why is he legitimizing the concept of a “Muslim World”?

Buy Danish on June 4, 2009 at 8:58 AM

Its good. Now we can all have a proper conversation about the ‘Muslim world’ and the ‘civilised world’.

Maybe he has just accidentally done the civilised world a favour.

Lowered Expectations = Lowered Expectations.

Imagine if Eisenhower had told the massed troops in England on 4 June 1944 that he only expected a few of them to reach the beaches at Normandy, and that so long as they tired, that was all that really mattered?

A “Shining city upon a hill” has become a “Common community on a plain.”

Excellent observation.

And this may sound like nitpicking, but this annoys the hell out of me:

On education, we will expand exchange programs, and increase scholarships, like the one that brought my father to America, while encouraging more Americans to study in Muslim communities. And we will match promising Muslim students with internships in America; invest in on-line learning for teachers and children around the world; and create a new online network, so a teenager in Kansas can communicate instantly with a teenager in Cairo.

After claiming not to want to elevate one group over another, he’s singling out Muslims for special treatment? Would he ever promise internships exclusively for Jews? Christians? Hindus? “Non-believers”?

Moreover, the American government did not provide his father with a scholarship – it was done by private citizens, in Kenya and the U.S.

And don’t they have email, gmail, or twitter?, If they don’t I would imagine it’s because their governments forbid it. What on earth is he babbling about?

On economic development, we will create a new corps of business volunteers to partner with counterparts in Muslim-majority countries…

Why all this affirmative action for “Muslim Majority” countries? What about, say, Hindus in India? Why is he dividing us by religion? Indeed, why is he legitimizing the concept of a “Muslim World”?

“Given our interdependence, any world order that elevates one nation or group of people over another will inevitably fail. So whatever we think of the past, we must not be prisoners of it. Our problems must be dealt with through partnership; progress must be shared.”

Unless he is nominating a Supreme Court Justice who happens to think that being a Latina woman makes her more wise than a white person.. Then it’s okay.