The discomfort of thought
Friday, August 20th, 2010
The latest manifestation of public cluelessness – namely, the sharp uptick in the percentage of Americans who erroneously believe that President Obama is a Muslim – brings to mind a remark uttered nearly a half century ago by John F. Kennedy:
"The great enemy of truth is very often not the lie – deliberate, contrived, and dishonest, but the myth – persistent, persuasive, and unrealistic. Belief in myths allows the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought."
The myth that Obama is a Muslim (whereas, need we say it again, he's Christian) now appears to be stronger than ever. The new poll released yesterday by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center shows that a growing share of citizens prefer the comfort of opinion over the discomfort of thought. Eighteen percent, nearly one in five people, now embrace the Muslim myth. That's a hefty hike from 11 percent, as recorded by Pew in March '09. Naturally, conservative Republicans are driving this increase – 34 percent of them now think that Obama is a Muslim, nearly double their '09 percentage – but perhaps the most noteworthy finding is that a growing share of independents (eight percent more than in '09) now endorse the myth as well.
And that's just the Pew poll. In the latest Time poll, 24 percent of Americans – and, within that statistic, a whopping 46 percent of Republicans – now declare themselves to be fans of the counterfactual.
What's going on here, anyway? Why are so many people so willing to take refuge in delusion?
JFK's riff on human nature is a good starting point, but I prefer the blunter diagnosis offered by historian Rick Shenkman, editor and founder of the History News Network website. In his '08 book, Just How Stupid Are We?, he wrote: "Any dolt can make fun of a politician. What if the real problem isn't with them, but with us – or, to be more precise, those among us who exhibit habitual stupidity?"
Shenkman defined the characteristics of stupidity, including: "sheer ignorance of critical facts about important events in the news, and ignorance of how our government functions and who's in charge…the disinclination to seek reliable sources of information…the inclination to believe what we want to believe, regardless of the facts."
This is a tough subject to discuss, given our populist impulses, but the statistical truth is that The People are often as dim as Joe the Plumber. One national poll, conducted in 2006, says it all: Only 25 percent of Americans were able to name more than one of the five freedoms encoded in the First Amendment (speech, religion, press, assembly, petition for redress of grievances), while more than half of all Americans were able to name at least two members of the Simpsons cartoon family. Better yet, 22 percent of Americans could name all five Simpsons, whereas just .1 percent could name all five First Amendment freedoms. D'oh!
This kind of result is typical. In recent years, other polls have reported that only 25 percent of Americans could correctly identify the length of a U. S. Senate term (six years); only 30 percent could name the length of a House term (two years); only 20 percent knew that there are 100 senators; only 30 percent knew that Roe v. Wade was the high court ruling that legalized abortion. Since 2001, sizable percentages have insisted that 9/11 was plotted by Saddam Hussein, or that U.S. officials engineered it as an inside job.
And current events apparently stump a lot of people as well; last month, according to Pew, 47 percent of Americans said that Obama started the bank bailout, while 34 percent named George W. Bush. The correct answer was Bush. No word yet on what percentage of Americans believe that "Elena Kagan" is a girlfriend who hangs with Snooki on Jersey Shore.
But the "sheer ignorance" factor can't fully explain those Muslim stats. Shenkman's third definition – "the inclination to believe what we want to believe" – is clearly the most relevant. When people are drawn to a myth, the facts don't matter. Those who dislike Barack Obama are increasingly inclined to dismiss him as an alien figure, as The Other, and therefore they are more willing to swallow the faux factoids that pop up in viral emails or on tea-party placards. As Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev (please tell me you have heard of him) was once quoted as saying, "If the people believe there's an imaginary river out there, you don't tell them there's no river out there. You build an imaginary bridge over the imaginary river."
Reacting yesterday to the Pew poll, the White House said: "The president's strong Christian faith is what guides him through the challenges, but he doesn't wear it on his sleeve." Some commentators insist that Obama should be wearing it on his sleeve, and that the Muslim myth would lose its potency if Obama simply showed up more often at church. I don't buy that one. If the White House suddenly began to flood us with photo-ops of the president in public prayer – indeed, even if Obama began to quote the New Testament in all his speeches – the myth embracers would probably conclude that the Muslim was cleverly seeking to cloak his true faith in fake Christian piety.
