The Washington Post is slowly wheeling out their responses to various rips on their integrity for printing rumors about Senator Obama on their front page. Peter Baker for the Washington Post's Trail Blog:
Any reasonable reading of the story makes clear they are not true. Right there in the second paragraph, it says Obama is a member of the United Church of Christ in Chicago. In other words, a Christian, not a Muslim. And yet the bloggers seem to think readers are so stupid they will actually think the Post is saying the opposite.
Yeah, Peter, then Bacon's article continued by printing ANONYMOUS rumors suggesting the UCC affiliation is just a ruse and a front. To wit:
Another e-mail, on a site called Snopes.com that tracks Internet rumors, starts, "Be careful, be very careful." It notes that "Obama takes great care to conceal the fact that he is a Muslim," and that "since it is politically expedient to be a Christian when you are seeking political office in the United States, Obama joined the United Church of Christ to help purge any notion that he is still a Muslim."
Furthermore, Peter, bloggers don't think readers are stupid. Readers don't print anonymous horseshit on the front pages of major newspapers. Especially anonymous horseshit about a Democratic candidate who is falsely, subversively and ANONYMOUSLY accused of being an Islamic terrorist.
Maybe it's the Washington Post that's stupid for not recognizing the national hysteria and fear surrounding the war on terror, and how such a story could inflame and incite jingoistic vigilantes and anti-Islamic bigots. Some readers -- perhaps certain people whose neck is redder than most -- might skim through the item and see what they want to see.
Another response appeared on the Post Political Hour. BarbinMD at Kos asks when the Post will cover several other rumors on the internets.
When do you suppose the Washington Post will print a front page item about Rudy Giuliani's rumored desire to be a woman?