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Obama's Myths. Busted.

President Obama is set to appear on tonight's episode of MythBusters, airing at 9 p.m. EST on the Discovery Channel. In an attempt to promote math and science education, Obama asks the team to investigate the myth that ancient Greek mathematician Archimedes set a ship on fire by reflecting the sun off mirrors.

NewsFeed thinks Obama really missed an opportunity here. Why not use the airtime to deflect myths about himself? Luckily, NewsFeed his here to pick up the pieces and set the record straight.

Myth: He Was Not Born in America

One of the biggest Obama myths comes from the Birther movement, which alleges that the President was actually born in Kenya, not Hawaii, and was smuggled into the States days after his birth. Therefore, they say, Obama was not born in the U.S. and is Constitutionally disqualified from holding his office. The state of Hawaii confirmed the authenticity of the birth certificate, but that hasn't stopped the movement. California dentist and lawyer Orly Taitz sued to have Obama thrown out in 2009 based on this myth -- and the case itself was promptly thrown out.

Myth: He is Muslim

President Obama has been repeatedly asked to declare and defend his Christianity--largely in the wake of the Park51 controversy in Manhattan. After a Muslim community center near Ground Zero became a political and media maelstrom, Obama’s opponents once again found opportunity to stir the political pot, voicing doubts about the president’s faith. And despite the Constitution reading that “no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States,” the president has openly, and consistently, proclaimed his Christianity.

Myth: He is a Socialist

One of the most common criticisms slung at the president from his opponents is that he is a socialist, promoting a socialist agenda. They point to health care reform and the Wall Street bailouts as examples of Obama’s socialist policies. So registered socialists, like the members of the Socialist Party USA for example, ought to be thrilled, right? Wrong. Billy Wharton, co-chair of the party says that Obama’s ideology and policies are far from socialist. He told CNN that the popular criticism of the president simply “means that people don’t understand what socialism is.”

While there are varying definitions of socialism as an ideology, a basic definition is that the citizens should have control of the economic institutions that affect them, usually through the state. Does health care reform or the financial bailouts fall under such a definition? Not quite. Private insurance companies largely still control health care and the bailout didn’t include an increase of state control over financial institutions.

Myth: He's an 'Anti-Colonialist'

The cover of the September 27, 2010 edition of Forbes magazine read "How He Thinks: The Root of Obama's Big Problem with Big Business." In the cover story, Dinesh D'Souza argues the root of the President's seemingly antibusiness views is the man's own roots. D'Souza wrote that Obama "adopted his father's position that capitalism and free markets are code words for economic plunder ... Clearly the anti-colonial ideology of Barack Obama Sr. goes a long way to explain the actions and policies of his son."

Forbes argued the story was presented as an analysis, but White House officials argued the facts refuted the story. First of all, the President's father abandoned his family when Obama was two years old; the two only saw each other one other time, when President Obama was 10. Though an opinion can't necessarily be debunked, it's tough to adopt your father's economic policies when you barely interacted with him.

Myth: He is the Son of Malcolm X

Yes, that Malcolm X.

One of the most bizarre myths about the president (out of a long list of bizarre myths, mind you), is that Obama is actually the son of Malcolm X and not Barack Obama Sr. The theory, which was originally published as a guest post on the conservative blog Atlas Shrugs, was essentially based on the idea that Malcolm X and the president are both… tall. Conservative activist Pamela Geller, who runs Atlas Shrugs, has said herself that she doesn’t believe the Malcolm X myth holds water and there has been zero evidence to support the theory--she merely posted the article because “the author did a spectacular job documenting Obama’s many connections with the Far Left.”

Though this myth is by far the most groundless, it’s also NewsFeed’s favorite for sheer audacity and out-there-ness.

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