Comments on: An Open Letter to Senator Barack Obama

By: Joe

Joe — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 21:20:13 +0000

enator Obama,
I would like to take a minute to applaud your success. Your campaign has succeeded against all odds, and you are truly emerging as the preeminent candidate in this 2008 campaign. Although I am a registered republican, I have a great deal of respect for your candor and your inspiring oratory skills. Though often I do not agree with what you pontificate, I certainly admire your achievements.

With that being said, I would ask you to relinquish some of your success to your opponent, John Mccain. It is, after all, in line with your rhetoric. Though John Mccain has not earned it, a number of mitigating circumstances has not allowed for him to ascend to popularity that you enjoy. By any measure you have more success than you really need, so “spreading it around” should not be a problem. I would suggest you start by having your campaign relinquish a percentage of your finances to the Mccain offices. Sending money this way, as your running mate Joe Biden sees it, could even be considered patriotic. Everyone wins right?

I appreciate your consideration, and hope that you redistribute some of your wealth and success this campaign season.

Best,
Joe

By: sophie dominguez

sophie dominguez — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 14:49:08 +0000

dear mr. obama, i immigrated from poland to chicago 38 years ago i am now 48. i was working since i was 15, never stoped working untill i had a injury on the job on 2003, 1 had injured my left shoulder and wright knee, had 4 surgerys , one left shoulder 3 right knee i continue to work, my knee was getting worse each day , doctors told me i need to have a knee replacement feb 28, 04 , i worked all theway through friday 25th of feb 04, unfortunetinelly the surgery did not go well, went back to hospital 2 months later and had my knee bent beacuese it was stiff, then 8 months later i had a revision done on that knee,i developed pain sindrome i been on heavy norcotics since the knee replacement, this is the first time i was not and still not able to work since the knee replacement its been 2 years now, they gone try to put a spinal cord stimulator for the pain i have since the surgery. they dont even know if its gone work, i cant drive beacuse of the heavy murphine i am on. i ve been on worksmanscomp for 2 years now, i went and applied for temporary social security i have been denied twice beacuse they say i could work other jobs then the one ive been doing, which was property manager, condo convirsions, and construction, corporate housing. when i could go back to work i have no clue, at this point i cant even drive i am in so much pain, i limp now beacuse my leg is not straight and i will go for another surgey. i hired a lawyer steve globis to help me with the social security benefits that i had been paying my share since i was fifteen. i got a letter from the social security last year in may 2007 stating they will send me a letter in september of 07 for a hearring date well its been no answer untill now. i read a article in the news paper that the court system is so backed up that it will take untill 18 months !!!!!!! before they will be sending notices for people like me just to get a hearing date, and they told me when i first applied for the system that if i get denied twice i need to get a lawyer which i had no choice but to do that. i am a divorcedsingle mom who been working since i was a teenager who unfortunetely was unable to even finish high school beacuse we were so poor but yet was a hard working person,to raise my 2 boys and give them good working ethics and education by working 2 jobs 18 hours a day.i am very proud that my oldest son at the age of 18 went to the NAVY and still is, started with E1 and after 6 years he is a E6 petti oficer , has a wife and 2 children and finished bachlor degree while he is in the NAVY and working on his MASTERS,my other son who is 23 years old, worked since he was 16 to help me, been going to university to get his bachelors in criminal justice but since i stoped working do to the injury at work i could not help him with the tution,he achived 96 hours and has only 24 hours to go but unfortunetely he cant continue beacuse there is no money, so he decided to follow his brothers foot steps, he will be going to the UNITED STATES COAST GUARD in september, so he can get financial suport for the school. Iam very very proud of them that they want it to achive their goals which is the SCHOOL. my first son is going to be an officer and the younger one wil be going the same direction. beacuswe of the accident i had i couldnt help my boys with the tution they had no CHOICE accept to join the military to get their schooling. and here i am unable to work, unable get help from the goverment that i worked so hard, and lost my boys to the military so they could get education. 1 was on left shoulder and 3 on right knee

