President Obama Is Not Even A Muslim

[Spengler]

President Obama Is Not Even A Muslim on the Spengler Blog


by David P. Goldman


Today's Google News leads with a new poll showing that 18% of Americans think that Barack Hussein Obama is a Muslim. Only 34% of Americans think he is a Christian, down from 48% a year ago. And 43% gave the correct answer: they don't know what he is.

The great physicist Wolfgang Pauli once said of a colleague's work, "It isn't even wrong," and one might say about Obama that he isn't even a Muslim. The fact that he was registered as a Muslim at an Indonesian school by his Muslim stepfather does not make him a Muslim; he attended a notionally Christian church pastored by Jeremiah Wright, whose "black liberation" theology teaches that blacks are the chosen people.

Whether Wright is a Christian, of course, is a question to be answered by Christian theologians and not by this Jewish journalist. But a nasty streak of ethnic idolatry is hard to miss in the published views of Wright's mentor James Cone.

All that is beside the point. That Obama has a deep personal sympathy for Islam is beyond doubt. The President takes every opportunity to emphasize it. But he is not a Muslim, only the thrice-abandoned child and step-child of Muslims and an anthropologist mother who deeply sympathized with the struggle of Muslims to resist globalization. He has a deep antipathy to the American view of things, insisting that "American exceptionalism" is no different than "Greek exceptionalism." He belongs neither to the United States, nor to the Muslim world; he is a gifted outsider with a talent for persuasion who profiled Americans the way anthropologist profile primitive tribes, and in a variant of the old adventure-movie script, made himself our king.

Ultimately he belongs nowhere. He is not even a Muslim.

[PatrickMurphy]

You know, David, I thought of your Spengler pieces about Barack, anthropologist from the womb, when I heard about that poll. Instantly, it struck me that it's possible that he probably is not temperamentally capable of having a religion, in the sense that faith requires willful deference to an outside authority. That's a stumbling block built into his character in a way that might be unique.

I think you have been immensely helpful in the ongoing effort to comprehend this strange case study we are forced to grapple with. I don't think anyone's done better to date.

[Walter Sobchak]

Ultimately he belongs nowhere.

Unfortunately he is in the most specific place in the world, and unless extraordinary events occur, he is going to be there for another 2 years and 5 months. May the Lord have mercy on us poor sinners.

[CognitiveDistoibance]

Ultimately he belongs nowhere.

Unfortunately he is in the most specific place in the world, and unless extraordinary events occur, he is going to be there for another 2 years and 5 months. May the Lord have mercy on us poor sinners.

True. And if he should resign ... it's President Joe Biden.

Personally, I hope we have 5 more months of impotence, and 2 years of solid gridlock.

[Simple Minded]

True. And if he should resign ... it's President Joe Biden.

Personally, I hope we have 5 more months of impotence, and 2 years of solid gridlock.

CD,

True enough, at least with Biden, I don't know of anyone who deluded themselves into thinking he was/is competent or capable or intelligent. I think most know Joe is just a good natured barfly kinda guy who often says more than he knows.

As long as no one takes Joe seriously, he can't do much damage. I'll bet he would be a very popular president. I can easily see him patting Queen Elizabeth on the butt or saying "C'mon, pull my finger!" to a couple European or Middle Eastern leaders! What would be wrong with that? Would make for great TV! (note to self, if I ever become president almost everyone gets a pull my finger when I get off Air Force One, and Carla Bruni gets some but slaps)

The willfully ignorant masses waking up and taking off their blinders is the real news story, not what Obama himself may or may not be. Even the self deluded American MSM is finally starting to listen to the wake up call. They will soon follow their European counterparts.

I am reminded of the Elliott Wave predictions over the last few years, Eric Hoffer's book The True Believer, Sowell's quote about people demanding villians and heroes rather than accurate analysis, and also of several of Victor Davis Hanson's excellent articles warning how Obama's actions were courting the retalitory actions of the goddess Nemesis.

ala The True Believer, now that they are starting to turn, Obama now has more to fear from his formerly evangelical followers, than from anyone else.

Impotance and gridlock..... not such a bad thing. Time for the adult to confiscate the car keys, the credit card, and ground the adolescents!!! And throwing in an ass whipping or two just for good measure probably wouldn't hurt either.

