Indian-Americans and the GOP

As with so many other things, Barack Obama has proved himself adept at playing the race card. What most people don't realize, though is that the race card has two sides back to back. And maybe you have to be part of a really small, relatively quiet and peaceful ethnic minority group--- like the Indian American community-- to ever get a look at the uglier side of the race card Mr. Obama and his democrats are playing.

On the one hand, Mr. Obama spares no opportunity to portray himself as the black victim of right-wing republican racism-- a role he has perfected. His Harvard erudition melts away into a plaintive inner-city mumble as he tells us how the McCain campaign is trying to make everybody afraid of him. Of how they point out that he doesn't look like the Presidents on the money... you know.

On the other hand, and far removed from the media glare, there's the Obama' campaign's calculated use of racial slurs when he knows most people aren't looking, or listening.

During the deliberate, targeted campaign of character assassination mounted against Hillary Clinton by the Obama people earlier this year... one specific smear stands out in the minds of Indian Americans, because it fed on the kind of xenophobia that is increasingly directed towards us in this time of immigration and outsourcing debates.

A fund-raiser and supporter of Senator Clinton's named Sant Chatwal was the specific object of the Obama people's hate campaign. Mr. Chatwal is a successful hotelier in the tri-state area, and a long-time associate of Senator Clinton's. He is a proud American-- of Sikh Indian ancestry, but no less an American for having those roots.

Trying to capitalize on the morbid and all-pervasive fear of outsourcing to India… which appears increasingly the Democratic Party’s favorite scapegoat for America's economic woes… the Obama people smeared Senator Clinton for her association with Mr. Chatwal by putting out a carefully-unsigned press release referring to her as THE SENATOR FROM PUNJAB.

For one thing, this was completely and utterly racist... Mr Chatwal has only about as much connection with Punjab as Mr. Obama has with Kenya, though of course if you dwell too long on Mr. Obama's Kenyan roots his attack dogs will be all over you with accusations of racism.

For another, it was intentionally misleading... worded in such a way as to suggest that Mrs. Clinton was somehow in favor of outsourcing to India, or looking out for a foreign country's interests at the expense of America's own, and connecting this allegation to the fact that her supporter Mr. Chatwal happens to be of Indian origin. .

And finally, it capitalized on exactly the kind of toxic, widespread prejudice that Mr. Obama blames the McCain campaign of deploying against him. Mr. Obama contends that the Republicans are using “dog-whistle politics” to infuse majority white voters with fear about how different he is from them and from the image of their traditional leaders. Yet, his campaign tried to smear Mrs. Clinton using a loathesome and xenophobic popular stereotype of ethnic Indians as a strange brown-skinned people who threaten the American economy by outsourcing American jobs. With the specific use of the phrase "Senator from Punjab" to smear Mrs. Clinton, the Obama people slip in a cheap-shot implication of extra-national loyalty that's completely unfair to both Sant Chatwal, a proud American citizen, and to Hillary Clinton whom he supports.

Mr. Obama has demonstrated that if you're an American who accumulates enough wealth and power, you are free to be as blatantly, vicariously racist as you like... as long as you don't happen to be white. It also helps to have a lick-spittle media that considers you beyond reproach, and refuses to look at the sorts of ugly things that are going on.

We all know the kind of outrage that would have abounded, if Republican criticism of Mr. Obama's shadier associates, like the convicted felon Mr. Rezko and the curiously radical pastor Jeremiah Wright, had referred at all to the ethnicity of those two worthy gentlemen. Yet, when Mr. Obama's people want to cast the nastiest, most xenophobic aspersions on one of Mrs. Clinton's associates... Sant Chatwal... apparently the same definition of what constitutes racism does not apply.

As for Obama’s running mate, Senator Joe Biden obviously has utter contempt for the Indian American community’s sentiments. Why else would he choose to make a punchline out of the repugnant cartoon stereotype of Indians as heavily accented 7-11 owners, and feel comfortable doing so in front of C-SPAN’s cameras?

I’d strongly urge my fellow Indian-Americans to consider this, when making up their minds on whom to vote for this November.

We as a community have always tended to vote Democrat, perhaps having swallowed the oft-repeated lie that Democrats stand up for the rights of ethnic minorities more conscientiously than do Republicans. On even cursory examination, though, it becomes obvious that this only applies to minorities who are large enough to significantly impact the electoral calculus. The anti-Indian racism of the Democratic party, which exists in plain sight if you only take a moment to look, isn’t restricted to a slight here or a gaffe there. It is reflected at the highest levels of their policymaking.

Consider the right of India, menaced by two hostile and nuclear-armed neighbors in China and Pakistan, to develop the necessary means to defend herself. India’s attempt to establish a nuclear deterrent against the threat posed by these neighbors, was met with rabid hostility from the Democratic Clinton administration. Not only were all manner of economic and technological sanctions applied, but Clinton’s Secretary of State Madeliene Albright actually advocated taking military action against India for her arrogance in having tested nuclear weapons.