By: rev. Abel Oriri

rev. Abel Oriri — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 16:24:17 +0000

Sen. Obama is a Christian and not a muslim. I have a better knowledge of the senator’s spiritual life than most both as a relative and a pastor of evangelical charismatic church in Cleveland. Please do not hesitate to contact me about Obama’s faith.Thank you
Rev. Oriri

By: Charlie Clark

Charlie Clark — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 18:54:00 +0000

My brother just told me on the phone from California that “Obama is Muslim, that he won”t touch a christian bible, that he turns his back when we salute our flag, that he won’t say the pledge of allegence” is this all true or not? If not we the american people need to know! All the retoric can just leave the conversation. Is the above true or not?

By: wais

wais — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 20:43:29 +0000

Interesting, and good points. But more likely anyone of the mentioned names becoming the newxt President, will be forced to chose will it be Pakisan, or Iran to Bomb next. This the reality, and they don’t get the mess they will create and face.

By: bob knapper

bob knapper — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 18:45:46 +0000

the religious label is importat to the extent it will harm the national interest. being at was in the muslim world and having a muslim in the white house could be some what of a conflict of interest the letter if possible should be forwarded to senator obama. fire you advisors and hire a different group of college men of the 70’s and 80’s . you can not win with them and you will save your self a lot of pain. the reason i say this racial bais is alive and well. I had a similar experience i wish to share upon arriving in washington dc. I had an issue arise and a white female brought tears to the issue and even though my position was correct . the idea that a minority made a white female cried shaded the result. new hampshire was your to take but not responding to the teaR OF HILLARY with the tears of a OPrah or a non minorty entertainer you were going to lose . a strong black man can not win on the national stage without big name in the business ,sports or entertainment arena speaking on your behalf a loss is inevitable . A win in November for the democart will have to include ex senator Edwards. I have been a closet campaign strategist and I have been on track with most of my predictions

By: Chapati Mystery » A Muslim Like Obama

Chapati Mystery » A Muslim Like Obama — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 21:26:49 +0000

[...] We live in a rumor-based society where spurious flyers can derail campaigns and invented words like “swift-boating” scarcely raise a Colbert eyebrow. So it is no surprise that such internet rumors are given equal credence by the WaPo. The entire story is written with the “he said/they say/people claim” and the denials are restricted solely for the campaign - which “keeps a letter at its offices, signed by five members of the local clergy, vouching for the candidate’s Christian faith” - and for Obama - “If I were a Muslim, I would let you know”. At no point, does WaPo sully itself by actually reporting that Obama is not a Muslim. Understandably, some are upset at the WaPo. [The story itself gained prominence almost a year ago. See an earlier post]. [...]

By: abel Oriri

abel Oriri — Mon, 05 Mar 2007 18:48:32 +0000

Senator Obama is a christian. I am an evangelical christian Pastor in Ohio and happen to know the Obama family because I am related to him. Senetor Obama is a christian and not a muslim. I had answered this question in article which I sent to a Chicago newspaper when he ran for the senate and I thought the issue was settled.

Please contact me if you have any question regarding his heritage and intergrity.
God bless you

Rev. Abel Oriri, Pastor/Christian counselor
Heights Fellowship Church
Cleveland Ohio

By: We Heart OBaMaRaMaMaMa

We Heart OBaMaRaMaMaMa — Wed, 14 Feb 2007 22:36:08 +0000

[...] Valentine’s Day, we’re here to express that, despite concerns about his handling of the whole madrassa issue, and other worries yet to be discovered. So in honor of his dignity, which is being vigorously [...]

By: sepoy

sepoy — Mon, 29 Jan 2007 16:08:37 +0000

Only if, you think this is Black Ops.:

Karl Rove spreads a rumor that Hilary is spreading a rumor that Obama went to a madrasa. Who gets damaged more? Obama? or Hilary whose campaign is accused of dirty tricks and becomes something akin to Bush ‘00 campaign [oops!]

