Political smut

Dallas Morning News: You’ve probably heard a few of these claims and perhaps even forwarded an e-mail or two.

Barack Obama uses illicit drugs.

He’s a closet Muslim who was sworn in to the U.S. Senate on a Quran.

He doesn’t say the Pledge of Allegiance.

His wife uttered a racially charged epithet from a church pulpit.

Never mind that none of this is true, or that we’ve missed a slander or two. Shhhh, his children are black and so is his wife. Pass it on.

Dirty tricks aren’t new to American politics — 19th-century campaigns were laced with accusations of infidelity, substance abuse, cross dressing and treason. But that doesn’t justify the vile cyber-assaults on Obama. These attacks are more than political mischief, or even legitimate hardball opposition research to detect flip-flops. These outrageous and disgusting fabrications exploit the worst instincts about race and religion in America at a time when this nation is trying hard to transcend those differences. To his credit, Obama, who is perhaps the most Internet-savvy presidential candidate ever, has started Fight the Smears, a Web site to directly confront the rumors and whispers.

Worldwide lie

Today, a single button on a computer can propel a lie worldwide. Unchallenged accusations can quickly be accepted as fact because information passed from friend to friend carries an imprimatur of truth. That makes a distortion politically damaging even if it is blatantly untrue. Remember the Swift Boat allegations against Sen. John Kerry four years ago and racial whispers during the 2000 South Carolina primary suggesting that Sen. John McCain had fathered a black child?

Some of this filth now passes for legitimate discussion. Fox News recently apologized for inadvertently portraying Michelle Obama’s onstage greeting with her husband as one half of a “terrorist fist jab,” a characterization that originated on the Web. Later, Fox News labeled her “Obama’s baby mama” in a graphic, a tacky reference suggesting she’s an unwed mother. And yes, another apology.

We live in the Information Age. Unfortunately, information isn’t the same as truth.