August 30, 2010 9:49 AM

Obama Blames "Network of Misinformation" for Rumors About His Religion, Birth

By
Stephanie Condon
Topics
Obama Administration

President Obama on Sunday attributed the persistent rumors about his faith and about his birthplace to a "network of misinformation" that he says exists in today's new media era.

"I can't spend all my time with my birth certificate plastered on my forehead," Mr. Obama told NBC's Brian Williams in an interview in New Orleans. "The facts are the facts. And so, it's not something that I can I think spend all my time worrying about. And I don't think the American people want me to spend all my time worrying about it."

A CBS News poll conducted in April found that 20 percent of Americans believe the president was born outside of the United States. Those numbers rise among self-identified Republicans and Tea Partiers. Mr. Obama was born in Hawaii.

Meanwhile, a Pew Research Center poll released earlier this month showed that 18 percent of Americans incorrectly said they think Mr. Obama is Muslim. Another 43 percent said they didn't know the president's religion, while just 34 percent correctly said he is a Christian.

"I'm not going to be worrying too much about whatever rumors are floating on out there," the president said. "If I spend all my time chasing after that then I wouldn't get much done."

Mr. Obama's faith nevertheless continued to come under scrutiny this weekend, when conservative television personality Glenn Beck, in a Fox News broadcast, challenged the president's "version of Christianity". Beck on Saturday drew nearly 100,000 people to the National Mall for a conservative rally that took a decidedly religious tone.

The president, who was in New Orleans to mark the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, told Brian Williams that he did not watch coverage of the rally, but he said the people at the rally were "exercising their rights under our Constitution exactly as they should."


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by ohcalcutagirl September 1, 2010 7:11 PM EDT
I can't stand people saying obama is muslim.
Look, Mr. OBAMA can not be a muslim, if you are muslim and practice islam you would offer your little girls to fellow muslums. so do u see Obama offering his girls to be married , sodomized, beat and impregnated for allah NO OF COURSE NOT. HE IS NOT LIKE THIS
Here is a learning center for those who want to examine islam, mohamad lunacy;
http://www.flex.com/~jai/satyamevajayate/index.html
What needs to be considered is whether islam is a religion or fanaticism. islam can not be practiced in America without approving crimes against children such as rape and sodomy;
Why would anyone equate anything sacred about Islam is my question? If you have a young daughter; would you want to be a devout Muslim or offer your child to one? Consider the teaching of;
Ayatollah Khomeini's Religious Teachings on Marriage, Divorce and relationships; "A man can marry a girl younger than nine years of age, even if the girl is still a baby being breastfed. A man, however is prohibited from having intercourse with a girl younger than nine, other sexual act such as foreplay, rubbing, kissing and sodomy is allowed.?
1. (Al Hadis, Vol. 1, p. 215) Omar reported from the Holy Prophet who said, "No man shall be questioned for beating his wife."
In the very next Hadith a woman complained to Mohammed that her husband beat her while she prayed. Mohammed told her to change her time of prayer or pray shorter prayers so that her husband could get on with the joy of beating her. (Reported by Abu Sayeed al-Kodri, Attest by Abu Daud)
None of this is a joke. This is the realism of islam
Reply to this comment
by Charlemagne2009 August 31, 2010 10:34 AM EDT
He is right, he knows that everything is done to destabilize before during and after his election
Reply to this comment
by reedlandj August 31, 2010 9:22 AM EDT
Cobia ... Abe Lincoln once said, "... (H)e who makes an assertion without knowing whether it is true or false, is guilty of falsehood; and the accidental truth of the assertion neither justifies or excuses him." You challenge anyone to go to a post office and try to get a passport with no more personal info than found on Obama's COLB. I had alrerady done that with my son, using 0his computer-printout Texas birth certificate. He got a passport without a hint of a hitch with a document containing only his full name; date of birth (not the time, as Obama's COLB contains); place of birth (county only, not the city as Obama's COLB contains -- and not the hospital, either); sex; father's full name; and mother's maiden name. Unlike the presidential COLB, the certificate does not bother with either parent's race or ethnicity.
So, Mr.Cobia, reckon what Mr. Lincoln would have to say about your missive?
Reply to this comment
by actornaught August 31, 2010 5:44 AM EDT
Indeed, the 'pubs have only been pretending to govern since reagan started the whole Permanent Campaign. He was able to attach Lying Points like "tax & spend" to dems, then tax the heart out of the middlle class with barely a notice. The examples are so many. They add up to just voting them into power for profit.
Reply to this comment
by trmkc August 31, 2010 12:23 AM EDT
I have totally lost all respect for Brian Williams as a reporter. Could you ask a more softball question? What a sham. How about talking to the president about his record low ratings, his total disconnect with most of America, the projected voter polls, THE ECONOMY,the deficit????? It is a sad day in American when theBBC covers more American news than the so called press does. Do your job as a journalist rather than being a cheerleader for the liberals. Lamestream media will implode with this format. Get Real!
Reply to this comment
by actornaught August 31, 2010 5:31 AM EDT
Show some honest perspective. If you think BHO's approval polls are low, then you must really be frightened for fox news. I mean the republicans. Their approval numbers are bottom of the barrel.

