McCain Flies His Campaign Past Obama

Saturday, September 13, 2008



John McCain was trained as a fighter pilot. In his selection of Sarah Palin, and in his convention and campaigning since, he has shown that he learned an important lesson from his fighter pilot days: He has gotten inside Barack Obama's OODA loop.

That term was the invention of the great fighter pilot and military strategist John Boyd. It's an acronym for Observe, Orient, Decide, Act.

"The key to victory is operating at a faster tempo than the enemy," Boyd's biographer Robert Coram writes. "The key thing to understand about Boyd's version is not the mechanical cycle itself, but rather the need to execute the cycle in such a fashion as to get inside the mind and decision cycle of the adversary."

For a fighter pilot, that means honing in above and behind the adversary so you can shoot him out of the sky. For a political candidate, it means acting in such a way that the opponent's responses again and again reinforce the points you are trying to make and undermine his own position.

The Palin selection -- and her performance at the convention and on the stump -- seems to be having that effect. Obama chief strategist David Axelrod admitted of the Palin pick: "I can honestly say we weren't prepared for that. I mean, her name wasn't on anybody's list." But it was known that McCain's VP adviser had traveled to Alaska, and anyone clicking on youtube.com could see Palin's impressive performance in political debates. The McCain campaign shrewdly kept the information that she was on the short list and that she was the choice to a half-dozen people, who didn't tell even their spouses. The Obama team failed to Observe.

Then they failed to Orient. Palin, as her convention and subsequent appearances have shown, powerfully reinforces two McCain themes: She is a maverick who has taken on the leaders of her own party (as Obama never has in Chicago), and she has a record on energy of favoring drilling and exploiting American resources. Instead of undermining these themes, they dismissed the choice as an attempt to appeal to female Hillary Clinton supporters or to religious conservatives.

Then team Obama and its many backers in the media failed to Decide correctly, so when they Acted they got it wrong. Their attacks on Palin tended to ricochet and hit Obama. Is she inexperienced? Well, what has Obama ever run (besides his now floundering campaign)? Being a small-town mayor, as Palin said, is like being a community organizer, "except that you have actual responsibilities."

Is she neglecting her family? Well, how often has Obama tucked his daughters in lately? For more than a week we've seen the No. 1 person on the Democratic ticket argue that he's better prepared than the No. 2 person on the Republican ticket. That's not a winning argument even if you win it. As veteran California Democrat Willie Brown says, "The Republicans are now on offense, and Democrats are on defense."

Perhaps the Obama campaign strategists expected their many friends in the mainstream media to do their work for them. Certainly they tried. But their efforts have misfired, and the grenades they lobbed at Palin have ricocheted back and blown up in their faces. Voters are on to their game.

Pollster Scott Rasmussen finds that 68 percent believe "most reporters try to help the candidate they want to win" and that 51 percent -- more than support McCain -- believe the press is "trying to hurt" Sarah Palin. The press and the Democratic ticket are paying the price for decades of biased mainstream media coverage.

I am not the only one to notice that John McCain and Sarah Palin have gotten inside the Obama campaign's (and mainstream media's) OODA loop. Blogger Charlie Martin sprang into pixels on www.americanthinker.com before I could spring into print with this column. But as I write, Barack Obama is in his second daily news cycle of explaining why his "lipstick on a pig" comments are not a sexist attack on the hockey mom who compared herself to a pit bull with lipstick.

Robert Coram describes what can happen when one player gets inside another's OODA loop. "If someone truly understands how to create menace and uncertainty and mistrust, then how to exploit and magnify the presence of these disconcerting elements, the loop can be vicious, a terribly destructive force, virtually unstoppable in causing panic and confusion and -- Boyd's phrase is best -- 'unraveling the competition.' ... The most amazing aspect of the OODA loop is that the losing side rarely understands what happened."

John Boyd would have been a terrific political consultant.

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Obama's Disturbing Muslim Outreach: Resigned but not Gone?

Peggy Shapiro, American Thinker

Obama's Muslim Outreach Coordinator, Mazen Asbahi, resigned in August after only ten days in his position, when it was revealed that he had ties to groups associated with the Muslim Brotherhood. The question is no longer about what kind of judgment was used in bringing Asbahi on a campaign that has been plague with questionable advisors and mentors, but whether Asbahi has actually left.


