Obama Shouldn't Get A Pass On This

This may be a bit uncomfortable but it warrants pointing out. Obama made this brief video appearance today to talk about his Grandmother, spinning it somewhat into a character/judgment issue: "I didn't want to make the same mistake twice." That's because he said his Mother died before he was able to get back to see her.

Also keep in mind Obama used his Mother's illness for a commercial on health care:

My mother died of cancer at 53. In those last painful months, she was more worried about paying her medical bills than getting well.

- and has invoked her name repeatedly with regard to his book.

"I think sometimes that had I known she would not survive her illness, I might have written a different book - less a meditation on the absent parent, more a celebration of the one who was the single constant in my life," he wrote in the preface to his memoir, "Dreams From My Father."

Now Obama's Mother was diagnosed with both ovarian and uterine cancer in 1994.

In 1994, Ann Durham returned to Hawaii to be near her widowed mother after being diagnosed with ovarian cancer and uterine cancer. A year later, while son Barack Obama was making his first run for political office, Ann Durham died.

She didn't pass until November of 1995.

Ann died on November 7, 1995 at age 52.

Obama wasn't running for anything the whole time she was dying. He wasn't elected until 1996 a full year after her death.

Obama was elected to the Illinois Senate in 1996

Obama didn't "launch" anything until 1995 at the home of Bill Ayers.

The prognosis for ovarian cancer remains poor to this day.

Obama paints himself as this empathic figure. Yet, we know he has a step-brother living in a hut in Kenya, or wherever. And his Mother lay dying for almost if not a full year without a visit from her son - and now he trots her out in commercial because she was fighting with insurance companies?

Doesn't that bother anyone? It doesn't add up to someone who cares about anyone but himself if you ask me.

My mother died of cancer at 53. In those last painful months, she was more worried about paying her medical bills than getting well.

And this man is the guy who is supposed to care about health care issues for everyone else? You're kidding me right? A Harvard grad and a lawyer and he lets his Mother lay dying in pain and worry for a year without so much as a visit?

Frankly, that's repulsive as far as I'm concerned. He couldn't see his Mother because he was running the CAC and having lunch with Bill Ayers? Geesh!

Comments

[Dan Riehl]

"" Robert Leroy Riehl Born: 05 Jan 1948 Died: 21 Jun 2004"

Yes, sad. I don't know why people think this is some kind of card to play. If you knew the whole story you'd realize it isn't. And bringing him up not only isn't relevant, it doesn't bother me at all. It's nice to see his name on the Internet, again. That's where I learned of his death after looking for him for years.

[seekeronos]

Hey Harpo, here's somethnig for you to chew on for a wee bit - and why Obama is a dirty, filthy liar who lyingly tells lies:

Do be a good sport and read it all ( http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/opinion/letters/orl-mywordeakin2108oct21,0,7704841.story ) before parroting off from your Soros and Kos approved list of talking points.

"-------------------------------------------------------------
Why McCain is right on health care

Doug Holtz-Eakin
October 21, 2008

Senior citizens of America: Your Medicare benefits are safe; the Democrat nominee for president is not. Health-care reform is one of the most important issues in this campaign, and voters deserve an honest discussion of the issue.

Unfortunately, despite pledging to campaign according to a "new type of politics," Barack Obama has adopted one of the oldest tricks in politics: Hide the truth about your own policies, attack the opponent. Let's review the facts...

(read the rest here: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/opinion/letters/orl-mywordeakin2108oct21,0,7704841.story )

[seekeronos]

Dan, Typepad seems to be burping up errors rather badly.

[bargal20]

" Robert Leroy Riehl Born: 05 Jan 1948 Died: 21 Jun 2004

That was an older brother of mine, John. He’s dead and, yes, he was Gay. You want to know how he died? He died alone, probably of aids for all I know and probably in a San Francisco flop house living on the government’s dime. I say probably because it was the last address I ever had for him from letters exchanged, not having seen the boy/man since I was about 15"
--Dan Reihl, proudly sharing his history of compassion for a brother.

http://www.riehlworldview.com/carnivorous_conservative/2006/10/ballon_juice_ex.html

[mary]

"Group asks IRS to investigate Catholic bishop against Obama
Posted 11h 40m ago"

Stuff like this, going after the churches, seem to be occurring more and more. What happened to freedom of speech?

[bargal20]

Mary,

Churches are free to endorse or oppose political candidates if they give up their tax-free status.

