Here's what Abbas wrote:

* This post also appears on Global Voices Online.

Sandmonkey begins his argument by declaring that he is happy with Obama and McCain being the nominees of the Republican and the Democratic parties.
He writes:

I am happy because both men are not the conventional nominees of their parties, and they are more interested in creating common ground with the other side's voter bloc than they are in pandering to their base.

Upon examining the electoral programs for the two gentlemen, Sandmonkey says:

In my house , right now, I have the electoral programs for both Obama and McCain, and reading them has provided me with hours of constant amusement. McCain's program is under the impression that the world is great and everything is fine and dandy, and all we really have to do is to bomb a couple more areas in the world (a bomb here, a couple there) and all will be well with the world again. I personally love it, but that's because I am Pro-Death and would welcome anything that would bring the world's population down a notch, but I doubt the rest of you exactly share my sentiment, so, ehh, yeah, bad electoral program, bad!

Obama's on the other hand, well, it kinda reads like someone's sophomore year college term paper on “the joys of socialism”. It's nice, it's sweet, it's humane, it's unrealistic *******. Oh, and if you would like to challenge that world view, please inform me how this man intends to both balance the budget ( with its huge deficit) and implement Universal Healthcare (which any idiot would tell you wouldn't exactly be..ehh..cheap). Or, if you are suffering from the shitty deal you got from your healthcare provider and you don't care how this gets financed, explain to me again how he will “convince” the Businesses that left the US for China or India to come back to the US, where they will have to pay both higher taxes AND labor costs, plus whatever new taxes he intends to raise to finance your healthcare. Ok, now back to McCain for a second.

Sandmonkey denies that his post is pro-McCain because he is certain that he will not win.

He is not going to win because the Party really isn't backing him- if they did they might have advised him to get something resembling an economic plan. Nope, the republicans are doing the same thing the democrats did in 2004 on for, just putting on a good show. Nothing is in the favor of this man: the base hates him cause he is secular, his views on the war are incredibly unpopular with middle- America right now, he has a wife whose history- once put out on display in the general election- will make Michelle Obama look like the Saint she ain't, and last, but not least, the age thing. Not to mention, with absolute democratic majorities in both the house and senate, he would be a lame-duck President from day one, and nothing would ever get done. I like McCain, and would've rather seen him win in 2000 than Bush, but he is not going to win this one either.

Leaving McCain aside, Sandmonkey goes into his well-thought reasons of why the world should prepare for a failed Obama presidency:

You see, if you ask any Obama supporter, they will tell you that they are supporting the man because he gives them hope. Now, Oscar Wilde once said that the basis of all hope is fear, and I intend to agree with Wilde on that one. So what exactly are the Obama supporters afraid of? Well, it's really simple, after 8 years of Bush, and of having the government repeatedly inform them that they are living in a threatening world that doesn't like them (which, by the way, is true, and it disliked them during Clinton's presidency too I may add) and that they are going to have to hunker down, get though and prepare to fight this for the long haul, they are afraid that this is really the way the world is. Enter Obama, who tells them in all kinds of inspiring fashion that this isn't necessarily true, that the world isn't really dangerous and that all we need to do is to talk to one another, and then all will be well in the world and we will all sing Kumbaya together. So, desperate and clinging to anything, they believe him, because the alternative is so scary, so stressful and depressing, that they may have to up their Zoloft dosage , and anti-depressants are really expensive nowadays.

The rant goes on to call America a “stupid girl with low self esteem in junior high” who has a fixation on who likes her and who does not.

Not to mention, Americans really want the world to like them, which is a silly desire shared by no other nation on earth. You don't see the Russians worrying about the world liking them, or the Chinese. Ok, you want a democracy? How about the French? Do you see the French worrying about whether or not the world likes them? Do you know of any other nation in the world who actually has this stupid girl-with-low-self-esteem-in- junior-high fixation? Hell, even the Israelis, arguably the current most hated country in the world (and who would like a nation of militaristic Jews who refuse to be wiped out? Those Damn Jooz!), are not as fixated on getting the world to like them the way the Americans do, because most of them have resigned themselves that the world really never will like them. So yeah, the Americans stand alone when it comes to that silly desire, and they have constructed a notion why the world dislikes them: It's because the world thinks that they are a racist nation that is also prejudiced against Islam. So, in order to remedy that, they vote and nominate a Black man with an Arab middle-name who comes from a Muslim Background, as if saying, “Here! This is how far we all willing to go. Do you like us now?” And the world will answer: Ehh, no, not really!

