At the HuffPo, Andy Ostroy claims that the sleazy GOP attack machine is kicking into high gear against Barack Obama.
He is quite upset that Sean Hannity was calling Obama “radical” on his radio show Thursday, but he seems even more upset by Hannity’s audience:
Listening to Hannity’s program makes you wonder if he and his kool-aid-drunken listeners are not part of some twisted, brainwashed cult. They greet each other with “you’re a great American” and depart with “God bless you.”
OH NOES! Perhaps Ostroy should take a look at the extensive evidence for the Cult of Obama that existed even before columnist Mark Morford mentioned all the people he knows who consider Obama a “Lightworker.” Saying “God Bless You” as a salutation sort of pales in comparison to applauding a politician for blowing his nose onstage.
Ostroy argues that Hannity hammered on Obama’s “radical associations”  is “meant to conjure up all sorts of fear, anger and racial prejudice.” Yet of the associations Ostroy mentions — unrepentant terrorist William Ayers, Tony Rezko, Rev. Jeremiah Wright and Father Michael Pfleger — three are not black. Wright certainly is, but at this point, few would argue that Wright is anything but an angry black man who trafficks in race-baiting and conspiracy mongering. Obama wrote in his first book that Wright decribed Trinity to him as a radical church, so referring to Obama’s decades of worship there a radical association seems fair, even by Obama’s own account. And Ostroy in fact provides no argument that the associations Hannity described are not radical.
Ostroy then turns to Mark Levin’s radio program Thursday, in which Obama was allegedly “accused of just about everything short of eating babies.” Yet the only specific given by Ostroy is an accusation that Obama has a long history of being hostile to the state of Israel, even as Ostroy claims Levin had no facts to back up the charge.ÂÂ
As to the only specific claim Ostroy raises, it is pretty easy to point toward Obama’s longtime personal and fundraising relationship with former PLO flack Rashid Khalidi, including the thousands Obama (and Ayers) helped funnel to the Arab American Action Network, run by Khalidi’s wife, which calls Israel’s founding a “catastrophe.” Indeed the evil Hannity covered this on television recently. Or one could point to to the high-level staffers who are Nation of Islam members, or to his past relationship with Palestinian activist and Islamist Ali Abunimah. Or to the longtime spiritual adviser who declared Israel a “dirty word,†gave Louis Farrakhan a Lifetime Achievement award, and reprinted a Hamas manifesto.  Or to Obama’s coterie of advisers urging a more “even-handed†approach to the Israeli conflict, and his previously stated desire to unconditionally meet with with Iranian Pres. Ahmadinejad – who is known for denying the Holocaust and wanting to wipe Israel off the map.  Indeed, Obama cannot help but echo Arab-Palestinian positions, even in trying to make himself appear pro-Israel.
Finally, Ostroy is upset over the treatment of Michelle Obama. He is rightly upset about the rumor of a videotape of Michelle Obama making a racially inflammatory comment, but fails to note that the chief proponent of those rumors has been Clinton supporter Larry Johnson, and that bloggers otherwise critical of Obama have had a hand in deflating the rumor. Most of Obama’s critics will stick to her very public comments dumping on America while fueling her husband’s cult of personality.
Ostroy predicts there will be much more SwiftBoating of Obama, which is likely true — when the term is properly defined as exposing hard truths about Democrats.
(h/t Memeorandum.)
EVERYBODY beat me to it……
Definitionwise, that is…
How damning! Doesn’t Hannity know the greeting is “Comrade” and you depart with “Long live communism!”.
http://www.revolutionarydemocracy.org/rdv11n1/greeting.htm
dre,
I think you mean “Viva la revolucion.”
Karl
I was quoting The Editorial Board of
Teoria & Prassi – Rivista Marxista-Leninista, Italy
These also are good:
* Long live Marxism-Leninism!
* Long live proletarian internationalism!
and
Marx, Engels, Stalin, Mao Viva Viva.
When I hear someone sneeze, I always say “God bless you.”
I wonder when that phrase will be considered “offensively too religious” and banned from the workplace?
O!higolly.
The Republicans are fighting back! It’s not faaaaaaaiir! They criticized our positions on political issues! They said we were out of step with the mainstream! Waaaaaaah.
The prospect of Obama’s election petrifies me. At this point, One thing that’s needed is a scorecard to keep track of the dizzying number of close and objectionable relationships (not mere “associations” as the Alan Colmeses of the world will describe them) that Obama has with radicals.
