Rumor Has It

Rumors. We all have been victims of them and we all have helped spread them at one time or another. Spreading unverified information about others can harm their reputations and hurt them psychologically and emotionally. It's like the game of telephone when we were kids. Telling one person a "harmless" tidbit of information leads to more and more people hearing it and the information getting further and further from the truth. It’s an endless cycle that branches out exponentially and is nearly impossible to remedy.

I used to work for Grover Norquist at Americans for Tax Reform (ATR). His wife is one of the genuinely nicest people I have ever met, and she happens to be Muslim. Because of September 11^th and the discrimination against Muslims in this country, Grover’s political opponents use this fact to start rumors about him and get under his skin. Just today, the infamous Glenn Beck said on his radio show that Grover is, “Responsible for a lot of the Muslim Brotherhood stuff that goes on in the White House.” A guest on the show today said he has seen terrorists in Grover’s office space. All of this is false. In the year I was with ATR and in the office daily, I was never given any reason to suspect ties to the Muslim Brotherhood and certainly did not see any “terrorists” in the office.

Even people who are famous and have everything going for them feel the need to spread false information about others. I don’t know if it is to make them feel better about themselves or simply to be hateful, but there is no excuse for it. No matter what you think of Grover Norquist’s political views, spreading lies about sensitive issues is just plain wrong. Shame on you Glenn Beck, for creating a new cycle of rumors, but most of all for damaging Grover’s reputation as well as your own.