Video- Fox wants more Muslim tagging, ignores fact that a Muslim first noticed the bomb

They won't be happy until we're all running around like our hair is on fire screaming "MOOOSLIM". Via Think Progress-

Aliou Niasse, a street vendor selling framed photographs of New York, said that he was the first to spot the car containing the bomb, which pulled up right in front of his cart on the corner of 45th street and Broadway next to the Marriott hotel.

“I didn’t see the car pull up or notice the driver because I was busy with customers. But when I looked up I saw that smoke appeared to be coming from the car. This would have been around 6.30pm.”

“I thought I should call 911, but my English is not very good and I had no credit left on my phone, so I walked over to Lance, who has the T-shirt stall next to mine, and told him. He said we shouldn’t call 911. Immediately he alerted a police officer near by,” said Mr Niasse, who is originally from Senegal and who has been a vendor in Times Square for about eight years.

Video via Newshounds.

Scary New GOP Poll: "He may be the Antichrist."

By GottaLaff

Nicholas Kamm, AFP/ Getty Images

Get a load of this. And it is a load:

To anyone who thinks the end of the health-care vote means a return to civility, wake up.

Obama Derangement Syndrome—pathological hatred of the president posing as patriotism—has infected the Republican Party. Here's new data to prove it:

• 67 percent of Republicans (and 40 percent of Americans overall) believe that Obama is a socialist.
• 57 percent of Republicans (32 percent overall) believe that Obama is a Muslim
• 45 percent of Republicans (25 percent overall) agree with the Birthers in their belief that Obama was "not born in the United States and so is not eligible to be president"
• 38 percent of Republicans (20 percent overall) say that Obama is "doing many of the things that Hitler did"
• Scariest of all, 24 percent of Republicans (14 percent overall) say that Obama "may be the Antichrist."

And 100% of rational, thinking, reasonable people think these people need to get an education, get acquainted with reality, and get some therapy. And for godsake, stop making inappropriate, offensive Hitler references.

This poll is the latest and most detailed evidence of the extent to which Wingnuts are hijacking our politics. It should be a wakeup call to all Americans and a collective reminder, as we move past health-care reform, that we need to stand up to extremism.

John Avlon's new book Wingnuts: How the Lunatic Fringe is Hijacking America is available now by Beast Books both on the Web and in paperback. He is also the author of Independent Nation: How Centrists Can Change American Politics. Previously, he served as chief speechwriter for New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and was a columnist and associate editor for The New York Sun.

This is downright scary and very sad. It has to end, and we need to do much more to counter it.

Please go read the whole thing here.

H/t to my pal at the Daily Beast, John McCartney

Dep't. of It's All a Plot: Mayor Calls President A Muslim

By GottaLaff

Not only is President Barack Black Hussein Muslim Obama, the Black Muslim president who is black and Muslim, declaring War on Christmas, he's picking on Charlie Brown specifically! What a dog. What a cur. What a... joke:

The mayor of a suburban Memphis city accused President Barack Obama of deliberately timing his speech about the war in Afghanistan this week to block the airing of the "Peanuts" Christmas television special.

Then, following in Barbie McLipSchmutz's footsteps, he posted on his Facebook page. You think he has a ghost blogger, too?

"We sit the kids down to watch 'The Charlie Brown Christmas Special' and our muslim president is there, what a load. ... Try to convince me that wasn't done on purpose," he wrote, according to the newspaper.

He's right about one thing: What a load.

Italian court convicts 23 Americans of kidnapping in CIA rendition case

By GottaLaff

Meaningless/meaningful, depending on how you look at it:

Twenty three Americans have been convicted in absentia, after an Italian court found them guilty of kidnapping in the CIA rendition of a Muslim cleric, the Associated Press reports. Three other Americans were acquitted. [...]

The Times notes that the case, which has been going on for three years, is the first to challenge the legality of the practice of "extraordinary rendition" and is "widely seen as a referendum on Bush administration foreign policy." The government of Premier Silvio Berlusconi, however, has refused to seek extradition of any of the Americans, making it questionable whether the guilty verdicts can be enforced.

A symbolic victory at best. However, it is somewhat satisfying to see actual public acknowledgment of the Bush war crimes in a court of law.

Then there is this update:

One of the 23 American citizens convicted in an Italian court of kidnapping a Muslic cleric in 2003 says the CIA "broke the law" when it ordered the operation.

Sabrina DeSousa, a former CIA operative, told ABC News that the agency and the US government "betrayed and abandoned" her and the other US government employees who orchestrated the kidnapping as part of the CIA's extraordinary rendition program, which saw terrorism suspects shipped to countries where they could be tortured within the confines of local law.

DeSousa a said she and the 22 other defendants in the case "are paying for the mistakes right now, whoever authorized and approved this."

And that, too, is a real crime.

