JustASC

A few of my old reliables have emailed this piece by Jake Tapper, crowing that at last Obama has been “exposed” as the Muslim he really is. Writes Tapper:

With insane rumors suggesting he was some sort of Muslim Manchurian candidate, then-Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., and his campaign did everything they could to emphasize his Christianity and de-emphasize the fact that his father, Barack Obama Sr., was born Muslim…. 

Since the election, however, with the threat of the rumors at least somewhat abated, the White House has been increasingly forthcoming about the president’s roots. Especially when reaching out to the Muslim world.

Well, obviously. But Obama’s critics pretend to wonder why, during the campaign, Obama’s camp bristled at the other side’s emphasis on his middle name. These same critics deny the practice was a nasty bit of religion-bating.

(Unless you’re Frank Gaffney, when religion-bating is front-and-center of your problems with Obama. Here he is, in an execrable wink-and-nod post:

In the final analysis, it may be beside the point whether President Obama actually is a Muslim. In The Speech and elsewhere, he has aligned himself with adherents to what authoritative Islam calls Shariah – notably, the dangerous global movement known as the Muslim Brotherhood – to a degree that makes Bill Clinton’s fabled affinity for blacks pale by comparison.

It may also be beside the point if Gaffney actually beats his wife, but let’s not go there.)

Obama’s critics played a nasty double game during the campaign: Making sure to emphasize Obama’s middle name and exaggerating his Muslim background while pretending to be “shocked, shocked” that anyone would think they were trying smear him as a Muslim. “What’s wrong with suggesting he’s a Muslim?” they’d disingenuously ask in emails, just before or after sending an email denigrating Muslims and accusing Obama of being pro-Palestinian.

Jews should know better. How many of their grandparents changed their last names when they immigrated and sought jobs in the Goldene Medineh? “Passing” was  a Jewish obsession in the first half of the 20th century, when a Jewish last name or background was enough to block them from certain professions and universities. It was only after we established ourselves in industry, academia  and the professions that all those closet Kanes and Jeffreys could live proudly as Cohens and Jacobs.

Not all tried to pass, but enough did that we should realize the historical amnesia behind our bating of Obama on this issue.

And if the historical argument doesn’t hold sway, just imagine if anti-Semites got into the game by emphasizing the Jewish roots and names of our public oficials. Oh wait: they already do that. Here’s a charming post from whitecivilrights.com:

Ever since the creation of the Federal Reserve system in 1913, EVERY SINGLE CHAIRMAN of the Fed, without exception, has been Jewish.*  That tradition has continued in the appointment by President Dubya of Ben Shalom Bernanke (Yes, that’s his real middle name) as successor to Alan Greenspan. 

As a community we go nuts whenever someone (factually) tallies the Jews in the neo-conservative movement or emphasizes the background of the Bush advisors who were (actually) Jewish. We have created an entire anti-anti-Semitic infrastructure based on elimnating prejudice.  

So hate Obama for what he said in his Cairo speech. Blast his economic policies or the pressure he is applying to Israel on the settlements. But either lay off the Muslim crap, or admit that you learned nothing from the 20th-century history of anti-Semitism.

* Total nonsense, by the way. I counted 5 out of 14.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 9th, 2009 at 12:52 pm and is filed under JustASC. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.