Rumors about Obama

[Tiffikat]

Rumor: He is a Muslim
Accusations that Obama is Muslim stem from a man named Andy Martin. Here is an article from the NY Times about it:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/13/us/politics/13martin.html?_r=2&hp&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

The article is long but interesting.

Here is some more information about the man that is listed as first stating this rumor:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andy_Martin_(U.S._politician (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andy_Martin_%28U.S._politician))

Here are the fact check links about Obama and the Muslim/U.S. Citizen rumors:
http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/sliming_obama.html

Rumor: He is not a U.S. Citizen
http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/born_in_the_usa.html

Rumor: He is a terrorist/Ayers connection
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/790/
http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/he_lied_about_bill_ayers.html
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/776/

Rumor: Obama's Healthcare Plan calls for a Government Run Program
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/765/
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/787/

Rumor: Obama has voted 94 Times for tax increase
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/605/
http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/tax_tally_trickery.html


Now I know there are other rumors about Obama that haven't been mentioned here. If anyone wants to add to this feel free or even question any of this. I just keep seeing the same rumors popping up in thread after thread and I thought it might be beneficial for everyone if they had a place to look at them all in one spot.

I am quite sure that there are rumors about McCain that need to be addressed as well but I see more rumors about Obama so I wanted to get this post made. I will try later to make a similar post about McCain rumors unless someone else wants to in the meantime.

[DirtyFeetDesigns (heb1976)]

Posted this in another thread, but this is a video where Obama clearly changes his answers in different interviews when asked about Wright.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H64yKJhB528&feature=related

Obama lying about his stance on Troop withdrawal.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrw_W0ekBIM&feature=related

A Responsible, Phased Withdrawal

Taken from his site (http://www.barackobama.com/issues/iraq/) : Barack Obama and Joe Biden believe we must be as careful getting out of Iraq as we were careless getting in. Immediately upon taking office, Obama will give his Secretary of Defense and military commanders a new mission in Iraq: ending the war. The removal of our troops will be responsible and phased, directed by military commanders on the ground and done in consultation with the Iraqi government. Military experts believe we can safely redeploy combat brigades from Iraq at a pace of 1 to 2 brigades a month that would remove them in 16 months. That would be the summer of 2010 – more than 7 years after the war began.

[Gina.Maria]

You know, much of the Wright controversy is about statements taken out of context. When he said the US brought 9/11 on itself, he was quoting someone else. Yes, he's passionate and has some strong opinions that some would consider "crackers" but there a great many people in my very own family that I could say the same about. I can't control what they say and do but they're my family and I love them. I would venture that Obama feels much the same about a man who's been something of a father figure to him over the past 20 years.

[HLWalter725]

Wow -- this is great, Tiffany, thanks for all the work to put this in one place!

[phenomshel]

You beat me to this, *laugh*. I was just coming to see if anyone had posted on this yet.

[Scorpiosue1102]

The problem is that people only look at black and white and once their mind is set it does not matter how many fact checks you put out there. I guess I'm just tired of defending a good man. Actually, they are both good men. I've brought up people that are associated with McCain just to show that BOTH of them are associated with not so great people i.e. G. Gordon Liddy, Charles Keating AFTER the Keating scandal, and more.

McCain needs to figure out a campaign strategy and stick with it. When only 35% of people polled say that McCain is addressing the issues that's bad. That is not the way to get independent and undecided voters to vote for you. McCain and Palin can speak against people at their rallies yelling "kill him" and "off with his head", but it all starts with them.

[~ashleigh]

Thank you, Tiffany for posting this. I read about Andy whathisname last night, and it floored me to learn that one sick person's lies have been given so much power. Sadly, though, Sue I think you are right. I am afraid that once people decide the rumors are true, they can't or won't admit that they may have been wrong.

These false rumors have caused a lot of misguided anger and fear, and as I see it, the the McCain camp has been guilty of fanning the flames. I can't imagine that McCain is proud of the way his campaign has been run lately.

