[smokingfrog]

2006

December 29: A first version of the “Who Is Barack Obama?” email is captured by Snopes.com, a Web site dedicated investigating rumors and myths that spread via the Internet.

2007

January 8: A FreeRepublic.com reader using the name “Cedar” posts a version of the email, which associates Obama with radical Islam. His post garners only 13 replies.

January 16: Three versions of the email show up on FreeRepublic.com, including the version that was earlier posted on the Web site Snopes.com.

January 30: FreeRepublic.com reader FrouFrou posts the Ted Sampley article “Obama: Who Is He?”

2008

April 21: Obama tells The New York Times:
“It’s not just that I’m a Christian and some of these emails are misinforming people. They’re also feeding on anti-Muslim sentiment and that’s also wrong.”

June 12: The Obama campaign unveils a Web site called Fight the Smears to address the email rumors.

http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/muslim.asp

[Jane Long]

Nice summary of what probably led up to this manufactured article.

I see she’s (likely) been rewarded with a new position at another college.