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"And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." - John 8:32
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Author:  Michael J. Gaynor
Bio: Michael J. Gaynor
Date:  January 7, 2008
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Where's the beef, Barack?

The audacity is author and presidential aspirant Barack Hussein Obama's arrogant assumption that he's fit to be president and, with the media's help, enough people can be fooled to make it happen.

Surging Barack Obama's second book is titled, fittingly, The Audacity of Hope.

To be sure, Barack does not lack audacity. (That's not one of the failings of cocaine users.)

But, "Where's the beef?," as the late Clara Peller would have asked.

(Wikipedia: "Clara Peller (born August 4, 1902 in Chicago, Illinois - died August 11, 1987 in Chicago, Illinois), was an American character actress who, at the age of 81, starred in the legendary 1984 'Where's the beef?' advertising campaign for the Wendy's fast-food restaurant chain. Her actual lines were what a really big bun but she was hard of hearing and said where's the beef in response to there being a small patty on the bun. Peller's 'Where's the beef' line became an instant catchphrase, with even presidential candidate Walter Mondale using it.")

Michael J. Edelaman's book review of Audacityat Amazon.com is illuminating:

"...this book...is a cold, empty and carefully calculated piece of PR. One gets the feeling that once he became a national figure, he consciously decided to go back and write a political biography, carefully reviewed to make sure it had nothing contentious whatsoever in it. About the only contentious statement here is the implication that the young- his generation- should be seizing control of the country from those who currently are in charge. (The only people who have found that troubling so far are his elders in the Democratic Party leadership.)

"His 'thoughts on reclaiming America' are pretty much the same generic list you might read in any campaign brochure: We should all be happy, healthy, and have satisfying jobs, and feel totally self-actualized. The result is something that might have been written, with minor changes, by almost any candidate..."

Reviewer Carolyn Rampone looked for substance and found style:

"The Audacity of Hope sets out to make the reader believe Barack Obama is THE answer to America's problems and he is a leader who will unite and not divide. This may very well be the case but I feel manipulated after reading this book, almost as if he was trying to become what he thinks Americans are looking for. He presents himself as all the things lacking in our present leadership and this is manipulation in its finest form. He seems to say all the things liberals want to hear and even placates conservatives. This makes me wonder what he actually stands for. When I detect this, all else is lost. I've heard Mr. Obama speak many times and he comes across the same in his book. Smooth, way too smooth. As an example of his ability to speak from both sides of his mouth...depending on who is listening, he speaks against the war in Iraq, we need to pull out and have no business being there BUT, he thinks America NEEDS to go into Darfur and make things right. Both countries suffered torture and death at the hands of ruthless people but since America is against the war right now and really into African causes, he thinks Darfur is a noble cause to fight for.

Obama has talk show hosts drooling over him as the next savior and after reading The Audacity of Hope I feel he himself believes the hype. As I read some of the other reviews here I see more drooling and looking to this man as if he's God. Be careful, be very careful."

Reviewer Marshill saw hypocrisy through the hype:

"Boring and bland, this book is just the typical monologue designed to roll out a red carpet before campaigning for office. Its nothing more than an advertisement.

"The American dream is not based on socialism. My wife and I just moved from Vancouver, BC (Canada) to Seattle. That this man, Obama, would consider Canadian health care a model for America is insulting! If you like waiting 9 months for an MRI, or 5 months to see a specialist, then free socialist health care might be for you.

"There is no hope in socialism. Obabma is using free enterprise and capitalism to make money for his campaign. He writes a book, and gets pumped up in the press. You buy his book, and you give him money. He takes your money and furthers his presidential bid. He is exploiting capitalism to push socialism, and that is double standard hypocrisy.

"Be a capitalist or socialist...don't be both. The socialist Obama is a terrible choice for president, especially with a liberal house and senate. Unchecked liberals having power in all branches of government would set us back 30 years."

Reviewer L. Galloway warned that Barack is not the second coming of JFK: "The timing is perfect. Hit the book market then run for President. But Mr. Obama is just not 'there' yet. Others have attempted to be the next JFK. Obama isn't the one."

Reviewer Kurt L. Olney was succinct and smart: "Typical collection of political pap and platitudes. Nothing earth shaking. If you want to read something that will open your eyes to what we are politically up against, read America Alone by Mark Steyn."

Reviewer David Lovi:

"After reading this book I am left with the question: What is so unique about Obama's viewpoint? This is the truth, Barack Obama is so popular right now because he is leftward leaning in the climate of our Bush-hating culture, he is articulate, and he seems on the surface to be slightly bipartisan in his political approach. To me this is so typical of a sly politician. Of course he is going to say what people wanna hear, that's what he does for a living! People need to wake up on both sides of the fence Republican and Democrat, and actually find out what this guy is really going to do when the rubber hits the road.

"A part in the book that really struck me was when he talked about his 'Christian' faith. He claims to be a Christian but derides other Christians for taking the Bible literally. He says that he is pro-abortion but doesn't give solid reasons why. During an appearance, he walked over to some pro-life people and asked them to share their thoughts with him in order that he might learn their perspective, in the book he recounts what happened: 'I will pray for you,' the protester said. 'I pray that you have a change of heart.' Neither my mind nor my heart changed that day, nor did they in the days to come. But that night, before I went to bed, I said a prayer of my own-that I might extend the same presumption of good faith to others that had been extended to me.' Nice and fuzzy!

"Ok...so the point is to be as ambiguous as possible while sounding nice in the process. I don't know, this guy and his book just rub me the wrong way, I think that America will soon find out that Obama is not the Political savior that he is being made out to be. A 'Nice Guy' with a fit body doesn't equal a great president it's as simple as that."

Reviewer Holli M. Mason:

"I was not a bit surprised by the content of this book and probably would not have chosen to read it if it weren't my book club's pick. All were agreed that it was a lot of nice stuff, and he seems like a really great guy but that we would have had more respect for him as a presidential candidate if he had taken a perhaps controversial stand on something. We all felt like he seems like the kind of person we'd like to have in our circle of friends, but we got nothing that compels us to run out and vote for him. We were all a bit puzzled by the word 'Audacity' in the title. There was nothing that smacked of audacity here."

Note to Ms. Mason: The audacity is author and presidential aspirant Barack Hussein Obama's arrogant assumption that he's fit to be president and, with the media's help, enough people can be fooled to make it happen.

Reviewer J. Aragon:

"I read this booking hoping for more. Instead, I found the typical political memoir that pandered to just about every interest group and political issue. I didn't think it was particularly well-written or organized. If anything, this book made me realize that even as a Democrat, I would most likely not vote for Obama.

"It's worth reading and it will give the reader a better handle on who Obama allegedly is. Overall, I felt he pandered to everyone and I didn't have a strong enough sense about who he really is politically. He's all over the place, IMO."

Or, as the late Clara Peller would have said, "Where's the beef?"

Michael J. Gaynor

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Biography - Michael J. Gaynor

Michael J. Gaynor has been practicing law in New York since 1973. A former partner at Fulton, Duncombe & Rowe and Gaynor & Bass, he is a solo practitioner admitted to practice in New York state and federal courts and an Association of the Bar of the City of New York member.

Gaynor graduated magna cum laude, with Honors in Social Science, from Hofstra University's New College, and received his J.D. degree from St. John's Law School, where he won the American Jurisprudence Award in Evidence and served as an editor of the Law Review and the St. Thomas More Institute for Legal Research. He wrote on the Pentagon Papers case for the Review and obscenity law for The Catholic Lawyer and edited the Law Review's commentary on significant developments in New York law.

The day after graduating, Gaynor joined the Fulton firm, where he focused on litigation and corporate law. In 1997 Gaynor and Emily Bass formed Gaynor & Bass and then conducted a general legal practice, emphasizing litigation, and represented corporations, individuals and a New York City labor union. Notably, Gaynor & Bass prevailed in the Second Circuit in a seminal copyright infringement case, Tasini v. New York Times, against newspaper and magazine publishers and Lexis-Nexis. The U.S. Supreme Court affirmed, 7 to 2, holding that the copyrights of freelance writers had been infringed when their work was put online without permission or compensation.

Gaynor currently contributes regularly to www.MichNews.com, www.RenewAmerica.com, www.WebCommentary.com, www.PostChronicle.com and www.therealitycheck.org and has contributed to many other websites. He has written extensively on political and religious issues, notably the Terry Schiavo case, the Duke "no rape" case, ACORN and canon law, and appeared as a guest on television and radio. He was acknowledged in Until Proven Innocent, by Stuart Taylor and KC Johnson, and Culture of Corruption, by Michelle Malkin. He appeared on "Your World With Cavuto" to promote an eBay boycott that he initiated and "The World Over With Raymond Arroyo" (EWTN) to discuss the legal implications of the Schiavo case. On October 22, 2008, Gaynor was the first to report that The New York Times had killed an Obama/ACORN expose on which a Times reporter had been working with ACORN whistleblower Anita MonCrief.

Gaynor's email address is gaynormike@aol.com.


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