# Hillary, Hillary , Hillary \[shaking head\] Obama not a Muslim "...as far as I know." **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 3, 2008, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-hillary-hillary-shaking-head-obama-not-a-muslim-as-far-as-i-know/439942 "2008-03-03T18:29:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2008, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-hillary-hillary-shaking-head-obama-not-a-muslim-as-far-as-i-know/439942/21 "2008-03-03T19:49:29Z")
[QUOTE=Hentor the Barbarian] She said “Of course not.” He pressed her. She said “There’s nothing to base that on, as far as I know.” [/QUOTE] Yeah, this seems quite a bit overblown. Let’s look at the entire exchange: > [@](#): > > STEVE KROFT: You don’t believe that Senator Obama’s a Muslim? > > HILLARY CLINTON: Of course not. I mean that’s, you know, that, there is no basis for that. You know, I take him on the basis of what he says, and, you know, there isn’t any reason to doubt that. > > KROFT: You said you take Sen. Obama at his word that he’s not a Muslim… > > CLINTON: Right, right.. > > KROFT: …you don’t believe that he’s a Muslim. > > CLINTON: No! No! Why would I? There’s nothing to base that on. As far as I know. My outrage meter twitched a little, but not much. I would even give her the benefit of the doubt that she had no intention of saying that, and that it just sort of slipped out. Kroft wouldn’t let the matter go after she had clearly indicated the he wasn’t a Muslim. Slimy reporter tactics, if you ask me. ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2008, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-hillary-hillary-shaking-head-obama-not-a-muslim-as-far-as-i-know/439942/22 "2008-03-03T19:53:06Z")
[QUOTE=John Mace] Yeah, this seems quite a bit overblown. Let’s look at the entire exchange: My outrage meter twitched a little, but not much. I would even give her the benefit of the doubt that she had no intention of saying that, and that it just sort of slipped out. Kroft wouldn’t let the matter go after she had clearly indicated the he wasn’t a Muslim. Slimy reporter tactics, if you ask me. [/QUOTE] Well, she makes it even clearer in the transcript from Talking Points Memo, which adds to the end of the exchange… > [@](#): > > “You don’t believe that Senator Obama’s a Muslim?” Kroft asked Sen. Clinton. > “Of course not. I mean, that, you know, there is no basis for that. I take him on the basis of what he says. And, you know, there isn’t any reason to doubt that,” she replied. > > “You said you’d take Senator Obama at his word that he’s not…a Muslim. You don’t believe that he’s…,” Kroft said. > > “No. No, there is nothing to base that on. As far as I know,” she said. > > \*\*“It’s just scurrilous…?” Kroft inquired. > > “Look, I have been the target of so many ridiculous rumors, that I have a great deal of sympathy for anybody who gets, you know, smeared with the kind of rumors that go on all the time,” Clinton said\*\*. ---
**Author:** ![buttonjockey308](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bcef8e/32.png) [@buttonjockey308](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buttonjockey308)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2008, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-hillary-hillary-shaking-head-obama-not-a-muslim-as-far-as-i-know/439942/23 "2008-03-03T19:55:01Z")
[QUOTE=Hampshire] But that’s what she said. “As far as I know” means it’s what Hillary knows. If someone asked me similar questions about my own family I’d answer them the same way. Is your father a nazi? Not as far as I know. Was your mother ever a prostitute? Not as far as I know. Is your brother a terrorist working for Al-Queda? Not as far as I know. I just don’t see the problem in her response. “As far as I know” implies that’s what I consider to be the truth based on what I know and have been told until a credible source tells me differently. I swear people are making something out of nothing here. [/QUOTE] I half agree and half disagree with that; I mean sure, you could take it like she was just being a politician and keeping her options open, but OTOH, and I think the point Diogenes is making is that when you put that qualifier on the end, it’s just as damning as saying it outright, which in this case, shouldn’t make a damn bit of difference anyhow, but it does, she knows it, and she should have kept her response more direct. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2008, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-hillary-hillary-shaking-head-obama-not-a-muslim-as-far-as-i-know/439942/24 "2008-03-03T19:55:02Z")
