Nothing like a little racial profiling, from the Obama camp,

[Tigermike 3,027]

Muslims barred from picture at Obama event

By: Ben Smith

June 18, 2008 03:07 PM EST

Two Muslim women at Barack Obama’s rally in Detroit on Monday were barred from sitting behind the podium by campaign volunteers seeking to prevent the women’s headscarves from appearing in photographs or on television with the candidate.

The campaign has apologized to the women, both Obama supporters who said they felt betrayed by their treatment at the rally. (And rightfully so!)

“This is of course not the policy of the campaign. It is offensive and counter to Obama’s commitment to bring Americans together and simply not the kind of campaign we run,” said Obama spokesman Bill Burton. “We sincerely apologize for the behavior of these volunteers.” (Keep the distance Bill, if you don't Obama will throw you under the bus and it's getting crowded under there.)

Building a human backdrop to a political candidate, a set of faces to appear on television and in photographs, is always a delicate exercise in demographics and political correctness. Advance staffers typically pick supporters out of a crowd to reflect the candidate’s message. (What would their message be with this happening on a regular basis?)

When Obama won the North Carolina primary amid questions about his ability to connect with white voters, for instance, he stood in front of a group of middle-aged white women waving small American flags. (Set um up!)

On the Republican side, a Hispanic New Hampshire Democrat, Roberto Fuentes, told Politico that he was recently asked, and declined, to contribute to the “diversity” of the crowd behind Sen. John McCain at a Nashua event.

But for Obama, the old-fashioned image-making contrasts with his promise to transcend identity politics and to embrace all elements of America. The incidents in Michigan, which has one of the largest Arab and Muslim populations in the country, also highlight an aspect of his campaign that sometimes rubs Muslims the wrong way: The candidate has vigorously denied a false, viral rumor that he himself is Muslim. But the denials at times seem to imply to some that there is something wrong with the faith, though Obama occasionally adds that he means no disrespect to Islam.

“I was coming to support him, and I felt like I was discriminated against by the very person who was supposed to be bringing this change, who I could really relate to,” said Hebba Aref, a 25-year-old lawyer who lives in the Detroit suburb of Bloomfield Hills. “The message that I thought was delivered to us was that they do not want him associated with Muslims or Muslim supporters.” (Not in public! Not in front of the cameras! Don't let anyone see!)

In Detroit on Monday, the two different Obama volunteers — in separate incidents — made it clear that headscarves wouldn’t be in the picture. The volunteers gave different explanations for excluding the hijabs, one bluntly political and the other less clear. (Using those volunteers as human shields, great move Obama!)

In Aref’s case, there was no ambiguity.

That incident began when the volunteer asked Aref’s friend Ali Koussan and two others, Aref’s brother Sharif and another young lawyer, Brandon Edward Miller, whether they would like to sit behind the stage. The three young men said they would but mentioned they were with friends.

The men said the volunteer, a 20-something African-American woman in a green shirt, asked if their friends looked and were dressed like the young men, who were all light-skinned and wearing suits. (Keep the "light-skinned" folks in the picture, we don't want it to look like, uuhh, huuummm like only blacks support Obama.)

Miller said yes but mentioned that one of their friends was wearing a headscarf with her suit.

The volunteer “explained to me that because of the political climate and what’s going on in the world and what’s going on with Muslim Americans, it’s not good for [Aref] to be seen on TV or associated with Obama,” said Koussan, a law student at Wayne State University.

Both Koussan and Miller said they specifically recalled the volunteer citing the “political climate” in telling them they couldn’t sit behind Obama.

“I was like, ‘You’ve got to be kidding me. Are you serious?’” Koussan recalled.

Shimaa Abdelfadeel’s story was different. She’d waited in line outside the Joe Louis Arena for three hours in the sun and was walking through the giant hall when a volunteer approached two of her non-Muslim friends, a few steps ahead of her, and asked if they’d like to sit in “special seating” behind the stage, said one friend, Brittany Marino, who, like Abdelfadeel, is a recent University of Michigan graduate who works for the university.

When they said they were with Abdelfadeel, the volunteer told them their friend would have to take off the headscarf or stay out of the special section, Marino said. They declined the seats.

After recovering from the shock of the incident, Abdelfadeel went to look for the volunteer and confronted her minutes later, she said in an e-mail interview with Politico.

“We’re not letting anyone with anything on their heads like baseball [caps] or scarves sit behind the stage,” she paraphrased the volunteer as saying, an account Marino confirmed. “It has nothing to do with your religion!” (Bawwwhhhhhaahahahah, yeah that is believable!)

In most work and school settings, religious dress — such as Jewish yarmulkes, Sikh turbans and Muslim hijabs — is permitted where secular clothing, such as baseball caps, is not.

