'Obama's a Muslim' rumor author exposed

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.swamppolitics.com/news/politics/blog/2008/10/obamas_muslim_rumor_creator_ex.html

'Obama's a Muslim' rumor author exposed

by Frank James

So now we know the genesis of the false Obama-is-a-Muslim rumor.

According to the New York Times, Patient Zero in this particular epidemic which has virally spread around the nation thanks to the Internet is a fellow named Andy Martin, known for filing copious lawsuits that on occasion have contained very anti-Semitic language.

After reading the NYT story that places Martin at the starting point of the unfounded rumor (Obama is a Christian) you come away with the very strong impression that Martin is a man with some serious issues, to say the least.

As the NYT reports:

Until this month, the man who is widely credited with starting the cyberwhisper campaign that still dogs Mr. Obama was a secondary character in news reports, with deep explorations of his background largely confined to liberal blogs.

But an appearance in a documentary-style program on the Fox News Channel watched by three million people last week thrust the man, Andy Martin, and his past into the foreground. The program allowed Mr. Martin to assert falsely and without challenge that Mr. Obama had once trained to overthrow the government.

An examination of legal documents and election filings, along with interviews with his acquaintances, revealed Mr. Martin, 62, to be a man with a history of scintillating if not always factual claims. He has left a trail of animosity -- some of it provoked by anti-Jewish comments -- among political leaders, lawyers and judges in three states over more than 30 years.

He is a law school graduate, but his admission to the Illinois bar was blocked in the 1970s after a psychiatric finding of "moderately severe character defect manifested by well-documented ideation with a paranoid flavor and a grandiose character."


There's more:

He prepared to run as a Democrat for Congress in Connecticut, where paperwork for one of his campaign committees listed as one purpose "to exterminate Jew power." He ran as a Republican for the Florida State Senate and the United States Senate in Illinois. When running for president in 1999, he aired a television advertisement in New Hampshire that accused George W. Bush of using cocaine.

[patrice]

1. "unfounded rumor" = "(Obama is a Christian)"?

[Orrex]

2. Yeah--that's poorly worded

And it's likely to be misread by those who want to believe that he's a Muslim.

[patrice]

7. Ambiguity in communication is increasing.

[Froward69]

3. dupe

[Froward69]

4. Isn't it Ironic

Neo-cons want it both ways... Obama is a Muslim who attended a radical Christian church for 20 years? Yesterday I had an argument with one of my neo-con neighbors about that very subject. he went on and on about both. then said "do we really know who he is?" I countered "apparently you know all about him, misinformed as it is".

I finally told him to come out and admit it. "you wont vote for Obama because he is Black." he looked at me like, "how did you figure that out." he then walked away without saying a another word.

[REACTIVATED IN CT]

5. Apparently he is running for the US Senate in Illinois

Not Connecticut at this time


http://www.andyforussenator.com/

[FourScore]

6. I just can't believe that FOX News is alowed to air this shit.

There need to be laws against this kind of thing. They are clearly promoting hateful propoganda. This is just so infuriating. Unfortunately, I know people who hear this stuff and lap it up as fact. It's so terrible.

[NNN0LHI]

9. Why just Fox? Why don't the other networks expose this stuff?

Because they are complicit.

Don

[wryter2000]

8. So, he hates Muslims AND Jews

I bet he doesn't think much about African Americans, either. Whotta guy.