Clear Channel hosts likened African outfit worn by Obama to "the kind of garb you often see Osama bin Laden in" and to "Somali warlord garb"

Summary: Dan Caplis of 630 KHOW-AM and "Gunny" Bob Newman of Newsradio 850 KOA on their February 25 broadcasts referred to a photo of Sen. Barack Obama (D) wearing the traditional attire of a tribal elder during a 2006 visit to Kenya in smearing the Democratic presidential candidate. Caplis stated that the photo shows Obama in "the same type of turban and clothing that Osama bin Laden wears," while Newman asked, "[W]hy do you think Obama really had the photo taken, dressed up as a Somali warlord?"

On their February 25 broadcasts, Clear Channel Communications Inc. radio hosts Dan Caplis of 630 KHOW-AM and "Gunny" Bob Newman of Newsradio 850 KOA questioned Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama's having worn the traditional attire of a tribal elder during an August 2006 visit to Kenya. Referring to Osama bin Laden, Caplis questioned why Obama would "put on similar clothing to the outfit worn by the man who personally ordered thousands of Americans, including women and kids, to be burned to death," later stating that "it would be as if John Kennedy had gone out and thrown on the fatigues and the funny baseball hat that Castro wore."

Similarly, Newman stated, "We were five years into the war on terror when Obama knowingly and willingly dressed up in Somali warlord garb to have his photo taken." After asking whether it was "ethical of Obama to dress up this way after so many American military men were murdered by Somali warlords" -- an apparent reference to the U.S. military intervention in Somalia -- Newman asked whether Obama had the photo taken "to garner support from Muslim-Americans who ideologically support Muslim terrorists?" He continued, "Would it have been right for Harry Truman to dress up like a Nazi in 1948?" Newman made the question "Was it ethical for Obama to dress up as a Somali warlord?" the daily poll question on his Newsradio 850 KOA Web page. The "Gunnyism of the Day" on the page stated, "So it is OK for Obama to dress up as a Somali warlord, but if I dressed up as a member of the Iraqi Republican Guard or a Nazi, the Left would go berserk. Go figure."

According to a February 26 BBC News article, the photo of Obama "wearing Somali clothing is causing a storm after it got released to the Drudge Report website." The article continued:

Yusuf Garaad Omar, head of the BBC's Somali Service, explains the meaning of the robes.

These are the normal clothes that nomadic people wear.

The head turban is especially used by elderly people as a suggestion of respect.

[...]

There is no religious significance to it whatsoever. It is mainly the nomadic people who use it. Some of them are religious, some are not.

It is simply a tradition of the place where they are from.

In this particular place, Wajir in north-east Kenya, the community is majority ethnic Somali.

Later in his broadcast, Caplis responded to a caller's question about the "relevance" of Obama's wearing the African attire in the photo by saying, "Well, the relevance is, the man wants to be president of the United States." Caplis added, "His middle name is Hussein, which should not be held against him for a second; his last name rhymes with Osama, which should not be held against him for a second."

From the February 25 broadcast of 630 KHOW-AM's The Caplis & Silverman Show:

CAPLIS: Man, there is a lot to talk about; got all sorts of sound of Hillary goin' on the offensive over the weekend, and want to dive into that and see what you think about that. Do you think it's going to work for her, or just sort of cause things to fall apart? After all, Obama has seemed so Teflon, but will he really be to, prove to be that? Because man, this story breaking today. This photograph now, and so many major publications -- 343 newspapers now carrying this story all over the world, of this photo of Barack Obama. And they're calling it -- people are dancing around it, right, because they want to be politically correct and all that. But it's called traditional Somali garb, quote-unquote, in a lot of publications; others are referring Obama being in a turban and traditional Kenyan garb. But the reality, and the reason it's a big story, is because it's, you know, the kind of garb you often see Osama bin Laden in.

Let's see, maybe that's Obama now. He's really, really angry about this story. So, you know, and he's lashing out at the Clinton campaign. But what I'd like you to do, if you get the chance, go to KHOW.com; take a look at that picture, because I'll describe it in more detail in a couple of minutes when we go whole-hog into this segment, but there's a reason that -- just in a matter of hours. I mean, the first hour, you know, I first saw it on Drudge, and I thought, "Is this thing going anywhere?" You know, 'cause Drudge may run some things, and then, you know, you go to Google, Google News, and you see where it's getting picked up around the nation, around the country, and, you know, some of these things, how they may get picked up in four or five publication. But this thing took a head of steam immediately -- talking places like The Washington Post, et cetera. And now it's up to about 345 publications, and it's because -- the truth, it's because he's dressed in the kind of garb that you often see Osama bin Laden in. And I'm not suggesting for a second that if you wear the same kind of garb, you think like that. Of course, Obama doesn't think like Osama bin Laden. But it does raise a lot of really interesting questions, including questions about his judgment. And then the practical effect of it, because -- you remember Michael Dukakis?

