MEQ Summer 2013 Article: Islam, Muslims, and the 2012 Election

The following by David J. Rusin is reposted here with permission of Middle East Forum:

Islam, Muslims, and the 2012 Election

by David J. Rusin
Middle East Quarterly
Summer 2013, pp. 21-35 (view PDF)
http://www.meforum.org/3559/islam-muslims-2012-election

Just as the 2012 elections maintained the status quo in Washington, D.C., so too did they reinforce decade-old trends concerning Muslims and the American political process: The Muslim population further solidified as a Democratic voting bloc, and parties' outreach efforts once again legitimized Islamists. However, 2012 was notable for Islam's impact as a political issue in the presidential primaries and several congressional races.

Whether or not Washington experiences a power shift in the years to come, it is likely that the current relationship between Muslims and American politics will hold for the foreseeable future. Avoiding the pitfalls of this reality begins with understanding it.

Cartoon: Romney vs Obama -- Comparing Principles

Something to start the morning.

Some are still conducting post-mortems on what happened to the Romney campaign and why is it that Obama won and Romney lost.

A. F. Branco, who occasionally posts his cartoons on Legal Insurrection, offers a basic difference in approach between Obama and Romney

Arlene Kushner On Obama's Re-election -- And What We Do Next

From Arlene Kushner:

November 8, 2012

Looking Backward, Focusing Forward

Before I can proceed with other matters that are waiting to be addressed, I realize I must revisit the issue of the election. I've had more communication from very upset readers on this matter than I have ever received on any other issue.

One particularly savvy and thoughtful reader wrote: "Any reasonable, thinking, caring person, who is a fact driven voter could not have possibly voted for Obama..." And, indeed, he is correct. The reality of the situation smacks one in the face. (My hat would be off to you, Don, if I were wearing one.)

The key lies in the phrase "fact-driven," for it is clear that a good percentage of people are not fact-driven. They respond emotively, or are moved by symbols or broad-ranging concepts.

The Middle East Media Sampler 11/8/2012: New York Times Still Undermining Israel

From DG:

1) Spiking the ball

The New York Times reports Netanyahu Rushes to Repair Damage With Obama:

Mr. Netanyahu woke up Wednesday to find not only that his Republican friend had lost, but also that many Israelis were questioning whether he had risked their collective relationship with Washington.

Does Obama's Election Victory Give Him A Mandate -- To Undo His Previous Mandate?

The Christian Science Monitor echoes the opinion of some that unlike Obama's first election victory -- Obama's 2012 election victory does not give him a mandate:

Election results 2012: Does Obama's historic victory give him a mandate?

An outcome that maintains the status quo in Washington guarantees Obama some important advantages. But the 2012 election results also foretell more gridlock, and the president, by not offering a path out of debt and deficit, lacks a clear mandate for action.

But on the other hand, there may be a mandate for Obama after all.

A conservative one!

Arlene Kushner: Obama Is Re-elected President

Major Correction: I misunderstood the Obama's speech below as his victory speech; it was his acceptance speech. I have changed the title of this post accordingly.

I apologize for the error.

From Arlene Kushner:
November 7, 2012

Stunned

What is it I'm supposed to say? That the people have spoken?  Technically, of course it is true  -- for indeed Obama will be president for another four years and this must be respected.  But I cannot accept that in this electoral vote there rested wisdom or understanding. 

Rather, I feel that the people didn't have complete information.  They didn't get it. The liberal leaning media saw to that.  Dear Heaven, the fiasco at Benghazi should have been sufficient in and of itself to deny him the election.  If only Benghazi had been covered fully by the mainstream media.

Why Did Obama Win? 3 Perspectives

Before I call it a night -- and a hugely disappointing one at that -- here are two perspectives on what happened.

Meryl Yourish explains How Obama Won Re-Election:

With the economy still in the tank, our standing in the world beneath what it was when W. was president, our debt larger than it has ever been, what, you may be wondering, got this crappy president re-elected?

