOT EXACTLY, they were not
YOUR bills, but rather handed to you, after their creation by a fellow Senator,
to assist you in a future bid for higher office.
28.) No One on my campaign contacted Canada about NAFTA - NOT EXACTLY, the
Candian Government issued the names and a memo of the conversation your
campaign had with them.
29.) I Am Tough On Terrorism - NOT EXACTLY, you missed the Iran Resolution
vote on terrorism and your good friend Ali Abunimah supports the destruction
of Israel.
30.) I Want All Votes To Count - NOT EXACTLY, you said let the delegates
decide.
31.) I Want Americans To Decide - NOT EXACTLY, you prefer caucuses that
limit the vote, confuse the voters, force a public vote, and only operate
during small windows of time.
32.) I passed 900 Bills in the State Senate - NOT EXACTLY, you passed 26,
most of which you didn't write yourself.
33.) I Believe In Fairness, Not Tactics - NOT EXACTLY, you used tactics to
eliminate Alice Palmer from running against you.
34.) I Don't Take PAC Money - NOT EXACTLY, you take loads of it.
35.) I don't Have Lobbysists - NOT EXACTLY, you have over 47 lobbyists, and
counting.
36.) My Campaign Had Nothing To Do With The 1984 Ad - NOT EXACTLY, your own
campaign worker made the ad on his Apple in one afternoon.
37.) I Have Always Been Against Iraq - NOT EXACTLY, you weren't in office to
vote against it AND you have voted to fund it every single time.
38.) I Have Always Supported Universal Health Care - NOT EXACTLY, your plan
leaves us all to pay for the 15,000,000 who don't have to buy it.
Obama, like the majority of Liberals/Democrats, refuses to acknowledge the need for the United States to start the process of getting the oil from our own country. We can talk about "saving the environment" all we want; we can talk about "alternative fuels" all we want, but unless we drill, extract and refine OUR OWN OIL, we're going to remain "subjects" of the OPEC Cartel! We need a short-term solution before we can even think about a long-term solution! Even if we start drilling for oil and building more refineries right now, we're still talking YEARS before we'll see the results, but we have to start NOW!
Wake up Democrats, Liberals, Tree Huggers! What's your pain threshold? $5.00 a gallon? $7.00? How about $10.00 a gallon? Quit blaming the Oil companies and lets start doing something for ourselves for a change! Drill here, drill there, drill NOW!
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