I’m also troubled by, not what Senator McCain says, but what members of the party say. And it is permitted to [say] 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’s no, that’s not America. Is there something wrong with some seven-year-old Muslim-American kid believing that he or she could 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.
- Colin Powell, New Statesman - Colin Powell on Obama's Muslim faith
Thank you, Mr. Powell, for saying what I have been either unable or too afraid to say (I admit it).
It's ridiculous that such a hypothetical suggestion ("who cares if he is?") is so goddamn inflammatory.
Amen! Colin Powell is cool.
ReplyDeleteYes, this, exactly. The not so sub text of all this OBAMA IS A MUSLIM stuff is that it's not ok to be anything other than a Christian. They're lobbying the Islamic religion at him like it's actually a threat, like it's something they can smear a person with. Same old same old from these bigots.
ReplyDeleteGreat quote.
ReplyDeleteI couldn't agree more with Colin Powell. Unfortunately, our country is full of bigoted fools who see anyone different from who they are as a threat. I'm so sick of the accepted hate that is spewed in this country and the blatant denial that it is anything less than hate and bigotry. I wish the conservatives would start embracing evolution so they could see how much they are devolving into something that feels less and less human all the time.
ReplyDeleteKudos to Colin Powell! He cut to the core of the whole ridiculous "Obama-is-a-Muslim" meme and offered a sane, open-minded response.
ReplyDelete