Posted on 06/30/2009 5:58:04 AM PDT by cycle of discernment
Where in the World is Obama's Missing Thesis? By Ed Lasky
Barack Obama wrote his senior thesis at Columbia University on Soviet nuclear disarmament. Inquiring people have sought a copy of this thesis to no avail. Columbia says it cannot be found; Barack Obama says he lost it.
How likely is that a person so impressed with himself that he writes an autobiography just a few years later would "lose" his senior thesis? After all, a Presidential Library must be filled. And as Jim Geraghty at National Review and others have noted there are a lot of blank spots -- missing records and the like -- having to do with Barack Obama.
But one question remains. If Barack Obama devoted a year researching and writing about Soviet nuclear disarmament, how could he fail to get the facts down about the Kennedy-Khrushchev meeting in Vienna?
Maybe there are good reasons he wants to bury this thesis. Did he get it wrong there,too? Did he just coast at Columbia on his interesting background and personal charm?
“Obama spends most of his time covering things up about himself. Sadly, the left has absolutely no discernment and can’t see it. They accept the mask he shows them without question.”
It isn’t the left. It is the mediacrats. If the media printed one, only one story about Bill Ayers “Obama’s Ties to American Terrorists” he never would have been President.
By 1983, computing resources were available to all students at any decent college (usually mainframes or minis with terminals), and even many high schools (usually the Apple II). Xerox copies cost IIRC five cents at the library.
It's being suppressed just as Hillary's was.
Access to mainframes was severely restricted and you'd find your fingers smacked really hard if caught putting term papers on accessible memorythat cost lots of money, to say nothing of running it through the CPU.
Even folks in government offices didn't have all that much access to PCs at the time.
This article brings up a thought: Has anyone seen a timeline of BO’s life? Like a timeline chart starting on his birthday up to the present time? There would be a lot of voids and blank spots. For example, there is still no proof of a birth certificate (just a registration of live birth, which tends to prove he was not born in Hawaii), so the time until he begins talking about himself in his books would be grey to denote it’s blank for those years. In Indonesia, it would show his Muslim name, etc. At Columbia, the timeline would show his attendance, but a void would exist as to any corroborating evidence such as friends, professors, etc. It think visually it would be shocking to show how little we can verify about this man – except his communist connections. If anyone has seen such a timeline, please give me the site. Thanks.
This article, in case you missed it, appeared on the internet about a week before the Inauguration and went mostly unnoticed:
Barack Obama Breaking the War Mentality March 10 1983 Sundial
Thanks. I’ve read it. It’s pretty badly written. I gave it a pass because at the time, he was a sophomore.
I’d like to read his later works.
He didn’t publish any opinions, legal briefs, or anything else apparently, or if he did, it’s hidden.
Wow! That hit the nail on the head. Good observation.
Maybe Bill Ayers ghost wrote it for him, and you’re looking under the wrong name.
This article, in case you missed it, appeared on the internet about a week before the Inauguration and went mostly unnoticed:
Barack Obama Breaking the War Mentality March 10 1983 Sundial
I remember the Rev. Sloane Coffin and the anti-war days in New York very well.
I do kind of wonder, though, why Obama would bother to hide an anti-war thesis. Everybody was into that stuff in those days. His base would think nothing of it. The media would brush it off and give it a pass. He seems more obsessed than most leftists with hiding his past.
Thanks, BP2. What are the ties that these anti-war groups (ARA, SAM, etc) have to radical leftists and/or Communists?
Thanks! Hadn’t seen this before. I’m checking into it now. But it looks like he *was* closely allied with the communist movement then. Those so-called “anti-war” groups are all communist fronts, just as today.
Here is a FR thread from January of this year (2009) in which the poster of the thread (Ultra Sonic 007) typed out the text from the graphic so that it can be more easily read...
Barack Obama: “Breaking the War Mentality”
March 10, 1983, Sundial
Most students at Columbia do not have first hand knowledge of war. Military violence has been a vicarious experience, channeled into our minds through television, film, and print.
