E-Mail Forwards: The Truth Behind “Documented Facts”

I recently received an e-mail forward titled “Documented Facts”.  Well, as I am prone to do, I took it upon myself to see how factual these “documented facts” really were.  As usual, it turns out that there was little documentation or facts involved.  Original forward in blue, my response in red…

 

We felt this info to be very significant as the facts are documented.  

 

Well, if you don’t mind, I think I’ll do my own research and see just how “documented” these “facts” are.  Thanks though… 

 

Bill Brown, retired from the Billy Graham Evangelistic Assn.., sent this to us.

 

No he didn’t.  Bill Brown himself has stated:  “I neither wrote the letter nor the reference to Billy Graham.  Someone else did that, I don’t know who, and they added a reference to Billy Graham.  So, please ignore it.”

 

Good advice.

 

Please pass along if you would like. I believe we need to know our candidates better. 

Thank you, 

Subject: Obama 
               By Bill Brown of the Billy Graham Team

 

From The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association:  “We can assure you that after researching this matter, the e-mail in question did not originate from either Mr. Brown or the Billy Graham Evangelistic Associatoin.  The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association does not hold an official position regarding any presidential candidate.”

Bill Brown, is a highly respected retired member of the Billy Graham team so, I take his assessment of Obama very seriously

 

Well, we now know that you shouldn’t, because he didn’t write it.  In fact, if you hold his opinion in such high regard, you should ignore this forward, just as he asked. 

 

and for that reason accept his challenge

 

Not his…

 

to pass this on.   I share his concern

 

Still not his…

 

about the ‘rock star’ image Obama has and watch with growing concern at the celebrity status the media has foisted upon him. Here is hope this email informs you in a wise way.

 

Well, it started off with a blatent lie.  I’m not too hopeful about anything else I’ll find here.

The Obama Tidal Wave

We are witnessing a political phenomenon with Barack Obama of rare magnitude.

His speeches have inspired millions

isn’t that a good thing?

and yet most of his followers have no idea of what he stands for except platitudes of ‘Change’ or that he says he will be a ‘Uniter’. 

Well, after paying $3.79 a gallon for gasoline and watching the stock market plunge by 20% in the last week, I could go for a little change. 

Actually, a lot of change…

The power of speech from a charismatic person truly can be a powerful thing. Certainly Billy Graham had charisma. Both his manner of speech and particularly the content changed millions.

On the extreme other hand, the charisma of Adolph Hitler, too, inspired millions and the results were catastrophic.

Barack Obama certainly is no Hitler or a Billy Graham, but for many Americans riding on the Obama Tidal Wave it is just like a surfer who might be ecstatic and euphoric while riding a tidal wave, but the reality of the ride is what happens when it hits shore.

Just Some of What Defines Barack Obama:

He voted for partial birth abortion.

He voted against banning partial birth abortions.  You can read about his reasons here: http://www.ontheissues.org/Social/Barack_Obama_Abortion.htm

 

 

He voted no on notifying parents of minors who get out-of-state abortions.

True, although the bill in question passed anyway…

 

Supports affirmative action in Colleges and Government (quotas).

 

Affirmative Action yes, quotas no.  Sen. Obama:  “I still believe in affirmative action as a means of overcoming both historic and potentially current discrimination, but I think that it can’t be a quota system.”

 

In 2001 he questioned harsh penalties for drug dealing as being too severe.

He voted against a bill that said selling a pill called Ecstasy is the same as raping a woman at knifepoint.  While I don’t condone selling a drug, I don’t think it’s as harsh of a crime as rape.  It’s kinda like comparing a speeding ticket to vehicular manslaughter.

Says he will deal with street level drug dealing as minimum wage affair.

 

This is completely untrue (although I have no idea what it even means.)  It’s misquoted from his book “The Audacity of Hope.”  In the passage in question, he was talking about how researchers have discovered that drug dealing doesn’t make anyone but the top guy rich.  The people dealing drugs make little more than minimum wage.

 

Admitted  his use of marijuana and cocaine in high school and in college. 

 

True.  Is lying about it better?

His religious convictions are very murky.

 

Only to anyone who is living in a cave.  He has said multiple times he is Christian.

He is willing to meet with Fidel Castro, Hugo Chavez, Kim Jung IlL and  Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

 

 Instead of ignoring them until they build a nuclear bomb, then go to war with them?  Um…I’m for diplomacy instead of war as well…

Has said that one of his first goals after being elected would be to have a conference with all Muslim nations.  Why?

 

He said in a 2007 interview with the late Bill Bradley he wanted to meet with Muslim nations to insist they participate in the fight against terrorism.  I’m for this as well.

 

Opposed the Patriot Act.

 

Actually, he voted to renew the Patriot Act.

 

First bill he signed that was ever passed was campaign finance reform.

 

And John McCain thanked him for it.  Again, this is a good thing, no?

 

Voted to allow law suits against gun manufacturers.

 

A bill that passed anyway. 

 

Supports universal health-care.