AUDIO- Right-Wing Panel: Obama Is ‘First Muslim American President’

By GottaLaff



This busts the theory of evolution wide open. Henceforth, it shall be called the theory of Devolution. Then again, Gaffe-ney's always been the poster boy for that:

At the How to Take Back America conference last weekend, attended by several Republican lawmakers, former Reagan official and prominent neoconservative Frank Gaffney, right-wing historian Bill Federer, and Christian activist Walid Shoebat hosted a panel on “How to understand Islam.” An attendee of the panel asked the three speakers if they would consider President Obama a Christian or a Muslim, given his “roots.” While Gaffney gave a now familiar response linking Obama to the Muslim Brotherhood, Federer and Shoebat provided new theories, which elicited praise from the crowd [...]

During the panel, Shoebat advocated entering Arab countries and converting Muslims to Christianity. He also went on a rant about how Muslims in meat packaging plants are contaminating America’s food supply because their hands are unclean.

Gaffney has a record of comparing Obama to Hitler — a major theme of the conference — and spreading other absurd reasons for why he thinks Obama is Muslim.

Yep, there it is: The Big Tent Party.

Lindsey Graham: Obama not "socialist" or "Muslim", he’s "an American liberal"

By GottaLaff

Lindsey Graham has confirmed it: President Obama is an American. Ding! Put away those lawsuits, Birthers!

He goes on to say that the president is also a "liberal". Buzz! Wrong! If he were a "liberal", he'd have me agreeing with him more often:

In an interview with The Greenville News yesterday, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said he “would say no” if someone asked him if Obama was a socialist:

Graham was quick to debunk accusations from some people that Obama is a socialist and not a U.S. citizen.

He saw the question coming a few words into it and responded: “If you asked me if the president of the United States is a socialist, I would say no. I think he’s an American liberal, that’s what I think he is. You know, Ted Kennedy was an American liberal, but we found ways to work together.” [...]

“I am not going to give into sentiments that I think degrade the office of the president and that degrade the debate and the culture of our country,” he said. “So if you come up to me calling the president a socialist, a Muslim, you’re talking to the wrong guy.”

That's okay, Linds, you degrade the office in other ways. Your reputation's still intact.

Muslim rumor hard to shake, PhD. version

In other words, the stupid can't be talked out of stupidity.

In studying the persistent rumors that Barack Obama is a Muslim, political scientist Brendan Nyhan makes the academic case that getting your allies to lie about your opponents can be a very effective political tactic.

In fact, his new working paper finds that Obama's attempts to correct the myth actually may backfire among Republicans.

Matthew Yglesias: "At the end of the day, it's extremely difficult to actually counter misinformation, and so society needs there to be disincentives to spreading it."

CNN Poll: Many Americans hold unfavorable view of Muslim world

Wonder if all that "crusade" and "Axis of Evil" talk had anything to do with it?

WASHINGTON (CNN) — Hours before President Barack Obama departs for a trip to the Middle East, a new national poll suggests that only one in five Americans has a favorable view of Muslim countries.

That compares to 46 percent of the people questioned in a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey who say they have an unfavorable opinion of Muslim countries. That's up five points from 2002, when 41 percent indicated they had an unfavorable view.

Three in ten meanwhile say they have a neutral opinion of Muslim countries.

The poll also suggests that most Americans think people in Muslim countries don't think highly of the United States. Nearly eight in ten questioned say people in Muslim countries have a unfavorable opinion of the U.S., with 14 percent saying Muslims hold a favorable view.

But the poll indicates Americans seem to be split on whether such negative opinions by Muslims matter. Fifty-three percent of those questioned say they think Muslim views of the U.S. matter a great deal or a moderate amount, with 47 percent saying that Muslim opinions of the U.S. don't matter very much or at all.

Muslims, Jews, and Catholics Are Obama's Biggest Fans

Wow, he even does pretty good with the Mormons.

• 85: Percentage of Muslims who approve of the job Obama's doing as president
• 7: Percentage of Muslims who disapprove
• 79: Percentage of Jews who approve
• 16: Percentage of Jews who disapprove
• 67: Percentage of Catholics who approve
• 22: Percentage of Catholics who disapprove
• 58: Percentage of Protestants who approve
• 30: Percentage of Protestants who disapprove
• 45: Percentage of Mormons who approve
• 40: Percentage of Mormons who disapprove

Poll-itics: People still believe Obama is Muslim

By GottaLaff

No words:

Nearly one in five white evangelicals think so.

The details are here.

President Obama Gives First Interview To Arabic News Channel parts 3 & 4

From CSpan junkie via CNN. Transcript here.

President Obama Gives First Interview To Arabic News Channel parts 1 & 2

From CSpan junkie via CNN. Transcript here.

Supreme Court to decide Ashcroft, Mueller immunity

By GottaLaff

Somehow I don't think the Supremes will side with a Muslim Pakistani named Iqbal over Ashcroft and Mueller:

The US Supreme Court will hear a case Wednesday on whether cabinet-level officials could be held accountable for controversial tactics President George W. Bush ordered as part of the US-led "war on terror."

Former attorney general John Ashcroft and FBI Director Robert Mueller have sought immunity from the charges in a lawsuit filed by Javaid Iqbal, a Pakistani national.