The more sensitive among us struggle to extrapolate experiences of war from our everyday experience, discussing the latest mortality statistics from Guatemala, sensitizing ourselves to our parents’ wartime memories, or incorporating into our framework of reality as depicted by a Maller[?] or a Coppola. But the taste of war — the sounds and chill, the dead bodies — are remote and far removed. We know that wars have occurred, will occur, are occurring, but bringing such experience down into our hearts, and taking continual, tangible steps to prevent war, becomes a difficult task.
Two groups on campus, Arms Race Alternatives (ARA) and Students Against Militarism (SAM) work within these mental limits to foster awareness and practical action necessary to counter the growing threat of war. Though the emphasis of the two groups differ, they share an aversion to current government policy. These groups, visualizing the possibilities of destruction and grasping the tendencies of distorted national priorities, are throwing their weight into shifting America off the dead-end track.
“Most people my age remember well the air-raid drills in school, under the desk with our heads tucked between our legs. Older people, they remember the Cuban Missile Crisis. I think these kinds of things left an indelible mark on our souls[?], so we’re more apt to be concerned,” says Don Kent, assistant director of programs and student activities at Earl Hall Center. Along with the community Volunteer Service Center, ARA has been Don’s primary concern, coordinating various working groups of faculty, students, and staff members, while simultaneously seeking the ever elusive funding for programs.
“When I first came here two years ago, Earl Hall had been a holding tank for five years. Paul Martin (director of Earl Hall) and I discussed our interests, and decided that ARA would be one of the programs we pushed.” Initially, most of the work was done by non-student volunteers and staff. “Hot issues, particularly El Salvador, were occupying students at the time. Consequently, we cosponsored a lot of activities with community organizations like SANE (Students Against Nuclear Energy).”
With the flowering of the nuclear freeze movement, and particularly the June 12 rally in Central Park, however student participation has expanded. One wonders whether this upsurge comes[?] from young people’s penchant for the latest ‘happenings’ or from growing awareness of the consequences of nuclear holocaust. ARA maintains a mailing list of 500 persons and Don Kent estimates that approximately half of the active members are students. Although he feels that continuity is provided by the faculty and staff members, student attendance at ARA sponsored events — in particular a November 11 convocation on the nuclear threat — reveals a deep reservoir of concern. “I think students on this campus like to think of themselves a sophisticated, and don’t appreciate small vision. So they tend to come out more for the events; they do not want to just fold leaflets.”
Mark Bigelow, a graduate intern from Union Theological Seminary who works with Don to keep ARA running smoothly, agrees. “It seems that students here are fairly aware of the nuclear problem, and it makes for an underlying frustration. We try to talk to that frustration.” Consequently, the thrust of ARA is towards generating dialogue which will give people a rational handle on this controversial subject. This includes bringing speakers like Daniel Ellsberg to campus, publishing fact sheets compiled by interested faculty, and investigating the possible development of an interdisciplinary program in the Columbia curriculum dealing with peace, disarmament, and world order.
Tied in with such a thrust is the absence of what Don calls “a party line.” By taking an almost apolitical approach to the problem, ARA hopes to get the university to take nuclear arms issues seriously. “People don’t like having their intelligence insulted,” says Don. “so we try to disseminate information and allow the individual to make his or her own decision.”
Generally, the narrow focus of the Freeze movement as well as academic discussions of first versus second strike capabilities, suit the military-industrial interests, as they continue adding to their billion dollar erector sets. When Peter Tosh sings that “everybody’s asking for peace, but nobody’s asking for justice,” one is forced to wonder whether disarmament or arms control ensues[?], severed from economic and political issues, might be another instance of focusing on the symptoms of a problem instead of the disease itself. Mark Bigelow does not think so. “We do focus primarily on catastrophic weapons. Look, we say, here’s the worst part . Let’s[?] work[?] on that. You’re not going to get rid of the military in the near future, so let’s at least work on this.”
