Fox Uses Bigotry and Fear to Divide Again

This is the full text of an article appearing on Daily Kos. Some attention is being paid to the fact that as a young child Barack Obama attended a Muslim school. There is some dispute on if Clinton's campaign leaked the info:

The right-wing magazine Insight features a "report" that Hillary's people are digging up info that Obama attended an Islamic school as a child. The report reads like typical right-wing propaganda bullshit. I doubt the right has great sources inside the campaign of the person they've most trashed the past 15 years. But no smear is too ridiculous for Fox News to amplify.

This morning, Fox News featured a segment highlighting a right-wing report that Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) attended an Islamic “madrassa” school as a 6-year-old child. Fox & Friends host Steve Doocy pointed out that madrassas are “financed by Saudis” and “teach this Wahhabism which pretty much hates us,” then declared, “The big question is: was that on the curriculum back then?” Later, a caller to the show questioned whether Obama’s schooling means that “maybe he doesn’t consider terrorists the enemy.” Fox anchor Brian Kilmeade responded, “Well, we’ll see about that.” The Fox hosts failed to correct the false claim that Obama is Muslim. One caller, referring to Obama, said, “I think a Muslim would be fine in the presidency, better than Hillary. At least you know what the Muslims are up to.” Anchor Gretchen Carlson responded, “We want to be clear, too, that this isn’t all Muslims, of course, we would only be concerned about the kind that want to blow us up.”

Obama is Christian, a member of Chicago’s Trinity United Church of Christ since 1988. The hosts are trying to make it seem that Obama somehow hid this part of his life. Except that he hasn't.

From his book
Dreams of my Father:In Indonesia, I’d spent 2 years at a Muslim school, 2 years at a Catholic school. In the Muslim school, the teacher wrote to tell mother I made faces during Koranic studies. In the Catholic school, when it came time to pray, I’d pretend to close my eyes, then peek around the room. Nothing happened. No angels descended.

And in Audacity of Hope:
Without the money to go to the international school that most expatriate children attended, I went to local Indonesian schools and ran the streets with the children of farmers, servants, tailors, and clerks.

Remember, the primaries are less than a year away. And what a year it will be. It'll be non-stop bashing of blacks, women, Muslims, trial lawyers, and brown people south of the border. And the GOP's hatred for anyone who isn't a privileged (by birth) white male will be in full display.
With Iraq burning out of control, the GOP senses its imminent 2008 disaster. It's a cornered, wounded animal with little chance of escape. And those are the most dangerous of all.

Kos is right on with his assessment of the GOP and their rapidly crumbling chances at relevance in 2008. I really hope the part about Clinton is not true. I would hate to see Dems resort to Republican smear tactics of using racial biases and ignorance to try to scare voters...however I won't put it past a desperate candidate such as Clinton, who has banked on being the clear front runner and is now playing second fiddle to a more likeable candidate. To be sure Clinton is a cold-blooded political soul and will do what it takes to make her case, which is one of the reasons I think she will not have a shot at landing the nomination.