According to the Albany Times Union Friday, Sen. Barack Obama’s (D-IL) last name was misspelled as “‘Osama’ on hundreds of absentee ballots mailed out this week to voters in Rensselaer Country,” New York. Is this a Freudian slip or a simple mistake?

Although the Democratic and Republican county officials claim it was a “typo” and “honest mistake,” I am personally finding this screw-up a bit hard to believe. The right wing has been trying to use Osama Bin Laden and Barack Obama interchangeably as well as emphasizing the “Hussein” in Obama’s name to draw attention to his Muslim background. It is not hard for me to believe that someone wanted to underscore Obama’s “otherness” and this typo wasn’t so innocent. Besides, when does a “b” look like a “s.” And these letters aren’t  close to each another on the keyboard. And for something this important, like a voting ballot, shouldn’t you have proofreaders?!

Although I am a glass half-full kind of person, I’m not quite buying the innocent typo excuse.