The scorecard should list the person, a time frame, the connection, and the reason(s) for the objectionable nature of the relationship. It wouldn’t be an excercise in futility. Sure, the hard left won’t be persuaded, but much of Obama’s appeal seems to be the function of a herd mentality at work. Once confronted with the sheer weight of the relationships, explained in in a straightforward, I suspect that a fair number of uninformed followers will realize that they are “down for that.”
In all sincerity, McCain’s supporters need to take many of the steps that people use to rescue cult followers. We need interventions.
Maybe you’d consider re-phrasing and/or correcting your Marxian propaganda. PLO flack, Khalidi? Really. I’ve read Mr. Khalidi states otherwise. And funneling, that’s a strange choice of words don’t you think? What does the Woods Fund do, issue community grants or funnel money? Is each board member of the Woods foundation issued a shovel, perhaps a funnel, or does it take approval from the majority of the entire board to issue a grant? The AAN, was it the teaching of English to Arab immigrants that offends you so? Be specific. Their website seems so non-offensive that it makes me curious as to the validity of your rented rhetoric.
Do try reading your own links, turd.
Really. I’ve read Mr. Khalidi states otherwise.
Like OJ, remember nobody believed him when he told us all he was innocent, too. Does Khalidi’s gloves fit? That is a dead giveaway he is innocent.
Actually, everyone should read my links in their entirety, which pile up the evidence of Khalidi’s affiiation with the PLO and AAAN’s anti-Israel activsm.
thor, otoh, lies again and again about what I write and what my links say.
I am waiting for thor to bring up all those years McCain spent living with the North Vietnamese while we were at war with them!
I would also note thor’s ignorance regarding the fungibility of money. He further seems to buy into the same sort of “logic” that gives groups like Hamas and Hezbollah credit for their provision of social services. Not that either is atypical of an O!bamaton, natch.
I received the following defense of Dr. Khalidi from Joel Stern (not sure if student or faculty), who has a Columbia University email account. Mr. Stern writes:
1) Rashid Khalidi is not and never has been a PLO “activist.†He was an adviser to the Palestinian delegation in Madrid in 1991. In case you are unaware, Israel, at that time, refused to speak directly to the PLO. The way the conference proceeded was by the US and Israel selecting the Palestinian delegation (not from the PLO), and, in turn, the PLO would OK or object to the delegate. Khalidi was chosen because he is from a prominent Palestinian family from Jerusalem and is a renown scholar of the Middle East. Moreover, contrary to your assertion, Rashid Khalidi has been extremely critical of the PLO. You would know this if you bothered to do what a responsible person would do: namely, read his work before forming an opinion about it. In the concluding chapter of his latest book, The Iron Cage, he submits a scathing critique of the PLO and its handling of the Oslo Peace Process.
2) Rashid Khalidi did not “help broker†Ahmadinejad’s appearance at Columbia. (It was also not in the summer but in the Fall; classes had already commenced at Columbia). The professor who was responsible for that was Richard Bulliet, an expert on Iran, who had old contacts with Iran’s mission to the UN. Again, if you were responsible, you would have read Columbia’s newspaper that explained how it all occurred.
3) Again, Khalidi has never been a part of the PLO. Where you got this information is a mystery but you seem to have no real concern for the facts. As for “anti-Israel rhetoric†and “the destruction of Israel,†you seem to be either ill-informed or willfully ignorant. I understand you were making hypothetical hyperbolic statements that Republicans might likely use in a smear campaign. This may very well turn out to be true. However, to uncritically make these statements with a complete disregard of the facts is a shameless smear campaign on Khalidi. From reading what you wrote, it is obvious that you have not read a page of any of Khalidi’s books or articles. I suggest you do your homework before you turn it in next time, for the sake of intellectual honesty and journalistic integrity. I hope this message clarifies some of your factual shortcomings and I hope it encourages you to look deeper into topics you write about instead of just lazily writing irresponsible articles.
———————————————————–
This sort’a stuff never slow you down? Hmm, well often persons do get vested in their propaganda.
They greet each other with “you’re a great Americanâ€Â
People like this really exist? wow.
Khalidi sure has some high praise for Obama, or maybe they so tight that Khalidi is watching O’s back, that’s all.
Info contrary to Mr Stern’s paragraph 1) on Khalidi at Campus Watch http://tinyurl.com/4ja9l5
I received the following defense of Dr. Khalidi from Joel Stern (not sure if student or faculty), who has a Columbia University email account.
