Matthew Yglesias » Rush: Obama is Arab

Sep 22nd, 2008 at 6:29 pm

Rush: Obama is Arab

It’s true, of course, that Barack Obama isn’t an African-American in the traditional sense. Why this makes Rush Limbaugh think he’s Arab I couldn’t quite say:

On the September 22 broadcast of his syndicated radio show, Rush Limbaugh baselessly claimed that Sen. Barack Obama is “not black,” and went on to ask: “Do you know he has not one shred of African-American blood?” Limbaugh continued: “He’s Arab. You know, he’s from Africa. He’s from Arab parts of Africa. … [H]e’s not African-American. The last thing that he is is African-American.”

Check it out:

Obama’s father was, for the record, from Kenya which is not an Arab part of Africa.

Comments
88

88 Responses to “Rush: Obama is Arab”

Bill Says:
September 22nd, 2008 at 6:37 pm
Let’s see. He’s “from Africa,” and he’s an American citizen, but he’s “not African American.” Check.
Scott Says:
September 22nd, 2008 at 6:41 pm
Huh… what does Arab have to do with being black.

Arab = Religion
Black = Race

hmm well i guess to a bigot its all the same…
Leo Says:
September 22nd, 2008 at 6:42 pm
“Obama’s father was, for the record, from Kenya which is not an Arab part of Africa.”

I guess that’s splitting hairs.
RidleyGriff Says:
September 22nd, 2008 at 6:43 pm
Wow… this is clumsy even by Rush’s standards.

Is this sort of desperate tantrum what it looks like when failed ideologies die?
cleek Says:
September 22nd, 2008 at 6:43 pm
facts schmacts, they only makes Rush’s job harder. them rubes aren’t going to mislead themselves, ya know!
rea Says:
September 22nd, 2008 at 6:44 pm
Arab = Religion

“Arab” is an ethnic group, not a religion, silly.
godoggo Says:
September 22nd, 2008 at 6:44 pm
First!

Arab’s not a religion!

Damn, I feel clever!
Dean Says:
September 22nd, 2008 at 6:47 pm
This is from an email going around, that actually claims that Obama is only 6% Black. As a source, it links to some community page on some gamer webpage. They confirm that Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Jackson (and some other presidents) were more black than Obama.
jacobus Says:
September 22nd, 2008 at 6:47 pm
“Arab = Religion”

That’s probably news to the thousands of Arab Christians who have been forced out of Iraq since 2003.
Miatch Says:
September 22nd, 2008 at 6:50 pm
Hey Rush listeners, which group do you baselessly hate more? blacks or Arabs?
godoggo Says:
September 22nd, 2008 at 6:51 pm
Note that rea and I both posted at 6:44 pm. So we were tied for first.
Jake Says:
September 22nd, 2008 at 6:51 pm
Rush is the Michael Phelps of assholes.
Lauren Says:
September 22nd, 2008 at 6:51 pm
I think this calls for another helpful map, like the one showing the Iraq/Pakistan border.
nukev Says:
September 22nd, 2008 at 6:51 pm
Limbaugh is less than puke. I listen to him and Hannity and Savage at least once a day to re-inforce how badly Democrats need to win in November. Kinda the same with Drudge and The Corner. You really need to grasp the evil that is out there.
Brian Ulrich Says:
September 22nd, 2008 at 6:54 pm
This might be a reference to the fact most Swahili have Arab blood. However, I’m pretty sure Obama’s father is from one of the inland regions, and so is probably Maasai or something.
Robert S. Says:
September 22nd, 2008 at 6:55 pm
Obama + Arab may be desperate and clumsy, but the same calculating, deceptive technique worked pretty damn well for the Bush administration with 9/11 + Iraq, didn’t it?
msw Says:
September 22nd, 2008 at 6:58 pm
By McCain Camp standards this attack by Limbaugh is fully endorsed by the Palin/McCain campaign and they must be held responsible.
calipygian Says:
September 22nd, 2008 at 7:02 pm
Some intern for that fat piece of sewage knows how to use Wikipedia:

Cushitic-speaking people, as termed by Schloezer, from northern Africa, moved into the area that is now Kenya beginning around 2000 BC. Arab traders began frequenting the Kenya coast around the 1st century AD. Kenya’s proximity to the Arabian Peninsula invited colonization, and Arab and Persian settlements sprouted along the coast by the 8th century. During the first millennium AD, Nilotic and Bantu-speaking peoples moved into the region, and the latter now comprise three-quarters of Kenya’s population.

