"Unmasking The Source of an Internet Rumor" [FR is hurting the Obama campaign!]

Obama for America ^ | Jun 28th, 2008

[Winged Hussar]

Dr. Danielle Allen

An Attack That Came Out of the Ether Scholar Looks for First Link in E-Mail Chain About Obama

By Matthew Mosk Washington Post Staff Writer Saturday, June 28, 2008; C01

...Poring over these early articles on the topic, Allen noticed what she thought was an important pattern. In each instance, someone had posted the articles on the Free Republic Web site, prompting a discussion involving the same handful of people, with several expressing a desire to spread the word about Obama's supposed faith.

...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.

"What I've come to realize is, the labor of generating an e-mail smear is divided and distributed amongst parties whose identities are secret even to each other," she says. A first group of people published articles that created the basis for the attack. A second group recirculated the claims from those articles without ever having been asked to do so. "No one coordinates the roles," Allen said. Instead the participants swim toward their goal like a school of fish -- moving on their own, but also in unison.

..."Citizens and political scientists must face the fact that the Internet has enabled a new form of political organization that is just as influential on local and national elections as unions and political action committees," she says. "This kind of misinformation campaign short-circuits judgment. It also aggressively disregards the fundamental principle of free societies that one be able to debate one's accusers."

[Winged Hussar]

"As much as anything else, I think, this article is an attempt to intimidate Freepers. " If so, they violate the first rule of swimming with barracudas sharks. If you get bitten, don't bleed, and under no circumstances must you thrash around. This article shows that the Obama campaign is bleeding all over the place and thrashing wildly; i.e. they are letting us know how badly we are hurting their campaign.

[Lancey Howard]

If it wasn’t for the internet, we wouldn’t know that Obama is a crack-smoking homosexual, either.

[DesertRhino]

Correct me if im wrong, but i didnt have to swear any “oath to conservatism” to be here. If this legal genius wants to debate any posted story, couldn’t they just sign up, and post their response to that posted story, when they think they can PROVE that it’s incorrect?? You just get thrown out of *here* for being Abusive or violating our rules, not for opinions that ive seen.

Ive seen LOTS of healthy debate here,, downright diametrically opposed opinions. Now to be sure, you might practically get laughed out of the room, (just like in real life),,,, a fine example is my stand that in physics, everything after Newton is dead wrong! But where did she get the idea theres no chance to debate what we post?

(incidently young legal person,,
no,, my right to free speech DOES NOT imply that you get an opportunity to debate me directly,,, only that we cant STOP each other from saying what we think,,,)

My old Sergeant on the department used to always say “you don’t look behing the door unless you’ve hid there yourself”,,, this speaks volumes about how dissenters are treated by her side. You can come over here and completely disagee with us,,, convince us if you can. You just can’t be a bully who needs to silence those with whom you disagree with. If you even prove your point, we would even admit it. (for example,,,,witness the freeper debates on BO birth certificates,, lots of opinions there on those threads)

PS,,,(insert obnoxious sing-song 6 year olds voice),,Obamas a Muslim,,Obamas a Muslim,,Obamas a Muslim,,,Na na na na na,,, you can’t stop me,, i can say Annnnnything,,, it’s called freedom!

[Beckwith]

Beckwith responds to The Washington Post.

The first thing I have to say about "An Attack That Came Out of the Ether," published by The Washington Post on June 28th, is that at NO time was I ever contacted by this woman, Danielle Allen, from Princeton's Institute for Advanced Studies (IAS).  I spoke to two male Post reporters, who spoke to me over the phone for a period of months.  The first contact was in the fall of 2007.  They told me they were trying to track down the source of emails they considered negative to the Obamamessiah.

Allen, who is an Obama shill from Chicago and who has contributed $2,750 to Obama (going back to 2004), obsesses about the "Muslim" Obama stories, but steers clear of Obama's relationships with communists, Marxists, socialists, terrorists, racist reverends and convicted swindlers.  The trick she attempts to use is to knock down one or two or three items so the other four thousand don't count.

The following notice appears on my website's "About" page: "I don't write this stuff -- I cherry-pick it and publish it here -- every attempt is made to provide attribution and/or links to the original source -- if you don't like the writer's viewpoint -- send them an email -- not me.  If the reader finds content that is incorrect, I will correct or delete it upon the submission of two links to an independent source with more accurate information."

And I mean just that and I do just that.  I want The Obama File to be able to withstand the type of attack that Allen attempts in this article.

I was quoted as saying, "If 20 percent of what's on my Web site is true, this guy is a clear and present danger," the report left out out the entire statement.  I told her reporters that I believed that The Obama File content was better than 95% accurate, but that If 20 percent of what's on my Web site is true, this guy is a clear and present danger.  I still believe that.

