‘GMA’ reports that Obama ‘says he’s a Christian’

May 13, 2008

In general, I think most news outlets and journalists have been pretty responsible of late in pointing out that the nuts who insist that Barack Obama is a Muslim are wrong. We’ve seen less “he said, she said,” and more basic fact-checking. This one’s easy — Obama’s a Christian. Anyone who says otherwise is just mistaken.

It’s why reports like these are so disappointing.

“Good Morning America’s” Kate Snow talks to some random, uninformed voter who foolishly argued, “He’s a Muslim.”

Snow responded, “Just for the record he constantly says he’s a Christian.” The dim-witted voter said she knows what Obama says, but she doesn’t believe him.

Obama “constantly says he’s a Christian”? What kind of reporting is that?

I can only hope the country shows itself to have evolved beyond the color of the candidate’s skin. Many of the people that I see say they won’t vote for Obama because he is black neglecting the fact that he is 10 times smarter and better educated than they are

  • I suggest a letter writing campaign to Kate Snow referencing the fact that she says she’s a woman and claims to be a journalist.

  • Apparently he doesn’t just need a flag pin, he needs to wear a big crucifix as well.

    This honestly makes me ashamed for my country, it really does. We should feel bad for our ignorance – not have people happily exploiting it, or refusing to counter it.

  • Many of the people that I see say they won’t vote for Obama because he is black neglecting the fact that he is 10 times smarter and better educated than they are

    Au contraire. They aren’t neglecting it at all; it is part of what drives their irrational hatred.

  • In a culture like ours, where information comes almost entirely through the TeeVee screen, voters have little to go on beyond visual signals. Obama’s black (“how much” doesn’t matter) and Hillary’s a woman (she wears pantsuits) and McCain’s a geezer (he has white hair). What else is there except to extrapolate and interpolate the stereotypes?

    Couple that deep analysis of Obama with the almost instinctive racism of Americans and Cognitive Dissonance Theory will quickly transform him into a Muslim. Facts be damned.

  • Not being privy to the minutiae of true christian nuttery, how does one prove that one isn’t lying when one claims (constantly or otherwise) to be a christian?

  • Au contraire. They aren’t neglecting it at all; it is part of what drives their irrational hatred.

    Exactly.

    McCain 2008: You Think You’re Better Than Me?!

  • Not being privy to the minutiae of true christian nuttery, how does one prove that one isn’t lying when one claims (constantly or otherwise) to be a christian?

    You have to wait for the Rapture or, if you’re a Republican, the endorsement of Pat Robertson.

  • What kind of reporting is that?

    Corporate Whore Media Reporting.

    It’s what we get for letting Clinton deregulate the media.

  • This is the only way in which I can give Kate Snow a benefit of a doubt (and I really don’t want to): If you’re talking with a woman stupid enough to think Obama’s a Muslim, then you have to be ready for same serious wingnuttery to come out of that woman’s mouth were you to counter with “But Obama’s a Christian.” We’re talking hours of conspiracy theories, charts and diagrams about how Obama’s head is just the right shape to contain a pentagram, all sortsa stupid shit, how she heard from her pastor’s cousin’s barber that Obama is Muslim for “kill whitey” and he’s never told a lie why he told me so himself so I believe him and on and on and on…Kate Snow is trying to “spray” that room, get as many interviews as possible, involve as many people, etc. She got the wingnut comment that she needed for her already-produced-in-her-mind piece (a GREAT way to report the news, don’t you know), here’s a woman who thinks Obama’s a Muslin even still. No time to delve into it, no time to get into a debate, just get the quote and move on to the next.

    I’d like to think once Snow sees and hears what people are saying about her omission, that she’ll realize she did a disservice not only Obama but to the truth and news in general and make some kind of on-air apology & explanation, and while I won’t hold my breath that that’ll happen, if it WERE to happen, I’d bet a dollar an explanation comparable to mine will be her excuse.

  • Obama is a Muslim who says he’s a Christian. Why is this so hard to understand???

  • Not being privy to the minutiae of true christian nuttery, how does one prove that one isn’t lying when one claims (constantly or otherwise) to be a christian?

    ABC could hold a nationally televised auto de fe and get the candidates sorted out. I’d love to see Charlie Gibson in a robe.

  • On the surface I truly hope that most people can see this as a smear campaign but it does worry me.

    I don’t get my news from the MSM because I feel like I am getting lied to, atleast by omission.

