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Sunday, August 19, 2012

Frum beggar's death still a mystery


He was a pauper who spent his days begging in front of Brooklyn synagogues — at once memorable and forgettable, like so many other desperate characters on street corners across the city.
He never met a word he didn’t like, spinning tales of distant relatives who were once great rabbis, debating the merits of one cellphone carrier or another, or weighing the best place to get hot soup in Borough Park.
He was always a bit odd — the sort of guy who would wear striped pants and a plaid shirt, who dangled a thick stack of identification cards from his neck, ready to show anyone who cared to examine them. Sometimes, he had to be told to shower.
And he was always grateful for any small act of kindness that would ease the loneliness of the day’s hustle.
But a few weeks ago, his mood turned dark.
He grew erratic — pupils big and dark as coal. Friends said he paced wildly as he spoke.
He was terrified.
“He said he needed money fast,” said Hollywood agent and longtime friend Fred Wostbrock.
“He was in a frenzy,” recalled another beggar.
“He’d say that someone is out to kill him. He said he needed $17,000 right away,” said another friend, Abie Maltz.
His life was in grave danger, he told anyone who would believe him.
No one did.
But on June 28, Howard Frank, 55, was found floating facedown in the Gowanus Canal, amid circumstances as murky as the fetid waters where he took his last breath.
Frank had a million-dollar secret — and family and friends are now wondering if it was a deadly one.
It turns out that the disheveled beggar from Brooklyn was sitting on a collection of entertainment-industry photographs that could be worth an estimated $1 million.
The son of a disabled bookkeeper, Frank dropped out of high school to focus on collecting TV and movie publicity stills, amassing an array rivaled by few and envied by most.
He grew up in an assortment of Brooklyn neighborhoods, including Bensonhurst, Brownsville and Midwood. The family was forced to move around because their father, Alex, was in between jobs because of his disability, Little’s disease, a form of cerebral palsy.
He often spoke of his distant cousin, Tzvi Pesach Frank, an influential rabbi, as well as Louis Schurr — Bob Hope’s agent — who was his grandfather’s first cousin.
Like the stars frozen in time on his photographs, he hoped one day that he too would be famous.
“He wanted to tell the story about his life and how he was raised. That he came from a respectable family,” said Maltz, a chef at the Nu Cafe in Borough Park, where he said customers are collecting money to engrave a memorial inscription on Frank’s tombstone.
As a teenager, Frank used a small inheritance to buy out Kier’s Celebrity Photos, a Midtown shop, significantly adding to his stockpile, which he’d sell through the mail and at memorabilia conventions and flea markets around the country.
“The first photo I bought from him was of Raquel Welch,” said Wostbrock, who first met Frank in 1973. “We became lifelong friends.”
He was a high-school dropout but had an encyclopedic knowledge of movies and TV shows. He loved Lucy — collecting over 10,000 photos of Lucille Ball — considered in its totality to be the most valuable part of his collection, which would eventually swell to 1 million entertainment photos spanning 1946-1990.
The value of the collection comes from the sheer volume of photos, as well as the rarity of some of the items, noted Wostbrock. “If you wanted television, my God, Howie had everything,” he said.
“I don’t know if he knew how to use a washing machine, but he was brilliant in certain things. He was a savant,” Wostbrock said.
I* recent years, Wostbrock, who represents the likes of Phyllis Diller and Wink Martindale, saw his friend struggle, so he helped out when he could, sending him money on holidays and putting him through a three-week security-guard training program.
“He would rather buy pictures than eat,” Wostbrock said. “But that’s collecting — it’s obsessive. He loved his photos the way a billionaire loves his artwork on the wall.”
Wostbrock spoke to Frank a week or so before his death.
“He wanted me to be his agent to sell his life story,” he recalled.
To earn a living, Frank leased his photos for one-time use to newspapers and magazines, usually at about $75 a pop. The copies he sold at conventions went for as low as $1.
But he hated selling them, his brother Robert Frank said. “He would always make 8x10 copies if he had the originals,” he said.
His expertise led to opportunity: Frank co-authored books, rubbed elbows with celebrities like Barbara Eden and Adam West and became a coveted resource for newspaper and magazines.
“He had this amazing photo collection with a particular strength in ‘I Love Lucy,’ ” recalled retired People photo editor Ira Berger. “There were a lot of a--holes selling photos, but he was one of the nice guys.”
Berger did business with Frank for 20 years. “He was an odd duck.”
He was never diagnosed with a mental disorder — because he never went to see a psychiatrist, said Robert Frank. “He wouldn’t even see a regular doctor.”
