Nyani Ngabu
Platinum Member
- May 15, 2006
- 97,121
- 136,883
US Election Coverage 2008
US Election Coverage 2008
- Thread starter Game Theory
- Start date
Icadon
JF-Expert Member
- Mar 21, 2007
- 3,581
- 196
Hmmm naona Yanga na Simba bado zinaendelea hapa....
hehe....Kila mtu anasema Palin DID NOT WIN but She did Well naona Ma right Wing Nuts wanafumba macho...Safari ni ndefu!!!
For the conclusion of Thursday's debate failed to alter a trajectory that has favored the Democratic ticket. The campaign is still handcuffed to the nation's financial crisis, with voters willing to take a risk on change and reminded of what they don't like about Republicans and the Bush administration.
A shifting map appears increasingly to favor the Democrat, but top aides to both candidates said Thursday that they would go on attack: Obama with the aim of keeping the campaign centered on voters' economic worries, McCain with the hope of "turning the page" on the crisis and returning to worries about Obama.
"We need to get it back to the middle pages of the Wall Street Journal instead of on the front page of every paper every day," Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt, a host here, said of the economic crisis.
hehe....Kila mtu anasema Palin DID NOT WIN but She did Well naona Ma right Wing Nuts wanafumba macho...Safari ni ndefu!!!
For the conclusion of Thursday's debate failed to alter a trajectory that has favored the Democratic ticket. The campaign is still handcuffed to the nation's financial crisis, with voters willing to take a risk on change and reminded of what they don't like about Republicans and the Bush administration.
A shifting map appears increasingly to favor the Democrat, but top aides to both candidates said Thursday that they would go on attack: Obama with the aim of keeping the campaign centered on voters' economic worries, McCain with the hope of "turning the page" on the crisis and returning to worries about Obama.
"We need to get it back to the middle pages of the Wall Street Journal instead of on the front page of every paper every day," Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt, a host here, said of the economic crisis.
Nyani Ngabu
Platinum Member
- May 15, 2006
- 97,121
- 136,883
Kila mtu? Wewe utakuwa umevuta bangi wewe.....kila mtu ndio nani? Ma pundits wa CNN kina Toobin na Gergen ambao wanamuunga mkono Obantu? Unachekesha kweli wewe...
Vipi ile ofisi yenu ya Sugarloaf....bado ipo au mlishafunga virago?
Icadon
JF-Expert Member
- Mar 21, 2007
- 3,581
- 196
Ofisi ipo njoo unywe kahawa kesho....!!!
A national poll of people who watched the vice presidential debate Thursday night suggests that Democratic Sen. Joe Biden won, but also says Republican Gov. Sarah Palin exceeded expectations.
Poll respondents give Sen. Joe Biden the edge over Gov. Sarah Palin in ability to express views.
Poll respondents give Sen. Joe Biden the edge over Gov. Sarah Palin in ability to express views.
The CNN/Opinion Research Corp. said 51 percent of those polled thought Biden did the best job, while 36 percent thought Palin did the best job.
But respondents said the folksy Palin was more likable, scoring 54 percent to Biden's 36 percent. Seventy percent said Biden was more of a typical politician.
Both candidates exceeded expectations -- 84 percent of the people polled said Palin did a better job than they expected, while 64 percent said Biden also exceeded expectations.
How Palin would perform had been a major issue for the Alaska governor, who had some well-publicized fumbles during interviews with CBS' Katie Couric leading up to the debate.
Respondents thought Biden was better at expressing his views, giving him 52 percent to Palin's 36 percen
Nyani Ngabu
Platinum Member
- May 15, 2006
- 97,121
- 136,883
CNN ni ya Obama.....sasa kipi cha ajabu..?
Kwanza siangalii tena CNN na hata nikipata wageni siwapeleki CNN center kuwatembeza.....wameshanikera
Nyani Ngabu
Platinum Member
- May 15, 2006
- 97,121
- 136,883
Taratibu ndugu.....hizo polls zina count or am I missing something?
If recall back in 2004 exit polls had Kerry winning but exit polls didn't count....so unless the laws have changed to say that opinion polls are the ones that count....it's not over till it's over and hope y'all believe these polls....
