by aviewfromabroad, Thu Feb 07, 2008 at 09:03:31 AM EST
NPR reported that reaction to Obama in the Arab countries after Super Tuesday was quite positive. According to Eygptian newspapers and media, the Arab world is routing for Barack Obama. The Arab media points to the fact that Obama's father was a Muslim- this is an often publicly stated and applauded fact.
Tags: Arab, Arabcountries, Arabmedia, Eypgtnewspapers (all tags)
No wonder?
Of course they like Obama. Did you ever look over Hillary Clinton's right wing AIPAC agenda for resolving the Israel-Palestine conflict? She is not only a conduit for right wing Likudnik propaganda to characterize a people, the Palestinians, who have been fighting a military occupation for 40 years as Israel continues to colonize the remaining portion of their lands, as terrorists, but she has been Israel's prime mover in the Senate to pass legislation, like the Anti-Palestinian Terrorist Act, to defame their cause.
Hillary Clinton is no friend to the Palestinians. And she is therefore not a friend of the Arab world. And this is a person we are trying to send to the Whitehouse? She will only continue the Bush world, our hatred not only from Arabs and Muslims, but from Europe and the rest of the world which knows what is really going on in the Middle East. Love for America is not likely to resume under a Hillary administration.
Obama's views on Israeli / Palestinian issues are identical to Hillary's, are they not?
No they are not. Obama paid his dues to AIPAC in a speech where he assured Israel's security.
Unlike Hillary, he is not antiPalestinian, has not called them terrorists, has not proposed legislation that was little more than an extension of Israeli right wing propaganda, like the Anti-Palestinian Terrorist Act, or failed to condone the Bush Road Map for a two state solution. Hillary has also propagated propaganda concerning Palestinian textbooks, which was a total lie. I presented a diary about her disingenuousness concerning the Palestinians. She also met last year at the Saban Center with Israel's most vile racist, Avigdor Lieberman, who has proposed to transfer (kick out) Palestinian Arabs who are otherwise Israeli citizens, in order to purify the state.
Hillary is an AIPAC tool, whose foreign policy initiatives as president, were she elected, are identical to those of the Israeli right wing, that AIPAC and other American Zionist organizations support.
I really can't answer fully in this forum. But you don't know the end of it, which extends to Bill Clinton and his administration.
I guess that will be used against him. All you have to do is mention it. Also that he's doing well in France.
No, it will be used against Hillary. She will never bring the world to our side, will never mend the fences broken by Bush. She will be seen internationally as another Bush in pantsuits.
I think this is what Bob Kerrey was actually trying to get at before he made a complete fool of himself. But it's the idea that the U.S. would no longer look like such an enemy if he were to be the face of our country and the face of the modern world.
I also wonder about the money he gets online. who is giving him the money- something is not kosher
Middle class people like me give money in increments of $10 to $100. My wife and I have given over $500.
What isn't kosher with that?
Maybe it's Frank Giustra, Denise Rich, Norman Hsu, Aaron Tonken, Peter F. Paul, Sant S. Chatwal, the IPA, Yah Lin Trie, John Huang, James Riady, Johnny Chung, Roger Tamraz, Jeffrey Epstein, John K.H. Lee, Pauline Kanchanalak, Ng Lap Seng, Abdul Rehman Jinnah, Ron Burkle, and Vin Gupta.
They are "rooting" not "routing"-
this is not a substantive diary.
Thanks for wasting our time.
If the diarist doesn't know why Hillary Clinton is not favored by the Arab world, he should probably not have written this empty piece.
Look up her views tward Israel-Palestine, Iran, Lebanon and Syria, and the other Middle East Arab countries, and you will understand why Obama is preferred.
Lovely. Another thing for the GOP to use against Obama in a general election.
Arabs rooting for Obama to win certainly will make a great 527 ad. For the GOP that is.
Ugh. I know. And people think that he can win an election in the US?
If a 527 did a few ads on Obama his whole campaign would collapse in a NY minute.
You guys are funny. Your racial rantings and xenophobic comments only make your own candidate look bad. Keep it up, it worked great in South Carolina!
SC does not represent the voting population of the US. Do you really think this kind of thing is a positive?
Hostage? So, it's no big deal that Hillary wins big with women--who consistently make up almost 60% of every contest--but it's a "joke" when Obama has a similar identity-based advantage in a couple of states?
Also, Obama had to earn that support. Less than 6 months ago, Hillary was winning among African-Americans.
And neither is 50% + of the general population.
