Media obfuscation

Submitted by Gandydancer (United States), Jan 27, 2008 at 05:52

Barker writes "Obama's stepfather, Lolo Soetoro, was much more of a free spirit than a devout Muslim," as if that meant that he didn't go inside and pray when he went to the mosque. It's a very tendentious article, devoted to debunking the idea that Obama has any connection to Islam.

Note how in trying to traduce Adi's credibility as a witness he writes "Zulfan Adi, a former neighborhood playmate of Obama's who has been cited in news reports as saying Obama regularly attended Friday prayers with Soetoro, told the Tribune he was not certain about that when pressed about his recollections." (http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0703250340mar25,1,4608161.story?coll=chi-newsnationworld-hed&ctrack=8&cset=true)

Problem: Adi said he prayed with Barry, "but not seriously" (http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/bal-te.obama16mar16,1,7181735,full.story?coll=la-headlines-nation&ctrack=4&cset=true), but in fact has never been cited in any news report that I can find saying anything about how often Barry went to the mosque with his father. So he's being accused of unreliability for not confirming something he never said to begin with. many Indonesians,

Even Obama's website confirms that his stepfather was a practicing Muslim. "Lolo FOLLOWED A BRAND OF ISLAM that could make room for the remnants of more ancient animist and Hindu faiths." [Audacity of Hope, p 204; Dreams From My Father, p 37](emphasis added)(http://www.barackobama.com/factcheck/2007/11/12/obama_has_never_been_a_muslim_1.php). This hasn't stopped the media from denying it. E.g., Katie Couric: "And during the years he lived in Indonesia--with a nonpracticing Christian mother and a nonpracticing Muslim stepfather..." (http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2007/01/25/couricandco/entry2399831.shtml) (She ends "Let's fact-check first and broadcast second." which is highly ironic since not only was Lolo a pracrticing Muslim, his mother was not a Christian of any stripe (she was an atheist (iaw "best friend")[http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/obama/chi-0703270151mar27,1,6025833.story?ctrack=4&cset=true] or an "agnostic" (Obama's half sister)[http://www.thefirstpost.co.uk/uselection,568,obamas-muslim-past-back-on-the-agenda,13523] or a "professed secular[ist]" (Obama himself, before he was running [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1546298,00.html]))).

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