Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Obama's Scarier friends:

Rashid Khalidi

Reverend Wright

Bill Ayers

These friends are scary for two reasons:

Reason # 1: They were Obama's earliest friends, when his political ethos was being shaped. Opinions and positions that are consolidated at a younger age are more difficult to dislodge or change. If his allegiances matured into coherent awareness with these people influencing his thinking, then it is legitimate to wonder how far he has really travelled in casting them aside, how genuine and deep are his new understandings.

Reason # 2: That they are scary has less to do with Obama and more to do with his supporters.

So far I've encountered two types of arguments which Obama's supporters advance in defending him against the charge of his past scary friends. One argument claims that a man's associations and friendships have nothing to do with his own character, beliefs or conduct. Therefore it is unfair to judge Obama by looking at his friends.

The second argument re-enforces the kind of anxiety which I noted above, in reason #1: it is an attempt to cleanse these friends of their radicalism and antisemitism by claiming that they are authentic, basically right-on-target in what they say. They have good reasons to hold the positions they do.

In trying to explain Obama's more recent disavowal of these friends and their stated positions (whether antisemitic, anti-American or anti-Israel), these supporters state unabashedly that it is a temporary political ruse with the aim of getting to the White House. And this ruse, they say, is completely legitimate. Obama is allowed to lie in order to become president. It is what all politicians do. It is this kind of thinking that explains Jesse Jackson's more recent comments or Louis Farrakhan's continued adoration of Obama the messiah.

So this second argument, in fact, agrees with Obama's critics but differs in that it regards lying as a sanctioned tactic. These people see nothing wrong is lying to potential voters or in their tacit assertion that therefore Obama is a liar, and a good thing, too.

For those Obama supporters who have no problem with a presidential candidate lying, I have only this to say:

Dante, in his descent into the Inferno, reserves his worst, hottest circles for the fraudulent, those who act against their fellow-human beings out of malice and by doing so, work at loosening the very bonds of trust that attach one human being to another, trust being the glue that keeps societies, communities, families and friends, coherent, functioning and benevolent. So in Dante’s Hell, those who gnaw at these bonds, like panderers, flatterers, hypocrites and falsifiers, are considered worthy of the choicest punishments.

So I fully expect these Obama rhinoceroses, who mitigate for antisemites and terrorists and so easily attribute to Obama their own deviant propensities of lying and falsifying, to find themselves in due time in one of those locations mapped out in the Inferno.

Later update: By some coincidence, Breath of the Beast posted a short account touching upon the same issue of Obama's scary supporters:

"Then a fellow reporter across the table said: "I think a president with roots in the Koran would be a good thing. I'm sick and tired of Christians … well maybe I should stop there."

I said: "Yes you should stop there. I'm not a Christian but I am sick and tired of liberals' kneejerk demonization of them."

Then the conversation mercifully shifted.

There it was: the breath of the beast.

First, let me be clear. Though I believe Obama poses an economic, cultural and national security threat to the U.S., I do not think the threats he poses have "roots in the Koran." Though, Louis Ferrakhan's praise of him is deeply troubling.

Still, I could not believe what I had just heard. "A president with roots in the Koran would be a good thing?"

The ignorance of that statement took my breath away. Did my colleague have any idea what Islam has in store for him?"


Obama's Reassuring Friends

Cass Sunstein

David Axelrod

Tony Lake

Warren Buffet

13 Comments:

At 5:48 PM EDT, Blogger Marcia Miner said...

What did Obama and Ayers do together when they lived in the same neighborhood or while serving on a board together that disqualifies or even taints Obama even minimally from being president?

 
At 10:58 AM EDT, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Obama launched his political career in Ayers' apartment. Imagine if McCain had launched his political career in the home of a "reformed" Klan activist who claimed "I wish I had bombed *more* black churches!" Would that taint McCain?

 
At 12:25 PM EDT, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I think the problem is TNC, that Leftwingers dont get the full accounting because the Mainstream Media is filtering out, spinning, and otherwise campaigning for Obama. So Obama hasnt been properly vetted. Ayers just seems like a nice guy trying to help the childrren, a guy Obama barely knows, just a guy in the neighborhood. You cant be held accountable for what someone in your neighborhood does, thats ridiculous!

