I sometimes get flustered by the lies that get spread by people over the Internet and through other mediums. It seems that ever since the government shutdown's inception, these myths have been increasing in frequency on an almost daily basis and all I can say is, I feel sorry for Snopes.com. Most of these rumors and posts have been about President Obama - showing him in a negative light. All of them have been false to one degree or another.
This isn't the first such week or two that this has occurred. Peruse Snopes.com under Barack Obama and you'll find well over 100 chain emails being spread about him - close to 90% of which are false on some level.
What's even sadder is often times, even when I take the time to fact-check such nonsense and report my findings to the sender, he or she tends to believe it anyway and continue forwarding the debunked information onto others. Why do some do this? Why, even when their spread lies are proven to be such, will they continue to believe them anyway?
Maybe I was naive before or perhaps I just didn't want to believe such a thing, but I have a feeling more Obama-haters despise this man because of their prejudices than I first realized. It's either that or they're just not very bright, but I find that more difficult to believe - for the majority of them anyway.
While the problem of racism has improved through the years in this country, it still very much exists - even with a mixed race president. President Barack Obama has a first name which sounds somewhat similar to a Middle Eastern country we've been to war with (Iraq), a last name which rhymes with the alleged mastermind of the 9/11 attacks (Osama), and a middle name which former Iraqi President Saddam sported as his last (Hussein). Having traveled the world and possessing a skin tone darker than any of the preceding presidents, the current president has been on the receiving end of threats, insults, and rumors not experienced at such a rate by any other president in this nation's history.
According to fact-checker Snopes.com, there are 140 emails being spread about the following ten politicians (past and present): George W. Bush (46), Bill and Hillary Clinton (26), John Kerry (22), Mitt Romney (17), John McCain (11), Sarah Palin (11), Nancy Pelosi (4), Rick Santorum (2), and Paul Ryan (1). Of those 140 emails, 35 are true (25.0%). Let's put things into perspective for a second here. George W. Bush and Bill Clinton each spent eight years in the Oval Office. John Kerry, John McCain, and Mitt Romney all lost presidential elections. Sarah Palin and Paul Ryan were the running mates for losing presidential candidates. Hillary Clinton and Rick Santorum have run for president. Nancy Pelosi is the Minority leader of the House. Between all of their years in office, there are 140 chain emails being spread about them. That brings me to President Obama, who by himself has 139 such emails being spread about him - only 21 of which are true (15.1%). In Bush's eight years in the Oval Office, he averaged 5.8 chain emails per year, and that number may even be a little high due to him being out of office for 5 years now. Obama, meanwhile, has been in the Oval Office for five years and is averaging an astounding 27.8 such chain emails per year.
Why the insane amount of bogus rumors attached to our current president and why the reluctance on believing fact-checkers when these rumors are proven to be false? I think it's because these very people want a reason to hate him. There was something about him they didn't like initially, although they'll never admit to that, so they tend to believe every negative rumor they hear about him and spread those rumors in an attempt to validate their hatred for him and to excuse themselves of prejudice. If one rumor fails, they'll find another, and another, and another, to try and prove to themselves and others that they're not racists. However, at the end of the day, they'll have to face themselves in the mirror and see things as they really are. If one truly dislikes this president because of his policies, they won't have much trouble finding one to validate their opinion. However, when one constantly spreads fear-inducing and background-oriented lies about him in order to prove to themselves their opinion is valid, it seems quite obvious to me it isn't the president's policies they hate. It's something they hated long before the word policy ever emanated from his mouth and something which they're trying so hard to deny.
This isn't the first such week or two that this has occurred. Peruse Snopes.com under Barack Obama and you'll find well over 100 chain emails being spread about him - close to 90% of which are false on some level.
What's even sadder is often times, even when I take the time to fact-check such nonsense and report my findings to the sender, he or she tends to believe it anyway and continue forwarding the debunked information onto others. Why do some do this? Why, even when their spread lies are proven to be such, will they continue to believe them anyway?
Maybe I was naive before or perhaps I just didn't want to believe such a thing, but I have a feeling more Obama-haters despise this man because of their prejudices than I first realized. It's either that or they're just not very bright, but I find that more difficult to believe - for the majority of them anyway.
While the problem of racism has improved through the years in this country, it still very much exists - even with a mixed race president. President Barack Obama has a first name which sounds somewhat similar to a Middle Eastern country we've been to war with (Iraq), a last name which rhymes with the alleged mastermind of the 9/11 attacks (Osama), and a middle name which former Iraqi President Saddam sported as his last (Hussein). Having traveled the world and possessing a skin tone darker than any of the preceding presidents, the current president has been on the receiving end of threats, insults, and rumors not experienced at such a rate by any other president in this nation's history.
According to fact-checker Snopes.com, there are 140 emails being spread about the following ten politicians (past and present): George W. Bush (46), Bill and Hillary Clinton (26), John Kerry (22), Mitt Romney (17), John McCain (11), Sarah Palin (11), Nancy Pelosi (4), Rick Santorum (2), and Paul Ryan (1). Of those 140 emails, 35 are true (25.0%). Let's put things into perspective for a second here. George W. Bush and Bill Clinton each spent eight years in the Oval Office. John Kerry, John McCain, and Mitt Romney all lost presidential elections. Sarah Palin and Paul Ryan were the running mates for losing presidential candidates. Hillary Clinton and Rick Santorum have run for president. Nancy Pelosi is the Minority leader of the House. Between all of their years in office, there are 140 chain emails being spread about them. That brings me to President Obama, who by himself has 139 such emails being spread about him - only 21 of which are true (15.1%). In Bush's eight years in the Oval Office, he averaged 5.8 chain emails per year, and that number may even be a little high due to him being out of office for 5 years now. Obama, meanwhile, has been in the Oval Office for five years and is averaging an astounding 27.8 such chain emails per year.
Why the insane amount of bogus rumors attached to our current president and why the reluctance on believing fact-checkers when these rumors are proven to be false? I think it's because these very people want a reason to hate him. There was something about him they didn't like initially, although they'll never admit to that, so they tend to believe every negative rumor they hear about him and spread those rumors in an attempt to validate their hatred for him and to excuse themselves of prejudice. If one rumor fails, they'll find another, and another, and another, to try and prove to themselves and others that they're not racists. However, at the end of the day, they'll have to face themselves in the mirror and see things as they really are. If one truly dislikes this president because of his policies, they won't have much trouble finding one to validate their opinion. However, when one constantly spreads fear-inducing and background-oriented lies about him in order to prove to themselves their opinion is valid, it seems quite obvious to me it isn't the president's policies they hate. It's something they hated long before the word policy ever emanated from his mouth and something which they're trying so hard to deny.
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