CALIFORNIA YANKEE

Islamafication Of America Moves Forward

The Shelbyville Times-Gazett reports Tyson Foods' drops Labor Day holiday for Muslim holiday:

Workers at Tyson Foods' poultry processing plant in Shelbyville will no longer have a paid day off on Labor Day, but will instead take the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr in the fall.

[. . .]

"However, the union leadership did request and receive Eid al-Fitr (which is apparently spelled various ways including Id al-Fitr and Eid ul-Fitr) as a paid holiday in place of Labor Day," Mickelson confirmed in an e-mail to the T-G.

[. . .]

"Based on the contract, the other paid holidays include: The Team Member's birthday, New Year's Day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day," Mickelson said.

I was raised to respect others and was taught that I should strive, like God, to be "no respecter of persons." I've always tried to do that. It does not matter to me what a person's religious beliefs are. But, a major corporation giving up a long-recognized national holiday to celebrate a Muslim holiday is a bit much for me to take.

So much for assimilation.

Most Americans Believe in God

Callup reports that large majority of Americans (78%) say they believe in God and 15% say they don't believe in God, but do believe in a higher power.

Gallup Poll Editor in Chief, Frank Newport, summarizes the recent findings in the following video report:

Those regional and ideology breakdowns are surprising. Perhaps that is why Democrats suffer from a perceived God Gap. More surprising to me, is the finding that independents are the least likely to believe in God. Newport says it isn't surprising because those disengaged politically -- not affiliated with a party -- are likely to be disengaged in other areas of their life. I don't buy the argument that independent voters are disengaged.

Do you believe in God?

More On Addressing Obama's Muslim Problem

In an article entitled "Holding Muslims at arm's length," Bilal Kaleem, executive director of the Boston chapter of the Muslim American Society, says Obama should address his Muslim issue head on:

"I would suggest that he might have to do the same thing [on Islam] that he did on race. He addressed it head-on in a landmark speech. He gave his speech in a mature way. If he could speak in the same way to that, it could be inspiring for our country and the world."

That's pretty much what I suggested last week:

Like Romney did with the Mormon issue, and Obama himself did with the race issue, Obama must deal with these rumors head on. Obama should give a speech, in which he repeats that he is not Muslim, and goes on to explain why but it should be fine with Americans if Obama were Muslim.

Just like the scene in "Broadcast News," in which the Albert Brooks character, at home, feeds lines to the William Hurt character, who is delivering a news cast -- I say it here, it comes out there.

Obama Should Confront His Muslim Issue Head On

Hardly a day goes by when you don't see some reference to it -- the "smear" that Obama is a Muslim. On Monday, the Wall Street Journal posed the question, "It is inaccurate to call Barack Obama a Muslim. Is it a slur? On Tuesday, the New York Times headlined an article "Muslim Voters Detect a Snub From Obama." Wednesday, Ed Morrissey asked, "Obama running from Muslims?" Even the broadcast media interviews Mulsims about the issue.

I'll get back to those articles in a bit. First, I call on Obama to face his Muslim issue head on. Nothing else will make this "smear" rumor go away.

Like Romney did with the Mormon issue, and Obama himself did with the race issue, Obama must deal with these rumors head on. Obama should give a speech, in which he repeats that he is not Muslim, and goes on to explain why but it should be fine with Americans if Obama were Muslim.

Before the Obamatons launch the hate mail, let me say that I was raised to respect others and was taught that I should strive, like God, to be "no respecter of persons." I've always tried to do that. It does not matter to me what a person's religious beliefs are. What is important to me is that our leaders have some religious belief. And I am comforted by the recent Pew findings that most Americans agree with the statement that many religions – not just their own – can lead to eternal life.

In the 20 or so months since Obama caved and broke his word that he would not run for president in 2008, he has been unable to dispel the "smear" that he is Muslim. Like Hillary, I'm willing to take Obama's word that he is a Christian and has never been a Muslim. I am willing to do so despite the fact that Obama is more than willing to break his word when he finds it politically expedient to do so.