    But my parents who live in rural California only watch the news. The other day my dad made a comment about Obama saying that his grandmother was a “typical white person”. My parents are Democrats but if I wasn’t there to help them clarify what they were hearing on the news and give them a different perscpetive, then they would probably vote for McCain.

  • What kind of reporting is that?

    You think Good Morning America is a news program?

  • I really don’t get these people who believe Obama is Muslim. These same people are also incensed over Obama’s association with Reverend Wright. How can they be pissed about the influence of his Christian spiritual advisor, and also pissed that he is a Muslim?

    The bottom line is that they jsut don’t want to vote for him.

  • Good lord. If Obama loses the White House because of willfully ignorant racist voters like her, I’ll follow through with the idea that W inspired and just move to Canada.

    How is it possible for ANYONE to think like this after three weeks of Reverend Wright coverage? Obama can’t win either way with these idiots. He’s either a Muslim despite the fact that he attended a Christian church for TWENTY YEARS or he’s a radical because of the left field statements made by the reverend of that church.

    /palm to face

  • There are some who (sadly) apply all sorts of conditions on what they consider to be “true” christians. Combinations of 1) white, 2) native-born American, 3) married (with kids), 4) churchgoing, 5) conservative, among many other requirements, are typical. This is opposed to the common definitional requirement as “belief in” jesus christ (usually equivalent to a belief that he was the son of god).

  • This is a little off topic, but maybe you guys here at The Carpetbagger Report can shed some light on comments made by my mother’s fox news watching Republican boyfriend.

    Over the weekend the conversation turned to politics (big mistake) and he made the comment that Obama is not a real American because he refuses to honor the flag. I questioned if it was about the flag pin and was told no, this isn’t about the pin. Obama refuses to salute the American flag. Apparantly, instead of doing the right hand over your heart thing, Obama stands with his hands at the side. I am unclear if this is for the Pledge of Allegiance, the national anthem, or anything else. This is also supposed to be proof that Obama really hates America.

    I have no idea where this statement came from and haven’t been able to find anything to back it up. Has anyone heard this argument anywhere else? I’d love to be able to counter this argument with actual fact, but it’s so out in left filed I have no idea where to even begin.

  • GMA is part of ABC, right? I truly get the sense that ABC/Disney is out to get Obama. Their anti-Obama campaign isn’t limited to Gibson/Stephanopolous.

    I was watching “The View” yesterday (for the last time), and during their “hot topics” discussion, Whoopi Goldberg misrepresented Senator Clinton’s “hard working Americans…white Americans” comment. Without displaying, reading or playing the quote for viewers, Goldberg said that Clinton was simply answering a question about the voter demographics and, in doing so, innocently provided a summary of voter trends that the media has been reporting all along. Of course, Goldberg’s description was seriously misleading since there are no statistics available regarding trends among “hard-working whites” vs. “lazy-ass non-whites”. Apparently, Joy wasn’t knowledgeable enough about the quote to correct Goldberg (although Joy said Clinton shouldn’t be exploiting such trends by repeating them), and Elizabeth Hasselback piled on with her defense of Clinton’s “totally innocent and accurate” statement.

    Anecdotal I know, but my point is that ABC is trying to take their anti-Obama sentiments mainstream, and misrepresenting/defending Clinton’s “hard working Americans…white Americans” quote without actually providing the quote itself is just another example of their effort.

  • MLE-

    Yes, that’s true but not being a “true” Christian doesn’t automatically make someone a Muslim. I can only guess that it’s a testament to the power of Rush Limbaugh and the other Republican slime peddlers that this sort of stupid information hasn’t been stamped out yet. Weak willed journalists like Kate Snow doesn’t help. I guess I can see her saying “Well, Obama says he’s a Christian” to politely inform the woman that she’s wrong. Maybe saying flat out “But Obama is a Christian” would come off as pedantic and elitist. I wonder what Snow was thinking when the woman retorted that she doesn’t believe him.

    And, even if it were true, would being Muslim be so terrible as to disqualify him from being President?

    The idiocy of some people and the spinelessness of some reporters is astounding.

  • VT Idealist

    I’ll try, and I’m sure others can help out. There is an infamous photo from Sen. Harkin’s steak fry in Iowa last fall where you see Obama, Clinton and one other candidate (Richardson?) on stage facing a large flag. I believe it was during the singing of the national anthem, not the pledge. Clinon and the other candidate have their right hands over their hearts; Obama has his hands at his sides but in all other ways looks perfectly respectful and solemn. I believe that was the genesis of the controversy.

  • Since I was raised in the South (NC), and now live in KY, I like to think that I can speak with some experience on the matter of racism, bigotry, media misinformation, whatever.

