I flagged it in a sarcastic way below. But this piece in the Post about 'rumors' of Obama being Muslim really is craven and gross. The author concedes at various points that Obama isn't a Muslim, actually that he 'denies' it. But the whole structure of the thing is written as though he were -- how much public opinion resistance he'd face as a Muslim, what it's like for Muslim Rep. Keith Ellison (D) as a Muslim. Interviews with fellow Muslims. Or, I guess they're not really 'fellow' since Obama's not a Muslim. But close enough, right? Maybe he kind of is, since there are so many 'rumors'? Sort of Muslim by right-wing osmosis?

The piece actually breaks new ground in the use of the word 'rumor'. In public writing, 'rumor' generally refers to a wholly or partly unsubstantiated report. To the best of my knowledge, there is no evidence that Obama is a Muslim any more than I am. So I would think the Internet sludge that has him attending Madrassas in Indonesia and being a covert Muslim today who plans to turn the US into a Muslim theocracy with mandatory gay marriage are not really 'rumors' but rather scurrilous lies which the Post has chosen to peddle (wink,wink) second hand.