Barack Obama Vs. His Critics

There is no politician anywhere that has been in the business for more than five minutes that doesn't have critics. How a politician deals with their critics goes a long way toward explaining what sort of a politician they are. Politicians that don't confront their critics are generally weak, a trait dangerous and deadly in a politicians. Politicians can also take on their critics too confrontationally. Those sorts of politicians exhibit paranoia, thin skin, and tyranny. Taking on critics is one of th trickiest endeavors in politics. So far, what Barack Obama has shown is an aggressive instinct to take on any critic anywhere with no holds barred.

Recently, a group called, American Issues Project, released this ad.



Now, Obama immediately responded with his own ad.



Responding to the ad was one thing, however it is what Obama did next that should trouble everyone.

Obama general counsel Bob Bauer today sent a second, sharper letter to the Justice Department, directly attacking the Dallas billionaire funding a harsh attack ad, Harold Simmons.

“We reiterate our request that the Department of Justice fulfill its commitment to take prompt action to investigate and to prosecute the American issues Project, and we further request that the Department of Justice investigate and prosecute Howard (sic) Simmons for a knowing and willful violation of the individual aggregate contribution limits,” he wrote.He called the group’s activities “patently illegal.”

Bauer made the case that Simmons’ group [is not] fulfilling its [...] nonprofit charter because it hasn’t spent any money on anything other than attacking Obama. Simmons’ spokesman, Christian Pinkston, told me yesterday that plans to, and dismissed the complaints as an effort to lawyer away charges the campaign can’t rebut.

It is one thing to challenge your critics, but it is quite another to intimidate them and the media that dares to give them time into silence. That is the sort of thing that happened in tyrannical regimes.

That's why this story should trouble everyone.

Just hours after Democrats formally nominated Barack Obama for president, his campaign launched a call-in offensive to WGN radio to protest the appearance Wednesday night of a conservative Obama critic on the "Extension 720 with Milt Rosenberg" talk show."

WGN radio is giving right-wing hatchet man Stanley Kurtz a forum to air his baseless, fear-mongering terrorist smears," Obama's campaign wrote Wednesay in an e-mail urging supporters to flood the stations phone lines with complaints. "He's currently scheduled to spend a solid two-hour block from 9:00 to 11:00 p.m. pushing lies, distortions, and manipulations about Barack and University of Illinois professor William Ayers."

Kurtz recently wrote an article for the National Review that looked at Obama's ties to Ayers, a former Vietnam War era radical who later emerged as a school reform advocate in Chicago. Kurtz and Obama worked together a decade ago on a school reform initiative called the Chicago Annenberg Challenge.

(listen to the show here) (Here is a full roundup of what happened during the show.)
There is a greater context here. It's possible that Obama may win and the Congress may have a filibuster proof majority in the Senate (along with a majority in the House of course). There is talk that the Democrats will attempt to re install th Fairness Doctrine. Outwardly, he doesn't support reinstating the Fairness Doctrine.

There may be some Democrats talking about reimposing the Fairness Doctrine, but one very important one does not: presumptive presidential nominee Barack Obama

The Illinois senator’s top aide said the issue continues to be used as a distraction from more pressing media business.

"Sen. Obama does not support reimposing the Fairness Doctrine on broadcasters," press secretary Michael Ortiz said in an e-mail to B&C late Wednesday.

Yet, it's clear that Barack Obama has no problem using Gestapo like tactics to silence his critics. It isn't a short trip from there to simply outlawing all opposition. With the full weight of all government agencies behind him, it is not difficult to imagine just how ruthless Barack Obama will be with his critics as soon as he is President.

Barack Obama's insistence on cut throat intimidation tactics to silence his critics should send a chill to any critic that is a member of the media if he happens to be President. With the weight of agencies like the FCC, FEC, IRS, and Justice Dept. Barack Obama can do all sorts of things to silence and intimidate critics once he is President.