Redstate

There's no need to belabor the point.

By Moe Lane Posted in 2008 | Barack Obama — Comments (9) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »

I'm taking Ann Althouse's word for it (via Instapundit) that Michelle Obama talked up her husband's love for bacon - which is something that I both can and can't understand the motivations for. It's clearly going for the "Obama isn't a Muslim" subtext - you'll notice that nobody's ever thought to accuse him of being a secret Jew*, which is actually a positive development in the field of conspiracy theory - but the situation seems to be more suited to an educational approach. After all, I agree with Althouse: there's nothing inherently wrong with being a Muslim**. It's a minor issue, at any rate.

So why did I bring it up?

Because this isn't a minor issue at all:

Mother reacts to Obama headscarf ban
by Katie Fretland

Neveen Aref didn't think her children would be treated differently in the Detroit suburb of Bloomfield Hills. She and her husband moved to the United States from Egypt seeking the freedom America promised. But on Monday, her daughter said she was discriminated against at the very place which she hoped would signify unity -- a Barack Obama rally.

A campaign volunteer told a friend of Hebba Aref that she could not sit behind the podium where Obama spoke if she wore her hijab, a Muslim headscarf. The space behind the podium is generally filled with pre-screened people, because that space is seen during videos and photographs with the candidate.

(Background here)

Read on.

There are two problems here for the Obama campaign. The first, lesser problem is that shutting down any controversy on it should have been child's play: the morning after the incident the Senator throws an emergency press conference, throws the staffer under the bus (which, bluntly, would be well-deserved in this case), apologizes on behalf of the campaign to the two girls (who would be there, of course), and says a few words about how swell Muslims are, and how we can't let ourselves be divided, yadda yadda, his scriptwriters know the drill. McCain, Clinton, and/or Bush could do something like this in their sleep; of course, they also wouldn't have had this problem in the first place, but then, they're professionals. Letting this drag on until today or tomorrow (he will go public with a personal apology, unless he's an actual idiot) suggests, at best, a certain sluggishness in his decision process. He should look into that... what am I saying? No, he shouldn't. Just a one-time problem, that's all.

The second, worse problem is why they were screening in the first place. This is not the first time that they've done this, of course: and I bring that up not because the methods were identical, but because it's reasonable to suggest the possibility that the goals were. These incidents do not fill me with confidence that the Obama campaign lacks an institutional distrust of, and disdain for, the good judgment and discernment of white American voters... which is a nice way of saying that I think that the campaign unconsciously assumes that we're all a bunch of easily-frightened racists.

Mind you, I have an equally low opinion of the progressives that dominate the Obama campaign - familiarity breeding contempt, and all that - so you can take that as just another Right Wing Death Beast sneer. Nonetheless, the Obama campaign needs to either clean up their operation so that they stop giving this impression, or they need to have their candidate come out and give a real speech on race and prejudice.

Which is to say, one where principle takes precedence over getting elected President.

Moe Lane

*Actually, yes, there are Jews with African features. Wrong region of the continent, of course - they're mostly from Ethiopia, or were until the Israelis pulled most of them out.

**There's quite a bit wrong with being a jihadist subscribing to a perverted, violent, Islamist fantasy ideology. There are rather less of those around these days though, and thank God (and His loyal human servants) for that.