[QUOTE=Hentor the Barbarian] Is it your opinion that being a muslim like being a child molester or devil-worshipper? [/QUOTE] What they have in common is that they lose votes with large numbers of voters in the US. As far as I personally am concerned, as an atheist (which is also a vote-loser), being a Muslim and being a devil-worshipper are morally in the same boat, and equally protected by freedom of religion, while child molestation is a serious crime, and should be prosecuted and punished in order to protect children. But I’d probably vote for a Muslim candidate before a devil-worshipping candidate, because the devil-worshipper’s other views are likely to be less mainstream. ---
**Author:** ![ShadowFacts](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shadowfacts/32/2934_2.png) [@ShadowFacts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShadowFacts)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2008, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-hillary-hillary-shaking-head-obama-not-a-muslim-as-far-as-i-know/439942/25 "2008-03-03T19:55:23Z")
[QUOTE=John Mace] Yeah, this seems quite a bit overblown. Let’s look at the entire exchange: My outrage meter twitched a little, but not much. I would even give her the benefit of the doubt that she had no intention of saying that, and that it just sort of slipped out. Kroft wouldn’t let the matter go after she had clearly indicated the he wasn’t a Muslim. Slimy reporter tactics, if you ask me. [/QUOTE] Agreed. This is a whole lot of nothing, stirred up by a blog. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2008, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-hillary-hillary-shaking-head-obama-not-a-muslim-as-far-as-i-know/439942/26 "2008-03-03T20:01:42Z")
Clinton’s remark seems really minor compared to the giant bilious asshole who was asking her the questions. “Are you _sure_ he’s not a Muslim? _Really_ sure? Really, really, _really_ sure? Really, really, really, really, _really_ sure? Really, really…” Good Christ, somebody smack that schmuck in the face already. ---
**Author:** ![atomicbadgerrace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e7dd6/32.png) [@atomicbadgerrace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/atomicbadgerrace)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2008, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-hillary-hillary-shaking-head-obama-not-a-muslim-as-far-as-i-know/439942/27 "2008-03-03T20:06:55Z")
Sorry, my outrage meter is pushing a 1, 1.5 maybe on a scale of 1-10. **you with the face** and **Hampshire** wrote what I was going to, almost word for word. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2008, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-hillary-hillary-shaking-head-obama-not-a-muslim-as-far-as-i-know/439942/28 "2008-03-03T20:12:27Z")
[QUOTE=Miller] Clinton’s remark seems really minor compared to the giant bilious asshole who was asking her the questions. “Are you _sure_ he’s not a Muslim? _Really_ sure? Really, really, _really_ sure? Really, really, really, really, _really_ sure? Really, really…” Good Christ, somebody smack that schmuck in the face already. [/QUOTE] No, that’s what good interviewers do: keep on pushing, until the interviewee gives an “interesting” (= embarrassing) answer. ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2008, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-hillary-hillary-shaking-head-obama-not-a-muslim-as-far-as-i-know/439942/29 "2008-03-03T20:13:05Z")
Once again, the concept of “Rovian” tactics has been watered down. It will become meaningless if it continues to be thrown about so trivially. ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Badger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/848f3c/32.png) [@Dead\_Badger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Badger)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2008, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-hillary-hillary-shaking-head-obama-not-a-muslim-as-far-as-i-know/439942/30 "2008-03-03T20:21:01Z")
[QUOTE=Miller] “Are you _sure_ he’s not a Muslim? _Really_ sure? Really, really, _really_ sure? Really, really, really, really, _really_ sure? Really, really…” Good Christ, somebody smack that schmuck in the face already. [/QUOTE] Amen. She’s answered the fucking question already, dickface! You’re the reason why politicians rarely give straight answers in the first place. Raargh. And seriously, for those who apparently still think she wasn’t categorical enough, consider where her answer lies on the Scale Of Political Directness™: “I’m very glad you asked me that…” “That’s a very good question, and I’d like to answer it in three ways…” “Let me answer that in the form of another question…” By these standards, she practically asked to be violated with a totem pole if she spoke a word of a lie. Move on. Preferably to matters of actual importance, for fuck’s sake. ---