Capitol Hill
JF-Expert Member
- Oct 19, 2007
- 749
- 48
Na Bado....kuna tetesi (un confirmed) anaweza ku pull Penn State
Nyani Ngabu
Platinum Member
- May 15, 2006
- 97,121
- 136,883
You mean PA? Hiyo si blue state (itakayo turn red)?
Sorry guys but I don't any sensible White person, in a privacy of the voting booth casting his or her ballot for Obantu. I just don't see it. Obantu's only chance of victory relies on massive Black, Latino and other Non-White voter turnout. Otherwise he is not going to win. Even the White youth that have been going ga-ga over Obantu will quickly come to their senses when they enter that voting booth. Obantu in the White House will be a nightmare scenario for Whites and even Asians.
BAK
JF-Expert Member
- Feb 11, 2007
- 124,769
- 288,283
Fake pollsters' scare tactics target Obama
• Callers link candidate to Palestinian militants
• Jews and evangelicals are targeted in swing states
Ewen MacAskill in Washington
The Guardian, Friday October 3 2008
Barack Obama's campaign for the White House is receiving increasing complaints about scam pollsters involved in dirty tricks operations to discredit the Democratic candidate.
Victims claim the fake pollsters work insinuations into their questions, designed to damage Obama. Those targeted in swing states such as Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania include Jews, Christian evangelicals, Catholics and Latinos.
One of those to protest, Debbie Minden, who lives in a predominantly Jewish neighbourhood, Squirrel Hill, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, told the Guardian that the pollster had begun by asking her the usual questions about her background and who she would vote for.
But the pollster went on to ask Minden, who is Jewish, how she would vote if she knew that Obama was supported by Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that runs Gaza and was responsible for most of the suicide bombings against Israel. "It is scare tactics. It is terribly underhand," she said.
The groups behind such polls have not been identified. One of the Republican groups working on behalf of John McCain's campaign, the Republican Jewish Coalition, acknowledges carrying out a survey about Jewish voters' views on Obama and Israel, but insists it was a legitimate exercise intended to test campaign messages on Jewish voters.
The RJC angrily dismissed comparisons between its exercise and a "push poll", the technique of using fake surveys to sway voters. Its poll was restricted to 750 people whereas push polls usually involve phoning thousands of people. It asked 82 questions, only 10% of which were devoted to Obama.
The technique of push polling is part of the election battle being fought on the ground in the swing states where the margins of victory have been narrow in past elections.
On a bigger scale, teams from each campaign are engaged in legal fights over who is entitled to vote, with Republican groups trying to have people in largely Democratic neighbourhoods disqualified.
Push polling was used with stunning effect in the 2000 Republican primary campaign in South Carolina where people claiming to be pollsters insinuated that McCain, then fighting George Bush for the party nomination, had illegitimately fathered a black child.
Bush went on to overturn McCain's double-digit poll lead in the primaries, and the origin of the calls was never fully established.
This year, the tactic surfaced again during the Republican primaries when calls were made highlighting the religion of one of the candidates, Mitt Romney - he is a Mormon, a religion viewed with suspicion by some on the Christian right.
An Obama campaign organiser in one of the swing states said there had been lots of complaints about push polling in his patch. Callers said questions frequently included a reference to the widespread belief that Obama is a Muslim, even though he has repeatedly said he is a Christian.
The organiser said another question was: would you be less likely to vote for Obama if Israel had to give up all of Jerusalem? "They make this shit up. They are good at it. The unassuming listener will not realise it is untrue," he said.
Minden, a school psychologist, received a call on a Sunday afternoon in the middle of last month. Living in a swing state, she was not surprised to be polled. "It sounded like a normal poll. Was I voting? Demographics? Age? Where we live? Then a question about which party I supported, who I preferred on the economy, on foreign policy, questions like that.
"They said; 'Are you Jewish?' and I said 'Yeh'. Then they said 'if you knew Barack Obama was supported by Hamas, would it change your vote? Would it change your vote if you knew his church had made antisemitic statements?'. All the hot button issues on Israel." She said she will vote for Obama as planned.
In Key West, Florida, another swing state, Joelna Marcus, 71, a retired professor, had a similar experience. She was asked if she would be influenced if she learned that Obama had donated money to the Palestine Liberation Organisation.
Marcus has since disconnected her telephone.
