Is it scary that Barak Obama was sworn in by Dick Cheney?

{satire} If you check on the link: http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/sliming_obama.html about 2/3rds of the way down you will see a picture of Barack Hussein Obama standing next to Richard Bruce Cheney being sworn in on a Bible (presumably, the fact that Richard BRUCE Cheney has not burst into flames in the presence of a holy book makes me a little suspicious). Sure, as president of the Senate Cheney swears in all the senators, but isn't it true that if you drink too much and squint just right it looks like there must be some sort of conspiracy/evil plot. {/satire} Seriously though, I find it amazing that people will post their half baked smears on here, reward their fellow scandalmongers for supporting their bile, and think that anyone would be dumb enough to buy the garbage they peddle. (Is anyone that dumb?) So why do these people do it? Do they even believe their own smears? Do they consider Americans to be stupid? 10 points for the most clever/insightful answer.

Public Comments

1. People love to hate Dick Cheney. The press and the left (one of the same?) has dragged him through the mud and made him to be the anti-Christ. Okay, he deserves some flack (no pun intended) for shooting his friend, but he's a smart man that has given a good part of his life to public service.
2. No. And so was Hillary Rodham Clinton. Cheney is the VP and that is what he does when you are elected to the U S Senate.
3. Why is it scary no its not to answe your question.
4. You have been squinting too much and drinking too much.
5. It is only scary if you are ignorant and/or a conspiracy freak. Sane people realize that the Vice President of the United States is the President of the Senate.
6. We don't need another Osama. Period.
7. well, they are related after all.........distant cousins.
8. time will tell,cheney is suspect look at the company he has kept,look how he has worked behind the scenes to change things,,i think things like this draws conspiracies into the light and yes conspiracies do exist,and the more input from peoples insight the more knowledge is gained on the different possibilities, i think they believe americans are of a free mind
9. its even scarier that theyre related.
10. I'll answer your question part by part. 1. Why do these people do it? People that spread false accusations about presidential candidates that draw on issues meant to outrage voters have been around since the first days of politics. Emotion and perception play a larger role in a voter's choice of candidates than I think most people would acknowledge or realize. If you consider the average person's primary source of exposure to most candidates will be 30-second TV ads and whatever is the headline on the newspaper or lead article or Yahoo news, then its not surprising that rogue staffers and other fanatics and hate-mongers would be willing to spread these rumors. Things have not changed a bit since the 1800s - a candidate can still be seriously undermined by the allegation of connection to a pro-minority organization or some part of their background that's not "all-American". 2. Do they even believe their own smears? Some yes, some no. It's true that some people do these things to have a laugh at how quickly rumors supported by "fact" get spread around, but most of these people want you converted to their side/candidate. Even if they don't believe in each "point" they make, necessarily, they'll willingly tell you whatever outlandish exaggeration or falsehood you want to hear so that you do. Bottom line, these are mostly people with agendas. Every lie starts with some grain of truth, and in politics, there's usually someone's money behind it, as well. 3. Do they consider Americans to be stupid? It's not a matter of being stupid. It's a matter of being uninformed, and being mislead. Look at the title of this question - "Is it scary that Barack Obama was sworn in by Dick Cheney?" This implies that Obama has some sort of connection to Dick Cheney, who is, in political terms, radioactive. Because associations with Cheney carry negative connotations (especially for Democratic voters as well as most independents), this automatically makes Barack take a hit in the mind of a mislead voter. The choice of the adjective "scary" reinforces the point that the question is making. As anyone who has studied statistics can tell you, wording a question differently, even when the question retains the same meaning, can result in wildly different answers. There was an opinion poll conducted in 1992 for the American Jewish Committee asking "Does it seem possible or does it seem impossible to you that the Nazi extermination of the Jews never happened?" Get this: TWENTY-TWO percent of respondents said it seemed possible. However, a poll conducted a little later the same year asked the following: "Does it seem possible to you that the Nazi extermination of the Jews never happened, or do you feel certain that it happened?" 1% responded "possible". P.T. Barnum should have been a political staffer, because in the world of politics, not only is there a sucker born every minute, but everyone can be a sucker.