**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:** [March 3, 2008, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-hillary-hillary-shaking-head-obama-not-a-muslim-as-far-as-i-know/439942/31 "2008-03-03T20:21:41Z")
Upon further reflection, I think some of you guys are right. I think she probably didn’t mean it to sound as insinuating as it looks in a headline. I also agree that Kroft was being a douche, poking her and poking her, _trying_ to badger her into saying something stupid. _Ego te absolvo_, Hilldog. Go and spin no more. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2008, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-hillary-hillary-shaking-head-obama-not-a-muslim-as-far-as-i-know/439942/32 "2008-03-03T20:23:38Z")
Moral of the story here: Beware of Blogs bearing gifts. Good on you, **Dio**. Hillary has done some slimy things in this campaign, but this doesn’t seem like one of them. ---
**Author:** ![Man\_With\_a\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cab0a1/32.png) [@Man\_With\_a\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Man_With_a_Cat)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2008, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-hillary-hillary-shaking-head-obama-not-a-muslim-as-far-as-i-know/439942/33 "2008-03-03T20:23:55Z")
[QUOTE=Diogenes the Cynic] You’re better than this. [/QUOTE] No she’s not. ---
**Author:** ![ArizonaTeach](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/45deac/32.png) [@ArizonaTeach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ArizonaTeach)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2008, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-hillary-hillary-shaking-head-obama-not-a-muslim-as-far-as-i-know/439942/34 "2008-03-03T20:28:49Z")
[QUOTE=Hentor the Barbarian] Is it your opinion that being a muslim like being a child molester or devil-worshipper? [/QUOTE] That’s where the Rovian part comes in. ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2008, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-hillary-hillary-shaking-head-obama-not-a-muslim-as-far-as-i-know/439942/35 "2008-03-03T20:34:38Z")
[QUOTE=ArizonaTeach] That’s where the Rovian part comes in. [/QUOTE] So **Giles** was being Rovian? ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2008, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-hillary-hillary-shaking-head-obama-not-a-muslim-as-far-as-i-know/439942/36 "2008-03-03T20:50:02Z")
[QUOTE=Hentor the Barbarian] So **Giles** was being Rovian? [/QUOTE] I certainly don’t aspire to Rovian levels of politicking. ---
**Author:** ![ArizonaTeach](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/45deac/32.png) [@ArizonaTeach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ArizonaTeach)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2008, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-hillary-hillary-shaking-head-obama-not-a-muslim-as-far-as-i-know/439942/37 "2008-03-03T20:51:05Z")
[QUOTE=Hentor the Barbarian] So **Giles** was being Rovian? [/QUOTE] Wait, are you saying **Giles** molests devil-worshippers? ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2008, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-hillary-hillary-shaking-head-obama-not-a-muslim-as-far-as-i-know/439942/38 "2008-03-03T20:55:40Z")
[QUOTE=ArizonaTeach] Wait, are you saying **Giles** molests devil-worshippers? [/QUOTE] Damn, it’s out now! As if my being born outside the US, not being a US citizen, and not living in the US for 14 years wasn’t enough: this will totally destroy my chances of becoming POTUS. ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2008, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-hillary-hillary-shaking-head-obama-not-a-muslim-as-far-as-i-know/439942/39 "2008-03-03T20:57:13Z")
[QUOTE=ArizonaTeach] Wait, are you saying **Giles** molests devil-worshippers? [/QUOTE] Not as far as I know. I do know that he worships devil molesters, though. ---
**Author:** ![Santo\_Rugger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Santo\_Rugger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santo_Rugger)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2008, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-hillary-hillary-shaking-head-obama-not-a-muslim-as-far-as-i-know/439942/40 "2008-03-03T21:03:36Z")
[QUOTE=Diogenes the Cynic] \ Kroft was being a douche, poking her and poking her, _trying_ to badger her into saying something stupid. \ [/QUOTE] I just watched it again. In the beginning, you can see him get an evil grin right in the middle of asking the question. Disgusting. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-hillary-hillary-shaking-head-obama-not-a-muslim-as-far-as-i-know/439942.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-hillary-hillary-shaking-head-obama-not-a-muslim-as-far-as-i-know/439942.md?page=3)