Debbie Schlussel seems to fear that Barack Obama is some sort of latent terrorist because his father was Muslim:
But, then, I decided to look further into Obama’s background. His full name–as by now you have probably heard–is Barack Hussein Obama, Jr. Hussein is a Muslim name, which comes from the name of Ali’s son–Hussein Ibn Ali. And Obama is named after his late Kenyan father, the late Barack Hussein Obama, Sr., apparently a Muslim.
From there she seems to hint at some sort of inherent uncontrollable evil lurking inside him:
So, even if he identifies strongly as a Christian, and even if he despised the behavior of his father (as Obama said on Oprah); is a man who Muslims think is a Muslim, who feels some sort of psychological need to prove himself to his absent Muslim father, and who is now moving in the direction of his father’s heritage, a man we want as President when we are fighting the war of our lives against Islam? Where will his loyalties be?
Now I am not an Obama fan, see my previous posts if you need proof, but this is not why I oppose him. In fact, I find the logic employed here quite disturbing. This political battle is, or should be, about ideas and character. And the war on terror should be about defeating the radical component of Islam - not a genocidal war against every practitioner of the religion itself. There’s no shortage of people willing to stoop to these tactics but I’m not interested in promoting the very type of hatred and ignorance that we’re trying to defeat. I’m not alone:
First of all, I have to say that it’s crap like this has helped the right side of the blogosphere gain a reputation as being anti-Muslim because implicit in Schlussel’s argument is the notion that no one with a Muslim name can ever be trusted to be against jihadism and loyal to the causes of the US. Of course, this is patently ridiculous since many of academic crusaders against jihad and Islamic extremism are Muslims.
Second, I find it incredibly condescending for Schlussel to write that Obama “may think he’s a Christian.” Uh, I’m pretty sure he likely considers himself to be a Christian. That other Muslims consider him to be a Muslim says absolutely nothing about Obama himself.
So, the point is, the character of the man and his positions are what should matter and neither can be determined from a middle name. That some Republicans/conservatives/whoever, have decided to try to use his middle name to play into fears about terrorism is really low. And I think it shows that Hillary isn’t the only person grasping at straws when it comes to a candidate with a clear record and no scandals in his shadow.
Hot Air: I like Debbie. She does good work. But I am, shall we say, skeptical in the extreme of both the reasoning and conclusion of this particular post.
Blue Crab Boulevard: Look, this is not constructive and not at all helpful to the political debate in the United States right now. There is also no indication that Barack Obama is anything but a somewhat under-experienced politician from Illinois. I’d rather see people not go down this road at all. Give it a rest people.
Baldilocks: I’m tired of the insinuations about Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) because his dead father was a Muslim. I’m tired of the insinuations about his middle name—Hussein—and the racist/bigoted insinuations that I’ve seen on the Right that flow from there. I’m even tired of the assertion that the senator isn’t even really a black American (whatever that means to a group of people who are demonstrably of mixed-race for the most part) because he has a white mother and a non-American black—i.e. African—father and, yes, since his father and my father were/are of the same tribe and nationality, I take that last bit of information quite personally.
Deschamps Blog: Debbie Schlussel is really stretching things here. If we’re going to go the route of attacking Obama for his middle name and having Muslims in his family, I’m having no part of it. There are plenty of people with Arabic names and heritage, and they are diverse in faith and opinions.
Right Wing Nuthouse: Enough, Debbie. Crawl back under your rock and commune with the other slugs and slimy things who would defile the body politic with unreasoning ignorance and hate. You have proven once again that appealing to the lowest common denominator among conservatives may be a path to readership and links but is a poor substitute for the light of reason and tolerance that should be the hallmark of real conservatives.
Rhymes with Right: Sorry, Debbie, but that crosses all boundaries. Such an attack based upon the religion of his father and step-father is totally illegitimate, and I reject it as contrary to American values. I urge you to retract this garbage. Unless, of course, you accept that the argument you make also serves well to legitimize those who question the loyalties of American Jews.
Captain’s Quarters: I like Debbie and think she contributes an important voice to the blogosphere, but this is not serious thinking. First, it makes little difference to me who the “Arab and Muslim streets” considers Muslim. The Arab street also thinks that the Holocaust never occurred but that it sounds like a nifty idea. In reading the Qur’an, we get the opinion that Jesus was Muslim, and certainly Muslims today will argue that point; does that make it so? People decide their own religion and are responsible to God for that personal choice. “Muslim streets” do not get to determine the faith of free men. The very statement that Obama “may think he’s a Christian” in a sense that minimizes his own choice of faith is, well, unhinged.
The Moderate Voice: What this is really about is Schlussel’s paranoid hatred of Muslims, a hatred presumably shared by others on the right (see Coulter, Ann). She doesn’t want Obama to be anywhere near the presidency not just because of his middle name and his familiar ties to Islam — and her attempts at psychological analysis are truly pathetic — but because she evidently thinks that all Muslims are terrorists who cannot possibly be loyal to America. She claims, after all, that “we” are fighting a war not just against Islamofascists or jihadists or whatever else they may be called but against Islam, against the entire religion. To be fair to Morrissey et al., I realize that thoughtful and sensible conservatives do not hold this view. And Bush and his White House don’t hold it either. However much I may disagree with the president on policy, I commend him for stressing that the war on terror is not a war against Islam but a war against a certain renegade element of Islam that is waging war not just against the West, including Israel, but against the majority of its own religion.
Related:
Sister Toldjah
Liberal Values
Related Content by Sphere
More Blogs of War:
Dick Morris on Barack Obama: The Record Doesn’t Really Matter
Sen. Barack Obama Expected to Announce His Candidacy on the Oprah Winfrey Show
Barack Obama is Running for President in 2008
Barack Obama - Likeable, Persuasive, but What Else?
Barack Obama Will Announce His 2008 Campaign Plans in Early January
Filed Under:
Politics, Media
December 20th, 2006 at 12:09 am
The ‘controversy’ over Senator Barack Obama’s middle name…
I have seen some discussions in the blogosphere of late about the fact that Barack Obama’s middle name is “Hussein” - the discussions usually involve speculation as to what that supposedly means (”is he a closet Muslim terrorist…
December 20th, 2006 at 1:07 am
I Have To Agree With Greg…
Greg Tinti over at The Political Pit Bull does a great post slamming the innuendo that has begun circulating about Barack Obama's middle name. I agree with him wholeheartedly.
For about a week now, I've been hearing and reading all ov…
December 20th, 2006 at 1:42 am
Sorry to say, but this was/is inevitable. This is the same simple simon mentality that got us into this mess in the first place.
December 20th, 2006 at 11:01 am
Hey, thanks for citing my little blog. It’s good to know that so many realize the dumb logic (if there is any logic at all) to Schlussel’s argument.
December 20th, 2006 at 6:15 pm
Identity politics…
While I’d certainly like every vote to be a well-thought-out decision, I know that not every vote will be cast on such a basis, not every vote will have thought and logic behind it (as is evidenced by the fact that Democrats do win elections), and I…