Just what demographics can Obama leverage for the general election?
African Americans - about 12% of the population and he's probably getting close to GE numbers now
Left wingers and latte liberals - how many more of them are there out there to get?
Kids - very unpredictable in both participation and vote
Disgusting comment. But keep it up, it's nice to see what you HRC supporters actually think.
I've said from the beginning that if Obama is the nominee, the Repubs will constantly bring up his connections with Islam. He has several Muslim relatives inlcuding his father, stepfather, and cousins. He lived in Indonesia, the country with the largest Mulsim population in the world. There have already been rumors about him attending a madrassa there. Add to that his immense popularity in the Arab world, and people still say he is more electable than Hillary?
Proud of spewing wing-nut talking points at a fellow Dem?
Amazing, after watching the Repubs smear the Clintons, you are ready to enthusiatically join in swiftboating a fellow Dem.
This garbage is incredibly offensive.
Are you deranged? Or just having problems with the truth.
How has Obama or his supporters "taken off the gloves?"
Almost every independent observer of this race has observed that the Clintons have engaged in a widespread pattern of misrepresentations, distortions, and highly questionable tactics. At the same time Obama has utilized none of the truck load of dirt that is available on the Clintons.
Seriously, how do you square your condemnation of Republican tactics with your own behavior?
That's a lie. The Clintons injected race into the campaign for political gain. Brazile and Clyburn, neither of whom are supporting Obama, expressed concern about BC and HRC's comments.
Obama made no comment on the controversy. Some staffer in SC wrote an internal memo which Obama has apologized. Do you really believe this stuff, or are you just spinning for your candidate?
According to your formulation, it would be appropriate for Obama supporters to remind everyone of the enormous number of vulnerabilities that the Clinton drag around with them.
The difference is that almost all Repubs, most indies, and a significant minority of Dems are completely prepared to believe the worst about Hillary. Because she is seen, by most, as lacking "authenticity," she is the "anti-teflon" candidate. Attacks will stick because many voters do not trust HRC.
On the other hand, many of the attacks that BC and HRC have hurled at Obama have slid off, in part because they are distortions, misrepresentations, or flat out lies like the Muslim thing, and in part because Obama comes across as "authentic."
Your inability to acknowledge the reality that Obama is a Democrat, and has one of the most progressive voting record of any of the Dems in the Senate, indicates that you are not "reality based."
Michelle went on to say that she would have to consider HRC's "policies, approach, and tone." Clearly she was trying to bring attention to HRC's "the end justifies the means" approach and negative tone.
I will tell you that if the Clintons win and want me to do anything more than hold my nose and vote for her they have, in the words of Desi Arnez, "a lot a esplainin to do."
Because that will be the catch phrase heard over and over again if he is nominated.
Look, let me explain something to you. America hates the left. America gets disgusted with the right and throws them out of office from time to time but the overwhelming majority of Americans won't even vote for the left. Left wingers only get elected in overwhelmingly Democratic urban areas where the nomination procedures are dominated by activists and the moderates stop caring.
America is a conservative country - not a Republican country - but a conservative country. You have only three options for government style in America: centrist Dem, centrist Republican (but to the right of centrist Dem), and right wing Republican.
Offensive is an understatement.
This post is antiArab and antiMuslim as if we haven't had enough of bigotry against Americans of Arab decent or of the Muslim religion.
And these are alleged Americans, whose own ancestors are highly likely immigrants, who just may have experienced similar bigotry. Many have such a history.
I think it's pretty obvious where the diarist is going with this.
I also think it's awfully juvenile to ask whether Hillary approves of some random diary on MyDD. You don't see me asking whether Obama approves of awesome diaries like this one.
Actually that's an interesting comparison. Someone posted a diary in very bad taste, it was completely rebuked and dismissed in 7 comments. Quite a different story than this one, which follows on the heels of an equally distasteful one appealing to the same prejudices and smear tactics.
Yeah, but not rebuked by a single, solitary Obama supporter, since you're trying to suggest there's somehow a difference.
That's really not fair Steve. I saw that diary right before it was taken down, and otherwise would have said it was terrible.
There really aren't as many of "us" around to do the rebuking.
How many joined in? Others said exactly what I thought, there was no reasons to go on record with a rebuke. What exactly is your point here, Steve? Do you think Hillary or her campaign would endorse this kind of racism disguised as vetting which is underneath this? I don't.
