Topic: WorldNetDaily
In a May 12 column, WorldNetDaily's Aaron Klein goes after his (unnamed) critics, namely "[m]ultiple industrious blogs, most openly Obama supporters," for asking questions about the "endorsement" of Barack Obama by Hamas political adviser Ahmed Yousuf has promoted and defended its legitimacy:
This is hardly a smear. A well-known Hamas official expressed his opinion of a presidential candidate during a live radio interview.
Did anyone – including Obama – claiming a "smear" was perpetuated actually listen to the full, 10-minute interview?
Yousuf was not coaxed into endorsing Obama. He wasn't even asked which presidential candidate Hamas supports.
Batchelor and I simply inquired if Yousuf was surprised that Obama had criticized Jimmy Carter's recent meeting with the Hamas terrorist organization. We also asked whether Hamas was willing to speak with U.S. presidential candidates, including Sen. Hillary Clinton.
Yousuf then volunteered his endorsement of Obama, immediately stating "actually we like Mr. Obama."
Without any prompting, Yousuf went on and on, gushing about the good senator.
This still doesn't answer the questions we raised about it:
- What sort of behind-the-scenes dealmaking went on between Yousuf, Batchelor and Klein to orchestrate this interview?
- Was Yousuf's endorsement of Obama a condition of his appearance on Batchelor's show?
- How much of what Yousuf said negotiated in advance with Batchelor and Klein?
- What did Yousuf get in return for spouting Batchelor and Klein's party line?
- Was Yousef even aware he was reinforcing the political agenda of people who oppose him,or did they dupe him?
Klein then turns his fire to his critics, without actually naming who they are (while he doesn't single out anything we've written, a Daily Kos post and commenters at TPM Election Central expand on the subject):
Meanwhile, a few blogs attempting to smear the Hamas-Obama "smear" are pointing out that I've previously conducted interviews with other terrorists who have said positive things in the past about other Democrats, including Clinton and House Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi.
One blog asked "Anyone notice a pattern here?" As if I somehow have power over what well-armed, outspoken, anti-Semitic terrorist leaders have to say.
There is indeed a pattern here, but not one these obviously liberal bloggers would dare recognize – terrorists favor having Democrats in power over Republicans.
There's also a pattern Klein certainly does not want to admit publicly: He hates Obama, has a record of smearing Obama, works for a website that has published false claims about Obama, and has clearly demonstrated an interest in manufacturing any controversy he can to raise negative perceptions about Obama. Why else would he write a dozen articles trying to tie Obama to Hamas without telling readers that Obama opposes U.S. negotiation with Hamas?
As we've previously pointed out, a Hamas official has no obvious motivation to speak to, let alone advance the agenda of, a reporter and a radio host hostile to Hamas and Obama. Thus, we have to wonder what his happening behind the scenes. After all, Klein (along with his employer) has demonstrated himself to be exactly the kind of person who would go to any lengths to smear Obama -- perhaps even collaborate with a terrorist.
Unless Klein offers some transparency about his dealings with the terrorists he writes about -- so cordial, apparently, that they contribute blurbs for his book bashing them -- there's no reason to take his word for anything because he has proven himself to be so utterly consumed by his anti-Obama agenda.
