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Note: The article below is a guest commentary which may contain extreme, biased views which do not necessarily represent the views of YouDecide2008.com as a whole. Our site features views of all angles so we welcome you to argue or agree with the commentary writers, enjoy!
The bigotry of many Republicans and other far right supporters earlier was only common among scary emails, Fox News and right wing radio hosts. McCain’s actual campaign steered away from this in the beginning by throwing shock jock Bill Cunningham under the bus for using Obama’s middle name with out using McCain’s. But now that there isn’t much time left the McCain camp has decided to make bigotry against Muslims a central part of their campaign, disregarding the Muslim constituents who are voting for McCain.
The recent theme of McCain’s campaign rhetoric fuels the Muslim-hating-base, reaffirming that it is now okay to not just express anti-Muslim rhetoric by forwarding an email, but also by voicing it outside AND inside McCain campaign rallies. This hatred has turned off some voters yet some people don’t seem to understand why. While they yell Obama is a Muslim, McCain and his campaign (or other prominent Republican figures for that matter) won’t stand up in support of Muslims and point out that there is nothing wrong with being a Muslim
Earlier in McCain’s campaign when he denounced the shock jock Bill Cunningham he sought out the endorsement of Pastor Rod Parsley a right wing open and loud Muslim hater who advocates violence. This got the attention of the Islamic world immediately. Not good when we are on Middle Eastern soil fighting wars in two countries and in a delicate situation with a third country.
Even after warnings from some supporters that McCain shouldn’t deal with Rod Parsley, McCain defended his association with him several times, claiming that he denounced the words, but not the man. After a couple of months went by a few media outlets decided to report on this for 48 hours. After this, McCain finally denounced Parsley. Some of McCain’s supporters claim that McCain only did this for political gain because he has a lot of supporters. This begs the question. Why can a man who wants the genocide of Islam bring support to the Republican base? And why would you want this kind of support?
Another republican Islam hater is celebrated and Syndicated right wing radio host Mike Savage who is broadcasted in over 300 radio stations nation wide spewed fiery venom about Muslims live on the air. Here is an excerpt of one rant from October 29, 2007:
I don’t wanna hear anymore about Islam. I don’t wanna hear one more word about Islam. Take your religion and shove it up your behind. I’m sick of you.
What kind of religion is this? What kind of world are you living in when you let them in here with that throwback document in their hand, which is a book of hate. Don’t tell me I need reeducation. They need deportation. I don’t need reeducation. Deportation, not reeducation.
Make no mistake about it, the Quran is not a document of freedom. The Quran is a document of slavery and chattel. It teaches you that you are a slave.
Rush Limbaugh, the syndicated right wing radio personality, has been using Muslim bigotry in the past by putting emphasis on Barack Obama’s middle name Hussein, but when that didn’t work Limbaugh actually fabricated a story during his September 22, 2008 broadcast, claiming that Obama wasn’t African American but an Arab.
These polls on how one-third of blue-collar white Democrats won’t vote for Obama because he’s black, and — but he’s not black. Do you know he has not one shred of African-American blood? He doesn’t have any African — that’s why when they asked whether he was authentic, whether he’s down for the struggle. He’s Arab. You know, he’s from Africa. He’s from Arab parts of Africa. He’s not — his father was — he’s not African-American. The last thing that he is is African-American. I guess that’s splitting hairs, I don’t — it’s just all these little things, everything seems upside-down today in this country.
After McCain’s campaign and the RNC adopted the Muslim hate as the core of their campaign, this hatred which was only being expressed in emails or right wing radio surfaced to the main stream of the rallies. The “American News Project” started doing stories and getting footage outside of the McCain rallies and most of the people going in expressed their Islamic bigotry by expressing that Obama was bad because he was a Muslim. Not one person stood up and said that hating Muslims is wrong. Until this rally on October 18 in Woodridge, Virginia where some Muslim McCain supporters took a stand against a group preaching Muslim Hate.
Colin Powell endorsed Barack Obama and made a clear case why he is not voting with the Republican party. One of those reasons is the Republican endorsed bigotry towards Muslims. Here is an excerpt from Colin Powell on “Meet The Press,”
I’m also troubled by, not what Senator McCain says, but what members of the party say. And it is permitted to be said such things as, “Well, you know that Mr. Obama is a Muslim.” Well, the correct answer is, he is not a Muslim, he’s a Christian. He’s always been a Christian. But the really right answer is, what if he is? Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in this country? The answer’s no, that’s not America. Is there something wrong with some seven-year-old Muslim-American kid believing that he or she could be president? Yet, I have heard senior members of my own party drop the suggestion, “He’s a Muslim and he might be associated terrorists.” This is not the way we should be doing it in America.
I feel strongly about this particular point because of a picture I saw in a magazine. It was a photo essay about troops who are serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. And one picture at the tail end of this photo essay was of a mother in Arlington Cemetery, and she had her head on the headstone of her son’s grave. And as the picture focused in, you could see the writing on the headstone. And it gave his awards–Purple Heart, Bronze Star–showed that he died in Iraq, gave his date of birth, date of death. He was 20 years old. And then, at the very top of the headstone, it didn’t have a Christian cross, it didn’t have the Star of David, it had crescent and a star of the Islamic faith. And his name was Kareem Rashad Sultan Khan, and he was an American. He was born in New Jersey. He was 14 years old at the time of 9/11, and he waited until he can go serve his country, and he gave his life. Now, we have got to stop polarizing ourselves in this way. And John McCain is as nondiscriminatory as anyone I know. But I’m troubled about the fact that, within the party, we have these kinds of expressions.
It is really sad that in our country a major party like the Republicans and their supporters would not want everyone of all groups to enjoy what they have to offer. Why would they embrace hate-filled rhetoric against Muslims, instead of making a stand against it? Republicans are showing how unpatriotic they are for our Muslim soldiers who are fighting for our country and, in the process, alienating their Muslim constituents. You would think that having military bases in the Middle East, fighting a war in Iraq, Afghanistan, conflicts in Pakistan, and tensions with Iran that the last thing they would want to display to everyone over there is that they hate them just for who they are. Not only does this disregard the safety of our troops, foreign relations and Muslim’s who support McCain, but it is also counter productive for the War on Terror by supporting the image that the United States is disingenuous in its intentions, and furthermore making the case for Al Queida in their attempt to recruit more volunteers.
Note: Dreadsen is a frequent commenter on YouDecide2008.com and now guest commentary contributor.
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At least you are not blaming McCain himself, but what about Obama’s followers. They have said some pretty nasty stuff to about Palin.
This was in response to some T-shirts worn by Obama supporters.
“Is the sexist, misogynist tone that the Obama campaign established to defeat Hillary Clinton in the Democrat presidential primaries responsible for the disgusting Sarah Palin t-shirts being worn by some Obama supporters?
Feminist radio host Tammy Bruce thinks so, and believes that is what “upset so many Hillary Clinton supporters from the beginning of [Obama's] presidential run” making “this Democratic campaign…the worst we’ve ever seen.”
