Posted on 07/25/2007 6:16:10 PM PDT by goldstategop
He hasn't yet entered the Presidential race, and yet Fred Thompson, yesterday, showed us why he's the scariest Republican Presidential candidate. And maybe the scariest of both parties.
Don't believe Thompson's claim that he understands the Islamist jihadist threat to America. His announcement, yesterday, of his choice of Spencer Abraham as campaign manager, told us everything we need to know. Although Abraham, of Lebanese descent, is a Maronite Christian, he is a career water carrier for Islamists of the most extremist stripe and made that the cornerstone of his failed, one-term Senate career and equally lousy tenure as Energy Secretary.
Spencer Abraham: Former Bush Energy Secretary, Current Pan-Islamist & Fred Thompson Campaign Manager
As a conservative--but more important, as an American concerned about the future of this country in the face of a terrorist threat--Thompson's choice of Spencer Abraham was the nail in the coffin for me in opposing Fred Thompson's quest for the White House.
I know Spencer Abraham. He wrote one of my recommendations for law school. And the Spencer Abraham that I and all of America have since experienced is bad news for everyone except CAIR, ADC, MPAC, ISNA, and all Islamists who want to endanger America.
In 2003, I wrote the definitive column on Spencer Abraham a/k/a Spence a/k/a Edward Spencer Abraham (which was quoted in The Washington Post), and I re-publish it below, with several additions I've made, updating it. At the time Spence was still Energy Secretary, but he left to become a lobbyist for Islamist countries.
As a Senator, he took marching orders from James Zogby of the pan-Islamist Arab American Institute, opposing profiling of Arabs, the use of secret evidence against Muslims (at the behest of Muslim groups), attempting to repeal the Clinton counterterrorism package, refusing to fund computer tracking of student and other foreign aliens, giving millions in our tax money right to Hezbollah, and putting CAIR on the map on Capitol Hill (taking the group's officials around to meet other Senators and Members of Congress). He took campaign contributions from the relatives of Hezbollah-backed top Lebanese officials after he got the group millions in our tax money.
Spence was one of only two Senators in the entire U.S. Senate who refused to sign a letter calling on President Clinton to condemn Palestinian terrorism and Yasser Arafat. This was at the height of a series of homicide bombings in 1999 and 2000.
As Energy Secretary, he gave top secret tours of nuclear facilities, as well as detailed information on how we secure them to Muslim nations who are our enemies. And he gave out undue post-9/11 awards to Al-Qaeda money-launderers . . . at the White House. The money launderers were raided by U.S. Customs Service agents.
After he left the Bush cabinet, Spence became a lobbyist for Mid-Eastern Muslim countries that practice the Arab boycott of Israel and don't really like us too much either. He took their money and until the Thompson race, did their bidding.
Do you really support a guy, Fred Thompson, who picked this man to head up his team? Either Thompson is clueless about Abraham, which should immediately disqualify him for the White House and frighten all of us about how he makes decisions. Or he knows about Abraham, and went with him anyway. Just as bad.
If you want to say no to jihad, you WILL say NO to Fred Thompson. He chose, and now we must choose against him:
JIHAD SPENCE: Bush's Dangerous Energy Secretary is Now Fred Thompson's Campaign Manager
By Debbie Schlussel
Since the Blackout of 2003, he's gotten lots of TV face time. But should U.S. energy policy be entrusted to Spencer Abraham?
In 2000, President Bush said his Cabinet would "look like America," nominating Abraham, the defeated Lebanese-American Senator from Michigan, to Energy Secretary--part of the Bush strategy targeting the Arab vote.
But was this political strategy in the best interest of the country? Abraham's record suggests otherwise.
In the two years since 9/11, Abraham did absolutely nothing to improve our precarious electric power situation.
That would be bad enough.
But, since 9/11, Abraham continued a controversial UN-sponsored program allowing foreign visitors from countries on the State Department terrorist list to tour U.S. nuclear reactors. A course sponsored by the UN International Atomic Energy Agency, taught by U.S. nuclear weapons lab security personnel, gives tours of Nuclear Regulatory Commission facilities and teaches participants from 57 countries--including Iran, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia--security techniques employed at American nuclear sites. "They were teaching them to black out systems, which they could use against us at labs," an official told a popular newssite.