In the centuries preceding colonization, the Swahili coast of Kenya was part of the east African region which traded with the Arab world and India especially for ivory and slaves (the Ameru tribe is said to have originated from slaves escaping from Arab lands some time around the year 1700.). Initially these traders came mainly from Arab states, but later many also came from Zanzibar (such as Tippu Tip).

Swahili, a Bantu language with Arabic, Persian and other Middle Eastern and South Asian loan words, later developed as a lingua franca for trade between the different peoples.

The Luo of Kenya descend from early agricultural and herding communities from western Kenya’s early pre-colonial history. The Luo along with other tribes associated with the Nilotic language group, are known to have originated from the North of Kenya, probably the Northern regions of modern Sudan. The Nilots as they are known, are an anthropological group that originated from the northeastern regions of Africa. They may have moved south due to the wars that characterized the growth of Kingdoms such as Kush, and Egypt. In Kenya, this group comprises the Luo, Kalenjin, the Turkana and the Maasai as the main groups. This is clearly evidenced by the presence of similar dialects among certain tribes in modern day Sudan. These tribes, include the Acoli and Lwo (not same as Luo) who occupy modern Darfur region.

There are also other tribes belonging to this group in Uganda and Tanzania. This is attributed mainly to the Luo’s affinity to Lake Victoria, which they have stuck to throughout the three countries (Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya). In Uganda, they are known to have established the Buganda Kingdom and the Toro Kingdom. The Luo in Kenya are known to have fought numerous wars with their neighbors, notably the Kalenjin, for control of the lake.

Throughout the centuries, the Kenyan Coast has played host to many merchants and explorers. Among the cities that line the Kenyan coast is the City of Malindi. It has remained an important Swahili settlement since the 14th century and once rivaled Mombasa for dominance in this part of East Africa. Malindi has traditionally been a friendly port city for foreign powers. In 1414, the Arab Sultan of Malindi initiated diplomatic relations with China during the voyages of the explorer Zheng He.[9] Malindi authorities welcomed the great Portuguese explorer, Vasco da Gama, in 1498.

IIRC, Obama is Luo. Which makes that convicted drug user/drug smuggler/probable Dominican boy prostitute patronizer correct only in the narrowest technical sense, I guess.
calipygian Says:
September 22nd, 2008 at 7:07 pm
And what the fuck is that fat piece of shit interested in Obama’s “bloodline” anyway? Is this like Kathleen Parker’s assertion in the WaPo, no less, that Obama lacks the “blood equity” to serve as President?

Forget the racist cockroaches coming out of the stench pile – its full blood eugenicist Nazism lurking in there.
Seitz Says:
September 22nd, 2008 at 7:11 pm
I find the idea that Obama “isn’t black enough” pretty funny. Ask people who grew up in the ’50s who looked like Obama which drinking fountain they were allowed to use. As if there was some sort of ID card that granted people of mixed race “half off discrimination!” Racism wasn’t defined by what people thought of themselves. It was defined by what other people thought of them. And Rush would have first in line to kick Obama out of the white’s only diners back in the day.
VoR Says:
September 22nd, 2008 at 7:15 pm
When the revolution comes, unlike the other few million criminals who will regretfully get bullets to the back of their heads, Limbaugh is one of the rare few who will be given special treatment, i.e., impalement (placed ass first on top of a sharpened stake, allowing gravity to slowly drive the stake through his body, as he dies in excruciating pain).
Restless Says:
September 22nd, 2008 at 7:20 pm
In all fairness to Rush, this is probably another case of the pills talking.
pseudonymous in nc Says:
September 22nd, 2008 at 7:28 pm
Rush Limbaugh’s regular listeners are, for the record, morons.
Model 62 Says:
September 22nd, 2008 at 7:28 pm
Obama’s father was Luo, the second or third largest … tribe? ethnic group? … in Kenya. The Kikuyu are the largest. The Maasai are well down the list. Luos live throughout Kenya, but their traditional home is in Western Kenya, Northern Tanzania and Eastern Uganda.

