Geez, LUeezeeeeeeee - where to begin? Headline:
Obama rebukes McCain camp on terrorism criticism
REBUKE: reprimand, warning, scolding, reproof, chastise, lecture, chide, castigate, admonish, criticize, chew out
Who does this dimwit JUNIOR senator think he is? And who is pulling the strings of the media?
WASHINGTON - A defiant Barack Obama said Tuesday he would take no lectures from Republicans on which candidate would keep the U.S. safer, a sharp rebuke to John McCain's aides who said the Democrat had a naive, Sept. 10 mind-set toward terrorism.
"These are the same guys who helped to engineer the distraction of the war in Iraq at a time when we could have pinned down the people who actually committed 9/11," the presumed nominee told reporters aboard his campaign plane. "This is the same kind of fear-mongering that got us into Iraq ... and it's exactly that failed foreign policy I want to reverse." DOES HE MEAN HE WILL EMBRACE THE TERRORISTS? FEAR MONGERING??? OMG! This freak is an Islamist plant people! Wake up,damnit!
To read the rest of this digusting display of "I am God, how dare ANYONE critize me OR tell the TRUTH about me, anyone who DARES to talk about my wife, bla, bla, bla, bla http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080617/ap_on_el_pr/mccain_obama
This IDIOT who could be president because of IDIOT voters reminds me of a 3rd grade bully or that fat ugly high schooler whose mother and father told him he was Adonis and that anyone who said differently NEEDED to be, not only called names, but had to be silenced, because if the real truth got to the ears of the rest of the kids, HE would get the crap beat out of him, OR worse: Be ignored.
Barry Boy with the middle name of HUSSEIN, is a jerk and an elistist, a racist and a liar. Can you imagine that he can not stand a real discussion or debate or a difference of opinion now while he is just a junior senator backed by terrorists? What will happen when he has the audacity to change America, which, mark my words, will NOT be for the better except for his terrorist friends and other America-Haters, taqiyya spewing Muslims, racists, and Ophrah.
Watch as Free Speech is outlawed and those concentration camps that are built and waiting to be filled are opened up and Americans like you and I are shipped there. IF you are really paying attention to the jerk's actions and words you can guess what will happen IF he becomes President. You might as well bend over and kiss your tush goodbye, because with the help of the lame-stream media and this fraud's goals, we will be living in a world gone stark (and I'm not talking about Congressjerk, Pete Stark) raving mad and we will be much more than REBUKED by the likes of this junior senator.
Check out Global Poverty Tax or The Dhimmi Tax that The Abomination has proposed....google it and weep.
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Monday, June 16, 2008
Arabic to English Transliteration Glossary - U, W, Y, and Z
U
Ulama- Plural- Religious scholars, leaders, and experts.
Alim - Singular
The ulama in Saudi Arabia are the community of recognized Islamic scholars, including the grand mufti, judges, imams of masjids, and teachers in religious universities and schools.
Ummah - Community, specifically the community of Muslims.
Umrah* - Lesser pilgrimage to Makkah at any time of the year. Unlike the Hajj which takes place during the twelfth month of the Islamic lunar calendar.
W
Wahhabi - One who follows Muhammad ibn Abdul Wahhab’sIslamic creed, who established his Islamic creedin eighteenth century Arabia; Wahhabi movements have militantly reasserted the monotheistic roots of Islam. Wahhabism is the title given by those outside of the movement. Al-Muwahhidun or Abd al-Taubid “The asserters of the divine unity”
Walimah* - A traditional dinner feast provided to wedding guests by the groom’s family after a marriage ceremony. Providing a walimah was highly recommended by the Prophet, whether it be a grand or humble affair.
Waqf* - Term designating the giving of material property by will or by gift for pious works or for the public good. Properties with waqf status, such as schools or hospitals, remain so perpetually, providing endless benefit to the community and endless Heavenly blessings to the donor.
Wudu - Ritual washing or purification.
Y
Yathrib* - The former name of Madinah.
Yawm ad-Deen* - “Day of Faith”, one of several Arabic terms for Judgement Day.
Z
Zabur* - Arabic name for the holy scripture revealed to Prophet David thousands of years ago. Analogous to the Christian Psalms, a precursor to the Qur’an, jas as David was a predecessor of Muhammad.
Zakah*- “purification” refers to the almsgiving tax, roughly 2.5% of one’s accumulated wealth, that eligible Muslims pay annually, Zakah is one of the “five pillars” of Islam and is usually collected by local masjids or charitable organizations. The funds are distributed to poor and need persons .
Zakat - Offering
Zam Zam*- Sacred well discovery by Hajar
Zina - Illegal sexual intercourse including fornication, adultery, rape and prostitution.
