It’s almost hard to grasp how many things this guy gets wrong. But I’ll try.
1. He thinks I’m a conservative. (A slightly forgivable mistake.)
2. He appears to take Conservapedia seriously. (A much less forgivable mistake.)
3. He seems to think that pointing out the truth — namely that Barack Obama isn’t a Muslim — makes me anti-Muslim. (It’s “well-founded,” he says.) This despite the fact that I actually agreed that there’s nothing wrong with being a Muslim. I said so in the original post.
4. I claimed that the belief that Obama is a Muslim is enhancing Obama’s ability to govern. I did not claim that it’s “impeding” his ability to govern. No, it’s wasting the opposition’s resources on a triviality and making Obama’s opponents collectively look foolish.
5. The obvious problem, which the linked blogger doesn’t seem to want to consider, is that some other people think that there is definitely something wrong with being a Muslim. That’s why there’s a story here. If the same number of people thought Obama was a Presbyterian (which he also isn’t), there wouldn’t be a story here. Islam matters because Islam is widely mistrusted.
Also, like, telling the truth is important and stuff. So if I said “Barack Obama is the first cyborg president,” that, too, would be erroneous, and quite possibly a knowing lie. But — oh gosh stay with me here — denying that Barack Obama is the first cyborg president isn’t an attack on cyborgs. It doesn’t say anything one way or the other about cyborgs. Except that one Mr. Barack Obama isn’t among them.
And some of my best friends are cyborgs. Just so you know.
First of all, thank you for mentioning my website in a post. Now, if you don’t mind, I would like to respond to you. First of all, my post wasn’t supposed to be a bash on you specifically. Second of all, a Newsweek article which was my original resource described you as Conservative, and I went by that. Third, this was intended to call Conservapedia out for being Republican Propaganda, not at all that it was a serious resource. Fourth, my point was not that people don’t care if Obama is a Muslim, but rather that it shouldn’t. The reason I stated that you claimed Obama’s alleged Muslim faith impeded his presidency was because the afforementioned Newsweek article misquoted you. Your final paragraph in the blog post I mentioned makes it clear that you are talking about how this controversy is enabling him to do what he wants by distracting the public’s attention. Newsweek misquoted you and made it seem like you were referring to the poll results as the problem, rather than that all of the attention that it is being given is the problem. Now that I read your blog post in its entirety, I see that. I will soon release an update to my blog addressing this. And yes, if 18% of Americans thought Obama was a Presbyterian, that would be newsworthy, but nobody would bother putting out such a poll. And I wasn’t saying that denying that Obama is a Muslim is racist or anti-Muslim. Rather, I’m saying that implying that Obama’s religion is relevant to his presidency is racist. And the fact is, if people weren’t making it out to be relevant, we wouldn’t be having this discussion, and the poll would never have been made. I’m not saying you’re wrong in your opinions, and the beauty of this country is that you’re just as entitled to yours as I am to mine, but I’m just trying to clarify what my intentions were in the blog post. So once again, thank you for mentioning me and I hope this helped clarify my views. I was not attacking you in the post, but rather the fact that everyone’s making a big deal of this. And the Newsweek misquote didn’t help either.Report
@Gregory,
my post wasn’t supposed to be a bash on you specifically…
Specific or not, the bash was misplaced.
this was intended to call Conservapedia out for being Republican Propaganda, not at all that it was a serious resource.
You’re aware that Conservapedia is riddled with satire and can’t be taken as just straight propaganda?
The reason I stated that you claimed Obama’s alleged Muslim faith impeded his presidency was because the afforementioned [sic] Newsweek article misquoted you.
No, Newsweek didn’t misquote me. It didn’t even call me a conservative. (The site is conservative, which they got right. But not everyone at it is.) You’d have done better if you’d mentioned The Atlantic, which tagged me personally that way. They were wrong though; I can’t call myself a conservative.
Newsweek also did not attribute the word “impede” to me. That was you. I think on the contrary that talking about this sort of nonsense helps Obama.
And yes, if 18% of Americans thought Obama was a Presbyterian, that would be newsworthy, but nobody would bother putting out such a poll.
Funny, elsewhere you said just the opposite. I quote:
Report
@Jason Kuznicki,
“You’re aware that Conservapedia is riddled with satire and can’t be taken as just straight propaganda?”
This is a very good point, and one that should be remembered in our up-tight political environment. It appears that unless Jon Stewart or Colbert are performing the satire, it escapes most modern liberals – even then I think they believe Stewart is seriously giving the straight news.Report
@Jason Kuznicki,
You’re aware that Conservapedia is riddled with satire and can’t be taken as just straight propaganda?
