The Commercial Appeal | By Matthew Woo | 4 December 2009
Arlington mayor fires at Obama online: Tags president as a Muslim on Facebook

Arlington, TN Mayor Russell Wiseman

In the opinion of Arlington Mayor Russell Wiseman, President Barack Obama’s speech on Tuesday night on the war in Afghanistan was deliberately timed to block the Christian message of the “Peanuts” television Christmas special.

Wiseman made the statements on his Facebook page, where he declared Obama to be a Muslim. Only people on Wiseman’s “friend’s list” had access to the post. He has more than 1,600 friends on Facebook.

“Ok, so, this is total crap, we sit the kids down to watch ‘The Charlie Brown Christmas Special’ and our muslim president is there, what a load…..try to convince me that wasn’t done on purpose. Ask the man if he believes that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and he will give you a 10 minute disertation (sic) about it….w…hen the answer should simply be ‘yes’….”

“A Charlie Brown Christmas,” which first aired in 1965, has become an endearing program for many because of its emphasis on the “real meaning of Christmas,” including Linus’ memorable reading from the Gospel of Luke of Jesus’ birth.

In Wiseman’s extensive thread that attacked the president, his supporters and Muslims, he stated “…you obama people need to move to a muslim country…oh wait, that’s America….pitiful.”

At another point he said, “you know, our forefathers had it written in the original Constitution that ONLY property owners could vote, if that has stayed in there, things would be different……..”

When contacted Thursday, Wiseman declined to comment about his Facebook posts.

“It’s ridiculous for someone to send my Facebook post,” Wiseman said. “You guys are trying to make a mountain out of a molehill.”

As the popularity of social networking sites such as Twitter, MySpace and Facebook has increased, some organizations, such as some NFL teams, have banned the use of posting comments online because of inflammatory and embarrassing remarks that invariably make it into the public domain.

To avoid online controversies, Ellyn Angelotti, a faculty member at the Poynter Institute, said that everyone, not just public officials, must to be careful of what they post on the Internet.

“A lot of people think Facebook is private so only a limited number of people can see their post,” Angelotti said. “But the reality is that it can be made public.

“You’ve got to be careful. The same social rules that apply in real life should be applied to the virtual life.”

Wiseman said his post received more than 70 comments.