Swahili is an amalgam of Bantu (the dominant language family of the region) and Arabic. It’s the result of the mingling of Arabic traders and local Bantu speaking East Africans. It’s the lingua franca of East Africa and is heard along the coast from Somalia to Mozambique, and West across Uganda and into the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The Arabic influence upon Swahili probably forms the basis of Limbaugh’s charge. Nevertheless, as others have pointed out, to claim that this demonstrates that Obama is “Arab” instead demonstrates a lack of geographical knowledge on Mr Limbaugh’s part.
rapier Says:
September 22nd, 2008 at 7:30 pm
Arab is not a race. There are Arabic speakers, some black. Arabic is a Semitic language.

Biologically speaking there is no such thing as race. Race has no biological meaning. It’s a social construct.
Kevin Says:
September 22nd, 2008 at 7:30 pm
The coastal area of Kenya could be said to be an “Arab part” of Africa due to the influence of centuries of trade (including slave) with the Middle East. Many of the coastal people are Muslim. However, Obama’s father is from the inland, on the shores of Lake Victoria. I don’t know for a fact but, judging from the family name and geographic location, I would guess they are from the Luo tribe. Definitely not Arab. Rush Limbaugh is a big fat idiot.
Harvey Lobster Says:
September 22nd, 2008 at 7:30 pm
Conclusion: they’ve concluded that the mere fact that Obama is black isn’t enough to defeat him. They *need* to make him into an Arab/Muslim to bring him down.

Good luck with that, geniuses. He doesn’t exactly look the part.
Chris Says:
September 22nd, 2008 at 7:33 pm
Hey, is this the same Rush Limbaugh who was protesting in the august, color-blind pages of the Wall Street Journal last week that he wasn’t a racist, the way some Democratic criticisms of the McCain campaign had described him?

Glad to know we’ve got *that* straightened out.
Chris Says:
September 22nd, 2008 at 7:36 pm
And has anyone noted the inanity of Rush Limbaugh, who called Barack Obama a “half-rican” and made up a song using the phrase “magic negro” about the senator, claiming that (1) Obama isn’t black, and (2) Limbaugh isn’t racist?
Don Williams Says:
September 22nd, 2008 at 7:40 pm
1) Actually, Obama may pick up 10 percentage points out there in RushLand now that the Dittoheads think Obama is not a nig..er.. Negro.

2) After all, some of the A-Rabs have a shitpot of money –and that ..uh.. cleans a lot of sheets.

Hell, some of the best people have children who date A-Rabs:
http://www.peteykins.com/sparklepony/BushAbdullah2.jpg
Hector Says:
September 22nd, 2008 at 7:44 pm
Swahili does have a lot of linguistic influence from Arabic. However language and ethnicity aren’t always that closely related. I don’t think that the Arabs made very significant _demographic_ imprint in Kenya and Tanzania except perhaps in Zanzibar and the coastal cities.

If Obama is Luo, and if the Luo are of Nilotic origin, then that does mean he pretty definitely is not “Black” in the sense of being genetically related to American black people. If I remember correctly from the recent genetic data, Nilotic peoples were among the first (after the Khoi-San and Pygmies) to diverge from the common ancestors of the rest of humanity. Which means that a random Black person from the United States, Brazil or Nigeria is more closely related to a random Swede than either of them is to Obama’s family. If the Luo are a Bantu people of course then this would not be true.
DTM Says:
September 22nd, 2008 at 8:14 pm
More Rush logic:

The Detroit area has a relatively large Arab population. Therefore, Diana Ross is an Arab, not African-American.
Tom S Says:
September 22nd, 2008 at 8:16 pm
Has that idiot seen a picture of Obama’s father? He is as black as the proverbial Ace of Spades (not the blog!).
bob Says:
September 22nd, 2008 at 8:17 pm
Go survey some random Arabs and ask them whether the Kenyans are also Arabs.

They will unanimously tell you no.

Anyone resorting to anthropological definitions is giving Rush a benefit of the doubt that is entirely undeserved.
Lucas Says:
September 22nd, 2008 at 8:25 pm
From: http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/09/22/opinion/edkristof.php

“McCain himself is not popular with evangelicals. But they will vote for him if they think the other guy may be on Satan’s side.

“In fact, of course, Obama took his oath on the Bible, not – as the rumors have it – on the Koran. He is far more active in church than McCain is.

