The Truth:
KMOV-TV
reported this story and
posted on its web site September
29, 2008. It said that a group
of Obama supporters consisting
of two prosecution attorneys and a county sheriff had assembled
in St. Louis to intercept Obama
rumors and debunk them. There had been numerous
rumors during the 2008
presidential campaign season such as that Senator Obama was
a Muslim and had associations with known terrorists such as Bill Ayers.
KMOV-TV said that the group was
prepared to stop attacks on their presidential candidate.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch
also reported on September 30, 2008 the formation of the Obama Truth
Squad and this was a topic of
conversation on the Rush Limbaugh radio show as wells as programs on the
Fox News Channel.
According to the
Post-Dispatch, St. Louis Circuit Attorney Jennifer Joyce, St.
Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Bob McCulloch, and Jefferson County
Sheriff Glenn Boyer have joined forces to form the "Obama truth squad."
Joyce and McCulloch stated, "The truth squad's plan is to identify false
attacks and respond immediately with truthful information." The St.
Louis Post-Dispatch article also stated that these people were all
Democrats.
It is not uncommon for a
campaign to use spokespersons to debunk false claims against the
candidate. Senator McCain has used the services of supporters, mostly
military and former prisoners of war, although South Carolina House
Speaker Bobby Harrell and Henry McMaster, the Attorney General for that
state, are listed in his own
truth squad to assist in setting the record straight.
Missouri Governor Matt
Blunt, issued a statement that accused Obama of "police state tactics"
which would "intimidate people and kill free debate." In a telephone
interview with Fox News he voiced his concerns about prosecutors and
sheriffs responding to false claims against Obama and taking aggressive
action. In his statement, Governor Blunt told Obama, "Enlisting Missouri
law enforcement to intimidate people and kill free debate is reminiscent
of the Sedition Acts - not a free society.”
When asked about
intimidating effect on voters, a deputy communications director for the
Obama campaign told Fox news that Blunt was mischaracterizing this.
According to a news article
posted by the Star Tribune of Minneapolis - St. Paul, Minnesota on
August 22, 2008, Bill Ayers was part of a group that claimed
responsibility for bombings at the Pentagon and U.S. Capitol in the
1960's. Ayers surrendered to authorities in 1980 and owing to
misconduct claims against the prosecution his charges were dropped.
Obama stated that he "deplored" Ayers' actions in the 1960s and that "by
the time I met him, he is a professor of education at the University of
Illinois."
Critics of the Obama-Ayers relationship
said that Obama has had close association with, and the support of, a militant who has never really
repented of Pentagon and U.S.
Capitol bombings and has actually been quoted in the New York Times on
September 11, 2001 as saying that
''I don't regret setting bombs,'' and
''I feel we didn't do enough.''
Ayers went on to become one of Obama's most important supporters and the
first fund-raiser for Obama's campaign for the Illinois senate was set
up by Ayers.
Obama objects to the criticism saying
that his association with Ayers was long after his young militant days.
Ayers and Obama served together for the non
profit education reform organization, Chicago Annenberg Challenge.
Click
for KMOV article
Click
for Governor Matt Blunt's
statement
CLICK HERE for a
list of other related
stories about Barack Obama
updated 09/30/08
