ABC News correspondent Brian Ross tried to connect the health care town hall protesters to hate groups on Friday’s GMA. Ross cited the Southern Poverty Law Center, whose left-wing political affiliation he omitted, and used two sound bites from the SPLC’s Mark Potok, who hyped that President Obama supposedly “triggered fears among...white people...that they are somehow losing their country.”
The ABC News correspondent led his report just after the beginning of the 7 am Eastern hour by underlining how it’s apparently been a “very ugly week as the rhetoric about the President and the threats against him have deeply worried the people who track this country’s hate groups.” After summarizing how police in Los Angeles arrested a man suffering from “mental problems” for making threats against the White House, and how the case is apparently part of a “disturbing pattern,” Ross played his first clip from Potok, who emphasized, “I don’t think that these are simply people who are mentally ill or...you know, kind of off their rockers. I think that...in a very real sense, they represent a genuine reaction- a genuine backlash against Obama.”
Ross then pinned some of the blame on talk radio and the Internet, specifying Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck as examples:
ROSS: The contentious debate over health care has helped to bring the vitriol into the open. Rush Limbaugh compared a logo for the White House health care plan to a Nazi symbol.
RUSH LIMBAUGH: That the Obama health care logo is damn close to a Nazi swastika logo.
ROSS: And the Internet is full of references to the president as Hitler, or as a socialist, or as a racist.
GLENN BECK: This guy is, I believe, a racist.
What Ross left out is that Limbaugh was responding to a comment that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi made on August 5, where she accused anti-ObamaCare protesters of “carrying swastikas and symbols like that.”
After hyping how there was apparently “serious concern this week in New Hampshire, when a man stood across the street from a presidential town hall meeting with his gun on full and legal display,” the correspondent cited how the SPLC claims that “since Obama took office, there has been a sharp growth in the so-called militia groups, the kind that helped spawn a wave of domestic terrorism in the 1990s.” Ross gave a YouTube clip of the supposed leader of the Ohio Militia as an example, and played the second clip from Potok who hinted that white conservatives were racist: “I think that the president has, in effect, triggered fears among a fairly large numbers [sic] of white people in this country that they are somehow losing their country.”
The full transcript of Brian Ross’s report from Friday’s Good Morning America:
BILL WEIR: We turn now to the contentious debate over President Obama’s health care agenda. The rising anger is now ramping up concerns over the President’s personal safety as he heads into another town hall meeting today. We have two reports this morning. We’ll get to senior White House correspondent Jake Tapper in a moment, but we begin with chief investigative correspondent Brian Ross. Brian, good morning.
BRIAN ROSS: Good morning, Bill. It’s been a very ugly week as the rhetoric about the President and the threats against him have deeply worried the people who track this country’s hate groups.
ROSS (voice-over): Outside the towering federal building in Los Angeles Thursday, police surrounded the man driving this red Volkswagen who was suspected of making threats against the President. Hours later, they used tear gas and a Taser to remove the man, who they say has mental problems, but it was another case in what some see as a very disturbing pattern.
MARK POTOK, SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER: I don’t think that these are simply people who are mentally ill or- or, you know, kind of off their rockers. I think that- you know, in a very real sense, they represent a genuine reaction- a genuine backlash against Obama.
ROSS: The contentious debate over health care has helped to bring the vitriol into the open. Rush Limbaugh compared a logo for the White House health care plan to a Nazi symbol.
RUSH LIMBAUGH: That the Obama health care logo is damn close to a Nazi swastika logo.
ROSS: And the Internet is full of references to the president as Hitler, or as a socialist, or as a racist.
GLENN BECK: This guy is, I believe, a racist.
ROSS: To date, the Secret Service has disrupted at least three different assassination plots tied to white supremacist groups. So there was serious concern this week in New Hampshire, when a man stood across the street from a presidential town hall meeting with his gun on full and legal display.
BRAD GARRETT, ABC NEWS CONSULTANT: It’s clearly nerve-racking when he’s out in the open. I think that they really do fear that something could happen to him.
ROSS: And in a new report, the Southern Poverty Law Center says that since Obama took office, there has been a sharp growth in the so-called militia groups, the kind that helped spawn a wave of domestic terrorism in the 1990s. Now, they use YouTube, rock music, and the Internet to recruit new members, [and] spread their words of hate and fear, including this one from the supposed leader of the Ohio Militia.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hello, America- it’s your wake-up call.
