LJWorld.com / Obama walks fine line in fighting false links to Islam

Archive for Thursday, February 28, 2008

By Jim Kuhnhenn - Associated Press Writer

February 28, 2008

Washington — For Barack Obama, it is an ember that he has doused time and again, only to see it flicker anew: links to Islam fanned by false rumors, innuendo and association.

Obama and his campaign reacted strongly this week when a photo of him in Kenyan tribal garb began spreading on the Internet. And the praise he received Sunday from Nation of Islam Minister Louis Farrakhan prompted pointed questions - during Tuesday night's presidential debate and also in a private meeting over the weekend with Jewish leaders in Cleveland.

During the debate, Obama repeated his denunciation of Farrakhan's views, which have included numerous anti-Semitic comments. And, after being pressed, he rejected Farrakhan's support in the presidential race.

The Democratic candidate says repeatedly that he's a Christian who took the oath of office on a family Bible. Yet on the Internet and on talk radio - and in a campaign introduction for John McCain this week - he is often depicted, falsely, as a Muslim with shadowy ties and his middle name, Hussein, is emphasized as a reminder of Iraq's former leader.

"If anyone is still puzzled about the facts, in fact I have never been a Muslim," he told the Jewish leaders in Cleveland, according to a transcript of the private session.

The photo of Obama wearing Kenyan tribal raiments - taken by an Associated Press photographer during his visit in 2006 to the country where his father was born - resurfaced on the Internet amid unsubstantiated claims that it was being circulated by members of Hillary Rodham Clinton's campaign. Clinton and her aides said they had nothing to do with it. The Obama campaign accused them of "shameful, offensive fear-mongering."

On Tuesday Republican candidate McCain denounced the introduction he got in Cincinnati that criticized Obama in vivid terms. Talk show host Bill Cunningham referred to Obama three times as "Barack Hussein Obama" and called him a "hack, Chicago-style" politician during the introduction of McCain.

The Obama campaign is closely attuned to the rumors and insinuations. Information on Obama's Christian faith is prominently available on the "Know the facts" page of his Web site.

If there is confusion - and opportunity for political mischief - it derives at least in part from Obama's rich cultural background. His mother was a white woman from Kansas, his father was Kenyan and he spent part of his childhood in Indonesia, a largely Muslim country.

"My grandfather, who was Kenyan, converted to Christianity, then converted to Islam," Obama said Sunday. "My father never practiced; he was basically agnostic. So, other than my name and the fact that I lived in a populous Muslim country for four years when I was a child, I have very little connection to the Islamic religion."

Obama has become careful in denouncing the links, lately noting that some rumors about him also have been insulting to Muslims. Jim Zogby, founder and president of the Arab American Institute, said many Arab Americans are drawn to Obama because of his cultural background.

"It is clear he wants to have a broader relationship with the Muslim world," Zogby said. "He has a biography that connects him to the Muslim world."

Discussion

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28 February 2008
at 5:55 a.m.

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bondmen (Anonymous) says…

The more we learn about Senator Obama the more we worry about Senator Obama becoming President of the United States of America.

http://www.freedomsenemies.com/_more/…
28 February 2008
at 7:33 a.m.

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ksdivakat (Anonymous) says…

Watch what you say bondman….these bloggers will attack you for that!
The issue isnt the pic in itself, the issue is, that Obama financially contributed to Odingas campaign, Odinga, if elected, was going to reinstate a law that was about islams and muslims converting to christianity, and if they did then they could be jailed for life! So if Obama is christian as he says, why would he financially support that campaign?? The article says “So, other than my name and the fact that I lived in a populous Muslim country for four years when I was a child, I have very little connection to the Islamic religion.”
********************************************************************
And other than the fact he went to a muslim school, he supported a campaign that would have jailed christians for converting from islam/muslim……..other than that he has very little connection to islamic religion…………….yeah
28 February 2008
at 12:31 p.m.

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Mark_P (Anonymous) says…

Good grief, there are a lot of nuts out there.
28 February 2008
at 12:34 p.m.

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beobachter (Anonymous) says…

all of them post here with nothing but mis-information and mostly flat out lies.
28 February 2008
at 12:55 p.m.

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ndmoderate (Anonymous) says…

Lots of fear and hatred on this thread.
28 February 2008
at 12:58 p.m.

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blahblahblah (Anonymous) says…

It would be better to divide the world opinion of the country than for the world to all have the same feeling, hatred, which is what GW has given us. Idiot.
28 February 2008
at 1 p.m.

