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Original Story:
Barack Obama’s half-brother, Malik Obama, surfaced the other day in a Jerusalem Post article being quoted as contradicting the claims of Obama’s new anti-smear website. There is discrepancy which is becoming a story not being covered by most media outlets.
Here’s how it breaks down, on Obama’s new anti-smear website, the following is stated:
The truth about Barack Obama’s faith
Lie:
Barack Obama is a Muslim.Truth:
Senator Obama has never been a Muslim, was not raised as a Muslim, and is a committed Christian.
However, in the recent article quoting Malik Obama, reported from israelinsider:
“Barack Obama’s half brother Malik said Thursday that if elected his brother will be a good president for the Jewish people, despite his Muslim background. In an interview with Army Radio he expressed a special salutation from the Obamas of Kenya.”
Malik Obama also provided this photo from when they met back in the 1980s:
Malik holds a photo of Obama and him in Muslim dress, reportedly when the two first met in 1985
More from the israelinsider report:
Apparently the Obamas of Kenya have been reading those scurrilous emails to which Barack likes to refer, because they have no doubt — contrary to the claims of the Obama campaign, that the presidential candidate was raised a Moslem. They take that as a given.
The Obama brothers’ father, a senior economist for the Kenyan government who studied at Harvard University, died in car crash in 1982. He left six sons and a daughter. All of his children - except Malik — live in Britain or the United States. Malik and Barack met in 1985 in the US.
“He was best man at my wedding and I was best man at his,” said Malik in a 2004 interview with an AP reporter. Their paternal grandfather, Onyango Hussein Obama, was one of the first Muslim converts in Nyangoma-Kogelo, Malik said.”
In a remarkable denial issued last November that still stands on the official campaign website, Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs issued a statement explaining that “Senator Obama has never been a Muslim, was not raised as a Muslim, and is a committed Christian.”
Apparently Malik Obama, himself a Muslim, had not read the press release.
I am not making any conclusions from this information nor do I have a motive for reporting it other than it seems that Obama is denying some of his Muslim background. Not that he’s been a practicing Muslim but that he is denying that he’s ever had ties to his father’s Muslim faith.
I just can’t understand why his campaign is denying each and every aspect of his childhood and upbringing when it comes to his faith.
Draw your own conclusions, just reporting the facts on this.
Major Update
Had to update this and bump it back to the top since now Malik Obama has since clarified what he said. Furthermore, the Jerusalem Post article was apparantly not quoting him directly.
The story on that from Political Punch:
It was a sloppy paraphrase that emerged as false evidence.
Malik Obama, the older half brother of Sen. Barack Obama, D-Illinois, gave a brief interview to Israeli Army Radio.
The Jerusalem Post listened to the interview, apparently, and produced a story saying “Malik Obama says his brother will be good president for the Jews. Barack Obama’s half brother Malik said Thursday that if elected his brother will be a good president for the Jewish people, despite his Muslim background.”
Nowhere is Malik quoted.
The Jerusalem Post has since taken the story down of its website, but you can see a cached version HERE.
Conservatives jumped on the Jerusalem Post’s paraphrase that Malik said Obama “will be a good president for the Jewish people, despite his Muslim background” as some sort of evidence that Malik was saying Obama was raised a Muslim, which the campaign says he was not.
This suspicion reared its head in Israeli blogs and the blogs of supporters of Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-NY, and Sean Hannity fan sites and Free Republic and conservative blogs.
ABC News got a hold of the audio of Malik’s interview with Israel Army Radio, and Malik said nothing of the kind.
You can’t hear the questions but whatever the interviewer asked about Obama’s father’s Muslim heritage, or the Muslim minority in Kenya, Malik said, “I don’t think that’s in any way going to be something to worry about. I myself am not speaking for him. But we are here, we love people in general. People love us. I myself love people who love me. You know, so, and I think it’s mutual. I can’t go in terms of Israel and Kenya and America, and so forth, you know, but based on what else I’ve heard him say and what I know of him as an individual, I don’t think Israel should worry too much, you know, about the connection. Because, I am a Muslim myself, and I don’t think that my being a Muslim has got anything to do with my brother being the President of the United States.â€
It may be that the Israeli Army Radio interviewer asked about Obama having a “Muslim background.” But even if the interviewer did, Malik did not say that or come close to saying that.
It could be that the interviewer used the phrase, and Malik interpreted that in a way that squares with the Obama campaign’s story — that Obama’s father was a largely secular man born Muslim. We don’t know.
But nowhere in there does Malik expressly say anything about Obama having a Muslim background.
Listen to Malik’s answers in the interview:
In the interest of the truth, I had to update this story. This is to anyone accusing me of personal bias in the comments section. I just want to post stories about the campaign as it develops. Since the original Malik Obama story came out, he apparantly went back on the record to correct the paraphrase of his quote. Clearly the Jerusalem Post, which is there the “Muslim background” quote originated from, either screwed up it’s paraphrasing or had some ulterior motive.
I want to present the facts, untarnished by any bias, which is why I update the story and posted the new information. I don’t really like any candidate in this election so I have no problem being objective.
(15 votes, average: 3 out of 5)
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Please note the attire is traditional African dress and IS NOT necessarily any indication of his being a Muslim or being raised in the Muslim faith. I’d recommend you look deeper and do more research before publishing this with the implication that his website is not telling the truth. This is a backhanded smear..
“Muslim background” … so that makes him one ? Well I have whites and others in my ancestry does that make me white ?
Shame on you !!!!
Bob, I’m not trying to smear Obama, I’m just reporting that his half-brother is disputing what is on Obama’s site and has done so publicly in an interview.