*Also includes zakat in Shariah finance
Zakat is also used to fund jihad, hence this explanation is yet another example of taqiyya or kitman.
Sources:
Approaching the Qur’an, the Early Revelations, Introduced and Translated by Michael Sells, White Cloud Press, Ashland, Oregon
Islam, Opposing Viewpoints, Jennifer A. Hurley, Book Editor, Greenhaven Press, Inc., San Diego, CA
Hatred’s Kingdom, How Saudi Arabia Supports the New Global Terrorism, Dore Gold, Regnery Publishing, Inc
The Koran, A Very Short Introduction, Michael Cook, Oxford University Press
*Teaching About Islam & Muslims in the Public School Classroom, A Handbook for Educators, 3rd edition, CAIR ISBN 1-93109-00-8
It is clearly seen that all derogatory terminology to non-Muslims is absent from the CAIR publication. Another example of taqiyya and kitman.
Ulama- Plural- Religious scholars, leaders, and experts.
Alim - Singular
The ulama in Saudi Arabia are the community of recognized Islamic scholars, including the grand mufti, judges, imams of masjids, and teachers in religious universities and schools.
Ummah - Community, specifically the community of Muslims.
Umrah* - Lesser pilgrimage to Makkah at any time of the year. Unlike the Hajj which takes place during the twelfth month of the Islamic lunar calendar.
W
Wahhabi - One who follows Muhammad ibn Abdul Wahhab’sIslamic creed, who established his Islamic creedin eighteenth century Arabia; Wahhabi movements have militantly reasserted the monotheistic roots of Islam. Wahhabism is the title given by those outside of the movement. Al-Muwahhidun or Abd al-Taubid “The asserters of the divine unity”
Walimah* - A traditional dinner feast provided to wedding guests by the groom’s family after a marriage ceremony. Providing a walimah was highly recommended by the Prophet, whether it be a grand or humble affair.
Waqf* - Term designating the giving of material property by will or by gift for pious works or for the public good. Properties with waqf status, such as schools or hospitals, remain so perpetually, providing endless benefit to the community and endless Heavenly blessings to the donor.
Wudu - Ritual washing or purification.
Y
Yathrib* - The former name of Madinah.
Yawm ad-Deen* - “Day of Faith”, one of several Arabic terms for Judgement Day.
Z
Zabur* - Arabic name for the holy scripture revealed to Prophet David thousands of years ago. Analogous to the Christian Psalms, a precursor to the Qur’an, jas as David was a predecessor of Muhammad.
Zakah*- “purification” refers to the almsgiving tax, roughly 2.5% of one’s accumulated wealth, that eligible Muslims pay annually, Zakah is one of the “five pillars” of Islam and is usually collected by local masjids or charitable organizations. The funds are distributed to poor and need persons .
Zakat - Offering
Zam Zam*- Sacred well discovery by Hajar
Zina - Illegal sexual intercourse including fornication, adultery, rape and prostitution.
*Also includes zakat in Shariah finance
Zakat is also used to fund jihad, hence this explanation is yet another example of taqiyya or kitman.
Sources:
Approaching the Qur’an, the Early Revelations, Introduced and Translated by Michael Sells, White Cloud Press, Ashland, Oregon
Islam, Opposing Viewpoints, Jennifer A. Hurley, Book Editor, Greenhaven Press, Inc., San Diego, CA
Hatred’s Kingdom, How Saudi Arabia Supports the New Global Terrorism, Dore Gold, Regnery Publishing, Inc
The Koran, A Very Short Introduction, Michael Cook, Oxford University Press
*Teaching About Islam & Muslims in the Public School Classroom, A Handbook for Educators, 3rd edition, CAIR ISBN 1-93109-00-8
It is clearly seen that all derogatory terminology to non-Muslims is absent from the CAIR publication. Another example of taqiyya and kitman.
Mad for Madrassas - Saudi funding teaches it's OK to kill non-Muslims
Mad For Madrassas
By INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY | Posted Friday, June 13, 2008 4:20 PM PT
Islamofascism: Saudi money buys a lot in Washington, even an extension of a lease to an Islamic school that graduates terrorists and teaches its students it's OK to kill non-Muslims.
The texts used at its main campus, located just across the Potomac in Alexandria, Va., contain passages that vilify Jews and proclaim killing non-Muslims is sometimes permissible.
Despite the failing grade, local government officials renewed the private school's lease in an old public high school building. The Democrat county supervisor in charge of the lease doesn't see any problem with the school or its texts.
In fact, Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chairman Gerry Connolly reportedly dismissed critics of the Saudi academy as "bigots" as he accepted a check from the Saudi Embassy for another $2.2 million to extend its lease. Perhaps not coincidentally, Connolly is running as a Democrat for Congress. He hopes to fill the local seat of retiring Republican Tom Davis, whose district includes one of the fastest-growing Muslim populations in the country.