Asbahi's official stint on the Obama team ended when it came to light that he was one of six trustees of Allied Asset Advisors Funds, a subsidiary of "subsidiary of the North American Islamic Trust (NAIT) and an advisor to the Dow Jones Islamic Fund. Both NAIT and Dow Jones Islamic Fund fall under the umbrella of Islamic Society of North America (ISNA). NAIT, which owns nearly a third of all U.S. mosques and Muslim centers, many funded by the Saudi government, advocates a radical form of Islam. In fact, a Chicago Tribune investigation revealed that NAIT played an important role in the takeover of a Chicago-area mosque by Islamic fundamentalists who replaced the more moderate leaders. (Struggle for the soul of Islam; Hard-liners won battle for Bridgeview mosque," Chicago Tribune, February 8, 2004)

In a report annotated by almost 500 sources, the Global Muslim Brotherhood Daily Report concludes that ""ISNA was created in the matrix of early organizations design to propagate Saudi/Muslim Brotherhood fundamentalism throughout the world... ISNA and its key leaders have a disturbing record of association with organizations and individuals that are accused and/or convicted of providing assistance to terrorist organizations as defined by the U.S State Department... The largest body of evidence concerning these associations relates to ISNA's support of the Palestinian terrorist groups Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad."


As with his other radical associations (William Ayers, Samantha Power, Reverend Wright), Mazen Asbahi may be quietly waiting behind the scenes to resume his place when the election is over. Investor's Business Daily reports that Asbahi "has not stopped working on behalf of Obama." They quote the "former" coordinator as saying that, "despite his official exit he was still "110%" behind Obama and that he was participating in campaign conference calls on Muslim outreach." Leaving the campaign was a "strategic decision," according to Asbahi.


This "strategic" decision brings to mind other similar strategic decisions by Obama. In an article How Barack Obama learned to love Israel, (The Electronic Intifada, 4 March 2007) his friend Ali Abunimah criticizes Obama's suddenly positive public expressions about Israel. Abunimah comes to understand Obama's strategy when the two men run into each other. "As he [Obama] came in from the cold and took off his coat, I went up to greet him. He responded warmly, and volunteered, ‘Hey, I'm sorry I haven't said more about Palestine right now, but we are in a tough primary race. I'm hoping when things calm down I can be more up front.' He referred to my activism, including columns I was contributing to The Chicago Tribune critical of Israeli and US policy. "


Associates who unnerve, if not terrify, most Americans may be temporarily put aside for "strategic" campaign purposes, but who will be influencing the course of the nation if there is an Obama Whitehouse and the President is finally up front?

Afghanistan: Self-immolation on the rise among women

From www.adnkronos.com

Herat, 10 Sept. (AKI) - Source IRIN - Sarah, 20, set herself ablaze in a desperate bid to end her life after four years of marriage to a drug addict in Sheendand District in western Afghanistan.

Her family extinguished the fire and took her to the hospital.

"I was sad when I opened my eyes in the hospital," the severely burnt woman told IRIN. Sarah's husband is a jobless drug addict who often beat her for alleged "insubordination".

"I wanted to die and never come back to this life," she told IRIN from her bed in the Herat city hospital.

Doctors said up to 40 percent of her body was severely burnt and it would take her months to recover.

Over the past six months, at least 47 self-immolation cases have been recorded by Herat city hospital alone, of whom seven were saved but 40 died.

"Ninety percent of the women who commit self-immolation die at hospital due to deep burns and fatal injuries," said Arif Jalai, a dermatologist at the Herat hospital.

Almost all the women had doused themselves with petrol and set themselves alight, according to the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC).

More than six years after the ousting of the Taliban regime in 2001 when all women were denied the right to work and education, many women suffer domestic and social violence, discrimination and lack of access to unbiased justice and other services, women's rights activists say.

"Domestic violence against women not only has serious physical and mental effects on women but also causes other grave problems such as self-immolation, suicide, escape from home, forced prostitution and addiction to narcotics," according to a study by the AIHRC in 2007.

At least 184 cases of self-immolation were registered by the AIHRC in 2007 against 106 in 2006.

The phenomenon is feared to have increased further in 2008, women's rights activists said.

"We have been unable to collect data and information about all incidents of self-burning due to a number of reasons, but overall the situation is not promising," said Homa Sultani, a researcher on the rights of women at the AIHRC in Kabul.

The AIHRC in Herat and Kandahar confirmed a marked increase in reported cases of self-immolation.

Sultani's concerns were echoed by Seema Shir Mohammadi, director of the women's affairs department in Herat Province: "Women are increasingly paying back the violence they receive at home and outside by self-immolation and suicide."

However, some people say the increase in the reported incidents could also indicate the improved capacity of rights watchdogs, the media and other civil society actors to report them.

The police and judiciary do not launch any formal investigations to determine the causes and motivations of suicide and self-burning by women, according to the AIHRC.

As a result, men who force and provoke women to self-immolation and other forms of suicide remain immune from all legal and penal repercussions.

