Dean Obeidallah Says Muslim Americans Feel ‘Under Siege,’ Live With A ‘Sense of Fear’
On my way into the White House on Wednesday, I heard perhaps the best explanation of the administration’s reasoning behind this, as Fox News White house correspondent Kevin Corke was doing a live hit from the North Lawn on the subject. His short but sweet reporting said it all (emphasis mine):
Whether they say or not, or admit it or not, violent Islamic extremism really is at the crux of the issue here. I think it’s fair to say that the White House knows that, and we know they know that because they keep bending over backwards not to say it…I have been told by several White House officials it’s not that they’re unaware of what’s happening, it’s that they want to be careful not to create this us versus them narrative. All throughout the Middle East, and you probably know this, Bill, there is a false narrative that the Americans, that the U.S. is at war with Islam, and that is not the case and so the White House doesn’t want to give that more leg, so they will bend over backwards to avoid using that expression.
Corke’s explanation is as succinct and convincing as any I’ve heard from the administration, and significant because he reported the false narrative of a war with Islam as fact, and not simply as one side of the story.
Later that day, President Obama would deliver his own version of that explanation, telling the crowd at the White House Summit on Countering Violent Extremism that we must never confer the legitimacy of religious leadership on terrorists. At Wednesday’s White House daily briefing, Press Secretary Josh Earnest told me that accomplishing those aims was well worth the flak and the noise over the term “radical Islam.”
After the summit Wednesday, I caught up with comedian Dean Obeidallah, a frequent cable news guest and columnist for The Daily Beast. Dean and I have been social media pals for a few years now, but this was our first IRL meeting. Aside from some joking around about the Secret Service taking his bag, what really stood out to me was the gratitude with which Dean spoke about the President’s remarks…READ MORE
Click here for reuse options!Copyright 2015 Liberaland
By: Tommy Christopher
Tommy Christopher is The Daily Banter's White House Correspondent and Political Analyst. He's been a political reporter and liberal commentator since 2007, and has covered the White House since the beginning of the Obama administration, first for PoliticsDaily, and then for Mediaite. Christopher is a frequent guest on a variety of television, radio, and online programs, and was the villain in the documentaries The Audacity of Democracy and Hating Breitbart. He's also That Guy Who Live-Tweeted His Own Heart Attack, and the only person to have ever received public apologies from both Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck.
30 responses to Dean Obeidallah Says Muslim Americans Feel ‘Under Siege,’ Live With A ‘Sense of Fear’
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John Tarter February 19th, 2015 at 14:50
Gee, the Muslims should talk to the Jews in this country where something like 62% of so called “hate crimes” are perpetrated on. The Muslim community? Not so much, coming in at about 13%.
tracey marie February 19th, 2015 at 19:16
you and red eye live together
John Tarter February 19th, 2015 at 21:09
Today at Obama’s “violence summit”, they talked more about Muslims getting discriminated against than all the Christians and others actually getting killed. Unbelievable!
tracey marie February 19th, 2015 at 21:10
go cry somewhere else teabagger
Bunya February 20th, 2015 at 15:32
Oh great! Another burqa whining about the poor, persecuted Christians. I have an idea. Why not you, Trees, burqa and other Christian religious zealots start your own website where you can all bitch and moan, ad nauseum, about how everybody hates you because of your religious beliefs while at the same time, trash Atheists and Muslims.
.
You can call it “We’re not bigots, but…”
fahvel February 20th, 2015 at 03:02
don;t go there – these two slime bags might post a photo. Enough said?
John Tarter February 19th, 2015 at 15:50
Gee, the Muslims should talk to the Jews in this country where something like 62% of so called “hate crimes” are perpetrated on. The Muslim community? Not so much, coming in at about 13%.
tracey marie February 19th, 2015 at 20:16
you and red eye live together
John Tarter February 19th, 2015 at 22:09
Today at Obama’s “violence summit”, they talked more about Muslims getting discriminated against than all the Christians and others actually getting killed. Unbelievable!
tracey marie February 19th, 2015 at 22:10
go cry somewhere else teabagger
Bunya February 20th, 2015 at 16:32
Oh great! Another burqa whining about the poor, persecuted Christians. I have an idea. Why not you, Trees, burqa and other Christian religious zealots start your own website where you can all bitch and moan, ad nauseum, about how everybody hates you because of your religious beliefs while at the same time, trash Atheists and Muslims.
.
You can call it “We’re not bigots, but…”
fahvel February 20th, 2015 at 04:02
don;t go there – these two slime bags might post a photo. Enough said?
Red Eye Robot February 19th, 2015 at 15:19
This is blowing up in the Administration’s face because they have chosen to disregard reality.
tracey marie February 19th, 2015 at 19:16
translation…I live in baggerville a white supremacist pig pen where I wallow in my own waste and post garbage
whatthe46 February 20th, 2015 at 00:43
may i borrow. lol. good one tracey.
fahvel February 20th, 2015 at 03:01
atta girl!!!!!
tiredoftea February 19th, 2015 at 19:26
You would know.
Red Eye Robot February 19th, 2015 at 16:19
This is blowing up in the Administration’s face because they have chosen to disregard reality.
tracey marie February 19th, 2015 at 20:16
translation…I live in baggerville a white supremacist pig pen where I wallow in my own waste and post garbage
whatthe46 February 20th, 2015 at 01:43
may i borrow. lol. good one tracey.
fahvel February 20th, 2015 at 04:01
atta girl!!!!!
tiredoftea February 19th, 2015 at 20:26
You would know.
trees February 20th, 2015 at 00:26
There were some ISIS fighters spotted by Obama, to which Obama noted….
“Hey, you see those guys with the prayer carpets coming out of that Mosque, they’re not really Muslim. You see, real Muslims don’t do what they’re doing, those are pretend Muslims….”
whatthe46 February 20th, 2015 at 00:42
well we know you’re not pretending to be stupid.
trees February 20th, 2015 at 01:26
There were some ISIS fighters spotted by Obama, to which Obama noted….
“Hey, you see those guys with the prayer carpets coming out of that Mosque, they’re not really Muslim. You see, real Muslims don’t do what they’re doing, those are pretend Muslims….”
whatthe46 February 20th, 2015 at 01:42
well we know you’re not pretending to be stupid.
fahvel February 20th, 2015 at 03:00
gotta earn yer bones to be an official american – kill all the natives, then torment black people for 300 years and then diminish the chinese to coolies, then assault the red headed Irish and then the wops and then each ensuing crowd – after being demeaned by the puitan right wing you can become an american unless you have characteristic un american like caring for your fellow man and dropping the elitist bullshit and on and on and on.
fahvel February 20th, 2015 at 04:00
gotta earn yer bones to be an official american – kill all the natives, then torment black people for 300 years and then diminish the chinese to coolies, then assault the red headed Irish and then the wops and then each ensuing crowd – after being demeaned by the puitan right wing you can become an american unless you have characteristic un american like caring for your fellow man and dropping the elitist bullshit and on and on and on.
majii February 20th, 2015 at 05:31
When Pres. Bush said that we are not at war with Islam, the same tools who are bashing this president for adopting the same stance on the issue are losing their damn minds. That this is the case informs me that these are not people who are seeking solutions for how to deal with ISIS effectively.
Their two main concerns seem to be opposing anything this president says, even if it’s the same thing his predecessor said and even if their reckless behavior assists ISIS and other terrorists, and politicizing the issue in an attempt persuade a majority that they’re the only party that can defeat ISIS, which, imo, is part and parcel of positioning themselves for a GOP/TPer to win the WH in 2016.
majii February 20th, 2015 at 06:31
When Pres. Bush said that we are not at war with Islam, the same tools who are bashing this president for adopting the same stance on the issue are losing their damn minds. That this is the case informs me that these are not people who are seeking solutions for how to deal with ISIS effectively.
Their two main concerns seem to be opposing anything this president says, even if it’s the same thing his predecessor said and even if their reckless behavior assists ISIS and other terrorists, and politicizing the issue in an attempt persuade a majority that they’re the only party that can defeat ISIS, which, imo, is part and parcel of positioning themselves for a GOP/TPer to win the WH in 2016.