Iqbal was among more than 700 Arab and South Asian Muslim men from the New York City area rounded up after the September 11, 2001 attacks. While they were all eventually charged with immigration violations or minor crimes, none was linked to terrorism.

In his lawsuit, Iqbal alleges that Ashcroft and Mueller targeted the men for investigation and punitive detention, sidestepping procedural protections usually granted to such detainees.

Iqbal, who was held at a maximum security section of a Brooklyn federal prison, says he was subjected to harsh treatment and discrimination and that federal officials classified him as a "high interest" suspect because he was a Muslim from Pakistan.

A June 2003 report by the Department of Justice inspector general found "significant problems" in the treatment of detainees like Iqbal. [...]

Ashcroft was among those who "willfully and maliciously approved of, endorsed, and/or ordered that these searches take place" and "knew of, condoned, and willfully and maliciously agreed to subject (Iqbal) to unreasonable, unnecessary and extreme strip and body-cavity searches," according to the suit.

Let's not forget about precedents. It's always about setting precedents:

"The government's position will have the practical effect of ensuring that these officials will never be held accountable for unconstitutional conduct," [Alexander Reinert, who will argue for Iqbal,] said in a statement. [...]

Iqbal claims that during his five-month confinement he was held 23 hours a day in a constantly lit cell where the air conditioning was turned on in the winter and the heat was turned in the summer. He says he was also beaten and strip-searched.

When he was released in 2003, he had lost nearly 44 pounds. I'm guessing he also lost more than a little dignity and most of his emotional equilibrium.

What's in a name: The biblical Barak

By GottaLaff

A letter from my morning L.A. Times:

So much has been made out of Barack Obama's Muslim middle name, "Hussein," but little or nothing has been said about his first name. Biblical Israel's famed Deborah, a charismatic woman respected for her wisdom and prophetic gifts, commanded Barak, the nation's military commander.

The name "Barak" was used by Leon Uris in his book "Exodus," about the beginnings of modern Israel. In the movie, the character of Paul Newman's father, played by Lee J. Cobb, was named Barak. Certainly no one, to my knowledge, has yet claimed that Barack Obama is Jewish.

No, because then, that whole Muslim terrorist thing that so many desperate bigots cling to would be null and void. And we couldn't have that, now, could we?

FOX News Still Trying To Portray Obama As A Muslim

Jeebus, these guys are just incorrigible. I'm putting Fox News up there with Pat Buchanan as to one day just losing it and start screaming "JIHADI MOOSLIM SCARY N****R" over and over. Via the indispensable NewsHounds.

Even though guest Stephen Mansfield, author of the book The Faith of Barack Obama, specifically told the Hannity & Colmes audience Tuesday night (8/5/08) that Barack Obama is “a serious Christian” who will govern out of his religious base, FOX News producers ran a series of banners on the lower third of the screen suggesting that Obama is a Muslim and a less than complete Christian.

Many more outrageous screen grabs from the segment here.

Competing chyrons: Obama = success, Obama = Muslim

GottaLaff

I had the TeeVee on without sound this morning, after watching part of Barack Obama's Q & A with the press. One chyron described his visit to Iraq in a relatively positive way. In addition, I did have the sound on long enough to hear a unanimously favorable response to Obama's trip, including the press conference. "No mistakes" so far, the talking heads said.

Then I walked away, came back a few minutes later, and saw a chyron that said that Iraqis are referring to Obama as "Muslim".

That chyron came and went several times. If I hadn't seen the previous reporting, I'd have been left with the impression that Iraq views Obama as Muslim, and that, generally, they are not too interested in either candidate. But Obama = Muslim. Obama = Muslim. Obama = Muslim was the cycled and recycled visual.

Couple that with this, and once again, the reinforcement that Obama "is not one of us" rears its ugly head. Once again, the New Yorker cover was not a good move, and the satire will be lost on many, despite the intentions. Every time there is another reference that couples Obama with the word (or image) "Muslim", there will be a deeper misunderstanding of who he is.

I'm sure the McCain/Bushies were jumping up and down with glee as they took screenshots of the chyron in question, one that will undoubtedly be highlited in future ads.

Brit Hume questions Obama's Christianity

By GottaLaff

Obama needs to "Fight the Smears" even harder:

In fact, Obama does indeed have a “Muslim background,” but that in no way makes him a Muslim — a point he emphasized last year on the campaign trail when he was asked “to explain his Muslim heritage”:

“My father was from Kenya,” he said, “and a lot of people in his village were Muslim. He didn’t practice Islam. Truth is he wasn’t very religious. He met my mother. My mother was a Christian from Kansas, and they married and then divorced. I was raised by my mother. So, I’ve always been a Christian. The only connection I’ve had to Islam is that my grandfather on my father’s side came from that country. But I’ve never practiced Islam.”

[...]The Post article Hume referenced is no longer available online and it does not appear on the LexisNexis database.

Remember: If Obama makes a claim, his veracity is dubious at best, and he's an anti-American terrorist. If Brit Hume makes a claim, he is not only believable, but he is the most trusted all-American patriot in all of Newsdom.