First a personal note: I apologize for not writing on Wednesday. I am currently considering some life-changing alternatives and I haven't had much time this week.
Many liberals were shocked when Al-Qaeda's leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri, released a statement that referred to Barack Obama as a "House Negro". If you haven't seen the actual entire video, I recommend that you do, instead of watching edited parts or listening to others interpret it. It's not very long.
It is quite interesting.
Frankly, since Obama has always been a good friend to Muslims, I question why al-Zawahiri released this statement at this time. I find it most peculiar.
I initially wondered if this was due to a misguided hope that they will help Obama's image in some way by distancing themselves from him.
But I quickly discarded that idea, because al-Zawahiri is so extremely insulting. In the video, he upholds the racist extremist, Malcolm-X, as a role model for American blacks, and includes an excerpt of Malcolm-X scornfully claiming that there are only two types of American blacks: The rebels and the House Negros (who served their master directly and often spoke for him). And al-Zawahiri makes certain that there is no doubt in anyone's mind that he thinks that Obama is a House Negro.
Obviously this goes to show how out-of-touch al-Zawahiri is with American culture. This is surprising, as he is supposedly an educated man with a master's degree.
However, you really have to understand a culture by living in it. Like all terrorists, al-Zawahiri sees America in almost a cartoon format with extremes and absolutes. So he hardly has an accurate understanding of America and its people and he believes this antiquated statement by a man with fringe beliefs to be accurate.
What's really comical is to see how some liberal pundits are reacting. They're speaking in shocked tones about al-Zawahiri's racism, as if boorish behavior is not to be expected of terrorists. And I wonder how these liberal pundits really view these terrorists. Do they secretly believe them to be "freedom fighters" who live civilized lives in between the occasional murder of innocents? Do they truly think these terrorists have principles or scruples about societal nicities?
But my true question is... why?
Why would al-Zawahiri release this statement, and release it now?
As I said before, al-Zawahiri labors under many great misconceptions of the USA. I believe that this is his attempt to challenge Obama to think outside the box, and be something other than that "House Negro" he accused him of being. Al-Zawahiri is telling Obama that he will respect Obama only if the USA changes it's policy toward terrorists.
At this point, Obama has little choice. He can no more afford to favor Al-Qaeda than he can favor conservative policies. And ludicrous insults are not a way to encourage Obama to fall in line. For al-Zawahiri, an effective message would have been a more simple, congratulatory one.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
18 comments:
I noticed the O guy's opinions on the Middle East changed after his security briefings with the CIA and NSA.
Muslims are pretty racist. It doesn't surprise me. They learn what they learn about the U.S. from what the religious nuts over there TELL them not what they experience or see. Much like what we do unfortunately.
We'll see if Obama opens a can of Wup A$$ on him later.
Knot
The liberal pundits are in fact the most precious, aren't they?
Shocked that a terrorist would espouse racist ideas to further his ideology. Shocked to hear that racism exists in the hearts and minds of "people of color?" Shocked that a terrorist leader would attempt to manipulate public opinion in a number of different populations by whatever means?
How precious.
I understand that very educated people cannot possibly understand different cultures without any immersion whatsoever. But I wonder if the Z-man does have a rudimentary understanding of our culture and that the comments were aimed not at American blacks and Muslims but at populations within the Middle East and Asia.
When a politician makes a statement on the world stage, the intended goal may be something other than communicating with us.
Or he could be just talking shit. Who knows?
I bet one of your stupid liberal commentators now has a stupid comment to make.
Why does anyone give a damn what al-Zawahiri has to say? Do we care when a bank robber tells us that the police chief is a bad administrator? I dont care what any of the Gottis have to say, or what Charles Manson has to say, or what any criminal's opinion about anything (except maybe how to stop others like him) is.
Matt's probably right, that this "message" is aimed at local muslims. After all, Obama intends to talk to troublesome political groups, which will leave criminal gangs like al-Qeada out in the cold, and that can only reduce their status. Calling Obama a "house negro" is an attempt to marginalize him, as if no matter what he does with entities like Iran or Hamas, it'll actually be part of a hidden agenda of some sort cooked up by the puppet masters of America and designed to do whatever terrible things that al-Qeada needs to accuse the West of doing right now.
Stupid enough for ya?
I don't think Al Hiriz was trying to get us to like him.
