The following story reports on a condemnation that was apparently sent by Barack Obama or his campaign to “JTA, Jewish and Israel News” early Friday:

A pro-Hamas op-ed printed in his church’s bulletin is “outrageously wrong,” Barack Obama said.

In an issue dated July 22, 2007, in a section titled “Pastor’s Page,” the church reprinted an article by Hamas official Mousa Abu Marzook in which he justifies Hamas’ withholding of recognition of Israel’s right to exist. The article originally appeared as an op-ed in the Los Angeles Times.

The church’s pastor, Jeremiah Wright, who retired this year, has already stirred controversy for the U.S. senator campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination with earlier statements likening Israel to colonialists and blaming attacks on the United States in part on its support for Israel.

“I have already condemned my former pastor’s views on Israel in the strongest possible terms, and I certainly wasn’t in church when that outrageously wrong Los Angeles Times piece was re-printed in the bulletin,” Obama said in a statement emailed to JTA late Thursday, and referring to critics who noted that Obama had been in church when Wright had made controversial statements. “Hamas is a terrorist organization, responsible for the deaths of many innocents, and dedicated to Israel’s destruction, as evidenced by their bombarding of Sderot in recent months. I support requiring Hamas to meet the international community’s conditions of recognizing Israel, renouncing violence, and abiding by past agreements before they are treated as a legitimate actor.”

Jeremiah Wright, who in Obama’s Huffington Post entry just a week ago was described as “in the process of retiring,” completed the process of being “retired” pretty darned quickly, didn’t he?

Also, for what it’s worth, Obama appears to be admitting that he HAS read the church bulletin when he HAS attended TUCC.

It’s quite the interesting choice of communication outlet, don’t you think? Especially because, as far as I can tell, the statement is nowhere to be found in the Newsroom section of the candidate’s campaign web site, even though the Obama family’s Purim statement JTA refers to later in the post linked above is there.

Well, IF the above condemnation explains away July 22nd, 2007, that still leaves the rest of the month unexplained, and heaven knows what else in 20 years’ worth of Trinity United Church bulletins, roughly 100 of which yours truly possesses.

These would be the same bulletins containing blank “Sermon Notes” pages (examples here, here, and here) that attendees who wish to take notes would ordinarily use during the service. Obama was reported to be taking notes during a sermon by a New Republic journalist in a March 2007 TNR article (Google search link here; alternative link here), and would reasonably be expected to have been taking those referred-to notes in that week’s church bulletin.

If I didn’t know better (actually, I believe I do), the campaign wants to be able to claim that it issued a denunciation, while making sure as few people as possible know about what gave rise to the need for it.

Clever? Yes.

Effective? We’ll see.

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UPDATE, March 22: The condemnation above won’t be effective without an explanation of this (”How Barack Obama learned to love Israel,” in the Pali-sympathetic Electronic Intifada; HT LGF via Gateway Pundit):

The last time I spoke to Obama was in the winter of 2004 at a gathering in Chicago’s Hyde Park neighborhood. He was in the midst of a primary campaign to secure the Democratic nomination for the United States Senate seat he now occupies. But at that time polls showed him trailing.

As he came in from the cold and took off his coat, I went up to greet him. He responded warmly, and volunteered, “Hey, I’m sorry I haven’t said more about Palestine right now, but we are in a tough primary race. I’m hoping when things calm down I can be more up front.” He referred to my activism, including columns I was contributing to the The Chicago Tribune critical of Israeli and US policy, “Keep up the good work!”

