Thomas Sowell’s Wisdom # 2 of 2
cinops be gone – Monday, October 13, 2008 P.M.

This is part 2 of Thomas Sowell’s classic article which appeared in the Orange County Register, Tues. Oct. 7, 2008.

Then there is the question of being against the “greed’ of CEOs and for “the people.” Franklin Raines made 90 million while he was head of Fannie Mae and mismanaging that institution into crisis.

Who in Congress defended Franklin Raines? Liberal Democrats, including Maxine Walters and the Congressional Black Caucus, at least one of whom referred to the “lynching” of Raines, as if it was racist to hold him to the same standards as white CEOs.

Even after he was deposed as head of Fannie Mae, Frank Raines was consulted this year by the Obama campaign for his advice on housing!

The Washington Post criticized the McCain campaign for calling Raines an advisor to Obama, even thought the fact was reported in the Washington Post itself on July 16. The technicality and the spin here is that Raines is not officially listed as an adviser. But someone who advises is an adviser, whether or not his name appears on a letterhead.

The tie between Barack Obama and Franklin Raines is not all one-way. Obama has been the second-largest recipient of Fannie Mae’s financial contributions, right after Sen. Dodd.

But ties between Obama and Raines? Not if you read the mainstream media.

Facts don’t matter much politically if they are not reported.

The media alone are not alone in keeping the facts from the public. Republicans for reasons unknown don’t seem to know what it is to counterattack. They deserve to lose.

BUT THE COUNTRY DOES NOT DESERVE TO BE PUT IN THE HANDS OF A GLIB AND COCKY KNOW-IT-ALL, WHO HAS ACCOMPLISHED ABSOLUTELY NOTHING BEYOND THE ADVANCEMENT OF HIS OWN CAREER WITH RHETORIC, AND WHO HAS FOR YEARS ALLIED HIMSELF WITH A SUCCESSION OF PEOPLE WHO HAVE OPENLY EXPRESSED THEIR HATRED OF AMERICA.

George H. Kubeck