Knot, You're right. The Russian communists were also racist facists and it's odd how similar they are to Muslims in many ways. I wonder how the Russian people are 20 years later(?) In fact, most facists seem to be (Nazis come to mind).
Yes - I noticed a great change in his attitude after the briefing but I thought it could only be me and my interpretation. That's very interesting that you saw it too - maybe there's hope.
M@, Beautiful! And an excellent point I hadn't thought of - after all, we know that most of the time his comments are intended to affect the rest of the world, and not we Americans.
Dave, Good points, all of them. ;o)
Old Hoss, Ya think? :D
"Frankly, since Obama has always been a good friend to Muslims, I question why al-Zawahiri released this statement at this time. I find it most peculiar.
I initially wondered if this was due to a misguided hope that they will help Obama's image in some way by distancing themselves from him."
Uhhhhh.....
Good friend of WHICH muslims? The Saudis? The same people whose ass Bush can not kiss enough?
Or do you mean the muslims who do not have any oil but probably smell like a dead dinosaur?
What the hell is that even supposed to mean? What about Americans who happen to be muslim? Should anyone be their friend?
What the hell kind of crazy right wing radio show talking point is that from? You are slipping. Seriously - start listening to music CDs in the car during those shopping road trips. The swill you are listening to is rotting your brain. Seriously - daytime soaps contain 75% less brain rot.
And how exactly do you think Al-Qeada is "connected" to Obama? How would Al-Qaeda "distance" themselves from Obama?
You are starting to sound like the crazy old lady McCain had to take the microphone away from at one of the town hall meeting things.
I think that the target audience of the last piece of marketing from the terror group was not American. It was aimed at those outside America. The man with the headgear and beard knows this Country is fairly divided - with many Americans thinking that some how Obama is a secret terrorist who is also a member of Al-Qaeda and was hand picked at birth - and provided with a forged birth certificate - to one day be the first black President of the USA. His job was actually done for him by the right.
But now his best recruiting tool - the Bush Administration - is going to end soon. So he needs a fresh new message to future minions. Hey you know that new President of the USA? The one you may actually not hate? Well guess what!! He is just a wanna-be. A traitor. Why, go to any number of US websites (muslims do have the internet you know)and see for yourself that he is in fact muslim!! And we say that this muslim traitor house negro is no good! So you still need to join us, or at least send us some money!! See that AK-47 behind me?? It is out of bullets!!! I spent so much on this crappy video camera that I can not afford the bullets! So cut me some slack here!
That is probably closer to the meaning of the message than anything else.
Why do you think the world revolves around one nation? There is nothing wrong with love of Country - but the world does NOT revolve around America. If the British had given the American Colonies representation in London, it is possible the revolution would never have happened, and America would be more like Canada. With the queen on the money and everything.
The world would still be revolving and rotating around the sun however.
Upon reading this post I thought it was a joke because if you really take anything that al-Zawahiri says with anything other than a pinch of salt, or give what he says any blog time then you're giving the man's propoganda far too much credit.
He is myopic, offensive and quite possibly mad.
I find it odd that you see him in any way representative of 'Muslims', I also find it odd that it's an issue that Obama is a good friend of Muslims (I still see a lack of evidence for this but I do see a man who is friends with most people, rather than a select few like Bush), when Bush's being very, very, very good friends with evangelical Christians seemingly was a non-issue.
Obama has no connection with terrorists or extremists like people like al-Zawahiri, all he was attempting to do was bad mouth the President-elect, simple as that, say mean things about the next President.
I also think that the following section of your post:
"However, you really have to understand a culture by living in it. Like all terrorists, al-Zawahiri sees America in almost a cartoon format with extremes and absolutes. So he hardly has an accurate understanding of America and it's people and he believes this antiquated statement by a man with fringe beliefs to be accurate."
Could easily apply to you, quite simply replace terrorists with Americans and America with, let's say, the Middle East or Iraq or even the rest of the world.
These liberal pundits you speak of are not worth their salt clearly, I would go as far as to call them idiots if they really said those things but I've read nothing like that in the UK.
And why an earth would Obama care or indeed listen to this lunatic?
The only thing I agree with you on is that better propoganda would have been for him to congratulate and support Obama, but as I said, the man is a bloody idiot.
Knot: "Muslims are pretty racist"
WOAH THERE! I think you'll find that's you, sweeping genralisations like that are never good but hey, let's try: Christians are racists and sexually repressed morality obsessed nutjobs.
Point made I think.