The Clinton Administration taught the course to foreign representatives, too. But that was pre-9/11. In the post-9/11 era, Abraham irresponsibly continued it, despite protests.
Then there's Jamal Barzinji. Abraham enlisted him to find parties who helped and reached out to Muslims after 9/11, with Abraham hosting an awards ceremony for them. Problem is, Barzinji is an officer and/or director in SAFA Trust, Mar-Jac Poultry, and International Institute for Islamic Thought, all raided by Customs in March 2002 for laundering over $1.7 billion to Al-Quaida and Islamic Jihad (through indicted University of South Florida professor and alleged Islamic Jihad frontman Sami Al-Arian).
More troubling is Abraham's Senate record, ignored by his former Senate colleagues in an easy confirmation hearing.
Should a Senator who deliberately endangered national security for Arab/Muslim votes and campaign money be entrusted to oversee U.S. energy policy and access?
Abraham's frightening national security record included:
Liberal immigration policy, including lax foreign visitor tracking, at the behest of Arab/Muslim groups; Tried to End Profiling, Secret Evidence Use Against Terrorists
Abraham was Senate Immigration Subcommittee Chairman through the end of 2000. Abraham routinely caved to the demands of Arab/Muslim leaders, such as the Arab American Institute's James Zogby, on national security matters, especially immigration.
"Ever since (I first met) him, Abraham has been coming to us and giving advice, support and the benefits of his leadership," Zogby told The Detroit News.
And taking Zogby's advice, too.
Abraham actively worked to delay computer systems to track foreign visitors, which Arab/Muslim groups, including Zogby's, strongly opposed. 1996 immigration law required computerized entry and exit tracking of all temporary visas, but was gutted by Abraham and other legislators. They refused to allocate money for the program and delayed its full implementation until 2005. In 2000, Abraham, as Chairman of the Immigration Subcommittee, delayed implementation of other requirements of the 1996 immigration measure, including university-assisted enforcement student visa laws and collection of fees from foreign students to pay for computer tracking.
These programs might have prevented the Sept. 11 attacks. But Abraham desperately craved the Arab/Muslim vote in Michigan.
Abraham also sponsored and pushed for the repeal of the use of secret evidence against terrorists, a vital portion of the Clinton counterterrorism package. He also sought to outlaw profiling of Arabs and Muslims by federal law enforcement.
Foreign aid funding for Hezbollah, rewarded by pseudo-foreign campaign contributions
In July 2000, Abraham sought over $268 million in tax-funded USAID grants for Hezbollah terrorist-controlled Southern Lebanon, at Arab American Institute's Zogby's request. Iranian- and Syrian-backed Hezbollah, has targeted and murdered many Americans. Millions in similar USAID grants (which have scant strings and accountability attached) to Afghanistan were misspent on Taliban terrorist activities. Abraham enlisted Michigan Republican Congressman Joe Knollenberg, on the House International Relations Committee, to push the questionable aid package in the House. They ended up obtaining $86 million, which went straight to Hezbollah and which was never tracked thereafter. They knew this, and that's why they and Zogby sought the money for their Hezbollah friends.
Abraham and Knollenberg were repaid for their efforts, receiving thousands in campaign contributions from Nijad Fares, the Houston-based greencard-holding son of Syrian-backed Lebanese Deputy Prime Minister Issam Fares.
Soft on terrorism
Abraham was one of only two U.S. Senators who refused to sign an October 2000 letter to President Clinton condemning terrorist acts by Yasser Arafat and the P.L.O.
Abraham led the nearly successful June 2001 attempt to reverse the use of classified evidence against terrorists, sponsoring the legislation at the behest of Islamist groups, including the American Muslim Association (AMA) and the American Muslim Political Coordination Council (AMPCC), both headed by Agha Saeed.
In July 1999, Abraham wrote to Saeed, AMA, and AMPCC asking their support: "Your efforts are truly needed in the political arena. . . . You can truly make a difference in the political and policy arenas, and I remain committed to helping you achieve that goal."
