The Bench

FOR FEAR OF TRUTH

2008-10-13T19:10:00.002-05:00

"Several Reasons Why Voters Must Not Support Senator Obama for President" contains "links to news stories from various sources on Senator Barack Obama. They contain important information that the mainstream liberal media (print and television) refuses to cover for fear the truth will be known about Obama.

This is precisely why global news networks like CNN and MSNBC lack balanced reporting and have mostly targeted McCain and Palin for criticism whereas Obama-Biden have received mostly positive coverage, the kind that can cause poll numbers to show in the latter's favor. Yes, there is a socialist liberal agenda in the U.S.A. during this year's presidential election and its victim is truth."

OBAMA: STEALTH CANDIDATE

2008-10-13T19:04:00.002-05:00

Are you, the voters, really so stupid? READ ABOUT OBAMA before it's too late, people.

Media Ignores Obama's Farrakhan Ties
The media blackout on Obama’s associations goes back to last January, when Newsmax began running stories on his minister’s sermons and the fact that his church gave an award for lifetime achievement to head of the Nation of Islam's Louis Farrakhan.

Also from NewsMax.com:
Video: Farrakhan Calls Obama the Messiah
Clever Obama Tries To Bury ACORN Past
Video: John Fund Warns of Vote Fraud 'Icebergs'
Where McCain, Obama Stand on the Issues
Hillary Praises Obama's Stance on Economy

IT'S WORKING: STOCKS ROAR BACK

2008-10-13T18:01:00.000-05:00

Ha! So much for doom and gloom. (Uh oh. If the economy bounces back, what with gas prices way down and the markets way back up, why..... Barack Obama might have to start talking about other things!!! Like, you know, Ayers, Rezko, his non-record, his ties to anti-American organizations, his questionable citizenship, his wife, ACORN, and more! Uh oh!)

NEW YORK - Wall Street stormed back from last week's devastating losses Monday, sending the Dow Jones industrials soaring a nearly inconceivable 936 points after major governments' plans to support the global banking system reassured distraught investors. All the major indexes rose more than 11 percent. FULL SCOOP at AP / Yahoo! News...

UPDATE: Asian Stocks Trading in US Post Biggest Rally in Seven Years - Bloomberg

WILSON YARD SURPRISE

2008-10-13T17:36:00.003-05:00

"Fix" it, hell. Stop the whole damn thing, turn it into a simple sodded-over park and wait out the real estate slump. That's a valuable piece of land, those six acres, and Ald. Helen Shiller (Democrat) and her co-conspirators in the City Clowncil (Democrats) are playing power games with our tax dollars.

NOW THIS NEWS from Uptown Update, breaking late this afternoon:
Surprise! Another Change To Wilson Yard Financing Agreement, Holsten Gets Less Accountability

OBAMA: GUILT BY PARTICIPATION

2008-10-13T17:01:00.003-05:00

Hot new video about Obama and his association with bomber Bill Ayers. For Obama to dismiss his relationship with terrorist William Ayers by repeating that he was "only eight years old" when Ayers was bombing buildings is like my ex-wife saying she doesn't know me because she was only four years old when I graduated college. Now really, would you believe that???

Obama's Magic Mystery Act

2008-10-13T11:39:00.011-05:00

The Bench has long referred to the Magic of the Left. Chants at anti-war rallies. Attempts to levitate the Pentagon. Petunias for peace. Candlelight "vigils," and so on. On Friday, columnist Kimberley Strassel addressed the surreal magical beliefs of the Left in the Wall Street Journal. She notes how Leftist Faith in Magic manifests itself in the Obama Campaign for Chief Magician of the United States. Obama's supporters fully expect him to pull rabbits out of his many hats.

Strassel wrote:

And now, America, we introduce the Great Obama! The world's most gifted political magician! A thing of wonder. A thing of awe. Just watch him defy politics, economics, even gravity! (And hold your applause until the end, please.)

Watch his left hand, ladies and gentlemen! Ignore his other hand!

To kick off our show tonight, Mr. Obama will give 95% of American working families a tax cut, even though 40% of Americans today don't pay income taxes! How can our star enact such mathemagic? How can he "cut" zero? Abracadabra! It's called a "refundable tax credit." It involves the federal government taking money from those who do pay taxes, and writing checks to those who don't. Yes, yes, in the real world this is known as "welfare," but please try not to ruin the show.

Faith, ladies and gentlemen, faith! You must hope that these tricks really work! Believe hard enough, ladies and gentlemen, and you can fool yourself into believing they are real! Then you'll be happy, ladies and gentlemen, and happiness is more important than reality in the Leftist Magical Illusion Show!

