Year: 2008

Hussein: How Quickly We Have Forgotten Our Ally, the Late King of Jordan

Jon Ponder

All this silliness about Barack Hussein Obama’s middle name is an embarassing display of American ignorance about the outside world. Hussein is as common a name in the Middle East as Samuel is in the West.

Yes, there was an evil, despotic tyrant whose last name happened to be Hussein, but there was also an enlightened unelected leader in the Middle East who was as strong an ally of the U.S. as we have had in the region.

It is no wonder Americans have forgotten King Hussein of Jordan — after all he died eons ago:

Prior to his death at age 63 on February 7, 1999, King Hussein bin Talal was the longest serving executive head of state in the world. Of great significance to Muslims throughout the world, King Hussein I was also the forty-second generation direct descendant of the Prophet Muhammad.

His accomplishments were unparalleled among his peers in the Levant:

[…]

Poll: 93% of Muslims Worldwide Condemn 9/11 Attacks – 0% Approve of Attacks on Religious Grounds

Jon Ponder

This poll from Gallup is based on a huge worldwide sample:

One of the largest-ever opinion polls conducted in the Islamic world found that seven percent of Muslims condoned the Sep 11, 2001, attacks on the US, but none of them gave religious justification for their beliefs, according to the figures released Tuesday.

The Gallup organisation’s poll of some 50,000 people in over 35 predominantly Muslim countries found that what motivated those considered “politically radicalised” was their fear of occupation by the West and the US, though most even admired and hoped for democratic principles.

“Politics, not piety, differentiate moderates from radicals” in the Islamic world, said Dalia Mogahed, executive director of the Gallup Center for Muslim studies. “Terrorism sympathisers don’t hate our freedom, they want our freedom.”

The overwhelming majority of Muslims – 93 percent – condemned the Sep 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington, and most said the biggest obstacle to better relations with the West was the latter’s lack of respect for Islam.

It’s to the advantage of Bush and the fear-mongers to pin the blame for terror attacks on the Muslim religion, writ larger, rather than the tiny groups of right-wing political extremists who perpetrate the crimes.

Like right-wing political extremists in the United States, al Qaeda and the rest justify their hate-filled political agenda on religious grounds.

Palm Beach Post: The Nader Brand Means Nothing

Trish

The Palm Beach Post is not amused by Ralph Nader’s decision to run for president yet again.

Forty-five years after making his reputation as a consumer advocate, Ralph Nader is as deceitful and arrogant as the corporate titans he used to expose.

Nader chided Democrats for failing to enact “decent” energy policy, reminding voters they could have had a president leading the fight against global warming rather than a president who spent most of his two terms denying the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions

Mr. Nader is selling politics rather than cars, but Americans learned after 2000 that his brand of false advertising can have fatal consequences…If Mr. Nader had not participated, Florida’s electoral votes and the presidency would have gone to Mr. Gore, who would have won the state without controversy…

In 2000, Mr. Nader’s main campaign theme was that there was no real difference between the Democratic and Republican candidates. In retrospect, that statement sounds as ludicrous as the denials by the auto executives in the 1960s that they couldn’t make the safety changes Mr. Nader advocated without making cars prohibitively expensive…

Mr. Nader, demonstrating either that he is out of touch with reality or does not care about the truth, denies any responsibility for the Democrats’ loss in 2000 and thus any responsibility for the thousands killed and wounded and the hundreds of billions wasted [in Iraq].

Announcing his candidacy, Mr. Nader also chided Democrats for failing to enact “decent” energy policy. That criticism simply reminds voters that they could have had a president leading the fight against global warming rather than a president who spent most of his two terms denying the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

In 2000, Mr. Nader received 2.7 percent of the vote. In 2004, he received just 0.3 percent. Mr. Nader blames the steep decline on Democratic legal maneuvering that kept him off the ballot in several key states. In 2004, though, Republicans – especially in Florida – also worked to get Mr. Nader on the ballot. The more important reason for the dropoff in support was Mr. Nader revealing that he has become a self-important fool. The Nader brand used to mean something. These days, there’s nothing new inside the box.

Poll: U.S. No Longer a Predominantly a Mainline Protestant Nation

Jon Ponder

The presumption of a Protestant framework for understanding the American character is now a thing of the past. We are an increasingly pluralistic society, and we Protestants now have to think much about how we can contribute to the common good as simply just one more voice in the American choir.”

– Richard J. Mouw president of Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena, Calif.

The quote from Mr. Mouw is in reaction to findings from an exhaustive study on shifts in U.s. religious identification by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life. According to the Los Angeles Times:

Barely 51 percent of Americans are Protestants, and among 18- to 29-year-olds, just 43 percent identify with this branch of Christianity, according to the study by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life. Protestants have always held a majority status in the United States.

At the same time, more than four in 10 adults — 44 percent — have switched religious affiliations or abandoned ties to a specific religion, according to the survey, which provides one of the most detailed looks at U.S. religious affiliation.

Slightly more than 16 percent of us are unaffiliated with any religion, and there are more than twice as many atheists/agnostics (4 percent) in the country than there are observant Jews (1.7 percent):

According to the study, 78.4 percent of Americans are Christians, about 5 percent belong to other faith traditions and 16.1 percent are unaffiliated with any religion.

Secular unaffiliated Americans account for 6.3 percent of the population; religious unaffiliated, 5.8 percent; atheists, 1.6 percent; and agnostics, 2.4 percent.

At 1.7 percent of the population, Jews make up the next-largest religious group. Buddhists are 0.7 percent of the population; Muslims 0.6 percent; and Hindus and New Age followers, both 0.4 percent.

The study noted that Protestantism is characterized by significant internal diversity and fragmentation, encompassing hundreds of denominations loosely grouped around three “fairly distinct” religious traditions — evangelical Protestant churches (26.3 percent), mainline Protestants (18.1 percent) and historically black Protestant churches (6.9 percent).

Evangelicals make up the nation’s single-largest religious tradition, followed by Catholics, who comprise nearly one-fourth of Americans.

Pew also found that declines in the ranks of Catholics of European descent are being countered in the Southwest by the influx of Latin Americans.

Poll: McCain Has Lead Over Dems in November

Jon Ponder

Reality is starting set in the presidential race. Fear, the predominant force of the Bush era is still the leading factor in who Americans will vote for in November, according to the new Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll:

In head-to-head contests, the poll found, McCain leads Clinton by 6 percentage points (46 percent to 40 percent) and Obama by 2 points (44 percent to 42 percent). Neither lead is commanding given that the survey, conducted Feb. 21-25, has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

Even though most Americans want the Iraq occupation to end, they still don’t trust the party of FDR to run the military:

Both Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton have made ending America’s involvement in the war a centerpiece of their campaigns. And even though a clear majority of those polled said the war was not worth waging, about half of registered voters said McCain — a Vietnam vet who has supported the Bush administration’s military strategy — was better able to deal with Iraq.

Here’s one positive number for McCain that could be changed, if the Democrat nominee is aggressive:

The Arizona senator is viewed favorably by 61 percent of all registered voters, including a plurality of Democrats.

Driving up their opponents “unfavorables” is fundamental to the way in which the Bush campaigns of 2000 and 2004 bested Al Gore and John Kerry, respectively. But both these candidates were either reluctant to, or inept at, driving up Bush’s negatives, plentiful though they were.

Sen. Larry Craig (R-Mens Room) Seeking Summer Interns

Jon Ponder

This is not a joke:

Idaho Senator Larry Craig is currently seeking intern applications for the summer term, which runs from May to August. The application deadline is March 15, however if more time is needed for the application process, please contact Senator Craig’s office for an extension. Craig offers paid internships within the Washington, D.C., office. Preference is given to Idaho applicants attending Idaho schools who are in their junior or senior years of college (including graduating seniors).

‘”Interns have the chance to be an essential part of a working congressional office,” said Craig. “They participate in the legislative process as well as ensure that constituent services run smoothly. For those interested in politics, it is an incredible opportunity to get a behind-the-scenes look at how our government functions while serving the people of Idaho.”

As noted, this is not a joke but it certainly could be — please give it your best shot in the comments.

