Are all "Obama is a Muslim" allegations based in racism?

[Rocknrule]

It sure seems like it. The way I see it, no one would be making those claims if he was white and/or had a name like John Smith. I'm fairly certain that "Muslim" in reference to Obama is almost always code for the N-word.

[EFerrari]

1. Of course they are.

[louis-t]

2. Aw jeez, I got another viral e-mail from Mom today.

It's so full of ridiculous lies, I refuse to post it here. Bad enough it made my blood pressure go up, without ruining anyone else's day.

[texastoast]

4. Don't let them go unanswered

In spite of etiquette, I hit the reply to all button with snopes links.

[louis-t]

11. Already done.

I love proving this stuff wrong, but tit takes so much time. Well worth it, though.

[southpaw]

3. Ultimately, yes

There are often references made to his father being of Muslim origin, although Barack Sr. was an atheist, if I recall correctly. Plus his brief Muslim school experience...

Still, I think the root of it is quite racist.

[OneGrassRoot]

5. You betcha. Absolutely. n/t

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

6. Of Course Not. Oftentimes It's Simply Easy Fodder To Try And Smear The Opponent.

They know that by repeating the talking point that many will sense, even subliminally, the negative connotations of it thereby reducing the positive image of the opponent. For many repeating it, it has nothing to do with racism and all to do with simply using a weapon in their arsenal to play the swiftboating game.

Remember: To many of these people politics is simply a sport. It's their team vs the other team and anything goes in their opinion. They'll repeat whatever lie and smear that they possibly can as long as it has promise of smearing the candidate.

[Gore1FL]

7. I figured it was based on stupidity

[Odin2005]

8. It's seems like plain ol' dirty politics to me.

They are trying to use his middle name to inject fear into people's subconscious.

[childslibrarian]

9. Yep

Yes they are.

[Hekate]

10. Well, there is that. Also xenophobia, making sure Obama is perceived as The Other...

... guilt by association (not actual association, just association in the minds of the audience), turning a word for a group of people into a dirty word (the same way "Jew" or "Liberal" has been done), using code for what they really mean, sneers and smears and outright lies....

I'm sure you get the idea. But did McCain or Palin actually call him a racist word in front of a camera? Nope. They have plausible deniability on that.

You can see Goebbels' -- I mean Rove's -- hand in all this hatemongering and propaganda.

Hekate

[VoodooGuru]

12. "Muslim" is a stand in for another word, I think.

And you KNOW the one I mean.