Why Bush Could Defend Islam More Easily Than Obama Can
Both President Barack Obama and former President George W. Bush can say they have visited a mosque as president. Can you guess which one has gotten slammed for it by today's presidential candidates? Need a hint?
"Maybe he feels comfortable there," said Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.
Ha. Ha. Yes, The Donald is implying that the president is a Muslim, a myth that is so absurd -- yet so widely believed -- that even the president pokes fun at it. Humor can be an effective rejoinder to such idiocy, except to those who suffer from irony deficit disorder, a common malady on the extreme edges of politics. They can't take a joke.
Throughout his presidency Obama, a Christian, has pushed back against that Muslim myth and the equally false claim that he is not a naturally born American citizen. That claim was famously advanced without evidence by Trump, among others.
Asked more recently about it, Trump scoffed, saying he doesn't "talk about that anymore." Sure. He doesn't have to. Polls suggest a substantial number of Republicans -- and even a few Democrats -- think one or both of these canards are true. Some people believe what they want to believe with a rigor that no hard evidence to the contrary can penetrate.
Obama acknowledged that tangle of lies in good humor during his speech at the Islamic Center of Baltimore, a major house of worship and community service center in the town that calls itself "Charm City."
Even Thomas Jefferson, Obama noted, had also been accused of being a Muslim back in the polarized political atmosphere of his day.
Obama can relate. Calling Obama a Muslim has become a lifestyle choice for many folks, a way of announcing where you stand on today's political spectrum.
We have come to expect that sort of cynical birther fraud from Trump, who seldom allows facts to get in the way of his cheap shots.
But it was deeply disappointing to hear Sen. Marco Rubio, who usually is a classier act, deliver a blow just as low as Trump's with higher-minded language. Without going full birther, Rubio on the evening after Obama spoke simply misrepresented what Obama said
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