As a Father, you've probably done that a few times yourself..... eh? ( for Wellington)

[Simple Minded]

February 09, 2010
I Was a Teenage President
By Greg Lewis

The Obama administration resembles nothing so much as a big house in the suburbs where the parents are away for the weekend. In the absence of any responsible person to take charge, the Teenager-in-Chief is letting the rest of the adolescents run wild.

They've maxed out their parents' credit cards and have begun working on their overdraft lines in earnest, as the T-I-C's budget, which proposes a $1.5-trillion deficit for the coming fiscal year, attests. With "what, me worry?" aplomb worthy of a Mad Magazine cover boy, Barack Obama delivered to Congress a bloated document which proposes that more than 40 percent of federal spending be done with borrowed money, and some of the rest courtesy of renewed taxes on America's "rich" -- those people and small businesses making unholy annual incomes greater than $250,000.

And although there are several carloads of bullies pulling into the driveway who are about to enter the premises, the partiers inside remain oblivious to potential threats. They're wrecking the furniture, eating their parents out of house and home, and in general carrying on like there's no tomorrow.

Fraternity Boy General Eric Holder insists, with teen-worthy logic, that trying Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in U.S. federal court will demonstrate to the world how wonderfully the impartial American justice system works -- this after Holder himself arguably contaminated the pool of potential jurors by declaring that after the trial, the "suspect" would be executed. This claim -- that KSM is virtually guaranteed to be convicted in an American court of law, and even if he isn't we'll detain him indefinitely anyway -- was repeated by the Teenager-in-Chief himself and his Smokesperson, Robert Gibbs.

In the meantime, the head of Gangland Security, Janet Napolitano, was still tired from a pre-Spring Break European jaunt and decided not to appear before a House Committee hearing on the Christmas Day Skivvies-Bomber plot, upsetting even House Democrats. These are the same Democrats who are generally on board with the administration's confiscate-and-squander policies, recently ratcheted up from previous tax-and-spend levels.

Under new laws governing parents' rights with regard to their adolescent children, the Teenager-in-Chief's academic records can't be sent home without the student's consent. That has led to a great deal of speculation about whether the T-I-C really did complete the requirements for his college degrees, and if he did so, whether he distinguished himself as a student. Even though we footed the bill for our adolescent's education and are paying for the consequences thereof, we haven't been afforded so much as a glimpse at the papers he wrote or the marks he received for them.

And though we had our doubts about some of the characters he's hung out with, The New York Teens assured us that no permanent damage had been done by his association with the likes of the Reverend Jeremiah Wright and political radical Bill Ayers. And no, the Teens added, Bill Ayers didn't write Obama's autobiography, and he certainly didn't write his college papers. Heck, Ayers and Obama didn't even meet each other until Obama was well on his way to the stunning success he achieved in his early career as a community organizer. How in the world could Ayers have written Obama's college papers? Tell me that! And they surely wouldn't have let Obama teach constitutional law -- at the University of Chicago, no less -- if he weren't qualified, would they?

I mean, jeez, what more do you want? The T-I-C is already working harder than he ever thought he would have to. He barely has time for golf and pickup basketball games and date nights any more, and you know how important those are to any teen. So of course he's angry.

He's angry at the overwhelming problems he "inherited" from the previous administration. And he's angry because despite the fact that he had bulletproof majorities in both houses of Congress, the American public was too stupid to understand his health care initiative and the wonderful things it would do for them, and so he couldn't get that legislation pushed through.

Never mind that his is the anger of manufactured intellectual outrage unconnected to real-world experience. And never mind that it's the anger of psychological pain born in the midst of privilege few generations in the history of our planet have ever enjoyed. It is ultimately an unpleasant and whiny anger, the anger of a rich kid bitching that his parents haven't given him quite enough, the anger of a spoiled child who denigrates those who came before him for not being what he thinks they should have been. He's the Teenager-in-Chief, and he's not about to let you forget it.

[MarcH]

"Ultimately he belongs nowhere" ... Well, he's a good fit at the faculty lounge.


Shabbat Shalom

[CognitiveDistoibance]

Personally, I hope we have 5 more months of impotence, and 2 years of solid gridlock.

CD,

...

Impotance and gridlock..... not such a bad thing.

I forgot to mention that I said that in a fit of pure optimism.

Time for the adult to confiscate the car keys, the credit card, and ground the adolescents!!! And throwing in an ass whipping or two just for good measure probably wouldn't hurt either.