Notwithstanding my recognition of Obama being a Christian, and that he has never been a Muslim, the fact is that Obama's efforts to kill the Muslim rumor have failed. Recently, as reported by ABC News' Jake Tapper, The Jerusalem Post produced a story saying "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:"

It ended up on Fox News, with anchor Brut Hume saying on June 16 that: "Barack Obama is a practicing Christian, married in a Christian church, whose children were also baptized in that church. His campaign has emphasized his faith in part to dispel what the campaign calls an online smear campaign which contends among other things that Obama was raised a Muslim.

There is even a statement on his official campaign website reading, quote, 'Obama has never been a Muslim, and is a committed Christian.' But Obama's half brother is not so sure. Malik Obama tells The Jerusalem Post that, 'if elected his brother will be a good president for the Jewish people, despite his Muslim background.'"

The Jerusalem Post has since taken the story down of its website, which Fox reported Tuesday.

Then there was the incident at an Obama rally in Detroit last Monday, when two Muslim women in hijab, or traditional clothing, were asked to move when they sat behind the podium, where they would have appeared in photographs and on television with the candidate.

The Wall Street Journal's Amy Chozick, reports that "Obama Walks a Fine Line With Muslims." The article is subtittled, "Campaign's Efforts to Dispel Rumors Risk Offending a Base of Support." Chozick writes that the Obama campaign suggests it is inaccurate, and a slur, to call Obama a Muslim:

A new campaign Web site designed to air and rebut potentially damaging Internet rumors reads in one part: "Smear: Barack Obama is a Muslim... Truth: Sen. Obama has never been a Muslim, was not raised as a Muslim and is a committed Christian."

The characterization highlights a tricky balance the campaign is trying to strike: to tamp down false rumors -- intended by some to link the Democratic presidential candidate to radical Islam -- without offending Muslims and harming his image of inclusiveness.

Muslim-Americans have made up one of Sen. Obama's most loyal bases of support since he announced his candidacy last year. But lately some Muslims, concentrated in several battleground states, say they are having second thoughts over his campaign's ardent defense of his religious background.

[. . .]

As for the "Fight the Smears" Web site, Obama spokesman Tommy Vietor says it was designed to "dispel any and all misinformation," and the Muslim rumor is misinformation. The "smear," he wrote in an email, is that "most of these attacks allege that he is a radical Muslim who attended a madrassa."

Chozick goes on about how Muslim voters in swing states have noticed the disparity between Obama's outreach to them as opposed to other religions. Obama's obsessive avoidance of these American Muslims is alienationg them.

In the New York Times, Andrea Elliott reports that "as Senator Barack Obama courted voters in Iowa last December, Representative Keith Ellison, the country’s first Muslim congressman, stepped forward eagerly to help:"

Mr. Ellison believed that Mr. Obama’s message of unity resonated deeply with American Muslims. He volunteered to speak on Mr. Obama’s behalf at a mosque in Cedar Rapids, one of the nation’s oldest Muslim enclaves. But before the rally could take place, aides to Mr. Obama asked Mr. Ellison to cancel the trip because it might stir controversy. Another aide appeared at Mr. Ellison’s Washington office to explain.

"I will never forget the quote," Mr. Ellison said, leaning forward in his chair as he recalled the aide’s words."He said, 'We have a very tightly wrapped message.'"

Ellison, and other Muslims are a little bitter at being snubbed by the Obama campaign:

While the senator has visited churches and synagogues, he has yet to appear at a single mosque. Muslim and Arab-American organizations have tried repeatedly to arrange meetings with Mr. Obama, but officials with those groups say their invitations — unlike those of their Jewish and Christian counterparts — have been ignored. Last week, two Muslim women wearing head scarves were barred by campaign volunteers from appearing behind Mr. Obama at a rally in Detroit.

In interviews, Muslim political and civic leaders said they understood that their support for Mr. Obama could be a problem for him at a time when some Americans are deeply suspicious of Muslims. Yet those leaders nonetheless expressed disappointment and even anger at the distance that Mr. Obama has kept from them.

"This is the 'hope campaign,' this is the ‘change campaign,'" said Mr. Ellison, Democrat of Minnesota. Muslims are frustrated, he added, that "they have not been fully engaged in it."

