Your morning jolt: Questioning Barack Obama’s religion

Earlier this month, Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky, the U.S. Senate minority leader, was asked about a poll that indicated that nearly one in five Americans believe President Barack Obama is a Muslim.

“The president says he’s a Christian. I take him at his word,” McConnell said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

This morning’s editorial in the Augusta Chronicle doesn’t even cut Obama that tiny bit of slack. The first two paragraphs:

Much has been made recently over questions of the president’s religious views.

In reporting a poll that says 18 percent of Americans believe Barack Obama is a Muslim, national media have condescendingly added the words “mistakenly” and “incorrectly.” Yet, it’s quite possible Americans aren’t as dumb as the media think: Maybe they’re aware of Mr. Obama’s Christian affiliation — and just don’t believe it.

We are beginning to tread some very shaky ground, ladies and gentlemen.

***

Thousands of Tea Party activists gather for a "Restoring America" rally at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., on Saturday. Olivier Douliery/Abaca Press/MCT

Thousands of Tea Party activists gather for a "Restoring America" rally at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., on Saturday. Olivier Douliery/Abaca Press/MCT

On somewhat the same topic, several news agencies interpreted Saturday’s Glenn Beck rally in Washington D.C. as a bid by the Fox News commentator to assume leadership of the nation’s Christian conservatives. Some, including CNN, alluded to Beck’s Mormon faith.

Ralph Reed, the former state GOP chairman and leader of the Christian Coalition, attended the Beck event and had this to say on the web site of his Faith and Freedom Coalition:

The evangelicals participating in the Restore Honor event are not endorsing Glenn Beck’s theology, nor is he asking them to; they are joining in his clarion call to restore America’s honor and founding principles.

Together, we and millions of our fellow citizens are calling America back to its Judeo-Christian values of faith, hard work, individual initiative, the centrality of marriage and family, hope, charity, and relying on God and civic and faith-based organizations rather than government for our security and prosperity.

***

On Sunday morning, if you watched the “Georgia Gang” on Fox5, you heard Phil Kent say that Republican nominee for governor Nathan Deal has made public his income tax records.

Deal hasn’t, spokesman Brian Robinson said this morning. Robinson wouldn’t say exactly when Deal might do so – but implied it would be soon.

This spring, Deal requested an extension on filing his 2009 personal income taxes – a common procedure. As soon as the former congressman files his ‘09 returns, Deal will make public several years’ worth.

But don’t look for that to satisfy the Democratic nominee for governor Roy Barnes.

The Barnes campaign will continue to call on Deal to release the income tax returns of his auto salvage corporation – the company that got wrapped up in the investigation by the Office of Congressional Ethics.

***

When it comes to ethics investigations, Republican nominee for governor Nathan Deal has found an unlikely ally: U.S. Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C. – the most powerful African-American in Congress.

In an interview with Larry Peterson of the Savannah Morning News, Clyburn said the Office of Congressional Ethics – a relatively new entity that acts as a kind of grand jury, making preliminary inquiries — has an “accusatory mentality about every allegation.”

The OCE has initiated investigations of several African-American members of Congress, including U.S. Reps. Maxine Waters of California and Charlie Rangel of New York.

Clyburn made his remarks at a gathering of the Georgia Legislative Black Caucus. From the SMN:

Clyburn, the House majority whip, said he has no opinion about the validity of the case against Deal.

But he said the ethics office investigatory process “is being used by … people who want to make mischief.”

Clyburn said the office lets inquiries be initiated “from a newspaper story or headline … implying things that may or may not have any factual basis.”

He said such stories or headlines form the basis of complaints to the office by “third-party groups.”

Among such groups, he said, is Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. The organization filed a complaint against Deal after an Atlanta Journal-Constitution article was published.

“People get a wild hair,” Clyburn said concerning members of such groups, “and they just say things.”

The congressman also said he is concerned that a “CIA guy” plays an important role in the office. Former Central Intelligence Agency Director Porter Goss is the vice chairman.

***
Last week, U.S. Rep. Phil Gingrey, R-Marietta, outlined a post-November agenda for Congress during a conversation with voters in Calhoun. From the Chattanooga Times Free Press:

A few of his constituents asked Gingrey what could be done to stop new health care reform from going into effect, and at least one asked him to vote to repeal it. He said that, logistically, it would be a challenge to repeal the laws because President Barack Obama has veto power.

Gingrey, an obstetrician-gynecologist, said he expects Republicans to pick up enough seats in Congress so they can “control the purse” and take away funding for some of the reform’s programs.

***

Over at InsiderAdvantage, Dick Pettys has the body count of lawmakers departing the General Assembly this year:

In all, 17 senators who were on the 2008 ballot won’t be on the 2010 card. In the House, 36 representatives will be gone.

The House losses include Majority Leader Jerry Keen and former interim Speaker (and speaker pro tem) Mark Burkhalter, both retiring, along with Minority Leader DuBose Porter, who lost his primary bid for governor.

All are veteran hands. But it can be argued that the 2004 loss was even more severe, at least in terms of longevity.

Among those retiring that year was 85-year-old Sen. Hugh Gillis of Soperton, who took office before the bombing of Pearl Harbor and served under 14 governors. He chose to retire rather than face another incumbent – Republican Jack Hill of Reidsville – in a district redrawn by a federal court.

Also retiring in 2004: Larry Walker, the House Democratic leader, after 32 years in the chamber; Democrat Tom Buck, the House Appropriations Chairman who had served 38 years, and Republican Lynn Westmoreland, the House minority leader who led the GOP fight against the Democrat-drawn redistricting maps.

For instant updates, follow me on Twitter, or connect with me on Facebook.

92 comments Add your comment

lmno

August 30th, 2010
10:46 am

So, are Evangelical Christians counting Mormons as fellow Christians now?