“(Just imagine for a moment if it were the black candidate in this election, rather than the white candidate, who was born in Central America, was an indifferent churchgoer, had graduated near the bottom of his university class, had dumped his first wife, had regularly displayed an explosive and profane temper, and had referred to the Pakistani-Iraqi border … .)

“What is happening, I think, is this: Religious prejudice is becoming a proxy for racial prejudice. In public at least, it’s not acceptable to express reservations about a candidate’s skin color, so discomfort about race is sublimated into concerns about whether Obama is sufficiently Christian.

“The result is this campaign to “otherize” Obama. Nobody needs to point out that he is black, but there’s a persistent effort to exaggerate other differences, to de-Americanize him.”

This is certainly a comprehensive strategy and it needs to be addressed.
JonF Says:
September 22nd, 2008 at 8:27 pm
Re: Nevertheless, as others have pointed out, to claim that this demonstrates that Obama is “Arab” instead demonstrates a lack of geographical knowledge on Mr Limbaugh’s part.

I wonder if Limbaugh would suggest that we English speakers are really French since our language includes so many French words. That’s about the same relationship that Swahili has to Arabic. It’s fundamentally a Bantu language, with a fair amount of borrowed Arabic vocabulary, much as English is a Germannic language with a lot of borrowed French words.

Re: If Obama is Luo, and if the Luo are of Nilotic origin, then that does mean he pretty definitely is not “Black” in the sense of being genetically related to American black people.

East Africans in general are only distantly related to West Africans (whence the ancestors of most of our African Americans), in much the same way that Spaniards are distantly related to Russians. So what? Stick Sen Obama in a time machine and transport him back a century and he’d be as much a target of the KKK as anyone whose ancestors hailed from the old Guinea Coast.
Hustler Says:
September 22nd, 2008 at 8:46 pm
The Detroit area has a relatively large Arab population.

Michigan is the only Kerry state McCain has a hope in hell of winning and desperately needs it for any hope of a hail Mary. Piss off the locals. GOOD ONE. Rush is really smrt.
Ben Says:
September 22nd, 2008 at 8:51 pm
While we’re all getting up on our collective high horse to trample Mr. Limbaugh to death, deserved as that may be, I’d like to propose, for the record, that saying someone is an “Arab” is not a “smear.”

Just putting it out there.
DTM Says:
September 22nd, 2008 at 9:10 pm
Ben,

No, it is not. However, I would also note:

(1) The nominal non-racist cover for all this is that Obama is somehow pretending to be something he is not, and that is a smear in its own right; and

(2) A lot of Rush’s audience probably disagrees with us about saying Obama is an Arab being a smear, meaning they think that would be a bad thing and want it to be true of Obama for that reason.
Riise Says:
September 22nd, 2008 at 9:13 pm
Michigan is the only Kerry state McCain has a hope in hell of winning and desperately needs it for any hope of a hail Mary. Piss off the locals. GOOD ONE. Rush is really smrt.

If McCain wins Michigan it won’t be because he won 15% of the Arab vote instead of 10%.
Katie Says:
September 22nd, 2008 at 9:25 pm
Being arab itself is not a smear but Rush is saying it even though he knows it’s a lie because his dumb listeners will believe it and bring back the ridiculous muslim argument.
Mark Says:
September 22nd, 2008 at 9:26 pm
Can’t believe some people actually listen to this moron!
What a racist liar!
Deborah Says:
September 22nd, 2008 at 9:45 pm
This was going around during the primary, too. Basically there are some Muslim people in Kenya and therefore Obama is an Arab.

As for African American, I recall a DC principal stumbling over that for students whose parents immigrated from Senegal and its neighbors….Dealing with the different needs of students who “look African American, but they’re actually…” ummm… they’re “African American” because they’re Americans whose ancestors came from Africa. And they’re “black” as well. But the communities “recent Senegalese immigrants,” “recent Cuban immigrants,” and “descendents of slaves, probably, but we’re not sure, but they’ve lived here a while” are different.
Anthony Damiani Says:
September 22nd, 2008 at 10:09 pm
You can’t seriously be accusing Rush Limbaugh of inaccurate reportage– much less racism.

