The recent poll results that nearly one in five Americans believe (incorrectly) that Obama is a Muslim is just more evidence that a small but significant percent of Americans will believe just about any cockamamie story.

Of course, it doesn’t help when you have people like Rev. Franklin Graham (son of Billy Graham) spouting nonsense like this on ABC:

I think the president’s problem is that he was born a Muslim, his father was a Muslim. The seed of Islam is passed through the father like the seed of Judaism is passed through the mother. He was born a Muslim, his father gave him an Islamic name.

Nevermind the truth — that Obama’s father was an atheist, not a Muslim. Not to mention that if being given an Islamic name makes you Islamic, then everyone named Jesus (or David or Ruth) must be a Jew. And if the seed of Islam is passed through the father and the seed of Judiasm is passed through the mother, then what is the child of a Muslim man and a Jewish woman? Or as PZ Myers speculates, are the offspring of Muslim women with Jewish men automatically atheists?

The Washington Post points out some other crazy ideas that polls show are believed by 20% of the population, including that socialism is superior to capitalism, that torture is a good idea, that states have the right to secede from the US (what civil war?), and that aliens from outer space have made contact with humans. In fact, 20% admit to peeing in swimming pools, which shows you just the kind of people we are dealing with here.

I won’t say what kind of people, but it is interesting that if you only consider conservative Republicans, 34% of them believe Obama is Muslim. That’s one third who believe a lie. Not reported was what percentage of Fox News viewers believe this nonsense.

UPDATE: I take it all back. The Guardian has proof that Obama is a closet Muslim.