Does he need your assistance in getting his money out of the country?
I’ll bet it pays well…
Info contrary to Campus Watch is available on Wikipedia. You can find it there by Googling Khalidi’s name.
Obama’s longtime personal and fundraising relationship with former PLO flack Rashid Khalidi
Again, KK’s statement, above, is not “exposing hard truths,” as KK would say. The above is loose name-games and truth stretching. KK likes to push his propaganda as accepted facts; he thinks we’re dumb as parrots I suppose. Rather insulting!
– thor, what part of “wipe Israel of the map”, “Push Israel into the sea”, etc etc etc, don’t you fucking understand.
– Are you still clinging to your Marxist manifesto, and your little red book, and screeching that “supporting the Jihad is the noblest act of patriotism”.
– What a freeking pinhead.
re; #14- thor is apparently a Senior Fellow at the Greg Pallast School of Journalism.
you no like thor? he punch you in eyeball? he slap your mom? berry bad man thor.
What’s Karl doing now, “diet smearing” for conservatives who are afraid of the big, fat stereotyping smears they used to get from the Republicans? I realize that Karl can’t associate Obama with racial stereotypes because he doesn’t want to be called a racist. In fact, the atmosphere for racial smears might be so tough that Karl won’t be able to do racial innuendo like “Obama is a Muslim” or Obama is not a “real American” either. It won’t work to call Obama a coward for not serving in the military because most right-wingers haven’t served in the military. Likewise, given that Bush-style blustering masculinity is out of style, casting aspersions on Obama’s masculinity isn’t going to do much good. But c’mon Karl, I’ve always had a lot of respect for the creativity that goes into right-wing smear campaigns. I just know you have better smearing in you than this Rashid Khalidi stuff. Talk about thin!
your posts would carry more weight, thor, if you actually posted a link supporting your assertions. Wikipedia is not a place to do anything other than find other links, btw.
Maybe that is too hard to do.
I wonder if this means the author of the Obama “Friends” video will need to update it to add a new friend to the illustrious list of Obama friends we already know about.
Oops, was that racist? Aw, gee
“Comment by Ric Caric on 6/7 @ 2:31 pm #
I realize that Karl can’t associate Obama with racial stereotypes because he doesn’t want to be called a racist.”
We leave the racism to the Democrats.
“We leave the racism to the Democrats.”
Good idea. That way what you do isn’t racist.
I often wonder where Dr. Reek became such an expert on smears. Then I decide I don’t really want to know.
Icon, just look how many links KK puts in his posts. Most often they link back to PW, which means KK link-loops reassertions of his weak assertions. Rather silly, imho.
Nah, I think I’ll pass on link splattering since it’s a favored prop used by cheap, blubbering Marxian propagandists.
This is going to be a miserable campaign. I frankly don’t care about Obama’s past associations, because they may not predict future performance. If Obama is the rank opportunist that many righties consider him to be, then he will simply abandon those connections, chameleon-like, as the need arises. I want to determine what kind of a president he might be, but the screeching on both sides is deafening. Not helpful.
I would also like to know where he buys his Gravitas in a Can; might be useful at my next staff meeting…
I agree thor; the hall of mirrors school of blogging isn’t always persuasive.
“Icon, just look how many links KK puts in his posts. Most often they link back to PW, which means KK link-loops reassertions of his weak assertions. Rather silly, imho.”
Sometimes yes. It depends on whether or not the information is readily available in the blog entry. if not, then it is uncompelling. But not putting in any link to substantiate your refutation of Karl’s point is even less compelling.
Unfortunately (at least for me), I came across a Larry Johnson link while following down one of Karl’s Khalidi links. Since Larry is certifiably nuts, I don’t like to see him used for any sort of confirmation. I also found the exact text you used in the defense of Khalidi (http://tinyurl.com/3qqpd7)–what’s up with that?
“If Obama is the rank opportunist that many righties consider him to be, then he will simply abandon those connections, chameleon-like, as the need arises.”
Does character matter?
I can’t figure out what’s more disgusting, karl:
— Your approving of Hannity and his oppo research team (showing your moral bankruptcy)
— Your constant love of guilt by association and race-baiting fear as a call to “voters’ better nature” (which shows your movement’s political bankruptcy…is there one of you who ever votes FOR anything or anyone? No, you folks only know what you hate and fear).
— Or, your claiming the Swift Boats “exposing hard truths.” Just ridiculous. EVERY independent review of O’Neill and Corsi’s claims showed they could not substantiate their claims or they were lying (this shows your personal hackery).
As several posters have noted above, your reliance on rumor and innuendo is disgusting. Have you and Floyd Brown and Roger Stone and Tim Griffin been able to interview Obama’s pre-school teachers yet to see if they “fit the pattern of radical associations”?
He who relies on Hannity relies on someone even dumber and less honest than Limbaugh (I know, Karl, your personal savior and mentor).
If this is all you righties have, I suggest you enjoy your tiny little blogs, because it’s all you’ll have after January.
[White Goodman,
As I have written nearby, I have no problem with pseudonyms to the extent that the content of the comment is paramount. That you believe pointing out Obama’s choice to worship for 20 years in a race-baiting, conspiracy-mongering black liberation theology based church is itself race- or Christ-bating is laughable.
However, sock-puppetry is an abuse of anonymity, so I am letting everyone here know that you currently have more sock-puppets on-site than Greenwald ever did. Keep it up and I will ask Jeff’s permission to out you. — K]
“ Your constant love of guilt by association and race-baiting fear as a call to “voters’ better nature—
Type McCain Haggee Paisley and guilt by association by the left is on display.
“Your approving of Hannity and his oppo research team (showing your moral bankruptcy)”
So what part of Hannity’s reporting is wrong?
“Or, your claiming the Swift Boats “exposing hard truths.†Just ridiculous. EVERY independent review of O’Neill and Corsi’s claims showed they could not substantiate their claims or they were lying (this shows your personal hackery).”
Of course your word on the matter at hand is enough for me: NOT. Try that linky thing you O!bamination
EVERY independent review of O’Neill and Corsi’s claims showed they could not substantiate their claims or they were lying (this shows your personal hackery).
Link? Cite? Clue? Anything? Seriously, I will split that million dollars with you if you have something.
Is it December yet?
“Is it December yet?”
No but the Decemberist like O! and play a good version of the USSR anthem.
Or, your claiming the Swift Boats “exposing hard truths.†Just ridiculous. EVERY independent review of O’Neill and Corsi’s claims showed they could not substantiate their claims or they were lying
errr, dude. Can you find anybody to substantiate Kerry’s “Christmas in Cambodia” claim? Or his Cambodia claim at all? Even the folks accusing the SBVT of lying have conceded that point.
“Good idea. That way what you do isn’t racist.”
andrea, please. Progressives are more obsessed with race than a KKK rally.
I’m waiting for you to get me, or eat me, whichever.
First and foremost I’m a proponent of winning the war of ideology against the brain cancer that infects a good portion of the world. The brain cancer I refer to is fundamentalist Islam. The Western world should annihilate that religious-fascist crap and all its minions. We are at war.
Secondly I like political debate that contains a high-degree of truth value. I have no problem bitch-smacking word perverts on either side of the aisle. Word faggots! Yick. If you think Obama isn’t the right man for President then jump on him and ride his policies out of town. You want me to bite hook-line-and-sinker into right-wing, word-faggotry schtick, ain’t happening. Undeniably Obama is a rare breed of political stud while McCain is a tried and true old-school American icon. That’s the way I see it. Now do you wanna play?
[…] indisputable facts about his Lord and Savior without actually bothering to refute any of them (because he can’t), which of course is nothing more than an early example of what Reynolds has referred to as […]
Homophobe.
Gosh, I missed an ad hominem attack from Ric Caric, heavy on the psychic psychology and zero on refutation. Shucks.
Meanwhile, it doesn’t occur to thor that the self-linking occurs because I’m often linking to a prior collection of external links.
#43
Just can’t leave those goal posts alone, can you.
The Western world should annihilate that religious-fascist crap and all its minions. We are at war.
Unlike you, we would rather not nuke a large area of of the globe and commit genocide. We’d rather convince them who the strong horse truly is and let them make their own way – with one caveat:
‘Death to America, Death to the Great Satan’ (or America’s allies) invites a response, a bad one. Your object of worship doesn’t seem to follow that program.
I was at a wedding yesterday, and the reception; strangely it was just a wedding and a reception – no need for a hellfire missile; noplotting other than getting together to go over family records and copy old items so each can have a copy of old photos and documents. Odd, what?
The goalposts are now doing the mashed potatoes.
and he said to us–
LET EACH OF YOU WIPE YOUR SOILED BOTTOMS WITH THE FACE OF “Andy Ostroy” and
Keith Olbermann may they forever replace tolit paper on the butt stain of politics