Fact Vs Fiction: Barack Obama Edition

So, you all know my favorite candidate is Ron Paul, that I voted for him in NH, and that I am a registered Libertarian. Did you know that I get many emails about Barack Obama from a variety of people who I thought were smart enough to know better? It seems I am not alone in getting these crazy rants about Obama without so much as a ten second fact checking session.

Do I support Obama? He isn't "my guy", but I won't tolerate or propagate a hate campaign. He is a perfectly normal person, and deserves to be considered on his merits, not trashed by some zealot or condemned by someone's ignorance. Let's take a look at the falsehoods being spread about this person by gullible, hate filled people who will believe anything they see in their inbox.

Falsehood One: The email going around that says Barack Obama is a "radical muslim" who will destroy our country from within. It includes such choice inflammatory statements as this one:

Obama takes great care to conceal the fact that he is a Muslim. He is quick to point out that he "was once a Muslim but that he also attended Catholic school". Obama's political handlers are attempting to make it appear that he is not a radical.

This entire email is thoroughly debunked in great detail by Snopes. You can read the entire debunking, which tackles the email line by line, at this link. The section quoted above was debunked as follows:

Barack Obama never stated that he "was once a Muslim" (radical or otherwise), so his "handlers" have nothing to "conceal." Obama communications director Robert Gibbs noted that "Senator Obama has never been a Muslim. As a six-year-old in Catholic school, he studied the catechism." Barack Obama has been associated with the United Church of Christ since the mid-1980s, describes himself as a Christian, and says that he is "rooted in the Christian tradition."

Falsehood Two: The email that says Barack Obama refuses to say the Pledge of Allegiance. Sigh. Seriously, people? You believe this? Fine. To debunk this one, note that it started where Obama was caught on camera with his hand down at his side while they were playing the National Anthem, not saying the Pledge of Allegiance. So, because he was caught during the Anthem in an unguarded moment with his hand down, suddenly he is refusing to say the Pledge in people's minds?? That's too bad - I always have my hand by my side during the Pledge - I rarely remember to put it up, and honey doesn't take off his hat. We rarely sing the Anthem either, folks, because it is hard. I guess that makes us terrible, unpatriotic people. Or maybe it just makes us lazy. Probably the latter. The link to the debunking of the Pledge of Allegiance rumor is here, complete with plenty of video evidence showing Obama in proper position for various Pledges of Allegiance and National Anthems, fully participating.

Falsehood Three: A marginally more intelligent group of people realized that Falsehood One was easily debunked. So they made a variation on the Obama Is A Radical Muslim theme by trying to claim his Christian church in Chicago is only open to blacks and rejects white people, that it is a front for a radical Muslim group, and that it wants to "rule America". Yeah, right. That one isn't true either, folks. You can read how untrue it is at this debunking link, right here. You can read his church's response right here.

Falsehood Four: Barack Obama took his oath for the Senate on the Koran (Quran) and not on the Bible. This one is interesting, albeit also untrue. Barack Obama was sworn in on the Bible. Since he is a Christian. But there was another representative of the people who is a Muslim and who was sworn in on the Koran (Quran). Who was it? Congressman Keith Ellison, Minnesota. You can read all about it at this link.

I hope that helps spread intelligence in place of ignorance and hate, but I doubt it. The people who believe that kind of unsupported nonsense are a bunch of close-minded easily led fools. Does this mean I've changed my vote from Ron Paul to Barack Obama? Nope. I'm still a Libertarian, but I believe in being knowledgeable about my political choices, and that includes knowing the truth about the opposition, not some lie spread by some collection of nutfudges.

I will say that if Ron Paul continues to place in the under 10% crowd in the primaries, I wont vote for him in November. I refuse to allow this election to not engender change, even if that means a compromise vote to get results. So who will get my vote if Ron Paul remains an unviable choice - the jury is still out on that, but a dual Clinton / Obama ticket might just swing me that direction.