Obama v. McCain

(Disclaimer: this is by no means my way of promoting the idea of voting for Obama. In my book he is, at least, as bad as McCain. Rather, this is me promoting the work of a very cool Muslimah!)

Techonology:


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Sexist:

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Muslims Barred From Picture at Obama Event

Obama wants to give Apartheid Israel more missiles. He wants Apartheid Israel to reign over an un-divided Jerusalem. Those however, are his policies abroad. He's so much better on the home front:

Two Muslim women at Barack Obama's rally in Detroit on Monday were barred from sitting behind the podium by campaign volunteers seeking to prevent the women's headscarves from appearing in photographs or on television with the candidate.

The campaign has apologized to the women, both Obama supporters who said they felt betrayed by their treatment at the rally.

"This is of course not the policy of the campaign. It is offensive and counter to Obama's commitment to bring Americans together and simply not the kind of campaign we run," said Obama spokesman Bill Burton. "We sincerely apologize for the behavior of these volunteers."
...
In Detroit on Monday, the two different Obama volunteers — in separate incidents — made it clear that headscarves wouldn't be in the picture. The volunteers gave different explanations for excluding the hijabs, one bluntly political and the other less clear.
...
The men said the volunteer, a twenty-something African-American woman in a green shirt, asked if their friends looked and were dressed like the young men, who were all light-skinned and wearing suits. Miller said yes, but mentioned that one of their friends was wearing a headscarf with her suit.

The volunteer "explained to me that because of the political climate and what's going on in the world and what's going on with Muslim Americans, it's not good for [Aref] to be seen on TV or associated with Obama," said Koussan, who is a law student at Wayne State University.
...
When they said they were with Abdelfadeel, the volunteer told them their friend would have to take the headscarf off or stay out of the special section, Marino said. They declined the seats.

After recovering from the shock of the incident, Abdelfadeel went to look for the volunteer and confronted her minutes later, she said in an e-mail interview with Politico.

"We're not letting anyone with anything on their heads like baseball [caps] or scarves sit behind the stage," she paraphrased the volunteer as saying, an account Marino confirmed. "It has nothing to do with your religion!"

In most work and school settings, religious dress — such as Jewish yarmulkes, Sikh turbans, Muslim hijabs — is permitted where secular clothing like baseball caps is not.

"The scarf is not just something she can take off — it's part of her identity," said Marino.

Photographs of the event also show men with hats in the section behind Obama and former Vice President Al Gore, though not directly behind the candidate.

Source: Politico

OK. Alright. You say it was just a volunteer making a mistake? Rather, it was two volunteers. And doesn't the "oh my staffer/volunteer made a mistake" line sound familiar? Yes! That's the same cop out Barbara Boxer used last year to justify Islamophobic actions on her end.

I want to understand. I really do. Somebody please explain to me why we are even bothering with these particular politicians? For intelligent and informed activists, isn't this becoming an issue of self respect?

Update (06/19/2008): Obama Apologizes to Muslim Women for Treatment at Rally

The One Thing Clinton & Obama Agree On

Obama's first first foreign policy speech of the general election campaign entailed him "whoring" himself out to AIPAC this morning. Sad, right? On the bright side, at least we now know for sure that Clinton and him agree on one thing: ensuring the Palestinian people continue to suffer under iron fist of Apartheid Israel.

Hillary Clinton:
"It has been an honor to contest these primaries with him. It is an honor to call him my friend. And let me be very clear: I know that Sen. Obama will be a good friend to [apartheid] Israel."

Barack Obama:
Rumors have been circulating at least since last year that Obama is a Muslim and does not support the Jewish state. He is a Christian and said at the conference he is a "true friend of [apartheid] Israel," earning applause.

