Dispelling a rumor

John McCain has said BHO has been endorsed by Hamas - and implies that this is a threat to national security. He has tried to illustrate some type of "strange bedfellows" idea- so that those Americans who blindly accept whatever they hear will form strong negative opinions about BHO.

To be clear, Hamas has been recognized broadly as a terrorist organization, and deservedly so. BHO has publicly condemned Hamas (as has McCain), criticized Pres. Carter's visit to Palestine and meeting with Hamas leaders (as did McCain), and has supported legislations that would put pressure on Hamas (McCain as well). Furthermore, BHO has said explicitly that he would never sit down and meet with Hamas or any recognized terrorist organization - ever. For McCain to say he would is totally false. And for the record, meeting with Ahmadinejad (who is the President but not the Commander in Chief of Iran) is much different than meeting with Hamas.

McCain has re-iterated this spin over and over, in stump speeches, in fundraising communications, on websites, etc. But it is false, misleading, and a truncated snippet of the full quote from Ahmed Yousef - Chief Political Advisor to the Prime Minister of Hamas.

First, the interviewer asked if the Prime Minister was concerned about Obama's disavowal of Carter's visit with Hamas leadership.

Yousef's answer (quoting):
"No, no, I understand American politics, and this is the season for election, and everybody tries to be, sounds like he's a friend of Israel..........and I hope Mr. Obama and the Democrats will change the political discourse when one of them will be the President. And changing the policy, which are making these anti-American sentiments and hatred and bitterness is the worst in the history of this great country."

Next question: "Do you believe right now that your Prime Minister is ready to speak with Barack Obama and Mrs. Clinton before the election?"

The full quote from Hamas spokesman Ahmed yousef was:
"We don't mind. Actually, we like Mr. Obama, and we hope he will [inaudible] the election. I do believe he is like John Kennedy, a great man with great principles, and he has a vision to change America, to make it in a position to lead the world community, but not with domination and arrogance."

If you listen to Yousef's answer to the first question above, it's an apparent indictment of the Bush administration for causing the abysmal view that the region has of America. He didn't state it explicitly, but it's easily inferred as he hopes for Democrats to change diplomatic & policy direction.

Regarding the second quote from Yousef, he was responding to the idea of a potential discussion with either HRC or BHO. He answered that ("We don't mind..."), then went on - unprovoked - to mention BHO specifically, and likened him to JFK in terms of vision and principles. He see BHO as a catalyst for positive change in America's image on the world stage. He see BHO as being able to do this without "domination and arrogance."

If anything, Hamas (through their spokesman) was endorsing character, integrity, temperance, tolerance, and principles. If there were other candidates in this race who could also "walk this talk", then he probably would not have singled out BHO.

Check out the full audio of the interview.

I'm telling everybody right now, if we let McCain and the conservative right continue to make these insinuations and tell these bold-faced lies about BHO unchallenged and unchecked, it's going to be very difficult to fight on the offensive down the stretch. Obviously, McCain has every intention to play dirty and bully his way to the presidency. Spread the word, spread the truth.

My experience has taught me the best way to stop a bully is to punch him right in his fat mouth when he doesn't expect it, then hit him with a few more blows to let him know it wasn't just a lucky shot, then clown him in front of his boys.
Sorry - I had to go there.