[. . .]

"A lot of us are waiting for him to say that there’s nothing wrong with being a Muslim, by the way," Mr. Ellison said.

Mr. Ellison, a first-term congressman, remains arguably the senator's most important Muslim supporter. He has attended Obama rallies in Minnesota and appears on the campaign’s Web site. But Mr. Ellison said he was also forced to cancel plans to campaign for Mr. Obama in North Carolina after an emissary for the senator told him the state was "too conservative." Mr. Ellison said he blamed Mr. Obama’s aides - not the candidate himself - for his campaign’s standoffishness.

Elliott, like Chozick, goes on about how Obama is alienating American Muslims, who notice Obama's fearful distancing efforts, and must wonder about Obama's claim to be the unity candidate.

The Muslim Public Affairs Council's Edina Lecovic, discusses Obama's Muslim issue with MSNBC's Monica Novotny in the following video report:

When I saw Morrissey's article, I knew he hit the nail on the head:

Fear lies at the heart of all bigotry, even the passive kind, and it’s clear that the Muslim rumor has Obama spooked.

We know Obama is afraid of his Muslim issue. It is one of the explanations he used to break his commitment to accept public financing.

But the cat is already out of the bag. The only way for Obama to overcome his fear, and his Muslim issue, is to go out and meet it head on.

Morrissey again:

However, we should be clear: there is nothing wrong with being a Muslim in America. Just as with being Jewish, Christian, Ba’hai, Buddhist, Hindu, or atheist, personal faith doesn’t matter as long as one isn’t seeking the overthrow of the government. It’s a matter of personal choice. In America, all but the fringe understand this.

Instead of so desperately trying to distance himself from American Muslims, Obama should give the speech, and welcome Muslims into American politics.

Obama And Wright Throw Each Other Under The Bus

Too little too late.

Now that Obama's campaign is hurting so much that there is talk of Hillary wining both Indiana and North Carolina next week, Obama tries to do what he should have done six weeks ago.

Back then I posted "Wright Is Wrong And So Is Obama:"

Obama's refusal to dissociate himself from this preacher of "profoundly distorted" views is no different than the failure of Muslims to condemn the terrorism used by the Islamic extremists in the war they continue to wage against us.

The "profoundly distorted" views of reverend Wright, like those of the Islamic extremists, will not be overcome until the people of their own community disassociate themselves from the hate mongers.

Obama's speech might have been masterfully delivered by a great orator, but because of Obama's refusal to dissociate himself from the minister of hate, it was a speech that fails to help bridge the Democrat's racial devide.

Today Obama held a press conference and claimed he is now "outraged" by Wright's comments and attempted to dissociate himself from the radical cleric:

I am outraged by the comments that were made and saddened over the spectacle that we saw yesterday.

[. . .]

Now, I've already denounced the comments that had appeared in these previous sermons. As I said, I had not heard them before. And I gave him the benefit of the doubt in my speech in Philadelphia, explaining that he has done enormous good in the church. He's built a wonderful congregation. The people of Trinity are wonderful people. And what attracted me has always been their ministry's reach beyond the church walls.

But when he states and then amplifies such ridiculous propositions as the U.S. government somehow being involved in AIDS, when he suggests that Minister Farrakhan somehow represents one of the greatest voices of the 20th and 21st century, when he equates the United States wartime efforts with terrorism, then there are no excuses. They offend me. They rightly offend all Americans. And they should be denounced. And that's what I'm doing very clearly and unequivocally here today.

[. . .]

What we saw yesterday out of Reverend Wright was a resurfacing and, I believe, an exploitation of those old divisions. Whatever his intentions, that was the result. It is antithetical to our campaign. It is antithetical to what I am about. It is not what I think American stands for.

And I want to be very clear that moving forward, Reverend Wright does not speak for me. He does not speak for our campaign. I cannot prevent him from continuing to make these outrageous remarks.

But what I do want him to be very clear about, as well as all of you and the American people, is that when I say I find these comments appalling, I mean it.