Bruce also told Fox News’s Martha MacCallum on Monday’s “America’s Election HQ” that these “Sarah Palin is a C***” t-shirts are similar to “the most popular t-shirts when Barack Obama was running in the primary season…that said ‘Bros Before Hos’” (video embedded below the fold with partial transcript, h/t Hot Air):
You brought up Rod Parsley but the big difference there is that McCain realized that it wasn’t in his best interest to be associated with him. What about Obama. He couldn’t turn against Rev Wright any more than he could turn against his own grandmother. Wright hates white people. And the only reason Obama backed away from him is because Wright put him down. This is only one of Obama’s many questionable associates.
I think it’s interesting how Dreadsen bandies the word “hate” around. And “machine”. If ever there was a political hate machine at work, it would be Obama’s promotion of hatred for Bush. He incites his followers to “get in their face” which is surely promoting violence. Especially when one decides to get in my face. That’ll leave a mark, I promise you.
Babs.. And what about all the hate from the people Obama associates with. I can’t understand how any white person could vote for a guy who sat in a church for 20 years of a radical minister who hates white people. Ayers hates America and wishes he had bombed more. Obama and Biden talk about McCain and Bush being the same even though McCain has proven he isn’t but when it comes to Obama you can’t mention the people he has ties to. Why is there a double standard.
I loved Palin on CNN when she told the reporter that if she had said what Biden said about there being an international crisis within 6 months if Obama gets in she would have been smeared all over every channel possible. And he had to agree with her.
Obama has risen from a nobody to someone running for the white house and no one really knows what he is all about. What is his agenda? He wants to share the wealth. I think that is great. Let him share his. Think about what he did in Chicago. He worked with the poor and underprivilaged. There is nothing wrong with wanting to help them but he should have been doing it years ago instead of helping out their slum landlord Rezco.
Is there something I am missing about Obama? If there is I wish someone would tell me. I want to know what bills he has introduced to help all Americans, what he has done to stop the waste in pork barreling, and if he does get into office what is he going to do with Barney Frank and Chris Dodd in regards to their ties to Fannie and Freddie. That’s right he won’t do anything because he got the second biggest payoff from Fannie. And it isn’t hard to figure out why when he was fighting with ACORN to get people subprime loans who couldn’t afford them.
Why did he give so much money to ACORN as a nonprofit, non partisan group when they have been rallying for Obama and telling people who they are registering to vote to vote for him.
And how can you use as an excuse that he was 8 years old when Ayers did his bombing. It was just after 9/11/2001 that he said he wished he had done more. Obama was a little older than 8.
He wants to give everyone health care but the hospital that his wife sits on the board of has been known to charge 3X the price to people who don’t have insurance.
The list can keep going on and on. If people would stop comparing McCain to Bush I could stop comparing Obama to the people he associates with and maybe we could deal just with the issues.
I have read as much as I can about Obama and McCain. The good and the bad and I still don’t see anything that attracts me to vote for Obama.
While we can turn and attack other topics as a means of defense, I believe Dreadsen’s main point still deserves recognition. As U.S citizens, all religious identities, races, ethnicities are valid and should be seen as equal– and it is unfortunate that some people are feeling alienated from their own party– this is similar to the Log Cabin Republicans, a branch of gay Republicans who are ostracized from the GOP.
Michael… I can’t agree more. My decisions have nothing to do with race or religion. It has to do with what I believe to be the best for the country I live in.
I also believe there are people out there who say they are voting for Obama when in truth they have no intentions of doing so. These people are afraid of being called racist. Why is it that if you don’t agree with Obama and therefore have no intention of voting for him what part of that makes you a racist. If he was white and you weren’t going to vote for him you wouldn’t be called racist.
Well, Michael, on that note. Myself and William Ayers are not equal. I’m much better than he is.
“and it is unfortunate that some people are feeling alienated from their own party– this is similar to the Log Cabin Republicans, a branch of gay Republicans who are ostracized from the GOP.”
Michael, is that like pro-life Democrats being ostracized from their party? No, that couldn’t be an equivalent form of intolerance from Democrats, could it? Or wait, what about evangelical Christians being ostracized and ridiculed by the Democratic Party?
If we’re applying standards, let’s apply them evenhanded.
Dreadsen, this one’s for you and everyone else who thinks Barack Obama supporters are incapable of unadulterated hatred:
http://www.youdecide2008......e-machine/
Especially considering the fact that even you mentioned in your article McCain supporters asked that guy with the Obama/Muslim stickers to stop handing them out, because McCain supporters are decent people. It was McCain supporters who shouted him down and told him to stop.
I didn’t see Obama supporters telling the people wearing hateful t-shirts calling Sarah Palin a c*** ask them to remove them, they probably clapped and cheered them on asking about where they could buy them.
Plus, some people do believe that because of Obama’s close ties to the terrorist Bill Ayers that Obama himself may believe in Ayers’ teachings about domestic terrorism, it has nothing to do with Islamic terrorism.
Nate, pro-life and pro-gun Democrats do suffer problems within the Democratic Party– but these are ideological differences, not identity differences.
In recent years evangelical Christians have been at odds with the Democratic Party, but this was most often having to do with ideological problems (such as their pro-choice stance, etc.). In fact, in the last couple years the Democratic Party has tried– note I say tried– to woe evangelical Christians.
Again, I am not a Democrat and I am not defending that Party. I am simply stating that Dreadsen’s main point has merit. This is something the Republican Party should look into in their current renovation.
This article is blown way out of proportion. I listen to conservative talk radio all day every day and I never hear anyone say what you are implying. I’m sure there are outliers, just as with the Dems. The following statement you made is just irresponsible journalism, even for an Op/Ed piece.
“After McCain’s campaign and the RNC adopted the Muslim hate as the core of their campaign”
If you want to talk hate, lets talk about the hatred that conservatives have to put up with every single day if we want to read the news or watch TV. All we have left is Fox News and AM radio and you can’t even let us have that. Journalism is dead.
Yes, Dreadsen, you got that talking point wrong. The phrase isn’t “core of their campaign”, it’s “centerpiece of their campaign” if you really want to emulate Obama here.
After 7+ years of fear-mongering about Muslims, is it any wonder that the few radical righties who whip up a hysteria over a middle name would engender fear of Obama being a Muslim?
We have been spoon-fed fear for a long time (not just this current administration, by the way). It’s an extraordinary device used for control and manipulation. FDR had it right – fear *is* the only thing to fear!
Powell was right, there is nothing wrong with being a Muslim. It can also be said (hold your breath Republicans) that there is nothing wrong with being a Christian.
Your religious beliefs are simply that, your beliefs. How you act on them is an entirely different matter. The trouble I have with the hardcore evangelicals is something I’m working on – the talking heads that get the most airtime are some of the most loony people out their (Pat Robertson, Folwell & Fred Phelps). I’ve been working on *not* lumping *all* evangelicals into this same crowd, but it is difficult to get past (give me some time, I get closer every day).
BTW – I would boo this article as I booed the “Obama Hate Machine” article, but that one painted the Left with a broader brush than this one painted the Right.
