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Poll Finds 23 Percent of Texans Think Obama is Muslim

A University of Texas poll has found that 23 percent of Texans are convinced that Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama is a Muslim. Only 45 percent of the people polled correctly identified Obama as a Protestant Christian. Nationwide, the number of people who believe in the "Secret Muslim Conspiracy" is about the same as those who believe that the moon landing was faked (5-10 percent), which makes the high numbers in Texas unusual.

8 of 562 comments (clear)

  1. Re:How could 63% of people be wrong? by Geoffrey.landis · · Score: 4, Interesting

    What about the entire Austrian school, which holds that government meddling is what caused the crisis and more meddling can only make things worse?

    That answer does not address the question. The question asked for a specific "serious economist or capitalist", not a generic "school."

    Is there a specific person representing this "Austrian school" who is quoted in a reliable source as saying that no action was a valid alternative?

    That means, quoted recently, specificly addressing this crisis; not quotes showing they said years ago "well, in the future when the mortgage default crisis is going to cause a liquidity crisis in the world, our theoretical analysis is going to recommend that no action should be taken."

    --
    http://www.geoffreylandis.com
  2. Re:I guess I'm not suprised by geekoid · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Um, illegal immigarants sdo not take jobs away from Americans, in fact they do jobs Americans wont.
    The old ways were the best. The came into the country, they did seasonal work no one else would, and take cash back toMexico where it improved there live and allowed communities to grow to a point where they culd start making things better, which means less immigrants.
    Then Reagan fucked that up pandering to ignorant fears. So now it's a one way trip.

    Two years ago there were whole fields rotting becasue there where no immigrants, and no locals would pick cabbage.
    The farmer was offering 10 - 12 and hour PLUS benefits. Acres just rotted.

    Now you could argue that they shuodl pay for, except farming respond to other fixed factors.

    I wonder what people would do when all there produce started costing 5 times + in price?

    Have you ever picked? I have, for 3 hours and walked away. It's a damn tough job, and anyone who could would find other work for the price.

    Immigrants I have lived near have all been hard working people, doing crap jobs and instilling strong work ethic into their kids so their kids don't have to pick.

    Really, there needs to be a quick to get seasonal Visa for farm workers.

    "Our federal government hands out money hand over fist for welfare, health benefit and education to people that have no legal right to be here."

    No, not really to that degree. Also, people who work here pay taxes on their income. They will never get SS, but they pay into it.

    Besides, since they can't reasonably go back after season anymore, they stay. This wouldn't be an issue if they could go back.

    Add to that the fact that the cost of securing the border would be more then the money immigrants might be getting in services.

    It's not like they come here and take bankers job, or tech jobs.

    Don't even get me started on what it would take to send them all back.

    --
    The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
  3. Re:Forget black or female president... by Kandenshi · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I'm a weak atheist, but I think that the goal of 'a candidate's religious orientation does not matter' isn't really a desirable one. If someone's religion explicitly commands abhorrant things(eg: kill anyone who wears the colour blue) then we should be rather wary of electing them to office. The religious views of people do influence their thoughts and actions, and those actions can affect me rather directly. Religion itself isn't the issue, rather the type of religion someone belongs to(and the beliefs it advocates) is.

    As well, I'd argue that there have already been atheist/agnostic people as president of the USA. While seperate, many of the founding fathers were at the least deists, believing that God has no influence on the universe, having set it in motion.

    However I agree that someone who went around openly proclaiming they don't believe in God would stand very very little chance of getting elected as president currently.

    After all, atheists are usually really elitist, right? -_- While the movie had some issues, I've long been fond of a quote from senator Gracchus in the film Gladiator.
    "I do not pretend to be a man of the people. But I do try to be a man for the people."
    Why should it be a bad thing for someone to be from the "elite"(whatever that means) as long as they're trying their best to be FOR the people?

  4. Re:I guess I'm not suprised by Gordonjcp · · Score: 4, Interesting

    In a market economy, that's a clear example of not paying sufficiently.

    So how much are you prepared to pay for your cabbage? Farmers aren't going to let themselves make a loss on it...