Do you mean satire approved by Schlafly pere, or satire added behind his back?Report
When will the cyborg-baiting end? This country will continue to spiral out of control as long as the cyborg-hustlers are out there playing the cyborg card.Report
@sidereal,
I dunno, the whole “wiping out 99% of humanity” thing kinda makes me not trust them much.Report
Yes, why are you hating on Cyborgs?
A recent poll shows that 22% of all Trekkies think that 10% of the population are cyborgs, while 17.5% of all Cyborgs think being Cyborg is better than being German. 4.2% of all polled think Obama was born in Tupelo, Miss.Report
@Mike Farmer, I think there’s an episode of X-Files that covers these contretemps.
I didn’t know Obama was a cyborb?
I know he’s a cultural Muslim.
I know he’s a commie-Marxist-Maoist-gentleman of the Left.
And, yes because of his policies he’s attempting to destroy America!
I really enjoy it when you guys on the Left engage in incestuous infighting.Report
I think a person’s religion should be considered a strictly private matter. After all, what someone believes about God only really concerns himself, his designated spiritual representative and the insane space lizard that actually rules all of creation.Report
@Bo, See, people say that religion can be abstract, ancient and obscure and doesn’t impact our everyday lives. But I have a great relationship with the people in my everyday life. And this is because, first and foremost, I have a good relationship with Thoggoth, the beast who lives within the pyramid.Report
@Rufus, Mocking God? Dude, let us know how that works out for you.
“ooooo I can’t stand it, I can’t stand it
What are you trying to prove?
Deadman……………….”
B. DylanReport
@Robert Cheeks, Joke summary: People around the world have many different religious beliefs, some of which are extremely abstract and obscure.
Percentage of joke focusing on “mocking God”: o.o%Report
@Rufus,
A recent poll shows that 23.8% of all Americans believe that abstract and obscure religious beliefs should not be mocked.Report
@Mike Farmer, the problem is that the only religions that are not “abstract and obscure” are Mainline Protestantism, Liberal Catholicism, and Reform Judaism.
Everything else? Fair game.Report
@Mike Farmer,
Although I respect Mr Meeks, I’m all for mocking religions. The Pope could sell the Vatican and help a lot of Pakistanis right now. They could rent trailers to run the Pope business.Report
@Jaybird, Does anyone ever make fun of the Druze? I’m pretty sure that non-Druzes still don’t know for sure what they believe.Report
@Rufus, they probably fall under the category “Cults, General”.Report
@Rufus, Oh, I dunno Mike, if the Pakistani’s don’t learn to apply some basic engineering technique in their homes and communities. If they don’t learn to build dams, etc this is going to happen every flood season and the Pope and all the money of the church won’t be able to put Pakistan together again, and again, and again.Report
I’d just like to remind everyone that if we had a government divided between cyborgs and non-cyborgs, where neither controls both the legislative and executive branches, the worst instincts of both would be moderated. That is why I am supporting 7of9 for the Senate and encourage everyone else to do the same.Report
@mw,
Wasn’t it actually a scandal related to her divorce that handed the Senate race to Obama in ’04?Report
@JosephFM,
Now that you mention it – Yeah – sealed Jerri Ryan / Jack Ryan divorce/custody records were released by a judge against the expressed wishes of both parents. Jack Ryan subsequently withdrew his Senate candidacy, due to Jerri’s charges in the papers. I don’t know if it “handed the Senate” to Obama, but it sure made it easier.Report
@JosephFM, Ironically, Peter Fitzgerald was the guy who held the seat before Obama.
The Republican Party refused to run him a second time.
Part of why is because he was the 1 in the 99-1 vote that bailed out airlines following 9/11. He also did all sorts of “authentically conservative” stuff.
Republicans wanted to run Jack Ryan instead. He was more likely to do as he was told, I reckon.Report
@Jaybird,
“Dammit! Ryan seemed so clean-cut and stable. Who could have known about all that shady stuff? Anyway, I have the perfect guy to take his place. With this one, no matter what comes out, it can’t make him look any weirder than he already does.”Report
@Jaybird, oh yeah i forgot about the airline bailout which led to complete socialistic control of all the airlines which continues to this day.Report
@greginak, yay bailouts! More money for more businesses! We *ALWAYS* have money for businesses that can afford lobbyists!
youtube.com/watch?v=d9nk8XwHbS4Report
Mr. Kuznicki, It’s your birthday. Someone gives you a calfskin wallet. How do you react?Report
I say thank you, with sincerity.
Is this a trick question? If so, I’m not getting it. (My birthday is tomorrow, if you’re wondering.)Report
@Kolohe, Harrison Ford was a replicant.Report
@Jaybird,
Okay, well, crap. I missed a Blade Runner reference. In public no less.Report
@Jason Kuznicki, I will do what I can to ensure that the relevant authorities will not be notified.Report
@Jason Kuznicki,
Revel in your time.Report