There has been a lot of accusations flying from both sides of this political fight and we are just in the embryo stages of an all out political bender that apparently brings out the worst in some of us. The "Michelle Obama Conspiracy" has been the most recent version getting the most airplay on news networks and blogs around the globe. The Obama campaign is accusing the GOP of going after his wife with sordid attacks, the most recent stating that she gave a speech at Trinity United Church of Christ were she used the term "whitey". The accusers also state that there is a video of the incident that reportedly happened in the summer of 2004. First off, the GOP has absolutely nothing to do with the accusations. Second, the rumor mill is in full force and right wing extremists want it to be true so bad that they can almost visualize the speech after seeing so much anti white video footage coming from the pulpit of that "church". To make a long story short if there was an actual video of this alleged incident every news organization on the planet would be looping it during prime time (with the exception of ABC, NBC and CBS). My hunch is there was never any speech and there certainly isn't any video, because this story broke before Hillary Clinton's concession speech, and nobody vets a scandal like the Clinton's, who would have just the ammunition needed to attain the coveted Democratic nominee status. I not sure what else to add except that if this all the facts there are to this story than there isn't a story and if there are more facts or god forbid an actual video than the Obama campaign is in deep trouble. Since today's poll shows him 6 point ahead of McCain, The Ghost of Jefferson is calling B.S. and end of story. However there is more to the front runner to be the First Lady. The "Sr. Thesis" incident. This is a much older story and has been well explored in other blogs and news coverage but here is the short version. Yes, Michelle Obama's Sr. thesis at Princeton was a racially charged sociological view of "Princeton Educated Blacks and the Black Community". Yes there were some eye raising quotes and some connotations that will make white America take notice. No, there not as bad as some right wing blogs would have you believe. some of the quotes were taken out of context which altered the perception of the meaning drastically. I'm not giving her a pass on this, merely pointing out that it would be just as easy to make an issue out of the paper without resulting to cheap tactics and misquotes. Also true is the fact that Princeton would not reveal the thesis to the public until after the 2008 political election, of course this is tempered somewhat by the Obama campaign making it available on their website after the news broke that it would not be made available. Smart move on the part of the Obama campaign. In reality we have here what we have every political season, a viscous game of he said - she said all crammed into a powder keg of raw political emotion being used by both sides as propaganda for the respective home teams. For those of you who haven't heard the Obama campaign has launched a web sight specifically aimed at rumor busting and fighting what the Obama campaign perceives is a GOP based attack on himself and his family. News flash the GOP, just like the DNC is completely dedicated to portraying their nominee in the most positive light possible and subsequently the opposing parties nominee in the most negative light possible. Not new. Not even newsworthy. This is something even a political neophyte with no experience should know and be prepared for. Why then the incendiary comments coming from the Obama campaign that accuse the GOP of mischaracterizing certain quotes. The truth is the GOP has nothing to do with the quotes Obama has mentioned. They have come from Rush Limbaugh, a political pundit, who does not have any official GOP capacity and from various right wing bloggers, most notably Roger Stone, whose credibility or should I say impartiality is suspect. Again, with no affiliation to the GOP. So in the interest of fairness lets look at the "smears" the new website appears to refute:
- Michelle Obama Says “Whitey” On a Tape - We have covered this above - smear refuted
- Barack Obama is a Muslim - Does it matter? no he wasn't sworn in on the Quran, it was the family bible and although he may have attended some Islamic schools as a youngster he also attended at least one catholic school. The short story is his mom was a roaming leftist and he moved around a lot as a kid. I'm willing to accept that he is not a Muslim. (not that it matters what his religious affiliation is) - smear refuted
- Obama's Books Contain Racially Incendiary Remarks - No matter how you look at it, the book does contain racially provocative remarks. Probably not as bad as the extreme right wingers would have you believe but the fact remains that there is enough verbiage in the book that is worthy of being classed as racially incendiary. - True
- Barack Obama Won't Say The Pledge of Allegiance/Won't Put His Hand Over His Heart - the fact that this is even listed as a "smear" is indicative to how silly the Obama campaign is about their candidates perceived inadequacies. - smear refuted
This is ALL that is on the new website to "Fight the Smears". It is embarrassing. The true intention of the website is not to fight the smear but rather to trick you into to emailing this absurd site to everyone that is in your contacts list. I kid you not. The ultimate goal is for you to donate money and then to sign up and have this nonsense fill up your inbox along with the inbox of all your friends, family and coworkers. That in itself warrants a few "smears" in my opinion. We all know that the Obama campaign has set a new precedent in online fund raising and grassroots involvement, but this smells of resorting to cheap Internet marketing tricks and deserves to be called by its proper name. B.S.
In reality no one needs to put forth any additional effort in order to "smear" Obama. A simple review of his meager record will reveal a candidate that is so far left that the center of this country cant even see him. Maybe the next post should be on this little golden nugget.
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