And there *is* something to be said about the McCain campaign making “Obama is a Muslim” a centerpiece of their campaign, even though the Muslim part is implicit.
Once McCain and Palin began asking “Who is Barack Obama?” and saying he “pals around with terrorists,” you better believe they’re stoking the fires of fear and Muslim-bashing in order to get political gain.
There’s an tendency in human nature to make simple associations about people or about their descriptions – it’s the primary reason for political correctness – if you grow up in a town with no exposure to a black person or a Muslim and the only exposure you get to them is on the news, it’s going to color your perspective of who they truly are. It takes a great deal of effort to overcome this and usually doesn’t fully occur unless you’ve had the chance to meet the person you’ve pidgeon-holed to behave a certain way and find the exact opposite. (See my previous comment about evangelicals, for my very own version of this problem)
As such, “Obama palling around with a terrorist” induces this logical fallacy, that was drilled into our heads by the fear-mongers of this administration: terrorist = Muslim = Osama bin Laden, thus “Obama pals around with Osama bin Laden” becomes what is heard…
Forget Bill Ayers. He’s small potatoes. When that logical fallacy begins to sink in, suddenly people get scared…and scared people run, incorrectly, to the Republican party.
It’s completely inane and makes me lose ever more respect for McCain – rhyming unintended!
Although, I *have* to say, I was pleased to see him wince when someone yelled out “terrorist” at one of his rallies. It said to me that maybe he wasn’t really trying to paint Obama as a terrorist (or terrorist-lover).
Repeat this mantra – attack the policies not the person…
I think if the GOP had nominated an african american candidate with the middle name “Hussein” the picture would be a mirror image, and a lot of these people stirring up trouble now would be the same ones, just voting differently.
And there would be a few democrats somewhere playing into it at least a little bit, because in politics if there is a usable weapon laying idle, someone is always going to pick it up. I think it would be naive not to recognize that.
These acts are wrong, but calling it part of a Republican Hate Machine? I think accusations like that are overblown and extremely divisive to the country.
This article seems weak at best, and here’s why.
The author cites Michael Savage in relation to John McCain and anti-Muslim rhetoric, which is silly because Savage has repeatedly bashed McCain and isn’t even supporting him for president. Plus, McCain has never been associated with, endorsed by, or has ever praised Michael Savage. Savage has also trashed Sarah Palin repeatedly. Therefore, Savage has nothing to do with McCain yet the author is leading us to believe he does. Is Michael Savage at McCain rallies? No.
Second, the author cites Rush Limbaugh, another person the McCain campaign has never been close to since Limbaugh has also repeatedly criticized McCain, though he supports him for president. Plus, the text the author states didn’t even mention the word “Muslim” or “Islam” yet he says Limbaugh is using anti-Muslim rhetoric because of the word “Arab.” Again, I haven’t seen the McCain campaign using similar rhetoric, just the opposite. McCain corrected and condemned a supporter who called Obama an “Arab” at a rally, we all saw that video.
Plus, if I say Barack Hussein Obama, that means I am anti-Muslim or I am using anti-Muslim rhetoric? What if I say John Sidney McCain, what ethnic or religious group am I insulting? Can you tell me? The McCain campaign, as the author pointed out, threw Bill Cunningham under the bus for emphasizing Barack Hussein Obama at an event. McCain has not tolerated it at all, and everyone who has been watching the campaign knows that, except the author.
Furthermore, the author cites Colin Powell’s opinion on the campaign having something against Muslims. Powell didn’t cite too much and seems to just have a chip on his shoulder. Powell mentioned “senior members” of his own party, so we have to take him at his word. Even still, if that’s true, where have these “senior members” been on McCain’s campaign trail? I haven’t seen them or heard them publicly denigrate Muslims.
The author fails to admit that the McCain campaign has never tolerated or condoned anti-Muslim rhetoric.
I am asking the author to backup this claim with evidence:
“But now that there isn’t much time left the McCain camp has decided to make bigotry against Muslims a central part of their campaign”
Can you please backup that statement with proof other than pointing to people who aren’t even remotely associated with the McCain campaign? I follow the election everyday and haven’t heard a shred of this directly from the McCain campaign. If you’re speaking of Sarah Palin saying “palling around with terrorists,” we all know she was specifically speaking of unrepentant terrorist Bill Ayers, not Muslim extremists.
So please, provide us more proof when you make such a statement and accuse a campaign of “bigotry” when there is evidence, cited by the author, to the contrary.
Nothing in this article came from the McCain campaign, in fact, the author admits John McCain has condemned anyone calling Obama a “terrorist,” “Arab,” or using any anti-Muslim rhetoric.
Just my personal observations on this topic since I condemn hateful rhetoric from both campaigns, though I think the author is over blowing this to disproportionate levels.
Nate, you make a lot of good points. Most of what’s gone on is completely unassociated with McCain’s campaign. But it’s not exactly disconnected. As a local resident, I’m sure you’ve heard that Virginia GOP Chairman Jeffrey Frederick was encouraging McCain volunteers to connect Barack Obama with Osama Bin Laden. And McCain hasn’t come out to flatly condemn that either.
I don’t think that John McCain likes this tone, but this is a message that McCain campaign volunteers were being told to spread. There is political gain to be had through this fear, for some people in the GOP, the bottom line is all that matters.
“As a local resident, I’m sure you’ve heard that Virginia GOP Chairman Jeffrey Frederick was encouraging McCain volunteers to connect Barack Obama with Osama Bin Laden.”
Wasn’t familiar but researched it and sure enough, you’re correct from pointing to a Time.com article on the subject:
The author didn’t cite that though, he cited other much less relevant things from people not part of the McCain campaign.
However, based on McCain’s past actions of condemning anything similar to this, I can venture to say he would condemn this as well. I’m not defending Frederick’s statement, it’s deplorable, but still that doesn’t come directly from McCain’s campaign nor does it speak to McCain himself promoting “bigotry” as the author claims.
The author claimed that the McCain campaign has now made bigotry against Muslims a main part of it’s campaign, I’m still asking for evidence of that.
Nate – the usage of fear of a Muslim/Islamic boogeyman is implicit. It is not being directly stated, except from robo-calls (I think). The one I received was so rapidly spit out, I couldn’t make out what all was being said.
As I said in my previous post, the implicit connection is being made to Osama bin Laden via the drumbeat of the current administration. It’s a matter of “what did you expect them to think?”
“Terrorist” has been made synonymous with Islamic radicals care of past 7+ years. Although, the connection existed before then, but it was not as blatant, nor as blatantly exploited as a fear card to use as a tool to control the populace.
As such, when you accuse someone of “palling around with terrorists” you establish an unspoken connection with the Wahabi variety, which I think may be an underlying desire of some in the McCain camp – though, it’d be rather difficult to prove.
It may simply be an attempt at overemphasizing the connection between Obama and Ayers, but they have to be aware of the psychology of what they’re doing. At the very least, they should attempt to be more clear. Although, really, I think they should simply focus on the issues and try to explain why their policies are better (in their minds) than Obama’s.
Still, this being said, as I said before, McCain visibly winced when he heard someone shout out “terrorist” in answer to the “who is Barack Obama?” question.
