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Literary Fraud!
From Mark Whittington at Associated Content:
Barack Obama Alleged to Have Committed Literary Fraud
October 06, 2009 by Mark WhittingtonThe evidence that William Ayers is the actual author of Dreams From My Father seems to have been confirmed by Christopher Anderson, the author of a sympathetic Obama book Barack and Michelle: Portrait of an American Marriage.
Ayers, in allegedly ghostwriting the Obama memoir, seems to have resorted to fiction on at least one occasion. There is mention in Dreams From My Father of a "rich green-eyed lovely" with whom Obama is alleged to have had a year-long affair while in college. The problem is, the woman likely never existed and seems to have been based upon a former lover of William Ayers.
Besides the odor of literary fraud, the most interesting thing about this is the that Cashill says it was William Ayers who had been the actual author of Dreams From My Father. During the campaign, Barack Obama downplayed his relationship with William Ayers, a former terrorist with the Weather Underground who would have been in jail for a long time had it not been for FBI bungling. Barack Obama presented his friendship with William Ayers as casual.
Obviously Barack Obama's friendship with William Ayers was much more than just casual. William Ayers was entrusted with the production of a book that launched Barack Obama as a intellectual/politician, someone who not only read books, but wrote them. William Ayers was also trusted enough to conceal his authorship of Dreams From My Father and hence the literary fraud that had been committed by Barack Obama.
I think the case is quite good that Barack Obama is a literary fraud. As time has gone on evidence mounts and more people that look at the facts come to the same conclusion.
If one thinks about it, it is stunning how little we know about the actual Barack Obama.
The Summer of Lies, 1981
Moving on, we have an interesting post on a site called Family Security Matters. The post was by Paul Hollrah. Perhaps I should have led with this:
The Summer of 1981Paul Hollrah makes an interesting point about the summer of 1981 in "Dreams From My Father". In Obama/Ayers' Dreams, Barack was hard at work in New York City. He was finding a place to live. Finding a job. He was searching out the City and exploring. I will quote liberally, as is my nature.
Amazingly there is this:
Then his life took an unexpected turn. He writes, “It was in this humorless mood that my mother and sister (Maya Soetoro) found me when they came to visit during my first summer in New York,” and that, “They stayed with Sadik and me for a few nights, then moved to a condominium on Park Avenue that a friend of my mother’s had offered them while she was away.”
Obama explains, “That summer I had found a job clearing a construction site on the Upper West Side, so my mother and sister spent most of their days exploring the city on their own. When we met for dinner, they would give me a detailed report of their adventures… I would eat in silence until they were finished and then begin a long discourse on the problems of the city and the politics of the dispossessed.” He says, “I instructed my mother on the various ways that foreign donors and international development organizations like the one she was working for bred dependence in the Third World.”
It sounds as if Obama was an absolute joy to be around. The “dog-eat-dog” environment of the streets of New York must have been a welcome departure from their evenings with Obama.
But wait a minute. How can this be?
Although Obama fails to mention it in either of his memoirs… not in Dreams from My Father and not in The Audacity of Hope… he traveled to Indonesia and Pakistan during the summer of 1981. In an April 6, 2008 speech in San Francisco… the same speech in which he referred to rural Pennsylvanians as “bitter” people who “cling to guns or religion…” he explained, offhand, the value of his trip to Pakistan, vis-Ã -vis his knowledge of foreign affairs. He said, “I knew what Sunni and Shia was (sic) before I joined the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.”
When questioned about that trip, Obama’s campaign press secretary, Bill Burton, confirmed to the New York Times, and others, that Obama had visited his mother and his sister in Indonesia during the summer of 1981 and that, after leaving Indonesia, he’d spent three weeks in Pakistan, traveling with a Pakistani friend from Occidental College, Wahid Hamid. According to Burton, Obama stayed in Karachi with the family of another Pakistani friend, Mohammed Hasan Chandoo. Obama has never mentioned the Pakistan trip again.
