What If He Is?

As I wrote earlier on this blog, I believe a desensitization of American society has occurred because of 9-11. And I blamed "...those who claim to be right-wingers, conservatives, Republican and many so-called Christians. That includes not only those who have been the most forward about spreading vicious lies and slanders about Muslims, helping to whip ignorant Americans into a fever-pitch frenzy toward anyone who looks or sounds different -- Muslim."

Yesterday (Ret.) General Colin Powell endorsed Barack Obama for president. He had kind words to say for Obama's opponent, too, but he also said this:

I'm also troubled by, not what Sen. McCain says, but what members of the party say, and it is permitted to be said such things as: "Well, you know that Mr. Obama is a Muslim." Well, the correct answer is: he is not a Muslim. He's a Christian. He's always been a Christian.

But the really right answer is: What if he is? Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in this country? The answer is: No, that's not America. Is there something wrong with some 7-year-old Muslim-American kid believing he or she can be President?

Yet I have heard senior members of my own party drop the suggestion: he's a Muslim, and he might be associated with terrorists. This is not the way we should be doing it in America.

Powell is absolutely correct. As I reiterated previously, those on the right who have contributed to the anger, mistrust and lies, should be ashamed of themselves. And the next time someone finds it convenient to belittle Muslims, remember this picture of the gravestone of a brave American who gave his life for this country.

h/t Glenn Greenwald

Not Just for Protection

A member of the Iranian judiciary, proving that in substance and intelligence he is not much different than some of his U.S counterparts, today said that Barbie dolls were a destructive cultural source and importation was dangerous.

Twelve years prior to this justice's leap from reality, “the head of a government-backed children's agency called Barbie a “Trojan horse” sneaking in Western influences such as makeup and revealing clothes.”

It's been rumored that President Bush, upon hearing of this official's condemnation of Barbie and his analogy to the equine which assisted in the fall of Troy, became very excited and urged the Joint Chiefs to start looking for little soldiers which could be packed into the orifices of Barbie dolls and sent to Iran as an invasion force. One source remembers Bush, with all due seriousness, stating, What self-respecting man didn't wish to be inside Barbie.”

It is also rumored that conservatives who were amongst the most vocal supporters of the Iraq debacle, but who themselves never served, were enlisting in droves.