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Hamas “Endorses” Obama, McCain and Romney Can Barely Contain Themselves |
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You would think that top Hamas adviser Ahmed Yousef, having declared he understands American politics, would realize that expressing his support for presidential candidate Barack Obama does the candidate a disservice. Yousef’s comments, though fairly innocuous, were made to an American radio station earlier this month:
We like Mr. Obama and we hope that he will [inaudible] the election. I do believe he is like John Kennedy, a great man with a great principle, and he has a vision to change America to make it in a position to lead the world community, but not with [inaudible] and arrogance.
In response to this, John McCain, who once earned my praise for speaking out against insidious “let’s imply Obama is a Muslim terrorist” behavior, just couldn’t contain himself. On Friday he not-so-subtly suggested to a group of bloggers that the Hamas “endorsement” means Obama will be a friend of terrorists. From the Weekly Standard Blog:
[Blogger] Jennifer Rubin noted that Hamas had endorsed Senator Obama and asked McCain whether Obama might have given “an unhelpful signal” to the terrorist group. McCain’s response:
“All I can tell you Jennifer is that I think it’s very clear who Hamas wants to be the next president of the United States. So apparently has Danny Ortega and several others. I think that people should understand that I will be Hamas’s worst nightmare….If senator Obama is favored by Hamas I think people can make judgments accordingly.”
Wow, John. Way to offer up some not-so-straight talk.
McCain’s comments led to a round of statements by both the Obama and McCain camps over Obama’s (enlightened) stance on battling terrorism with diplomacy and efforts to reduce global poverty. Meanwhile, the Yousef endorsement prompted Mitt Romney (that ol’ has-been) to make his own set of back-handed remarks in a recent interview with a Nevada newspaper:
We probably knew Hillary Clinton very well given her years in Washington, but I think Barack Obama was more of a blank sheet. I think the primary revealed more about him than perhaps he would’ve liked. The recent endorsement by Hamas of his candidacy is I think the kind of development which people find revealing….
I think he’s said in his first year he would be inclined to visit with (Iranian President) Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, (North Korean President) Kim Jong Il, (former Cuban President) Fidel Castro. I think they find that appealing…I think again (Hamas) made the endorsement because of the approach of visiting some of the world’s worst actors with presidential presence.
“People will find revealing…?” “They will find that appealing….?” Mitt, if you’re going to make accusations, how about you be a man and spell them out.
Better yet, how about I going around saying, “You know, when McCain was a POW he refused to leave before his fellow prisoners. That means he WANTED to stay with the Vietnamese, you know, rather than come back to America. What does THAT say, huh? I think people will find THAT revealing.”
I could say this, but then I would sound like a ridiculous, desperate, illiterate tool. Which is exactly how Republicans sound when they open their mouths about Obama and Islam.
Hmm, makes one think that maybe he doesn’t want Obama to be elected in hopes of escalating the conflict.
Man that there John is a perfact replacement for the chimpster..i gotta hurry up and wake up my drunk neibors to vote this nov…yea ha! 4 more years.
McCain is essentialy giving Hamas a vote in our election–as you suggest Hannah, Hamas is smart enough to understand that their “endorsement” hurts…when McCain makes this an issue, he is giving them a voice in our election by allowing them to choose how they want to influence discussion
So Hamas spokesman sounds like the typical voting American. Maybe they aren’t so bad after all.