So the question arises, which version are we to believe: the version contained in his memoir, Dreams from My Father, or the version his press secretary provided following his April 2008 speech in San Francisco? In other words, if Obama arrived in New York, say, during the first week of June, had housing problems, explored Manhattan like a “lab rat,” lived for a time with a friend, spent time with his mother and sister during their stay in New York, and worked as a laborer on a construction site on the Upper West Side, how did he find the time or the money to embark on an around-the-world trip to Indonesia and Pakistan by the middle of July?
I would say that is pretty damning stuff. In his book he is finding a place to live, getting a job and getting his life organized in New York City. He had problems finding a place, then he got kicked out of a place and someone ran away with his deposit. He finally settled in and explored the city. Then he got a job and was paying the bills. Then his mom and sister show up. That is a lot going on.
He never mentioned he went to Indonesia and Pakistan in his own autobiography. It can be confirmed that he went there to visit his mother and his sister. How likely is it in the same summer his mother and his sister came to New York City to visit him? Please!
And what about the way the passages are written? Read this again:
“I instructed my mother on the various ways that foreign donors and international development organizations like the one she was working for bred dependence in the Third World.”Who do you think wrote that sentence? Is that a 20 something year old kid remembering conversations with his mother, or is that Bill Ayers? Sanity please rule the day. As far as I can tell, his mom wasn't even anywhere near New York City.
Kudos to Paul Hollrah. It is hard to look at his autobiography as anything more than a lie. It really is amazing how little we know about this man who is our President.
Ayers Admits or Mocks?
Blogger Anne Leary at
Backyard Conservative met up with Bill Ayers at the Washington airport. She took this picture:
She went on to write this:
There I was, sitting in Reagan National Monday morning, sipping a Starbucks by the United counter before going through security. I had a little time, so I was browsing through the news. Some military guys had borrowed a chair from my table. I looked up from time to time to enjoy the sun streaming through. That's when I saw Bill Ayers, an instant blight. Scruffy, thinning beard, dippy earring, and the wirerims, heading to order. I gathered my things, got my camera ready, and snapped a shot right when he got his coffee.
I asked--what are you doing in D.C. Mr. Ayers?
For a moment I thought he might be on my flight back to Chicago. Charming. Initially I guess he thought I was laying claim to his coffee or something. He gave me an uneasy cheesy smile when he realized I was taking his picture. I asked him if he was speaking at GW? (Only I said GFW, guess I had the VFW on my mind) He said oh you mean GW, he said no...was trying to decide if I was a fan, then said he was giving a lecture in Arlington to a Renaissance group on education--that's what I do, education--you shouldn't believe everything you hear about me, you know nothing about me. I said, I know plenty--I'm from Chicago, a conservative blogger, and I'll post this. (Oh, yeah, Bill Ayers, quite the Renaissance man, nail-bomber extraordinaire. Gee, I see another friend of Barack, U.S. Sec. of Education Arne Duncan was there too. "The conference theme is “A Time for Reflection, Celebration and Rebirth.” How touching. At best, useless, at worst, so wrong.)
Then, unprompted he said--I wrote Dreams From My Father. I said, oh, so you admit it. He said--Michelle asked me to. I looked at him. He seemed eager. He's about my height, short. He went on to say--and if you can prove it, we can split the royalties. So I said, stop pulling my leg. Horrible thought. But he came again--I really wrote it, the wording was similar. I said I believe you probably heavily edited it. He said--I wrote it. I said--why would I believe you, you're a liar.
He had no answer to that. Just looked at me. Then he turned and walked off, and said again his bit about my proving it and splitting the proceeds.
I stole all of this from her blog. It was also written up in the Chicago Daily Observer. I couldn't parse it well without stealing, even though Jim Simpson of Renew America did a fine job in this post:
Ayers admits writing 'Dreams' to conservative blogger
If I take a step back and try to put on the objective hat, it is easy to say that Bill Ayers was joking. That is what he could easily claim if push comes to shove. It would be believable that he could say such things in mocking jest. I am a fan of sarcasm myself.
