The Nation’s Chris Hayes and PolitiFact have details on a smear circulating about Barack Obama by email. Here’s Politifact:

A chain e-mail says a photograph shows Barack Obama is unpatriotic because he “refused” to say the Pledge of Allegiance and did not put his hand over his heart. But the photo was taken during the national anthem, not the Pledge.

In the photograph, Barack Obama is standing in front of an American flag with his hands clasped just below his waist. Beside him are Bill Richardson and Hillary Clinton, with their hands on their hearts.

The e-mail notes that Obama’s middle name is “Hussein” and says he “REFUSED TO NOT ONLY PUT HIS HAND ON HIS HEART DURING THE PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE, BUT REFUSED TO SAY THE PLEDGE…..how in the hell can a man like this expect to be our next Commander-in-Chief????”

…Obama said the e-mail was false and that the picture was taken during the anthem.

“My grandfather taught me how to say the Pledge of Allegiance when I was 2,” Obama said at campaign stop in Burlington, Iowa. “During the Pledge of Allegiance you put your hand over your heart. During the national anthem you sing.”

He called the e-mail “irritating” and likened it to others that have falsely accused him of being a Muslim.

Keep an eye out and send a corrective link in reply if you get it. These under-the-radar smears are especially insidious.