There’s a great article over at Reason magazine about political chain e-mails. Although these e-mails come from all sides of the political spectrum, it would seem that the ones attacking liberal or progressive candidates have been particularly virulent over the last eight years. The latest on Barak Obama actually spilled into the television media some months ago. The Neocon political machine is not to be underestimated in it’s ability to frame a debate. For example, I routinely run into people who think the rumors of Obama’s education at a “terrorist training camp” has some truth to it. And though CNN did a story debunking the claims, the rumors persist.

I remember discussing this issue with my wife recently. She believes that there’s a culture of blissful ignorance that’s been carefully cultivated amongst middle America over the last few years. As proof, she cites the current national debates over things like global warming and evolution, contending that no one wants to know the truth anymore. I disagree only with that last point. I think people do want the truth, but their natural proclivity towards laziness keeps them from digging further. So I have taken it upon myself to evangelize factual data wherever and whenever I can. You can help. When you get that ridiculous chain e-mail from your buddy at work that is titled, “I can’t believe this! Please send this to everyone in your inbox!”, go ahead and hit “Reply to All”, but give them a dose of reality from the good people over at Snopes.com and BreakTheChain.org. And now, without further ado, below is the Obama madrasa debunking.