Arlene Kushner: Thoughts And Articles About Election Day

From Arlene Kushner:
November 4, 2012

Election Day

Sharing some significant articles today -- relevant for this day and thereafter...

"I Didn't Leave the Democrats, They Left Me," writes Sheldon Adelson (with my emphasis added).

"When members of the Democratic Party booed the inclusion of God and Jerusalem in their party platform this year, I thought of my parents.

"They would have been astounded.

Barry Rubin on Why Obama Should be Voted Out of Office Today

Barry Rubin writes One Thousand and One Articles Later: Why Obama Should be Voted Out of Office Today, noting that he has been writing about Obama's disastrous foreign policy in the Middle East for four years -- even before Obama's inauguration, Rubin invokes Scheherazade and her 1001 stories:

And now the day has come when it will be decided if he will have the same period of time once again to do more damage, to help destroy more lives, create tens of thousands of refugees, and lay the basis for new wars.

New Segment Of CBS Interview With Obama Seems To Contradict His Claim

Brett Baier reports that CBS Held Damaging Obama Benghazi Tape:

Two days before the election, CBS posted additional portions of a Sept. 12 "60 Minutes" interview where President Obama seems to contradict himself on the Benghazi attack. As the Benghazi investigation gets more attention and focus, CBS is once again adding to the Benghazi timeline.

In the interview, according to the latest portions, Obama would not say whether he thought the attack was terrorism. Yet he would later emphasize at a presidential debate that in the Rose Garden the same day, he had declared the attack an act of terror. [emphasis added]

Video: Conservatism Is Calling -- Why Vote For A Conservative This Election

The following video was posted on YouTube by visualedge, who writes:

This is just a little motion graphics video I put together to get people excited about the election. I was not hired or paid to create this.

Daniel Pipes: Why I Am Voting Republican

The following by Daniel Pipes is reposted here with permission:

Why I Am Voting Republican

by Daniel Pipes
November 4, 2012
Cross-posted from National Review Online, The Corner

http://www.danielpipes.org/blog/2012/11/why-i-am-voting-republican

Note the title is not "Why I am voting for Mitt Romney." That's because the two major American parties, Democratic and Republican, represent contrasting outlooks and you vote for the one or other of them, not for a personality. The presidential candidate is captain of the team but its many other players act autonomously. The past half-century has seen a sharpening of the divide between the parties' philosophical consistency which I (unlike most observers) see as a positive development; who needs Rockefeller Republicans, wets, or RINOs? And ticket-splitting increases gridlock.

Cartoon: Cindy Sheehan vs Charles Woods

From Chris Bok's Bokbluster.

Apparently not every parent of a dead soldier is privileged to be fawned upon ad infinitum by the media during an election year.

Arlene Kushner Takes On Alan Dershowitz About Obama

From Arlene Kushner:

November 3, 2012
Motzei Shabbat (After Shabbat)

The Last Effort

Likely my last major communication on the issue of the US election. And this one with a very specific focus.

On Friday, in the Jerusalem Post, Alan Dershowitz had a major piece called, "The case for Obama's reelection." It was so rife with distortions, I could not let it pass. It read to me like a campaign document, not a serious analysis of how the president has conducted himself.

Alan Dershowitz is a big name and highly respected in many quarters -- thus likely to be believed in what he writes. And so, I offer this as a counter to anyone who may have seen Dershowitz's piece -- either in the JPost or in other venues where it may have appeared -- and feels inclined to accept his word on the issues. I will do this briefly, touching on main points he attempted to make:

Syria As An Example Of The Obama Administration's Middle East Failure

Barry Rubin writes about The Pro-Islamist Obama Administration: A Case Study in Syria:

Almost a year ago today, November 17, 2011 to be specific, I analyzed the new Syrian opposition leadership created by the Obama Administration through the services of the Islamist regime in Turkey. It was already obvious that the Syrian National Council (SNC) was a Muslim Brotherhood front group, yet the Obama Administration backed it any way.

