First – allow me to thank the others here at the blog. The past week has been hectic for me with family stuff, and I really appreciate their posts. I’m also very appreciative of your comments and patience.
Now…. on to the news.
Well, if you haven’t heard, Mr. Obama was the recipient of the whole “Wedding Crashers” treatment last week. Except that it wasn’t a wedding, Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn were nowhere to be seen, and the part of the weird couple from Virginia was played by Michaele and Tareq Salah, two socialites and reality show participants from the DC area.
Now, while the concept of White House intruders is not new (the President’s residence used to be much more open to the public, and is now less open for security reasons), most of the intruders were stopped by the US Secret Service or other security personnel before they shook hands with the President at a State Dinner.
At least… that’s the current story. And it wraps things up pretty nicely, what with sneaky reality show folks doing things for cameras and getting some publicity.
Except that it’s not the whole story. That’s right, kids… the White House Gatecrashers are… long term Obama supporters. Talking Points Memo has dug into the memory hole down which this little tidbit of information disappeared, and has discovered that he’d been on the Board of Directors at the American Taskforce on Palestine – an organization with a pro-Palestinian statehood agenda that also happens to be tied to none other than Rashid Khalidi, whose books and scholarship are pimped at the ATFP’s website.
And who is Rashid Khalidi? Well…. remember back in October 2008, when there was a bit of an eruption because the LA Times refused to release a 2003 video it had of Obama’s presence at an event during which he and Obama were a bit buddy-buddy? Well, it wasn’t the first time they’d shared dinner together… but that doesn’t address the issue. Again: who is Rashid Khalidi?
Rashid Khalidi’s current resume includes things like “Professor at Columbia University” and “Professor at the University of Chicago” (Obama’s supposed employer prior to his job at US Senator). What it probably doesn’t include is “Spokesman for the Palestinian Liberation Organization during the time they were pursuing an active war of terror against Israel“.
Are you paying attention?
1jason1
The Annoyed Elephant
ncmike72
I had not read the extra background on the pair. Interesting.