Fightthesmears.com: Only Straw Man Obama Rumors Need Apply

"What you won't hear from this campaign or this party is the kind of politics that uses religion as a wedge, and patriotism as a bludgeon--that sees our opponents not as competitors to challenge, but enemies to demonize. Because we may call ourselves Democrats and Republicans, but we are Americans first. We are always Americans first." ~ Barack Obmama, June 3, 2008"
--from the header at Obama's Fight the Smears.com

ALSO at DBKP.com: FighttheSmears.com: Obama Site Another Attempt to Limit Discussion

A round-up of predictable headlines from the (largely) usual WWW suspects.

* Ben Smith notes in "Fighting smears, gaming Google" an email by Wired's Thomas Goetz:

By putting their own website out there front-and-center, and then getting everybody to link to it (starting with all the media covering the launch of the site), the result will be to drive fightthesmears.com towards the top of a Google search on, say, "obama muslim" or "michelle obama whitey". Ideally, if enough of the pro-Obama network links to fightthesmears.com, it'll drive the sites that peddle in the rumor-mongering, which are now the first results on said searches, off the top of the results list. Ideal long term result: any curious low-information voter who eventually bothers to google these pesky rumors will immediately be led to the debunking rather than the rumor.

My take: Did the Obama campaign create fightthesmears.com to game Google? If so, they're even more net-savvy than folks give them credit for.

Excellent tech-savvy observation!

* The same Brave New Folks ask "Can Sunshine Help Obama Fight the Slime?" New Republic is certainly an expert on slime: it was the home Baghdad Diarist, Thomas Scott Beauchamp. TNR's Michelle Cottle gushes:

The fabulous Karen Tumulty has a piece up over at Time.com today (sorry, for some reason can't get our blog's link function to work; go to Time.com's home page and you'll see it) about Obama's rumor-fighting initiative, a web site called fightthesmears.com that seeks to confront head on all those nasty flasehoods being whispered--and emailed--about him and his family. In addition to debunking the more pernicious tales, the site asks Obama supporters to, with a click of a button, "Spread the Word" about the truth (or, rather, the lack thereof) behind such rumors.

Too bad about that link function.

* MSNBC chips in with "OBAMA CAMP TRIES TO 'FIGHT THE SMEARS'", where NBC/NJ's Athena Jones also does her bit to add to the Obama fluffery.

Obama's campaign has mastered the use of the Internet for fundraising. His backers have used viral videos like the "Yes we can" mash-up and the 'Empire Strikes Barack'-style videos to rev up supporters. But there have also been instances where the Web has hurt Obama, like the Rev. Wright playing on a loop on YouTube. There have also been numerous emails about Obama being a Muslim and a man who refuses to say the Pledge of Allegiance and most recently messages accusing his wife Michelle of uttering a racial epithet at Obama's former church. (The first two are demonstrably untrue, and Michelle has denied the latter and Obama himself has challenged anyone with video of his wife making the remarks to produce it.)

Rather, Obama is challenging anyone to produce a video he first said doesn't exist.

And Time is commenting on its own story, with "TIME: Obama Fights the Smears".

The Illinois Senator launches a “Web-based rumor clearinghouse” to counter the online rumors about his faith, family and connections with controversial figures.

Obama adviser Anita Dunn: “We will not allow Michelle—or, for that matter, Barack—to be defined by rumors.”

Does this mean that anything Obama doesn't want discussed will end up on FighttheSmears.com?

Or do only straw man rumors need apply?

by Mondoreb
images: fightthesmears.com

Obama Anti-Rumor Website: Another Way to Limit Discussion

Democrat Barack Obama's campaign said Thursday that Michelle Obama never used the word "whitey" in a speech from the church pulpit as he launched a Web site to debunk rumors about his campaign."
--NEDRA PICKLER, AP



The Obama campaign is now going to be spending more time addressing rumors?

"Yesterday I wrote about the new team that the Barack Obama campaign was building to counter internet rumor as well as deal with inconvenient truths, by way of offering the "party line" on how to counter the rumors or the damaging truths."
--Susan Duclos, Wake Up America

The Politician's Playbook says "to confront rumors, do not confront them." That's a smart move. The Mainstream liberal press has it's own "Don't ask Democrats, don't tell" policy. If the candidate doesn't talk about a rumor, the MSM will pretend it doesn't exist. No potentially-embarrassing questions that way--provided it's a Democrat candidate.