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Mark_P (Anonymous) says…

So, dolly, we should vote for McCain or Hillary out of some sort of “reverse white guilt”?

If Obama wins, it was because of white guilt. If he loses, it was because we're all racists. Does that make sense to you?
28 February 2008
at 1:05 p.m.

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bondmen (Anonymous) says…

Barack Obama: Washington Post, Chicago Tribune investigations confirm autobiography lies; now asking: Is “African-American” a lie too?

http://kennethelamb.blogspot.com/2008…
28 February 2008
at 1:18 p.m.

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Mark_P (Anonymous) says…

That's a pretty cynical view, Dolly.

You are not really contributing here, other than offering up a dubious link and saying “ask him”.

And to say Obama is dividing world opinion of the Country because of his skin color is hilarious in itself.

Bush, the great “uniter”, has done far worse than that with his incompetence.
28 February 2008
at 1:34 p.m.

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jonas (Anonymous) says…

Wow, www.freedomsenemies.com. Now that sounds like a calm, rational and totally unbiased site.
28 February 2008
at 1:37 p.m.

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jonas (Anonymous) says…

“Mark_P (Anonymous) says:

That's a pretty cynical view, Dolly.

You are not really contributing here”

Ummm, Mark? Have you Read Dollypawpaw's comment history? This is pretty much the way of things.
28 February 2008
at 2:02 p.m.

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EXks (Anonymous) says…

Christian fundaMENTALism ranks right up there with Islamic jihadists. Both poison the mind.
28 February 2008
at 2:12 p.m.

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beatrice (Anonymous) says…

Repetition does not transform a lie into a truth. - Franklin D. Roosevelt
28 February 2008
at 2:16 p.m.

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max1 (Anonymous) says…

02/27/2008
http://www.mercurynews.com/elections/…
An AP-Yahoo poll in January asked people to volunteer the first few words that came to mind about each of the candidates, and 4 percent of the respondents, unprompted, mentioned the word Muslim when describing Obama.
Some of the rumors and allegations about Obama are clearly not true, yet still spread, often anonymously.
A debunked chain e-mail circulating widely on the Internet suggests he is hiding his Islamic roots. It says he was sworn into the Senate on the Quran and turns his back on the flag during the Pledge of Allegiance.
Another false report says he attended a Muslim madrassa school as a child in Jakarta. Obama was born in Hawaii and moved to Indonesia when he was 6 to live with his mother and stepfather. He returned to Hawaii when he was 10 to live with his maternal grandparents.
Interviews last year by The Associated Press at the elementary school in Jakarta found that it is a public and secular institution and has been open to students of all faiths since before Obama attended in the late 1960s. Said vice principal Akmad Solichin: “Yes, most of our students are Muslim, but there are Christians as well. Everyone's welcome here.”

Mar 15, 2007
http://www.politicalgateway.com/main/…
“Now [Obama] he says he wasn't a “practicing” Muslim. Well, I guess Obama learned something at Harvard Law School. How to lie with a straight face… As a journalist, I try to be scrupulously impartial and honest. Just read my columns… Yes, in 2004 I reported that Barack Obama had been a Muslim… some of my Muslim, pro-Palestine friends were unhappy when I exposed Obama. They thought that Barry O was one of them. That is until last week, when Obama drank the AIPAC Kool-Aid and said Israel could do no wrong. End of Muslim love affair with Obama. Obama had sold out to the highest bidder, and it wasn't Muslims. Palestinians, to the back of the bus! Israel comes first, last and only.” -Republican mouthpiece, Andy Martin

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/lo…
February 10, 2006, Chicago Tribune: Perennial [Republican] candidate [Andy Martin] back for another race
In a 1983 personal bankruptcy case, he referred to a federal bankruptcy judge as a “crooked, slimy Jew, who has a history of lying and thieving common to members of his race.” In a related court filing in the case, he also expressed sympathy to the perpetrators of the Holocaust. “I am able to understand how the Holocaust took place, and with every passing day feel less and less sorry that it did, when Jew survivors are operating as a wolf pack to steal my property,” Martin wrote in an April 21, 1983, personal bankruptcy proceeding.
28 February 2008
at 2:23 p.m.

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Agnostick (Anonymous) says…

Dollypawpaw (Anonymous) says:

>>>Mark_P (Anonymous) says:

>>>So, dolly, we should vote for McCain or Hillary out of some >>>sort of “reverse white guilt”?
*
E-mail the black guy that wrote the article for that answer.
______________________________________________

A good example of extremist non-thinking. RoseyRedPaw, in this case.

