Le vent tourne-t-il Pour Obama ?

Les caricaturistes américains s'en donnent à cœur joie avec Barack Obama en soulignant que parmi ses soutiens, certains se distinguent par des propos controversés bien éloignés du consensus national : le pasteur Wright par son racisme antiblanc, l'universitaire William Ayers (terroriste non repenti) et Michelle Obama (afrocentriste).

Mauvais présage pour la candidat Obama. Non seulement la Clinton résiste et marque des points, mais les propos racistes de son mentor spirituel le pasteur Wright ou le passé de son mentor politique William Ayers comment à peser lourd dans la balance.

Le professeur Ayers en d'autres temps. Par une étonnant coïncidence, au matin du 11 septembre 2001, quelques heures avant les attaques terroristes contre les Etats-Unis, le New York Times publiat un extrait des Mémoires de l'universitaire, ancien chef du réseau terroriste Weather Underground dans lequel il écrivait : « Je ne regrette pas avoir posé des bombes. J'ai l'impression que nous n'en avons pas posé assez ».

France-cul lénifie

A entendre les commentateurs de ce côté-ci de l'Atlantique pontifier sur le bonheur que représente la candidature du sénateur de l'Illinois, on se demande s'ils connaissent l'Amérique autrement que par les feuilletons télévisés et autres mièvreries politiquement correctes.

Le 22 avril dernier, émission du mardi 22 avril 2008, le programme de France-Culture Du grain à moudre a diffusé : « Clinton / Obama : qui est le plus à gauche ? » qui atteint des sommets dans le déni de la réalité.

En dehors de Ted Stanger, ancien chef de bureau de Newsweek à Paris, les autres participants (Constance Borde, vice-Présidente de Democrats Abroad France, membre du Parti démocrate; Philip Golub, enseignant en relations internationales à l’université Paris 8 et à l’American University of Paris, conseiller de la rédaction, le Monde diplomatique ; Romain Huret, maître de conférences à l'Université Lyon II, membre du Centre d'études nord-américaines (EHESS/CNRS), Eric Fassin, sociologue et professeur à l'ENS) ont surenchéri dans les propos iréniques, décrivant au micro une Amérique virtuelle, plus proche des publicités de Benetton que de la réalité observable aux Etats-Unis.

Une émission à écouter au titre de l'humour politique involontaire.

Daniel Pipes annonce la tempête

Plus grave pour le sémillant sénateur de l'Illinois, dans les colonnes du Jerusalem Post, Daniel Pipes attaque Barack Obama sur son identité religieuse.

A lire dans le Jerusalem Post.

Cet intellectuel juif américain est une des figures de proue du débat politique et son article annonce qu'une partie de la communauté juive américaine n'est pas disposée à appuyer le jeune candidat noir.

As Barack Obama's candidacy comes under increasing scrutiny, his account of his religious upbringing deserves careful attention for what it tells us about the candidate's integrity.

Obama asserted in December, "I've always been a Christian," and he has adamantly denied ever having been a Muslim. "The only connection I've had to Islam is that my grandfather on my father's side came from that country [Kenya]. But I've never practiced Islam."

In February, he claimed, "I have never been a Muslim.... other than my name and the fact that I lived in a populous Muslim country for four years when I was a child [Indonesia, 1967-71] I have very little connection to the Islamic religion."

"Always" and "never" leave little room for equivocation. But many biographical facts, culled mainly from the American press, suggest that, when growing up, the Democratic candidate for president both saw himself and was seen as a Muslim.

• Obama's Kenyan birth father: In Islam, religion passes from the father to the child. Barack Hussein Obama, Sr. (1936-1982) was a Muslim who named his boy Barack Hussein Obama, Jr.

• Obama's Indonesian family: His stepfather, Lolo Soetoro, was also a Muslim. In fact, as Obama's half-sister, Maya Soetoro-Ng explained to Jodi Kantor of The New York Times: "My whole family was Muslim, and most of the people I knew were Muslim." An Indonesian publication, The Banjarmasin Post, reports a former classmate, Rony Amir, recalling that "All the relatives of Barry's father were very devout Muslims."

• Obama's Catholic school in Jakarta: Nedra Pickler of the Associated Press reports that "documents showed he enrolled as a Muslim" while at a Catholic school during first through third grades. Kim Barker of The Chicago Tribune confirms that Obama was "listed as a Muslim on the registration form for the Catholic school."

• The public school: Paul Watson of The Los Angeles Times learned from Indonesians familiar with Obama when he lived in Jakarta that he "was registered by his family as a Muslim at both schools he attended." Haroon Siddiqui of The Toronto Star visited the Jakarta public school Obama attended and found that "Three of his teachers have said he was enrolled as a Muslim." Although Siddiqui cautions that "With the school records missing, eaten by bugs, one has to rely on people's shifting memories," he cites only one retired teacher, Tine Hahiyari, retracting her earlier certainty about Obama's being registered as a Muslim.

• Barack Obama's public school in Jakarta, Koran class: In his autobiography, Dreams of My Father, Obama relates how he got into trouble for making faces during Koran studies. Indeed, Obama still retains knowledge from that class: Nicholas Kristof of The New York Times reports that Obama "recalled the opening lines of the Arabic call to prayer, reciting them [to Kristof] with a first-rate accent."

• Mosque attendance: Obama's half-sister recalled that the family attended the mosque "for big communal events." Watson learned from childhood friends that "Obama sometimes went to Friday prayers at the local mosque." Barker found that "Obama occasionally followed his stepfather to the mosque for Friday prayers." One Indonesia friend, Zulfin Adi, states that Obama "was Muslim. He went to the mosque. I remember him wearing a sarong" (a garment associated with Muslims).

• Piety: Obama himself says that while living in Indonesia, a Muslim country, he "didn't practice [Islam]." Indonesians differ in their memories of him. One, Rony Amir, describes Obama as "previously quite religious in Islam."

OBAMA'S HAVING been born and raised a Muslim and having left the faith to become a Christian make him neither more nor less qualified to become president of the United States. But if he was born and raised a Muslim and is now hiding that fact, this points to a major deceit, a fundamental misrepresentation about himself that has profound implications about his character and his suitability as president.

The writer is director of the Middle East Forum and is the Taube/Diller distinguished visiting fellow at the Hoover Institution of Stanford University.