The real problem, a subset of baseline stupidity, is willful demonization and the inclination to believe it. Obama's policies are unpopular with a growing percentage of Americans who are understandably freaked about the economy. When a president is unpopular, some people are more inclined to believe the worst about him. And the worst about Obama appears to dovetail with the worst phobias about Islam. Ronald Reagan rarely went to church and never wore religion on his sleeve, but even when his tenure was in the dumps (1982, with 10 percent unemployment), he was never perceived even by liberals as The Other. Such were the inherent advantages of being a white guy with a face seemingly chiseled from all-American bedrock. In terms of image, Obama has less margin for error.
Bottom line? The best way Obama can beat the Muslim myth is to preside over an America on the road to economic recovery. If we're on the mend, fewer people would think the worst. Democratic talking head Paul Begala was probably right yesterday when he quipped that if the economy was creating jobs, "I don't think people would care if he were a Druid."
Obama is a christian, remember. He attended Rev Wrights Church, he was Obama's mentor. Wait, Obama says he was not present for inflamatory sermons by Wright. His name is Barak Hussein Obama. His grandmother said he was born in Africa, was a Muslim. Changed to Christian when he wanted to enter politics. What a fraud.
Earlier today I received an eMail from one of my Far RW friends announcing at full blast that Obama has changed the decor in the White House from a traditional American one to one of a Middle Eastern style & how this was yet one more example of how he & his Muslim buddies were taking over this country…Yikes!…
What a bunch of mularkey. Wake me when you want to discuss the economy.
Will you please use a dictionary. It's "malarkey" you dolt.
What a buch of malarkey!
SMike: THAT'S the point! With all the things that the Far Right Wing can focus on, this is the some of the stuff they worry about. This eMail appeared to have a wide & numerous distribution. Sad…
Of course it does, Bill. Of course it does. Why I read about it in the WSJ, NYT, Inquirer and the Economist. Those rascally right-wingers!
Don't worry this will be fixed in a couple of years. You wont have to worry about that anymore.
As the economy continues to collapse, and unemployment rises and businesses claim that they can't foretell the future and won't hire due to the confusing amount of rules and regulations that make them hear ringing in their ears, the right wing party brings up the only issues that they can safely broach. Religion, praying for Terry Schiavo, a kristalnacht moment against a religious minority who want to worship unmolested in a mosque, anything but the substantive issues that politicians should be addressing. The propaganda used to beat the president is irrelevant as long as it is something with which to beat the president. This is an important tactic especially when you really have nothing to hit your opponent with and your opponent can point to the blood all over your hands from inflicting a war of choice on our democracy. It is important to understand the tactics but the overall strategy is even more important to understand. That of rule or ruin. If the republican party can not have Washington, then no one can. So they ruin the political process and attack the population in neat segments designed for demagoguery. Religious hatred is fueled by the hallowed ground of 9/11, to demonize the US citizens who want to renovate a community center and worship there. The citizens who are victims of the third major banking collapse in the last 75 years are now the cheating deadbeats who have the nerve to avoid gainful employment for more than 99 weeks. And homeowners who have been have been crushed with a deflationary real estate market, are now scheming strategic defaulters. The middle class is getting the full blown welfare queen and food stamp cheat PR treatment usually reserved for the poor as practiced by race baiting republicans like Ronald Reagan. And at the top of the food chain of propaganda and demagogue moments for political campaigns by the right, is the de-legitimizing of the holder of the office of the presidency while being still able to claim that you are patriotic, defending the proper institution of the White House in the face of the its foreign born, secret muslim usurper. If President Obama is to survive this onslaught, he may just have to pander to his own base, by acting like a real Democrat, and passing radical programs to overhaul the ruined old order, just like FDR. He might have to use the control of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to wipe out debt, down to an affordable level for every mortgages that they hold, including VA and FHA backed mortgages. He might have to withdraw our military from Europe and shut down the wasteful spending of the military which includes their own Alpine Golf Resorts like Edel Weiss in Germany. He will have to create national industries in lieu of the wait and see businesses that want to contribute the scorched earth economic ruin tactic, like solar electric farms and factories and order the military to build these alternative energy generating infrastructures on their domestic bases, with made in the USA components. And, he will have to enact tariffs to create a level playing field for strategic materials like alloy steel, electronics and solar energy products, so we can rebuild domestic industries. And oh yes, tax the billionaires down to earth, let them only be worth sever hundred million a piece. That would be a good start. If you are going to be accused as the liberal government from hell, you might as well enact the programs that look like it.
