The Madrassa Rumor Returns
Liberal media watchdog group Media Matters has posted a complaint about Wednesday's installment of "Katie Couric's Notebook," which centers on Barack Obama's background. You can watch the Notebook by clicking on the video box.
"Is America ready to elect a president who grew up praying in a mosque?," Couric asks at the outset of the Notebook. She goes on to say this:
Barack Obama has arguably the most diverse religious background of any candidate ever. He was raised in Indonesia by a Christian mother and Muslim stepfather and attended a Catholic school -- but while growing up, also studied Islam. That background sparked rumors that he had studied in a radical madrassa, or Quranic school -- rumors his campaign denied, declaring that Obama is now a practicing Christian.As Media Matters notes, on Jan. 23 CNN posted a story headlined "CNN debunks false report about Obama," noting "[a]llegations that Sen. Barack Obama was educated in a radical Muslim school known as a 'madrassa' are not accurate, according to CNN reporting." Other media outlets followed.
Media Matters is making a fair point here: To bring up the madrassa rumor and note only that "his campaign denied" it leaves open the possibility that the claim is true. Since we know that it is not, Couric would have been well served to have pointed out as much.