Allen writes, "There was 'Beckwith,' whom she pegged as a veteran from Boston, old enough to vote for John F. Kennedy, in uniform by 1964 (I got out in '64), and host of a Web site that devotes considerable space to an 'Obama file' that says the senator is 'by birth, blood and training, a Muslim.'"

That statement is true.  Just ask Obama's sister Maya.  In an interview with the New York Times, published on April 30th, 2007, Maya Soetoro-Ng, Obama’s younger half sister, told the Times, "My whole family was Muslim, and most of the people I knew were Muslim."

I assume Maya thinks of her brother, Obama, as a member of her family?

Even if Maya didn't make such a statement.  Islam is patrilinear.  The son of a Muslim is a Muslim (birth, blood) and Obama did study Islam, the Quran and the Hadith at the Besuki Primary School in Jakarta, Indonesia for two years (training).   Further, he attended mengaji classes where he studied the Quran in its native Arabic (more training).

In his autobiography, "Dreams From My Father," Obama, himself, mentions studying the Quran and describes the public school as "a Muslim school."  He wrote, "In the Muslim school, the teacher wrote to tell mother I made faces during Koranic studies."

According to Tine Hahiyary, one of Obama's teachers and the principal from 1971 through 1989, Barry actively took part in the Islamic religious lessons during his time at the school.  His teacher was named Maimunah and she lived in the Puncak area, the Cianjur Regency.

"I remembered that he had studied "mengaji" (recitation of the Quran)" Tine said.

These facts can account for the startling statement Obama made on February 27th, 2007, when he said the Muslim call to prayer was "one of the prettiest sounds on Earth."

In an interview with Nicholas Kristof, published in The New York Times, Obama recited the Muslim call to prayer, the Adhan, "with a first-class [Arabic] accent."

The opening lines of the Adhan (Azaan) is the Shahada:

Allah is Supreme! Allah is Supreme!
Allah is Supreme! Allah is Supreme!
I witness that there is no god but Allah
I witness that there is no god but Allah
I witness that Muhammad is his prophet...

According to Islamic scholars, reciting the Shahada, the Muslim declaration of faith, makes one a Muslim. This simple yet profound statement expresses a Muslim's complete acceptance of, and total commitment to, the message of Islam.

Obama knows this from his Quranic studies -- and he knows the New York Times will publish this fact and it will be seen throughout the Islamic world.

Regardless of Obama's religion, what message is he sending the world's 1.2 billion Muslims?

I suppose it's easy for Obama to remember the Shahada for the 35 years since he left Indonesia -- and in 'first-class' Arabic -- especially since he believes the Muslim call to prayer is "one of the prettiest sounds on Earth." -- no matter what religion he belongs to, those Muslim prayers must run through his head, and often -- what does that really make him?

And although I do have a Boston accent, of which I'm proud (you can hear it on the webcast at the link on the main page), Allen gets in a little ethnic stereotyping by calling my accent a "... thick Boston brogue" -- Bostonians don't have brogues -- my antecedents from Ireland do -- it's a good thing I don't have a chip on my shoulder and charge "racism" at such obvious stereotyping -- like some folks might.

And there is no "unnamed 'colleague' in Europe" -- that's probably my friend and fellow FReeper, ExpatGuy, who operates the "An American Expat in Southeast Asia" blog (a truly great resource about Obama's time in Indonesia).  But, what the heck, Europe, Southeast Asia, they're all foreign places-- ya' seen one, ya' seen 'em all.

Allen is also incorrect when she writes, "His initial goal was to take swats at the liberal left.  'Then this new guy comes along called Obama,' he said." -- All one has to do is to read the "About" page on my website to get it right -- "The Obama File is a spinoff of www.FreedomsEnemies.com where it started out as a single page.  Freedom's Enemies documents the relationship between the political left and Islamofascism.  Along comes Obama -- with a foot in each camp -- and The Obama File just evolved.

The reason I spun off The Obama File is that I did not want the name, Freedoms Enemies, to be a pejorative to the information I was compiling on Obama.

This sentence is also false -- "Beckwith said he built a Web site that features hundreds of pages of material intended to undermine Obama." -- There are 18 subject area pages on my website.  Because I take pains to document and provide attribution for everything, those 18 pages link to thousands of source articles, primarily from mainstream media sources (including The Washington Post), and my intention is not to "undermine" poor Barry -- just like it says on my "About" page -- it is to "oppose the most liberal (read "left-wing") member of the U. S. Senate sitting in the Oval Office" -- and there is No requirement to be fair and balanced -- this is an opposition website.