[...]

CAPLIS: Barack Obama being well aware of the downside of putting things on, and his excuse today that, oh, you know, this is what you do, and Clinton knows it. That's garbage. I mean, politicians don't put on everything somebody hands them to put on when they travel to a country; they're well aware of the Dukakis example. So for some reason Barack Obama -- and if I read his book, Audacity of Hope, did you get a chance to read that, [caller]?

CALLER: Yes, I did.

CAPLIS: So you know from that book that, just after the 9-11 attacks. Barack Obama had a lunch -- and I can't remember exactly who it was with -- but one of his political advisors who said, "Boy, this is so unfortunate for you, because your middle name's Hussein, and your name rhymes with Osama," and at that point they were talking about how bad those comparisons were for Obama. So under those circumstances, for him to go out and put on the same type of turban and clothing that Osama bin Laden wears, I think raises real questions about his judgment. And then, I think it raises a whole host of other issues. So, whether this thing ends up mattering a lot or not at all in the end, I think it raises real questions about his judgment. But fire away, [caller].

CALLER: OK. My question to you is: First off, are you aware that there are a great number of people in the world who wear a turban?

CAPLIS: Oh, yes.

CALLER: But to limit it just to Osama is really, that's where the ignorance comes in.

CAPLIS: How many American senators wear turbans? How many American senators who've been battling -- and I think it's an unfair attack --

CALLER: What's the relevance of that question?

CAPLIS: Well, the relevance is, the man wants to be president of the United States. His middle name is Hussein, which should not be held against him for a second; his last name rhymes with Osama. His last name rhymes with Osama, which should not be held against him for a second. But he has --

CALLER [laughs]: Well, yours rhymes with man, and there's plenty of men who've done bad things. So just because your name rhymes with something, does that make you somehow weird?

CAPLIS: But here's the point; Obama himself has recognized that as a hurdle for him.

CALLER: Yes.

CAPLIS: So that's the point, is why, given those comparisons and given those hurdles he has, would he choose to go out and put on same kind of turban that bin Laden is always pictured in?

[...]

CAPLIS: Why do you go, then, and put on similar clothing to the outfit worn by the man who personally ordered thousands of Americans, including women and kids, to be burned to death? Now Barack Obama, I'll trust, is a great American. He just has radically wrong ideas for this country, in my view, but -- why would you even consider putting on the same kind of clothes as worn by that monster?

CALLER: There's many first ladies, many people in Congress that have done the exact same thing.

CAPLIS: Well -- give me a comparison to wearing the kind of clothing worn by the enemy. By public enemy number one.

CALLER: All right, Madeleine Albright went to Saudi Arabia and put on a burka.

CAPLIS: Boy, I -- Tom, if you see that comparison, I respect that, but I, respectfully, don't. I mean, bin Laden, I think, has a unique persona. To me it would be as if John Kennedy had gone out and thrown on the fatigues and the funny baseball hat that Castro wore.

From the February 25 broadcast of Newsradio 850 KOA's The Gunny Bob Show:

NEWMAN: We were five years into the war on terror when Obama knowingly and willingly dressed up in Somali warlord garb to have his photo taken. Hillary's camp found the photo and spread it around. The Obama camp says there's nothing to the photo, and that Hillary is desperate in trying political dirty tricks. If you want to see this photo, go onto the front page of the "Gunny" Bob pages on 850 KOA.com. Was it ethical of Obama to dress up this way after so many American military men were murdered by Somali warlords? I mean, does Obama think their deaths were unimportant? And why do you think Obama really had the photo taken, dressed up as a Somali warlord? Could it be to garner support from Muslim Americans who ideologically support Muslim terrorists? Would it have been right for Harry Truman to dress up like a Nazi in 1948? Would it have been right for Jimmy Carter to dress up like a Viet Cong in 1976? Would it have been right for Ronald Reagan to dress up like a Lebanese terrorist in 1984? Many Americans believe Obama is a sort of willing Manchurian candidate, and that he is not the person he wants you to believe he is.

—E.B. & J.F.B.