The Truth about Barack Obama

You know, I don't get very caught upin voicing political sides
very often because it's usually a bad idea because everyone
has their own opinion and views but the other day I got an
email forwarded to me saying some reallybad stuff circulating
via email,an alleged quote from Barack Obamaexplaining why he
doesn't wear a flag pin or salute the flag during the national
anthem. So I was interested and decided to google the subject
to be enlightened further. I've learned, as maybe you all have
too that you can't believe everything you hear especially when
it comes to politics but I believe that you can still find the
truth and the internet is the best source at my fingertips to
start searching on. So what I found out was that the original
email completely misquoted what Barach Obama actually said as
confirmed by Urbanlegends.about.com

http://urbanlegends.about.com/od/barackobama/a/obama_anthem.htm


So Barack Obama did not say these things, in the context as it
was presented. The words were put in his mouth by conservative
satirist John Semmens (see his October 27, 2007 column, "Semi-
News, on the Arizona Conservative website).

Semmens was poking fun at two of the candidate's actions
during the presidential campaign that werewidely perceived as
insufficiently patriotic: his decision to stop wearing a U.S.
flag pin, and his failure to place his hand over his heart
during a rendition of the national anthem at a public event in
2007.

Of the first, his actual explanation went as follows:

"You know, the truth is that right after 9/11, I had a pin.
Shortly after 9/11, particularly because as we're talking about
the Iraq War, that became a substitute for I think true
patriotism, which is speaking out on issues that are of
importance to our national security, I decided I won't wear that
pin on my chest. Instead, I'm going to try to tell the American
people what I believe will make this country great, and hopefully
that will be a testimony to my patriotism."
(ABC News, Oct. 4, 2007)

As to the second point, the implication that Obama has taken an
ideological position against following protocol during the
national anthem is misleading. He was caught on film once singing
along with the anthem instead of putting his hand over his heart,
but on other occasions before and since, he was photographed doing
the latter. An Obama aide offered this explanation:

"Sometimes he does, sometimes he doesn't [put his
hand on his heart]. In no way was he making any sort
of statement, and any suggestion to the contrary is
ridiculous." (Inside Edition, October 23, 2007)

So, that is just an excerpt of the full article which you can
also read on the attached link for what Obama actually said, as
confirmed by urbanlegends.about.com

http://urbanlegends.about.com/od/barackobama/a/obama_anthem.htm

And while you're there read all the other misquoted incorrect
things about him, heck go read them about John McCain, Hillary,
and even Mitt Romney too, there's tons of crap out there that
people spew then quote as truth but they are frequently wrong.

There is too much at stake with the upcoming election and it's
too important to just believe everything that comes our way.
With the internet today, you can quickly find accurate info
about what was actually said and not just believe forwarded
emails like this claiming to be "the truth."

The bottom line is that come November, we have to vote on the
best candidate to get us out of this terrible mess that George
Bush has gotten us into.

Search, ponder, and pray if you must but by all means don't
get so caught up in right-wing, left-wing allegiance to miss
the truth. Now that's all I've got to say about it so thanks
for listening. What do you guys think about this?