Going To The Library

Steve Diamond of Global Labor has been leading the charge on the Obama/Ayers connection to the Chicago Annenberg Challenge.  Today he has lots of questions about the role being played by the library where the Chicago Annenberg Challenge archives were housed. 

Conservative critic Stanley Kurtz had contacted the University of Illinois at Chicago library requesting permission to review the archives.  For some reason, this set off alarm bells at the library.  Mr. Diamond writes:

An earlier statement by a UIC spokesperson stated that UIC contacted the donor of the CAC records and that it was then discovered that an "ownership agreement" had not been prepared for the CAC records. This is most likely not accurate.  No such agreement is likely in this situation. A gift of corporate records, such as those of the CAC, is valid without a written instrument.

...

But more fundamentally there would be no reason for anyone in the Special Collections Library to even question the validity of the gift of the CAC documents! 

And a donor would never be allowed to know who or when someone is asking to review a validly granted gift of documents. That violates the confidentiality of library users. It reminds me of the concerns that civil libertarians have properly raised about the Patriot Act.

That leaves only one possible conclusion:  Someone inside the UIC Library clearly was concerned that a critic of Barack Obama might be attempting to examine these public records. That led to an unprecedented and, in my view, highly inappropriate notice to the donor of the CAC documents that a potential political critic of Obama was interested in the documents.

They told Glenn Reynolds that if Bush were re-elected no library user would have any privacy.  And they were right!

Comments

[MayBee]

Obama to the Library Association in 2005:

I know that some of you here have been subject to FBI or other law enforcement orders asking for reading records. And so I hope we can pass a provision like the House of Representatives did that would require federal agents to get these kinds of search warrants from a real judge in a real court, just like everyone else does. In the Senate, the bipartisan bill that we're working on, known as the SAFE Act, will prevent the federal government from freely rifling through emails and library records without first obtaining such a warrant.

Suddenly I'm imagining he was picturing the FBI one day going after his CAC records.
Heh. "Hey Librarians, fight the release of my records. For Freedom!"

[Chris]

Projection-it's what's (always) for dinner. Leftists continually attribute their worst tendencies onto their political opponents. What would they do with all the powers of government (Patriot Act, etc)? Of course they'd use them to spy, browbeat, malign and otherwise marginalize opponents. Every criticism of Ashcroft et. al from the left should be read as an admission of intent on their part.

[kim]

You said a mouthful there, Chris.
====================

[JM Hanes]

TM:

You and Steve Diamond should be going to the library with Kurtz.

[JM Hanes]

MayBee:

You make me think that would be very interesting to know precisely when those records were donated, as well as the donor's name, wouldn't it? Obama's paper trail has been scrupulously scrubbed, but perhaps a decision was made (in Obama PassiveSpeak) to hide records which could not credibly be destroyed and avoid all mention of Obama's CAC connection in the hope that nobody would notice. He didn't know he was up against TM!

Indeed, if "finalizing" the paperwork with UI was not entirely a ruse, it suggests that the donation may have been timed to Obama's relatively recent rise. If nothing else, I can certainly believe that the donor's concern about "names and confidential salary information" was very real!

[hrtshpdbox]

Completely OT, but it looks like a FOX newsman might've got pummeled by angry (and inarticulate, except for the abusive outbursts) pre-convention marchers.

[centralcal]

This may seem at first glance to be off topic. But I think it ties directly to the CAC issue possible getting more media traction.

Newsbusters has a clip of THIS WEEK with Stephanopolous where you can actually watch liberal heads explode over this lead in by Mark Halperin:

"What Stephanopoulos may not have expected was Time's Mark Halperin claiming that "this is going to end up being one of the worst moments in the entire campaign for one of the candidates, but it's Barack Obama."

Adding delicious insult to injury, much to Democrat strategist Donna Brazile's dismay, Halperin saw the Obama campaign's attack on McCain not knowing how many houses he owns as opening the door for the Arizona senator to bring up the Illinois senator's connections to Tony Rezko, Reverend Wright, and William Ayers..."

LUN

[Ranger]

Indeed, if "finalizing" the paperwork with UI was not entirely a ruse, it suggests that the donation may have been timed to Obama's relatively recent rise. If nothing else, I can certainly believe that the donor's concern about "names and confidential salary information" was very real!

Posted by: JM Hanes | August 24, 2008 at 02:08 PM

I think that theory is also backed up by what was sealed when the controbution was made. Given that the reviews of the CAC specificly identified the initial discussion and the funding choises that came from them as the core of why the project failed, the fact that those discussions and the internal audits were made particularly hard to access means the people who doneted them didn't want people looking at the root causes of CAC's failure. A strange decision if the purpose of the donation was to allow people to research and learn from CAC's mistakes.

