Archive for October, 2008

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Washington Post Stands Up For Rashid Khalidi

Friday, October 31st, 2008

An editorial in the Washington Post springs to the defense of former PLO spokesman Rashid Khalidi, dismissing Khalidi’s radicalism and ridiculing the McCain campaign for mentioning Barack Obama’s long association with him: An ‘Idiot Wind’.

If you need one more example of how the mainstream media are completely in the tank for Obama, this is it. The editorial repeats Obama campaign talking points and Khalidi’s evasions word for word.

WITH THE presidential campaign clock ticking down, Sen. John McCain has suddenly discovered a new boogeyman to link to Sen. Barack Obama: a sometimes controversial but widely respected Middle East scholar named Rashid Khalidi. In the past couple of days, Mr. McCain and his running mate, Gov. Sarah Palin, have likened Mr. Khalidi, the director of a Middle East institute at Columbia University, to neo-Nazis; called him “a PLO spokesman”; and suggested that the Los Angeles Times is hiding something sinister by refusing to release a videotape of a 2003 dinner in honor of Mr. Khalidi at which Mr. Obama spoke.

Saying that the McCain campaign “likened Khalidi to neo-Nazis” is a blatant distortion, of course. McCain raised a hypothetical case to illustrate the bias of the media, saying: “I’m not in the business about talking about media bias but what if there was a tape with John McCain with a neo-Nazi outfit being held by some media outlet. I think the treatment of the issue would be slightly different.” And sure enough, as if to prove McCain’s point, today the Washington Post is distorting the statement.

Is it surprising to see the Post deny and distort like this? Not really. They’ve had a serious problem telling terrorists and their shills from ordinary citizens for quite a long time. Here are just a few of the terrorists and/or terror apologists who’ve been granted access to the Washington Post’s op-ed pages recently:

Muhammad Hussein Fadlallah, spiritual leader of Hezbollah.
Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Zahar.
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh.
Deported Hamas leader Mousa Abu Marzook.

Also see:
Soccer Dad: Running interference for rashid.

(Hat tip:Nacy)

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Posted in Barack Obama, Election 2008, Islamists | 1 Comment »

Martin Kramer on Rashid Khalidi and Barack Obama: Kindred Spirits

Thursday, October 30th, 2008

Martin Kramer has been following the career of former PLO spokesman Rashid Khalidi for years, and is convinced that Khalidi’s “moderation” is a sham: Khalidi and Obama: kindred spirits.

Were we to see the videotape, it might give us some sense of how far down the road Obama went in that [anti-Israel] direction—and not all that long ago. It would be interesting to know, for example, if there was reference to Iraq. In 2003, when Khalidi’s friends gave him his goodbye party, he was deep into propagandizing against the Iraq war. Among his arguments, he included this one:

This war will be fought because these neoconservatives desire to make the Middle East safe not for democracy, but for Israeli hegemony. They are convinced that the Middle East is irremediably hostile to both the United States and Israel; and they firmly hold the racist view that Middle Easterners understand only force. For these American Likudniks and their Israeli counterparts, sad to say, the tragedy of September 11 was a godsend: It enabled them to draft the United States to help fight Israel’s enemies.

This argument against the war was not at all unusual on the faculty of the University of Chicago at the time. Another professor of Middle East history, Fred Donner, gave it blatant expression on the pages of the Chicago Tribune, calling the Iraq war “a vision deriving from Likud-oriented members of the president’s team—particularly Richard Perle, Paul Wolfowitz and Douglas Feith.” So perhaps it is not surprising that Obama, in his October 2002 antiwar speech, declared:

“What I am opposed to is the cynical attempt by Richard Perle and Paul Wolfowitz and other arm-chair, weekend warriors in this Administration to shove their own ideological agendas down our throats, irrespective of the costs in lives lost and in hardships borne.”

No mention of Cheney or Rumsfeld—and no need to mention them, to a constituency that knew who was really behind the push for war, and why. (Later, the same argument would figure prominently in The Israel Lobby, co-authored by another Chicago professor, John Mearsheimer.)

Obama, when pressed during an appearance before a Jewish audience, admitted that “I do know him [Khalidi] because I taught at the University of Chicago.” This sounds wholly innocuous; I also know Khalidi because I taught at the University of Chicago—twice, in 1990 and 1991, when I had an office on the same hall. Obama continues: “And I do know him and I have had conversations.” Well, even I’ve had conversations with Khalidi. (A former Chicago graduate student who must keep meticulous records writes to me that he spotted me on December 6, 1990, at the Quad Club lunching with Khalidi.) Nor does it mean much if Khalidi introduced Obama to Edward Said; Khalidi introduced me to Edward Said in New York in November 1986.