Sir, that you would so malign such a pillar of the journalistic community is a scandal– a scandal, I say!
Steve Sailer Says:
September 22nd, 2008 at 10:17 pm
In Dreams from My Father, A Story of Race and Inheritance, Obama describes his father’s tribe, the Luo, as “tall, ink-black,” and his father as being “black as pitch.”

Racially, the Luo are Nilotics, like Manute Bol’s Dinka, only not quite as tall.
Hector Says:
September 22nd, 2008 at 10:51 pm
JonF and Steve Sailer,

I don’t think you should refer to ‘East Africans’ as a cohesive group. East Africans include people of many ethnic origin including Khoi-San, Bantu, Nilotic, Afro-Asiatic and other groups. (Yes, these are linguistic groupings rather than racial ones, but I’m assuming there is some overlap- I do know that Nilotics are considered a separate group).

If Obama’s father was of Bantu origin then you could consider the relationship between Obama and Jesse Jackson to be like the relationship between Spaniards and Russians. But the Spanish and Russians diverged _much_ more recently than the Nilotics and West Africans. Indeed, West Africans are considered to be genetically closer to white Europeans than to Nilotic people.

I’m not sure why we need to let our discussion of ethnicity be controlled by what ignorant KKK bigots would have done.

As for Michigan, I think Nader is going to play a spoiler vote here. Nader is currently polling about 8% of the vote. Possibly because he’s an Arab-American, and also less virulently and stridently pro-abortion than Obama.
Ed Marshall Says:
September 22nd, 2008 at 11:35 pm
As for Michigan, I think Nader is going to play a spoiler vote here. Nader is currently polling about 8% of the vote.

Historically, as the race tightens people jump ship on Nader. Bush carried the Arab vote in 2000 and lost in MI. This is not going to swing the vote for McCain.
amy Says:
September 22nd, 2008 at 11:59 pm
GOP = KKK
Sami Says:
September 23rd, 2008 at 12:01 am
Just to make things clear, as an Arab, I can most definitely confirm that “Arab” is not a religion. However, it’s also not an ethnicity. People from the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Egypt, and North Africa are all of different ethnicities but all identify as Arabs.

It’s more accurate to term “Arab” as a cultural identity, in much the same way that “European” is a cultural identity.
DTM Says:
September 23rd, 2008 at 1:03 am
For those interested in how Nader is actually doing in Michigan, see here:

http://www.pollster.com/polls/mi/08-mi-pres-ge-mvo.php
Steve Sailer Says:
September 23rd, 2008 at 2:53 am
Hector says, “If Obama’s father was of Bantu origin…”

No, the Obama family are of the Luo tribe, which migrated south a long time ago from the Upper Nile in the Southern Sudan. They are Nilotes. The Luos’ arch-rival tribe in Kenya, the Kikuyus, are Bantus.

That’s why Obama is fairly dark-skinned despite having 50% of his genes come from a mother who was, as he writes, “white as milk.” His father was, as he says, “black as pitch” because he’s Nilotic, and they tend to be blacker than Bantus.
Al Franken Says:
September 23rd, 2008 at 3:44 am
It’s been said before, but I’ll say it again: Rush Limbaugh is a big, fat idiot.
JonF Says:
September 23rd, 2008 at 6:44 am
Re: East Africans include people of many ethnic origin including Khoi-San, Bantu, Nilotic, Afro-Asiatic and other groups.

The Khoi-San aren’t really “East” African: their homeland is in southern Africa.

Re: But the Spanish and Russians diverged _much_ more recently than the Nilotics and West Africans.

The Nilo-Saharan languages appear to have originated in western Africa and spread across the Sahel along with agriculture in the very late Neolithic (4000-3000 BC). The Bantu migrations are of course more recent (500BC-1000 AD). Perhaps my analogy might have worked better had I used Spaniards and Finns instead of Russians.

Re: I’m not sure why we need to let our discussion of ethnicity be controlled by what ignorant KKK bigots would have done.

Because in the US “Black” = “Having subsaharan African ancestry” regardless of whether those ancesters were Luo, Ashanti, Xhosha, Khoi, Songhai or whatever. Similarly the categories “Hispanic” and “Native American” hide an awful lot of ethnic variation too.
Carl Says:
September 23rd, 2008 at 7:15 am
Note: None of this has anything to do with anything, and it’s all a big waste of time.

