Palin blasts Obama for ties to Palestinian professor
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2008/images/10/29/palin6.jpg caption=" Palin's criticized Obama's ties to Palestinian professor Rashid Khalidi."]
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (CNN) - Sarah Palin thrust Barack Obama’s relationship with a Palestinian academic into the national spotlight on Wednesday at a rally in Ohio - a tactic reminiscent of her repeated attempts to tie Obama to former radical William Ayers.
Palin kicked off her rally in Bowling Green by stressing, as she always does, that “it is not negative campaigning to call someone out on their record.” In recent weeks Palin has used that line to open up an attack on Obama’s tax plans. On Wednesday, she tried something different.
“It seems that there is yet another radical professor from the neighborhood who spent a lot of time with Barack Obama going back several years,” Palin said. “This is important because his associate, Rashid Khalidi, he, in addition to being a political ally of Barack Obama, he's a former spokesperson for the Paliestinian Liberation Organization.”
Khalidi - whose name Palin mispronounced - is currently a leading scholar of Middle Eastern Studies at Columbia University, and was a contemporary of Obama’s while on faculty at the University of Chicago.
Khalidi has been a stern critic of United States foreign policy towards Israel and has accused the country of “occupying” Palestinian territories, but he has denied acting as a spokesman for the PLO.
The Los Angeles Times reported in April that Obama praised Khalidi at a 2003 going-away party for the professor when he left Chicago. The McCain campaign has pressured the Times to publicly release a videotape of the event, but the newspaper has refused, citing the request of a source.
Palin said the public has a right to know what Obama said at the event.
“And the twist here is that there's a videotape of a party for this person, back in 2003, a celebration of him, and Barack was there, and we know some very derogatory things were said there about Israel and America's support for that great nation,” Palin said.
“And among other things, Israel was described there as the perpetrator of terrorism instead of the victim. What we don't know, what we don't know is how Barack Obama responded to these slurs on a country that he now professes to support, and the reason is the newspaper that has the tape, the Los Angeles Times, refuses to release it.”
Palin accused the Times of being Obama’s “pet newspaper” and said the paper would win a Pulitzer Prize for “excelling in cow-towing.”
The Republican vice presidential nominee was joined at her Ohio rally by Joe Wurzelbacher, known to the world as Joe the plumber. It was the first time the celebrated small business owner has appeared with Palin on the stump.
Palin described Wurzelbacher as “a fellow Alaskan” because he once lived near Fairbanks.
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Wow, I feel so bad for all the people in in Chicago and now Columbia University. Knowning someone with a differnt view point must also make me a radical.
Hey Sarah!! If you need to attack someone, at least learn how to pronounce their name! I cannot wait until November 4th so that I hopefully never have to hear this despicable woman again!!
VOTE!!!!!!!
Obama/Biden '08 & '12
This concubine is crazy lack her boss McCain!!!!!!!!!!!
Can't somebody stuff some moose antlers in her mouth so we don't have to hear her nonsense and her shrilly voice. How creepy.
Will somebody please give this idiot woman a dildo for christmas?
What rubbish. Would Gov. Palin please address Sen. McCain's relationship with Russian aluminum baron/gangster Oleg Deripaska? After all, do we really want a president that cavorts with gangsters? Deripaska, currently under investigation in several countries, is not even allowed in the United States, but McCain found him a decent enough guy to party with on his 70th birthday..... Let's see, a Palestinian sympathetic to the Palestinians as well as a respected scholar or a Russian industrialist gangster. I guess it is a question of values after all.
I personally think McCain's ties to George Bush and his 'Hell yeah, I'd give Cheney and Rove positions in my administration" are far more frightening.
This is the reason McCain is doing so poorly. This antagonistic whack job as she is referred to by people in the McCain campaign is everything that is wrong with this country. The amount of lies and hatred being spewed by these two people is beyond belief.
You have got to be kidding.....this is the most disgusting campaign I have ever seen run in my life! Yeah, and Obama has ties to the Boogie Man too.....
Republican voting for Obama / Biden...
To all those complaining about the new ad "attacking" missy.
The ad is only considered negative IF you agree she is a half-wit.
The ad states facts, McCrypt did say the terms in the ad and he did select Palin and she did wink during the debates.
So, if you find that as a negative then you need to look into why you think so or more importantly, why you think others will see it as negative. Otherwise, you should view the ad as free, postive and reaffirmation for the half-wit!
Poor Sarah copying her mentor McCain again. Can't she think for herself? SAME OLD CRAP SANDWICH.
I don't think that at this point, any of us should find it too surprising that Miss Alaska couldn't figure out how to pronounce the dude's name...
Are you serious? this big mouth idiot acts like mccain has no skeltons in his closet. she needs to shut up and sit down before the skeltons in her closet start to pop up.
You see Obama has not went there on her and mccain but I bet if he did, it would be so much junk that even CNN would have to finally cover it.
Obama/Biden
Did she mention that John McCain gave that group $500,000 well he was on the international comm. . I guess she didn't, O that's right, know one will never know about that, we're all stupid and we can't read or go on the internet to find out about that.
The American Media claims to be unbiased and Republicans claim the media is in bed with Obama... I do not agree if they were they would expose Sarah Palins relationship with the 'Real Joe" in her life... not Joe six pack or Joe the Plumber but Joe the AIP Founder.
This woman is very dangerous!!! I know that they want to win, but at what cost.........
Wait, I have even more frightening connections than:
McCain's ties to George Bush and his 'Hell yeah, I'd give Cheney and Rove positions in my administration" comments.
Palin's ties to McCain and the GOP. That's more frightening. What happened to McCain's judgement over the last year???
Jewish voters are too intelligent for this charade from Mccain and Palin
Why can't we just talk about the issues? Is it because you are obviously losing? There really isn't a larger conspiracy theory and everyone knows it. We have 4 great candidates for President and VP. None of them are less American than the rest! I think the republicans are grasping at straws now!
When this does not work DONT BE SHOCKED AMERICA THE NI%%%RRR will be the last on the list ..
ILL BET MY LIFE ON IT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Are you McCain people not even reading the comments about the undeniable link John McCain has with the exact same person??????? And for all you Christians loving these comments from Palin, wasn't it Jesus who said something about not casting the first stone???????? If Mcain wins we will have just as much dishonesty in the White House as we have today.
I can't wait for you to lose, so we can all forget about you Gov Palin!
It is ashame that McPalin campaign has stoop to such a low. How about John's ancestors who owned slaves and the McCain plantation. What about Sarah's husbands connection to the Alaskan Independence party. I really feel sorry for all of you people who have such hatred in your hearts. Remember this "God doesn't like ugly".
Hey Palin I once lived in Germany, does that make me a fellow German
Prof. Khalidi is a professor of Mid-East studies at Columbia. A few years ago there was an investigation into his and his colleagues teaching at the ME studies programs at Columbia which was started when some Jewish students complained that the professors were criticising Israeli Governement policies, and that this made them uncomfortable since they had never heard such criticism before. The investigation was initiated by the President of Columbia who is very pro-Israel and runs after NYC Jewish donations. Yet the investigation found that Dr. Khalidi had done nothing but used their academic freedom. No anti-semitism, no lies. So the President of Columbia U. was not able to dismiss Prof. Khalidi and his colleagues. Many faculty members supported him. It is not surprising that a Palestinian-Ameican would criticise some of the policies of Israel and its harsh treatment of the Palestinians. Even some people in Israel criticize such policies (just read the Ha'aretz newspaper), and such criticism is not considered politically incorrect neither in Israel nor in Europe. It does not seem a crime for Obama to have attended the farewell party of a faculty colleague and neighbor.