first

You forget the constituency al-Zawahiri is really playing to; the same ones that they have been playing to for the last decade or so, the GOP base. This message should go over really, really well with them.

That is rich; they've been taking lessons from faux and from wingnuttia.

I predict the same results.

Sounds like Ayman al-Zawahri is a Republican...perhaps another of Strom Thurmand's children?

Is Al Zawahiri a guest blogger at the NRO or Slate these days?

I'm reminded of Obama's response to a similiar putdown "I've heard worse on the basketball court..."

Sounds like Ayman al-Zawahri is a Republican...

Actually, he sounds *exactly* like Ralph Nader. Come to think of it, has anyone seen the two in the same place at the same time?

If this little piece of news is true, it goes a long way towards convincing me that Al Qaeda's ties to the crackpot right wing, the Republican Party, and their "intellectual"/PR operatives are strong and incriminating. Has anyone dusted this message for electronic fingerprints? I smell Cheetos.

If this doesn't work, maybe AQ can tie him to the 1960's radical terorrist Bill Ayers....

It made me laugh. I'll bet it made Obama laugh too. As we've learned from the past year, the more nervous they are, the nastier they get. He probably saw the enormous posse all around the planet ready and willing to stand tall for Obama, and got a little nauseous.

Nice try, Al-Whiner.

The sad thing is this so-called racial epithet is almost EXCLUSIVELY used by African-Americans to denigrate other African-Americans. I can't understand why al-Qaeda went with this quote--unless they are making a play to undermine Obama's support with African-Americans (better shot if they alleged that he was leaving his wife and family for a fat and undereducated white woman--but I digress). Just dumb.

well, al-Qaeda can forget about Kenya now.

The Nader comaprison: yow! Spot on. What a great readership here, Steve. Would 9-11 have occurred if he hadn't been so Miltonian and self-serious?

Nader is to blame for much of what has gone on post 2001. When you start a fire to burn the houses of your enemies, you are equally to blame when it ravages your own home and friends--both on a karmic and rational level. Nader believed only in Nader. Nader=Nadir. Sometimes a Nostradamus is superfluous to see what swirls so apparently around a bowl . . .

I thought Malkin had come to the conclusion that Obama was Malcolm X's kid. Doesn't sound like "House Negro" material to me.

It's nice to see al-Zawahri using scripts written by Rush Limbaugh.
Hopefully they'll have the same effect as Rush's do on clear thinkers...

Didn't Ralph Nader basically already make this claim?

I have to admit I almost LOL'd when I heard that. Is that supposed to endear Al Qaeda to moderate Muslims?

From my point-of-view, this is great news. Let them drive a bigger wedge between themselves and normal humans.

Maybe this would be a good discussion point.

On the one hand we're often told (usually by power-hungry Republicans) that in times of national peril, we're supposed to put aside our partisan differences and stand as one nation & battle our common enemies. The GOP ruled under this priciple for the past 7 years, pillaging the Constitution & the middle-class because to criticize them was to criticize the nation! in a time of war, no less!

Now, on the other hand, we now have a President-elect who is being mocked & insulted by an enemy of the state. BUT he's a president 46 per cent of the voting public did not vote for. Many of those voters think he's a secret (or not so secret) Muslim, a terrorist, weak on defense, a typical liberal coward, ready to destroy Isreal, ready to negotiate with the modern axis of evil...

Will we see elements of that 46 percent say "Hey, that's my President you're talking about, AMERICA comes first, you're stirring a killer hornets' nest, buddy." OR, will we see them suddenly decide "America comes first, we stand as one" to no longer apply, if, you know, it's a President THEY didn't voe for?

Well, it will calm some of the wingnuts down.

or there's this possibility:

By taking just a 10-minute digital recording of Steiner's voice, scientist George Papcun is able, in near real time, to clone speech patterns and develop an accurate facsimile. Steiner was so impressed, he asked for a copy of the tape.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/dotmil/arkin020199.htm

Will we see elements of that 46 percent say "Hey, that's my President you're talking about, AMERICA comes first, you're stirring a killer hornets' nest, buddy." OR, will we see them suddenly decide "America comes first, we stand as one" to no longer apply, if, you know, it's a President THEY didn't voe for?
Posted by: slappy magoo

We will probably see people (such as yourself) who spent seven years screaming "Not in my name!" call for uniting, and we'll see people who called for uniting in times of war arguing against Obama as the "loyal opposition". In short, people on both sides will be exercising unique rationalizations. The circle will remain unbroken.

We must oppose the infidel Americans until they give us a President who is black enough.

Go, Sharpton!

I think this is a case of Al Qaeda attempting to use the same tactics that would have worked on President Bush on the President-Elect.

Calling him names and such would likely have sent President Cowboy over the edge and goaded him into doing excatly what AQ wants.

I get the feeling that won't have the same effect on Barack Obama.

