President Obama has yet to set foot in an American Muslim mosque since being elected. This may have electoral consequences in Michigan and Florida, key swing states for his re-election.
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aziz
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aziz
I formally declared my support for Obama in 2012.
http://blog.beliefnet.com/cityofbrass/2012/02/a-muslim-for-obama.html
If you agree, then donate!
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Mc Kiernan
Was anyone else in the running ?
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aziz
not this cycle, no.
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Matthew
I can’t quite join you, Aziz, but only because I’m not Muslim. I voted for Obama twice last time (once was in the primaries). While the options this time around only seem worse, I will vote for him because I really do support him. Of course, that doesn’t mean I’m a supporter of his failed promises, like the promise to close Guantanamo. Or for his fiscal conservatism. (He is a conservative on fiscal matters, though not as conservative as some or maybe most in Washington. Bernie Sanders is unlikely to run for president anytime soon.*) I support him because we live in a two-party system where voting for third-party candidates is not very realistic. I support him because the last third-party candidate who wasn’t an absurd caricature ran before I was politically aware (against Reagan and Carter). But the limitations of the American, two-party system only make the choice easier. Honestly, I support Obama for all kinds of reasons. Chief is probably his approach to American politics. Though he’s been chastised by some for emphasizing dialogue and consensus building, I think in the long term those are powerful tools that need to brought to Washington. I will also support him because he may be the first American president ever to really understand either Jewish America. He won nearly 80% of the Jewish American vote last time, and I expect, with the available options, that will go up at least slightly this time. (Santorum, the antithesis of anything Jews have ever voted for before, sent out Hannukah cards with a passage from John on them.) Of course, much has been made in the press about Obama’s “Jewish problem.” It is said that Jews don’t like Obama. Funny thing, that’s a perennial media trope that’s never been true before. I see no reason for it now. His handling of the economy (well, really, a situation that couldn’t be “handled” given the political climate) caused Jewish support to drop, but Jewish support dropped less than support among the general electorate. So good luck with this.
*Of course, if Sanders runs, I fully expect him to be attacked as a Zionist, with the term understood to mean “Jew.”
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Mc Kiernan
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aziz
I don’t find Rubio even remotely credible.
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Mc Kiernan
That seems to be a projection. Most of that stuff is from last October and appropriate measures have been taken. see:
http://southfloridadailyblog.blogspot.com/2011/10/librul-fishwrap-herald-defends-marco.html
Right now all I know for sure is, I’m not voting for Santorum.
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Mc Kiernan
Oops, sorry. Didn’t know the link would be that big.
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Mc Kiernan
Okay, the question is:
How can over 20 % of the thermometer (in Red) be represented by a mere $ 20.00 and the rest of the thermometer represents $ 4980.00 US ? Which means each 20 % remaining represents $ 1246.00. Is this strict liberal thinking ?
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aziz
????
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aziz
I came down pretty hard on Obama for the State of the Union address.
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aziz
Photos from President Obama’s secret weekend trip to Afghanistan.
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buzz
Excerpts from President Obama’s acceptance speech for the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo today:
Your Majesties, Your Royal Highnesses, distinguished members of the Norwegian Nobel committee, citizens of America, and citizens of the world:
I receive this honour with deep gratitude and great humility. It is an award that speaks to our highest aspirations – that for all the cruelty and hardship of our world, we are not mere prisoners of fate. Our actions matter, and can bend history in the direction of justice.
And yet I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge the considerable controversy that your generous decision has generated. In part, this is because I am at the beginning, and not the end, of my labours on the world stage…
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aziz
Buzz – I added teh word cloud, and fixed your More tag. Also hope you dont mind but I switched the link to the full transcript to my copy at Beliefnet which were taken from the official white house email.
