So you’re saying that Arab cultures did make significant contributions to the world before the “revelation” of Islam, right?… Then why did Barry blur the line between pre-Islamic culture and Islamic culture?… In short, does Semitic culture have value apart from Islam? By lumping them together, Obama implies not.
rwenger43 on June 10, 2009 at 1:23 PM

If the Third Reich survived for 1200 years, there would still be people praising all the “amazing discoveries” it made prior to, and in the process of, conquering its empire.

but it was a tradition started by the region that Islam developed in
Actually, I shouldn’t say it was started in the region. I think Obama’s speech is accurate when he said “mastery of pens and printing” in that Islamic cultures really did master the art of calligraphy, turning it into an art form.

This is obviously a reference to that. I’m guessing the Middle East audience knew exactly what he was talking about, while you assumed printing meant “printing press.”

Tom_Shipley

So you’re saying that Arab cultures did make significant contributions to the world before the “revelation” of Islam, right? And we petty Westerners should overlook what we see in the present and shouldn’t be so prejudiced against a race that did so many good things (before Islam usurped its heritage)? Then why did Barry blur the line between pre-Islamic culture and Islamic culture? Is he ignorant of the distinctions, or is he merely reinforcing the stereotype?
In short, does Semitic culture have value apart from Islam?
By lumping them together, Obama implies not.

Yeah. If you check the entry on Woodblock Printing – meaning mechanical replication of designs, whether letters or illustrations — first use in China around 220 AD looks to be the earliest.

Makes me wonder where Obama is getting his talking points.
commenter on June 10, 2009 at 12:13 PM

I used to wonder; but I don’t anymore.

During Obama’s mad scramble for power, it was always possible he was just parroting whatever inane trope he thought might mollify one special interest or another. But now that he’s sucking up to people who can’t possibly vote for him, his words can only come direct from the heart.

It was innovation in Muslim communities that developed the order of algebra; our magnetic compass and tools of navigation; our mastery of pens and printing; our understanding of how disease spreads and how it can be healed.

Is tomorrow’s OOTD going to have something to do with this? If so, that speech must be full of Obamateurisms, and you won’t have to search for quite a while.

Keep it up, Ed.

The Wikipedia article on printing supports its claims of Arabic Egyptian wood block printing with a link to MuslimHeritage.com.
HotWeaver on June 10, 2009 at 11:14 AM

The title of that article is “Muslim Printing Before Gutenberg.” But if you read it, all it says is that Muslims had block printing before Gutenberg invented the moveable-type printing press.

That’s like bragging that Muslims used the wheel before Henry Ford made automobiles. I suppose you could say it’s technically “true,” but it doesn’t actually do anything at all to prove the point that Obama is so fanatically trying to make.

It’s almost like Obama is Chekov, giving credit for every great invention to his own people.

As in, “The Garden of Eden was just outside Moscow.” Of course, when Chekov does it, it’s supposed to be funny.

tom on June 10, 2009 at 11:40 AM

Yes. His own people, and himself.

If Obama says something it is by MSM definition correct. ANy previous facts, history, raw data,… are incorrect and NOT Obama.

In fact SecDef Robert Gates has now had his name retroactively changed to Bill.

Despite their large numbers, Muslims have contributed relatively little to the advancement of humankind…
AZCoyote on June 10, 2009 at 10:03 AM

Israel files more patents than all the Muslim-controlled countries combined – even though they are outnumbered by a hundred to one.

As in, “The Garden of Eden was just outside Moscow.” Of course, when Chekov does it, it’s supposed to be funny.

With failing grades, no doubt.

Despite their large numbers, Muslims have contributed relatively little to the advancement of humankind, a fact that apparently galls them (and their “all cultures are equally valuable” apologists) so much that they have resorted to blatantly lying about “their” inventions/discoveries in a pathetic attempt to justify their own existence.

AZCoyote on June 10, 2009 at 10:03 AM

They haven’t made a positive contribution, but they are wildly successful–like a virus is. Unfortunately for all, they too ultimately destroy their host, and can only survive by moving on to another land that is uninfected.
Where traditional Islam is a majority, those societies are impoverished and backward, with the exception of those who have oil.