A straightforward question.

The straightforward answer? “Go ask a talking head, because I'm incapable of rational thought under my own power. All I can do is parrot back the things that are fed to me by my own media gods, pundits, provocateurs, and flamethrowing AM-radio talk show goons.”

And no, I don't think the only “correct” way to answer such a question is by committing to a name…

Agnostick
agnostick@excite.com
http://www.uscentrist.org
http://www.americanplan.org
28 February 2008
at 2:25 p.m.

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The_Original_Bob (Anonymous) says…

“Good grief, there are a lot of nuts out there.”

Yep. It's pretty bad when R_T has one of the most sane posts on a thread.

Why do these nuts think anyone would believe such slanted websites? rightvoices and freedomsenemies? Comedy Goldmine, friends!
28 February 2008
at 2:27 p.m.

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snap_pop_no_crackle (Anonymous) says…

TOB, at least nobody's mentioned reptoids yet.
28 February 2008
at 2:27 p.m.

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beobachter (Anonymous) says…

Don't confuse the idiots with facts, they've already made up their mind.
28 February 2008
at 2:28 p.m.

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max1 (Anonymous) says…

“Christian fundaMENTALism ranks right up there with Islamic jihadists. Both poison the mind.” -EXks

I see McCain just got an endorsement from John “Praise God! — the end of the world is at hand” Hagee.
Let's hear it from the Republican “Armageddonite” Party.

Feb 27, 2008
http://www.reuters.com/article/politi…
san antonio (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate John McCain won the endorsement of Texas evangelical leader John Hagee on Wednesday, which could boost his standing among religious conservatives who have been reluctant to embrace the likely nominee.
Hagee, who heads a 19,000-member church in San Antonio, is best known for his outspoken support of Israel and writings on the Middle East, where he envisions a blood-soaked clash between East and West leading to the return of Jesus Christ.
http://media.washingtonpost.com/wp-dy…
28 February 2008
at 3 p.m.

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jonas (Anonymous) says…

Dollypawpaw says: “I trust that the author of the article has at least as much sense as you or jonas?”

To be honest, Dolly, if you thought I made sense I'd be re-evaluating my stance on things.
28 February 2008
at 4:11 p.m.

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Roadkill_Rob (Anonymous) says…

“To be honest, Dolly, if you thought I made sense I'd be re-evaluating my stance on things.”

Classic!!!!! Nicely done.
28 February 2008
at 5:09 p.m.

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thare (Anonymous) says…

Threads like this remind me why I moved away from Kansas. You nutjobs have nothing better to do then sit around and read blatant right-wing propaganda until the clan meeting this evening? Get a life.
28 February 2008
at 5:09 p.m.

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max1 (Anonymous) says…

February 27, 2008
http://www.cnn.com/2008/politics/02/2…
A conservative radio talk-show host said that “he's had it up to here” with Sen. John McCain … “I, for one, regret that John McCain is the nominee of the conservative party,” he said… I'm joining Ann Coulter in supporting Hillary Rodham Clinton,” he said.
28 February 2008
at 5:57 p.m.

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cg22165 (Anonymous) says…

Nuts! Who cares; why is this an issue?

There's an easy answer: “I'm not a Muslim, but if I were, I would be proud of it.”

Replace 'Muslim' with any religion you like. Who among us is not proud of our own religion?
28 February 2008
at 5:58 p.m.

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temperance (Anonymous) says…

Is McCain going to renounce and denounce bigot John Hagee's support for his campaign? Isn't that the new rule? I can't wait for Tim Russert to question McCain about it. Even the Catholic League is angry: http://www.catholicleague.org/release…
28 February 2008
at 6:38 p.m.

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temperance (Anonymous) says…

“In his books, Obama admits attending 'socialist conferences' and coming into contact with Marxist literature”
oh my god!! He came into contact with it! Did he catch teh Marx? I hear it's highly contagious.

I've learned so much on this thread: Obama is an unpatriotic communist socialist liberal fascist who is a secret Jew-hating Muslim. Is he gay, too?
28 February 2008
at 6:46 p.m.

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BABBOY (Anonymous) says…

Dollypawpaw:

Plays the real man thing a lot.

Plays the flag thing a lot.

Usually attacks the label word liberal. Must have been abused by a hippie growing up or something.