For his next trick, the Great Obama will jumpstart the economy, and he'll do it by raising taxes on the very businesses that are today adrift in a financial tsunami! FULL COLUMN at WSJ...

RELATED FAKERY:
Obama's 95% Illusion - It depends on what the meaning of 'tax cut' is.
More fake names found on Obama donor lists HonoluluAdvertiser ...
Obama the 'Magic Negro' - Los Angeles Times
Andrea Mitchell says Obama gave fake interviews in the Middle East ...
RealClearPolitics - Articles - Obama Faking It
Obama's Head Fake - April 10, 2008 - The New York Sun
How the Left Hijacked the Magic Words
The American Conservative -- The Progressive Peacenik Myth
What Makes a Lefty: Myths and Mysteries Persist LiveScience
Political mythology -- Michael Moore in wonderland
More Proof Liberalism is a Mental Illness — Liberal Quicksand
Obama’s Fake Unity : NO QUARTER

VIDEO: OBAMA ADMITS AYERS GAVE HIM JOB, SUPPORT

2008-10-12T20:15:00.004-05:00

LIAR BARACK OBAMA has dismissed his relationship with domestic terrorist William Ayers by flippantly saying that he was "only eight years old" when Ayers and other were bombing government buildings. Okay, but was Obama only eight years old WHEN AYERS INVITED HIM TO HIS HOME FOR A "MEET THE CANDIDATES" EVENT? The video below (which Liberals are AFRAID TO WATCH) and more at HotAir.com.

Covering For Obama

2008-10-12T18:18:00.004-05:00

An excellent post at Chicago Bungalow, titled "Media Reinvention of Ayers, Obama's Chicago Connections," gives good analysis of the way in which most of the Big Media cover up, twist and alter the facts about Barack Obama's past.

The old media," writes CB, "has done its best for some time now to 'educate' us on the nature of Obama's Chicago connections. The list is growing."

"Educate," as in - you know - re-education camps.

Quiz for Obama Supporters

2008-10-12T17:49:00.001-05:00

A quiz for Obama supporters is a must-read. Most Obama supporters would probably fail this test.

Hat tip to Chicago Bungalow!

Brettly Kawaguchi, Lying Cowardly Bastard

2008-10-12T17:04:00.008-05:00

We now have irrefutable proof that Brettly Kawaguchi is the lying son of a whore who publishes a blog called "The Stench." Kawaguchi's blog is a lame attempt to libel me, which he does frequently and always with amusingly poor grammar and 4th grade-level spelling abilities. Kawaguchi is a bartender at the Red Line Tap, owned by communists and SDS alumni Katy Hogan and Michael James in Rogers Park. They also own the Heartland Cafe, next door, which has multiple liquor license violations on its record.

Kawaguchi is known as "bartender for life," because when Hogan & James bought the Red Line from Kawaguchi's now-dead father, one of the conditions of the sale was that Brettly (what kind of name is that for a man?) would have a job there for as long as he wanted - no matter what.

That's fortunate for Brettly. Without that clause he could have been fired years ago for all the alleged sexual harassment he's perpetrated on the job. Just ask any female former employee who worked with Kawaguchi. Ask Katy Hogan, who has been told herself by female employees about this (and shared their stories with The Bench).

The proof that Brettly Kawaguchi is "The Stench" was stupidly provided by Kawaguchi himself in a post dated October 8, 2008. It was titled "Hooray For Morse - well for today anyway." He writes the blog as though he is me, so keep in mind that when he writes "I" he wants you to think that I, the real Tom Mannis, am writing in the first person. I am not. Kawaguchi is impersonating me. Sure, go ahead and look. It'll add a few clicks to his puny 5,708 hits so far. In that post, Kawaguchi wrote the following lie. Here, then, is an excerpt (notice the pitiful spelling and grammar errors):

I was hanging out at Stella Expresso Co on Devon in Edgewater until I decided to open my big mouth and try to chew out a certain bartender who I just hate - and got banned from going back there ever again - here's what happened, I was trying to mind my own business, but then that bartender I hate walked in to get his morning coffee on his way to The Heartland Cafe (another place that I am banned from), and I just couldn't control myself, and started screaming at him, and calling him all sorts of names, now mind you, he had not said a word to me, but I felt the need to give him a piece of my mind (something I shouldn't do, because I don't have much of a mind left - Martini's, beer, - I'm a drunk) and I, Tom Mannis just tried to let him have it - but, the staff at Stella Expresso just had to intervene and attempt to stop my in warranted attack on him. But I just wouldn't stop - until the barista (some one who makes more money than me) went outside to flag down an officer, and so I, Tom Mannis, like the little bitch I am, grabbed my stuff and scurried out the back door like the coward I am, afraid to face the repercussions for my actions.