POTOK: I think that the president has, in effect, triggered fears among a fairly large numbers [sic] of white people in this country that they are somehow losing their country.
ROSS (on-camera): Officials tell my colleague Pierre Thomas at ABC News that the President’s daily threat matrix has yet to reflect a sharp increase in threats. But White House officials privately admit deep concern, and have told the Secret Service to keep security tight, even if the president himself objects.
—Matthew Balan is a news analyst at the Media Research Center.
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Comments Policy
Funny...
August 14, 2009 - 10:56 ET by TexndocThe only radio host I have heard of actually talking assassination and Obama has been Ed Shultz. MSNBC's Ed Shultz.
If Bill O'Reilly is correct that with Town Halls and Obamacare debates that FoxNews ratings are going through the stratosphere like never before, I expect more "unhinged dangerous right wing talk" and even right wing "loony" plants with signs saying "Kill Obama" and maybe painting swastikas? Huffington Post is on a tear to get sponsors to cancel Glenn Beck and are in a tizzy because Geico won't advertise Glenn anymore (but will on every other FoxNews show, a fact they fail to mention).
OMG! Nazi Racist Hit Squads are behind every bush!
August 14, 2009 - 16:06 ET by bobdogRoss's story is still warm from the ABC Tastee-Bake News Oven...
What a maroon...
OMG! Nazi Racist Hit Squads
August 14, 2009 - 17:40 ET by expatriotOMG! Nazi Racist Hit Squads are behind every BUSH!
FIFY
And look over there! There
August 14, 2009 - 17:49 ET by celatorAnd look over there! There are some man-made global warming debunkers, and birthers and Ron Paul supporters, and people who believe in the Constitution. We're doomed!!!
;+}
No citizen's right to life, liberty, pursuit of happiness, or property is safe as long as Obama is President of the United States.
They're running out of ammo
August 14, 2009 - 11:02 ET by mattmThey've got nothing.
The truth is against them.
Just another typical...
August 14, 2009 - 16:01 ET by richard...Brian Ross sensationalistic report. This guy has such a Napolianic complex that he can't control himself, by the tone and matter of his news stories. He always comes on as, "see what I found out for you and aren't I great for reporting it." Mostly it is all hype and not much else, but it serves him well for his self-aggrandizement. Glad he's not a weatherman, else wise every day would be a hurricane watch.
You're right, mattm
August 15, 2009 - 18:35 ET by GalvanicBack in the Seventies, the cover of a National Lampoon magazine had a dog sitting and facing the camera, while the hand & arm of an off-camera person clutched a gun placed up against the dog's head. The header on the cover read:
"BUY THIS ISSUE OR WE SHOOT THE DOG!"
Fast forward to today.
Obama and the Dems have tried demonizing the Republicans, who numerically are powerless to stop health care reform. It failed.
They demonized the health insurance companies (Pelosi's "immoral villains"), and that failed.
They started targeting the districts of Blue Dog Democrats and other Dems with cold feet, and that failed.
They tried to portray the protesters and dissents as small finger groups tied either to the GOP, the health care industry, or racist groups. They even set up a site whereby Americans can report "fishy" information received from other Americans -- a blatant attempt to intimidate dissenters.
It's all failed.
So, now they've pulled out all the stops short of declaring martial law; dissenters are now tied to potential Presidential assassins!
They had blasted Bush and his supporters for promoting the "politics of fear." But they themselves have now taken such politics to a whole other level.
To paraphrase the old National Lampoon, they are telling us "Stop arguing over health care or the President will die!"
These scum are totally shameless.
→ Galvanic
August 15, 2009 - 18:36 ET by Cool ArrowDid the Cover look like this?
LYDSEXICS UNTIE!
Dat's da one!
August 16, 2009 - 00:15 ET by GalvanicI haven't seen that cover in years. Thanks, C-A.
Was it Heir Goebbels that
August 14, 2009 - 11:09 ET by ricklailWas it Heir Goebbels that said if you told a lie and told it long enough people would believe it? All the MSM is refering to this "report" by the SPLC.
Semper suprene nitens
North Carolina now has the worst government money can buy.