But Saeed openly praised Palestinian terrorism as "armed resistance" and appeared at lectures and events sponsored by Hamas front groups, including one panel, in which he was joined by the indicted Al-Arian, entitled: "Zionism: A Racist and Colonialist Ideology." AMA-sponsored events featured these exhortations: "The trees and the stones will say, oh Muslim, there is a Jew hiding behind me. Come and kill him!" "Victory comes from Allah and Hezbollah is our model." "Hear that, Bill Clinton? We are all supporters of Hamas."
Given Spencer Abraham's record of kowtowing to Arab, Muslim, and foreign interests on virtually every national security issue, his hegemony at Energy is disturbing. He should control no form of power--political or electric.
Fred Thompson is Chairman of Condoleeza Rice’s International Security Advisory Board in the State Dept.
Gasp! Oh My!
Now, why is this a big deal?
Second, Why are many of the Freepers acting like salesmen, and saleswomen peeing on the competition?
The election is a long way away.
“He must have been friends with Abraham in the Senate. “
Senators are like this. I have to say I am very suspicious of any senator (or ex senator) running for president because of this country-club atmosphere.
Enter FDT. I didn't start out thinking like this. I am familiar with FDT the actor and with FDT on the radio to Paul Harvey's audience. But, the few times I've heard him speak, off the cuff, no script, there are too many "ahh's" and "ummm's". He writes well, and I bet he'd give some amazing speeches, but when it comes to unscripted verbage? From what little I've seen/heard so far, he either sounds older than his years or he reminds me of GWB.
That's not enough for me to not support him, but I would like a president who can persuade and educate. Reagan was the master. Speaking was one of Clinton's few strengths. Judging FDT only by his radio commentary, I'd say he's similar to Reagan...until I hear him speaking unscripted. It's not a deal breaker, but it's important to me.
By having their membership in a hammerlock monopoly in policy-making positions within the Federal Government as they have had for the last half-century. This is a fact, easily researchable on the internet, and something that the "the CFR is just a think-tank/debating society" crowd has never addressed. Such a monopoly, cutting across party lines as it does, should be cause for concern, as the premise behind the "think-tank/debating scoiety" has been/is now/always will be the implementation of a global government, something which should be anathema to any conservative...
the infowarrior
well said!
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
OK, there I have to stop you. For goodness' sake, be logical. Don't make choices on the basis of emotion, as liberals do. If you can put together a closely-reasoned, linear series of arguments against the candidacy of Fred Thompson, fine, vote against him. But this sort of thing is nonsense:
He is just too ugly to be prez anyway . . .
Is that the basis on which we choose candidates? Looks? If so, then we should all vote for John Edwards. How on earth can you in good conscience base a choice on something as superficial and silly as the candidate's looks?
. . . and we don’t need another womanizer in the white house.
Do you have any basis, any basis whatsoever, for suggesting or imagining that he is a womanizer? There was no shred of a whisper that he has been unfaithful to his first wife or to his present wife.
You failed to explain why his chairmanship of this group is a mark against him.
I’m not seeing the whole picture. Explain if you would please?
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
Ping.
I don’t know everything about Spencer Abraham.
He is a member of the Federalist Society and Ann Coulter worked for him at one time.
I just know that Debbie Schlussel is a nutjob and I don’t believe a word out of her mouth.
Another source, I wouldn’t question it like this. What she writes might be true to some extent, but she twists stuff and makes it appear to be what it isn’t.
lololol. Might as well have someone who looks good.
lol...at least i didn’t label myself as a dumb blond. And no, I am not gonna spend any time looking up old news articles for you.
If Spence manages a good campaign, then he has the right man for the job, no? If he hired Spence as a mid-east and immigration policy consultant, then perhaps you would have a beef.
"Personnel is policy" is catchy, and might belong in a fortune cookie somewhere. Nevertheless in the real world where the rest of us live, getting the right people in the right seats on the bus is what managing a performing organization is all about.
I do think people may confuse him with his character on TV, and I really don’t want to have to look at him, and yes I heard rumors he was a skirt chaser, I would be amazed if he isn’t. He may have quit now at his age, one of my grandfathers quit chasing in his 70s.
http://www.orthodoxnews.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=USNews.one&content_id=10948&CFID=24510812&CFTOKEN=41909013
Marionites are Roman Catholic. Antiochian Orthodox are, well, Orthodox.
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