[Vision2020] Obama's Farrakhan Problem

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Obama's Farrakhan Problem
Posted by Mark Hyman on 10.16.08 @ 6:08AM

Barack Obama has a Louis Farrakhan problem and not because of his
endorsement from Farrakhan. Instead, it is because of Obama's
more-than-passing association with Farrakhan and those who are close
to the Nation of Islam leader.

In spite of Farrakhan's long history as a racist, bigot and
anti-Semite, Obama thought favorably enough of him to join Farrakhan's
1995 march on Washington, D.C. Reportedly, Obama joined Reverends
Jeremiah Wright and Al Sharpton in organizing the march.

Farrakhan's bona fides as a purveyor of hate are well-documented. He
called Jews "bloodsuckers," Judaism a "gutter religion" and referred
to Adolf Hitler as a "great man." Farrakhan said, "The God who taught
me calls the white man the skunk of the planet earth."

Farrakhan promoted the anti-Semitic conspiracy theory that "the AIDS
epidemic is a result of doctors, especially Jewish ones, who inject
the AIDS virus into blacks." According to Farrakhan, blacks are
prevented from progressing in the arts, sports, academia and politics
because of Jews. "When I talk to the Jews, I am talking to a segment
of that quorum that holds my people in their grip," he told the
Chicago Sun-Times.

Farrakhan claimed that the POWER line of toiletry products he launched
in the 1980s failed to succeed because of pressure from Jews. Obama
blamed the failure of Farrakhan's products on whites. In Dreams from
My Father, Obama wrote "That the POWER campaign sputtered said
something about the difficulty that faced any black business — the
barriers to entry, the lack of finance, the leg up that your
competitors possessed after having kept you out of the game for over
three hundred years."

This should not be quickly dismissed as merely guilt by association
because the overall narrative is one of someone continually
associating with a group of repugnant individuals. Consider Obama's
20-year close relationship with Reverend Jeremiah Wright, a long-time
Farrakhan supporter.

Wright's close friendship with Farrakhan goes back at least to the
1980s. Wright joined Farrakhan on a 1984 trip to Libya to visit
Moammar Gadhafi. Wright predicted that once this became public
knowledge "a lot of his [Obama's] Jewish support will dry up quicker
than a snowball in Hell."

In his 1996 book "When Black Men Stand Up for God," Wright called
Farrakhan's black critics "'colored' leaders," "Oreos," "house
niggras," and "enemies." Wright praised Farrakhan as recently as last
year. "Minister Farrakhan will be remembered as one of the 20th and
21st century giants of the African-American religious experience," he
said. "His love for Africa and African American people has made him an
unforgettable force, a catalyst for change and a religious leader who
is sincere about his faith and his purpose."

Trumpet, a magazine operated by Wright and Trinity Church, honored
Farrakhan in November 2007 with the "Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright, Jr.
Lifetime Achievement Trumpeteer" Award.

Farrakhan was knee-deep in a racist and anti-Semitic scandal the year
before his D.C. march. Senior Nation of Islam official Khalid Abdul
Muhammad delivered three hours of remarks at New Jersey's Keane
College that attacked whites, Jews, Catholics, homosexuals and white
South Africans.

Muhammad called Jews "the blood suckers of the black nation and the
black community." He warned the audience of "Columbia Jew-niversity
over in Jew York City." He called the U.N., the "Jew-nited Nations."
He said Jews were named Reubenstein, Goldstein and Silverstein because
they "[have] been stealing rubies and gold and silver all over the
earth. That's why we can't even wear a ring or a bracelet or a
necklace without calling it Jewelry . . . but it's not jewelry, it's
Jew-elry." Muhammad argued Jews who perished in the Holocaust had it
coming to them. He asked, "[D]on't nobody ever ask what did they do to
Hitler?" Then he answered his own question with, "They had undermined
the very fabric of the society."

A public outcry erupted and several public figures implored Farrakhan
to repudiate Muhammad. Instead, Farrakhan backed Muhammad at a rally
saying, "We know that Jews are the most organized, rich and powerful
people, not only in America, but in the world. They are plotting
against us even as we speak." Then Farrakhan clasped Muhammad in an
embrace on stage. Yet, this did not dissuade Obama from joining
Farrakhan's march the following year.

Obama admitted to showing interest in the Black Muslim faith when he
was in his 20s. "I would occasionally pick up the paper [The Final
Call, the Nation of Islam's newspaper] . . . sometimes because my
attention was caught by the sensational, tabloid-style headlines
(CAUCASIAN WOMAN ADMITS: WHITES ARE THE DEVIL)," he wrote in "Dreams."
"Inside the front cover, one found reprints of the minister's
speeches, as well as stories that could have been picked straight off
the AP news wire were it not for certain editorial embellishments
("Jewish Senator Metzenbaum announced today. . .")."

Renewed scrutiny of Obama's decades-long associations is not helpful
to his candidacy especially considering the concerns of many in the
Jewish community over Obama's ties to noted anti-Semites and critics
of Israel. It has not gone unnoticed that it was not until after he
began his presidential run that Obama first offered mild criticism of
Louis Farrakhan.
http://www.spectator.org/archives/2008/10/16/obamas-farrakhan-problem