# Fighting ignorance the (somewhat) harder way: Responding to the latest Obama email BS **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 14, 2008, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fighting-ignorance-the-somewhat-harder-way-responding-to-the-latest-obama-email-bs/452937 "2008-06-14T18:25:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2008, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fighting-ignorance-the-somewhat-harder-way-responding-to-the-latest-obama-email-bs/452937/41 "2008-06-17T01:19:48Z")
Ok, that’s it. I have remembered a lesson I learned long ago. My bad for forgetting it. Don’t stick your hand in the crazy. (he has an “african family”; where is his “american family”? wtf?) ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2008, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fighting-ignorance-the-somewhat-harder-way-responding-to-the-latest-obama-email-bs/452937/42 "2008-06-17T01:45:56Z")
[QUOTE=An Arky] Here’s one I got today (what mental disorder is it that causes people to type in all caps, anyway?): [/quote] Here we go. :rolleyes: The following responses are addressed to the moron who sent the email, not to you. > [@](#): > > DO I HAVE THIS STRAIGHT? > > HIS FATHER WAS A BLACK AFRICAN MUSLIM FROM KENYA. His father was an atheist, but yes, he was a "black African from Kenya. So? > [@](#): > > WE HAVE SEEN PICTURES OF HIS AFRICAN FAMILY. > > HIS MOTHER WAS A WHITE AMERICAN ATHEIST FROM KANSAS. > > WHERE ARE THE PICTURES OF HIS AMERICAN FAMILY? Try a google image search, halfwit. [Barack with his mom](http://www.grioo.com/images/rubriques/2/9107.jpg) [Barack with his maternal grandparents](http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2007/10/30/nyregion/30obama0.600.jpg) [More with his grandparents](http://www.classicalvalues.com/ObamaGrad.jpg) [with his grandfather who fought in WWII so you could sit on your fat ass and smear patriotic Americans with retarded email smears](http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x280/icebergslim1047/obamaandgrandpa.jpg) What is the point of this question? Do you think that Barack didn’t really have a white mother? > [@](#): > > HIS FATHER DESERTED HIS MOTHER WHEN HE WAS ONLY TWO YEARS OLD AND WENT BACK TO AFRICA BY WAY OF HARVARD UNIVERSITY. HOW? WAS HIS FATHER WEALTHY? No, he was a beneficiary of an American scholarship program under JFK. So what? What is the point of this question? What does it have to do with the Senator? > [@](#): > > HIS MOTHER MARRIED AN INDONESIAN MUSLIM AND THEN MOVED TO JAKARTA WHERE HE WAS ENROLLED IN A MUSLIM SCHOOL. His mother married a non-practicing Muslim, and Barack attended public and Catholic schools in Indonesia. He never attended a Muslim school. > [@](#): > > WHEN HE REACHED HIGH SCHOOL AGE HIS MOTHER SENT HIM TO HAWAII TO BE > WITH HIS WHITE GRANDPARENTS AND HE WAS PUT INTO AN EXPENSIVE PRIVATE SCHOOL. HE LATER WENT TO HARVARD UNIVERSITY. HOW? WERE HIS GRANDPARENTS RICH? He returned to Hawaii when he was ten, not when he was in high school. He attended a private high school, then spent a year at Occidental College, before getting degrees from Columbia and Harvard. He paid for it with scholarships and student loans, just like millions of other people. > [@](#): > > HE LIVES IN A $1.4 MILLION HOUSE OBTAINED THROUGH A DEAL WITH A WEALTHY > FUNDRAISER. HOW? He bought the house himself, not through and “deal with a wealthy fundraiser.” He made a lot of money from his books. There was nothing illegal, unethical or suspcious about how he bought his house. > [@](#): > > HE ‘WORKED’ AS A CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVIST IN CHICAGO. HE HAS NEVER HELD A > PRODUCTIVE JOB OR RECEIVED A PAY CHECK THAT WAS NOT GOVERNMENT-FUNDED AND/OR TAYPAYER SUPPORTED. Total bullshit. He worked as a community organizer, not a “civil rights activist.” He jas also been a law professor, an author, an attorney and held consulting jobs in the private sector. > [@](#): > > THE PRESIDENCY IS NOT A CIVIL RIGHTS POSITION Sure it is. The President’s job is to proetect the Constitution, > [@](#): > > NOR IS IT SUBJECT TO > AFFIRMATIVE ACTION SET ASIDES; ON-THE-JOB TRAINING WON’T CUT IT. Now it comes out. What the fuck does affirmative action have to do with anything? > [@](#): > > HE ENTERED POLITICS AT THE STATE LEVEL AND THEN THE NATIONAL LEVEL > WHERE HE HAS MINIMAL EXPERIENCE. So did George W. Bush. > [@](#): > > HE IS PROUD OF HIS ‘AFRICAN HERITAGE’ (A FATHER WHO GOT A WHITE GIRL > PREGNANT AND DESERTED HER). This is a non-sequitur. > [@](#): > > WHERE IS THE PRIDE IN HIS ‘WHITE HERITAGE’? (A MOTHER WHO FLAUNTED > CONVENTION AND DID NOT BELIEVE IN GOD). There is no such thing as a “white heritage,” but he does, in point of fact, speak often and with great pride about his maternal family. In particular he references the military service of his grandfather and uncles. There