SC church: Obama tied to Osama?

A church in Jonesville, South Carolina -- 30 minutes east of Spartanburg -- has jumped into the 2008 election season with this contribution: a sign that asks, "Obama, Osama, hmm, are they brothers?"

Of course, Pastor Roger Byrd of the Jonesville Church of God insists he means no harm in making the comparison:

Byrd said that the message wasn't meant to be racial or political.

"It's simply to cause people to realize and to see what possibly could happen if we were to get someone in there that does not believe in Jesus Christ," he said.

When asked if he believes that Barack Obama is Muslim, Byrd said, "I don't know. See it asks a question: Are they brothers? In other words, is he Muslim ? I don't know. He says he's not. I hope he's not. But I don't know. And it's just something to try to stir people's minds. It was never intended to hurt feelings or to offend anybody."

It would be easy to write this off as the questionable antics of a small-time Southern minister, but it's not like he's alone.

Linking Sen. Obama to Osama bin Laden is something that's been circulating in the media for a while. Rush Limbaugh repeatedly called the Illinois Senator "Obama Osama" in a 2005 speech in Florida. There was CNN's bizarre piece driving home the similarities between the two names in 2006.

Then there are the curiously frequent "mistakes" and "gaffes" where the names have gotten switched, from numerous incidents by major media outlets to Clinton campaign phone-bankers in Ohio.

You can see how a pastor in South Carolina might get some ideas.