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Trump just ended a long tradition of celebrating Ramadan at the White House

P

Piecake

Member
In the early days of December 1805, a handful of prominent politicians received formal invitations to join President Thomas Jefferson for a White House dinner.

The occasion was the presence of a Tunisian envoy to the United States, Sidi Soliman Mellimelli, who had arrived in the country just the week before, in the midst of America’s ongoing conflict with what were then known as the Barbary States.

And the reason for the dinner’s later-than-usual start was Mellimelli’s observance of Ramadan, a holy month for Muslims in which observers fast between dawn and dusk. Only after sunset do Muslims break their fast with a meal, referred to as an iftar.

Jefferson’s decision to change the time of the meal to accommodate Mellimelli’s observance of Ramadan has been seized on by both sides in the 21st-century debate over Islam more than 200 years later. Historians have cited the meal as the first time an iftar took place in the White House — and it has been referenced in recent White House celebrations of Ramadan as an embodiment of the Founding Father’s respect for religious freedom. Meanwhile, critics on the far right have taken issue with the characterization of Jefferson’s Dec. 9, 1805, dinner as an iftar.

Whatever Jefferson could have foreseen for the young country’s future, it appears the modern-day White House tradition of marking Ramadan with an iftar dinner or Eid celebration has come to an end.

Ramadan, which falls on the ninth month of the Islamic lunar calendar, started on May 27 this year and ends at sundown Saturday. Muslims around the world will mark the end of the holy month by celebrating the holiday Eid al-Fitr, the “feast of breaking of the fast.”

For the first time in nearly two decades, Ramadan has come and gone without the White House recognizing it with an iftar or Eid celebration, as had taken place each year under the Clinton, Bush and Obama administrations. In recent weeks, several former White House staff members told The Post they would usually begin planning an iftar “months in advance” and didn’t anticipate the Trump White House could pull something off before the end of Ramadan.
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https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...-stories_retropolis-iftar328pm:homepage/story
 
G

GK86

Homeland Security Fail
The dude is too busy working to bothered to celebrate Ramadan.



Or golfing. Same thing.
 
D

Dyle

Member
Shameful but unsurprising

Although, since we've unilaterally decided that well-done steak with ketchup is not food, then he probably did end up accidentally fasting
 
S

soundscream

Member
MisterHero said:
Dude just wants to eat
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Donald-Trump-double-chin-photo.jpeg
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TFW they say you can't eat till sundown.
 
E

Eusis

Member
Tiamatsword22 said:
The article says it started with Clinton.

The more recent tradition that trump broke I mean.
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Does highlight why W. Bush can at least receive some respect as a president though given he continued the tradition at one of the points it'd be easiest to be a confrontational shit though. But it probably says more about how awful Trump has been at president and how he lowers the bar so much given W. Bush was. He at least was generally diplomatic and respected traditions.

EDIT: Though I was also one of those that felt time would tell if Bush was actually worst president or not given that we've had a long history and he wasn't pointedly bad in ways prior presidents weren't at times. But now, oh boy, if Trump's not the worst it'll be because he failed to fuck up TOO much, or served as a lesson of what NOT to do which would kind of just reinforce how horrible he is.
 
C

cameron

Member
Expected.

For the first time in nearly two decades, Ramadan has come and gone without the White House recognizing it with an iftar or Eid celebration, as had taken place each year under the Clinton, Bush and Obama administrations.
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It's alright. The next new POTUS will restart the tradition, and Donald will be a footnote about the gap.
 
L

Lord_Byron28

Member
Eusis said:
Does highlight why W. Bush can at least receive some respect as a president though given he continued the tradition at one of the points it'd be easiest to be a confrontational shit though. But it probably says more about how awful Trump has been at president and how he lowers the bar so much given W. Bush was. He at least was generally diplomatic and respected traditions.