[centralcal]

I saw that too, hrtshpdbox. They were particularly fluent in bird-flipping, but not much else.

[bad]

Iposted this on another thread as well because it contained a link to Clarice's great article.

I have more questions about the money involved in the CAC. Steve Diamond at Global labor has some of the tax returns posted for the CAC but not all of them.

The amount of money in and out is not going to add up anywhere near $110 million unless the missing years are the bulk of donations in and grants back out to the "education" community.

Someone please take a look and make an assessment. The tax returns can be found Linked Under Name.

[JM Hanes]

Clarice:

Yours is a most astute suggestion for framing the CAC story as a compelling election issue with a persuasive precedent:

Will the voters conclude that the old- professor- in- the- neighborhood story was so disingenuous that Obama was lying to hide from them facts they deserved to know — indeed, facts every bit as relevant as Hillary’s failure at health care reform about which they were informed in the primaries?

Per this construction, the issue is not confined to Obama's questionable associations, it speaks directly to his performance at the helm of the only major initiative he has undertaken -- in an area of claimed concern & expertise, to boot. Contra his vague, inflated, "accomplishments" as a "community organizer," the results under his leadership at CAC were a notable, indisputable, net loss of serious dimensions. Unless he's prepared to argue that he was derelict in his duties, I don't see how he can place responsibility for those losses on someone else's shoulders. Your approach condenses a very complex story to manageable proportions which can work in a soundbyte or a narrative as needed.

Hillary failed at health care reform, and even if you don't doubt his intentions, Obama clearly failed at education reform. He failed in one of our largest cities, despite occupying a prominent position in the political hierarchy (as did his wife) which decidedly augured for success, and despite his putative skills as a uniter, not a divider. Indeed, he appears to have left the education community more divided than he found it. That, in itself, would be reason enough to bury the documentary evidence. Compounded with Ayers and fiduciary corruption, it could be a killer.

For the issue to gain traction, it must ultimately preempt dismissal as a dis-traction (guilt-by-association) to be entertained as a legitimate target (education policy) for criticism, which it logically represents. Did Obama ever bring up Hillary's misadventure in the primaries? If so, he opened this door himself!

What is begging for similarly pointed condensation is the particular relevance of CAC when it has, in fact, been writ large by Obama into the proposed Dem Platform.

Partnership with Civic Institutions: Social entrepreneurs and leading nonprofit organizations are assisting schools, lifting families out of poverty, filling health care gaps and inspiring others to lead change in their own communities. To support these results-oriented innovators, we will create a Social Investment Fund Network that invests in ideas that work, tests their impact and expands the most successful programs. We will create an office to coordinate government and non-profit efforts.

This sounds suspiciously familiar, does it not? Do we really want to take the CAC fiasco to a whole new level?

[sbw]

[ot] As much as I have issues with the Associated Press, the idea that a groundswell of 15,000 letters and contacts with newspapers should sway a journalist is unAmerican. It is one thing to disagree on how to accomplish reasonable goals, and quite another to misapply power as these people would do.

My opinion of Jane Hamsher was forged from Plame experience. It can get no lower. I'll not link to firedoglake, simply to keep down her link count. Small minds in a small pool infatuated with themselves.[/ot]

[clarice]

Thank you jmh..from you that is considerable praise.

I am angry with myself because I had that last bit, meant to add it to the piece and then, because I'd already slightly exceeded the space limits, left it off.

Maybe it leaves way for a second installment--using CAC as a template for blowing thru money and harming kids and schools on a federal level.

[Rick Ballard]

"using CAC as a template for blowing thru money and harming kids and schools on a federal level."

Clarice,

It's a very good point. Writing it as "using CAC as a template for stealing money from children to strengthen the Communist Democrat party on a federal level" might be more advantageous.

[Ann]

That was excellent Clarice. I just printed it off for the eighth grade debate. Even a liberal teacher for Obama will choke on your great line:

"Will voters who consider education an important issue — and surely that includes many important voter groups for Obama — take kindly to a man who took $110 million of charitable funds which were earmarked for improving public education and squandered it on salaries for men like Weatherman Ayers and Michael Klonsky, the Maoist leader of the Revolutionary Youth Movement which worked with the Weather Underground and who at the time of CAC’s lavish grants to him worked as a cab driver?"

Love it! Thanks

[bad]

To support these results-oriented innovators, we will create a Social Investment Fund Network that invests in ideas that work, tests their impact...

The CAC tax returns are a source of how expensive these "tests of impact" are.

1998 Tax Return: Evaluations $732,969
1999 Tax Return: Evaluations $826,080
2001 Tax Return: Evaluations $686,451

Keep in mind that these evaluation fees do not include charges for consultants. Tax Returns for 1995, 1996, 1997, and 2000 are not available yet at Global Labor.

