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I Just Spoke With the Oracle
And she assures me that Barack Obama is, in fact, not The One.
You can imagine my profound sense of disappointment. Here, I had placed all of my electoral eggs in Sen. Obama's transcendental basket.
Sen. McCain released his silly "The One" ad today for his supporters. I kept thinking that there must be some subterranean message in this eminently mockable advertisement. However, not being a part of the wing-nut, 'Left Behind' culture, I missed the false prophet overtones.
But, according to 'The Google', this 'Obama is the Anti-Christ' stuff has been percolating in the wing-nuttery world all year. So, I get it now. This is the quintessential 'dog whistle' ad, which is meant to pray on fears that Obama is the Anti-Christ [I literally can't believe I just wrote those words].
By the way, notwithstanding how much happier I was thirty minutes ago before I knew that typing 'Obama' & 'Anti-Christ' into Google would generate almost a million hits, if you believe that Sen. Obama is the Anti-Christ and it has been foretold by the Book of Revelation--then you should probably be forced to undergo sterilization. This are genes that we desperately need to ween from the pool.
Did you know that there's a website 'anti-christ.com? I'll give you one guess as to its two main pieces of content--give up?
The first is a sinister looking Barack Obama.
The second is John McCain's 'The One' ad.
Note also that there's close to a thousand comments in the discussion of whether or not Sen. Obama is, in fact, the anti-Christ, including these gems:
And send Sen. Obama some $$$$$$$$. Praise the Lord and pass the offering plate.
You can imagine my profound sense of disappointment. Here, I had placed all of my electoral eggs in Sen. Obama's transcendental basket.
Sen. McCain released his silly "The One" ad today for his supporters. I kept thinking that there must be some subterranean message in this eminently mockable advertisement. However, not being a part of the wing-nut, 'Left Behind' culture, I missed the false prophet overtones.
But, according to 'The Google', this 'Obama is the Anti-Christ' stuff has been percolating in the wing-nuttery world all year. So, I get it now. This is the quintessential 'dog whistle' ad, which is meant to pray on fears that Obama is the Anti-Christ [I literally can't believe I just wrote those words].
By the way, notwithstanding how much happier I was thirty minutes ago before I knew that typing 'Obama' & 'Anti-Christ' into Google would generate almost a million hits, if you believe that Sen. Obama is the Anti-Christ and it has been foretold by the Book of Revelation--then you should probably be forced to undergo sterilization. This are genes that we desperately need to ween from the pool.
Did you know that there's a website 'anti-christ.com? I'll give you one guess as to its two main pieces of content--give up?
The first is a sinister looking Barack Obama.
The second is John McCain's 'The One' ad.
Note also that there's close to a thousand comments in the discussion of whether or not Sen. Obama is, in fact, the anti-Christ, including these gems:
Obama is evil.
I am not saying that he is the antichrist…I don’t believe anyone can know that except God Himself, but I do believe that he will be our next President and what may seem like at first to be a “heaven-sent” solution for our nation, will eventually be the beginning of it’s destruction.
Before I knew anything about Obama, I knew that something with him is not right with him. A black man (and I’m black by the way) with the name hussein, who won’t salute the flag, whose wife has never been proud of America, and who wants to disarm this country could only be winning because satan is backing him. There is no other logical explaination, especially after 911. No way should our next president be named hussein obama, sounds too much like osama. I am 99.999 percent sure that this is the real deal people. The end is very near. Let’s get busy telling the unsaved about our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He is the Way the Truth and the Life. And he is coming soon. I have been reading all the scriptures I can on endtime prophecy. The more I read them, the more I am covinced that obama is the antichrist and he is taking the world by surprise because no one expects him to be a black man.
Obama will start us at the End Of Days….. Al-Qaeda backed Obama before and will do so again. Israel has always been backed by GOD and there planning to bomb Iran before Obama gets into office. If they do not succeed then Obama will cut off Israel when he gets into the presidential office because he owes Al-Qaeda.
Obama is scary!!! Several people have mentioned to me that they get strange, evil vibes from him. Lets hope he is not the anti-christ.You know, forget the forced sterilization--just pray for these deluded people.
And send Sen. Obama some $$$$$$$$. Praise the Lord and pass the offering plate.
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I have it on the highest of authorities that Obama is a half-black man who is intent on leading us all down the path of destruction.
