US News Writer Claims Palin Supporters Smearing Gov. Jindal as 'Secret Muslim'

One has to wonder about the thought process of some people. Dan Gilgoff, Faith reporter with U.S. News and World Report and Huffington Post writer, is a perfect example of what I am talking about. After a February 23 posting on Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal's Catholic faith, Gilgoff followed up the next day with a post claiming that Sarah Palin fans were smearing Jindal over his supposedly "secret Muslim" faith. Where did Gilgoff get such a ridiculous idea? Why, from just two commenters that posted on his entry of the 23rd, that's where.

That's right, just two people claiming in the comments section of his U.S. News post that Jindal was a secret Muslim was enough for Dan Gilgoff to decide that Sarah Palin's entire support base is smearing Bobby Jindal as a secret Muslim. Just two people. Two nuts is enough for U.S. News and World Report to slander Sarah Palin and all her followers as crazy, racist, hatemongers.

In his February 23 posting Gilgoff was saying that Governor Bobby Jindal is the "future of religious conservatives in the GOP." Gilgoff spoke to Jindal's Catholic beliefs and at the same time he mentioned Sarah Palin's "evangelical base" of support in the GOP.

As one views the comments section of Gilgoff's February 23 posting, one can see two commenters out of 28 replies that mention Jindal's supposedly secret Muslim background. Two from a "Helen of GA" that says Jindal is "secretly from the faith of Islam" and saying Palin will be president in 2012, and a third comment from a "Welfare for the Rich of GA" that also makes the same basic claim saying, "Jindal is a muslim who now claims to be a Christian." The third comment does not mention Palin or anyone else and focuses solely on Jindal.

No other February 23 comments charge that Jindal is a "secret Muslim." In fact half a dozen or so other comments take these two nuts to task for the absurd claims. There we have it; two commenters. That is all.

These two little commenters apparently made an outsized impression on Dan Gilgoff. Sadly, he discounted the many that took the two nuts to task, too. All the scoffers made no impression at all on Dan Gilgoff.

So, then comes the next day's posting, February 24, and we find out what Gilgoff made of these two nutty commenters.

I'm surprised that a few comments on my post about Bobby Jindal as the new face of Christian conservatism allege that he's got ancestral Muslim roots, in addition to the acknowledged Hinduism of his Indian born parents. Remind you of any other recent rumor campaigns against promising young minority politicians?

What's surprising is that some of the comments appear to be from pro-Sarah Palin conservatives. They're a likely preview of what a Jindal primary faceoff with Palin or another Christian conservative might look like, with both vying for conservative Christian support.

Wow, what an absurd and head spinning assessment born of just two posters! So, because two anti-Jindal nuts appeared on his earlier post, now Gilgoff thinks there are hoards of Palin supporters out to attack Bobby Jindal as a "secret Muslim"?? Is this guy kidding? Worse, Gilgoff wants to lay this racist attack at the feet of Palin's supporters when only one of the two nuts even identified with Palin. So, one Palin supporter is enough for Gilgoff to decide that all sorts of Palin supporters will attack Jindal over secret Muslim beliefs.

One wonders if Gilgoff decided that Jeremiah Wright's "God Damn America" speech was enough to condemn all black Obama supporters as racist hatemongers? My guess is it was not.

Of course, as a result of Gilgoff's claim that Sarah Palin supporters are racist attack dogs one is amused to look at the more than 50 comments most of which rightfully call Gilgoff on the carpet for his illogical conclusions.

This Huffington Writer, Gilgoff, acts as if he wishes to create a tension that he really has no proof exists in any great amount. Obviously Gilgoff is playing to his left-wing fan base inventing right-wing hate speech from which he can make a name for himself with the DailyKos set.

I have to say something else here, too. From looking at Gilgoff's photo, I wonder if he is just too young to know any better? He doesn't look as if he is too far into his thirties and has spent a lot of his life in the age of electronic communication. I wonder if the reason that these two loony commenters on his blog took on an unreal but gargantuan meaning in his experience is because he is so out-of-touch with the real world of human interaction? It almost seems as if Gilgoff is unaware that one can find at least two commenters to say just about anything on the web. I'd bet we could find two commenters that think Obama is an alien from outer space. We can also probably guess that such UFOers tend to vote Democrat. That being the case, one might employ Gilgoffian "logic" and decide that all Democrats think Obama is from outer space! This silly conclusion would fit quite well into Gilgoff's idiotic thinking process.

Whatever the case, it is sad that this writer has such a prominent position at a legitimate news outlet to indulge in his hackneyed thinking and partisan bomb throwing. For a man ostensibly concerned about religion in America, Gilgoff should be ashamed of himself.

(Photo credit: pbs.org)