The Huffington Post website reported that a reader, named Rachel from Strongsville, Ohio, complained of a push poll that portrayed Obama as a radical leftwinger who had voted to let convicted child sex offenders out early and to allow them to live near schools.
• Callers link candidate to Palestinian militants
• Jews and evangelicals are targeted in swing states
Ewen MacAskill in Washington
The Guardian, Friday October 3 2008
Barack Obama's campaign for the White House is receiving increasing complaints about scam pollsters involved in dirty tricks operations to discredit the Democratic candidate.
Victims claim the fake pollsters work insinuations into their questions, designed to damage Obama. Those targeted in swing states such as Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania include Jews, Christian evangelicals, Catholics and Latinos.
One of those to protest, Debbie Minden, who lives in a predominantly Jewish neighbourhood, Squirrel Hill, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, told the Guardian that the pollster had begun by asking her the usual questions about her background and who she would vote for.
But the pollster went on to ask Minden, who is Jewish, how she would vote if she knew that Obama was supported by Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that runs Gaza and was responsible for most of the suicide bombings against Israel. "It is scare tactics. It is terribly underhand," she said.
The groups behind such polls have not been identified. One of the Republican groups working on behalf of John McCain's campaign, the Republican Jewish Coalition, acknowledges carrying out a survey about Jewish voters' views on Obama and Israel, but insists it was a legitimate exercise intended to test campaign messages on Jewish voters.
The RJC angrily dismissed comparisons between its exercise and a "push poll", the technique of using fake surveys to sway voters. Its poll was restricted to 750 people whereas push polls usually involve phoning thousands of people. It asked 82 questions, only 10% of which were devoted to Obama.
The technique of push polling is part of the election battle being fought on the ground in the swing states where the margins of victory have been narrow in past elections.
On a bigger scale, teams from each campaign are engaged in legal fights over who is entitled to vote, with Republican groups trying to have people in largely Democratic neighbourhoods disqualified.
Push polling was used with stunning effect in the 2000 Republican primary campaign in South Carolina where people claiming to be pollsters insinuated that McCain, then fighting George Bush for the party nomination, had illegitimately fathered a black child.
Bush went on to overturn McCain's double-digit poll lead in the primaries, and the origin of the calls was never fully established.
This year, the tactic surfaced again during the Republican primaries when calls were made highlighting the religion of one of the candidates, Mitt Romney - he is a Mormon, a religion viewed with suspicion by some on the Christian right.
An Obama campaign organiser in one of the swing states said there had been lots of complaints about push polling in his patch. Callers said questions frequently included a reference to the widespread belief that Obama is a Muslim, even though he has repeatedly said he is a Christian.
The organiser said another question was: would you be less likely to vote for Obama if Israel had to give up all of Jerusalem? "They make this shit up. They are good at it. The unassuming listener will not realise it is untrue," he said.
Minden, a school psychologist, received a call on a Sunday afternoon in the middle of last month. Living in a swing state, she was not surprised to be polled. "It sounded like a normal poll. Was I voting? Demographics? Age? Where we live? Then a question about which party I supported, who I preferred on the economy, on foreign policy, questions like that.
"They said; 'Are you Jewish?' and I said 'Yeh'. Then they said 'if you knew Barack Obama was supported by Hamas, would it change your vote? Would it change your vote if you knew his church had made antisemitic statements?'. All the hot button issues on Israel." She said she will vote for Obama as planned.
In Key West, Florida, another swing state, Joelna Marcus, 71, a retired professor, had a similar experience. She was asked if she would be influenced if she learned that Obama had donated money to the Palestine Liberation Organisation.
Marcus has since disconnected her telephone.
The Huffington Post website reported that a reader, named Rachel from Strongsville, Ohio, complained of a push poll that portrayed Obama as a radical leftwinger who had voted to let convicted child sex offenders out early and to allow them to live near schools.
BAK
JF-Expert Member
- Feb 11, 2007
- 124,769
- 288,283
GOP dirty tricks in the swing statesRepublican operatives are using an anti-Muslim film and push polling to raise fears of terrorism and smear Barack Obama
Richard Silverstein guardian.co.uk, Monday September 22 2008 14:30 BST
We are now entering the closing weeks of what promises to be yet another close and contentious presidential election contest. As each side seeks to maximise its advantages and minimise its weaknesses, the Republican party has chosen the lowest of low roads, engaging in two sleazy political marketing campaigns over the past week.
