My Morning Wooten

I'd love to talk about tractors today but instead friends and neighbors, we're going to talk about the internets.

In any event, I was shocked to hear it relayed as gospel that Sarah Palin thought Africa was a country. I’d not heard that allegation. Now it’s revealed. It was an elaborate Internet hoax foisted off on the mainstream news media. See New York Times story

I strongly encourage you to click through and read the Times story, for as usual, Jim only told part of the story.

It is true that this fictitiuos "Mr. Eisenstadt" falsely claimed to be the source of the "Africa" story but what is not true is this proves the story false. In fact is does not. All you have to do is remember Sarah Palin's non-denial of the story. If it was false, wouldn't we have heard her call it absurd instead of lamely spinning about misspeaking?

"Mr. Eisenstadt" successfully pantsed many a blogger as well as a few network bobbleheads and they should be rightfully ashamed. And if it turns out he was the original source on the Fox News story which broke the salacious affair, Carl Cameron should be fired on the spot and never let near a keyboard again.

This is how myths are made - take a tangential falsehood and claim the whole must be false. Jim even expresses his disdain for material from questionable sources.

Throughout the recent political campaign my mailbox was flooded with links to intriguing scoops, from Barack Obama’s birth in Kenya to MIchelle’s dining tab. I was never inclined to use them because I don’t trust sources I don’t know.

Really?

Obama continues to be bedeviled by questions about his religion, something I picked up repeatedly from people who aren’t political junkies. It’s not surprising that Obama lashed out on that issue Sunday. He can’t shake the believe that he is a Muslim, the religion of his father and religion of at least part of his childhood...Obama badly needs to do something to shake that perception. A major speech, addressing it head-on, is warranted.

Jim uses sly wording to dance all around the urban legend line but there is one undeniable fact. President-elect Obama vociferously denied being a Muslim many times. When Jim wrote this piece, the only people who still believed Obama was a Muslim were the internet rumor mongers who used it to continually delude poor souls such as that Ohio woman John McCain had to correct.

First take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye ~Matthew 7:3