My preacher friend told me so.
You know, he has an angry wife. And he's downright smug. And he wants us all to lose weight and put solar panels in our houses.
The bastard.
I really wanna trust him, but....gosh. He's just so -- um -- different. You know???
At times like these, when our country is at war and in danger, I wanna trust the Republicans.
Don't you???
August 2, 2008 5:19 AM | Reply | Permalink
Highly rec'd post, btw.
August 2, 2008 5:23 AM | Reply | Permalink
Oh, and, uh......I made the mistake of clicking on your $$$$$$$ link, and I just HAD to give something. You little bastard.
And the little bastard with ya.
Freaks.
August 2, 2008 6:00 AM | Reply | Permalink
A deep and abiding thank you for allowing me to tap into my inner little bastard.
August 2, 2008 11:00 AM | Reply | Permalink
I wish we could recommend comments! That was a jewel LisB!
August 2, 2008 10:46 AM | Reply | Permalink
Thank you for this post. I had no idea people were really, I mean REALLY, referring to Obama as the anti-Christ. These people have been sucked into a propaganda machine created by the likes of Karl Rove to stifle independent, critical thinking. They have ceded their minds to a political apparatus and been rendered automatons. As a sci-fi fan, this is particularly bone-chilling. I read sci-fi to escape this crap, and here it is, NOW, in my own country. Some of those million hits could have been curiosity-seekers -- kind of like going to a freak show.
I'm all for free speech. At this juncture it seems imperative that messages of reason and logic swamp propaganda. I've never trolled, but I'm seriously considering picking one of these sites and engaging in the vein of Lux Umbrae Dei (sorry if I misspelled) who has set a great example on TPM of how to steer single-minded rhetoric in a more thoughtful direction. Not sure if one person's efforts would make a difference, though. Any way to launch an organized effort?
CindyMax
August 2, 2008 9:33 AM | Reply | Permalink
that was the first thing that came to my mind when I watched the ad - it was a dog whistle trying to make the case that Obama was "the marked one" or whatever it is called from revelations that has a number branded on his forehead or something.
clearly, ad prepared by rove.
August 2, 2008 10:40 PM | Reply | Permalink
okay, I amend my statement above - Rove is losing his touch.
We (and They) are over-thinking things. and this ad is now officially stupid.
=this is not scientific, just anecdotal=
I just played the ad for a right-leaning independent voter (who is registered republican, long story).
Their confusion was profound.
The actual look of confusion on their face while the commercial rolled said it all.
Without me saying anything about anything, their response was "Unless you watched it to the end, you didn't know whether or not the ad was for Obama or for McCain."
and he went on to say that he thought that it was dumb of McCain to be promoting Obama if he was attempting to do a negative ad.
When I mentioned the revelations dog-whistle to him, he didn't agree that was the effective message.
So Joe-Voter's gut reaction to this ad is officially: "huh?"
August 2, 2008 11:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
You are absolutely correct. This is the quintessential dog whistle ad. While the majority of people will scratch their heads, the evangelical community will get the message loud and clear.
Obama has made inroads in this constituency, what better way to blunt this progress than insinuating that Obama is either the False Prophet or the Anti-Christ.
Kudo's to the McCain campaign for understanding the psychology that motivates their base.
August 2, 2008 9:43 AM | Reply | Permalink
And here I had been successfully forgetting the wackos out there. I'm afraid to Google assassination.
August 2, 2008 10:33 AM | Reply | Permalink
Amen! Is Obama going to enter the "walk on water" competition in Beijing or is the water pollution so bad, they have to cancel that contest.
August 2, 2008 10:53 AM | Reply | Permalink
Amen! Is Obama going to enter the "walk on water" competition in Beijing or is the water pollution so bad, they have to cancel that contest.
August 2, 2008 10:54 AM | Reply | Permalink
I thought the idea of Obama as antiChrist was ridiculous, but as I started to laugh and chortle, the skies in NYC started to darken. As I write this, it looks as if the heavens are going to open up at any minute...
I'm sorry. I'm going to change my vote and pull the lever for McCain.
August 2, 2008 11:52 AM | Reply | Permalink
OK, seriously, I didn't believe that people actually believed this until I did the Google search and checked some of the sites out myself. I even found a link to a HuffPo article which describes how Glenn Beck asked Hagee if Obama is the antiChrist. Unbelieveable.
