OJ Watch 2008: Obama and Clinton anger global Muslim community

I had to laugh yesterday while driving to the San Fernando Valley and listening to the Rush Limbaugh show. Yes, I do listen to Rush once in awhile – and yesterday he had a hilarious bit about Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.

Apparently Obama recently said that, according to the Register, he would”dialogue with dictators” and be open to “invading Pakistan to kill Islamist militants.”

Rush dug up audio clips from what he refers to as the “drive by media” wherein one newscaster after another took turns saying that Obama’s speech was “muscular.” Good grief! How is it possible that EVERY talking head had the SAME thing to say about Obama’s comments? It’s just nuts – they must all be reading from the same talking points!

Well, the comments were not muscular, they were stupid! In fact they were so dumb that the State Department “on Friday delivered a rebuke to would-be nominees of both parties whose recent comments have complicated U.S. efforts to overcome deep suspicion about the war on terrorism in the Muslim world.”

Obama was not the only candidate shooting off his mouth. Hillary Clinton pulled a “Crazy Claudia” when she said that she was “refusing to rule out the use of nuclear weapons” in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Not to be outdone by Obama and Clinton, GOP nutjob candidate Tom Tancredo piped in with the sort of comment you usually hear at OC GOP Central Committee meetings, he would nuke Muslim holy sites to prevent terrorist attacks. Sure, that will work. You will only have a billion angry Muslims to contend with!

It is funny though to see Clinton and Tancredo virtually on the same nuclear page. God knows what else they have in common. Tancredo is well known for hating immigrants, but President Bill Clinton’s administration was one of the worst when it came to helping immigrants – they closed the door instead of opening it. That is one of the reasons I don’t like Hillary – and now we have one more reason to steer clear of her.

So what about John Edwards? If Obama is not ready, and he clearly is not, and Clinton is too loca, what about Edwards? According to media reports, he is not tied with Obama and Clinton in a new poll in Iowa.

One paper said, with regard to the Iowa poll, that “Though Clinton is seen by Iowa voters as the strongest leader and most electable candidate, her rivals get higher marks for likeability.” That’s right – La Clintonista is UNLIKEABLE in the extreme, but Obama and Edwards, and certainly Bill Richardson, are all nice guys.

I took a look today at Edwards’ website. He sounds fairly reasonable, especially compared to the gunslinging Obama and Clinton. Here are a few of his thoughts regarding the war on terrorism:

  • As president, Edwards will create a “Marshall Corps” of 10,000 professionals, modeled on the Reserves systems, who will work on stabilization and humanitarian missions in weak and failing states that can become hotbeds for terrorism and create regional instability.
  • Edwards will ensure that we aggressively gather intelligence in accordance with proven methods. He will also avoid giving others an excuse to abandon international law by closing Guantanamo Bay, restoring habeas corpus, and banning torture.
  • Over 1,000 vehicles like tanks and helicopters have been lost in Iraq, and our equipment is being used at a rate of five to six times its peacetime use. As president, Edwards will re-invest in the maintenance of our equipment.
  • Terrorism takes root in weak and failing states. Poverty increases the risk to America by providing a safe harbor for instability, extremism, and terrorism. As president, Edwards will attack these root causes with dramatic increases in funding for global primary education, clean drinking water, protection of constitutional and democratic rights, and economic opportunity.

As a safety professional, with a genuine interest in fighting infectious disease, I applaud what Edwards has to say about global disease outbreaks, he is dedicated to “fighting global poverty and diseases like AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis.” Amen!

Richardson is still my choice for President, but he continues to lag in the polls. At this point Edwards is looking like the guy to go with if we are to avoid electing the La Clintonista or “the not ready for prime time” Obama.


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"Admin" is just editors Vern Nelson, Greg Diamond, or Ryan Cantor sharing something that they mostly didn't write themselves, but think you should see. Before December 2010, "Admin" may have been former blog owner Art Pedroza.