Addressing the rumors breaks the policy and the candidate is fair game.

As long as there have been rumors in politics, there has been one widely accepted way for a candidate to deal with them. Basically, it's not to. Otherwise, according to prevailing wisdom, all a candidate achieves is to elevate the rumors to a legitimate story for the media to feast on. That don't-go-there approach was Barack Obama's plan for months until, on the candidate's first full day of campaigning as his party's presumed presidential nominee, a reporter from McClatchy Newspapers who was traveling aboard his plane asked him about a particularly toxic bit of hearsay that was zooming around the Internet about his wife Michelle. Obama lost his cool. "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, bristling. "That gives legs to the story. If somebody has evidence that myself or Michelle or anybody has said something inappropriate, let them do it."
--Time: Obama's Anti-Rumor Plan

So is this a smart move by the man who gets the Mainstream Media all gooey inside? Here's one vote for "yes".

Spend time refuting straw man rumors--and that's less time spent talking about the issues: issues are not a strong point for the Senate's most liberal member.

Really, they aren't. When does Obama address the issues--other than the standard liberal boilerplate about health care and substituting "Change" for "Amen" at Obama revivals? Obama has a LONG list of "change"--and a FAR SHORTER list on how he's going to bring it about.

Much better to chat with the MSM about "rumors". The campaign surely will be careful to separate "rumors" and "unpleasant topics".

Won't they?

What rumors has the campaign tackled on its new website, http://www.fightthesmears.com.? Let's take a look. The website has a "Powered by Truth" blurb.


RUMOR: The "Whitey" tape purportedly showing Michelle Obama railing against "Whitey".
[Fightthesmears.com uses the words "THE SMEAR" and "LIE" instead of RUMOR.]

WEBSITE ANSWER: "No such tape exists," the campaign responds. "Michelle Obama has not spoken from the pulpit at Trinity and has not used that word."
[Whitey Tape Means Michelle O. is Going On a Trip-- Under the Bus]

RUMOR: Jeremiah Wright video of Wright damning America.

ANSWER: None, the video exists and the Obamas left Trinity Church after 20 years after Wright's "Goddamn America" threatened to damage the campaign. It's been rumored that this was a politically-expedient move on Obama's part. fightthesmears.com doesn't address this last rumor, either.

RUMOR: Senator Obama was sworn into the US Senate using the Koran.

ANSWER: "Senator Obama has never been a Muslim, was not raised a Muslim, and is a committed Christian." The website also offers a pic of Obama sworn in with a Bible used. This rumor is the equivalent of being asked, "What's your favorite color?"

RUMOR: Barack Obama Won't Say The Pledge of Allegiance/Won't Put His Hand Over His Heart. [Actual wording: "LIE: Barack Obama won't put his hand over this heart during the pledge of allegiance"]

ANSWER: "View video of Barack leading The Pledge of Allegiance in the United States Senate"

This particular Smear-Answer was, no doubt, in response to the video below.



When we (and other bloggers) first ran the video and picture, Obama's response was much different: he called it a "dirty trick". "DBKP Proud to be "Dirty Trickster"

There's other "smears"--such as "Obama's Books Contain Racially Incendiary Remarks"--and other "The Truth" answers; the quotes from Obama's books were--ready?--"Truncated and Out of Context".

"Change" apparently doesn't include changing that tried-and-true answer to a candidates getting nailed--especially when it's on paper, written by Obama himself.

The question remains: Is this a good move?

Again, we say "YES!" It gives the MSM something to chatter about. It also allows Obama to set the terms of the discussion. Write about the evil conservatives who insist that "Obama is a Muslim" and you don't have to write about his plans for socializing health care. Why get into a real discussion, where the facts are not as charismatic as repeating the mantra of "Change!"?

Make no mistake: Fightthesmears.com is just another attempt by Barack Obama to limit the discussion to topics with which he's comfortable.

And that's no rumor.

by Mondoreb
images: Fightthesmears.com
Sources:
* Obama site confronts rumors
* New Barack Obama Website Called Fight the Smears
DBKP.com - Bigger, Better!.
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DBKP Today in Weird History: February 23, 2008

WAR, TERRORISM, DISASTER, LAST STANDS, POLITICS, MASS INOCULATION, FAKE SHEEP, WHO, RUMORS, IRONY, BUSY, SERIAL KILLERS, PERSECUTION, PATENTS, MAINSTREAM MEDIA, CANDY, LEASES, PROGRESS, QUICKIE, FASCISTS, PRO WRESTLING, JEWS, KIDNAPPED, SUSPENDED, GOLD, SUPERNOVA, SHORT PEOPLE, BORN, BIRTHDAYS, DEATH

WAR!