    Bottom Line: Drive through any southern state and you will see more rebel flags than Old Glory – which is technically treasonous. I know the Obabma supporters won’t like this, but there are simply WAY TOO MANY people out there that will not vote for Obama BECAUSE HE IS BLACK. The flag pins, Muslim rumors, Reverand Wright, are all simply convenient excuses for people to rationalize not supporting him. They may THINK they are not judging him by race, but they are.

    And this is across the board; we’re not just talking about ignorant rednecks here. Even my own brother, a medical school graduate doing his residency in Oregon of all places has said he will not vote for Obama because he will be beholden to black interests, i.e. Sharpton, Jackson, etc.

  • Lets not kid ourselves. When she says “Muslim” she means black/non-white. She just doesn’t want to say the slur she’d say in private on national tv. If Cat Stevens showed up she wouldn’t be acting so disgusted.

  • @ 21: And, even if it were true, would being Muslim be so terrible as to disqualify him from being President?

    Not in my book, though I’d just as soon not have any religions in my politics at all. That is NOT a classic chocolate/peanut butter combination.

  • Of course he’s a Muslim.
    Even HE doesn’t know he’s actually a Muslim.
    He’s a one man sleeper cell, just awaiting the call at 3am and the code words Allah Akbar.

    You think just 25 years in the church of Christ can overcome two years of childhood Islam even in a milquetoast flavored country like Indonesia?
    Of course not. Islam is FAR more powerful than Christianity. That’s why it’s so rightfully feared by evangelicals.

  • And if this woman/voter claimed she was an intelligent, open-minded person, I’d reply that I sure didn’t believe her.

    But the overriding problem here is ABC’s “catapulting the propaganda”. It’s almost as if they can’t help themselves. And these are our professional journalists?

    Like I said in an earlier thread: the questions asked by the audience at the Obama Town Hall last Saturday in my small city were 1000 times better than any asked by the so-called professionals in the teevee debates. (And Obama had great answers.)

  • Obama is a Muslim by linage – his father was a Muslim so he is a Muslim and he cnnot denounce it under threat of death – he is a marked man to any true Muslim – Check the Koran (Qu’ran)

  • To Arkietwo
    From Ali Eteraz via Andrew Sullivan

    “Islamic law recognizes abandonment by the biological father. Obama’s Kenyan father abandoned Obama. As such, any religious imprimatur he may have had over Obama — which is already a stretch since the man was an atheist — is null and void. In such a situation, Obama’s mother’s religion is controlling. She was not Muslim. Even if someone makes the argument from patriarchy: that Obama’s paternal grandparents were his rightful guardians, that would fail since they also constructively abandoned him.”

    Good thing you understand Islam, kiddo.

  • by the way…

    Everyone’s #1 example of why one shouldn’t look at religion when evaluating politicians’ potential needs to be Richard Nixon, a Quaker.

  • hey! even if obama were NOT a christian, there is absolutely NOTHING wrong with that!

    why does second half always get left out of the discussion?

    simply saying obama is not moslem buys into the idea that there is something wrong with being moslem.

    there. is. nothing. wrong. with. being. moslem.

  • Some people “say” that ABC is professional and competent, and that their reporters are not just dried up ex-political hacks…………..”but I don’t believe it.”

    ABC’s reporting “constantly says” to the world: We’re idiots.

  • Why does everyone ignore black Muslims? Obama’s pastor is a supporter of Farrakhan. Obama’s biography reports his being strongly influenced by Malcom X. It isn’t inconceivable that his attitudes towards relations between white and black people would be closer to black Muslim than any middle Eastern religion or Christianity. For older and less educated people, that is the reference for the word Muslim, not the Moslem religion. No one even whispers Farrakhan’s name in this election. What kind of “vetting” is that?

  • I can understand the suspicion and anguish that Whites and some Americans of other ethnicities may feel toward Obama possibly being Muslim, but the fact that we are arguing about his being Muslim verses his being Christian should be so offensive to American-Muslims. No one is considering how these people must feel when American’s say that they will not vote for Obama because he is Muslim. Americans, especially some White Americans can be so mean and uncaring sometimes. If any good can come out of the Rev. Wright mess, it would be the evidence that Obama is Christian and has attended a Christian church for the last twenty years.

  • no is not about his color, because i think Martin luther King, was awesome, and he was black, the thing is tha obama is sooooooooo fake, he talks like moving his head. like the bubble head dolls, and all he does is smile and talk crap, the color thing is irrelevant.

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