The commission that looked at the Saudi texts has turned to the State Department to close the academy. State can do this because as part of the Saudi government, the school is subject to the Foreign Missions Act. But the Washington Times says State plans to let the madrassa continue to operate. Why? The Saudis "told us they would revise the textbooks by the 2008 school year," a spokesman said.
How foolish. The Saudis have been promising to reform their violent texts every year since 9/11. Yet they just pump more petrodollars into spreading their hateful Wahhabi propaganda here.
Within months of the attacks by 15 Saudi hijackers, the Washington Post reported the Saudi academy's 11th-grade textbooks, for example, say one sign of the Day of Judgment will be that Muslims will fight and kill Jews, who will hide behind trees.
The Post went on to quote several students who say they are taught in Islamic studies that "it is better to shun and even to dislike Christians, Jews and Shiite Muslims." One teen told the paper he's taught by academy teachers that it's OK for Muslims to hurt or steal from such "kafirs."
This was the steady diet of hate the Saudi academy fed Ahmed Abu Ali, who joined al-Qaida after graduating and plotted to kill President Bush. Lest anyone think Ali was a misfit loner, he graduated valedictorian and was voted as the "Most Likely to Be a Martyr."
As we've warned repeatedly on these pages, the Islamic Saudi Academy is a breeding ground for terrorists, operating just across the Potomac from the White House and Capitol. Who has the nerve to disregard Saudi money and influence and shut it down?
PLEASE FOLLOW LINK to listen to Audio and Podcast comments
By INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY | Posted Friday, June 13, 2008 4:20 PM PT
Islamofascism: Saudi money buys a lot in Washington, even an extension of a lease to an Islamic school that graduates terrorists and teaches its students it's OK to kill non-Muslims.
The texts used at its main campus, located just across the Potomac in Alexandria, Va., contain passages that vilify Jews and proclaim killing non-Muslims is sometimes permissible.
Despite the failing grade, local government officials renewed the private school's lease in an old public high school building. The Democrat county supervisor in charge of the lease doesn't see any problem with the school or its texts.
In fact, Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chairman Gerry Connolly reportedly dismissed critics of the Saudi academy as "bigots" as he accepted a check from the Saudi Embassy for another $2.2 million to extend its lease. Perhaps not coincidentally, Connolly is running as a Democrat for Congress. He hopes to fill the local seat of retiring Republican Tom Davis, whose district includes one of the fastest-growing Muslim populations in the country.
The commission that looked at the Saudi texts has turned to the State Department to close the academy. State can do this because as part of the Saudi government, the school is subject to the Foreign Missions Act. But the Washington Times says State plans to let the madrassa continue to operate. Why? The Saudis "told us they would revise the textbooks by the 2008 school year," a spokesman said.
How foolish. The Saudis have been promising to reform their violent texts every year since 9/11. Yet they just pump more petrodollars into spreading their hateful Wahhabi propaganda here.
Within months of the attacks by 15 Saudi hijackers, the Washington Post reported the Saudi academy's 11th-grade textbooks, for example, say one sign of the Day of Judgment will be that Muslims will fight and kill Jews, who will hide behind trees.
The Post went on to quote several students who say they are taught in Islamic studies that "it is better to shun and even to dislike Christians, Jews and Shiite Muslims." One teen told the paper he's taught by academy teachers that it's OK for Muslims to hurt or steal from such "kafirs."
This was the steady diet of hate the Saudi academy fed Ahmed Abu Ali, who joined al-Qaida after graduating and plotted to kill President Bush. Lest anyone think Ali was a misfit loner, he graduated valedictorian and was voted as the "Most Likely to Be a Martyr."
As we've warned repeatedly on these pages, the Islamic Saudi Academy is a breeding ground for terrorists, operating just across the Potomac from the White House and Capitol. Who has the nerve to disregard Saudi money and influence and shut it down?
PLEASE FOLLOW LINK to listen to Audio and Podcast comments
The Death of Real Marriage in California today
Mourning reason and the perverted success of "same-sex" "marriage" Another abomination and insult to decency.
"Liberalism is a mental disorder" Dr. Michael Savage
"Liberalism is a mental disorder" Dr. Michael Savage
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Egyptian "student" in the US to Kill you
TO THE EGYPTIAN COLLEGE STUDENT NAMED BELOW: ahmed abdellatif sherif mohamed: I reach out and touch your dirty face with my LEFT HAND.
Student agrees to plead to terror support charge
An Egyptian college student who videotaped himself showing how to turn remote-controlled cars into bomb detonators has agreed to plead guilty to a federal charge of providing material support to terrorists, according to a plea agreement filed Friday.
Ahmed Abdellatif Sherif Mohamed, one of two students arrested after a traffic stop in South Carolina in August, will enter the plea at a hearing next week in federal court in Tampa, said his attorney Linda Moreno.
Deputies said they found explosives in the trunk of the car Mohamed was driving, but defense attorneys have claimed they were merely ingredients for homemade fireworks.
FOR THE REST OF THIS COPYRIGHTED STORY IF YOU CARE TO READ ABOUT THIS PIG: http://license.icopyright.net/user/viewFreeUse.act?fuid=MTE1NzI4Mg==
Student agrees to plead to terror support charge
An Egyptian college student who videotaped himself showing how to turn remote-controlled cars into bomb detonators has agreed to plead guilty to a federal charge of providing material support to terrorists, according to a plea agreement filed Friday.
Ahmed Abdellatif Sherif Mohamed, one of two students arrested after a traffic stop in South Carolina in August, will enter the plea at a hearing next week in federal court in Tampa, said his attorney Linda Moreno.
Deputies said they found explosives in the trunk of the car Mohamed was driving, but defense attorneys have claimed they were merely ingredients for homemade fireworks.
FOR THE REST OF THIS COPYRIGHTED STORY IF YOU CARE TO READ ABOUT THIS PIG: http://license.icopyright.net/user/viewFreeUse.act?fuid=MTE1NzI4Mg==
The Obama Bros and Baraq's Taqiyya
Malik Obama confirms his half-brother Barack grew up a Muslim
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.
As the Jerusalem Post reports, "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."
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 a remarkable denial issued last November that still stands on the official campaign website: http://www.barackobama.com/factcheck/2007/11/12/obama_has_never_been_a_muslim_1.php#obama-not-muslim" 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.
Melanie Phillips is the most recent commentator to draw attention to the massive body of evidence that leaves no doubt that Barak Hussein Obama was born a Muslim (Islam is patrilineal) and raised a Muslim (so registered in school, acknowledging attending Islamic classes, reported accompanying his step-father to the mosque, and able to recite the Koran in the original Arabic).
Reuven Koret, Aaron Klein and Daniel Pipes have previously pointed to the attempts by Obama and his campaign to conceal the candidate's Muslim background. The well documented evidence draws upon the on-the-ground interviews by researchers in Indonesia and Kenya, published quotations of Obama's childhood friends and his school records, as well as the candidate's own autobiography.
It is not clear whether Barack Obama will now disown his half-brother Malik, or throw him under the campaign bus, for acknowledging that shared family background. In any case, some one should notify "Fight the Smear" tout de suite. Perhaps they can get him with the program.
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.
As the Jerusalem Post reports, "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."
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 a remarkable denial issued last November that still stands on the official campaign website: http://www.barackobama.com/factcheck/2007/11/12/obama_has_never_been_a_muslim_1.php#obama-not-muslim" 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.
Melanie Phillips is the most recent commentator to draw attention to the massive body of evidence that leaves no doubt that Barak Hussein Obama was born a Muslim (Islam is patrilineal) and raised a Muslim (so registered in school, acknowledging attending Islamic classes, reported accompanying his step-father to the mosque, and able to recite the Koran in the original Arabic).
Reuven Koret, Aaron Klein and Daniel Pipes have previously pointed to the attempts by Obama and his campaign to conceal the candidate's Muslim background. The well documented evidence draws upon the on-the-ground interviews by researchers in Indonesia and Kenya, published quotations of Obama's childhood friends and his school records, as well as the candidate's own autobiography.
It is not clear whether Barack Obama will now disown his half-brother Malik, or throw him under the campaign bus, for acknowledging that shared family background. In any case, some one should notify "Fight the Smear" tout de suite. Perhaps they can get him with the program.
Monday, June 2, 2008
Baraq Hussein Obama's May 31, 2008 Speech
The below is from an email from my articulate, unnamed friend.
****************************************************************
I have just listened to Obama's speech in which he declares he is now leaving Trinity United Church. And now I make my own confessional statement as well - this is the first time I have listened to a speech of Obama's from beginning to end. Up until this moment, I have only heard sound bites of the man speaking a few words here and there - and of course I have read his printed speeches (which I was not impressed with). But this is the first time I have actually heard him speak at length - actually witnessed his voice patterns, his inflection, his syntax and delivery - in short, I have finally witnessed first hand an example of the vaunted 'brilliant speaker' which his followers and the media claim Obama to be.
Wooo. Much ado about nothing. I'll tell you, this 6 min. 35 sec. speech revealed two things clearly. Obama is not a great speaker (he is, in fact, lousy). Secondly, Obama is immoral.
