In Flag City USA, False Obama Rumors Are Flying

[yardwork]

Source: Washington Post

Here in Findlay, a Rust Belt town of 40,000, false rumors about Obama have built enough word-of-mouth credibility to harden into an alternative biography. Born on the Internet, the rumors now meander freely across the flatlands of northwest Ohio -- through bars and baseball fields, retirement homes and restaurants.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/29/AR2008062901871.html?wpisrc=newsletter&sid=ST2008063000002&pos=

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This is so depressing.

[msongs]

1. spread by racist members of what religion? nt

[saigon68]

51. A bunch of Hateful christian Nut-Jobs like Hagee et al

[zanne]

2. This is very real, all across the country.

Here at DU we'd like to think that most people in this country are above believing that kind of thing. I don't think so. People are basically afraid of change. They'd rather stay with the monster they know rather than "risking" it with something they don't know.

[ryanmuegge]

37. Hell yes it is.

[qwlauren35]

48. No - I can't buy into that.

I'd say at least 1/4 of the American public want Obama. And over 75% want change.

[Blue_Tires]

3. that's what i don't get

supposedly the voting electorate is more aware and tech savvy than in recent years, so why are all the smear e-mails getting so much alleged traction? even the most unsophisticated voters know this isn't 1998 or even 2004 anymore...

and why are the obama e-mails getting so much media play when the gore and kerry ones didn't? people should already know they are bullshit, but if it validates their beliefs, they unquestioningly believe it?

[Cronopio]

8. "but if it validates their beliefs, they unquestioningly believe it?"

If your reputation in a small town is based on not questioning what you hear from the grapevine, it's not a matter of believing it. It's just a matter of not questioning it.

The country might go to hell in a handbasket, but your local credit rating will be safe.

[yardwork]

17. In that case, ridicule may be our best weapon.

The stakes are too high. It's time to start a national movement ridiculing people too lazy or fearful to live up to their obligations as citizens of a democratic republic.

Too lazy to make a decision about whom to support for president? National ridicule. Too scared of offending the neighbors to tell them that their "information" is bogus? National ridicule.

The Democrats have been bending over backwards to be nice to idiots like this for too long. It's time to start calling out their laziness and cowardice for what it is - a threat to our national security.

[qwlauren35]

49. They get play because they are so outlandish.

They make good press. They turn the 6 o'clock news into the Enquirer, but its still "news".

MSM is about money. Conflict and negativity interest viewers. More viewers means more money.

Not sure why anyone thinks that scruples have anything to do with it.

[liberal N proud]

4. This guy doesn't know what to believe but

He is too fucking lazy to learn on his own.


In Findlay, Ohio, Jim Peterman, 74, keeps hearing that Barack Obama is Muslim, or was born in Africa, or is hostile to the flag, and he's no longer sure what to believe. "It's hard to ignore what you hear when everybody you know is saying it," he says. (By J.d. Pooley For The Washington Post)

[Doctor_J]

24. Man, how would you like to be this guy, now considered and thundering idiot

by a large chuck of the country? Ouch.

[yardwork]

45. We can hope that he will be shamed into taking a look at some facts.

But he probably will just blame the Washington Post for being biased. That ol liberal bias again.

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

5. some flake around here

is claiming that Obama's birth certificate is fake and he isn't a US citizen and that there is some conspircy to keep it secret and John McCain is in on the secret because he was born in Panama. Blah, Blah, Blah. Sometimes he claims that Obama was born before Hawaii became a state - other times he claims Obama wasn't even born in the US at all.

I love how people seem to believe the contradictory rumors, ie. Obama is a muslim AND into christian black liberation theology.

[kskiska]

20. Well, Hillary is a lesbian AND had an affair with Vince Foster!

Not that there's anything wrong with that.

[1Hippiechick]

33. Hmmmmmm......... n/t

[Indenturedebtor]

6. Anyone that willfully ignorant and bigoted deserves to live in the country they create

If they're lucky we'll be able to save them from their own stupidity. If they get their way again, they're not going to like the world they live in. Too bad they'll never make the connection.

Idiots.

[yardwork]

41. Unfortunately, they help wreck the country for all of us.

I don't want to live in a country run by people chosen by the idiots in this article, or the millions just like them. Democracy only works when those casting votes are informed. Too many people have allowed Faux News to colonize their brains.

[Bill McBlueState]

7. Findlay is in one of the strongest Republican counties in Ohio

Bob Dole got almost 60% of the vote there in 2006. I don't think we need to worry to much if these inbreds don't get on the Obama train.

The fact that WaPo seems to be holding them up as representative of a meaningful trend is more troubling, I think.

[1Hippiechick]

22. Would that be pre- or post-DIEBOLD!

[Bill McBlueState]

27. both, probably n/t

[safeinOhio]

35. However, no support

for McCain in Findlay either. So, I push Barr on the local morans. They seem to buy that one.

[Bill McBlueState]

38. nice!