(sarc alert) But why should we question his pro-Israel position now? After all, he’s been soooooo forthright with us about everything else. How could we eeeeeeever question his sincerity? (/sarc)

UPDATE 2, March 22: Debbie Schlussel has exclusive info from a former Obama campaign insider — “Obama’s Nation of Islam Staffers, Edward Said & “Inflexible Jews” Causing Mid-East Conflict: An Obama Insider Reveals the Real Barack”:

Obama employed and continues to employ several Farrakhan acolytes in high positions on his Illinois and U.S. Senate campaign and office staffs. I have verified that this person–who agreed to talk on the condition of anonymity–held a key position in the Obama campaign. The insider was so close to Senator Obama that they frequently personally discussed and exchanged direct e-mail messages on campaign and policy matters. This person is not connected with the Clintons and is not a disgruntled employee.

….. But it’s not just that he employed these individuals in positions of power in his office, it’s that when the former associate raised objections, he says Mr. Obama’s position was that he saw nothing wrong with the Nation of Islam and didn’t think it was a problem. If true ….. Obama’s condemnation of Farrakhan, this month, is phony.

Read the whole thing.

UPDATE 3, March 22: Thanks to others noting this post — Gateway Pundit, Clarice Feldman at American Thinker and Jillosophy,

It’s here.

I will post it Sunday afternoon or evening under the title, “Kelo Calamity: What Has Happened in New London after the Kelo Decision Shows Why the Supremes’ Ruling Was Wrong.”

Not quite, but this is as close as we’ll ever get without video footage.

Why do I say that?

The answer is about halfway through Ryan Lizza’s March 19, 2007 article in The New Republic, “The Agitator: Barack Obama’s Unlikely Political Education” (accessed from this Google search [3rd and 4th listed results], though I thought TNR was a subscriber site; alternative link is here; HT to an anonymous e-mailer).

Lizza’s article has this interesting paragraph about halfway through:

On this particular Sunday, the sea of black worshippers is dotted with a few white folks up in the balcony, clutching copies of The Audacity of Hope they’ve brought for Obama’s book-signing later. Obama, sitting in the third row with his wife and two daughters, Malia and Natasha, stands, claps, prays, and sways along with the rest of the congregation. During the sermon, he watches the preacher carefully and writes notes. When asked by Wright to say a few words, Obama grabs the microphone and stands. “I love you all,” he says. “It’s good to be back home.” The 150-person choir breaks into a chorus of “Barack, Hallelujah! Barack, Hallelujah!”

The next question would be, “Where was he recording his notes?”

Allow me to suggest where.

If “this particular Sunday” happened to be March 4, 2007, there’s a pretty good chance that the presidential candidate I often refer to as BOOHOO (Barack O-bomba Overseas Hussein “Obambi” Obama) would have been taking notes here, in the church’s bulletin for that day:

If, however, Lizza’s “particular Sunday” of observation was February 25, it would be reasonable to expect that Obama’s note-taking would have taken place here:

If the “particular Sunday” was February 18, here:

You get the point.

The Reverend Wright may be a raging racist (see Update at link) and terrorist sympathizer, but he also knows about effective communication and message reinforcement. The weekly church bulletin of the Trinity United Church of Christ is, from all appearances, provided to anyone who wishes to have one before the service begins, so that anyone wanting to take notes during the Sermon can do so — in the bulletin itself — and is thus more likely to remember, refer to, and act on the Reverend’s message(s) later.

So it would appear quite likely that Barack Obama, at least on the “particular Sunday” Ryan Lizza observed, had a church bulletin in his hands, and was writing his sermon notes in it. It doesn’t seem like much of a stretch that he would have, “on this particular Sunday,” and on other Sundays, read some of the bulletins’ other contents — including, in July 2007, that which was covered here back on Monday. Getting to the “Pastor’s Pages” — the site of the handiwork of Wright, his pastoral assistants, and his guest writers — would in most weeks ordinarily have required flipping over just one or two pages.

The idea that Barack Obama didn’t grasp the full scope of Wright’s horror show until the time he declared his presidential candidacy has lost virtually all of its plausible deniability.

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UPDATE: Separately, the name of Saul Alinsky appears in connection with Obama’s activism 38 times in the New Republic article, showing yet again the negligible philosophical difference between Obama and the candidate I often refer to as HR4C (Hillary Rodham Cackling Crying Complaining Clinton), whose thesis was about Alinsky-type activism.

UPDATE 2: Additional point — the first bolded item in the excerpt above pretty much establishes that Obama was routinely exposing his young daughters, currently 9 and 6 (last paragraph at link), to Wright’s rants, instead of putting them into a Sunday school class while the adult service took place, as happens in some congregations. Nice.

UPDATE 3: There is a new blog, The Truth About Trinity, that is attempting a defense of the church and the Rev. Wright. The blog’s author appears to think that this (”Why The United Nations Agrees with Pastor Jeremiah Wright”) is helpful to their cause. Uh, not exactly.

http://truthabouttrinity.blogspot.com/2008/03/boyce-watkins-why-united-nations-agrees.html

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Previous Related Posts:
- March 21 — Hamas-Obama-Wright Resonates
- March 20 — Church Bulletin Bonus: Omid Safi and the Progressive Muslim Union (PMU)
- March 20 — Another ‘Close Religious Adviser’ to Obama Old Media Has Ignored
- March 19 — Obama: The Pummeling by Perceptive Pundits Proceeds (with the Candidate Inadvertently Pitching in)
- March 18 — Analyses of the Day: Allah and Shelby Steele Nail Obama’s ‘Checkers’ Speech
- March 18 — Ahead of Obama’s ‘Checkers’ Speech ….
- March 17 — TUCC’s Church Bulletins from July 2007 Probably Make Whether Obama Was Present on July 22 Irrelevant
- March 17 — Blogger Patterico Calls Out LA Times Coverage of Obama-Wright
- March 16 — Obama Gives a Nod to Wright
- March 15 — Obama Has Not Set Things Right about Wright
- March 13 — The People Who Have Given Me Grief Over the Use of Barack Obama’s Middle Name …..

The exposure here at BizzyBlog on Monday of Reverend Jeremiah Wright’s clearly terror-sympathetic decision to reprint “A Fresh View of the Palestinian Struggle” (originally “Hamas’ stand” when it appeared in the Los Angeles Times) in the July 22 edition of the Trinity United Church of Christ’s weekly bulletin has garnered quite a bit of attention. The author of the reprinted article is an indicted terrorist (indictment here), one Mousa Abu Marzook, who is HAMAS’s political director and a fugitive from justice believed to be in Syria.

In an update yesterday, I noted that astute readers better versed in jihad-related matters also pointed to another item in the original post, a July 8 church bulletin column by Obid Safi of the Progressive Muslims Union. That organization’s “progressive” nature has been called into question.

Both items have, justifiably, raised further “What did he know and when did he know it?” and “What does he really believe?” questions about the presidential candidate I frequently refer to as BOOHOO (Barack O-bomba Overseas Hussein “Obambi” Obama).

Here is a roundup of some of the reaction elsewhere.

Melanie Phillips at the UK Spectator Online:

Did Obama, as a worshipper at the Trinity church, receive this bulletin through his letter-box? Did he read this article? Did he agree with it? How can he so brazenly continue to affirm his commitment to such a pastor and such a church?

Debbie Schlussel defended my status as original source for this story; I greatly appreciate that defense. I didn’t notice it at first, but another outfit, namely WorldNetDaily, dressed up the news as an “exclusive,” and linked only to the JPEG of the sermon instead of the post. They have fixed the link, which is fine, but I have since learned from another source that WND’s definition of “exclusive” is “any article that is exclusively at their site.” Zheesh — that’s really weak.

Right Turns — “A Friend to Hamas”:

Jeremiah Wright is the gift that keeps on giving. Barack Hussein Obama (this time his middle name will fit) has lain down with the white-hating, America-hating, Jew-hating angry black man. Lain down for twenty years; given tens of thousands of dollars to the man’s church; and, given the choice, repudiated not him but his grandma. Along with all “typical white people.”

The Strata-Sphere notes interesting timing:

At the same time Osama Bin Laden calls for jihad against Israel (presumably to divert US and international forces from their plans to take out al-Qaeda’s last refuge in the lawless tribal areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan) we learn Democrat presidential candidate Obama’s church was distributing Hamas literature calling for the destruction of Israel. Can the coincidences get any more bizarre?

This Ongoing War:

A Chicago pastor, recently famous for ministering to one of the Democratic Party’s leading contenders for president of the United States, evidently thinks Hamas is decent enough, religious enough, acceptable enough to get pride of place in his church’s newsletter.

The Hamas manifesto published in the Chicago church’s letter (extract pictured above right) defends terrorism as legitimate resistance, refuses to recognize the right of Israel to exist and compares the terror group’s official charter – which calls for the murder of Jews – to America’s Declaration of Independence.

Gateway Pundit:

Maybe, this should not be so shocking since the Reverend Jeremiah Wright is a former Muslim and black nationalist.

Infidels Are Cool:

Call me a crypto-racist, but something is seriously wrong with Obama if he continues to defend his church. Are these liberal Obamaniacs going to put this guy in office? It’s not even about his Pastor anymore. It makes you wonder what the elders, associate pastors and congregation believe as well.

Israpundit:

The onus is on Obama, not only to disown such views, but to prove he doesn’t harbour them. After choosing this church because of Wright and staying there for 20 years, Obama will be very hard pressed to do so.

Doug Ross:

As a reminder, Hamas’ attacks on civilians have killed scores of Israelis and Americans.

Even more unsettling is the realization that Barack Obama was aware of Wright’s virulent anti-Semitic leanings, his implicit support for terror and obvious racism and chose to do nothing. Instead of divorcing himself from this hateful loser, he instead wedded his campaign to his “spiritual mentor”, adviser and friend.

Patterico (read the whole things):

• March 20 — Wright’s Stance on Israel Could Cost Obama Jewish Votes
• March 19 — Why Wright Will Remain Important — How Many Degrees of Separation Between Obama and Black Nationalist Separatist Movement?

Others: ALERT, Seraphic Secret, Fausta, Steve’s Blogspot, Pamela at Atlas.

Go to Technorati for more.

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Previous Related Posts:
- March 20 — Church Bulletin Bonus: Omid Safi and the Progressive Muslim Union (PMU)
- March 20 — Another ‘Close Religious Adviser’ to Obama Old Media Has Ignored
- March 19 — Obama: The Pummeling by Perceptive Pundits Proceeds (with the Candidate Inadvertently Pitching in)
- March 18 — Analyses of the Day: Allah and Shelby Steele Nail Obama’s ‘Checkers’ Speech
- March 18 — Ahead of Obama’s ‘Checkers’ Speech ….
- March 17 — TUCC’s Church Bulletins from July 2007 Probably Make Whether Obama Was Present on July 22 Irrelevant
- March 17 — Blogger Patterico Calls Out LA Times Coverage of Obama-Wright
- March 16 — Obama Gives a Nod to Wright
- March 15 — Obama Has Not Set Things Right about Wright
- March 13 — The People Who Have Given Me Grief Over the Use of Barack Obama’s Middle Name …..

When Kos, the Rush Limbaugh of the lefty blogosphere, suggested that Dems cross over (”Let’s have some fun in Michigan”) and vote for Objectively Unfit Mitt Romney in the Michigan primary, the howls of protest on the left over the use of this tactic were ….. non-existent.

In fact, many of the self-styled “leading lights” of the leftosphere thought the idea was pretty cute, including this guy …..

….. who is — savor this — now full-bore behind the Cuyahoga County-based idea to prosecute — yes, PROSECUTE — Republicans who crossed over to vote in Ohio’s Democratic primary (links here and here):

Eliot Spitzer is was Mr. Congeniality compared to this guy.

