It's interesting to track the attacks on Sen. Obama. Have you noticed that so far, at least, everyone is avoiding going after him on the issues? Hmm. Could it be ... because most of the voters happen to agree with him on the issues?
Oh, there was the attack via the Aussie PM, which was a back-door attempt to start a mudslide on the Senator's call for a phased withdrawal in Iraq, as recommended by the Baker-Hamilton report. If it failed (which it did), the guilty parties behind the attempt would avoid the backsplatter.
Other than that, the attacks have been personal.
There was the bogus Muslim "madrassa" school story, a veiled attack on his race, put out by the Washington Times and Insight Magazine, which are owned by the Moonies. (See previous entry.)
The most recent story, a Tucker Carlson attack on his religion, also contains a not-so-veiled attack on his race. As usual, information was deliberately taken out of context and presented as facts to the sheeple who watch that sort of thing. For example, Carlson states that the "Black Value System" in the Senator's church brochure "calls for congregants to be 'soldiers for black freedom,' " but he left out the rest of the sentence. The church encourages its parishioners to be "soldiers for Black freedom and the dignity of all humankind."
Of course, the higher the Senator's poll numbers go, the uglier the attacks will become. Since the attacks began at the personal level, we may see mud from unprecedented depths of the pit before it's over.
Here are two posts I had on my old blog in January. The source of the rumors about Sen. Obama being some kind of "stealth Muslim extremist" is the Moonies!
Saturday, January 20, 2007And So It BeginsSigh. Another urban legend is born:
There is a vicious email going around stating that Barack Obama is a "stealth Muslim." No, wait - a Black stealth Muslim - even scarier.
Here are links to versions of the email and analyses by Snopes and About.
If you happen to receive one of these emails, try sending these links back to whoever sent it to you. Might help; won't hurt.
And stay tuned. These will probably get even worse.
Thanks. (Special thanks to Lavender)P.S. Of course the good news is, this shows that the opposition has been forced to take the Senator's growing popularity seriously, and that they are desperate to try to stop him.
Tuesday, January 23, 2007Moonies Publish False Reports About Obama
Although it isn't mentioned in the following report by CNN, note that Insight Magazine, which is owned by the same company as The Washington Times, is the source of the vicious email I told you about in my previous post. For those who don't know, The Washington Times is owned by Sun Myung Moon's Unification Church. Rev. Moon said on its 20th anniversary: "I founded The Washington Times as an expression of my love for America and to fulfill the Will of God, who seeks to establish America in His Providence."
CNN debunks false report about Obama"JAKARTA, Indonesia (CNN) -- Allegations that Sen. Barack Obama was educated in a radical Muslim school known as a "madrassa" are not accurate, according to CNN reporting.
Insight Magazine, which is owned by the same company as The Washington Times, reported on its Web site last week that associates of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-New York, had
In a reply to an earlier post today, Aimee said, "We need to get our figures together on how Obama plans to implement the Universal Healthcare program and how he intends to pay for it, so that we can all accurately combat and defend this huge issue in front of us."
Thanks, Aimee. We still need to get our figures together, but here's a start on how Sen. Obama may plan to implement such a program and how he intends to pay for it, taken from The Audacity of Hope, pp. 184-6:
"... let me offer just one example of what a serious health-care reform plan might look like. We could start by having a nonpartisan group like the National Academy of Science's Institute of Medicine (IOM) determine what a basic, high-quality health-care plan should look like and how much it should cost. In designing this model plan, the IOM would examine which existing health-care programs deliver the best care in the most cost-effective manners. In particular, the model plan would emphasize coverage of primary care, prevention, catastrophic care, and the management of chronic conditions like asthma and diabetes.
***
"Next, we would allow anyone to purchase this model health-care plan either through an
How pathetic is this? We expected the Obama-bashing to start, yes. But ... from Australia???
Australia's PM slams Obama on Iraq Policy
"Howard says al Qaeda in Iraq hoping for victory for Obama, Democrats"
On the one hand, I suppose it's a good thing that the opposition is so afraid of bashing Obama openly that they've recruited the conservative Australian Prime Minister Howard to fire the first shot, but on the other hand, this is so transparent, it's just ... pathetic.
Hi, fellow O-Peeps! Now we begin in earnest to elect a man whose "vision thing" is not just a soundbyte.
We need to counter some false perceptions out there about Obama, and the earlier, the better.
(1) "Obama doesn't have enough experience to be POTUS"
Not true. Sen. Obama has served more years in elective office than Sen. Clinton. He served eight years in the Illinois State Senate, and two years in the U.S. Senate. Sen. Clinton has been in elective office for six years.
(2) "Obama's too young - maybe in a few years he'll be ready to be POTUS"
Not true. The youthful-looking Sen. Obama is 45 years old. JFK took office at the age of 43, Bill Clinton at 46.
(3) "Obama is not the descendant of slaves, and therefore doesn't understand the 'Black experience' in America"
True and false.
True, Sen. Obama's father was Kenyan, so he was not descended from slaves.
False, Sen. Obama does indeed understand the "Black experience" in America. First, wherever he lives throughout his lifetime, whether in Hawaii, Indonesia, the streets of Chicago, or Washington, D.C., the man is Black, and as such, is judged and treated accordingly by racists the world over. Racism is not an exclusively American phenomenon. Second, Sen. Obama served and worked on the front lines of poverty and racism in those streets of Chicago. Third, Sen. Obama used his law degree to become a Civil Rights attorney. Gimme a break - how could he not understand what it means to be Black in America?
So, whenever we encounter someone with these false perceptions about Obama, we need to gently correct them with the facts about this man.
What are some other perceptions out there that we need to address, O-Peeps?
