Screenshot of Marxists/Socialists/Communists for Obama, 06/30/08
In his June 30, 2008, World Net Daily article about the My.BarackObama community Marxists/Socialists/Communists for Obama on Sen. Barack Obama's official website, Jerusalem bureau chief Aaron Klein wrote "Marxists, socialists, and communists have created a safe space online to congregate, exchange ideas—including a stated revolution against the U.S. 'oppressive' regime—and support their favored presidential candidate," Barack Obama.
The community's charter states:
This group is for self-proclaimed Marxists/Communists/Socialists for the election of Barack Obama to the Presidency. By no means is he a true Marxist, but under Karl Marx's writings we are to support the party with the best interests of the mobilization of the proletariat. Though the Democratic Socialists of America or the Communist Patty of America may have more Socialististic values, it is pointless to vote for these candidates due to the fact that there is virutally no chance they will be elected on a National level. The members of this group are not Leninists, Stalinists, etc. and do not support or condone the actions of North Korea, China, Cuba or any other self-procalimed "Marxist States." They do not in anyway represent the Marxist philosophy nor do they represent Socialism/ Communsim. We support Barack Obama because he knows what is best for the people!
As to whether Sen. Obama's website staff approves new groups registered on his site, Klein wrote that
WND's email and phone requests for comment were not returned.
Klein wrote:
While the website carries a disclaimer that it does not monitor all blog posts, the site doesn't state whether staff approve new groups.
According to the MyObama site, there were 18911 registered community groups as of yesterday, including such groups as "Athiests for Obama" "Jedi Knights for Obama," "Muslims for Obama" and "'The Secret' Believers for Obama."
Obama spokesmen have previously stated the campaign cannot monitor all content posted on blogs but it promptly removes content brought to its attention that is deemed inappropriate or hateful.
Digging deeper, though, there is something slightly amok about the Marxists/Socialists/Communists community. There does not appear to be any leadership or contact information posted for the community. Who moderates it? Who started it and when?
Only four people have posted on the community page since February 2007: Adam Roberts, Ryan Hammill, Mutee Ameen, and an anonymous poster.
The
majority of the community's articles, dating to the first one in February 2007, were posted by someone calling himself Adam Roberts of Morganton, North Carolina.
In his My.BarackObama
profile Roberts emerges as being a highschool student. He states that he is not registered to vote and he belongs to several other groups on Sen. Obama's website, including Atheists for Obama, Burke-Catawba Visionaries, Fair Tax Supporters for Obama, High School Students for Obama, Morganton for Obama, Students for Barack Obama, Unifour Democrats for Obama, Vegetarians for Obama, and WNC [Western North Carolina] For Obama.
If you follow Adam Roberts to his Democratic Party
party builder page, he repeats that he is not registered to vote and is "unaffiliated." He says that he is the group administrator of Freedom High School Democrats and belongs to Young Democrats of America.
Several things stand out while reviewing Roberts profiles and community posts. First of all, his writing does not come across as a highschool student. He identifies his blog as "An Expositroy [sic] look at the nature of Socialist [sic]."
His arguments don't track. On March 22, 2007, in the comments section of the first community post "The Nature of the Proletariat" dated February 27, 2007, Roberts
wrote: "Just one more reason to support Obama over Hillary, his hands are clean, since he has not been exposed to the corruption of DC for long."
Does this sound like a highschool student or someone spewing campaign talking points?
In his October 10, 2007, article entitled "Hillary Clinton is a Traitor", he states that she "has disregarded the will of the DNC, the only uniting organization between Democrats," with his assessment based on the fact Sen. Clinton
did not withdraw her name from the Michigan primary ballot.
Since the whole "will of the DNC" issue did not surface for several months, Roberts must have been prescient.
Roberts advocates for the abolition of the electoral college. At the same time, he backs the popular vote as the measure by which to elect our president. On the one hand he condemns Sen. Clinton, but on the other he makes the case for her to be the Democratic Party nominee according to her being the candidate who has the greater popular vote.