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aziz
i found this passage in particular the most forward-thinking – and in a sense, the justification for our involvement in Afghanistan:
So part of our challenge is reconciling these two seemingly inreconcilable truths — that war is sometimes necessary, and war at some level is an expression of human folly. Concretely, we must direct our effort to the task that President Kennedy called for long ago. “Let us focus,” he said, “on a more practical, more attainable peace, based not on a sudden revolution in human nature but on a gradual evolution in human institutions.” A gradual evolution of human institutions.
What might this evolution look like? What might these practical steps be?
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Buzz
Counter-Argument to the Bush doctrine (which is precisely why President Obama is receiving the award) which pits enemies against each other in a cosmic battle for good or evil. (or what Shams *might* call WEC ideology).
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shams
Notably ABSENT from the word cloud is “democracy” and “freedom”….two once-noble english words that GW made into profane cuss-words in MENA.
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Buzz
And I was also suprised and a little saddened to see President Obama use “9/11″ and “Evil.” Two terms beaten to death by the Bush Admin. B-Ob should be aware that the whole world must roll their eyes when they hear Americans bemoaning Sept 11 and the Evil, but as yet un-smoked-out killer, Osama Bin Laden.
Move on President. The bloody shirt has been waved so many times it has lost all color. It is just an old rag now.
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Buzz
Maybe when Bush said he was gonna “Smoke Bin Laden Out,” he meant it in the Cheech and Chong, 1970′s era sense of the term meaning meet him at his cave with a bong and some nice sinse.
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shams
there was a thoughtful roundtable on CNN when i got home today….Doris Kearns-Goodwin, who wrote that wonderful Lincoln biography, said Obama is moving from citizen to president….from modelling MLK to modelling Lincoln….
as president, he can’t …..can’t avoid patriotism…
….he was very pointed about america being attacked from Afghanistan, and the right of the Allies to force Saddam from Kuwait…….but deathly silent on any right to invade Iraq.
a kind of loss of innocence it seems….
a leavening of sadness.
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Buzz
Some more discussion about Why President Obama is receiving the award as the first “Post-American President.”
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aziz
Obama is doing the right thing in India – by doing what Bush did.
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Conrad Barwa
I am less enthused, while US policy on the nuclear issue and NPT was hypocritical; acceptance of Indian nuclearisation is another nail in the coffin of disarmament imo.
also I am less sure as to why or how the US and India are ‘major allies’ as the article claims; their interests have always been different. The US actually has a difficult relationship with democratic countries outside those who are under its security umbrella; it prefers to deal with dictatorships and authoritarian regimes. Which is why it has preferred Pakistan to India as a rule. democracies are unpredictable and have the unpleasant habit of doing what its electorate wants rather than what a superpower wants.
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thabet
also I am less sure as to why or how the US and India are ‘major allies’ as the article claims; their interests have always been different
Seems to me their joint interests today aren’t Pakistan or “Islamic terrorism”, but China.
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cbarwa
Yes, that is an excellent point, I had forgotten about China and as you say this is a major ‘shared interest’. I don’t think it is enough to make them major allies’ as the article implies though; we are so far behind the Chinese on most counts, I wouldn’t even bother to think in terms of competitiion at the moment!
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aziz
Dump Tom Daschle – Howard Dean is clearly the better choice for Secretary of Health and Human Services.
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aziz
I’ve got video and a transcript of the inauguration speech at City of Brass. Here’s the word cloud, too, for anyone inclined to do any tea-leaf reading or symbolic analysis:
(click to enlarge)
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aziz
Is Obama President? Yes.
(well, almost)
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aziz
Barack Hussein Obama will take the oath of office using his middle name. On the Bible, not the Qur’an, of course!
Jo is discussing. 
aziz, 
Mc Kiernan, and 
shams, 
Buzz, and 
cbarwa, 
thabet, and 
Jo 4:40 pm on May 14, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
and many American Jews ( just right of center) have commented that he never set foot in Israel. Poor guy. Crushed on all sides.(she said with tongue in cheek). Hope not