You can watch Obama throw Wright under the bus in the following video:

I'm sorry, Obama's statement would have been much more believable if it had been said six weeks ago. Now, wink, wink, as Wright told the National Press Club on Monday, it sounds simply like the politics it is:

"Politicians say what they say and do what they do based on electability, based on sound bites, based on polls, Huffington, whoever's doing the polls. Preachers say what they say because they're pastors. They have a different person to whom they're accountable. As I said, whether he gets elected or not, I'm still going to have to be answerable to God November 5 and January 21. That's what I mean. I do what pastors do. He does what politicians do. I am not running for office. I am hoping to be vice president. ...

"He didn't distance himself. He had to distance himself because he's a politician. From what the media was saying I had said, which was anti-American. He said I didn't offer any words of hope. How would he know? He never heard the rest of the sermon. You never heard it. I offered words of hope. I offered reconciliation, I offered restoration in that sermon, but nobody heard the sermon. They just heard this little sound bite of a sermon."

You can watch Wright throw Obama under the bus in this video:

The Reverend Showman

Who knew Wright Could be so entertaining even as he is so wrong?

Here are some excerpts from Wright's recent comments:

From his appearance Monday at the National Press Club in Washington:

"I stand before you to open up this two-day symposium with the hope that this most recent attack on the black church is not an attack on Jeremiah Wright; it is an attack on the black church. ... The most recent attack on the black church, it is our hope that this just might mean that the reality of the African-American church will no longer be invisible."

• On whether he should apologize for shouting in a sermon "God damn America" for its treatment of minorities:

"God doesn't bless everything. God condemns some things. And dem, D-E-M, is where we get the word damn. God damns some practices and there's no excuse for the things that the government, not the American people, have done. That doesn't make me not like America or unpatriotic."

From a speech during the NAACP's annual Fight for Freedom Fund Dinner on Sunday in Detroit:

"I'm not here for political reasons. I am not a politician. I know that fact will surprise many of you because many in the corporate-owned media have made it seem as if I have announced that I'm running to for the Oval Office. I am not running for the Oval Office. I've been running for Jesus a long, long time, and I'm not tired yet."

"In the past, we were taught to see others who are different as being deficient. We establish arbitrary norm and then determine that anybody not like us was abnormal. But a change is coming because we no longer see others who are different as being deficient. We just see them as different."

Reverend Wright is so out of touch with mainstream America, he doesn't realize how extreme he is.

Fitna - Part 1 (English Version)

Fitna is a film by Dutch politician Geert Wilders. The movie offers his view on Islam and the Qur'an. The film's title comes from the Arabic word fitna which is used to describe "disagreement and division among people," or a "test of faith in times of trial."

The film was released on March 27, 2008 on the video website Liveleak. Liveleak subsequently received threats to their staff, and decided to remove the video.

In the film, Suras are juxtaposed to video clips of Imams stating Islamic teaching, and videos of violent atrocities committed in the name of Islam, including major terrorist attacks.

The first Sura used in the film, Al-Anfal verse 60[8:60], translates as:

Prepare for them whatever force and cavalry ye are able of gathering, to strike terror, to strike terror into the hearts of the enemies, of Allah and your enemies.

The Sura is juxtaposed to footage of the September 11, terrorist attacks in New York, followed by the Madrid train bombings. An Imam rises above the smoke and declares "Allah is happy when non-Muslims get killed." Still pictures taken from the 7 July 2005 London bombings show an exploded bus and Underground train.

The next Sura, An-Nisa verse 56[4:56], is shown as a justification for Islamic antisemitism. An Imam raising a sword declares:

A Jew is hiding behind me, come and cut off his head. And we shall cut off his head! By Allah, we shall cut it off! Oh Jews! Allahu Akbar! Jihad for the sake of Allah!

Then a three year old Muslim girl, named Basmallah, calls Jews "apes and pigs" during an interview on Saudi Arabian television. More antisemitism is shown by another Imam, who states: "The Jews are Jews. They are the ones who must be butchered and killed." Child soldiers are shown uniformed and holding guns.

