-By Vince Johnson
The inconsistencies we are seeing in the elite news media are disturbing.
Mention of Obama’s connection to Islam is considered lacking in news value and not a factor to consider during the 2008 Presidential Race. Obama has not denied that his father was a Muslim, that he spent time in Mosques, and that his name is more readily associated with Islam than Christianity. Despite the world wide presence of Islam, the elite news media accepted this without further ado and has moved on.
On the other hand, the elite news media has focused upon Sara Palin’s connection with a Pentecostal Church in a small Alaskan town and her degree from the little known University of Idaho. They hint that these realities indicate background might not be appropriate for the office of Vice President of the United States!
This inconsistency is horrifying. In 2002 Islamic terrorists kidnapped a WSJ journalist named Daniel Pearl and subsequently released to the internet a gory 3 minute and 36 seconds video tape of his execution as well his beheading. Pearl’s body was found cut into ten pieces and buried in a shallow grave in the outskirts of Karachi, Pakistan. While this madness took place, millions of people prayed for Pearl and many of them were Pentecostals.
Question: How can the News Media be so indifferent about any connection Obama may have with a religion whose members have beheaded and mutilated one of their own? And at the same time suggest that Americans should be skeptical of a woman who attended a Church and university that are too unsophisticated to meet the standards deemed acceptable by the socially prominent along the Beltway around the District of Columbia?
The elite Media is also indicating that Sarah Palin should not run for office because she is the Mother of five children and one of them requires special care. Doesn’t anyone see the gross inconsistency here? For years, the elite media has created controversy about “Glass Ceilings” and “Equal Pay” and “Equal Rights” and “Equal Opportunity.” When it appears that some of the things the liberals and the elite media have crusaded for are beginning to take place, they suddenly determine it is not appropriate unless, of course, the woman is a liberal or in some way connected with the elite. There is something about this attitude that is self destructive. Mark my word!
The elite media readily accepted the decisions of Cassius Clay and Lew Alcindor when they decided to change their names to Muhammad Ali and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Cassius was raised as a Baptist and he changed his name after joining the Nation of Islam in 1964
Lew Alcindor was raised as a Roman Catholic in New York City. In 1971 he changed his name to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and professed his membership in the Hanafi Muslim sect of the Islamic religion. These men were willing to change their names out of respect they had for their adopted religion and their decisions were accepted without question by all Americans including the elite media.
Now we see Barack Hussein Obama, who despite the fact he claims to be a faithful Christian, has decided to retain his birth name rather than change it to demonstrate his respect and sincerity for his Christian beliefs.
To be blunt about it, I have far more respect for Muhammad Ali and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar then I can ever have for Barack Hussein Obama. Men who have a sincere devotion for their religion listen very attentively to their spiritual leaders and will not hesitate to change their name to demonstrate the true depth of their faith. Barack Obama has done neither and the elite media has been very careful to avoid coverage of this reality.
Now for the most mysterious inconsistency of all: The Democrats who have provided us with such great leaders as Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman, and John F. Kennedy have now told America that our next President should be Barack Hussein Obama. This is a person who will not voluntarily show as much respect for his religion as one man who was a boxer and another man who played basketball! How could the Democrats have the audacity to do this to America?
Perhaps I’m wrong. Perhaps it is unfair to raise these points. Perhaps they are not even relevant to the election and perhaps this issue is over the top. Let me know what do you think.
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Vince Johnson welcomes comments. Please send them to,Vince Johnson(vjadtrak@wvi.com)
See Vince in the new book Americans on Politics. Policy, and Pop-Culture.