But annyway, I'm not allowed at Stella anymore so I guess to get my free wi fi (I'm too cheap to pay for internet) from Dunkin Donuts - they'll let anyone in!

The real story: It was approximately three weeks ago that I was in Stella on Devon, a nice little cafe with free wifi. At some point in the afternoon, as I was sitting at a table by myself and typing something, I sensed someone staring at me. You know that feeling. I glanced up, saw Kawaguchi looking at me while holding a coffee and a bag of something. He smirked at me, I smirked back. He walked out and I went immediately back to writing. No words were exchanged. No confrontation. Sorry, folks, it was not an exciting encounter. I thought nothing of it further until a friend called today to tell me, laughing hysterically, what he wrote about the fictitious confrontation. Kawaguchi was alone. Kawaguchi is "The Stench." But then, we've always known that he stinks.

There was no confrontation, as noted. As for being banned from Stella, that should come as some surprise to them. Not only did they not ban me, they've had no reason to ban me. I've been in there approximately six times since I saw Kawaguchi there, and was there just last night until they closed at 10:30.

In the same post, he also wrote, falsely, that I have been banned from Morseland (false: I chewed out a manager and told said manager that I would never return); Morse Theater (false, as far as I know - I have no desire to go there since it became disgustingly obvious that owner Andy McGhee has consumed too much of the Joe Moore-DevCorp Kool-Aid); The Heartland Cafe (unknown, but I haven't been there for two years, and that was the first time in several years - I don't go to the Heartland because I dislike moldy muffins, lousy service and shitty food); Jackhammer (I don't even know what that is and have never been there); Dukes (absolutely not true - again, no reason. The last time I saw owner Neil Lifton was at Common Cup a couple of weeks ago and he offered to buy me a cup of coffee).

Kawaguchi is one of a number of scummy characters who sucks up to the 49th Ward power base. Alderman Joe Moore could drop his trousers and crap in the middle of Kawaguchi's studio apartment and Kawaguchi would probably give him a standing ovation. Kawaguchi is a chronic member of the Glenwood Avenue Arts Fest Planning Committee, a group composed mostly of political hacks.

Finally, Kawaguchi supports Barack Obama and has a lousy rock band called "Roundeye," a racist name that obviously mocks white folk. He and Andy McGhee are now good friends.

For more about Brettly Kawaguchi, see the following:
Prepping for Glenwood Arts Festival
More Roundeye Stoopidity
Band Tries to Intimidate Blogger
Red Line Tap Bartender's Obscene Email Blast

Gee, Success in Afghanistan? Yep...

2008-10-12T16:32:00.008-05:00

And that success is coming from Pakistan in an unexpected way. Despite the bullshit that the Democrats are spraying all over the voters, the war on terror is showing strong signs of success.

Pakistani tribesmen are raising armies to battle al-Qaida and Taliban militants close to the Afghan border — a movement encouraged by the military and hailed as a sign its offensive there is succeeding.

"Succeeding." That's worth repeating. No, I'm not saying we've won in Afghanistan. It's still a slog, but we have good reason to be hopeful. The Pakistani tribesmen seem to be hopeful; you don't raise armies and march off to battle if you don't have some hope of victory. Perhaps the Pakistani tribesmen are more terrified by the prospect of a President Obama invading their country than they are of taking on the Taliban and al-Qaida. After all, Obama has said several times that he would be willing to invade Pakistan.

By encouraging the private armies, or "lashkars," the government is exploiting local resentment against foreign and Pakistani extremists in the area, considered a likely hiding place for Osama bin Laden and other al-Qaida leaders. More from AP at Yahoo! News...

RELATED:
Pakistan hit 'kills 27 Taleban'
Pakistani Forces Bomb Suspected Militants
Pakistan loyalists take on militants
Taliban target Pakistani tribesmen gathering
Pakistan army seeks public support against militants
Obama is saying the wrong things about Afghanistan Salon
Biden criticized Obama on Afghanistan: The Swamp
Obama in Afghanistan: Careful What You Wish For
McCain Ad Challenges Obama on Afghanistan
Bush troop surge to stem rise of Taliban

It's the Stupidity, Stupid

2008-10-12T15:36:00.006-05:00

With all of the doom and gloom being touted by Democrats - and some Republicans - it might be good to remember that the United States is not the great Satan that some would make it out to be. An incredible commentary in the Asia Times sums this up, and tells us how the myths are perpetuated by Barack Obama (emphasis added):

America is not the embodiment of hope, but the abandonment of one kind of hope in return for another. America is the spirit of creative destruction, selecting immigrants willing to turn their back on the tragedy of their own failing culture in return for a new start. Its creative success is so enormous that its global influence hastens the decline of other cultures. For those on the destruction side of the trade, America is a monster. Between half and nine-tenths of the world's 6,700 spoken languages will become extinct in the next century, and the anguish of dying peoples rises up in a global cry of despair. Some of those who listen to this cry become anthropologists, the curators of soon-to-be extinct cultures; anthropologists who really identify with their subjects marry them. Obama's mother, the University of Hawaii anthropologist Ann Dunham, did so twice.