EDIT: Though I was also one of those that felt time would tell if Bush was actually worst president or not given that we've had a long history and he wasn't pointedly bad in ways prior presidents weren't at times. But now, oh boy, if Trump's not the worst it'll be because he failed to fuck up TOO much, or served as a lesson of what NOT to do which would kind of just reinforce how horrible he is.
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As far as I can see Trump is already the worst president by almost every measure(approval ratings, foreign policy, domestic policy, morality, etc.). Only thing he has now is the economy and most of that is just riding what Obama set in motion. However, a recession is coming and Trump/GOP's policies will make it much worse.
 
W

Wilsongt

Member
Eusis said:
Does highlight why W. Bush can at least receive some respect as a president though given he continued the tradition at one of the points it'd be easiest to be a confrontational shit though. But it probably says more about how awful Trump has been at president and how he lowers the bar so much given W. Bush was. He at least was generally diplomatic and respected traditions.

EDIT: Though I was also one of those that felt time would tell if Bush was actually worst president or not given that we've had a long history and he wasn't pointedly bad in ways prior presidents weren't at times. But now, oh boy, if Trump's not the worst it'll be because he failed to fuck up TOO much, or served as a lesson of what NOT to do which would kind of just reinforce how horrible he is.
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Bush didn't pile on huge anti-Muslim rhetoric during his presidency.

That shit didn't start into overdrive until Obama.
 
C

CarpeDeezNutz

Member
Man, fuck Trump. I went out and voted against his ass and Bush but I would rather have Dubya than him. Bush came out and condemned attacks on Muslims after 9/11.
 
O

Occam

Member
To be honest, I'd prefer it if governments didn't participate in any religious ceremonies.
Secularism, yo!
Religion needs to stay far away from government.

US government officials constantly talking about God and having it influence their policies is scary.
 
M

mlclmtckr

Banned
Occam said:
To be honest, I'd prefer it if governments didn't participate in any religious ceremonies.
Secularism, yo!
Religion needs to stay far away from government.

US government officials constantly talking about God and having it influence their policies is scary.
Click to expand...

I know right all the pro-Muslim rhetoric in American politics has to end
 
A

antonz

Member
Occam said:
To be honest, I'd prefer it if governments didn't participate in any religious ceremonies.
Secularism, yo!
Religion needs to stay far away from government.

US government officials constantly talking about God and having it influence their policies is scary.
Click to expand...

If the God they claimed to follow actually influenced their decisions things would probably be a lot better.

What we have in America is people using God as a shield to their own asshole behavior.
 
O

Occam

Member
antonz said:
If the God they claimed to follow actually influenced their decisions things would probably be a lot better.

What we have in America is people using God as a shield to their own asshole behavior.
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Of course, it's all bullshit. They never manage to remember that pesky "love thy neighbor"-line.

On the other hand Republicans give us great quotes like God will "take care of" climate change. If it even exists. Which of course it doesn't.
 
H

Hazmat

Member
"I've never stayed at a Ramadan. Believe me, when I travel I only stay at the best, the most luxurious resorts. The greatest hotels. Believe me."
 
O

Occam

Member
Hazmat said:
"I've never stayed at a Ramadan. Believe me, when I travel I only stay at the best, the most luxurious resorts. The greatest hotels. Believe me."
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Great! (I actually stayed at a Ramada a year ago, they had an excellent spa).
 
P

Platinumstorm

Member
Focusing on this rather than talking about issues. Continuing to center drama around Trump when this is of minimal consequence. Focus on issues, not on Trump.
 
R

riotous

Banned
"I could celebrate Ramadan in the middle of Park Avenue and people would still vote for me."

Trump loses election.

A peak into the better timeline we missed out on.
 
F

Funyarinpa

Member
Divided on this. On one hand, it raises concerns about secularism, and on the other hand, isn't an iftar dinner simply acknowledging the Muslims of America?

Eid Mubarak btw
 
rrvv

rrvv

Member
Occam said:
To be honest, I'd prefer it if governments didn't participate in any religious ceremonies.
Secularism, yo!
Religion needs to stay far away from government.

US government officials constantly talking about God and having it influence their policies is scary.
Click to expand...

I don't see the problem celebrating it as festival thought
 
T

Tubobutts

Member
I wonder if the people framing this as a problem of religion in politics rather than an acknowledgment of an American minority group also have a problem with the White House Christmas and Easter traditions.
 
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