Hume suggested LA Times report on Obama's alleged links to Islam contradicted Obama's previous statements
SUMMARY: On Special Report, Brit Hume suggested that a Los Angeles Times article about Sen. Barack Obama's "personal background in both Christianity and Islam" as a child in Indonesia contradicted Obama's previous statements. In fact, both the claim that Obama "took Muslim religious classes in school" and the claim that he "was registered as a Muslim" in primary school were previously known, and neither contradicts what Obama has said on the issue of his religion.
During the "Political Grapevine" segment on the March 15 edition of Fox News' Special Report, host Brit Hume suggested that a March 15 Los Angeles Times article about Sen. Barack Obama's (D-IL) "personal background in both Christianity and Islam" as a child in Indonesia contradicted Obama's previous statements. From Special Report:
HUME: Barack Obama's chief spokesman has been saying since January that the Democratic presidential candidate has never been a practicing Muslim. Now the Los Angeles Times is reporting that Obama was registered as a Muslim when he attended primary school in Indonesia as a boy. The Times quotes friends and teachers as saying Obama took Muslim religious classes in school and went to prayers at a local mosque.
The Obama campaign reacted to the story this morning by reiterating its position that the senator, quote, "has never been a Muslim, was not raised a Muslim, and is a committed Christian."
But contrary to Hume's suggestion, both the claim that Obama "took Muslim religious classes in school" and the claim that he "was registered as a Muslim" in primary school were previously known, and neither contradicts what Obama has said on the issue of his religion.
In his report, Hume stated that "[t]he Times quotes friends and teachers as saying Obama took Muslim religious classes in school." But the Times article itself noted that Obama wrote about his experience in "Koranic studies" classes in "a Muslim school" in his 1995 memoir, Dreams from My Father (Crown). From the Los Angeles Times article:
In his autobiography, "Dreams From My Father," Obama briefly mentions Koranic study and describes his public school, which accepted students of all religions, as "a Muslim school."
"In the Muslim school, the teacher wrote to tell my mother that I made faces during Koranic studies," Obama wrote. "My mother wasn't overly concerned. 'Be respectful,' she'd say. In the Catholic school, when it came time to pray, I would close my eyes, then peek around the room. Nothing happened. No angels descended. Just a parched old nun and 30 brown children, muttering words."
Hume claimed that the Times article reported that Obama "registered as a Muslim when he attended primary school in Indonesia as a boy." But a January 24 Associated Press article reported that while enrolling at Fransiskus Assisis, Obama was "required" to "choose one of five state-sanctioned religions when registering -- Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Catholic or Protestant." The article noted that "documents showed [Obama] enrolled as a Muslim, the religion of his stepfather" and that Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs "said he wasn't sure why the document had Obama listed as a Muslim." From the AP:
Obama's mother, divorced from Obama's father, married a man from Indonesia named Lolo Soetoro, and the family relocated to the country from 1967-71. At first, Obama attended the Catholic school, Fransiskus Assisis, where documents showed he enrolled as a Muslim, the religion of his stepfather.
The document required that each student choose one of five state-sanctioned religions when registering -- Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Catholic or Protestant. Gibbs said he wasn't sure why the document had Obama listed as a Muslim.
Obama has said in speeches that his father "was Muslim but as an adult became an atheist," and he has previously described his father as "agnostic" and his stepfather as a "nonpracticing" Muslim.
The Times story was also flagged by the conservative Media Research Center's NewsBusters blog, which, in a March 15 post, described the article as a "delightful puff of Obama-gasm." The post went on to revive the thoroughly debunked January 17 InsightMag.com article, which was, and still is, trumpeted by conservatives. The InsightMag.com article claimed that "researchers connected to" Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) disclosed that Obama "spent at least four years in a so-called Madrassa, or Muslim seminary, in Indonesia." From NewsBusters:
Today's L.A. Times delightful puff of Obama-gasm comes to us courtesy of Paul Watson, Times Staff Writer and honey-drippingly titled "As a child, Obama crossed a cultural divide in Indonesia".
What we have today from the L.A. Times is a piece gushing with how Obama must understand the needs of Christians and Muslims because he went to a Muslim Madrasa school as a child as well as a Catholic school.
From the March 15 edition of Fox News' Special Report with Brit Hume:
HUME: And now the most fascinating two minutes in television, the latest from the "Political Grapevine."
Barack Obama's chief spokesman has been saying since January that the Democratic presidential candidate has never been a practicing Muslim. Now the Los Angeles Times is reporting that Obama was registered as a Muslim when he attended primary school in Indonesia as a boy. The Times quotes friends and teachers as saying Obama took Muslim religious classes in school and went to prayers at a local mosque.