The Asia Times writer, whose pen name is simply "Spengler," is one of my favorite writers. He always hits hard, and this piece pulls no punches. Here's more (emphasis added):

There is nothing mysterious about Obama's methods. "A demagogue tries to sound as stupid as his audience so that they will think they are as clever as he is," wrote Karl Krauss. Americans are the world's biggest suckers, and laugh at this weakness in their popular culture. Listening to Obama speak, Sinclair Lewis' cynical tent-revivalist Elmer Gantry comes to mind, or, even better, Tyrone Power's portrayal of a carnival mentalist in the 1947 film noire Nightmare Alley. The latter is available for instant viewing at Netflix, and highly recommended as an antidote to having felt uplifted by an Obama speech.

Thanks in large part to 50 years of dumbing down the public education of this country, there are more suckers than ever ready to swallow Obama's platitudes. They are ready to happily skip down their own nightmare alley, eyes wide open, brains have empty. Spengler continues:

America has the great misfortune to have encountered Obama at the peak of his powers at its worst moment of vulnerability in a generation. With malice aforethought, he has sought out their sore point.

I remain optimistic that John McCain will win in November. I remain realistic, however, that he may not. Should Obama win, the United States of America will quickly take a hard Left turn. We've already gone too far on the path toward socialism, which is merely a stepping stone on the road to communism. Obama and his America-resenting circle of friends and advisers, corrupt associates and radical revolutionaries will do everything they can to weaken this nation in the name of "fairness." The "change" will come in the form of punitive fines, higher taxes, prosecution and persecution of those who speak out against an Obama Administration, and dangerous alliances with nations and entities that have long worked for the destruction of America. Do we need change? Yes, but if we choose the wrong kind of change - a stupid, platitude fueled change - we will regret it for a long, long, very long time.

Buena Park Neighbors Meet on Monday, Oct. 13

2008-10-11T21:57:00.004-05:00

Reminder! Buena Park Neighbors will hold its Quarterly General Meeting on Monday October 13 at 7:00 p.m. at Imperial Towers Meeting Room, 4250 N. Marine Drive. For more information about BPN see their web site.

Illegal Aliens Harming U.S. Forests

2008-10-11T21:32:00.000-05:00

They only come here to work, right? Well, some of that "work" is illegal, dangerous and destroying our beautiful forests and park lands.

National forests and parks — long popular with Mexican marijuana-growing cartels — have become home to some of the most polluted pockets of wilderness in America because of the toxic chemicals needed to eke lucrative harvests from rocky mountainsides, federal officials said. FULL STORY from AP at Yahoo! News...

The Fat Keep Getting Fatter in Rogers Park

2008-10-11T20:54:00.003-05:00

Fat cat David Gassman, the landlord who allowed a "stealth rehab" program into his apartment building at N. Sheridan and W. Lunt, recently agreed to pay nearly $7 million for another apartment building nearby. Times are tough for many of us, but not for those tied into the local Democrat Machine. From ChicagoRealEstateDaily.com:

Rogers Park apartment sells for nearly $7 million
Nightclub owner and North Side real estate investor David Gassman paid $6.85 million for a 90-unit apartment building at 6954 N. Sheridan Road in Rogers Park. Despite the credit crunch, sales of North Side apartments priced between $1 million and $10 million remain strong, says Gregory LaBerge, a sales manager in the Chicago office of Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Brokerage Co., which brokered the deal. Mr. Gassman, who owns Spin Nightclub, 800 W. Belmont Ave. in Lakeview, financed the deal with a $5.2-million loan from Wyomissing, Pa.-based Sovereign Bank, according to property records. The seller was real estate investor Steven Pekic of Chicago. Messrs. Gassman and Pekic could not be reached for comment.

RELATED:
Search for "David Gassman" on The Bench
Search for "David Gassman" on Broken Heart

ACORN Association: Liberals Afraid to Watch this Video!