To begin with - this man comments the cardinal error of a bad speaker - instead of a smooth, eloquent delivery, Obama instead stumbles, fumbles and trips in his speech. The most glaring is his constant stammer - nearly every sentence contains a fumbling, clumsy 'uh', 'uh', 'uh', etc. Stammers are not the mark of a great speaker. Secondly, he flails in his speech. Obama is incapable of speaking in smooth, uninterrupted sentences. Instead, his sentences constantly fracture a few words in to thrash off in a different direction, which itself then fractures to go off on yet another tangent which often enough was itself not completed either. Such a disjointed, disoriented speech pattern makes it impossible for the speaker's intent, his meaning to be gotten across. A great speaker must have a smooth rhythm to their words, a rhythm which flows effortlessly from beginning to end - a river of speech which picks the listener up and carries him along in a sure steady stream towards the ultimate meaning, the purpose of the speech.
In semantic terms, Obama's 'river' of speech has rocks in it. Like a raft on a choppy river crashes up against rocks and eddies, so a listener bumps up against Obama's stammers, his confusion, his disjointed speech - as a result, like the raft, the listener is thrown off course. Neither is carried through safely to the end as both are meant to.
Another sign of the lack of his eloquence is the lack of his wit. A great speaker always has wit - case in point, the wit of such titanic speakers as Winston Churchill or John F. Kennedy. Wit is the proof of one's command of the language. (Example is Churchill's witty response to Nancy Astor's snide comment "if you were my husband, I'd feed you poison". Churchill's instant reply? "If you were my wife, I'd drink it.") Alas, however, Obama has no wit. That is a telltale sign refuting his follower's insistence that he is a 'great' speaker. Another bad sign was the sheer banality of Obama's words. For instance, afterwards I could not remember any particular line or phrase he'd uttered (indeed, I had trouble remembering what he had said at all and instead had to peer at the typed portions of his speech on CNN in order to recall them). Inability to recall a speaker's words means they made no impact. Eloquence always makes an impact. Ergo, Obama is not eloquent.
But beyond syntax or phrasing, the most damning part of Obama's speech of May 31, 2008 was that it revealed he has no moral code.
That is a stunning revelation given that the very purpose, the very reason for this speech was morality - namely, the immorality of Trinity Church's racism. For months this nation has been appalled by the rantings of Trinity's Rev. Wright as he's hurled racist invectives at white America. The nation has been forced also to watch Trinity's entire congregation cheer and applaud these racist rantings. But most loathsome of all has been witnessing Obama's stubborn refusal to be upset by any of that. To the contrary, instead of blaming his minister (his 'uncle') for racism, Obama has instead blamed the world. It is the world, Obama claims, who is actually racist instead of Rev. Wright whom the world accuses of being such.
This adroit turning of the tables on the world, putting the world on defensive appeared to silence the furor - to dam up the waters of dismay at racism, so to speak, and thereby still them. But, as the English author John Morley warned 'You have not converted a man because you have silenced him'. And the silence of America to Obama's speech on Trinity and Wright was not the conversion Obama had assumed it was. It's ironic that the dam of silence was kicked in by none other than 'uncle' Wright himself with his frothing tirade before the National Press Club. Not to be outdone, of course, Trinity's new pastor - Moss - delivered his own swift kick as well, screaming from his pulpit that biblical prophet Abraham was 'a pimp'. And of course let us not deprive Trinity's cheering, whooping, applauding congregation of their blame in all this either. Their actions burst the dam of silence - and the flood waters that poured forth were not sweet but sewage. As a result, and just as Morley warned, the 'silenced man' of America revolted at the stench to reveal he was not a convert to Obama's dismissal of Wright's and Trinity's racism. The polls dropped, the press began to question Obama and, worse, the Super delegates began to sway away from him towards Hillary.
As a result, on May 31, 2008, Obama was forced to make a 6 min and 35 sec speech repudiating Trinity's racism.
Except - Obama didn't.
He danced about the issue, he shadow boxed with it, he came close, alluded to it - but he never made a clear, strong repudiation of Trinity's racism. And that is deadly. When a man does not make a stand on his morals, it is for only one reason - he has none to stand on. Morals exist for the very purpose of that.
I listened to that speech of Obama's and I kept waiting, cocking my head to bring my ear closer to the screen, I frowned, I listened - but not once, not a single instance did I hear Obama say something strong like - 'this racism of Trinity disgusts me'. Or "I hate this racism, it is evil, it is wrong and I won't stand for it'. But that never happened. Instead of strength of position, Obama gave no position at all.
A leader leads by virtue of his strength. People trust him, depend on him, rely on him. But there is nothing strong about Obama - he dances, he skates to one side and then another. You are left clawing in midair. If you clung to Obama, you'd both fall down. And falling down is not what a leader is supposed to do. He's supposed to uphold you. And of course that can only be accomplished by a possessing strong moral stand.