Daniel & Lazy, We'll just have to continue to agree to disagree. I've already laid out all of Obama's shady connections (although I'm sure he has more than merely those) and if you don't like to accept the facts, there is little I can do.
As for why I'm interested - whether al-Zawahri is barking mad or not isn't the point here. He's functional, and many, many Muslims follow his teachings and/or listen carefully to them. He isn't someone to be dismissed simply because we despise him.
Al-Zawahri can't know much about Obama or he would've approached this differently. As I've shown repeatedly, Obama's made no secret of his friendship with anti-Jewish Muslims and he's been very frank about how he believes that we should not be supporting Israel to the extent that we have.
As for saying that I've suddenly gone apparently insane: Am I only sane when I agree with you?
A very good point. Wow, did I type that LOL. Hope that wasn't a stupid comment.
Emil, ;o) As always, it's great to have you pop in, my friend. I've discovered your blog, and it's of interest - wish I could read some of those entries, as not all of them are in English. ;o)
Did you ever Google "Chicago Annenberg Challenge"??
Ill save you the time.
The Annenbergs are big time Republican supporters. They dump a lot of money into Republican candidates and the GOP in general.
Anyhow the same Annengergs also gave a pile of money - tens of millions - to the same Chicago group that Ayers was a board member of.
So since Republican candidates, and the RNC, take money from the Annenbergs - and the Annengergs give money to "terrorists".........the entire Republican party also has "terrorists" ties???
Yes? No? Maybe? This is all just ridiculous and has no bearing on reality?
Which "anti-Jewish muslim groups" does Obama support? Are all the Jews in Florida who largely supported Obama stupid? Is a policy of one sided support going to result in peace? Billions in foreign aid - mostly weapons - goes to Israel. Meanwhile, those living in the walled off occupied areas can't even get a reliable source of water.
And somehow this will lead to peace?
In the 90s, the first real push for a middle east peace accord since the 70s was attempted. Granted, Arafat was an ass who did not seem to want to go along with the program. He was offered something like 95% of what he wanted - and yet rejected the plan. But Arafat is dead now, and there is no reason that another attempt should not be made.
Otherwise - if you think Hamas is radical, just wait and see who takes over next when the people get fed up that Hamas is not providing more drinking water.
Of course, the defense contractors and weapons systems manufacturers love to send all those weapons to Israel. Good for profits and all. Peace means less weapons are needed, and that would be bad for those whose business is war.
But I am sure that the billions being made in profits have nothing to do with it. I am sure that the executives cry over every blood soaked dollar they make.
Eisenhower warned us about this in his farewell address by the way.
What is insane is the idea put forth by the hard core right that Obama is somehow a terrorist. The lengths they go to try to tie Obama to everything bad in the world. No convoluted series of grasped straws is too much. For example..
If you give a mouse a cookie, it will want another one. Give a mouse two cookies, and it will want milk. Give a mouse milk and it will want a cow. Give a mouse a cow and it will develop a taste for cow blood and meat. Give a mouse hamburgers and cow blood, and it will become a vampire and thirst for human blood. Give a vampire mouse human blood and it will go crazy and try to kill everyone.
Obama once had a mouse in his house.
Therefore, Obama has connections to vampire mice, intent on killing everyone.
The right has not gone quite that far, but close to it. Which is one reason they lost.
Just as it is weak to say the RNC has ties to terrorists just because they accept large sums of money from the Annenberg Family, who also gives money to Bill Ayers. Did they not check out who was on the board of directors before giving money? Apparently not!
But let me guess. You either heard nothing about the Annenbergs on right wing radio - or you have 50 reasons why the Annenbergs are innocent and have no connection to anything even a little bit naughty.
Meanwhile - how about that mouse! Lets talk about that some more!!
That is what is insane. Well that and the idea that 40+ years ago a black baby was born - and this black baby was destined to one day be President of the USA so a fake white US citizen mama was found, a fake birth certificate was forged, and then the baby was raised as a radical muslim pretending to be christian - all so that in the future a sleeper plant could be in the White House.
Everyone at the top of the pile is going to have "connections" to people who may be questionable. Otherwise - you do not get to the top.
Lazy, I would surely love for me to be wrong, and you to be right in this matter.
Saur:
I have read you so called laying out of Obama's shady connections and there is for one no evidence and for another, a connection only by loose association; a flaw that has been well pointed out by Lazy (ie: Osama Bin Laden's family has connections with the Bush family, so therefore the Bush family and the current President are terrorists becuase they have shady connections with a family that has a terrorist in).