2008-10-11T20:05:00.005-05:00

LIBERALS ARE TOO AFRAID OF THE TRUTH TO WATCH THIS VIDEO about Barack Obama and his long, tight relationship with corrupt ACORN!

Obama Using Economic Crisis as Cover

2008-10-10T11:52:00.017-05:00

It would make a good drinking game. Every time you hear Barack Obama or one of his sycophants tell us that "times are too serious for petty attacks," you can swallow another shot of Kool-Aid. The Democrats are frantically trying to distract you, telling you that the only thing you should pay attention to right now is the economic problems. Granted, those are very serious. But they are not the only issues on the table, nor are they the only things we should be concerned about. We can, to use an old phrase, walk and chew gum at the same time.

But Obama and his Democrat allies don't want you to. They are using the very crisis that they created through mismanagement, abuse and outright encouragement as a shield, behind which they are trying to hide Obama's strong ties to the voter fraud machine ACORN (Obama with ACORN staffers, photo), Obama's strong ties to unrepentant domestic terrorist Bill Ayers, Obama's next-to-nothing record as a legislator, Obama's strong ties to convicted felon Tony Rezko, and so much more.

For example: "This is not a time for ideology – it’s a time for common sense and a politics of pragmatism," he said this morning..." (Source: Boston.com, 10/10/08) Okay, but is it not a fair question to ask what kind of ideology will be applied to the current economic crisis? Is it not fair to ask whether we want a Marxist to apply a socialist-communist approach to the U.S. economy?

For Obama to say that this is "not a time for ideology" is not only an insult to intelligent people, it is flat out wrong. The type of ideology that the next president brings to the table will directly affect the approach to the economy, because it will be the determining factor in deciding how to approach it. Ideology is inescapable. A Marxist, such as Obama, will take a very different approach than a capitalist such as McCain.

Most of the Mainstream Media, of course, helps to cover this up. Read "Why Obama's Communist Connections Are Not Headlines" at American Thinker. An excerpt:

Being on the left entails many strange contradictions and political pathologies, one of which is this bizarre revulsion toward anti-communists. These leftists -- to their credit -- despise fascism, and will preach anti-fascism until they're blue in the face. They are as appalled by fascism as conservatives are by communism. But while conservatives detest both communism and fascism, liberals only detest one of the two. [Emphasis added]

Refute that, Liberals, if you can. I dare you. I bet you can't.

The Union Leader - Obama's associates: Imagine if they were McCain's. Dems, rightly, would be screaming about it. As it is, Dems are bending over backwards to cover up the filth in Obama's past and current circles of influence. Corruption? It's okay if they do it.

Meanwhile, the Obama Machine has been busy for over a year scrubbing the web to get rid of damaging information. An important article in the Cleveland Leader today notes this:

While Barack Obama's connection with the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) has not gone entirely unreported, it has not been fully explained. Most media background pieces simply note Obama's involvement in a 1995 lawsuit on behalf of ACORN. Obama's own website, as well as most major media, fail to reveal the full depth and extent of his relationship with the organization.

Attempts to hide evidence of Obama's involvement with ACORN have included wiping the web clean of potentially damaging articles that had appeared, and were previously publicly accessible. Unfortunately, those behind the attempted cover-up failed to realize that in today's day and age, nothing disappears forever. There also exists another layer of the web, the hidden web, which is full of information included in proprietary scholarly databases where these very same "missing" articles can be easily uncovered. Full article at Cleveland Leader...

The Obama Machine tells us to just look at the big face projected on the far wall. Ignore the man behind the green curtain. More accurately, they want you to ignore a whole slew of men - corrupt, dishonest men - behind a massive green curtain. Correction: A red curtain.

Barack Obama himself recently chastised John McCain for not being able to walk and chew gum at the same time, a petty and stupid remark about McCain's "suspension" of his campaign to rush back to D.C. to deal the then-pending bailout legislation. Obama, as we all know, then copied McCain's rush to D.C., all the while hypocritically continuing the walking-chewing nonsense.

