Obama 'was educated in madrassa'

[sabra]

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,11069-2557001,00.html

Obama 'was educated in madrassa'

Senator hid time there, says article
Clinton distances herself from claims

Barack Obama was given a rude awakening to the cut-throat world of presidential politics yesterday after being accused of hiding four years in which he was educated at a madrassa when a teenager.
The claim, made in the conservative Insight magazine, also revealed the Machiavellian scheming of political activists in a presidential race still nearly two years away.

It was aimed at tarnishing Mr Obama’s image in the week he announced himself as a White House contender. But the article also claimed that the madrassa allegations came from aides to Hillary Clinton, Mr Obama’s main opponent for the Democratic nomination.

This may be wishful thinking on behalf of Republicans. The Clinton camp is determined not to be accused of digging dirt on Mr Obama because they fear such tactics could backfire, given his popularity.

...

A source close to the Clinton campaign told The Times, a day before the Insight article was published, that they do not want to be seen as attacking Mr Obama or digging for dirt, but that they would be happy for another Democrat contender to criticise him.

[rocktivity]

1. A source "close to the Clinton campaign" wants ANOTHER Dem to criticize him?

I don't whether to :rofl: or :boring:

And if he was a teenager at the time--maybe his parents MADE him go?

:headbang:
rocknation

[Dhalgren]

4. According to what I read today, he went to a Muslim school for

two years between the ages of 6 and 8. This is beyond ridiculous...

[regnaD kciN]

7. A fact he mentioned in his autobiography!

Beyond ridiculous, indeed. Watch how the Conservative Media Cartel spins it so that the "conventional wisdom" becomes that he was hiding something that he wrote about himself before there was any controversy.

And it will do so unless Obama conters this now. As I said before, this is an early test of what he's going to be up against every day in 2008. If he can handle this, and turn the controversy to his advantage, it will bolster the credibility of his candidacy. If he can't, we may as well find out about it now.

[BattyDem]

10. Exactly!

How can he be hiding something if he revealed that information in his own damn book?! :eyes:

[Kagemusha]

12. That's called hiding it in plain sight.

Actually, it's called inoculation. This specific charge can't be hurled in his face anymore without provoking laughter and derision.

[ohio2007]

21. got a link?

I'm wondering where the school is located,who his teachers were and what his school yearbook pics look like .

[Justitia]

31. It was a grade school in Indonesia - read his book for the facts. -eom

[caledesi]

29. Yes. Read his books. He did not go to a madrassa. nt

[TankLV]

45. but somehow, bush*s drug addictions, alcoholism, cheating, AWOL, animal tortures,

business failures, and other things too numerous to mention that occured until his late forties is OFF LIMITS for ANY discussion, not even approaching the "seriousness" of this slime...

liberal media...

riiiiiight...

[ohio2007]

23. Might as well bring his parents into the limelight. A public figure

has no private life. I think the MSM should interview his parents. Obama has no history as far as the voting americans general public is concerned.

[Justitia]

32. His father was a Harvard educated economist, met his mother in college in HI.

Hard to interview them, both his parents are DEAD.

But you would know that if you took 2 seconds to google the info.

[ohio2007]

49. still have unanswered questions

I'm wondering where the school is located,who his teachers were and what his school yearbook pics look like .
what did your google search turn up ?

[liberalpragmatist]

59. WTF are you going on about?

Are you being deliberately dense or just snarky? If it's the latter, than I apologize. But if you're serious, what the hell are you trying to pull here? He has WRITTEN about his years in Indonesia. He has written extensively about his past and his background. None of this is secret, and even if he had attended a madrassa, what, exactly, is wrong with that?

Sheesh.

[Justitia]

62. I told you 2 days ago (above) it was the 1st/ 2nd GRADE in INDONESIA.

Did YOU have a year book in the first grade???

You can learn to look stuff up yourself, you know. Or are you just being willfully obtuse?

I also recommended you read HIS BOOK to get the info FROM THE HORSES MOUTH.

Unless, of course, you are just trying to stir the pot for no reason....

[Roland99]

51. Just one of many reasons to despise that DLC-dandy

[SaveElmer]

2. How many times are we going to be treated to this topic today?

This is the umpteenth thread on it...a bullshit story from a bullshit source trying to trash Hillary and Obama...

[aquart]

3. Depressing, isn't it?

The bridge-buying credulity on DU?

[regnaD kciN]

8. I'd rather we deal with this now...

...than in August 2008.