That said,

If Obama and Jessie Jackson share a common ancestor, it’s more likely to be in the white ancestors of Obama and Jackson. Jackson is too light skinned not to have some slaveholder ancestry, like most African-Americans.

The term “African-American” is usually used for Americans who are the descendants of slaves. So, for example, not recent immigrants from Kenya or West Africa. Those people are American Africans, or to be simple about it “Black.” Obama is technically not an African American, but he is black, and furthermore, he has chosen to identify himself with the African-American community of Chicago, marry an African-American, etc.

Which again has nothing to do with anything. Rush is a racist bastard.
Michael Farris Says:
September 23rd, 2008 at 7:21 am
If I’m not mistaken (and I might be) I think often in East Africa any Muslim is called ‘Arab’ (the same way that non-Turkish Muslims in the Balkans are often called ‘Turks’).

Since a large part of his African relations are Muslim as was his father (sort of) and Muslim status is usually considered to pass from father to son. So … I could sort of imagine that some East Africans might call him an “Arab”.

This doesn’t change the fact that Rush Limbaugh is full of shit.
James Wimberley Says:
September 23rd, 2008 at 7:39 am
I have a horrible feeling Limbaugh may have picked up this up, directly or indirectly, from an old essay post of mine on Obama’a African roots. Needless to say, the Arab stuff is entirely Limbaugh’s invention; though why should there be a problem in electing a candidate with hypothetical Arab parentage?
Tim Says:
September 23rd, 2008 at 9:05 am
According to Rush, Barack Obama is Arab.
The U.S. Census defines Arabs as White.

Barack Obama will be the 44th White President!
DKF Says:
September 23rd, 2008 at 9:05 am
Even the “Arab” parts of Africa aren’t necessarily “Arab.” There are plenty of Egyptians and Berbers who may speak Arabic but vehemently deny being Arabs.
Bullsmith Says:
September 23rd, 2008 at 9:09 am
The Republican war on America reaches new lows even as the country goes down in flames.
Mark D Says:
September 23rd, 2008 at 9:57 am
I’ve enjoyed the geography and history lessons, but isn’t the proper response to this: “So?”

Granted, for much the GOP, being “Arab” is about as bad as it can get (although a Muslim Arab who’s a welfare-receiving illegal alien that recycles and rides a bike to work is the pinnacle of “OMGTHEYMUSTBESTOPPED!!111!!one!!11!1″ in wingnut land), but why the hell does it matter for the 80% of people with functioning frontal lobes?

Oh, and on behalf of everyone in Missouri, sorry about Rush. Our bad.
Tinare Says:
September 23rd, 2008 at 10:05 am
Oh for the love of Pete. He’s as much Arab, African, or whatever as I am Irish. Or German. He’s an American. Period. We’re all a bunch of Godda*n mutts!!!
Andrew Fly Says:
September 23rd, 2008 at 10:06 am
Can we just blow up the term “African-American” already?

Actually, I’d like reduce the layers with which people can you any (insert-ethnicity)-American too just two generations. After that you are American. If you are from Mexico, and move to the US, you are Mexican-American, and so are your kids. Then their kids are American. Then we can all be American and move on from this divisive b.s.
Mark D Says:
September 23rd, 2008 at 10:48 am
Can we just blow up the term “African-American” already?

Actually, I’d like reduce the layers with which people can you any (insert-ethnicity)-American too just two generations. After that you are American. If you are from Mexico, and move to the US, you are Mexican-American, and so are your kids. Then their kids are American. Then we can all be American and move on from this divisive b.s.

This.
Wes Says:
September 23rd, 2008 at 1:15 pm
Granted, his ethnicity is of no importance to his qualities as a person or presidential candidate, however, Obama isBarack Hussein Obama is… “50% Caucasian from his mother’s side and 43.75% Arabic and 6.25% African Negro from his father’s side. While Barack Hussein Obama’s father was from Kenya , his father’s family was mainly Arabs.. Barack Hussein Obama’s father was only 12.5% African Negro and 87.5% Arab (his father’s birth certificate even states he’s Arab, not African Negro). From….and for more….go to…..”

http://www.arcadeathome.com/newsboy.phtml?Barack_Hussein_Obama_-_Arab-American,_only_6.25%25_African