As a Father, you've probably done that a few times yourself..... eh? ( for Wellington)

Cue the Chinese...

[Uche Africanus]

All that is beside the point. That Obama has a deep personal sympathy for Islam is beyond doubt. The President takes every opportunity to emphasize it. But he is not a Muslim, only the thrice-abandoned child and step-child of Muslims and an anthropologist mother who deeply sympathized with the struggle of Muslims to resist globalization. He has a deep antipathy to the American view of things, insisting that "American exceptionalism" is no different than "Greek exceptionalism." He belongs neither to the United States, nor to the Muslim world; he is a gifted outsider with a talent for persuasion who profiled Americans the way anthropologist profile primitive tribes, and in a variant of the old adventure-movie script, made himself our king.

Ultimately he belongs nowhere. He is not even a Muslim.

David,

Sometimes, you write like one who lives in a monastry, divorced from facts and reality. This can also be caused by one who is motivated mainly by ideology, and so everything and anything in the service of that ideology becomes the only reality.

Fortunately, there are other considerations that you will do well to get use to. For example, unlike the thrust of your writing above, Obama is much more anchored than many of our fellow citizens including past presidents and church leaders. He has a loving family and not dysfunctional as we find in our American families. He is the leader of a country where a significant minority of its males (mostly whites, I dare add) can't seem to get over the fact that a person can be elected president without their overwhelming support despite Clinton's successful two electoral victories.

Obama is widely loved and supported by many who are not in the habit of talking to the press or posting to online forums, but who knows that Obama is the best thing compared to any one from the other party and will in 2012 re-elect him again to a second term. He is also greatly admired in Africa and most of the world for his noteble achievements despite the thuggish opposition from a group of neardenthals who are largely losing their relevance even within their own families and cannot comprehend that the ground underneath them is moving, never to return to the lily white, loose meat sandwiches and corn festival music of their awful younger years. In other words, the president is much more anchored on who he is and far less empty inside than most of our citizenry. This whole idea that he belongs to no where is just that, an unsubstantiative and silly idea for the kool-aid drinking gallery.

It saddens me to witness the slow decline of this great nation because a small minority of its people are losing all basis of rationality and behaving like a pack of wolves in defense of priviledges that they neither merit nor deserve. But this is predictable. The good Lord warned us that He is capable of raising children from stones who will worship him. For too long we felt that we are all there is, that we have been perfected and no longer in need of improvement. In other words, we got arrogant. Nemesis is reminding us that we are really not what we had imagined ourselves to be.

[hoosiernorm]

Uche,

What would you consider his notable achievements?

[Uche Africanus]

Hoosier,

Here are some that comes to mind. I may be forgetting others but this is a good start:




Ordered all federal agencies to undertake a study and make recommendations for ways to cut spending

Ordered a review of all federal operations to identify and cut wasteful spending and practices

Instituted enforcement for equal pay for women

Beginning the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq

Families of fallen soldiers have expenses covered to be on hand when the body arrives at Dover AFB

Ended media blackout on war casualties; reporting full information

Ended media blackout on covering the return of fallen soldiers to Dover AFB; the media is now permitted to do so pending adherence to respectful rules and approval of fallen soldier's family

The White House and federal government are respecting the Freedom of Information Act

Instructed all federal agencies to promote openness and transparency as much as possible

Limits on lobbyist's access to the White House

Limits on White House aides working for lobbyists after their tenure in the administration

Ended the previous stop-loss policy that kept soldiers in Iraq/Afghanistan longer than their enlistment date

Phasing out the expensive F-22 war plane and other outdated weapons systems, which weren't even used or needed in Iraq/Afghanistan

Removed restrictions on embryonic stem-cell research

Federal support for stem-cell and new biomedical research

New federal funding for science and research labs

States are permitted to enact federal fuel efficiency standards above federal standards

Increased infrastructure spending (roads, bridges, power plants) after years of neglect

Funds for high-speed, broadband Internet access to K-12 schools

New funds for school construction

The prison at Guantanamo Bay is being phased out

US Auto industry rescue plan

Housing rescue plan

$789 billion economic stimulus plan and saving this and future generations of Americans from having to wear sackclothes

The public can meet with federal housing insurers to refinance (the new plan can be completed in one day) a mortgage if they are having trouble paying

