By Andrew L. Jaffee

Some Senate Democrats are seeking to punish Joe Lieberman for being the independent, honest man he is. So Lieberman supported John McCain, an old friend. This is a crime? Lieberman “was re-elected in 2006 as an independent after losing his state’s Democratic primary. He remains a registered Democrat and aligns with the party inside the Senate.” It was his own state’s Democrats who tried to drum him out of the party. Some Democratic extremists recently wanted to strip Lieberman of his “chairmanship of the Senate Homeland Security Committee,” but it looks like Barack Obama wants to keep his promise of uniting the country:

… Anger toward Lieberman seems to have softened since Election Day and there’s strengthening sentiment that taking away his chairmanship might drive him from the Democratic caucus and send the wrong signals as Obama takes office on a pledge to unite the country. …

Obama has reportedly told Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada it would hurt the message of unity that he wants for his new administration if Lieberman leaves the Democratic caucus. …

This is one “change I can believe in” from Obama, and I applaud his effort to rebuild unity.

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By Andrew L. Jaffee

The Wall Street Journal reports that there may be a concerted effort by Democrats to fix a vote recount for Minnesota’s Senatorial seat so that “left-wing joker Al Franken” will “win” the election. The recount process is being presided over by the fox-tending-the-chicken-coop Secretary of State Mark Ritchie (D):

… who isn’t exactly a nonpartisan observer. One of Mr. Ritchie’s financial supporters during his 2006 run for office was a 527 group called the Secretary of State Project, which was co-founded by James Rucker, who came from MoveOn.org. The group says it is devoted to putting Democrats in jobs where they can “protect elections.”

Mr. Ritchie is also an ally of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, or ACORN, of fraudulent voter-registration fame. That relationship might explain why prior to the election Mr. Ritchie waved off evidence of thousands of irregularities on Minnesota voter rolls, claiming that accusations of fraud were nothing more than “desperateness” from Republicans. …

Here are the salient points of the shenanigans going on, but you should read the entire article:

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by Daniel Pipes*

Ali ibn Abi-Talib, the seventh-century figure central to Shiite Islam, is said to have predicted when the world will end, columnist Amir Taheri points out. A “tall black man” commanding “the strongest army on earth” will take power “in the west.” He will carry “a clear sign” from the third imam, Hussein. Ali says of the tall black man: “Shiites should have no doubt that he is with us.”

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By Phyllis Chesler*

The people are talking about it on television and in newspapers and magazines. Of course, I refer to the positive effect that President Obama’s election is expected to have on young African-American men and on the conversation about race.

Jonathan Kaufman and Gary Fields, in “Election of Obama Recasts National Conversation on Race,” in The Wall Street Journal.

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By Raheel Raza*

If you are Canadian and Islamist, you probably voted for the New Democratic Party (NDP), which won 18.2% of the vote on October 14, 2008. This was an increase in of about 1% in the vote and led to seven more seats from the 2006 elections. However, the party could not budge itself from its permanent 4^th place in Canada’s parliament. Endorsed by the Canadian Islamic Congress (CIC), the left-leaning NDP has shown an incredible lack of understanding of the Islamist agenda and how soft jihadis are using democratic institutions by manipulating our respect for multiculturalism.

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By Andrew L. Jaffee

I supported McCain, but I’m starting to get a little tired of all the dire prognostications about an Obama presidency. Some good has already come out of his election, and the voters have spoken. It is my desire and duty as a citizen to support our new president, and give him a chance. From yesterday’s USAToday, entitled, “Poll: Hopes are high for race relations:”

Barack Obama’s election has inspired a wave of optimism about the future of race relations in the United States, according to a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll taken the day after the first African American won the White House.

Confidence that the nation will resolve its racial problems rose to a historic level. Two-thirds of Americans predict that relations between blacks and whites “will eventually be worked out” in the United States, by far the highest number since Gallup first asked the question in the midst of the civil rights struggle in 1963. …

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By Andrew L. Jaffee

I always thought it was kind of obvious that Americans were evolving — seeing people as more than just black and white (skin colors) — especially since the late ’60s. Just look at the Bush Administration, which “appointed a more diverse set of top advisers than any president in history”, like Condoleezza Rice, Colin L. Powell, Roderick R. Paige, Alphonso Jackson, Claude Allen, Leo S. Mackay, Jr., Larry D. Thompson, and Stephen A. Perry.