Sadly, the distortiions in the medis work....they dont call it propaganda for nothing.

 
At 12:25 PM EDT, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I think the problem is TNC, that Leftwingers dont get the full accounting because the Mainstream Media is filtering out, spinning, and otherwise campaigning for Obama. So Obama hasnt been properly vetted. Ayers just seems like a nice guy trying to help the childrren, a guy Obama barely knows, just a guy in the neighborhood. You cant be held accountable for what someone in your neighborhood does, thats ridiculous!

Sadly, the distortiions in the medis work....they dont call it propaganda for nothing.

 
At 1:17 PM EDT, Blogger Marcia Miner said...

I understand your analogy and realize people have strong feelings about associations no matter how limited, but I haven't heard anything that implies Obama does not want the best for this country. In that respect he and McCain are alike. Add to that a "gut" feeling that Obama will do well as president. I simply am less sure about McCain from what I have observed.

 
At 1:50 PM EDT, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Aparently Marica Miner has no doubts about Obama, and hasnt heard anything that would make her think twice about Obama.

There you have it, folks. Complete unthinking and or propagandized sheeplike adoration of the Dear Leader.

 
At 6:18 PM EDT, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Here you go Marcia, Noga you may find this interesting as well....Said, Khalidi, Ayers, and Wright...


Why Won’t Obama Talk About Columbia?

The years he won’t discuss may explain the Ayers tie he keeps lying about.

By Andrew C. McCarthy

http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=NjY4YzdhMDBkZGQ3ZmU2MTUzYjdkMzc5ZjUzYmViZWM=

 
At 7:16 PM EDT, Blogger The Contentious Centrist said...

New Centrist, I'm sure you don't need me to point out to you that your question went unanswered.

 
At 3:10 PM EDT, Blogger Marcia Miner said...

I didn't answer because the analogy was not comparable. If McCain had the same limited relationship with Ayers, as Obama did, I would not feel it disqualified him to be president.

(BTW Senator Byrd was a KKK member and he is known as the conscience of the Senate. Is he not qualified to be in the Senate? )

I think it important to be fair. There surely are legitimate reasons to oppose Obama on stated policies with which people think are wrong and dangerous.

 
At 10:44 AM EDT, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Obama launched his political career in Ayers' apartment, Marcia. That is not what I would consider a "limited" relationship.

Yes, membership in the KKK (a terrorist organization) should have disqualified Byrd. I'm sure you realize he was the longest serving *Democrat* senator.

 
At 1:58 PM EDT, Blogger Marcia Miner said...

If Obama is disqualified to be president because he launched his career in Ayers' home in 1995, what are you speculating that Obama would do that will have been a result of that launching or even a friendship of significance.

I believe disagreements with his positions, policies and experience would be much more sound reasons for not wanting him for president, don't you?

I guess we will cancel out each other's vote. I will say, that no matter who wins on November 4th, the U.S. will be in better hands than we have had over the last 8 years. If it turns out to be Obama, I hope neither of us will have cause to be disappointed.

 
At 6:07 PM EDT, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I do not need to speculate. All I need to know are the facts. If someone launches his or her political career in the home of a terrorist, whether right-wing or left-wing, that disqualifies them from being president.

If they launch their political career in the home of a non-terrorist political activist (left or right) then I will pay attention to what policy prescriptions they are recommending. I draw the line at terrorists. But hey, that's just me.

Unfortunately I do not share your optimism. The U.S. will not necessarily be in better hands regardless of who wins. It is a comforting thought, but it not a given.

And whether McCain wins or Obama wins, there will be loads of disappointments. Grand declarations by either candidate will be dashed on the rocks of reality. It happens every time, to every president, whether Democrat or Republican. I say, prepare to be disappointed!

 
At 2:48 PM EDT, Anonymous Anonymous said...

How can anyone after 9/11 be so ignorant and or foolish to believe "Christianity/Islam - What's the differnce?"

Good Lord, Hitchens hates Christianity, but can clearly see that it is no Islam. Yet he cant abide Palin so much as to rush into the arms of Obama.

Mindboggling.

 

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