First, DVDs of an anti-Muslim documentary film are being distributed to 28 million voters in swing states like Florida, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Colorado and Wisconsin. Second, Republican telemarketers have begun push polling aimed at scaring Jewish voters in swing states from voting for Barack Obama.
The 2005 film, called Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West, warns that Islamic jihadists aim to take over the US government and destroy our way of life and urges voters to consider which candidate will best protect the nation. Among other subtleties, the film attempts to equate Islam with Nazism, juxtaposing scenes of children being encouraged to become suicide bombers with shots of Nazi rallies.
The film was distributed as an advertising supplement in major newspapers, including the New York Times. In addition, the Republican Jewish Coalition has mailed the DVDs to rabbis and Jewish organisational mailing lists, while a Christian Zionist group distributed it to delegates at the Republican and Democratic conventions. Sheldon Adelson, a major funder of arch-conservative causes and Likud party leader Bibi Netanyahu, personally gives the DVD to participants in the Taglit Birthright Israel tours he funds for Jewish young people.
The film's production and promotional campaign were bankrolled by the Clarion Fund, an obscure non-profit that has not filed the required IRS form that would allow the public to see who its officers and major funders are. The group was founded, however, by Raphael Shore, an Israeli-Canadian citizen and supporter of John McCain. Shore's website, Radical Islam, featured an editorial endorsing McCain for president. That's a big no-no: 501c3s aren't legally allowed to endorse candidates.
The mass distribution of Obsession is an obvious Republican scare-tactic, right out of the Rovian playbook. Party operatives believe that scaring Americans into believing there's a jihadist under every bed will play to Republican strengths and Democratic weaknesses on national security. They swiftboated John Kerry in 2004. Now they're jihadising Barack Obama.
To this end, Jewish voters in swing states have also been the targets of push polling from Republican-affiliated marketing outfits. Joelna Marcus of Key West, Florida received a telemarketing call asking if she is Jewish. After replying "yes", she was asked whether she was religious. Then the push poller then asked her if her opinion of Barack Obama would change if she knew that Obama had given lots and lots of money to the PLO. In Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Debbie Minden received a call asking whether her support for Obama would be swayed if she knew "his church was anti-Israel" or that Hamas endorsed him and that its leaders had met with him. The caller also asked if she would change her mind if she learned he was Muslim.
The New Republic's Jonathan Cohn also received a call in Michigan and took notes of the smears: According to the caller, some of Obama's best friends in Chicago were "pro-Palestinian leaders"; Jimmy Carter's anti-Israel national security adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski is an Obama foreign policy adviser; Obama sat on a board which funded a "pro-Palestinian charity"; Obama said that if elected he would call for a summit of Muslim nations and exclude Israel.
Minden reported that her call came from a firm called Research Strategies, which is none other than Wilson Research Strategies, whose founder is Chris Wilson. Wilson is a top Republican consultant and friend of, you guessed it, Karl Rove. Cohn said his call came from a company called Central Marketing, which has done push polls on behalf of the campaigns of Republicans John Thune and Michael Bloomberg.
And Ben Smith reported last week that the Republican Jewish Coalition has admitted hiring the Republican telemarketing outfits to do the push polling. Amazing how a little bit of sleuthing leads this filth right to the door of the Republican party.
The way these things work, McCain has plausible deniability because the calls aren't made by his campaign. But they and the DVD are clearly designed to raise fears about national security and suppress Jewish turnout for Obama. If Republicans can reduce the number of Obama voters in key swing states by a few percentage points, they figure they strengthen McCain's chances of winning. This is American presidential politics at its most disgusting.
Richard Silverstein guardian.co.uk, Monday September 22 2008 14:30 BST
We are now entering the closing weeks of what promises to be yet another close and contentious presidential election contest. As each side seeks to maximise its advantages and minimise its weaknesses, the Republican party has chosen the lowest of low roads, engaging in two sleazy political marketing campaigns over the past week.
First, DVDs of an anti-Muslim documentary film are being distributed to 28 million voters in swing states like Florida, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Colorado and Wisconsin. Second, Republican telemarketers have begun push polling aimed at scaring Jewish voters in swing states from voting for Barack Obama.