Please, don’t accuse me or this site of smearing Obama simply because I posted some a news story.
I didn’t call the attire Muslim, his half-brother Malik did and it was quoted in the israelinsider article, I don’t know if it’s Muslim or African, I’m just reporting the story and what his half-brother said.
You can either dispute what Malik Obama says or what Barack Obama says, I’m just reporting what they’re both saying.
Bob Williams,
“Muslim background … so that makes him one ? Well I have whites and others in my ancestry does that make me white ?”
This is a ridiculous correlation. Being a muslim is a religion, race is a trait. In answer to your question, yes, you are partially white. Deal with it, or not, it’s fact.
In answer to your other question, no, being raised Muslim does not exactly mean that they are Muslim, the article was just saying that Obama was involved in the Muslim religion as a child and that his site denies these facts. Maybe you should read the article a little further, as that was Obama’s brother giving the news/information, not Nate. He is simply posting the story on this page, and since it is Obama’s brother, there does indeed seem to be a little credibility there.
Nate, from almost all the articles you have posted in the past, I know you to be someone who tries to report all news as sincerely and objectively as possible.
This one however, although written in the same manner, isn’t as flawlessly objective.
It is VERY easy to infer what is written from the facts stated, but it’s not absolutely concrete. The fact that he has family members who were Muslim and the fact that his brother offhandedly stated that he had a Muslim background may seem to negate the statement “he was not raised as a Muslim”, but it’s not airtight- it’s not entirely unfeasible that the claims of both the website and his family were made reasonably.
As for the case itself, I would think that they’re denying his Muslim connections because of bad press image. I believe I saw a poll recently that stated that a troubling amount of people actually still believe he is Muslim just from hearing his middle name. The nation already gave him a lot of heat over Rev. Wright as it is- if the fact that he had Muslim ties ever came into play, it’d obviously be a huge blow to his campaign. It makes sense that he’d deny his Muslim ties in that light.
However, that’s also very sad, because it means he panders to public image (as much as he denies it). First he leaves his church because of political pressure as opposed to personal conviction, and now he denies politically inconvenient ties to family members. As a man who claims to have the ability to stand up and do what’s right even facing great adversity, he shouldn’t act in such a questionable and somewhat underhanded manner. He’d be infinitely more respectable if he bit the bullet, admitted these things even at the cost of votes, and lived up to his claims of integrity.
Then again, he’s a politician.
Well I’m honestly not trying to infer anything, just bringing up the questions raised by his half-brother.
I just attempted to give Barack’s statement and his half-brother’s statement, you can decide and take what you want from it.
Nate, I’m not too sure that his brother is trying to allude to some secret religion Obama is trying to hide from the public. Semitic peoples generally define themselves as a “muslim†or a “jew†based upon their lineage, not upon their religious beliefs. Of course, if you are raised in that environment, then your religious beliefs are likely linked with your semitic ancestory, but that’s not neccessarily the case, even in those circumstances.
Also, keep in mind that by this definition almost anyone who is African-American should be considered muslim, as well. Most Saharran and Sub-Saharran nations in Africa are predominantly muslim, with the notable exception of Ethiopia, which is Orthodox Christian (not much different), so if their lineage lies in these lands, are they, too, Muslim?
The reason that African-Americans don’t generally have surnames like “Obama†is because their families almost invariably adopted the slave-names given to them by their masters.
you decide is the blog I read to keep up with the elections, but this article is not up to the usual standard. This is not objective. His half brother clearly hasnt said obama is a muslim, but that he has a muslim background, and trying to play on a fact that isnt there is not in the spirit of fair reporting
but generally (for the objective bits of it) love the site
“I believe I saw a poll recently that stated that a troubling amount of people actually still believe he is Muslim just from hearing his middle name.” Grey, the feedback I’ve seen agrees with you here, except that these people find his first and last name as troubling as his middle name. In fact, they associate the first and last with Muslim, they associate the middle with terrorists.
Nate, you did right posting this. I saw the article at http://web.israelinsider....../12918.htm and I thought if this had been about McCain or Hillary it would have been the lead story on every network. More than the statement by the brother, it alerted me to many more siblings of Obama that we have not seen or heard from, unlike his sister in Hawaii who has been very vocal in her support of her brother. Where is the rest of them? Who are they, and what do they do? Do they support Obama as well? Again, if this had been about McCain………..
Nate is just reporting the news, so lay off him. If you have a problem with the story then call Malik Obama. Personally I don’t care if he was raised Muslim or not, it’s his tax and spend liberal policies that scare the crap out of me.
Well said Stalin, you’ve echoed my thoughts precisely.
I also agree with Babs, that Obama is given a bizarre amount latitude in his relationships. Reverend Wright, Tony Rezko, Bill Ayers, etc. It really is like the Obama Jedi Mind Trick video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3_jh2dO78U). He just makes a few statements and everyone nods and says, ‘oh, well that makes perfect sense…’. I predict that if this news starts causing problems, Obama will make a speech and almost everyone will just let him off without question.
Josh, I never stated that Malik claimed Barack to be a Muslim, just that he says Barack has a “Muslim background” as you quoted, that’s all.
I was expecting some backlash just for posting this since it’s not a subject anyone is allowed to talk about.
Nobody is claiming that Barack is a Muslim, I’m just reporting on what his half-brother is saying which seems to contradict some of Barack’s claims, nothing more.
Personally I don’t care if he was or wasn’t raised Muslim, I’m just wondering why his family seems to acknowledge some kind of “Muslim background” but Barack does not. Look, maybe his half-brother is lying, I don’t know, but I felt it was worth reporting since no media outlet is touching it for this very reason.
Clearly it’s a topic of discussion…
In its truest, most basic sense Muslim means “One who submits to God.” In this light many Muslim’s consider Jesus and other deeply spiritual religious persons with other specific beliefs “Muslim.” Just some food for thought..
I agree with Stalin though…this really isn’t important.
It doesn’t matter to me whether or not he’s a muslim (nor what “Muslim” means), it only matters to me that he continues to lie to the American voters. It doesn’t matter if we find he lies over this or Wright, or the brand of cereal he had for breakfast. It only matters that he seems to lie in order to change his identity, and that’s a problem.
I don’t see any percentage in it for his brother to lie. And I’d still like to know why his other siblings have not even been interviewed, much less vetted.
I don’t see any particular reason to think he’s lying. Isn’t the Muslim religion often viewed like the Jewish religion, in that it is considered by some to be simultaneously a cultural heritage and a religion?
My roommate tells people he’s Jewish, and he tells people he’s an Atheist too. I never considered that he must be lying half of the time.
No reason, IndiMinded? Well, let’s see. His website says, and I’m quoting Nate who has also quoted his fight the smears website:
“Senator Obama has never been a Muslim, was not raised as a Muslim, and is a committed Christian.”
His brother says otherwise.
One of them is lying.
I think that if you look at that website quote in context
“Senator Obama has never been a Muslim, was not raised as a Muslim, and is a committed Christian.†you can fairly assess that it is specifically targeted to address the Muslim faith. If there is some ambiguity in the word “Muslim” and what it means to be Muslim - this may be cause for confusion.
To continue the comparison I made last entry, if someone attempted to engage my roommate in a religious discussion and then asked him “So I must ask you, are you Jewish?” and he answers “No I am not Jewish, I am an atheist” is my roommate lying to the person he is speaking with? It’s true he’s an atheist. Wouldn’t he be lying to answer differently and say “Yes, I’m Jewish” when he doesn’t believe any of the tenets of the Jewish faith?
Would he be lying to say “I have never been Jewish, I was not raised Jewish, and I am certainly an atheist!” If these things are all true? These are all things which can simultaneously be both true and false at once, depending on the context of the word “Jewish”.
Obviously I don’t know the full truth behind this, but there doesn’t seem to be much substance in this article either. It just seems to me like we’re dealing with ambiguous terms that hold multiple meanings. Maybe the question is too complicated to be answered with a simple “yes” or “no”. But trying to give complicated answers to questions has gotten Obama in trouble a few times in this election already, as has uncertainty about his religious background. I guess I wouldn’t blame him if he chose to define “Muslim” by a certain context and stuck with that definition.
I suppose his reluctance to give that complicated answer may come back to bite him though.
Nate, you’re doing fine! Don’t let anyone get you down
.
Bob Williams, I totally agree with your first statment. No matter what anyone says Obama knows how he was raised better than anyone else. This is his half brother, if I remember correctly Obama was raised with another sylbing his sister, so doesn’t that make this story flawed because they weren’t raised together? I don’t know please correct me if i’m wrong.
Also those aren’t muslim clothes people, they are traditional African clothes, do muslims even have a pair of clothes that are classified as muslim clothes?
Facts and Truths are somthing people!!!!!!
I also personally like the sight visit it if you get a chance. http://www.fightthesmear.com
Victor Draine
Oh come on folks, if it quacks like a duck, walks like a duck, and looks like a duck, (obama in Muslim attire) IT IS A DUCK. In this case I’m speaking of Obama’s Muslim heritage. I guess Hamas DID know something that Americans didn’t when they endorsed him.
http://www.worldnetdaily......geId=61631
Nate, I wasn’t saying that you personally were insinuating anything with this posting, just offering my opinion on the matter.
I don’t think that it’s a matter of him lying to the American people at all. What people have to look at is the difference in idealogue surrounding the religious monikers that one may retain. In America, the majority of the people are Christian Protestants, or at least share the Christian idealogue as it relates to religious monikers. Most non-Catholic Christians, and correct me if I’m wrong, believe that for one to be a “Christian”, that particular person must become one of his or her own avail. In the Semitic world, it is almost invariably the exact opposite. While it is true that one may convert to Judaism or Islam, it’s not the same thing as being a born Jew or Muslim.
When Obama’s half brother refers to him as having “muslim background” he is essentially saying that he has Muslim roots. The problem, and where Obama finds himself having to be the most careful, is making that separation of terminology to the majority of Americans. Obama is simply trying to tell people that he doesn’t subscribe to muslim beliefs so that everyone (hopefully) understands it. He’s not trying to concoct some lie to fool the American people, and he’s not trying to cover up his heritage, either.
All of this aside, I find it very interesting that Obama was raised by an atheist step-father and non-religous mother, yet he found Jesus right before his political career kick started. That’s a pretty radical change from how he was raised. The large majority of children follow in their parents footsteps when it comes to religion. Could Christianity just be another bullet point on his presidential resume? I wouldn’t put it past him, since he has wanted to be president since kindergarten.
It’s comforting to hear you say he found jesus just before kickstarting his political career. Keep in mind, at 47 that doesn’t constitute half his life, but it’s not far off either.
Some critics worry over Obama’s lack of experience, but they also complain he’s been sitting in those pews of Trinity church for 20+ years listening to the Reverend Wright.
So if what you say is true, he has significantly more experience in politics than I realized.
Islamic Law Does Not Apply to Obama — He Is A US Citizen By Birth
While Muslims may believe Obama was “born” a Muslim because his father had been a Muslim before rejecting it, Obama was born in the United States of America where no one is “born” a specific religion. In the United States of America people are allowed to choose whether to have a religion, a founding principle of our country.
http://www.chicagotribune.....4665.story
JAKARTA, Indonesia - - When Barack Obama was a boy here, he studied for three years at a religious school and prayed four times a day.
“It was a Roman Catholic school. There, Obama was registered as student No. 203. “Yes, he prayed, because all the students here had to pray in the Catholic way– `in the name of the Father, [Son] and the Holy Spirit,” recalled Obama’s 1st-grade teacher, Israella Pareira Darmawan.”
“When he was at a public school for a year, he learned about Islam.”
Obama was back in Hawaii from the 5th grade until graduation from high school. Obama’s mother grew-up in the 60s and like many children of the 60s, she rejected “organized” religion. People that knew her have used the term “flower child.”
Stalin and Indiminded,
I have been eluding to this exact point in another article posted on this board.
It if really is true that Obama did not hear any of the anti-’whatever you want to call them’ sermons at Trinity church, then I would have to assume one of two things that do not bode well for Obama.
One, we have already covered, that he agrees with these sermons.
The other is that he simply never went to church and is only using Trinity church as something to appease the Christian community.
On the subject of Obama’s membership at Trinity, I have read several articles by “locals” in Chicago who tracked Obama from his arrival in Chicago. The central consensus among them was that when trying to “organize” the community, as was his job, he met with resistance because he was not affiliated with a Christian faith, was in fact openly atheist. Reportedly, he joined that church to lend legitimacy to his job in that older citizens in the community were more welcoming to him and more inclined to participate in his “organization” efforts if they felt he was “christian”.
Well looky here. Looks like the Obama camp has become paranoid about him having a Muslim background….
MUSLIMS BARRED FROM PICTURE AT OBAMA EVENT!
http://www.politico.com/n.....11168.html
The large majority of children follow in their parents footsteps when it comes to religion. Could Christianity just be another bullet point on his presidential resume?
Of course there are many qualified polticians in the US who are atheist. The problem is that nobody votes for an atheist beceause they have no values etc. etc.
I especially find it interesting that the people who claim to be pro-life, are the ones that are pro guns, pro capitol punishment and most important Pro War.
But just as many other things, conservatives say one thing and do something else.
Remember, George Bush?
http://www.youtube.com/wa.....X-FiXTgKFo
Sorry nate for going a little offtopic
Frank
You want contradictions? You have inspired me to find this email that I received a few months ago:
23 way to be a good liberal:
1. You have to be against capital punishment, but support abortion.
2. You have to believe that businesses creates oppression and
governments create prosperity.
3. You have to believe that guns in the handsof law-abiding Americans are more of a threat than U. S. nuclear weapons
technology in the hands of Chinese and North Korean communists.
4. You have to believe that there was no art before Federal funding.
5. You have to believe that global temperatures are less affected by documented cyclical changes in the
earth’s climate and more affected by soccer moms driving SUV’s.
6. You have to believe that gender roles are artificial but being homosexual is natural.
7. You have to believe that the AIDS virus is spread by a lack of Federal funding.
8. You have to believe that the same teacher who can’t teach fourth graders how to read is some how qualified to teach those same kids about sex education.
9. You have to believe that hunters don’t care about nature, but loony activists who have never been outside San Francisco do.
10. You have to believe that self-esteem is more important than actually doing something to earn it.
11. You have to believe that Mel Gibson spent $25 million of his own money to make “The Passion of the Christ” for
financial gain only.
12. You have to believe the NRA is bad because it supports certain parts of the Constitution, while the ACLU is good
because it supports certain parts of the Constitution.
13. You have to believe that taxes are too low, but ATM fees are too high.
14. You have to believe that Margaret Sanger and Gloria Steinem are more important to American history than Thomas
Jefferson and Alexander Graham Bell.
15. You have to believe that standardized tests are racist, but racial quotas and set-asides are not.
16. You have to believe that Hillary Clinton is normal and a very nice person.
17. You have to believe that the only reason socialism hasn’t worked anywhere it’s been tried is because the right people haven’t been in charge.
18. You have to believe Conservatives telling the truth belong in jail, but a liar and a sex offender belonged in the White House.
19. You have to believe that parades displaying people in drag, transvestites and acts of bestiality should be constitutionally protected but manger scenes at Christmas should be illegal.
20. You have to believe that illegal Democratic Party funding from the Chinese Government is somehow in
the best interest of the United States .
21. You have to believe that this message is a part of a vast right wing conspiracy.
22. You have to believe that it’s mandatory to give Federal workers the day off on Christmas Day but it’s not okay to say “Merry Christmas.”
23. You think that Barack Obama belonging to a black-only church whose minister preaches “unabashed afrocentrism”
is OK because he’s for “change”.
Pigeon-holing and stereo-typing coming from both sides. Name-calling and self-righteousness from one to the next. It’s ugly in here.
Is it really possible to think all “liberals” have it figured out? That all “conservative” ideas are right? You pick your neatly catagorized side, let the definition tell you what’s right and wrong and condemn those who can’t buy into all your pre-packaged ideals?
Your conservative vs. liberal battle is ridiculous. It’s not impossible or uncommon to have ideals that will fit into one, then the other, and maybe both catagories. What does all the labeling prove? Does it make it easier for you to know who you are? Or does it make it easier to stereotype someone else?
Whobody,
Calm down guy. I said it was an email that I got, I didn’t write it. If I had more time I would improve on it a bit. I’m not saying everyone fits into a nice little box, because that is ridiculous. I just thought it was funny…
Lol Stalin,
First off all, Stop putting liberals and communists on the same label. Liberal derives form Liberty, you know Freedom. That includes personal freedom. 90% of the liberals are pro kapitalism and pro free market. But in contrary to the right wing, the think that the society should be protected when the market doenst do its job. Like Healthcare for example.
Second, a list against conservatives can be made pretty easily.
Lets give it a try:
24 way to be a good conservative:
1. You have to be pro life and support capitol punishment, guns and wars
2. You have to believe that businesses do their job beceause they they like to serve society. Profit comes second.
(i study business and i (and many liberals) dont believe in your ‘oppression’ accusation so that 2nd statement is false)
3. You have to believe that a society where everybody carries a gun around is a safe society.
4. You have to believe that threatening other countrys with war and telling them how to live makes you safer
5. You have to believe that anyone who doesnt agree with you must be an unpatriotic liberal communist who is trying the make the US more un safe
6. You have to believe that Fox News knows more about the climate then scientists.
7. (talking about scientists) You have to believe that the earth is 4000 years old and Adam and Eve where the first to live here
8. You have to believe that jesus cares more about low taxes and teenagers not having sex, then poverty and healthcare.
9. You have to believe that if you educate your teenage hormone driven children about sex beceause then they will start doing it. So its best not to tell them anything.
10. You have to believe that people are poor beceause they are lazy and therefore shouldnt be given a helping hand
11. You have to believe that liberal, communists and environmentalists have the same agenda. Otherwise you would have to read (very though for the uneducated) about their (very different) views and the reason they have those views.
12. You have to choose the NRA if the question is asked if youd rather support The NRA who supports gun-owning or the ACLU who fight for your personal freedom.
13. You have to believe that increase of taxes is always bad. Even if that means you leave the next generations with a dept.
14. You have to believe that overspending is ok, as long as your a republican and your lowering the taxes at the same time.
15. You have to believe that calling innocent people who seek a better future for their children and who are willing to work hard for it, illegal aliens is very normal.
16. You have to believe that George W Bush was good for America
17. You have to believe that lying to your country about someone you had sex with is much more terrible then lying to your country so that you can start a war with thousands of innocent dead people as a consequence.
18. You have to believe that their is no difference between Hamas, Hezbollah and Al Qaida, and that they hate the USA beceause their free and prosporous.
19. You have to believe that conservatism is the way to go even though they have managed to sent every young american generation into a dumb war.
20.. You have to believe that the US is the home of the free as long as you behave the way the church says you should.
21. You have to believe that spending 800 billion on defence every year is completely okay. Even if there are 40 million people waking up in povery everyday.
22. You have to believe that in a democracy the one with 50,456,002 votes should win in stead of the guy with 50,999,897 votes.
23. You have to believe that its okay for a conservative to hang around with freaks and flipflop on issues but not for the liberal.
24. You have to believe that torturing people is okay
25. You have to support the patriot act beceause it makes the you feel safer.
“Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both”
24. You have to not respond to any of these arguments since im just a crazy left european communist liberal treehugger who doesnt understand anything about the complex world the US people have to live in.
If i even get a response at all beceause some things sound anti american even i have sad many times that im not being anti american. Im being critical.
Frank,
‘Of course there are many qualified polticians in the US who are atheist. The problem is that nobody votes for an atheist beceause they have no values etc. etc. ”
That is a bunch of baloney. =P Most atheists that I know do indeed have values, they just don’t have faith that an unknown force is sitting above their heads ready to enforce and judge upon actions against those values.
It may be that the stereotype that is put on atheists by a large population of the US is that they do not have values but don’t put it out there like it’s a fact.
Julie,
You can put all the articles out that you want. The fact is that he studied in a Muslim school, and did indeed go to places of worship. That is what everyone is harping on. His website says that he absolutely has no connection to the Muslim religion, in which he indeed has. It is the lie, not the fact that he was a small part of it during his young life.
Whobody and Stalin,
I see your nuance and your both right. My point is just to show that a list can be made for every party you dont like. No offence
Jeremy,
Dont get me wrong, i completely agree with you about atheism. It was cynical
“Of course there are many qualified polticians in the US who are atheist. The problem is that nobody votes for an atheist beceause they have no values etc. etc.”
Frank, I’ll agree with you here. I, too, believe that there are many great politicians who are, in all reality, atheists. In America, however, there’s this “Red Scare” type attitude toward Atheism, at least on the level of national politics. No politician would survive here if he/she were to be labeled an atheist. If I had to guess, I’d say about half of all the politicians in Washington are faking it, and I’d say the worst culprits are likely the Republicans, since that tends to be more of an issue with them. I personally could care less what a politician’s religion is, it’s not an issue for me, so long as they’re not trying to ram it down my throat I could care less.
It comes from a lack of separation of morality and spirituality in the minds of many people all around the world. It is completely understandable, however. If someone comes from a very religious background, it is likely that their moral development was linked with their spiritual education, thus it becomes difficult to make the distinction between morality and spirituality. My parents never impressed their religion upon me, although my Father is Catholic and my Mother is a Baptist. They still taught me the difference between right and wrong, and all of the other things that make up a general modicum of morality.
THIS IS STALE NEWS!!!
People are fed up with useless issues like this.Don’t keep taking the American people to be so stupid.Be reasonable when you have articles to publish.Don’t just publish thrash because there is what you call freedom of press or expression.People should learn from what you publish and not instead make people fools.
I live in Senegal.I am a Christian.I have many of this ‘BooBools’ (dress)as we call it here,that Obama is wearing in that foto.I have attended the Prayer services at the mosque 5 times since I was born but That in No way has ever made me muslim .I have sisters that are Muslim but that doesn’t make my family Muslims?Please don’t be stupid.
Look let me warn you all Obama will not be president but he WILL BE IF you keep attacking him with USELESS informations.
God Bless America
God bless the s.Cameroons.
Does anyone know what was actually said by his half brother? Personally speaking, I think it would add a lot more credulity to a story claiming that his brother has said certain things if it actually quoted him as saying something, instead of passing his words down in a vaguely rephrased second hand fashion.
His half brother is a good source, and obviously his message could have some implications. But it’s hard to read much into his message without knowing what he actually said - it becomes like a game of “telephone”. It’s hard to know how to read that.
Muslim Background - Would his half brother, who does not live anywhere near Obama, be refering to the fact that his father was born Muslim?
My background has Native American Indian, white and African American. However, all people see whey they see me is AA. The work background is subjective at best and does not represent how he waw raised nor what his religious beliefs are.
To interview and take seriously the word of a man who barely knows Barack is irresponsible. This looks more like an attempt for attention on Malik’s part.
Spammers Gain From Barack Obama
http://www.webhostdir.com.....p?id=26325
Conservative girl same on you, and the rest of you nuts who think Obama is a muslim. And conservative girl for you to claim to be conservative your view’s don’t make up at all. Speaking of a duck walking and quacking you conservatives can talk the talk, but you don’t seem able to walk the walk. What more do you want the man to do, sign his name on a piece of paper in blood?
Victor Draine
Woah,, I have seemed to miss alot lately. Obama will never get rid of the Muslim Image. Today it came out that at two speeches he gave his campaign and himself discriminated against Muslims, so he would not be seen around them. He is trying to distance himself away from this as far as he can, but they funny thing is with Obama, he has so much dirt and it never stops coming up that he can never really distance himself from it.
Stalin, Love the list.
Frank, Do not like yours.
Yeah well that’s pretty crumby isn’t it? I guess it’s all about word association for both the candidates this election, isn’t it? McCain is avoiding being seen with Bush like the plague, because he knows his biggest vulnerability is the possibility is that when people here “McCain” they’ll think “Bush”. McCain? Bush! McCain? Bush! McCain? Bush! That’s the weak spot, and he’s his opponent clearly knows it. It’s like an ugly political Marco polo.
Likewise Obama knows that if people hear “Obama” and think “Muslim”, he could lose big. “Obama? Muslim! Obama? Muslim!” Oh yeah he’s in trouble. So he’s being criticized on the one hand for avoiding muslims. From the other side John McCain has got people one-uping matters chanting “Obama? Hammas! Obama? Hammas! Obama? Hammas!” and personally I think that’s just lovely. It doesn’t get much uglier than that, folks.
And both of these guys said they wanted to get above petty politics and partisan infighting. I wonder if they’re letting us down, or if they were just counting on a more attentive voting base.
Props to Stalin, Babs, IndiMinded, and Nate!
Osama’s…pardon me..Obama’s background is like swiss cheese, it’s full of holes and it stinks! Obama is sympathetic to muslims (therefore cannot be trusted with the control of our country) and he has some crazy, racist, black power wife. I personally don’t want my president be subjected every night to that kind of thinking. Now that his half brother is saying this about Obama’s past, just confirms my fears that Obama actually has a chance of being our president! I’m moving to Canada if he is elected…I would rather live with the French Socialists (Canadians) than live under his ways of “take more of my tax money to help people that WON’T help themselves”…Obama is the perfect example of “What you don’t want as a president”
If this was McCain it would be all over the news? Not! the reason why this isn’t all over the place is most likely because
there is nothing here. All the Obama haters who have a strong desire to believe or want to have a reason to hate are getting excited over something which doesn’t even have what the Brother allegedly said. I can cut and paste a few words here or there and then give my OWN spin on anything.
Like Indiminded has suggested. Where is the actual Interview?
Does anyone find it suspicious that we are not provided the actual quote or interview so we can judge for ourselves?
What does this say about everyone who are happy with this story as evidence? I can provide evidence of Big Foot and Loch ness monster that is better then this! No one skeptical of this story at all even though it is hand me down info? I guess not. If you hate someone you don’t care where negative story comes from huh?
If the main stream decided to take this and run with this with OUT having the actual quote do you know how damaging it would be if someone gets the WHOLE QUOTE and find out that it is was very WILDLY taken out of context? Everyone would be blammed for Brackaphobia propganda. And that would do nothing but help boost his rating and numbers.
Jews in African Garb notice how some of them in the video if you look closely have Turbans on. But using Conservative Girls logic. Walk like a duck then it’s a duck. Well i guess all these Hebrew Israelites(Black Jews) are actually Muslim.
I also guess that the different other religions in India which also wear turbins that are not even remotely close to Muslim are actually Muslim. All of the entire Continent of Africa are actually Muslim too. Because you will find people wearing those types of Garments in every country of the continent. How about the Jews of Ethiopia? Have you seen what they wear?
http://youtube.com/watch?.....re=related
John Steward making fun of Baracknaphobia haha!
http://www.huffingtonpost.....07539.html
The Plagiarism one by Fox news towards the end is really bad. It shows how desperate some can be in an attempt to make a case.
Mr Real,
“just confirms my fears”
The politics of fear has worked on you to i see.
Frank,
What are the politics of fear?
I have heard you say this before, and the GOP is not a part that plays on fear, You always use this and is gross and I hate having to read such a horrible distinction on my party.
O.S.
There are many examples of Politics of fear.
