Obama

I am writing this because I keep getting the same email over and over again. At first I disregarded it, because, well I almost never read email forwards (sorry to all that send them to me but I don't really have time). Once I noticed that I was getting the same email over and over again I decided to read the damn thing.

When I read it, I asked around and read a few websites to see if the information was true. I do this research, because I do not take rumor as truth. I do not believe someone did or said something unless I see it for myself. Once I had read a great deal of information and came to the conclusion that the information was false, I went on with my life. Today I got the email again, this time it was sent to me more as a question of is this true or not, so here is my answer.
In regards to the email about Barrack Obama not saluting the flag and not saying the anthem, because he is unpatriotic and a terrorist (I am paraphrasing here), from what I have read it is all untrue. Yes, in that particular picture he does not have his hand over his heart but I have found countless other pictures where he does. In the same picture one of the senators has his hand over his heart but is not looking in the direction, Obama, Hilary and the others are, and where I am assuming another flag is. I am assuming that they are looking in the direction of this other flag, because if not they should be facing behind them. The flag behind them is the flag they should be saluting to. If Obama is being unpatriotic here then the same claim could be made about the senator who is not facing the flag. I am not making this claim, because I feel that both ideas are ridiculous, I am just pointing out the possible flow of logic.

If the fact that Obama does not have his hand over his heart offends you, then President Bush should also offend you, because there is a picture of him not doing the same thing.

As to the claim that Obama does not say the national anthem, that is apparently untrue also. There are videos all over the net that show him doing this.
All of this aside, the biggest constant that I have found on this topic is that every website, I have looked at so far, claims this email to be a hoax. "No, Barack Obama didn't really say these ridiculous things. The words were put in his mouth by conservative humorist John Semmens (see his October 27, 2007 column, "Semi-News, on the Arizona Conservative website). The intent was satirical" (about.com). The comment was as far I can tell supposed to be a joke but someone took it out of context and ran with it. Please be informed that this happens all the time on all sides of the political lines.
My point in no way is to push my beliefs of presidential choices on anyone. My point is to simply inform. I am of the opinion that as long as someone votes for a presidential nominee based on actual political issues than that is all that matters. A person should not get your vote based on their age, sex, color, if their child is a teenager and pregnant, how many homes they have, how much money they have, what someone else did ten years before for they met them or even a year before they met them, what their parents or grandparents religion, political or any other beliefs where.


If we were to base our opinions of others on such things then most of you would hate me. My grandfather, future mother in-law, and my fiancé’s neighbors are all extremely racist. I attended a church were the preacher said things that were in direct offense to Jesus himself. My father had at times extreme religious views that would, if they were true, have me going to hell for every single thing I do, say, or think. I could go on but I hope you get my point. There are a lot of people in my life that I disagree with on a large number of topics and on a large number of things I agree with them on. Their views in no way reflect my own. Just I am sure that the views of some of the people at McCain's rallies are in no way his personal views and the same goes for people that Obama know.
All I am trying to say is that you should vote for people based on politics. Which candidate you feel will take care of you. Which, economic policy you believe will help you, which health-care policy will help you, and so on. You should also be well informed on these topics. I feel that factcheck.org is one of the best unbiased sites to go to. It will tell you if what Obama said about McCain is true or if what McCain said about Obama is true. It will even tell you what they say about themselves is true. Although, you also should never take one sites word on something to be the whole truth, you should always read multiple sites, read everyone's point of view and take your conclusions from there.
I realize this is a lot to ask of most people and is a very idealistic way to look at things. I know that we do not always have time to check everything everyone says, but please remember this is America and these men are not your average Joe/Jane off of the street, they have experience, they have knowledge and we as Americans would never have let them get this far in our government if they were actually terrorist, unpatriotic, un-American, un-anything. Therefore, if you get information, especially information like this, please check the information.

http://urbanlegends.about.com/od/barackobama/a/obama_anthem.htm www.snopes.com/politics/obama/anthem.asp
www.factcheck.org

Talisman