Tax Returns LUN

[Porchlight]

And a donor would never be allowed to know who or when someone is asking to review a validly granted gift of documents.

This was my immediate thought as well. My experience as a university librarian is that it would be a total violation of confidentiality for a library or archives staffer to alert a donor (or anyone else for that matter) about a research request.

What I would love is if someone else would come forward to say that they'd accessed these records in the past. We know that the finding aid was posted on the UIC site as late as August 9 2008. Surely someone else must have looked at these at some time? If so, then UIC's claim about the legality of the gift would be dismantled.

I am heartened to hear that this story made it to Stephanopoulos' show. Keep on plugging, TM (and Stanley Kurtz and Steve Diamond).

[Ranger]

1998 Tax Return: Evaluations $732,969
1999 Tax Return: Evaluations $826,080
2001 Tax Return: Evaluations $686,451

Hmmm... that's over $2M funneled to Ayers' favorite graduate students to help fund their educations. It would be very interesting to see which specific grad students were payed to do the evaluations and what their focuses of study were.

[bad]

Ranger

I wasn't able to find specifics from the tax return but hopefully that info will be available to Mr. Kurtz.

[sbw]

[OT] I don't want to register at Fire Dog Lake, but if anyone who was registered there wanted to comment on her trashing of AP, I wouldn't mind them saying:

I'm amused at your misrepresentation of ideal journalism as simply He said/She said. Ron Fournier's AP analysis was labeled analysis -- which means adding perspective to simple facts that without explanation might not otherwise accurately represent the lay of the land. Analysis helps improve the accuracy of people's understanding of the world around them.

Jane, you are upset because you see the world differently than Mr. Fournier. I hate to break it to you, but you are not correct simply because you think you are.

And I'm doubly amused that you think storming the AP is a rational answer. It's an absurd notion to think that repeating a bad idea 15,000 times somehow makes it better.

[clarice]

Thank you Ann and Rick.

that's the way the grant business is ,Bad. And Ayres gets more and more power with each $ of grant money he brings in. So that other professors in his dept who are not on the Obama red gravy train are at a major power disadvantage at Illinois.
Ditto Ranger--suck up to Ayres and your bills are paid and you get a nice recommendation for your next position after graduation.
This is how the "soft" depts in our universities were bought.

And now with enviro carp--it's how the hard sciences are being bought, too.

[GMax]

You want to send logic and reason to poodle lady? Save your breath, it will be wasted on her.

[sbw]

Gmax, fair enough... but I feel better for writing it. ;-)

[bad]

More CAC expenses per tax returns:

1998 travel, conferences, meetings $41,662
1999 " $108,751
2001 " $102,168

Remember returns are unavailable for 1995, 1996,1997,2000

Did CAC pay travel expenses for Obama and Ayers to the same events?

[Porchlight]

To answer my own question, sort of, Alex Russo's book School Reform in Chicago may be worth examining - and it just happens to be at my library.

He seems to be strangely silent on the UIC/CAC records dust-up even though he has written about Obama and the CAC on his blog in the past (plus the Slate articles). Bet you anything he has seen those CAC records.

Well, anyway, it's all moot I guess since UIC has agreed to give Kurtz access. But it might be grist to Kurtz's mill if he knew that the door was not shut in the faces of other researchers.

[JM Hanes]

clarice:

I'm not sure that's such a bad thing. The allotted space may be a pretty good measure of how much a reader will take away from a single sitting. The KISS model springs to mind. Connecting CAC to Ayers' terrorist past in every iteration may actually be counterproductive, because it can (has, and will, I'm sure) be ignored in the protest against a guilt-by-association attack. That's why I've argued against trying to open this whole can of worms with Ayers, instead of education, but I could never manage to come up with a viable, memorable, can opener.

The failure of Hillarycare as a political analogy strikes me as a stroke of genius, even if Obama or some anonymous staffers never cited it directly. He was actually given both the opportunity and the tools, which Hillary was not, to carry out his vision of education policy/reform. Let's look at the results, shall we?

Sad as it may seem, the Ayers connection will never shift the kind of numbers it should, unless the CAC records include a bomb plot. Aside from Democrats who have a vested interest in ignoring it, there's a whole generation+ who look back at the Weathermen era the way we would look back on the 1920's. What we may see as putting the pieces of the puzzle together may well look like a messy kitchen sink to anyone who hasn't been paying attention, meaning almost everyone. Finding a hook for the component parts, and then weaving the larger narrative strikes me as potentially far more effective -- with the added advantage of allowing you to lose a skirmish without losing the war.