The 2005 film, called Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West, warns that Islamic jihadists aim to take over the US government and destroy our way of life and urges voters to consider which candidate will best protect the nation. Among other subtleties, the film attempts to equate Islam with Nazism, juxtaposing scenes of children being encouraged to become suicide bombers with shots of Nazi rallies.
The film was distributed as an advertising supplement in major newspapers, including the New York Times. In addition, the Republican Jewish Coalition has mailed the DVDs to rabbis and Jewish organisational mailing lists, while a Christian Zionist group distributed it to delegates at the Republican and Democratic conventions. Sheldon Adelson, a major funder of arch-conservative causes and Likud party leader Bibi Netanyahu, personally gives the DVD to participants in the Taglit Birthright Israel tours he funds for Jewish young people.
The film's production and promotional campaign were bankrolled by the Clarion Fund, an obscure non-profit that has not filed the required IRS form that would allow the public to see who its officers and major funders are. The group was founded, however, by Raphael Shore, an Israeli-Canadian citizen and supporter of John McCain. Shore's website, Radical Islam, featured an editorial endorsing McCain for president. That's a big no-no: 501c3s aren't legally allowed to endorse candidates.
The mass distribution of Obsession is an obvious Republican scare-tactic, right out of the Rovian playbook. Party operatives believe that scaring Americans into believing there's a jihadist under every bed will play to Republican strengths and Democratic weaknesses on national security. They swiftboated John Kerry in 2004. Now they're jihadising Barack Obama.
To this end, Jewish voters in swing states have also been the targets of push polling from Republican-affiliated marketing outfits. Joelna Marcus of Key West, Florida received a telemarketing call asking if she is Jewish. After replying "yes", she was asked whether she was religious. Then the push poller then asked her if her opinion of Barack Obama would change if she knew that Obama had given lots and lots of money to the PLO. In Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Debbie Minden received a call asking whether her support for Obama would be swayed if she knew "his church was anti-Israel" or that Hamas endorsed him and that its leaders had met with him. The caller also asked if she would change her mind if she learned he was Muslim.
The New Republic's Jonathan Cohn also received a call in Michigan and took notes of the smears: According to the caller, some of Obama's best friends in Chicago were "pro-Palestinian leaders"; Jimmy Carter's anti-Israel national security adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski is an Obama foreign policy adviser; Obama sat on a board which funded a "pro-Palestinian charity"; Obama said that if elected he would call for a summit of Muslim nations and exclude Israel.
Minden reported that her call came from a firm called Research Strategies, which is none other than Wilson Research Strategies, whose founder is Chris Wilson. Wilson is a top Republican consultant and friend of, you guessed it, Karl Rove. Cohn said his call came from a company called Central Marketing, which has done push polls on behalf of the campaigns of Republicans John Thune and Michael Bloomberg.
And Ben Smith reported last week that the Republican Jewish Coalition has admitted hiring the Republican telemarketing outfits to do the push polling. Amazing how a little bit of sleuthing leads this filth right to the door of the Republican party.
The way these things work, McCain has plausible deniability because the calls aren't made by his campaign. But they and the DVD are clearly designed to raise fears about national security and suppress Jewish turnout for Obama. If Republicans can reduce the number of Obama voters in key swing states by a few percentage points, they figure they strengthen McCain's chances of winning. This is American presidential politics at its most disgusting.
BAK
JF-Expert Member
- Feb 11, 2007
- 124,769
- 288,283
'Obsession' stokes passions, fears and controversy
By Daphna Berman
A documentary produced in Israel and screened widely throughout the U.S. is stirring furious debate over its depiction of Muslims.
The film, "Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West," is gaining a quick following among conservative Americans, evangelicals and Jews. U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney is said to have seen the film and though it hasn't technically been released yet, segments have been screened several times on Fox News and shown on nearly 200 university campuses.
But critics of the film dismiss it as "fear-mongering" propaganda aimed at bashing Muslims and inciting bigotry and hate.
"Obsession" is a one-hour look at radical Islam with footage of Arab and Iranian television, interspersed with rallies from Nazi Germany in an attempt to draw parallels between the two. Comprised mostly of news clips from recent years, it includes scenes of thousands of people chanting "Death to America" and children talking about their dream of becoming a martyr. "I hope Bush dies in flames and I want to go to Ariel Sharon and stab him with a sword," one little girl in Bahrain tells the camera. The film also features interviews with prominent neo-conservative figures, like Daniel Pipes, who warn about the danger of radical Islam and its growing prominence in some circles.