Another highschool student, Ryan Hammill of Danville, California,
made two posts on the community page in late May 2008, posting as The Chalk Graffiti Terrorist. Like Roberts, Hammill is also registered with My.BarackObama communities High School Students for Obama and Students for Obama. An online search
finds Hammill in February 2007 as a freshman at San Ramon Valley High School.
On his blog page, Hammill wrote: "Am I a Marxist or am I a moderate progressive? Am I a dove or am I a hawk? Big government or small? Or neither? I'm not sure, so read along as I (and maybe you) try and figure out. There's one thing I do know: OBAMA '08!"
On his
profile page Hammill informs that he is also not registered to vote.
What stands out about Hammill is that he belongs to several communities, including
Jedi Knights for Obama, a group of bloggers and vloggers.
The Jedi Knights work is simply to make sure the candidate's message is spread on the Internet and to do whatever it technically takes to shape the Internet world in our candidates favor. We welcome tech savvy, blogging, social networkers who are FANATICAL about Barack as President. Please have a blog -- not a requirement, but would help us in our assignments. Finally, we have specific assignments. We're not all over the place. We have a "to-do" list and we execute it.
Is it possible that the "Jedi Knights" have been involved not only in the vicious anti-Hillary hate talk on various blog and online news media comment sections, but also behind some of the recent Blogger mischief that has shut down or interfered with a number of anti-Obama blogs?
At the end of his profile he posted "The flag is a rag fit only for the dunghill." Although it is stated within quotation marks, the source for the quote is yet to be located. It is, however, consistent with the sentiments of Sen. Obama's favorite domestic terrorist, Weatherman Bill Ayers.
Community member Mutee08 (Mutee Ameen of Hazel Crest, Illinois), who states that he is registered to vote, belongs to a
significant number of My.BarackObama communities, including: "The Secret" Believers for President Obama (more about this later), 1,000,000 Americans for Obama, African American Children for Obama, African American going strong for OBAMA in 2008, American Muslims for Obama, Barack the Youth Vote, Chicago South Side, South Suburbs For Obama, Country Club Hills for Obama, Freedom Fighters For Obama, Gay/Straight Alliances for Obama, Hillary Defectors, Hotties for Obama, Muslims 4 Obama, Muslims for Obama, Obama is my homeboy, Obama Supporters for Marijuana Law Reform, Progressive Youth for Obama, Twenty and Thirty Somethings for Obama, Young African-Americans for Obama, Young Voters of America, and a number of other groups including those for early primary states Iowa, Nevada, and North Carolina.
According to Federal Election Commission records, Ameen, a kitchen assistant at Elk Grove Day Care Center,
has contributed $1,010 to Sen. Obama's campaign. Since his personal My.BarackObama fundraising goal is to raise $1,000, he has only managed to raise $80 from 6 of his 931 "friends", not a very successful campaign by any standard. His profile shows that he has racked up a goodly number of points—8739, placing him in 276th place—and only needs 27 points to "move up", although it is unknown how he has acquired them. It is certainly not by fundraising.
The fourth person posting on the community page is
anonymous, having posted only one time, on June 26, 2007, and belongs to the following additional groups: Atheists for Obama, Audacity of Agnostics for Obama, Chattanoogans for Obama '08, Chattanoogans Unite!, and Tennessee for Obama '08.
This is by any measure not a large or threatening group of anarchists. The number of comments on their few posts are minute, few of which are supportive at all.
However, what is disturbing about this particular community is that it has little to do with getting out the vote. At least two of the four posters are presumed to be highschool students and report that they are not registered to vote.
Two groups to which the four belong are troublesome, the first being Atheists for Obama (more on this later) and the second being the Jedi Knights, who claim that their "work is simply to make sure the candidate's message is spread on the Internet and to do whatever it technically takes to shape the Internet world in our candidates favor." This is worrisome. And what they are doing or have done may be illegal.
In addition to all the original posts archived here at RezkoWatch, dating from January through June 2008, and which have all been crossposted at RW's successor blog, RBO, RBO's Reading List organizes many of these posts in categories for easy access.
