Michelle Malkin » Fighting Obama’s Goon Squad

Fighting Obama’s Goon Squad

By Michelle Malkin • September 26, 2008 04:54 PM

Chicago-trained thug Barack Obama has recruited musclemen in Missouri to intimidate critics.

It’s just the latest example of his bare-knuckle, speech-chilling bully tactics.

Missouri-based Jim Hoft at Gateway Pundit has an overview of how “St. Louis County Circuit Attorney Bob McCulloch and St. Louis City Circuit Attorney Jennifer Joyce, both Obama supporters, are threatening to bring criminal libel charges against anyone who levels what turns out to be false criticisms of their chosen candidate for President.”

Glenn Reynolds has a thorough round-up.

American Issues Project, whose efforts to fight the Obama Goon Squad I’ve covered extensively, responds today to Obama’s Missouri machine:

September 26, 2008 – Barack Obama is now using local law enforcement officials to carry out his campaign of legal intimidation by assembling a group of high-ranking Missouri police officials and prosecutors – including St. Louis County Prosecutor Bob McCullough and City of St. Louis Circuit Attorney Jennifer Joyce – to identify and target anyone the campaign determines is producing “misleading” political advertisements.

“This is an outrageous and shocking attempt by the Obama campaign to again employ Stalinist, police state tactics against those who dare to disagree with Barack Obama,” said Ed Martin, American Issues Projects president. “I am frankly stunned to see public officials like McCullough and Joyce abusing their official prosecutorial positions to serve as attack dogs for a national political campaign. I am quite certain Missourians elected these individuals to enforce the laws and arrest criminals, not to throw people in jail for daring to practicing free speech.

“The Obama campaign continues to provide a chilling preview of what would happen to political freedom in an Obama administration.”

This new effort is only the most recent attempt by the Obama campaign to crack down on free speech. Obama’s lawyers twice demanded the Department of Justice investigate and prosecute the American Issues Project, its officers, board of directors, and donors. The campaign also threatened stations running American Issues Project’s ad in an unsuccessful attempt to compel them to pull the spot, and ran its own ad in response.

Notably, this ad failed to dispute a single fact the American Issues Project has put forth.
About American Issues Project

American Issues Project is a 501(c)4 organization representing a coalition of conservative activists committed to raising important issues that deserve deeper examination given their impact on policy and politics. In accordance with federal law, American Issues Project only solicits and accepts contributions from individuals and not from any business corporation. For more information, visit: www.americanissuesproject.org.

About the Ad

The American Issues Project’s ad describing the relationship between Obama and Ayers aired 7,307 times from August 21 – 29 on 69 stations in 14 markets within Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia. The total ad buy was $2.8 million, making it the largest third-party expenditure to date in this election cycle. An electronic version of the ad and full documentation of all statements in the ad are available at American Issues Project’s website: www.americanissuesproject.org.

Posted in: Barack Obama, Bill Ayers

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#472170

On September 26th, 2008 at 10:23 pm, WarEagle82 said:

One of the few hopes I have for the future should Obama win is that Obama, Pelosi and Reid appear to be remarkably stupid and self-centered people. And they appear to be remarkably power hungry too.

It is possible, even likely, that there will be so much fighting between this truly unholy troika that nothing will get done.

If this unholy troika spends the next 4 years fighting to establish who is the “alfa dog” then the Republic may yet stand a chance.
#473105

On September 27th, 2008 at 12:20 pm, fulldroolcup said:

Have you seen the Palin interviews by Curic? They are truly pathetic. Nobody wants her anywhere near the button.

Millions of Americans reject the idea that GOP candidates have to run a gauntlet of loaded questions designed to embarrass them and make them look stupid, posed by would-be media “elites” who spend their interview time with liberals giving them deep tongue kisses.

Can anyone else name a set-up in public or private life where you KNOW going into it that you will be treated with thinly veiled contempt of the type the MSM metes out regularly to conservatives?

I’m sure older blacks remember lots of situations like that.

It’s called “invidious discrimination”.
#473115

On September 27th, 2008 at 12:33 pm, fulldroolcup said:

On September 26th, 2008 at 5:56 pm, lgm, our resident legal scholar and proud graduate of the Yonkers Upstairs Law and Cosmetology College, said:

Obama is within the law. If misleading ads are illegal, he should exercise the rights he has under the law to challenge them.

Once again, lgm is full of merde. If he can cite an enforceable MO statute that gives the state the right to unilaterally declare a political advertisement “misleading”, let alone allow “misleading” to morph automatically into “criminal libel”, he’s free to produce it.

Being a FLAKE, he cannot.

http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/commentary.aspx?id=12468

“Criminal-libel law stems from a time when people could be jailed for damaging someone’s reputation. Inevitably, the prosecution would be on behalf of the politically powerful.

All that changed in 1964, when the U.S. Supreme Court concluded that public officials (later broadened to include public figures) could not win a libel verdict or secure a criminal-libel conviction without proving that the report was made with “actual malice,” and either published with the knowledge that it was untrue or done with a reckless disregard for the truth. Lower courts around the country then tossed out these outdated and dangerous criminal-libel laws as unconstitutional restrictions on free speech.”

Even the ACLU thinks such attempts at muzzling free speech are blatant violations of the First Amendment.

But hey! Do we all agree that lgm’s postings are false and misleading? Then isn’t he engaging, by his own sloppy standards and utter lack of understanding of legal matters, in “civil libel”?

If so, MM should sue his sorry arse AND ban the little turd for life.

After all, ~~it’s what the Obamatons would do.~~ the Obamatons wouldn’t just sue you, they would lock you up as a criminal.
#473392

On September 28th, 2008 at 12:27 am, tyrfing said:

IF Obama wins I hope the MSM enjoys the Truth Compliance Officer that will surely be in every newsroom in the counry. Actually, I bet they will fall all over themselves to be one of the ‘Hands of Barack’ media society. Who needs liberty or freedom when the despot likes you, am I right?

The lack of any media interest in this is laughable after years of “King George the Tyrant’ stories. Here comes the real thing and they love it.
#473749

On September 28th, 2008 at 5:11 pm, Mercy4Me said:

http://macsmind.blogspot.com/2008/09/doj-may-open-investigation-into-obamas.html
#474150

On September 29th, 2008 at 3:46 am, Micheleeroo said:

Wake up, America! Your 1st Amendment Rights will be destroyed under an Obama administration.