Beckwith Responds To The Washington Post

The Obama File -- Latest News ^ | 6/28/2008 | Beckwith

[Beckwith]

Beckwith responds to The Washington Post.

The first thing I have to say about "An Attack That Came Out of the Ether," published by The Washington Post on June 28th, is that at NO time was I ever contacted by this woman, Danielle Allen.  I spoke to two male Post reporters, who spoke to me over the phone for a period of months.  The first contact was in the fall of 2007.  They told me they were trying to track down the source of emails they considered negative to the Obamamessiah.

Allen obsesses about the "Muslim" Obama stories, but steers clear of Obama's relationships with communists, Marxists, socialists, terrorists and convicted swindlers.  The trick she attempts to use is to knock down one or two or three items and the other four thousand don't count.

The following notice appears on my website's "About" page: "I don't write this stuff -- I cherry-pick it and publish it here -- every attempt is made to provide attribution and/or links to the original source -- if you don't like the writer's viewpoint -- send them an email -- not me.  If the reader finds content that is incorrect, I will correct or delete it upon the submission of two links to an independent source with more accurate information."

And I mean just that and I do just that.  I want The Obama File to be able to withstand the type of attack that Allen attempts in this article.

When Allen quotes me: "If 20 percent of what's on my Web site is true, this guy is a clear and present danger," she left out the whole quote.  I told her reporters that I believed that The Obama File content was better than 95% accurate, but that If 20 percent of what's on my Web site is true, this guy is a clear and present danger.  I still believe that.

Allen writes, "There was 'Beckwith,' whom she pegged as a veteran from Boston, old enough to vote for John F. Kennedy, in uniform by 1964, and host of a Web site that devotes considerable space to an 'Obama file' that says the senator is 'by birth, blood and training, a Muslim.'"

That statement is true.  Just ask Obama's sister Maya.  In an interview with the New York Times, published on April 30th, 2007, Maya Soetoro-Ng, Obama’s younger half sister, told the Times, "My whole family was Muslim, and most of the people I knew were Muslim."

I assume Maya thinks of her brother, Obama, as a member of her family?

Even if Maya didn't make such a statement.  Islam is patrilinear.  The son of a Muslim is a Muslim (birth, blood) and Obama did study Islam, the Quran and the Hadith at the Besuki Primary School in Jakarta, Indonesia for two years (training).   Further, he attended mengaji classes where he studied the Quran in its native Arabic.

In his autobiography, "Dreams From My Father," Obama mentions studying the Quran and describes the public school as "a Muslim school."  He wrote, "In the Muslim school, the teacher wrote to tell mother I made faces during Koranic studies."

According to Tine Hahiyary, one of Obama's teachers and the principal from 1971 through 1989, Barry actively took part in the Islamic religious lessons during his time at the school.  His teacher was named Maimunah and she lived in the Puncak area, the Cianjur Regency.

"I remembered that he had studied "mengaji" (recitation of the Quran)" Tine said.

These facts can account for the startling statement Obama made on February 27th, 2007, when he said the Muslim call to prayer was "one of the prettiest sounds on Earth."

In an interview with Nicholas Kristof, published in The New York Times, Obama recited the Muslim call to prayer, the Adhan, "with a first-class [Arabic] accent."

The opening lines of the Adhan (Azaan) is the Shahada:

Allah is Supreme! Allah is Supreme!
Allah is Supreme! Allah is Supreme!
I witness that there is no god but Allah
I witness that there is no god but Allah
I witness that Muhammad is his prophet...

According to Islamic scholars, reciting the Shahada, the Muslim declaration of faith, makes one a Muslim. This simple yet profound statement expresses a Muslim's complete acceptance of, and total commitment to, the message of Islam.

Obama knows this from his Quranic studies -- and he knows the New York Times will publish this fact and it will be seen throughout the Islamic world.

Regardless of Obama's religion, what message is he sending the world's 1.2 billion Muslims?

I suppose it's easy for Obama to remember the Shahada for the 35 years since he left Indonesia -- and in 'first-class' Arabic -- especially since he believes the Muslim call to prayer is "one of the prettiest sounds on Earth." -- no matter what religion he belongs to, or not, those Muslim prayers run through his head, and often -- what does that really make him?

And although I do have a Boston accent, of which I'm proud (you can hear it on the webcast at the link on the main page), Allen gets in a little ethnic stereotyping by calling my accent a "... thick Boston brogue" -- Bostonians don't have brogues -- my antecedents from Ireland do -- it's a good thing I don't have a chip on my shoulder and charge "racism" at such obvious stereotyping -- like some folks might do.

And there is no "unnamed 'colleague' in Europe" -- that's probably my friend and fellow FReeper, ExpatGuy, who operates the "An American Expat in Southeast Asia" blog (a truly great resource).  But, what the heck, Europe, Southeast Asia, they're all foreign places.

Allen is also incorrect when she writes, "His initial goal was to take swats at the liberal left.  'Then this new guy comes along called Obama,' he said." -- All one has to do is to read the "About" page on my website to get it right -- "The Obama File is a spinoff of www.FreedomsEnemies.com where it started out as a single page.  Freedom's Enemies documents the relationship between the political left and Islamofascism.  Along comes Obama -- with a foot in each camp -- and The Obama File just evolved.

The reason I spun off The Obama File is that I did not want the Freedoms Enemies website a pejorative to the information I was compiling on Obama.

This sentence is also false -- "Beckwith said he built a Web site that features hundreds of pages of material intended to undermine Obama." -- There are 18 pages on my website.  Because I take pains to document and provide attribution for everything, those 18 pages link to thousands of source articles, primarily from mainstream media sources (including The Washington Post), and my intention is not to "undermine" poor Barry -- it is to "oppose the most liberal (read "left-wing") member of the U. S. Senate sitting in the Oval Office" -- just like it says on my "About" page.

I suppose it could have been more of a hatchet job, but what amazes me is Allen's obsession with the Muslim thing -- that rumor is a year old and has been fed more by Obama and his family more than anyone else.

Why hasn't Allen attempted to knock down Obama's relationship with communists, Marxists, socialists, terrorists, convicted swindlers, and, dare I say it, DHIMMICRATS!

Could it be that those long-term relationships are just too easy to document?

[george76]

Does Obama still have Indonesian citizenship ?

[Gaffer]

Ms Allen, be careful what you wish for. Should you suceed in silencing ‘open’ transfer of ideological ideals and community, you will find that these ‘transfers’ in future will be much more secret, and the plans will not be of talk and ideas, but of action.

[backhoe]

Appreciate the ping- thank you.

[2nd amendment mama]

Thanks

[cookcounty]

"Danielle S. Allen, dean of humanities and a professor of classical languages and literature at the University of Chicago does not appear to actually be a political theorist but more likely an Obama friend (or friend of friend) from Chicago."

Probably a pal of William "Kill the Pentagon Ladies" Ayers.

[anymouse]

"You caught me! You caught the Tater!"

[jan in Colorado]

WHO IS THIS MAN?

Whether this man ever was or is a Muslim, doesn't even begin to explain why this man has no business even being a candidate for President of the United States!

Because he is gifted at reading a teleprompter, or giving a speech...does that really qualify him to be Commander in Chief?

I absolutely shudder at the thought of this man being in charge of our military.

Our sovereignty and our freedom are under attack like they have never been before...

.

".. they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations."
--Obama in San Francisco

Yes...I'm one of those that clings to my guns and my religion...not because I'm bitter, but because I am a proud American and I will not surrender my guns nor my Christian faith!
Jan

God Bless this great Country and our troops!

[Mamzelle]

I've come back after reading the Post article.

And I want to point out that Allen has a glaring weakness--and absolutely out-of-control, monstrous intellectual vanity. My, my--this Harvard PhD can actually do google searches! She's figured out how to stalk people using their emails!! She's perceiving the flow of information, likening it to a school of fish! And is willing to share with us the benefit of this bolt of enlightenment!

Surely Microsoft needs to give this Magnificent Brain a GRANT.

Bah, Debbie, who must sport glasses to look smart... Ivy League sizzle and no steak at all.

[mo]

“The Washington Post piece is both amazingly sloppy and obviously slanted......”

