Poem Authored By 19-Year Old Obama Described As Anti-Semitic

As a young man, Barack Obama liked to write poetry, much like his mentor and father-like figure, Frank Marshall Davis. One poem written by Obama titled "Underground" has been interpreted by Jim O'Hagan as being anti-semitic. Take a look at the poem, and I think you will agree that it must have a meaning other than its literal interpretation.

UNDERGROUNDUnder water grottos, caverns
Filled with apes
That eat figs.
Stepping on the figs
That the apes
Eat, they crunch.
The apes howl, bare
Their fangs, dance,
Tumble in the
Rushing water,
Musty, wet pelts
Glistening in the blue.

So was Obama moved to write about apes stomping on fig trees and eating them? Or is it an allegory as O'Hagan claims? The American Thinker's Jack Cashill, who was the first to figure out that Obama's "Dreams From My Father" was actually written by Obama pal Bill Ayers, notes that O'Hagan persuasively argues that references in the Qur-an to apes are symbolic of Jews and figs are symbolic of the Middle Eastern lands where figs were predominate, including Palestine and Syria. What do you think? I suspect that the poem was actually written by Frank Marshall Davis and Obama simply claimed it as his own as a student at Occidental College where it was published in the school's literary magazine, "Feast" in the spring of 1981.

Pence Campaign Comfortable With Poll Showing Nine-Point Lead

The Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette's Niki Kelly reports on an internal poll released by the campaign of Republican gubernatorial hopeful Mike Pence. The poll shows Pence holding a 9-point lead over Democrat John Gregg, 46-37%. Libertarian candidate Rupert Boneham's support is at 5% according to the poll, with another 10% undecided. The poll has a margin of error rate of 5.6% and includes only likely voters. That contrasts with a recent internal Gregg poll claiming only a 6-point Pence advantage over Gregg, 46-40%, with Boneham receiving the support of 6% of the likely voters surveyed. A Howey Politics-DePauw poll taken in September gave Pence a 47-34% lead, or a difference of 13 points. It appears to me that support for Boneham's third party candidacy is eating into Pence's potential advantage over Gregg. I still think Pence is a clear favorite to win, but his winning margin may not be as large as some Republicans had anticipated earlier in the campaign when Pence held a commanding double-digit lead over Gregg.

Ticket Scofflaw Judicial Candidate Under Fire In St. Joseph County

South Bend attorney Andre Gammage is the Democratic candidate for probate judge in St. Joseph County. Gammage had the endorsement of the South Bend Tribune until the newspaper learned that he had accumulated 153 parking tickets since 2008. Gammage took care of the unpaid tickets after he decided to run for judge, but The Tribune withdrew its endorsement of his candidacy upon learning of his disregard for paying his parking tickets until he became a candidate. Others are calling on him to withdraw as a candidate. St. Joseph Co. GOP Chair Deb Fleming is among those now calling on Gammage to withdraw:

"I believe that Mr. Gammage would not set a good example for the young people the probate court needs to help," party Chair Deb Fleming said in a press release sent out by the party Tuesday night. “If he had any integrity, he would withdraw his name from the ballot."
 

State Sen. John Broden, the St. Joseph Co. Democratic Party Chairman, called Fleming's suggestion that Gammage withdraw "ludicrious" and "a truly sad day for politics in St. Joseph County." Gammage's Republican opponent, Jim Fox, is not asking Gammage to withdraw as a candidate, but he thinks his opponent's disregard for the law should be a consideration in next Tuesday's election. According to The Tribune, the city of South Bend agreed to settle Gammage's unpaid parking tickets by allowing him to pay $1,530 of the $2,520 he owed for the unpaid tickets with late fees after it tracked him down and asked him to pay up. The Tribune quoted Indiana University law professor Charles Geyh in announcing its decision to rescind its endorsement of Gammage. "If someone is constantly violating the rules of the law, and only paying up when finally tracked down, I would be worried that it showed a manifest disregard for the rules," Geyh said.

Patrick Fitzgerald Joins Law Firm Of Obama's Former White House Counsel

It's business as usual in Chicago. After protecting President Barack Obama from criminal liability for his corrupt relationship with convicted political fixer Tony Rezko, former Chicago U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald has been rewarded with a partnership in the Chicago office of New York-based law firm giant Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom. The firm counts among its partners, Greg Craig, Obama's first White House Counsel, who had to help navigate Obama through Fitzgerald's investigation of former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich's attempt to sell Obama's Senate seat, from which he resigned shortly after being elected President but before he was sworn into office.

