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http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/07/09/jesse-jackson-apologizes-for-obama-remarks/

Jesse Jackson said that Obama is "talking down" to black people and wants to castrate him......so he said, when he thought his mic was turned off.........and now he's never going to live it down.......but the question I have is, why does he feel this way about Obama? I mean, he is campaigning FOR Obama. With friends like that, who needs enemies? Obama has swiftly forgiven Jackson and they are both working to keep you and me from noticing that this happened. Too bad, we noticed.

Obama is, like most politicians, his own worst enemy. I just heard on the radio that America's biggest export to Iran is CIGARETTES. And also that Obama was heard to say that he hoped more Iranians would smoke them (and presumably die). Now THAT is in poor taste.

Meanwhile, this cover from New Yorker magazine is making waves. It shows Obama the Arab and Michelle the flag burner, bumping knuckles in the white house. The satire cracks me up, but there are quite a few Obama supporters that are threatened and insulted. I feel for them. It seems clear to me that this piece is a jab at the fools that assert that because his middle name is Hussein, he is a closet Muslim fundamentalist, and because his wife said she was finally feeling some pride in her nation, she is not a patriot. What is more interesting to me is how the Muslims in the Middle East will see this.....



It turns out that Obama forsaw that concern and spoke out about it, saying that the cover is an insult to Muslims. Obama's spokesman called it "tasteless and offensive". McCain called it "totally inappropriate". Obama also said "I do think that, you know, in attempting to satirise something, they probably fuelled some misconceptions about me instead," and "But, you know, that was their editorial judgment. And as I said, ultimately, it's a cartoon, it's not what the American people are spending a lot of their time thinking about."

I think he is incorrect about what Americans think about, and wrong about what is tasteless. It is in good taste to bring baldfaced lies into the light. And I think it ultimately will be to his benefit for the election. It would be even more to his benefit to stop parading around like the emperor with no clothes, and develop a sense of humor. Our political scene is sick indeed.

As for the ultimate take of Muslims, and the impact on his ability to negotiate with Muslim countries and rules, I do not yet know. This will be interesting to watch. Obama may be correct, Muslims probably do find it offensive that in America it is a damning crime for him to be Muslim. The militarization of his wife may also offend. I don't know about you, but I don't get excited about flag burning anymore, and my respect for Osama Bin Laden keeps increasing as it becomes apparent that he is the leader of a new Islamic conscience. Of course it is wrong to kill people......so the question is, who has killed more, us, or him? The answer is ugly.

Aljazeera reports on the magazine cover and Obama's remarks here:
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2008/07/200871632055291361.html

And here's the news broadcast:


Well see if any of these images are still on the web in a year or so.....

Date: 2008-07-17 12:39 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] lgsunshine.livejournal.com
the news broadcast lists myths - Obama went to a Muslim school in Indonesia. He did. It wasn't a fundamentalist school. More like many American kids go to Catholic schools - doesn't mean they are raised, practice or grow up to be Catholic. So having 30% of Americans believing that doesn't surprise me. Calling it a myth confuses me.

As for the New Yorker cover - something about it strikes me as trying too hard. It fell flat for me.

Date: 2008-07-17 03:45 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] liveonearth.livejournal.com
Yeah, I can see the trying too hard angle....it's definitely putting a picture to stuff that only a few people believe....

So the Aljazeera report also contains falsehood! This is not a surprise. I expect all media to fudge as often as they can get away with to make things appear the way they want. It's a battle for the minds of people who do not think for themselves or look anything up....

What's a madrassa? It's all over the web that Obama lived in Indonesia 1967 to 1971 and attended a Muslim school. "...But an aide said it was not a madrassa." He also attended Catholic school. Variety is the spice of life.

I found this slant interesting: http://www.danielpipes.org/article/5354 ...the title is "Confirmed, Obama Practiced Islam". At what age does indoctrination become practice?

Date: 2008-07-18 01:55 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] lgsunshine.livejournal.com
whoops - first want to clarify - he didn't go to a Catholic School. I was just making the comparison that going to a religious school doesn't mean you practice the religion. I attended a Catholic School, Seisen International School, when I lived in Japan. My family practices Catholicism. I wouldn't call myself a Catholic. And plenty of my classmates weren't Catholic. Classes were in English, that was the draw.

When I read - Dreams about my Father - his telling of how he ended up at that school seemed very similar to how I ended up at Seisen International School.

Madrassa - in the 60's & 70's, I believe it just meant an elementary school, middle school. It did not get assoicated with Wahhabism until the 80's - I believe. But then I'm not completely sure.

(also hope you feel better soon)

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