Mark Bigelow does feel that the links are there, and points to fruitful work being done by other organizations involved with disarmament. “The Freeze is one part of a whole[?] disarmament movement. The lowest common denominator, so to speak. For instance, April 10-16 is Jobs For Peace week, with a bunch of things going on around the city. Also, the New York City Council may pass a resolution in April calling for greater social as opposed to military spending. Things like this may dispel the idea that disarmament is a white issue, because how the government spends its revenue affects everyone.”
The very real advantages of concentrating on a single issue is leading the National Freeze movement to challenge individual missile systems, while continuing the broader campaign. This year, Mark Bigelow sees the checking of Pershing II and Cruise missile deployment as crucial. “Because of their small size and mobility, their deployment will make possible arms control verification far more difficult, and will cut down warning time for the Soviets to less than ten minutes. That can only be a destabilizing factor[?].” Additionally, he sees the initiation by the U.S. of the Test Ban Treaty as a powerful first step towards a nuclear free world.
ARA encourages members to join buses to Washington and participate in a March 7-8 rally intended to push through the Freeze resolution which is making its second trip through the House. ARA also will ask United Campuses to Prevent Nuclear War (UCAM), an information and lobbying network based in universities, nationwide, to serve as its advisory board in the near future. Because of its autonomy from Columbia (which does not fund political organizations), UCAM could conceivably become a more active arm of disarmament campaigns on campus, thought the ARA will continue to function solely as a vehicle for information and discussion.
Also operating out of Earl Hall Center, Students Against Militarism was formed in response to the passage of registration laws in 1980. An entirely student-run organization, SAM casts a wider net than ARA, though for the purposes of effectiveness, they have tried to lock in on one issue at a time.
“At the heart of our organization is an anti-war focus,” says junior Robert Kahn, one of SAM’s fifteen or so active members. “From there, a lot of issues shoot forth — nukes, racism, the draft, and South Africa. We have been better organized when taking one issue at a time, but we are always cognizant of other things going on, and collaborate frequently with other campus organizations like CISPES and REELPOLITIK.”
At this time, the current major issue is the Solomon Bill, the latest legislation from Congress to obtain compliance to registration. The law requires that all male students applying for federal financial aid submit proof of registration, or else the government coffers will close. Yale, Wesleyan, and Swathmore have refused to comply, and plan to offer non-registrants other forms of financial aid. SAM hopes to press Columbia into following suit, though so far President Sovern and company seem prepared to acquiesce to the bill.
Robert believes students tacitly support non-registrants, though the majority did not comply. “Several students have come up to our tables and said that had they known of the ineffectiveness of the prosecution, they would not have registered.” A measure of such underlying support is the 400 signatures on a petition protesting the Solomon Bill, which SAM collected the first four hours it appeared. Robert also points out that prior to registration, there were four separate bills circulating in the House proposing a return to the draft, but none ever got out of committees, and there have not been renewed efforts. An estimated half-million non-registrants can definitely be a powerful signal.
Prodding students into participating beyond name signing and attending events is tricky, but SAM members seem undaunted. “A lot of the problem comes not from people’s ignorance of the facts, but because the news and statistics are lifeless. That’s why we search for campus issues like the Solomon bill that have direct impact on the student body, and effectively link the campus to broader issues.” By organizing and educating the Columbia community, such activities lay the foundation for future mobilization against the relentless, often silent spread of militarism in the country. “The time is right to tie together social and military issues,” Robert continues, “and the more strident the Administration becomes, the more aware people are of their real interests.”
The belief that moribund institutions, rather than the individuals, are at the root of the problem, keep SAM’s energies alive. “A prerequisite for members of an organization like ours is the faith that people are fundamentally good, but you need to show them, and when you look at the work people are doing across the country, it makes you optimistic.”