No one forces churches to claim tax free status. They're entirely free to give up that status, after which they can endorse or oppose any candidate they like.

[charlie]

wow another lie by obama, thats a suprise ha ha ha. thats all he does is lie. he lies about his own voting record on everything from abortion to guns to taxes. i wonder why the media lets him get away with it? they will be screwed and suffer also is God forbid he would become president. say no to the evil obama and yes to McCain

[Fred Beloit]

Hey, A-- H---. "Disagreeing with someone's policies is fine. Attacking someone over the death of his mother when you have no clue about the circumstances of her death is, to steal a word from SallyVee, perverted.
Show a little bit of class and go back to attacking Obama for something besides a death in the family."

OBAMA is the one who brought up the story of his mother to try to sell his socialistic health care scam. Now cut the horse crap, WorstEver, or people will get the idea you are a sanctimonious hypocrite.

[Fred Beloit]

To Mr/Ms Ever, with affection and devotion:
Hey, A-- H---. "Disagreeing with someone's policies is fine. Attacking someone over the death of his mother when you have no clue about the circumstances of her death is, to steal a word from SallyVee, perverted.
Show a little bit of class and go back to attacking Obama for something besides a death in the family."

OBAMA is the one who brought up the story of his mother to try to sell his socialistic health care scam. Now cut the horse crap, WorstEver, or people will get the idea you are a sanctimonious hypocrite.

Posted by: Fred Beloit | Thursday, October 23, 2008 at 10:26 AM

[Lala]

This is what the Bishop's spokesman has to say =

The Paterson diocese said Serratelli's column was focused on proposed abortion legislation, not the upcoming presidential election.

"It's absolutely, positively misleading to say that the bishop urged Catholics not to vote for Sen. Obama," the diocese said in a statement.

[templar knight]

"OBAMA is the one who brought up the story of his mother to try to sell his socialistic health care scam."

Exactly, Fred, which makes him fair game for hypocrite of the year, along with several liberal posters here, namely Worst, jharpo, chris/Boob and a few others, not counting sock puppets.

And as an aside, it is odd how agnostics and atheists know so much about who is a real Christian and who isn't.

[Fred Beloit]

You know Temp, there was a time when I looked forward to my vacations, get away from it all for a while, etc. Now I look forward to Harpo's vacations so I can get away from him/her for a while. My worst fear is that Harpsie will get a laptop. Oh noes!

[rFa]

"He died alone, probably of aids for all I know and probably in a San Francisco flop house living on the government’s dime."

Family values much -or just Epic FAIL.

[tk]

He is pure trash and how these morons will vote for him is amazing. I guess the answer is when you pay no taxes and are told you will receive some money from your fellow citizens if only you look the other way, you vote for him an say to hell to democracy.

[rFa]

"He died alone, probably of aids for all I know and probably in a San Francisco flop house living on the government’s dime. "

You need a pass?

[Dan Riehl]

"You need a pass?"

No, why do you ask? See, I did the right thing - trying to find my brother for years. I only did because his name came up on a social security death benefit database. That's opposed to Obama who allowed his Mother to lie there and suffer for a year without so much as a visit. Then he trots her out in a commercial?

The man has no shame. If they were estranged, I can understand that. But then his using her in a commercial makes him dirt.

I have nothing to hide as regards my Brother and nothing to apologize for either.

[Dan Riehl]

Oh btw - fra - while we're on the subject of Brothers - how about this. I tried to find my half-brother for years. Obama knows where his is - living on a dollar a day in some grass hut while he lives in a 1.6 million dollar hut and Obama does nothing to help him out. In fact, he wants him hidden away.

And this is your new messiah? LMAO Wait until you morons see what you bought -= the decrepid housing projects for which he got his rich contributors money to maintain and they allowed the people to live in squalor and filth.

Even if you elect him, don't think you're getting the last laugh. If anything, he'll come to represent the downfall of the Left, not the Right in the end. The idiot has been an epic failure at everything he has done besides read a speech. ; )

[Spartan112]

I find it interested that you insisted on including "And probably on the governments dime"...just couldn't let that pass even for you brother. You know nothing of Obama's situation other than what you are trying to piece together. Let it go. She died. He wasn't there. It wasn't the first time a child missed a parents death and it won't be the last.

