all the wrong support...

saturday, the new york times op-ed columnist nicholas d. kristof published a lovely little piece called 'the endorsement from hell.' to sum up - insert pause for dramatic effect - al qaeda has offered an endorsement of mr. mccain for the presidency of the united states of america...

i can say two things in response before i get to my other commentary: 1] umm, wow.; and, 2] their endorsement says it all for me.

my favorite passage of mr. kristof's article, and the part that illustrates my views on the situation, is as follows:

“From [Al Qaeda's] perspective, a continuation of Bush policies is best for recruiting,” said Professor Nye, adding that Mr. McCain is far more likely to continue those policies.

An American president who keeps troops in Iraq indefinitely, fulminates about Islamic terrorism, inclines toward military solutions and antagonizes other nations is an excellent recruiting tool. In contrast, an African-American president with a Muslim grandfather and a penchant for building bridges rather than blowing them up would give Al Qaeda recruiters fits.

just the mental image of some anger-filled al qaeda 'rep' throwing a hissy fit over obama in office is enough to make me smile.

now, i know that mr. mccain's platform is not a carbon copy of mr. bush's, but apparently, the entity that we as a nation are supposed to be fighting against finds his 'methods' similar enough to realize that 4 years of america under mccain would probably benefit their 'recruitment' efforts. not to mention that it would promote a continuation of a global loss of respect for the united states of america... because, let's face it, if we do not draw a strong line in the sand between what has been since 2000 and what needs to be after 2008 (and i personally do not think that this is possible under another gop president), people will continue to solely view the u.s. as a greedy, ignorant war-monger who sticks its nose in everyone else's business without invitation. people will not stop to think about all of the wonderful things that america represents, just as they do not now. people will not stop to actually look at the people of the united states of america and see what truly amazing human beings the country fosters. ... and because people will only see the negative image of america, they won't stop to think when someone fills their head with hate aimed toward the greedy giant.

i know that mr. mccain isn't the only candidate to receive an endorsement from a 'terrorist organization.' add that to the fact that no one can really control who supports them or not and all is just about even... however, to me, it is still al qaeda who is making the endorsement. to me, it is still the organization that actually attacked america that is making this particular endorsement... and that speaks mountains to me.

image via yourct.com