Indepundit: What were you doing? (Check out who donated to Cynthia McKinney on 9/11)

Indepundit ^ | August 1, 2002

[John Jorsett]

About once in every generation, an event occurs that focuses the minds of everyone so sharply that they never forget that moment--for the rest of their lives.

Ask anyone who was alive when Pearl Harbor was bombed where they were and what they were doing when they heard the news. Unless they were in a coma, or too young to realize what was happening, they can tell you--in great detail.

Likewise, on the fateful day that John F. Kennedy was assassinated, everyone from that generation talks about the moment they heard the news, and how it impacted them.

I remember where I was when I learned that the Berlin Wall had been opened, and when the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded.

But those two moments in my life pale in comparison to what happened on September 11, 2001. Even before I learned of the terror attacks, it was an important day for me--September 11 is my birthday.

It was about 6:15 in the morning, and I had just woken up and was getting ready to go to work when the phone rang. It was my mother. She wished me a happy birthday, then she said, "Turn on the television."

I remember thinking, "Wow, Mom must have gotten someone on television to wish me Happy Birthday!" So I asked her, "What channel?"

She replied, "Any channel." My heart sank--I knew this was probably bad news.

And then I saw it--the World Trade Center on fire. The newscaster was saying that a plane had flown into one of the towers. From the video, I could tell it was a large passenger plane.

I watched the video of the second plane hitting the tower. I was shaking with fear and rage.

I drove to the office, but no work was being done that day. We were all watching the news, or listening to the radio. After about an hour, they told us all to go home--many of us had family and friends in New York and Washington, including me, and we were anxious to contact them.

I watched, live on television, as each tower collapsed. I remember trembling, and saying "Oh my God," over and over.

Needless to say, it was a traumatic event in my life, and one that I surely won't ever forget. I've even considered moving my birthday. How can anyone celebrate on September 11?

I'm willing to bet that all of you can remember that day vividly as well.

Some people, on the other hand, decided after learning of the attacks that it was a great moment to make a political contribution.

Really.

Check out this page at OpenSecrets.org, listing the campaign contributions to the Honorable Ms. Cynthia McKinney of Georgia. Notice anything unusual (besides the fact that so many of her contributers have Arab names, and very few of them are from her district)?

I'll give you a hint: if your browser has a search function, type in 9/11/2001.

Here's what you'll find:

• Waseem Ahmed, a physician from Las Vegas, donated $250.
• Abdurahman Alamoudi, the Director of the American Muslim Foundation, donated $2,000.
• Abdulwahab Alkebsi, Executive Director of the Islamic Institute, donated $700.
• Abdelhaleem Ashqar, a Howard University professor, donated $250.
• Nihad Awad, Director of the Council on American Islamic Relations, donated $500.
• Khaliq Baig of Las Vegas donated $500.
• Yaser Bushnaq, a computer consultant from Falls Church, VA, donated $500.
• Bashir Chowdhry of Las Vegas donated $500.
• Shaheen Chowdhry of Las Vegas donated $250.
• Atif Fareed, a Southwest Airlines pilot from Henderson, NV, donated $1,000.
• Donna Genena of Las Vegas donated $500.
• Osama Haikal, a physician from Henderson, NV, donated $500.
• Faisal Hasan, a lobbyist for CarFax, donated $600.
• Hassan Ibrahim of Centreville, MD, donated $1,000.
• Ray Irani, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer of Occidental Petroleum, donated $1,000.
• Sabah Jabri of San Diego donated $250.
• Yaqub Mirza, President of Mar Jac Investments, donated $500.
• Ahmed Monib of Las Vegas donated $250.
• Mohamed Omeish, Vice President of the American Muslim Foundation, donated $500.
• Sayed Qazi, a Las Vegas physician, donated $1,000.
• Yousef Saleh of Springfield, VA, donated $300.
• Ahmad Totonji of Herndon, VA, donated $1,000.

That’s quite a haul for one day: $20,300.