I would like to see the national discussion be re-directed to topics that we really need to worry about as Americans - the economy, healthcare, education, national security, etc.

[Chreamps]

This just in from MOMocrats:

Past Opponents, Associates of Ayers Agree: Stop Targeting Obama over Ayers Connection (http://momocrats.typepad.com/momocrats/2008/10/opponents-assoc.html)

...I am amazed and outraged that Senator Barack Obama is being linked to William Ayers’s terrorist activities 40 years ago when Mr. Obama was, as he has noted, just a child.
Although I dearly wanted to obtain convictions against all the Weathermen, including Bill Ayers, I am very pleased to learn that he has become a responsible citizen.
Because Senator Obama recently served on a board of a charitable organization with Mr. Ayers cannot possibly link the senator to acts perpetrated by Mr. Ayers so many years ago....
...Aside from an up-and-coming civil rights lawyer named Barack Obama, members of the Chicago Annenburg Challenge Board of Directors included such local luminaries as:
Stanley O. Ikenberry, President of the University of Illinois
Edward Bottum, managing director of the Chase Franklin Corporation
Susan Blankenbaker Noyes, lawyer, daughter of Republican former Indiana state senator Virginia Murphy Blankenbaker
John W. McCarter, Jr., president and CEO of the Field Museum
Scott C. Smith, president, CEO and publisher of the Chicago Tribune
Arnold R. Weber, president of the Civic Committee of the Commercial Club of Chicago, former president of Northwestern UniversityNot exactly the sort of rogues' gallery one might envision "palling around with terrorists," is it?...
Worth the read the click on the link.

From the Washington Post Factchecker: (http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/)

...The Pinocchio Test

The McCain campaign is distorting the Obama-Ayers relationship, and exaggerating their closeness. There is no evidence that Obama has "lied" about his dealings with Ayers. It would be more accurate to say that he "told the truth slowly," a regrettable but commonplace practice among politicians seeking to avoid embarrassing questions.
http://media.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/interactives/factchecker/pinocchio.gifhttp://media.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/interactives/factchecker/pinocchio.gif

[Chreamps]

Update from factcheck.org:

The $79 Billion Iraqi Surplus, Reconsidered (http://wire.factcheck.org/2008/10/13/the-79-billion-iraqi-surplus-reconsidered/)

Be sure to click on the link and read the full story. The ending paragraph:

...If Iraq spends its entire supplemental budget, the nation will end the year with as much as a $57 billion cumulative surplus. But if 2008 resembles the past three years, the nation could well end up much closer to the $79 billion surplus Obama touts.

[Gina.Maria]

Maybe that explains why both Obama and Biden have not corrected the figure when discussing it in debates and appearances. I suppose explaining it in detail would bore their audiences to tears.

[Chreamps]

Yes, Gina.Maria, I must admit that during the last debate I was a little bored (LOL).

Tiffany I read the article (I think this must be a longer version) about Obama/Ayers connection (http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/790/) and found this quote interesting:

...Let's look at a few, starting with the funder. Annenberg was a lifelong Republican and former ambassador to the United Kingdom under President Richard Nixon. His widow, Leonore, has endorsed McCain. Kurtz might just as plausibly have accused Obama and the foundation of "translating Annenberg's conservatism into practice."
Among the other board members who served with Obama were: Stanley Ikenberry, former president of the University of Illinois; Arnold Weber, former president of Northwestern University and assistant secretary of labor in the Nixon administration; Scott Smith, then publisher of the Chicago Tribune; venture capitalist Edward Bottum; John McCarter, president of the Field Museum; Patricia Albjerg Graham, former dean of the Harvard University Graduate School of Education, and a host of other mainstream folks.
"The whole idea of it being radical when it was this tie of blue-chip, white-collar, CEOs and civic leaders is just ridiculous," said the foundation's former development director, Marianne Philbin.