'Herr Doktor'.
August 14, 2009 - 12:37 ET by NL207'Herr Doktor'. Reichsminister of Public Enlightment and Propaganda. The tyrants did nothing if it was not also grandiose and assumed titles to match.
As usual, Sweetness and
August 14, 2009 - 11:09 ET by Roger the ShrubberAs usual, Sweetness and Light uncovers the facts...
Visit The Daily Wave
Ta very much shrubbo
August 14, 2009 - 11:47 ET by Jack BauerTa very much shrubbo.
Is is just me, or does that fruitcake look like Oderus Urungus, the lead singer of GWAR?
http://www.gwar.net/
Jackson...
August 14, 2009 - 12:15 ET by Roger the ShrubberGWAR references are always welcome in this shrubber's eyes!
Visit The Daily Wave
The truth
August 14, 2009 - 11:10 ET by cwnelson79Well, Obama is a racist, and he is a socialist, and Hitler was both of these things also. Hitler was a facist lefty racist just like Obama.
On eR
August 14, 2009 - 11:12 ET by slickwillie2001Rush Limbaugh is getting into this story right now.
The SPLC has run out of
August 14, 2009 - 11:24 ET by d1carterThe SPLC has run out of boogiemen...to use the term of Dear Leader. I have heard that the SPLC has been in an internal battle for control and it looks as if Potok is going to take them down the road of insignificance.
High Dudgeon
August 14, 2009 - 11:32 ET by rammingspeedThe MSM is going into high conspiracy mode. They truly are the state run media, as Rush Limbaugh has dubbed them, and they are speaking more plainly than ever, for all to see. This is creepy. This is sickening. But I believe they will pay the price. The free fall they've been in for years now regarding their credibility is speeding up.
Surprise surprise surprise
August 14, 2009 - 11:42 ET by ninerdogSurprise surprise surprise NOT!!
The Ross Smear
August 14, 2009 - 11:43 ET by allanfThis report should become known as the "Ross Smear". Ross shamefully attempted to link Limbaugh to hate groups.
Given his deftly time hit piece on Mark Foley in September of 2006, I think its safe to say that Ross is a partisan hack.
tired of liberal
August 14, 2009 - 11:44 ET by stunnedtired of liberal lies
The MSM ran informercials that they called news programs to promote the Obama healthcare plan and failed. The media coverage of Obama has been described acurately as a "slobbering love affair" and has failed as his approval numbers keep dropping. They failed when they tried to portray town hall critics as uninformed uneducated astoturfers when everyone who attended, or watched on TV saw it was the congresspeople and Obama who were uneducated as to what was in the bills. The MSM failed to discredit critics by bringing out ONLY liberal supporters for analysis of their complaints as if the alternative media didn't exist. Now they will fail again by using ONE source a liberal Huffington Post commentator Mark Potak to discredit the healthcare plan's critics as racist bigots. The only sucess the MSM has had is driving viewers to Fox and watching their audiences dwindle away.
Wave of Domestic Terrorism
August 14, 2009 - 11:50 ET by kilrod["ROSS: And in a new report, the Southern Poverty Law Center says that since Obama took office, there has been a sharp growth in the so-called militia groups, the kind that helped spawn a wave of domestic terrorism in the 1990s."]
I have heard the above quote for 2-3 days now. I must of slept through the 90s because the main wave of terrorism i remember was sponsored by the gov at "Waco" and "Ruby Ridge" etc., which resulted in the Miltias becoming active and preparing to defend the people and the Country from the liberal socialist gov. in power at the time. When Bush was elected the Militia activity subsided. It should be no surprise that with this bunch of liberal socialist now in power, the Miltias are preparing once again to defend the Country and the Constitution. I have used the terms Liberal Socialist Democrats and Nazi Libs in the past and was scolded for it, but i am seeing more and more folks drawing the same conclusions about the Democrat party and this bunch of socialist thugs in power in the excecutive branch right now.
(grins) kilrod
Remember, only two defining forces have ever offered to die for you, Jesus Christ and the American Soldier
It needs to be made a
August 14, 2009 - 11:55 ET by MidAmericaIt needs to be made a requirement that if you want to report as a member of the MSM that you have to go through a senate confimation hearing process since you are becoming a part of the Whitehouse administration.