"The government must ensure proper investigations into cases of suicide among women and where needed bring those responsible to justice," said Sultani of the AIHRC.

In Afghanistan's patriarchal culture, however, it will be difficult to indict the men who force women to commit suicide, specialists say.

"There is a culture of impunity for those who push women to self-immolation and suicide," Sultani said.

Democrats on Capitol Hill fear Obama fallout

By Andrew Ward in Washington

Published: September 11 2008 23:30 | Last updated: September 11 2008 23:30

Democratic jitters about the US presidential race have spread to Capitol Hill, where some members of Congress are worried that Barack Obama’s faltering campaign could hurt their chances of re-election.

Party leaders have been hoping to strengthen Democratic control of the House and Senate in November, but John McCain’s jump in the polls has stoked fears of a Republican resurgence.

EDITOR’S CHOICE
In depth: US campaign 2008 - Sep-10Analysis: How the internet drives the US campaign - Sep-11Philip Stephens: A new president and a wake-up call for the west - Sep-11Candidate truce for anniversary - Sep-11Civility jettisoned in race for votes - Sep-10McCain camp mocks PM over Obama - Sep-11

Learning About Sex Ed Before Learning to Read?

Rev. Dr. Carlton W. Veazey on September 12, 2008 - 8:00am

John McCain recently released an ad attacking Barack Obama's education agenda, including his support for comprehensive sex education. The announcer says that Obama supports "learning about sex before learning to read." Well, I hope so. If we are not giving our children age-appropriate education throughout their lives, we are not doing our best to protect them.

Earlier this year, the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice put out a request for people to tell us the story of how they learned about sex. We received well over 400 responses from individuals around the country age 17 through 94. These replies offer thoughtful reflections and often intimate, sometimes painful, glimpses into personal lives. Quite a few responders said they learned about sex "the hard way" -- from being abused as a child.

If I had known what sex was, I would have understood what was happening to me when I was molested by a male relative beginning at age 8. - Stephanie, 45*

My sex ed took place in a household where there was physical and emotional abuse, AND sexual abuse. Dad was having sex with 3 younger brothers. - Susan, 47

My uncle molested me at 12. If someone had shared the facts with me sooner it may not have happened the way it did. - Tom, 50

My father molested me. The earliest I remember was at age 6-7. - Helen, 76+

I was molested at 8 and do not recall ever being "taught" about sex. - Ginger, 32

From my older cousins talking about it and some in particular wanting to experiment with me. I was 6. They were teenagers. - Emily, 38

I was sexually abused from infancy. - Dorothy, 71

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, each year there are around 80,000 reported cases of child sexual abuse. It is well known that the number of unreported cases is far greater. Yet the curriculum for comprehensive sex education in kindergarten that John McCain derided is to learn about inappropriate touching.

Our survey also found that what you learn - or don't learn - as a child and young person can have life-long repercussions.

I wish I'd learned what intercourse was and how easy it is to get pregnant. - Joyce, 79

I wish I'd learned about STDs and the way in which they can be transmitted. I was under the impression that oral sex was safe, since you couldn't get pregnant from it. - Abigail, 26

The good girl/bad girl images prevalent when I was young only served to instill a great deal of fear in me, which negatively impacted on my marriage for years. - Jean, 57

Senator McCain, a proponent of abstinence-only education programs, is at odds with 80 percent of the American public who support comprehensive sex education. He can sensationalize the issue, but the fact remains that this is an issue of public health and safety.

Major faith traditions - Methodist, Episcopalian, Presbyterian, Jewish - representing millions of Americans, support comprehensive sexuality education. These faith communities take seriously their duty to instill a set of religious and moral values that will help guide young people to responsible life choices. They believe that it is the role of government to ensure that the nation's youth receive the facts - unblemished by ideology - that will protect them from predators, disease and unintended pregnancy.

*Names have been changed.

Barack Obama Is a Muslim - Qaddafi

Libyan leader Mu'ammar al-Qadhafi proclaims Barack Obama suffers from an inferiority complex that might make him behave "whiter than white". He goes on to mention that Obama should be proud of his African, Muslim [sic] identity. The Libyan gives his take on the current elections campaign in the United States.

Qadhafi was responding to Obama's AIPAC pandering in which he stated Jerusalem shall be undivided at the Isralobby's 2008 Policy Conference. This statement incurred the wrath of the Arab media which led Obama to later 'readjust' his statement.

Everytime I watch a Qadhafi speech I burst into laughter. This man -- a merge of Mick Jagger and Gene Simmons -- tends to be an Africanist one day and a pan-Arabist the next. The man is getting old. Have fun watching! Originally broadcast on al-Jazeera TV.