[matt]

I think people should join firedoglake just to mock the nincompoops....they really have no sense of humor and it would drive em nuts.

why is that every time I turn around, another democrat is completely compromising not only the ideals of their own party, whether it be civil liberties, freedom of the press, etc., but some of the most fundamental of American values?

another thought for Mccain is to take Joe Biden's comments as the race progresses and then use clips from his 10 best list....on Iraq, on economics, etc....then you could show Obama's complete lack of a record...so do you want Janus and the man without a past or McCain...pretty simple....

The Republicans are bad enough, especially for the past 8-12 years, bu the dems just take it beyond belief.

[kim]

The large political point is in the corruption of public education, but there may not be unequivocal evidence of that in these records. The failure of public education, for whatever and however many reasons, is a long simmering problem in the American polity that has gathered a lot of energy.
===================

[JM Hanes]

bad:

You should be going to Chicago with Kurtz too. He's made no bones about how difficult it's going to be to do a thorough walk through of the documents in the 5 days allotted to him, and a whole lot more to pull what he does (and conceivably does not) find. I think your admirable persistence in following this angle could well end up paying off in a big way, and making sure it stays on the table in successive threads may help that happen. I suspect these boards are not just being read by casual JOM lurkers, so even if you don't see results or get responses directly, I wouldn't be discouraged (not that I'm seeing any signs that you are!).

Porchlight:

Well, anyway, it's all moot I guess since UIC has agreed to give Kurtz access.

On the other hand, a before and after comparison might be revealing. BTW, you were quite right in suggesting that I addressed my sandlot comment to you in error, yesterday, unless that was the day before yesterday.....

[JM Hanes]

***pull together what he does (or does not) find***

[bad]

This is posted on another thread.

Another interesting rabbit to chase from the tax returns is the "clarification" list which shows who the payee was for the grant disbursement.

The grant is given to Dixon, Chase and Haines Elementary. But the check for all three schools is payable to "Youth Guidance."

The grant is given to "Alliance for Community Education." But the check is payable to Loyola University of Chicago, Department of Curriculum, Instruction, and Educational Psychology.

It is astonishing how often the CAC grant recipient is different than the entity receiving the check. Maybe its normal in foundation world.

Any wisdom, advice, etc. is greatly appreciated.

[bad]

Thanks JMH!! People on this board are very kind to guide the way.

Mr. Kurtz probably already knows about anything I've questioned.

[Porchlight]

No worries, JMH, I am getting many things mixed up myself these days. Everything is just such a blur since the insanely exciting Biden announcement. ;)

[JM Hanes]

I just hope I'm never asked, under oath, about what I've said and done, where and when. I don't know how many times you can alternate between, "I don't recall" and "to the best of my recollection" before you lose the jury's sympathy or the prosecutor arrests you.

[clarice]

bad--I'm counting on you and Rick and TM to keep a close watch for me on whatever Kurtz finds. I am not good at reading audit reports though from years representing the UMWA reformers against Tony Boyle I'm rather good at smelling out where the fraudulent payments are hidden. (Generally, its in payments for professional services..i.e. awyers and printers etc.)

[Larry]

Posted by: bad | August 24, 2008 at 06:08PM

Been mulling since you posted on the other thread. The grantees occasionally ask for checks to be made out to the people who actually do the work. One of our charities does it that way to avoid the excruciatingly long delay between sending it to higher HQ and HQ sending it back. CAC's may be bent, but they may be perfectly legit.

[MayBee]

Have the words "Annenberg Challenge" ever come out of Obama's mouth?

[Lindak]

Isn't is ironic that most of these failing school districts are run by democrats. Talk about pointing fingers at yourself! Re the CAC: it makes no sense to give more money to the very organizations and people who are responsible for the failure of public education. Thus I can only conclude that these grants are meant to line the pockets of insiders.

[clarice]

Not to my knowledge, MayBee. As TM noted long ago, O tried to fluff this up with vague references to a charity board years earlier which many assumed was the Woods Foundation.

[Larry]

I think JMH is right. The terrorist angle is a distraction from the colossal failure of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge. It still fits as a bullet point though. Even if CAC wasn't dirty (fat chance!), its ruin must be placed where the buck stops, the Chaiman of the Board. O's only executive experience was a bomb.

[kim]

There are at least three issues in ascending order of importance, the terrorist pal, the poor execution, and the perversion of public education.
=====================================

[clarice]

Break terrorist pal into three parts--(a) terrorist pal(s) and (b) utter lies to hide the relationship and (c)media backflips to avoid reporting it.

Ironically, for those media supporting Hillary, ducking the relationship story made them miss the fact that he showed no more executive ability on education than she showed on health care. (In fact, as someone--probably jmh argues persuasively--his performance was probably worse because he had far more control over the outcome of this little program in Chicago than she had of the far more complex national issue.)

[MayBee]

I agree with (or wonder along with) JMH and you that Obama must certainly have thought these records were buttoned up too tight to find.

