Arkansas Blog

The problem?

Click on Cato

I'm glad there is so much pushback on the part of the media about the Obama is a Muslim smears, but just wish they had felt the need to do more of this when Gore and/or Kerry were running. Also - they very willingly spread the "Clintons are racists who hope Obama is assassinated" crap with hand clapping glee. (I can't believe Chris Matthews finally acknowledged all that was crap) I guess it just comes down to whether the media likes you or not.

We can be thankful we finally found someone they care enough about to try to slap down the smears.

"Doonesbury" is now back in the present, following Gary Trudeau's sabbatical, and has Mike's daughter sitting up at night scotching Obama rumors on the internet. (On my name--you can use the date drop-down box to check out the last few days.)

I tried to post the message below on freerepublic. It never showed up and my registration was immediately revoked. The hypocrisy is astounding even in this day and age.

***

I've always wondered about the source of the lies spread about Obama through email. And then this morning I find out via the Washington Post that it's Freepers.

You know what they say: Scratch a conservative, find a liar.

It's all about the money, isn't it? You'd piss on our soldiers if it would cut your taxes by 1%.

An Op-Ed in the NYT titled - Your Brain Lies To You (link at my name) mentions after all of this 10 percent of Americans still believe Obama is a Muslim. As Duh points out, it only works in a controlled bubble.. Authoritarians and their followers cannot survive in an environment where mere questions are allowed, much less facts. Which is why I have always rejected fascism, the GOP, and most churches.

One of the strategies the GOP (Rove) and the MSM (Russert et al) applied when lying us into war...and everything else.. was to demand at least two GOPers for every one "liberal" on any and all interviews. Tag teaming an honest person with reinforced lies and a media that played along is another technique. I think I've seen Phil Donahue talk about the phenomenon as well. He couldn't schedule one of each point of view. The GOPers simply wouldn't allow it. No wonder he got fired.

My Mom has sent me no end of these emails. Before Obama, it was whatever else was ludicrous. I'm amazed she doesn't send me the get rich quick emails where I can help a Nigerian move some money. I suppose people have such an interest in believing the worst, most salacious things about another person they're predisposed to dislike. Other than the emails, Mom despises gossip, but it never occurs to her that the false emails she sends ARE gossip, albeit on a grand scale. She goes to a very conservative Baptist mega-church and she gets many of the emails from them. She cannot fathom that a churchmember would send her a lie. But they don't apply any more critical thinking to them than she does.

The person who raised me to believe that lies are bad and to think for myself now seems to have thrown those ideas out. I do not get it....I just don't.

From the article:

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
"Around the same time Ted Sampley, a North Carolina man who runs his own Web site, published a similar piece. In an interview, he denied authorship of the e-mail, but said he did not doubt that his article had provided source material. "That's the miracle of it," Sampley said. "Once it takes off, and people start posting it on Web sites, you really have no idea how far it goes or who reads it. You get a ripple effect. It's like a little pebble and then it gets bigger and bigger.""
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

The same Ted Sampley of VietNamVets against McCain fame.... also part of the Swift Boat crowd against Kerry!

". . . The person who raised me to believe that lies are bad and to think for myself now seems to have thrown those ideas out. I do not get it....I just don't." - EY

EY,

I think they were raised the same way, but they find it more fun to avoid thinking and spread the lies. The inability to personally review past decisions and admit error is also a factor.

Plus, imagine if all your friends universally trashed anything non-Bush or non-cons, would you readily admit error and risk ostracization by your "friends." So there is a self-reinforcing factor to the lemming behavior.

Cato,

Great pict! It will be one of my standard handle xfr addresses for quite a while.

Ah, cato...a spot of light in a sea of ignorance...I've been swimming in. A neighbor, right-wing Republican neighbor who doesn't like Dubya but voted for him twice, told me straight faced and over my cease/desist scream, that Obama not only was a Muslim but he was an Al Qaeda plant to bring down America. It's been a long, long time since I've bothered screaming/yelling at walls...I state the truth, my disagreement and move on; but she WOULDN'T let it go, WOULDN'T quit trying to convince me that she had the high, intelligent and accurate road...evidently 'cause her long dead family was retired Air Force and her hubby was once Air Force. Then, when I thought the worst was over and I was walking away she added: 'I'd never vote for a woman either 'cause they don't have testosterone and everyone knows (one of her favorite cliques) that makes them weaker and unable to make the manly decisions that a president needs to make'...BOOM. (NO, sadly, she wasn't 'pulling' my leg...sadly she's not alone...other than being alone in her decision to think I was going to idly listen to such destructive, ignorant crap from one of the ignorant sheep who voted for President Shit for Brains.)

