Bruce Feiler - Where God Was Born, Abraham, Walking The Bible

Madrassah-gate
Tuesday, January 23, 2007

Lots of fallout today from the untrue report that Barack Hussein Obama went to a madrassah in Indonesia. Fox News and Glen Beck on CNN Headline News apparently yakked up the story quite a lot. Says TVNewser:

Yesterday, Barack Obama's spokesman called Fox News "appallingly irresponsible" for repeatedly broadcasting allegations that the senator attended a madrassa as a child." CNN did what any serious news organization is supposed to do in this kind of a situation. We actually conducted an exclusive firsthand investigation inside Indonesia to check out the school that Barack Obama attended as a little 6-year-old boy," Wolf Blitzer said on yesterday's Situation Room. Senior international correspondent John Vause, reporting from Jakarta, showed that the school is not a madrassah.

CNN checked it out and is gloating:

CNN's Anderson Cooper rubbed it in Fox's face on Monday night."Barack Obama's Muslim education in Indonesia -- others are reporting the heat. We are sticking to the facts," he teased on 360 last night.Then, introing John Vause's segment, he said: "Other news organizations ran with Insight's story. They didn't check the facts. We did."And after the package, Cooper concluded: "Well, that's the difference between talking about news and reporting it. You send a reporter, check the facts and you decide at home."

Fox's John Gibson shot back:

"Howard Kurtz is ignoring the obvious," John Gibson responded on his radio show Monday night. "The story is not about whether Barack Obama went to a madrassah terrorist training camp when he was five years old. The story is that people who oppose, who have interest in opposition to Barack Obama, are attaching his name to the word madrassah."

In other words, Hillary. Why does this matter? Beyond the obviously political issue: Opponents are trying to turn Obama into a Muslim radical in the same way opponents tried to turn John Kerry into a French elitist. The larger issue is the role of religion in America. Maybe instead of announcing in Abraham Lincoln's hometown next month, thereby trying to play up his race and play down his inexperience, Obama should announce in Kennedy's hometown, trying to play up his youth and down his religious background.

Labels: Islam, Politics in America

Posted by B Feiler at 10:35 AM
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