Khalidi Smear Campaign: Schlussel appears to be lying again, so why is this story spreading?

The McCain smear campaign has really challenged me to examine a lot of my ideas about how people process information. I've usually assumed people may focus too much on a negative or a positive item, but after reading dozens of prominent right wing blog stories it is clear that almost every single Obama smear is simply a parroting of a fabrication where blog authors lie and distort things which are often picked up by reputable outlets.

The latest smear places Obama at an event where dancers from Sanebel Al Quds dance troup are said to have done a mock beheading. The story is based on the work of a right wing discredited blogger named Schlussel. Although many reports don't note this she admits she was NOT at the same event as Obama.

Her “real” but irrelevant connection is the Sanibel (aka Sanabel) Al Quds dance troupe. She claims - I’m confident she is lying - that the dance troup did some sort of beheading skit at the one she “secretly” attended in Milwaukee.

Hey, but she has pictures! Problem - they are not from Milwaukee and I doubt that is the Sanibel folk dancers anyway. Oh, and that does NOT appear to be a beheading skit - just a sword dance which is common in many folk forms and non threatening.

Even if there is some sort of skit somewhere by these folks the idea that Obama would have participated in a celebration like that is simply foolish nonsense. So are the folks spreading this garbage really this gullible? I actually think the answer is yes. Like their counterparts on the far left, their hatred of opposing people and ideas simply clouds their reason to the extent they no longer think clearly.

The standard applied to Obama’s credibility is high as it should be. He passes easily - a very honest guy. Yet the standard applied to his detractors is zero. Liars like Schlussel simply make stuff up to fuel hatred and political agenda.

No responsible national figures (e.g. McCain) believes any of this crap. Why? Because it’s all crap.

It is perfectly fine to vote against Obama for several reasons, but if you vote against Obama for the smear reasons you’ve simply become a pawn in a second-rate campaign smear campaign preying on gullibility, fear, and ignorance. America is better than that.

McCain Campaign Formula Yields Nonsense

The pattern was clear to many - even some McCain supporters - early on but I guess I expected them to vary this a bit when it became clear that that smear attacks were failing to sway any intelligent voters and only seemed to appeal to a crowd that had no interest in the truth about the candidates - only in an outcome.

Every single major criticism of Obama now takes the following form. It’s a formula and it’s BS in every single case:

1) Review Obama records.

2) Find where he crossed paths with objectionable people, esp. if there can be a connection to the buzzword “terror supporter”.

3) Lie or wildly exaggerate the degree of connection to the people.

4) Lie to suggest Obama *shares* the controversial or outrageous views of the people to whom he has little or no connection.

5) Run high profile stories on right wing blogs until FOX picks up the distortions and then more reputable news outlets report the "accusations", thereby bringing a legitimacy to the issue it should not have.

What I can’t believe is that there are some bright people who *actually believe* the nonsense as if they don't even understand this is a game, and McCain and his campaign know much better than any of us that Obama's exactly what he claims to be. As much as I can appreciate hardball politics I'm concerned that trying to brand Obama as sympathetic to terrorism or unAmerican activities will hurt his likely upcoming presidency in the profoundly unAmerican ways, even perhaps leading to violence by unstable elements in the far right.

Although I think most of the current rhetoric falls a bit short of "hate speech", it's still beneath *any* patriotic American to support the many lies and distortions that - successful or not as hardball politics - will compromise our ability to deal with many of the threats facing the USA.

Lies and distortions are a challenge to our great system- they are unPatriotic and unAmerican, and a shameful way for the McCain campaign to wind up an otherwise honorable career.