MARK POTOK is an anagram of...
August 14, 2009 - 11:57 ET by Jack BauerDid you know that MARK POTOK is an anagram of...
Mmm. Mmm. There are NO coincidences!
JUKE A CRAB: thanks for sharing that!
August 14, 2009 - 12:59 ET by SickofLibsJUKE A CRAB: thanks for sharing that!
Dittos... BOILS
August 14, 2009 - 13:03 ET by Jack BauerDittos... BOILS FISCK
Exposing Bias and Deception at ABC
August 14, 2009 - 12:00 ET by AtTheWaterCoolerI've linked to your post ... http://www.jeremiahf... ... with a quotation.
So let me get this straight ... those against Obamacare should be silent because they created the problem.
Those against Obamacare are being paid by health groups that are making money from the high cost of health care (not the trial lawyers - who after Obamacare will be business as usual) but Doctors?
And now those against Obamacare hate minorities and are Nazi socialists.
Hmmm, seems Obama and his media network still have not called those against Obamacare rich hypocrites? or if they did I missed it. Maybe it is because the rich will be able to afford the extra tax to get the health care of their choice. This tax really only controls the middle class forcing them into nationalized care. Still since truth is not part of pushing Obamacare - seems they can make the claim that those who are doing well are trying to deny the poor. I don't think they have anything left to call the majority middle class heart of our country's citizens.
soo...
August 14, 2009 - 12:06 ET by katainkentare we Nazis again or are we just right wing racist political terrorists carrying swastika emblazoned protest posters? I am having trouble keeping track ..
___________________________________________
"The tax imposed under this section shall not be treated as tax" - HR 3200 (Health Care Bill) Pg. 203. Ln 14 & 15
Put up or shut up time
August 14, 2009 - 12:36 ET by Tom in NCYou as*holes at the All Barack Channel better put up some proof of this besides your slanted BS or just STFU, these Patriotic Americans are just rising up against a tyrannical government by expressing their Constitutional RIGHTS! You need to back off and back off now, we all know you jokers in the MSM have your lips stuck to Obama ass and are on permanent suck mode, but don't think you can dictate to us what we are supposed to do or say or how we are supposed to act.
Americans like us built this country and made it great, the media on the other hand is just a bunch of liberal lapdogs passing along lie after lie from this adminstration without so much as checking one fact, let's face it, THE MSM SUCKS UP OBAMA'S LIES AND PROPAGANDA AND DISTRIBUTES THEM DAILY, BUT THE AMERICAN PEOPLE ARE NOT BUYING WHAT YOU ARE SELLING!!!
It's probably just a matter
August 14, 2009 - 12:38 ET by Carl KolchakIt's probably just a matter of time before the left wingers start referring to anyone who doesn't support them as fascists. Right now everyone is labelled a racist, but they may soon change to being called fascist. In East Germany when collectivization wasn't working, because collectivization is a joke, the fact it wasn't working was blamed on fascists. Here is a link to East German propaganda.
http://www.calvin.edu/academic/cas/gpa/schatten.htm
And then more propaganda in regards to the farmer who didn't follow collectivization.
http://www.calvin.edu/academic/cas/gpa/arnold.htm
And then prior the Berlin Wall coming down and the border to Hungary was open and East Germans started to leave, well that was all blamed on an imperialist plot that had been planned for a long time.
http://www.calvin.edu/academic/cas/gpa/coup.htm
Then in 1953 during the Berlin Uprising, well that was all blamed on fascists as well, because why would anyone come out and protest in the street against the peace loving Communists.
http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB50/
Just Fish
August 14, 2009 - 12:48 ET by FeynmanFanThis is just a Red Herring the MSM is using to try to distract people from knowing that there are serious problems with the democrats health care proposals.
It's got nothing to do with race; it's the substance of the proposals that is the problem. But since congress, the administration and the MSM (the 3 branches of government?) can't refute the issues raised by the prostestors, they have to resort like tactics like this.
This just shows how desperate they are, and it will backfire on them. We just need to keep pushing forward and proving them wrong.
ALL I HAVE TO SAY TO OBAMA'S MEDIA IS
August 14, 2009 - 13:24 ET by WorriedFU!
They are making the American people out to be the bad guys and Obama and his goons out to be the good guys.
