Posted on 09/04/2004 1:39:22 PM PDT by pilgrim
Pro-Bush Booth Stirs Anger at Convention
ROSEMONT, Ill. (AP) -- They stop abruptly when they see the 5-foot-tall photo of President Bush, with "muslimsforbush.com" above his head.
Then come the outbursts.
"Disgusting," said one onlooker. "Take that down," said another.
At the largest annual convention of American Muslims, a pro-Bush booth has stirred anger among attendees who believe the president's actions since Sept. 11, 2001, have hurt more innocent Muslims than terrorists.
"I think President Bush has misled not only the United States, but the world," said Noor Maciael, an educator who called the booth "disgusting" and planned to vote for Democrat John Kerry. "He has put us in a situation where the whole world is hating this country."
The display was funded by Muhammad Ali Hasan and his mother, Seeme, who recently created the group "Muslims for Bush." Seeme Hasan said in a phone interview that she and her husband Malik, a Colorado physician who earned his wealth in the health care industry, have donated more than $1 million to Bush and Republican causes since the 2000 campaign.
"The reason we are doing this is that Muslims don't have a lobbyist," Seeme Hasan said. "We want to be there. We are going to give contributions at the highest level."
Bush has other supporters in the Muslim community. Some are Iraqi-Americans overjoyed that Saddam Hussein has been ousted. Others are entrepreneurs who view the GOP as more friendly to business interests. And many devout Muslims prefer the Republicans' conservative stand on social issues such as gay marriage.
But many Muslims at the nonpartisan Islamic Society of North America convention were not grateful for the Hasans' activism.
An older man gawked at the photo of the president with his arms wrapped around Muhammad and Seeme Hasan, and said, "I'm numb. I'm speechless." He then joined a group that had cornered a conference official, demanding that the display be taken down. A volunteer staffing the booth said some people were taking campaign material and throwing it out.
Asma Gull Hasan, the elder Hasan's daughter, who was also at the booth, said she had expected negative remarks. However, she said she was encouraged that some passers-by had quietly told her they would vote for the president.
Bush has a complex relationship with American Muslims.
He declared Islam a peaceful religion when some other U.S. leaders were condemning the faith, and honored Muslim holidays in the White House.
After Sept. 11, the president made a gesture of enormous significance for the community when he visited a Washington-area mosque and warned the public that anger over the suicide hijackings should not be directed toward U.S. Muslims.
However, his subsequent policies have caused deep resentment.
Muslim leaders say the domestic war on terror and the USA Patriot Act, which extended controversial law enforcement powers, have cast so wide a net that all Muslims and their institutions have become suspect. Many also saw the war in Iraq as the extension of a misguided U.S. policy in the Mideast that foments terrorism instead of stopping it.
Leading American Muslim organizations endorsed Bush in 2000 over Democrat Al Gore, expecting the Texas governor would be more sympathetic to their concerns. But Muslims have said since that they regretted their decision.
Surveys of U.S. Muslims indicate a majority will vote for Kerry, even though they fear he will not go far enough in repealing parts of the Patriot Act. Volunteers at a Kerry booth at the convention, in a far corner of the vendors' hall away from the Bush display, were busily distributing campaign stickers.
Both candidates have been reaching out to Muslim voters. Muslims are concentrated in some battleground states, such as Ohio, Michigan and Florida, and they hope their presence in those areas will help them gain political visibility.
Muhammad Hasan said that since the convention began Friday evening, critics who have approached him have been more open to hearing his views. He said he was not discouraged by the response so far.
"I have a lot of faith in the fact that the Muslim vote is up for grabs," he said.
Then I suggest you and those other "conservatives" go join some skin-head type group and post your 'enlighted' comments there. Conservatism is not the ideology of hate.
And you and your "enlightened" RINO buddies can go hold hands and sing "Kumbaya, Kumbaya, why won't the terror go away?", while we conservatives who choose not to ignore the threat of Islam do all the dirty work to save your asses from the Muslims.
(who, I might remind you old chap, have proven time and again that they would kill those who kneel before them--you-- as quickly as they would me).
Thank God there are still people like yourself in this counrty who don't blindly accept the righteous hate rhetoric that consumes the Democratic Party and much of the world today.
The ignorant quote you cite puts the horse before the cart...people in the world hate this nation and our great President for RESPONDING to the evil acts he apparently thinks we should have continued to pull a UN/Clinton on and ignore.
Thanks, been addicted to the news since I first became a Freeper -g- And then ran hundreds of stories a day for months on TM -g-
~Bad habits are hard to break ;)
I think the President has shown considerable restraint in not responding to the great desire of Bin Laden et al to have him accept their challenge of a religious war, as they know the powerful teachings of Islam would be able to pressure countless millions of Muslims all over the world to actively join the clash of civilizations they seek.
Expecting more than that in terms of "sympathy" exposes them as Democrats, anyway.
Here is the real Muslim faith.
http://www.biblebelievers.org.au/moongod.htm
No wonder they call this guy a religious leader...look how well he care for his AK-47
Unfortunetly this iis far from the first time we heard it here.
And Luis we know what you do, read all of this and then post what you did!
http://www.prophetofdoom.net
Bump!
I don't know if you were being sarcastic but, YES, they did commit crimes in those actions and should have been prosecuted.
The trouble is there is no stopping point. Once you cross the Rubicon and break the rule, there is no rule any more. Bad precedent is very dangerous.
How do you know that? Just because Bush and Ashcroft said so? Sorry but my constitution says not guilty until proven guilty by a jury.
Padilla innocent and the victim of kidnapping, Bush the head kidnapper until proven otherwise.
So what do you suggest? If Bush has the power than so will the next Democratic president. No matter how much you trust Bush not to misuse it, you must fight the precedent to prevent a future president Hillary from having that power.
NO, Michael Badnarik is the only shot for this nation to remain a free constitutional republic.
No sir, you are afflicted with the false paradigm that anyone against the war or the sainted Bush is a liberal. I am libertarian. That means I am against the war, fear Bush as a gathering threat for domestic tyranny. I favor freedom in all things including gun freedom, medical freedom, education freedom and strict adherence to the constitution in all things. That is why I abhore the thought of either Bush or Kerry at the helm. My vote is for Michael Badnarik.
When you see American children lying in a heap of mangled bodies like those of that Russian school...then do you think, maybe, you could get off your constitutional tirade and call evil, evil? Lincoln suspended parts of the constitution during the civil war, precedent is set. If that, or something worse...like say, oh, I dunno, say 9/11 were to happen here do you think some extraordinary measures might be needed?
And, have you or anyone you personally know, been imprisoned, detained, tortured, held without bond or any other unconstitutional act perpetrated upon you?
I'm voting for George W. Bush.
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