But, wow, I never knew you were a bigot and racist.

Yes, you are still a moron. I used to think you went by the login name “dotsline” which stoped about the time you started posting but you really are too stupid to have been that poster who did not appear to be a bigot…

You should try to be more like right-thinker who is actually funny, but you cannot pull that off can ya!
28 February 2008
at 9:34 p.m.

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max1 (Anonymous) says…

“For all you Willy and Hilly lovers, fifteen years ago today, Willy, Hilly and Janet “The Destroyer” Reno torched 80 men, women and children at Waco.” -right_thinker

Now, where have I heard that rant before? Oh, yeah ……….

http://www.cnn.com/US/9704/08/mcveigh/
McVeigh's anger at the federal government over the standoff near Waco, Texas, is well-documented, and prosecutors have suggested that rage as a possible motive for the bombing at Oklahoma City, which occurred on the second anniversary of the siege.
http://archives.cnn.com/2001/US/03/29…
Timothy McVeigh: His only known affiliations are as a registered Republican in his New York days, and as a member of the National Rifle Association while he was in the Army.
http://www.albionmonitor.com/0105b/mc…
McVeigh appeared to be the Good American Son: smart, well-mannered, a decorated war hero, loyal to a fault. So what went wrong?… he spent much of his free time reading his favorite gun magazines. From the ads in their back pages he ordered still other magazines and books. Without realizing it, the young man had actually returned to school: The name of his new class was Militia 101… He joined the Ku Klux Klan, in part to get a free white power t-shirt… he was distributing racist pamphlets such as The White Patriot to friends … By the summer of 1994 … McVeigh was selling video tapes of the confrontation at Waco.
29 February 2008
at 12:37 a.m.

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max1 (Anonymous) says…

“If George W. Bush had sent the ATF into the Waco compound and incinerated 80 men, women and children, what would you say on these boards about it?” -right_thinker

Well, no matter who was in charge, I'm sure McVeigh would have sought revenge, and the FBI would still be looking for …
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKhsN3…
29 February 2008
at 9:33 a.m.

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madmike (Anonymous) says…

I don't know, or care what religion Obama, McCain or Clinton have, as long as they don't push it down my throat. If they want to bow six times a day towards the Budwieser brewery in St. Louis, that's fine with me. What I care about is their stands on the war on terrorism, the economy, crime, and personal liberties such as freedom of speach and second amendment issues.
29 February 2008
at 3:57 p.m.

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madmike (Anonymous) says…

Yes, but if Obama is a Moslem or not doesn't concern me. I totally disagree with Obama on these issues, but can still respect him so far. Unlike Clinton, he has no as of yet gotten personal and dirty. I still will not vote for him, but I can disagree with him and respect him. As for Clinton, that is one evil family of power mongers. The Clintons kind of remind me of that old soap opera, Dallas, with Her as J.R. Ewing.
29 February 2008
at 10:15 p.m.

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max1 (Anonymous) says…

February 29, 2008
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5ia…
John McCain is refusing to renounce the endorsement of a prominent Texas televangelist who Democrats say peddles anti-Catholic and other intolerant speech.

The Catholic League and Catholics United called on McCain to reject the endorsement.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=uViQ0hVV57Q
6 March 2008
at 1:43 p.m.

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janeyb (Anonymous) says…

People were having so much fun taking down Hillary they forgot to look at the other option. Now they are looking at Obama and aren't very impressed.

I have now been to a Democrat Caucus and I don't know what the big deal was about Gore and the Supreme Court. It is all corrupt. How is not allowing Michigan and Florida to take part in the Democrat nomination process any different than the Florida scandal in 2000? And let's not just blame the Democrats, after all Huckleberry won the Kansas GOP Caucus. Bet McCain and Clinton would have won a true primary election in Kansas.

If Obama or Clinton don't have the required number of delegates by June 30, let's forget the convention and spend the money on a nationwide primary election. Only people who have been registered Democrat for 6 months can vote, and whoever wins the popular vote takes all
6 March 2008
at 2:28 p.m.

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bondmen (Anonymous) says…

The Muslims in Keyna and many other places Muslims live, say once you're born a Muslim, you're always a Muslim! Sharia law treats those who want to change to another faith, very severly. Many of his Arabic Kenyan relatives have a different understanding about their Muslim religion than most Americans, who are woefully unaware of these realities.

Can a past of Islam change the path to president for Obama? http://www.examiner.com/a-534540~Can_…