Old news perhaps, but Porchlight's link brings me to this about the NY Annenberg Grant:

A fourth organization, ACORN (New York Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now), was also able to work its way into the coalition seeking the Annenberg grant. ACORN is a very liberal grassroots organization that has worked on housing, education, and other social issues in low-income communities in New York City. On the education front, ACORN had sponsored a New Visions high school and had agitated against the stringent, examination-based standards for admission to the city's elite high schools (Stuyvesant, Bronx Science, and Brooklyn Tech.)

Interesting.

[bad]

TM and Mr. Kurtz have worked hard to get something rolling but its difficult because education speak and charitable foundation finances are another world. No wonder reporters are too intimidated to wade in. Its above their pay grade.

[Jane]

Sorry to interrupt such an interesting discussion but I thought this from Don Surber was great:

US team picks a Georgian to lead them in the closing ceremony. The jocks are showing a better grasp of foreign policy than the junior senator from Illinois.

LUN

[bad]

AWESOME!!! Thanks for sharing that Jane.

[Jane]

And one more off topic:

Edwards' Money Man Also Has Ties to Biden

When newly minted vice presidential pick Joe Biden arrives in Denver, he will be greeted by one of his most generous supporters, trial lawyer Fred Baron.

LUN

[Pagar]

"whole generation+ who look back at the Weathermen era the way we would look back on the 1920's."

Remember a lot of that whole generation have been taught by educators who believe that a unreformed terrorist is just the person they want to lead them.
---------------------------

"Wrong. Sadly, Ayers' radical worldview permeates AERA. I know, because I am a former AERA employee. I worked in AERA's national office in Washington, D.C. from 2002-2004."

"The truth is that Ayers has been a leading light in AERA for years. In fact, radical AERA members specifically requested that Ayers present their objections to AERA's governing council's refusal to oppose the National Council for Accreditation for Teacher Certification's elimination of "social justice" from its list of standards in 2007.

Now in his new perch as a divisional vice president, Ayers can continue his long march through academia further radicalizing our teachers and our students."

LUN

One really has to read the entire article to understand just how much Damage Ayers and the leftists of the teaching profession have done in their quest to destroy America.
The terrorist angle is not a distraction, IMO: the Chicago Annenberg Challenge did exactly what Ayers, Obama and the others wanted it to do--it provided an lot more financial fuel to the educational terrorists of America.

[Sara]

Also OT, but any comments?

RE: Battleground states

THE ELECTORAL MAP TELLS US WHO MCCAIN WILL PICK

SO... WHO HELPS MCCAIN THE MOST IN MOST OF THESE STATES? WHO HELPS HOLD VA & CO? WHO HELPS IN THE BATTLEGROUND STATES? LET'S LOOK AT THEM - AND AT THE POTENTIAL VEEPS WHO HELP THE MOST (IN ORDER):

• Pennsylvania - RIDGE; ROMNEY
• Florida - LIBERMAN ROMNEY
• Michigan - ROMNEY, RIDGE
• Ohio - PORTMAN, ROMNEY, RIDGE
• Wisconsin - PAWLENTY, RIDGE
• Iowa - PAWLENTY, RIDGE
• Nevada - ROMNEY,
• Virginia - RIDGE
• Colorado - ROMNEY
• Alaska - PALIN
• North Dakota - THUNE, RIDGE
• Indiana - PAWLENTY, PORTMAN

IF YOU GIVE 4 POINTS FOR FIRST AND ONE FOR SECOND, AND THEN DOUBLE FOR KEY STATES....

RIDGE GETS 19 POINTS AND ROMNEY GETS 29.

[MayBee]

That's so cool, Jane.

I find it interesting that Porchlight's article's author says:

First and foremost is the notion that Obama "led" the Chicago Annenberg Challenge in any meaningful way. "As a private citizen, he led Chicago’s portion of the Annenberg Challenge school reform initiative financed by the late philanthropist Walter H. Annenberg—an experience that shaped Mr. Obama’s perspective on the critical importance of principals and teachers."

If he did, it's news to me and a lot of folks in Chicago. I wrote a long report about the CAC in 2001 (From Frontline Leader to Rearguard Action PDF) that failed to unearth Obama's name as anyone of any influence -- and never came across his name in an education context in the following six years during which I wrote a book about school reform in Chicago. Obama get

Odd.
No influence, yet he was selected to chair the board. And this guy seems not to have known he was involved at all. His report is from 2001. I was going to say surely they weren't protecting Obama already, but he had already made a run for US Congress by then, right?

[Ann]

OT, but I think everyone will enjoy:

"Ladies and gentleman, the coverage of Barack Obama was embarrassing," said Rendell, in the ballroom at Denver's Brown Palace Hotel. "It was embarrassing."

Read The Whole Thing

[kim]

Rendell was then sat down by the moderator, to applause.

