Osama Fears Obama

 
A few weeks ago a left-leaning compadre from high school, in his paranoia-induced state regarding the (then) close race, decreed how incredibly damaging it would be to the Obama/Biden campaign if Osama bin Laden put out a new video (as he did close to the '04 election), endorsing the Democratic ticket.
"Impossible," I said.
"Think about it. Al Qaeda throws its support behind Obama calling him something like 'one of our Muslim brothers,' and the voters go crazy with fear, flocking to McCain/Palin."
"That would be..."
"Diabolical?"

And so we left it there, me trying not to think of the un-thinkable; my friend, after all, had a good point. Fast forward to October 22nd, to-day. I scour the Internets for various information and diversion from my daily duties, and come upon this doozy of a story via Associated Press. Turns out my friend was sort of on the right track. Sort of.

If this isn't an endorsement worthy of effectively killing an already flawed and severely wounded campaign, then I am Marshall Applewhite and I'm taking off for the high heavens with my Nike-clad brothers and sistahs (don't ask why Heaven's Gate came to mind while trying to construct this lousy metaphor, it's just what comes out when I open that little iron trapdoor in my cerebellum).

Note how Mark Salter, a senior McCain adviser, acknowledged he had heard about the Web site chatter but had no immediate comment. I imagine that right about now McCain/Palin staffers are dumping all their possessions into cardboard boxes and booking their flights home.

And so we cross another weird hurdle in this savage race. Obama gets endorsed by Colin Powell on Sunday, while McCain grabs the blessing of Al-Qaeda.