Chicago Annenberg Challenge Shutdown? (Anoter Obama Coverup?)

National Review Online ^ | 8-18-08 | Stanley Kurtz

[Renfield]

Although the press has been notably lax about pursuing the matter, the full story of the Obama-Ayers relationship calls the truth of Obama’s account seriously into question. When Obama made his first run for political office, articles in both the Chicago Defender and the Hyde Park Herald featured among his qualifications his position as chairman of the board of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge, a foundation where Ayers was a founder and guiding force. Obama assumed the Annenberg board chairmanship only months before his first run for office, and almost certainly received the job at the behest of Bill Ayers. During Obama’s time as Annenberg board chairman, Ayers’s own education projects received substantial funding. Indeed, during its first year, the Chicago Annenberg Challenge struggled with significant concerns about possible conflicts of interest. With a writ to aid Chicago’s public schools, the Annenberg challenge played a deeply political role in Chicago’s education wars, and as Annenberg board chairman, Obama clearly aligned himself with Ayers’s radical views on education issues. With Obama heading up the board and Ayers heading up the other key operating body of the Annenberg Challenge, the two would necessarily have had a close working relationship for years (therefore “exchanging ideas on a regular basis”). So when Ayers and Dorhn hosted that kickoff for the first Obama campaign, it was not a random happenstance, but merely further evidence of a close and ongoing political partnership. Of course, all of this clearly contradicts Obama’s dismissal of the significance of his relationship with Ayers.....

[kcm.org]

The shutdown is simply the uber-rich saying to shut it down, and continue on with the illusion of free elections for we “little people.”

[basil]

I read this whole article through to the end. Even though the writer was not able to gain access to the material in the library, it at least gives some insight to the Chicago Annenberg Challenge, of which I wasn't aware until now.

Obama gets more scarier as each day passes, IMHO.

[UltraKonservativen]

Just e-mailed the President of UIC the following :

Dear President White,

Our nation is facing a momentous decision in selecting our next President. The Chicago Annenberg Challenge files are in the possession of your University library and contain background information on Senator Obama’s activities as the chairman of this organization.
Surprisingly, a University Library is denying access to these files to the press for various suspicious reasons. This information should be made public and this denial is casting a shadow of suspicion on the Senator.
We urge you to take immediate steps to release the Chicago Annenberg Challenge records, ensure that they are not tampered with, release the name of the donor(s) that are allegedly blocking access to the collection.
This collections must be made available to the American public.
Thank you for your prompt consideration.

[Lucius Cornelius Sulla]

Another annoying point of this story is that this foundation is obviously a product of the philanthropy of the late Walter Annenberg, who was the conservative publisher of the Philadelphia Inquirer, and TV Guide. There are a number of the most left wing foundations established by wealthy conservatives who did not make sure that they would be run by conservatives.

[elizabetty]

Can’t the Special Collections Librarian just eat her waffles?

[SE Mom]

This is an excellent piece by Kurtz.

The DNC has put America in the danger zone. These people are no longer political opponents- they are truly the enemy.

[PapaBear3625]

There are a number of the most left wing foundations established by wealthy conservatives who did not make sure that they would be run by conservatives.

They fell victim to vanity, thinking that they could establish a foundation that would further their philosophies and goals long after they were dead, that would not be captured by those with different philosophies

A conservative would be better served by having any foundation have a sunset clause, which would mandate that all the money be distributed to worthy conservative causes and individuals within 20 years, at which point the foundation terminates.

[NVDave]

Actually, a conservative would be better off spending as much of the money as possible while alive according to their wishes. That way no smooth-talking lawyer can twist his/her intent at all.

The other necessary tactic is to so narrowly construct one’s will and trust(s) that no lawyer can “interpret” your foundation/trust to their ends.

The sunset clauses AND the narrow construction are what kept the Olin Foundation on track:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_M._Olin_Foundation

[Enchante]

Wow, this is a huge issue and we can only be highly suspicious about why the library is behaving in this way. Ayers, Obambi, and/or pals of their obviously don’t want anyone to look at those files before the election......

At a minimum, we can expect that there are documents, probably many documents, that would prove the lie of Obambi’s statement that Ayers was “just a guy who lives in my neighborhood” — Ayers and Obambi worked together extensively on this educational “reform” project and Ayers almost certainly selected Obambi or at least was involved in the selection of Obambi as Chairman of the initiative.

I suspect there are plenty of docs there that would show collegial correspondence between Ayers and Obambi, striving together for their “common goals” etc.