Yes, Pagar, there's the radioactive political issue. It also explains why it was all donated to the library; Ayers is proud of it and was probably going to have graduate students cut it and polish it.
=================================

[Michael Kennedy]

Another aspect of the CAC records story is that Kurtz was given what sounds like a thorough catalog of the CAC records so I imagine one of his first tasks is to see if the records have been weeded of items that reflect badly on Obama. Has he been given only five days access to them ?

[JM Hanes]

Jane:

Great stuff. I was inordinately gratified by the U.S. win over Russia in volleyball. When I sought professional help, I was informed, sadly, that there was no known cure for the scourge of nationalism.

[Ranger]

Well, it is interesting that there were only 8 people chosen to be on the board of CAC. It seems that all of them except Obama were already significant people in the money and/or politics of education in Chicago. If Obama didn't work on education issues with Ayers in 87, as TM suggests, who recomended him and what were his references for the board? It's also important to note that Ayers stepped down from the board once the big money started rolling in to avoid 'the apperacne of a conflict of interests' in the grant approval process (given that a big chunk of that money was no doubt going to pass through UIC's hands with Ayers in charge of it). My suspicion is that, as TM suggested, Ayers and Obama worked together and Ayers chose Obama to be 'his guy' on the board, knowing that he would have to resign from the board if he was also going to be using CAC money to fund projects at UIC.

[Jane]

Bad news: No balloons in Denver!

[clarice]

I imagine as chairman he had to approve the plan for the grant and it was the plan itself that was so ridiculous--The idea was not to improve educational opportunities for the kids it was to set up another layer of power over school management and curriculum and the only criteria for those welding power at that level was the ability to sit on their butts at endless meetings longer than anyone else could or would--in other words like the Zimbabwe burlap workers councils these groups (controlled by the guys like Ayres) were to drive out anyone else who actually cared. (Also like the caucus method of selecting candidates. Normal people have to go home and feed their children or go to work. SEIU flunkies and college kids on a lark are perfectly able to sit out everyone else and win.)

[JM Hanes]

Pagar:

I'm not arguing that the terrorist angle is, in fact, an unimportant issue, though even there, it's still hard to argue that promoting a "social justice" curriculum is a terrorist act. I'm suggesting that the terrorist's agenda is the easiest charge to repel by casting it as an unwarranted personal attack based on nothing but venal guilt-by-association and moving quickly on. That headline hasn't gained virtually any traction since Stephanopolis (sp?) spotlighted it last spring. The coverage accorded UI's denial of access seems like a revealing contrast.

[Ann]

No balloons but maybe a snow storm! Drudge is reporting August frost hits Minnesota and Wisconsin.... I'd take a snow storm for the great Hope at Invesco field.

PLease let it snow. ;)

[Jane]

Plus they just had a tornado which could be seen from Denver. Check in Charlie!

[clarice]

I think it's a sign--Certainly, a snow storm will make the planned airdropping of O into the stadium a bit more complicated.

[clarice]

Wait a minute! Gore's speaking isn't he? Probably about GW..You know what happens whenever he does that...Probably will be the worst August ice storm in Denver's history. I really think Mother Nature hates him.

[matt]

This from the Democratic Convention....in response to right wing rumors that Obama is a secret Muslim, Joe Biden today accused a well known, but now deceased Republican donor of the same....Senator Windbag said "for many years Orville Redn Bakr refused to admit his heritage, but our secret investigative teams have uncovered evidence once and for all proving the fact". "Redn Bakr was also accused of deceiving the Senator on the war crimes at Haditha as a Republican guard disinformation campaign"

[glenda waggoner]

Bad- Our local school foundation solicits funds (through bazaars, t-shirt sales,specific school fundraisers(candy), and our local large corporations( BP, Valero, NASA) and then distributes to our schools after teachers write specific requests for grants. The fact this CAC was so open ended with no follow-up will be a bonanza for all who delve. And if the documents are scrubbed, it will be evident.
I would definitely have grant writers(reputable) along with you and Kurtz dig deep. Obama has used his "grassroots" education background as experience. He opened this door. He worked closely with Ayers on two foundations. He got a sweetheart deal from a slumlord. He needs to answer how these experiences relate to democracy.
And porchlight, my grams was a librarian--always loved school because of the educators in my family--the dewey decimal system was like the multiplication tables at my house.

[Ann]

Well this is enough to creep me out:

Picture behind Obama's Coronation at the Convention

[clarice]

**wielding power**(SHEESH)

[Porchlight]

Has he been given only five days access to them ?

Michael Kennedy,

That was the indication he gave - though I was wondering why there is a time limit. Perhaps others have made requests to examine them?