Sorry for not taking your word at face value, jthomascronin, but I guess I'm just a Doubting Thomas.
I can't believe the ulterior motive of this ad. I thought it was kind of funny, and even wrote a sarcarstic newsflash post in response to The One.
If there is an evil entity out there, it must be the McCain camp.
BTW, it is pouring outside now.
August 2, 2008 12:05 PM | Reply | Permalink
I've watched it a dozen times, and this Obama=Anti-Christ theme seemed pretty damn clearly there to me. I come from this kinda world, know it well, and have friends & family who have worried about Obama since last year. It's quite widespread.
As I mention below though, the obvious manipulation of those fears & feelings & beliefs by the Republicans came through to me pretty powerfully when I tried to watch that ad through their eyes. The ENDING, especially. I mean, if the guy was really the Anti-Christ, would YOU end your ad with "But is he ready... to lead?" The inability of the Republican ad-makers to keep a straight face is also there in the mocking tone of the announcer. This stream within the Evangelicals & Baptists takes this stuff VERY seriously, and McCain's people obviously found they couldn't hold their mainstream mockery of what they feel is Obama's arrogance together with the Evangelical Anti-Christ whistle. Altogether though, one hell of a weird ad.
August 2, 2008 6:52 PM | Reply | Permalink
my complaint about the ad is that when it pans over into Charlton Heston I was expecting somesort of SNL laughover or something.
That part seemed a little hokey.
But why did they put this one on the WEB only?
It reminds me of that ad that Huckabee felt strongly should not be aired, but then he called a press conference and showed it to reporters. The beginning of the end for him.
August 2, 2008 10:44 PM | Reply | Permalink
Well, 620,000 views on YouTube.... over 9,000 comments. So they're getting a few eyeballs at least.
August 3, 2008 12:51 AM | Reply | Permalink
Before dismissing out of hand the idea that Barack could be the Antichrist, consider that he comes closer to fulfilling the widely-assumed criteria than any nominee in American history:
For example, Barack is the lefthanded son of a Muslim goatherd father and an atheist mother. 6+6+6=18, the number of letters in the name Barack Hussein Obama, who represents the Chicago zipcode 60606.
He is a charismatic speaker (speaking about peace and changing the world) who has risen to prominence out of nowhere and is worshipped throughout the nations of the European Union (the successor to the Roman Empire).
His advent was proclaimed by the false prophets Jeremiah Wright, Father Pfleger, and Louis Farrakhan. Oprah called Barack "The One" who will help us to evolve. Spike Lee said that henceforth time will be measured Before Obama and After Obama.
The horseman of the apocalypse on the white horse in the Book of Revelation is deemed the antichrist (who will lead to the other three horsemen -- war, famine, and death). In the Koran, Buraq (or Burak) is a magical white horse that Gabriel let Mohammed use to fly at night from Mecca to Jerusalem -- where Mohammed tethered Buraq to the Western Wall (called al-Buraq in Arabic for centuries), a place at which Barack prayed at night on his world tour.
So you see, those evangelicals have some bases for their suspicions about the mysterious Obama.
August 2, 2008 1:43 PM | Reply | Permalink
Anyone can be made an antiChrist if you try hard enough.
Below is a comnent posted by someone who called him/herself Servant of God at the AntiChrist website.
Glory be to God the Most high and to his son Jesus Christ.
McCain is the anti-christ:
1.- He will come as a man of Peace. McCain repeatedly talks of peace with honor, while at the same time telling us there wil be more wars.
2) He will come mounted on a white female horse- a reference to McCain’s career being completely dependent on his second wife’s money. McCain married his second wife for her money. According to Jesus this is an adulterous marriage. McCain did not divorce his first wife because she was unfaithful but because she was injured and weak.
3.- He will come to deceive. McCain is the master of deceit. There are dozens of documented lies he has told. He contradicts himself on daily basis. Most important he falsely claims that he was tortured in Prison when in fact, he was in a hospital being treated as “crown Prince” and he made anti-American propaganda films for the Godless communists
4.- McCain will make himself the most powerful man on earth, if elected. McCain supports torture and the absolute power of the “commander-in-chief”; he has promised us at least a hundred years of war: “100 years, 1000 years, or 1,000,000 years” -in Iraq. Iraq = war.