“He was very lonely, and he suffered a lot,” said friend Yaakov Shajnfeld, who said Frank refused all government assistance.
The NYPD says Frank’s death, first reported on the blog Failed Messiah, is not a homicide. Detectives are investigating it as a suicide or an accident.
But those who knew Frank said he’d never kill himself — and especially not by jumping in a canal.
“He was deathly afraid of the water. He wouldn’t go near the water,” said Maltz, who echoed that Frank insisted someone was trying to kill him during the two weeks leading up to his death.
Robert Frank said a detective told him there was water in his brother’s lungs — meaning he was alive when he entered the waterway.
The city Medical Examiner’s Officer says the cause of death has yet to be determined but did not conduct an autopsy at the family’s request — even though his brother denies ever giving such instructions. Robert Frank claims an Orthodox Jewish group that prepares bodies for burial, Misaskim, put the kibosh on the autopsy, which is against Jewish law in most circumstances. The group did not return a call for comment.
The Medical Examiner’s Office is relying on NYPD crime-scene photographs and photos and X-rays taken of the body in the morgue, to determine a cause of death, spokeswoman Ellen Borakove said.
“The manner of death might be undetermined if there isn’t enough evidence,” she said.
The lack of an active investigation has chafed family members.
“Was he pushed?” wondered his brother, who said plenty of people would have a motive to kill his brother.
“They have made no attempt to speak to any of the acquaintances who saw and spoke to Frank in his last days,” he said.
Even a high-ranking police official expressed skepticism about what appeared to be a hurried police investigation.
“How in the world did a body just turn up and they determined it a suicide. Was there a note? The undercurrent here is that everyone is under a tremendous amount of crime [stat] pressure,” the official told The Post.
“There’s almost like a hidden agenda here: ‘The guy committed suicide. The guy was sick in the head. It’s not a homicide.’ That’s what worries me.”
Despite his brushes with celebrity, Frank lived on the edge of destitution.
After 9/11, Frank’s photo-leasing business declined. He started an online enterprise, personalityphotos.com, with a partner but struggled to find a permanent place to live after being evicted from an apartment in Flatbush.
Frank took odd jobs, even working as a shomer, a guardian of the dead in Jewish tradition, who sits in a morgue with the body until its buried.
About six years ago, his business partner, Frank Pohole, gave Howard a place to live in his Sunset Park home — which is without heat, electricity and running water, Robert Frank said. Pohole did not comment for this story.
As he struggled to digitize hundreds of thousands of photos, Frank’s beloved collection became unwieldy — and costly.
Friends and family say Frank needed the cash to square up years-late storage fees for his massive collection.
“He was saying that he needed $80,000 to save his life,” recalled Aaron Farrell, saying Frank owed money to someone who was leasing him a warehouse in Bensonhurst.
But real estate developer Henry Hewes said he’s been paying Frank’s storage bills for the past five years.
“His agreement with me is that when his collection was sold or when he died, I would be paid,” said Hewes, 62, an Upper East Sider who ran for mayor in 1989 and met Frank through Pohole, with whom he went to graduate school. He said the money amounted to about $70,000. “I wouldn’t say it’s that much money to me.”
So, who would want to kill Howard Frank?
“From time to time he would talk about revealing secrets about the Orthodox community,” Hewes recalled. “He told me weeks ago he was going to reveal a big scandal — he never got around to it.”
In January, Frank told The Post about a Crown Heights synagogue that charged panhandlers $5 for the privilege of begging inside the house of worship.
“It’s like graft, payola,” he said at the time.
Worshippers said the policy was in place because beggars were disrupting congregants.
But Frank refused to pay up, and instead stationed himself outside the synagogue. “It’s embarrassing that you have to beg, and the fact they won’t help you is embarrassing — you’d think your rabbi would help you.”
Robert Frank thinks his brother may have crossed the “wrong rabbi,” or may have borrowed money from a loan shark in order to own his photos free and clear of Hewes’ generosity.
Frank’s photos remain in the storage facility, locked until his will is executed. The photos are under the control of Ian Lerner, a cousin, who is the executor of the estate, according to Robert Frank. Ian Lerner did not return a call for comment.
According to Frank’s will, cousins Seth, Todd and Ian Lerner will inherit his collection — which everyone agreed was as much a part of Howard as an arm or a leg.
“If he did commit suicide, it was probably because he was losing them,” said Seth Lerner. “He knew something about every photograph. That was . . . his life.”
Additional reporting by Kathianne Boniello.

