GOP Site Retains 'Ridiculous' Obama Rumor

Thursday, 16 October 2008, 1:29 pm
Column: Scoop Link

For Full Story See… GOP site deletes Obama, Osama material but retains 'ridiculous' rumor

A Republican website which linked Sen. Barack Obama to terror mastermind Osama bin Laden and also called for the waterboarding of the Democratic presidential candidate has taken most of the offensive material down, but still sports a "ridiculous" chain e-mail based on a conservative's satirical column, RAW STORY has found.

"Sacramento County Republican leaders Tuesday took down offensive material on their official party Web site that sought to link Sen. Barack Obama to Osama bin Laden and encouraged people to 'Waterboard Barack Obama' – material that offended even state GOP leaders," Ed Fletcher reports for the Sacramento Bee. "Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who has pushed the party to try to broaden its appeal, took issue with the site. 'In the governor's view, it's completely and totally inappropriate," said Julie Soderlund, a Schwarzenegger spokeswoman.'"

However, on its front page, the website (SacramentoRepublicans.org) retains a copy of a chain e-mail which has been widely debunked.

"Hot on the heels of his explanation for why he no longer wears a flag pin, presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama was forced to explain why he doesn't follow protocol when the National Anthem is played," the material taken from a chain e-mail states.

"As I've said about the flag pin, I don't want to be perceived as taking sides," Obama said. "There are a lot of people in the world to whom the American flag is a symbol of oppression. And the anthem itself conveys a war-like message. You know, the bombs bursting in air and all. It should be swapped for something less parochial and less bellicose. I like the song 'I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing.' If that were our anthem, then I might salute it."

The non-partisan website FactCheck.org calls the e-mail "ridiculous," noting that it was derived "from a column dated Oct. 27, 2007, on a Web site called the Arizona Conservative, which is written by John Semmens and clearly labeled as humor. His column, in fact, is called 'Semi-News -- A Satirical Look at Recent News.'

For Full Story See… GOP site deletes Obama, Osama material but retains 'ridiculous' rumor

Screengrab of images courtesy of The BRAD BLOG

© Scoop Media

Scoop

Scoop Independent News

Scoop is NZ's largest independent news source; respected widely in media, political, business and academic circles for being the place on the internet for publishing "what was really said", and for the quality of its analysis of issues.

Contact Scoop

• Editorial - editor@scoop.co.nz
• Twitter - @ScoopNZ
• Facebook
• YouTube
• Services - services@scoop.co.nz
• Phone - 04 910 1844