Hillary's Low Blow: Part I

a friend of mine passed on to me the World Tribune article about an investigation into Sen. Barack Obama's Muslim background by "political opponents in the Democratic Party." sources say that the background check was run by researched connected to the Clinton campaign. you can read the full article here, but, as far as I can tell, the two main issues that the Hillaryites seem most hopeful of raising are:
1) that Obama went to a Madrassa for 4 years that espouses Wahhabism, which may have been funded by the Saudi government and taught doctrine denying the rights of non-Muslims
2) that Obama willfully concealed his (deeper) connections with Islam in his two books

if Hillary did indeed order this fear-mongering background check, then shame on her. she's obviously capitalizing on the poll conducted last summer where 54% of Americans indicated that they would absolutely not vote for a Muslim presidential candidate (don't laugh so hard, Mitt, you're next highest on the list with 37%). read the LA Times article on the poll here. at that point, the Times concluded that: "With no likely Muslim candidate on the presidential horizon, the poll numbers present the greatest threat to a potential contender from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (as the Mormon Church is formally known)." I can just imagine a sniveling little Hillaryite sitting in a dark office somewhere reading that line and thinking: "hmmmm. 'with no likely Muslim candidate,' eh? we'll see what we can do about that!"

to those two issues:
1) who cares what that school taught and who funded it? even if it does turn out to have been an extremist Madrassa, it's not like Obama chose to go there. his parents - specifically, his father - made that educational decision for him, as we do believe, I hope, that all parents have the right to dictate their children's educational futures. and if the Hillaryites really want to make religious doctrines that deny the rights of others such an issue, then can we talk about Sam Brownback's religion saying that I am an inherently evil and seeking, I'm sure, to strip me of every civil right I have as a gay man? if you're going to fry that fish, babe, at least find a bigger one.

2) why should Obama be forthcoming about his religion if he doesn't feel that it's appropriate to mention? that's a personal decision that each candidate should make, and he's obviously acknowledge what he views as Islam's contribution to his thinking and life experiences. and yeah, if I had half a brain and knew how stupid and paranoid American voters tend to be (especially in that large, red swath across the middle of the country), I'd keep my Muslim upbringing to the wings, too. perhaps Hillary would like to tell us all of her deepest, darkest secrets that she thinks might ruin her chances at the presidency? what did happen with Vince Foster, anyway?

in the end, the only conclusion I can draw from this exercise is that, since it makes no sense in any way as a substantive political issue, Hillaryites who are behind the background check are desperate and fishing for fear to sell. it's as palatable a catch as Rep. Virgil Goode (R-VA) challenging Rep. Keith Ellison's (D-MN) right to be sworn in on the Koran rather than the Bible. which is to say, it makes me want to vomit.

Hillary, don't be a tool.