As I continue documenting the Barack Obama media landscape, I certainly can’t pass up mentioning the worst person in the world, Debbie Schlussel.

Schlussel wrote what any reasonable person would think to be an Ann Coulter parody…

Many months ago, readers began asking me whether Barack Obama is Muslim. Since he identifies as a Christian, I said, “no,” and responded that he was not raised by his Kenyan father.

But, then, I decided to look further into Obama’s background. His full name — as by now you have probably heard — is Barack Hussein Obama, Jr. Hussein is a Muslim name, which comes from the name of Ali’s son — Hussein Ibn Ali. And Obama is named after his late Kenyan father, the late Barack Hussein Obama, Sr., apparently a Muslim.

And while Obama may not identify as a Muslim, that’s not how the Arab and Muslim Streets see it. In Arab culture and under Islamic law, if your father is a Muslim, so are you. And once a Muslim, always a Muslim. You cannot go back. In Islamic eyes, Obama is certainly a Muslim. He may think he’s a Christian, but they do not.

You can see how all the recent mentions of “Hussein,” Jeff Greenfield’s attire “joke,” and other veiled attempts to tie Obama to Islam have been paving the way to emerge as the full-on “Obama Is the (Muslim) Manchurian Candidate” campaign.

If you have a strong stomach, you just might take sick pleasure in the monumentally deranged comments that accompany Schlussel’s post.

Media Matters has more…

And so does the Carpetbagger…

I can’t help but wonder about a possible backlash. Many Americans are uneasy about the Middle East and Muslims, but there’s a fundamental decency among most people in this country that, I suspect, reject the kind of hate Schlussel is espousing.

Maybe Schlussel and others like her believe they’re doing the GOP a favor by smearing Obama before he even announces his intentions, but I think it’s far more likely that they’re simply embarrassing themselves and creating a degree of sympathy for Obama. The abject stupidity of the right-wing attack machine has its limits.

It should be pointed out, however, that Ms. Schlussel’s diatribe has not been very warmly received in some conservative corners of the Web.

And speaking of Steve Benen, he’s got a good run-down on debunking the Obama/Rezko non-scandal “scandal” story…

I’ve been seeing quite a bit lately about some “questionable” real estate deal involving Barack Obama. The AP ran a story, as did the Washington Post, on top of plenty of coverage in the Chicago media. Howard Kurtz said his “sense of political dynamics” tells him the story “is about to break out of the Chicago media and go national.” Slate, earlier this week, was touting an article on “Obama’s Shady Real Estate Deal.”

So, what’s the big scoop? Does Obama have a legitimate controversy on his hands? As Conor Clarke explained, there is no story here. If anything, the coverage of the non-scandal reflects poorly on the media, not the senator.