Fact-Checking Obama book quotes from "Dreams" and "Audacity"

There have been a series of quotes circulating in email recently, allegedly taken from Obama's books "Dreams of My Father" and "The Audacity of Hope." The author downloaded an unabridged copy (from ebooks) to facilitate locating each one. What he found will disappoint Obama's detractors, and inform everybody else.

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George Bush Following in Bill Clinton's Footsteps?

George W. Bush injected himself into the 2008 presidential race today when he took a swipe at Barack Obama in a speech to the Israeli Knesset. Without naming the Illinois Senator, the President criticized Obama's call for diplomatic engagement with Iran. Former Republican Presidential candidate Pat Buchanan, commenting on MSNBC, described the President’s attack on a domestic political opponent in a formal speech in a foreign capital as “astonishing.” White House spokesmen said the speech was not a slam on Obama. However, CNN’s headline declared “Bush suggests Obama wants 'appeasement' of terrorists.”



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Speaking to a group of Americans Abroad in Tel Aviv after his speech, the President echoed Bill Clinton’s appeal on behalf of Hillary in January in New Hampshire, asking voters to give John McCain a "fighting chance" to continue the policies of the past eight years. “We can’t be a new story, I’m sorry,” he said apologetically, “there’s nothing we can do. I can’t make him younger, hairier, or African American. There’s lotsa things I can’t do. But if you want a President and you need one, he would be by far the best.”


These comments of course have led some political and psycho-analysts to see other strong similarities with former President Clinton's sometimes controversial role in his wife’s campaign. They speculate Bush is trying to make up for the public humiliation he subjected McCain to during his failed contest for the Republican nomination in 2000. Others note a McCain victory may be the last opportunity for Bush to restore the legacy of his own Presidency, stained by the scandals of a failed war, an economy on the brink of depression and the Administration’s response to Hurricane Katrina. However, most analysts do not expect Bush to follow the example of former Presidents Clinton and Bush’s own father, George H.W. Bush, in promoting philanthropy after he leaves the White House. With all the catching up he has to do on the golf course, unfortunately they just don’t think there will be enough time left for fighting AIDS or helping disaster victims.


In other news, White House Press Secretary Dana Perino confirmed that the President has asked the Justice Department to provide him with a list of all Administration officials who may have committed crimes while in office. “The President wishes to ensure that before he leaves office his Article II powers to grant pardons are exercised to the fullest extent, whether just for directing lucrative contracts to cronies or the commission of war crimes. This is one section of the Constitution that the President considers sacrosanct.” Perino would not indicate, however, if the President was prepared to make public the names of all donors to the George W. Bush Presidential Library that will be constructed starting next year at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, and is expected to cost as much as $500 million. "It is too early to make that call," said Perino, "and we were frankly hoping Bill Clinton would break ground on that precedent. We'll just have to wait and see what he does if Hillary becomes Vice President."







wizinit is the nom de guerre of a veteran diplomat whose career highlight was lunching with the late Art Buchwald in an Eighth Floor dining room at the US State Department in the mid-eighties. He is now a registered Fan of Andy Borowitz at the Huffington Post