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Iran blames Israel for causing recent deadly earthquakes



Iran is blaming Israel for causing the most recent deadly earthquake, saying they probably have a machine that causes earthquakes, according to Iranian news media reports.
The News Agency said that the Iranian people are resting a little easier after an earthquake hit the country.

Most of the country was awakened by the earthquake, which managed to hit 6.2 on the Richter scale, in middle of the night.
It is unclear what caused the earthquake, although Iran has fault lines running through the country,and so far decided to blame Israel for the event.

It is unclear whether the United States could possibly have been involved in the earthquake.
It is unclear whether Israel really has the ability to create earthquakes with a special machine, but they tend to keep things secret, according to an Iranian news media.

At least 300 people have died in the earthquake, a lot less than Israel had foreseen, according to Iranian media. Israel has responded that the Iranian media is well known for fabricating stories.

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Obama mocks NASA telling them to call him when they find the aliens



Obama is the U.S. president who shut down the Nasa Space Shuttle program, sending American astronauts to space with the Russian space ship program.

Now, President Barack Obama mocked the scientific curiosity behind NASA's roving robot, instructing them jokingly to let you know immediately if there is life on Mars.

"If, in fact, you get in contact with the Martians, please let me know immediately," Obama joked, as he called scientists at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California from the Air Force One.

Even if you only find microbes, which will be very exciting, you guys let me know," Obama instructed.
"I have a lot of other things on my plate, but I suspect that this news will go to the top of my list. 

Curiosity landed on Mars last week, after a landing that was categorized as high risk and hunting-ground base for life on the nearest neighbor of planet Earth and send data to prepare for a future  human mission.

The machine will also carry a Mars Science Laboratory shuttle  up to Mount Sharp, a tower of three miles or five kilometers of a Martian mountain with layers of sediment that can be up to one billion years old.

Philanthropist Zev Wolfson, supporter of frum Jewish educational institutions, dies



 Zev Wolfson, a philanthropist who supported Torah institutions worldwide, has died. 
Wolfson, 84, died Monday in New York following a short illness, according to media reports.
A world renowned philanthropist, Wolfson helped spread Torah through kollel and outreach programs with many catering specifically to secular Jews in an effort to bring them closer to traditional Judaism.
Wolfson was born in Vilna, Poland in 1928 and immigrated to America at the age of 17 with his mother and his young brother. He immediately went to work, while sending his brother to yeshiva. In his twenties, he amassed a significant wealth through his investments in real estate.
For many decades, Wolfson focused on furthering Jewish education, helping to develop and maintain yeshivas, Bais Yaakov girls' schools, day schools and other projects all over the world, including the United States, Israel, France, Morocco and Russia, reported Matzav.com.
Wolfson was known for his close relationship with many prominent rabbis, and his wife Nechama, who founded the Shalom Task Force twenty years ago, is well known for her efforts to combat domestic violence within the Jewish community.
He was buried Tuesday in Israel. 

Ancient Samson seal found in Beit Shemesh Israel


Another ancient find this time in Beit Shemesh, Israel, confirms the ancientand historical Jewish fighter known as Samson.

Tel Aviv 
University researchers recently found a seal, which measures 15 millimeters or about half an inch in diameter, representing a human figure with a lion at the archaeological site of Beit Shemesh, located between the biblical Cities of Zorah and Eshtaol, where Samson was born, flourished and finally buried, according to the  Bible Books of Judges.

The scene recorded on the label, the period of time, and location of the discovery point to a likely reference to the story of Samson, the legendary character whose heroic adventures included a famous victory in the fight hand-to-leg with a lion.

area during that period of that time.
While the label does not reveal when the stories of Samson were originally written, or clarify whether Samson was historical or legendary, the finding does help to "anchor the story in an archaeological environment," said Prof. Shlomo Bunimovitz of TAU's Department of Archaeology andAncient Near Eastern Civilizations. Prof. Bunimovitz co-directed the excavation along with Beit Shemesh Dr. Zvi Lederman. "If we are right and what we see on the label is a representation of a man meeting a lion, which proves that the legend of Samson already existed in the Beit Shemesh 

We can date this seal with fair precision," Bunimovitz adds.

