Everybody’s least-favorite candidate, Rudy Giuliani has popped back into public view to attack Obama on security grounds. Surprise! Here is a statement he issued through the McCain campaign:
“Throughout this campaign, I have been very concerned that the Democrats want to take a step back to the failed policies that treated terrorism solely as a law enforcement matter rather than a clear and present danger. Barack Obama appears to believe that terrorists should be treated like criminals — a belief that underscores his fundamental lack of judgment regarding our national security.”
Wheeling out Rudy is part of a broader strategy, it seems. The McCain campaign is now criticizing Obama heavily for wanting to treat terrorism as a criminal matter, which apparently displayed a “September 10 mindset” (the world before pre-emptive war and torture became mainstream policies). This is exactly the language used by Bush against Kerry in 2004, when he largely scared people into voting for him. It was stupid logic then, and it remains stupid logic today. Kerry’s statement that terrorism should be fought by means of law enforcement and reduced to the point when it becomes a minor nuisance is possibly the most sensible thing he ever said. This was the approach taken by the British authorities against the IRA when they (for some weird reason) refrained by declaring a “war on Catholic terrorism” and bombing west Belfast.
Some things just never change. The old adage is correct: the first time was tragedy, now it seems like comedy. For John McCain is possibly the world’s oldest adolescent boy! Seriously, we really really need to get past the codpiece diplomacy. Kevin Drum says it perfectly:
“So Barack Obama tells Jake Tapper that we can fight terrorists and follow the constitution at the same time (“for example, the first attack against the World Trade Center, we were able to arrest those responsible, put them on trial”), and we get the standard talking point reaction from the McCain team. You know the drill: naive, September 10th mindset, etc. etc. All the usual dumb little campaign comments.
But wouldn’t it be nice if we could have a real conversation about this? We could compare, say, the amount of terrorism we’ve stopped via police work, intelligence, international cooperation, financial interdiction, and so forth, and compare it to the amount of terrorism created by our military intervention in Iraq. And then we could talk about how the real September 10th mindset is the one that says it doesn’t matter what other people think of us because, you know, we’ve got the biggest military in the world and we can squash ‘em all like bugs anyway.
I say: bring ‘em on. Let’s talk about who’s naive vs. who’s learned some lessons from 9/11. The sooner the better.”
Somehow I think Obama will make this argument far more effectively than Kerry.
The reason Obama is of another mind set than most Americans is because the man is a muslim, which do you think is lying Obama or his own sister?
http://goodtimepolitics.com/2008/06/12/obamas-sister-says-he-was-muslim/
goodtime,
You are a peddler of lies and hatred.
You may want to find another blog more suited for your ilk.
and why would that matter (whether he was or is a muslim)? i know this is a catholic blog, but, please. can we for a few seconds entertain the notion that maybe, just maybe, there can be some pretty decent muslims in this world. just as there are some really nasty catholics around, too. don’t look at what i say, look at what i do seems to be an fitting reference to the scripture (though probably translated in the most awful way).
now to the lying part, if you want to hold any politician accountable on this standard, i’m afraid, you wouldn’t have many people in office. in fact, washington would probably be deserted. not that this is anything one should be proud of. but it seems a bit ideology driven, to pull this argument on issues like this. unless, of course, you have equally condemned GW and his entourage for all their “little white lies” ranging from what exactly where you doing when your classmates died halfway across the world to the question the existence of wmd. i’m not even going to mention the victory in iraq celebration.
Your conclusion is based on non-specific data. Unless she explicitly stated that Obama was a Muslim, then there is no need to challenge her word with his. A more reasonable explanation is that Maya Soetoro was raised Muslim by her biological father, Lolo Setoro, who happened to be Obama’s step-father. Her reference to her “whole family” being Muslim may simply refer to her biological family of which Obama was not part. She qualifies her remarks by noting that Obama was shipped around through Christian schools and was sent to live with his grandparents at age 10. This suggests, to me, that Obama was not raised Muslim and was not a real part of Maya Soetoro’s “whole family.”
But let’s just say he was a Muslim until the age of 28. So what? He from 18 to 28, he attended Occidental College, Columbia University, Harvard Law School, and participated in research groups. His frame of thinking was shaped by a very American experience since the age of 10. If he was a Muslim until 28 (unlikely), then Islam seems to have little import into his experiences and his present thinking.
I largely agree with the sentiment behind this post. I’d add, however, that Obama’s statement — “for example, the first attack against the World Trade Center, we were able to arrest those responsible, put them on trial” — was just a bit incomplete. No one put Abdul Rahman Yasin on trial. He’s the guy who literally made the bomb used in the 1993 attack, and he escaped (oddly enough) to Iraq. See http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/05/31/60minutes/main510795.shtml
and why would that matter (whether he was or is a muslim)? i know this is a catholic blog, but, please. can we for a few seconds entertain the notion that maybe, just maybe, there can be some pretty decent muslims in this world. just as there are some really nasty catholics around, too.
I agree. I knew very good friends in college who were Muslim and were probably the nicest guys I met in my entire 4 years there… their fasting during Ramadan, that was something else… they taught me what true fasting really is and that it can be done… I can’t see Catholics doing something similar doing Lent!
By the way, I strongly dislike Giuliani, so I agree with the post too.
Ugh, Rudy. Why won’t he just go away.
Ugh, Rudy. Why won’t he just go away.
Hehehe… I think he was that unpopular until he ran for president! I actually liked the guy right after 09/11!
Just answer the question, who is lying Obama or his sister? Make sense that one of them is lying and one is telling the truth! Well?
Feddie, your attitude is so September 10!!!
Goodtime: Are you still beating your wife? Just answer the question!
Just answer the question, who is lying Obama or his sister?
Given that, in the very interview you cite, Obama’s sister says he’s not a Muslim, and that he’s been a Christian for 20 years, I’d say neither of them is lying.
Sorry, MM. As you know, I am not a big fan of proaborts on either side of the political spectrum.
Rudy911 is now campaigning for McBush, like the TERROR911!TERROR911!TERROR!911 stuff worked so well in his own campaign LOL. With the non-stop terror schtick and those wierd upper fangs, he’s one creepy dude.
Talking about being a Catholic and then make such comment that I read from here is beyond me. Now how can Catholics or any other Church of God’s back a man that lies? Just a honest question!
http://goodtimepolitics.com/2008/06/18/are-you-obama-supporters-calling-his-sister-maya-soetoro-a-lier/
goodtimepolitics, before you call someone a “lier” you need to learn how to spell the word. People might take you a bit more seriously (or not) if you appeared to have finished grade school.
Its those muslim schools! Obama sister said that all her family was muslims, so does not all mean the whole family? Maybe you need to find a good school.