I suppose it could have been more of a hatchet job, but what amazes me is Allen's obsession with the Muslim thing -- that rumor is more than a year old and has been fed by Obama and members of his family more than anyone else.  If she wants to know where the "Muslim rumors" came from, she should look towards Obama.

Had Obama just come out at the beginning of his campaign and simply stated that he had spent a couple of years as a child in Islamic studies as the result of having a Muslim step-father, but has since moved away from Islam, he wouldn't have to deal with this issue.

Instead he insists on his official website, in spite of all the evidence to the contrary, "Obama Has Never Been A Muslim" -- and that's simply not true.

 

It's Obama's own mendacity and dissimulation that is his problem and Obama is the source of that problem -- not me or the others that Allen has chosen to attack.
 

What I want to know is why she isn't knocking down stories about Obama's relationship with communists, Marxists, socialists, terrorists, convicted swindlers, and don't forget the racist Reverends -- Wright, Pfleger, Meeks and Moss.

Could it be that those long-term relationships are just too easy to document?

Danielle S. Allen is Dean of Humanities and a Professor of Classical Languages and Literature at the University of Chicago (where Obama taught) and the UPS Foundation Professor in the School of Social Science at the Institute for Advanced Study (IAS), at Princeton.

She is a past member of the Obama Campaign, resigning the day before she began this investigation.  She is a maximum contributor to the Obama Campaign ($2,750) and is probably violating federal law by using tax-exempt facilities and her grant money to do opposition research for the Obama Campaign?

She is hardly an  independent investigator, but more likely a friend of Obama from Chicago -- I wonder where she goes to church?

The Washington Post is silent on these critical details.

But it is kinda cool that this website is now one of "the most vexing problems in the universe."

And Matthew Mosk, whose byline the article appears under, is the reporter who wrote about FreeRepublic.com's (FR) "involvement" with a "smear campaign" against Maryland's notorious governor, Martin O'Malley.  Mosk got himself caught up in the story, known as the nefarious MD4Bush scandal, 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" about FreeRepublic.com!

So, one has to wonder about this new attempt by the Washington Post's Matthew Mosk and this think tank woman to smear FreeRepublic.com and the rest of us -- all conservative, and all in opposition to the Obama candidacy.

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?

Legendary Chicago Internet columnist and Obama author Andy Martin, another of Allen's targets has some interesting observations on Allen, Mosk and The Washington Post -- and here is an update -- "Washington Post "Obama girl" Danielle Allen; the mystery woman in her own words."

Read the National Review Online's take on the Washington Post article.

At least the Washington Post could have put a link to my website somewhere in this article so their readers could judge "The Obama File" for themselves.

Update -- Reader, Stanley V. makes several interesting observations:

Dr. Allen seemed impressed with the level of technical proficiency required to launch an electronic smear campaign.  Do these emails exist or is this just an excuse to try and discount the information content of your site.  For someone advertised as having, "the classicist's careful attention to texts and language with the political theorist's sophisticated and informed engagement" her article sadly seemed to talk a lot about nothing.  What did these emails say, that he was a Muslim?  He was educated to be Muslim, was that point lost on Dr. Allen?

Perhaps, Dr Allen would like to discount all sources of information, web or email based, as suspect, if they are negative towards Obama, since there are obviously sophisticated internet conspirators that are following a schooling fish model acting to confuse and mislead the easily manipulated American voter.  From the IAS towers we may be too stupid to be allowed to make up our own minds based on the information from both sides.

It’s interesting that she was put up as the author of this article after the fact it needed the IAS logo, otherwise it would have no credibility.  I can understand that a candidate would want a fair chance to offer a rebuttal to an email that has false content, but as the reader I didn’t see any rebuttal.  I was left with the underlying message to disregard any negative information about the candidate, and the subtle reminder that I’m too ignorant to be able to spot a false and fabricated email if there ever was one.  How do I know if the email if fabricated if the Washington Post won’t publish it along with the article that references it?  If it’s fabricated why not reference the claims and demonstrate why they are false.  This comes back to the audience is felt to be too limited to follow logic.

[Beckwith]

I was aware when it first surfaced since I was involved since November, 2007, when I was first contacted by the Washington Post.

I reposted my response at #104.

Thanks . . .

[Arthur Wildfire! March]

“It also aggressively disregards the fundamental principle of free societies that one be able to debate one’s accusers”

Excactly the quote that riled me. The only real teeth of our points comes from sourcing. If we lack sourcing, we’re no better than some DU punk committing ‘Bork Palin’ slanders. Our accusations would only discredit us then.