One other point to be made in defense of this article – it’s called the “Republican Hate Machine” not the “McCain Hate Machine”. Whereas CG’s counter-article is called the “Barack Obama Hate Machine”.
It’s clear that CG is using the actions of a limited number of looneys to paint Barack Obama and *all* of his supporters as “bad eggs” as compared to Dreadsen mentioning the sources of the hyper-negativity and minimizing the involvement by McCain.
You see, PeoplePower? No boos here, in fact you’re defending this article, even though Nate has torn it apart paragraph by paragraph. No robo-call from the McCain campaign espouses anything about Muslims, or Osama Bin Laden. If it did, you would hear from Chris Matthews and Keith Olberman, and you know it. The implication you and others are saying is there – is only there on your side. YOU are the ones who are implicating Muslim bashing here. McCain has done no such thing.
If there IS a connection between Bill Ayers and Muslim extremists, no one seems to be aware of it except you guys. Maybe you should share it.
Nate
You are creating Straw man in order to misrepresent my argument so you can come back with slam dunk refutations.
“The author cites Michael Savage in relation to John McCain and anti-Muslim rhetoric, which is silly because Savage has repeatedly bashed McCain and isn’t even supporting him for president.”
NO I cite Michael Savage as a Right wing talking head who HATES Muslims and has a lot of Right wing followers. He woudn’t have these followers if they didn’t share this. He still has a show and has high ratings. This is not about Savage liking McCain or Liking Palin. I did not say that Savage did or did not like McCain. So you were refuting points I did not raise. The point was the Anti Muslim Rhetoric.
“Second, the author cites Rush Limbaugh, another person the McCain campaign has never been close to since Limbaugh has also repeatedly criticized McCain, though he supports him for president. Plus, the text the author states didn’t even mention the word “Muslim” or “Islam” yet he says Limbaugh is using anti-Muslim rhetoric because of the word “Arab.” Again, I haven’t seen the McCain campaign using similar rhetoric, just the opposite. McCain corrected and condemned a supporter who called Obama an “Arab” at a rally, we all saw that video.”
AGAIN This portioin is about the Anti Muslim rhetoric. I can cite you more things Limbaugh has said. Why do you think he made up the LIE that Obama is Arab? Arabs are predominately MUSLIM. If being a Muslim was perceived as being great and wonderful he wouldn’t have gone out his way to say this. Limbaugh is a right wing Republican supporter with a lot of followers and high ratings. If they didn’t like this rhetoric he would not have been given a new multi million dollar contract. I forget the liberal talk show chick who called Hilary Clinton a whore and lost her show. McCain corrected the lady for calling him an Arab. But why did this lady think this? Where did she get it from? I bet you it was Rush Limbaugh. She said she didn’t trust him because he is an Arab. What is wrong with being an Arab? You are kidding yourself if you don’t think Arab being connected to Muslim isn’t the intent here.
Okay here this is classic.
“Plus, if I say Barack Hussein Obama, that means I am anti-Muslim or I am using anti-Muslim rhetoric? What if I say John Sidney McCain, what ethnic or religious group am I insulting? Can you tell me? The McCain campaign, as the author pointed out, threw Bill Cunningham under the bus for emphasizing Barack Hussein Obama at an event. McCain has not tolerated it at all, and everyone who has been watching the campaign knows that, except the author.”
Okay now listen. You claim it is okay but then make the case that McCain doesn’t tolerate it. You should argue with McCain and his campaign not me. They threw Bill Cunningham under the bus. Why did they do this? Because of the emphasis on his middle name. You can play games all you want and pretend it is okay like Anne Coulter did. But when Bill O’reily kept asking why do you keep saying is full name? or as she called him President Hussein. She made the same case. It’s his middle name I can use it. O’Reily asked her what was John McCain’s middle name and she was silent. It is all in HOW you use it and the context it is being used. Now the police officer used the full name at an event and McCain did release a statement saying they do not condone this rhetoric. But there’s nothing wrong with it? So why is he condemning it?
http://www.youtube.com/wa.....A_FhGFJFuo
The problem is a day or so later they had a guy reading from a teleprompter he is turning his head reading slowly. He says “Barack Obama” then you can tell that he didn’t read it properly and he says “Barack Hussein Obama”. He could have just kept going but he had to put emphasis on the middle name which this emphasis McCain’s claims they will not condone.
http://www.youtube.com/wa.....5mdIPNB8t8
I’ll try to get the expanded video of the second guy so you can see what I’m talking about. But the pattern is this. After McCain threw Cunninham under the bus he didn’t have anyone warming up his crowd saying the full name until a few weeks ago when they changed their theme. After that it was allowed, condemned then allowed again by means of teleprompter.
“Furthermore, the author cites Colin Powell’s opinion on the campaign having something against Muslims. Powell didn’t cite too much and seems to just have a chip on his shoulder. Powell mentioned “senior members” of his own party, so we have to take him at his word. Even still, if that’s true, where have these “senior members” been on McCain’s campaign trail? I haven’t seen them or heard them publicly denigrate Muslims.”
Again you are misrepresenting the argument of that section as well. Colin Powell was talking about the PARTY which is the title of this article. Powell just like me has seen this and probably like me was limited in time. I only have 1000 words for a commentary and I believe I was pushing 1500. My last commentary was edited because I went way too far. But I go that far trying to establish a case. The attack on Muslims is the attempt to connect Obama to Muslims. Connecting him to Muslims means being a Muslim is a bad thing. Imagine if this was the 1960’s. You don’t have to make a personal attack on black people. BUT if you keep making the case that someone has ties with the bad black people or they may have black friends who may be the BAD black friends and they are hiding it, you are trying to damage the opponent for having a possible association with black people. Man you know this stuff I don’t’ know why you are playing this game. But I’ll list more things since you requested it.
Here are some of those SENIOR MEMBERS of the Republican party that Colin Powell was talking about.
WASHINGTON (CNN) — Republican National Committee Chairman Mike Duncan formally denounced on Thursday the Tennessee Republican Party’s use of Barack Obama’s full name in a recent news release questioning the Illinois senator’s commitment to Israel. ( again argue with the RNC or McCain on the middle name thing )
The news release now includes a clarification that reads, “This release originally referenced a photo of Sen. Obama and incorrectly termed it to be ‘Muslim’ garb. It is, in fact, Somali tribal garb, hence, we have deleted the photo. Also, in order to diffuse attempts by Democrats and the Left to divert attention from the main point of this release — that Sen. Obama has surrounded himself with advisers and received endorsements from people who are anti-Semitic and anti-Israel — we have deleted the use of Barack Obama’s middle name.”
“We’re not going to be using the middle name now, because apparently, it’s become a distraction,” he said. “But I would note, not too long ago, I saw a wire story out of the Middle East that talked about how a lot of people there are hungry for Obama to win and, in part, because his middle name gives him a connection, and that story used his middle name, so we’re not the first people to notice and use his middle name.”
Read the rest here.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/P.....index.html
Clark County, Washington, Republican Party declared on Their website this.
