Right Wing Political Hit Job

Well. It's started. A calculated e-mail campaign to make us afraid of Obama. It originated with the Washington Times and has spread to the usual suspects. Fox News defended its irresponsible handling of the story by saying that its 'reporters' were merely expressing personal opinions. Here is the lovely email I received this morning:

F.Y.I
It was reported that snopes.com confirms the below.

Who is Barack Obama?

Probable U. S. presidential candidate, Barack Hussein Obama was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, to Barack Hussein Obama, Sr., a black MUSLIM from Nyangoma-Kogel, Kenya and Ann Dunham, a white ATHEIST from Wichita, Kansas. Obama's parents met at the University of Hawaii.

When Obama was two years old, his parents divorced. His father returned to Kenya . His mother then married Lolo Soetoro, a RADICAL Muslim from Indonesia. When Obama was 6 years old, the family relocated to Indonesia . Obama attended a MUSLIM school in Jakarta . He also spent two years in a Catholic school.

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.

Obama's introduction to Islam came via his father, and this influence was temporary at best. In reality, the senior Obama returned to Kenya soon after the divorce, and never again had any direct influence over his son's education.

Lolo Soetoro, the second husband of Obama's mother, Ann Dunham, introduced his stepson to Islam. Obama was enrolled in a Wahabi school in Jakarta. Wahabism is the RADICAL teaching that is followed by the Muslim terrorists who are now waging Jihad against the western world. Since it is politically expedient to be a CHRISTIAN when seeking major public office in the United States, Barack Hussein Obama has joined the United Church of Christ in an attempt to downplay his Muslim background. ALSO, keep in mind that when he was sworn into office he DID NOT use the Holy Bible, but instead the Koran.

Barack Hussein Obama will NOT recite the Pledge of Allegiance nor will he show any reverence for our flag. While others place their hands over their hearts, Obama turns his back to the flag and slouches.

Note the clever reference to Snopes. This is meant to give the accusations credibility. The link takes you to the home page and leaves you to find the article yourself. If you do find the article, it's here by the way, you'll see it refuted on a point by point basis. I like how they constantly repeat his middle name 'Hussein'. Quick, tell me what Romney, McCain, or Huckabee's middle names are. Anyone? I also like the fact that the word RADICAL is in all caps.

The other worrying thing to me is that they are conditioning their followers to be afraid of certain people based solely on religion. What would be the big deal if a candidate were a Muslim? I'm not talking about an America hating, suicide bomber supporting radical. I'm just talking about a regular Muslim in the same way many people are regular Jews or Christians. They go to Church. They try to treat others well. They do the best they can for themselves and their family. So, why is that a bad thing?