Posted on 01/19/2007 8:22:03 AM PST by Rutles4Ever
Are the American people ready for an elected president who was educated in a Madrassa as a young boy and has not been forthcoming about his Muslim heritage?
This is the question Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton’s camp is asking about Sen. Barack Obama.
An investigation of Mr. Obama by political opponents within the Democratic Party has discovered that Mr. Obama was raised as a Muslim by his stepfather in Indonesia. Sources close to the background check, which has not yet been released, said Mr. Obama, 45, spent at least four years in a so-called Madrassa, or Muslim seminary, in Indonesia.
"He was a Muslim, but he concealed it," the source said. "His opponents within the Democrats hope this will become a major issue in the campaign."
When contacted by Insight, Mr. Obama’s press secretary said he would consult with “his boss” and call back. He did not.
Sources said the background check, conducted by researchers connected to Senator Clinton, disclosed details of Mr. Obama's Muslim past. The sources said the Clinton camp concluded the Illinois Democrat concealed his prior Muslim faith and education.
"The background investigation will provide major ammunition to his opponents," the source said. "The idea is to show Obama as deceptive."
In two best-selling autobiographies—"The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream" and "Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance"—Mr. Obama, born in Honolulu where his parents met, mentions but does not expand on his Muslim background, alluding only to his attendance at a "predominantly Muslim school."
The sources said the young Obama was given the name Hussein by his Muslim father, which the Illinois Democrat rarely uses in public.
His father was black and came from Kenya. Mr. Obama’s mother, the daughter of a farmer, came from Wichita, Kansas. Mr. Obama's parents divorced when he was two years old. His father returned to Kenya.
Later, Mr. Obama's mother married an Indonesian student and the family moved to Jakarta. Mr. Obama returned to Hawaii when he was 10 to live with his maternal grandparents.
The sources said the background check concerned Mr. Obama's years in Jakarta. In Indonesia, the young Obama was enrolled in a Madrassa and was raised and educated as a Muslim. Although Indonesia is regarded as a moderate Muslim state, the U.S. intelligence community has determined that today most of these schools are financed by the Saudi Arabian government and they teach a Wahhabi doctrine that denies the rights of non-Muslims.
Although the background check has not confirmed that the specific Madrassa Mr. Obama attended was espousing Wahhabism, the sources said his Democratic opponents believe this to be the case—and are seeking to prove it. The sources said the opponents are searching for evidence that Mr. Obama is still a Muslim or has ties to Islam.
Mr. Obama attends services at Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago’s South Side. However, he is not known to be a regular parishioner.
"Obama's education began a life-long relationship with Islam as a faith and Muslims as a community," the source said. "This has been a relationship that contains numerous question marks."
The sources said Mr. Obama spent at least four years in a Muslim school in Indonesia. They said when Mr. Obama was 10, his mother and her second husband separated. She and her son returned to Hawaii.
"Then the official biography begins," the source said. "Obama never returned to Kenya to see relatives or family until it became politically expedient."
In both of his autobiographies, Mr. Obama characterizes himself as a Christian—although he describes his upbringing as mostly secular.
In “The Audacity of Hope,” Mr. Obama says, "I was not raised in a religious household." He describes his mother as secular, but says she had copies of the Bible, the Koran and the Bhagavad Gita in their home.
Mr. Obama says his father was "raised a Muslim, but by the time he met my mother he was a confirmed atheist...." Mr. Obama also describes his father as largely absent from his life. He says his Indonesian stepfather was "skeptical" about religion and "saw religion as not particularly useful in the practical business of making one's way in the world ...."
In the book, Mr. Obama briefly addresses his education in Indonesia. "During the five years that we would live with my stepfather in Indonesia, I was sent first to a neighborhood Catholic school and then to a predominantly Muslim school; in both cases, my mother was less concerned with me learning the catechism or puzzling out the meaning of the muezzin's call to evening prayer than she was with whether I was properly learning my multiplication tables."
This is the question Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton’s camp is asking about Sen. Barack Obama.
Let the Games begin
So this blows the Clinton/Obama ticket theory out of the water. Unless people don't care if he's a Muslim (which wouldn't surprise me). If Obama makes just one appearance as a guest judge on "American Idol", that's it he's in.
can you say, sleeper?
Nice formulation! It couches the issue in terms that everybody can agree on, without appealing to anti-Muslim sentiment. Very nice, indeed!
Indonesia is NOT a moderate muslim state! It's one of the three hardest core.
If Romney's religious background becomes an issue so does Obama's.
I don't know why this didn't occur to me earlier. It's a legitimate concern and would force him to put his cards on the table, either publicly accepting or disavowing Islam.
"Hillary Rodham Clinton’s camp is asking about Sen. Barack Obama."
Rodham Rottweiler has his scent. Ruh roh.
She's hit on the one tactic that will endear her to people around here - attack him for the crime of being Muslim.
And lets not forget tha they always mention GW's!
The democrats just elected a muslim congressman. To them, America is the enemy. Hillary is taking a chance on this one. The democrat base will pick a muslim over an American any day.
It's plain Hussein has water on the brain.
(I think she's got it, I think she's got it)
This is the question Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton’s camp is asking about Sen. Barack Obama. "
Ladies & gentlemen, I present to you the "Willie Horton" of the 2008 race. Remember it was THE DEMS who brought it up. That fact is likely to be forgotten by the media.
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Although Indonesia is regarded as a moderate Muslim state, the U.S. intelligence community has determined that today most of these schools are financed by the Saudi Arabian government and they teach a Wahhabi doctrine that denies the rights of non-Muslims.
Oh for God's sake. The man was in school in Indonesia in the '60s. It doesn't matter a damn bit what these schools teach today. Yale is much more liberal today than it was in the '60s when GWB was in college. Does that mean he's a closet liberal. Ignorant article.
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So much for that Clinton/Obama ticket.
I think Evan Bayh is her man, anyway. Be afraid of the Clinton/Bayh ticket. Be very afraid.
ping
I have heard that the penalty for leaving Islam is death, so I am not an expert on this. So this premise does not sound far-fetched to me and is worth consideration.
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