Barack Hussein Obama has joined the United Church of Christ in an attempt to downplay his Muslim background.
It is reported that Obama swore his oath of office using the Koran and pictures have shown him standing for the Pledge but not reciting it and holding his hands to his side while others place their hands over their hearts.
This is chilling information about a candidate for the highest office in the Country especially given the radical Muslim claims that they will destroy American from “the inside”.
Read the rest here
http://slog.thestranger.c.....bamas_a_mu
Republican Representative Steve King McCain supporter.
“”I don’t want to disparage anyone because of their race, their ethnicity, their name – whatever their religion their father might have been,” he said. “I’ll just say this: When you think about the optics of a Barack Obama potentially getting elected President of the United States — I mean, what does this look like to the rest of the world? What does it look like to the world of Islam?”
He continued: “I will tell you that, if he is elected president, then the radical Islamists, the al-Qaida, the radical Islamists and their supporters, will be dancing in the streets in greater numbers than they did on September 11 because they will declare victory in this War on “
“”Additionally, his middle name (Hussein) does matter,” King said. “It matters because they read a meaning into that in the rest of the world. That has a special meaning to them. They will be dancing in the streets because of his middle name. They will be dancing in the streets because of who his father was and because of his posture that says: Pull out of the Middle East and pull out of this conflict.””
Read the rest here
http://www.spencerdailyre.....16727.html
The Sacramento County Republican Party removed images from its official Web site that compared Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama to Osama bin Laden and urged people to “Waterboard Barack Obama,” after state GOP leaders complained about the content.
One of the images showed Obama in a turban next to bin Laden. It said: “The difference between Osama and Obama is just a little B.S.”
Read the rest here
http://cbs5.com/campaign0.....41285.html
“Wasn’t familiar but researched it and sure enough, you’re correct from pointing to a Time.com article on the subject:
He (Jeffrey Frederick) climbed atop a folding chair to give 30 campaign volunteers who were about to go canvassing door to door their talking points — for instance, the connection between Barack Obama and Osama bin Laden: “Both have friends that bombed the Pentagon,” he said. “That is scary.”
Indiminded posted this one you had no clue about. Thank you.
Now I didn’t cite that or any of the other things above because most people KNOW about these things . Now back to your straw man argument.
“The author didn’t cite that though, he cited other much less relevant things from people not part of the McCain campaign.
However, based on McCain’s past actions of condemning anything similar to this, I can venture to say he would condemn this as well. I’m not defending Frederick’s statement, it’s deplorable, but still that doesn’t come directly from McCain’s campaign nor does it speak to McCain himself promoting “bigotry” as the author claims.
The author claimed that the McCain campaign has now made bigotry against Muslims a main part of it’s campaign, I’m still asking for evidence of that.”
I never said those comments came directly from his campaign nor did I say that any of the above people came from his campaign. But this is how they made bigotry against Muslims part of it’s campaign. They focus on the fears that people have that Obama is a Muslim by doing this.
Going BACK to saying Barack Hussein Obama in the same context of the rally they are raising the case that Obama pallies around with terrorists. Not ONE terrorist. But TERRORISTS. Plural. They are trying his NAME to TERRORIST. What do people think terrorist are? Muslims. Not some domestic white guy. They just use him to inject the word TERRORIST. Then the RNC pointing out that a while back Obama got some Palestinian donations and then requesting that they get a list of all foreign doners. This is to ADD to the fear of him being Muslim and having Muslim connections.You’ve read the above info on how Rep King says his middle name is important in relation to Muslims. This is all being done to tap into that base. Mike Savage, Rush Limbaugh and Rod Parsley are not part of McCain’s campaign I did not say that they were but they are right wing republican leaders who have fueled Muslim hate into their followers. McCain’s recent rhetoric as I’ve just described Hussein + Terrorist + Palestine donations= Muslim. And throw in a bunch of “Who is Barack Obama?”
Now lets say that all of this is like People Power said “what did you expect them to think?” So you can’t blame them for thinking this right? Now my other point was like Colin Powell said. What is wrong with being a Muslim? No one is making this loud and clear. We have heard a spokes person here or there say they denounce bad statements but no one standing up for the Muslims who here their religion being used as a slur. How about if someone was a closet Jew or closet Protestant? Oh that wouldn’t be something to try to paste dots for people to connect now would it?
Dreadsen, you explicitly stated the following:
“But now that there isn’t much time left the McCain camp has decided to make bigotry against Muslims a central part of their campaign, disregarding the Muslim constituents who are voting for McCain.”
Then you mentioned the following people, not connected with the McCain campaign:
1. Michael Savage
2. Rush Limbaugh
3. Colin Powell
You are emphatically stating that the McCain campaign has made a conscious decision to use bigotry against Muslims as a central part of their campaign.
Then I said you didn’t connect anything to McCain’s campaign directly and you even admitted McCain has condemned such anti-Muslim rhetoric, even admonishing a woman who called Obama an “Arab”. McCain has gone out of his way to condemn such rhetoric, you even admitted it. People such as Michael Savage or Rush Limbaugh do not constitute the “McCain camp,” as you called it.
Now you have said the following:
“I never said those comments came directly from his campaign nor did I say that any of the above people came from his campaign. But this is how they made bigotry against Muslims part of it’s campaign.”
Yes, you did say that, quote, “the McCain camp has decided to make bigotry against Muslims a central part of their campaign.” You implied that the statements did come directly from the campaign or at least the campaign condoned them, which is false.
Then you proceeded to list people who are not connected to the campaign. I’m just asking you to clarify since you made an explicit statement concerning the McCain campaign and “bigotry toward Muslims,” then you never backed it up, rather you pointed to people not connected with the campaign.
I am still asking, since you haven’t presented it, for evidence that the McCain/Palin campaign directly has made “bigotry toward Muslims” a central part of the campaign.
You have connected people not associated with the campaign and said they are a result of the McCain camp’s “decision” to use Muslim bigotry. Can you explain that leap for us?
Nate – I’ve tried to point the connection out to you a couple of times now. Dreadsen even quoted me in doing so.
Let’s build up the story, despite Dreadsen’s excellent summary, which really should have been sufficient:
1. Right-wing talkers, some RNC folks and several noisy preachers have whipped up the hellfires of how “horrible it is to be Muslim” and how “all Muslims are terrorists”
— This is not *all* of this crowd saying it, but it’s enough of the crowd that a great many of their followers buy the connection between Arab and Muslim and Terrorist.
2. McCain & Palin, falling in the polls, begin whipping up a frenzy over Obama’s (overblown) connection to Bill Ayers – to crowd: “Who is Barack Obama?” answering their own question to the crowd (esp. Palin): “Someone who pals around with domestic terrorists.”
– Yes, they’re explicitly referencing Ayers, but in doing so, they are implicitly bringing in their rabid followers who have been dumbed-down by the fear-mongering talking points. The association goes both ways – Arab = Muslim = Terrorist *also* means: Terrorist = Muslim = Arab
So, although McCain & Palin have not explicitly walked out on stage and said “Barack Obama is good buddies with Osama bin Laden” they might as well have done so, as the impact is the same for *some* of his supporters.