Cause I find Mr. Beck’s comments on America turning back to God to have different meanings when viewed through the book of Mormon. I mean, specifically, is he saying that based on the book of “Nephi”.

Because Mormons believe that America turned its back on God before and God smited them and turned them black. In fact, the Native Americans that the White man discovered here were the so called cursed to the Mormon believer. So, is Beck talkign about the Bible or the Book Of Nephi?

2 Nephi 5:21-23:

“And he had caused the cursing to come upon them, yea, even a sore cursing, because of their iniquity. For behold, they had hardened their hearts against him, that they had become like unto a flint; wherefore, as they were white, and exceedingly fair and delightsome, that they might not be enticing unto my people the Lord God did cause a skin of blackness to come upon them.”

“And thus saith the Lord God: I will cause that they shall be loathsome unto thy people, save they shall repent of their iniquities.”

“And cursed shall be the seed of him that mixeth with their seed; for they shall be cursed even with the same cursing. And the Lord spake it, and it was done.”

“And because of their cursing which was upon them they did become an idle people, full of mischief and subtlety, and did seek in the wilderness for beasts of prey.”

lmno

August 30th, 2010
10:49 am

But don’t worry, further reading iin the Book Of Nephi points out that if the black people turn back to god, that

“…their scales of darkness shall begin to fall from their eyes; and many generations shall not pass away among them, save they shall be a white and a delightsome people.”

So Mr. Beck will lead us again to be a White nation? Is that what he is saying?

You Christians who want God “Back in the public schools” want the Mormon God? The one who sent Christ to North America about 1800 years ago? That one?

Legend of Len Barker

August 30th, 2010
10:50 am

A) Why is there so much concern (or “concern”) over the President’s religion of choice? I don’t care if he worships Sun-Ra, believes in Quetzalcoatl, or is completely agnostic. Because…

B) Good works and values aren’t exclusive to Judeo-Christians, Glenn Beck.

HELL NO YOU CAN'T!

August 30th, 2010
10:55 am

Oh the tea partiers! Complete with Palin. I do wish she could get a spread in Playboy or Penthouse, then she would be on her merry way, back to her front porch in Alaska, keeping an eye out for Russians.

And of course we all know Beck is the messiah, come to save the world.

T-Bone

August 30th, 2010
10:59 am

I love McConnell’s backhanded answer there. Tim Russert would not have let that cagey answer slip by.

If you think questioning Obama’s religion is legitimate, how would this have made you feel in 2007?

Question: “Is Bush really a Christian or do you think he is just exploiting evangelicals for political gain?”
Harry Reid: “Bush says he’s a Christian. I take him at his word.”

John K

August 30th, 2010
11:01 am

1-So one of the top concerns is the President’s religion? No wonder we rank toward the bottom of industrialized nations in education.

2) Ralph Reed at the Restore Honor event? Ralph Reed? Honor?!!! I’ll be laughing about this all day. Probably all week.

Just Nasty & Mean

August 30th, 2010
11:01 am

Well, is the president a Muslim or not? Let’s judge from his ACTIONS, and not his words:

1. His 1st address as president of the USA was to the Muslim community in the Middle Beach.

2. Obama chooses to ignore the protestant “National Day of Prayer”, but hosts an affair at the White House for Muslims on Ramadan

3. Obama sends $900m in borrowed money as foreign aid to Hamas terrorists in Lebanon.

4. Obama attends a black nationalist church in Chicago for 20 years.

5. Obama, now in office approaching 2 years, shows no sign of choosing or attending any church. Why?

6. Muslim theology says Muslim fathers choose the religion of their sons.

7. Obama spend years attending a Muslim Madras school during his formative years in Singapore.

8. Obama says..and sings…the Muslim call to prayer in perfect Arabic.

9. Obama bows to the king of Saudi Arabia..the theological and political leader of the EXCLUSIVE faith of Muslim.

10. In an interview with Stephanopolos, he clearly says “…MY Muslim religion….”

If he swears on a bible for his inauguration, if he is Muslim…it means NOTHING.

Does ANYBODY see ANYTHING he has done to show he is Christian.

John K

August 30th, 2010
11:04 am

I see somebody got an email this morning………

lmno

August 30th, 2010
11:11 am

Its amazing to me how self proclaimed “christians” no so little about the faith they profess.

“If he swears on a bible for his inauguration, if he is Muslim…it means NOTHING. ”

It would mean nothing if he was a Christian. In fact, a Christian is forbidden from swearing all together in Matthew 5.

The thing people are over looking about Glen Beck is that he is not a life long Mormon. He converted and has spend a lot of time studying the faith. He understands the Mormon view on the cuurse of Ham which is similar to the 19th Century Christian view.

Goobers

August 30th, 2010
11:13 am

Beautiful Words from James Howard Kunstler:

“Behind the incoherent cargo of conflicting complaints that makes up Tea Party doctrine — like “keeping the government’s hands off our medicare!” — stands the more basic dissolution of the Sunbelt’s miracle economy, along with the pain and bewilderment of the southern peckerwood political nexus that rose out of the dust after World War Two to build the suburban nirvana of universal air-conditioning, happy motoring, Jesus tub-thumping, over-eating, and Friday night football that defined Sunbelt culture. They sense now that history is about to thrust them back into the okra patch, with the hookworms and the chiggers, as the economy whirls down the drain, and the car dealerships close up, and the idle production homebuilders succumb to methedrine addiction, and the price of Reba McEntire tickets exceeds their dwindling resources, and they are none too happy about any of that.
Of course this Sunbelt political culture has tentacles and outposts all over the USA, wherever a few generations of laboring folk enjoyed debt-fueled parabolic rises in living standards during the cheap oil decades, and now find themselves in foreclosure hell, indentured to the very WalMarts that they welcomed with open arms (and allowed to destroy their local businesses) — and, of course, it’s yet another paradox that these are the same folk who will still defend the big box masters to their deaths. The America they stand for is a weird contradictory mish-mash of Confederate nostalgia, hyper-individualism that really owes allegiance to nothing, racial enmity, religious paranoia, and potemkin patriotism — especially involving anything in the constitution that allows them to wriggle out of obligations to the public interest at the same time that they get to push other groups of people around.”

