The Jeremiah Wright controversy was — and, arguably, still is — a major threat to Barack Obama’s presidential campaign. When voters, especially centrist white voters who hoped Obama might be some kind of post-racial candidate, saw an angry Christian pastor making inflammatory remarks from his church pulpit, it caused some concerns.
There was, however, an upside. No one in their right minds could see all of this uproar and still think Obama is a Muslim. One would have to be a blithering fool to discount the wall-to-wall coverage of Obama attending a Christian church, and befriending his Christian pastor, and nevertheless fail to believe that Obama is a Christian.
And yet, there are an astonishing number of people out there that just can’t let go of the lie.
A Pew Research Center News Interest Index survey earlier in March found that 79% of the general public had heard rumors that Obama is Muslim, and 38% had heard “a lot” about this. The current survey finds that most voters have no misconceptions about Obama’s religious beliefs – 53% say that he is Christian. But one in ten believes Barack Obama is Muslim. Roughly a third (34%) say they don’t know what his religious beliefs are, though 9% say the reason they don’t know is that they’ve heard different things about his religion, not that they haven’t heard about it.
Notably, the impression that Obama is Muslim crosses party lines: 14% of Republicans, 10% of Democrats and 8% of independents think he is Muslim. Within both parties, ideology is a major factor: 16% of conservative Republicans believe Obama is Muslim, compared with 9% of moderates and liberals. And 13% of conservative and moderate Democrats believe Obama is Muslim, compared with just 5% of liberal Democrats.
I just have one question: what is wrong with these people? OK, one more question: what more will it take for these folks to accept reality?
No Trackbacks To “The lie that just won’t die“
these people are ignorant and will never have a clue what reality even is.
When someone wants to believe something they will and no amount of facts will change their minds.
As someone in the know, I can tell you that Obama is a Muslim. The next president of the United States is going to be Muslim. He’s going to open the flood gates for Muslims, while ignoring this nation’s immigration policies and quotas. He’s also going to hand over the White House keys to Osama Bin Laden. [/snark]
A lie told often enough becomes the truth. - Lenin
That is how Al Gore was swift-boated in 2000. He never said “I created the Internet”.
the fact that the msm treats pastor wright as if HE were running for office, and conflating wright with obama might make a less reasonable person to believe that the msm has fallen into the ‘all black people look alike’ trap. they do know that wright is not the one running for president, don’t they?
ohhh…. they don’t care… ahhh, i get it. they smell a juicy, ratings-grabbing story when they smell one.
and, of course, the hillary cabal will use this to further her campaign, to the detriment of the party.
What is wrong with these people? Two words: Fox Spews.
Some of these people only watch FOX news and do not read or watch or listen to anything else. These are the same people that still believe Iraq was responsible for 911. The rest probably do not pay any attention at all to the political scene. They only watch American Idol and sports and soap operas.
My question is: What difference does it make? It’s so offensive that everyone (even this blog) just goes ahead and assumes that being called a Muslim is a slur. Would this even be a story if 10% of Americans thought (wrongly and contrary to the evidence) that he was, say left handed?
They aren’t capable of it apparently. They just want to hate him and are happy with whatever reasons they choose to latch on to. Most likely they are the same ignorant folks who think we can still “win” in Iraq which attacked us on 9/11.
People believe what they want to believe.
“Obama is a muslim”
“Democrats will raise taxes”
“The U.S.A. is the greatest country in the World”
“The Bible is the word of God”
“Iran is a nuclear threat”
“The terrorists want to kill us”
“Fords are better than Chevys”
“Chevys are better than Fords”……
But, see, he’s a secret Muslim! Otherwise it wouldn’t work. Duh.
Say’s alot about our education system in this country. Alot of people in this country still think the sun revolve’s around the earth.
An interesting ancillary question is: so what if he was a Muslim? Or a Jew? Or Hindu? Or (gasp!) an atheist? Why the fuck should it matter?
and, hillary? The Fellowship and The Family.
for those of you unfamiliar, check this scary stuff out:
Through all of her years in Washington, Clinton has been an active participant in conservative Bible study and prayer circles that are part of a secretive Capitol Hill group known as the Fellowship. Her collaborations with right-wingers such as Senator Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) and former Senator Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) grow in part from that connection. “A lot of evangelicals would see that as just cynical exploitation,” says the Reverend Rob Schenck, a former leader of the militant anti-abortion group Operation Rescue who now ministers to decision makers in Washington. “I don’t….there is a real good that is infected in people when they are around Jesus talk, and open Bibles, and prayer.”
