Goldfarb: Does Obama Secretly Speak Arabic?
Check out the latest pearl of wisdom from The Weekly Standard's single most cartoonish neocon blogger, Michael Goldfarb, wondering whether President Obama might be concealing a secret knowledge of the Arabic language -- and the Koran!
Goldfarb focuses on Obama using the Arabic world "Shukran" ("Thank you") when he was received by the King of Saudi Arabia:
Obama has said before that he speaks "barely passable Spanish" and "a smattering of Swahili," as well as some Bahasa from his youth in Indonesia. But Obama has at other times denied speaking a foreign language, saying in July of last year, "I don't speak a foreign language. It's embarrassing!"...
It seems there is some legitimate confusion on just what languages Obama speaks, and as far as Arabic, the only real hint has came from Nick Kristof, who heard Obama recite the Muslim call to prayer in Arabic and with a "first-rate accent" back in 2007. With even the White House now smearing Obama as a Muslim, one wonders if the president hasn't been concealing some greater fluency with the language of the Koran.
Look out, Michael -- as Spencer Ackerman has pointed out, General Petraeus has used Arabic phrases, too! And Petraeus is against torture! The Muslim secret agents are everywhere...
Josh
Matt
Eric
Brian
Is it now acceptable for columnists to just make shit up when they're writing a column?
Like this:
If so, since Mr. Goldfarb seems to be wondering about things:
one wonders if the president hasn't been concealing some greater fluency with the language of the Koran.
Me?
I'm wondering if Michael Goldfarb hasn't been concealing a greater familiarity with goat sex, myself.
PS: my apologies to goats.
June 3, 2009 2:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
That would be The Great Gen David Petraeus?
June 3, 2009 2:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
Well, I heard he was secretly born in Saudi Arabia and immediately flown to Hawaii, where a fake birth certificate was immediately issued, and then he went back to Saudi where a language chip was installed, and three days later he was sent to Indonesia because growing up there was the only way to absolutely ASSURE that he would get to be president of the united states forty some years later, and the reverend wright thing was all staged just to make him look human!
June 3, 2009 2:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
Thanks for clearing up that mystery. :)
June 3, 2009 4:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
Swahili is the universal language of East Africa,,,, originally an amalgum of local dialects, held together with an Arabic loose syntax and some loan words from same,,,, English and German have added to Swahili mostly in the Nineteenth Century. So for a Swahili speaker to know Arabic words is a no brainer.
June 3, 2009 3:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yes, how Un-Merican to show an interest in and respect for other cultures.
June 3, 2009 3:05 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yep! As th' ol' saying goes:
If you speak three languages, you're trilingual.
If you speak two languages, you're bilingual.
And if you speak only one language, you're...
an American.
June 3, 2009 3:52 PM | Reply | Permalink
I took two semesters of French does this make me in league with those who (correctly) opposed our misadventure in Iraq?
Pass the the freedom fries please.
June 3, 2009 4:12 PM | Reply | Permalink
Arigato.
Gracias.
Merci.
Xie Xie.
Wow! Now I'm fluent in Japanese, Spanish, French, and Mandarin Chinese by Goldfarb's standards!
I'll have to update my resume..
June 3, 2009 4:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
This from the party that fired the gay translators of Arabic.
"Vote for us: We value homophobia more than translating the next 'Bin Laden determined to strike inside U.S.' intelligence intercept."
June 3, 2009 4:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
The call to prayer is the same across the Muslim world, of course, whether you're in Saudi Arabia, Mali, Afghanistan or Indonesia.
In other news, Pat Buchanan and lots of other old Catholics know the same Latin as a bunch of child abusing priests.
June 3, 2009 7:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
In-f'ing-credible.
ABC's Jake Tapper posts a totally news-free blog item titled "The Emergence of President Obama's Muslim Roots."
Drudge posts a link to that item as his main headline for at least 48 hours -- and counting.
Riffing off Drudge, an obscure website called Ace of Spades picks up an innocuous quote from Tapper's piece, and spins it into the headline, "White House National Security Advisor ... Smears President Obama as Having Muslim Roots."
Michael Goldfarb in turn links to that site (and that phrase), as well as to Politico's Ben Smith, who has himself conjured up a blog item from the fact Obama spoke the single Arabic word "Shukran" to the Saudi king.
From all these second- and third-hand borrowings, Goldfarb derives his own headline: "Does Obama Speak Arabic?"
A total right-wing circle jerk!
Folks, didn't we know Obama had Muslim roots before he even started his campaign? Didn't he write a book about it?
As for "Shukran," I say that to the pretty girl behind the counter every time she hands me my shawarma. Does that make me a secret Muslim?
No, it makes me f'ing polite.
Jeez!
Idiots!
June 3, 2009 8:13 PM | Reply | Permalink