I have traveled to more Arab nations than most Arabs. I have lived in two and I lived in Israel. The Filastinians have allowed themselves to be treated as pawns by people who almost universally hold them in contempt. And I'm not talking about the Israelis.

Robert Kaplan pointed out in a 1992 Atlantic article, "The Coming Anarchy," that some 75% of all Arabs had been born after the last Arab Israeli war. Think what that figure would be today. Consider the context from which they are working.

Filistinean ideas have been shaped by those who use them and then cast them aside. The successful Palistinean diaspora worldwide contributes little to the cause. The fraternal Arab nations funnel money to gain influence and create a convenient distraction.

Jihad is all its meanings at once. They are inseparable concepts. At least until the eventual and inevitable reformation.

thing.  Remember, he was referring to the violent intifada, launched by Arafat and Company after being offered the peace deal of a lifetime, and that included indiscriminate suicide bombings against Israeli civilians -- men, women, children, teenagers, etc.  THAT is what this doctor is defending?!?

about how she vetted the Doctor, well she should go.  I don't think there should be a next time as she stated.  She has vastly hurt the Governor and unnecessarily ginned up the Republican spin machine.  I don't care if the Governor has 3,000 people to vet for appointments....she should have found the time and resources to do her homework.

anything about this entire episode, that it may have hurt Governor Kaine and also that it's given the right wingers an opening to attack Democrats, even though nearly every one of us condemns the content and spirit behind Omeish's "jihad way" remarks.

You may have made up your mind about this guy, but I think we all need to tread very carefully about how we vilify Muslims.

In this quote:

We don't want to repeat the Jeffersonian model. We cannot say 'All humans are created equal,' and then we go back to sit down at our mansion and we have slaves working in the very house we are talking about.

I see someone railing against the apparent hypocrisy of Jefferson who claimed "All men are created equal" and then went on to live comfortably as a wealthy landowner benefiting from  his slaves' hard labor.

I'm no expert, and obviously there's a lot more to explore in Mr. Omeish' background.  Still, the blind veneration of our leaders and forefathers can be a dangerous game, leading to all kinds of jingoistic, reactionary, and unreasoned attacks against truth.

I think it is precisely the conflict between his deist ideals and the economic and political realities he faced that make Jefferson the great man and powerful historical figure that he is.  I do not believe, however, that he is entitled to deification any more than Franklin, Washington, Roosevelt or either Bush.

These are men who are all the more important because of their interior conflicts, and in this case I see no reason to question Mr. Omeish right to speak out and identify those conflicts.

This is still America, and we serve Jefferson's ideals, and heritage best when we remember that the most important role in this nation is that of "citizen", no one is beyond question, and none here are deified.

Including his belief that "All humanity is divided into  two categories" (Muslims and non-Muslims) and that "We are not just another community to bring into the mainstream."  It's very clear what he's talking about.  Also, Omeish gets no benefit of the doubt after extolling "jihad" against Israel and its total destruction.  There's a good reason Governor Kaine fired him as soon as he was made aware of this guy's comments. 

You're not saying you think Kaine was wrong in firing him, right?

The Gray Havens.

Robotic jingoism and hysteria levied against Dr. Omeish and against Muslims in general is something to avoid, not embrace and perpetuate.

Muslims in this country lack the political organization and clout of AIPAC and its allies, so they are particularly vulnerable to being demonized in the public square and MSM.

At the same time, AIPAC, according to several Capitol Hill sources, literally drafted the Kyl-Lieberman Amendment seeking to pave the way for attacking Iran. Yet one has to go to the www, not the U.S. MSM, to find such reporting.

He was simply saying that, unlike Jefferson, he did not have a double standard that would profess equality and liberty and then go home to be served by humans who were his slaves.

However, there's a bit of hypocrisy, too, in judging Jefferson by totally modern standards.  And most likely Jefferson or his family obtained their slaves from the Muslim Arabs who were the main slave traders in Africa at the time.

Many, many people were complicit in the slave trade. So let's ditch that canard.

How is it unfair to judge Jefferson in this manner?  Jefferson who professed Enlightenment values stared at the most reprehensible form of human oppression everyday of his life and did nothing!  And he never freed his slaves, because apparently a life of leisure was more important than his professed values.

I bristle at the idea that anyone is judging by "totally modern standards."  We just didn't invent the idea of equality and social justice in this decade.

In fairness to Jefferson, he may have been addicted to books and other luxuries, but his financial difficulties had a lot to do with the fact that he was spending quite a bit of time away from his estate (plantation) in service of country.  George Washington encountered similar difficulties in managing his personal finances during his years as president.  Elected office these days has the possibility of being a lucrative endeavor.  In the early years of the Republic when the nation was teetering on the edge of bankruptcy, it was not.