At long last, Jerid, have you no shame? Oh, I’ve seen your “Michigan does not use a party pledge system” excuse. How, hopelessly, lame — and maybe wrong.

The bottom line, pal, is that Dems LOVE open primaries they can tamper with; that’s “fun.” But heaven forbid anyone turn the tables on them; why, that’s “malicious” (word actually used by the Plain Dealer reporter covering the Ohio story)!

To be clear, as I’ve stated previously, I don’t think it’s a good idea to vote for someone you don’t really want to ultimately win. But that’s my personal call.

In the real world, if CuyaCo Dems want to motivate Ohio Republicans to turn out in droves in November, they should go right ahead with their show trial. Give it enough visibility, and it could be a national motivator. If the county BOE and prosecutor really do run with the idea, Rush and his 15-20 million listeners will be having more “fun” than human beings should be allowed to have for weeks.

If I were a CuyaCo GOP crossover, I’d send a letter to the Board of Elections, c/o Sandy McNair (that would be “Mr. McNair,” in case you’re confused by Jerid’s posts), and the county prosecutor, saying “Please, PLEASE arrest me.” I would even consider making a special trip to the prosecutor’s office to expedite the process.

Wouldn’t it be “fun” if a whole bunch of people did either, or both?

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UPDATE, 1 PM: Rush is already having fun with this.

UPDATE 2, 1:10 PM: Meanwhile, the Columbus Dispatch’s “The Daily Briefing” blog has this title on a related post — “Brunner staying out of Cuyahoga crossover fuss.” Well, yes and no:

However, she is asking county boards of elections for more information on crossovers, based on the record primary turnout and especially high vote in the Democratic primary compared with the Republican primary, Ortega said.

Unless it seceded from Ohio while I wasn’t looking (we can’t get that lucky), Cuyahoga’s BOE would be one of those Brunner is looking at “for more information on crossovers.”

UPDATE 3, 1:15 PM: Allah weighs in –

Here’s the statute, although the mechanics are convoluted so you’re better off reading Wired’s analysis. Essentially, you’re only in trouble if you perjure yourself by signing an affidavit affirming your new loyalty — but the affidavits are supposed to be demanded as a matter of course and if you refuse to sign you only get a provisional ballot. Exit question: Should we expect any bipartisan outrage over this like we saw when the Virginia GOP toyed with the idea of a loyalty oath for their own primary? Or are we playing by Obama rules here, where ordinary political sins are absolved if it benefits the left to do so?

UPDATE 4, 2 P.M.: It looks like Plan B is to go after Limbaugh himself. Fine — prosecute Kos too. Pass the popcorn.

What a bunch of whiners at the New York Times (link may require free registration; bold is mine):

The Justice Department used some of its most intrusive tactics against Eliot Spitzer, examining his financial records, eavesdropping on his phone calls and tailing him during its criminal investigation of the Emperor’s Club prostitution ring.

The scale and intensity of the investigation of Mr. Spitzer, then the governor of New York, seemed on its face to be a departure for the Justice Department, which aggressively investigates allegations of wrongdoing by public officials, but almost never investigates people who pay prostitutes for sex.

Uh, guys, that’s because he was a governor, and executive powers to play favorites in any number of matters, vulnerable to blackmail. Someone actually has to explain that to you?

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John “Dingaling” Dingell is an entrenched congressman from the state of Michigan. The Wolverine State is home to the domestic Big Three automakers. All three are struggling mightily in the current economic environment, and paying the price for decades of misguided moves by labor and management.

So Dingell, a Democrat, i.e., a member of the alleged party of compassion, wants to raise the gasoline tax 50 cents a gallon.

That’s a twofer: The state’s economy suffers even further as the Big Three will sell even fewer cars, and everyone who drives, including those who can least afford it, would get socked with another typcially $5 - $10 of weekly spending (300 miles a week of driving a 20 mpg vehicle would cost $7.50).