[MHGinTN]

David Axelrod cannot define truth, much less do it. His effort to obfuscate by telling reports that Ayers’ and Obama’s kids went to school together thus they were casually acquainted was such a lie that the press didn't even look into it. It took Sean Hannity to expose the gross difference in ages, so Obama’s girls are Einsteins or Ayers’ children are retarded and stuck for a decade plus in elementary school, if ‘Axelrod the Liar’ is to be believed. And the almost amusing thing is, democrats see nothing untoward in this repeated systemic pernicious lying.

[Enchante]

Wow, look at this, a real live cover-up scandal for the Demagogues, it would seem.......

Suddenly the librarians are determined to stall and block access to these docs, what a surprise!

Of course, it’s conceivable that there’s nothing in all these boxes of docs that would prove the lies about Obambi and Ayers being slight acquaintances..... and if anyone believes that I have plenty of swampland (er, “wetlands”) to sell you now!!

[Enchante]

Lies, lies, lies...... the Obamanators are spewing lies all over the place, and the MSM cannot be bothered to investigate them.

How incredible is it that in all these months since Obambi has been a candidate and then the presumptive nominee, no MSM reporters have looked into virtually the ONLY possible claim to accomplishment in Obambi’s thin resume?

Oh, that’s right, it’s not really any “accomplishment” b/c (1) it’s well acknowledged even by its proponents that the Annenberg Challenge spent $100 million or so and accomplished NOTHING; (2) the association of Ayers and Obambi on this project is too obviously threatening to Obambi’s lies and image as as newly created “non-partisan” candidate, so the MSM and Demagogues have to pretend this project never happened.

[mojito]

This is huge. Are there any Chicago FReepers who could also request access to these documents?

The more people who ask, the louder the sound of the refusal.

This has the potential to be extremely embarrassing and damaging for Obama. If Ayers is blocking access, then there must certainly be something there that neither Obama nor Ayers want anyone to see.

[CedarDave]

Rush just picked this up! Discussing now...

[Miss Didi]

Is this the article that Rush is discussing now?

[CedarDave]

Rush just picked this up! Discussing now...

Sorry, I'm incorrect. Rush is discussing the broader issue of Obama's relationship with Ayers, not Kurtz' refusal by UIC.

[CedarDave]

No, it’s not. But I bet Mark Levin will be interested as he hit “cleanup” this afternoon.

[SE Mom]

UPDATE from Kurtz here:

http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=ZmJmMmY5ZTZjMDM2M2ViMTI2ZjU1OTc4NjE4OTgxMjM=

Chicago Cover-up? [Stanley Kurtz]

In the process of tracing down the Obama-Ayers connection, I located a large cache of documents housed in the Richard J. Daley Library of the University of Illinois at Chicago. These documents are the internal files of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge, a small foundation, founded and inspired by Bill Ayers, for which Obama served as board chairman (almost surely at Ayers’s behest). Although the library initially promised me access to the Chicago Annenberg Challenge records, top library officials mysteriously intervened at the last minute to bar access. There followed a struggle between myself and library officials over my right to examine the documents. Although I cannot know for certain, there is reason to believe that Bill Ayers himself may have been consulted, behind the scenes, as the conflict grew.

The explanations offered by library officials for the last-minute decision to block access to the documents were contradictory and shifting. I cannot say for certain that we are dealing with a politically motivated cover-up, but it seems like a very real possibility. Before my access was cut off, an assistant at the library sent me a “finding aid” for the Chicago Annenberg Challenge records — a document of over 60 pages indicating the contents of the 947 file folders in the Collection. The evidence in the finding aid suggest that the Chicago Annenberg Challenge records could provide very important information about Barack Obama’s background and the history of his working relationship with Ayers.

I need public help to gain access to this critically important repository of information. Frankly, since the dispute over access, which played out late last week, I have grown concerned about the security of the documents. Public awareness is probably the best way to reduce the likelihood of documents being damaged or spirited away before I have a chance to break the embargo and gain access to the Collection.

You can read more about the battle over the Chicago Annenberg Collection records in my new NRO piece, “Chicago Annenberg Challenge Shutdown?” Please consider contacting the president of the University of Illinois system, B. Joseph White, to ask him to take immediate public steps to insure the safety of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge records, to release the identity of the collection’s donor, and above all to swiftly make the collection available to me, and to the public at large. You can find an e-mail link for White here. Telephone, fax, and mailing addresses for White’s offices can be found here .

08/18 10:22 AM

[Dinah Lord]

all hands on deck bump.

Thanks SE Mom!