Perhaps the essential goodness of humanity is an arguable proposition, but by observing the SAM meeting last Thursday night, with its solid turnout and enthusiasm, one might be persuaded that the manifestations of our better instincts can at least match the bad ones. Regarding Columbia’s possible compliance, one comment in particular hit upon an important point with the Solomon bill, “The thing we need to do is expose how Columbia is talking out of two sides of its mouth.”
Indeed, the most pervasive malady of the collegiate system specifically, and the American experience generally, is that elaborate patterns of knowledge and theory have been disembodied from individual choices and government policy. What members of ARA and SAM try to do is infuse what they have learned about the current situation, bring the words of that formidable roster on the face of Butler Library, names like Thoreau, Jefferson, and Whitman, to bear on the twisted logic of which we are today a part. By adding their energy and effort in order to enhance the possibility of a decent world, they may help deprive us of a spectacular experience—that of war. But then, there are some things we shouldn’t have to live through in order to want to avoid the experience.
Note from thread poster (Ultra Sonic 007): “My text transcription of this Obama editorial from 1983”:
http://d.scribd.com/docs/1xm69wn2lozlgbwr5nb0.pdf
“Words with [?] are marked because I had trouble deciphering them due to grainy text images.”-Ultra Sonic 007
Posted on Thursday, January 29, 2009 10:30:27 PM by Ultra Sonic 007:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2174704/posts
They are one in the same.
From their website...
"CISPES joins the Alliance for Global Justice, SOA Watch, and other members of the Latin America Solidarity Coalition in denouncing today's coup in Honduras. CISPES committees are joining rallies at consulates around the country to demand the reinstatement of the democratically elected Honduran president."
The CISPES Mission Statement:
"We are a grassroots organization dedicated to supporting the Salvadoran people’s struggle forself-determination and social and economic justice. The alternative that they are building --an alternative based upon democratic and socialist ideals--is an example to all people who seek a world free of domination and exploitation. We support that alternative because we believe that capitalism is a fundamentally unjust, oppressive and ecologically unsustainable economic system. We join with poor and working people, immigrants and refugees in the struggle against neoliberalism-- the current manifestation of capitalism imposed by the United States government and its state, institutional and corporate allies. Neoliberal policies continue to produce enormous suffering and destabilization around the world. We focus our work on El Salvador because of the U.S. government’s continuing military, economic, and political intervention on behalf of U.S. corporate interests, and because the Salvadoran people’s tenacious and inspiring struggle to build social justice."
After a little research, I see that I DID see this before. I had posed material on the Jan 2009 FR thread that I linked to here. Somehow I forgot about it. Will definitely add it to my growing FR Home page on Obama and his long history of commie-left associations. Thanks again for posting it on this thread!
He has an army of useful idiots..I see stupid people everywhere..
The Kenyan was his father but Frank Marshall Davis reared him..
Here is something Obama wrote that was published. I found this at Orly’s website and it is from obama’s Columbia days. A freeper here did the printing as it was a pdf file seemingly in gif form from a newspaper and hard to read.
Biden has touted nuclear disarmament since he fell in love with New World Order. This is a plan from the marxist progressives of long ago. They must be thrilled they have the power and no one is stopping them from abusing it.
http://calendar.columbia.edu/sundial/
BREAKING THE WAR MENTALITY
By Barack Obama
March 10, 1983
The Sundial
Most students at Columbia do not have firsthand knowledge war. Military violence has been a vicarious experience, channeled into our minds to television, film, and print.
The more sensitive among the struggle to extrapolate experiences of war from our everyday experience, discussing the latest mortality statistics from Guatemala, sensitizing ourselves where parents were time memories, or incorporating into our framework of reality as depicted by a mailer or a Coppola. But the taste of war-the sounds and chill, the dead bodies-are remote and far removed. We know that wars have occurred, will occur, are occurring, but bringing such experienced down and tour hearts, and taking continual, tangible steps to prevent war, becomes a difficult task. Two groups on campus, Arms Race Alternatives (ARA) and Students Against Militarism (SAM) work within these mental limits to foster awareness and practical action necessary to counter the growing threat of war. Through the emphasis of the two groups differ, they share an aversion to current government policy. These groups, visualizing the possibilities of destruction and grasping the tendencies of distorted national priorities, are throwing their weight into shifting America off the dead-end track.
