Obama poses after the hijab incident
I’ve been uncomfortable with the word “smear” since Barack Obama began refuting the rumors that he was a Muslim (and yet the term has appeared in at least two headlines on this blog). Calling the Muslim designation a smear suggests that we Americans have, at best, an automatic aversion to followers of Islam. Indeed, Muslims have clearly been stigmatized in the West during the past few decades, and particularly past seven years, but this shouldn’t be the case.
Obama’s campaign obviously has walked a tight rope in dispelling the Muslim myths: They want to assure Christians and Jews that Obama is their guy while not alienating Muslims inclined to vote for him. Amy Chozick had a good article about this pickle in today’s Wall Street Journal:
