Republican National Committeewoman: Obama Is A Muslim
The “Obama is a Muslim” myth isn’t just a conspiracy theory for the birther crowd, apparently:
The Republican ranks have, by and large, cautiously avoided weighing in on recent poll numbers showing that a healthy portion of the American public believes that President Barack Obama is a Muslim.
Wary of the cultural sensitivities such discussions entail, the de facto response seems to be the one offered by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Sunday: “The president says he’s a Christian,” McConnell said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “I take him at his word. I don’t think that’s in dispute.”
There have been a few notable exceptions. Congressional candidate Tom Ganley said last week that he did not have “a position on whether he’s a Muslim” only to walk back his remarks amidst the uproar. No one in the official GOP tent, however, has fully embraced the rumor. Until now.
Last Friday, a Republican National Committee woman Kim Lehman, responding to an article about the polls in Politico, accused the publication of trying “to protect Obama” by denying his true religious heritage.
“BTW he personally told the muslims that he IS a muslim,” wrote the Iowa RNC member. “Read his lips.”
Here’s the tweet itself which, somewhat surprisingly, Lehman has not deleted:
Of course, Obama said no such thing:
Obama’s speech in Cairo did include discussion about his father’s Muslim faith. But the president also made it abundantly clear, both then and many times since, that he was a practicing Christian. Asked why she didn’t believe the empirical and overwhelming evidence, Lehman replied:
“Again, going back to his speech… he would have said I’m a Christian and I’m from the Christian religion and we can work together. It didn’t appear to me he said Christianity was part of his religion.”
But, of course, facts don’t matter to people like Lehman. One wonders how long she’ll remain on the RNC.
In a way it is appalling that, in the 21st century, there’s a big discussion about which ancient superstition the President of the U.S.A. subscribes to. This “he must be evil because we don’t think he bought our brand of stupid” really dismays me.
What I find even more odd is the suggesting from some political pundits that Obama needs to be more public in his Christianity, such as being sure to be filmed going to Church on Sundays
Is this what Americans really want ? Fake displays of piety from public officials ?
I’m not a religious person myself, but that whole line of argument reminds me of this:
It seems to me that there are alot of people out there more concerned with people making sure people see them praying than with whether they are actually living a life in line with their purported beliefs.
Despite the overwhelming evidence that she’s a stupid liar, I’m sure we’re all just misogynistic pigs for questioning a female Republican.
I love that Matthew quote. I deploy it to my Christian friends all the time.
But if we’re going to be quoting the Bible, why not quote the ten commandments. What part of “thou shalt not bear false witness on thy neighbor” do these people not get?
One has come to treat this sort of nonsense as a norm where the GOP is concerned. And before you absolve McConnell his comment was a classic “reports that Obama beats his wife couldn’t possibly be true”