Most people my age remember well the air raid drills in school, under the desk with our heads tucked between our legs. Older people, they remember the Cuban missile crisis. I think those kinds of things left an indelible mark on our souls, so are more apt to be concerned. Says Don Kent, assistant director of programs and student activities at roll call center. Along with the community volunteer service Center, ARA has been Don’s primary concerned, coordinating various working groups of faculty, students, and staff members, while simultaneously seeking the ever elusive funding for programs.
“When I first came here two years ago, Earl Hall had been a holding tank for five years. Paul Martin (director of roll Hall) and I discussed our interests, and decided that would be one of the programs we pushed.” Initially, most of the work was done by non-student volunteers and staff. “Hot issues, particularly El Salvador, were occupying students at the time. Consequently, we cosponsored a lot of activities with community organizations like SANE (Students Against Nuclear Energy).”
With the flowering of the nuclear freeze movement, and particularly the June 12 rally in Central Park, however, student participation has expanded. One wonders whether this upsurge stems from young people’s penchant for the latest ‘happenings’ or from growing awareness of the consequences of nuclear holocaust. ARA Maintains a mailing list of 500 persons and Don Kent estimates that approximately half of the active members or students. Although he feels the continuity is provided by the faculty and staff members, student attendance at ARA sponsored events-in particular in November 11 convocation on the nuclear threat-reveals a deep reservoir of concern. “I think students on this campus like to think of themselves as sophisticated, and don’t appreciate small vision. So they tend to come out more for the events; they do not want to just fold leaflets.”
Mark Bigelow, a graduate intern from Union theological seminary who works with Don to keep ARA running smoothly, agrees. “It seems the students here are fairly aware of the nuclear problem, and it makes for an underlying frustration. We try to talk to that frustration.” Consequently, the thrust of ARA is towards generating dialogue which will give people a rational handle on this controversial subject. This includes bringing speakers like Daniel Ellsberg to campus, publishing fact sheets compiled by interested faculty, and investigating the possible development of an interdisciplinary program in the Columbia curriculum dealing with peace, disarmament, and world order.
Tied in with such a thrust is the absence of what Don calls “a party line.” By taking almost apolitical approach to the problem, they are a hopes to get the university to take nuclear arms issue seriously. “People don’t like having their intelligence insulted,” says Don, “so we try to disseminate information and allow the individual to make his or her own decision.”
Generally, the narrow focus of the freeze movement as well as academic discussions of first versus second strike capabilities, sued the military industrial interests, as they continue adding to their billion dollar a rector sets. When Peter cautious sings that everybody’s asking for peace, but nobody’s asking for justice,” one is forced to wonder whether disarmament or arms control issues, severed from economic and political issues, might be another instance of focusing on the symptoms of a problem instead of the disease itself. Mark Bigelow does not think so. “We do focus primarily on catastrophic weapons. Look, we say, here’s the worst part let’s work on that. You’re not going to get rid of the military in the near future, selectively is work on this.”
Mark Bigelow does feel that the links are there, and points to fruitful work being done by other organizations involved with disarmament. “The freeze is one part of a whole disarmament movement. The lowest common denominator, so to speak. For instance, April 10 through the 16th is jobs for peace week, With a bunch of things going on around the city. Also, the New York City Council may pass a resolution April calling for greater social as opposed to military spending. Things like this may dispel the idea that disarmament is a white issue, because how the government spends its revenue affects everyone.”
The very real advantages of concentrating on a single issue is leading the national freeze movement to challenge individual missile systems, while continuing the broader campaign. This year, Mark Bigelow sees the checking of Pershing two and cruise missile deployment as crucial. “Because of their small size and mobility, their deployment will make possible arms control verification far more difficult, and will cut down warning time for the Soviets to less than 10 minutes. That can only be a destabilizing factor.” Additionally, he sees the initiation by the US of the test ban treaty as a powerful first step towards a nuclear free world.
