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How a Racist Political Hashtag Spread Like the Ebola Virus ("Obola")
Vocativ ^ | October 14, 2014 | Markham Nolan and Adi Cohen

Posted on 10/17/2014 1:42:45 AM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet

The World Health Organization said on Tuesday that the world could be seeing 10,000 new Ebola cases per week before Christmas. U.S. pundits seem more concerned with using Ebola to berate President Obama rather than dealing with the impact of the disease. At a time when the nation needs to unite around protecting the country from an epidemic, rational discussion of Ebola is competing with a new contagion—right-wing racism, and it’s spreading like, well, you know what.

10/06/14 18:29 UTC@DineshDSouza

Which is worse: EBOLA, the disease; or OBOLA, the dream from
his father?(with illustration) https://t.co/zsWqu4KuqR

Enter #obola, a diseased little meme conflating President Barack Obama with the Ebola virus, first promoted in mainstream media by conservative radio host (and qualified epidemiologist) Michael Savage. In a Sept. 30 radio slot, Savage blamed Obama’s open-borders policy for Ebola’s spread into America. “The only solution is zero travel in and out of West Africa for any American,” he said, labeling the U.S. leader as “President Obola.” Savage caused the term to trend in a major way for the first time, but he wasn’t patient zero.

That dubious honor seems to go to the Twitter account @exposeliberals, the raw bush meat of the online commentary world, with a tweet from Aug. 7 that appears to be the first infection of #obola. Even with the account’s 95,000 loyal followers, it couldn’t nudge the #obola concept into the mainstream consciousness. It lay relatively dormant for more than a month, failing to find a host that would help it go viral....

(Excerpt) Read more at vocativ.com ...


TOPICS: Government; Health/Medicine; Politics; Society
KEYWORDS: ebola; liberalagenda; obama; obola; racecard; talkradio
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To: Nailbiter

Dealing with progressives is like dealing with parrots and 2yr olds. No logic but they can get loud.

Oooh, I l Ike that! Can I use it too? Lol!


41 posted on 10/17/2014 5:22:05 AM PDT by Afterguard (Liberals will let you do anything you want, as long as it's mandatory.)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Markham Nolan and Adi Cohen are racists who try to hide their own racism by accusing others of being racists.

(Yeah, go ahead and parse that statement for fun.)


42 posted on 10/17/2014 5:24:00 AM PDT by Zeppo ("Happy Pony is on - and I'm NOT missing Happy Pony")
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

BS! It started here, with me, August 1st! Someone please prove me wrong, or I’m racist zero, the “racist” who wants Obola to be accountable for allowing ebola to occur here, on HIS watch. I got that other guy beat by a week! :)

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3187606/posts


43 posted on 10/17/2014 5:32:18 AM PDT by smedley64
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To: Norm Lenhart

Wish I could claim it, but I saw it posted somewhere else. Perfect though.


44 posted on 10/17/2014 5:33:09 AM PDT by Islander7 (There is no septic system so vile, so filthy, the left won't drink from to further their agenda)
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To: smedley64

Ooops. Sorry. Post #12 on that thread.


45 posted on 10/17/2014 5:36:50 AM PDT by smedley64
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
At a time when the nation needs to unite around protecting the country

Such hypocrisy. Funny when uniting was needed to protect our borders, his philosophy is my way or the highway. FU OBOLA!!!!!

46 posted on 10/17/2014 5:39:11 AM PDT by catfish1957 (Everything I needed to know about Islam was written on 11 Sep 2001)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
D’Souza’s comparison of a horrendous disease to Obama’s father’s thinking conflated two objectionable imports from Africa to America, with people of color the vectors for both. The racist undertones were pretty hard to ignore a fevered hallucination of the Left.

Fixed it.

47 posted on 10/17/2014 9:01:52 AM PDT by ConservingFreedom (A goverrnment strong enough to impose your standards is strong enough to ban them.)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

The legacy of Barry. Socialist medicine with Ebola.

President Obola is about right.


48 posted on 10/17/2014 10:44:39 AM PDT by eyedigress (e(!zOld storm chaser from the west)/?s)
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and high school seniors eating peas for lunch.


49 posted on 10/17/2014 10:45:31 AM PDT by eyedigress (e(!zOld storm chaser from the west)/?s)
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To: Nailbiter

Well, I want a logical reason. Not that I ever expect to get one.


50 posted on 10/17/2014 11:24:05 AM PDT by Politicalkiddo (Our obligations to our country never cease but with our lives.- John Adams)
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To: Salgak

“Bush’s Fault”

“Obola”

Political, but not the least bit racist.


51 posted on 10/17/2014 11:53:04 AM PDT by Hoosier-Daddy ("Washington, DC. You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy. We must be cautious")
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

“We should rally around protecting the country from Ebola!”

Umm, we would if the POTUS would actually restrict flights from Ebola infected areas of the world and secure our borders to give us that “protection from ebola.”

Idiots don’t even realize that we would rally around some leadership that was actually interested in the safety of American citizens.


52 posted on 10/17/2014 1:15:09 PM PDT by CSM
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To: Afterguard

use it whenever and whenever it will do the most good


53 posted on 10/17/2014 1:50:47 PM PDT by Nailbiter
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To: Politicalkiddo

You must know the PC incorrect “wish in one hand and ......”

Or as I am apt to say when Hell freezes over.


54 posted on 10/17/2014 1:56:25 PM PDT by Nailbiter
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To: Hoosier-Daddy

I must admit to being very aware of a person’s color. Not that I treat them differently just because of color - but I notice it. (Is that racist, bigoted, discriminatory, ???)

Anyway - I obviously noticed Obama is black when he first showed up on the scene. It was most noticable early on (first black president, etc.) But the color of his skin doesn’t even enter into my mind when I think of him now.

Evil, manipulating, hating, scheming, etc. enters my mind now. Obola is perfect for him, as it conveys the sense of spreading infection and destruction that socialism and the diesease has.


55 posted on 10/17/2014 2:15:48 PM PDT by 21twelve (http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2185147/posts 2013 is 1933 REBORN)
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