[Karen]

There's something NOT RIGHT about Obama. Lies spill out of him effortlessly as he expects us to accept them as truths. His eyes look dead.

[seekeronos]

"--- You really are a venal piece of **** you know that. Haven't talked to your brother for 15+ years, but you'll judge how Barack handles his family? ---"

Dan's not running for POTUS, nor is his dealings with his family relevant to the discussion that Obama's character is marked by selfishness and and a particular disregard for the whites in his family.

Obama must be a believer in that old Jim Crow bit about the "one drop of blood" rule.

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'--- i think seeker is a troll. A liberal pretending to be a conservative christian. No one could be that stupid. The relentlessness is quite amazing though, kudos to you liberal troll. ---"

I guess that is about as close of a compliment as I will ever get out of you, O fellow traveller. Fa! fa! fa!

But no, really: I'm a paleo-conservative. The closest we might ever come to agreeing is that the interventionist war(s) in the Middle East were all-around bad ideas. All that other socialist hogwash has nothing to do with me.

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"---
Mary,

Churches are free to endorse or oppose political candidates if they give up their tax-free status.

No one forces churches to claim tax free status. They're entirely free to give up that status, after which they can endorse or oppose any candidate they like.
---"

Quite true. In fact, as a Christian, I'd support the abandonment of ALL tax shelters for churches and religious institutions (apart from charity organisations they operate beyond the normal ecclesiastic function of the church) as such a thing is unconstitutional.

Yet, that is EXACTLY what that tax exempt status was originally intended for: most churches do operate community outreaches of some sort or another. Yet, Big Brother doesn't like competition at all, and in the coming hyper-interventionist Welfare State where we will outdo the Euro-socialists by a country mile... I think churches (especially socially conservative, traditional, fundamental Christian churches) will be shuttered as soon as Obama can possible do so without seeming to "totalitarian" about it.

Funny thing is, the government (and specifically the IRS) never was really used to use a church's 501(3)c as an anti-free speech tool until this election.

Of course, Jeremiah Wright's church gets a free pass because they are liberal, and they will invariably support Papa Doc Obama once he is crowned.

You watch though - this will become a billy club the liberals and the baby-killing wing of the party to openly persecute true, Bible-believing churches out of legal existence: for if you give a liberal an inch, he takes a mile; and once he has the mile, he'll go for the entire parsec.

Ultimately, it will bear watching to see if churches themselves don't become regulated much like the German Catholics and Lutherans were forced to swear allegiance to Der Führer... and the ones that didn't... well, let's just say that Deitrich Bonhoeffer knows a thing or three about how national Socialists react to the preaching and teaching of the Holy-Ghost inspired Word of God.

[seekeronos]

"--- Let it go. She died. He wasn't there. It wasn't the first time a child missed a parents death and it won't be the last. ---"

No, we shall not "let it go". Obama is a vile, lying snake, a deceiver and a (small "a") antichrist who puffs himself up to be a god, and then tries to make a few points off the carcass of his dead mother, whom he seems to have so hated, that he could not bear to visit her in her dying weeks, days, and hours.

That he would use his mother's rotten carcass as fodder for his talking points does not underscore any remorse or loss he feels for her, but is very much the mark of a man who'd sell his own mother to save his neck.

A malapert, a jackanapes, and a fiend most foul, an enemy of this republic, an a vile man entirely lacking even the smallest mote of honour is this Chicago Charlatan!

[Dan Riehl]

"I find it interested that you insisted on including "And probably on the governments dime"...just couldn't let that pass even for you brother."

Spartan - I'm going to respond to this once, as you are a regular here. First - that quote was posted the day I learned of his death - through a deep search using fucking Google, okay? I tried to get in touch with the man for years.

The conversation at the time was about hate crime legislation. My brother experienced more than one of those in his life. He was sent to reform school as a teen in part for being gay - it was the late fifteies, early sixties. He was ten years older than me. He disappeared. Next I heard of him he was thrown into a commercial clothes cryer in Denver Colorado and burned over most of his body - for being Gay. I only found out about it when the state came looking for money for medical expenses - skin grafts, a year of hospitalization, etc. I saw him after that and then he disappeared again. I got one letter after that sking for money. He lived on social security. All I had was a phone number for him to a pay phone in a hall phone in a San Francisco flop house and no one there knew where he went.

WHen homosexuals go on about discrimination today it's a fucking joke. They don't even know what it is. My position is that all people, gay straight, black white should be equal in the eyes of God and the law, so we don't need hate crimes legislation. That's all that argument was about.

