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Can somebody help me debunk an Obama rumor?

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LuckyTheDog Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Apr-02-10 03:35 PM
Original message
Can somebody help me debunk an Obama rumor?
I have a cousin who INSISTS that Obama burned an American flag as a young man -- and that she "knows" this is true because she "heard" that Oprah "admitted it" on her show and openly criticized Obama for it.

I know this is a TOTAL crock of shit. If Oprah ever said anything remotely like that, the video would be everywhere.

My cousin is nutty. She also thinks Obama is the anti-Christ. I am not sure why I even care what she thinks. But I'd like some help debunking this. Snopes was no help on this particular one.

Anybody?
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BurtWorm Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Apr-02-10 03:36 PM
Response to Original message
1. Did Snopes even list as something to be debunked?
Edited on Fri Apr-02-10 03:37 PM by BurtWorm
I've never heard that one. I've heard it about Bill Clinton, not Obama.

PS: And of course it was false about Clinton, too.
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SteppingRazor Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Apr-02-10 03:38 PM
Response to Original message
2. It's not up to you to prove he didn't, it's up to your cousin to prove he did.
Edited on Fri Apr-02-10 03:38 PM by SteppingRazor
If your cousin can't find a simple YouTube video of Oprah saying this -- and such a video would be out there everywhere if it were true -- then she's bullshitting.
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edhopper Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Apr-02-10 03:39 PM
Response to Original message
3. Don't even try
Whatever source you find that debunks it, she will say it's just the "Liberal Media" lying. She won't even believe something like FactCheck.org.
Then she'll find an obscure right wing blogger as her source that will "prove" it.
It's not worth the effort.
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LeftinOH Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Apr-02-10 03:46 PM
Response to Original message
4. Of course, the burden of proof is on your cousin- but since you can't *dis-prove*
it, probably nothing will sway her. Snopes is (probably) already overwhelmed with putting out Obama-rumor fires as it is.

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Tikki Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Apr-02-10 03:50 PM
Response to Original message
5. I always answer with the classic: "Did you hear that they found...
Elvis' guitar on the moon?" I heard it somewhere. :wow:


Tikki
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csziggy Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Apr-02-10 09:46 PM
Response to Reply #5
11. I heard they found water on the Moon!

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap100401.html
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Dr. Strange Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Apr-02-10 04:12 PM
Response to Original message
6. That's a little misleading.
What really happened was, he rolled some ganja in an American flag and smoked it.
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BlueIris Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Apr-02-10 05:34 PM
Response to Original message
7. Burned an American flag? So fucking what? Who cares if he did or not?
If she can't come up with any valid reasons for hating him, she's not worth arguing with. Not like you can make someone give up hate anyway, but even if there were room for movement, someone who hates him for allegedly doing that? Stupid. Not exactly the worst thing any president has ever done.
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SoxFan Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Apr-02-10 06:17 PM
Response to Original message
8. I heard Obama was the Zodiac Killer
Nasty little fucker for a 5 year old.
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sarge43 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Apr-02-10 08:11 PM
Response to Original message
9. You can't prove or disprove a negative.
Make Nutso prove it. For starter, ask her when Oprah said it, what date, what were the circumstances, is it on You Tube? If she tap dances, insist she produce some print matter about it. Anything that explosive must have generated some ink.

Keep at it and she'll probably shut up, at least around you. That's the best you can hope for, that and frustrating her. She wants to jerk your chain; don't let her. Jerk hers.
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Captain Hilts Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Apr-02-10 08:14 PM
Response to Original message
10. As Franklin said to Eleanor "don't get into a pissing contest with a skunk." Good advice....
there's no combating rumors like this.

Your cousin might be a terrific person in other ways - like my Uncle Bob who is a right wing crank in his views, but not his actions.
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rcrush Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Apr-02-10 10:17 PM
Response to Original message
12. So what if he did?
I have reasons to be upset at Obama. That isnt even remotely on the list.
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Lasher Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Apr-02-10 10:50 PM
Response to Original message
13. Burn your cousin.
Might need a little kerosene or something like that to get her started.
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MiddleFingerMom Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Apr-02-10 11:25 PM
Response to Original message
14. Snopes debunks Obama and "flag-burning" connection
.
I love love LOVE Snopes. A conservative friend (I actually have one) sends
me all his chain emails that he gets and, over the years, has probably sent
me 200+. All but one were debunked by Snopes, and the one that wasn't was
simply an opinion piece about Obama put together by a school teacher.
.
Take a look at the bottom of the rumor about the National Anthem:
.
http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/stance.asp
.
Nothing about Oprah, though.
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NoPasaran Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Apr-03-10 08:58 AM
Response to Original message
15. I think this incident is the result of confusion
With the time Obama waved a Viet Cong flag at Burning Man.
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