UstaadKhan Blogs

Obama's shaky first term is perhaps not surprising, given the turbulent tectonics of his country's politics

First Haiti quaked, then Massachusetts. Konrad Yakabuski said it here last Wednesday: One year into his first term, Barack Obama risks becoming a lame-duck President. Fresh out of his supporters’ enthusiasm, he must struggle to reinvent his presidency in tonight’s State of the Union address.

There are many reasons for Mr. Obama’s near-death experience. The biggest, however, is that he misread the national mood. Having gained the presidency by defeating the lacklustre candidate of a discredited party, Mr. Obama mistook this for a mandate. American voters no longer confer mandates. They merely express their disgruntlement. They were fed up with Republicans, yes, but so were they with Democrats, especially congressional ones. They were fed up with politics as usual. Mr. Obama swept to victory by posing as the candidate of change.

Which he was, unfortunately for him. Mr. Obama had set his sights on the transformation of American society. For most Americans, however, change was a matter of how, not what. Social revolution was the last thing on their minds. They ascribed the failed policies of the Bush years to the glaring defects of a political process dominated by special interests and partisan bickering.

So what did Mr. Obama do? He poured kerosene on both. He rashly decided to pursue health-care reform as the entering wedge of an ambitious agenda. There’s no more complex issue in American politics, none that engages so many contending vested interests, and none so certain to fuel partisan animosity. It’s one hornet’s nest after another. Since most Americans are quite satisfied with the quality of their health care and for that matter their health insurance, they feared to lose more from big changes than they hoped to gain from them. They never warmed to a 2,000-page bill that no one understood but few believed addressed the real problem – medical costs that are out of control. (more…)

There is little need any more to offer consistent opposition to Barack Obama, since he himself is already running hard against the many previous incarnations of Barack Obama.

The first one we met was Barack the radical progressive, in his primary campaign against Hillary. Then in the general election we were introduced to the centrist Obama, who promised to invade Pakistan if need be, called for an end to partisanship, and lectured about fiscal sobriety.

Then with congressional majorities, soaring public support, and obsequious media attention came the leftist ideologue President Obama, who tried to ram through a statist health-care regime, gobbled up private enterprises, and gave us Anita Dunn and Van Jones.

Now we are back to sorta centrist Obama, who is going to fight terror, not apologize any more to the Muslim world, and freeze spending rather than give us another $2 trillion in debt.

These serial reset Obamas are quite astonishing even for a politician.

Take the examples of public advocate Obama’s once idealistic promotion of C-SPAN broadcasts of the health-care debate, and Obama’s current fiery lamentations over the Supreme Court decision overturning elements of the McCain-Feingold limitations on corporate campaign donations.

But Obama, the current reformer, seems to be railing at Obama, the cynical backroom organizer, who would never dare televise anything about his thousand-page health-care mess. Yet Obama II not only nixed Obama I’s repeated promises of C-SPAN debates, but outsourced his health-care bill to congressional insiders, who did more backroom-dealing, vote-buying, and quid-pro-quoing than at any other time in recent memory.

So there is no consistency even in the flip-flopping. Obama III as the sudden guardian of campaign-financing curbs is antithetical to Obama I, the rejectionist of any government interference. In 2008 Obama I destroyed the idea of public campaign financing of presidential elections. Indeed, in his efforts to raise a billion dollars of private money, Obama became the first presidential candidate in the general election in over 30 years to back out of public financing, an idea which is now more or less kaput. (more…)

Barack Obama

In the early days of this heroic now-nearly eight year-old vigil, patriotic motorists, often on their way to the local Tsuri Indian Casino to swill at the Firewater Lounge, would hurl invectives and sometimes loaded beer cans at the women. But as the war settled into a daily grind and the U.S. body count climbed incrementally towards 5000, the insults and the beer cans diminished and a few locals now even honk their horns in support.

In the seven years that Trinidad Women In Black have held their ground by the off-ramp, the participants, never spring chickens to begin with, have grown older and one now suffers from dementia. Now when the women stand, she turns to Janine and often asks if the war is over yet?

Barack Obama’s nationally televised December 1st declaration of renewed jihad against Al Qaeda’s estimated 100 Afghan warriors that will elevate 

U.S. troop deployment to nearly a quarter of a million in Afghanistan and Iraq (plus another quarter million mercenary contractors) will keep Trinidad Women In Black in business for at least another decade.