My comment was in reference to the NPR report I heard. This is not an opinion comment...( and sorry for the typo... I am computer challenged).THIS IS NPR'S report, not mine. They also reported that following super Tuesday, the Israeli media was split on Obama. Israeli media felt strongly about Clinton because Hillary is known to them. Obama is not known to them. Some of the Israeli media were concerned about Obama's willingness to personally meet with Iran. Israel would prefer diplomacy first, hence Hillary was more favored. However, there is a split in Israel, where there is no split in the Arab media. This is according to NPR, not me.
Hillary is in AIPAC/Israel Lobby's pocket. Her views are compatible with the right wing Likudnik views which proposes to completely disenfranchise the Palestinians of their lands and rights.
Right wing Israel prefers Hillary Clinton. In this regard, it is not a secret that Bill Clinton, during his administration, permitted Israelis to settle the West Bank at twice the rate it was occurring, and, according to historians, is fully responsible for the impasse that now exists. While there is no doubt in my mind that Clinton wanted an avenue to the 120 AIPAC controlled PACs in his actions, but he has created more suffering and death as a consequence than he would ever admit to.
Bill Clinton is a man of two faces, and if I have to say so myself, Hillary is no better.
Hillary's broke, now she's turning to racial scare tactics. Looks like she really will do anything to win!
NPR report I have no problem with, it's the tone of the comments in this diary that say a lot about the Hillary campaign and her supporters. Keep it up though, it's amusing!
Holy crap! This will sway the election!
Wait...
BREAKING: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad sent Obama a friend request on MySpace!!! Obama to withdraw from race
And, if you click the link (which is an old story), it wasn't even any kind offical Obama group. It was just some kind of college group for Obama, the members of which didn't even know he was a member because he was active in any way. In fact, the (terrorist) dude doesn't even seem to care much about Obama if you read the quote from him.
But, make no mistake: this will end Obama. He's finished!!
Have to say it. It is too early for a last gasp effort like this one. Why don't you wait a few weeks to see how HIllary does in the next primaries, before serving crap like this.
Noting that muslim countries view Obama positively is fine. Implying that is (1) somehow b/c he himself is mulim; or (2) that such support somehow --not sure how -- links him to terrorism isn't. Nor, I would add, is making unsubstantiated claims about his purpoted family.
First of all, do you have a link? Second, why do we care what his cousin's (? not sure that's actually been confirmed)religious views are? Also, he has not "campaigned" for anyone. He's urged peace in Kenya, while working through the State Department.
You haven't been listening to what Obama has said then.
And your post is why Obama will lose a general election. Everytime someone criticizes him you guys scream racism! Or Obama's campaign surrogates scream Racism! It's a sure fire way to lose.
I think the NPR report is interesting and a good source of conversation.Not everything is a political tactic and about the campaign. NPR is saying this election is of interest to the world, including the Arab countries. This is news; the world is global, and the world is interested in the American election. This information can be used as a positive or a negative. Nonetheless, it is information; it is fact; an it is not about spin- we can leave the spin to Chris Matthews & Co.
The news is simple to interpret. Arab countries do not support Hillary Clinton for president; Obama is the only alternative. Hillary represents another eight years of Middle East strife and turmoil.
If you don't know Hillary's AIPAC supported views on the Middle East, you ought to look it up. It is the elephant in the room in this election.
You get that the Jerusalem post is a neoconservative publication, right?
That it has, in the past, named Paul Wolfkowitz it's man of the year?
http://info.jpost.com/C003/Supplements/M
OTY/art.01.html
That, per wikipedia, "It espouses economic positions close to those of neoliberalism: tight fiscal control on public spending, curbing of welfare, cutting taxes, and anti-union monopoly legislation, among others."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerusalem_P ost
Oh well, who cares about sources...
Ya' gotta' laugh but at least it's foreign. It's in my 'World Rumours and Disinformation' RSS list.
There's no sourcing FOR the claims. What exactly would you like me to refute?
Proof of what exactly?
That his, perhaps, Cousin - who is apparently Anglican - wants to institute muslim law in a country that's not the US? Or that Obama is somehow a closet-muslim, which was what this diarist intended to imply.
By the way, the same article you cited bashes George Soros and condemns Obama for (1) not labeling Iran's Revolutionary Guards as a terrorist group; (and 2) supporting US pullout of Iraq. Oh, it also refers to "anti-war hysteria" in the US. Those are all pluses in my book.
How about you? Have you signed on to the neocon agenda, or was this just a convenient article to link to? Give me a break.
