One More Reason Why Obama Might Want to Rethink That 'Forward' Slogan

On the heels of WaPo writer David Maraniss revealing Barack Obama's long-mysterious "New York girlfriend" from his "Dreams From My Father," Mercury Ink -- the publishing arm of Glenn Beck -- will be releasing a book detailing in-depth the relationship between Obama and another mysterious figure from that memoir: "Frank."

Obama talks longingly of Frank in his memoir, but never says exactly who he is. Now we know that, unlike the New York girlfriend, Frank was much more than a “compression,” he was very real. "Frank," it turns out, was the Communist revolutionary Frank Marshall Davis.

In a new book debuting in July (“The Communist”), Prof. Paul Kengor reveals the insight he gleaned from his exhaustive review of Davis's original writings, along with Davis's enormous FBI file. Kengor sheds some light on exactly what kind of influence the controversial figure had on the future president.

(Related: Wikipedia Entry on Obama/Biden ‘Forward’ Slogan Scrubbed of References to ‘Leftwing Newspapers & Publications’)

There was.

In an issue of the The Chicago Star -- the communist Chicago newspaper where Davis was a columnist --about May Day 1948, there's a curious, almost-full-page quote:

The quote is from August Spies. Not surprisingly, as one site explains, he has a checkered past:

He became involved in trade union activities and joined the Socialist Labor Party in 1877. Three years later he began contributing to the anarchist journal, Arbeiter Zeitung, and became editor in 1880.

Spies developed a reputation for his violent speeches. In October 1885 he told a meeting of the Central Labor Union that: "We urgently call upon the wage-class to arm itself in order to be able to put forth against the exploiters such an argument which alone can be effective - violence."

"It’s subtle. It’s not crystal clear. But there is a similarity," Kengor writes in an email to The Blaze. Still, he adds, "I doubt very much that Frank taught Obama to use the slogan, 'Forward.'"

"Nonetheless, it’s yet another of those remarkable, striking similarities that seem at least notable."

And yet another reason why Obama might want to rethink that slogan.

For a little background on Kengor's research, you can read his past article here.