The President’s goal of “disrupting, dismantling, and destroying” the Taliban-Qaeda Axis of Evil is calculated to tickle America’s terrorist nerve. As his grip on the wheel of state grows slack, Obama’s presidency increasingly depends on harpooning “America’s white whale” as Robert Wright recently dubbed Bin Laden in a New York Times op-ed piece. Al Qaeda’s spiritual leader, a Frankenstein fabricated by Reagan’s CIA, probably died years ago dragging his dialysis machine over the Khyber Pass.

Robert Fisk notes that Obama-man’s West Point kowtow to the generals parallels a similar Soviet troop build-up way back in 1980 that was designed to train Afghan security forces to confront the CIA-financed Muhajadeen. We all know how successfully that plan backfired.

With Blackwater loading up the drones in Pakistan, it’s only a matter of months before General McCrystal marches into Pakistan to wipe out the Taliban’s safe havens and the Commander-in-Chief puts another 50,000 boots on the ground to secure that nuclear-empowered nation against “international terrorism.” (more…)

LOS ANGELES (YBH.ME) – If you type in the word “Michelle Obama” on Google and choose “images” instead of web results, you get the following photo in position number one for Michelle Obama:

Offensive image used to attract web visitors

Google is running an ad above the image that says “Sometimes our search results can be offensive. We agree. Read more.” The ad clicks through to a page where Google clarifies its image and search policy:

Search engines are a reflection of the content and information that is available on the Internet. A site’s ranking in Google’s search results relies heavily on computer algorithms using thousands of factors to calculate a page’s relevance to a given query.

We at YBH! think the image is ridiculous.  However, we don’t call for its removal because it is offensive.  The page that hosts it uses the photo to draw in visitors; it’s a sales gimmick and attention-getter, it’s working.   There was an ad for Obama fave J. Crew on the page when we clicked through.  It is not a right wing anti-Obama website, just a page full of ads looking for traffic.  (more…)

MAJOR NIDAL MALIK HASAN

US President Barack Obama has said the “entire nation” is grieving after a shooting that killed 13 people at a Texas army base.

 

He said he had ordered all flags at the White House and other Federal buildings to be flown at half mast until Veterans Day on 11 November.

Major Nidal Malik Hasan, 39, a US-born Muslim and army psychiatrist, opened fire at Fort Hood on Thursday.

He was due to be deployed soon to Afghanistan, a military official said.

Family members said Mr Hasan was strongly opposed to the deployment and had wanted to leave the army.

Mr Obama cautioned against “jumping to conclusions” and said the motives for the shooting were being investigated.

“What we do know is that their families, friends and an entire nation are grieving right now for the valiant men and women who came under attack yesterday,” he said on Friday.

He added that the order for flags on federal buildings to fly at half mast was a “modest tribute to those who lost their lives”.

The chief of staff of the US Army – Gen George Casey – said the attack had been a “kick in the gut” for the entire army.

It began at about 1330 (1930 GMT) on Thursday at a personnel and medical centre at Fort Hood – the largest US military base in the world, home to about 40,000 troops.

The commander of the base, Lt Gen Robert Cone, told NBC News that, according to eyewitnesses, Mr Hasan had shouted the Arabic phrase “Allahu Akbar!” [God is great] before opening fire. (more…)

Barack Obama

The US President Barack Hussein Obama was recently selected for the Nobel Peace Prize 2009 by the Prize Committee in Oslo. This biggest peace prize would be presented to Obama in Norway on 10th December later this year. This prize contains an amount of $1.5 million besides the medal. This award is given to Obama for his initiatives to reduce nuclear arms, ease tensions with the Muslim world and stress diplomacy and cooperation rather than unilateralism. The Norwegian Nobel Committee said that President Obama is imagining of a nuclear weapons free world. The way he has given importance to diplomacy over war is also commendable. The Committee felt that the world is impressed by these humanist and peaceful initiatives of Obama and has got a hope for a bright future. These unprecedented initiatives of Obama within his short tenure of nine months have really contributed towards changing the global image of USA to some extent.

Just after the announcement of Obama’s name for prize, the debate started in the entire world. While the people imagining a peaceful world are calling it a good decision, there is no dearth of people criticising the decision. Critics are saying that just to talk about peace is not enough. There should be substantial, creative and consequential steps in this direction. Critics are of the view if Obama is talking about a nuclear free world, then what is the need to increase the aid of a country like Pakistan which is the centre of terrorism. If this is an attempt to improve his image among the Muslim nations, then why Obama’s stand is not clear on the most disputed issue of Palestine-Israel conflict. Critics feel that though Obama is a good orator and gives attractive speeches about establishing peace, but no result has yet come out of his initiatives. (more…)

Even with the arrival of the Obama administration and the prospect of substantially increased aid, more Pakistanis — an overwhelming majority — continued to reject the United States as a partner to fight militancy in their country, a new poll finds.