Well, the article says a lot more than that. I know nothing about Kenya politics (do you?), so I don't have an informed opinion about the conflict there.
What I do know is that the article you cited contains a number of factual errors, is written from a neoconservative point of view, and generally bashes views that are not hard-right hawkish. So lets just say that I'm highly skeptical of this particular claim as well. Significantly, the article itself provides no sourcing for its claims, which I have not seen reported anywher credible. That's rather telling, imo.
You don't need to know one thing about Kenyan politics to know that the Republicans are going to use this against Obama.
The Republicans will lie and distort about everything regardless of who the nominee is. If that's the standard for whether we do it in a Democratic primary, it would be fair game for me to start saying that Hillary and Bill killed Vince Foster and that Bill is a serial rapist. And trust me, the GOP WILL bring back ALL of that stuff. It's not just magically gone because they've done it before to the Clintons.
But so what? Just because the GOP will do it, doesn't mean you do it to another Democrat. What don't you understand about that?
True but you are ignoring the fact that when they say that stuff about the Clintons people realize that this stuff has been investigated and found untrue. Heck, Hillary can even pull out Ken Starr to beat them over the head with it.
However, with an undefined candidate like Obama it creates a negative narrative about him that sticks because people don't know anything about him. I know people who think he's a Muslim because of those emails the GOP sent out. It's very hard to dispel because there's a grain of truth in the story with the fact that his father was a Muslim. Also, the email about him refusing to cross his heart is damaging because it's a picture and there are other people in the picture crossing their heart. Even though he does it at other times, people are left wondering why and it creates enough doubt with people that some of them won't vote for him. Having lived in a muslim country also contributes to the narrative.
Truly, if we lived in a different time it wouldn't matter and in a perfect world it wouldn't matter but unfortunately it seems to matter to far too many people in this day and age.
Well, I respectfully disagree with you that people know that stuff isn't true about Hillary. There are, sadly, parts of my family that believe insane things about the Clintons despite my best efforts to the contrary. That, ultimately, is why her negatives are as high with indies and republican voters as they are.
Look, we all know what the GOP will do to anyone, and obviously that includes Obama. From my vantage point, that's simply not a legitimate justification for other democrats doing it to each other. It's just not right. And its not legitimate.
Proud of yourself? Must be great to get up in the morning and look at your mug in the mirror and tell yourself, "today I am going to act like Karl Rove."
Every time you do this garbage you make it easier for the Repubs to smear our candidates by creating an atmosphere that says "everybody does it."
If you want to do this crap go join the Republicans. If you want change, stop acting like a Republican.
Anybody who engages in this kind of irresponsible behavior automatically forfeits all credibility in my eyes. I encourage the rest of you to join me in discouraging this behavior.
Don't worry - the Republicans won't use it against Obama until AFTER he wins the nomination.
Rightwing talk show hosts are busy bashing Hillary and basically silent on Obama - while rightwing pundits are praising him.
You'd think by now the Dems would learn...
"You'd think by now the Dems would learn..."
.....not to engage in this sort of destructive behavior that denigrates the entire political process, discourages participation, and undermines the very idea of collective action.
It is astonishing how many Clinton supporters decry a decade of Repub smears against the Clintons, Gore, and Kerry, and then turn right around and gleefully engage in exactly the same crap.
This is what we are trying to change, I invite you to join this effort.
Not to mention a signature that claims half of their own party is equivalent to Ted Haggard, Karl Rove, and Senator Foot Tapper.
With friends like these...
If you're not aware the media has given Obama a pass and rightwing pundits have praised him - you must be living under a baROCK.
Obama attacked Hillary via the Republicans' "Harry and Louise" ad to dissuade universal health care.
Obama is a Republicrat!
Obama also attacked Edwards via attacking trial lawyers.
And Obama has attacked unions -calling them "special interests" in the same context as Big Oil, Big Pharma, Big Insurance, etc.
Obama has been swiftboating fellow Dems and Dem entities from the gitgo!
One minute you complain that he is too liberal to get elected (National Journal ranked Obama as the most liberal in the Senate), the next you are saying he isn't even a Democrat. You can't have it both ways.
The individual mandate on adults is a real issue but it is far from a slam dunk. There are good reasons to oppose it as policy and to recognize the political opening it offers opponents of reform.
I guess the diarist needs to spell it out and call Obama a jihadist.
Wow, what a disgustingly xenophobic diary.
Sadly, that has become typical for the MyDLC crowd lately.