Sura 47, verse 4[47:4] is shown in relation to the murder of Dutch film director Theo Van Gogh. The murderer is reported as saying:

If I had the opportunity to get out of prison, and I had the opportunity to do it again, what I did on November 2nd, Allah I would have done exactly the same.

Protesters are shown supporting Van Gogh's murder, warning others to heed the lesson or "pay with your blood".

Dutch newspaper headlines are reproduced, outlining intimidating threats of murder to prominent questioners of Islam, followed by footage of Jack Hensley's beheading.

You can watch it below:

America Remains A Christian Nation

Ninety two percent of Americans are Christian:

Gallup data show that 79% of Americans currently identify as Christian -- either Protestant, Roman Catholic, or some other Christian religion.

Given that about 14% of Americans in Gallup's surveys either say they have no religion or refuse to answer, the proportion of Americans who identify themselves with a particular Christian religion rises to about 92%.

America is also remains a religious nation:

Data from aggregated surveys conducted in 2007 show that 6 out of 10 Americans believe religion can answer all or most of today's problems; that 56% consider eligion to be very important in their lives and only 17% say it is not important; and that 61% of Americans report being a member of a church or synagogue.

According to Rasmussen Reports, 83% of American adults believe that Jesus actually walked the earth around two-thousand years ago. Seventy-seven percent believe that Jesus is--the Son of God who came to earth to die for our sins. Seventy-six percent (76%) also think that Jesus Christ rose from the dead.

A Christian nation indeed.

Muslim Scholars Denounce Terrorism

Seems Muslim scholars are unhappy that terrorism is equated with Islam:

Opening the conclave the head of the Deoband school, Maulana Marghoobur Rahman, described terrorism as a thoughtless act which is against the teachings of Islam.

He said that the killing of innocent people of any religion was prohibited by the Koran, the Muslim Holy Book.

Many participants said they want to change popular perceptions in which, they say, terrorism is being equated with Islam.

Others said that while Muslims should not be harassed because of anti-terrorism operations, the community also needed to be more introspective.

Perhaps if the "scholars" had expressed a little outage and condemnation when terrorist acts are committed, there wouldn't be such a perception.

Huckabee's Overt Religiosity

Suzanne Fields shares some of my concerns about the way Mike Huckabee campaigns for the presidency, but she puts it much more eloquently:

I was thinking about the meaning of symbols this holiday season when controversy exploded over Mike Huckabee's Christmas commercial, with its "floating cross." While many insisted that the symbol was merely an illusion created by crossed lines of a bookshelf, others said the meaning of the cross was in the eye of the beholder. But nothing is ever coincidental in a candidate's campaign commercial. Peggy Noonan of the Wall Street Journal writes that it insulted her intelligence: "He thinks I'm dim. He thinks I will associate my savior with his candidacy. Bleh." For many who aren't Christians, it played as pandering to a constituency and manipulating a religious symbol. Many voters in Iowa are evangelical Christians, the caucuses are only days away and the commercial is regarded as the most memorable so far.

My problem with Mike Huckabees advertising himself as a "Christian leader," making the cross glow as backdrop, is that he's making the religious issue divisive toward all those who are not Christians. It's a division that will linger after the holiday season. The Huckabee rhetoric is especially offensive to Jews, playing to the mentality expressed by Ann Coulter, who describes Jews as needing "to be perfected by becoming Christian." When asked whether "it would be better if we were all Christian," she answered "yes." This is the message of the Gospel -- that everyone must be perfected through Christ's sacrifice on the cross -- but it's a message for the church, not a political campaign. A campaign is not a revival meeting.

[. . .]

No one -- well, not everyone -- objects to faith informing a candidate's politics. It's impossible to separate faith from intellect in the pursuit of public good. But there's more than a suggestion that Mike Huckabee's use of religion could unleash intolerance against those who do not share his faith. He has a lot of good things going for him. He's witty and charming. As one of the Iowa locals told The New York Times: "Huckabee's a moral man. He's a preacher. And he lost a hundred pounds. He's going to do all right in Iowa.

It's no just Huckabee's overt religiosity in his presidential campaign that keeps him from closing the deal. There is also his foreign policy, waffling on immigration, and positions from earlier political campaigns.