“The scarf is not just something she can take off — it’s part of her identity,” said Marino. (But the great Uniter, the Messiah of the left can't be seen with your kind!)

Photographs of the event also show men with hats in the section behind Obama and former Vice President Al Gore, though not directly behind the candidate. (Busted!)

Abdelfadeel, like Aref, felt “disappointed, angry and let down,” she later wrote.

She said she was “let down that the Obama campaign continuously perpetuates this attitude towards Muslims and Arabs — as if being merely associated [with] one is a sin.” (Get used to it the libs only want the appearance of uniting!)

The two women’s friends who witnessed the incidents were disappointed, too. Aref’s friend Miller said he was “shocked” by the contrast between Obama’s message and their experience. (But many have known the truth for years.)

“He was the one candidate who you would expect to stand up for something like that — and behind the scenes, you have something completely contrary to what he was running on,” said Koussan, Aref’s other friend. (Lib = Hypocrite, I thought everyone knew that.)

Aref and her friends complained to the campaign, and after those complaints and an inquiry from Politico, Obama’s director of advance, Emmett S. Beliveau, called her to apologize. (Those apologies always follow exposure, don't they?)

An Obama aide also noted that the campaign has no policy against the candidate’s appearing with women in headscarves: (They never put things like that in writing do they?) The next morning at Wayne State University, Obama posed for a picture with a student wearing a hijab. (Damn that was fast and planned wasn't it?)

Photographs from a Seattle rally earlier this year also clearly show a couple in Muslim garb behind the candidate.

The administrator of the Muslims4Obama group on Obama’s website, which is not a formal part of the campaign, also said she had “not heard anything regarding Muslim supporters being steered away from sitting behind Sen. Obama at the event” and noted that he had Muslim supporters present at events in Minnesota, including one at which he stood with a Muslim member of Congress, Keith Ellison. (With Ellison and a full contingent of CHAIR leaders there it would have been more than a little awkward to do what they would have liked to do wouldn't it?)

Aref said she was glad Obama had apologized, but she was not entirely satisfied. (Obama didn't apologize, Obama’s director of advance, Emmett S. Beliveau, did.)

“I think this is a much bigger deal than maybe they’re perceiving it as,” she said, noting that Obama had placed a personal call to a television reporter he’d dismissively called “Sweetie.” (Thanks for bringing that up.)

“An apology from him personally would be better,” she said, then reconsidered. “If they are true to their word, I think it would suffice to have an invitation to their next rally and have seats behind him and show up on TV.” (OK the double dog dare is in play, will he or won't he?)

http://dyn.politico.com/printstory.cfm?uui...01E5E2F7EAC1D85

This is not the first time an Obama event coordinator’s displayed a little extra nuance in shaping the on stage demographic, is it?

[bigsixfive 327]

"Move on back."

One of two Muslim women who were denied visible seats behind Barack Obama’s stage at Joe Louis Arena on Monday because they wore head scarves said they deserve a personal apology from Obama and close-up seats at a future campaign rally.

...

Aref said one aide told her friends that because of a sensitive political environment, Obama should not be photographed with Muslims wearing head scarves.

Aref’s aunt, Dr. Eman Salem, a Bloomfield Hills anesthesiologist, said she was outraged when she learned of what had happened to her niece at the rally.

“This is an insult to all Muslims,” said Salem, 50, a Canadian citizen who said she’s worked in the U.S. for five years. “I wouldn’t take my hijab off for anyone. It doesn’t prevent Muslims from accomplishing anything. We take pride in our religion and we take pride in our citizenship.”

This strikes me as rather funny. I'm fully aware of why they weren't allowed to sit behind him. A picture of that would just be too easy. However, if he really stood by his convictions, he wouldn't let the "political environment" affect his and his campaign's treatment of people. After the whole church deal, white grandmother deal, VP search committee deal, Kenyan cousin deal, etc, its obvious he doesn't stand by his "convictions" and take up for those that support him.

[Justin5 20]

been posted already.

[bigsixfive 327]

My bad. I didn't see it (and still can't find it).

[Justin5 20]

http://www.aunation.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=48379

[Tigermike 3,027]

The dims don't want to talk about this do they bigsixfive?

[Justin5 20]

I was talking with my Repub. friends about it last night. As sick as it sounds they admitted it prob was a good decision. Granted, this was 4 beers in, but whatever. Its a non-issue - it was some dumb volunteer.

[AU_tiger_2000 0]

I was talking with my Repub. friends about it last night. As sick as it sounds they admitted it prob was a good decision. Granted, this was 4 beers in, but whatever. Its a non-issue - it was some dumb volunteer.

Calling an Obama volunteer dumb is kind of redundant.