I really thought the passing of Hillary from the news would bring some irritation ease, but if I have to listen to ignorant Obama/Muslim crap for the next four months I may need bail money. I don't mind if someone doesn't like Obama because of his real beliefs/real politics, but this...never mind.

Have a great weekend, jazzy and everyone else! (I thought of you, jazzy, as my neighbor started her ignorant rant...if things don't change...I may need to avoid some people...or gather a bail fund!)

So your female neighbor doesn't think women are "tough enough"? Did you ask if she is allowed to make major life decisions by herself? Did Daddy choose who she should marry? Did Hubby decide her career, pick out her car and their house? My, that kind of thinking boggles the mind. I too would be fine if Mom didn't like Obama for his real beliefs. I think all her issues are a smokescreen because the real problem is that he's not white (well, not 100% anyway).

Doc--you're right. As Mom gets older, her desire to think critically is going way down.

Soon as I got one of those 'be fearful of Obama' emails from a family member I found web photos of Bush kissing a Muslim, holding hands with a Muslim and the announcement that Muslims would be visiting his Crawford wranch. I replied to the Obama-smear email with those photos and article. Never heard another word.

It was flabbergasting to learn that 58% of Americans cannot figure the amount of a 10% restaurant tip.
78% cannot figure the interest on a mortgage. So, what's a hundred or so lies about Obama. The ignorant and fearful will always be with us.

Is it getting worse eLwood? Have Americans always been this dense? I don't think so, maybe its the 'information age".We are just more aware of what people know and don't know.

Remember we live in a state with few college graduates..and not even that many High School graduates.

It's scary, I tell ya!

Is it getting worse eLwood? Have Americans always been this dense? I don't think so, maybe its the 'information age".We are just more aware of what people know and don't know.

Remember we live in a state with few college graduates..and not even that many High School graduates.

It's scary, I tell ya!

Has anyone done a study/report on the ratio of Obama smears to McCain smears? When I checked Snopes.com, the number of lying e-mails/letters about Obama broke down as follows:

13 completely false
5 true and false statements mixed
2 undetermined
1 true

McCain's broke down as follows:
3 true
1 undetermined

Click on name for access to Political section of Snopes to check details.

It appears that the Republican attack machine is engaging in a campaign of dishonesty on a scale that can only be called despicable and diabolical. Seems that Dems feel that the truth about McCain should suffice whereas Repubs must resort to lies and smear tactics.

I hope the Obama campaign brings out this difference to the media. Maybe that ol' playground adage about rubber and glue needs to be hauled out again. With the right tactics, Obama's camp can make this smear campaign backfire badly.

the ignorance of that other party never seems to leave me with my mouth open some times. some times if i catch a single person sitting in a coffee shop alone i wil ask them who they would vote for in a very quiet way. yeaterday a young, 20's black girl, said a proud republican and will gladly vote for mccain. i asked why? she said that she was very much against gay marriage and that mccain would stop that silly practice on the spot. i asked what was wrong with it and she proceded to tell me about how they went out and adopted and actively recruted children into the gay lifestyle. being gay was a choice and people did not become gay unles the gay recruters convinced them to become gay. i asked if she had been recruted and she had been lucky but her preacher told her of recruting stations in california. i guess we are just behind the times here as i have not seen the stations here. i haven't seen any. well good luck to her and her misguided ways. she certainly wasn't going to listen to me.

Zelda, bet I could raise bail $$$$ right here on the blog............
HELL,, I'm an old dame but I haven't gone insane...............................YET.
I just figure I'm smarter than anyone who tries to unload their crap on me.....and...you
know what the Devil says every morn when I open my eyes............
*Oh shit, she's awake.*

There are pictures that clearly proves that obama is not pro american as you dummies like to believe.
So don't lie trying to make him look like something he is not.
I don't think there's a way in hell he'll be president. I don't any of you do either!