  5. Re:I wouldn't be so sure if I were you by Clandestine_Blaze · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Well, Osama Bin Laden can call President George W. Bush a Muslim for efficiently doing something that he couldn't do - increase membership to al-Qaeda. But that wouldn't make Geroge W. Bush a Muslim. When I visit my relatives in Iran, the government of Iran considers me a Muslim, but I don't consider myself one, and I'm not. They don't ask me to pray five times a day and don't quiz me on the Koran upon entering the country. And so what if Senator Obama WAS a Muslim? There is no way Obama would be able to suddenly install Sharia Law all over America (which is what most people fear) without approval from Congress and the American people. He would be impeached for treason immediately.

    There are many American Muslims that would be certainly qualified for Presidency. There are also many Muslims that serve in the U.S. Armed Forces, but I don't see you bitching about them. So it's okay for them to die for this country, but not okay to lead it?

    I couldn't care less about a candidate's religion unless they wore it on their sleeve and wanted to pass laws and executive orders that changed the way I lived. This is precisely why the current crop of Republicans concern me, because they abandoned their "small Government" platform and went after the evangelical vote. They started pandering to the very people who want ME to follow their laws, their version of history, and their Bible. I am willing to vote for a Muslim, a Christian, a Catholic, a Buddhist, a Zoroastrian, an Atheist, and a Satanist (etc.) as long as they lead the country with rational thinking, intelligence, and submit to the will of the American people, not the other way around.

    Besides, Obama would not last a MINUTE in office if he became President, then suddenly said "GOTCHA, I'm an evil Muslim, and I'm going to enslave you infidels." :P

  6. Re:How could 63% of people be wrong? by sumdumass · · Score: 3, Interesting

    He posted anonymously because what he said was inflammatory crap and he knows it.

    He, like a lot of people who don't seem to like free market ideals incorectly assume we have a free market right now in which we don't. It's like looking at a tree and saying I don't like dogs because the leaves make a mess.

    Or to put the free market view he is exposing more in line with this current crisis, it is like saying someone moved into your neighborhood and all the sudden all the leaves turned brown and died, then fell off the trees, and you blamed that person instead of the season change. The problem we saw was a direct result of the government interfering with the markets who required things to happen that wouldn't normally happen. The market was anything but free otherwise the amount of bad debt being held would have been completely different. Companies and banks don't want to tie up money because someone cannot repay it. They were forced to by government regulation and in one case, an entire government sponsored enterprise was designed to specifically buy up that bad debt and spread it over more sound investments. The government ended up requiring them to pull to much risk in with little to no oversight which caused a landslide that helped start the problems we see today. And no, you can't blame it on one party either, both democrats and republicans were shunning regulation away. Bush attempted to get more oversight in 2003 which failed because of democrats just as much as republicans (got killed in comity by people taking campaign donations from the GSEs) and McCain attempted to do so in 2005 which suffered the same fate.

  7. Kennedy had this problem too by Torodung · · Score: 3, Interesting

    There was a great deal of concern that, being Catholic, JFK might take his orders from the Pope, instead of enforcing the Constitution. Until he was elected, it was widely believed that only a Protestant could be elected President.

    It all turned out to be bunk. Kennedy's religion did not dictate his policies, and neither will Barack Obama's.

    The rumor of 'secret Muslim' is untrue, but more importantly, it's already been proven that his religion is irrelevant. Only his ability to "uphold the Constitution" and do what is best for America is important.

    Those who religion is the relevant criterion seek to undermine the Constitution of this country.

    Just read what Mike Hucakbee has to say about it:

    http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/01/15/579265.aspx

    Seriously, our Constitution avoids the mention of God for a freaking reason. The founders had a big problem with the head of the Church of England.

    --
    Toro

  8. Re:How could 63% of people be wrong? by IICV · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I'm not sure if the law is enforceable or if it even has penalties but it is there and Obama claims he is a constitutional lawyer so he should know about it.

    Why don't you pay attention to what it says?

    (A) all present except those in uniform should stand at attention facing the flag with the right hand over the heart;

    It's a recommendation on how you should behave, not a requirement. Just like in an RFC, the difference between "must", and "should" is important.