T-Bone

August 30th, 2010
11:13 am

Just Nasty: “Does ANYBODY see ANYTHING he has done to show he is Christian.”

How about #4 on your list?

Goobers

August 30th, 2010
11:17 am

By James Howard Kunstler
on August 30, 2010 9:38 AM

Here come the Corn Pone Nazis!
Fox News entertainer, former drug addict, and professional weeper Glenn Beck took center stage at the Lincoln Memorial exactly forty-seven years to the day after Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech for a rally dedicated to “restoring honor,” which is tea party code for the otherwise unutterable idea: get that n-r out of the White House! (despite the attendance of a few African-American shills on the scene).
Eighty-seven thousand disoriented citizens lined the DC Mall reflecting pool and adjoining lawns to witness Beck overstep his role as a television clown and don the mantle of an evangelist-savior battling the dark forces working insidiously to put the America of WalMart, Walt Disney World, Nascar, and Burger King into the Collapsed Society Hall of Fame — where it’s heading anyway, due to the bad choices these self-same citizens made during an extraordinary bonanza era of cheap oil that is now drawing to a close whether anyone likes it or not. Naturally, Beck invoked prayer against this prospect, which is what people resort to when they don’t understand what is happening to them.
Beck himself just seems to be following a career arc more than really answering “a call.” The emptiness of his platitudes and the confusion of his ideas shows that he is just flexing his demagogic muscles in a moment when weepy bluster passes for heroism. Ten years ago he was a cringing drunk contemplating suicide. Then he went shopping in America’s Mall of Utopias for something to believe in and found Mormonism, a “religion” dreamed up by an imaginative young man on the agricultural frontier of western New York during an earlier age of ferment which — guess what — coincided with a decade of economic turbulence. (Anyone interested in the bizarre subject is advised to read Fawn Brodie’s excellent biography of Smith, No Man Knows My History [Knoph,1945].)

Bill Orvis White

August 30th, 2010
11:20 am

It’s true when the Honorable Reverend Franklin Graham says that it is the seed of the father that is passed to the son in the Muslim culture. There is no arguing this fact. The problem is that Rev. Graham didn’t go far enough to say that Hussein Obama is in fact a Muslim by blood and practice.
Does anyone want to hear the real story?
Barack Hussein Obama was born in the early 1960s – and we don’t know the exact date – in a Kenyan tribal ceremony. It is common knowledge in many Kenyan villages that little Hussein Obama jumped several feet out of his mother during the ceremony – so much so that the water that broke put out the flames that lit the event.
If anyone would do the proper research, he would find that this is truth, not a myth. What is also true is that the longform birth certificate does not exist. There isn’t one person on this planet who is able to furnish the documents. Go ahead and call me Bill the Birther and laugh, but folk like me get the last laugh because we’re right. So when there’s a jihadist rebellion on this soil in a year, don’t come crying to me. I won’t be there to protect you, thank you very much. I’ll be protecting my property and family.
Amen,
Bill

Jeb

August 30th, 2010
11:21 am

Is it illegal to have a Muslim president? Or G-D forbid a Jewish one? I missed that part of the Constitution. Bush was Christian. Look at how well that worked out!

lmno

August 30th, 2010
11:24 am

“So when there’s a jihadist rebellion on this soil in a year, don’t come crying to me. ”

Thanks for the warning. I will be sure to remember that. In fact let me write it down in my day planner.

“bill orvis- no help against imminent jihadist attack from President”

Thanks again!

Pamela

August 30th, 2010
11:31 am

OMG Are YOU PEOPLE EVER going to let this subject go????? President Obama IS a Christian…wow talking about racist people…I hope YOU PEOPLE do realize that white people are also muslim….I’m certain a lot of you ignorant people don’t realize that. He is a Christian and I am also a Christian and I do agree that a Muslim temple should be built next to where the twin towers used to stand..they have a right to do so….get over it people!!!

Guy Incognito

August 30th, 2010
11:32 am

Jim, and all the other OV’s on here…..the largest % people who say that B.O.(pew) is a Muslim got their info from his OWN words and actions

‘nuf said

Goobers

August 30th, 2010
11:34 am

Road Scholar

August 30th, 2010
11:35 am

“It’s true when the Honorable Reverend Franklin Graham says that it is the seed of the father that is passed to the son..”

Does that mean that all southern baptists are Klan members or sympathisers?

John K

August 30th, 2010
11:37 am

Are you sure Bill? I was going to ask for your address so I could come cry to you. :-(

SKB

August 30th, 2010
11:40 am

Obama doesn’t even have a US birth certificate. He has never shows where he is born, his school grades, and even his college essays. He has alot to hide, this man is a Muslim, he should not even be president of the US, they forgot to do a background check. He probably got acorn to bribe the electoral college to become elected…

SKB

August 30th, 2010
11:41 am

1/5 of Americans believe he is Muslim according to Fox News

S. Powell

August 30th, 2010
11:43 am

The media has wasted time and money to prove that President Obama is Muslim, so what?

John K

August 30th, 2010
11:44 am

You’re right skb. I even heard that his actual birth certificate lists Bin Laden as his father and Hillary Clinton as his mother.

B-fan

August 30th, 2010
11:44 am

Questioning the President’s religion plays into the hands of terrorists. By attaching a negative stigma to being Muslim, Al Qaeda and the Taliban turns it into evidence of America’s hatred of Islam. We’re showing the worst side of America to the world.

velvet elvis

August 30th, 2010
11:47 am

He smells like muslim.