The other dingalings in the equation are those who continually return this man to Congress.

Update: Matt at Weapons of Mass Discussion was on this yesterday.

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Larry Kudlow:

President Bush took this stance in a recent interview with me and at the Economic Club of New York. He told me, “Like any free market, there’s also downturns, and we’re in one. But I am confident in the long-term strength of our economy.”

Optimism, after all, is one of the few levers our chief executive can use every day. By remaining optimistic, Bush is borrowing a page from Ronald Reagan, and rejecting a whole book of malaise from Jimmy Carter.

….. Home prices must adjust lower to end the housing downturn. (IMO, this is not the case in most parts of the country. Most only need to stay level for a bit. — Ed.) And it’s precisely these lower prices that will allow young families to afford new homes. Prices may fall, but homes don’t go away. Markets, not government, are the best way to sort this out.

Bush gets all this. And yet he’s attacked for his free-market moorings. Liberal columnist Maureen Dowd says he’s “plum loco.” She and Sen. Charles Schumer call him the new Herbert Hoover.

But let’s take a closer look.

It was Hoover who signed the Smoot-Hawley trade-protectionism act and overturned the Coolidge-Mellon tax cuts. These disastrous measures — along with monetary contraction from a fledgling Federal Reserve — turned a recession into a depression. FDR didn’t help matters, either. His misbegotten tax hikes on successful earners and businesses, and his alphabet agencies to control the industrial and farming sectors, extended the depression and held unemployment near 20 percent.

Today, it’s the Hill-Bama Democrats who want to raise taxes on successful producers.

Hill-Bama Hooverites, indeed.

From Colchester, England:

14 March 2008 | 06:07

A NINE-YEAR-OLD boy who nearly died after he suffered a brain haemorrhage has been reunited with two police officers who saved his life.

Kierron Thomas, from Colchester, was unwell at home when he suddenly collapsed and stopped breathing as his frantic mother Geraldine Thomas looked on.

Mrs Thomas gave her son mouth-to-mouth and called 999 for help and Sgt Alex Wisbey and Pc Dave Croxson, of Stanway Road Policing Unit in Colchester, who were on patrol nearby were sent to the family’s Greenstead house.

Sgt Wisbey, who has been based at the unit since 2003, said he and Pc Croxson received a call saying a very distressed woman had dialled 999 and said her son was not breathing.

Sgt Wisbey said: “We were no more than a couple of minutes away from the location and we carry extra life saving equipment like oxygen because we are a fire arms crew.

“We went to the address and as we went into the house he (Pc Croxson) was getting the kit ready and we found a young lad about seven or eight lying on his back in the hallway.

“There was a profuse amount of mucus coming from his mouth and nose and it looked like it had blood in it - it was very difficult to tell whether he was breathing.

“We went through the basics of first aid and when we checked his airway it appeared to be blocked. As we cleared it he gave a huge gasping breath which was good news - he was at least breathing on his own.”

However Sgt Wisbey and Pc Croxson were concerned because the ill youngster was only taking about four big breaths every minute which they knew from their training was not enough to keep oxygen travelling to his brain.

As Sgt Wisbey gave Kierron assisted breaths and Pc Croxson administered other first aid as they waited for an ambulance crews to arrive at the Greenstead house.

The officers helped to put Kierron in the ambulance which Pc Croxson then drove to Colchester General Hospital so both the crew could treat the desperately ill schoolboy.

He was soon on a life support machine and spent eight months in hospitals including Great Ormond Street Childrens’ Hospital in London before he was allowed home.

He now has only yearly check-ups at the hospital, is fully recovered except from some memory loss and has rejoined his classmates at St Andrew’s School in Greenstead.

On Wednesday Sgt Wisbey was honoured with a chief constable’s commendation at Essex Police headquarters in Chelmsford. …..

Go here for the rest of the story.