When Clinton first came to Washington in 1993, one of her first steps was to join a Bible study group. For the next eight years, she regularly met with a Christian “cell” whose members included Susan Baker, wife of Bush consigliere James Baker; Joanne Kemp, wife of conservative icon Jack Kemp; Eileen Bakke, wife of Dennis Bakke, a leader in the anti-union Christian management movement; and Grace Nelson, the wife of Senator Bill Nelson, a conservative Florida Democrat.
Clinton’s prayer group was part of the Fellowship (or “the Family”), a network of sex-segregated cells of political, business, and military leaders dedicated to “spiritual war” on behalf of Christ, many of them recruited at the Fellowship’s only public event, the annual National Prayer Breakfast. (Aside from the breakfast, the group has “made a fetish of being invisible,” former Republican Senator William Armstrong has said.) The Fellowship believes that the elite win power by the will of God, who uses them for his purposes. Its mission is to help the powerful understand their role in God’s plan.
http://www.motherjones.com/new.....rayer.html
hahaha
None of these arseholes have caught on to the ‘Jewishness’ of the name ‘Barack (Baruch),’ which means ‘blessed.’ It’s the first name of a very good friend of mine with an extensive Hebrew background.
Steve, it’s too bad that a lot more people can’t get to see the complete context of Wright’s speech. John had it here at C&L a few days ago and it is quite clear that his reference to “chickens coming home to roost” was about each of his parishioners own relationship with God and had nothing to do with America. If that video could be widely disseminated, a lot more people could see what a lousy distortion this obvious setup really is. Unfortunately, it is almost a ten minute video and we know what the attention span of America is. All I know, is that it was quite clear that Wright was not referring to the USA, but to all those Christians who are shirking their own responsibilities as Christians, if that were their persuasion.
How could that video be disseminated more widely and get people to watch the complete video and not a tiny out of context snip-it.
The problem with americans is that they are all extremist, to their detriment.
The only thing worst than being a Muslim would be being a Christian.
Both fostered the dark ages rather than enlightenment. Superstition, the unsubstantiated belief in in people and things meant to control and manipulate others.
In fact they are the same thing.
Much like the difference between Obama and Hillary.
Effectively, little to none. If one were a true democrat, they both would be very acceptable.
It’s a WIN / WIN, unless you believe show business is reality and had a tabloid mentality.
Some of us are still hoping that someday in America people will be judged by their character and not by the colour of their skin or their religion.
Observation:
The Hillary cabal ? The Obama sect ? or The McCain Clan ?
For all the gods sake, grow up!
not sure you can do much to heal stupidity.
intentional ignorance is part of America…
some people are just too stupid to ever learn
and some are brain-dead from birth…
All that polls reveal is that a sizable chunk of Americans remain woefully misinformed - if not downright ignorant - of… well just about everything involving facts. Of course, there is a massive industry dedicated to keeping them that way.
re: Rev Wright
It’s not the ‘chickens coming home to roost’ that bothers me.
It’s the “whitey gave the black man AIDS and CRACK to keep him down.”
As his spritual guide, fine. But as his mentor - mentor implies a teaching/learning relationship. For 20+ years.
Lets call a spade a spade.
Its more acceptible to hate muslims than its to hate blacks.
Muslim has become simple code for “we can’t have a black president!”
YourMom @ 10:
and most important
bush’s daughters are not whores, they just
act that way.
I have just one question: Why do you care? It’s as if you are presuming there would be something inherently wrong if he were in fact a Muslim. What the hell is the difference between being a Muslim, a Christian, or a Scientologist? They all live their lives based on fairy tales.
You know what I pray for? I pray that in my lifetime I will see a president of the U.S. who doesn’t believe in any barefooted mythical hippy creatures in the sky.
I would speculate that a larger percentage believe that the earth is only 6000 years old, that we have been visited by aliens or that people can predict the future.
Face it, we as humans, aren’t real bright.
because in ignorance there is bliss?
there’s a lot of dumb-ass blissful motherfuckers in America these days.
It’s typical of the Right Wing Authoritarians. They so desperately need someone to tell them what to think so they don’t have to. They sit in church and accept without question EVERY WORD that they hear, so it’s inconceivable to them that other people can go to a church and have different opinions from the pastor.
It’s also inconceivable for them for a presidential candidate to be friends with someone, accept them even if they don’t always agree with them. Authoritarians are uncomfortable around those who don’t think like they do.