Supporters of the film, which has been circulating since fall 2006, say if offers an important window into radical trends in the Muslim world.
"'Obsession' gives the picture that unfortunately no one else does," says Raphael Shore, the Canadian-Israeli living in Jerusalem who produced the film. "The average viewer tries to understand the conflict. It's difficult to connect all the dots and 'Obsession' does just that. It gives a coherence to a problem that people have been grappling with."
Smear tactics
Critics, however, say the film is demagogic and insist it presents a fringe element as representative of broader religious trends - despite what its creators say are several disclaimers reminding viewers that "most Muslims do not support terror."
"It's a typical cherry picking of inflammatory images and splicing them together to create fear," Ibrahim Hooper, spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) said in a telephone interview from the group's headquarters in Washington, D.C. "When these smear techniques are used against any other religious or minority group, it is recognized as bigotry. When it's aimed at Islam or Muslims, it has gained unfortunate levels of acceptance within our society." The film, he said, "has an agenda to make Muslims look bad."
Republican and Jewish students groups have sponsored scores of screenings, most of which occurred without incident, the film's creators say. But protests and rising student tensions have begun accompanying the film on many campuses. A screening at Pace University in New York was canceled and rescheduled only months later after administrators pressured Hillel student leaders into calling off their event. And a recent Georgia Tech screening sponsored by the College Republicans required extra security as part of "Islamofascism Awareness Day."
To be sure, "Obsession" has a definite shock value. But Shore denies allegations that it is propaganda.
"Propaganda is a manipulation of facts; it's not showing the whole picture. It seems to me that this does not apply to the film. People say that we picked out the worst stuff, but it's the opposite. There was so much material that it was hard to choose."
Fueling the fire
Aside from the content itself, a number of other factors related to the film have fueled the flames of controversy. For one, it has a largely Jewish and pro-Israel distribution network, though Shore is trying to expand the film's appeal. According to news reports, at a screening earlier this year at New York University, distributors of the film required viewers to register at IsraelActivism.com, the Web site of Aish HaTorah's Hasbara Fellowships.
Shore, incidentally, was the director of both Aish HaTorah International and the Hasbara Fellowships, a pro-Israel advocacy group. But he says the film was an independent project.
He also tries to play down the film's Israel connection, simply because "It isn't helpful," he says. "I don't want it to be only Jewish and Israel-related.
"I don't understand why it's biased if Jews are behind the creation of an objective film," he says. "There's nothing wrong with Jews saying the radical Islamists are coming, just like there's nothing wrong with Jews in Nazi Germany saying the Nazis are coming."
Funders anonymous
The issue is further complicated as funding sources for the film remain hazy. Shore and director Wayne Kopping of South Africa are the only figures associated with the film willing to release their real names and appear in media interviews; the executive producer is listed as Peter Mier, while the production manager is listed as Brett Halperin. But Mier and Halperin are just aliases, Shore says. He describes the real Mier as a Canadian Jewish businessman who wanted to do something significant, but asked to remain anonymous for fear of his safety. According to Shore, about 80 percent of the film's $400,000 budget was provided by Mier.
"At the recommendation of a number of experts we worked with in making the film, many of the individuals and organizations who helped make this film possible requested anonymity," Shore explained during an online question-and-answer session on Fox.com. "Tragically, we've seen numerous times the response of the radicals to those who openly expose or disagree with them.
"Radical Muslims are a serious bunch," he later added, "and if they don't like the film, then God forbid..."
Shore also denies early reports that link the film to Honest Reporting, a pro-Israel media watchdog group.
On the organization's site, "Obsession" is described as "Honest Reporting's newest documentary film," but Shore says it's a mistake and that the film's creators have told Honest Reporting to take it off their site "a dozen times."
"It was a marriage of convenience to associate [my previous film] 'Relentless' with Honest Reporting. At the beginning, I thought I would do the same thing with 'Obsession.' I decided not to, but I considered it and that came out in the press."
This summer, the film will be released officially and will be available in retail outlets like Wal-Mart, Blockbuster and Target. Some 100,000 copies have already been sold through the film's Web site, www.Obsessionthemovie.com, and based on television ratings from Fox and CNN Headline News, which also broadcast segments of the documentary, Shore estimates that some 10 million viewers - including a large number of evangelical Christians - have already seen significant portions of the film.