That bailout was meant to fix the economic crisis that was ignited primarily by the federally mandated soft loans to the massive subprime market. Millions of home loans were given to people who could not afford them, doing them no favor, doing the lending institutions no favor, and doing you the taxpayers no favor. While Republicans warned both houses of Congress repeatedly and for years, including John McCain, that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were a ticking time bomb, Obama did nothing in his brief term in the Senate. His Democrat allies scoffed at the warnings. Names like Barney Frank, Chris Dodd, and others come to mind. Obama is the second-largest recipient of campaign donations from Fannie and Freddie, and some of Obama's top advisors were employed by Fannie and took muli-million dollar bonuses. Names such as Raines, Gorelick and Johnson come to mind. (See: Obama, ACORN, and the Financial Crisis)

Look, this is blog post, not a thesis. I can't explain it all to you - you need to research this stuff for yourself. If you truly consider yourself to be fair minded, open minded and intelligent, you should be aware of these things by now. If not, get off your ass and look into these issues. Don't ignore the economic crisis, but don't ignore the criminal associations of Barack Obama and his campaign. Don't ignore the fact that Obama is known to adhere to Marxist principles and has been tutored over the years by Marxists, revolutionaries, America haters, and criminals. Don't take my word for it. Look it up. Don't allow Obama to pull the wool over your eyes. You can walk and chew gum at the same time.

RELATED:
Former justice slams ACORN's role in electoral process
Obama’s Gestapo Tactics And Your Freedom
The End For US Capitalism
Obama, ACORN, and the Financial Crisis
Voter fraud: How ACORN/Obama Democrats plan to win the election
Obama enjoys slim lead in US elections survey
Obama's ACORN: A Corrupt Organization of Revolutionary Nuts
McCain’s Wisconsin supporters beg him to get tougher on Obama
Barack Obama's Involvement with ACORN Unearthed, Missing Articles ...
Cacoethes Scribendi: Corruption By Association
ACORN should be Obama’s undoing
Obama, Acorn & Their Starring Role in the Mortgage Crisis

Message from Fix Wilson Yard

2008-10-09T17:48:00.007-05:00

The Bench attended last night's meeting (Oct. 9) of Fix Wilson Yard and was privileged to hear Molly Phelan give her presentation to a group of about 30 people. Seems Alderman Helen Shiller is playing games, thinking she was clever by trying to hide yesterday's City Council action. As Molly explains below, Shiller's cheap tactic didn't work.

Hello All,

There have been some questions regarding the latest amendment to the funding for the Wilson Yard Redevelopment Plan. This issue was improperly added to the City’s Finance Committee’s agenda and Fix Wilson Yard will take the proper actions to resolve the situation pursuant to the Open Meetings Act.

Fix Wilson Yard asked both Ald. Helen Shiller and Ald. Edward Burke for a copy of the ordinance and amendment. Ald. Burke’s office advised us that their copy was filed with the City Clerk’s Office today during the City Council Meeting and should be available next week through the City Clerk’s Office. No response has come from Ald. Shiller’s office.

No information was provided in regards to the issues addressed in the amendment other than there were some “problems with financing issues” for the development. Until we are able to review the ordinance and amendment, Fix Wilson Yard is not initiating contacts with the media regarding this issue. Still, we are appalled by the belligerent abuse of the government process and lack of transparency available in regards to the project.

Funny how this amendment was not mentioned in the Crain’s article.

Fix Wilson Yard is fighting to stop this abuse. If you have not done so already, please 1) register at www.fixwilsonyard.org, 2) DONATE and 3) Pass this information along to everyone! This is an Uptown issue as well as a Chicago issue!

Thank you for all of your ongoing support!

Sincerely,

Molly Phelan
Fix Wilson Yard

Uptown Update, one of The Bench's fave blogs, has more in a post titled "Ald. Shiller's Explanation." And by the way, for some seasonal fun, check out "Family Fundraiser For "Fix Wilson Yard."

SCARY VIDEO: OBAMA'S YOUTH TROOPERS

2008-10-09T17:26:00.004-05:00

THIS VIDEO SHOULD SCARE THE CRAP OUTA Y'ALL. It shows 8 or 9 young men marching into a room, chanting in unison about the magikal godlike powers that Barack Obama has, and how he will improve everybody's lives, especially their own. Ever see old Hitler Youth propaganda films? How about Communist Chinese People's Army films, or any other propaganda films from dictators about their youth corps?

As the video's info blurb states, "Republicans don't have this kind of thing. Who are the real fascists? This is scary. This was taken at the Urban Community Leadership Academy, a charter school for students in fifth through ninth grades in Kansas City, Mo. The teacher has been suspended as of OCT. 5th, 2008."

ACORN'S MASSIVE VOTER FRAUD SYSTEM

2008-10-09T16:19:00.015-05:00

THERE IS A MASSIVE VOTER FRAUD INVESTIGATION currently happening in more than 20 states. The target in every case: ACORN. That's "the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now." Barack Obama has a long and close friendship with ACORN. And yes, that matters. ACORN was very influential with Congressional Democrats who encouraged the subprime loans mess that triggered the battering that the US economy is now struggling through.

REFORM?!? Why is it that far Left organizations love benign words such as "reform," when their purpose is anything but? ACORN, corrupt and dirty, is not reformist, any more than the People's Democratic Republic of China is democratic or a true republic.