Source: Obama Addresses Rumors at pro-[Apartheid] Israel Conference

The Candidates' "Spiritual Guides"

Are you, like me, tired of discussing whether or not Obama is a Muslim and whether or not his pastor is "anti-American"? Good, because it turns out it's McCain's "spiritual guide" that is the real problem:



And a message from the director and producer, Robert Greenwald:

You may have heard of Rev. John Hagee, the McCain supporter who said God created Hurricane Katrina to punish New Orleans for its homosexual "sins." Well now meet Rev. Rod Parsley, the televangelist megachurch pastor from Ohio who hates Islam. According to David Corn of Mother Jones, Parsley has called on Christians to wage war against Islam, which he considers to be a "false religion." In the past, Parsley has also railed against the separation of church and state, homosexuals, and abortion rights, comparing Planned Parenthood to Nazis.

John McCain actively sought and received Parsley's endorsement in the presidential race. McCain has called Parsley "a spiritual guide," and he hasn't said whether he shares Parsley's vicious anti-Islam views. That's because the mainstream media refuses to ask. And so, we've taken matters into our own hands, joining Mother Jones to present the truth about McCain's pastor:

Watch the video!

Since the media won't question McCain about his deeply bigoted pastor, it's up to you to call attention to this issue. Make McCain's pastor problem a major story by forwarding this video to your family, friends, and colleagues. Digg it! Anything to spread the word.

We can't let McCain get away with aligning himself with a religious leader who's called for an all-out war on Islam, someone who draws no distinctions between Muslims and violent Islamic extremists. Now is the crucial time to act.

Yours,
Robert Greenwald
and the Brave New Team

Deadline Fast Approaching

Speaking of Palestine, the Bush Empire and Keith Ellison reminds me: Are you registered to vote yet?

I'm tired of people of conscience complaining (day in and day out) and yet NOT doing EVERYTHING in their power to bring about change. Really though, we do a lot of "talking" and not nearly enough "walking!" Going to a rally every so often and remembering to wear sweat shop free clothing is great, but it's NOT sufficient.

The are two things that will matter MOST in American politics this year 1) MONEY and 2) VOTES.

Have you seen what the organizations that stand for everything that outrages my moral compass spend on elections? Trust me, if you're reading this it's likely you don't have the money to compete with the likes of AIPAC and the pharmaceutical giants.

That leaves one other option: VOTES.

You have YOUR votes and the votes of your peers. You may not be able to raise money but you can organize votes. You can get people involved and excited about the issues. Yes, YOU!

But have you registered to vote? If not, you have until January 22nd to mail in your voter registration application. That is if you care to make your voice heard on SUPER TUESDAY (February 5th).

To register, visit:

California Secretary of State or Rock the Vote

(Also, remember: if you registered as an Independent (i.e., you declined to state an affiliation with a political party) you can vote in either the Democratic or American Independent Party Primary in CA. Simply ask for the ballot of the primary in which you want to participate at the polling station.)

Register ASAP to make sure your voice is heard on February 5th!

***AND If you're too busy to make it to the polls, you can request an absentee ballot and mail it in/drop it off!

Whats the Caucus Ruckus?

Today is the Iowa Caucus. Many people know the buzz of the caucus, but what the HECK is this Caucus ruckus?

Some questions I got leading up to today- democratic process, but what role does the caucus play, doesn't seem to democratic when my candidate doesn't make it? Why the heck are we even thinking about voting now? Or, how about this one, Caucus, is that a sexual term?

Caucus- in loose definition- means a gathering of people, like minded to decide on something. Islamically this process can be understood as coming together for the purposes of Shura. In our democracy, the caucus is coming together to decide on a "party candidate"- Republican or Democrat.

Unfortunately, we only have a two party system. In that system each party's candidates go head to head in the states in order to get the national party's bid for the Presidential nomination. Now in a state like California people who are on the fringe have a better chance at getting the nomination. For example- Kucinich would probably get enough votes from this state to buoy a legitimate campaign, as would an extremist nut case like Tancredo (who is no longer running) because both of them would be able to get the party die hards to come out and vote in an election- the caucus.

At one point these caucuses- correct me if I am wrong- were actually held by Congressional and legislative representatives of either party to elect a party presidential nominee, which to me is not all that DEMOCRATIC, however that began to change as the methods of communication and travel changed.

