Today, via email, I received two sort of disturbing letters from a friend. Of course they say that they were checked out on snopes but the first one has his middle name wrong.
Is it a bad thing that this man understands Islam? Is it a bad thing that his middle name is Hussain?
I was taken aback by both of these emails. They contained a very clear message:
Be afraid people, this man is a Muslim and he is out to get us (us being Christian americans). They paint Islam as bloody and brutal while painting "our" religion as peaceful and right.
To anyone's knowledge, has Obama answered to why he says he is Christian if he was raised in fundamentalist Islamic homes and schools.
It is a shame that someone is thinking ahead enough to attack him on this level. Great job who ever it was...scare the beejesus out of them by promising jihad in the white house.
What a mess this next election is going to be...probably Huckabee vs. Hillary or Obama, either way the far right should have a field day.
Wake me up when it is over.
Field Day
Enlighten, why is everything to you a "vast, right-wing conspiracy".
How do you know it's not the Clintons putting this out there to get the nomination?
There have been two men that mastered the art of negative ads - Lee Atwater and James Carville. Atwater apologized to his victims before dying several years ago. Carville is currently one of the senior advisors to the Clinton campain.
So, before you go painting this with your Christian right brush, consider the possibilities.
Now that that has been said, let's also address the issue of what is allowable in the consideration for the position of President of the United States? I certainly think knowing where Obama has come from is an issue. I think Romney's views on abortion then and now is an issue. I think decisions Huckabee made as Governor are an issue. I think the lack of experience by three one-term Senators (Clinton, Obama and Edwards) is an issue.
You don't get into the race not knowing that these things will surface. Sooner or later, they'll need to be addressed.
What is off limits to me is the candidate's family. Bill Clinton is a possible excpetion to this rule as this is a quite unique situation in American politics. But, don't bring into the mix children, spouses, siblings, etc... - unless it has a direct bearing on the candidate.