H/t: JR

Kitchen Debate Between Obama and Clinton Supporters Ends in Violence

Jon Ponder

If the victim had been a Bush supporter, this would be understandable on some level at least. But come on, guys, the policy differences between Clinton and Obama boil down to nuance. All we’re fighting about is which one will be easier for the Republicans to beat. There’s absolutely no need to come to blows:

Meet Jose Antonio Ortiz. The Pennsylvania man allegedly stabbed his brother-in-law in the stomach after the pair quarreled about their respective support of Democratic presidential candidates Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. According to cops, Ortiz, 28, stabbed Sean Shurelds last Thursday night in the kitchen of an Upper Providence Township home. According to a criminal complaint, a copy of which you’ll find here, the 41-year-old Shurelds, an Obama supporter, told Ortiz that the Illinois senator was “trashing” Clinton (apparently in regard to recent primary and caucus results). Ortiz, a Clinton supporter, replied that “Obama was not a realist.” While not exactly fighting words, the verbal political tiff led to some mutual choking and punching. And, allegedly, a stabbing in the abdomen

H/t: KBMc

VoteVets.org Ad Opposes McCain’s Thousand Years of War in Iraq

Jon Ponder

About the ad:

Today anti Iraq war leaders, joined by former Senator John Edwards and his wife Elizabeth, announced the launch of a new nationwide, multimillion dollar campaign aimed at shining a light on the cost of war in Iraq. The $20 million campaign will include paid advertisements, lobbying Congress not to pass blank check funding bills, urging Congressional action to bar President Bush from making a long term commitment to Iraq that could tie the hands of the next president, and campaigning in key Senate states and House districts.

The Iraq/Recession campaign is a joint venture of MoveOn.org, the Service Employees International Union, VoteVets.org, USAction, the Center for American Progress and Americans United For Change.

GOP Trying to See How Far It Can Go In General Election Without Being Called Racist or Sexist

Trish

It’s easy to see why the GOP wants to avoid one thing more than any other in the general election campaign: “undisciplined messaging.” You say you don’t know what that is? Neither did I until Politico explained it.

Republicans know more than one election is at stake if they appear racist or sexist toward the eventual Democratic nominee. But since they really want to attack Obama for being black and/or Clinton for being female, it’s important to know where the line is and to stay just a hair this side of it.

The Republican National Committee has commissioned polling and focus groups to determine the boundaries of attacking a minority or female candidate

The Republican National Committee has commissioned polling and focus groups to determine the boundaries of attacking a minority or female candidate, according to people involved. The secretive effort underscores the enormous risk senior GOP operatives see…

…Republicans should expect a severe backlash if they say or do anything that smacks of politicizing race or gender. They didn’t need an expensive poll to learn that lesson, however.

Or maybe they did. Whereas you or I could just tap a coworker, neighbor, or — dare I say it — friend for some input, evidently your average Republican is just a bit more, shall we say, insulated.

“You can’t run against Barack Obama the way you could run against Bill Clinton, Al Gore or John Kerry,” said Jack Kemp, the 1996 GOP vice presidential nominee, who expressed concern that the party could be reduced to an “all white country club party” if it does not tread cautiously.

Reduced to an all white country club party? I thought they cultivated that image and wore it like a big, shiny Girl Scout badge on a sash slung over their jackets. And I’m not the only one who thought so.

Republicans interviewed for this story uniformly believe they will have to be especially careful. Many expect to be held to a higher rhetorical standard than is customary in campaigns, in part because of perceptions of intolerance that still dog the party.

“Fair or unfair, but that’s going to be a reality,” said GOP strategist John Weaver, a longtime confidant of John McCain. “The P.C. [politically correct] police will be out and the standards will be very narrow.”

Don’t you just love it when the people who gave us such terms as “faith-based initiatives” instead of “state-funded religion” and “low food security” instead of “hunger” and now, “undisciplined messaging” instead of “racism and sexism,” complain about the “P.C. police” (instead of “people offended by insults”)?

The real problem for Republicans is that they’re going to have to come out from the shadows this time and they don’t know how to make a case without insinuation meant to push fear buttons. Pointing out Clinton is a woman or that Obama fathered a black child is anticlimactic. What else you got, GOP?