They're exactly the sort of people whose refusal to vote for McCain could give Ohio to Obama.

[yardwork]

42. The article mentions that, actually. There is a ray of hope.

Some of the idiots are considering staying home on election day. Oh please oh please oh please...

[mwb970]

9. God, this makes Ohioans sound like idiots.

We're not like this in Columbus!

[maxsolomon]

16. but they're like that in Cincinnati!

i know cuz i growed up thar & mah parints is still thar a-watchin' foks nuz evry nite!

[1Hippiechick]

21. Seems to me the best solution would be for others in OH to educate their neighbors

[maxsolomon]

29. Cincinnati don't take kindly to book-learnin!

if'n WLW sez it, that's gud enuf fur Cincinnati! so don't come down here with yer fancy Columbus ways, a-thinkin yur better than us cuz youz a-readin them NuYork pencil-neck liburl lies!

[1Hippiechick]

32. You are tooooooooo funny!

[maxsolomon]

34. thank you. born & raised in cincinnati.

finally escaped in 1991.

[1Hippiechick]

39. Home of the infamous "WKRP in Cincinnati"? LOL

[mwb970]

54. The SW corner does seem a bit far out to me.

I grew up in the Cleveland area & now live in Columbus. From what I hear about Cincinnati, I'm glad I stopped there!

As soon as you drive 20 feet outside of Columbus you are in deepest bushland. The rural areas of Ohio seem politically backward to me, but hey, I'm an elitist.

BTW, whenever I make comments like this I try to mention the paradox I have observed with rural and small-town Ohioans. The very same people who are diehard bushbot righties out there also tend to be extremely friendly and excessively hospitable. I had car trouble on a rural road once and some guy came along, stopped to help, drove home and got jumper cables, came back and got me going again, and then invited me to his house for lunch! His pickup truck had right-wing bumper stickers all over it.

What's an elitist to do?

[OhioChick]

30. Nor are we in Cleveland. n/t

[maxsolomon]

36. cincinnati vs. cleveland

german catholics vs. polish catholics.

think marge schott vs. dennis kucinich.

goes a long way towards explaining things.

[yardwork]

43. Don't feel bad. There are plenty of idiots like this everywhere else, too.

I read about White Supremacists in Vermont the other day.

[ChickMagic]

10. A dink where I work has an Edgar Cayce book on her desk

She told me that Obama is a Muslim. I said, "You're
joking, right?"

"Oh, no," she said. She said his dad has tremendous
power over him. I pointed out that his dad is dead.

"But he went to a madrasa". "No, he went to a public
school in Indonesia."

I said, "I just don't know how anybody can vote
Republican given the last 8 years. Once personal
liberty has been taken away, it's practically
impossible to restore it. Is that what you want?
More loss of your liberty?"

"Oh, I think people are smart enough to vote
Republican, don't you?"

I stepped right into Bizarro world.

[mwb970]

11. You might as well talk to the cat. /nt

[yardwork]

15. Unfair to the cat! My cats are far more sensible.

My cats use evidence-based reasoning. If their bowl is empty of food, they come tell me about it. If the bed is warm, they jump in.

The people cited in the article seem to have abandoned all power of reasoning. One of the most depressing aspects of this is that when faced with the truth, they fall back on "all politicians lie - I can't trust politicians." However, they trust what the chimp tells them, and they trust their cousin Rudy in Toledo who said that a guy in the bar told him that his wife's brother's ex-girlfriend said that Osama I mean Obama eats babies. So he just doesn't know who to believe.

I've noticed that people fall back on the "I just don't know who to believe" when they're secretly ashamed of themselves for going along with rumors instead of finding out the truth for themselves.

[Vinca]

12. I heard someone on the radio this morning say that the majority

of Americans don't know we ever dropped an atomic bomb and that 2 out of 5 have no idea there are 3 different branches of government. That seemed pretty out there to me, but judging from Edgar Cayce woman, it's not a stretch.

[pattmarty]

14. Pretty soon our "education" system will be the shitbag of the world......

.....The only schools that MAY still be worth a damn in the future will be the blue chip universities all populated by foreign students. These morons (conservatives) get their way and all the poor (and middle class what will be left) will be "home schooled". Shit, you won't even have to know math or be able to read since there won't be any manufacturing left and the only jobs will be cleaning toilets, working at McD's, and picking fruit & vegetables (since when "they" pass the new immigration bill all the "illegals" will be either jailed (Wackenhut/CCA) or sent back to their home countries.

[LibDemAlways]

25. The majority of Americans could tell you who Brad Pitt is

involved with or how their local team is doing - you know, important stuff.

As for bombs and government, they don't know and they don't want to know. It's willful ignorance.

[qwlauren35]

50. Keep in mind...

these are the people who voted for Bush because they could "relate to him". People who weren't ashamed at his complete ignorance of geography.

If you told them that we bombed JAPAN, they wouldn't actually think too much of it. And frankly, we don't hear that much about SCOTUS in the press. So, you'd have to actually remember what was being taught in school to know who they are... or that they have any kind of power...