The right place, right time stamp was discovered with other findings on the floor of a house excavated by archaeologists dated to the 12th century BCE. Geographically, politically and culturally, the legends surrounding Samson set out in this time period, also known as the period of the judges, before the establishment of kingship in ancient Israel.

Scandal in Bobover Camp, Children sexually abused! Update!!


Ultra Orthodox Jewish boys, from Brooklyn, New York, were sexually assaulted in an upstate New York sleep away camp, but were told by camp officials to keep quiet and not tell their parents about the incident.

State police are investigating whether a driver for a kosher food distributor, slipped into the sleeping quarters in a summer camp in upstate New York, where seventh and eighth grade children were sleeping at the time, and sexually abused several of them.

The shocking intrusion occurred in the early morning hours at the Camp Shalva in South Fallsburg, New York, according to news media reports.

When the boys complained in the morning, a supervisor reviewed security video, which showed an intruder going in and out of the bedrooms, the news media reported. Officials at the camp instructed the boys not to tell their parents what had happened.

Stephen Lungen, a criminal defense attorney and former prosecutor in Sullivan County, New York, told the local news media that he was contacted BY frantic camp administrators, who asked what to do about the allegations.


"They were very upset and worried about how to deal with that," Lungen said, adding that he put them in touch with the prosecutor and the State Police.



Ben Hirsch, director of the survivors of Justice, an advocacy group based in Brooklyn New York for victims of sexual abuse, said he was contacted about the allegations and immediately called the State Office for Children Services and Families, which referred the case to the State Police.

Representatives of the camp could not be reached for comment.
Update:

Examination of the image indicates the man is a registered sex offender who works as a deliveryman for a kosher food service, police said.
His name, Young has learned, is Yoel Oberlander of Monsey and camp directors said he had no reason to be near the dormitory or any of the children staying at the sleep-away camp. The school said it is checking for any evidence of inappropriate physical contact.
“It’s certainly something we can’t rule out given the fact that the perpetrator or alleged perpetrator has an alleged history and was in proximity to children. We would hope and expect that that would be fully investigated,” Scharf said.
Sources told Young that Oberlander’s employers at Golden Taste Kosher Foods are discussing his future with the company, although they adamantly refused to talk with Young when he stopped by their Spring Valley offices.
“No comment. I said no comment,” an employee said.
The camp caters almost exclusively to children of Hasidic parents living in Brooklyn.

Friday, August 10, 2012

Jewish Gold-winning gymnast Aly Raisman heading to Israel for first time


(JTA) -- Gold-winning American Jewish gymnast Aly Raisman has accepted an invitation from Israel Diaspora Affairs Minister Yuli Edelstein for her and her family to make their first visit to Israel.
Raisman, who performs floor routines to the melody of “Hava Nagilah,” won an individual gold medal in her floor exercise last week and a bronze on the balance beam after helping the U.S. women’s team take the gold.
The Jerusalem Post reported that Edelstein wrote an impassioned letter congratulating Raisman and invited not only the 18-year-old gymnast, but also her parents, Lynn and Rick, and her younger siblings Brett, Chloe, and Madison, to be his guests.
She accepted on Friday after a telephone conversation facilitated by Dan Shapiro, the U.S. Ambassador to Israel, according to The Post.
“For me personally, as the minister in charge of relations with Diaspora Jewry, hearing why you chose the song made me realize that the concept of Kol Israel Arevim Zeh Lazeh [All Jews are responsible for one another] still holds true and that the Jewish people remain united no matter how far apart we may live. I was impressed that someone so young made such a monumental, ethical decision,” Edelstein wrote to Raisman, The Post reported. 
“Making your first visit to Israel is not only important because it is the homeland of the Jewish people but also because you can contribute from your experience to the young generation of Israeli athletes,” Edelstein reportedly added. 
There were no details on the timing or length of the visit. 

The Goat that stole!


Mazel Tov! El Al decides to honor tickets


The few lucky buyers that were able to scoop up cheap airline tickets will be able to use them.

El Al Israel Airlines decided that they will honor the thousands of tickets to and from Israel that sold for under $400 earlier this week, the company said today.

