**Correction** to previous post...

I received an email with this picture, stating that Barack Obama refuses to put his hand over his heart during the pledge of allegiance and the national anthem. I was so appalled at the notion, that I never even questioned it's authenticity and put it on my blog without checking the facts. I apologize. It wasn't until a friend asked me where I had found the photo, that it even occurred to me that this may be a lie.

So, I did a little research and found this article at washingtonpost.com.



Here's a section of the article...

The photograph was taken on September 16, 2007, at Senator Tom Harkin's annual steak fry festivities in Iowa, an important ritual for Democratic presidential hopefuls. Contrary to the e-mails attacking Obama for disrespecting the flag, the candidates were not reciting the pledge of allegiance. They were standing for the national anthem.

As far as we can ascertain, the photograph first appeared in Time Magazine on October 1. Visit Time's website for a larger version.

Asked whether Obama normally puts his hand over his heart while listening to the national anthem, Obama spokesman Bill Burton replied by e-mail: "Sometimes he does, sometimes he doesn't. In no way was he making any sort of statement, and any suggestion to the contrary is ridiculous."

(Please note: the full article includes two pictures of Obama saying the Pledge of Allegiance with his hand of his heart.)

I'm not a fan of Obama in any way, and I'm not entirely convinced that he isn't at least partially responsible for this misunderstanding, but it really frustrates me when people make up lies and twist facts to convince others not to vote for a candidate. There's so much disenchantment with politics today...in large part because we have to weed through so many lies to get to the truth...it's hard to know who we can trust.