is also nothing wrong with not believing in God, as I’m sure you would agree. > [@](#): > > SOME MIGHT THINK THERE WAS NOT MUCH TO BE PROUD OF EITHER WAY. Why would they think that? > [@](#): > > HE BELONGS, AND HAS BELONGED FOR OVER 20 YEARS, TO AN ‘AFRO-CENTRIC’ > CHURCH IN CHICAGO THAT HATES WHITES, HATES JEWS, AND BLAMES AMERICA FOR ALL THE WORLD’S PERCEIVED FAULTS. (INCLUDING CREATING THE AIDs VIRUS IN ORDER TO INFLICT IT ON AFRICANS). Trinity Church does not hat whiotes, hate Jews or blame America for all the world’s faults. None of thse allegations have any truth in them. > [@](#): > > DURING HIS VERY BRIEF TIME IN THE UNITED STATES SENATE HE HAS MANAGED > TO AMASS THE NUMBER ONE ULTRA LIBERAL VOTING RECORD OUT OF THE ONE HUNDRED MEMBERS. > > HE HAS VOTED CONSISTENTLY FOR BIGGER GOVERNMENT AND HIGHER TAXES. HE > HAS VOTED FOR BIG ENTITLEMENTS AND LEGISLATION THAT WOULD SEVERELY CURTAIL AMERICA’S ABILITY TO FIGHT TERRORISM AND TO PROTECT OUR BORDERS AND OUR NATIONAL INTERESTS AROUND THE WORLD. He’s a liberal. Granted. He does not support legiskation that would "curtail America’s ability to fight terrorism. No such legislation has ever even been proposed. > [@](#): > > BUT, HE IS A GOOD ORATOR. ISN’T THAT A COMFORT? Yes it is. The rest is just fatuous raving. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2008, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fighting-ignorance-the-somewhat-harder-way-responding-to-the-latest-obama-email-bs/452937/43 "2008-06-17T17:09:04Z")
[QUOTE=Revtim] Well, I asked him why he feels Obama’s aptitude is only at a 5th grade level, pointing out that he graduated magna cum laude from Harvard. No answer yet. [/QUOTE] Got a reply: > [@](#): > > Tim, I picked from Obama actions, he is as scattered as a child with out a direction or plan. He comes across to me as an arrogant little know it all, who knows nothing. Trying his best at times to try and win you over with a smile and slick line of misdirection from the questions.. His wife seems to at least come across as a senior high school girl with demanding set of guidelines, only she imposes them on others not to be pursued by her.. She acts like she is above it all.. I see a lot of game boy mentality with the whole organization.. It is as though they gave up on any one over 30 who or any person who thinks period, or who asks a question with some depth, all we want a straight answer back. I am sure he is great with the Hollywood mindless people.. who are lucky if they can tie there shoes let alone know the issues that truly matter to the working stiffs of America they are far smarter than most give them credit for doing the daily drudge of survival.. 😉 > > Getting off the subject: > All I see so far for change is Tax, tax, tax, and try and run the Petro corps out of business, they are getting hit with the higher gas prices due to the Gore, boys that block new avenues of production.. due to the environmental cronies.. lobbyists. I use a gauge of my own, I don’t care how many degrees a person has, I have carried conversations with those with 3rd grade education’s, that are more enlightening than most from the collage students we have today.. They are mind path orientation thinkers, trained to think in the boxes and outlines and they are easily lead, with a few mindless words down the wide path to hell.. There is education of reality and then again there is education of theoretical.. It looks like he follows the theoretical, lemming mindless babble path. I want no part there of.. I am not a politically correct person. The person or persons who say they are politically correct, tell me they use a small bit from a byte of deception, which can be manipulated in many distorted ways, misdirection and lies on a large scale again . It is the media Obar > AKA, "Supreme Command of All " from the German… Hiel to you too..in jest. Do I see a miscontinuity in the socialist fascists in the wings? The scythe is ready to swing, that is balanced by the Gestapo of media.. As old Schultz would say, “I see nothing..” then I hear the words spoken, “let the heads roll”.. > I best end it here… 🙂 > > I will get off my orange crate, I have blathered on a little too long.. > I just have to learn not to get caught up in this whole game that the idiots on the hill, who want us all to play. > God Help America.. we need God now more than ever.. 😛 See you for now \*\*\*\*I think I’ll stop emailing this guy now, this can’t lead to anywhere good. ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2008, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fighting-ignorance-the-somewhat-harder-way-responding-to-the-latest-obama-email-bs/452937/44 "2008-06-17T18:06:18Z")
