It's the look....and who you are pandering to

Politics is as much about perceptions as actually doing something. And in this 21st century the images out there can become very important.

It's something Obama, and his advisors, have obviously taken to heart - but not for noteworthy reasons! From in "Obama expands his Islamophobia to include Sikhs as well" on Ali Abunimah's blog:

"US President Barack Obama has ruled out a visit to the Golden Temple in Amritsar, sacred to Sikhs, because Obama does not want to wear the head-covering that is required as a sign of respect in case it makes him look like a Muslim."

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".... during the [election] campaign two Muslim women enthusiastically attending an Obama rally were required to move out of camera shot, so that the Post Racial candidate would not be pictured with them.

More recently, Obama has repeatedly failed to stand up to Islamophobic incitement ginned up about the planned lower Manhattan Islamic Center and has basically hung American Muslims out to dry.

If Obama had refused to wear a kippah - the Jewish ritual head-covering - when he went to Jerusalem, and instead insisted on wearing a baseball cap, he would have been declared not only disrespectful, but anti-Semitic as well. Of course the whole point of going to Jerusalem was to for that photo-op in order to buttress his pro-Israel credentials."

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Mahler's Prodigal Son

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