And you aren’t allowed to use the words “hope” or “change”, or any kind of rhetoric. You’re only allowed to use specific examples of specific policies and specific positions he holds.

It’s pretty hard, isn’t it?

Throughout this entire election cycle, Barack Obama has maintained a carefully crafted image. He’s said himself that he “serve[s] as a blank screen on which people of vastly different political stripes project their own views”. During the primaries, Obama ran as far to the left as he could to suit the ultra-liberals. Once he got the nomination, he suddenly became a moderate again. He panders, panders, panders. What he says to the elites is not what he says to the bitter clingers in Flyover Country. What he said in the primary debates is not what he says now in debates against John McCain.

So who is he really? Is there any way to tell?

The people someone surrounds himself with speaks volumes. Some people try to ignore that fact, but it’s the truth. You don’t surround yourself with people whose views you have radical differences with. Someone who is ardently pro-abortion would not surround themselves with pro-life protestors; someone who is a vegan lifelong PETA member wouldn’t hang around with Humane Society vets who put the animals to sleep.

That’s not to say no one has friends or loved ones with opposing viewpoints. If you’re pro-life, for example, it doesn’t make you pro-abortion just because you’ve got a friend who is all for abortion. However, when every single friend and relative you have espouse the same rhetoric, the same viewpoints, the same ideals… every single one of them… can you really argue that those people have no effect on the person you are and what you believe?

That’s the case with Barack Obama. He himself tries to stay as blank as possible, which is probably why he tends to vote “present” so many times.

So, again, who is Barack Obama, and what does he stand for? A good way to gauge that might be to look at the people he’s made up his life and career with. The Jawa Report posted a round-up of just who it is Barack Obama associates with.

First, his family. His father, Barack Obama Sr., was a Kenyan bureaucrat and a Marxist economist who pushed for redistribution of wealth in Kenya, and thought there should be no limit to taxation. His mother, Ann Dunham, became interested in far-left radicalism in high school.

Then, there’s his childhood mentor, Frank Marshall Davis, the famous communist poet. And there’s also Jeremiah Wright: his pastor, his friend, and his mentor of twenty years. Rev. Wright has said that we should say “God Damn America” instead of “God Bless America”, called America the “US of ‘KKK’ A”, and in reference to 9-11, said “America’s chickens were coming home to roost”. Rev. Wright baptized Obama’s two daughters, married Obama and his wife Michelle, and served as an advisor to Obama for much of his adult life. Talking about Rev. Wright is, of course, RAAACIIIST!! according to the Obama camp and the mainstream media. But his other spiritual adviser, Father Michael Phleger, is just as radical.

Then there’s his wife Michelle. She’s just so proud of her country. According to Michelle, we’re ignorant. We’re mean. And she’s never in her adult life been proud of her country — until her precious hunnykins got to run for President, and NOW she’s proud! Perhaps that’s why Barack won’t salute the flag or wear a flag pin, or why he feels like America is worthless without him as the President, or why his campaign allowed American flags to be trashed at their convention. Did Michelle put those ideas into his head?

And while we aren’t supposed to talk about William Ayers, I’m going to anyway. The man who launched Obama’s political career is an unrepentant terrorist who bombed the Capitol, bombed the Pentagon (hey, just like bin Laden!), and bombed New York City Police Headquarters. The group he started, Weather Underground, was responsible for even more destruction. Ayers’ girlfriend, Diana Oughton, was killed during the assembly of a bomb including nails for shrapnel. The target was an Army dance at Fort Dix, New Jersey. Thousands of soldiers and their dates would have been murdered.

And this is Obama’s political mentor. And to this day, Ayers has refused to apologize, only stating that he doesn’t regret it and “didn’t do enough”. Another of Obama’s political mentors, Alice Palmer, is a radical and a communist. And when Obama initially joined politics, he joined the socialist New Party. ACORN, the radical group currently committing voter fraud all across the country, also has close ties to Obama.

So what does this tell us? How can anyone who loves their country, loves democracy and freedom, look at that history and those associations and not be even a little disturbed? Obama’s lack of experience aside, would you really want a President who hangs around with unrepentant terrorists and communist radicals? Would you really want a President who is surrounded by people who have shown nothing but hate towards our country? And while Obama can try to make these alliances and associations irrelevant by accusing anyone who points them out of being a RAAAACIIIIST!!!!, they are relevant. And they bring up very relevant questions.

That’s not the change we need. That kind of change is dangerous.

Hat Tip: The Jawa Report