 

Affordable health care for Americans?  Sounds good to me.  I’m for people not dying…

Voted yes on providing habeas corpus for  Guantanamo detainees.

Yeah, because the elimination of habeas corpus (the right to hear the charges against you and go before a court) was unconstitutional.  You know who agreed with him?  The Supreme Court who ruled that Pres. Bush’s elimination of habeas corpus was, in fact, against the same Constitution he swore to defend.  Ooops.

Supports granting driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants.

 

In order to protect the public.  By not granting licences, immigrants still drive–just without any training or insurance.  Some states already do this.  Governor Richardson of New Mexico says, “When we started with this program, 33 percent of all New Mexicans were uninsured. Today it’s 11 percent. Traffic fatalities have gone down. It’s a matter of public safety.” 

 

I like to be safer on the roads.

 

Supports extending welfare to illegal immigrants.

 

I found no information that supported or denied this.

 

Voted yes on comprehensive immigration reform.

 

With 15 million illegal immigrants here already, it’s pretty obvious the current system is broke and needs reform.  Can anyone disagree with that?

Voted yes on allowing illegal aliens to participate in Social Security.

 

Nope.  The bill in question was really a vote to determine if Illegal aliens who had already paid into Social Security should receive benefits when they become legal citizens. 

 

Another “Yea” voter?  John McCain.

Wants to make the minimum wage a ‘living wage’.

 

Um…yeah, that’s a good thing.  Have you ever tried to live off of $6 an hour?  It’s not really possible…

 

Voted with Democratic Party 96 percent of 251 votes.  (241 votes Demo, 10 votes Republican)

Well, besides the fact that every Congressman votes with their party a majority of the time, in this case voting Democratic ususally meant voting against Pres. Bush’s policies like eliminating our liberties.  If anything, this is a reason to vote for Obama…

Is a big believer in the separation of church and state.

 

Me too.  So was Thomas Jefferson and everyone else who came up with the Constitution…

 

Opposed to any efforts to Privatize Social Security and instead supports
 increasing the amount of tax paid into Soc. Sec.  Tax Increase. 

 

This is true.  Obama wants to increase the amount of tax paid into Social Security–IF YOU MAKE OVER $200,000 OR MORE A YEAR.  And even then, do you know how much he wants to increase it by?  Two to four percent.

He voted No on repealing the Alternative Minimum Tax which now hits middle income brackets. Tax Increase. 

 

First of all, it’s not an increase if your taxes stay the same.  He voted this way because Bush wanted to give exemptions (not repeal, by the way) to some people without any budget cuts.  So less money would be coming in and more was being spent.  Anyone else wonder why our economy is currently failing?

He voted No on repealing the ‘Death’ Tax.  Tax Increase.

 

Again, not true.  First of all, the death tax wasn’t going to be repealed.  He voted against raising the exemption to $5 million dollars.  He voted against people with $4 million dollars getting yet another tax break.

He wants to raise the Capital Gains Tax.  Tax Increase. 

 

Not quite true.  He wants to raise the tax on people making more than a quarter of a million dollars a year, while ELIMINATING the tax for small businesses.

Has repeatedly said the surge in Iraq has not succeeded…which is not true. 

 

Not true–he never said that.  But he did initially oppose the surge.  But he’s never said (let alone repeatedly) that it hasn’t succeeded.  In fact, he’s said the opposite.

He is ranked as the most liberal Senator in the Senate today and that takes some doing.

 

Yeah, this one is just complete crap.  Let me explain it to you:  The National Journal, a conservative magazine, listed him as such based on only a few votes.  It does not actually look at anyone’s complete voting record.  That’s like saying a ball player is going to hit 162 home runs in a season because you saw him hit one in one game.  It’s poor sampling and has been criticized as such by other organizations.

If your political choices are consistent with Barack Obama’s and you think that his positions will bring America together or make it a better place, then you will probably enjoy the ride and not forward this Email.

 

Actually, what I did was do my own research on these subjects instead of simply believing some e-mail forward as the gospel truth.

 

Which, I’m sure whoever wrote this was hoping I would not do.

 

If you are like most Americans that after examining what he stands for, are truly not in line with his record,

 

Actually, most Americans agree with Obama.  Current polling has him at 52% over John McCain’s 45%.

 

it would be prudent to get off the wave or better yet, never get on, before it comes on shore and undermines the very foundations of this great Country.  

 

Stuff like providing health care to everyone and insuring a decent livable wage to workers will undermine this country?  What are you talking about?  If anything, voting for Obama would help this country, even if we only go off the topics discussed in this email.

 

We have limited time to save America or the Supreme Court as we know it.

 

Save it from what?  Giving us back our civil liberties?

Inaction is action.  If you agree this is important, pass it on. The main stream media will not publish this information for you!

Um…mainly because it’s wrong and full of lies.  

Well…FOX News still might… 

          Bill Brown
          Billy Graham Team, Retired

Again, he had nothing to do with this e-mail.  Someone is lying to you, and it isn’t me…

 

Fight against the mudslinging and lies by spreading this message forward…