The Obama campaign reacted to the story this morning by reiterating its position that the senator, quote, "has never been a Muslim, was not raised a Muslim, and is a committed Christian."
Hume is full of misinformation , lies about Plame and will say anything to smear Obama or other Democratic candidates. His talking points smell of Karl Rove.
They know full well the story Obama attending a "al queda training school" (madrassa) is a lie.. but that doesn't stop Fox News from trying to imply that Obama is somehow or someway affiliated with extremist elements of islam. Maybe I was naive in believing that even Fox News would stoop this low. Hume should be ashamed for his part in this wretched character assassination.
s/would/wouldn't/
When I was a kid, I went to Catholic school... some of the kids there were (gasp) Presbyterians and other such religions.
We all thought those kids were lucky because they didn't have to go to confession. :-)
How the hell do you "register" as a Muslim? Is that like registering as Jewish?{hey, they did that in Germany!}
I dig the photo of Obama with "registered Muslim" under his face and is that the Koran?
My job involves going to board meetings at Homeowner's Associations (those very fascist collectives so ironically prevalent in my Republican county), and at a recent one, I was hearing the term "R.S.O."- how many of them were in the complex, what the guidelines were, etc.
There are a lot of acronyms and abbreviations for rules and codes used by property managers and the associations, but this one had me stumped.Just as I was about to ask, somebody beat me to it.
Turns out it's for Registered Sex Offenders, and the new rules for housing discrimination.Sorry so off topic, but I had to laugh thinking that the same busybodies who were busting people for going a shade dark on their paint or putting up a basketball hoop last year are going to be trying to keep legal while keeping an eye on a flasher or other pervy.
I'm looking forward to hearing "R.M."
One does have to wonder how long until not only are they registered (and will that include any other then evangelical Christian?) but have chips implanted to keep track of them (us)?
Yeah, Obama is so moslem he's been seen giving pro-Israel speeches at AIPAC meetings.
Hume can lie and spin all he wants to but it doesn't change the FACT that Barack Obama was living in Jakarta when he was between the ages of 6 and 10 years of age.
HE did not register as anything. If he was registered as Muslim or Catholic or atheist, someone did it for him. End of story.
" while enrolling at Fransiskus Assisis, Obama was "required" to "choose one of five state-sanctioned religions when registering -- Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Catholic or Protestant." The article noted that "documents showed [Obama] enrolled as a Muslim, the religion of his stepfather" and that Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs "said he wasn't sure why the document had Obama listed as a Muslim."
" In his autobiography, "Dreams From My Father," Obama briefly mentions Koranic study and describes his public school, which accepted students of all religions, as "a Muslim school. "
AND, which of those statements are incorrect? Did Obama admit to going to a madressa? Did Obama get registered as a Muslim at Fransiskus Assisis? Obama admits to both and you say he did neither. Time to put up or shut up. Bring your evidence to the table and let's see what you got. I think you have a giant strawman arguement. Personally, I'm going to believe what Obama says about his life rather than what a left wing blogger says about his life. And that's becaue I've heard nothing but the truth from Obama, so far. While I hear no truth from left wing bloggers. Case in point...Obama admits to both statements and left wing bloggers say he did neither. Hmmm, who would YOU believe?
Did you read what I said?
He started at the school when he was six years old. How could he have made any kind of informed decision?
Why is Fox News beating this to death? The most important part of this story is that he was a six year old by at the time of enrollment.
I've heard from reliable sources that Brit Hume played grab ass in elementary school but since HE WAS A CHILD who gives a sh*t.
Oh, for my outFOXed friends, please read Article VI of the US Constitution, notwithstanding the LYING graphic.
I can't believe we're going to have to endure this crap for another 18 months. Reels the mind.
If you want to keep the garbage out of your living room, just turn them off and never go back. That's what I did. I used to watch CNN a lot in the early 90's, then I found the BBC online and never went back. These networks are crap...there's no information, nothing but celebrity worship, scandal, and propaganda. If you want to know what's really going down in this country, you got to go elsewhere. Besides, it's good to deny all those phony "news" networks and shows a rating point.
Does anyone else find the Newsbusters use of the phrase "obama-gasm" stomach churning?
Obama-gasm? LOL. This, from people who are continually bemoaning the "sexualization of our culture."
I read MMFA for 2 reasons:
Look at this direct quote:
HUME: Barack Obama's chief spokesman has been saying since January that the Democratic presidential candidate has never been a practicing Muslim...
While many words were written by MMFA, none counter this specific claim! Press agents for Hollywood stars and their counterpart "chief spokesmen" in the political arena say a lot of things, some of it accurate, some of it.....well, you know.
