New York Magazine asks the right question

In their cover story on Repubican John McCain, this weeks New York magazine asks the right question of the democrats -

If you can’t beat a guy like this in a year like this, with a vastly unpopular Republican war still ongoing and a Republican recession looming, what precisely is the point of you?

Fear of a Muslim President

Tired of being called a "Muslim" democratic presidential candidate Barack Hussein Obama launched an online campaign this week against e-mail chain letters that claim he's secretly a Muslim who attended a radical Islamic school in Indonesia. Pretty sad stuff if you ask me. He's drawing undue attention to the rumors and has helped them spread far beyond their original reach. It's a reminder too how sad America really is - years on from 9/11 and most people can't separate the word 'Muslim' used in any context at all from a sad media-propagated negative stereotype. If you ask me organizations with intentions like the ADC (American-Arab Anti Discrimination Committee) need to get more funding. Seeing things like this I seriously doubt that things will change in my lifetime. To a sick majority it seems that "Muslim" is the new N word for the 21st Century. It's a dangerous road to travel. Addressing Obama's problems seasoned politician Jessie James sad to Tavis Smiley on Thursday night that Barack should consider

"...champions play with pain and they run, even if they have to limp. I would make the case for get ahead not get even..."



Now more than ever people need to pay attention to intelligent and accessible individuals like author Reza Aslan. Here's a new article in which Aslan discusses why the next American president should leave God out of the war on terror. Followed by some videos







And here's some of his insightful answers to a quick questionnaire with the Smithsonian in October 2007

* Three words someone else would use to describe me are intense, loyal and loud.
* The most pressing issue facing the world is rapid man-made climate change.
* The most important lesson I ever learned was over-confidence can you get you through a lot of sticky situations.
* My advice for those just starting out in this profession is stop waiting for the right moment, or the right degree, or the right venue to make your voice heard. Start shouting now! People will listen.
* My motto is: "Walk into a room like you own the place, and people will treat you as if you do."

Reza is currently working on a new book "How To Win A Cosmic War: Understanding (and Defeating) Jihadism" to be published by Random House in 2008.

One of the best: journalists covering politics pt 1

To my mind, Gary Younge - the Guardian's American correspondant (who also happens to live close to my neighborhood in Brooklyn) - is exactly the kind of writer we need more of. Here is a prime example of his thought-inducing work. A story from December that discusses the issues around a promising young Iranian-German footballer refusing to go to Israel to play for the German under-21 team in a European qualifier.