Wendy Breeze

August 30th, 2010
11:53 am

Right up there with the “George Bush planned 9/11″ stupidity.

And Tonight's Winning Number Is...

August 30th, 2010
11:54 am

“1/5 of Americans believe he is Muslim according to Fox News”

And 1/4 of Americans believe the Lottery is a sound investment.

No more calls. We have a winner.

jconservative

August 30th, 2010
11:57 am

As I keep saying, people believe what they want to believe. If they do not have a reason for their belief, they simply make up one.

I have dozens of Baptist friends who believe that Mormons are not Christian. They were big Beck fans until I told them Beck was a convert to the Mormon faith. Now they do not like Beck or Romney.

I really must apologize to them for telling them that.

Now wait until they find out Palin was born in Russia and her parents moved to Alaska because they could see it from their Russian front porch.

Some who are worried about Obama’s religion need to worry about their own. For example, why are there no Protestants on the US Supreme Court? Do you believe it is some plot by Reagan and the Bush duo to eliminate the protestant denominations from the American landscape?

Just asking.

Bill

August 30th, 2010
11:59 am

I do not care what his religion is. What I care about is an economy in the pits (we are in a second recession, not linked to Bush), our military is getting pounded in Afganistan, crooks are still wide spread in Congress, my Mother lost her Medicare for her Alzheimers (she has to move out of the nursing home (funding is now on a wait list due to the 500 billion taken out), thank you Harry Reid, Nancy Polisi, and Mr President.

He can pray to a manhole cover for all I care, I just wish he would get his butt off the golf course, stop with the photo ops, and go to work.

qwerty

August 30th, 2010
12:03 pm

First of all, let’s be clear that the Beck-a-palooza wasn’t about faith. It was about getting people to be distracted from the anniversary of the complete FAILURE of REPUBLICANS in responding to Hurricane Katrina.

Second, Beck is not a person with any credibility on matters of faith. He has no theological education. He has not been a minister. I certainly would not turn to him for spiritual advice. And, even if he had those credentials, who is he to accuse anyone of turning away from God?

Third, I am still trying to figure out how Beck has any moral standing to talk about honor. When was it lost? And who appointed him to “restore” it? Was there a vote? I can think of at least 10 people I would have chosen — who have actual moral authority — instead of Beck.

Finally, it seems like this change to claim Beck-a-palooza as a “faith” event instead of a civil rights event is based on the incredibility of any link between Beck and Christianity. But, since Beck had the cajones to say “we started the civil rights movement”, I want proof. All of those involved in Beck-a-palooza should produce their bona fides and prove that they ever participated in a march for civil rights or a sit in or a voter registration drive for minorities. But claiming to be the genesis of the civil rights movement without proof is about like Sarah Palin saying that she has foreign policy experience based on a foreign border with Canada and Russia.

Saxby Chambliss

August 30th, 2010
12:03 pm

Americans have way too much time on their hands. News flash: Thomas Jefferson was a deist slave owner! George Washington never knelt to pray nor did he partake in the eucharist. Stom Thurmond fathered a child with a black teen age housekeeper. Today he would be charged with child abuse and statutory rape.

Marie

August 30th, 2010
12:11 pm

The worry for me is what lies beneath. Why does is matter what religion our president is, or if he has any at all? What is the push to “America Return to the Christian God?” What is to happen to Americans who are not Christians? What lies beneath all of this “sound and fury” is a push by some elements of the right, led by the Palins and Becks, etc to have a Christian theocracy in this country where they set up a Christian version of Sharia law. They would be worse than Iran or the Taliban. I know it is easy to sit back and laugh at the wackos in the tri-corn hats with their “take back the country” signs, but you cannot discount the danger. If you are not out there marching in lock-step with them, it is YOUR country they want to “take back.” And what do you think they will do with you when they do so? We really need to stand up and take a serious look at these people. Iran uses stones to execute those they think violate their religious laws. These people from the extreme right have already shown that they will be using guns.

Commonsenseagitator

August 30th, 2010
12:17 pm

It doesn’t matter why religion a president is, in fact it’s unconstitutional for religion to be a requirement for election to office. They won’t come out and say what’s on their small racist minds so they use this and the birth certificate as ammunition. It all comes down to the fact we have the first black president, and the Dixecrat republican party can’t handle that.

Commonsenseagitator

August 30th, 2010
12:20 pm

SKB what rock did you crawl out from under? You spout the stupidity that is a clear example of the far right.

LW

August 30th, 2010
12:21 pm

Christians are NOT pushing a Christian theocracy. They pushing a return to solid values and a less chaotic pluralistic, anarchial mindset, wherein there are no rules except the rules an individual chooses to impose upon himself and others. Narcissism? The BO is pushing a Muslim agenda. If you think this is just political games and rhetoric, you need to study Shariah law, and the consequences of living under that system of government. Islam is not only a religious viewpoint, it is a government as well. This new “government” is creeping into our nation and will soon overwhelm it if Americans do not educate thelmselves. You would not appreciate the enslavement of Shariah law. this is not about tolerance; this is about keeping this nation a free nation. Please start reading…or you may lose the “right” to choose to read.

DannyX

August 30th, 2010
12:21 pm

George W Bush is a gay Muslim, here is the proof.

1. He kissed the Saudi Arabian leader ON THE LIPS. Yep he planted a big wet kiss on the Muslim Saudi leader. He also walked around with the Muslim Saudi leader HOLDING HANDS.

2. Bush said this “”Islam brings hope and comfort to millions of people in my country, and to more than a billion people worldwide. Ramadan is also an occasion to remember that Islam gave birth to a rich civilization of learning that has benefited mankind.” WOW, Bush is a Muslim.

3. Bush hired his own journalist, Guckert/Gannon, a gay S&M/writer, who ended up spending many nights at the White House. Sadist=Muslims. S&M.

