I jokingly penned "Is Mitch Daniels a Terrorist" earlier in the week as a "taste of your own medicine" for all the Republicans (certain bloggers, in particular) who have made sport of attacking Barack Obama for allegedly (and Andre Carson for actually) being Islamic.
Isn't it at least a tad bit unrealistic to hold a person accountable for every organization that supports him/her or ALL of the beliefs of every demographic sub-group he or she might fall into? I'd say yes. BUT I'm not dictator of the universe (yet), and as long as R's are sniping at D candidates for this kind of stuff, let's have some more fun while giving a lesson in how "invidious" one can make things seem when they aren't really.
Governor Daniels was given an award by the Arab-American Institute, an organization that "represents the policy and community interests of Arab Americans throughout the United States and strives to promote Arab American participation in the U.S. electoral system." Really? What ARE those policy interests, Governor Daniels?
Do those policy interests reflect YOUR interests, fellow Hoosiers? The Board of Governors for the Arab-American Institute are: Dr. Samir Abu-Ghazaleh, Dr. Yahya Basha, Dr. Ali Bazzi, Mr. Nasser Beydoun, Ms. Sherine El-Abd, Mr. Nijad Fares, Ms. Samia Farouki, Dr. Abdel Kader Fustok, Hon. Edward Gabriel, Mr. Samuel Halaby, Jr., Mr. Assad Jebara, and Mr. Ghassan Saab.
Hmmm. I don't see any names that sound even remotely like Smith, Johnson, or DANIELS, do you?
In June of 2007, AAI had the following item on its website: "Events this week in Iraq, Lebanon, and Palestine, leave no doubt that the Middle East is in crisis. The bombing of the Shiite holy shrine of Askariya in Samarra; the assassination of yet another Lebanese Member of Parliament and continued political paralysis in that country; and the military takeover of Gaza by Hamas and dissolution of the Palestinian government create even further challenges to the region’s future and U.S. credibility."
“What we’re seeing is an unraveling of U.S. policy in the Middle East,” said AAI President James Zogby. Wait! Isn't this EXACTLY like saying U.S. policy is "coming home to roost?!?!?" Pollster Zogby goes on to say, "While extremists and their international backers clearly are at fault, neither Israel nor the United States escapes their share...in particular, in the Gaza Strip." Are you BLAMING AMERICA, Mr. Zogby?!?!? I never knew pollster Zogby was such a "radical" America hater, and I never knew Mitch Daniels was so anti-American and anti-Israeli as well. Clearly, Governor Daniels can't say he didn't know what the AAI was about before he spoke at their conference. Their positions have been on their website for YEARS!
Man, this whole "guilt by association" thing sure is fun! To all the "fringies" out there who aren't voting for Carson because he's Muslim or Obama because he's "associated" with an "anti-American" pastor, if you vote for Mitch Danielsalaam, you're arguably being hypocritical unless you share the AAI's obvious disapproval of Israel as well.
Let me switch gears back to a serious note, would Mitch Daniels even BE our Governor if his name were actually Mitch Danielsalaam? I seriously wonder given the vitriol against Obama and Carson for any alleged "Islamic connection." People may say, "Come on. Look at another famous Arab-American, John Sununu, who was chief of staff for the first President Bush!" Yeah, but how many Americans even knew Sununu was part Lebanese and part Palestinian?
This is the part of politics we seldom contemplate - the potential negative effect of our names. (Well, I'm sure Dave Crooks thought about it the first time he contemplated running for office. But I digress). Why is it so easy to believe someone black who was named Barack HUSSEIN Obama would be a radical Muslim, but it would never even occur to anybody that Mitch Daniels is more active in Arab causes than Obama would ever be? Is it because he's "Mitch Daniels?" Or is it because he's the whitest (not just white, but PASTY white) Arab you've ever seen?
The fact one is easier to believe than another says something about us, and it's not flattering. We still haven't moved past race, religion, and heritage (our names) when you look at what frightens us. Maybe one day we'll actually talk about issues and not about the hobgoblins of identity politics and all of our demographic associations. Just maybe. Oh, wait. My comment above may be construed by some as a criticism of America. That would be taking my comment "out of context." Love America or leave it, baby! Like me. I LOOOOOOVE America. Luv it, luv it, luv it. Let me give America a big old hug right now! Mmmmm. Where's my American flag? I want to kiss it on every star. GOD BLESS AMERICA!!!
9 comments:
You're my new favorite blogger, if for no other reason than I know you're going to make me cry when you turn your guns on one of my favorite candidates at some point...
When Mitch accepts cash from terrorist supporters and fund raisers, then we can compare him to Andre Carson (who has).
Big difference there, but good stab at obfuscating that issue.
Of course, Jacob Perry knows full well that there was a single contribution from one donor in question and it was promptly returned. Still, the Perrys and the other partisan hacks keep repeating the incorrect information. Honesty in politics has no place in their political universe...
I knew of Daniels "Arab-American" background and was always amused at GREEN being the color of the Daniels campaign. If Hoosiers only knew what religion has green as its color...
Thomas,
Thank you for the compliment. On me turning my guns on one of your favorite candidates, I say, "Why wait for the fun?!?"
Give me a name!!!
Jacob,
If every candidate knew the history and activities of everybody who wrote a check for him/her, why did 25 members of Congress (mostly Republican) plus two Republican committees, return all their donations from Jack Abramoff only AFTER he was arrested (and subsequently pled guilty to three felony counts of corruption)?
Putting aside that Yacub Mirza has never been charged, let alone convicted, of any crime, what do you expect will be the result of Mr. Mirza's $2,300 donation? Is it your contention that Mr. Mirza's donation will induce the Congressman to hold open a side door in the Capitol so that Al Qaeda can blow it up?
Now, if your point is that Mr. Carson should have known Mr. Mirza was a DOJ "person of interest" because he worked in Homeland Security, I suppose that's fair game, although I bet even the best Homeland Security Officers can't give you the names of every "person of interest" in the country off the top of their heads, and they certainly wouldn't recognize them at a fundraiser.
I forgot to add...if you want to be concerned about American politicians' "connections" to terrorism, start with the White House. President Bush, Sr. kissed the Saudi Royal Family's behind for his entire presidency, and George Jr. has followed his father's legacy in doing the same. The network DOJ investigated was called SAAR, which stands for Sulaiman Abdul Aziz al-Rajhi, a Saudi banker and billionaire who largely funded the group beginning in the early 1980s. With who is Aziz al-Rajhi close personal friends? The Saudi ruling family. Andre may have done something stupid by not vetting every donation from a Muslim, given how paranoid our country is about their names on a contribution list, but I promise you, if we played Six Degrees of Bacon, I could find ten connections to terrorism sponsors in the Bush family for each time Andre Carson took a donation he had to later return.
If you want to avoid receiving contributions from terrorist supporters and fund raisers, not allowing CAIR to hold a fund raiser for you would be a great place to start.
I love dumpster-diver and famed dirty-tricks hack Wilson Allen making a grand pronouncement regarding truth in politics.
Once again, Jacob Perry raises up from the mud to repeat yet another lie but about CAIR and Carson. Of course, Perry knows full well that CAIR did NOT host or throw the fundraiser -it was hosted by Congressman Keith Ellison in a private townhouse. But once again, truth and honesty when it comes to smearing a Carson has never been a Perry strength...
Lies and xenophobia play well in Franklin I guess.
Right....it's just a coincidence that senior CAIR staffers attended and contributed, along with other supporters of terrorism.
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