B.H.O. Overseas Edition
B.H.O. OVERSEAS EDITION
Get Over It Award: So-called "birthers" who cannot seem to accept that Barack Obama, love him or hate him, was born in Hawaii, not Kenya. The latest incarnation of the "debate," as reported by Politico.com: People who insist Obama's Hawaiian birth certificate is a forgery have overrun a National Academy of Public Adminsitration-sponsored Twitter page, twitter.com/ogovbrainstorm. Yes, in an effort to promote government openness by creating what is essentially an instant-comment web presence, ogovbrainstorm has subjected itself to a deluge of "Where Are Your Papers Barry?" Um, right here, folks: www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/born_in_the_usa.html. Now can we get back to the economy? And the Middle East? And those two wars?
Toughest Time Paying Attention: Radio/TV commentator Sean Hannity. Obama, on a weeklong mission to engage the Muslim world in something resembling dialogue, gave an interview to France's Canal Plus TV on June 1. Here are two excerpts, accompanied by Hannity's commentary from Fox News.
Obama: "If you actually took the number of Muslim Americans, we'd be one of the largest Muslim countries in the world."
Hannity: "He honors the national day of prayer behind closed doors. Now, on his Middle East apology tour, the president calls the U.S. a 'Muslim nation.'"
Obama: "We do not consider ourselves a Christian nation, or a Jewish nation, or a Muslim nation. We consider ourselves a nation of citizens, who are bound by ideals."
Hannity: "The same president who insists the U.S. is not a Christian nation is now calling us a Muslim nation."
If Obama said "we are not a Christian nation," he also, by the same utter disregard for context, said "we are not a Muslim nation." Do you see that, Sean? Sean? Never mind.
Broken Calculator Award: Obama, who is almost certainly mistaken about the number of Muslims in the U.S. The president suggested there are "nearly 7 million" Muslims in America, but the CIA World Fact Book puts the number at 1.8 million -- a far cry from Obama's estimate. But even if 7 million were correct, the U.S. would merely be the 32nd largest "Muslim nation." More likely we're not even Top 50. Wethinks Obama is trying a little too hard to charm and impress his hosts.
Pay No Attention to That President Award: Osama bin Laden, who apparently felt it necessary to issue a preemptive statement equating Barack Obama's policies with those of George W. Bush. Obama is "walking the same road of his predecessors to build enmity against Muslims and increasing the number of fighters and establishing more lasting wars," bin Laden said last week, in another one of those low-tech recordings.
If some reports are to believed, bin Laden is running out of opportunities to buy a better tape recorder. NPR reports that the increase in U.S. troops in the region, combined with a Pakistani push to dissolve al Qaeda's hierarchy, has Team bin Laden running out of places to hide. "The administration smells blood here," said Juan Zarate, a top Bush administration counterterrorism official. "I think al-Qaeda is on its heels."
About time. It's only been seven years.
Thank Goodness the Contract has Expired Award: Manchester United, the British Premier League soccer dynasty, which announced a four-year shirt sponsorship agreement with Chicago-based insurance broker Aon Corp. last week.
Why isn't news of the biggest sponsorship deal of its kind on the sports page? Because we think it's vaguely amusing that, starting with the 2010-11 season, Aon Corp. replaces U.S. insurer AIG.
AIG, criticized for squandering federal bailout money, might have had a tough time explaining the Aon sponsorship deal: $131.2 million over the four years. Snatch up your AIG/ManU jerseys while you can: ManU will play with AIG on its shirts until May 2010.
