There is a particularly ugly email circulating called “A Pilot’s Perspective on Obama” where the anonymous author questions Barack’s ties to the white community and his ability to attend private schools. The smear also includes some innuendos implying that Barack is Muslim and questioning his ties to Rezko. The following is one response to this email.

 I am  a Modern Orthodox Jew, a mother, a wife, and a devoted Obama supporter. I do not presume to speak for all Jews, nor do I know the exact concerns of your relatives that forwarded this email to you, but there are some recurring themes that I have heard as challenges to my (or any concerned citizen’s) support of Barack Obama.  I hope that the information below helps to debunk the lies propagated in this email.

1. The author of this email is concerned that Obama is a Muslim. The truth is that  Obama is a Christian.  Ironically, Barack Obama has received a lot of negative media around the words of his former pastor in a Christian church.  His dedication to this church cost him dearly in his campaign, yet the rumor that he is a Muslim persists.  Not only is this false, but it also emphasizes the real issue, that Muslims as a group are demonized as terrorists and extremists and therefore being a Muslim is somehow an indication that one is unfit as a candidate.  This is a case of those opposing Obama leveraging people’s prejudice against Muslims to inspire fear of this Christian candidate. The REACT website (http://jews4barack.com/react/?cat=6) has published two responses to this claim and the Obama Campaign has a website that deals directly with this rumor as well, showing a video that explains that he did NOT attend a Muslim madrassa (http://my.barackobama.com/page/invite/Christian).

2. The writer of the initial email questions Barack’s father’s ability to attend school in the United States. He did so on a scholarship organized by the nationalist movement in Kenya and paid for by prominent Americans. His father also attended Harvard on scholarships and in fact was not wealthy. Barack cites his father’s poverty as one of the reasons he and his mother did not go to Massachusetts with his father.  In Dreams of my Father Barack explains that his father eventually returned to Kenya to work as a senior economist for the government. Barack also makes clear that he only saw his father once (when he was 10 years old) after his father left when Barack was 2.

3. Also in question was how Obama attended expensive schools such as Harvard. The truth is that he did so on scholarships and student loans. In fact, Obama is quoted a saying that he and Michelle only finished paying off their student loans about five years ago. (http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2008/01/01/obama/print.html)

4. Another prominent myth about Barack Obama relates to his relationship with Tony Rezko when he bought his house. The Chicago Tribune recently ran an article clarifying that Obama did nothing illegal or wrong. (http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chicago/chi-zorn-10-jun10,0,3997821.column)

5. The author of the article claims that Obama never held a productive job that was not government supported. Leaving aside the merits of whether this is even relevant since a life devoted to public service is admirable, Barack did work as a constitutional lawyer and professor. (http://www.barackobama.com/learn/meet_barack.php)

6.  The email also expresses concern about Obama’s relationship with Trinity United Church of Christ and with Reverend Wright. Obama has resigned his membership in this church and repudiated his former pastor for the remarks that were made. Please see the Jews of Obama website that does a remarkable job of explaining the relationship and its importance
(http://jews4barack.com/react/?p=21).

7. Finally, the author questions Obama’s experience and what he has accomplished. In March of 2007, the New York Times published an article minimizing Barack’s experience in the Senate. Each of these statements and the evidence repudiating them while citing his record are available at (http://factcheck.barackobama.com/factcheck2/2008/03/).  For more detailed information on Barack’s policies and positions you should visit or refer your friends to http://www.barackobama.com and
http://www.jews4barack.com.

Also, in regards to debunking myths and smears please visit  (http://factcheck.barackobama.com/), (http://fightthesmears.com/) and (http://jews4barack.com/react/).

This entry was posted on Monday, June 23rd, 2008 at 11:03 am and is filed under Generalized Smears, Jeremiah Wright, Muslim Rumors. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.