Even if you aren’t interested in this specific issue, the SNC story is a terrific case study of how the Obama Administration has trashed U.S. interests abroad, and especially in the Middle East.

Arlene Kushner: Latest On Obama Administration Failure To Protect Consulate Of Libya

From Arlene Kushner:
November 1, 2012

Mindful of the Countdown 

Election day is five days away.  Particularly because the hurricane distracted Americans from the political issues at hand, and gave Obama a chance to appear "presidential," I think it is exceedingly important to refocus on those issues.  Here, I want to share a few articles:

My subject is Benghazi.  Not a new issue, but a critical one we dare not forget if we are intent on properly assessing the Obama administration. 

~~~~~~~~~~

The Middle East Media Sampler 11/1/2012: Why Do Jewish Critics of Obama Support Obama?

From DG:

1) Jews, Democrats and Israel

In The Alan Dershowitz Syndrome Lee Smith answers "Prominent Jews like the Harvard lawyer have spent years criticizing Obama. So, why are they endorsing him?":

Like many pro-Israel Democrats, Koch is still reeling from the chaos that broke out at the Democratic National Convention when Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa had to call for a floor vote three times to include recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel in the party’s platform. “Nobody,” said Koch, “has adequately explained to me how the boos for God and Israel at the Democratic convention were louder than the cheers. How can that be?”

The Middle East Media Sampler 10/31/2012: New York Times In Tank For Obama

From DG:

Osama bin Laden is dead

Barry Rubin in A short guide to the Benghazi issue, writes:

Al-Qaeda, however, is a relatively weak organization, capable of staging only sporadic terror attacks, with the exception perhaps of remote Somalia, Yemen, Afghanistan, and parts of Pakistan. It cannot take over whole countries. The fact that Egypt, the Gaza Strip, Lebanon, Turkey, and perhaps soon Syria are governed by Islamists is a far greater strategic threat.
Then why couldn’t the Obama administration have said that the consulate was attacked by evil al-Qaeda for no reason other than its lust to murder Americans, with the perfect symbolism of the attack having been staged on September 11? 

There was a dual problem. First, the group involved was one the U.S. government had worked with during the Libyan civil war so it could not admit they were close to al-Qaeda. Second, the official line was that al-Qaeda had been defeated so it could not still be a threat. Therefore, an alternative narrative and a cover-up were needed.

How did the mainstream media report this?

Arlene Kushner -- As US Elections Draw Near, Time Grows Short

From Arlene Kushner:
October 29, 2012

"Time Grows Short"

Until US election day, that is.

I know some of my readers may be awaiting the megastorm Sandy and others may be into it already. I wish all of you an easy time, without personal injury or damage to property and with uninterrupted electrical service. You'll catch this when you can.

In the meantime, I want to begin by sharing a piece of mine that just went up on Frontpage Magazine. It is election-oriented. Former head of Mossad, Ephraim Halevy wrote a strange piece in the NYTimes, attempting to show that Obama is good for Israel by demonstrating that Republicans are not. This line of thinking fails abysmally. In my article, I comment on his approach, and offer facts demonstrating that, in fact, Obama is the worst of presidents for Israel.

Please, read it and share it: Who Threw Israel Under the Bus?

Obama: Benghazi vs The Myth of “SEAL Team Six: The Raid on Osama bin Laden”

Barry Rubin provides A Short Guide to the Benghazi Issue: What is it Really All About?:

The attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi and the murder of four Americans there has become a huge issue. There are many stories and rumors that are still being debated and more information is coming out. What I’m going to try to do here is to analyze the enduring themes raised by these tragic events.

Among the topics Rubin addresses are:

• Why Do They Hate Us?
• Why Do Some of Us Hate Ourselves?
• Is America a Bully or a Leader?
• Who is the Enemy?

On the topic of Competence and Courage, Rubin writes: