Muslims barred from picture at Obama event

[Anonymous]

"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. . . ."

This is the second time Obama volunteers or staff have been reported to have manipulated the faces behind him in an effort to portray his supporters in a particular light. This instance is particularly egregious, though:

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0608/11168.html

[Anonymous]

Honestly given the current political climate this not not a bad move (I do not agree with it, but it was smart). Had they done the opposite or not acted at all, he would have gotten a lot of flack from every conservative pundit from Maine to California. BTW, to be clear, the objection was not to the women but to the head-scarves (this difference matters).

[jsteele]

Well, that sucks. At least the campaign apologized. Obama seems to lose perspective where Muslims and the Middle East are concerned. Its understandable to an extent given his opponents desire to fabricate some sort of terrorism links to him (and the associated smear that Islam = terrorism. But, still, this is a bit ridiculous.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Honestly given the current political climate this not not a bad move (I do not agree with it, but it was smart). Had they done the opposite or not acted at all, he would have gotten a lot of flack from every conservative pundit from Maine to California. BTW, to be clear, the objection was not to the women but to the head-scarves (this difference matters).

How does this difference matter?

And this goes against everything he says about bringing everyone together. And so what if he got a lot of flack?????? That is why so many people respect him-he is going against the grain, but now he is like every other politician. A liar.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honestly given the current political climate this not not a bad move (I do not agree with it, but it was smart). Had they done the opposite or not acted at all, he would have gotten a lot of flack from every conservative pundit from Maine to California. BTW, to be clear, the objection was not to the women but to the head-scarves (this difference matters).

How does this difference matter?

And this goes against everything he says about bringing everyone together. And so what if he got a lot of flack?????? That is why so many people respect him-he is going against the grain, but now he is like every other politician. A liar.

"He" did not do anything. This was done by the volunteers and while they were misguided I think they were acting out of the best interest of the candidate.

[Anonymous]

I can't believe how many people find it OK to defend Obama by saying, "he's not a Muslim".
My thing is, "so what if he were?"
We are so Muslim phobic, that it has become an acceptable prejudice. We haven't come far fro WWII and "the Japs".

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:I can't believe how many people find it OK to defend Obama by saying, "he's not a Muslim".
My thing is, "so what if he were?"
We are so Muslim phobic, that it has become an acceptable prejudice. We haven't come far fro WWII and "the Japs".

If Obama were a Muslim and held the same political positions he holds now, his religion would not be an issue for me. But, unfortunately, the reality of present day America is that it would make him unelectable. This is not something specific to Islam. If he were gay, I would also have no problem with it. But, it would make him similarly unelectable. If someone said that Obama was gay, would you respond by saying that there is nothing wrong with being gay, or would you respond by saying he is actually hetero?

Nobody spreading rumors that Obama is a Muslim is doing so with the caveat that they believe in religious tolerance and his being a Muslim shouldn't matter. The rumor is spread specifically with the intent to damage his election possibilities. And, yes, the rumor would be harmless were it not for the widespread existence of anti-Islamic prejudice in America.

[Anonymous]

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can't believe how many people find it OK to defend Obama by saying, "he's not a Muslim".
My thing is, "so what if he were?"
We are so Muslim phobic, that it has become an acceptable prejudice. We haven't come far fro WWII and "the Japs".

If Obama were a Muslim and held the same political positions he holds now, his religion would not be an issue for me. But, unfortunately, the reality of present day America is that it would make him unelectable. This is not something specific to Islam. If he were gay, I would also have no problem with it. But, it would make him similarly unelectable. If someone said that Obama was gay, would you respond by saying that there is nothing wrong with being gay, or would you respond by saying he is actually hetero?

Nobody spreading rumors that Obama is a Muslim is doing so with the caveat that they believe in religious tolerance and his being a Muslim shouldn't matter. The rumor is spread specifically with the intent to damage his election possibilities. And, yes, the rumor would be harmless were it not for the widespread existence of anti-Islamic prejudice in America.

Agree.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
"He" did not do anything. This was done by the volunteers and while they were misguided I think they were acting out of the best interest of the candidate.

I'm the OP. I disagree with the statement that this was in Obama's best interest. I think Jeff is accurate when he says that Obama tends to lose perspective on this issue. He and his campaign are extraordinarily sensitive to it and that vibe trickles down to even campaign volunteers, who then do something like this in an effort to "protect" Obama. Their actions have the opposite effect of their intention, however.

[Anonymous]

I hope the Obama camp is thinking ahead, this could be his undoing.
It reminds me of that situation with Kerry and gay marriage. Bush said he was against it, the country was mostly with him, Kerry was in a corner as the gay rights activists asked him to take their side.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honestly given the current political climate this not not a bad move (I do not agree with it, but it was smart). Had they done the opposite or not acted at all, he would have gotten a lot of flack from every conservative pundit from Maine to California. BTW, to be clear, the objection was not to the women but to the head-scarves (this difference matters).

How does this difference matter?

And this goes against everything he says about bringing everyone together. And so what if he got a lot of flack?????? That is why so many people respect him-he is going against the grain, but now he is like every other politician. A liar.

"He" did not do anything. This was done by the volunteers and while they were misguided I think they were acting out of the best interest of the candidate.

As a potential leader of our country he needs to be aware of what his staff is doing.

[Anonymous]

Give me a break, that is totally unrealistic. Do you think that CEOs of companies know that low level employees are doing - until something bad happens, that is. Do you think that Bush know what some junior staffer at the white house is doing on a day to day basis. The only way that Obama should be held responsible for this is if the volunteers were acting based on policies coming from the top (there is no indication that this was the case here) or if he failed to correct the action after it happen.

[jsteele]

Obama called the two women today:

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/06/19/obama-calls-muslim-women-barred-from-stage/

They told the NYT:

The infringement on our rights occurred and has been addressed; now we are ready to move forward. We will continue to support Senator Obama in his campaign and wish him the best as the race continues.