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Scholar finds original writer of "Obama is a Muslim" false chain letter

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Laid out before Allen, a razor-sharp, 36-year-old political theorist, was what purported to be a biographical sketch of Barack Obama that has become one of the most effective -- and baseless -- Internet attacks of the 2008 presidential season. The anonymous chain e-mail makes the false claim that Obama is concealing a radical Islamic background. By the time it reached Allen on Jan. 11, 2008, it had spread with viral efficiency for more than a year.

During that time, polls show the number of voters who mistakenly believe Obama is a Muslim rose -- from 8 percent to 13 percent between November 2007 and March 2008. And some cited this religious mis-affiliation when explaining their primary votes against him.

As the general-election campaign against Sen. John McCain has gotten underway, Obama's aides have made the smears a top target. They recently launched FightTheSmears.com to "aggressively push back with the truth," said Obama campaign spokesman Tommy Vietor, and go viral with it. The Web site urges supporters to upload their address books and send e-mails to all of their friends. "

But long before this, Allen had been obsessing about the origins of her e-mail at the institute, which is most famous for having been the research home of Albert Einstein. Allen studies the way voters in a democracy gather their information and act on what they learn. She was familiar, of course, with the false rumors of a secret love child that helped sink McCain's White House bid in 2000, and the Swift boat attacks that did the same to Democrat John Kerry in 2004. But the Obama e-mail was on another plane: The use of the Internet made it possible to launch anonymous attacks that could reach millions of voters in weeks or even days.

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PoisonTheMonkey

24 responses // Scholar finds original writer of "Obama is a Muslim" false chain letter

  • I think it's absolutely wonderful that she found the man responsible for spreading these blatant lies. I find it sadder, though, that people actually believe them or even CARE what religion he is. Spread the truth!
    PoisonTheMonkey
  • I find it disgusting actually...He gets so much criticism..more than ever..McCain sleeps soundly at night as Obama and his pple stay up ..trying to plan speeches to disprove the next rumor..this time he is a cross dressing transsexual..who didnt file his taxes in 1995....so stay tuned!
    lulu81
    2 responses to this
  • He'll be okay as long as he fights back and has smart people on his side. He has no real baggage so he doesn't have to try to ignore smears.
    Marilynn_Murray
  • I wish I could say "if all they have is lies then he will be fine". But history proves that's not the case. He has to fight the smears and out the liars for what they are. To much is at stake to assume that people will see the truth. More often than not, they will believe whatever confirms their fears. Sadly.
    recommended by  Chique
    krag2112
  • I never quite understood what was wrong with this rumor, I mean, whats wrong with being a muslim?? Even if he was. Its not about persons religion, its about the individual being a good person, there is all kinds of bad people out there, race/religion should not be a factor in anything, if it is, then any one that feels that way is racist.
    Don't judge a book by its cover.

    peace & love!
    Prijedor
  • Ah Prljedor...I wish that were the case. Maybe some day it will be.
    krag2112
  • So, could this person who originated the chain e-mails be charged with slander, or as it is when written, libel?
    Varex_Sythe
    1 response to this
  • Krag, I meant they aren't going to be able to drag out any Paula Jones from Obama's closet. He has nothing to hide so he can face them squarely. It is obvious that he and Michelle adore each other, it is also obvious that she is not the kind of woman that would tolerate any bullshit. Honest people have the upper hand against lies,
    Marilynn_Murray
  • http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/20...
    Its scary, because people are taking hearsay as fact.
    joshuaheller
  • It was the same with Gore and the internet, Kerry and the swift boat veterans. Either outright lies or twisted misrepresentations of the truth. Only idiots fell for those and the muslim comments but unfortunately idiocy prevailed in both elections.
    SamuraiDave
  • i don't believe this really cost barack many votes because anybody who would be dumb enough to be susceptible to this kind of right wing propaganda would never vote for him in the first place. they'd just use some other fake reason to hate him if it wasn't this one
    diabolical44
    1 response to this
  • this shows how the internet plays such a big role in today society and how false propaganda can lead people to false information.
    currentkid
  • Ditto diabolical. It has nothing to do with whether or not he's Muslim. It has everything to do with finding someway to slander his name...and with a middle name like Hussein, painting him as some secret Muslim cleric trying to take over the world comes easy. Ignorant people hate everything different.
    Neghie
  • When someone tries to smear a candidate with lies, it tells you something about the people backing the other candidate. If they are willing to stoop so low as to distort the truth for their candidate, you have to wonder about their candidate. It's obvious that the Bush administration has failed and is the worst presidency we have ever had. By staying with the republicans we will insure more riches for the wealthy and more deaths for our troops. The fact that the cowards won't even put their names on their distortions should tell you they are unbelievable. And anyone that believes their lies, want to believe anything bad about Obama and any other democrat.
    ogeight
  • And lets not forget how the sterling bastion of journalistic integrity known as Fox News "accidentally" slipped in calling Obama "Osama" several times at the beginning of the primaries.
    SamuraiDave
  • Thanks for this PoisontheMonkey! This was fascinating. I like how the article named names of the smacked asses who perpetuated this rumor.

    I don't like to generalize but the mass of conservatives in the USA are real dopes. Unfortunately, lots of people period are dopes for falling for this crap.

    Nice try, folks, but Obama is going to white house - with my blessing. Because I'm another white man for Obama!
    LarzNero
  • His background should not matter. If he wins the election, he is sworn to defend the United States. If he betrays this trust, woe be unto him.
    MoonLoon
  • Thank god they caught one of them. My mom gets constant chain emails (from her old white relatives), about this sort of thing.

    Also, Snopes.com has great info about chain emails and such. After I get a political email, I just go to there to see if it's true. The sad thing is most of the time they aren't.

    At least where I live, everyones got Obama-rama.
    Yaemea
  • Please be aware that this type of tracking down of people is similar to China's human flesh search engine. Anonymosity is a major feature of the internet, like it or not. Yes, people can hide behind hateful and untrue anonymous posts or Web sites, but think of how important this anonymosity is to those that fear censorship due to their identity. Can a Muslim American feel safe posting a blog about their dislike of the government if their name is published? Can an employee of Wal-Mart feel safe posting about union rights if their identity is revealed?
    renbyrd
    1 response to this

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