This gets around to the point I am becoming to think is a real issue. The failure of organized media to provide appropriate and accurate editorial oversight to their content devaluates the product to shareholders. As such they may have legal recourse for the financial consequences of the Board’s’ negligence to assure adequate editorial oversight. For the right legal eagle, IMHO, this is a slam dunk.

[Jeff Head]

The point is...if he will lie about and hide his own roots and background from the US voters, he will lie and hide everything else. For that reason alone, he is unfit to lead or hold public office.

...not to mention that he is an abject marxist and militant anti-American.

[jan in Colorado]

Agree!

[george76]

Obama still doesn’t get YouTube, does he?

http://hotair.com/archives/2008/06/27/obama-still-doesnt-get-youtube-does-he

[Scarpetta]

Beckwith makes me proud.

Doug from upland makes me laugh.

I heart Freepers.

[b4its2late]

LOL. Hell, you got enough hits from me! I think I hit your About link every time it was mentioned.....

[tgslTakoma]

At least the Washington Post could have put a link to my website somewhere in this article -- they do know how to embed a link.

Because that would not serve to benefit their radical messiah, Barack Hussein Obama, Beckwith. They are all in the tank for this man who wishes to be president, and they are trying to trash the people who are raising legitimate (and very worrisome) questions about their messiah.

Here is what I wrote on the thread about this Washington Post hit piece:

Some newer Freepers may not remember the name Matthew Mosk in regards to Free Republic. He is the reporter who wrote about Free Republic's "involvement" with a "smear campaign" against Maryland's notorious governor, Martin O'Malley. Mosk got himself caught up in the story, so much so that he is rumored to have had an FR screen name at one point.

What is known for sure is that somebody at the Washington Post was participating in the O'Malley threads; and then, lo and behold, the Washington Post's Matthew Mosk writes an "expose" on Free Republic!

So, about this new attempt by the Washington Post's Matthew Mosk and this think tank broad I have to wonder...

How did Danielle Allen find Matthew Mosk to write this piece? Or did Matthew Mosk feed the FR threads to Allen, and then "discover" her investigation?

My family's dog wouldn't even take a crap on the pages of The Washington Post. The newspaper is garbage unfit for even landfills. And its "reporters" are nitwits with delusions of grandeur.

[444Flyer]

If you’d like to be on Ms. Allen’s Right-Wing Conservative booga booga black list/filed and compiled list of enemies of Bambi if he wins in Nov. ping list, please e-mail Ms. Allen.

High Volume!;)
..................

Thank God for FR and Freepers like you Beckwith, hold their feet to the fire.

[xkaydet65]

Madisonian

What, in her mind, is the problem with Madison? The fact that his words in The Federalist are an inconvenient obstacle to the triumph of totalitarian government in the United States. If so call me a Madisonian.

[jan in Colorado]

Obama knows it doesn't matter what he says. The ENEMEDIA is on his side and he will not be held accountable for anything.

I like the post from your link that said...

“All Obama statements come with an expiration date. It’s just a matter of when.”

[JRochelle]

Prepare yourself for what comes next.

Keith Doberman will come after you. In fact prepare for all of MSNBC to come after you and Eva.

They won't even attempt to be fair or honest.

[Timocrat]

She's trying to use Madison to claim that we need modern restraints on "Factions" (a.k.a. the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy). Madison felt that a Republic was much safer than a Democracy because it prevented an abusive majority from imposing unjust policies on a minority. Because the US was such a large country geographically and because power is disbursed thru the various counties,districts, states and the federal governments it would be difficult for a majority "Faction" to impose their will on the minority. She argues that the internet has collapsed that disbursement of power and that new restraints are needed on what she perceives as an abusive majority.

Interestingly one of the evils that Madison inveighed against was “an equal division of property" - known to us as Socialism. Wonder how she feels about that part of the 10th Paper.

Madison wrote:

The influence of factious leaders may kindle a flame within their particular States but will be unable to spread a general conflagration through the other States......A rage for paper money, for an abolition of debts, for an equal division of property, or for any other improper or wicked project , will be less apt to pervade the whole body of the Union than a particular member of it ........