Written by
I'm tired of mincing words, here. The attacks on Barack Obama are insane.
Oh, I don't mean to say that all possible attacks on his policy stances are insane. On the contrary, a vigorous public debate about real policy differences is healthy for this fair republic of ours. I may disagree with what you might have to say, but I'll defend to the death your right to say it. Even the crazy stuff.
But it is crazy.
Over the last year, Obama has been accused of each of the following - and please note that none of these bears any resemblance to reality or to any of his policy goals. See if you can spot the accusations that are mutually contradictory.
BIRTH
* Obama was born in Kenya.
* He was born in the United States, but gave up his U.S. citizenship.
* He was born in the United States, but for various reasons isn't entitled to citizenship.
* He couldn't be American because he must have used an Indonesian passport to travel to Pakistan in 1981.
RELIGION
* He is an atheist.
* He is a Muslim.
* He is a follower of black liberation Christian theology.
POLITICS (With handy definitions)
* He is a communist. (Communism: Abolition of all private ownership)
* He is a socialist. (Socialism: Nationalization of the means of production)
* He is a fascist. (Fascism: Authoritarian political ideology coupled with corporatist economic ideology)
HEALTHCARE
* He wants to kill old people and establish death panels that determine who lives and who dies.
* He wants to kill disabled babies, just like socialized insurance plans do the world over. (Who knows what horrors might have awaited little baby Stephen Hawking had he been born in, say, the UK.)
JUST PLAIN WACKY
* He wants to hypnotize children.
* He's a terrorist sympathizer.
* He's Satan. (No, really! And it's still making the rounds!)
JUST PLAIN WACKY (Retired due to embarrassing reality)
* He will not deal forcefully with the Somali pirates holding Americans hostage. (Retired after Obama had the pirates shot.)
* He dealt too forcefully with the Somali pirates. (Retired after being just too freakin' nuts.)
* He can't operate without a teleprompter. (Retired after too darn many impromptu interviews, debates, townhalls, and the like without teleprompters.)
* He's funding trains for brothels in Nevada. (Retired after the trains, which were never planned in the first place, failed to magically appear.)
* He had the American flag removed from Air Force One. (Retired after people, y'know, looked at Air Force One.)
* He won't hold his hand over his heart during the National Anthem. (Retired after multiple videos surfaced showing him doing so.)
* He won't recite the Pledge of Allegiance. (Retired after multiple videos surfaced showing him doing so.)
* He won't wear a flag pin. (Retired after multiple photos surfaced showing him doing so... and multiple photos of McCain and Bush minus flag pins surfaced as well.)
* He was endorsed by the KKK. (Retired after the source of this insane idea was traced to a satirical email.)
* He will impose Sharia law on the United States. (Retired after men everywhere spent the summer ogling scantily clad women on beaches.)
All this fruitcakery shares a couple of things in common. First, a lot of it is mutually exclusive; for instance, Obama could not simultaneously be a Muslim and an atheist. Second, none of it has anything to do with his actual policies, his legislative proposals, or reality. In fact, most of these "facts" about Obama aren't on speaking terms with reality at all.
Take a good, hard look at this list. I encourage my fellow RantRavers of the conservative persuasion to examine in particular the list of retired quackery about Obama. Ask yourselves, "Did I believe this before it was thoroughly debunked? Did I continue to believe it afterwards for a while?"
Consider spending some time reading Obama's actual policy proposals. You'll no doubt find things you'll disagree with, and I fully support that. Heck, I strongly disagree with him on several things, such as his decisions regarding remaining Guantanamo Bay detainees. But if you find yourself concerned that he will murder grandma, you're veering back into lunatic territory.
Finally, here's a fun game to play. Add up the number of items above you believe or believed, and find your results below.
SCORING
1-5: You're probably a conservative, and would rather discuss policy differences. You don't believe Obama is in charge of a New World Order, you just think he's wrong. Boring!
6-10: You may want to take a close look at the 9/11 truthers. They have a conspiracy theory or two you might be interested in. However, you probably don't (yet) believe two mutually exclusive things about Obama.
11-15: It's something in his eyes, isn't it. The way he looks too intently at you, then blinks like he's trying to send you a Morse code message. It's disturbing and distressing to think no one else can read his lies the way you do.
16+: He's going to take away your guns and use them to kill disabled babies while praying to one of the Old Gods for the destruction of America, and he'll force the children to help him by subduing them with his hypnotic powers! Quick, tighten the tinfoil hat to keep out his mind-control beams, and forward that totally legitimate Kenyan birth certificate to the appropriate authorities! They have to listen to you eventually.