Certainly, the message is being heard loud & clear by Obama supporters and enough undecideds that it’s weakening McCain’s position. Although, sadly, I think it’s working on other undecideds…
For the record, I just received a nasty mailing from Republican Party of my state detailing Ayers’ brutality and making a direct connection with Obama – as if they’re really good buddies, having a long and deep friendship…lies worse than those Bush used against McCain in 2000…how can anyone support this campaign?
“But now that there isn’t much time left the McCain camp has decided to make bigotry against Muslims a central part of their campaign, disregarding the Muslim constituents who are voting for McCain.” – Dreadsen
So when the campaign discusses William Ayers, they are really employing their campaign of “bigotry against Muslims,” is that what you’re trying to argue?
You did partially admit what I’ve been trying to get at here:
“McCain & Palin have not explicitly walked out on stage and said “Barack Obama is good buddies with Osama bin Laden”.”
Dreadsen stated that McCain and Palin were indeed saying those things or that the McCain campaign is disseminating “bigotry against Muslims,” which they are not.
In my opinion, Dreadsen could have made a stronger article had he not tried to specifically state that this was the McCain campaign’s idea, which there is no evidence of considering the fact that McCain has repeatedly denounced this type of rhetoric, which Dreadsen even acknowledged.
I saw an opening there and wanted to challenge it because I didn’t believe it to be factually accurate.
Had Dreadsen stated that some Republicans are taking it on themselves to equate Obama with Osama, then he would have been correct, however, he didn’t say that. He opened the piece with this line, which I’ll re-paste for the 800th time since still nobody is defending it:
“But now that there isn’t much time left the McCain camp has decided to make bigotry against Muslims a central part of their campaign, disregarding the Muslim constituents who are voting for McCain.”
Dreadsen said the “McCain camp,” not “Republicans,” talk radio hosts, or others on the right, he specifically said the “McCain camp”.
PeoplePower, you have pointed to other instances outside the campaign, yet again and have told me that by saying the name William Ayers, they’re really saying Osama Bin Laden.
You are basically arguing that if anyone mentions the name William Ayers and calls him a “domestic terrorist,” which he was, they are really trying to say “Obama sounds like Osama,” or some such notion.
That is a stretch, but now that I know where we all stand, everyone’s entitled to their own opinion on this matter.
Sorry, I rarely take the time to delve into things like this but it’s fun once and a while.
Nate – I would said “bigotry against Muslims” is identified in the slippery slope being implicitly fostered (and has been trumped up over the last 7+ years by the current Administration): Arab = Muslim = Terrorist
It’s bigoted against Muslims because it’s a fallacy. Not all Muslims are Arab – I think the majority of them are in SE Asia. And only a tiny fractional percentage of Muslims are terrorists.
In fact, the majority of al Qaeda is composed of people from our supposed allies in the Middle East – Saudi Arabia. So talking about Arab Muslim Terrorists fits the description of al Qaeda.
Let’s turn insted to your last statement you say about my comment “When they say ‘domestic terrorist’ they’re really saying ‘Obama sounds like Osama’”.
That’s an oversimplification of what I said, but it’s close to what I meant.
This gets into language and psychology – language is an ever-growing and ever-changing beast. Were it not, “ain’t” would never have been added to the dictionary. Nor would words like “D’oh!” and “googled”. Meanings, especially in rhetoric, are very often connotative (commonly understood meaning) in usage rather than denotative (strictly interpreted meaning).
Fear has been used as a bludgeon upon us ever since 9/11/01. It’s been used longer than that, but it has been used most recently by the Bush Administration. Fear drives most people to their lizard brain where they don’t make the best rational choices, but rather the ones that seem to provide the highest likelihood of survival.
The fear of the terrorist boogeyman has been built up intensely in order to feed the beast that is the military industrial complex as well as the newly formed intelligence industrial complex. In short, it makes the fat cats fatter…
The talking heads (largely right-leaning politicians, talk-show hosts and preachers; but also some Democrats and liberals) have used the existing boogeyman Osama bin Laden to build a solid picture of our new “Red Menace”.
That picture is an Arabic Muslim Terrorist. And it is as vile and disgusting a stereotype as they come.
So, people have fallen for this message and connect in their brains Arab = Muslim = Terrorist.
As such, whenever “palling around with terrorists” is used (note the ‘domestic’ part isn’t always slipped in and ‘terrorist’ is plural) it is a bigoted statement that brings to mind Arab and Muslim and Osama bin Laden.
Barack Obama and Bill Ayers were good friends, the ultra right-wing biased CNN exposes the truth you people would like to ignore –
Another video on Obama’s cozy relationship with Bill Ayers –
Go ahead, call me hateful but I just don’t think our President should be friends with domestic terrorists. I guess that makes this statement true –
“Osama and Obama both have friends that bombed the Pentagon” – That’s the truth, even if you don’t like the way it sounds. Too bad! You can’t shut everyone up because you disagree with them.
Hold on, here it comes, I can sense you screaming “RAAAACIST!” at your computer screen. Take it somewhere else since you can’t refute anything here so you kill the messenger. Find a new strategy because the truth can’t be silenced by your liberal “truth” squads anymore.
You can scream at me but I don’t care because you can’t whitewash the truth, all you can do is call me “racist” for exposing it. That’s fine, the “racist” argument is older than old, and it’s a pathetic attempt to silence criticism of Barack Obama, oops, Barack Hussein Obama.
One more thing, if Obama didn’t know who Bill Ayers was when he was friends with him, then his judgment is even worse than I thought and he has no business leading our nation. If Obama did know, then shame on him and he has even less business running our nation.
I guess you all forgot that on September 11th, 2001 Islamic terrorists flew planes into buildings, we all watched the horror. I guess unless you ever stood on those Twin Towers like I have, or knew somebody who lost their lives during those attacks like I have, or actually had compassion for your fellow citizens who did, then questioning Obama’s association with someone who is responsible for domestic terrorism is something you won’t understand. Being a native to New York State, I can distinctly remember after 9/11 finding out about a terrorist cell nearby in upstate New York which was raided by the FBI, one of the hijackers had spent time there and they found plans related to the 9/11 attacks.
So excuse me if I am skeptical of anyone who is friends with someone who previously bombed our country and is responsible for murder, I think we have reason for concern.
Main Entry: ter•ror•ism
: the systematic use of terror especially as a means of coercion
The things Bill Ayers did with his Weather Underground group are defined as terrorism. It’s not my fault that it was Muslim extremists who flew planes into buildings, now causing us all to associate the word “terrorist” with the word “Muslim,” that’s not my intention.
Would this sound better: “Barack Obama was friendly with Bill Ayers, a domestic bomber/murderer.”
There, we got rid of terrorist, it sounds a lot better now. The problem is that we know who Obama put his stock into as a young politician, just who will he be appointing to security posts? People that hate the country, like Bill Ayers, or people who love it? Anyone’s guiess.
Barack Obama should be ashamed of his association with Ayers, not proud of it. Instead he acts like it’s no big deal, and all you Obama lovers cover for him, telling us it’s no big deal and we’re racist anti-Muslims if we bring it up.
