Even Conservatives and Libertarians Are Debunking Attack on Michelle Obama From Crazed Clintonistas

[Dr Ron]

http://liberalvaluesblog.com/?p=3376



Even Conservatives and Libertarians Are Debunking Attack From Crazed Clintonistas

June 6th, 2008 by Ron Chusid

As bad as all the dishonesty and racism which came directly from the Clinton campaign was, even worse has come from some of the blogs backing Clinton. This includes one prominent Clinton blogger spreading rumors of a nonexistant tape of Michelle Obama using a derogatory term for whites. This attack is so lame that even conservative and libertarian sites are helping to debunk it.

The Volokh Conspiracy went to actually investigate and, after a lengthy discussion, finds that the charges are “almost certainly false.” National Review found a novel with a similar scenario, suggesting that “whoever started this rumor got the idea from a novel.” In case anyone wonders why conservatives would weigh in, they write:

Why is a conservative blogger putting this much effort into dispelling a rumor that, on paper at least, would hurt Obama? Because those who prefer a president besides Obama should not go through the summer and fall convinced that a magic-bullet devastating tape is going to appear as an October surprise to save the day.

Also, there are a lot of good reasons to vote against Barack Obama; but what people claim Michelle Obama says on a tape that no one can produce and no one has seen isn’t one of them.

Reason has also summarized these posts and has noted the implausibility of these charges. They refer to Obama’s response:

Sen. Barack Obama on Thursday batted down rumors circulating on the Internet and mentioned on some cable news shows of the existence of a video of his wife using a derogatory term for white people, and criticized a reporter for asking him about the rumor, which has not a shred of evidence to support it.

“We have seen this before. There is dirt and lies that are circulated in e-mails and they pump them out long enough until finally you, a mainstream reporter, asks me about it,” Obama said to the McClatchy reporter during a press conference aboard his campaign plane. “That gives legs to the story. If somebody has evidence that myself or Michelle or anybody has said something inappropriate, let them do it.”

Asked whether he knew it not to be true, Obama said he had answered the question.

“Frankly, my hope is people don’t play this game,” Obama said. “It is a destructive aspect of our politics. Simply because something appears in an e-mail, that should lend it no more credence than if you heard it on the corner. Presumably the job of the press is to not to go around and spread scurrilous rumors like this until there is actually anything, an iota, of substance or evidence that would substantiate it.”

Reason supports Obama’s reply, writing:

The proper response to a “when did you stop beating your wife?” query like this is: “Go to hell.”