Alright, this is pissing me off. There is a meme floating around Facebook (which I have gotten to view thanks to my far-right family members) that declares that Barack Obama, that black Muslim socialist who is not REALLY an American because REAL Americans are WASPs of course, is up to his anti-Christian and un-American shenanigans again. A picture of the POTUS with his quote that “The future must not belong to those who slander the prophet of Islam” is being shared as confirmation that this guy is the biggest American/Christian hater to ever hate. He wants to oppress Americans by implying that slander Islam is a bad thing to do! Doesn’t he KNOW that ONLY anti-Christian bigotry counts as a bigotry! If you are anti-Islam you are just expressing your God-given civil rights!
This meme is deliberately misleading to the point of an outright lie, but to no one’s surprise the far-right is running with it. The asshats haven’t been this happy since they took “you didn’t build that” out of context.
So what was the context of the quote? It was from the President’s speech to the United Nations, and here is the paragraph it came from:
“The future must not belong to those who slander the prophet of Islam. But to be credible, those who condemn that slander must also condemn the hate we see in the images of Jesus Christ that are desecrated or churches that are destroyed, or the Holocaust that is denied.”
Golly, it is almost like he was just making a strong statement against using other people’s religions as an excuse to dehumanize, demean, and attack them. But why talk about that when you can use misinformation to spread propaganda for political gain? It’s not the politics that chap my ass here … it is the fact it is based on untruths that is driving me apeshit.
You know what has been ignored? The fact he said this in the same damn speech:
“The future must not belong to those who target Coptic Christians in Egypt. It must be claimed by those in Tahrir Square who chanted, “Muslims, Christians, we are one.””
My goodness, that doesn’t look like he is anti-Christian! Bet you won’t see THAT on Faux News!
There were a couple of other things I really liked in the speech, which was excellent overall, such as “The future must not belong to those who bully women. It must be shaped by girls who go to school and those who stand for a world where our daughters can live their dreams just like our sons” and the massive slam against extremists, “In less than two years, we have seen largely peaceful protests bring more change to Muslim-majority countries than a decade of violence. And extremists understand this, because they have nothing to offer to improve the lives of people, violence is their only way to stay relevant. They don’t build. They only destroy.”
Now, Faux could have stuck to the truth and still slammed him for his highfalutin words not matching the fact he has left Gitmo up and running and lets drones continue to murder innocent civilians. That is what I like to call a legitimate political critique. However, Faux news doesn’t trust its viewers to be able to follow a nuanced argument, so it feeds them lies and pap and smirks at the way it has manipulated them. I despise Faux for that.
My vexation has gone to eleven.
.
Gah.
Thank you Thank you Thank you! I am getting so tired of the slanderous rhetoric! The other day I got into a “discussion” with some right-wingers (some I love and admire, this guy is an AssHAT!) and got this response:
Part of what I wrote, which he quoted: “the U.S. does not have a dominant culture”
His response:
Well, in our glory days – 1900 to about 1960 – we *used* to. It was Anglo-Saxon, what one might call “derivative English,” or WASP. Now we’re wonderfully diverse and multicultural, with all the swell benefits that entails. I can’t understand a single thing anyone in retail says, and the elementary school I used to attend now has Back to School nights in Spanish. My hometown has been taken over by post-Soviet Era Armenians. But people keep reassuring me that this is better.
For whom?
ARGH.
I had to just Walk. Away. Really?
When I read your post here I realized I am not alone. Thank you.
Ack! Brown people! Run for your lives!
Does this guy realize that the US had brown people in 1900-1960, too? We just forced them to use different drinking fountains and sit at the back of the bus. And of course it was much easier to lynch them and get away with it.
yeah. I had made that point earlier…
This is the post he was responding to:
“the U.S. does not have a dominant culture. That is also part of the problem. We are part Western civilization transplants (Europe, the UK) and part Eastern and Hispanic cultures. Also, if you count the African culture that was brought here against their will… Who are we?”
The argument all started because I have a “liberal” stance on “illegal immigration.” I support amnesty (especially to undocumented youth). I wrote a paper about “Illegal” immigration and ended up posting it on my blog for this conversation. My argument is we Made the problem and NOW want to punish people for our lack of consistency.
“Gah” is right…
Speaking of liars. I just saw this morning that Mike Huckabee is accusing Obama of lying about the murder of Ambassador Stevens and the others for some kind of cover up and that it equates to Nixon and watergate therefore Obama should be impeached. It’s ludicrous. They vex me to hell and back.
Someone needs to REquote that story Jesus told to these RightWing Christian Hater-Liars… he who has told no lie can cast doubt on everyone else… Oh wait… that’s not it.
(FacePalm!)
While I believe there is something more fishy with the whole Libyan Embassy attack, I do not think Obama did anything impeachable. Sheesh. Lord Help Us!