And Saur, many Muslims do not follow his teachings, he is a terrorist for goodness sake and believe it or not, majority of Muslims are not terrorists and find his views offensive. Just as you, as a Christian, find the ramblings of extremists like Fred Phleps of Gods Hates Fags fame deeply wrong (well, I think you do).
It's not about dismissing him but not giving his propoganda spews space for debate.
And what is all this anti-Jewish nonsense agaion, we've dealth with this, the leading Jewish newspaper supports Obama, the Israeli government supports Obama and over 70% of Jewish people in the US voted for him; this would not be the case if he was anti-Israel, in fact he is pro-Israel and where you've got this from is beyond me.
We've been here and dealt with this but you just seem to churn out inaccuracy after inaccuracy.
Daniel, As I said to Lazy, I surely hope you're right, I truly do. I would love to be wrong.
But: I've seen much evidence to the contrary, and what I've seen is documented and provable unless I said otherwise (such as when I mentioned the birth certificate question, but added that I didn't know if it was a valid concern or not).
Israel didn't come out in support of Obama, though. At least, if you've heard that they have, please let me know where I can read about it.
And yes, some Jews are in favor of Obama. But some Jews were in favor of Hitler, too, and we see how well that worked out. There are ignorant people in every group.
This is NOT to equate Obama to Hitler. But what I'm saying is that there are times when sheep fall in love with wolves. I'm hoping that Obama is not that wolf.
You are wrong about the Muslims. I don't know if you've read the Koran (Quran) but I have (as well as various commentaries by Muslims) and if you're a TRUE Muslim who follows his/her scriptures, then you should follow the teachings of these terrorists. It's a vastly different religion than Christianity. That's why so few 'peaceful' Muslims come forward. Usually, they are ashamed, because they are not following their scriptures.
Sometimes they are afraid.
As for your analogy to extremists who call themselves Christians, you have an excellent point there. No doubt there are "Christian" extremists who use the Bible as a club, and I heartily disapprove of them (and don't believe that they're true Christians). However, for the most part these nutters aren't going about blowing up innocents and when and if they do, tons of Christians speak out against them and heartily encourage the authorities to throw them in prison.
Saur: I already linked to the support for Obama from Israel's leading newspaper (which contans quotes and info on the Israeli governments positive feeligns towards hima nd the fact he will continue a pro-Israeli stance, even though he shouldn't but that's another argument)and the data from Jewish voters in the election.
I'm sorry but using Hitler as a reference point in any debate like this is pretty low and one gets the feeling that in spite of no evidence, once again, your own anti-Obama agenda is being pushed.
The man is not an anti-semite.
And at last we get to the nub of your argument, you have a terrible prejudice against Muslims, which is fine but be open about your loathing of them rather than couch it in terms of terrorism.
I've read the koran and the bible, both of them are as bad as each other and your arguement can apply to those nutjobs who read the bible and think that it means gays are bad, the earth is 3000 years old and a dude called jesus will come again and smite all the non-believers (Jews, Muslims, Sikhs and whatnot) and take everyone to heaven. By the way, I think I've just described a large proportion of America there.
All religious people, quite frankly, should grow up and stop using Brobze Age texts as a guide to life, there is no god, you won't go to heaven or hell when you die and the only life we have is this one, on earth.
Let's use it a wee bit better perhaps.
Daniel, I most strongly disagree with terming me as 'prejudiced', since that term indicates an unreasoning dislike of something. This is very reasoned, I assure you.
And as for comparing the Koran to the Bible, have you read it recently? It's quite possible that time and personal feelings have dimmed your objectivity.
Because reading the Koran is quite soporific. There are areas where Mohammad is quite unintelligable, which is why so many contemporary biographers/commentators arose: There is no way of truly understanding a great deal of the Koran without them. When you read the Koran from front to back, you come away with more confusion than answers.
In contrast, the Bible is a very easy-to-read book (although it may not be to your taste) and has been ready by many for centuries without anyone by their side to interpret it for them. Yes, the Bible does have commentaries and preachers/pastors/priests that give their spin to it. But the truth is that there were many instances of people growing up in the wilderness with only a Bible and emerging with the same interpretations as people who were preached at all their lives. You can't do that with the Koran.
Post a Comment