Obama wouldn’t have been elected if not for white voters (if we can define what “white” means). Many children who may have written their own futures off because of their race will now have new hope for success, and they will know that working hard and getting educated, as Obama did, is important. It will also be harder for people to shirk personal responsibility by using the race card as many consider the presidency the highest achievement in the land, and an African-American has made it.

Confirmation that race is becoming less important to Americans has come from none other than the New York Times in a story entitled, “For Pollsters, the Racial Effect That Wasn’t:”

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By Phyllis Chesler

The American people are voting in droves today. There are incredibly long lines at all my neighborhood polling sites. Feminists are especially concerned with women’s reproductive rights. They believe that the Democrats share their views.

While this is true, it may be true only for American women, not for women living elsewhere, especially in the Islamic world. … (Continue reading…)

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By Bill Long

I’ve been a Christian for 37 years. Before that I was a radical. I was tear-gassed 5 times in Chicago in 1968 as a Vietnam Veteran Against the War. I came back from Chicago and was co-founder of an anarchist club on campus called ‘CHAOS’ Committee for the Humane Appreciation of Students. After I became a Christian, I became more or less politically inactive except for voting and trying to stay informed.

A few weeks ago I watched “Obsession”, a DVD about Islamic terrorism. That led me to read Brigitte Gabriel’s book “Because They Hate”. I’ve just finished David Horowitz’s book “Unholy Alliance” about the alliance between radical Islam and the American Left. I decided to find out as much as I could about Barack Obama, just researching the internet. What I found is deeply disturbing. Any candidate who can support Odinga in his campaign promising Sharia in Kenya is someone I don’t want as president. Here’s some more of what I found. I think it lays out a fairly complete picture of the underlying dynamic for this election.

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By Andrew L. Jaffee

Tomorrow is an important day for the U.S. as we’ll be choosing our next president. Yes, the stakes are high, but we need to have faith in our wondrous democratic system, artfully and presciently crafted by our great Founders. No matter who wins, we must respect the will of the electorate. We must all keep cool heads. Therefore I offer some comic relief; a chill pill; a reminder that humor is one of the highest human attributes. Meet the real Joe the Plumber:

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by Daniel Pipes*

From the perspective of a Middle East & Islam specialist, the just-concluding U.S. presidential election is extraordinary for the outsized role of one’s subject area. Consider some of the topics:

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By Phyllis Chesler

My sister’s blood, a child’s blood, cries out to me.

Last week, a barbaric gang of Somali Muslim fundamentalists gang-raped a 13 year-old girl after which they stoned her to death. One thousand spectators in the Kismayo stadium cheered the stoning on. The victim’s name was Aisha Ibrahim Duhulow. … (Continue reading…)

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by Cinnamon Stillwell*

When voters go to the polls on November 4^th, they will choose not only a new presidential administration, but also the candidate’s circles of influence. In the case of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, this includes Rashid Khalidi, Edward Said professor of Arab studies and director of the Middle East Institute of Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs.

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By Andrew L. Jaffee

First Obama said he’d cut taxes for Americans making $200,000 or less. Joe Biden said it was $150,000 on Monday, and the Obama-backer Gov. Bill Richardson said $120,000 on Friday. Just which is it, Mr. Obama? From the Albuquerque Journal:

Big-name Barack Obama backer Gov. Bill Richardson on Friday provided some fresh political ammo for opponents of the Democratic presidential candidate when he told a Colorado radio station that Obama aims to cut taxes for those making $120,000 or less — a far cry from Obama’s own promise to lower taxes for families making up to $200,000.

Listen to Richardson’s comments at KOA radio

Richardson spokesman Pahl Shipley said Richardson simply misspoke during an interview with Denver AM powerstation. …

But Republicans who have been scrambling during the final days of the White House race to paint Obama as an in-the-closet tax increaser pounced on Richardson’s comments, which came four days after Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Biden tossed out an income level of $150,000 in another interview. …

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By Phyllis Chesler

… There are important reasons to vote for Obama and important reasons to vote for McCain. Neither candidate thrills me, both frighten me but for different reasons. But, what worries me even more than the candidates is the way in which so many Americans seem to have lost both their gravity and their sanity. They are behaving like drunken soccer fans or like ecstatic True Believers undergoing a religious transformation. During Obama’s acceptance speech 100 years ago in Denver, I saw people of all ages, both genders, and of every color, weeping, trembling, transfixed. … (Continue reading…)

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