By contrast, the Bush administration… which is reviled at every turn for its aggressive implementation of foreign policy… was actually sensitive to India’s security needs. Yes, this monstrous Republican regime was the one that not only lifted the Clinton sanctions, but went out of its way to ensure that India could claim her rightful place at the table of responsible nuclear-armed states by introducing the Henry J. Hyde United States-India Peaceful Atomic Energy Cooperation Act of 2006. The Republicans didn’t just talk about deepening the natural alliance for which such great promise exists between India and the United States; they threw America’s diplomatic weight behind the agreement at the IAEA and the NSG. Throughout the international community, they expended whatever political capital was necessary to see the deal through.

And the Democrats? Well, when the Indo-US Nuclear Cooperation Agreement came up for vote in Congress, it was a host of Democratic legislators… including Barack Obama, Joe Biden and Barbara Boxer, who did their best to scuttle the deal. At every opportunity, they introduced poison pill amendments that would have killed the agreement negotiated in good faith between Nicholas Burns and the Indian Government. Obviously, for all their voluble concern about “global warming”, the Democrats are happy to deny India the use of clean nuclear power for her rapidly growing economy. Obviously, for all their supposed commitment to egalitarianism, they’re happy to see Communist China threaten democratic India with nuclear weapons but begrudge India the ability to retaliate.

I wonder if this reflects the paternalist worldview that the Democratic Party seems to have inherited directly from the old British Empire… that a nation of brown people can neither be trusted nor allowed to possess dangerous weapons. This could not be more different from the hard realism and courageous initiative that the Bush administration has demonstrated in dealing with India as an emerging power in her own right.

I wonder if this is also reflected in President Bush taking time out of his schedule to drop in on a meeting between then NSA Condoleezza Rice and India’s Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh, in Washington DC some years ago. During that same visit, Mr. Singh was kept waiting for hours and then blown off by the office of Senator Joe Biden. Chew on that the next time you stop at a Dunkin’ Donuts.

But, but, Obama’s brown, he represents the interests of all minorities... Really, it says so on his cards, I bet...

Truthfully, Obama and the liberals will exploit any minority group to the maximum extent possible without representing even slightly their beliefs, ideals or interests. Be you American Indian, Indian American, African American or any other liberal invented label, you will be used then tossed into the refuge until they need to exploit you again come next election.

Oh, and one last thing: Which has been to important gatherings, such as the Congress of American Indians? Who has been a cosigner on important American Indian legislation? Which senator's office has continued to keep the pressure on responsibility for the resource payouts that are /still/ tied up in court? That'd be John McCain, who has been there for well over a decade, not simply an empty mandella looking logo with Hope written underneath it.

I had an argument with a friend of mine who's of a different tribe, and he was going on and on about how horrible the GOP’s been to American Indians. I first asked him if Bill Clinton's announced reservation telecommunications act was ever implemented - are there cheap landline phones available on the reservation? Cheap internet? Is even their library hooked up to the net yet?

Of course, the answer was no to all of them, which he then started blaming on the GOP. Then I asked if medical services had been expanded, as promised and delivered by the GOP, I asked how gaming had impacted tribal finances, how most tribal elections are now watched over by BIA authorities to cut down on the massive corruption that was taking place before. He said, yes, all these things had happened, and probably would get better under Obama.

I told him to stop being a walking eagle, too full of excrement to fly, and realize that all those things were delivered by the GOP - it was Reagan who authorized tribal gaming, it was Bush who expanded tribal health care, it was Bush who ordered the BIA to actually enforce tribal constitutions when it came to tribal elections. Each time the Liberals tried to poison the deals, or cancel them after the fact, like they took most of the tribal communications act money.

Which party represents tribal interests, and reflects tribal values more: the Republicans or the Democrats? Which one wants the unborn killed? Which one believes in people standing up for themselves, not to remain so poor that next election they can make another empty promise in exchange for votes? Obama’s just more of the same. Just another liberal out to pander and promise so he can forget the day after the election.

No, it’s not about how well our elected leaders represent the interests of a foreign nation, but about how well they adapt America’s foreign policy to best take advantage of emerging realities in a rapidly changing world.

India tested nuclear weapons to acquire the nuclear deterrent it urgently needed, given its hostile neighborhood. India is also an emerging economic powerhouse, and an export market no nation can afford to ignore.

The Democratic Clinton regime, out of ingrained racism, colonialist paternalism and an ostrich-like adhesion to the belief that it’s possible to deny 60-year old technology to other countries by sanctioning and bullying them... reacted to India’s nuclear tests by slamming New Delhi with sanctions. In so doing, they alienated a potential ally which shares the same core values and world-view as the United States.