I think Jefferson's hypocrisy is fair game--he was hypocritical with respect to the slavery issue--but I can moderate my judgment given that his historical context is not ours.

It's also true that Muslims contemporaries of Jefferson in East Africa and Arabia had slaves (and have had slaves into the 21st century in some cases -- trafficking still exists). 

As far as traders go, I could be wrong, but I believe most of the slave trading was carried about by Portuguese, Spanish, and American merchants.  Some Rhode Island/Rogue's Island families got rich off trafficking in the mid to late 18th century.

and Americans, but the interior traffic was very much the province of Arab Muslims and native tribes.  In North Africa not only was slavery practiced, but at least a third of the population of the region was in slavery until very recent times.  The Barbary Pirates conducted thousands of raids against European shipping and against southern Italy and Malta.  At least 1 to 1.5 million Europeans were delivered into slavery in Africa through shipping raids alone.  Slavery was also a major economic factor of the Ottoman Empire.  Some of the bitterness of Eastern Europeans against the Turks and Muslims in general is directly related to the conquest and delivery into slavery of hundreds of thousands of Eastern Europeans over the centuries. 

I lived in West Africa for a while in Benin, formerly known as Dahomey, where many slaves originated.  As a matter of fact, the Bight of Benin (the curve or armpit of West Africa) was known as the Slave Coast.  The local Fon tribe was very active in conquering neighboring tribes and selling captives to the Portuguese and French in exchange for cannons and other goodies, and the Fon and Yoruba slaver kings were devastated when the English banned the practice.  Of course, people are unaware that when the Brits started to enforce their ban, when they encountered slave ships and impounded them, they would bring the slave cargo to Jamaica and other British plantation colonies, NOT back to their homes in Africa.

So, in my long-winded way I guess what I'm saying here is that when it comes to slavery no one's hands are clean.  Lots of shame to be shared here.

Women in many muslim countries are only slightly better off than slaves. Bartered into marriage at early ages and worked to death.Honor killings because they were victims of rape or dared to have sex with someone her family disapproved of. Denied an education. On an on.

If Hanley missed this, so did DHS - with all of their gazillion dollars and need to toy with the Constitution to "protect America."  The way it looks to me, the very mission of DHS is to put these things together - in this case public information - and get that information to the appropriate states and locales, in this case Virginia.

What I'm saying is that if Richmond missed this, they should have heard about it from DHS first.  Why not?

I wonder if and when we will start vetting Christian Fundamentalists in the same manner? I think we all know there are many whom advocate violence against others who do not share their views on abortion, etc.

If there are those here today who do not think the Christian Right doesn't have it's own "jihad", think again. I remember a few years back when the Richmond Times Disgrace...whoops I mean Dispatch criticised the Republicans in the Va. congress for worrying too much about how to slip prayer into schools and letting the Commonwealth's economy sink.

And a brief word on Jefferson, despite his "imperfections"...golly ghee that means he was human after all, he wrote a bill that the Virginia General Assembly was the first to pass anywhere in history that became a basis for an important part of the Constitution. That was the Statute For Religious Freedom. Something that many Virginians and Americans seem to have forgotten.

Frankly, I have gotten tired of those who seek to tear down men and women who had the minds and fortitude to put down such great ideas and ideals. Some unfortunatly failed to live them but they sure as hell beat who we look up to today (i.e. OJ, Barry Bonds, Mark Mcquire, P Ditty, Eminem, Paris Hylton, etc).

talk and act reminds me of the talk and actions of these Muslims. 

I'm one of those who think that most (I said most) organized religions have one thing in common:  their undying desire to prove their religion is THE true religion and all others are wrong, evil, infidels and on and on and on.  Ever noticed that?

the basis for ALL religion is control. Think about it, it's frightening.

I just finished reading all the comments to the WaPo article Kaine Announces Esam Omeish's Resignation.  And they were interesting.

But politically it was a really bad idea, again politically, for Governor Kaine's staff to have not completed enough research to learn that Dr. Omeish is President of the Muslim American Society, that acknowledges it's roots are Muslim Brotherhood.  Ms. Hanley said she is a personal friend of Dr. Omeish but didn't know of his MAS association?  I'll give her a pass on that for now.

Whether, MAS or Dr. Omeish represent a security problem (then would not the FBI be involved?), to me is not the issue at this point.  The issue is that the APPEARANCE to Virginians is that this nomination was unwise politically and should have been avoided.  What were they thinking?