Now you know more than you need to know about my brother. So how about telling me why your fucking messiah left his Mother alone to die for a year and doesn't have the dignity to help his peasant brother out. And if you can't answer it, the STFU.

[seekeronos]

More on Churches and tax exempt status:

It appears that churches need not specifically file for 501(3)(c) status, but are inherently exempt.

http://spofga.org/ten_commandments/2006/feb/church_info.php

Specifically, according to IRS rules, churches are forbidden from publicly endorsing or advocating the defeat of a "clearly identified candidate".

However, this was a move engineered by the socialist LBJ as a means of subjugating churches under the yoke of the state.

[Jake]

"I think sometimes that had I known she would not survive her illness, I might have written a different book - less a meditation on the absent parent, more a celebration of the one who was the single constant in my life,"

Read these words carefully and note the 'What-if' ploy that allows him to spin from victim to martyr. The man is a phony. Also realize that his mother would have died sooner or later. Death by natural causes would have taken away the 'use' of her for his own political advantage. He is a most revolting human. Carpe mors immatura.

[Scrapiron]

If Hussein is concerned that his grandmother might take a sudden turn for the worse and die, how is it possible to tell the world he will take a few days to visit her a week ahead of time. I served around the world and when my Mother or Father fell gravely ill I was on the next plane home. I made several trips where they recovered but that never stopped me from returning the next time they were ill. Both eventully died and I was there for both of them at the time of their death.

[Tom]

A real man wouldn't have let his brother die alone:

Dan Riehl wrote this in response to John Cole:

"Robert Leroy Riehl Born: 05 Jan 1948 Died: 21 Jun 2004

"That was an older brother of mine, John. He’s dead and, yes, he was Gay. You want to know how he died? He died alone, probably of aids for all I know and probably in a San Francisco flop house living on the government’s dime. I say probably because it was the last address I ever had for him from letters exchanged, not having seen the boy/man since I was about 15."

[bargal20]

Why did Dan Rieihl let his brother die in misery and poverty? That wasn't very christian of him.

[jaime]

Dan Riehl let his brother die penniless in the street, because Dan felt that's how all gays should die.

And seek is still gonna go to hell.

[chris]

Cmon. It's one thing to get personal about some things - it's quite another to talk about someone's dead sibling. It's really not a credit to any of you.

[JesusCrispy]

What about your brother Dan, who you left to die alone of AIDS? I guess he doesn't count as a human since he was gay and deserved to die.

[JesusCrispy]

Chris,
It's not a credit to you not to be able to understand the duplicitous nature of Dan's supposed Christian values.
Jesus

[seekeronos]

"--- Why did Dan Rieihl (sic) let his brother die in misery and poverty? That wasn't very christian of him. ---"

Neither was (supposedly) scamming people out of $37,000 and then faking an abortion (could you possibly have used a faker doll!!).

And for Jaimey:

(a) you are an extremely dense, or extremely hateful thing. Dan already explained himself and his situation, much more than he needed to, about his brother in this same post. You should be fortunate that Dan is so patient with twerps like you. If this were my blog, I would have ban-hammered you some time ago.

(b) Don't you worry about my salvation. You on the other hand, should be very worried about your soul. You are dominated by your hatred.

(c) When even *chris* points out your over-the-top behaviour, you know something has to be very wrong with you.

Get help, now.

[seekeronos]

Dan, FWIW... you have my unsolicited support to IP ban these creeps.

[Dan Riehl]

Oh, they're just sad angry people Seek. That's why they need a government to run their lives. They've made themselves miserable on their own, so they figure why not try that. They need a higher power and are scared to death of a concept of God - so I guess Obama will have to do for them for now. How sad is that? Geesh. Worshiping just another political huckster as one's calling in life? Pathetic.

[Lala]

Chris; a liberal with a heart. I'm impressed.

[chris]

Be even more impressed on 11/5.

I do stand by what i said - some things just aren't right.

[Teleprompter Messiah]

This is a rather unseemly discussion. All of us can have regrets about not doing something when we had the chance. All of us can and do make mistakes.

The One has at least gone to visit with the person who was a true parent and anchor in his life: his grandmother.

The only redeeming thing I can see in The One is that despite being abandoned by his parents, he seems to be a genuinely loving father to his girls. Such is an example worthy of emulation, and no one should gainsay it.