They can debate us. They want to put a name to each statement so they have someone to sue, to harass, to intimidate.

[RedEyeJack]

Adolf Hitler was a “community organizer”.

[Arthur Wildfire! March]

And since you said ‘Obama’s a muslim’, I am free to say that I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt. Just because he called himself a muslim isn’t any reason to believe he’s one. Just because his middle name is muslim doesn’t mean he is one. Just because he loves to hear the morning prayers doesn’t mean he’s muslim. I think my argument is quite strong because he went to Reverend Wright’s church.

Hm, that brings up another matter. Just because Reverend Wright is good friends with Louis Farakhan doesn’t mean he’s a muslim. Just because Louis Farakhan calls Milhous the ‘messiah’ doesn’t mean that Milhous is a muslim.

There, I believe my argument is strong and valid. Since Milhous attended Reverend Wright’s church, I think it’s safe to say he’s a Christian. True, he likes a rapper who wants a war hero to suffer even more, but I repeat— Milhous is a Christian. He’s trying to make people covet other peoples’ property and steal from them [class warfare], but I repeat, Milhous is a Christian. He mocked Christianity in a speech, but I repeat— Milhous is a christian. He wants live-birth abortions, but I repeat— Milhouse is a Christian. He said he’s a Christian, so I think it’s safe to say that he is one. He’s friends with a terrorist, Ayers, but I repeat — Milhous is a Christian.

I do hope you feel properly chastised, DesertRhino, for your example of free speech.

[A CA Guy]

Based on fact.

[null and void]

Community organizer?
Why is it still a Ghetto?

[MeekOneGOP]

Short on time this morning, so a quick bump to others
before I head out for the day.

bump! bump! bump!

[TigersEye]

A first group of people published articles ...

Published articles have named authors of national renown.
Your very first point is in complete contradiction to
your premise of anonymity.

...she says. "This kind of misinformation campaign short-circuits judgment.

That is entirely an assumption. Where is the basic research to even support an
educated guess about that?

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

There is no such principle outside of criminal law. Dr. Allen just made that up.

Dr. Danielle Allen is apparently a doctor of seance not a doctor of science.
This drivel she wrote doesn't even rise to the level of half-azzed psycho-babble
much less a scientific treatment of the subject. There isn't anything here
but premises and assumptions drawn straight out of thin air.
It's grade school propaganda.

[TigersEye]

By the time it reached Allen on Jan. 11, 2008, it had spread with viral efficiency for more than a year.

Er uh uh er, it took a year? for this political message to get to this razor sharp political theorist traveling with the speed of viral efficiency? Modem problems, sweetie?

[TigersEye]

As the general-election campaign against Sen. John McCain has gotten underway, Obama's aides have made the smears a top target. They recently launched FightTheSmears.com to "aggressively push back with the truth," said Obama campaign spokesman Tommy Vietor, and go viral with it.

I haven't looked at FightTheSmears.com for a while now but when it went up, and for several weeks thereafter, the first "smear" listed was a flat out lie about Rush Limbaugh. Without even looking I would bet $100 it is still there. So much for combating lies.

[TigersEye]

When asked about the Obama e-mail, she says evenly: "I've never seen the e-mail. I don't get any political e-mails. I have a good filter on that."

I can't go on. This article is funnier than any Onion or Scrappleface satire I have ever read. The razor sharp political theorist filters out political e-mails. Bwahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

Help!!! I'm going to tear my diaphragm if I don't stop laughing.

[TigersEye]

Oops, my bad. It wasn’t the theorist it was a teacher. A FReeper. One of the people the theorist theorizes is having her judgment bypassed with misinformation. (snort) Well (snort) there’s some good background (bwaaaa) to support the premise. Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa My apologies to grade schoolers for my previous analogy. They can lie a whole lot better than this.

[thingumbob]

Muslims tend to think that if your dad is a Muslim so are you.

Bingo....this is what I tell me liberal neighbor.

Since he was born to a muslim father and raised in a predominently muslim country (Indonesia) this is the community he was surrounded with. In the context of that community it doesn't matter what his mother was.... O'bomber was born and raised a muslim. There was no conscious choice on his part to change that status until he became Christian 20 years ago, until that time he was a Muslim...(probably none practicing).......according to Islam, period.

Good to see someone else understands this too.

[TigersEye]

His stepfather who took him to Indonesia was a Muslim too FWIW.

[thingumbob]

Funny how his family tree keeps circling the same toilet bowl......

[TigersEye]

Here is an article that has some actual objective evidence of an organized internet campaign of misinformation.

Obama mobilizes rapid response on Web.........