The lies and smears against have been floating around for a while, but now that primary season has started, the intensity and frequency of the attacks are increasing.
Today alone I received two emails forwarded by someone who is a coworker and friend.
The first perpetuated the lie that Senator Obama is a Muslim bent on destroying the U.S. from within; the second conceded that he is a Christian, but says that he is a 'bad' Christian.
Turns out that I'm not the only one on the receiving end of those emails.
Columnist/blogger David Sirota got one himself and wrote about it today, referring his readers to a Nation article from October regarding the right-wing smear machine in general (not just the attacks on Obama) and a TPMCafe piece concerning the Obama smear specifically.
I've sent my friend links to the two articles mentioned in the previous paragraph, and I'll be talking to her this weekend about the emails, so let me cite with the closing to Sirota's post, two sentences that perfectly sum up my feelings on the subject -
Look, I have my reservations about Obama's policy platform and ability to bring real change - but my reservations have nothing to do with his faith. The effort to smear him for his heritage and his faith are absolutely disgusting.
In the coming weeks, most of us will be voting; may we all base our choices on facts and the candidates' actual records and positions, not on lies, bigotry, and fear-mongering.
1 comment:
I received this in an email from my sister Patti, and with her permission, I'm posting it as a comment.
"I've sent my friend links to the two articles mentioned in the previous paragraph, and I'll be talking to her this weekend about the emails, so let me cite with the closing to Sirota's post, two sentences that perfectly sum up my feelings on the subject -
Look, I have my reservations about Obama's policy platform and ability to bring real change - but my reservations have nothing to do with his faith. The effort to smear him for his heritage and his faith are absolutely disgusting."
This applies to Mitt Romney too. I hate the negative campaigning, mostly by Huckabee, that is against Romney for his religion. It's disgusting in this day and age in this country that someone's race, religion, or gender can be used in a political campaign as a reason not to vote for them. I don't like Mitt Romney, but not because he's a Mormon. And I don't like Hilary Clinton, but not because she's a woman. And I like Obama, but not because he's black. And I think it's the Republicans doing this anti religion thing, against Obama and against Romney. I don't remember hearing any Democratic candidate bashing either man for his faith. Which makes me more likely to vote Democratic, even if the candidate is Hilary.
Thanks for listening :)
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