Anytime they don’t get their way they claim a terrorist attack may happen.
New Gingrich just said that the supreme courts decision for the
detainees in getmo might cost us a city.
Same thing with the phone tapping. If we don’t let them do it we are risking another terrorist attack.
Same with Torture. Or as Bush called it The “special procedures” which have gotten information which have prevented a terrorist attack. Therefore if they weren’t allowed to use these procedures a terrorist attack could have happened.
And the War in Iraq. All of that was sold on Sadaam assisting in 911 and a future terrorist attack could happen if we don’t take him out.
If you elect the democrats whey will end the war and guess what A FUTURE TERRORIST ATTACK MAY HAPPEN.
Basically let us do everything we want to do. Or everyone will die.
Even if EVERYTHING they say is true it is still politics of fear.
Did you see what Mr. Real posted
Obama is sensitive to Muslims. I guess this means all Muslims on the whole planet are completely evil and being sympathetic to them will result in guess what? All he says is he will try diplomacy first before military action and this has translated into being sensitive to terrorist. I mean
Mr. Real must be talking about Terrorist who happen to be Muslim. I mean any rational logical person would assume this correct?
Now Obama is weak on terror. Who said that? More playing the fear card. Does not matter if it is true or not. This is the tactic being used.
How about “Hamas endorsed Obama”. This is meant to give the impression that Terrorist want Obama in the White House. When
it could mean that the don’t want the man who says he will be their worse nightmare who is the same man who says he will not even negotiate with an elected part of a government. And the way they have been acting and talking War is top priority. Or maybe they think he is the one who can help resolve the problems in that region. There are many things it can mean other then what they want to lead people to believe. But when you are using Fear tactics the idea of presenting any other argument is non existent
To the wirter of this article…. Just because you have conservative views or whatever it is you dont have to infer to obama as a muslim when that is african clothing.
Dreadsen, didn’t you shoot down your own argument with this?
“Even if EVERYTHING they say is true it is still politics of fear.”
Fear and Fact may both be four letter words, but if they’re accurate, they must be brought out on the table, considered, and dealt with.
I think what we have this year is the politics of fear v. the politics of hope. One is as insulting a label as the other. The politics of fear infers that we should be afraid, and there are many things in this world we SHOULD be afraid of. The politics of hope infers that we play nice and hope everything turns out well. Neither are accurate descriptions.
Omg… What a mess… Let’s stick to the facts Nate
(1) In response to Nate’s reposnse posted June 16th, 2008 at 10:14 P.M.
(Nate) “I’m just reporting that his half-brother is disputing what is on Obama’s site and has done so publicly in an interview.”
(Reality) His half-brother is not disputing what is on Obama’s site. There is no quote DIRECTLY from his half-brother refering to the website; and the article YOU posted states: “Malik Obama, himself a Muslim, had not read the press release.” So you are factually wrong. If you have more of the article you would like to post with ACTUAL QUOTES from his half-brother, please do so.
(Nate) “I didn’t call the attire Muslim, his half-brother Malik did and it was quoted in the israelinsider article, I don’t know if it’s Muslim or African, I’m just reporting the story and what his half-brother said.”
(Reality) Obama’s half-brother NEVER is QUOTED in what you have posted as the Isreal Insider article as saying the attire in the photo is Muslim or African. It is suggested by the ARTICLE WRITER for the Isreal Insider; but NOT by his half-brother.
(Nate) “You can either dispute what Malik Obama says or what Barack Obama says, I’m just reporting what they’re both saying.”
(Reality) Obama’s half-brother is ONLY directly quoted in what you posted as saying the following: “He was best man at my wedding and I was best man at his.” - Malik in a 2004 interview with an AP reporter. Any other use of quotes in what you posted is quoting the Isreal Insider reporter’s suggestions; NOT his half-brother. Again DIRECT QUOTES is the key here Nate.
(2) In response to Nate’s response posted June 17th at 2:58 A.M.
(Nate) “Well I’m honestly not trying to infer anything, just bringing up the questions raised by his half-brother.”
(Reality) Obama’s half-brother NEVER raised a question according to any DIRECT QUOTES from him in what you posted. He made one statement to the AP in 2004.
(3) In response to Nate’s response posted June 17th 2008 at 1:54 P.M.
(Nate) “Josh, I never stated that Malik claimed Barack to be a Muslim, just that he says Barack has a ‘Muslim background’ as you quoted, that’s all.”
(Reality) Obama’s half-brother, as per your post, NEVER is DIRECTLY QUOTED as saying Barack has a “Muslim background” as you put it. For that matter, the Obama website doesn’t even refute him having a “Muslim background” if his half-brother did say so; which he didn’t. Obama’s site says: “Senator Obama has never been a Muslim, was not raised as a Muslim, and is a committed Christian.” Nope, no “Muslim background” confirmed or denied by that.
(Nate) “Nobody is claiming that Barack is a Muslim, I’m just reporting on what his half-brother is saying which seems to contradict some of Barack’s claims, nothing more.”
(Reality) Barack’s half-brother only is DIRECTLY QUOTED in what you posted as saying: “He was best man at my wedding and I was best man at his.†-2004 interview with an AP reporter. Tell me…What did Barack say that “seems to contradict”, as you put it, what that quote says?
(Nate) “I’m just wondering why his family seems to acknowledge some kind of “Muslim background†but Barack does not.”
(Reality) You sure like that word “seems” eh Nate. There is NO DIRECT QUOTE in what you posted supporting the idea that Barack’s “family seems to acknowledge some kind of ‘Muslim background’ but Barack does not”, as you say there Nate.
-CONCLUSION- Either the article you posted on THIS site has it’s quotation marks soooo out of whack that it presents something other than the original article; and in doing so is leading you to make statements that are not supported by the grammer and punctuation structure of the article you posted HERE… Or… You just need to read it more carefully and pay more attention to if you are quoting the person being interviewed (Barack’s half-brother) or quoting the interviewer (The Isreal Insider).
Hint: Claiming the first is a better way out of this mess that has occured due what you POSTED rather that what you DIDN’T post.
Peace, and by the way Obama_And_McCain_Sucks
Travis, me thinks you doth protest too much.
The inferences of the article are clear. Nate has distorted nothing, and if you care to do a google search on the subject you’ll find that he is correct in his analysis, as it is widespread across the internet. In fact, you could have checked your facts a lot quicker than posting this extremely lengthy slam on Nate.
Nate works hard to upkeep this site and keep it free of bias, I think you guys need to cool off. God knows he does a better job than most of the news networks.
The fact is, noone here is going to change anyones mind. I feel it’s almost pointless for either one of these guys to campain. Any person who shares the values of either of these candidates can not be swayed by any argument of the other side.
We have all chosen sides.
Babs my argument was to O.S. about his party as he put it NOT using politics of fear. That was all. So i did not shoot down my own argument in anyway. You actually reinforced my argument to him. My point wasn’t to prove anything to be true or false but only to show the tactic being used which he says didn’t exist. Remember you can present FACTS in a certain way to get a certain message and you can fudge the facts or distort things to get the same message.
And as far as the internet. I can google things on Obama being a Muslim and I found out his Campaign is being funded by Al Queida, He swore into Congress with his Hand on the Quran and he raised to be an Islamic Extremist even going to a Terrorist School. I can not count how many websites which in their way present some type of fact to verify these things.
But usually when something is posted here all of the evidence in right there.
Is there a LEGIT source which has all of the ACTUAL quotes of
Obama’s half Brother? Or the whole interview?
I would think if these existed wouldn’t those sources be here instead of the one posted above which really didn’t have anything?
So far i don’t see anything Wrong in what Travis posted.
Meg
you are right. no one is getting swayed. Those who choose to hate will accept anything from anywhere. But i will admit someone tried to tell me that I shouldn’t vote for McCain because he was involved in some new world order stuff. Even I had to debunk that garbage. I wonder if Obama haters would have done the same thing in the situation.
You need to change the caption on your pictures. What Obama and his brother are wearing are not indicative of anything muslim. Just regular african wear. Obama’s father left him when he was two and went back to Kenya. Obama never at any point lived with his father or that side of his family, he lived with his mother and grandparents who are not muslim, so why would he claim something he didn’t grow up in or learning. his father and the rest of that side of his family might have been muslim but that doesn’t make Obama muslim. I’m christain but i have imediate family members who are muslim. What deos that make me? Still a christian. This is so zenophobic.
Thank for fanning the flames for the right wing nut jobs and extreme Obama haters. At least if you were going to do this sotry you could have done more research.
luvangel330, the caption is from the original story, not my caption or my words. Nobody said Obama is a Muslim because he has Muslim relatives. His half-brother Malik said he has a “Muslim background,” that’s all.
Again, to repeat, this story is reporting what Barack Obama’s half-brother said, not what I think. This is a report on the statements of his half-brother, not my editorializing.
If you want to attack someone, attack his half-brother Malik who made the statement and presented the picture as Muslim dress.
I am just reporting what his brother said, not necessarily endorsing it. So please, don’t attack the messenger.
I’ll keep it shorter this time
(Nate)June 23rd, 2008 at 11:49 P.M.: “His half-brother Malik said he has a ‘Muslim background’, that’s all.”
(Facts as presented) Obama’s half-brother ONLY is DIRECTLY QUOTED as saying “He was best man at my wedding and I was best man at his.†- Malik in a 2004 interview with an AP reporter. Aything other than this is pure speculation/suggestion by the use of HORRIBLE grammer and puntuation by either the Isreal Insider or by the person who posted the article on this site.
(Nate) “If you want to attack someone, attack his half-brother Malik who made the statement and presented the picture as Muslim dress.”
(Facts as presented) Why would I attack Malik for saying that they were the best man in each others weddings? It’s stated as fact as a DIRECT QUOTE above, I have no evidence to the contrary, so I currently accept it. What I AM attacking is “the messenger” which is representing the things the Isreal Insider is quoted as saying to be what Malik is saying. It is not the same thing according to the grammer and punctuation as presented in the article posted here. Either the person who posted the article here or The Isreal Insider presented the photo as Muslim dress. There is NO DIRECT QUOTE from Malik here backing up the suggestion that HE presented it as such.
Other than that, cheers on a good site so far.
Ok, the google search I referred to, I did - again. Here is the original recording of Malik’s words to Israel radio (the origin of the articles. I really liked one statement he made, it sounded SO brother like: “I think he will make a good President if he doesn’t let it go to his head.” *L* Sounds like something one of my siblings would say.
http://a.media.abcnews.co....._audio.mp3
And more articles, maybe this will answer all the questions above and put this puppy to bed:
Associated Press/MSNBC, 2004
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6333496
USA Today (with photo above), 2004
http://www.usatoday.com/n.....tyle_x.htm
British Times (left wing article with more quotes), June 2008 (this one is for the Obama supporters)
http://www.timesonline.co.....187547.ece
http://web.israelinsider....../12918.htm
The story has been updated since Malik Obama came forward to clarify that the paraphrase of his statement was incorrect. I’m not interested in anything but the tr