There are many more interesting details believed about Obama, that aren’t true. The Problem for me is that these are things he has said. He touts himself as an African-American, but he is not, he is an Arab-American. And you must realize for many Conservatives it is not his race that is the major problem, it is his lying. I will not help elect a president who blatantly lies, over an honest candidate.
Hector Says:
September 23rd, 2008 at 1:48 pm
Michael Farris,

That seems pretty dubious given that Muslims are not a small minority in East Africa. Muslims are about 33% of Tanzanian population and 10-12% in Kenya and Uganda. It seems doubtful that all of those people are considered ‘Arabs’.
Mark D Says:
September 23rd, 2008 at 3:40 pm
And you must realize for many Conservatives it is not his race that is the major problem, it is his lying.

Yes. Because it’s not the lack of offense that has the KC Chiefs at 0-3, it’s their inability to score points.

/snark

Sorry, but your claim is utter, complete, and provable bullshit — if lies were a concern for many Conservatives, they would never, ever, under any circumstances, vote for McCain, nor would they have voted for Bush (twice).

And then there’s that whole “Souther Strategy,” their tendency to call people of color “uppity,” and thinking anyone with the last name of Garcia should be deported.

Sell crazy somewhere else, Wes. We ain’t buying it here.
michael farris Says:
September 23rd, 2008 at 4:17 pm
“It seems doubtful that all of those people are considered ‘Arabs’.”

That’s not what I wrote, my (very tenuous) claim (based on anecdotal evidence) is that the word ‘Arab’ seems to be used differently there than here and at least informally sometimes is more or less synonymous with ‘Muslim’.

I could well be wrong (or simplifying) and even if I’m not it doesn’t change the fact that Limbaugh is full of shit and should be ignored by anyone with a brain.
Wes Freeman Says:
September 25th, 2008 at 6:58 am
Obama is 50% Caucasian on his Atheist Mothers Side.
He is 43.75% Arab and 6.25% African Negro on his Fathers Side.

He did attend a madrasas. The lemmings say that his mother put him in a Christian School, But why would an atheist put her kid in a Christian School?
Steve Says:
September 26th, 2008 at 7:16 am
The Arab thing appears to be based on ancestral Arabic names. But it’s not the least bit odd for Muslims of any ethnic background to have them. Similarly, African Anglicans commonly have English names, or English forms of Biblical names, etc.

As for biological origins, even the East African peoples who do identify themselves as Arab are in fact of mixed Arab and African origin, in varying proportions.

Wes Freeman:
In Indonesia Obama attended an elite public school for four years, after that a Catholic school for two years. The public school had mostly Muslim students, by virtue of it’s being located in a majority-Muslim country. It was not a madrasa, in fact had no religious requirements or prohibitions on admission – there were e.g., ethnic Chinese students who were Buddhist and Confucian. Obama’s explanation for the Catholic school is that his anthropoligist mother wanted him to be exposed to many religions and cultures.

And then he went back to Hawaii for high school.
Nobammy Says:
October 21st, 2008 at 8:54 pm
Obama the negro/muslim terrorist
george mccauley Says:
October 29th, 2008 at 7:50 pm
Why can`t these people just explore the facts about each candidate and make a decision based on what they think is the truth instead of all the name calling and obvious stupidity.While I am not a Rush Limbaugh fan,A lot of his comments are truthful as are comments from both sides of the politicl spectrum and he does not deserve these remarks.How many of you would say these things to his face.It is no wonder this country is in the shape it is.Are your minds so closed to comments that you do not agree with that you have to call people idiots because you do not agree with them.
T. Harris Says:
November 5th, 2008 at 3:44 pm
I eagerly await the election of the first black/african/afro american who is proud of his or her heritage and runs for president based on his or her platform – not trying to be all things to all people. (I had hoped for more from Barack Obama.)

Barack has presented himself as at least one of five different men.

I will continue to research that potential candidate as I do any candidate and vote for the candidate I choose. I pray I never vote for someone just because of his or her color. That, too, is racism.

I am saddened by the rhetoric of this election and I am not certain this is going to go anywhere near as far as people think for race relations. Not when races were targeted and used in such a hideous way to gain votes. That was ugly.