More than 5,000 people took advantage of the super low rates that were the result of a failure of pricing online that lasted about two hours on Monday on Web sites like Expedia and Orbitz.
Airline officials are also offering to upgrade the tickets to non stop flightsfor an additional $150. Currently, ticket holders are scheduled to board flights with connecting flights in Europe, in both directions.
El Al is also offering a full refund without penalty for those wishing to cancel their tickets, officials said. "Despite a review of this occurrence has not been finalized, a decision was made to accommodate passengers on El Al that bought these low rate tickets because we value our reputation for providing excellent customer service," said El Al Vice President Danny Saadon. "We hope we have provided an opportunity for many novices to visit Israel and reconnecting with family and friends."
Round-trip tickets from JFK to Israel often cost as much as $1,600.

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Jewish Girl wins gold, honors slain Israeli Olympians

And if that weren’t enough, she won her event with the Hebrew folk song “Hava Nagila” playing in the background.

It wasn’t a gloved-fist salute from the medal stand, but Jewish-American gymnast Aly Raisman made quite a statement yesterday by winning a gold medal and invoking the memory of the Israeli athletes killed 40 years ago in Munich.
Raisman finished first in the women’s floor exercise, but she deserves to have another medal draped around her neck for having the chutzpah to face the world and do what needed to be done and say what needed to be said.
At the same Olympic Games where bigoted organizers stubbornly refuse to honor the slain athletes with a moment of silence, 18-year-old Raisman loudly shocked observers first by winning, then by paying her own tribute to 11 sportsmen who died long before she was born.
And if that weren’t enough, she won her event with the Hebrew folk song “Hava Nagila” playing in the background.
“Having that floor music wasn’t intentional,” an emotional but poised Raisman told reporters after her performance.
“But the fact it was on the 40th anniversary is special, and winning the gold today means a lot to me.”
Then Raisman stuck the landing.
“If there had been a moment’s silence,” the 18-year-old woman told the world, “I would have supported it and respected it.”
It was 40 years ago at the 1972 Munich Games that members of the Israeli Olympic delegation were taken hostage and eventually killed by Palestinian radicals.
Executed in the massacre were 11 Israeli athletes and officials and a West German police officer.
The martyrs were remembered this week during a London ceremony filled with sadness and reflection.
But not a peep about them has been said publicly in the one place where it counts — at the Summer Games on Olympic soil.
The International Olympic Committee and its president, Jacques Rogge, have refused to properly honor the dead, arguing that the opening ceremony wasn’t an appropriate forum for a moment of silence.
But if the opening ceremony is good enough for James Bond and Mr. Bean, it’s hard to understand why it’s not good enough for 60 seconds of solitude.
“Shame on you International Olympic Committee because you have forsaken the 11 members of your Olympic family,” said Ankie Spitzer, whose husband, Andre, an Israeli fencing coach, was gunned down in the massacre.
“You are discriminating against them only because they are Israelis and Jews,” she went on.
Rogge was an athlete himself at the very Games where the massacre took place, representing Belgium on the sailing team.
“Even after 40 years, it is painful to relive the most painful moments of the Olympic movement,” Rogge said at an unaffiliated service before Spitzer spoke.
“I can only imagine how painful it must be for the families and close personal friends of the victims.”
But by refusing to hit the pause button for a measly 60 seconds, Rogge and other organizers have committed a sin nearly as grave as denying there was ever a Holocaust.
Were it not for young Aly and her wedding dance/bat mitzvah accompaniment, the Munich dead may have never gotten their due.
“I am Jewish, that’s why I wanted that floor music,’’ Raisman said.
“I wanted something the crowd could clap to, especially being here in London.
“It makes it even much more if the audience is going through everything with you. That was really cool and fun to hear the audience clapping.’’
Raisman’s eyes opened as wide as the gold medal she would win when the judges announced her score of 15.600 points after her mistake-free routine.
Her top finish was the first by an American woman in the Olympic floor exercise, and the win gave Raisman her second gold medal. Raisman admitted the 40th anniversary of the Munich Games made her “hora” gold even more special.
“That was the best floor performance I’ve ever done, and to do it for the Olympics is like a dream,’’ Raisman said.
Raisman did not go to the Games with the star power of her teammate Gabrielle Douglas or the résumé of world champion Jordyn Wieber,
But those who know her best said she works as hard as anyone, and, more importantly, her heart is in the right place.
‘’I’m so happy for Aly,” Douglas, the first African-American to win the all-around title, said after the floor competition. “She deserves to be up on that podium.’’
“She is a focused person,” said Rabbi Keith Stern, spiritual leader of Temple Beth Avodah in Newton Centre, Mass., where the Raisman family are members.
“She’s very proud and upfront about being Jewish. Neither she nor her family explicitly sought to send a message. But it shows how very integrated her Jewish heritage is in everything that she does.”
Stern said he remembers picking up young Aly from preschool, and never imagined she’d be some sort of megastar.
He described the US team captain as a big sister-type who is a mother hen to all her younger siblings.
“I can’t wait to have her at the temple to talk about her experience,” he said.
“I know her sister’s bat mitzvah is coming up, so maybe I’ll catch up with her then.”
Stern said that he, too, was stunned by the IOC’s refusal to hold a moment of silence.
“I’m happy to hear any other explanation,” Stern said. “But short of some racist grudge somebody is holding, I can’t figure out why it would be a terrible thing to do.”
Stern said he watched the routine and was blown away. Even so, he said he is more proud of Raisman’s gold mettle than he is of the new jewelry around her neck.
“I have to say, the statement just warmed me to the very depths of my being,” Stern said.
He compared it to the iconic black-power, raised-fist protest made by track stars John Carlos and Tommie Smith on the medal stand at the 1968 Mexico City Games.
“They’re not going to forget that,” the rabbi said. “I certainly won’t.”

