President Obama may be skipping a trip to a prominent Sikh holy site in India due to worries that wearing the appropriate headgear may reinforce incorrect rumors that he is in fact a Muslim, rather than a Christian.More from the NYT:
The New York Times reported Tuesday that plans to visit one of India's most famous attractions had been nixed after it became apparent that the president would be required to cover his head with either a traditional Sikh turban or a skull cap like some Muslims wear. Requests to wear an altered baseball cap were not initially approved.
H. S. Phoolka, a prominent Sikh lawyer in New Delhi, said he was disappointed that Mr. Obama would not visit the temple.I get that the White House is having problems with the GOP slur that Obama is a Muslim. And silly as it sounds, donning the headgear probably would become the subject of a national debate. I do, however, think that this fits part of a larger pattern of what happens when you don't sufficiently stand up to the Republicans on all of their slurs - be they death panels, Maoists in the Cabinets, Obama is a socialist, the stimulus didn't create a single job, not born in the USA," etc.
“We have worked so hard to establish in America that Sikhs have a very different identity than Muslims,” Mr. Phoolka said. “It is very unfortunate that even the White House is conveying the message that there is no difference between Muslims and Sikhs.”
At some point, the lies grow and feed on each other. Not sufficiently fighting back two years ago, during the campaign, and not fighting back subsequently, has only fed the GOP's lust for disinformation. Yes, the campaign had a very detailed Web page explaining how much of a Christian Obama was. At some point, Obama needs to skip the intellectualizing, and be willing to punch someone in the face (other than a DFH).
