that old ASSertion that President Obama vowed in his own book to "side with Muslims 'should the political winds shift in an ugly direction.'" A wingnut web site, "Godfather Politics" is perhaps the most recent source of this load of lies:
http://godfatherpolitics.com/1...#sY6wqF6LmlOzK2pX.99
This bogus quote is usually "quoted" like this:"I will stand with the Muslims should the political winds shift in an ugly direction." . It first went viral, some 5 years ago, and the wackadoodles continue to cite it, notwithstanding that it has repeatedly been shown to be false.
Most notably, the word "Muslims" (!) is NOT in the sentence purportedly quoted from Obama's book, "The Audacity of Hope." Here, in context, is what Obama actually said, on pages 260-261 of the book:
"Whenever I appear before immigrant audiences, I can count on some good-natured ribbing from my staff after my speech; according to them, my remarks always follow a three-part structure: "I am your friend," "[Fill in the home country] has been a cradle of civilization," and "You embody the American dream." They're right, my message is simple, for what I've come to understand is that my mere presence before these newly minted Americans serves notice that they matter, that they are voters critical to my success and full-fledged citizens deserving of respect.
"Of course, not all my conversations in immigrant communities follow this easy pattern. In the wake of 9/11, my meetings with Arab and Pakistani Americans, for example, have a more urgent quality, for the stories of detentions and FBI questioning and hard stares from neighbors have shaken their sense of security and belonging. They have been reminded that the history of immigration in this country has a dark underbelly; they need specific assurances that their citizenship really means something, that America has learned the right lessons from the Japanese internments during World War II, and that I will stand with them should the political winds shift in an ugly direction."
That "dark underbelly," with its forced detention of Japanese AMERICANS, is something this nation should regret and never repeat, and that is clearly the kind of thing Obama was opposing as regards treatment of naturalized American citizens of whatever national origin. Note also, that the "them" (NOT"MUSLIMS") with whom Obama committed himself to stand were "newly-minted Americans" and "Arab and Pakistani Americans"--in both cases AMERICAN CITIZENS, and in no way subsumed the greater community of non-American Muslims the world over. But, the obvious intent of misquoting what Obama said and leaving out the contextual setting was to cultivate within the unwary reader a false impression that he is committing categorically to stand with Muslims--whatever the issue and whatever the conflict.
Many honest folks have been mislead by this kind of viral balderdash and have unwittingly mislead others by forwarding it "again and again."The furtherance of TRUTH in this matter would seem to dictate that those who-for whatever reason--have forwarded this piece to others should once more hit their keyboards and advise past recipients of the obvious erroneous nature of the previously forwarded material! And bloggers like the Godfather Politics wingnuts should get themselves better informed so that, years after this egregious lying bilge has been exposed, they will not continue to propagate it in their ultraconservative little collections of raving diatribes.