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Title: AIM Identifies Mysterious Obama Mentor As Communist Party Revolutionary.
Source:
AIM
URL Source: http://www.aim.org/.
Published: Feb 19, 2008
Author: Cliff Kincaide
Post Date: 2008-03-20 17:54:13 by Jethro Tull
Keywords: None
Views: 430
Comments: 17
WASHINGTON, Feb. 19 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A mysterious friend and adviser to Barack Obama when he was growing up in Hawaii is identified in a new column by Accuracy in Media editor Cliff Kincaid as a member of the old Moscow-controlled Communist Party USA. "Obama's communist connection adds to mounting public concern about a candidate who has come out of virtually nowhere, with a brief U.S. Senate legislative record, to become the Democratic Party frontrunner for the U.S. presidency," Kincaid writes in the column, "Obama's Communist Mentor," posted on the AIM website http://www.aim.org/. Obama's mentor "Frank" is Frank Marshall Davis, who was publicly identified as a member of the Communist Party USA (CPUSA). Obama, in his book, Dreams From My Father, refers to him repeatedly as just "Frank," without a middle or last name. Kincaid explains, "The reason is apparent: Davis was a known communist who belonged to a party subservient to the Soviet Union. In fact, the 1951 report of the Commission on Subversive Activities to the Legislature of the Territory of Hawaii identified him as a CPUSA member. What's more, anti-communist congressional committees, including the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), accused Davis of involvement in several communist front organizations." AIM recently disclosed that Obama has connections to the Democratic Socialists of America and that he sponsored a "Global Poverty Act" designed to send hundreds of billions of U.S. foreign aid to the rest of the world, in order to meet U.N. demands. The bill has passed the House and a Senate committee and awaits full Senate action. Accuracy in Media is a citizens' media watchdog organization whose mission is to promote fairness, balance, and accuracy in news reporting. Founded in 1969, AIM is the oldest non-profit press watchdog group in America. For more information, please visit http://www.aim.org/. To arrange an interview with AIM editor Cliff Kincaid, contact Sarah Schaerr Norton at (202) 364-4401 ext. 107 or sarah.schaerr@aim.org. Available Topic Expert(s): For information on the listed expert(s), click appropriate link. Cliff Kincaid http://profnet.prnewswire.com/Subscriber/ExpertProfile.aspx?ei=60942 CONTACT: Sarah Schaerr Norton of Accuracy in Media, +1-202-364-4401 ext 107, Sarah.Schaerr@aim.org Web Site: http://www.aim.org/ AIM Identifies Mysterious Obama Mentor As Communist Party Revolutionary.
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#5. To: Jethro Tull (#0)
Frank Marshall Davis - (1905 - July 26, 1987) Barack Obama (August 4, 1961 - ) Davis died when Obama was 15 years old. ---------- http://thelonggoodbye.wordpress.com/2008/02/20/barack-obama-and-frank-marshall-davis/ Barack Obama and Frank Marshall Davis Accuracy in Media ( a right-wing front group) has this bombastic article up on Barack Obama, Obama’s Communist Mentor, AIM Column, By Cliff Kincaid, February 18, 2008 The reason is apparent: Davis was a known communist who belonged to a party subservient to the Soviet Union. In fact, the 1951 report of the Commission on Subversive Activities to the Legislature of the Territory of Hawaii identified him as a CPUSA member. What’s more, anti-communist congressional committees, including the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), accused Davis of involvement in several communist-front organizations. Alliance with the Communist Party, even from a distance, was too radical for some black editors, among them Frank Marshall Davis. While he was as ardent as any editor against injustices - in jobs, housing, education, the law - Davis warned against reliance upon a non-American system for solving American problems.In 1932, a year after becoming managing editor of the Atlanta World, Davis was invited to a national symposium of prominent black editors, including Murphy of the Afro-American and Robert S. Vann of the Courier. There, he warned aginst reliance on the Communist system to achieve racial justice. To Davis, the black protest movement was not compatible with the communists “crude and noisy militancy.” He saw “no fear of the rainbow brotherhood going red in wholesale numbers - at least not until white America takes long steps in that direction.” [ ]…Davis articulated the newspaper’s conscience. In four years, he articulated an agenda of “social realism” that included appeals for racial justice in politics and economics, as well as justice before the law. He championed Negro activism, especially to compensate for social ills not remedied by white society. But he warned blacks against accepting the Depression era remedies advertised by communists. [ ]…His own personal horror had occured in Kansas when he was 5 years old, he once told an interviewer. Some white third-graders who had heard about lynching had practiced on him and nearly hanged him. Davis certainly showed an incredible entrepreneurial spirit for some one that was supposed to be a communist,