The Bush administration corrected this disastrous course on which the Clintons had set America’s foreign policy with regard to India. They recognized the value of India as an ally, the reality of Chinese and Pakistani threats that made it necessary for India to possess nuclear weapons, and the responsibility with which India had conducted itself in containing lateral nuclear proliferation to other countries.

That sounds to me like the Bush administration served America’s best interest in reversing the misguided Clinton policy of test-related sanctions against India. That their reversal happened to suit India’s interests as well, doesn’t amount to representing the interests of a foreign nation.

It is only the Democratic establishment that has pulled out all the stops to try and scuttle that reversal of Clinton’s policy... because obviously, they’d rather cling to antiquated notions of non-proliferation and nuclear apartheid than reconcile with emerging international realities to America’s advantage. As with just about every other policy on every other front advocated by Barack Obama, the Democrats’ policy towards India amounts to cutting off America’s nose to spite America’s face. That’s why Indian-Americans, and indeed all Americans who care about America’s interests, ought to vote for John McCain this November.

blah blah blah blah blah.

India was a Soviet ally for most of the Cold War, taking every opportunity to denounce the United States while simultaneously begging aid from her and hectoring her on how to run the world. Clinton only continued the same policy that previous administrations had in dealing with a Soviet stooge. What India does best is make big promises which are never, ever delivered upon. This was the case then, this is the case now.

Indians suffer from what the North Koreans would term sadae juui. A flunkeyist perpetually in search of a patron. India isn't turning to the United States because of shared values or world view (really laughable I might add) but because of the simple fear of standing alone without someone big to protect them. Unfortunatly for the Soviets, India proved to be a mediocre ally returning expensive gifts of economic assistance and military equipment with nothing but hollow words. Like almost every other Soviet client state, India was more of a burden on the exchequer than any kind of benefit. What India really seeks from the United States, stripped of the honeyed words, is a new sugar daddy. One that will protect it from big bad China.

Your opinions on the geopolitical role played by India in the last century aside... let’s note here that India is not seeking to be defended by the United States. India has developed its own nuclear deterrent, which is quite obviously adequate to defend itself against China.

When India tested nuclear weapons, it was China which lobbied the Clinton administration most shrilly to impose sanctions against India. Today, through its Democratic Party proxies, it is China which seeks to prevent a turnaround of US foreign policy that would legitimize India’s possession of a nuclear deterrent.

So it sounds like it’s the Chinese who are looking to their Democrat sugar daddies to defend them... from an India that has developed the capacity to fight back.

Contrary to as oft claimed, the Democratic Party is not the proxie of the Chinese Communist Party, much as this revelation may upset the more unhinged elements of the Republican Party. India’s nuclear test was in violation of the CTB treaty and even had Bob Dole won the election would also have put in place those same sanctions.

The Indian demonstration their Ah-Q tendencies manifests itself in the most hilarious of manners. The capabilities gap between China and India is greater today than it has ever been in the past and this gulf is widening not narrowing. India is incapable of ending it’s decades long conflicts with Pakistan & Bangladesh in its favour. How some believe that it can stand toe-to-toe with a country who defense spending is five times greater than it’s own is beyond my ken.

It must be sheer coincidence, then, that every one of the Demmiecrat legislators who attempted to sabotage the passage of HR 5682 (the Hyde Act on US-India Nuclear Commerce) in the US Congress, happens to have embarrassingly obvious Chinese connections.

You obviously know, as you know many other things, how Bob Dole would have handled the nuclear tests by India had he won the 1996 election. What you don’t know is that India’s tests were not in violation of the CTBT, simply because India has never signed the CTBT, and you can’t be in violation of a treaty to which you aren’t a party. But then, you’ve never been one to let facts get in the way of your assertions.

True, India hasn’t resolved some outstanding territorial disputes with Pakistan, but then for all its claims of a “widening capabilities gap”, China hasn’t been able to favorably resolve its own territorial dispute with India over Arunachal Pradesh either. The fact is, nations often have better things to do and other priorities to pursue until such disputes become useful pretexts towards achieving policy goals in and of themselves.

Be that as it may, Beijing’s actions speak louder than your words. China’s shrill petitioning of its Democratic Party proxies to sanction India in 1998, found an echo in the Chinese delegation’s hysterical attempts to obstruct an India-specific NSG waiver on nuclear exports in Vienna last week.

Why, if China is so vastly superior a military power, does it exhibit such rank panic at the mere existence of an Indian nuclear deterrent?

Oh and to preempt any statement you might make about how the “Indian Nationalists” gang up together to take on poor Chicom trolls, please don’t go there again one more time, ok? Your troll country-cousins don’t get around to helping you because they haven’t been able to navigate FR’s exacting standards withou and end up blowing their cover (and their gonads) pretty soon after. It seems there’s only one troll in the half a million employed by your Chicom government that is “intelligent enough” to survive in FR...survive I said, but not unblemished mind you.

Speaks a lot for the 1.299..... Bn others as well, no?

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