In a July 21 or 22 broadcast, Fox News' Jamie Colby painted Muslim Imam Siraj Wahhaj, the Imam promoting the Islamic education campaign in New York's subways, as a terrorist.

What was Fox's evidence that he is a terrorist? Well he was investigated for a possible connection to the 1993 WTC bombing, was a witness in the Fed's case against the "blind Sheik" and sold a few religious DVD's with scary titles. Even though he was never even brought up on charges related to terrorism or indicted for charges related to terrorism, Fox ran a chryon that read "Wahhaj was listed as one of 117 co-conspirators in 93 WTC bombing."

This afternoon, I was returning a rental car at the Hertz office on King David St. in Jerusalem, where I'm running a program for my American law students.  Suddenly, tens of police cars and motorcycles zoomed by, sirens blaring.  "Is this because of Obama's visit?" I asked the person at the desk.  "No," she replied in Hebrew.  "A terrorist attack."  What I didn't realize was that the attack was a block away.

Let's mash-up two of today's rec diaries: thereisnospoon analyzes why the GOP is screwed if Obama wins , because anti-black racism has been key to  molding their "base". The author goes on to show that it is dangerous to try to replace blacks with browns (Hispanic immigrants), as they constitute a large voting block that is dangerous for the GOP to alienate.

In another diary, Geekesque reports on the McCain campaign declaring war on "Muslims"..

Put the two together. The GOP needs its hate figures. Blacks and browns are off the table. So who better to replace them with then Muslims? That's why they want to continue the war in Iraq; that is why McCain seems so keen to start in with Iran.

Dear Senator Obama,   I met you at your talk with Philadelphia Jewish leaders in April. It was I who as you entered the room handed you a copy of the original Freedom Seder, which I wrote in 1969, and which wove together the freedom struggles of Blacks and Jews. And during Q & A, it was I who asked you how as President you would deal with the peace-obstructing settlement policy of this and many previous Israeli governments.

Though you avoided saying what you would do,  I was satisfied with your answer -- then.

You probably read about it all already. Candidate John McCain advisor Phil "I Brake for Dollar Bills" Gramm shot off his mouth the other day and McCain had to disavow his words.  Again with the "stop whining and get on with you life" crap from another wealthy neocon gasbag(to quote The Who: "why don’t you all just ffffade away). Whining is one of those effective right wing power words they’ve used so well. Liberals are all whiners, the poor are whiners.

Whining, in it’s slang form, means bitching about the little stuff. Complaining about the weather is whining, complaining about the slow service at a restaurant is whining. Complaining that you lost your job, your health insurance and you can’t pay your bills is NOT. Remember Reagan’s famous "misery factor" back in the 1980 campaign? Such whining.

So where do we draw the line between legitimate complaints and "whining"? Were slaves whiners? How about holocaust victims?

EXAMPLES OF WHINING

If [(Arab+Muslim+Trip to Pakistan+ ...) / (age+ #of prayers/day+ ...)] > X,
THEN suspect
ELSE patriot

Let's look forward to what I'm sure will be a happy day, Jan. 20th, 2009. The oath is sworn, the nation celebrates.

Now President Obama has to deal with a whole range of issues, and, yes, Virginia, foreign affairs looms large. And over a billion Muslims looms, arguably, largest.

Now we Americans have an insight into Obama, of course, that the rest of the world does not. But, rightly or wrongly, it's the perception that a President Obama will have to deal with first. And perhaps we can start wondering from Al-Jazeera, which posts an analysis from Mark Levine.

Guys, one of my wingnut friends sent me an email today about how Muslims are generally intolerant wherever they live. His "proof" was some blog post or chain email (I’m guessing from Neal Boortz or somebody), and it included this "analysis":

When we started talking about all of the "Muslims Outraged" newspaper headlines we had seen over the years. Using the Yahoo search engine I looked for the number of hits on various versions of "Muslims Outraged." We put the phrase into quotation marks so that it would only show a hit where those words appear together. That particular grammatical usage would more often appear in headlines than in the body of a story where the phrase would more likely be "Muslims were outraged." So .. here are your results.

Muslims Outraged – 35,600 hits
Christians Outraged – 2990
Jews Outraged – 2060
Buddhists Outraged – 24
Catholics Outraged – 11,500
Democrats Outraged – 45,600
Republicans Outraged 13,800

I have borrowed my title today from the last line of Bob Herbert's magnificent column on torture, entitled All Too Human.  I will explore his column, and also that of Derrick Jackson, entitled Holding Muslims at arm's length.  My remarks will also include reflections on FISA, and perhaps references to popular culture and other things as well.   This will be a personal reaction, and as such, not thoroughly planned or organized.  Consider it a bit of a cri de coeur, an appeal to what Lincoln called "the better angels of our nature."  I invite you to read, and to respond as you deem appropriate.

