Hillary the Republican (subtly) plays the Obama-is-a-Muslim card

By Michael J.W. Stickings

No, no, no, there's nothing wrong with being Muslim, but, to many, there is. Which is why a key component of the anti-Obama smear machine is the insinuation -- sometimes explicit, more often carefully packaged to avoid sounding like the fearmongering bigotry it is -- that he is a Muslim.

How is it being presented? Three examples: his middle name (Hussein), his schooling in Indonesia for a few years when he was a boy, and that recently-circulated photo of him in traditional Somali garb.

Much of this is coming from the Republican smear machine and the pro-Republican media -- as well as from the news media generally (another example: the playing up of the Obama-Farrakhan situation).

But some of it is also coming from Hillary Clinton herself -- and not just from her campaign and her various surrogates. Here, via TNR's Michael Crowley (who also has the video), is what happened yesterday on one of the most popular and influential shows on television:

She spoke to Steve Croft of "60 Minutes" tonight. Excerpt, with italics added by me:

Croft: You don't believe that Senator Obama's a Muslim?

Clinton: Of course not. I mean, that's, you know -- there is no basis for that. You know, I take him on the basis of what he says. And, you know, there isn't any reason to doubt that.

Croft: You said you take Senator Obama at his word that he's not a Muslim. You don't believe that he's a Muslim?

Clinton: No, no. Why would I? There's no -- no, there is nothing to base that on, as far as I know.

Croft: It's just scurrilous --

Clinton: Look, I have been the target of so many ridiculous rumors that I have a great deal of sympathy for anybody who gets, you know, smeared with the kind of rumors that go on all the time.

This is about 95 percent the correct and proper answer. And yet, what's with the weird qualifiers? ("I take him on the basis of what he says"; "as far as I know.") I doubt this was about anything more than verbal sloppiness. But particularly given the way people see a conspiracy behind every Clinonite utterance, Hillary should have dispatched this question with one crisp sentence saying it's just not true.

Yes, but she didn't. Instead, she played right along with it.

The other day it was the appearance of her "culture of fear" ad, the one that had the look and feel of Republican propaganda: Vote Hillary or your family will be taken from you in the middle of the night.

And now it's this: Vote Hillary or you might end up with a Muslim in the White House. Oh, she doesn't believe he's a Muslim -- no, she's not as explicit as the right-wing mouthpieces on Fox News -- but, hey, what does she know?

She's been the target of malicious rumours, too, I know, and she may very well have some sympathy for Obama, but, with it all on the line going into Tuesday's key primaries, she's more than willing, it seems, to push the smear to her advantage.