What "great society" has just described is called fascism.
Right ON, GS! Well said. Stick around willya? There are a lot of wacked out rightwingnuts around here, stamping their feet and throwing tantrums about anything BUT the issues. You've hit the nail on the head about the R's in DC…the Party of "NO" wants to be given the keys to the car again? Based on what? Driving the country over a cliff? The Dems need to get on-message and start to govern from the center-left following the mandate they were given in the last election. Elections have consequences, except for when the spoiled little brats of the modern GOP decide to oppose the very act of governing. Truly sad. Here's hoping the electorate sees thru their sad, deplorable tactics…
And with that last post, my brief involvement with these comments is ended. I’m very disappointed and sorry (though not surprised) to see that the idiocy from the PhillyNews comments section has followed Mr. Polman to this section. The habit of referring to him in a derogatory way, the statements offered that have no basis in fact, the comments that are merely personal rants, the ones that have no bearing on the topic in Mr. Polman’s current column, and the insulting dismissal of other commentators, is way more chaff than I’m willing to dig through simply to find the few kernels of wheat that might incidentally be contained here. And there ARE such kernels, in every comments section, usually from both sides of the aisle. I simply cannot justify the 20+ minutes it takes and the irritation I feel at the inanity simply to find the 30 seconds or so of worthwhile reading contained in the comments. Hats off to those of you non-cretins who have such patience. It is obvious there are many of you, based on the approval/disapproval feature this site contains for each comment. Enjoy your forum.
Right, Marty. A commenter advocates for murder by suggesting that Palin and Gingrich get filled with concrete and dropped into the Gulf, and that sickening post gets a positive ranking. And when I point out that it is a sickening post that advocates for murder that comment gets a negative rating. The thumbs up/down ranking here is purely one of left vs right, with far more of the left being readers of this page than the right.
marty, this thread is in response to the myth of Obama being a Muslim. Pretending to believe that Obama is a Muslim is offensive on many levels. You can't debate this issue, it's a matter of simple facts – that's why I resort to dismissing these people. They know better. It's also offensive because they are further demonizing Muslims as a whole with this behavior. Also, it's hard to "debate" someone who won't own up to his/her own beliefs. Anyway, that's when I just give up and say F U.
Who thinks Obama is a Muslim and so what if they do? They only one trying to make political hay out of the small percentage of people who think Obama is a muslim is the far left. Give it up already and discuss the failings of the Obama economy.
Recall: The economy collapsed under Bush.
Sorry smike, thats just delusional. This "mosque" thing woldn't be an isse at all without the likes of Gingrich, Palin, Beck et. al. stoking the right wing loons to protest. How can you deny that with a straight face?
The saddest part, to me, of the Muslim myth is that being a Muslim (or for that matter any religion or non-religion other than regular church-going Christian), as Colin Powell and Logathis both implied, would make one unelectable currently. Since the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment only applies to government actions, there’s nothing unconstitutional about the public’s refusing to vote for someone simply because of one’s religion; it’s just very sad. The fact that it is an entity that is so much a part of the government as it has developed (the Republican Party) that implicitly encourages this misconception since it furthers their partisan agenda, certainly defeats the spirit, if not the law, imbued in that clause.
"Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's, and unto God the things that are God's." Christianity recognizes and accepts secular authority. For the most part, Islam does not. There's nothing sad at all about recognizing this fact and making voting decisions based upon it.
