http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25447998

Sounds like this town is filled with a bunch of Deane Johnsons. No wonder the Ohio economy is in the crapper. With towns like this, they are headed nowhere fast.

Oh man, that is such a corporate media hit job. They are trying to give the lies more attention and credence, while at the same time not getting dirty, playing the "objective, there are always two sides to the story" card.

If they had any balls at all, they would link to the anti-smear site, along with some commentary about how polluting our national discourse with lies is keeping us from progress in that many voters end up not voting their best interests out of confusion and fear.

God, I wish both ignorance and stupidity hurt.

At least those capable of getting it fixed would, and the rest would tip over sooner, leaving natural selection working in our favor.

That article says people in this town are funny about change. They want it the way it used to be and see any new development as a bad thing.

Since so many of them have their heads in the sand, why not just bury the place and move on?

(yeah, I'm venting)

Give them another 10 years and most of them will be buried.

You'd think Karl Rove was mayor of this town on Ohio, sitting on the front porch of the general store dispensing Kool Aid to the faithful.

Again, we are in scary times for many people and the GOP will do everything in their power to exploit peoples worst fears. What does the GOP stand for this election cycle? Nothing but empty rhetoric except making the wealthy wealthier and poor poorer. Not to mention a continuation of a failed war policy in Iraq. From tax policy to the war in Iraq, they don’t have a leg on which to stand. It’s truly, truly pathetic.

After reading the story, I noted one thing: all of the Obama rumors are personal in nature. None of the rumors listed in the story are about proposed policies or cabinet appointments. This leaves me with the uneasy feeling that the people who started these rumors don't like Obama because he's half Black, rather than because of party affiliation.

Absolutely right, Alfredo. They can't win on policy so they must play the smear and fear game. And unfortunately, it works well in some places.

I don't like to cry "racism," but I think that this is one situation where that likely is the case.

Since rumors are BS anyway, all that one needs to do to be a rumor monger is to come up with a juicy story that seeds doubt and fear in people's minds. Why aren't the rumors cited in the story saying stuff like "Obama is thinking about appointing [insert name here], who has some very anti-business views, into his cabinet" or "Obama plans to raise everybody's income by 50%" or "Obama plans to grant amnesty to all Mexican nationals who have immediate family members in this country" or even, "Obama plans to levy a 'carbon emissions recovery tax' on all vehicles that achieve less than 35 miles per gallon fuel economy?" All of these statements are completely unfounded BS, but I am pretty sure that if they were stated in a convincing manner on a political blog or at a lunch counter--especially in a strongly pro-Republican area--people would start repeating them, and they would take on a life of their own.

For the record, I remember hearing the rumor that Ralph Nader was "very anti-woman" in the 2000 election. My question to that was, what planned policies or views held by Nader might be considered as such? The person who stated the rumor, of course, was not able to cite any specific examples of Nader's "anti-woman" bias.

Where there is doubt, you've got an out!

Really don't want to vote for the Black guy, because well... that's voting for the Black guy dammit!

Just latch on to one of the "He's a Muslim" rumors and rest easy. "Just between friends, it might even be said that it's not true, but where there is smoke, there is fire and he's a Black guy."

Why worry about it when we've got similar rumors and disinformation that supports the white guy?