ACORN is up to its collective neck in fraud and criminal activity. They've even admitted that the problem is so bad that they cannot control it. ACORN is a favored organization of the Democrat Party. Why? Simple: ACORN always backs Democrats, from discredited city council members such as Chicago's Joe Moore to president candidate Barack Obama. ACORN is the Cultural Gutter of Political Corruption.

ACORN has been corrupt for many years. The Bench reported on it when ACORN helped Chicago's 49th Ward Alderman Moore steal his reelection in 2007. Michelle Malkin reported on it in July 2007 in a post titled "ACORN falls again: The worst case of voter-registration fraud in Washington state history." The "worst case" of voter fraud in history that Malkin wrote about over a year ago pales in comparison with what is coming out about ACORN's dishonest dealings even at this moment.

The Mainstream Media, of course, is doing its best to keep this mess quiet. This mess, however, is too big now to hide, no matter how much the rag of a newspaper in Janesville, Wisconsin or the New York Times tries. Talk show host Jerry Agar of WLS 890 AM notes on his blog that ACORN is one of the roots of the current economic crisis in a post titled "Obama, Acorn and the Housing Bust." Agar notes that "For the majority of the media it is too easy to just brush the story aside by casually blaming deregulation, thus doing the public relations work the Obama campaign needs done."

WHY THIS MATTERS: You may be thinking that the current economic woes are more important than ACORN. According to Stanley Kurtz, "[Prominent Chicago ACORN activist Madeline] Talbott continued her effort to, as she put it, drag banks "kicking and screaming" into high-risk loans. A September 1993 story in The Chicago Sun-Times presents her as the leader of an initiative in which five area financial institutions (including two of her former targets, now plainly cowed - Bell Federal Savings and Avondale Federal Savings) were "participating in a $55 million national pilot program with affordable-housing group ACORN to make mortgages for low- and moderate-income people with troubled credit histories." MORE about this at Weekly Standard...

Obama once paid ACORN $800,000 to register voters. There's more. "Obama worked as executive director of ACORN's voter-registration arm, Project Vote, in 1992," reports Investors Business Daily. "Joined by two other community organizers on Chicago's South Side, Obama conducted the voter-registration drive that helped elect Carol Moseley-Braun to the Senate that year."

Do your own research. Just do a Google search for "obama acorn ties."

RELATED:
ACORN RAIDED IN NEVADA: OBAMA TIES
ACORN's voter registrations questioned
For Obama, All Roads Lead to ACORN and Saul Alinsky
Obama, ACORN Pressured Banks to Make Unsafe Subprime Loans
RealClearPolitics - Articles - ACORN, Obama, and the Mortgage Mess
Friends of Barack update: Time for Obama to 'fess up on ACORN ties
Inside Obama’s Acorn by Stanley Kurtz on National Review Online
Marathon Pundit: Vote fraud news: Obama, ACORN, and East St. Louis
The ACORN Obama Knows (And You Damned Well Better Learn About)

DON'T PANIC: DOW CLOSES BELOW 9000

2008-10-09T15:09:00.004-05:00

Dow plunges below 9,000 on credit fears
Dow...........8,579.19 ...-678.91 ...(-7.33%)
Nasdaq .....1,645.12 .....-95.21 .....(-5.47%)
S&P 500 .....909.89 ......-75.05 ......(-7.62%)

DON'T WORRY, PRESIDENT OBAMA WILL FIX EVERYTHING. That's right, after he raises taxes on half of the small businesses, nobody will be laid off. Nope! Under Obama, those businesses will magikally hire more people! Sure! And when Obama forms his "civilian national security force that's just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-funded" as the US military, why, that will magikally decrease the national debt! You bet! And when President Obama makes the tax code even more complicated, and you start paying more taxes (think Stroger, think Daley, think Springfield), well Comrade, you'll thank the gods that Barack Obama has taken over. Remember, we have nothing to fear but the fear of fearing fear itself.

Obama, Heir to Stalin

2008-10-08T13:29:00.000-05:00

The policies of Barack Obama, as well as the practices of many of his staunchest supporters, has many very worried. One of those is Shawn D. Akers, who wrote a must-read column today for Canada Free Press. Akers points out the dangers of the Obama cult of personality, the promise of heavy handed state control and thuggery by proxy - even the spectre of a soft dictatorship. Akers is the Director of Academic Support and an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Law at Liberty University School of Law. An excerpt:

Whatever else may be said, Mr. Obama’s personality cult campaign has been an unmitigated success, creating, almost ex nihilo, a “beloved leader” out of a largely inexperienced and unknown man, void of business, executive, and foreign policy credentials. This fact alone is cause for substantial concern, but, unfortunately for the American people, what has been true of the form of the Obama campaign is now materializing in its function as individuals cloaked in the appearance of state authority seek to silence dissent and indoctrinate the masses. CANADA FREE PRESS...