What else do 20% of Americans believe? Noted in the WaPo…http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/19/AR2010081905061.html?referrer=emailarticle
Tom, most of the beliefs cited in the other surveys don't feed a religioug bigotry.
*religious* Sorry.
SMike: Honestly, the Left only cares about religion when they catch someone being hypocritcal about it.
more blather. 9.5% unemployment and economy that is weakening, not improving. I guess it's time to gin up a contrived controversy
The economy collapsed under Bush.
The Right is so hung up on Religion that they use it to beat on each other when it suits their purpose. Ususally it involves those not religious enough or worse, not of the correct religion. The Right "questioning" Romney's religion didn't have as much to do with the fact he had religious beliefs, as it did that his core beliefs weren't coming from the correct religion. The Religious Right can bleat on about religious freedom, but only for those in an "acceptable" one. It kind of explains why none of these yahoos aren't standing up for the rights of peaceful Muslims to practice theirs.
yobill, Romney's Mormonism would never have been an issue if the press (the liberal press) had never raised it. That was one of the things the ticked off conservatives, that Romney was being questioned about being a Mormon but Obama/Jeremiah Wright was ignored for more than a year. Conservatives have the religious right, liberals have their atheists/Christianity haters.
Besides, the basic question has never been answered. What has Obama done, except to say he is a Christian, to dispel the Muslim rumors? If the press checked out Obama as much as they did George W Bush and his religion perhaps this question would never be raised again. Why is it in a poll anyway? To what end?
What has Obama done to dispel the Muslim rumors? You mean, besides attend the Rev. Wright's evangelical Christian church for 10+ years? How soon you forget one demon, when you find another one to fixate on.Seems to me it's just a matter of all those dark-skinned people and their religions all looking the same to an old white wingnut.
He attended Wright's church (except when he gave those anti-American sermons) for political expediency, of which he wrote in his book.
Smike. I read the bulk of the Inqy on line because of my schedule. I primarily offer you a suggestion to read the comments for a week to see some very nasty and racist posts. I don't make any assertions as to the leanings of the posters – only that they are crude and racially pointed. Being as you asked, here are snippets from 2 posts on 8/3. " Where are the white sheets and torches. In some cases they do make sense." (karloff) and "..The young n1glets are mad at the world because they are raised by their 30 year old grandmothers." (mendoza) They are both frequent 'contributors'.
JimR: Sir, you are a stronger man than me. I don't have the stomach to keep up with some of those fools. Its like watching Jerry Springer — the first few times I saw it, I thought it was funny. Then, I realized that those low lifes really lived this way. Lastly, I became so depressed that I just couldn't bear to watch any more…
yobill, LOL! I was down the shore at the beginning of the month and dropped in on the Springer (and Maury) mindmelts for a few minutes in the morning. The only thing that scares me more than the cretins who appear on the shows is the thought that there's a regular audiance for daytime shows like them.
Like WHO is dumb enough to take a paternity test on national TV?
Smike, the left didn't create theh Romney or JFK issues. Those were diversions created by religious bigots.
Smike, any doubts about the presence of racists can be addressed by checking out the comment boards on an average week on Philly.com
What examples do you have?
Swedesboro: Whatever. Come on now.
Any examples are only assumption and figments of Jim's mind.
Smike, I disagree. The "Muslim" issue during the last election was largely a right wing fright deal. Within the R's, the last election had an unnecessary focus on Romney's religion and it was certainly the premier personal issue with JFK. Conservative Christians have raised the religious flag forever. Yobill626 nailed it – there are substantial conservative reasons to be opposed to Obama. They just get buried when this kind of wasteful smokescreen gets in the air. I've received three e-mails in the last week regaring Obama's hidded Muslim agenda. The whole thing is crazy.
It's the left creating the smoke screen.
This is no different then the dolts who had claimed "the world is flat" or that "evolution is an opinion". Its almost like some folks have cataracts spots on their brains, clouding the thought process. Talk to some school principals & you'll find that some of these idiots don't just keep their lack of knowledge to themselves, but go out & get involved in local school boards. The thing that blows me away is that there are substantial Conservative reasons for not liking this President & things like this actually serve to dilute their own vaild counter points.