4. Ken Melman Bush’s ‘right hand’ man is openly gay.

5. Bush’s gay spiritual adviser, Reverend Ted Haggard, was forced to leave the Christian church. Haggard is definitely NOT a Christian. Bush’s own spiritual adviser is not a Christian!

6. Gay ex-Senator Larry Craig (Republican) once used the Air Force One bathroom, with Bush on board.

7 Bush selected a big time gay activist to be his Vice President, Dick Cheney. Cheney is evil just like Muslims, he once shot someone in the face.

8. Bush’s own wife supports gay marriage.

Does ANYBODY see ANYTHING Bush has done to show he is a straight Christian?

Wendy Breeze

August 30th, 2010
12:22 pm

Commonsenseagitator, and just what do you have to offer to the conversation other than the ignorant lefts’ standard “you’re stupid” response?

Commonsenseagitator

August 30th, 2010
12:23 pm

From the US Constitution
Article Six: Federal power
Main article: Article Six of the United States Constitution
See also: wikisource:Constitution of the United States of America#Article VI
Article Six establishes the Constitution, and the laws and treaties of the United States made according to it, to be the supreme law of the land, and that “the judges in every state shall be bound thereby, any thing in the laws or constitutions of any state notwithstanding.” It also validates national debt created under the Articles of Confederation and requires that all federal and state legislators, officers, and judges take oaths or affirmations to support the Constitution. This means that the states’ constitutions and laws should not conflict with the laws of the federal constitution and that in case of a conflict, state judges are legally bound to honor the federal laws and constitution over those of any state.

Article Six also states “no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.”

Not a democratic hack

August 30th, 2010
12:23 pm

Your left wing dribble is starting to make me sick…

Commonsenseagitator

August 30th, 2010
12:25 pm

Wendy, fact: The higher level of education the more likely to vote Democratic, the exceptions to this rule all live in the south so they’ll fit in with the uneducated masses

Al Gore

August 30th, 2010
12:26 pm

Thanks Jim for being the lapdog of the Democratic Party.
I know we can always count on you to lean left.

Al

granny godzilla

August 30th, 2010
12:28 pm

we must destroy capitalism and embrace socialism…

Wendy Breeze

August 30th, 2010
12:30 pm

Jim, how about talking about Obama’s failure to get us out of this recession, create jobs, and usher in an era of non-partisan togetherness as he promised? Jim’s BS is nothing but an attempt to distract those stupid enough to buy into it from the important issues of the day.

Aquagirl

August 30th, 2010
12:30 pm

Thanks, Jim, for catching that outright lie by Phil Kent. The only good part of it was it took time away from Jeff Dickerson’s shilling APS and DeKalb developers. Too bad you didn’t have time to appear on the Georgia Gang, the BS factor would be reduced exponentially.

It really isn’t long before our country collapses. Not from Marxism or any of those conservative boogymen, but from sheer willful ignorance. We’re not just treading on shaking ground, many people are gleefully running towards it.

Wendy Breeze

August 30th, 2010
12:31 pm

Commonsenseagitator, I take it you don’t vote then?….LOL…Just kidding…HAD to say it, though. :-)

Roach

August 30th, 2010
12:37 pm

Question Obama’s faith? Question his citizenship? I question his species. How do we know he’s human, or even from this planet at all? Where is the evidence? I demand that Obama prove he is a human born on this planet, without intervention by space aliens. I refuse to pay taxes or obey any laws until the government produces this evidence. And the same goes for Sonny Perdue.

Dan

August 30th, 2010
12:38 pm

Two points are important here:

1) President Obama has repeatedly and publicly declared his Christian faith.
2) Even if President Obama were a Muslim (which he isn’t), that would in no way disqualify him from being President.

More on these two points, plus other thoughts, in my recent Decatur News Online column:

http://www.decaturnewsonline.com/decatur_life/spirituality/article_fa8973b0-b2fa-11df-b5a3-001cc4c002e0.html

MikeMcCracken

August 30th, 2010
12:38 pm

DannyX – I think you’re gay.

T-Bone

August 30th, 2010
12:38 pm

Outstanding work, DannyX.

Roy Barnes

August 30th, 2010
12:39 pm

Jim,

Thanks for your complete commitment to the Democratic Party.
Keep drinking the Kool-Aid.

Roy

David Granger

August 30th, 2010
12:39 pm

Excellent post at 12:23, Commonsenseagigator. I’m a libertarian, and it’s nice to see a liberal who is so devoted to the Constitution as the supreme law of the land. (As opposed to just a judge’s whim, or opinion that the law SHOULD say something it clearly doesn’t.)
I do not believe President Obama is a Muslim. He states that he is a Christian, and that’s good enough for me. Professing a certain faith is all anyone can ever really do, since it’s impossible to see within a person’s heart. But as you point out, based on the Constitution’s clear words, it doesn’t matter one way or the other.
I also appreciate your pointing out (whether you intended to or not), that the Arizona illegal immigration law is perfectly valid under Article Six. This law does NOT conflict with federal immigration law, and is…in fact…an EXACT replication of it. It does not allow state law enforcement officials to do a single thing that federal immigration officials are not legally allowed to do…so it is quite plain that the laws do NOT conflict. The only difference is that it will now be enforced, whereas the federal government had been turning a blind eye and choosing NOT to enforce it.

mr

August 30th, 2010
12:47 pm

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GDAWG65

August 30th, 2010
12:51 pm

Obama’s religion is whatever serves him best at the time.

David S

August 30th, 2010
12:53 pm

Like everyone else in Washinton DC and virtually every state capitol in our nation, Obama worships at the alter of the almighty state. His religion is the religion of government. He believes that all blessings, knowledge, and rights eminate from the state. He is no Christian, but neither was his predecessor or the several dozen before him. They have all been bloodthirsty killers of innocents and the destroyers of freedom. That certainly was not the way of Christ. What you claim to be is immaterial. As they say, actions speak louder than words.

Saxby Chambliss

August 30th, 2010
12:53 pm

Get over it already. Mr. Obama was elected president of the USA in Nov of 08 with a healthy majority of the electoral college and 54% of the popular vote. Sling mud until the cows cime home if it makes you feel better. Just like all presidents before him entities that are responsible for vetting and overturning every stone did so and found nothing significant to keep him off the ballot. I understand demonizing Muslims is in vogue, and village idiots take pleasure in being led by their delusions. Village idiots you’re better off drinking Budwieser for the next two or six years. At least you will not just be stupid but drunk and stupid.

Brad

August 30th, 2010
12:54 pm

As long as Republicans waste their time on meaningless stuff like this it will be hard for them to when the next election. There are so many things wrong with the Obama Administration right now, why not attack on the issues? This stuff distracts and make right wingers look like looney toons to the people who are down the middle and the people in the middle are the ones that win elections.

David

August 30th, 2010
12:55 pm

I know it’s been ten years but can someone remind me when George Bush released his birth certificate?

songbird

August 30th, 2010
12:56 pm

I wonder how many of the Muslim haters/Fox News lovers know that a Saudi prince (Muslim) is the second largest stockholder in Fox News Corp?

Bama Boy

August 30th, 2010
12:57 pm

@ Pamela you are a IDIOT and a perfect example of everything wrong
with todays America

Just Peachy

August 30th, 2010
12:59 pm

Bill you couldn’t have said it better! I find it amazing people are even talking about this. My favorite are the so called “Christians” that are not pointing fingers at those that are Mormon, Jewish, etc. Get over yourselves! Last I looked what you’re referring to as “mormon” is the Church of Jesus Christ of Later Day Saints. The name in and of itself proclaims their christianity. Now here I go getting involved in these hateful comments. Imno when your day of judgment comes let me know how that works out for you.

Mr. KnowitAll

August 30th, 2010
1:05 pm

The WHOLE MAN is a fake. He is a completely EMPTY SUIT.

1. He doesn’t have, and spends millions to keep from showing–a STANDARD valid birth certificate.

2. He says he is Christian, but shows almost NO inclination for Christian beliefs.

3. Won’t come clean on how he traveled to Packistan on a US passport–OR how he got the money for international travel.

4. –says he made good enough grades to get from Occ. College to Columbia–but won’t show proof.

5. Says he attended Columbia, but won’t show his grades or proof he even attended class.

6. Says he made good enough grades at Columbia to get into Harvard Law–but won’t show his grades or ANY work effort while there.

7. Elected President of the Law Review, although the articles contributed prior to his election is few and shallow. Nothing of note:

7. Graduated from Harvard Law, but won;t show any work effort or grades, including thesis.

8. Attended Trinity Church–black theology fire-and-brimstone hate-filled diatribes against the USA from the pulpit. Hardly your standard Christian Church.

9. Used red-tape and trickery to eliminate opposition to his 1st run at the Ill. house. He got in unopposed and without a single debate.

10. Worked at a series of jobs with little to show for it–other than an extended working trip a south Pacific island, to write a thesis for Univ. of Chicago–without substantive result and payback to the university. Later, his book “Dreams of my Father” is published.

Folks, you don’t need a roadmap or dictionary to understand without equivocation and debate–this man’s background is a complete enigma and empty vessel.

We voted in a ghost with zero proof of who he really was—and now we know.

Corey

August 30th, 2010
1:05 pm

After leaving office Mr. Obama will travel the globe making mega millions giving speeches. While in Western Europe he will constantly have to deflect questions and criticisms of the xenophobic, simpleton mindset that has permeated American society with a Havardess response. Riddle me this? Why will Bush, Chenney et.al. not set foot on foreign soil? Can you say, “war crimes indictment”?

SKB

August 30th, 2010
1:05 pm

Brad, republicans are in favor to win the house in the next election, how do you explain that? American people want to know this man’s true identity. He supports islamic mosque on ground zero, while so many Americans oppose it. He is not with the
American people, he doesn’t understand us. This is a country found on Judea- Christian faith. He is turning America into a socialist state, as his policy indicates. let’s be honest here.. With out Acorn’s corruption hen could never be president.

Truthpaste

August 30th, 2010
1:07 pm

@Bama boy. Once again, you spit in the cup, not drink out of the spit cup. You are out of touch with yourself, the constitution, and the rest of the world.

Reason has left the building.

August 30th, 2010
1:09 pm

I simply have no words.

Bill Orvis White

August 30th, 2010
1:11 pm

The biggest loss is the Honorable Senator Daniel Weber. He is a fine man who cared about his consituents, God, family and Pat Boone CDs.
God Bless you and your family Senator Weber,
Bill

Gary

August 30th, 2010
1:13 pm

He is a Christian because it helps him politically. I believe, with no real evidence or proof, that most liberal Harvard elites are athists or at the least agnostics. That however, does not make him a bad person or president. His actions make him a bad president. But again, that is just my perception. Not because Fox or Rush told me. The media is acting like it is some sort of conspiracy. I think there are a lot of people sitting in church on Sunday who regularly question their faith. Many who are there for a spouse or their kids but do not really believe.

Will Jones - Atlanta Jeffersonian Exegesis

August 30th, 2010
1:14 pm

There is only one Creator, G-d of the universe, the proclaimed “King of America.” All sectarian creeds in the United States of America are inferior to the three mottoes by which patriot Americans “re-connect” with “that Infinite Power Which rules the destinies of the universe,” The American Creed:

“Annuit Coeptis,” the Creator, G-d of the universe, alone, in covenant with The Founders, is the Origin and Source of all our blessings: Justice pursued, Righteousness established, and Evil abolished through the guidance of an inspired and enlightened Electorate:

“E Pluribus Unum” – The People – in conscious awareness and rejection of “pseudo aristoi” – sovereign individuals, the yeoman artistry: one new Nation under G-d alone, “The Garden of the World,” into which all nations of the world flow:

“Novus Ordo Seclorem” (The New Secular Order) – Supplanting for all time History’s default system of rule, caesaropapism, in whatever guise, faction, or iteration, the Ancien Régime’s “Old Sectarian Order” fascist plutocracy;

That faction is the “Fifth Column” of the Roman Anti-Christ, for which James Guckert’s 9/11-committing White House lover, George W. Bush – whose father assassinated John Kennedy to send us to die for papal Vietnam and to restore the Vatican’s bankers to their illegal and unconstitutional control of our money (ended for a time by President Kennedy), and whose grandfather was money conduit from the Vatican banker Rockefellers’ coffers and the Roman Catholic Church collection plates in America to the author of “I Paid Hitler,” papal baron Fritz “The Rockefeller of Germany” Thyssen – and, born and raised Roman Catholic (no doubt in recovery given his history of abuse and addiction) Glen Beck work. Did you never wonder why only Roman Catholics on the Supreme Court voted in the criminal majority on ‘Bush v. Gore’ and ‘Citizens United’?

“…a faction has entered into a conspiracy with the enemies of their country to chain down the Legislature at the feet of both…” T.J. to James Madison, March 1796

Any attempting to place any creed above the American Creed is a foreigner or a traitor and should be regarded as such.

spectator

August 30th, 2010
1:16 pm

I see the 30% minority (left wing liberals/socialists)is very strident and vocal today. Have you noticed that the nearer we come to their overwhelming defeat in Nov. elections and 2012 election the more frantic and hysterical their defense of “all things Obama” becomes? Thanks for the good laughs, lefties.

Will Jones - Atlanta Jeffersonian Exegesis

August 30th, 2010
1:22 pm

Divide and conquer, eh “spectator?” If Obama weren’t just the lesser evil working for the same fascist plutocracy’s “Democrat branch,” Bush and Cheney would already have hanged for 9/11. Guess you felt George W. Bush’s getting cheated into office by the Roman Catholics on the Supreme Court after dodging the draft and staying drunk was OK. You also had no problem with his White House overnights with his $200/hr homosexual prostitute James Guckert/Jeff Gannon. A “bird” of your kind of “Christianity,” right?

James P. Jackson

August 30th, 2010
1:22 pm

Be advised that the AJC is the political rag of the Democrat Party.

Will Jones - Atlanta Jeffersonian Exegesis

August 30th, 2010
1:24 pm

As if your saying it made it so.

Jon Lester

August 30th, 2010
1:35 pm

Can you imagine how Thomas Paine would be treated if he lived in our time and “The Age of Reason” were a new book?

I heard recently that there’s an agnostic candidate for prime minister in Australia who’s polling rather well, which I didn’t expect to see happen this soon. I think America is still decades away from seeing the same thing happen here.

songbird

August 30th, 2010
1:38 pm

religion is the root of all evil, bring on the agnostics.

Will Jones - Atlanta Jeffersonian Exegesis

August 30th, 2010
1:44 pm

To be agnostic in America is ignorance or a rejection of the Founders’ covenant, and cosmological common sense. No sense reinventing the wheel. Deists were called Deists because they believed in the Deity. Get It? There is but one G-d, and America, the prophesied New Israel, insofar as we pursue Justice, Establish Righteousness in Truth, and abolish Evil, is G-d’s Country – and shall be blessed by divine Providence accordingly. Think this is not a rational universe? Any with a different take on the Creed, Covenant, Founding and Constitution doesn’t have much claim to the name “American,” by G-d.

John K

August 30th, 2010
1:45 pm

It would be interesting to see what would happen if so many of these folks got their wish and we did live in a Christian Theocracy. Can you imagine the infighting? The claims of who is and who is not a Christian? All the blowhards proclaiming they have the direct pipeline to God? They would destroy themselves.

Maybe it’s something worth suffering through to finally get to the other side. One of rational thought where people who choose to prescribe to a religion keep it as it was meant to be: personal.

No Use For a Name

August 30th, 2010
1:46 pm

The Augusta Chronicle was on the verge of bankruptcy. Now it seems to be morally bankrupt, as the only way it can get hits or page views is publishing this crap. To the employees of the Chronicle: Some of y’all are good people, but you now work for the most craptacular paper in the state.

lmno

August 30th, 2010
1:54 pm

“Imno when your day of judgment comes let me know how that works out for you.”

OK, I will remember to do that. I hope it works out well for me and that I am not judged to harshly for not believing that Jesus came to America 1800 years ago and that dark skinned people are the result of people turning from God.

Brad

August 30th, 2010
2:05 pm

SKB-You explain that by record unemployment, bogus stimulus package, unwanted healthcare reform package, etc, etc. We can go on and on on his failures. Stick to the issues. What if he was a Muslim? You can’t impeach him based on that so why waste the time. Americans will vote Obama out of office based on his abysmal record.

duke

August 30th, 2010
2:12 pm

We are indeed treading shaky ground, Jim. Future historians will marvel that the news media so completely abdicated their responsibility to investigate candidate Obama. We have elected a man President without knowing anything at all about his background. I know quite a bit about it, Jim, but no thanks to you or your colleagues in the mainstream news media.

Obama is a radical progressive socialist, bordering on communist. His own autobiography openly confirms what anyone knows who has done due diligence: from his youth unto this day, Obama has openly sought out hardline communists for his closest friends and advisors. He has appointed them to key positions, and they are implementing the communist agenda. Government has taken control of banking and finance, automotive, health care, and a number of smaller industries. Next on the list, energy; and next, I predict, will be food.

Obama’s pastor in Chicago, Jeremiah Wright, preaches Black Liberation Theology. It is communist ideology expressed in Christian terminology, with a nasty racial twist.

Obama is as much Muslim as he is Christian. He was born to a Muslim father, was given a Muslim name, and spent several of his most formative years in a Muslim school in a Muslim country. He probably tells Muslims in private that he is a Muslim. Some prominent Muslims have asserted that he told them he was. He is probably sincere when he claims to be a Christian or a Muslim, because he has no idea what it means to be a true believer. He sees every religion as a different way to express the same truth, namely, his socialist utopian vision.

Obama could end the birth certificate controversy by simply releasing his long-form birth certificate, as John McCain was required to do. But Obama has spent millions of dolllars in attorney fees to keep secret that and all other documents concerning his past.

Road Scholar

August 30th, 2010
2:19 pm

SKB: “American people want to know this man’s true identity. He supports islamic mosque on ground zero, while so many Americans oppose it.” The proposed mosque is 2 blocks away from ground zero! You still have to walk past strip clubs and hookers to travel there from Ground Zero! How far away (# of blocks) is sensitive?

“He is not with the American people, he doesn’t understand us.” He is an American; he doesn’t walk with you because he’s the president!

“This is a country found on Judea- Christian faith.” No, the country was founded based on freedom of religion. ALL religions!

” He is turning America into a socialist state, as his policy indicates. let’s be honest here..” Obama has been a moderate since day one of his presidency. If you don’t like the “socialist” programs, do not partake in Social Security, Medicare, welfare, unemployment, FDIC rights, our defense, etc.

“With out Acorn’s corruption hen could never be president.” Substitute Republican incompetence for Acorn’s corruption.

Wow! How could you be so wrong (and so uninformed) in your original post? You don’t have to answer. You may wear yourself out! Oh, and hold the insults!

Jon Lester

August 30th, 2010
2:51 pm

Anyone who thinks Obama is a communist is in dire need of remedial studies. I’m not convinced he’s even very liberal.

Jon Lester

August 30th, 2010
2:53 pm

The linguistic roots of the names “Barack” and “Hussein” were in existence for a very long time before the seventh century AD.

Voice of Reason

August 30th, 2010
3:20 pm

Why the hell does it matter whether or not the president is a Christian? Is there some rule that the president MUST be a Christian? Personally, I believe him when he says he’s a Christian, but even if he wasn’t, it would not bother me because I am open-minded enough to realize that a person’s religion is a private issue in his or her life, and it rarely affect’s one’s job performance. Why can’t you people just worship in your own way and stop worrying about how other people worship? It should not concern you! Who cares if Obama is or isn’t Christian? As long as it doesn’t affect his job performance, I don’t give a $#!t what religion he is. Remember, folks, Jesus said, “Love thy neighbor as thyself.” That means people of ALL religions, not just Christians.

Believing

August 30th, 2010
4:28 pm

Barack Hussein Obama is the President of the United States because it is God’s Will

SAME STUFF

August 30th, 2010
6:02 pm

He is Presdent Obama to all of you idiots!

I am boycotting the TEA BAGGERS PARTY AND THEIR BACKERS! Let them see how it feels when we call them out.

Atlanta and people with sense, let’s boycott GP and the Koch Brothers for helping create this atmosphere…

They are rich and don’t give a rat’s azz about anyone… Typical….

Don’t believe me, read this:

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2010/08/30/100830fa_fact_mayer?printable=true

JL

August 30th, 2010
8:44 pm

One of the comments mentioned that the President did not release all of his transcripts. Neither did McCain or Palin. Palin’s would have been interesting because she transferred so many times so you would have had grades and grades and grades and grades and grades. Fortunately she only had her BA which I congratulate her on but can you imagine more transcripts.

Sabagio Mauraeno

August 30th, 2010
9:39 pm

I’m Muslim. My parents met in the US after immigrating from Romania and Indonesia. They came from countries where freedom of religion didn’t happen. Religious tolerance was what they found here. That’s what I was taught, anyway. Lately, really the last several years, I haven’t seen much of it, if news reports are any indication. My question then, to the editors, is: In your faith and values section of the paper, could you reserve space for discussion of Muslim family values and their views on the role of citizens in the community? Has it ever been tried? Don’t you think it’s time to give peace, love and understanding a chance?

Sabagio Mauraeno

Elaine

August 31st, 2010
1:34 pm

I am so against Roy Barnes running for Governor again that it just infuriates me to think his smug self would even think of it. He is even displaying the real Georgia Flag in his web site instead of that ugly blue one he tried to shove down our throats. I sent him an email telling him:
You should be ashamed of yourself trying to run for Governor of Georgia again. Then you have the audacity display the true Georgia State Flag instead of that ugly blue flag that you tried to force on us. You are just like Obama you want to do what you think is best instead of listening to the people. I promise you I am doing everything I can to keep you from being re-elected again. My suggestion for you is to drop out of the race. After we got you out of office the last time I thought we were through with you. You are like a disease that you cannot get rid of.
He thought he was the King of Georgia the last time. I hope people won’t forget the way he wanted to rule the last time in office.

Been Around-Done That

August 31st, 2010
3:21 pm

Been Around-Done That

August 31st, 2010
3:31 pm

Stumbled on this thread by accident and read a few comments before I realized that most of the posters are either modern day Pharisees (extreme ruight wingers) or modern day Sadducees (extreme left wingers) who apparently spend their time throwing nonsense at each other while our state and nation goes down in flames lit by the “Nero like” Congressional dummies in both parties. I believe that if Jesus suddenly returned you birds would form an alliance to get out the two by fours, hammers, and nails. Lucky for Him it will be His “second coming” as Judge of us all and that is a whole new ballgame! Keep on with your verbal fiddling fellows while our modern day Rome burns down around your collective ears!