Palin's online video witchhunt

Online video continues its expanding prominence in 21^st century political campaigns, as a video of Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin getting blessed by a Kenyan witch hunter began to circulate widely Thursday. The video, shot in 2005 at Palin's now-infamous Wasilla Assembly of God church, shows visiting Rev. Thomas Muthee of Kenya blessing Palin and praying for her protection from witchcraft.

In other comments in the video, Muthee asks God to take over the U.S. education system, "so that kids don't grow up worshipping Mohammed or Buddha."

In a July 2007 discussion with young missionaries, Palin credited Muthee, who has fallen under scrutiny for purported "witchhunting" in Kenya, for part of her rise to the governorship of Alaska.

But some experts complain that Muthee's comments are taken out of cultural context. In a Boston Herald article today, Jacob K. Olupona, a Harvard African studies professor said, "(Muthee) was giving an African prayer to an American Christian. His prayer reflects his own background and his own training and his own world view. America may not believe in witchcraft, but witchcraft is a reality (in Africa)."

What is not up for debate is how ubiquitous online video has become in the American political landscape.

Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) fell under similar scrutiny over comments made by his former pastor Jeremiah Wright. In the video, which spread virally and was widely discussed, Wright decries America's social condition and says it is partially to blame for the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.

In 2006, Sen. George Allen (R- Va.), thought by many at the time to be a front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination that John McCain eventually won, ended up a media whipping boy for his racist "Macaca" gaffe that exploded on the web.

Candidates now must be ever more careful about public comments and appearances of all kind, as cell phone cameras, Flip devices and other video-capable devices are waiting to spread any flub or provocative statement virally all over the internet.

For more:
- read the well-balanced Boston Herald article
- see Alaska's KTUU.com article on the controversial video 

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