Does this dude realize that the only reason federal taxes haven’t gone sky high is because Bush has been borrowing like mad from the Chinese in order to finance the wars? Has he any _concept_ of the size of the debt our government has accrued in this fashion? How does he think we’re going to pay this off? (And, while I have no cite at the moment, I believe that Obama recently resigned from Trinity Church.) ---
**Author:** ![rockle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/73ab20/32.png) [@rockle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rockle)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2008, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fighting-ignorance-the-somewhat-harder-way-responding-to-the-latest-obama-email-bs/452937/45 "2008-06-17T18:33:36Z")
[QUOTE=Revtim] Got a reply … I think I’ll stop emailing this guy now, this can’t lead to anywhere good. [/QUOTE] Oh, I really think you _should_ continue to engage this guy for a little while longer, if you can stomach it. This is like trying to converse with those Nigerian email scammers who inform you that you’ve won 17 million British pounds in the Polish lottery. But, then again, as **eleanorigby** so eloquently put it: “Don’t stick your hand in the crazy.” So I don’t know. Perosnally, I only actually read emails from like five people on my mailing list anyway, because it appears I know a lot of _really monkey-shit crazy_ people, you know? ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2008, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fighting-ignorance-the-somewhat-harder-way-responding-to-the-latest-obama-email-bs/452937/46 "2008-06-17T18:43:42Z")
The email account I used to communicate with guy has my real name on it, so I’m not going to take any chances. He’s probably just a crank, but you never know. Jesus might start whispering in his ear to sterilize the Earth of liberals. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2008, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fighting-ignorance-the-somewhat-harder-way-responding-to-the-latest-obama-email-bs/452937/47 "2008-06-17T18:46:46Z")
wow, **Revtime**. I think your “far flung” correspondent earns the anti-intellectual prize. Make that the anti-intelligence prize. Sadly, I agree with him that a college education does not eloquence/critical thinking make. But more sadly, stopping your education at the third grade level pretty much guarantees a lack of eloquence/critical thinking. I have to confess I am wondering about “the Gore”. Is this a special moniker, a code of sorts, for our former VP and Nobel Prize winner? I had never considered Nintendo in the White House, but Princess Peach might not do too bad a job. Hell, Zelda might just kick the whole country into shape. I see Yoshi as head of Health and Human Services (such a healthy diet he eats), Mario and Luigi could be DoD and SoS. These ideas are food for thought and continue the 3rd–5th grade meme. (re his comments re Michelle Obama. Makes me wonder if this person had a bossy older sister. We might as well get Freudian on his ass–he’s fair game and the field is wide open). ---
**Author:** ![LilShieste](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9f8e36/32.png) [@LilShieste](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LilShieste)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2008, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fighting-ignorance-the-somewhat-harder-way-responding-to-the-latest-obama-email-bs/452937/48 "2008-06-17T20:04:00Z")
[QUOTE=Revtim] Is anybody saying “that’s the worst photoshopping I’ve ever seen”? ‘Revtim’s Law’ states that somebody always says that, especially when the photo under question is 100 percent genuine. [/QUOTE] [Why stop there?](http://xkcd.com/331/) > [@Diogenes the Cynic](#): > > Try a google image search, halfwit. I never use the Google. It’s the devil’s brain! > [@eleanorigby](#): > > I had never considered Nintendo in the White House, but Princess Peach might not do too bad a job. Hell, Zelda might just kick the whole country into shape. I see Yoshi as head of Health and Human Services (such a healthy diet he eats), Mario and Luigi could be DoD and SoS. These ideas are food for thought and continue the 3rd–5th grade meme. I’d never thought about that either, but it makes sense. Maybe then we’d be able to finally drop bin Laden’s ass into the lava! That is, unless he hits us with his flying hammers. **Revtim** , I’m torn as to what you should do. The type of ignorance demonstrated by **The Meme Puker** just screams “fight me!” But since your email does contain some personal information, I can see your reservations about continuing the “discussion”. ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2008, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fighting-ignorance-the-somewhat-harder-way-responding-to-the-latest-obama-email-bs/452937/49 "2008-06-17T20:14:50Z")
