Posted by
Andrews on Sunday, March 16, 2008 11:07:32 AM
I have written a lot lately criticizing Senator Obama, and I think there are a lot of problems with his candidacy. First,
I find his campaign a bit creepy and cult-like. Second, I am disturbed that he has made it this far
without taking any positions of substance. Third,
I find him a generally uninspiring person. Fourth, I am disturbed both
by the company he keeps, and
by his willingness to cast them aside when they become a liability. However, having said all of that, there is a recent line of criticism that I think is unfair.
Obama has no control over having been given the middle name "Hussein", nor does he have any control over where his parents lived and the schools to which he was sent as a child. Just as we should not criticize those forced into Hitler Youth or the Piccoli Fascisti, and as we should not hold anyone accountable for the sins of their ancestors, we cannot blame Obama for his naming or upbringing.
Nor do I think there is anything sinister in his youthful attendance at an Islamic school. Even if the school did teach content which we would find objectionable, that says nothing about Obama's current beliefs. Many of those on Townhall attended public schools which have, for decades, been busy indoctrinating youth with left-leaning values, yet they all became conservatives. Just because Obama was attending an Islamic school says nothing about his beliefs, and to claim he is some sort of madrassa Manchurian Candidate (the Medina Candidate?) is just silly. When Islam wants to control someone, they throw money at him, or find a willing fellow-traveler like Galloway in the UK, they don't need a Manchurian Candidate.
As many have realized this, and attacks on Obama's childhood have not received the attention some hoped, there has surfaced a new variation. Some have now started to argue that, as Obama is presumably an apostate from Islam, Islamic nations will not be willing to deal with him, making him a liability as president.
Again, I have to say that this is just a bad argument. We should not allow other nations to decide who will be the president of the US. That is a decision solely for those who reside here. And in making that decision, we should not allow other nations to blackmail us by saying they will or will not negotiate with this candidate or that, as it would effectively allow foreign states to decide our elections for us.
Imagine, if you will, an election where Russia declared they would not negotiate with McCain. Would we then refuse to elect McCain because he could not negotiate effectively with Russia? Of course not. Just as (most of us) have rejected the silly idea that McCain will have problems with asian diplomacy due to his years as a POW (and that issue has been raised from time to time), we should also not allow the fact that Islamic states may have a problem with Obama to decide the election.
Now, there are more than enough reasons to reject Obama, and I am happy to set them out for readers. But I think to attack Obama on such improper grounds as his middle name, or his childhood is just pointless. Why try to raise such issues when there are literally dozens of complaints one can raise with what he decided to do with his adult life?