Obama to be put on Mount Rushmore

This story has gained enough traction on social media that Snopes felt the need to respond to it, a very sad indicator of the gullibility of much of the conservative electorate, which this juicy piece of gossip seems aimed at. A short-lived facebook "campaign" actually dates back to 2010, but this particular story stems from "American News" and began to be widely circulated after Jack Lew announced earlier this year that Harriet Tubbman would be put on the 20-dollar bill. I guess if you are going to deface currency, why not a mountain?

I noticed a friend of mine had recently shared the bogus story on facebook, unfortunately not in jest. Judging by the comments, quite a few others took it seriously as well.

Russia Today even picked up on the story in May, although the author noted that it was the desire of some historians, and referenced a HuffPost piece from November, 2012, that commented on the feasibility of adding another face to Mt. Rushmore. To be fair, Bil Lucey also noted the campaign to put Ronald Reagan on Mt. Rushmore. Apparently aware of the limitations, Grover Nordquist had suggested that Teddy Roosevelt's face be resculpted into that of the Gipper, because Nordquist regarded TR as too much of a "statist" to deserve a place on the mountainside.

Given that Mt. Rushmore is a National Monument, it is highly doubtful any faces will be replaced or added, but of course it is fun to make conjectures.

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The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire

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Team of Rivals Reading Group

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Dispatches from Vilnius

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