Vetting Barack Obama

During the last US Presidential election the US and other media failed to subject Barack Obama to the levels of scrutiny that Republican candidates and other Democrats have and were subjected to. This year Andrew Breitbart promised to release videos that would show the real Barack Obama. Sadly Andrew Breitbart died earlier this year but the videos have started to emerge. Here's the first, that is not that earth-shattering but I predict more interesting ones will follow in due course.

Of course the video that I desperately want to to emerge is the one that the Los Angeles Times is allegedly "intentionally suppressing" of a 2003 banquet where the then state Senator Barack Obama spoke of his friendship with Rashid Khalidi, a leading Palestinian scholar and activist. The National Review reported that:

'The party featured encomiums by many of Khalidi’s allies, colleagues, and friends, including Barack Obama, then an Illinois state senator, and Bill Ayers, the terrorist turned education professor. It was sponsored by the Arab American Action Network (AAAN), which had been founded by Khalidi and his wife, Mona, formerly a top English translator for Arafat’s press agency.'

As the National Review asked in 2008:

'Let’s try a thought experiment. Say John McCain attended a party at which known racists and terror mongers were in attendance. Say testimonials were given, including a glowing one by McCain for the benefit of the guest of honor ... who happened to be a top apologist for terrorists. Say McCain not only gave a speech but stood by, in tacit approval and solidarity, while other racists and terror mongers gave speeches that reeked of hatred for an American ally and rationalizations of terror attacks.

Now let’s say the Los Angeles Times obtained a videotape of the party.

Question: Is there any chance — any chance — the Times would not release the tape and publish front-page story after story about the gory details, with the usual accompanying chorus of sanctimony from the oped commentariat? Is there any chance, if the Times was the least bit reluctant about publishing (remember, we’re pretending here), that the rest of the mainstream media (y’know, the guys who drove Trent Lott out of his leadership position over a birthday-party toast) would not be screaming for the release of the tape?

Do we really have to ask?'

The same question could be asked in 2012 replacing the name John McCain with Newt Gingrich, Mitt Romney or Rick Santorum.

The way that the liberal US and other western media (especially the BBC) have acted as campaign managers for Barack Obama is little short of disgusting but the way that they have hidden the truth about Barack Obama from the electorate is little short of criminal.