[plangent]

Obama as a Muslim leads to extensive expose of Free Republic members by Dr. Danielle Allen, an Obama supporter.

[DoughtyOne]

I guess I'd be a lot more inclined to believe the hype about this nut job's intelligence, if she didn't stoop to doing the very thing she focuses her wrath on in this article.

But long before this, Allen had been obsessing about the origins of her e-mail at the institute, which is most famous for having been the research home of Albert Einstein. Allen studies the way voters in a democracy gather their information and act on what they learn. She was familiar, of course, with the false rumors of a secret love child that helped sink McCain's White House bid in 2000, and the Swift boat attacks that did the same to Democrat John Kerry in 2004. But the Obama e-mail was on another plane: The use of the Internet made it possible to launch anonymous attacks that could reach millions of voters in weeks or even days.

The idea of unsubstantiated charges whispered through gossip trails has been a tried-and-true political technique since well before Machiavelli's time, Allen said. Traditionally, the best approach to combating them has been to "flush the charges out into the open."

That was easier when the rumors flew off a printing press, or when they appeared -- as with Swift boat attacks against Kerry -- in television ads paid for by a well-funded group of partisans. The attacks on Obama are different, Allen says. The level of anonymity, the technical efficiency, and above all the electoral impact of Internet-based smears all represent a new challenge.

I realize the article is written by Matthew Mosk, but he references Danielle Allen's comment rather extensively.  Make no mistake about it, she is the one making the charges.  And what does Allen do?  She procedes to classify the Swift Boat Vets as the disminators of unsubstantiated charges whispered through gossib trails.  Oh she provides an out for herself by indirectly saying the Swift Boat Vets did this.  She sets up the framework for the types of actions she finds fault with, then later names the Swift Boat Vets as peveyers of the classic tactics.  She states there were false rumors, unsubstantiated charges, whispers, gossip trails, attacks, paid for by a well-funded group of partisians.

I'm sure the Swift Boat Vets would be surprised to know they were well-funded by a group of partisians.  The funds weren't that easy to come buy.  People made donations.  I guess that borders on criminal activity if you're taking a leftist nut-job like Kerry to task.  And evidently it doesn't matter if you have eye witness accounts and government documents to go by.  You're still a very bad person (or group).

If you're a brillant, sharp, nit wit with worthless Ph.Ds., I suppose it's okay to take $500,000 awards and help to drum up tens of millions more so you can wax rhapsodic never holding a real job.  Then when you slander others, it's okay.  Those of us who donate $25 to $100 dollars when we can, are crooks.  Folks who donate $500,000 dollars are just down to earth folks don't you know.

For such a sharp tack, this woman sure has a problem with free speach.  I don't advocate folks trash Obama for things that aren't true, but there are plenty of questions about Obama's youth that are not being answered, at least not to some of our liking.  I've seen videos of some of the schools Obama attended as a kid.  They didn't look like Christian schools to me, but I haven't been there.  I try to keep up on what is going on, but it's tough to do.  I'm not even sure Obama was born a citizen by this point.  And it does seem like that would be an easy enough thing to prove.  Is his birth certificate valid?  Some folks don't seem to think so.

Should we wait for the media to look into this?  Will the media look into this?  We're four months away from the election, and they haven't yet.  Obama is the Democrat nominee, and they haven't yet.

Sssssssssh everyone, don't mention this.  Danielle Allen will provide your name and home town if you do.  It's called intimidation.  It's what the left does best, because it has nothing wholesome to offer.

Personally I'm glad the Swift Boat Vets have her name and home town.  Only I hope they go after her ass.  She should know better than to do what she did here.  She has all those degrees.  She preaches like a champ.  Too bad she's lapsed.

[Cacique]

Under Islamic law he is a Muslim. His father was one so therefore he is also. End of story.

[tsmith130]

Allen noticed what she thought was an important pattern

Well just because she thinks it was an important pattern, doesn't necessarily make it so.

[StAnDeliver]

Look, "genius", why are you seven months late after the Washington Post (heard of them?) revealed that Hillary's campaign were first front & center behind the forwarding of the phony e-mail last December:

Clinton Campaign Volunteer Out Over False Obama Rumors

"Hillary Clinton's campaign asked one of its volunteer county coordinators in Iowa to step down after the person forwarded an e-mail falsely stating that Barack Obama is a Muslim. Obama is a Christian and attends Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, but chain e-mails have been circulating throughout his campaign that falsely describe him as a Muslim."

I'd laugh, but I think you're sad, and also an incredibly small person. It's obviously the end result of the realization that you and your candidate simply aren't good enough to win.

[tgslTakoma]

Some newer Freepers may not remember the name Matthew Mosk in regards to Free Republic. He is the reporter who wrote about Free Republic's "involvement" with a "smear campaign" against Maryland's notorious governor, Martin O'Malley. Mosk got himself caught up in the story, so much so that he is rumored to have had an FR screen name at one point.

What is known for sure is that somebody at the Washington Post was participating in the O'Malley threads; and then, lo and behold, the Washington Post's Matthew Mosk writes an "expose" on Free Republic!