And I know black americans who are sobbing today.
Aisha Says:
November 7th, 2008 at 1:46 pm
I am definitely curious about the ancestry of Barak Hussein Obama. I am a North African, white, and non-Arabic. In Morocco, there are a variety of skin colors, from the purest white to the darkest black. The aboriginal people of North Africa were white Berbers. The well known “Sudanese” type is generally a descendant of slaves brought to North Africa by the Arabs in the Saharan slave trade that lasted for several centuries. I have researched the topic of trans-Saharan slave routes and trade. The allegations that the Obama family is of Arab origin is quite plausible. The Arabs settled south of the Sahara desert in order to direct the slave trade of black Africans. Such a family history would make the ancestors of Barak Hussein Obama participants to the enslavement of black Africans. That is the reason why the origin of that family does make a difference, in terms of history and sharing of experience or not with the African Americans who came to this land as slaves. It would squarely situate Obama as a descendant of Arabic slave traders, the first Arab American president and not the first African American President… a very ironic turn of event indeed, if the black vote made it possible for him to be elected….

I am interested in finding the truth about those origins.
Steve Says:
November 27th, 2008 at 4:19 am
@Aisha

There is no truth to the allegations. Fantasy questions are not facts. The Arabs who settled in Africa did not turn black when they arrived. Obama’s father was a member of the Luo people of western Kenya and looked like a black African because he was one.

Even if by some strange chance Obama had a stray Arab ancestor centuries back, that wouldn’t make him an Arab except under some freaky new one-drop rule.
Justin Case Says:
December 16th, 2008 at 7:52 pm
News Flash: Anyone that holds up a Bible and speaks against it is not Christian. Obama did that in one of his speeches. Even Bill Marr knows “Obama really doesn’t BELIEVE that stuff”. For some reason, the Kenyan government lists Obama’s father’s family as Arab. Why is that? I don’t object to having a non-christian president or an arab president or a black president. I just don’t like lies and I hope the best for people. Abraham Lincoln was not christian at the time he began his presidency, but became one while he was in office, some time after the death of his son. Unfortunately, the big issue with Obama is not the above items, it is that the document he provided regarding his birth was a CERTIFICATION of LIVE birth, not a CERTIFICATE of birth. Only the Certificate of birth verifies location of birth and Obama had that sealed. The trouble we are looking at in the future is when some court finally orders a copy of the sealed Certificate of birth. In that instance we may be discovering that all the laws signed by Obama while in the office of the Presidency are not legally binding because the sealed certificate may list a birth place not in America. The CERTIFICATION of live birth presented by Obama is a type of document provided by the State Of Hawaii to persons born in Australia, China, and various countries around the world. I fully respect Obama’s right to keep his Certificate of birth document sealed, but because the burden of proof of eligibility is on him, he can either present the CERTIFICATE and hold office (assuming it verifies birth on American soil) or keep it sealed and step down as president elect. One or the other, not both. The Certificate of Birth is the one and only document that would verify location of birth and we the people have not yet been presented with that.
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NoGuff Says:
January 27th, 2009 at 5:25 pm
The phrase “African American,” in it’s literal meaning, refers to someone who emmigrates from somewhere in Africa to America. I happen to know several African Americans and they’re White. One example of this is Oscar-winner Charlize Theron.

The problem is that we are indoctrinated to accept these new definitions by the Left without analysis or challenge. And we end up just tossing them around without any regard to their meaning.

And so, when confronted with another culture’s true and correct usage of words, we reply with disdain and disbelief.

“Arab African” may not mean anything to any of you, but it seems to mean something to the Kenyan government in an official capacity, because that’s what they put on his birth certificate. You know, that “thing” of “record” that “proves” the where & when of someone’s “actual” birth?

Thanks!
Alex Says:
February 10th, 2009 at 1:57 am
Obama’s father comes from the Nilotic Luo tribe in Kenya, and is as black as can be. He doesn’t come from any Afro-Asiatic population, be they Semitic or Cushitic. Obama Sr. has not even so much as one drop of Arab blood, as can quite clearly be seen by just a glance at his photo. The poster is right; Kenya most certainly is not one of the Arab parts of Africa. The countries north of it are.
Mel Says:
February 23rd, 2009 at 2:03 pm
Scott,

Arabic is a race, not religion. Islam and Muslim are religions. Don’t go calling people bigots if you can’t even get your facts straight.
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