Haha. Earlier there was a WAPO story that called the Dems "deadly snakes" who you don't realize are there until they bit you and you die.

Not having Republicans in charge really freaks them out.

I am positive Fox News cares what al-Zawahri has to say about Obama.

But if this is the terrorists' idea of undermining Obama's popularity, they need new p.r. reps.

Uh, its probably not, at least in terms of US domestic popularity.Its probably more aimed at Africans who might look either to the radicalism of al-Qaeda or the hope of America as an effort to keep them aligned to the former; if its aimed at Americans at all, its aimed more at Nation of Islam types that might be prone to radicalism, willing to listen to Islamic extremism, and torn between that and actual evidence of an alternative source of hope for Black Americans.

The mainstream of the American political spectrum isn't something al-Qaeda probably messages like this to have much impact on, at least not directly. You may think of things first and foremost in terms of that audience, because your focus is American politics. That's not al-Qaeda's focus, and if you try to interpret their actions as if that was their main concern, you won't ever make any sense of anything.

It seems that Al Qaeda hasn't adapted its PR play book to take account of a new and popular president. This kind of thing was equally childish, but effective when countering GWB's bumbling, ham-handed, cowboy approach to Afghanistan. I just comes off as immature when put up against what we've seen (so far) from Obama's approach.

It seemed to me that al-Zawahri was trying to bait Obama - get the new President to make an emotional overreaction. The only President in recent memory that might work with is George W. Bush. It certainly wont work with Obama, who seems practically unflappable.

It is interesting that:

a) given their recent history with Bush, they actually thought this might work

b) they're so desperate that this silliness is their best tactic

I can't understand why al-Qaeda went with this quote--unless they are making a play to undermine Obama's support with African-Americans (better shot if they alleged that he was leaving his wife and family for a fat and undereducated white woman--but I digress). Just dumb.

First, they used an Arabic expression that does not mean literally "House Negroe" - Abid l-Beit means "Slaves of the House" or Domestic Slaves. However, in Arabic dialectal used in the Mashreq Levant plus Egypt), Abid (sing. Abd) carries the connotation of Black African Slave with a nasty overtone verging on 'nigger.'

Trying to understand Al Qaeda communication in terms of US audiences is pointless, they are communicating to Arabic speaking audiences, not you.

With all the wiretapping allowed by the Patriot Act, I wonder if the source of this "audio" could be found in some cabin in SC or Georgia. Does any of the MSM scrutinize, or just air for shock and awe?

Richard Clark - There is a guy I would like to see incuded in Obama's team.

We will probably see people (such as yourself) who spent seven years screaming "Not in my name!" call for uniting, and we'll see people who called for uniting in times of war arguing against Obama as the "loyal opposition".

The phrase "Not in our name" was coined by families of survivors of the attack on 9/11. Good thing they have no moral credibility.

There is no more need for the country to unite behind the president for an illegal, preemptive war based on trumped-up evidence than there is to unite behind the president during Watergate, Iran-Contra, or a lynching. In fact, patriotism and fealty to the Constitution demand the reverse.

The "both sides do it" schtick is puerile and tiresome, as it collapses any kind of important moral distinctions into a an unthinking, petulant raspberry; e.g. lying about a blowjob is not equivalent to lying about a war. It is ironic that as the reactionaries in this country seek to exonerate themselves from their moral lapses they sink further and further into a moral nihilism in which any bad thing is just the same as any other bad thing so we shouldn't pay attention to bad things at all...unless a liberal does them. And at that point, acting or thinking in a liberal (read: non-authoritarian, non-reactionary) fashion is the only real bad thing there is.

What a great message for children.

At least Obama HAS a house. Oh, snap.

OK. Whose going to appeal to more Muslims? A guy named Barack or a guy named Al?

Slightly OT - I've been curious why Richard Clarke is not being considered for a high level position in National Security like NSA, or back at his old job in Counter-Terrorism.

I just looked it up: apparently the name "Ayman al-Zawahri" translates from Arabic to English as "Don Imus." Who knew?

We will probably see people (such as yourself) who spent seven years screaming "Not in my name!" call for uniting, and we'll see people who called for uniting in times of war arguing against Obama as the "loyal opposition". In short, people on both sides will be exercising unique rationalizations. The circle will remain unbroken.
Posted by: SJRSM on November 19, 2008 at 10:26 AM | PERMALINK
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Watch that "such as yourself" horesh*t, pardner. I sure wasn't happy the way Florida was resolved, but I was willing to give the cat some slack, slack and goodwill he wasted.

Watch that "such as yourself" horesh*t, pardner.
Posted by: slappy magoo

Yea, meant to delete it before hitting send. My bad.

Why is Al-Qaida No. 2 Ayman al-Zawahri headlining propaganda? Where is No. 1? Dead?

that's WHITE House Negro to you, "Doctor" al-Zawahiri.

Oh no he di'in' :-)