[ChickMagic]

47. I've come to realize that enlightenment is rare

It seems to follow something terrible and catastrophic. The age of
enlightenment started after the black plague made the rounds again,
and the Napoleonic wars were going on. (If I have my history right).

Another enlightenment happened after WWII. After the horrors of
Nazi Germany, the camps we had here for the Japanese Americans,and
the bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki the Space Race had every kid
pointed at science. I was part of that generation and I'm a biologist.
If you've ever seen Mr. Wizard from that time on TV Land, your jaw
will hit the floor. You'll really see how far we've fallen. I watched
an old B&W episode where Mr. Wizard showed the kids how to construct
an electrical maze. Religion was private and preachers weren't TV
stars (except for Billy Graham).

Maybe there will be another after we get out of the current mess.
Obama certainly inspires hope after 8 catastrophic years. I'm just
afraid it's going to get a lot worse before another enlightenment
can happen. Stupid seems to be the norm peppered with few and far
between enlightenment.

[1Hippiechick]

26. If she happens to be a Baptist, ask her to explain why the So. Baptist Convention split

if she wants to make it about religion, hand it back to her. IMHO, the statement "Oh, I think people are smart enough to vote Republican, don't you?" could easily be construed as a not-so-cleverly-veiled racist remark.

http://www.sbc.net/aboutus/positionstatements.asp


quoted from webpage:
Position Statements
Every denomination is experiencing tension, and Southern Baptists are no exception. Of course, tension can be healthy. It serves to clarify beliefs. But tension also has a down side. It can generate misleading statements and create confusion in the local church. We know that some may be struggling to sort out truth from fiction.

Because this is so, we offer you these simple position statements which reflect the actions of the Convention and its entities. We hope that they will prove helpful to you.

Priesthood
Soul Competency
Creeds & Confessions
Women In Ministry
Church and State
Missions
Autonomy
Cooperation
Sexuality
Sanctity of Life

[Arugula Latte]

13. The citizens of Dumbfuckistan strike again.

[dolo amber]

18. That's horribly depressing

Unsurprising, but depressing.

[1Hippiechick]

19. (1): Written as if MSM is accurate and I'net is NOT; (2) PPl in town are racist ; in time warp

The rumors are not the problem - their closed minds are the problem. Note the text:

"People in Findlay are kind of funny about change," said Republican Mayor Pete Sehnert, a retired police officer who ran for the office on a whim last year. "They always want things the way they were, and any kind of development is always viewed as making things worse, a bad thing."

"Who in the world was this Obama character, running for president with that funny-sounding last name?:

"But with their pride came a nasty undercurrent, one that Obama's candidacy has exacerbated:
On College Street, *nobody wanted anything to change*.

As the years passed, Peterman and his neighbors approached one another to share in *their skepticism about the unknown.*

*What was the story behind the handful of African Americans who had moved into a town that is 93 percent white?*

*Why were Japanese businessmen coming in to run the local manufacturing plants?*

[L0oniX]

23. This is why I ban all AOL domains in my chat channels.

:evilgrin:

[xxqqqzme]

28. It's not only the rust belt.

My dad, here in California believes this crap because my mother passes all the swiftboaty hatemails onto me. I know everyone she gets, she reads them to my dad...Gene, listen to this.....My dad likes Obama but 'he grew up in Indonesia so I just don't know' he said to me. He had to get that from my mom because he doesn't use a computer at all.

[OhioChick]

31. Isn't Findlay Ohio

Representative Jean Schmidt's district? (2nd)

[Bill McBlueState]

40. nah, Jim Jordan

probably doesn't affect your point, though.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ohio's_4th_congressional_district

It's not the sort of place we're likely to get a lot of votes no matter who is running.

[yardwork]

44. The National Review Online is upset that the Washington Post is picking on Findlay

lol!

http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=YzY0NDA4ZWMwNjVjNWU5ZDhjYmVjMzYzMDlkYzIyOWE=

[depakid]

46. These are the same folks who keep voting Republican,

despite the fact that right wing policies have just devastated their communities.

[yardwork]

52. They had a bad flood in Findlay a couple of years ago, too.

They're trying to get money from the government for that. I'm sure that they think that global warming is a liberal myth and only losers take government handouts, though.

[olddad56]

53. It so weird everywhere...

My neighbor, a person who makes his living being a Republican and I were talking yesterday. We maintain a positive, neighborly relationship despite the fact that we are on opposite ends of the political spectrum. We pretty much never discuss politics. I was wearing a tie-dye shirt that I had dyed. I mentioned to him that I was thinking about tie-dying a banner, and just for the reaction told him I thought I would tie dye a peace sign on it. He jokingly told me, "Be careful, I'm big on National Security. It was said in jest, but hello, it was obvious that in his mind, People who would wish that there were peace in the world are a threat to national security. It seems like everything is just as George Orwell had described in his novel 1984. War is Peace to him and the millions like him.