In our view his policies are making the economy worse. He's running up the debt and spending money on things that do nothng to motivate hiring. The coalition of conservatives, independents, and libertarians have legitimate polciy differences with this President despite all the contrived difference the left wants to make up.
The point isn't Obama's religious code. It shouldn't matter, but it does to some who just believe what the voices tell them. The American voter has been roaming the land of nod for years and years. Polman cites the lack of basic civics that most voters show. The entire system has become skewed to appeal to the least educated and least aware voter.
JimR- Obama's religion matters to the professional left. Bereft of ideas and policies that are not working you can coun't on the left trying to gin up a wedge issue and frame the other side as bigots. The sun rises in the east, sets in the west, and any debate with the left disintigrates into them calling their adversary racist. Those are the 3 basic truisms.
You can bet the ranch that after Labor Day we'll see the Obama family leaving Church on a couple of Sundays.
The real story here is why is this topic being polled and why are the professional leftist writing stories about it?? Who's to say the small number that believe Obama is a muslim are not muslims? It's a very odd topic when most people are talking about jobs, the economy, and government spending. The left is obviosly trying to gin up controversy to avoid talking about the economy. Seems the only people who care about Obama's religious faith are the far left partisan hacks like Polman. The rest of us couldn't care less.
SMike: That is just not true. There are two older women who used to I work with who deluge me with "Obama is not one of us" eMails. These are notes, pictures & thoughts that appear to have wide circulation that claim he was born in Kenya & is a practicing Muslim intent on overthrowing our government. The commentary added to the original postings is even dumber & more "Beckish" than the original posting. Sometimes, this is one scary country.
Of more interest is how so many liberals are now running away from Obamacare and its initial claims of reducing costs, expanding benefits and decreasing the deficit. Families USA, as told by Politico, held a meeting with liberals/Democrats and told them that, contrary to what they were told, Obamacare has not become more popular since its passing. They are now being instructed to run on the idea "Obamacare, we can improve and change it". Too funny. As to comments from Portly, Democrats have (with Reid and Pelosi at the helm) controlled Congress and the nations pursestrings since January, 2007. It is they who have increased spending more than 38% and brought us deficits of $1 Trillion more than under a Republican Congress.
Is Obama a Muslim? Don't know, don't care. He says he is not, so he is not. Others say he is based on some supposed evidence of his actions and words, so they believe he is. While I have never based a vote on a politicians religious belief, the great thing about this country is a person is entitled to believe whatever he/she chooses to believe. What is wrong is to label those people as dolts, idiots, morons, etc (as Polman does above) because of their belief. That goes directly against what liberals cherish as "our basic values". But if he is Muslim, why would he want to hide that fact?
And only 18% think the guy is a muslim. A very low number. And if he is, so what? None of us really care except the proffesional leftist who are trying to gin up a controversy to avoid talking about Obama's horrific policies and the high unemployment they are causing.
Debate with a liberal:
Me: Obama's economic policies are hurting the economy
TYPICAL LEFTY- You're racist
ME: His polcies are creating so much uncertaintly in the private sector that business are being very cautious with hiring.
TYPICAL LEFTY- You tea party racist!
ME: don't you feel that we would be better off with more balance restored to our government?
TYPICAL LEFTY- racist, racist, racist
ME: Unemployment was 7.2 when Obama took office and now it is 9.5%
Typical Lefty- Why do you hate muslims?
Just for fun let's take a poll ourselves. Question of the day: Is Polman a Muslim? After all, that full beard is rather suspicious, isn't it? Still, I say he's not.
Polman is a liberal. That much we know
So who is wasting their time wondering if people think Obama is a muslim? Here we go again with this identity politics from the left. 18% think the dude is muslim. who cares! The modest uptick probably depends on how the question is asked and what day of the week it is. Once again, who cares??????????????????????? The only people trying to garner some political gain out of this is the left. The translation is…… we're all " bigots" . My how sad and ridiculous the professional left in this country have become. No way and now how is that unemployment number going to hide the failure the liberalism no matter how hard they try. Substantive policy discussion are on the endangered species list thanks to the left
BWAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!
What a lame Rovian narrative. Conservative "policy" had it's chance for eight years and look what it got us…wrecked! That Faux News schtick doesn't work around here…Republicans have NO issues to run on, NO policy ideas other than deregulation and tax breaks for the mega-wealthy, NOTHING! GOP "substantive policy" = "NO". All they can seem to muster is homophobia, deregulation and an irrational support of the mega-wealthy and Big Business. Lame. Moderate Republicans are extinct…their party now a sad far-right joke.
They have more than you do portly, which is a bunch of name calling. Not surprising that a mental giant like yourself can't do more than fling insults.
From the NYT, May 12, 2008…"In Islam, however, there is no such thing as a half-Muslim. Like all monotheistic religions, Islam is an exclusive faith. As the son of the Muslim father, Senator Obama was born a Muslim under Muslim law as it is universally understood. It makes no difference that, as Senator Obama has written, his father said he renounced his religion. Likewise, under Muslim law based on the Koran his mother’s Christian background is irrelevant. Of course, as most Americans understand it, Senator Obama is not a Muslim. He chose to become a Christian, and indeed has written convincingly to explain how he arrived at his choice and how important his Christian faith is to him. His conversion, however, was a crime in Muslim eyes; it is “irtidad” or “ridda,” usually translated from the Arabic as “apostasy,” but with connotations of rebellion and treason. Indeed, it is the worst of all crimes that a Muslim can commit, worse than murder (which the victim’s family may choose to forgive). With few exceptions, the jurists of all Sunni and Shiite schools prescribe execution for all adults who leave the faith not under duress; the recommended punishment is beheading at the hands of a cleric, although in recent years there have been both stonings and hangings….At the very least, that would complicate the security planning of state visits by President Obama to Muslim countries, because the very act of protecting him would be sinful for Islamic security guards….This would compromise the ability of governments in Muslim nations to cooperate with the United States in the fight against terrorism, as well as American efforts to export democracy and human rights abroad…."
Thanks, Rush…that's informative.
Portly,
That is such a lightweight comment. You sir, are bereft of an argument.
Public cluelessness is what got the liar-in-chief elected.
Aided and abetted by a media that refused to vet candidate Obama. And though Polman takes a gratuitous shot at him, it was "Joe the Plumber" who got candidate Obama to admit to his socialist/redistributionist tendencies while the media simply carried his water and told us the man practically walked on it.
One might ask who commissions these polls and decides on what gets asked. Well, it is the media that does so. These polls are simply a clever means by which journalists manufacture "news" in the hopes of diverting attention away from the near total mismanagement of our economy.
Conservatives of ALL stripes, including conservative Dems, LOVE to have that bogeyman out there to stoke fear, to prop up their feelings that their way of life is being seriously threathened by "The Other". The Right Wing Anger Machine has seen this quite clearly and stokes it constantly to both drive up their ratings (profits) and to increase the chances that similar-thinking types will get installed in the government. Once IN the government, they act immediately on the conservatives most titillating wet dream; they begin acting in the most irresponsible and distructive ways possible, thereby fulfilling their own vapid philosophy that "government is the problem". Fact of the matter is, the conservatives have NO credible leaders at the moment that are NOT a part of the 24/7 Anger/Noise machine. Will the Sheeple recognize this fact? Rush and Newt and Sarah and Sean and now Pamela snap their Twitter fingers and POOF, a new lie gets installed in the public consciousness!
And the Democrats are doing a bang up job running everything. And they don't use any bogeyman. and liberals aren't angry (look in the mirror).
Good comeback. There are plenty of legislative accomplishments to point to and more to come in the "four more years" BHO will probably get in 2012. The only bogeymen we put out there are the "clueless" ones that Dick P. discusses in his column today. Angry? You bet. Angry that he is not governing more from the left where his most ardent supporters are. Angry at the clueless culture warriors and Tea Baggers that consistently vote against their own self-interests…led to do so by the likes of El RushBo, Dick Armey, Glenn Beck and countless other clueless pundits on Faux News. Jeebus.
