The Classic Liberal Blog

I'm not sure what the point is of polling people in foreign lands, about who they'd like to see become the next President of the United States is ... but then again, what do I know?  I'm just your typical white person, clinging to my guns and religion.

Early today, ABC excitedly reported, "World wants Obama as president: poll".  Globescan polled over 22,000 people in 22 foreign nations and concluded that "would prefer to see Senator Obama elected US president ahead of Republican John McCain".  Globescan chairman Doug Miller says "large numbers of people around the world clearly like what Barack Obama represents."

It's an exercise in futility, if you ask me.  After all, none of the people polled even get to vote!  Do they poll Americans about foreign elections?  I don't know ... but I doubt it.  What would be the point?

Well, bully for them ... in the only country it matters, McCain/Palin is leading the race to the White House ... But then again, polls are just polls.

I wonder if this "world poll" has given the black-helicopter-paranoia set another sign of "proof" that the "New World Order" is right around the corner?  He, he, he ...

So I googled up what people in other countries think about Obama ... but first, it will help shed further light if we start with Obama himself.

First off, back on March 6, 2007, New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof interviewed Barack Obama.  He wrote that Obama recited the opening lines of Shahada (the Muslim declaration of Faith), which Obama claims is "one of the prettiest sounds on Earth at sunset." Kristof also said Obama was "reciting them with a first-rate accent."

Then of course, was Obama's already famous Freudian Slip with George Stephanopoulos:

In "Barack Obama through Muslim Eyes", scholar Daniel Pipes reports "that while Americans generally view the Democratic candidate having had no religion before converting at Reverend Jeremiah Wrights' hands at age 27, Muslims the world over rarely see him as Christian but usually as either Muslim or ex-Muslim."

More from Pipes:

Egyptian newspaper, Al-Masri al-Youm, refers to his "Muslim origins."The president of the Islamic Society of North America, Sayyid M. Syeed, told Muslims at a conference in Houston that whether Obama wins or loses, his candidacy will reinforce that Muslim children can "become the presidents of this country." The Nation of Islam's Louis Farrakhan called Obama "the hope of the entire world" and compared him to his religion's founder, Fard Muhammad.

But this excitement also has a dark side - suspicions that Obama is a traitor to his birth religion, an apostate (murtadd) from Islam. Al-Qaeda has prominently featured Obama's stating "I am not a Muslim" and one analyst, Shireen K. Burki of the University of Mary Washington, sees Obama as "bin Laden's dream candidate." Should he become U.S. commander in chief, she believes, Al-Qaeda would likely "exploit his background to argue that an apostate is leading the global war on terror ... to galvanize sympathizers into action."

In sum, Muslims puzzle over Obama's present religious status. They resist his self-identification as a Christian while they assume a baby born to a Muslim father and named "Hussein" began life a Muslim. Should Obama become president, differences in Muslim and American views of religious affiliation will create problem.

I think it's important to note, that Pipes wrote in "Was Barack Obama a Muslim?":

"If I were a Muslim I would let you know," Barack Obama has said, and I believe him.

I tend to agree, however, I can't help but be suspicious of the guy when he's not completely forthcoming.  I think he certainly WAS, at one time.  That said ... it's still important to know what the radical Islamists are thinking in terms of Obama.  Whether they consider him Muslim or murtadd, either way, it seems to spell trouble for America.

Our final look at what "the world" thinks about Obama, comes from Libyan Leader Mu'ammar Al-Qadhafi, thanks to Sweetness & Light: