Finding two white men dumb enough to think Obama is a Muslim is proof of nothing more than the existence of two people gullible enough to believe the shit their relatives forward to them in their email.
About The Author
BooMan
Martin Longman a contributing editor at the Washington Monthly. He is also the founder of Booman Tribune and Progress Pond. He has a degree in philosophy from Western Michigan University.
If you go into any forum of any news site, I guarantee you’ll find more than just two dumb white guys. If it was just two and the media pretended like it was a trend, that would be one thing, but seriously…I can read posts at TPM or DU where there are supposed liberals who not only think that Obama is a Muslim, but also think that if he was it would be a bad thing.
True, but I think we also tend to overestimate the degree to which online forums and blogs represent the general public. If you believed the blogosphere, you’d think Obama and Clinton supporters could never come together. Looking at the general public, it’s not really bad.
I think there are also a lot of people out there who know it’s crap but talk it up in an effort to get attention.
That’s very true. In my latest round of calls, I’ve been asking Clinton supporters if they would support Obama in the general. All but one so far have said yes. Note: my sample is not statistically significant! 😉 But still – I must have reached about 30 Clinton supporters, and only one said, before I even asked (and after telling me she was “undecided”), “I’ll never vote for that man!” Not “that black man” – just that member of the male sex. So there you go.
Though I did have a client of my business admit fully to me that he can’t vote for Obama “because the Blacks will go wild” whatever that means. What awful racism. Awful. But I think that mentality in a 66 yr old man is dying off with his generation.
Awful, and unfortunately pretty common. But, thankfully, you can reason with most of those folks, in my experience.
I also agree. It’s the same meme that only African Americans are voting for Obama. His primary vote constituency has been white Americans. This is not a matter of Black vs White like pundits and sheep journalists want to make it seem, this is about integrity and hope.
The Muslim smear isn’t going anywhere. It concerned me last year, but I’m not concerned about it.
On another topic, it sounds like this campaign is winding down very, very quickly. Should I allow myself the hope that Hillary will do the right thing for once?
Even Lisa Caputo seems to know it’s done.
I had the opportunity to speak with one of our resident wingnuts today (The wingnut with the gun, of whom I’ve written.), he talked about this. Apparently, O’Leilly has been spreading this crap. Shocking, I know.
Not worth discussing, honestly. Those idiots believe that he’s both a Muslim and a wacky Christian a la Wright…and they are voting Republican anyway. (No idiots left behind.)
I think they think Wright is himself a Muslim. Such is the level of ignorance!
What an unholy mess.
That’s what the damn fake monogamous shield men (and women) have to put up in polite society leads to: repressed sexual energies fueled by the stupid drug, alcohol.
“To hell with monogamy!” — sung to the tune of “To Hell with Poverty” by Gang of Four.
Is it just me? I am getting so SICK of this code-phrase “Working-Class Whites” that we’ve been hearing so much lately. It almost makes them sound respectable and they’re unfairly lumping a whole lot of good, tolerant people in with the crowd they’re trying to reference. Why can’t we just call them “Rednecks?” That’s what they’ve always been called where I come from. Many of them even wear the label proudly.
Some examples of how to use the correct term:
. Barack just can’t seem win the Redneck vote.
. Hillary sure is going out of her way to prove her Redneck credentials, isn’t she?
. Rednecks use the Barack-is-a-Muslim and the Barack-is-unpatriotic slurs so they can pretend they’re not afraid of black people.
Or am I just being a bigot?
I said something similar yesterday.
‘I just can’t understand why all these rednecks aren’t voting for the black guy.’
But, no, it’s not a good idea to start calling every white lower class supporter of Clinton a ‘redneck’ for the same reason you point out. That is a gross overgeneralization.
Hey Hey, I’m a working-class white guy. Certainly by income!
Again, to reiterate what I posted somewhere else, this is not a race-based primary, it’s about integrity.
Hey, I’m a working-class white guy. I don’t own a pickup and I work for a high-tech company, but I consider myself to be working class. I sure don’t feel like some elitist snob.
Oliver Willis points out the real scandal in this election year that no one seems to be talking about.
World-class snark there.
Blame It On Paraquay!
saw this over at counterpunch: The Bush’s Family Bad Latin American Real Estate Investment
can l savour the prospect of this?
The law changed recently so that former Presidents and Vice-Presidents only get Secret Service protection for ten years. After that . . . well, I’ll just sit back and contemplate the possible ramifications of “after that.”
What about all the unpolled characteristics that might just as easily explain the votes?
Maybe optimists vote for Obama (hence upper income, college educated) and pessimists vote for Clinton (lower income, lower education).
Maybe nice people vote for Obama and nasty people vote for Clinton. (I’m thinking of folks at some other blogs…!)
Maybe people over 5’5 vote for Obama, and under 5’5′ vote for Clinton.
I mean, seriously. It reminded me of a woman at the racetrack who simply bet the horse with the longest tail, and won all day long. No rhyme or reason.
A friend’s girlfriend went with him to the dog track a few years back. She picked her dogs based on the color they were wearing. Won a few grand. He on the other hand, studied the sheets, records, odds, etc. Lost his ass.
I know a black guy, very level headed, who thinks Obama might be a Muslim.
I think people tend to think candidates are more like themselves than they are.
I’m shocked at the women who defend the Tuzla lies. They make up all kinds of excuses for Clinton. When I point out that Clinton herself admitted she lied, and knew she was lying, they get hurt and upset, because they feel she is them, and vice versa. Pretty sad, but that’s what people do, I guess.
What is most disturbing about this topic is the fact that virtually everyone from one end of the spectrum to another sees some kind of problem with being a Muslim.
I agree. The huge underlying prejudice against even the very word Muslim is the sad fear induced depths too many people have succumbed to. Put ‘muslim’ together with ‘black man’ and you end up living in a rational-free zone.
Curiously, I had this discussion with my (Irish) father the other day: the impression that Obama is Muslim has made it across the Atlantic …
[http://impiousdigest.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=321&Itemid=164]
Sad, but true. The fact is that the large majority of people do not follow all this closely. Oh, sure, a larger percentage this time, but still – the majority do not.
One of my brothers forwarded the Muslim view the other day, and I was so disappointed – I almost couldn’t go through the ‘no – and so what if he was?’ thing. And I’ve said this before – many dem voters won’t vote for a black man or a white woman, either. We’re going to see a lot of dem voters sit this one out, either way.