[QUOTE=Morgyn] (And, while I have no cite at the moment, I believe that Obama recently resigned from Trinity Church.) [/QUOTE] [Here’s a cite](http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/05/31/politics/main4142609.shtml?source=RSSattr=HOME_4142609) (of course, CBS News might be part of the liberal UN-EU-ACLU-UAR socialist-fascist conspiracy that has awakened the vigilance of **Revtim** ’s correspondent). In response to **Diogenes the Cynic** ’s generally excellent debunking of the e-mail **An Arky** received, I am compelled to point out that candidate Obama’s father _was_ a Muslim at one point in his life. The Illinois senator’s grandfather, Onyango Obama, had been a Christian before traveling to Zanzibar and converting to Islam while there. As a sign of his new faith, he added “Hussein” to his name, becoming Hussein Onyango Obama. Hussein Onyango’s son, Barack Hussein Obama, was thus born into a Muslim household. However, according to Senator Obama: > [@](#): > > [[A]lthough my father had been raised a Muslim, by the time he met my mother he was a confirmed atheist, thinking religion to be so much superstition.](http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1546579-4,00.html) ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@Mighty\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Girl)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2008, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fighting-ignorance-the-somewhat-harder-way-responding-to-the-latest-obama-email-bs/452937/50 "2008-06-18T02:21:01Z")
> [@](#): > > [A]lthough my father had been raised a Muslim, by the time he met my mother he was a confirmed atheist, thinking religion to be so much superstition. As an atheist, I am undecided on whether to feel relieved, or sad that being a Muslim seems now worse than being an atheist. ---
**Author:** ![a35362](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@a35362](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/a35362)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2008, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fighting-ignorance-the-somewhat-harder-way-responding-to-the-latest-obama-email-bs/452937/51 "2008-06-18T16:22:00Z")
Why do these wackos always go to the right, politically? Where are the lefty wackos? If you’re gonna be a wack-job, we could use the votes over here. Why is so much of their wack-doodliness about conspiracy theories and “what they don’t want you to know” garbage (which they then share on the Internet with dozens or hundreds of people)? Yeah, don’t encourage the crazy. Yeesh. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2008, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fighting-ignorance-the-somewhat-harder-way-responding-to-the-latest-obama-email-bs/452937/52 "2008-06-18T16:28:28Z")
[QUOTE=a35362] Why do these wackos always go to the right, politically? Where are the lefty wackos? [/QUOTE] They’re sitting in trees in Berkeley, even as we speak. > **[News – NBC Bay Area](https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/)** > > Articles from the category: News ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2008, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fighting-ignorance-the-somewhat-harder-way-responding-to-the-latest-obama-email-bs/452937/53 "2008-06-18T16:42:12Z")
[QUOTE=a35362] Why do these wackos always go to the right, politically? Where are the lefty wackos? If you’re gonna be a wack-job, we could use the votes over here. Why is so much of their wack-doodliness about conspiracy theories and “what they don’t want you to know” garbage (which they then share on the Internet with dozens or hundreds of people)? [/QUOTE] Because **left** -whacko conspiracy theories can’t keep up with reality any more. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2008, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fighting-ignorance-the-somewhat-harder-way-responding-to-the-latest-obama-email-bs/452937/54 "2008-06-18T17:21:36Z")
The left does have the 911 conspiracy nuts. We keep our whackos on the fringes, though. The rightie ones often find their way into the mainstream or even into elected office. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2008, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fighting-ignorance-the-somewhat-harder-way-responding-to-the-latest-obama-email-bs/452937/55 "2008-06-18T18:41:47Z")
While a sad majority of the people buys into JFK conspiracy theories, my experience is that the biggest nutbags are on the left. Typically they’re older people who incorrectly remember Kennedy as the great liberal hope for peace who was killed by the CIA and the military establishment. [Cmyk just opened a new Pit thread on conspiracy theorists.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=9917545) Maybe it’s a coincidence, maybe it’s something sinister. 😉 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fighting-ignorance-the-somewhat-harder-way-responding-to-the-latest-obama-email-bs/452937.md?page=2)