The reason why we don't normally get the fringe as nominees is because of the Post-Civil War structure of the parties. Again correct me if I am wrong- after the Civil War the nation being split in two needed mending and the South literally had to be cemented back together with the Union. In order to do that the political parties had to take into account what Southern politicians demands were. One of these brilliant idea's was to put together the caucus process so that the Southern states would weed out and present the presidential candidate for party consideration.

That are so many things to criticize about the process but for general history this explanation should suffice. Here is what happens in Iowa and the caucus itself:

Its not the normal primary election California and many other states use. If you want to know how it works, check out this link (What Happens at the Iowa Caucus). These "gatherings of the neighbors" basically elect delegates who would vote for a certain candidate at the national convention- which means they aren't voting for the candidate but rather delegates to represent the nominee of choice.

Why is this whole process important?

For starters read the evolution of the Iowa Caucus at NPR to really get an understanding of the process. However, for a general understanding here is the gist- Iowa is make or break for any presidential nominee. When we have up to eight candidates running, how does one person decide between any one of them? Iowa basically brings the zoom focus on the winners, they become the people you want to dissect. When the primary comes around to your state and you wish to participate, you have a clearer idea of who you want to vote for because since the early primaries the hot seat of media attention has been focused on the winners, often times leaving the losers to drop out and leave the race.

Now if you want to examine the criticisms of this process- aside from the "this is haram brother because it is not part of the Sharia" or the "we don't vote because it is a kufar system" analysis- check out these books:

• Hull, Christopher C. 2007. Grassroots Rules: How The Iowa Caucus Helps Elect American Presidents. Stanford, Calif: Stanford University Press.
• Squire, Peverill, ed. 1989. The Iowa Caucuses and the Presidential Nominating Process. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
• Winebrenner, Hugh. 1998. The Iowa Precinct Caucuses: The Making of a Media Event. 2nd ed. Ames: Iowa State University Press

And for all the Brown Coats this tid bit fact was really nice to learn about, preserve our minority history!

The origin of the word "caucus" is debated, although it is generally agreed that it came into use in English in the US. According to some sources, it comes from the Algonquin word for "counsel," cau´-cau-as´u, and was probably introduced into American political usage through the Democratic Party in New York known as Tammany Hall, which liked to use Native American terms. (from wikipedia under "caucus" search)

No Time for Apathy

There are many Muslim students these days who find it fashionable to talk about not participating in national elections. Which I guess I understand, but definitely disagree with their perception. Yet there are those still who feel any involvement in politics or government is taboo for the Muslim community. To which I think to myself- why are you even living in America- go back home because (save the rant for later). I thought this line of thought was stamped out for good, and I am not excited to see a resurgence of it.

However, I feel that most of my friends, family and associates just don't care. They are so concerned with Brangaleena or Paris being sent to Prison, or worse, idiot democracy of American Idol. They just don't care about substance or issues of dire concern. Its really sad to think that people are so brain dead/washed to not pay attention to reality. Ironic how we need Reality TV in order to escape the reality of life.

The RESULTS are in and the 2008 Presidential nominee is....

The first track post guiding us toward the 2008 election has come and gone this weekend. Did you hear about it?

If you haven't this is how it stands- The reporting of all funds raised by presidential nominee's needed to be reported and were made public, and here is what it looks like:

1. Hillary Clinton some 26 million dollars
2. Barack Obama some 24 million dollars
3. Mit Romney some 21 million dollars
4. all the others running below the meager 15 million dollar mark.

Read more here to see what the figures are like and how significant this plays into the entire race.

But where are the American Muslims. While our community is still reeling from the 2000 election and the support of Bush and the falling out with the Republicans that followed, along with the apathy, and then also the militant anti-participation in American National politics here is just a fun way to gauge which way the American Community is putting their weight behind...well so far the winner seems to be the Obama juggernaut.

Vote at InFocus's poll by going here.

Also leave your comment, even if you find my stance on national elections to be obnoxious, do please leave a comment!