A towering example of a strong moral stand is that of the mighty leader of the Protestant Reformation - Martin Luther. Luther's stand on the corruption of the Catholic Church, the mendacity of its selling of indulgences was strong. But it should be noted that his was not the only one who felt this way - hundreds of thousands of unhappy Catholics also felt the same way. And so did countless other priests. Many priests were as deeply upset by the Church's greed, its corruption, its selling of indulgences as Luther. So why did the unhappy people flock to Luther instead of to these other priests? What was it about Luther that served as the magnet that attracted the followers to him by the hundreds of thousands? Answer - Luther's strong unmistakable moral stance.
Unlike the other priests who muttered dissent under their breath or even timidly preached it with a few dissenting words at Mass, Luther stormed up the steps of the Cathedral at Wittenberg and with a hammer pounded his 95 thesis to the door for the world to read. Nothing wishy washy about that! That took strength. Steel of purpose, firmness of resolve. So also was his adamant, unbending refusal to recant those 95 thesis to the Diet. He wouldn't. As Luther put it - "Here I stand. I cannot do otherwise. So help me God."
"Here I stand." Martin Luther stood for what he believed. He planted his feet firmly on the bedrock of his morals and that rock supported him. The rock of his morality was why he could stand and did.
But not Obama. Not once in Obama's vague, meandering, miasma of words was there ever the slightest hint of a rock solid belief. In fact, he appeared to have no belief at all. Not once did Obama boldly state 'here I stand. I cannot do otherwise'. Never.
The clearest approximation to a moral stand that Obama took was to make it clear that the reason he was leaving Trinity was because the church's controversy hurt his chances to become President of the United States. But that is not a moral stand - that is mendacity.
Of course, Obama wished to have the world perceive his speech as taking a moral stance - but his own words revealed the hypocrisy of that again and again. For instance, when Obama spoke of the harm caused by Wright's racist rants, Obama spoke only the harm to himself (i.e., potential voters would 'impute' Wright's racism onto Obama). But not a word did Obama utter of the harm those rants imputed to anyone else. Nor once did Obama acknowledge the staggering harm Wright's racism imputed to whites, to Jews, to American soldiers, to the American government, etc. By his silence, Obama revealed his contempt for their suffering - they weren't even worth words. It was all about Obama.
Obama's absence of a moral stand was revealed also with his treatment of Father Phleger's rants at the Trinity pulpit. Obama spoke that he was "deeply disappointed in Father Pfleger's divisive, backward-looking rhetoric". Good lord, a minister sneers that white Americans are racist pigs who must pay and pay and pay for a slavery which not a single one of them ever practiced and the only emotional reaction Obama can summon is to say he's 'deeply disappointed'. Come on, I'm deeply disappointed if I have a run in my nylons, if my store runs out of arugula - but for me to only be 'disappointed' when I hear myself spat at and denounced from the pulpit reveals me as spineless at best, masochistic at worst. And Obama's weak 'disappointment' gets even weaker when he reveals that it's not actually Pfleger that 'disappoints' him but everyone else's displeasure at Pfleger. The classic 'what will people think?' when they hear Pfleger's tirade. Well - that's not the point of what other people think. Obama's speech was supposed to say what HE thought. What was his stance on Pfleger's awful rants, what was Obama's stance on Trinity's racism, on Wright's? Obama refuses to say. He will not make a moral stand. And a man who refuses to stand on his morals does so for only one reason - he possesses none to stand on.
The end of Obama's speech reveals that lack of morals. Because his speech was about morality, Obama had to made a stand on it. Which meant he had to demand that Trinity stop its racism. He had been forced to acknowledge that his Presidential campaign has shown a 'spotlight' on that dirty, filthy racism of Trinity - but what was Obama's solution? Take the spotlight elsewhere.
In other words, leave the dirt and filth of Trinity's racism untouched, uncleansed, unchanged, still reeking in its excrement of hate and self-pity. That's just fine with Obama. Of course, Obama is perfectly willing to demand white America clean up its racism, but Obama's moral broom sweeps in one direction only. Away from Trinity's racism. As Obama orders, the grimy offal of Trinity's racism remains untouched. In a bitter refutation of Martin Luther, Obama will make no stand, so help his ambition.
Thus is my take on this speech. And on the man who gave it.
****************************************************************
I have just listened to Obama's speech in which he declares he is now leaving Trinity United Church. And now I make my own confessional statement as well - this is the first time I have listened to a speech of Obama's from beginning to end. Up until this moment, I have only heard sound bites of the man speaking a few words here and there - and of course I have read his printed speeches (which I was not impressed with). But this is the first time I have actually heard him speak at length - actually witnessed his voice patterns, his inflection, his syntax and delivery - in short, I have finally witnessed first hand an example of the vaunted 'brilliant speaker' which his followers and the media claim Obama to be.
