Media Matters debunks the B.S. story about Hillary Clinton linking Obama to Islamic schools

[marmar]

Right-wing media figures claim Clinton behind Obama/Muslim smears
Summary: Melanie Morgan, Lee Rodgers, Rush Limbaugh, and John Gibson all forwarded the accusation made by a website controlled by Rev. Sun Myung Moon that Sen. Hillary Clinton was responsible for spreading information linking Sen. Barack Obama to a madrassa, or Muslim school. None of the four cited any evidence, other than the article, that Clinton was responsible for promoting the madrassa story, and the article cited no one by name.

On the January 19 editions of their radio programs, conservative talk show hosts Melanie Morgan, Lee Rodgers and Rush Limbaugh, as well as Fox News' John Gibson on the same day's edition of The Big Story, forwarded the accusation, originally published on the website InsightMag.com, that Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) was responsible for spreading information about Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) -- specifically, that Obama "spent at least four years in a so-called Madrassa or Muslim seminary, in Indonesia." The article, bearing the headline "Hillary's team has questions about Obama's Muslim background," asserted that "researchers connected to Senator Clinton" disclosed the "details of Mr. Obama's Muslim past." Despite acknowledging near the end of his show that it "oesn't seem" that "Hillary's fingerprints on the story," Gibson said earlier in that program that "he New York senator has reportedly outed Obama's madrassa past."

None of the four radio or television hosts cited any evidence that Clinton was responsible for promoting the madrassa story, beyond the InsightMag.com article, which cited no one by name. On December 13, Jason Zengerle, editor of The Plank, the weblog of The New Republic, predicted that Republicans would "launch a savage and despicable whispering campaign against the guy (Barack Hussein Obama, etc.) and then blame it all on Hillary." Zengerle responded to the InsightMag.com article on January 18:

The attribution on all this is broad enough ("political opponents within the Democratic Party"; "researchers connected to Senator Clinton") that I suppose this information about Obama could have originated with people in Clinton's orbit. But let's not forget where this information appeared. And let's be on the lookout for who goes on the cable shows and wonders whether "Barack Hussein Obama" is "The <strike>Manchurian</strike> Madrassa Candidate." Something tells me it isn't going to be Hillary, or any liberal for that matter.

InsightMag.com is the successor to Insight on the News, a biweekly magazine published until April 2004 by News World Communications, the company controlled by Rev. Sun Myung Moon that also operates The Washington Times and the wire service United Press International. The website describes itself as a "weekly Internet news magazine."

The InsightMag.com article claimed that "sources close" to a "background check" supposedly "conducted by researchers connected to Senator Clinton" said that "he idea is to show Obama as deceptive" and speculated that the "predominantly" Muslim school that Obama has admitted he once attended might have taught "a Wahhabi doctrine that denies the rights of non-Muslims":

In two best-selling autobiographies -- "The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream" and "Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance" -- Mr. Obama, born in Honolulu where his parents met, mentions but does not expand on his Muslim background, alluding only to his attendance at a "predominantly Muslim school."

<...>

The sources said the background check concerned Mr. Obama's years in Jakarta. In Indonesia, the young Obama was enrolled in a Madrassa and was raised and educated as a Muslim. Although Indonesia is regarded as a moderate Muslim state, the U.S. intelligence community has determined that today most of these schools are financed by the Saudi Arabian government and they teach a Wahhabi doctrine that denies the rights of non-Muslims.

Although the background check has not confirmed that the specific Madrassa Mr. Obama attended was espousing Wahhabism, the sources said his Democratic opponents believe this to be the case -- and are seeking to prove it. The sources said the opponents are searching for evidence that Mr. Obama is still a Muslim or has ties to Islam. ......(more)

The rest of the story: http://mediamatters.org/items/200701200003

[enigmatic]

1. And only too many here jumped on it w/o questing the source

And had a big ole' bash fest, and no, not all of them were trolls.

[applegrove]

4. Guilty. I don't know why I jumped..I just took the story literally. I'd still

like to find out all the unknown unknowns on this story.

[enigmatic]

5. I want to know, too

And it's going to most likely come out in the coming weeks as more and more people dig around.

I'm not Sen Clinton's biggest fan (or even much of one), but the moment I saw the link I knew it was BS.

[applegrove]

6. That's always been the real issue for me. I hope it gets cleared up soon.

I hate this stuff. I hate it. After two months of quiet..the lying bullshit has started again. I hate it.

[aquart]

7. I'll accept "guilty."

Do try not to continue pushing an exploded smear. It looks so..."concerned."

[applegrove]

9. Don't we try and "Quincy M.D." the sleazy political moves here at the DU?

Isn't that our main passtime? LOL or used to be. I took of my cape and let one slide right into my face. Was out of practice with the smearing and dirty tricks of the right. And I disliked it. I'll be more careful in the future.

[Sal316]

2. Snopes did a good job on similar claims, too.

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

[applegrove]

10. Yes - the Snopes piece was very informative.

[illinoisprogressive]

3. Aren't the Bush's funded by the Saudi's?? Jr. must be a muslim terrorist!!!

[aquart]

8. Well, he's certainly their best recruiter.