So what does MMFA claim THE CHIEF SPOKESMAN FOR OBAMA said??
Correction: That should have read conservative MISinformation
Don't feel bad,MissouriShowMe. The difference between conservative information and misinformation is so minute that even those of us who aren't willfully trying to ignore it can get confused.
If you are trying to make a point, I certainly dont see it. There is no contradiction between being IN a school that taught religion and not PRACTICING that religion. Hume said it did, it doesnt, what is your problem with this being shown for the misinformation it is?
I'll try to make it simpler by using an example outside of politics:
Hume says Obama's spokesman repeatedly has said that the moon is made of green cheese. MMFA says, no Hume is WRONG WRONG WRONG. The moon is NOT made of green cheese, and here are 1001 studies that prove it.
So, did the spokesman really say the moon is made of green cheese? Must be, otherwise MMFA would have given his denial or evidence he said otherwise.
Your analogy is flawed. In your analogy, MMFA is effectively challenging the veracity of the spokesman's claim. However, that is not the case in this topic. They are challenging Hume's assertion that the spokeman's claims are inconsistent with other facts.
To rephrase your analogy, a more accurate version would be:
Hume: The spokesman said the moon is not made of cheese. That's inconsistent with other recent reports indicating that the moon is made of cheese.
MMFA: Those reports have already be addressed. They do not prove the moon is made of cheese.
Well...the fact is that these people smearing Obama are relying on Americans' stupidity when they spout this garbage about Obama.
Any intelligent person reading these falsehoods about Obama should ask himself/herself this question: If Obama attended a madrassa when he was a kid as these reichwingers allege, then why the hell did he have to "register as a Muslim"?
Sheesh.
2 things:
First, if your parents put you in a muslim school when you were a kid, " "has never been a Muslim, was not raised a Muslim, and is a committed Christian." is seriously misleading. I think it AT LEAST counts as being raised as a muslim, at least for part of the time. You can argue semantics all you want.
2, you guys are all bigots for saying that someone calling Obama a muslim is "character assasination" or something else derogatory. As bad as Coulter when she writes his name as B. Hussein Obama.
"you guys are all bigots for saying that someone calling Obama a muslim is "character assasination" or something else derogatory. As bad as Coulter when she writes his name as B. Hussein Obama."
When they do it to try and suggest some connection with muslim extremeism it is. If you really don't think thats what fox is trying to do, please fill us in on exactly what they are trying do say.
" First, if your parents put you in a muslim school when you were a kid, " "has never been a Muslim, was not raised a Muslim, and is a committed Christian." is seriously misleading. I think it AT LEAST counts as being raised as a muslim, at least for part of the time. You can argue semantics all you want."
I went to a Catholic high school for 2 years, I was not raised as a Catholic. Nuff said.
In a time when our government is at war with Muslim countries and continuously decries "Muslim Extremism," only a fool would try to argue that continually calling someone a Muslim when they are not is an attempt at character assassination.
As for not being a practicing Muslim? Thousands - perhaps millions - of those of us who endured mass after mass and religious class after religious class in Catholic school are not nor were we ever practicing Catholics. Your argument falls flat on its face.
"THE PAST"
Defending their own, the Rightwing are quick to dismiss anything about a rightwingers which happened before yesterday as irrelevant, ancient history, and to "GET OVER IT".
However, when it comes to a Democrat, a 20-year old land deal was the most important news EVER about Bill Clinton, and now they're dredging up GRADE SCHOOL stuff about Obama.
These Rightwingers have absolutely no shame. And they will LOSE, and continue losing, because they prove they are EVIL by their every action.
(P.S. I was stunned to see Hume the other day, after being able to avoid him for about 2 weeks. He looks seriously ill. Have they announced that he is suffering some dire ailment? Or is his hateful politics taking a toll on his appearance?)
As for not being a practicing Muslim? Thousands - perhaps millions - of those of us who endured mass after mass and religious class after religious class in Catholic school are not nor were we ever practicing Catholics. Your argument falls flat on its face.
Sure, if you consider only part of my argument and not the whole. "Those of you" who "endured" mass after mass and religious classes could certainly claim that you were raised Catholic or had some raising as a Catholic. Would I hold that against you, even if I was anti-catholic? Do I think that makes you a Catholic now? No. Doesn't change what your parents did during your upbringing, though.
I went to a Catholic high school for 2 years, I was not raised as a Catholic. Nuff said.
See above. Any layperson could argue that you had some Catholic upbringing, and to say you had not would be playing semantics. Again, it does not mean you were catholic, or are one now.