Debunking anti-Obama e-mails

The e-mail continues:

Michele Obama clearly has a chip on her shoulder. Not only does she see separate black and white societies in America, but she elevates black over white in her world. Here is another passage that is uncomfortable and ominous in meaning: "There was no doubt in my mind that as a member of the black community, I am obligated to this community and will utilize all of my present and future resources to benefit the black community first and foremost." What is Michelle Obama planning to do with her future resources if she's first lady that will elevate black over white in America?

This isn't particularly subtle, even by the standards of the e-mail. The message is almost as clear as in the rumors, which the campaign denied, that some tape exists of Michelle Obama ranting about "whitey" -- it's basically, "watch out, white people." (And cue up the image of Obama with an Afro and a machine gun, burning an American flag as she fist-bumps her husband in the Oval Office.)

But in the actual text of the thesis, Obama had distanced herself from the "ominous" passage cited here. The line the e-mail quotes actually begins, "Earlier in my college career," and segues into a section where Obama acknowledges that her time at Princeton had given her the same kind of bourgeois values as her classmates of any race -- she was mostly concerned with getting a prestigious job or going to another elite school for a graduate degree.

The following passage appears to be a call to arms for affirmative action policies that could be the hallmark of an Obama administration. "Predominately white universities like Princeton are socially and academically designed to cater to the needs of the white students comprising the bulk of their enrollments."

That's a stretch; if anything, that line calls for universities to do more to help nonwhite students cope with their minority status on campus (and given that virtually every university in the country has an office that does just that, it's hardly a radical idea). Meanwhile, Barack Obama has been open enough to the idea of changing race-based affirmative action that it's drawing some attention. When his daughters apply to college, Obama has said, they shouldn't benefit from affirmative action admissions programs, because of their privileged upbringing.

The conclusion of her thesis is alarming. Michelle Obama's poll of black alumni concludes that other black students at Princeton do not share her obsession with blackness. But rather than celebrate, she is horrified that black alumni identify with our common American culture more than they value the color of their skin. "I hoped that these findings would help me conclude that despite the high degree of identification with whites as a result of the educational and occupational path that black Princeton alumni follow, the alumni would still maintain a certain level of identification with the black community. However, these findings do not support this possibility." Is it no wonder that most black alumni ignored her racist questionnaire? Only 89 students responded out of 400 who were asked for input.

This section takes an accurate quote, twists it into a different context, and runs with it. Obama isn't "horrified" in the thesis; while she finds that black Princeton alumni identify less with the black community than they did in college, she realizes that doesn't mean much. "I now believe it is incorrect to assume that just because a Black individual does not enjoy or choose to participate in the culture of his people, that that individual is not interested in benefiting that group of people," she writes just after the line quoted. "The inability to identify with one aspect of the Black culture does not necessarily cause apathy towards Blacks in general."

Michelle Obama does not look into a crowd of Obama supporters and see Americans. She sees black people and white people eternally conflicted with one another. The thesis provides a trove of Mrs. Obama's thoughts and world view seen through a race-based prism. This is a very divisive view for a potential first lady that would do untold damage to race relations in this country in a Barack Obama administration.

Michelle Obama's intellectually refined racism should give all Americans pause for deep concern. Now maybe she's changed, but she sure sounds like someone with an axe to grind with America. Will the press let Michelle get a free pass over her obviously racist comment about American whites? I am sure that it will.

Up to the very end, the author wants you to believe that the thesis -- which has been misrepresented throughout the e-mail -- proves something conclusive about Obama's worldview now. Never mind what the thesis actually says; the author's cards are on the table, and they're of the race variety. Under the guise of sounding concerned about Obama's anti-white racism, the e-mail plays on racism of a more conventional kind.

The final paragraph hits the trifecta: Not only is Obama an intellectual (and so automatically suspect), she's also a racist and anti-American. As the Democratic convention begins next week, no wonder you'll see a heavy emphasis on both Obamas' backgrounds and life stories (and a prime time speech by Michelle on the opening night). For the potentially millions of people who've read this e-mail or one like it, it'll be their first chance to meet Michelle Obama, someone they may believe they already know.

The other e-mail goes after Barack Obama directly instead of his wife, but to get there, it smears all American Muslims first (after all, the author says, Obama's a Muslim, too). It's less based on truth than the Michelle Obama e-mail, and part of it seems to be clipped from an earlier more generic anti-Muslim message:

CAN MUSLIMS BE GOOD AMERICANS?

This is very interesting and we all need to read it From start to Finish and send it on to anyone who will read It. Maybe this is why our American Muslims are so quiet and Not speaking out about any atrocities. Can a good Muslim be A good American? This question was forwarded to a friend who worked in Saudi Arabia for 20 years. The following is his reply:

Next page: "Obama even says if he wins the election, he will be sworn in on the Quran -- not a Bible!"