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An unholy alliance

Aryan Nation leader reaches out to al Qaeda




By Henry Schuster
CNN
Tuesday, March 29, 2005 Posted: 2:42 PM EST (1942 GMT)

Editor's Note: Henry Schuster, a senior producer in CNN's Investigative Unit, has been covering terrorism for more than a decade. Each week in "Tracking Terror," he reports on the people and organizations driving international and domestic terrorism and efforts to combat those. He is the author of the newly published book, "Hunting Eric Rudolph."

SEBRING, Florida (CNN) -- A couple of hours up the road from where some September 11 hijackers learned to fly, the new head of Aryan Nation is praising them -- and trying to create an unholy alliance between his white supremacist group and al Qaeda.

"You say they're terrorists, I say they're freedom fighters. And I want to instill the same jihadic feeling in our peoples' heart, in the Aryan race, that they have for their father, who they call Allah."

With his long beard and pot belly, August Kreis looks more like a washed up member of ZZ Top than an aspiring revolutionary.

Don't let appearances fool you: his résumé includes stops at some of America's nastiest extremist groups -- Posse Comitatus, the Ku Klux Klan and Aryan Nation.

"I don't believe that they were the ones that attacked us," Kreis said. "And even if they did, even if you say they did, I don't care!"

Kreis wants to make common cause with al Qaeda because, he says, they share the same enemies: Jews and the American government.

The terms they use may be different: White supremacists call them ZOG, the Zionist Occupation Government, while al Qaeda calls them the Jews and Crusaders.

But the hatred is the same. And Kreis wants to exploit that.

A Nation in turmoil
The best thing that can be said about August Kreis is that he has helped preside over the decline of the once-feared Aryan Nation, a movement inspired by the racist tenets of Nazi Germany. He cannot or will not say how many followers the group now has.

What's clear is that Aryan Nation had a violent streak aligned with its anti-Semitic and racist ideology. One of its followers, Buford Furrow, received two life sentences, plus 110 years, for an August 1999 shooting spree in which he shot and wounded four children and one adult at a Jewish community center in the Los Angeles suburb of Granada Hills. Furrow then drove to nearby Chatsworth, California, where he shot and killed a Filipino-American postal carrier.

Others had been accused of involvement in bank robberies, shootouts with authorities and the murders of blacks and others.

More recently, the Aryan Nation lost its Hayden Lake, Idaho, compound, after losing a civil suit led by the Southern Poverty Law Center. Last year, founder Richard Butler died just as the group's leaders were fighting amongst themselves.

Around that time, Kreis tried to open up shop for Aryan Nation in northern Pennsylvania, but got run out by locals. Now he is in Sebring, Florida, and, although his rhetoric is full of revolution and defiance, he wanted to meet our CNN crew at a local park because he didn't want trouble from his neighbors.

You might think white supremacists like Kreis would spurn al Qaeda, since they tend to view non-Aryan Christians as, in their own term, "mud people." In fact, most of them do. But Kreis wants to change that.

"That's old-school racism, white supremacy, this is something new," he said. "We have to be realists and realize what didn't work [previously] isn't going to work in the future."

Supremacist, Islamist connections
The idea of a Nazi-Islamic alliance dates back to World War II, when Adolf Hitler played host to the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, that city's Muslim leader. Some Nazis, moreover, found refuge in places like Egypt and Syria after the war.

Three years ago, I met a Swiss Islamic convert named Ahmed Huber, who began his life as a devotee of Adolf Hitler and moved on to praising former Iranian leader Ayatollah Khomeini, who led that nation's Islamic revolution and vigorously opposed U.S. policies.

Huber wanted to forge a fresh alliance between Islamic radicals and neo-Nazis in Europe and the United States. And he cannot be simply dismissed as a crackpot: Huber served on the board of directors of a Swiss bank and holding company that President Bush accused of helping fund al Qaeda.

Mark Potok, of the Southern Poverty Law Center, said that while some U.S. extremists applauded the September 11 attacks, there is no indication of such an alliance -- at least not yet, and not on a large scale. If it exists anywhere, he said, it is in the mind (and the Internet postings) of August Kreis.

For its part, the FBI says it hasn't seen any links between American white supremacists and groups like al Qaeda.

"The notion of radical Islamists from abroad actually getting together with American neo-Nazis I think is an absolutely frightening one," said Potok. "It's just that so far we really have no evidence at all to suggest this is any kind of real collaboration."

So while August Kreis may be calling, there is no sign that al Qaeda is listening.

But that hasn't stopped him. As we ended our interview, we asked Kreis if he had any message for Osama bin Laden and his lieutenants.

"The message is, the cells are out here and they are already in place," Kreis said. "They might not be cells of Islamic people, but they are here and they are ready to fight."