Portly smart. Everyone else dumb. Got it.
"I’m also troubled by, not what Senator McCain says, but what members of the party say. And it is permitted to be said such things as, 'Well, you know that Mr. Obama is a Muslim.' Well, the correct answer is, he is not a Muslim, he’s a Christian. He’s always been a Christian. But the really right answer is, what if he is? Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in this country? The answer’s no, that’s not America. Is there something wrong with some seven-year-old Muslim-American kid believing that he or she could be president? Yet, I have heard senior members of my own party drop the suggestion, 'He’s a Muslim and he might be associated terrorists.' This is not the way we should be doing it in America."
-So said General Colin Powell on Meet The Press, two days before the 08 election.
Oh well, if Colin Powell says he is a Christian, then that must be the case. Thanks.
jmc….Democrats have now been told not to tout the fact that Obamacare will cut costs and reduce the deficit. The financial projections used to make the initial argument have failed, so the new mantra is that the Democrats need to be elected so they can "fix" the Obamacare flaws. Never mind the "facts" used to pass the law turned out to be lies.
Let's look at some other reasons why people may believe Obama to be a Muslim. Firstly, he stated during the campaign he was visiting all 57 states, which exist in the Muslim faith. In an interview with George Stephanopolous, he said "W-w-what I was suggesting, you are absolutely right that John McCain has not, uh, talked about my Muslim faith…". Then Stephy said "Christian faith" and Obama corrected himself. We have an interview in the NYT where the author wrote "Mr. Obama recalled the opening lines of the Arabic call to prayer, reciting them with a first-rate accent. In a remark that seemed delightfully uncalculated…Mr. Obama described the call to prayer as 'one of the prettiest sounds on Earth at sunset.'" Moammar Ghadafi has stated that Obama is a Muslim based on his statements and upbringing. He has bowed to the King of Saudi Arabia and other world leaders. And on Sunday's, he is always seen out playing golf. Probably more will believe this after he came out in support of the Ground Zero Mosque. He attended the church fo Jeremiah Wright, whose own spiritual advisor is a Muslim. So, exactly what has he done to counter this belief? If the media did as much to check this out as they did to George W Bush and his faith, maybe we would know for sure. BUT, one quesion…if he is a Muslim, so what? Why not just come out and say it? What difference does it make?
I have danced the Hora at friends' weddings. I must be Jewish. Our football team used to recite the Lord's prayer before games. I must be Christian. I am an avid Nietzsche reader, I must be a … oh wait.
Yes, let's not listen to the man himself, or Colin Powell or any other piece of evidence. Let's cling to these tidbits (that can be explained as I have above) for the sake of our conspiracy that does little beyond retarding relevant dialogue.
Tom, am I to understand that you believe that Obama is the Manchurian Candidate? Please, directly tell us.
Finally, we have a long way to go in this country if this even matters. What matters is policy, and I'll be happy to criticize Obama. This Muslim conspiracy is utter foolishness.
The best way Obama can lead this country is to get rid of Rahm Emanual and listen to his constituents.
"fans of the counterfactual" Obamacare will cut costs. We can't win the war in Iraq. The stimulus worked. Bush stole the 2000 election. The Tea Party is racist. Global Warming. There is no liberal media. The vast right-wing conspiracy. The Democrats will clean up corruption in Washington. Waterboarding is torture. America is just creating more terrorists. Wall Street caused the recession. Affirmative action isn't racism. Abortion isn't murder. Yes, tell me more about being a fan of the counterfactual.
I guess you are what religion you say you are. Obama sure has a funny way of showing it though.
Also in the poll is the fact that one in 10 DEMOCRATS now believe Obama to be a Muslim, but of course Polman will not mention that his own party members could also be ignorant.
No, Obama doesn't wear his religion on his sleeve, by his own admission he carries it in his BlackBerry! But seriously, it hardly matters whether Obama is a Christian, Muslim, Buddhist or even an atheist. All that matters is that he's proving to be a terrible president.