US financial and banking rescue plan

The secret detention facilities in Eastern Europe and elsewhere are being closed

Ended the previous policy; the US now has a no torture policy and is in compliance with the Geneva Convention standards

Better body armor is now being provided to our troops

The missile defense program is being cut by $1.4 billion in 2010

Restarted the nuclear nonproliferation talks and building back up the nuclear inspection infrastructure/protocols

Reengaged in the treaties/agreements to protect the Antarctic

Reengaged in the agreements/talks on global warming and greenhouse gas emissions

Visited more countries and met with more world leaders than any president in his first six months in office

Successful release of US captain held by Somali pirates; authorized the SEALS to do their job

US Navy increasing patrols off Somali coast

Attractive tax write-offs for those who buy hybrid automobiles

Cash for clunkers program offers vouchers to trade in fuel inefficient, polluting old cars for new cars; stimulated auto sales

Announced plans to purchase fuel efficient American-made fleet for the federal government

Expanded the SCHIP program to cover health care for 4 million more children

Signed national service legislation; expanded national youth service program

Instituted a new policy on Cuba, allowing Cuban families to return home to visit loved ones

Ended the previous policy of not regulating and labeling carbon dioxide emissions

Expanding vaccination programs

Immediate and efficient response to the floods in North Dakota and other natural disasters

Closed offshore tax safe havens

Negotiated deal with Swiss banks to permit US government to gain access to records of tax evaders and criminals

Ended the previous policy of offering tax benefits to corporations who outsource American jobs; the new policy is to promote in-sourcing to bring jobs back

Ended the previous practice of protecting credit card companies; in place of it are new consumer protections from credit card industry's predatory practices

Energy producing plants must begin preparing to produce 15% of their energy from renewable sources

Lower drug costs for seniors

Ended the previous practice of forbidding Medicare from negotiating with drug manufacturers for cheaper drugs; the federal government is now realizing hundreds of millions in savings

Increasing pay and benefits for military personnel

Improved housing for military personnel

Initiating a new policy to promote federal hiring of military spouses

Improved conditions at Walter Reed Military Hospital and other military hospitals

Increasing student loans

Increasing opportunities in AmeriCorps program

Sent envoys to Middle East and other parts of the world that had been neglected for years; reengaging in multilateral and bilateral talks and diplomacy

Established a new cyber security office

Beginning the process of reforming and restructuring the military 20 years after the Cold War to a more modern fighting force; this includes new procurement policies, increasing size of military, new technology and cyber units and operations, etc.

Ended previous policy of awarding no-bid defense contracts

Ordered a review of hurricane and natural disaster preparedness

Established a National Performance Officer charged with saving the federal government money and making federal operations more efficient

Students struggling to make college loan payments can have their loans refinanced

Improving benefits for veterans

Many more press conferences and town halls and much more media access than previous administration
Instituted a new focus on mortgage fraud

The FDA is now regulating tobacco

Ended previous policy of cutting the FDA and circumventing FDA rules

Ended previous practice of having White House aides rewrite scientific and environmental rules, regulations, and reports

Authorized discussions with North Korea and private mission by Pres. Bill Clinton to secure the release of two Americans held in prisons

Authorized discussions with Myanmar and mission by Sen. Jim Web to secure the release of an American held captive

Making more loans available to small businesses

Established independent commission to make recommendations on slowing the costs of Medicare

Appointment of first Latina to the Supreme Court, thus refocusing on merits rather than station

Authorized construction/opening of additional health centers to care for veterans

Limited salaries of senior White House aides; cut to $100,000

Renewed loan guarantees for Israel despite the ingratitude of the pampered Jewish right wingers

Changed the failing/status quo military command in Afghanistan

Deployed additional troops to Afghanistan so we can win that war and bring our people home as quickly as possible

New Afghan War policy that limits aerial bombing and prioritizes aid, development of infrastructure, diplomacy, and good government practices by Afghans

Announced the long-term development of a national energy grid with renewable sources and cleaner, efficient energy production

Returned money authorized for refurbishment of White House offices and private living quarters

Paid for redecoration of White House living quarters out of his own pocket

Held first Seder in White House (Spengler doesn't seem to remember this, not surprising)

Attempting to reform the nation's healthcare system which is the most expensive in the world yet leaves almost 50 million without health insurance and millions more under insured

Has put the ball in play for comprehensive immigration reform

Has announced his intention to push for energy reform

Has announced his intention to push for education reform



In any other place or clime such achievements are noteble enough to endear the president to the whole electorate including the mis-informed jingoists amongst them. But not for Obama. Makes one wonder what else is going on...?


Cheers,
Uche

[Uche Africanus]

Hoosier,

May I also add that the accomplishments listed above are what president Obama accomplished in only ten months in office. I have not even considered his accomplishments in 2010, some of which include:

Reform of the financial industry

Reducing crimes and gang related vilence through the Byre grants

Successfully plaing Elena Kagan in the Supreme Court.

Passing Health care Reform that extends a most basic right to 30 million working class Americans (the so-called "little people")

Returning more than 2 million acres of widerness to federal protection

Investments in green technology - way forward to expanding and sustaining he middle class

Tax credit for poor and middle class families to afford college for their wards

Massive improvements in transportation with ongoing projects on more than 2500 highways

Fair pay for equal work - The Lily Ledbetter Act that gives eual pay to women.



Personally, I can't think of any other president who has worked harder and more efficiently for the American people since F.D.R. and still he gets vilified by a vast right-wing conspiracy that is out of ideas, out of touch and out of time. For their time is gone and will never be tolerated again.

[Pastaneta]

This know nothing hack of a president has gone against the will of the people. He'll get the result at the next elections.

He has worked on the gulf links and spent the taxpayer money. It's official: Carter isn't the worse president of the post war period. Obama is.

[Pastaneta]

"Uche,

What would you consider his notable achievements?"

For Uche the color of his skin is his main achievement I would say.

As to the American people:

[Simple Minded]

It saddens me to witness the slow decline of this great nation because a small minority of its people are losing all basis of rationality and behaving like a pack of wolves in defense of priviledges that they neither merit nor deserve. But this is predictable. The good Lord warned us that He is capable of raising children from stones who will worship him. For too long we felt that we are all there is, that we have been perfected and no longer in need of improvement. In other words, we got arrogant. Nemesis is reminding us that we are really not what we had imagined ourselves to be.

Uche,

Welcome back!!!

I can agree with much of the above paragraph, with the exception that I would substitute "majority" for "small minority." I think I would also substitute "the Western Hemisphere" for "this great nation." The current zeitgeist has been decades or generations in the making, it will play out over decades and generations.

"Everything in the world may be endured except continual prosperity."
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

"For the person who feels entitled, the feelings of gratitude and appreciation are almost impossible!"
W. Doyle Gentry

Goethe's statement is as true for nations, and groups as it is for individuals. If you don't believe it, watch your own family over 3 generations or so. As for Gentry's statement, six months watching children should suffice.

I think by framing this in terms of "race," you are donning blinders, my friend. Blinders that are as old as mankind. Much of what you write is better than that, don't make the same mistake as others, by falling into group think! "Race" is only a very, very small part of the "exclusionism" rampant in the current zeitgeist. Watch and see.

I think it is human nature to be tribal, but that man at his best is an individual, who accepts personal responsibility for his thoughts and actions. Unfortunately, most don't want to assume the burden and consequences of personal responsibility.

There are obviously a millions lines of demarcation of how responsible individuals should be, and how much I am entittled to the fruits of my brtoher's labors. Since you (often) seem like a wise man, I shall ask of you the same question I ask of all my friends who seem to believe in government solutions to the problems of the individual:

Since you are wise enough to know that Governments can only give to Peter by robbing Paul, and while you seem to feel good about petitioning the government to help Peter, do you not also feel like an accessory to theft when the government robs Paul?

Since Obama is the current US president, he is an indicator of "social mood." He is on the receiving end of both praise and critcism, whether he deserves either or not. Comes with the job my friend!!! I sure President Obama realized before he ran for office, that if he won, he would guarnteed at least 300 million critics and probably closer to 6 billion critics!!!!! Note how rapidily many in the European media have deserted him. His actions or their mood?

Criticisms and praises I have heard regarding Obama very little from those I have heard directed at Bush, Clinton, Reagan, Carter, etc. People soon tire of trying to be creative.

The below link should cheer you up! One of the people you dislike, Glenn Beck (I believe you have called him a racist), has been repeating this message for at least 3-4 years: Current trends have been building for decades, and are bigger than either party, or any elected officials!

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142 ... el_opinion


cheers