MayBee,

I also thought it was interesting that Obama's name "never came up" when Russo was putting his report/book together on Chicago school reform. I think it's even weirder that Russo hasn't mentioned this story at all in his blog. He was quick to respond to EdWeek's story on Obama and the CAC in March (I think) 2007. He is a Chicago-based education reporter with extensive experience covering the CAC and he has nothing to say on this?

[JM Hanes]

MayBee:

Looks like it works either way. If Obama was not complicit in funneling money to questionable, agenda driven, orgnizations in equally questionable fashion, then he was derelict in his duty as a board member & sometime chair, and his commitment to education reform is exposed as a long, self-serving fraud.

I personally suspect he handed off to Ayers and was busy parlaying his position into contact with big money and big pols in Chicago and beyond. In and of itself, of course, there's nothing illegal or uncommon about that sort of networking, which is also almost impossible to follow. Establishing that his tenure was cavalier and irresponsible, though, is one place where a negative (present, not accounted for) actually proves the charge.

[hit and run]

Porchlight:
Everything is just such a blur since the insanely exciting Biden announcement. ;)

AWESOME! Here I was going to have to explain my blur from the last few days on the golf tournament and drinking...

But now, with this, I can and will most assuredly move into...

I BLAME OBAMA!

Bush is now officially off the hook for me.

[JM Hanes]

Ann:

"...the great Hope..."
Yet another southernism springs to mind, you sly little devil, you!

[Porchlight]

Glenda,

I come from a long line of teachers, preachers and librarians on my mother's side, which has been an inspiration. I even played "library" as a kid and put checkout slips in all my books. Working in libraries is a lot of fun. The downside is that you are almost invariably ensnared in educational bureaucracy and if you are remotely right of center you'll be outnumbered by lefties about 400-1. :(

[clarice]

That's my feeling,jmh. He got the position to pad his thin resume and Ayres got the money and ppower to do what he wanted with the dough.

[Porchlight]

Hit, I am always glad to facilitate beer drinking in any way I can.

[hit and run]

Me:
Bush is now officially off the hook for me.

There may be enough less seasoned readers here that I think I should put in the disclaimer...

My "I Blame Bush" refrain was always in the same category that "They told me that if George W. Bush were reelected" was that Glenn did at instapundit. That is, I was mocking the inane way that "they", and you know who that is, would blame Bush for everything from global warming to canker sores.

[BobS]

JMH: With reference to your post earlier this afternoon that Annenberggate may be much ado about nothing except to us, I'd like to make a few points:

1. What is the nature of the Small Schools Initiative that renowned communist and Ayers ally, Michael Klonsky advanced? How as the money used? What was the agenda?

2. A number of groups received money - some of them local activist groups who indicated that they were involved as leadership councils. Who were they? How did they spend the money? What was their written plans for action?

3. Referencing #2, were any of these groups in any way related to or connected to ACORN, the activist organization that has been implicated in an alarming number of times in voter fraud. Did Obama and Ayers used the Annenberg/CAC money as a slush fund to keep various ACORN units active?

[JM Hanes]

On 5 day access:

I understand that's the maximum length of time you can reserve records in the collection for your own exclusive use. Perhaps others with appropriate credentials could apply serially, working in concert with Kurtz, assuming the project takes on the kinds of proportions he seems to think it might. It occcurs to me that others might be in the process of tying the records up, in just such serial fashion, for the opposite purpose. Kurtz was obviously, and publicly, first in line. Are there already others behind him? Would the library's records of who has requested access, or who is currently using the collection normally be available if queried?

[Elliott]

I believe Kurtz said the 5-day period of exclusive access was standard.

[BobS]

There is little reason to believe that any of the Annenberg many improved outcomes in Chicago public schools. In fact, many of the programs and strategies that hard working career educators had already implemented that Annenberg/CAC were taking credit for.

[Sara]

Snow in Denver?

Don't count on it. Weather moving West to East, we had 105 degrees here today and it is on its way.

[clarice]

We aren't the only ones getting palpitations from the announcement--CNN:
"It’s a dead heat in the race for the White House. The first national poll conducted entirely after Barack Obama publicly named Joe Biden as his running mate suggests that battle for the presidency between the Illinois senator and Republican rival John McCain is all tied up. In a new CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll out Sunday night, 47 percent of those questioned are backing Obama with an equal amount supporting the Arizona senator. “This looks like a step backward for Obama, who had a 51 to 44 percent advantage last month,” says CNN Polling Director Keating Holland"

[Porchlight]

Would the library's records of who has requested access, or who is currently using the collection normally be available if queried?

For reasons of confidentiality I wouldn't think so, JMH. But UIC seems to be operating out of a different manual than I'm used to.

[hit and run]

JMH:
Perhaps others with appropriate credentials could apply serially, working in concert with Kurtz, assuming the project takes on the kinds of proportions he seems to think it might.