By the way, its pretty sad for this country that foreign-owned News Corp has gotten their low-information fans so caught up in the republican Permanent Campaign. No governing, just campaigning.
by RobAla August 30, 2010 10:15 PM EDT
I have ever seen a President blame so many for so much.
Reply to this comment
by actornaught August 31, 2010 5:36 AM EDT
Even through the typo, this makes no sense.
by oneStarman August 30, 2010 8:55 PM EDT
NETWORK OF DISINFORMATION - I guess that would be the foreign owned FOX News and now the Washington Street Journal. But even CBS is acting as a Yellow-Rag squeezing every drop of sensationalism out of this story because it is cheaper and easier for lazy producers to get on the air to sell soap with; than to do actual journalism.
Reply to this comment
by WhoItBe August 30, 2010 6:52 PM EDT
Then he should stop the videos from coming in from overseas where the DS states he isn't American Borne. Post his birth cert. on the White House Web Site for all to see. Is he ashamed?

I say - Stand up, tell us all about it, identify. Get it off your shoulders man. Come clean with the American People, your Saudie grand whatevertheycall him won't care....much.
Reply to this comment
by 34sender August 30, 2010 6:57 PM EDT
Your lack of coherence speaks for you.

Have you enjoyed that rock you've been living under?
by 34sender August 30, 2010 8:17 PM EDT
cobiahunter...

Now go kiss your Orly Taitz poster. Rinse, repeat.

Are you aware that doing [saying] something over and over looking for a different result, even though the results [truth] remain the same is the definition of insanity.

Do yourself a favor. Get another hobby. This one isn't going to turn out well for you.
See all 4 Replies
by 34sender August 30, 2010 6:44 PM EDT
Top conservative lies:

1) Obama is not an American citizen. And of course, not a Christian (because only Americans are Christian...?)

2) All "liberals" do not work and are living off the taxes of the "hard working" conservatives -- who must ALL be working and none of them ever have used government services... not even Medicare and Social Security!

3) The majority is something that is created by the use of a telephone and a question being answered. (note: if these "opinion polls" do not agree with their preconceived ideas, they are wrong! biased! the work of the "liberals"...see above)

4) Fox News Channel presents fair and balanced news -- all the time. Nobody else does.

5) God likes conservatives better than liberals and America better than any other country... ergo: God likes them best.

6) Socialism, communism, fascism, nazism and totalitarianism are all "left wing" ideologies. These all have come to America since January 20, 2009 and were never here before in any way (oh, except that pesky tiny no-veto-proof majority Congress of 2007-2009).

7) Fruit Loops cereal is health food, Fish fly and frogs write long letters to princesses with whom they must one day marry in order to regain their kingdom.

The last one actually explains a lot!
Reply to this comment
by fl2007rn August 30, 2010 6:24 PM EDT
Obama is not a Muslim, but rather a muslim sypathizer. His father and step father were muslims, so he has a natural lean towards the muslim faith. Obama claims to be christian, but look at the "racist" church he attended lead by Rev J Wright. I certainly hope anyone who voted for Obama is having buyers remorse.
Reply to this comment
by 34sender August 30, 2010 6:31 PM EDT
You sure do like to speak for other people.

Maybe you need to get right with God in your own salvation, huh? Your comment reeks of the hypocrisy of the pharisees...

By the way. not only do Obama voters not have "buyers remorse"... we have a whole new chunk of cash ready to buy it all again. (No, the dude is not perfect, but neither are any of the people he represents, humility is a divine attribute. Maybe try it...)
by MurdochSucks August 30, 2010 6:32 PM EDT
So all of the white Americans that go to church where the pastor is racist are not Christians, either? I don't give a crap where he went to church, or if he went at all. He certainly is not a Muslim, because denying Muhammad is punishable by eternal damnation. Why would we have buyer's remorse for voting for Obama?
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