Wooo. Much ado about nothing. I'll tell you, this 6 min. 35 sec. speech revealed two things clearly. Obama is not a great speaker (he is, in fact, lousy). Secondly, Obama is immoral.
To begin with - this man comments the cardinal error of a bad speaker - instead of a smooth, eloquent delivery, Obama instead stumbles, fumbles and trips in his speech. The most glaring is his constant stammer - nearly every sentence contains a fumbling, clumsy 'uh', 'uh', 'uh', etc. Stammers are not the mark of a great speaker. Secondly, he flails in his speech. Obama is incapable of speaking in smooth, uninterrupted sentences. Instead, his sentences constantly fracture a few words in to thrash off in a different direction, which itself then fractures to go off on yet another tangent which often enough was itself not completed either. Such a disjointed, disoriented speech pattern makes it impossible for the speaker's intent, his meaning to be gotten across. A great speaker must have a smooth rhythm to their words, a rhythm which flows effortlessly from beginning to end - a river of speech which picks the listener up and carries him along in a sure steady stream towards the ultimate meaning, the purpose of the speech.
In semantic terms, Obama's 'river' of speech has rocks in it. Like a raft on a choppy river crashes up against rocks and eddies, so a listener bumps up against Obama's stammers, his confusion, his disjointed speech - as a result, like the raft, the listener is thrown off course. Neither is carried through safely to the end as both are meant to.
Another sign of the lack of his eloquence is the lack of his wit. A great speaker always has wit - case in point, the wit of such titanic speakers as Winston Churchill or John F. Kennedy. Wit is the proof of one's command of the language. (Example is Churchill's witty response to Nancy Astor's snide comment "if you were my husband, I'd feed you poison". Churchill's instant reply? "If you were my wife, I'd drink it.") Alas, however, Obama has no wit. That is a telltale sign refuting his follower's insistence that he is a 'great' speaker. Another bad sign was the sheer banality of Obama's words. For instance, afterwards I could not remember any particular line or phrase he'd uttered (indeed, I had trouble remembering what he had said at all and instead had to peer at the typed portions of his speech on CNN in order to recall them). Inability to recall a speaker's words means they made no impact. Eloquence always makes an impact. Ergo, Obama is not eloquent.
But beyond syntax or phrasing, the most damning part of Obama's speech of May 31, 2008 was that it revealed he has no moral code.
That is a stunning revelation given that the very purpose, the very reason for this speech was morality - namely, the immorality of Trinity Church's racism. For months this nation has been appalled by the rantings of Trinity's Rev. Wright as he's hurled racist invectives at white America. The nation has been forced also to watch Trinity's entire congregation cheer and applaud these racist rantings. But most loathsome of all has been witnessing Obama's stubborn refusal to be upset by any of that. To the contrary, instead of blaming his minister (his 'uncle') for racism, Obama has instead blamed the world. It is the world, Obama claims, who is actually racist instead of Rev. Wright whom the world accuses of being such.
This adroit turning of the tables on the world, putting the world on defensive appeared to silence the furor - to dam up the waters of dismay at racism, so to speak, and thereby still them. But, as the English author John Morley warned 'You have not converted a man because you have silenced him'. And the silence of America to Obama's speech on Trinity and Wright was not the conversion Obama had assumed it was. It's ironic that the dam of silence was kicked in by none other than 'uncle' Wright himself with his frothing tirade before the National Press Club. Not to be outdone, of course, Trinity's new pastor - Moss - delivered his own swift kick as well, screaming from his pulpit that biblical prophet Abraham was 'a pimp'. And of course let us not deprive Trinity's cheering, whooping, applauding congregation of their blame in all this either. Their actions burst the dam of silence - and the flood waters that poured forth were not sweet but sewage. As a result, and just as Morley warned, the 'silenced man' of America revolted at the stench to reveal he was not a convert to Obama's dismissal of Wright's and Trinity's racism. The polls dropped, the press began to question Obama and, worse, the Super delegates began to sway away from him towards Hillary.
As a result, on May 31, 2008, Obama was forced to make a 6 min and 35 sec speech repudiating Trinity's racism.
Except - Obama didn't.
He danced about the issue, he shadow boxed with it, he came close, alluded to it - but he never made a clear, strong repudiation of Trinity's racism. And that is deadly. When a man does not make a stand on his morals, it is for only one reason - he has none to stand on. Morals exist for the very purpose of that.
I listened to that speech of Obama's and I kept waiting, cocking my head to bring my ear closer to the screen, I frowned, I listened - but not once, not a single instance did I hear Obama say something strong like - 'this racism of Trinity disgusts me'. Or "I hate this racism, it is evil, it is wrong and I won't stand for it'. But that never happened. Instead of strength of position, Obama gave no position at all.