"Many evangelical Christians are waking up and becoming passionate about this issue," says Shore. "There is a shock factor because people haven't seen this before. Now, they are seeing images of children being brainwashed, they see the passion and ideology of their religious leaders and they say, 'Gosh, that's scary.' But if people were exposed to this already, it wouldn't be so shocking."
By Daphna Berman
A documentary produced in Israel and screened widely throughout the U.S. is stirring furious debate over its depiction of Muslims.
The film, "Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West," is gaining a quick following among conservative Americans, evangelicals and Jews. U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney is said to have seen the film and though it hasn't technically been released yet, segments have been screened several times on Fox News and shown on nearly 200 university campuses.
But critics of the film dismiss it as "fear-mongering" propaganda aimed at bashing Muslims and inciting bigotry and hate.
"Obsession" is a one-hour look at radical Islam with footage of Arab and Iranian television, interspersed with rallies from Nazi Germany in an attempt to draw parallels between the two. Comprised mostly of news clips from recent years, it includes scenes of thousands of people chanting "Death to America" and children talking about their dream of becoming a martyr. "I hope Bush dies in flames and I want to go to Ariel Sharon and stab him with a sword," one little girl in Bahrain tells the camera. The film also features interviews with prominent neo-conservative figures, like Daniel Pipes, who warn about the danger of radical Islam and its growing prominence in some circles.
Supporters of the film, which has been circulating since fall 2006, say if offers an important window into radical trends in the Muslim world.
"'Obsession' gives the picture that unfortunately no one else does," says Raphael Shore, the Canadian-Israeli living in Jerusalem who produced the film. "The average viewer tries to understand the conflict. It's difficult to connect all the dots and 'Obsession' does just that. It gives a coherence to a problem that people have been grappling with."
Smear tactics
Critics, however, say the film is demagogic and insist it presents a fringe element as representative of broader religious trends - despite what its creators say are several disclaimers reminding viewers that "most Muslims do not support terror."
"It's a typical cherry picking of inflammatory images and splicing them together to create fear," Ibrahim Hooper, spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) said in a telephone interview from the group's headquarters in Washington, D.C. "When these smear techniques are used against any other religious or minority group, it is recognized as bigotry. When it's aimed at Islam or Muslims, it has gained unfortunate levels of acceptance within our society." The film, he said, "has an agenda to make Muslims look bad."
Republican and Jewish students groups have sponsored scores of screenings, most of which occurred without incident, the film's creators say. But protests and rising student tensions have begun accompanying the film on many campuses. A screening at Pace University in New York was canceled and rescheduled only months later after administrators pressured Hillel student leaders into calling off their event. And a recent Georgia Tech screening sponsored by the College Republicans required extra security as part of "Islamofascism Awareness Day."
To be sure, "Obsession" has a definite shock value. But Shore denies allegations that it is propaganda.
"Propaganda is a manipulation of facts; it's not showing the whole picture. It seems to me that this does not apply to the film. People say that we picked out the worst stuff, but it's the opposite. There was so much material that it was hard to choose."
Fueling the fire
Aside from the content itself, a number of other factors related to the film have fueled the flames of controversy. For one, it has a largely Jewish and pro-Israel distribution network, though Shore is trying to expand the film's appeal. According to news reports, at a screening earlier this year at New York University, distributors of the film required viewers to register at IsraelActivism.com, the Web site of Aish HaTorah's Hasbara Fellowships.
Shore, incidentally, was the director of both Aish HaTorah International and the Hasbara Fellowships, a pro-Israel advocacy group. But he says the film was an independent project.
He also tries to play down the film's Israel connection, simply because "It isn't helpful," he says. "I don't want it to be only Jewish and Israel-related.
"I don't understand why it's biased if Jews are behind the creation of an objective film," he says. "There's nothing wrong with Jews saying the radical Islamists are coming, just like there's nothing wrong with Jews in Nazi Germany saying the Nazis are coming."
