AP reports that former Nebraska senator Bob Kerrey has apologized for referring to Barack Obama's father and grandfather as Muslims, and for using the Illinois senator's middle name "Hussein" in his endorsement of Hillary Clinton.
So now Obama's heritage is off limits? How can Obama run on his multi-ethnic background while forbidding others even to mention it. Read Kerrey's original remark in context:
I think his capacity to influence in a positive way without spending a penny the behavior of a lot of underperforming black youth today is very important, and he's the only one who can reach them."
Kerrey continued, "It's probably not something that appeals to him, but I like the fact that his name is Barack Hussein Obama, and that his father was a Muslim and that his paternal grandmother is a Muslim. There's a billion people on the planet that are Muslims and I think that experience is a big deal." He added, "He's got a whale of a lot more intellectual talent than I've got as well."
That sounds a lot like Obama's line, and it doesn't ring like a Bill Shaheen-style slur to me. Talking about Obama's family background and his adolescent drug use are not analogous.
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The AP writer buys into the Obama camp's line:
Kerrey's mention of Obama's middle name and his Muslim roots raised eyebrows because they are also used as part of a smear campaign on the Internet that falsely suggests Obama is a Muslim who wants to bring jihad to the United States.
Some questions for the Obama camp:
Who asked for Kerrey's apology? Was it spontaneous?
In what context is one allowed to raise Obama's background, even ostensibly to praise it?
Is Obama not proud of his father and grandfather's heritage? I mean, he did write a book entitled "Dreams of My Father: A story of race and inheritance".
If Kerrey had spoken those words, say, a year ago (or a month) would they have been so insulting?
I've just finished a terrific book by City University of New York historian KC Johnson and National Journal writer Stuart Taylor on the Duke lacrosse rape scandal. The book, entitled "Until Proven Innocent," describes what happens on a college campus when political correctness comes to trump dialogue. Let's not allow that to happen in the Democratic presidential race.
Or am I naive? What do you think? Did Kerrey mean the remarks as a backhanded slur, intended to call attention to the bogus "Muslim" question?