The survey, conducted by the Washington-based International Republican Institute, underscored the difficulties the Obama administration faced in its efforts to tamp down Islamic militancy in this strategically vital nation.

The I.R.I. is a nonprofit pro-democracy group affiliated with the Republican Party and financed by the American government.

President Asif Ali Zardari, the widower of the slain former prime minister Benazir Bhutto and a relatively inexperienced politician, scored a 25 percent approval rating how he’s handling his job, 6 points more than in March.

His chief opponent, Nawaz Sharif, the leader of the Pakistan Muslim League-N, garnered a 67 percent favorable rating, down from 75 percent in March.The findings come as Washington is poised to spend $1.5 billion in assistance for Pakistan in the coming year, a big jump in American funds intended to help strengthen the civilian government rather than the military.

The poll confirms the persistent strand of anti-American discourse in Pakistan in the last few years, and its release coincides with particularly strong attacks in the Pakistani media about the American Embassy’s hiring private security firms to protect American diplomats.

Even as the Obama administration takes pride in the new funds for Pakistan, the increased aid has been criticized in the Pakistani news media and among politicians as too little, one calling it “peanuts.” (more…)

This undated US Consulate photo out of Leipzig, Germany shows Farah Pandith

Clinton “has asked me to find ways to build strong partnerships and create new connections and join together with grass roots organizations to effect positive change,” she said after swearing on the Koran to carry out her duties.

“Under the leadership of Secretary Clinton, the Department of State is recalibrating the way in which we work with Muslim communities around the world,” Pandith said.

“Though this office, we will engage Muslim communities to solve collaboratively the most pressing problems facing these communities around the world,” Pandith said.

Clinton said Pandith’s office, which will both advise the secretary and the State Department, will focus on a broad array of issues.

“This is a dialogue that is not going to focus solely on terrorism or radicalization, but instead, focus on what all of us have in common, what we all hope for our children,” Clinton said at the ceremony.

It will also deal with broader problems like poverty, hunger, climate change and corruption which are “not unique to any part of the world,” Clinton said.

“In addition to these broad challenges, w (more…)

Women view mosaic of President Obama

By George S. Hishmeh

The extended honeymoon that Barack Obama had enjoyed on assuming office at the White House last January is now over. The American president is expected to unveil several important decisions next month on various domestic and international issues that will put  a label on his presidency that may determine the length of his stay at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave, four or eight years.The extended honeymoon that Barack Obama had enjoyed on assuming office at the White House last January is now over. The American president is expected to unveil several important decisions next month on various domestic and international issues that will put a label on his presidency that may determine the length of his stay at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave, four or eight years.

There is no doubt that he will have to tread softly, but decisively, in these coming weeks, be they on such crucial issues as dealing with health-care insurance or foreign policy, particularly the Middle  East. The fact, as reported by the Zogby Interactive poll, that President  Obama’s “job approval rating has sunk to a record low of just 45 percent” may diminish his wielding power, especially in Congress despite the fact that his  Democratic Party controls both houses. More striking, 51 percent of likely voters now say they disapprove of his job performance.

No doubt the severe economic downturn and the growing American unpopularity in foreign lands, two issues that he unfortunately inherited from the Bush administration, may tie his hands in implementing his seemingly exciting policies.

Nevertheless, Obama, whose father was a Muslim from Kenya, does not seem to be intimidated by this turnabout. This was evident in his message to the Muslim world on the occasion of Ramadan, the month of fasting during which Muslims believe that the Holy Koran was revealed to Prophet Mohammed. Obama declared:
 
“Beyond America’s borders, we are … committed to keeping our responsibility to build a world that is more peaceful and secure. That is why we are responsibly ending the war in Iraq. That is why we are isolating violent extremists while empowering the people in places like Afghanistan and Pakistan. That is why we are unyielding in our support for a two-state solution that recognizes the rights of Israelis and Palestinians to live in peace and security. And that is why America will always stand for the universal rights of all people to speak their mind, practice their religion, contribute fully to society and have confidence in the rule of law. (more…)