The difference is that while I came away from these encounters convinced that Khalidi’s purported moderation was a sham, and have said so, Obama went the other direction, maintaining their friendship right up to Khalidi’s send-off from Chicago, to which he contributed an encomium. Which is why I’d really like to see that videotape. I’m just curious which of Rashid Khalidi’s virtues I somehow missed, and Barack Obama saw.

(Hat tip:Charles Johnson the Cult leader of LGF)

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Posted in Barack Obama, Election 2008, Islamists | 5 Comments »

Obama’s ‘Civilian National Security Force’

Wednesday, October 29th, 2008

Among the many promises and pledges in Barack Obama’s multi-million dollar infomercial, one statement really stood out: he announced that he will “rebuild the military.”

But somehow, at the same time, he’s planning a “civilian national security force” that is as powerful and well-funded as the US military: Obama outlines plan for national service.

“We cannot continue to rely only on our military in order to achieve the national security objectives that we’ve set,” he said Wednesday. “We’ve got to have a civilian national security force that’s just as powerful, just as strong, just as well funded.”

The Department of Defense’s current base budget is close to $500 billion. So if he meant that promise, he plans on a total defense budget of about a trillion dollars.

What exactly is Obama planning to do with a “civilian force” with such an astronomical level of funding?

(hat tip:LGF Cult leader, Charles)

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Posted in Barack Obama, Election 2008 | 4 Comments »

Khalidi Tape News: The Guest List

Wednesday, October 29th, 2008

A PUMA blog has done some good investigative work, and pieced together a verified guest list for that party for Rashid Khalidi: The Khalidi Tape: Putting the Bits and Pieces Together with New Details.

Verified Information

Location:
Burbank Manor, 6312 W 79th St., Burbank, Illinois

Time:
Friday, August 1, 2003
6pm – Reception
7pm – Dinner and Reception

Those who attended:
1. AAAN (Arab American Action Network)
2. Not In My Name
3. Ali Abunimah (a Palestinian rights activist in Chicago who helps run Electronic Intifada, who met Obama in 2000)
4. Bernadine Dorhn and Bill Ayers
5. Barack Obama
6. Mayor of Chicago Richard Daley
7. Rashid Khalidi
8. Mona Khalidi
9. Gihad Ali, a Palestinian spoken word poet
10. NPR Worldview host Jerome McDonnell (not McDonald as written in the e-mail)
11. Camilia Odeh (director of SWYC Southwest Youth Collaborative)
12. Sanabel debka troupe (traditional Palestinian dance group)
13. Hatem Abudayyeh
14. Others – Up to 50 to 500 guests

(Hat tip: Charles, The Obama Operative)

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Posted in Barack Obama, Election 2008, Islamists | Comments Off

What Do American Islamists Think About Our Election?

Tuesday, October 28th, 2008

A revealing comment by the leader of the San Diego chapter of the Saudi-funded radical front group calling itself the “Muslim Student Association:” MSA Chapter Official: Don’t Vote; Destroy.

In the final days of the 2008 Presidential election season – with just 6 days now remaining until voters cast their ballots – both campaigns are carefully maneuvering to gain an edge, while still others are singularly focused on just “getting out the vote.” Regardless of the outcome desired by these activists, there seems to be one unified message across the American political spectrum these days: Participate in our democratic system.

However, one college’s Muslim student organization has sought to air a completely different message regarding the election: that of the Islamists.

A student named Farhad Akbari posted an essay on the internal Yahoo! Group of the Muslim Student Association (MSA) at San Diego Mesa College on October 14. In his post, “The Issue of Voting,” Akbari delves into the election, warning his fellow group members of the fate in store for those who cast a ballot for “a person who fights Islam, governs contrary to Islam, and is himself a kafir [infidel or unbeliever] … ” Akbari does not reserve this treatment for any specific candidate. Rather, he holds both major party candidates in equal regard.

Continuing in his reproach of American democracy, Akbari writes:

“Whether you vote for the white kafir or the half-black kafir, they will kill our brothers and sisters. They will subjugate our brothers and sisters. And they will certainly support Israel in killing our brothers and sisters. There is no ”lesser of two evils“ here. They are both greater evils. The lesser evil is avoiding the situation, as both are equally poisonous to the cause of Islam … Brothers and sisters, I have one thing to say: DON”T [sic] VOTE.”