And now?

Anyone with email can be a dumbass.

The Muslims feel slighted.  The FISA leftists have hurt feelings.  Sniff. Whine. Sob.  People, do you want to win?

At a recent campaign rally for Barack Obama, an event volunteer had the poor judgment to tell two women wearing head scarves that they could not be seated behind the stage where Obama was speaking. The concern was that the pictures would add fuel to the false assertions circulating about Obama being a stealth Muslim. Obama apologized to the women publicly and personally, but that did not stop the New York Times from publishing a front page story on the controversy and how it may be affecting his support in the Muslim community. The Times also accused Obama of ignoring Muslim voters:

"While the senator has visited churches and synagogues, he has yet to appear at a single mosque."

Good point. The only problem is...

Brought to you by...
News Corpse
The Internet's Chronicle Of Media Decay.

In the discussion over how much and how visibly Obama should reach out to American Muslims, most people seem to gravitate towards one of two positions:
    1- It's a matter of principle, there can be no compromise.
    2- Politics come first, let him get elected, then he can reach out.

But this is missing a major point. How convincing is Obama when he says we can talk to the Iranians, if he's avoiding patriotic, non-fundamentalist, American Muslims here in the US?

A lot of the major issues in this election cycle involve Islam. The war. Oil prices. Iran's possible nuclear ambitions. Civil liberties. Terrorism. That's a long and heavy list. And every time we discuss one of those issues, like it or not, we're taking a position on Islam. And every time we don't take a clear stand we give other people (read: Republicans) an opportunity to define what our relation to Islam is. Is this really such a good idea?

Senator, I love ya. Nobody here is going to doubt that. I considered myself extremely lucky that I got to vote for you once, and now that you're the nominee and I'm going to get a chance to vote for you again, I'm practically beside myself. I'm thrilled.

And I hate to add to the handwringing going on around here (FISA, the public financing of your campaign, etc.) but trust me when I say that I wouldn't do so unless I had a good reason.

This is my good reason.

This is sad. Sad for Obama. Sad for America's Muslims. He is a candidate who should really be made for America's beleaguered Arabic and Islamic population. He promises an end to the climate of permanent fear, an end to the organized disunity of the post 9/11 nightmare, an end to racial profiling and other defamations of the constitution, and an end to the liquidationist foreign policy of the Bush White House. But there's a problem. He doesn't want anyone to think he's a Muslim. Dear, oh, dear.

General William G. Boykin (ret.), implementer of US torture policies in Iraq under Donald Rumsfeld:

Here's the way I want to enter the gates of Heaven. I want to come skidding in there on all fours. I want to be slipping and sliding and I want to hit the gates of heaven with a bang. And when I stand up and I stand before Christ, I want there to be blood on my knees and my elbows. I want to be covered with mud. And I want to be standing there with a ragged breast plate of righteousness. And a spear in my hand. And I want to say, "Look at me, Jesus. I've been in the battle. I've been fighting for you." Ladies and gentlemen, put your armor on and get into battle. God bless you.

I intend this diary to be short and sweet.  First, I'll say we should all be proud of the brilliant strategery of our Democratic nominee in confronting the "smears" head-on.

But there's one smear in particular that we are not confronting head-on; and it is one that reaches far beyond Barack Obama, to millions of Americans, and in fact billions of world citizens, all of whom, incidentally, we need to mend fences with.  Please continue reading.

The pressure is on in the Christian community. Regarding women’s issues, a prominent Christian website urges young Judeo Christian women to take a vow of chastity:

TAKING YOUR CALLING AS A FUTURE MOTHER, SERIOUSLY!!!

The Scriptures say, that in the beginning, God made them male and female (Genesis 1:27). And HIS Command to them was to be fruitful and multiply (Genesis 1:28)! Consequently, rather than following the wicked women of the world into secular careers, the true, believing woman ought to take her calling to motherhood from God seriously. And make that her A #1 Career Goal!

And this is exactly what the VIRGINITY VOW does: makes young girls (virgins) pledge their bodies to God's Service in building Families! And not to defilement and desecretation, as the wicked women (and pimps) would have them. So, consider it carefully for yourself:

FATHER GOD, I PLEDGE MYSELF, TO DO THE BEST I CAN, TO RETAIN MY VIRGINITY, FOR THE HUSBAND THAT YOU HAVE FOR ME!

Now, why don't you join the future brides (and eventually mothers) that have made this pledge?