So, about this new attempt by the Washington Post's Matthew Mosk and this think tank broad I have to wonder...

How did Danielle Allen find Matthew Mosk to write this piece? Or did Matthew Mosk feed the FR threads to Allen, and then "discover" her investigation?

My family's dog wouldn't even take a crap on the pages of The Washington Post. The newspaper is garbage unfit for even landfills. And its "reporters" are nitwits with delusions of grandeur.

[SmithL]

Three things Obama has learned from the Clintons: Deny, deny, deny!

[Eva]

Yep, right out of the ether! This excerpt is from the International Herald Tribune and also appeared in the New York times, but I guess that since it was on the internet, you could say that it was right out of the ether.

"My whole family was Muslim, and most of the people I knew were Muslim," said Maya Soetoro-Ng, Mr. Obama's younger half sister. But Mr. Obama attended a Catholic school and then a Muslim public school where the religious education was cursory. When he was 10, he returned to his birthplace of Hawaii to live with his grandparents and attended a preparatory school with a Christian affiliation but little religious instruction.

The fact is that the Muslim education took place at both the Catholic school and the Muslim school, and was far from cursory.

[smedley64]

"... It also aggressively disregards the fundamental principle of free societies that one be able to debate one's accusers..."

Huh? Who is stopping Obeymao from debating his "accusers" on this issue? He is free to confront them on this "smear" with the facts he has at his disposal. Heck, he's even free to come here and debate the issue. Hint: Saying "that's not true!" 100 times, or 1 million times, doesn't mean he has proven anything, even though that might be enough for you, Danielle. For a supposed "genius," you sure are clueless.

Obama is free to dispute this perception of his muslim past at any time. You act like he's bound and gagged inside the broom closet at RNC headquarters. Stop being an idiot, Danielle.

[2ndDivisionVet]

According to Obama supporters he is not Muslim.

But... wait....

He has a Muslim name doesn’t he?

He is ashamed of his middle Muslim name isn’t he?

His father was Muslim, wasn’t he?

He spent a great deal of his youth in Muslim countries, didn’t he?

But we are all supposed to look the other way and believe he has no Muslim family, ties, friends and associates.

Either way, he cannot escape the reality.

And, Marxism is not a good platform either.

[sono]

OK ... so is Muammar Ghaddafi a FReeper?

[RetiredArmy]

Well, maybe JimRob should just wipe all the stuff off the server and we start over. There there is no paper trail for her to research.

[Palladin]

These are the last groanings and the death rattle of the Dinosaur Media. They should be ignored.

[Political Junkie Too]

Here's something for WaPo to research. Obama's rise in politics is a result of the following:

1) Obama challenged qualifying signatures on all his Illinois State Senate Democrat primary opponents' applications (see Alice Palmer), running unopposed,

2) Obama had sealed divorce records of his Democrat primary opponent Blair Hull exposed, revealing accusations of wife-beating and forcing Hull out of the primary,

3) Obama had sealed divorce records of his Republican opponent Jack Ryan exposed, revealing accusations of wanting to perform public sex acts and forcing Ryan out of the general election.

4) Obama claims his legislative records in Illinois were not archived, and presumably destroyed, leaving no paper trail of his past government experience. (See last paragraph of article)

It seems that Obama can't win without legal technicalities or by destroying his opponent by exposing sealed private records. So now, Obama is coming after everyday people on the internet who dare to look into his past?

-PJ

[Mike Darancette]

M>Well Obama’s father and stepfather were Muslims (is this true?), Obama’s mother was an Athiest (is this true?) So in in his early life was Obama a Muslim or an Athiest? He surely wasn’t a Christian.

[Eagles6]

Oh, cool! I'm part of a conspiracy. Shouldn't we have like a secret handshake, hidden tattoos and decoder rings? Yeah, that's the ticket!

"Instead the participants swim toward their goal like a school of fish -- moving on their own, but also in unison."

Golly, we are good. Right out of chairman mao's little red book. Yo Danielle, that's the democrat/left bible, not ours.

"Obama's campaign, for better or worse, is writing the manual on combating this new asymmetrical guerrilla warfare."

So obambalamba is now engaged in battle huh? Sorta like our Armed Services that he despises or hillary in Yugoslavia. Soon to come will be the stories of his "courage".

This is right out of the minority psychosis handbook. They do say that there is a fine line between genius and madness.

[RasterMaster]

Guess they’re calling OSAMA Obama’s own brother a liar....

That just goes to show ya' that OSAMA Hussien Obama is more than willing to throw his own family under the bus in his quest for power. And I thought the Clinton's were the most power-mad scum of the earth.

[HollyB]

Jim R., Perhaps you should have a copyright restriction, that all information copied and used from Freerepublic.com must be authorized by Jim Robinson/Free Republic.

[Southack]

Here's The Obama Muslim Smear E-mail Sent Out By The County Chair Volunteering For Hillary

Danielle and Mosk seemed to have missed some pretty basic research...

[Cinnamon Girl]

Hey Eva, did you ask the Post how they were able to locate you based on Allen’s “biographical sketch?” What does that mean?

[Gone_Postal]

I think Danielle Allen is a muslim