I don't know Anne Leary. If we accept her story of how this came out it does seem interesting. She didn't ask him about it. That is what struck me. He wanted to throw that out there. And he insisted on going back and reiterating the point to throw it out there again. From a critical standpoint, it does seem from reading her post that she might border on Ayers obsession. I doubt I would be able to spot him in an airport. That doesn't disqualify her account, but it does pose some questions.
Obviously at this point Cashill's theory is out there in some quarters, but it isn't a national story. Part of me tends to think that Bill Ayers would like that story. And if he did write or heavily edit the book, part of him probably would like to see that story. I am biased and have my own notions of what is going on, so maybe I am a bad judge. I found the tidbit interesting though, enough to pass it on to my massive following.
I think the "Summer of 1981" post adds a serious dimension to this just as a factual matter. Both of the stories didn't happen. One did. Either Barack way lying on the campaign trail or he was lying in his book.
The Whittington article just shows that other people are looking at the facts and coming to some of the same conclusions.
Don't know exactly what to make of blogger Anne who took him on in the DC airport, but I am a junkie and that had to be displayed.
So here are some other links on the topic. Most cover the exact same ground, but I link them so I can go back and read the comments. Sometimes some good stuff comes out in the comments. We have a world of diverse knowledge and talents, and you never know where the next angle will break. I believe that Ayers played a huge part in editing Dreams, and he probably did write it. The evidence looks better today than it did a year ago when it first came up. It will probably look much better a year from now. By the time the Democrats will actually have to acknowledge it, they will probably say "What? That old story? Ghostwriters are commonly used throughout history. What is the big deal? Shouldn't we focus on the real problems that affect us all, like healthcare, global warming or any other topic of the day?"
Jack Cashill is a stud for calling this early.
I would like to thank a lot of people I don't know for this post. I cited everything I could find. I would also like to thank my alcohol problem. In my life I have had trials and tribulations. Friends come and go, situations and circumstances can change, sometimes turning on a dime. The only constant that has stayed with me is my alcohol problem. I know at least that she will never leave.
What was my original point again? Oh yeah, the other links to this fiasco. So here they are:
Marathon Pundit: Backyard Conservative's encounter with Ayers--and his claim he wrote "Dreams," catches fire
According to Anderson, Michelle Obama suggested that the then little-known Barack approach Ayers for assistance in writing the book. And last week, while a guest on Cashill's show, the author said two people witnessed the future 44th president handing notes and tapes over to Ayers during the time Obama was said to have been writing the book.
I have a good memory, and I remember then-Sen. Obama saying this to the Chicago Tribune:
I would feel very uncomfortable putting my name to something that was written by somebody else or co-written or dictated. If my name is on it, it belongs to me.
Someone is lying. And it's certainly not Anne Leary.
You wonder what the political fallout would be if it could be proved without a doubt. I think there will always be plausible deniability. Wink wink, nudge nudge... Of course I have already swallowed the bait.
Tymon Smith from South Africas TimesLive:
Dreams from Obama's ghostwriter
Critics say he did not write his 1995 memoir alone Steve Sailer:
Ayers tells blogger in Starbucks he wrote "Dreams from My Father"Ace of Spades: Claim:
Conservative Blogger Says Bill Ayers Admits, Unprompted, He Wrote Dreams From My FatherDennis Byrne from Chicago Now:
Bill Ayers claims he wrote Obama's "Dreams From My Father"Hot Air and AllahPundit:
Bill Ayers to righty blogger: Of course I wrote “Dreams from My Father”Rachel Slajda of TPM Livewire:
Bill Ayers: Sure, I Wrote Obama's Book. Now How 'Bout Those Royalties?World Net Daily:
Palin co-author probed, Obama's ignored
News outlets silent about fresh evidence terrorist Ayers wrote 'Dreams'American Thinker:
Media Malpractice: Ayers' Dreams authorship suppressedMaybe his significance to Martin Luther King, Jr. is plagerism.
Here and
Here.
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