Have a look at this anti-Obama email my grandfather forwarded me... (deep breath first!)

[hopein08]

"Who is Barack Obama?

Probable U. S. presidential candidate, Barack Hussein Obama was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, to Barack Hussein Obama, Sr., a black Muslim from Nyangoma-Kogel, Kenya and Ann Dunham, a white atheist from Wichita, Kansas. Obama's parents met at the University of Hawaii. When Obama was two years old, his parents divorced. His father returned to Kenya. His mother then married Lolo Soetoro, a radical Muslim from Indonesia. When Obama was 6 years old, the family relocated to Indonesia. Obama attended a Muslim school in Jakarta. He also spent two years in a Catholic school. Obama takes great care to conceal the fact that he is a Muslim. He is quick to point out that, "He was once a Muslim, but that he also attended Catholic school." Obama's political handlers are attempting to make it appear that Obama's introduction to Islam came via his father, and that this influence was temporary at best. In reality, the senior Obama returned to Kenya soon after the divorce, and never again had any direct influence over his son's education. Lolo Soetoro, the second husband of Obama's mother, Ann Dunham, introduced his stepson to Islam. Obama was enrolled in a Wahabi school in Jakarta. Wahabism is the radical teaching that is followed by the Muslim terrorists who are now waging Jihad against the western world. Since it is politically expedient to be a Christian when seeking major public office in the United States, Barack Hussein Obama has joined the United Church of Christ in an attempt to downplay his Muslim background. Let us all remain alert concerning Obama's expected presidential candidacy.


Please forward to everyone you know."

It even came with the subject line "Who is Barack Obama?-- Think about it, Safe to open and foward"!

But I'm so upset about this! My grandfather is a WWII vet who hates everything that is Republican. He makes fun of Dubya to the point that my grandmother tells him to stop because it isn't Christian. He enjoys hanging up on Republican pollsters and especially enjoyed tell Rick Santorum's office that he had no intention of voting for Santorum. He can't believe that a woman he went to high school with raised a son like our good-for-nothing Repuke representative. He usually forwards me staunchly liberal emails and jokes. But now somebody, and I don't recognize the email of who sent it to him, sent him this piece of crap and he believes it enough to forward it on to me.

I could just about cry.

[NYCGirl]

1. Snopes has debunked this thoroughly:

http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/muslim.asp

It's also been posted here about 460 times in the past two weeks.

[hopein08]

8. Thanks and sorry, I must have missed the other times! n/t

[NYCGirl]

13. No problem. This one has been around in one form or another for a while. NT

[SunDrop23]

2. Interesting, instead of applauding Obama for "findin' Jay-zus"

the Christofascists are tearing him down.

Isn't that hypocrisy so like them?

[WorseBeforeBetter]

3. Does he actually believe it...

or was he merely forwarding it to you as an example of the lies being spread about Obama? Have you spoken to him about it?

When I get those types of e-mails, I hit Reply All (or copy in every e-mail address I can find on the page) and supply the Snopes link (or whatever I can find to de-bunk). I'm probably making more enemies than friends that way, but WTF cares.

[hopein08]

4. No, haven't spoken to him yet.

I just got it minutes ago. I will forward him the Snopes debunking of the email though.

[WorseBeforeBetter]

16. I wouldn't ask this of my Grandpa, but I do ask others...

if they're "stupid enough" to believe it or "too lazy" to research it. They do not like that - at all. Sometimes the only thing that gets through to many of them is mocking. Kinda like why O'Lielly is falling out of favor - so many are mocking him (who knows what Scarborough's motives are other than ratings and that big fat paycheck, but I was surprised to see him jump on the bandwagon).

[NYCGirl]

5. And send him this link to the CNN report from the actual school:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=0pMgsbMcpOE

[NYCGirl]

6. Duplicate — sorry!

http://youtube.com/watch?v=0pMgsbMcpOE

[Redstone]

7. Well, it sounds like your granddad is a good guy, but it also sounds like

he's a racist. Unfortunately.

(Unless, of course, he was sending it to you to say "look how low those bastards will go.")

Redstone

[Norquist Nemesis]

9. "Swiftboating" has become "Submarining"

It's underground swiftboating and frankly, should be forensically investigated IMO to determine the original author. And yes, I'm referring to whether Cons or Democrats are doing it...it should be illegal and investigated with great fanfare letting everyone know they can't get away with this kind of crap!!!

[Turbineguy]

10. This is a classic.

The language is right up there with "capitalist imperialist running dogs!"

It would be a good idea to show the email address of the senders of such tripe in case this board is datamined by spammers.

[hopein08]

11. I'm slightly slow when it comes to datamining and such things...what do you think I should do & why?

[Turbineguy]

14. Well,

I think :evilgrin: it's a nice little payback to wingnuts who send out this shit that they learn about all the money they could make in pinksheet stocks, or maybe they could use some help building up those itsy bitsy sex organs.

Some things should be shared!

[Lex]

12. Make sure you hit "Reply All" and send the Snopes debunk.

nt

[tandot]

15. Thank him for warning you of that right-wing smear email that is going around

Tell him that you already know about it and say something like "Isn't that absolute appalling that those right-wingers stoop so low and make up stuff like that about an honorable man"

Maybe you could include all the links debunking the story and say "You've probably already seen most of those stories debunking these lies. I am sending you the links just in case you need to send it to the person who sent you that god-awful right-wing email"

Maybe this is the most tactful way to give your grandpa the facts without making him feel bad.

edit for spelling