A leader leads by virtue of his strength. People trust him, depend on him, rely on him. But there is nothing strong about Obama - he dances, he skates to one side and then another. You are left clawing in midair. If you clung to Obama, you'd both fall down. And falling down is not what a leader is supposed to do. He's supposed to uphold you. And of course that can only be accomplished by a possessing strong moral stand.
A towering example of a strong moral stand is that of the mighty leader of the Protestant Reformation - Martin Luther. Luther's stand on the corruption of the Catholic Church, the mendacity of its selling of indulgences was strong. But it should be noted that his was not the only one who felt this way - hundreds of thousands of unhappy Catholics also felt the same way. And so did countless other priests. Many priests were as deeply upset by the Church's greed, its corruption, its selling of indulgences as Luther. So why did the unhappy people flock to Luther instead of to these other priests? What was it about Luther that served as the magnet that attracted the followers to him by the hundreds of thousands? Answer - Luther's strong unmistakable moral stance.
Unlike the other priests who muttered dissent under their breath or even timidly preached it with a few dissenting words at Mass, Luther stormed up the steps of the Cathedral at Wittenberg and with a hammer pounded his 95 thesis to the door for the world to read. Nothing wishy washy about that! That took strength. Steel of purpose, firmness of resolve. So also was his adamant, unbending refusal to recant those 95 thesis to the Diet. He wouldn't. As Luther put it - "Here I stand. I cannot do otherwise. So help me God."
"Here I stand." Martin Luther stood for what he believed. He planted his feet firmly on the bedrock of his morals and that rock supported him. The rock of his morality was why he could stand and did.
But not Obama. Not once in Obama's vague, meandering, miasma of words was there ever the slightest hint of a rock solid belief. In fact, he appeared to have no belief at all. Not once did Obama boldly state 'here I stand. I cannot do otherwise'. Never.
The clearest approximation to a moral stand that Obama took was to make it clear that the reason he was leaving Trinity was because the church's controversy hurt his chances to become President of the United States. But that is not a moral stand - that is mendacity.
Of course, Obama wished to have the world perceive his speech as taking a moral stance - but his own words revealed the hypocrisy of that again and again. For instance, when Obama spoke of the harm caused by Wright's racist rants, Obama spoke only the harm to himself (i.e., potential voters would 'impute' Wright's racism onto Obama). But not a word did Obama utter of the harm those rants imputed to anyone else. Nor once did Obama acknowledge the staggering harm Wright's racism imputed to whites, to Jews, to American soldiers, to the American government, etc. By his silence, Obama revealed his contempt for their suffering - they weren't even worth words. It was all about Obama.
Obama's absence of a moral stand was revealed also with his treatment of Father Phleger's rants at the Trinity pulpit. Obama spoke that he was "deeply disappointed in Father Pfleger's divisive, backward-looking rhetoric". Good lord, a minister sneers that white Americans are racist pigs who must pay and pay and pay for a slavery which not a single one of them ever practiced and the only emotional reaction Obama can summon is to say he's 'deeply disappointed'. Come on, I'm deeply disappointed if I have a run in my nylons, if my store runs out of arugula - but for me to only be 'disappointed' when I hear myself spat at and denounced from the pulpit reveals me as spineless at best, masochistic at worst. And Obama's weak 'disappointment' gets even weaker when he reveals that it's not actually Pfleger that 'disappoints' him but everyone else's displeasure at Pfleger. The classic 'what will people think?' when they hear Pfleger's tirade. Well - that's not the point of what other people think. Obama's speech was supposed to say what HE thought. What was his stance on Pfleger's awful rants, what was Obama's stance on Trinity's racism, on Wright's? Obama refuses to say. He will not make a moral stand. And a man who refuses to stand on his morals does so for only one reason - he possesses none to stand on.
The end of Obama's speech reveals that lack of morals. Because his speech was about morality, Obama had to made a stand on it. Which meant he had to demand that Trinity stop its racism. He had been forced to acknowledge that his Presidential campaign has shown a 'spotlight' on that dirty, filthy racism of Trinity - but what was Obama's solution? Take the spotlight elsewhere.
In other words, leave the dirt and filth of Trinity's racism untouched, uncleansed, unchanged, still reeking in its excrement of hate and self-pity. That's just fine with Obama. Of course, Obama is perfectly willing to demand white America clean up its racism, but Obama's moral broom sweeps in one direction only. Away from Trinity's racism. As Obama orders, the grimy offal of Trinity's racism remains untouched. In a bitter refutation of Martin Luther, Obama will make no stand, so help his ambition.
Thus is my take on this speech. And on the man who gave it.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
