You have commented 339 times on Rantburg.

Your Name
Your e-mail (optional)
Website (optional)
My Original Nic        Pic-a-Nic        Sorry. Comments have been closed on this article.
Bold Italic Underline Strike Bullet Blockquote Small Big Link Squish Foto Photo
Arabia
Saudi media fall for Obama Muslim joke
2010-12-11
When a US satirist joked that President Barack Obama will admit to Congress that he is Muslim in his latest compromise with Republicans, Saudi media took it seriously.

On Friday the online version of Al-Hayat newspaper and the prominent news website Sabq.org both reported straightforwardly humourist Andy Borowitz's column that began:

"In his latest effort to find common ground with Republicans in Congress, President Barack Obama said today that he was willing to agree that he is a Muslim.

"In agreeing that he is a Muslim, Mr. Obama is sending a clear signal that he is trying to find consensus," Borowitz said in the column posted on the Huffington Post and The Borowitz Report websites this week.

Both Al-Hayat, one of the Middle East's most influential newspapers, and Sabq, believed to be controlled by the Saudi interior ministry, apparently missed the joke.

"Obama doesn't mind coming out as a Muslim if that will satisfy the Republicans," the Al-Hayat headline said.

"Obama: 'I'm ready to announce that I am a Muslim,'" led Sabq.

Both repeated Borowitz's "quote" of Obama saying:" My place of birth has been, and will always be, negotiable."

"White House sources indicated today that the president might be willing to meet the GOP (Grand Old Party -- the Republicans) halfway on his birthplace and say that he was born in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean," Borowitz joked,

Despite Obama repeatedly saying he is Christian, because his native-Kenyan father was born a Muslim, and because his middle name is Hussein, many Muslims and even some US Republicans suspect he is secretly Muslim.
Posted by:tipper

#8  I don't think any every suggested he was a competent Keynesian.
Posted by: rjschwarz   2010-12-11 22:49  

#7  but also to cut expenses and pay it back when times were good.

Glenmore, I thought Mr. Keynes wanted governments to save up in good times beforehand, not pay it back afterward? Sort of like Joseph in Egypt -- seven fat years followed by seven lean? But that's a detail, overwhelmed by the idea of actually paying for the stimulus, not carrying the debt.
Posted by: trailing wife   2010-12-11 15:27  

#6  I'd settle for just knowing he had a functioning brain. Nothing he's said or done indicates he does.
Posted by: Old Patriot   2010-12-11 14:39  

#5  definitely a Keynesian

No, Cincinnatus, he's not. NO government officials have ever been. Keynes said to deficit spend to stimulate during hard times but also to cut expenses and pay it back when times were good. When has government EVER cut spending? They move it around and cut the rate of increase, but they don't cut spending.
Posted by: Glenmore   2010-12-11 13:59  

#4  real kooks now want to know if he is from Earth

Which is flat, of course.
Posted by: Pappy   2010-12-11 13:35  

#3  No matter, he's definitely a Keynesian.
Posted by: CincinnatusChili   2010-12-11 13:19  

#2  RINO Jim, get with the program, real kooks now want to know if he is from Earth.
Posted by: Zombie Hillary Lover   2010-12-11 11:18  

#1  The hell with whether or not he's a Musim.

We want to know whether or not Barry Soretto's an American.
Posted by: Redneck Jim   2010-12-11 10:04  

00:00