ARA encourages members to join buses to Washington and participate in a March 7 through the eighth rally intended to push through the freeze resolution which is making its second trip through the house. They are a will also ask United campuses to prevent nuclear war (UCAM), an information lobbying network-based and universities, nationwide, to serve as its advisory board in the near future. Because of its from Columbia (which does not fund political organizations) UCAM could conceivably become a more active arm of disarmament campaigns on campus, though the ARA will continue to function solely as a vehicle for information and discussion.
Also operating out of rural Hall Center, students against militarism was formed in response to the passage of registration laws in 1980. An entirely student run organization, SAM cast a wider net than ARA, although for the purposes of effectiveness, they have tried to lock in on one issue at a time.
“At the heart of our organization is an antiwar focus”, says junior Robert Kahn, one of SAM’s 15 or so active members. “From there, a lot of issue shoot forth-nukes, racism, the draft, and South Africa. We’ve been better organized when taking one issue at a time, what we are always cognizant of other things going on and collaborate frequently with other campus organizations like CISPES and REELPOLITIK.”
At this time, the current major issue is the Solomon Bill, the latest legislation from Congress to obtain compliance to registration. The law requires all male students applying for federal financial aid submit proof of registration, or else the government coffers will close. Yale, Wesleyan, and Swarthmore have refused to comply, and plan to offer non-registrants other forms of financial aid. SAM Hopes to press Columbia into following suit, though so far President Sovern and company seem prepared to acquiesce to the bill.
Robert believes students tacitly support non-registrants, though the majority did not comply. “Several students have come up to her tables and said that had they known of the ineffectiveness of prosecution, they would not or registered.” A measure of such underlying support is the 400 signatures on a petition protesting the Solomon Bill, which SAM collected the first four hours it appeared. Robert also points out that prior to registration, there were four separate bills circulating in the House proposing return to the draft, but none ever got out of committees, and there have not been renewed efforts. An estimated half million non-registrants can definitely be a powerful signal.
Prodding students into participating beyond name signing and attending events is tricky, but SAM members seem undaunted. “A lot of the problem comes not from people’s ignorance of the facts, but because the news and statistics are lifeless. That’s why we search for campus issues like the Solomon Bill that have a direct impact on the student body, and effectively link the campus to broader issues.” By organizing in educating the Columbia community, such activities lay the foundation for future mobilization against the relentless, often silent spread of militarism in the country. “The time is right to tie together social and military issues,” Robert continues, “and the more strident the administration becomes, the more aware people are of their real interests.
The belief that moribund institutions, rather than individuals are at the root of the problem, deep scams energies alive. “A prerequisite for members of an organization like ours is the faith that people are fundamentally good, but you need to show them and when you look at the work people are doing across the country, it makes you optimistic.”
Perhaps the essential goodness of humanity is an arguable proposition, but by observing the same meeting last Thursday night, with its solid turnout and enthusiasm, one might be persuaded that manifestations of our better instincts can at least match the bad ones. Regarding Columbia’s possible compliance, one comment in particular hit upon an important point with the Solomon Bill, “the thing that we need to do is expose how Columbia is talking out of two sides of its mouth.”
Indeed, the most pervasive nullity of the collegiate system specifically, and the American experience generally, in that elaborate patterns of knowledge and theory have been this embodied from individual choices and government policy. What the members of a ARA and SAM tried to do is infuse what they have learned about the current situation, bring the words of that formidable roster on the face of Butler Library, names like furrow, Jefferson, and Whitman, to bear on the twisted logic of which we are today apart. By adding their energy and effort in order to enhance the possibility of a decent world, they may help deprive us of a spectacular experience-that of war. But then, there are some things we shouldn’t have to live through in order to want to avoid the experience.
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