It seems that the Clinton campaign has been distributing a photograph of Obama in African dress, playing into the (false) rumour that Obama is a Muslim. Obama's campaign manager, David Plouffe, described this as "the most shameful, offensive fear-mongering we've seen from either party in this election."
In other words, implying your opponent is a Muslim is a worse thing to do than saying your opponent has a secret love child, or a wife who's either a drug addict or a supporter of puppy-killing? Uh-huh.
Far be it from me to condone dirty tricks, but is what this implies about modern-day U.S. culture not a lot more horrific than the offending photo?
[Update: Naomi Klein agrees.]
Monday, February 25, 2008
"Shameful, offensive fear-mongering"
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7 comments:
Colourful politics, to say the last.
er, least.
is what this implies about modern-day U.S. culture not a lot more horrific than the offending photo?
In a word: "Yes"
Actually, Muslims are viewed slightly more positively than atheists in the States, so perhaps Clinton should re-aim if she's going to try a smear campaign (not saying that she should).
FYI: Apparently the Clinton campaign has strongly disavowed being involved in spreading this picture. They say they're not responsible and it was done by someone else.
I guess "disavowed" is the wrong verb. What I mean to say is that they have released statements that state that they aren't involved.
That photo had been online for ages. The person claiming that the Clinton campaign had sent it around was Drudge - not a reliable source.
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