If Steve Diamond would accept airfare and lodging to Chicago, he could certainly go as my guest.

[Elliott]

Rasmussen, though, has shown Obama doing slightly better in recent days.

[Rick Ballard]

No poll between now and Sept 15 is going to have much value. They (media) need a drop now in order to have a 'gee whiz, would you look at that pop' story for after Transfiguration on Thursday.

I believe that the story line on CAC should stick to "failure, trust and Chicago's children". Leave the commies and terrorists in the background.

"Obama failed Chicago's children as the executive entrusted with control a $100 million dollar attempt to change schools".

It has a nice sound and you can dance to it.

[clarice]

The CNN poll was of adults, not likely voters or even registered voters and was taken on SAt and Sun. It does show more Clinton supporters switching to McCain, Elliott.

[BobS]

Elliott: Its the swing states. Look for Dems to put their money into Ohio, Virginia, Missouri and Colorado. ACORN are likely to be operating now in the inner cities and calling in their markers. There are so many stories about illegal registration efforts by them. Be wary of what goes on in Cleveland, Denver, Richmond/No Va, and St. Louis. I pray that the Republican party has there own operatives on the ground in these critical urban areas to hold the line against ACORN

[clarice]

I like the beat,Rick.

[Rick Ballard]

"Obama failed Chicago's children as the executive entrusted with control of a $100 million dollar attempt to change substandard schools".

[Pagar]

JMH, The point I'm trying to make, and don't seem to be doing a good job doing it, is that the generation that is saying Ayers and his programs are OK, have been educated by people who believe Ayers and those who believe like he does are right. That the way to destroy America is by gaining control of the education system.

[BobS]

They call me "Grassy Knoll."

[JM Hanes]

BobS:

I think those are all questions that need to be answered, and didn't mean to suggest that there was no point in pursuing the answers. If I was confusing in that regard, I would just say quite the contrary. What I was looking at, myself, was how you frame the "narrative" most effectively to get it, and keep it, on the political table, long enough for people to absorb the implications. Preparing the battlefield, as it were, and then seeing what works and what doesn't.

Trying to plug everything available into one big picture from the get-go may be confusing and thus easier to derail -- especially when the big picture is not yet entirely clear, and will probably only be revealed incrementally as we head toward the election. Kurtz noted that he would try to get information out as quickly as possible, but that a project this size would normally take weeks or months (or even years, IIRC) of work to assess the info he gathers and pull it all together. In other words, don't expect to hear anything much any time soon after his foray in Chicago is completed.

[clarice]

In the only known instance where Obama had executive authority he failed Chicago's children.As the executive entrusted with control of a $100 million dollar attempt to change substandard schools, he enriched his domestic terrorist friends with money meant for the children's benefit.

[BobS]

Pagar: especially if the gain control of curriculum and enable themselves to dictate lesson content

[clarice]

In the only known instance where Obama had executive authority he failed Chicago's children.As the executive entrusted with control of a $100 million dollar attempt to change substandard schools, he enriched his domestic terrorist friends with money meant for the improvement of educational achievement of poor urban Chicago kids.

[BobS]

Intrestingly, this is where teacher unions are useful. Aside from textbooks, teachers have held powers that be at bay. But one way for people like Ayers to wrest control of content is to dictate standards with which teachers are instructed to plan their lessons around.

This is what I am interested to see in Dr. Kurtz's assessment. Did the Ayers/Obama funded groups attempt to dictate content in areas of Science, History and Literature?

[Rick Ballard]

In the only known instance where Obama had executive authority he failed Chicago's children. As the executive entrusted with control of a $100 million dollar attempt to change substandard schools, he used the money to advance the interests of his political supporters, including domestic terrorist and communist friends, with money meant for the improvement of educational achievement of poor urban Chicago kids.

[Rick Ballard]

"he used the money instead to"

It can't get much longer - 8th grade target and all that.

[clarice]

That's it, Rick--Now we have it.Just a little grammar change.

In the only known instance where Obama had executive authority he failed Chicago's children. As the executive entrusted with control of a $100 million dollar attempt to change substandard schools, he used the money meant for the improvement of educational achievement of poor urban Chicago kids instead to advance the interests of his political supporters, including domestic terrorist and communist friends .

[BobS]

Rick/All: Don't make the focus of CAC strictly about the money. There are countless times where people with good intentions squandered grant money. The question to ask is what did Ayers/Obama intend to do with the money? Was it leftist indoctrination? Was it to keep ACORN funded? Or keep people like Mike Klonsky going?

[MayBee]

Porchlight- I'm making dinner as I read all of this, but I realize now that between March 7, 2007 when he wrote his defense of Obama (he's wasn't involved in CACC) and April 2, 2008 Russo seems to have learned more about Obama's role in education.