Interestingly, Skadden Arps represented The Tribune Company, the parent company of the Chicago Tribune, in a transaction that took the company private in 2007. Gov. Blagojevich was caught on wire-tapped phone conversations discussing an attempt to shake down The Tribune Company's CEO Sam Zell for campaign contributions in exchange for his help in providing public financing for Wrigley Field, to aid the company in the sale of the Chicago Cubs baseball franchise to the Ricketts family. Fitzgerald has recently come under criticism after two reporters for the Chicago Tribune, who broke the story about Fitzgerald's office wiretapping Blagojevich's phone conversations, revealed in a new book that Fitzgerald is the one who tipped off the Tribune's reporters of the wiretaps before Blagojevich could complete a deal on the sale of the Senate seat. Fitzgerald's office closely protected potentially damaging phone conversations Blagojevich had with Obama and Rahm Emanuel discussing Obama's replacement in the Senate.

Skadden Arps' Greg Craig was the Obama White House transition attorney who conducted the investigation of the Obama campaign's discussion of the Senate seat with Blagojevich and prepared a whitewashed report that cleared Obama, Emanual, Valerie Jarrett and others close to Obama. Fitzgerald's investigators dismissed Blagojevich's claim that Rezko had given at least $25,000 cash to Obama when he ran for the Senate just like it ignored Rezko's financial role in helping the Obama's purchase their southside mansion.

UPDATED: Illinois Pay To Play has learned that the House Committee on Government Oversight and Reform is conducting a preliminary investigation of the U.S. Attorney's Office in Chicago to determine if obstruction of justice may have occurred as a result of the office's leaks to the media of its ongoing investigation of Gov. Rod Blagojevich during the period of time that the former governor was attempting to sell Obama's Senate seat. The focus of the inquiry is based upon disclosures made by the two Chicago Tribune reporters in their new book about their exclusive accesss to government transcripts and wiretaps gathered by the U.S. Attorney's Office as part of its investigation of Blagojevich and others in Illinois state government during a highly sensitive period of the investigation.

Ballard Budget Veto Gives New Meaning To "It's My Way Or The Highway"

Mayor Greg Ballard exercised his line-item veto on the City-County budget to exact punishment against the Democratic-controlled council, which rejected his call for higher property taxes and, instead, took $15 million away from his number one priority-the Capital Improvement Board in the form of a PILOT. The people most harmed by his action today, however, appears to be the City's residents. Despite relatively small differences in the bottom-line budget as passed by the council compared to Ballard's introduced budget, the Mayor declared that it created a $35 million deficit and slashed the budget by that amount to make up for a supposed deficit his own introduced budget failed to address. The budgets hit hardest by the Mayor's veto pen include the Sheriff's Department, Prosecutor's Office, the courts, and the offices of the Auditor, Assessor, Recorder and Surveyor. In a particularly vindictive move, the Mayor axed funding for the City-County Council's legal counsel and CFO. He also killed a plan to fund new classes of police and fire recruits. Although the Mayor has no legal authority to veto the CIB's budget, which included the $15 million PILOT, he issued an edict stating that he would not authorize the release of any funds for what he deems an "illegal action." Fellow blogger Pat Andrews had more analysis on the Mayor's budget action here and here. Andrews notes the difference in appropriations and revenues between the Mayor's introduced budget and the budget passed by the council. The Mayor's budget collected only $3.1 million more in revenues than the Democrat's budget, but the Mayor's budget called for $9.9 million more in spending.

UPDATE: The Star has more on the Democrat's reaction to the Mayor's veto action today, who assert that Indiana law prohibits the Mayor from reducing the budgets of constitutional officeholders and the judicial officers:

City-County Council Democrats and all nine Marion County elected officials -- all Democrats -- released a statement this afternoon blasting Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard's budget decision as "the lowest level of 'my way or the highway politics.' "

Ballard, a Republican, used his line-item veto to delete a line allowing spending by county agencies of $32 million in local income taxes, their entire share. His aim was to save money for an expected deficit in the 2014 budget -- and also to entice Democrats back to the negotiating table.

The Democrats' statement focused on the potential severe cuts their offices will face early next year and said the council-passed budget -- approved 18-11 on Oct. 15, with two Republicans voting crossing over -- was responsible. It "protected home owners from unnecessary tax increases and provided critical new funding for public safety," the statement says.

It continues: "The Mayor's action today to divert nearly thirty-two million dollars from critical County government services represents the lowest level of 'my way or the highway politics.' It is reckless, irresponsible, and in fact unlawful for the Mayor to decide to cut critical services like prosecution of crimes, death investigations, court administration and child support. Indiana Code specifically prohibits the Mayor from vetoing any part of the budget for countywide officers specified in the Indiana Constitution or for judicial offices or officers." . . .  

"The Mayor says that public safety is job one," the Democrats' statement says. "Illegally reducing the budget of constitutional and judicial officers and jeopardizing public safety undermines the commitment he has made to voters. The Council and countywide elected officials have been transparent since the budget process began. We passed the City County budget more than two weeks ago. The Council's minor changes to the Mayor's proposed budget have been well-known for some time. The Mayor's eleventh hour veto is an attempt to force the Council to accept his recommendations without questioning the long-term effects."

