He is named after his Kenyan father, Barak, but his family and friends know him as Barry. Son of a Kenya, Africa, economist and a Kansas, U.S. American, anthropologist, Barry was born on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, our 50th state. As a youngster he briefly lived in Jakarta with his mother and was schooled with Catholics and Muslims, later to be sent back to Oahu to live with his maternal grandparents. At a young age he had experienced global societies; being bi-racial Barry fully understands cultural diversity. Both factors are needed for governing today’s America if we wish to continue to be a world power in the global struggle for economic top dog.

EDUCATION IS TOP PRIORITY with U.S. high school dropout rates in crisis (a promise Bush would change during his first term as president) we need to look at successful schools like.

Barry’s high school alma mater is Punahou High School one of the oldest high schools established in the nation. Punahou opened in 1841 and has a spectrum of renowned alumni ranging from Pulitzer winners, award winning medical researchers, professional champion athletes to governmental leaders including Robert Silberman, George W. Bush’s Assistant Secretary of the Army. Barry graduated from two highly respected universities: Columbia University and Harvard Law School, where he served as president of the Harvard Law Review. Apparently Barry’s colleagues reported his capability of ending minor disputes and produced 8 volumes contested by liberals and conservatives alike. The Review under his tenure expanded the call for empowering women, African-Americans and the elderly to sue for discrimination. He taught Constitutional Law at the University of Chicago from 1992 – 2004. http://www.punahou+high+school.org. http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0608/11257.html (Harvard Review).

NATIONAL HEALTH ISSUES: 2007 article in Wall Street Journal (Rogers, 5/3/07), reported Bush had lost some credibility when he did not increase funding for the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). It became a big health care policy debate. At the time Democrats wanted to increase funding up to $50 billion over the next five years. How does Barry stand? According to a New York Times report (Toner, 5/30/07) Barry proposed an over haul that combined the current employer-based system with a new government program where employees who could not obtain coverage through work, Medicaid or SCHIP. The plan would require employers to offer coverage or pay into a government fund, though small businesses would be exempt. http://covertheuninsured.org/news/index.php

ON FOREIGN POLICY: In a recent interview with Bill O’Reilly (9/05/2008), Bill O wrote about Barry, “The Barak Obama I witnessed is self-confident, determined and driven. Obama has convinced me that he is tough but cautious. He rose quickly because he vehemently opposed the Iraq war. But now I see a man who understands the victory that has taken place in Iraq. I don’t believe he wants to screw that up.” http://www.wwwbilloreilly.com/column. In addition to Bill O’Reilly’s commentary, Barry strategically chose Senator Joe Biden (D-Delaware) as his vice president running mate for his strong background in foreign policy. Biden is currently chairman for the Foreign Relations Committee.

PUBLIC SERVICE: Barry worked as a community organizer and practiced as a civil rights attorney prior to serving in the Illinois Senate. Barry had been ridiculed by political conservatives for having done so. However, in a recent AP article (Loven, Pickler, 9/12/08) McCain commented that he respected Obama’s decision after law school to forgo a lucrative career path and become a community organizer in downtrodden Chicago. “I respect people who serve their community,” McCain said, “and Senator Obama’s record is outstanding.”  McCain went on further to say he would have asked Americans to do the same after the 9/11 attacks. McCainObamaDiscussViewsOnPublicService/

AS A SENATOR: Barry helped to promote greater accountability with federal funds; legislated to prevent nuclear terrorism and provide better care for returning military personnel.

ENERGY INDEPENDENCE: NEW ENERGY FOR AMERICA PLAN Barry’s states it is a threat to our national security to be oil dependent and our country cannot afford politics as usual. He has a precise and feasible plan for energy independency. http://www.barackobama.com/pdffactsheet_energy_speech080308.pdf Thus far, McCain does not have a feasible energy plan in place other than for more oil drilling. At your keyboard, type in “McCain & Energy” in your search engine and one will find many news articles, but no strategy that articulates McCain’s precise intentions of an energy plan for America.

RELIGIOUS VIEWS ARE ABOUT INCLUSIVITY not an exclusive club His Protestant values are grounded in the United Church of Christ and as a practicing member of the UCC he is ecumenical (from the Greek word “to be able to be in communication with the world”). More importantly, Barry understands his faith is ethically PRO-ACTIVE as a Christian (not passive). And as a UCC Christian during times of crisis he will call for the most capable leaders regardless of political & religious division. Sarah Palin promotes herself as an evangelical Christian which is an exclusive faith community, i.e., if you don’t see it our way then don’t come to our church, you are not welcome.

Ljosdal Moffitt

Recently Imad Mugniyah, a senior Hezbollah terrorist, was killed in a car bomb explosion in Damascus, Syria. Thomas Joscelyn gave an excellent expose supporting the idea that it was a fitting death for the man who is responsible for killing hundreds, maybe thousands, in the same manner. Whoever eliminated Mugniyah understands the need to kill the enemy.

Mugniyah had an extensive history of terrorism against the US, other Western nations, as well as perceived Muslim enemies. He was identified as a major player in such terrorist attacks as the bombings of the U.S. embassy and U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut in 1983 and many hijackings and kidnappings throughout the 1980s and early 1990s.

Intelligence agencies have evidence that Mugniyah facilitated the travel of one of the al-Qaeda operatives that was responsible for the Egyptian embassy bombing in Islamabad, Pakistan, on Nov. 19, 1995. He is suspected of involvement in the bombing of the Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia on Jun. 25, 1996 and the embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania on Aug. 7, 1998. Intelligence agents reported the bombings were directly modeled on Mugniyah’s earlier attacks. [Read more…]