If you've visited the comment section of any well-traveled political Web site, you're sure to have seen a comment like the one left at Political Machine by a user named Brad,"Obama is a Muslim in hiding as is his minister. The guy is a sleeper from Allah. Just wait until an ongoing investigation comes out."
Talk radio personalities Michael Savage and Rush Limbaugh, too, see to it at every opportunity to remind you that Barack Obama's middle name is Hussein. The implication? He's one of them. The bad guys. The Muslims.
Yes, months after the chain reaction of slander journalism was started by Detroit columnist Debbie Sclussel, and culminated with Fox News raising the false alarm that Obama had been educated in a madrassa (and therefore must have terrorist sympathies), the rumors still persist. As the Politico reports, 7% of those surveyed continue to think that Obama is a Muslim. That's a percentage point higher than those who correctly identified him as a Protestant, his actual denomination. Such is the power of propaganda. It's hard to get a cat back into a bag, especially an imaginary one.
Of course, it's no mystery what makes this little rumor so potent. Saddam Hussein was a Muslim, he was pretty evil. Barack Obama's middle name is Hussein. Therefore he must be pretty evil, too. The suggestibility of American public should come as no surprise, really. An estimated 20% of our citizenry, after all, thinks that the sun revolves around the earth. Certain talk show hosts can't tell you whether or not the world is flat. According to polls, a full 30% of Americans still think that the U.S. doesn't torture prisoners. Hell, 36% believe that the U.S. government had a hand in the attacks on 9/11.
Still, such irrationality leaves Obama in the unenviable position of having to defend himself. Yet how do you go about that when the misconception is propagated by anonymous commentary spread by the likes of Brad? Perhaps, as the Politico suggests, it is no coincidence that the Illinois senator has frequented the pulpit of America's churches in recent weeks, especially in Southern states like South Carolina. Barring direct comment from Obama's campaign, however, the assertion that appearing in church is somehow a political calculation is itself suspect given that the man is no stranger to a house of worship in his everyday life.
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A long-time political junkie and public relations practitioner, I spend time each day surfing the web sites of presidential candidates. Visiting the Barack Obama photo gallery today, I found a photo -- the 8th of 11 in the gallery -- showing Barack Obama alone in a room with a photo of Muhammad Ali hanging on the wall behind him.*
On the surface, it seems innocent enough. The tired Democrat presidential candidate. Seated. Alone. Contemplating his future. Above him, the world champion boxer, Muhammad Ali, stands above another defeated opponent, exuding strength and confidence -- the kind of strength-by-association stuff a political campaign manager wants the photo to convey to potential voters.
On the flip side, however, the photo is troubling in that it brings attention to a man who, in 1964, cited his Muslim faith as a reason to claim "conscientious objector" status and refuse to serve in the United States Army during the Vietnam War.
If I'm reading this obviously-staged photo correctly, Obama wants to be associated with a four-times-married Muslim draft dodger who made millions by beating people up inside a boxing ring.
Puzzling to say the least.
*To see a photo screenshot showing the photo in the context of how it appeared on the Barack Obama campaign web site, click here.
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