The Indiana Code does back the Democrats' contention that Ballard's use of the line-item veto to slash the funding of constitutional and judicial officers is illegal. I.C. 36-3-4-14(b)(1) specifically prohibits a veto for the following:  "An ordinance or resolution, or part of either, providing for the budget or appropriating money for an office or officer of the county provided for by the Constitution of Indiana or for a judicial office or officer." In addition, I.C. 36-3-4-14(b)(2) prohibits the mayor from using his veto pen regarding a portion of the CIB's budget: "An ordinance or resolution approving or modifying the budget of a political subdivision that the legislative body is permitted by statute to review."

 

President Obama Required To Show Photo ID To Vote In Chicago

President Barack Obama and Democrats nationally have decried voter ID laws as nothing more than an attempt by Republicans to depress legitimate registered voters from casting a vote in elections. So there is a bit of irony in seeing a Chicago Board of Elections worker ask President Obama to present a photo ID in order to cast an early vote in the November election. President Obama dutifully responded by showing the election worker his Illinois driver's license. Illinois election law does not require voters who cast their votes at election precincts on election day to present a photo ID unless they are a newly-registered voter who mailed in their voter registration application or a majority of election judges at a polling place challenge a person's vote. As demonstrated here, Illinois law also requires voters who are casting an in-person vote at early voting to present a photo ID. I'm not sure what Illinois' rationale is in requiring a person to present a photo ID at early voting but not at the polling places on election day. It seems like a distinction without a difference.

Indianapolis Again Paying Off More Than Indiana Law Requires To Bisard Victims

I feel deeply for the victims of the Officer David Bisard crash. Nonetheless, the law is the law. Why is a cash-strapped city paying more to these victims than they are entitled to collect under Indiana's Tort Claims Act? The City earlier paid out $1.55 million to the family of Eric Wells, who was killed in the crash. Today, the City announced that it is paying out $2.3 million to settle with two other victims. Kurt Weekly is being paid $1.35 million and Mary Mills is being paid $975,000. The maximum payout allowed under Indiana's Tort Claims Act for the injury or death of one person is $700,000. Apparently Mayor Greg Ballard either has the most incompetent attorneys advising him on these settlements, or he is blatantly ignoring the law. Whichever is the case, it's just another reason why this man must be removed from office before he inflicts more financial harm on the City of Indianapolis than he already has as a consequence of his pay-to-play politics that are bankrupting this city. Is the guy now trading lawsuit settlement claims for campaign contributions? As one former attorney of the city's corporation counsel office said to me, "It's incomprehensible. This would have never happened when Bart Peterson was mayor."

Another Cruise Ship To Be Docked On Mass Ave Courtesy Of The Taxpayers

If you liked the cruise ship-style building Schmidt & Associates designed and docked at Mass Ave and New York Streets, which effectively destroyed the historic flat iron building fronting New York Street, then you'll like their latest docked cruise ship with a splash of color they've planned for Mass Ave and Michigan Streets. The bow of the ship will feature a giant, Times Square-styled video screen. I'm not sure what the historic preservation folks will have to say about a flashy video wall in the middle of a historic business district, but it should provide for an interesting debate. The plan announced by the Ballard administration today hinges on relocating Fire Station #7 and the Indianapolis Fire Department headquarters, along with a credit union, from their current location at this site. The Ballard administration decided it would move the fire station to College and Michigan Streets in the heart of the historic Lockerbie neighborhood without bothering to consult with the neighborhood or its own fire department. The neighborhood recently voted unanimously to oppose the proposed site for Fire Station #7.

The Ballard administration also sought to minimize the public cost for this project. A press release gives you the impression the City is only kicking in $3 million from the downtown TIF district for parking for the 235 market-rate apartments planned for the site, along with street-level retail and commercial space. The City's press release claims the developers, Paul Kite and J.C. Hart Company, are purchasing the land for $5.4 million. The developers are actually placing that much money in escrow, which it can then access in its entirety to construct its new development. The City only gets to keep the money if the project doesn't come to fruition. These costs also don't take into account the millions of dollars that will be needed to relocate Fire Station #7 and the Indianapolis Fire Department headquarters.  The administration boasts that the new develop will generate $500,000 in property taxes and $275,000 in income taxes annually once the project is completed; however, all of the property taxes revenues will be captured by the downtown TIF district, which is used as a slush fund by the Mayor to hand out tax dollars to developers and contractors who bankroll his campaign, pay for his overseas junkets and lavish him and his wife with gifts and free country club memberships.

The Trivializing Of Presidential Elections

An appearance on Jay Leno's "Tonight Show" or "The View" is as close as you're going to get to a serious interview with the President of the United States to make the case that he deserves four more years.