(Hat tip:Chas)

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Posted in Election 2008, Islamic Supremacism | 3 Comments »

Politico: Yes, We’re Biased. So What?

Tuesday, October 28th, 2008

Politico reporters Jim VandeHei and John F. Harris examine the claim that the media are overwhelmingly biased against the McCain campaign, conclude that it’s true, and then sum up their response in two words: “So what?”

Why McCain is getting hosed in the press.

OK, let’s just get this over with: Yes, in the closing weeks of this election, John McCain and Sarah Palin are getting hosed in the press, and at Politico.

And, yes, based on a combined 35 years in the news business we’d take an educated guess — nothing so scientific as a Pew study — that Obama will win the votes of probably 80 percent or more of journalists covering the 2008 election. Most political journalists we know are centrists — instinctually skeptical of ideological zealotry — but with at least a mild liberal tilt to their thinking, particularly on social issues.

So what?

You see, political journalists are a special breed of human being.

Responsible editors would be foolish not to ask themselves the bias question, especially in the closing days of an election.

But, having asked it, our sincere answer is that of the factors driving coverage of this election — and making it less enjoyable for McCain to read his daily clip file than for Obama — ideological favoritism ranks virtually nil.

The main reason is that for most journalists, professional obligations trump personal preferences. Most political reporters (investigative journalists tend to have a different psychological makeup) are temperamentally inclined to see multiple sides of a story, and being detached from their own opinions comes relatively easy.

So there you have it. Stop complaining about bias, and accept the opinions of your betters, America.

(hat tip:Chuckles)

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Posted in John McCain, Politics | 14 Comments »

LA Times Still Stonewalling on Khalidi-Obama Video

Tuesday, October 28th, 2008

At the Washington Post, Howard Kurtz takes notice of the Los Angeles Times’ refusal to release a videotape of Barack Obama at a party for former PLO spokesman Rashid Khalidi (Kurtz calls him a “Palestinian rights advocate and Israel critic”). And the McCain campaign has noticed this too.

The L.A. Times ran a story last April about a 2003 party at which Obama said nice things about Palestinian rights advocate and Israel critic Rashid Khalidi, who he said reminds him “of my own blind spots and my own biases. . . . It’s for that reason that I’m hoping that, for many years to come, we continue that conversation — a conversation that is necessary not just around Mona and Rashid’s dinner table [but around] this entire world.”

The McCain camp tells me the paper refused to release a videotape of the remarks that it had obtained. Little Green Footballs calls that “media malfeasance of an almost astounding degree. They have a video that could change the stakes in this election and they’re hiding it.”

“We’re not a video service,” Doyle McManus, the Times Washington bureau chief, tells me. “We’re not suppressing anything. We were the first to report on these facts.” He declines to say whether the paper considered posting the video.

The Los Angeles Times is currently hemorrhaging readers, laying off employees, and losing advertisers. Releasing this video would be very good for their bottom line; a lot of people are interested in it. Does this mean they’re more invested in seeing Barack Obama win the election than in being profitable? Shouldn’t the remaining shareholders in the company be concerned about this attitude?

Newsbusters has video of the Bill O’Reilly show; the Times told him there’s an “ethical problem” with releasing the tape. Right.

Newsbusters has the email address of the owner of the LA Times, Sam Zell, if you’d like to add your voice to the many who are demanding a release of the video.

(Hat tip:Nacy)

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Posted in Barack Obama, Election 2008, Islamists | 24 Comments »

Obama Compared America to Nazi Germany

Monday, October 27th, 2008

he audio recording of Barack Obama espousing his socialist philosophy of “redistribution of wealth” is all over the Internet and Fox News today (although most other media outlets are ignoring it), but there’s another disturbing section on that tape that has so far escaped notice.

The link to the audio is here: Chicago Public Radio – Audio Library: Odyssey.

At about 15:30, Obama compares what was going on in the United States during the time of Brown vs. the Board of Education to … Nazi Germany. Yes, really. Here’s the quote:

“…just to take a, sort of a realist perspective…there’s a lot of change going on outside of the Court, um, that, that judges essentially have to take judicial notice of. I mean you’ve got World War II, you’ve got uh, uh, uh, the doctrines of Nazism, that, that we are fighting against, that start looking uncomfortably similar to what we have going on, back here at home.”

