Hugh Hollowell

I tend to be very NOT political. Politicians do what they do, and being mad about that is sorta like being mad the grass is green.

When I was a small lad, (I think it was the 1980 presidential election) I remember asking my mom who she had just cast her vote for, and she told me that was private and that you never had to explain to anyone who you had voted for. That always made an impression on me, and to this day, I am very closed mouthed about who I will (or have) voted for.

Today, I got an email from a high school friend who I reconnected with last year. Now, I am on her email list, where she forwards me dire warnings of computer viruses,  various urban legends and poems about Jesus superimposed over huge memory hogging pictures that end with the admonition that if I too love Jesus, I will forward the email to every person I know, post haste. Normally, I just hit the delete button. I am sure you do too.

Today I was informed by an email she forwarded to me that Barak Obama is the anti-christ.  Who knew? Maybe he is, I do not know. Heck, for all I know, you are the anti-christ. However, there were a lot of allegations in the email that I have heard again and again and are just plain untrue.

For instance, Barak Obama  is NOT a Muslim, radical or any other sort. He is an active, baptized member of the United Church of Christ, a rather liberal mainstrean Christian Church, and has been for over 20 years.

Barak Obama was NOT sworn in to office on a koran.  That was Keith Ellison, from Minnesota.

Yes, his middle name is Hussein. So What! One of my best friend’s middle name is Sherman, but that does not mean he burnt Atlanta.

He has NEVER refused to say the Pledge of Allegiance. He has NEVER refused to put his hand over his heart when saying the Pledge. The infamous picture you have no doubt seen was during the singing of the National Anthem. The last football game I went to, well over half the people did not cover their heart with their hand during the singing of the Star Spangled Banner.  Many of them went to get beer and peanuts. Give the guy a break, for crying out loud.

His father is NOT from the Middle East. He is from Kenya, which is to the Middle East what Mississippi is to Wisconsin. This I found curious, but if you cannot be bothered to do research, I guess geography is beyond your reach as well.

Look, next time you want to forward me a dire warning about people stealing kidneys, Obama being the Anti-Christ or some dying kid who will get free chemo if I save my coke can tabs, check it out first on Snopes.com. You will save yourself much embarrassment.

For example: http://snopes.com/politics/obama/