Much has been made of President-elect Obama’s past associations with the vitriolic American-hating Pastor Jeremiah Wright and terrorist William Ayers, which have been cited as evidence of anti-American tendencies in his thinking, as well as moral turpitude and poor judgment. I would agree with that assessment. On the other hand, a little historical perspective may be in order here.
In 1983, Marc Rich and partner Pincus Green were indicted by U.S. Attorney Rudolph Giuliani on charges of tax evasion and illegal trading with Iran when that country was actively holding US hostages. The pair were indicted while they were in Switzerland. They did not return to the U.S. following the indictment, and remained on the FBI's Most Wanted List for many years.
On January 20, 2001, hours before leaving office, President Bill Clinton granted Rich a presidential pardon. Since Rich's former wife and mother of his three children, socialite Denise Rich, had made major donations to the Democratic Party and the Clinton Library during Clinton's time in office, certain critics alleged that Rich's pardon had been bought.
Yasir Arafat was a frequent guest at the Bill Clinton White House. His wife, Suha Arafat, received a loving embrace from Mrs. Clinton moments after Mrs. Arafat finished a speech in which she accused the Israelis of gassing Palestinian children. In 2000, the Palestinian terrorist leader gave Mr. and Mrs. Clinton gifts valued at more than $12,000, including gold and diamond necklaces, bracelets and earrings worth $7,400.
As disgusting as this is, how does it compare to wasting 4000 American lives and bankrupting our economy in an altruistic Republican crusade like Iraq?
I have no doubt that such repugnant conduct barely scratches the surface of the graft and corruption rampant in Washington. We have no reason to think that Obama is anything but a typical liberal politician and an unprincipled pragmatist. Nothing more. Nothing less. We have survived worse.
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