There you have it. America is close to electing a President who compares his own country to Nazi Germany.

(Hat tip: On the Mark.)

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Posted in Barack Obama, Election 2008, Leftists | 8 Comments »

Obama Lawyer Intimidating Student Journalists

Monday, October 27th, 2008

lawyer for the Barack Obama campaign sent an email containing a thinly veiled threat to student journalists who have exposed voter fraud in Ohio.

From: Rosenberg, Thomas
Date: Sun, Oct 26, 2008 at 2:32 PM
Subject: At least in today’s blog you spelled my last name right
To: tiffany

In other words, I am going to read what you write and watch what you say. Hopefully you will be fair and impartial as you told me you would be.

Thomas L. Rosenberg
Roetzel & Andress, LPA

Columbus, OH 43215

UPDATE at 10/27/08 10:28:46 am:

Greta Van Susteren updates her post:

UPDATE: 1:10pm — I was told the lawyer apologized to the Palestra journalist..and said he did not mean it to be an intimidation.

Right.

(hat tip:Charles, our # 1 Contributor)

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Posted in Barack Obama, Election 2008 | 10 Comments »

Obama Robbing the Cradle for Votes

Monday, October 27th, 2008

The Barack Obama campaign is now in the business of brainwashing children.

Barack Obama and Joe Biden: The Change We Need | Kids for Obama.

In the words of Senator Barack Obama, the “Obama for America Campaign is a different type of campaign”. For the first time in campaign history, children ages 12 and under, have a place to go and actually vote—through their voice. What a great way to be introduced to politics and to express your support for Senator Obama.

Check out the Kids for Obama Starter Kit!

Below you will find a list of activities children 12 and under can do to get involved. To start, print out our Logo Coloring Sheet, color it in and display at your house or in your school.

10 WAYS KIDS FOR OBAMA CAN GET INVOLVED:

Create a Kids for Obama Group on My.Barackobama.com. For example, Chicago Kids for Obama or DC Kids for Obama and throw a party!

Write a letter or editorial to your local news paper, expressing “Why Barack Obama should become the next US President”.

Find a Pen Pal – it could be in your school, city, state, or another state. Write and discuss different ways you can get involved.

Draw a picture of Senator Barack Obama or “an expression of Democracy”. For example, the Senator sitting in the White House or working on Capitol. Hill. You can send your drawing to the Obama for America Campaign Headquarters in Chicago and it will be posted for the Senator to see.

Implement T-Shirt Thursday. Get friends to wear an official Obama for America T-Shirt to school.

Take an adult (voting age) to the polls on Election Day and encourage them to vote for you, by voting for Senator Obama.

Post an official Obama for America Campaign sticker/logo on your school bag.

Wear an Obama for America Campaign button and/or clothing.

Host a Senator Barack Obama House Party or sleep-over.

Contribute to the Kids for Obama Blog.

This really is new ground for a Presidential campaign: specifically targeting children, to get them to influence their parents. I’m sure the leftists will try to make excuses for it, but this is one of the most disgusting, unethical tactics I’ve ever seen in politics. And that’s saying plenty.

Via Dr. Slogan, with whose comments I completely agree:

Is this all so bad? Is it bad at all? Shouldn’t kids be involved? Aren’t they entitled to their opinions? Is it wrong to reach out to them to open their eyes, so that they could change opinions of their parents? There are two way to answer these questions. One is simple ethics. Make no mistake: this is not about reaching out to the supporters. Sen. Obama openly goes after the kids of people who don’t plan to vote for him. He and his staff see the minds of children as a backdoor to get to the voting parents and grandparents. So, yes, it is bad. It is wrong. It is despicable. And there’s no excuse for this.

There’s another way to answer the question. What does our government think about this? Are they ok with targeting children with propaganda? As it turns out, they are not. When it comes to commercial advertisement, government bodies such as FDC and FDA have been going after marketers who target children age 12 and under. Yes, it’s exactly the same age group that Sen. Obama targets so explicitly. Just last year FDC along with its European counterpart pushed Masterfoods to stop marketing of its products (e.g. Snickers, Milky Way and Twix) to kids. Apparently, from the government’s perspective, kids age 12 and under are not mature enough to figure out whether Snickers are good or bad for their health, and thus can be misled by advertising. But of course, figuring out where a presidential candidate stands on taxes, abortion, education and national security is much easier. So why would the government have any problem with that?

(Hat tip:Chuckles)

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Posted in Barack Obama, Election 2008 | 8 Comments »

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