Sandmonkey is also ready for the counter argument:

There are those who will argue with this, citing great support for Obama all over Europe and the world. True, but that's because he is the Anti-Bush, an articulate black man who says he doesn't want war. The world would love Gary Coleman if he was the person who said this after 8 years of Bush. Plus, the world is excited for the Obama presidency because they view it as some sort of novelty, the black man who became President after all of the country's history of slavery. Americans forget that thanks to their endless stream of movies and TV shows that have addressed the history and extent of racism in the US, we all know the back-story and the struggles and Rosa Parks and Malcom X and MLK and all of this fun stuff. So, really, it's like watching a 250 year old movie where one character keeps getting screwed over and finally, through a lot of fighting, becomes President. Oh Happy Ending. We love Happy endings. What we didn't wrap our head around yet is that this isn't a movie. There is no Fade to Black after Obama takes office. He actually becomes the President and executer of policies. He will become a symbol of the country people love to hate, and this won't exactly end because he is a smooth talking good looking black guy. It's a nice fantasy, but let's get real here. There are too many people who have vested interest in hating the US and always will hate it, no matter who the **** runs it. Now let's examine this notion a little.

The post gets more and more interesting when Sandmonkey goes into his expectations of Obama's foreign policy:

Unarguably , Obama's number one foreign policy objective is to get things right with the Arab and Muslim world. And that's when you are going to watch the best circus in the world, because no a single leader, in the Arab or the Muslim world, really wants to get right with the US. Hell, our rulers have justified their entire existence in power by positioning themselves as opposed to America . They continue , in their state-sponsored media, to point fingers at the US and go ” See, those bloodthirsty Americans. They will kill you all, rape all of your women and drink the blood of your babies, if we are not here to protect you. So eat shit and shut up!”, and If you think I am exaggerating please check Egypt, Syria, Iran, Yemen, etc.. etc.. Those people have built their entire rule on that whole notion, you think they are going to give that up because the silly Americans voted for a 40-something inexperienced Black dude? Get real! And in terms of the Arab and Muslim street, let's not forget that their number one issue has always been Israel. Now, do you think Obama will go against Israel, after watching him kissing for hours AIPAC ***? Ha. So yeah, that will be a disappointment also. Not to mention that Obama won't withdraw from Iraq. He won't. He can't. At best he will do a partial withdrawal, while leaving a good chunk of US soldiers there. But bring all the troops home? Not gonna happen. And that's what the Arab and Muslim street wants, no? Let's not even contemplate the notion for a second that he is serious about going after Pakistan, like he said over and over again. Yeah, the Obama foreign policy will be- in the words of the great Borat- GREAT SUCCESS! I am sure.

I could not help but laughing out loud as I read this coming part about the Islamists and how they would react to Obama:

Oh, and I am sure that once he gets elected that the Islamists will warm up to him immediately. You know, because there is nothing that Islamists like more than a former born- Muslim who chose, by his own accord, to become a Christian and an active one at that. Yeah, I am sure they will be very impressed, and quit fighting the US immediately. After all, he said that he intends to deliver a speech from a Muslim nation in his first 100 days of office. Yeah, that kind of pandering really calms Islamists down, especially coming from apostates. And they will surely respect him if he withdraws partially from Iraq, and not mistake it as a sign of weakness or that they are winning or anything. And since we are on the topic, can you imagine what will happen if a terrorist attack took place during the Obama Presidency, after he does all of this? Can you imagine how America will feel, when they realize that even after they voted for the Blackman with Arab middle name and Muslim background who gave a speech during his first 100 days in a Muslim nation, that the world still hates them and that Islamists still want to kill them? Talk about a rude awakening. And can you imagine if they do demand a response from Obama, and Obama decides to take off the Dove hat and put the Hawk one on? Do I have to remind you how things went the last time a Dove tried to be a Hawk? Olmert and Peretz (who both, may I remind you , ran on the platform of withdrawing from the Westbank) during the Lebanon war, anyone? Ok, how about Carter and the rescue mission in Iran? How about Clinton in Somalia? We getting the picture? Should be a fantastic fun time for everyone involved.

If you are still not buying into this argument and if you are:

the kind of American who doesn't care about all that, like this silly American chick I met here a week ago, who told me that “the basis of hope is hope” and “I really don't care if your people like us, I just want to be proud of my country again!”. Ok, fair enough. So one would assume you are supporting Obama for domestic policy reasons. That you believe that he will clean Washington from the Special Interests and the lobbying and all that Jazz he has been talking about, and implements his “Socialism is fun” electoral program, aided surely, by the fact that the House and the Senate looks like it will tilt in favor of the democrats again this year, finally giving them full majority in both the house and Senate. I am sure he will be able to cut out the special interests and implement his policies in a Jiffy, right? Ehh, nope. Because even if he is not beholden to special interests- which I am not sure is exactly true-every single politician in the House and the Senate is, and they kinda like their seats. Not to mention, about half of the democrats who won in 2006 were Pro-War, Pro-Guns, Anti-Abortion democrats- i.e. confused republicans- who will undoubtedly, given how they are now fully in power, start fighting amongst themselves in earnest, the way the democrats always do. And if you don't believe me, check 1992, the first Clinton Presidential term. It's the Same shit. Charismatic unlikely democrat in the white house after 12 years of republican rule, bridled with unrealistic expectations of a starved political base who somehow expected him to miraculously solve all of their problems in the first 100 days, and had the majorities in the House and the Senate to pull it off. But he didn't. He couldn't. The Democrats were too busy fighting amongst themselves, and he was too busy trying to be a centrist and work with an institution that wouldn't work and all the hopes, dreams and expectations evaporated by the end of his first year in office. But yeah, I am sure the Obama first term will be different, because, like, he is Black. Oh, and a Washington outsider. Yes, that's the kind of person who can get things done in Congress, no doubt! But I digress, when I think of Obama, I don't think of Clinton. At the end of the day, everyone knew that Clinton would play Ball and isn't exactly driven by his own ideological view and belief in his own goodness. Nahh, when I think Obama, one name really comes to mind: Carter!

So yeah, if you are reading this and you remember those days, then please brace yourself, because it's gonna suck again for the next four years. But don't fret, there is a bright side to this, because remember, after Carter came Reagan. And maybe that's what America needs right now. To experiment with Obama to see if there is any truth to his fiction. If there is, sweet, I am not gonna hate, but there likely isn't, and that will be the necessary wake-up call that half of the US have been needing for the past 4 years. That's what it's gonna take: a colossal presidential failure of the size of Carter (whose approval ratings, by the way, make Bush's look really high, believe it or not), to get the US back into thinking about how to deal with their problems, instead of pretending they don't exist.

That being said, I will feel bad for Obama when this eventually happens though, because unlike every other President before him, Obama isn't just running as himself, he is running as the Black Candidate, so when he fails, it's not just him that will be looked upon as a failure, but his race with him. The nice white people of America will congratulate themselves when he is elected for no longer being a racist nation (they did elect a black man after all) and when he fails they probably wouldn't run another Black candidate for President for another 30 years or so. Not to mention, after Obama, being a black candidate won't be a big deal anymore. The novelty would've worn off, and the candidates will be assessed based on their experience and their plans, instead of just being an inspiring notion whose time has come as a Black Man for President of the USA. I hope this wouldn't be the case, but, ehh, I doubt it!

Politics is not my thing but this was too good to resist. When I came across Wael Nawara's writings I knew that I stumbled on a goldmine. In his post - Too Secular to Win? - Wael asked four tough questions that left his readers wondering:

What is the world coming to?

Where is Secular America?

When did people stop thinking that a person's religion is their own business?

Can Obama, if he ever wins, try to help change that? Help pick our world from these trends of rising religious-mania … starting with the US?

But will he ever win?

Wael started his post by citing an average American woman who was interviewed on CNN saying:

“I do not trust him (Obama) he is a Muslim …”

Wael found that woman's comment ridiculous and that many Americans will not vote for Obama for the same reason

which is ridiculous since Obama is NOT a Muslim. But he seems like a Muslim, enough. He could be a Muslim. His father may have been a Muslim. How ridiculous is that?

Could anyone have said: I do not trust him … he is a Jew … or he is a Catholic?

No. Not today. That would be suicidal.

Wondering what happened to secular America, Wael reminded his readers of a Regan incident:

25 years ago … Ronald Reagan, while a president, was visiting a school in Oregon, Orlando … at the end of his speech to students he said something like: “Go home and read your bible”.

The media took him for a roller coaster ride.

America had been discovering and affirming its secular voice in the previous decades … so what happened? Why isn't America so secular anymore?

In his analysis of how America lost its secular voice, Wael says:

It is a different world today … that's for sure … America had grown more religious? Possibly. The world had grown a lot more religious. I am pretty sure that the Arab-Israeli conflict had something to do with it.

Israel is a Modern Theocracy. Secular Zionists decided to use the religious sentiments to make their enterprise possible. That came with a price. The reaction to that was an Islamist resistance movement which decidedly used the same sentiment … religion … a different religion … Is it really that different …?

Wael did not overlook the role of the media in his analysis and how satellite TV and how it has boosted the “religious industry”

Satellite TV came … and with it the Religious Industry in the US and elsewhere flourished. With Religious Celebrities … movie-star-like Charisma … they own their channels or programs … and they own their private planes … and raise millions of dollars in donations … they play on fear and frustration … and they spread hatred and suspicion.

We have those modern “Breachers” here too in Egypt and the region … the Movie-Star, Talk-Show religious figures …

Obviously a supporter of Obama, Wael thinks that

Obama today has to say … “I pray to Jesus Christ, our Savior … ” to stand a winning chance surely with recommendations from his campaign advisors. Obama, has to put up a show of Christian faith before the voters, to stand a chance.