You can call me names, which I’m sure you childishly will, I can handle it so long as I can speak the truth.
Read it and learn, Barack Obama was good friends with William Ayers, the unrepentant Weather Underground domestic terrorist who bombed the Pentagon and other targets killing some people.
Consider the fear “mongered,” and with good reason.
The end.
CG – the trouble I have with what you say is your repeated use of the phrase “friends with Bill Ayers.”
They were on a couple of boards together. Their associations with each other was a professional one.
As Obama said in the debate quoted above, if the clip had included the rest of his statements, was that he worked closely with (some Republican Senator I can’t recall, a fairly conservative one), does that means he’s *friends* with this Senator? Of course not. They’re colleagues.
His attending a Illinois Representative’s dinner, by her invitation, at Bill Ayers house does not mean *he* is friends with Bill Ayers or that Bill Ayers launched his political campaign.
I just think that to say his association with the guy means that they are good friends is a huge leap.
Oh, and CG, do you do background checks on everyone you work with or are associated with? I had no idea who Bill Ayers was until the drumbeat of guilt-by-association came calling. I think it’s unreasonable to say that Obama should have known who he was and condemn Obama whether he did or did not know. It seems like a piece meant entirely to say Obama is bad and you won’t vote for him…fine, don’t vote for him, but I doubt it’s because of Ayers…
By your arguments, if you’re going to call Ayers and Obama “friends” then I’ll counter that McCain and Liddy are friends…how are Liddy’s views acceptable?
———————
“Now if the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms comes to disarm you and they are bearing arms, resist them with arms. Go for a head shot; they’re going to be wearing bulletproof vests.”
–G. Gordon Liddy, radio show, 8/26/94
———————
Go for a head shot? Kill a Federal Agent?
By your arguments and the right-wing’s arguments McCain is best of pals with G. Gordon Liddy.
http://www.huffingtonpost.....34256.html
Please idle down your fear. Neither candidate would forsake the safety of the nation in favor of radicals bent on its very destruction. It’s hype to “monger” you into buying it, which clearly has worked.
I’m all in favor of you voting against Obama because you don’t like his policies. But attacking the man based on loose associations and backing it up with loose evidence won’t convince any but the easily swayed that Obama is anti-American.
People Power
You took my thunder! lol! I was doing some research on Gordon Liddy. But you know the argument coming is comparing Ayers with Liddy. When that is irrelevant. How can you make the case about Ayers but say oh well being CONFIRMED FRIENDS with liddy and being proud of it not possibly be dangerous for the country? Does he share his ideology? There’s other bad things that man has advocated SINCE he has been out of jail and while he has been friends with ol John McCain.
C.G.
First let me reply to this
“Dreadsen, this one’s for you and everyone else who thinks Barack Obama supporters are incapable of unadulterated hatred:”
Who said that Obama supporters are incapable of hatred? I didn’t say that. And you missed the point of the article. Which i will get back on topic below. Plus you didn’t provide senior democratic officials or connect obama’s rhetoric to any of that.
Where are you getting all this racist stuff from? What makes you think we are going to accuse you of being a racist? There’s nothing you said above that would prove you were a racist.
I knew you were going to try to turn this into a pure ayers thing. But if you read my article that wasn’t my point. Let me elaborate some more.
Now lets think about the Muslims. Particularly the Muslims voting for McCain. Muslims do not like Terrorist or Terrorism. Those Muslims just may be voting for McCain because they think that this loose relationship with Ayers is a threat due to recent rhetoric.
But I provided you senior Republicans not some fringe unknowns stealing a sign or spraying some graffiti who before this Ayers thing even came up were trying to smear Obama by calling him a Muslim. Like being a Muslim is a bad thing. Muslim has been turned into a curse word. Now if you are a Muslim voting for McCain would you think it’s fair that there are members of the Republican party who are trying to make the case that merely being a Muslim is so bad that it should scare someone?
Like the muslim soldier who was killed fighting for the united states in Iraq. Was he a bad person because he was a Muslim? It is obvious he does not like terrorist and does not like terrorism.
Or how about the Muslims over seas. They also do not like Terrorism. Al Qaeda is trying to recruit more of them. Most of them do not like them and want nothing to do with them.
But they may see this and figure that they also do not like Obama now because he may be a terrorist. But if they see that the case being presented before the Ayers thing came up is that Obama is scary because he may be a Muslim now it gives the wrong sign to them.
So let me ask you. Why do you think Obama is a Muslim like you have stated? I think Obama being tied to reverend Wright is WAY worse than being called a Muslim. But look at all of the things Rev Wright has said. Being a Muslim just a regular Muslim is still WORSE than being connected to Rev. Wright.
Do you think being a Muslim is a bad thing? How do you feel about the Muslims who are voting for the same guy you are voting for?
PP:
There is way too much here for me to tee off on and I don’t have the time today, but I did’t see any mention of this:
Ayers mentioned Obama in his book and Obama wrote a glowing review of Ayers book…but Ayers is just a guy in the neighborhood right?
Stalin – Ayers’ book was in 1997. Obviously, Obama and Ayers knew each other then and Obama was a State Senator at the time. As such, his review of Ayers’ book would hold a lot of water.
Obama’s review of Ayers’ book says, “A searing and timely account of the juvenile court system, and the courageous individuals who rescue hope from despair.”
Now, the book is titled: “A Kind and Just Parent: The Children of the Juvenile Court”. Sounds like a radical book to me. (sarcasm)
Obama’s review seems like a good review specific to the book being praised. I highly doubt that Obama would have praised the book if Ayers had made his “more bombing” comments before this time.
NOTE that this review was in 1997 *well* before Ayers made the comments about “bombing more” on September 11th!
I see the game the Right is playing here, but didn’t really pick up on it until now.
“Hey, look. Obama knows Ayers and worked closely with him! We can really get him now…” They leave out that much of his *close* work was prior to Ayers’ outlandish statements of 2001.
Certainly, there is a connection between the two, but it is not a connection of best-pals out to run the country; rather it was about local politics, local education and local community service.
Still, I don’t see Obama claiming that Ayers is a great guy and thinks highly of him and his actions. No, rather Obama condemned his violent past; but I guess that’s not good enough for you…
Dreadsen,
Did you even read my comment? I never said Obama was a Muslim in that comment. Furthermore, I didn’t disparage Muslims.
What I did do was state a fact about a group of radical Muslims flying planes into buildings on 9/11 which is why “terrorist” and “Muslims” are, unfortunately, tied together for people like yourself who scream when someone says “terrorist” and tells them they’re being anti-Muslim.
I have nothing against Muslims, I just wish more moderate ones would come out and condemn terrorism more vocally.
I’m not sure what you read, but you’re twisting it to imply I have something against Muslims. I don’t, but I do have something against terrorists whether it be Bill Ayers, the radical domestic terrorist, or Osama Bin Laden, the radical Islamic terrorist.
I am all for Muslims who love this country and want the best for America, as with any religion. I know there are Muslims who support McCain, Christians who support Obama, and a variety of religions supporting everyone. That’s immaterial to this discussion.
I can just tell you from my personal experience with Muslims I’ve come in contact with, they seem very secretive. We had a terrorist-related cell nearby in upstate New York after 9/11, as I mentioned above. They were in a closed-off compound. I know when Mormons or other religions live in a closed-off compound, we call them cults, so what’s the difference in some cases?
Dreadsen, the bottom line here is that I am skeptical of terrorists, period. Bill Ayers is a terrorist, he’s the 60s equivalent of Timothy McVeigh, and Obama was friendly with him for years.
I know though, you don’t care, you’re fine with it. Which is fine, we’re allowed to be blind to things to make ourselves feel better. You’re forgiven.
PoeplePower,
Did McCain and Liddy sit on several boards together? Did McCain launch his political career in Liddy’s home? Did McCain have a working relationship with Liddy over 5 or 6 years? Did McCain write blurbs for any of Liddy’s books? No, no, no, and no. You’re comparing apples to refrigerators, nice try.
“His attending a Illinois Representative’s dinner, by her invitation, at Bill Ayers house does not mean *he* is friends with Bill Ayers or that Bill Ayers launched his political campaign.”
That’s not true, the Representative is on the record saying she did not have anything to do with organizing the dinner. That is a lie being propagated by the Obama campaign to hide the closeness. The dinner was planned by Ayers for Obama because they knew each other well, stop trying to hide it.
Open your eyes friend, Bill Ayers was not just some guy Obama sat on a board with, they have a working collaborative relationship for years. Obama even wrote a positive statement about Ayers’ book which appeared in the cover of the book.
Also, Ayers was a radical domestic terrorist well before he reaffirmed his position in the New York Times piece out on 9/11. Bill Ayers was unrepentant for years while Obama was working him, closely I might add.
Obama is sweeping his relationship with Ayers, and a bunch of other radicals, under the rug. You don’t have to admit, that’s fine, naivety works for some people.
Obama and Ayers were good buddies, along with the other group of radical anti-Americans Obama palled around with in Chicago, like Rev. Jerry Wright, among others.
PeoplePower, I’m not asking you to believe, but don’t call me a liar or diminish it. I know many Obama supporters, like you, would prefer to sweep it under the rug and act like it isn’t important.
I’m here to tell you that if McCain had even a quarter of these associations, the media would be crucifying him, and rightly so. Instead Obama gets a pass from the media and supporters like you and Dreadsen.
Am I the only one concerned with the fact that if Obama tried to work for the CIA or the FBI, his ties to Ayers would be questioned and probably prevent him from working there, am I the only one who cares?
Go ahead.. reply and tell me the same blah blah blah about them just being “colleagues” or tell me they never met and that poor little Obama didn’t know Ayers was a terrorist. That’d be pretty amazing and completely implausible since Obama was friends with Wright, Ayers, and a close-knit circle of anti-American radicals in Chicago.
You’re wasting your time since I know the truth and neither of you are going to distract me with your Obama campaign talking points.
Barack Obama and William Ayers were close friends and colleagues for 5 to 6 years working together in Chicago.
Of course, the other reason I’d never vote for Obama is because he’s a radical socialist and is pro-abortion, but that’s another argument for another day. Don’t bother, you’d be wasting your time there as well.
PP:
You can try to white wash it anyway you want (oh crap, was that racist?), but the facts are the facts. Obama lied. He tried to convince people that Ayers was “just a guy in the neighborhood.” That is a flat out lie as we have seen.
Of course Obama condemned Ayers, he will say and do anything to get elected. Just look at his wind shifting economic policies. You are right, it’s not good enough for me. Obama knowingly and willingly befriended a known unrepentant terrorist. In any other universe a candidate with as many unsavory associations that Obama has would be crushed by the voters and media…but you people are intent on seeing this socialist radical elected. Good luck to you…we’re all going to need it.
More than setting bombs and being a fugitive for 10 years from the FBI – this disturbs me most:
“Kill your parents, that’s really where it’s at”
And this man teaches our children. Do you suppose Obama would like for Ayers to teach this to HIS children? He must, he sure funneled a lot of money to Ayer’s education fund.
Look, there will be no agreement here about Obama and Ayers. You either believe the association was at the very least “boneheaded” as with Rezko, or you don’t. You either believe Ayers is a good guy or a bad guy. Nothing one side says is going to sway the other. Good guys don’t mix with the bad guys. Obama did and still does. Vote for him for President if you want. By the time your kids are in college, maybe “Kill your parents, that’s really where it’s at” will be in all the textbooks and you can deal with your own bad judgment then.
Okay listen Ayers was not why i wrote this Article. I was talking about Muslims being a slur and this being pushed by senior members of the republican party. This discussion was NOT about Ayers.
C.G.
““terrorist” and “Muslims” are, unfortunately, tied together for people like yourself who scream when someone says “terrorist” and tells them they’re being anti-Muslim.”
I am not screaming anti muslim because someone is saying terrorist where are you getting this from??
I tried to totally separate terrorist from the conversation.Now in THIS conversation you didn’t say Obama was a muslim but you said it in another thread.
“You’re wasting your time since I know the truth and neither of you are going to distract me with your Obama campaign talking points.”
You both are trying to distract this topic into a MCCAIN campaign talking point which is William Ayers. You wrote that entire Obama Ayers comment which has nothing to do with the article. I was talking about Muslim hate. This hate has existed BEFORE any of you even started hearing about Ayers.
Now to be fair you talked a little bit about Muslims. Which is what i wanted to talk about.
What should we do about educating people about Muslims?
We have conservative Muslims who do not like Obama who are voting for McCain YET there are major members of the Republican party who are still using the name of their religion as a slur and this practice being supported by some major players.
This type of talk i feel should be pushed back to those fringe people and away from the more major party members.
While all of this is happening no one is standing up saying “There is nothing wrong with being a Muslim”.
Sorry Dreadsen, threads have a way of going off course, I was responding to PP’s post, not your commentary. I’ve already disagreed with that.
The Muslim factor you wrote about has been off the table longer than Rev. Wright. It was on no one’s mind until you brought it up again, and I’m not going to bother to waste my time on the subject.
Babs
You didnt see that video? That just happened maybe a week ago?
The Muslims at the McCain rally who confronted the anti islam protesters? This wasn’t old?
Colin Powell just brought this up what maybe a week ago?
So it’s not a dead issue.
Some of the rowdy people going to the rallies when asked who was obama some of them said he was a “Muslim”.
Ayers was written off long time ago too. Maybe that is also a WASTE OF TIME since it was brought up back in March. Everyone knew about it. McCain knew about it.
He just didn’t decide to let us know what a grave danger Ayers association was until 3 weeks before everyone votes. What kind of judgment is that?
But now that he’s talking about it guess what? Others are talking about it. And like the people who posted above they aren’t saying this is an old issue which was brought up in March/April and we shouldn’t waste our time with it.
Not talking about this Muslim issue isn’t going to cause it to go away. I’m sure the Muslims at the rally don’t think that people discussing this problem is a WASTE OF TIME.