By: PDCS

PDCS — Mon, 29 Jan 2007 15:07:54 +0000

Sepoy, you are spot on with respect to Obama’s response but read Howard Kurtz in the WAPO on the origins of Barack Madrasa story. Opposition research is a cool thing, right?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/linkset/2005/04/11/LI2005041100587.html

So here is the relevant section:

The Washington Times did not touch the story about Hillary Clinton’s camp supposedly spreading a rumor that Sen. Barack Obama, her presidential campaign rival, once attended a madrassa, a school that teaches a fundamentalist form of Islam.

The paper blew off the report even though it was carried this month by Insight, the Internet magazine owned by the same parent company.

Times Editor in Chief Wesley Pruden, calling it a “lurid account,” declared in his column that Insight “is absolutely, positively and entirely separate from the newspaper.” Pruden quoted from my reports in which Obama and Clinton spokesmen called the article trash, adding: “Neither this newspaper nor most others took up the story, which cited no named sources.”

Insight Editor Jeffrey Kuhner concedes that “the madrassa angle on Barack Obama had not been thoroughly checked out when we posted our story,” but says “our story was about the Clinton camp’s opposition research on Barack Obama, which had been thoroughly checked out. . . . The story gave our readers insider knowledge about what is truly going on in the Hillary camp. . . . Contrary to misrepresentations by The Washington Post and CNN, Insight’s Obama story never — not once — claimed that Obama attended a madrassa as a young boy.”

The Insight article did say that an investigation by Obama’s opponents “has discovered that Mr. Obama was raised as a Muslim by his stepfather in Indonesia.” Both the Obama and Clinton camps have dismissed the allegations, and the deputy headmaster of the Indonesian school in question told CNN that it is a public school.

By: Qalandar

Qalandar — Sun, 28 Jan 2007 18:27:45 +0000

Let me add my voice in support of Ubaid’s and sepoy’s views here. “Better than” the alternatives is not going to be good enough to enthuse me; a response along the lines suggested in sepoy’s open letter would have been “pretty damn good”.

i.e., Andrew R: I don’t subscribe to the view that the default condition of the American public is bigotry and that any political strategy must take it as a given. If it were indeed a given, we wouldn’t have parties and campaign committees spending quite so much on spin doctors, manipulation, etc. The public is “in play”, and if we don’t recognize that we have already lost (Exhibit A for “already lost”: Hillary Clinton, whether or not she wins the election).

One might still lose anyway, but as the character played by philosopher/actor Akshay Kumar responded (to a suggestion that he give up as persisting in the mission with his honest cop-boss), in Khakee (simply one of the best masala Hindi movies in over a decade, for ye unfortunates who haven’t seen it): “Main aap ke peeche peeche aaonga; aakhri waqt tak aaonga; lekin aaonga zaroor” :-)

By: Abbas Halai

Abbas Halai — Sun, 28 Jan 2007 16:56:35 +0000

yeah this was a fairly weak response by obama. hopefully in the next two years he redeems himself.

By: Shashikiran

Shashikiran — Sun, 28 Jan 2007 06:45:20 +0000

Apart from this matter discussed here, I envy you that you have a man like this to root for

By: Borat Obama

Borat Obama — Sat, 27 Jan 2007 16:50:18 +0000

Dear All;

I see that some of you are still not jaded by the cynicism current in politics these days, and you do put some stock in my rhetoric. Some say that lack of experience or a “track record” on my part is a likely weakness, and that I am striking a feel good rhetoric without substance or the aforementioned track record. This snafu may be a symptom of my lack of maturity or the hollowness of my rhetoric. But you must believe otherwise.

On a final note, I beseech you to continue supporting me (the alternative, after all, is now-I-support-war-now-I-don’t-Hillary). I have been consistently against the war, and I believe that to be a reason enough.

Sincerely,