5.- McCain will try to destroy the Jewish People and Israel. McCain has promised us “more wars in the middle east” even though he knows this will force Israel into the war which destroy. It’s nationhood. McCain accepted the endorsement of the Satanic false prohet Hagee (a corruption of Haagenti his true demonic name.)
6.- He will present himself as good and righteous but in fact he’s Satan himself. Violence is in his heart. McCain pretends to be good and righteous. He lives in adultery. Calls his current wife a C*nt and whore in public. He has physically attacked a fellow Republican senator. Rick Santorum and General Clark, have both called McCain “dangerous”. McCain has already stated he will wage nuclear war on Iran –this is because it his only chance to win Armageddon and prevent Jesus Christ from returning.
7.- Dan. 9:26, says the anti-christ appears “as a Prince of the people who destroyed the Temple”. McCain was called the Crown Prince by the Godless Communists who destroyed Chrisitanity and Judaism in Vietnam and China
8.McCain is being promoted by the false prophet and false miracle worker Hagee. revelation 13.11
9.He will exalt himself above all that is called God - 2 Thessalonians 2:4 the United States is one nation under God. McCain exalts by saying he puts country first. In other words, we should trust him and put the country other him, instead of God.
10. The antichrist “will uproot three kings” revelation Daniel7.8. McCain will uproot George Bush, The President of Iran and the Supreme Ayatollah of Iran when he is elected.
11. “He will have a fierce coutnenance” There are hundreds of photographs of McCain looking Fierce. Also, in many of his antiAmerican speeched he fiercely attacked us.
12. He will cause craft to prosper - Daniel 8:25 craft here means fraud. Fraud prospers under McCain. His campaign manager and those who surround him are lobbyists; he has voted for no-bid contracts that defrauded us of 9 billion dollars. He supports the fraudulent bailout of Wall Street just like Bush.
13. He opposes God - 2 Thessalonians 2:4 Jesus Chirst our lord and saviour commands us to turn the other cheek and love our enemies. McCain defies Jesus insisting on “more wars”.
14. He will have power to make war with the saints and to overcome them - Revelations 13:7 McCain does this in numeorus ways. Saints refers to Christians. McCain defeated American Christians when he denounced America during his time as Crown Prince in Vietnam
15.He will try to change times and laws; and they will be given into his power for 3 1/2 years - Daniel 7:25 This is ultimately to the false church McCain will establish during his reign. He has already Changed times and laws as a Senator. Most recently he vote against his own torture bill, defeating the Saints through deceit by first sponsoring the bill and then giving a speech against swaying Congress to follow him.
16. McCain’s name says it all. Cain in Gaelic is Caim. Caim is the name of a President of Demons who has a sharp sword, that is makes war and who teaches men to dispute, that is set them against each other.
DO NOT VOTE FOR JOHN MCCAIN. IGNORE HIS LIES. HE IS A CORRUPT AND WILL DECEIVE YOU.
MCCAIN CANNOT FULFILL HIS MISSION, AS LONG AS WE OPPOSE HIM!
In Jesus’ name, Amen.
August 2, 2008 2:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
Wow, nicely done. And here I thought I was the anti-Christ because my home phone number has the exchange 666. (They give you the choice of another one if that one bugs you, but I freely chose to keep it! That had to mean I was that embodiment of pure evil!) But I guess not, huh?
By the way all that stuff in Revelation is talking about the Emperor Nero. And "666" is a mistranslation anyway.
August 2, 2008 2:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
Whheeeee!!! That's, that's . . . I'm speechless. It's so good I could cry with joy. Thank you, Pangaea. This provides an abundance of reference material for the religiously challenged. Oh goody!!
August 2, 2008 5:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
Don't thank me. Go to your a place of worship and light a candle for the Servant of God.
August 3, 2008 11:46 AM | Reply | Permalink
666 is a mistranslation, as you note. Still, if you live in the 600 block of any street, you could at least consider yourself a neighbor of the Beast.
August 2, 2008 5:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
The lame attempt above to fit McCain as the Antichrist not only uses vague generalities that could apply to most presidential candidates and overlooks specifics about Obama that have never been seen before (e.g., son of a Muslim goatherd father, Muslim stepfather, and atheist mother; celebrity supporters like Spike Lee, Oprah, Chris Matthews ("he is writing the New Testamennt"),and Louis Farrakhan describing him in messianic terms; and having an advisor named Mabus (a key Nostradamus indicator), but McCain is missing the four most basic requirements for the Antichrist/Beast in Revelation and the Book of Daniel:
Obama is charismatice and McCain is not.
