Way back when, as Barack and Hillary battled to the teeth for the Democratic nomination, I argued that the election of Barack Obama would, at the very least, have some positive impact on our relations with the Muslim world. At the time, I even argued that it might have more profound consequences that we may never fully appreciate (namely, preventing potential future terrorists by changing the fundamental perspectives  young Muslims have towards America). It’s way too early to tell if any of Obama’s hope and change will stick with the Muslim world but I think it is pretty clear that Obama is changing the Middle East in strange ways. Take the picture above, for example. When was the last time you saw Muslims selling images of an American president comparing him to King Tut? On the eve of Obama’s major speech to the Arab world from Cairo, vendors are celebrating our president as the second coming of one of the most beloved Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt. Maybe that happened with Bush and we just never saw it?  Regardless, the contrast between a Pharaoh and getting shoes thrown at you is pretty stark.

A lot of commentators are attempting to call attention to domestic “Christian terrorism” after the murder of abortion doctor George Tiller and questioning what role and/or responsibility people like Bill O’Reilly play in events such as this. I’m trying to work this issue out in my head. What’s the difference between an act of murder and “assasination”, as left wing commentators are calling Tiller’s death? What actually constitutes a “terrorist”? To be a “terrorist”, do you have to work for an organized group with a clear cut agenda (such as Al Qaeda) or can a lone wolf type person who participates in a loose patchwork of hate spewing message boards, talk radio, and organizations be classified as such?

Rachel Maddow had a pretty illuminating rundown on all of the bombings and murders of abortion clinics and doctors in the past 20 years as well as the online and print culture that breeds the hatred. What do you guys think? Is the right wing anti-abortion extremist movement a terrorist “organization”? Do commentators who use hard rhetoric like O’Reilly bear any responsibility when the people who listen to them go out and murder, especially when the recent past has shown that fanatics are susceptible to that rhetoric? And also, what would be the left-wing equivalent of this? Have there been any domestic left wing fanatical groups in the past 20 years that are on par with the extremist anti-abortion right? My first instinct, honestly, was “Nah, I think ‘terrrorist’ and ‘assasination’ are too hard a label”, but then I can also see why people would think that since there does seem to be a culture loyal to using violence as an end to abortion (and I’m not calling all pro-lifers terrorists. I’m wondering about the extremist ones who act out and praise violence as a means to an end).

Ugh. I start a 5 week session of Spanish on Monday. I shouldn’t be forced to learn another language to graduate from college.

Tags: king tut, Obama

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 3rd, 2009 at 8:10 am and is filed under Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.