<p>ag54 where did you read that-
M,m,m, just read Charlie Wilson’s War-(the book) and if you want to know who really turned their backs on the Muslims, funding the Afghanistanis against the Russians, and then completely abandoning them, pick up this book. US !!!</p>
<p>From Phila Inquirer Wed Jan 30
Obama can only help improve world relations-“The buzz on Obama (at Davos) was that his victory would revive American’s sinking image abroad. Typical were the remarks of Musallam Ali Musallam, the Saudi managing director of Skab Group; he holds a PhD in international relations from Georgetown University”</p>
<p>Regarding your above remarks regarding religion:
a fraudulent email circulated recently , which purported to be from THE MUSLIM OBSERVER and WAS NOT!
Here is the retraction about that email-</p>
<p>DEBUNKED: Email Purporting to Be From Obama on Islam
January 23, 2008</p>
<p>In recent weeks a fraudulent email has circulated purporting to be from Senator Obama about Islam. Read the retraction The Muslim Observer wrote when they learned the letter wasn’t true.</p>
<p>Obama Letter Retraction
January 23, 2008
Last week (Volume 10 Issue 4) we printed an article, supposedly a letter by Senator Barack Obama, which detailed his childhood and his relations with Muslims and Islam over the years. The letter had been sent to us by a trusted friend of The Muslim Observer. The letter seemed to us perfectly attuned to the sensibilities of Muslims, even though it clearly declared his actually being a Christian and not a Muslim.</p>
<p>It came to our attention shortly after our mass emailing last week that the letter was a fraud, actually written by a blogger named Umar Lee. The letter was widely circulated after being written by Mr. Lee, becoming “viral” in the emails of Muslims and this in fact is the way we received it. By the time we received it the letter did not have Umar Lee’s signature at the bottom; the email said in fact that the letter had been sent to CAIR as an explanation of Obama’s background.</p>
<p>“Ditto Hanna. I think someone like Obama comes along once in a generation if we are lucky.”</p>
<p>If you like him now, just think how much more you will like him 4 or 8 years from now when he has more experience. Perhaps he’s a bit like a fine wine served before its time.</p>
<p>Show me where Arab Islamist will look at a black Christian man more favorably than a white Christian man? It would seem that what is happening in Darfur where the Arab Muslims are slaughtering the black Muslims that there is no great natural tolerance that exists between the two races. </p>
<p>Of course, we can probably guess how they would react to a white Christian woman.</p>
<p>What makes you believe Obama is a reformed Muslim? He could just as well be a reformed Catholic, as he attend a parochial school for as long as he did a non-religious public school------2 years.</p>
<p>FYI-CNN, and others, investegated the issue.</p>
<p>“This is a public school. We don’t focus on religion,” Hardi Priyono, deputy headmaster of the Basuki school, told Vause. "In our daily lives, we try to respect religion, but we don’t give preferential treatment’</p>
<p>“It’s not (an) Islamic school. It’s general,” Winadijanto said. “There is a lot of Christians, Buddhists, also Confucian. … So that’s a mixed school.”</p>
<p>I used the word “reformed” because of the conotation of my previous paragraph, certainly not because I think he is reformed. That’s why I put it in parenthesis.</p>
<p>Hard to put across your feelings in type.</p>
<p>BTW - I like Obama and may vote for him if he is the dem nominee in the general election - so my post was strictly out of curiosity as to - if what was posted in the previous post (#61) would actually be the reaction of the Islamic people.</p>
<p>I certainly hope it would… I hate the path we seem to be irretrievably going down :(</p>
<p>One of my coworkers is a Pakistani Muslim. He said that there are some Muslims who believe that if a child is born to Muslim parent(s), then the child is Muslim and to be anything else makes him/her an apostate.</p>
<p>The president does not work alone. How do people feel about the ability of the candidates to get together a steller team, unlike the current president, who recycled his father’s advisors? Does anyone see either Democratic candidate utilizing the strengths within the party to the best advantage for the country? How about the potential vice presidential candidate?</p>
<p>"I read this article and it made me pause. I wonder if this is true. Considering that much of the killing going on, not only in Iraq, but in other parts of the world (Africa comes to mind) is being done in the name of religion, with different sects of Islam fighting each other, and Muslim hate of anything non-Islamic (Jewish faith and Christianity), would a “reformed” Muslim who now practices the Christian faith be someone they would admire or despise?</p>
<p>Would it make them feel that, by embracing the religion of infidels, he has turned his back on the Muslim faith?"</p>
<p>This, and a similar point raised by FundingFather in post #84 reflect my same thoughts on the question of how Obama would be viewed in the “Muslim world”.</p>
<p>(Well, being that if Ron Paul doesn’t get the nomination or run as an Independent I would support Obama, I feel qualified to post on this thread…)</p>
<p>We won’t ‘forget’ about Ron Paul, even if he doesn’t run/win, because the movement for reclaiming our country’s principles and our own liberties is far, far greater than Ron Paul or any 1 person.</p>
<p>As for Obama, I too was dazzled when I saw him at the Democratic Convention. I truly believed he had passion and substance. However, once he started his campaign, he seems to have become homogenized and sounding more and more like everyone else. I guess ‘they’ got to him.</p>
<p>I can only hope that the integrity and passion that I believe is buried deep inside of him does surface, if he becomes president.</p>
<p>I think Obama would win in a landslide against McCain the Warmonger (barring any more voting fraud of course). It would be merciless.</p>
<p>Hillary vs McCain would result in a total 50/50 split and it would be ugly.</p>
<p>Hillary vs Ron Paul? Republicans could rest easy…she’s shrewd and she’s smart but not smart enough to stand up to him. He’d find holes in her words and make short work of her. Of course, the public probably wouldn’t notice, though, just like they thought bush won the debates over Gore…</p>
<p>Now Obama vs Ron Paul…THAT would be interesting indeed!</p>
<p>I doubt that “the Muslim world” is any more monolithic in the way it views things than is the Western World. But I suspect that the kind of blind, reflexive hatred that America inspires in some parts of the world would not find additional fuel in the image of a national leader with darkish skin and a name like “Barack Hussein Obama” regardless of his religion. And in terms of “walking the walk” of our stated national ideals, it would likely strike a responsive chord around the world, not just in Muslim areas.</p>
<p>But is America ready to “walk the walk”? Maybe. If so, I’d count that as the greatest accomplishment of George W. Bush, because without him I doubt that Obama (or Clinton) could get elected. After four years of W, it’s just possible. Funny how things work out, isn’t it?</p>
<p>But do you think he would assuage some of that blind, reflexive hatred because he has a name like “Barack Hussein Obama” and has darkish skin?</p>
<p>regarding the likely responsive chord that might be struck because we finally are “walking the walk” - I think it is most likely to resonate in Europe and in the more progressive nations, they’ve been electing women and people not in the “cookie cutter” mold for a long time and probably think we are horribly backward that all our presidents have been singularly white, Christian men.</p>
<p>I am greatful for this dialogue. I feel we are lucky to have 2 strong candidates to choose from-and I am still undecided-and I have to vote next Tuesday. One thing that is nagging at me is the fact that my brother and his family are registered Rep., and they have the option to vote for a Dem.candidate in CA-go figure why the dnC allows for that…-and they plan not to vote for a Rep. candidate but for a Dem candidate!..thinking that will help their Rep. candidate in the General in Nov…personally I do not find that ethical…the other thing that is nagging at me is the possibility of votes in the General election not being counted, or electronically changed. It seems imperative that the votes be counted-and we need to get something in place to accomplish that…it may require hand counting the votes-and if so- we need to give the necessary time to accomplish that.</p>
<p>That is incorrect. California does not have an open primary; it was struck down as unconstitutional by the Supremes in 2000. A person regsistered as an Independent (“Decline to State” in legalese), may vote in the Dem or Rep primary if party rules allow, but a registered rep or dem cannot vote in the other’s pimary without re-registering first (14 days prior to the election).</p>
<p>back to regularly scheduled programming. :)</p>
<p>“I realize that Obama is a less well-known quantity. Those of us supporting him are taking a risk. But he inspires in a way I have never seen before. 10000 people at a rally today in Denver. Delirious crowds wherever he goes. Making people dare to dream of greatness. Moving previously private citizens (Caroline Kennedy) to speak from their heart and to join with him to fulfill the promise of greatness that we all, in some measure, still believe in.”</p>
<p>Leaders like Obama only come once in a generation. I certainly hope we do not miss this opportunity by voting for the same “old thing.”</p>
<p>–“I think Obama would win in a landslide against McCain the Warmonger (barring any more voting fraud of course).–” </p>
<p>^^Totally. I’m thrilled that the Repubs seem so dazzled by McCain. A full generation plus, between him and Obama. O would take the vast majority of voters below 30 but a significant majority as well of those over 30. A number of elderly voters really like O and are perceptive, generous enough to understand that the future belongs to the young, and that the younger among us need to accept the mantle of leadership.</p>
<p>I’ve read a lot recently about McCain’s volatility, personal bitterness. In his own way he is a “divider,” though not nearly as profoundly as a few of the main player Repubs.</p>
<p>In addition to having vision, passion, energy, O is a charmer. People like to follow the lead of pleasant people. It’s just a fact of life. McCain may not have as many negatives as Hillary does, but he has far more than O has.</p>
<p>“After 30 years in government, serving under five Presidents of both parties and chairing two non-partisan commissions on the Public Service, I have been reluctant to engage in political campaigns. The time has come to overcome that reluctance,” Mr. Volcker said in a statement today. “However, it is not the current turmoil in markets or the economic uncertainties that have impelled my decision. Rather, it is the breadth and depth of challenges that face our nation at home and abroad. Those challenges demand a new leadership and a fresh approach.”</p>