Funders anonymous
The issue is further complicated as funding sources for the film remain hazy. Shore and director Wayne Kopping of South Africa are the only figures associated with the film willing to release their real names and appear in media interviews; the executive producer is listed as Peter Mier, while the production manager is listed as Brett Halperin. But Mier and Halperin are just aliases, Shore says. He describes the real Mier as a Canadian Jewish businessman who wanted to do something significant, but asked to remain anonymous for fear of his safety. According to Shore, about 80 percent of the film's $400,000 budget was provided by Mier.
"At the recommendation of a number of experts we worked with in making the film, many of the individuals and organizations who helped make this film possible requested anonymity," Shore explained during an online question-and-answer session on Fox.com. "Tragically, we've seen numerous times the response of the radicals to those who openly expose or disagree with them.
"Radical Muslims are a serious bunch," he later added, "and if they don't like the film, then God forbid..."
Shore also denies early reports that link the film to Honest Reporting, a pro-Israel media watchdog group.
On the organization's site, "Obsession" is described as "Honest Reporting's newest documentary film," but Shore says it's a mistake and that the film's creators have told Honest Reporting to take it off their site "a dozen times."
"It was a marriage of convenience to associate [my previous film] 'Relentless' with Honest Reporting. At the beginning, I thought I would do the same thing with 'Obsession.' I decided not to, but I considered it and that came out in the press."
This summer, the film will be released officially and will be available in retail outlets like Wal-Mart, Blockbuster and Target. Some 100,000 copies have already been sold through the film's Web site, www.Obsessionthemovie.com, and based on television ratings from Fox and CNN Headline News, which also broadcast segments of the documentary, Shore estimates that some 10 million viewers - including a large number of evangelical Christians - have already seen significant portions of the film.
"Many evangelical Christians are waking up and becoming passionate about this issue," says Shore. "There is a shock factor because people haven't seen this before. Now, they are seeing images of children being brainwashed, they see the passion and ideology of their religious leaders and they say, 'Gosh, that's scary.' But if people were exposed to this already, it wouldn't be so shocking."
Icadon
JF-Expert Member
- Mar 21, 2007
- 3,581
- 196
Wamepull out of Michigan bila kumconsult hockey mum, how rude and sexist
"I fired a quick e-mail and said, 'oh, come on! Do we have to call it there?' she said. " Todd and I would [be] happy to get to Michigan and walk through those plants [with] car manufacturers.
"We'd be so happy to get to speak with the people there in Michigan, who are hurting because the economy is hurting," she added. "Whatever we can do and whatever Todd and I can do in realizing what their challenges in that state are, as we can relate to them and connect with them and promise them that we won't let them down in the administration."-Sarah Palin
"I fired a quick e-mail and said, 'oh, come on! Do we have to call it there?' she said. " Todd and I would [be] happy to get to Michigan and walk through those plants [with] car manufacturers.
"We'd be so happy to get to speak with the people there in Michigan, who are hurting because the economy is hurting," she added. "Whatever we can do and whatever Todd and I can do in realizing what their challenges in that state are, as we can relate to them and connect with them and promise them that we won't let them down in the administration."-Sarah Palin
If Obantu can link McCain to Bush why is it any worse when GOP try to link Obantu to muslims? What's good for the goose.....
I doubt Obantu will win Michigan. Michigan residents get enough dosage of Bantu politicians when they look at the shenanigans of Detroit politicians. I predict they will remember Detroit politicians when they go into the voting booth and cast their ballots for McCain-Palin. That's just my gut feeling.
Susuviri
JF-Expert Member
- Oct 6, 2007
- 3,713
- 891
Last time I checked , you Nyani and the pundits were saying Obama cannot close the deal with blue collar Americans na mmesema Bibi Kisura ndo jibu lenu, sasa imekuwaje??? Na wewe bana!
Nyani Ngabu
Platinum Member
- May 15, 2006
- 97,121
- 136,883
Kwani uchaguzi umeshafanyika? D-day ni Nov.4 na sio hizi so called polls....can you at least wait...? it's only 30 days left....
Rev. Kishoka
JF-Expert Member
- Mar 7, 2006
- 4,526
- 1,552
Nyani,
Naona McNgabu kaishiwa sera kaanza Swift Boat attacks kama Billary walivyofanya. This is dangerouos for our Grand Ole Party!
Naona McNgabu kaishiwa sera kaanza Swift Boat attacks kama Billary walivyofanya. This is dangerouos for our Grand Ole Party!
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