ACORN RAIDED IN NEVADA: OBAMA TIES

2008-10-07T17:52:00.008-05:00

Nuts? ACORN, that is, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now. ACORN is one of the most corrupt and sleazy organizations in the United States. Election fraud and other bad activities typify ACORN. Guess who one of ACORN's best friends is. That's right! BARACK OBAMA, "Mr. Change," who is just another hack being helped by thugs, thieves and cheaters. To wit:

Barack Obama, who once worked for ACORN in Ohio, told members of the group as recently as last November that he had been “fighting along side ACORN ... my entire career.” It’s time he reconsider his involvement and support for ACORN. Source: GJSentinel, Oct. 7, 2008

In Nevada today, Secretary of State Ross Miller said the raid was part of a monthslong voter fraud investigation of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, which he said submitted fraudulent registrations, including forms for the starting lineup of the Dallas Cowboys football team. "Tony Romo is not registered to vote in the state of Nevada, and anybody trying to pose as Terrell Owens won't be able to cast a ballot on Nov. 4," Miller said. Source: MercuryNews.com, Oct. 7, 2008

Way back in March, 2007, The Bench posted numerous times about the shadiness of ACORN, and of its close ties to the DNC, as well as to local politicians such as the discredited Alderman Joe Moore (49th Ward, Chicago):
Judge Him By The Company He Keeps
Nuts To You, ACORN
More abouth ACORN from The Bench...

NOTE TO MCCAIN: IGNORE FUNNYE MONEY CAPER

2008-10-07T14:44:00.007-05:00

OBAMA'S HONEY'S FUNNYE MONEY CAPERS

Barack Obama arranged for a grant to go to one of his wife's cousins. The McCain Campaign should completely ignore this story.

Ya gotta love Chicago politics, where Barack Obama suckled at the teat of the Democrat Machine. Gad, Obama's as dirty as all the rest of them, this candidate of "Change." Now, AP reports on Michelle Obama's cousin, Capers Funnye (pronounced Fun-nay, which rhymes with mun-nay). Rabbi Funnye received Illinois tax dollaz courtesy of - yup - Barack Obama. Oy, there's that stink of impropriety.

But not enough stink, in my opinion, for the RNC or John McCain to even mention, let alone make a big - uhm - stink about. Rabbi Funnye seems like a straight up guy. The way Obama arranged for money to go to Michelle's cousin (once removed) smells bad, yes, but this story has no legs. McCain's campaign would be well advised to completely ignore this.

Unfortunately, they are unaware of my sage advice. Indications are that the RNC and sympathetic bloggers and pundits are using this already. Stupid. Leave it alone. You'll only be seen as attacking a do-gooder rabbi. There are bigger issues to tackle, folks.

Rabbi Capers C. Funnye, Jr. is the Chief Rabbi at Beth Shalom B'nai Zaken Ethiopian Hebrew Congregation (Beth Shalom), the oldest Temple in the Chicago areaserving the Israelite Community. (Web site...)

In 1999, Obama arranged for $50,000 for adult literacy and counseling services offered on Chicago's South Side by a group called Blue Gargoyle. A $25,000 grant for the group's youth services followed the next year. The group's executive director when the grants were awarded was Capers Funnye, a South Side rabbi and Michelle Obama's first cousin once removed. FULL STORY...

As Right Pundits notes, "Worthy causes, all. But there was little or no oversight for this money. America, keep an eye on how your money is spent. You do not want it to wind up in the pockets of Obama’s friends and family, or his crazy pastor, or domestic terrorists like Bill Ayers."

That's the Culture of Corruption that Nancy Pelosi used to talk about so much. It just keeps getting harder for Pelosi & Company to point their fingers when their own are in the cookie jar.

RELATED:
Capers Funnye News and Information from NBC5 Chicago
Michelle Obama's Chicago Rabbi Cousin

Dominick's Returning to West Ridge

2008-10-07T14:36:00.002-05:00

No more "food desert" at Pratt and Ridge on Chicago's north side. (Or, as Todd Stroger would say, "food dessert.") Despite massive UN food relief efforts, starvation has killed an estimated 12,090 West Ridge residents within a two block radius of the Pratt and Ridge intersection since the Dominick's closed its doors in March 2007. Full story at News-Star...