But It’s Still Dirty, Dirty, Dirty

This is the picture that has been circulated around emails since this morning. It’s U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barrack Obama dressed in traditional Kenyan robe and turban. This comes after a chain email has been running around claiming that Obama is a Muslim (which he has always said he is not).

Parts of the email:

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 ATHIEST 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."

[...]

THIS DEFINITELY WARRANTS LOOKING INTO. THIS COUNTRY WAS FOUNDED, "ONE NATION UNDER GOD". ALMIGHTY GOD, NOT THE GOD OF THE KORAN.

The Obama campaign says this is all fear-mongering from the Clinton group. The Clinton campaign denies they had anything to do with this, though some sources (like Matt Drudge) claim at least someone inside the Clinton campaign has been sending this around.

Who’s really being straight with us? Who knows, really… what is true, and I say this as a young person interested in politics of any kind, is that this is the kind of nonsense that turns me off politics… and public life. Someone (or everyone) is lying in a way, first of all, but just as importantly whoever started this knows that they’re tapping into some deep seeded fears in the American public… strong reservations against the religion of Islam, Arab culture or anything else that is commonly associated with terrorism.

What if Obama is Muslim (and had always been clear about that)? It makes him unelectable, doesn’t it? In a year where the world’s longest running democracy might see a woman or a racial minority become president for the first time, perhaps it’s also prudent to reflect on the prejudices that still remain to be overcome… imagine an openly atheist or an unambiguously LGBT president?

I guess this mess reflects poorly on two aspects of our democracies (because these tactics aren’t unique to the U.S.): on the electorate, who yes can be swayed by such prejudices (not to mention misinformation), and on our politicians, who know to exploit it.