The biggest problem for Obama is that millions of voters have a tough time figuring out just who and what he is. Obama has a disturbingly slick, smooth, ingratiating yet elusive quality about his public persona. It’s tough to get a solid read on this guy. Is he a messiah or a charlatan? Obama is a chameleon. He is all things to all people. He is and will always be whatever his constituency wants him to be. He could be a Muslim. He could be a black liberation Christian. He might be agnostic. He might actually transcend race & religion. He seems to be anything that helps him win elections and acquire political power. Obama is everything and nothing. Obama is a consummate politician. Obama is a Mack Daddy.
What’s so hard to believe about that? As a sleeper cell, Obama is indoctrinated in Islamofascistterriss ideology, and parading as Christian to fool the voters. Once he’s in the WH, ObL will flip the switch, from his cave in _____stan. Then we’ll see who was right all along. Right? (wink)
These theories are so ‘nutty’, it might make one want to look back at 9/11, mightn’t it? (wink) I mean, why not, if everything is on the table?
Elizabeth Hasselbeck compared Rev Wright to Jeffery Dahmer
I dunno. LSD maybe?
They are w’s base. Very gullible.
I am surprised Obama is keeping this going talking about that radical. .
I think it is a sure loser in the general.
The calling for Clinton to drop out will alienate the remaing millions and will backfire.
Big mistake.
They know he is a Christian. They just want to make their hatred known by answering this stupid racist question. The damn polls need to stop asking this idiotic question, then the lie will die.
19 per cent @ 30:
Yes, because we know how much Rev. Wright likes to lure teenaged boys into his apartment and eat them.
TheToonGuy @ 27:
have you seen the new movie “the mist” just out on dvd? there’s a woman in it who is so
far gone on fucking bible reality, she takes over and tells everyone she is god’s chosen
representative. i loved it when she was finally shot dead in her fucking empty head.
i have no tolerance for fucking bible pushing religious hypocrites.
Now screaming, This is a theory, its code to get out the white, nursing home vote!
What’s wrong with these people?….well, where should we start.
How many repugs gobble up Pravda news every night with bor/vannity/pews/gibson/etc, etc? They tend to be some of the most close minded, ignorant sons of bitches this country has ever let spawn.
How many repugs refuse to listen to Obama and Clinton, because they are “Democrats”? Again, a rather large number of repugs and brain dead Americans.
And finally, how many just don’t want to hear politics?…they haven’t got time for that stuff, they are too busy trying to pay the rent/mortgage and the bills each paycheck. There are a LOT of those folks.
So, you add all those together, and you have some uninformed Americans just too damned busy, and some close minded idiots that aren’t going to budge until they are put under the sod. There are a LOT of these folks. Hate…just to hate.
America is a nation of idiots. Just like any stereotypes, there are exceptions. But when you have 51% of the voting public stick this jackass back in the White House after what he did to us the first four years, it’s not saying too much to say we are a nation of morons.
810expat @ 8:
Barry O’ is in fact left handed.
EliteLemming @ 36:
not a theory
It doesn’t help that shit heads like Hillary Clinton say “As far as I know he’s not a Muslim” (she knows and always knew that he was not a Muslim. It is just one more example of how slimy she is).
Having said that, never underestimate the stupidity of Middle America.
Most people don’t pay a lot of attention to politics, it doesn’t figure high in their priorities.
They just pick up snippets of information, the ‘Dog-whistle’ words like ‘Muslim’ and ‘Terrorist’ that Karl Rove and his kind use so effectively.
Some people want an excuse to dislike him. Discounting him as a muslim is an ‘acceptable’ form of racial discrimination to some of the less intelligent people out there.
It is probably the same dumbass 10% who believe that Iraq bombed the World Trade Center.
I will vote for McCain because he is a leprechaun. :-) He belongs
to the cult of the “Wee People.” Good enough for me.
Obama’s religion is of no consequence.
Muslim has been associated with the word terrorist by the Bushies - and there it remains.
Someone has to address this. It probably won’t be Obama.
The first time I read an interview with him where he referenced his religion was where he said it was his “Christianity” that led him to be opposed to gay marriage.
So I don’t much care if he is Christian, Muslim or Vegitarian.
I ain’t voting for him.
Blue Taliban Osama Buddha @ 34:
and we all know that elizabeth has had more than oscar meyer
down her throat…….
Well, that just goes to show you how incredibly successful you can be just making shit up and repeating it over and over.
RE your question: “I just have one question: what is wrong with these people? ”
Uh, products of No Child Left Behind?
Maybe they should make these assholes take a test before they vote. Somehow make sure they have double digit IQs.
They are for Triumph, the Insult Comic Dog to poop on…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3EYintUu-o
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U85cAKt7×48
These are people who never read, watch, or listen to anything but Rush, Sean H., and Fox News.
“blithering fool” yep, that about sums up the neocons!