Obama is an excellent public speaker and McCain is not.
Obama is worshipped by his most devoted followers (who will tolerate no criticsm of their master) while McCain is not.
Polls and crowds have proven that Obama is beloved around the world, especially in Europe but McCain is not. Polls in some Eropean nations show that Obama would defeat McCain by 50 points in many countries.
Thus, McCain could not possibly be the Antichrist while Obama is as close as any American has ever come to fulfilling the perceived requirements.
August 2, 2008 5:52 PM | Reply | Permalink
Doc Dude. I'm still stuck on 6-Barack 6-Hussein 6-Obama = 18. I'm crap at counting though, so maybe you got another way to translate his name. Besides, I grew up with this stuff. And got thrown outta the house for mentioning that Ronald Wilson Reagan had some nasty math to HIS name. (Plus I think he had that 666 street address at one point, didn't he?)
Anyway. My fundamentalist friends/kin have been stressing on this since last year. Some of 'em don't worry too much, a few do. That McCain "hand" ad though, was interesting in that it would sound one way to people outside this subculture, but a totally different way if you were into End Times stuff.
What I was feeling though - trying to see it through THEIR eyes - was that the ending showed just how clearly McCain & the Republicans were trying to manipulate them. You know, if you're gonna toe-tag a guy as the Anti-Christ (a pretty hefty label), should your punchline really be... "But is he ready to LEAD?" I mean, shouldn't it have been... "Holy hand-grenade of Antioch, we gotta STOP this guy!" or at least, "Mildred, forget about buying that new Ford, we're outta here."
August 2, 2008 6:44 PM | Reply | Permalink
Nope, not lame at all! A hint of satire maybe, but not lame. I loved it!
August 2, 2008 8:25 PM | Reply | Permalink
My point in posting the McCain = antiChrist is to point out that if someone tries hard enough, one can find connections between almost anything. I am reminded of something I read as a child showing the strange coincidences between the assissinations of Lincoln and Kennedy.
In general, I would find a serious discussion as to which candidate is more antiChrist-like appalling.
August 3, 2008 11:57 AM | Reply | Permalink
This insanity reminds me of a Bill Maher quote (I'm paraphrasing), something like, "For some people, religion is a disease of the central nervous system."
August 2, 2008 7:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
I grew up in an evangelical home (backward masking seminars, 'Jesus Camp' etc). And they do believe in Anti-Christ/The Rapture/Apocalypse.
It's at the very core of their belief system. If not the Anti-Christ then a False Prophet???
When I saw this ad I couldn't believe it. They are not trying to cute or funny as the McCain camp is claiming.
They are playing on people's fears. It the Rovian tactic of playing to the Evangelical base... but since they can't do it with McCain/Hensley values they are using the reverse fear tactic.
It is really disgusting. I am so pissed about this. It is unbelievable.
August 2, 2008 9:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
If Obama is the anti-christ, then all the End of Days robots should vote for him. After all, isn't it foretold, and therefore exactly what they are hoping for? I think that's an angle we might take with them. Vote for the anti-christ and hasten the Rapture.
Of course, I am still offering franchises for my international line of Instant Rapture Centers, which offer people a head start over the other Rapturees.
August 2, 2008 10:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
Going to a bookstore is my own version of an Instant Rapture Center!
That or Starbucks on a Sunday morning.
August 2, 2008 10:58 PM | Reply | Permalink
There are obviously different types of rapture. There is rapture and there is the Rapture. I get what you are saying, and my Instant Rapture Center is only a gimmick, but one that cynically expresses my wish that these people who believe in their sanctimonious superiority and righteousness could get what they want - a one=way ticket off the planet to whatever they believe is their destiny. Sorry. It's not a kind thought, but call it satire, and it's no worse than Soylent Green.
August 2, 2008 11:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
It would have the advantage of depressing at least 10 per cent of McCain's voter base!
The Rapture Delivery Mechanism would, of course, have to be humane....
August 3, 2008 12:09 AM | Reply | Permalink
Absolutely! And a money back guarantee.
August 3, 2008 1:39 AM | Reply | Permalink
d'accord, compagnon!
August 3, 2008 10:14 AM | Reply | Permalink