Dana Milbank/WaPo misleads about Barack Obama links

Posted Fri, May 23, 2008 at 11:00 am
Dana Milbank of the Washington Post - last seen here lying about Tom Tancredo - offers "Obama as You've Never Known Him!" (link), a sleazy slab of mockery attempting to portray those who have legitimate questions about the various links Barack Obama has as believers in UFOs.

He discusses a meeting yesterday conducted by Cliff Kincaid and attempts to claim that all the points raised were "implausible accusations", such as this:
The smoking gun? Obama's "mentor" during his teens, according to Kincaid, was "a key member of a Soviet-controlled network that was sponsored by Moscow and active in Hawaii."

These accusations fall somewhere between guilt by association and guilt by invention, but the accusers were just getting started.
Now, read the Kincaid article on that mentor:
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."

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.
Some of the claims made at the meeting might indeed be out there, but that one certainly isn't. Milbank is simply a hack who can't even use a search engine to verify claims and instead thinks mockery - rather than real journalism - will carry the day. At the WaPo he's right, but not elsewhere.

Tags: 
washington post
barack obama
dana milbank
cliff kincaid
frank marshall davis
obama affiliates

Comments

Mary (not verified)

Sat, 05/24/2008 - 02:22

Dana Milbank is laughable. He is often on MSNBC which is a 'fake" News organization.The comments that accompany his column are often derisive and scornful of his supposed intelligence. Does anyone take this phoney sriously? He is not only a smear machine but he has to be one of the HOMLIEST newsmen on air!!!

llamajockey (not verified)

Sat, 05/24/2008 - 14:04

Dana Milbank is just one of Keith Olbermann's pious "creative-class" Left-Libertarian/Latte-Liberal urban metrosexual buddies like Rachael Maddow, Johnathan Alter, Christopher Hayes who are always on his show. Keith on occasion will attack Lou Dobbs especially on immigration related matters. However, it is odd that a pious liberal like Olbermann has a guest list that is overwhelmingly white, male(however in a decidely misogynistic yet dubiously masculine manner), left-wing and northeast coast upper class. By any comparison Lou Dobbs's guest list is vastly more diverse in terms of gender, race, religion, ethnicity, regional origin, income, education, age and class. The dirty secret of Olbermann's and his metrosexual clique is that they all use the same body lotion prior to their ritual nightly circle jerks to their mini-shrines to their Messiah, Barack Obama the one true Madhi. Also the only one among them that does not religiously trim, shave, or wax their privates is probably Rachael Maddow. And you can be certain that she alone is the only one of the crew that really enjoys p*ssy.

Fred Dawes (not verified)

Sat, 05/24/2008 - 20:35

That is ||amajockey, but the fact is Obama is just a tool being used by our enemies is still not understood by the people and that will murder us all in the coming end game. Obama hates us all but McCain also hates this nation and wants third world rulers in power here and with mass population after amnesty that will happen, if McCain is in power or Obama is in power and that will mean the end of us all and the end of a free nation once and for all time to come. Obama is not a communist or is he in any way a real American he has been setup by others to take us down and isn't that what the Reds wanted? Buy Guns.

Kaleokualoha (not verified)

Sat, 06/14/2008 - 23:10

Like the blind men and the elephant, professional advocates such as Trevor Loudon (3/29/07 "New Zeal" article) and Cliff Kincaid (2/18/08 "Accuracy In Media" article) seem to recognize only that small facet of Davis’ life that might smear Barack Obama. Not content with stacking available evidence, their swiftboating creates false evidence to exaggerate Davis’ influence. You would think that those ostensibly committed to "accuracy in media" would actually PRACTICE accuracy in media, but effective red-baiting may require liberty with the truth. Their disinformation includes: - Loudon: “the Communist Party USA is claiming Barack Obama as its spiritual heir” (Gerald Horne made no such claim in the referenced article) - Kincaid: According to Gerald Horne (CPUSA linked article), Davis “became the young man's mentor” and influenced Obama’s “career moves” (Horne said that Davis gave Obama career advice, rather than influencing his career moves, and did not use the term “mentor.”) - Kincaid: Obama “developed a close relationship, almost like a son, with Davis” (unsubstantiated speculation) - Kincaid: Dr. Takara described Davis as a "socialist realist" (Takara actually described him as a "social realist, which is quite different) - Kincaid (6/7/08 Interview with Pittsburgh Tribune-Review): Davis was a "was a lifelong member of the Communist Party USA" (unsubstantiated leap of faithlessness made since the A.I.M. 2/18/08 article) As his focus shifted over the years, Frank Marshall Davis was many different things. He was a communist, capitalist, socialist, democrat, libertarian, civil rights activist, labor activist, pacifist, and even militarist as conditions changed. If you closely examine his writings, however, you will find at his core only two: poet and champion of human rights.