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Friday, June 20, 2008 12:00 AM

Barack Obama is a Muslim, and other stories

The Democratic nominee's campaign is working overtime to combat rumors -- yet misinformation is still running rampant across the Internet.

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  • Saturday, June 21, 2008 12:18 PM

    Will Presidency of Obama be this HIGH MAINTENANCE?

    Boy there is a lot of effort being put in to fending off false accusations. The best way to diminish the negative is to accentuate the positive. I'm afraid Obama, except for charisma and speech giving, is pretty low in the positive department. This is why all this extra effort has to be invested in Obama as a candidate. Unfortunately, these accusations stem from some element of truth. While Obama is not a practicing Muslim his name reflects an Islamic ethnicity. My maiden name is Garcia. I was born in the U.S., I only speak English, and my married name is anglo. There is no mistaking that I have an hispanic heritage. If people didn't know much about hispanics and I was running for an office, I'd probably have to explain my heritage. Maybe instead of running from his Islamic background he should explain it. The church he went to had a pastor who took the Lord's name in vain. If you're a Christian or any person of faith of any kind, you don't tolerate blasphemy. If you're standing on a stage with people covering their heart because they are showing honor and respect, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that it would be appropriate to join in this symbolic jesture. I've seen people who are not catholic attend a mass for whatever reason, and try to cross themselves, out of respect. I've seen immigrants who are not yet citizens put their hand over their heart during the national anthem. I'm surprised at his strong will to not give in to the moment. Just like I'm always amazed when people turn down a piece of cake because they're on a diet. But why not join in? Why not humble yourself to the heritage and history of the flag and our country? We're free not to, which only makes me want to do it all the more. These are legitimate questions. Will he have to combat this when he's in office? He'll never get any thing done.

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