Probably a coincidence.

[general_re]

Agreed. I'm not one for conspiracy theories, but this is truly strange, and deserves a closer look...

[Rollee]

I am sick over this. It has been almost a year and I still cry when I think of the murderous devastation of 9/11. McKinney should be horsewhipped. Arabs should be deported, immediately. Isn't there something about elected officials accepting donations from foreign nationals?

[aculeus]

Agreed. I'm not one for conspiracy theories, but this is truly strange, and deserves a closer look...

You'd have to construct a new Theory of Coincidences to explain this one.

[Wm Bach]

Nevermind the WSJ, what about the FBI? Oh wait, their
agents are already too busy...I mean, what with reading FR and
spying on whatever right wing tax criticizing the wascally wepublicans might be up to.

[Orual]

You'd have to construct a new Theory of Coincidences to explain this one.

"For computation of true coincidence correction factors for voluminous sample, the next equation has been suggested:

The similar results may be obtained by using of the following equation, which seems to be enough obvious:

where: e i is full peak efficiency, COIi is coincidence correction factor for the arbitrary point inside the sample under integration."

Nope, doesn't work.

[aculeus]

This leads the Best of Web (WSJ) today:



BY JAMES TARANTO

Friday, August 2, 2002 3:05 p.m. EDT

Cashing In on Sept. 11

A few months ago, Rep. Cynthia McKinney of Georgia famously accused President Bush of having foreknowledge of the Sept. 11 attacks and not acting to prevent them because, as she put it, "Persons close to this administration are poised to make huge profits off America's new war."

Well, on Sept. 11 someone sure was cashing in. Blogger Scott Koenig has examined McKinney's campaign-contribution records at OpenSecrets.org. It turns out that McKinney raked in $13,850 on Sept. 11 from 22 different donors, all with Arab- or Muslim-sounding names. Blogger Jim Henley analyzes the records further and finds that Sept. 11 marked McKinney's third-biggest one-day haul since 1999. What explains the concentration of donations on that day? Henley offers some theories, of which he says these are the two most plausible:

3) "We're not big on paperwork around here." Pros: This is an office that has a News Brief listing with the phrase "Reparations for Slaver (sic)" [actually it says "Apologies for Slaver"] in the header. (Scroll down to 09/06/01.) Cons: Just about everyone but Glenn Reynolds was too bummed to do anything but watch TV and read Instapundit.com that day.

4) "We're in the sh-- now. The country is going to come down on us Arab-Americans like a ton of bricks unless we get ourselves some protection. Let's all send Cynthia checks, because she's been a friend." Pros: With the exception of RIAA [Recording Industry Association of America] donations, money tends to follow ideology rather than the reverse. McKinney didn't turn pro-Arab when the leaves changed last year. Cons: So how come no checks on the 12th? The thirteenth?

This, of course, is all speculation. Getting to the truth sounds like a good project for the investigative staff of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution in advance of McKinney's Aug. 20 primary.

http://opinionjournal.com/best/?id=110002078

I don't know if my email to Taranto started the ball rolling by my (real) name is mentioned at the bottom of the column.

[general_re]

I don't know if my email to Taranto started the ball rolling by my (real) name is mentioned at the bottom of the column.

I assume you meant "but" and not "by". In which case, well done.

[mewzilla]

Oh, and let's not forget a guy named Khalid Turaani, a member of American Muslims for Jerusalem (here's their website), who donated $500 on 10-21-01.

[aculeus]

I assume you meant "but" and not "by ...

Eggsactly.

[dighton]

Good show.

[Cyber Liberty]

Forget it. McKinney's a "protected race." Hard questions cannot be asked of her, you watch.

[mewzilla]

Pingzilla.

[backhoe]

Sonoffagun! I forgot to add this:

The McKinney Files....

[John Jorsett]

This leads the Best of Web (WSJ) today:

Woohoo! High fives!

[jammer]

Although I love Southwest Airlines, I am struck that one of the donors is a SWA pilot!