Just this morning, I received several chain emails making a series of ridiculous claims about Barack Obama. I immediately thought, “Haven’t we already been through this?” <\/p>\n
We have, of course, seen these baseless smears for nearly a year<\/a> now, and they’ve been thorough and repeatedly debunked. It occurred to me, though, that the typical person a) may not have seen the email smears the first time around; and ) may not have heard how false they are. Well-intentioned people who don’t know better might not realize how spectacularly stupid these lies really are.<\/p>\n There are, apparently, a few different emails making the rounds, so it’s probably best to take on all of the various claims at once, just for future reference.<\/p>\n Claim:<\/b> “Why does Obama not participate in saying the ‘Pledge of Allegiance to the United States of America’?”<\/p>\n Truth:<\/b> Obama does participate<\/a> in saying the Pledge, and has done so throughout his life. The claim is false.<\/p>\n Claim:<\/b> “Have you or anyone else ever seen Obama with his hand over his heart while the National Anthem is being played?”<\/p>\n Fact:<\/b> During the Pledge, he recites it with his hand over his heart. During the National Anthem, he sings. The U.S. Code makes it optional<\/a>: “[W]e spoke with Anne Garside, director of communication for the Maryland Historical Society — home of the original manuscript of “The Star-Spangled Banner,” and asked if anyone could be punished for not placing their hands over their hearts during the national anthem. She quickly replied, ‘Oh, of course not,’ adding that ‘there is no obligation to put your hand over your heart.’ Garside told us she has been asked numerous times about this rumor and finds the controversy to have ‘gotten a little bit ridiculous.'” Claim:<\/b> “Are you aware that Obama’s middle name is Mohammed?”<\/p>\n Fact:<\/b> His middle name is “Hussein.”<\/p>\n Claim:<\/b> To join Obama’s Christian church in Chicago, you “need to be…black.”<\/p>\n Fact:<\/b> Rush Limbaugh and Fox News have repeated this claim on the air, and it’s false. Martin Marty, a professor of theology at the University of Chicago Divinity School, said last April: “To those in range of Chicago TV I’d recommend a watching of Trinity’s Sunday services, and challenge you to find anything ‘cultic’ or ‘sectarian’ about them. More important, for Trinity, being ‘unashamedly black’ does not mean being ‘anti-white.’ My wife and I on occasion attend, and, like all other non-blacks, are enthusiastically welcomed.” He later added that the email “is vicious and lying, and makes my blood boil.”<\/p>\n Claim:<\/b> Obama is “possibly a covert worshiper of the Muslim faith, even today.”<\/p>\n Fact:<\/b> This is from the same email that attacks Obama’s Christian church, which seems odd. The smear artists should probably at least read their own emails before sending them out — Obama can’t be a radical Christian and a Muslim at the same time. (He is, of course, neither.)<\/p>\n Claim:<\/b> Obama “spent two years in a Muslim school” in Indonesia.<\/p>\n
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