Well, wise Americans know Obama and his goons are trying to take us over and one of these days all of this will come back to haunt all these despicable people!
ANTI-NAZI Signs
August 14, 2009 - 13:31 ET by TigerI have seen only anti-nazi signs at the townhall meetings. Swastikas with the no symbol superimposed. Is the media really this stupid?
The mustached Obama turned out to be a LaRouch poster staged by an Obama supporter for the media.
re swastikas
August 14, 2009 - 16:32 ET by slickwillie2001From all the Botox, Princess Nan's eyes don't focus too well so she missed the 'Not Allowed' part of the sign.
I have guns and believe the
August 14, 2009 - 13:46 ET by buddycI have guns and believe the constitution is very clear on the subject but I would vote to change the constitution on this issue.
The assisination of JFK and RFK were some of the darkest days in our history. Assisination is never the answer.
My views on guns and assisnation have NOT changed.
I use to believe that criticism of a president you didn't like should be restrained and some respect given to the office. But that changed with the treatment the media in particular and liberals in general gave W. I won't describe it as we all remember how bad it was and remains. The media and liberals set the tone, including Brian Ross. I say let them eat the cake they baked.
You should send an email to Ross and ABC and ask them if they really believed the angner towards Obama might not be reduced signifcantly if the main stream media were doing their job of reporting the facts and dealing with news in an impartial manner. Many republicans and conservatives are frustrated beyond belief at the lack of impartiality of the media. If they really cared about reducing this anger, why don't they comply with their owned adopted ethical standards?
Obama is a hate peddler. His normal way of dealing with issues it division, hate, race baiting, harassment and attack.
If the people around him cared about his safety maybe they should point out to him that he is no longer an organizer and no longer running for office. He is President and represents the entire country and he should treat with respect even those people that didn't vote for him or who don't agree with him. They are not the enemy. They are the people he now serves. You can't live in an environment of hate, use the tools of hate and then expect people not to hate.
Investigative reporter? I think not!
August 14, 2009 - 14:09 ET by nkviking75Brian Ross made his reputation as an investigative reporter. He obviously didn't do much investigating this time. I suspect he got this story because his image would appear to add gravitas to the SPLC press release.
When you put the clowns in charge, don't be surprised when a circus breaks out.
Not Liberal = Hate
August 14, 2009 - 14:23 ET by mostlymoderateNot Liberal = Hate Group
This is why the term "hate group" is a joke. Some of the most hateful people I have ever met were ACLU employees. I'm a lawyer, I deal with these jerks.
mostlymoderate
August 14, 2009 - 14:38 ET by MrShyIf this were facebook, I'd click the "thumbs up/I like" button on this one :)
And I would drop the big:
August 14, 2009 - 14:41 ET by mostlymoderateAnd I would drop the big: ROFL :)
Let's put it this way: the
August 14, 2009 - 14:50 ET by mostlymoderateLet's put it this way: the liberals know that the "race card" as been overused and abused. Therefore, they needed to manufacture a new term. The term is "hate group".
Check this out
August 14, 2009 - 15:54 ET by FeynmanFanI just saw this on the Fox News Website:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,539445,00.html?test=latestnews
Think this will get a lot of mention in the MSM?
ABC News is also upset at Whole Foods Market co-founder and
August 14, 2009 - 15:53 ET by Rush FanCEO John Mackey for not supporting ObamaCare.
Mr. Mackey wrote the following in his op-ed piece in The Wall Street Journal titled: The Whole Foods Alternative to ObamaCare:
Mr. Mackey, who has contributed to the Libertarian Party, then outlined eight reforms, including tort reform, that are are similar to what many Republicans have proposed.
Mr. Mackey's WSJ article did not sit well with the Obama-loving stenographers at ABC News. So ABC News Emily Friedman wrote a hit piece titled: Health Care Stirs Up Whole Foods CEO John Mackey, Customers Boycott Organic Grocery Store.
Friedman writes:
Now unless ABC News took a poll, which I doubt since it is not mentioned, how do they know how many "fellow food fanatics" will not pattronize Whole Foods after learning that the CEO does not support ObamaCare?
