Obama Sets up Website to Combat Rumors

By Anastacia Mott Austin

You’ve probably heard some of the rumors already. That Barack Obama is secretly a Muslim, that he was sworn into the Senate holding a Koran, that he refuses to recite the pledge of allegiance.

The most recent rumor to hit the mills is the claim that Obama’s wife Michelle used the pulpit of their church to rant against "whitey."

The Obama camp denies this recent "smear," as well as the others, bristling at reporters who even asked him about it, saying that the media have more of a responsibility to tell the truth and not contribute to rumor-mongering.

"Michelle Obama has not used that word," says the Obama campaign.

His advice to voters is to do their own research to make sure that "scurrilous" rumors are not true. (Side note: Don’t you wish all politicians were smart enough to use a word like "scurrilous?")

Snopes.com, the chief Internet myth-debunking website (the one you should automatically check when someone sends you an email saying that the UK is no longer teaching the Holocaust to their students for fear of offending Muslims, for example), has reported that false stories about Obama are the second-highest ranking category of Internet "urban myths."

To that end, his campaign has launched a website called Fight the Smears.com (www.fightthesmears.com), saying that while the best defense is often to ignore untrue stories, it’s still better to put the truth out there.

At the top of site, a quote by Obama appears which reads, in part, "What you won’t hear from this campaign or this party is the kind of politics that uses religion as a wedge, and politics as a bludgeon, that sees our opponents not as competitors to challenge but enemies to demonize…we are always Americans first."

Several current "myths" are then listed and debunked. The most recent rumor lists quotes from mostly right-wing pundits and radio personalities claiming that a tape exists of Michelle Obama railing against "whitey" from a pulpit at a women’s event at Trinity United Church.

The site then dismissed the rumor, shows a political television advisor admitting the story is a rumor, and further provides facts showing it is not true (i.e. the women’s event in question was not held at the church), concluding by saying that Michelle Obama has never uttered the slur.

Other rumors debunked on the site: That Obama is "hiding" his birth certificate (a copy is provided at the site), that he is a closet Muslim who attended a radical Muslim school as a child (he was raised a committed Christian), that he was sworn into the Senate holding a copy of the Koran (a photo is provided of his swearing-in showing he is holding a family Bible).

Obama spokesperson Tommy Vietor explained to reporters that, while they would like to simply ignore "scurrilous" rumors as nonsense and give them no attention, it is better to be up front about the truth and stop rumors in their tracks.

Said Vietor to the press, "The Obama campaign isn't going to let dishonest smears spread across the Internet unanswered. Whenever challenged with these lies we will aggressively push back with the truth and help our supporters debunk the false rumors floating around the Internet."