[a href='MyDLC] Hey did you hear that Obama's cousin is a scary Muslim? And that his church's leaders sisters cousin once said some nice things about Farakhan? Did you know he went to a Madrassa?? You know, the scary Muslim schools where they teach everyone to become smart, pretend to be a Christian, and covertly destroy the United States from within? [/a]
Undies, you a frakking pathetic.
I expect this type of nonsense from the hateful, bigotted right. But somewhere along the line Hillary's supporter's have decided that it's it hip to be Rovian.
I used to have a lot of respect for this site. It was my third political blog bookmark right after DeanForAmerica.com and DailyKos.com.
Now I visit here with the same apprehension that I experience when checking in on sites like Free Republic to see what the xenophobes are thinking today.
Undies, and anyone else that plays this pathetic game should take a good look at themselves in the mirror.
And don't be surprised when you see Karl Rove smiling back at you.
As the previous commenter stated,
"I expect this type of nonsense from the hateful, bigotted right."
He's right. This kind of nonsense is only seen on places like Little Green Footballs. Do you know the site? Give it a try.
People disagree about who is to blame for the race stuff that went down before the SC primary. I don't agree with you about Obama "race baiting," nor do I agree with those who have called the Clintons racists. In my view, both of those positions are laughable. Accordingly, I have made a habit of simply staying out of those particular pissing contests, because you really can't change anyone's mind right now.
For what it's worth, I don't think you are a racist. I think you are dead wrong in calling Obama a racist, but that only makes you wrong. Perhaps the lesson that we should all take away from such exchanges is that none of us should be so quick in accusing others of racism. Your Malcolm-X accusation, for example, is particularly misguided.
Politico had a story on this. Then they noted that he was using a variety of words with similar meaning in front of all kinds of audiances in lots of states. Sort of takes the sting out of your argument.
Interesting response from someone who cited the Jerusalem Post as a reliable source. Since POLITICO is who originally slammed Obama for "possible Malcolm X reference," it's interesting that you're now dismissing them as somehow biased towards Obama. But whatever.
Here's a link to the follow up piece Ben Smith wrote, which he conceded cast doubt on his previous Malcolm X theory.
http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2 008/02/03/634198.aspx
Obama also apparently says things like okie dokie. You should probable prepare a Diary immediately.
Perhaps we're talking about different things. You seem to want to play gottcha. I'm talking about whether the comments actually were racist.
For the record, the Cuomo thing was nothing but unfortunate wording. I said as much at the time. I think Bill's tirade was unfortunate, but fundamentally based upon his being pissed off that anyone would dare to challenge Hillary for her right to the Democratic nomination. I still think the latter is BS, but not racist.
But feel free to think whatever you want. Obviously, I'm not going to change your mind.
Divestment of Israel is an international effort associated with Israel's racist policies and its military occupation/colonization of Palestinian lands and people.
This was the mechanism that led to the downfall of Apartheid South Africa and it may help Israel to see the light. Even Olmert stated that Israel is moving toward an Apartheid solution in its tak over of Palestinian lands.
This is nothing new. The Jerusalem Post is not a liberal newspaper. Try reading Haar'etz.
You will never get factual information from the Jerusalem Post. It is a right wing newspaper slanted toward the Israeli right wing, Likud, in particular.
Don't believe the significance of everything you read. Get educated and read Ha'aretz.
How deep does this bullshit stand. George Soros is a decent humanist and philanthopist interested in a fair and just resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It abhors him to watch 4-800 innocent Palestinians, including children, killed every year in order for Israel to maintain its military occupation, while it continues to confiscate more and more of Palestinian land.
Appeasing jihadists, my foot. This piece is little more than more propaganda to cover up Israel's colonialism and harsh treatment of the Palestinian people.
What decent person in the world would not speak out at this human rights injustice? Hillary Clinton, that's who. Has never spoken a word about the plight of the Palestinians, even their starvation today inside of Gaza.
With all due respect, TPM and HuffPo are primarily news and opinion outlets with very little comment participation compared to dKOS and MyDD. I don't think they can be compared fairly,
As for dKOS and MyDD, if it weren't for dKOS I really could not stomach the vitriol and trollish behavior of a lot of the MyDD regulars. dKOS front page bloggers keep me sane and grounded after reading the MyDD trolls.
(you know who you are)
I think this is the second time I've typed this in a comment at mydd in a week or so.
Boy, have the standards for discourse slipped here. They're laughing at us over on daily kos noting that it looks like an outpost of freepers on this diary.
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