Of course, the leftist Huffington Post wanted to alert their readers about Whole Food Mackey's WSJ op-ed betrayal as well. In an article titled Whole Foods CEO: "The Whole Foods Alternative To ObamaCare" -- Just Eat Whole Foods! they wrote:
---------------------------------------------
“Nobody believes what the mainstream media says now anyway. Except the uneducated, the illiterate, and the uninformed -- which, sadly, is a fairly large number” ~ Rush Limbaugh
I read Mackey's op-ed in
August 14, 2009 - 16:02 ET by QueenMumI read Mackey's op-ed in the WSJ and thought he had some very good ideas. I don't understand why someone would boycott Whole Foods just because of Mackey's article. Talk about cutting off your nose to spite your face. If you're a greenie-weinie-veggie lib, you'd think that buying all those "healthful" foods would be more important to you than what the owner of the company has to say about health care. Dummies. Can't see past their leftie ideology.
"The problem with socialism is that eventually you run out
of other people's money."
—Margaret Thatcher
QueenMum.....For someone on the left, their liberal ideology
August 14, 2009 - 22:12 ET by Rush Fansupercedes God (hence their attempt to eliminate God from everyday life), Country (hence why President Obama criticizes our country every chance he gets) and Life (hence abortion-on-demand and late-term abortions).
So boycotting Whole Foods, or even "healthy foods" is no big deal. Liberals will diss their own family, if necessary, just as Barack Obama did to his grandmother during the campaign for president. Moreover, Barack Obama threw his pastor of 20 long years, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, under the bus when Obama no longer needed him.
Rush Limbaugh aptly described liberals: “The liberal mind does not work like the mind of a regular person. Their obsession with power and control is what drives them at all times.”
These convenient little
August 14, 2009 - 22:18 ET by balboaThese convenient little pigeon holes are soooooo lame.
Simple
August 14, 2009 - 17:00 ET by usinkoreaI realized today what is going on with the media and elitist liberals is easy to define -- like comparing their treatment of Newt Gingrich when he became speaker in a historic moment after long term Dem dominance of the House - with Nancy Pelosi's reception.
--- So, the town hall protesters are racists, fearful of a black man in the White House, crazies, Nazi-like, and all that today...
What were they back when Clinton and the Dems controlled Congress and the White House?
People with the crazy mentality of pre-women's suffarage era? Horrific sexists? They opposed Clinton's health care push because Hillary was a woman? They didn't give two hoots about the issue but were rabidly against a woman in power trying to push it through?
Or -- maybe the town hall meetings ARE about policy...
Mr Ross
August 15, 2009 - 06:53 ET by dlwoltmannI'll tell you what... I'll start taking these "Threats" seriously when you find a Documentary that shows the "Fictional" account of President Obama's assasination that gets awarded and praised by critics around the world. (Who am I kidding...No one would EVER do that).
What about all of the hate
August 15, 2009 - 15:51 ET by RR GOPWhat about all of the hate that's been directed at conservative, Christian, traditional Americans for...man, I don't know how many decades now...? Of course, that's justified.
Every irate town hall citizen should preface their statement or question with, "I love our president. I love liberalism. I love everyone."
As far as death threats, every president gets them and those who do so are off their rockers. I actually knew one who did this and he was on SSI and was heavily medicated and quite delusional.
One of the 34% who thinks George W. Bush was a great President. One of the 86% who wants to bring back the stock and pillory.
How Many Barack Obama Lies will it take?
August 16, 2009 - 06:55 ET by Retired GeekHow Often Would you go to a Salesman to buy an 'Automobile' that lied to you over and over and did NOT keep his promises?
How Often Would you go to a Salesman to purchase 'Appliances' that lied to you over and over and did NOT keep his promises?
How Often Would you call a 'Home Improvement Company' that lied to you over and over and did NOT keep their promises?
How Often will you believe Barack Obama who has lied to you over and over and does NOT keep his promises?
Will you trust your Health to someone who lies?
August 16, 2009 - 06:57 ET by Retired GeekWill you trust your Health and the Health of your family and friends to someone that has lied repeatedly to you and has NOT kept his promises?
Would you be insane to trust the Health and well being of your family and friends to someone who has lied repeatedly to you and has NOT kept his promises?
How many lies and broken promises will it take by Barack Obama, before you think it might NOT be a good idea to place your life and your family and friends lives in the hands of Barack Obama?