Why Arab is Accepted as a Slur

Campbell Brown wonders why being called an Arab is a slur:

Woman at rally: I don't trust Obama. I have read about him and he's an Arab.

Sen. John McCain: No ma'am, no ma'am. He's a decent family man, citizen that I just happen to have disagreements with on fundamental issues. That's what this campaign is all about. He's not, thank you.

'No bias, no bull'

Now, I commend Sen. McCain for correcting that woman, for setting the record straight. But I do have one question -- so what if he was?

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'm glad the media is finally speaking out on all this hate mongering that's been going on. Whoever believes the media is on Obama's side or anyone's side is kidding themselves.

The media should've been fighting this a long while ago, not to support Obama but to be fair. Muslims have been unfairly smeared. 

The media seems to be firing back now in reaction to McCain Palin's thuggish supporters. Since they've come out of the closet, thanks to Palin, we can see more clearly how warped their thinking is.

The reason being called an Arab is accepted as a slur is because the McCain camp and the wingnut republican extremist have been fostering the notion that Arab = terrorist. The radical republicans believe that Islam is a bad religion. They figured if they could tie Obama to Islam then that makes Obama a bad person, a secret Muslim terrorist in the eyes of many. We have now taken for granted that whenever a republican calls someone an Arab they mean it as a slur.

Brown says:

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.

But she's not stating the obvious. That's the whole ploy. While McCain and the radical republicans have been arguing against "radical Islam," what they're really against is Islam. But they won't say that out loud. You have to visit their websites and read their emails. 

Also, even if being Arab wasn't a slur, it wouldn't be an acceptable religion for a U.S. president because many Americans haven't benefited from our education system or a good upbringing. Many people grow up in families that foster hate. Being Arab or being something other than Christian is a little over many people's heads. 

Obama Hate Group Clarion Fund Hires PR

The Clarion Fund, a non profit being secretly funded, recently sent out DVDs that whisper Obama is a Muslim, and therefore a terrorist. It has hired a public relations person to fend off opposition -- Obama supporters are fighting back. The DVDs are propaganda to keep Obama out of office. The producers of the film are Obama haters. People who subscribe to newspapers in swing states received these DVDs, so if you get one, trash it. 

NPR: As we reported, one of the promoters of the DVD is Joe Wierzbicki, who is active in two anti-Obama political action committees.

One group, Move America Forward, recently produced an ad we already showcased. The other, Our Country Deserves Better PAC, just put up a Web video contending that Republican VP candidate Sarah Palin has more executive experience than Barack Obama. "All Barack Obama has ever run," it says, "has been his mouth." The video, which runs over 3 minutes, goes into a blooper reel of Obama's gaffes, tongue-tied moments and controversial comments.

At least the people of Appalachia admit they won't vote for a black man. Others who choose to hate on Obama, such as the Clarion Fund, do it in more slimy ways.

New Obsession DVD Smears Obama

When al Qaeda blew up a hotel in Pakistan recently, John McCain blamed radical Islam, not al Qaeda.

Contrary to what McCain's said lately, McCain believes that the biggest concern for Americans is not the economy but radical Islam.

Republicans highlighted this at the convention, saying that democrats were too scared to say "radical Islam" but that republicans aren't afraid to say it. 

Conservative republican sites such as humanevents.com, freerepublic.com and worldnetdaily, and talk radio wingnut Rush Limbaugh, push the notion of radical Islam. It's a concerted effort. 

But what they won't tell you in public is that they don't believe there is a difference between Islam and radical Islam. They seem to believe Islam, by nature, is a bad religion. 

They also know that many Americans don't differentiate between someone who practices the Islamic faith, a Muslim, and someone who is a radical Islamist.

Which leads me to the covert campaign to smear Obama. At the same time republicans push radical Islam as the scourge of the Earth, they push the lie that Obama is a Muslim in smear email chains and all over the Internet. It's been going on for at least a year now. 

For the people vulnerable to this message -- folks a little scared of voting for a black man -- making the connection between Islam and Obama is a no brainer (it really is). It gives them comfort in opposing Obama, and not seeking their own information. It matches their worldview.

I'm not saying that there aren't radical Islamists. I'm saying that conservatives lump these terrorist groups under the radical Islam umbrella for propaganda purposes.

The smear campaign has been stepped up. Recently, subscribers to 70 different newspapers in swing states received a DVD called "Obsession" about radical islam, which hints that Obama is Muslim. The DVD was produced by the charity, Clarion Fund, which got some of its money from a secret donor.

But, filled with dire warnings about Islamic terrorists, it hit doorsteps seven weeks before Election Day. And critics say it fuels the false whisper campaign that Barack Obama is secretly a Muslim.

It was made in 2006 and it is propaganda to scare up some votes for McCain.

This is why McCain can't win. We can't have the hate machine in office any longer. We need the hope machine.
Here's more from NPR:

Earlier this month, subscribers to 70 newspapers in 14 states got a little something extra: A DVD that argues the same hard, militaristic line on terrorism that John McCain takes in his presidential campaign.

It's called Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West. The DVD was made in 2006, before this presidential contest began, and it doesn't even allude to electoral politics.

But, filled with dire warnings about Islamic terrorists, it hit doorsteps seven weeks before Election Day. And critics say it fuels the false whisper campaign that Barack Obama is secretly a Muslim.

Madaline Muir of Montgomery County, Pa., got the DVD in her Philadelphia Inquirer. She called it propaganda.

Know that these people are on a mission to smear Obama with this underground campaign, one that no one would admit to.

Wierzbicki, the movie promoter, also works for two political organizations. He's an organizer for Move America Forward, a political action committee that just produced an ad accusing Obama of playing politics with soldiers' lives.

He also is the PAC coordinator for the Our Country Deserves Better PAC. Its Web site says it has one objective: to defeat Obama.

Where is the funding coming from for this propaganda?

"Where is that money coming from? And what is the agenda of those behind this campaign? And who is behind this campaign ultimately?" Ibrahim Hooper, the council's spokesman, asked, regarding the DVD.

Those kinds of questions are often asked at the height of campaign season. But even if the election commission decides to investigate the Clarion Fund, the answers would likely be months away.

Read the whole story.
More on the Clarion Fund.

McCain New Ad Says Obama Soft on Terror

What else is new. Pandering to the ignorant. It works. Obama will go down in a flood of smears if the Clintons and the republicans have their way.

AP: Anticipating Wednesday night's focus on national security at the convention, Republican John McCain contended in a new TV ad that Obama showed he was "dangerously unprepared" for the White House when he described Iran as a "tiny" nation that didn't pose a serious threat.

"Iran. Radical Islamic government. Known sponsors of terrorism. Developing nuclear capabilities to 'generate power' but threatening to eliminate Israel," says the ad, which was being run in key states. "Terrorism, destroying Israel — those aren't 'serious threats'''?

Missing from the ad was the context of Obama's remarks last May in which he compared Iran and other adversarial governments to the superpower Soviet Union. "They don't pose a serious threat to us the way the Soviet Union posed a threat to us," he said in arguing for talks with Iran. "You know, Iran, they spend one-100th of what we spend on the military. If Iran ever tried to pose a serious threat to us, they wouldn't stand a chance."

Translation: Obama is soft on radical Islam (because he's a secret Muslim terrorist, don't ya know) and isn't inclined to support Israel.