Some Barack Obama critics have made up a bunch of lies about him being a secret Muslim. The stories are bogus, and have been debunked repeatedly.
But that didn't stop the Washington Post from running an inexplicable front-page story.
Despite his denials, rumors and e-mails circulating on the Internet continue to allege that Obama (D-Ill.) is a Muslim, a "Muslim plant" in a conspiracy against America, and that, if elected president, he would take the oath of office using a Koran, rather than a Bible, as did Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), the only Muslim in Congress, when he was sworn in earlier this year.
Despite his "denials"? What about "despite reality"? The words "lie" and "deception" were conveniently left out of the lengthy piece.
BarbinMD has a great post on this: "[A] front page story about rumors. Actually, calling them rumors gives them too much credence. It would be more accurate to call them blatant lies, yet the Washington Post has decided to give them a national platform. The only thing missing from this story is the siren at the top of the page."
To borrow a line from Prof. DeLong, "Why oh why can't we have a better press corps?"
