Obama Supporter Not Happy with Internet

Fascinating story today about one Obama supporter using all the resources at her disposal (vast, as it turns out) to figure out who's behind the "Obama is a Muslim" chain mails. But the Post probably should have skipped this part.

Allen was ideally suited to embark on such a difficult hunt. She boasts two doctorates, one in classics from Cambridge University and the other in government from Harvard University, and won a $500,000 MacArthur "genius" award at the age of 29. Last year she joined the faculty of the institute, the only African American and one of a handful of women at the elite research center, where she works alongside groundbreaking physicists, mathematicians and social scientists. They don't have to teach, and they face no quotas on what they publish. Their only mandate is to work in the tradition of Einstein, wrestling with the most vexing problems in the universe.

While Allen was already an expert on the mechanics of politics, she fast began to learn the mechanics of the Internet. She discovered, for instance, that the recipe for launching a chain e-mail attack is not as simple as typing it up and hitting the send button to a long list of recipients. It takes effort to seed a chain mail that spreads as widely as the Obama missive, explained Jeff Bedser, president of the Internet Crimes Group, a company that helps corporations battle such broadsides. "Lighting that fire, getting something to have momentum, takes work," he said.

Sheesh, two doctorates, works at Harvard and dumb about the internet. Not exactly a good start there. Or as Rich Lowry put it:

And one of the most vexing problems in the universe, which Allen has decided to pursue in the tradition of Einstein, is the origin of a number of e-mails claiming that Barack Obama is a Muslim. Using the advanced research tools at her disposal, the razor-sharp Allen found...a couple of posters on the Free Republic website, plus a former political rival of Obama's who sends out zillions of e-mails to reporters every day.

Bottom line, it's called Free Speech and the internet is a great enabler of all kinds of speech, especially the free kind. How do you stop smears? By speaking up yourself of course. If the smear is a lie, it will be found out (by the internet, natch), if not, you're in trouble. I really don't see anything that needs fixing here. Your mileage may vary.