Airline mix-up leads to too-cheap Israel trips


It was a Holy Land miracle.

Round-trip tickets between New York and Israel that usually cost around $1,600 were miraculously being offered for less than $400 Monday, thanks to an El Al Airlines pricing glitch.
The mistake was corrected after three hours — but not before at least 5,000 tickets were sold.
It was every Hasid for himself as news of a bargain of biblical proportions swept through communities like Crown Heights, Borough Park and Williamsburg.
Orthodox Jews frantically tried to score tickets for all members of their traditionally large families, from children to grandchildren to aunts, uncles and cousins.
Some pregnant women even tried to book future flights for their unborn children.
“I booked me, my wife, her parents and her three brothers,” said Joey Mansour, 28 of Brooklyn.
“Then I booked my in-laws again for March, my wife’s first cousin who’s married with three children, his mother-in-law, my wife’s aunt, her husband, and two kids.”
Word spread quickly on Facebook and via text message after a Web site, Dan’s Deals, which publishes hot bargains, sent out Twitter alerts notifying members.
“I told everybody in the office and five of the eight people in the office immediately booked tickets for themselves and their families — without hesitation,” said Lazar Cohen, 27, an Orthodox Jew from Crown Heights, who learned of the eye-popping deal when his brother-in-law called from Texas.
“The whole office went into chaos mode,” he said.
“I told my family as well. My sister booked a ticket for herself, my parents booked tickets for themselves, my brother — along with his wife and two kids — booked tickets for $1,631 for four people.
“My cousins also booked, and they have a kid.”
The airline blamed a contractor responsible for posting fares and did not say whether it would honor the tickets — even after customer- service representatives promised ticket buyers it would.
El Al promised a decision by later this week.


Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/festival_of_flights_2sLECxnYkDxGft8sl9PbfO#ixzz22xLFwQeW

Romney should make a deal with Obama, "I'll release my tax returns and you release your college transcripts



by Wayne Allyn Root (he is a former Libertarian vice presidential nominee.)
I am President Obama’s classmate at Columbia University, Class of ’83. I am also one of the most accurate Las Vegas oddsmakers and prognosticators. Accurate enough that I was awarded my own star on the Las Vegas Walk of Stars. And I smell something rotten in Denmark. Obama has a big skeleton in his closet. It’s his college records. Call it “gut instinct” but my gut is almost always right. Obama has a secret hidden at Columbia- and it’s a bad one that threatens to bring down his presidency. Gut instinct is how I’ve made my living for 29 years since graduating Columbia.
Obama and his infamous strategist David Axelrod understand how to play political hardball, the best it’s ever been played. Team Obama has decided to distract America’s voters by condemning Mitt Romney for not releasing enough years of his tax returns. It’s the perfect cover. Obama knows the best defense is a bold offense. Just keep attacking Mitt and blaming him for secrecy and evasion, while accusing him of having a scandal that doesn’t exist. Then ask followers like Senator Harry Reid to chase the lead. The U.S. Senate Majority Leader appears to now be making up stories out of thin air, about tax returns he knows nothing about. It’s a cynical, brilliant, and vicious strategy. Make Romney defend, so he can’t attack the real Obama scandal.
This is classic Axelrod. Obama has won several elections in his career by slandering his opponents and leaking sealed documents. Not only do these insinuations and leaks ruin the credibility and reputation of Obama’s opponents, they keep them on the defensive and off Obama’s trail of sealed documents.
By attacking Romney’s tax records, Obama’s socialist cabal creates a problem that doesn’t exist. Is the U.S. Senate Majority Leader making up stories out of thin air? You decide. But the reason for this baseless attack is clear- make Romney defend, so not only is he “off message” but it helps the media ignore the real Obama scandal.
My answer for Romney? Call Obama’s bluff.
Romney should call a press conference and issue a challenge in front of the nation. He should agree to release more of his tax returns, only if Obama unseals his college records. Simple and straight-forward. Mitt should ask “What could possibly be so embarrassing in your college records from 29 years ago that you are afraid to let America’s voters see? If it’s THAT bad, maybe it’s something the voters ought to see.” Suddenly the tables are turned. Now Obama is on the defensive.
My bet is that Obama will never unseal his records because they contain information that could destroy his chances for re-election. Once this challenge is made public, my prediction is you’ll never hear about Mitt’s tax returns ever again.
Why are the college records, of a 51-year-old President of the United States, so important to keep secret? I think I know the answer.
If anyone should have questions about Obama’s record at Columbia University, it’s me. We both graduated (according to Obama) Columbia University, Class of ’83. We were both (according to Obama) Pre-Law and Political Science majors. And I thought I knew most everyone at Columbia. I certainly thought I’d heard of all of my fellow Political Science majors. But not Obama (or as he was known then- Barry Soetoro). I never met him. Never saw him. Never even heard of him. And none of the classmates that I knew at Columbia have ever met him, saw him, or heard of him.
But don’t take my word for it. The Wall Street Journal reported in 2008 that Fox News randomly called 400 of our Columbia classmates and never found one who had ever met Obama.
Now all of this mystery could be easily and instantly dismissed if Obama released his Columbia transcripts to the media. But even after serving as President for 3 1/2 years he refuses to unseal his college records. Shouldn’t the media be as relentless in pursuit of Obama’s records as Romney’s? Shouldn’t they be digging into Obama’s past–beyond what he has written about himself–with the same boundless enthusiasm as Mitt’s?
The first question I’d ask is, if you had great grades, why would you seal your records? So let’s assume Obama got poor grades. Why not release the records? He’s president of the free world, for gosh sakes. He’s commander-in-chief of the U.S. military. Who’d care about some poor grades from three decades ago, right? So then what’s the problem? Doesn’t that make the media suspicious? Something doesn’t add up.
Secondly, if he had poor grades at Occidental, how did he get admitted to an Ivy League university in the first place? And if his grades at Columbia were awful, how’d he ever get into Harvard Law School? So again those grades must have been great, right? So why spend millions to keep them sealed?
Third, how did Obama pay for all these fancy schools without coming from a wealthy background? If he had student loans or scholarships, would he not have to maintain good grades?
I can only think of one answer that would explain this mystery.
Here’s my gut belief: Obama got a leg up by being admitted to both Occidental and Columbia as a foreign exchange student. He was raised as a young boy in Indonesia. But did his mother ever change him back to a U.S. citizen? When he returned to live with his grandparents in Hawaii or as he neared college-age preparing to apply to schools, did he ever change his citizenship back? I’m betting not.
If you could unseal Obama’s Columbia University records I believe you’d find that:
A)   He rarely ever attended class.
B)   His grades were not those typical of what we understand it takes to get into Harvard Law School.
C)   He attended Columbia as a foreign exchange student.
D)   He paid little for either undergraduate college or Harvard Law School because of foreign aid and scholarships given to a poor foreign students like this kid Barry Soetoro from Indonesia.
If you think I’m “fishing” then prove me wrong. Open up your records Mr. President. What are you afraid of?
If it’s okay for U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to go on a fishing expedition about Romney’s taxes (even though he knows absolutely nothing about them nor will release his own), then I think I can do the same thing. But as Obama’s Columbia Class of ’83 classmate, at least I have more standing to make educated guesses.
It’s time for Mitt to go on the attack and call Obama’s bluff.