And is there anyone here who really believes this came from the Clinton camp? Come on...this sort of divide-and-conquer has been a hallmark of the Republicans since at least 1972, where they set up a completely fraudulent story on alleged sexual misconduct by Hubert Humphrey, making it seem as if it was being leaked by the Scoop Jackson campaign. Oldest Republican campaign trick in the book.

[EFerrari]

13. Oh, please. Republicans are salivating over Obama running.

Qui bono?

Note to Hil staffers: You are idiots.

[MrPrax]

5. WTF ?

what's happened to DU?

[ShortnFiery]

35. Hey, we *all* are a part of the multi-dimensional DU ...

So we *all* must be at fault for the bad and and are *all* lauded for the good.

IMO, it's not sound to blame blather on an entity, i.e., the message board itself is NOT to blame. :shrug:

[silvermachine]

65. Trolls

GOP really running scared these days.

[JI7]

6. Rupert Murdoch causing trouble among Dems

attacking Obama while also making Hillary look bad by trying to imply she might be in on it.

[EFerrari]

15. That would be the Rupert Murdoch that she courted, right?

[IndianaGreen]

25. and the same Rupert Murdoch that had a fundraiser for her

and that spoke so well about her, as US Senator. Murdoch's support for Hillary does not extend to her White House ambitions.

[EFerrari]

30. I think to be fair, I need to opt out of Hillary threads.

I had maybe unreasonable expectations and they've all been disappointed.

So, it's likely I have nothing of substance to add to the DU discussion. :(

/oops

[unblock]

9. whatever. shrub did coke.

[Herman Munster]

11. well

so did obama. He admitted that in his book too.

[unblock]

19. the point is, once cocaine use is no big deal,

how does a childhood school become an issue?
kinda pales in comparison, doncha think?

[killbotfactory]

14. Why don't they just come out and say Obama is a terrorist?

Are they waiting until the general election until Dick Cheney says it?

[EFerrari]

16. Maybe Poppy will say it and Bill can slap him on the back

in a nice photo op for both of them.

I know how bitter this sounds but, honestly, if this comes from the Clinton camp, that's just disgusting.

[Dhalgren]

20. I'm not a Clinton supporter at this point, but I don't believe for a

second that the "Clinton camp" had anything to do with this. This information cannot be "leaked" to anyone, because Obama wrote about it in both of his books about his life. You can't "leak" something that has been in the public domain for years. And, again, I am no Clinton supporter, but she is much, much smarter than this.

[Justitia]

33. Nope, this is a right wing rag trying to sow dissension in the ranks. -eom

[gorbal]

17. Yehy have come really close

Just google "Barack Obama" Muslim, you'll find all sorts of lovely misinformation. I love how it reveals what a bunch of racist, intolerant bastards that concervatives, are, (as if we didn't know already.)

But I would like your average, non-racist, everyday joe who randomly votes for a Republicans to see the kind of racist jerks he is helping put into office.

[pokercat999]

18. The average NON_RACIST everyday joe that voted

repug must be about one tenth of one percent of their voters. Racism is at the heart of modern day conservatism/Republicanism.

[ohio2007]

22. His name has been confused with Osama bin laden in the past

I bet thats where all this reference with his middle name comes from. I expect Hillary to address this issue next week.

[silvermachine]

63. Only confusing to idiots...

...like this:

<<<Illinois Rep. Janice Schakowsky told how she was part of a group that met with President Bush at the White House several months ago. She was putting on her coat after the meeting when Bush stepped forward to shake her hand. Then he "literally jumps back in horror," Schakowsky said.

On her coat lapel was an "Obama" button in support of Illinois Senate candidate Barack Obama. "Suddenly I realized he thinks I'm wearing an Osama button," Schakowsky said.

When she explained who Obama was, Bush responded: "I don't know him."

"I told him, 'You will, Mr. President. You will.'">>>

[IndianaGreen]

24. A rightwing Islamophobic smear, Team Hillary, and Murdoch's newspaper

and who is the intended target? What strange bedfellows political ambitions make!

[originalpckelly]

26. Don't most people receive education in madrassas?

I mean it's only the word for school in Arabic.

[Orrin_73]

27. Madrasa is just a school

In the past the madrasa's were universities, it is that sciences like math, biology physics and the rest is nowadays thaught at the universities. Only religious education is thaught at the madrassas. But in most arab nations madrassas are called schools

[ohio2007]

50. Madrassas is a religious school that has a bias to the male gender

For the most part, girls are kept under wraps ;) ( pun intended ) to not be seen and not be heard.

[Name removed]

28. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[The Wielding Truth]

42. Man, this has gotten around today! Debunked many times .

[struggle4progress]

34. Right-wing media figures claim Clinton behind Obama/Muslim smears

Summary: Melanie Morgan, Lee Rodgers, Rush Limbaugh, and John Gibson all forwarded the accusation made by a website controlled by Rev. Sun Myung Moon that Sen. Hillary Clinton was responsible for spreading information linking Sen. Barack Obama to a madrassa, or Muslim school. None of the four cited any evidence, other than the article, that Clinton was responsible for promoting the madrassa story, and the article cited no one by name ...

http://mediamatters.org/items/200701200003

[struggle4progress]

36. "Sun Myung Moon's Unification Church owns .. Insight Magazine"

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Insight_Magazine

[Slopper]

37. This is nothing but a desperate move by repukes.

It will backfire.

[Nevernever]

38. FOXNews: "I meant O-S-A-M-A...oops!"

"Funny how that keeps happening, isn't it? Did we happen to mention that his middle name is Saddam? I mean Hussein..OOPS - did it again, darn!"

[ckramer]

39. Mr. Obama is a bright man I am sure, but I have to be perfectly honest to all of you

here - that he is still a **product of affirmative action** in today heavily political-correct society (Not that there is anything wrong with it)

But putting him in the Whitehouse?

Oh come on, democrats.

[yellowcanine]

43. "Product of affirmative action"???? How so? Explain. Just saying it doesn't make it so.

[0rganism]

46. "perfectly honest" or full to the brim with flamebait?

Hell, I'm not convinced you even know what affirmative action is -- not that there's anything wrong with that.

[fujiyama]

48. WTF?

"Product of affirmative action"?

Your a lot like the real Cosmo Kramer after all! AFter all, how could a black man ever get into Harvard Law school and become editor at the law review there if not for affirmative action? He certainly couldn't do it on his own merits...

You disgust me...

[jeffrey_X]

52. Care to explain?

?

[KingFlorez]

58. What a right-wing thing to say

[ckramer]

60. A little reality check is a good thing

Obama has only 19% support among democrats.

I don't think America is ready for a black president, especially for a guy who spent his formation years in an Islamic school outside the country.

Get real.

[yellowcanine]

61. You still haven't explained how "Obama is a product of affirmative action."

Still waiting for your explanation. "Reality check" is one thing. Flamebait is another. So far it appears to me that your post was entirely the latter. How was it a reality check? Explain please.

[silvermachine]

66. Formation years?

You know that is bullshit. Sounds like your education could use a little enhancing, too btw...

[silvermachine]

64. Care to elucidate?

I'm really curious regarding what you could possibly mean. And your rationale behind said remarks.

[VegasWolf]

40. Kool! Private school educations beat public school educations. nt

[treestar]

41. No, he was not

And even if he was, he can think for himself as an adult.

[Bucky]

44. This can ONLY mean Obama is an al-Qaeda mole. There is no other *possible* explanation.

I'm still waiting for Obama to knock this one out of the ball park. I don't like smears, but a candidate needs to know how to handle them anyway.

[Eurobabe]

47. Ooga-Booga, don't feed the Op-research trolls

Who keeps perpetuating these threads?

[bleedingheart]

53. Ah the age old game of politics....

it continues to amaze me that people are shocked at the mudslinging in politics.

If anything how people sling the mud and in turn handle the mud thrown at them is part of the game.

[Patsy Stone]

54. Which is code for:

He's black.

:eyes:

Can't they do better than that?

[USA No. 1]

55. I dunno....

I'm not a big Obama fan, but I don't believe one ounce of this Madrasa bullshit. As Democrats, let's give the candidates a chance to address the issues that are important like healthcare, the deficit, our children's education, stem cell research, peace, getting our boys THE F*CK OUT OF IRAQ AND GETTING THIS COUNTRY BACK ON TRACK!!!

[salin]

56. use far right rags to float a rumour - and hope more mainstream

media picks it up and repeats it.

Bah!

[Dean Martin]

57. So did the Clinton camp do it or not?

What does everyone think? Did her camp leak it, or is it a RW plot?

Like I'd care where Obama went to school in the first place. This is as bad as that crap they're sending in email about his mother being an atheist and it being so horrible that our next President could be an atheist/Muslim/Catholic that will lead us into horrible evil.....

[Marie26]

67. Is that Barak "Hussein" Obama?

He seemed like a mild-mannered presidential candidate, but now I learn he's actually a radical Islamic terrorist who's related to Saddam! I'm so glad Fox News pointed this out.