Now, none of that qualifies him to be President nor does it qualify him to take my earnings and give it to someone else. Just in a world where the explosion in out-of-wedlock child births creates manifold social problems, there is something else to point at other than thugs and gangsters as examples of the "good life" and the pathway there.

[Spartan112]

Now you know more than you need to know about my brother. So how about telling me why your fucking messiah left his Mother alone to die for a year and doesn't have the dignity to help his peasant brother out. And if you can't answer it, the STFU.

Posted by: Dan Riehl | Thursday, October 23, 2008 at 12:08 PM

Dan you'll notice I never made comment about you "abandoning" your brother as I figured there was much more to it than some people were posting, I'd be willing to bet the same is true with Obama and the situation with his mother but you're to "enraged" to ask. My only comment was that I found it fascinating that you insisted on pointing out that your brother was living on "the government dime" at the time of his death, as if that were in any way relevant.

[Nimrod Gently]

They have buildings in Kenya, for God's sake.

[chris]

"Just in a world where the explosion in out-of-wedlock child births creates manifold social problems, there is something else to point at other than thugs and gangsters as examples of the "good life" and the pathway there."

So is that Bristle girl going to have a bastard or what?

[seekeronos]

If you mean Bristol Palin, unless I am mistaken, she is to marry her boyfriend/fiancé Levi, and he shall be a good daddy to his little baby.

And TM, I'll certainly say that Obama is by far a better role model to his little girls than the typical black man.

[chris]

What are they waiting for? How WT is it to get married 8 months pregnant. She should do it barefoot with a Winston in her mouth.

[Spartan112]

"she is to marry her boyfriend/fiancé Levi, and he shall be a good daddy to his little baby."

You have this on what authority? Maybe he'll be a lousy dad...he certainly likes his booze.

[chris]

And Wasilla is the meth capital of Alaska.

[Dan Riehl]

"that your brother was living on "the government dime" at the time of his death, as if that were in any way relevant."

Sparto - it's typical leftist pap - not saying you. When I posted that I was not angry at my brother or attempting to insult or smear him. It's a loss I'll never be able to address as we never had a chance to really even know one another. He ended up very troubled - not hard to see why.

I was angry at a very intolerant society circa late-fifties, early sixties that drove him under and eventually into the ground when I made that post on my blog. The fact that yhe was reduced to living off the government wasn't intended to be a reflection on him - he was a victim and I have never seen him as anything else.

[Dan Riehl]

Oh and the leftist pap part is that idiots who don't know the story think they have somkething on me with it. Not the case at all. As I said, I owe no apologies, did everything I could in that regard. But even given his heinous treatment in Denver I do not support hate crime legislation. They should have hanged or shoot the perps whether it was a Gay brother or a straight busniess man. Equal justice under the law for everyone.

But the perps were never caught so far as I know. Hell, we was just a wandering fag. I imagine that was the sentiment of the Colorado police back in those days anyway.

[templar knight]

Dang it, chris, you almost make me like you, and then you screw it up! Oh, well, I don't know if my old heart would survive a "nice and well-mannered" chris. It would be too much of a shock. Kudos to you, anyway, chris!

[Spartan112]

You're making my point Dan...you don't know the whole story between Obama and his mother. Don't pretend to.

[SacTownMan]

Brother Knight don't let this one instance of the "Sock Puppet" showing a conscience sway you, he's still a hateful little troll!!

The scary part is I feel the same way when the attacks become personal or try to use family members to bolster their points.

Now lets just hope that the "king of pork" Murtha get his ass handed to him by those "redneck", "racists", Next they can remember Xerxes calling them "bitter" and "clingy" and help end the run of the Manchurian troll.

[Lea]

I think it's poor form to go after Obama not visiting his mother in the hospital. They may have been estranged for good reason and we don't know their relationship.

However, I do think it's strange that he had this bad relationship with his mother, but he brings her up in all these campaign appearances. He keeps talking about how he was brough up by a "single mother" when she was married a good bit of that time, and then a good bit of another time he lived with his grandmother. So I"m not sure where the single mother thing comes in.

I also think it's strange to use your mothers situation at death in the hospital as a point in a debate if you didn't bother to go to see her in said hospital. Like, if you say your mother had to deal with the insurance companies, well, wouldn't a son who gave a shit help her with that? It's juts a little odd.