Cliff Kincaid and his colleagues have accused Frank Marshall Davis (1905-1987) of being a Stalinist, a lifetime member of the Communist Party, and “Obama’s Communist Mentor.” Kincaid heads “Accuracy In Media” (A.I.M.), an organization dedicated to “fairness, balance and accuracy in news reporting.” Kincaid and his colleagues are all honorable men. Having asked Kincaid to substantiate some of his accusations, and having received no reply, one can only conclude that Kincaid must be preoccupied with more important questions, because Kincaid is an honorable man. Although the ironically named “Accuracy In Media” has yet to substantiate that Davis actually mentored Obama (among other claims), such a relationship could have provided a bi-racial teenager with the key to success in mainstream America. To minimize criticism and maximize their potential, bi-racial African- Americans must walk a narrow identity path between group expectations. Davis was uniquely qualified to show the way. He may have significantly facilitated Obama’s vision of an inclusive society. Davis may have advised Obama that to succeed in mainstream America, African- Americans must consider worst-case scenarios without wearing a chip on their shoulders, even though this normally requires judgment borne through actual experience. They must learn to give others (such as Cliff Kincaid) the benefit of the doubt. Success within mainstream America requires that abusive behavior should be attributed to bias only when there is no other plausible explanation. Davis’ crusty radicalism may have perfectly counterbalanced Hawaii’s laid-back lifestyle for an African-American teenager destined for greatness. He provided coherent insight on African-American history, politics, and culture vis-à-vis mainstream America. Obama’s grandfather may not have recognized the true value of his gift. Davis recognized the folly of cultural nationalism, including Black Separatist movements, long before meeting Obama. He supported a fully integrated mixed economy, because neither laissez–faire capitalism nor Marxist authoritarianism enable the greatest benefit for the greatest number. He also had a libertarian streak that may have made Ron Paul proud. As an honorable man, Kincaid must be unaware that by the 1970’s, the twin forces of Hawaiian and hippie cultures had mellowed Davis to the point that “Stalinist” charges are especially absurd. By the early 1970’s, Davis had become a virtual teddy bear, a permanent fixture of the Koa Cottages in the “Waikiki Jungle,” noted for its counterculture residents. Davis was known as a kindly old man, usually sitting on his porch a few steps from Kuhio Avenue, waving at all that passed. Although he had little money, he was always willing to share with those in deeper need. While he was justifiably bitter over the Jim Crow racism of his youth, recent decades made Davis quite optimistic regarding race relations. He strongly supported the nonviolent strategy of Dr. King, and believed that all mankind should be judged by the content of their character. He rejected militant African-American groups as counterproductive. Kincaid and his honorable colleagues must also be unaware that although Davis shared King’s opposition to American intervention in Vietnam, he did not oppose his son’s decision to join the Air Force in 1968. His son eventually retired as an Air Force Intelligence Officer after 24 years of service, with full TS/SCI (SI/TK/G/B) access. As an honorable man, this fact alone should mitigate any concerns about “Obama’s Marxist Mentor.” As an honorable man, Cliff Kincaid must also be unaware that his portrayal of a raving Stalinist could not be further from the truth. Davis deeply loved the United States, despite his occasional flirtation with radical ideology. He recognized, perhaps belatedly, that the United States offers a unique combination of economic opportunity and personal freedom, thus providing sufficient strength and moral authority to champion human rights worldwide. If he HAD been so lucky, Barack Obama could not have found a finer mentor anywhere.
