Solonor's Inkwell

No more debates! Wheeeee!!!

All I got out of this last one was that somehow Obama = Hoover, and McCain is violently opposed to those damned Republicans that have been running the place the last 8 years.

Oh, you know what else? Bill Ayers (that “old, washed-up terrorist” that McCain doesn’t care about) was a member of the Weather Underground, which got its name from Bob Dylan’s Subterranean Homesick Blues (“You don’t need a weather man to know which way the wind blows”). And Solonor’s Inkwell got its name from the same song (“Get sick, get well, hang around a ink well”)! Ergo ipso facto, Solonor pals around with terrorists! Eep! I knew that Commie bastard was up to no good!

Look out kid
You’re gonna get hit
But users, cheaters
Six-time losers
Hang around the theaters
Girl by the whirlpool
Lookin’ for a new fool
Don’t follow leaders
Watch the parkin’ meters

Indeed.

Every time some yahoo raises the “Obama is a Muslim!” or “He’s an Arab!” argument like they’re some legitimate debating points instead of racist fearmongering, my first reaction isn’t “No, he’s not.” My first reaction is: “and…your point is…?”

Finally, someone in the media has stepped up to the plate and said it, though. CNN’s Campbell Brown:

So what if Obama was Arab or Muslim? So what if John McCain was Arab or Muslim? Would it matter?

When did that become a disqualifier for higher office in our country? When did Arab and Muslim become dirty words? The equivalent of dishonorable or radical?

Whenever this gets raised, the implication is that there is something wrong with being an Arab-American or a Muslim. And the media is complicit here, too.

We’ve all been too quick to accept the idea that calling someone Muslim is a slur.

I feel like I am stating the obvious here, but apparently it needs to be said: There is a difference between radical Muslims who support jihad against America and Muslims who want to practice their religion freely and have normal lives like anyone else.

There are more than 1.2 million Arab-Americans and about 7 million Muslim-Americans, former Cabinet secretaries, members of Congress, successful business people, normal average Americans from all walks of life.

In fact, I kinda get pissed off at Obama himself for not snapping right back at the questioner with a big “So the hell what?”

Of course, no one actually says these things to his face, and he couldn’t snap like that anyway, because he actually wants to get elected. But Obama has actually stepped up and said it (in a bit more elegant fashion).

I went looking for instances where Obama said, “So the hell what?” on this Muslim crap. What I found was that one of his best statements on the subject of religion and politics was his Call to Renewal Keynote Address. A good chunk of it is all over the YouTubes. And, guess what? The only one that doesn’t use it as a bigoted anti-Obama rant is the post by the Obama campaign itself. All the others I found played this exact same video (or selected portions of it) as examples of how much Obama hates the Bible, Jesus, Christians, religion, or in one case, the Department of Defense!

Oh. My. Flying Spaghetti Monster. Just listen to that raving lunatic! Can we afford rational discourse where all religions (or lack thereof) are treated with respect?

Let’s hope so.