#16. To: Kaleokualoha (#15)
thank you for this very interesting post, Kaleokualoha, and welcome to 4um.
Although I could be accused of a "occasional flirtation with radical ideology" the failure of both Obama and McCain to enter into a honest debate means the fringes of both left and right will serve to achieve a political systems greatest asset....divide and conquer....as a aside...I have often said living under communism is not that bad at least one knows what the rules are!....you on the North Shore by any chance?
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February 20, 2008 at 12:38 pm | In ethics, history, news, spin, the press, values | However, through Frank Marshall Davis, Obama had an admitted relationship with someone who was publicly identified as a member of the Communist Party USA (CPUSA). The record shows that Obama was in Hawaii from 1971-1979, where, at some point in time, he developed a close relationship, almost like a son, with Davis, listening to his “poetry” and getting advice on his career path. But Obama, in his book, Dreams From My Father, refers to him repeatedly as just “Frank.”
It didn’t take much to get on some kind of list in the 1950s. A Google search shows that some variation of this meme - Davis was a supposedly a communist and Obama’s acknowledgment of Davis as an influence of course equals that Obama is a secret commie has been floating around for a while. One of the things that should make people take pause is the newsgroup’s promulgation of an article that describes Davis as a “socialist realist”. The clever addition of three little letters makes all the difference. Davis biographers and historians refer to Davis as a “social realist”. I can find no paper by Davis or any expert on Davis that describes him as a “socialist realist”. Davis was a newspaper writer and editor in addition to being a poet. He certainly had the time and opportunity in a long carreer to spell out his thoughts. As of this writing I can’t find any writings by him that states his allegiance to communism. On the contrary he warned the civil rights movement not to move in that direction. There is also the meme that Davis didn’t join the Communist Party until the fifties and even then he kept it a secret - as of this writing I cannot find any verification of that. Even if true the implication that Obama became a secret communist simply because he knew Davis is absurd guilt by association. From The Voice of the World: The Early Career of Frank Marshall Davis 1931- 1934 [PDF link] by Leonard Ray Teel [1989], Associate Professor, Department of Communication, Georgia State University The mood of protest in the early 1930s was such that some editors welcomed even the editors of the Communists Party. At the end of 1931, Carl Murphy’s influential Baltimore Afro- American applauded the “Communist program of racial equality” as a hopeful balance to the year’s deplorable events - “fifteen lynchings” and the death sentences given to eight black youths in the Scottsboro, Ala rape trial. The editors welcomed the communists as neo-abolitionists: Reds as courageous as the Minute Men or the volunteer firemen seem everywhere ready for a demonstration against race prejudice, whether it be at hand or a thousand miles away.
Some other blogs that have posted on this and associated story by Lisa Schiffren writing for the Republican National Review making the utterly irrational argument that since Obama was the product of a mixed African-American-Jewish marriage he must be a communist, Is Barack Obama the Product of a Secret Communist-Jewish Breeding Program?, For Conservatives, “Race-Mixing” Still A Communist Plot, Obammunists, and Wow, are the racists Very Serious, Thoughtful people over at The Corner on a roll today. Davis said that he was drawn to life in Hawaii because of the islands’ multiethnic culture. He wrote some poetry in Hawaii and worked on his autobiography beginning in the early 1960s. He penned a column for a Honolulu labor newspaper. But mostly he dropped off the literary radar, starting a paper-supplies company, Oahu Papers, which mysteriously burned to the ground in March of 1951. In 1959 he started another similar firm, the Paradise Paper Company. Several times he was questioned about his leftist affiliations by congressional investigators, but by the late 1950s the anticommunist hysteria had died down.
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#15. To: nolu_chan (#5)
Replies to Comment # 15.
#17. To: Kaleokualoha (#15)
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