1945 During World War II, U.S. Marines on Iwo Jima captured Mount Suribachi, where they raised the American flag.

1847 The Battle of Buena Vista took place during the Mexican-American War. U.S. troops led by General Zachary Taylor fought Mexican General Santa Anna's forces, who ended up withdrawing.

1916 French artillery kills entire French 72nd division at Samogneux Verdun.

1942 Japanese sub fires on oil refinery in Ellwood CA.

1967 US troops begin largest offensive of Vietnam War.

TERRORISM

1969 Nayif Hawatimah forms Democratic People's Front for Liberation of Palestine.

1997 Ali Abu Kamal opens fire in Empire State Building & kills 1.

2007 Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport became the first in the United States to begin testing new X-ray screening technology that can see through people's clothes.

DISASTER

1887 French/Italian Riviera struck by Earthquake; 2,000 die.

1980 Oil tanker explosion off Pilos, Greece, causes 37-million-gallon spill.

1998 Forty-two people were killed, some 2,600 homes and businesses damaged or destroyed, by tornadoes in central Florida.

2003 In West Warwick, R.I., relatives of the 100 victims of a deadly nightclub fire were allowed to walk up to the charred rubble to pray and say goodbye.

IRONY

1994 Stuart Berger doctor (Immune Power Diet), dies from obesity at 40.

LAST STANDS

1836 the siege of the Alamo began in San Antonio, entire garrison eventually killed.

BUSY

1922 Henri Landru executed for having 11 wives, in France.

SHORT PEOPLE

1993 Gary Coleman wins $1,280,000 lawsuit against parents for high fees.

PROGRESS

1910 1st radio contest held (Philadelphia).

1936 1st rocket air mail flight, Greenwood Lake NY.

QUICKIE

1915 Nevada enforces convenient divorce law.

GOLD

1973 Gold goes up $10 overnight to record $95 an ounce in London.

WHO?

2007 Democrat Tom Vilsack abandoned his bid for the presidency.

LEASES

1903 Cuban state of Guantanamo leased to USA.

SUSPENDED

1971 George Harrison is fined & his driving license is suspended for 1 year as a result of several speeding tickets and a dispute with the police.

SPORTS

1983 USFL New Jersey Generals sign Heisman winner Herschel Walker (3 years-$5 million).

1985 Indiana basketball coach Bobby Knight throws a chair during a game.

POPULAR

1861 By popular referendum, Texas becomes 7th state to secede from US.

SUPERNOVA

1987 Supernova 1987A in LMC 1st seen; 1st naked-eye supernova since 1604

SERIAL KILLERS

1906 Johann Hoch US murderer, executed.

PRO WRESTLING

1939 Lou Thesz beats E Marshall in St Louis, to become wrestling champion.

PATENTS

1874 Major Walter Winfield patents game called "sphairistike" (lawn tennis)

RUMORS

1970 Rumors spread that females born on this day were better looking and more vivacious.

MAINSTREAM MEDIA

1886 London Times publishes world's 1st classified ad.

JEWS

1947 General Eisenhower opens drive to raise $170 million in aid for European Jews.

CANDY

1896 Tootsie Roll introduced by Leo Hirshfield.

KIDNAPPED

1958 5-time world driving champion Juan Fangio kidnapped by Cuban rebels.

BURNED

155 Polycarp disciple of Apostle John, arrested & burned at stake.

FASCISTS

1919 Benito Mussolini founds the Fascist party of Italy.

POLITICS

1861 President-elect Abraham Lincoln arrived secretly in Washington to take office, following word of an assassination plot in Baltimore.

1870 Mississippi was readmitted to the Union.

PERSECUTION

303 Emperor Diocletian orders general persecution of Christians.

MASS INOCULATION

1954 The first mass inoculation of children against polio with the Salk vaccine began in Pittsburgh.

COUP

1981 an attempted coup began in Spain as 200 members of the Civil Guard invaded the Parliament, taking lawmakers hostage. (However, the attempt collapsed 18 hours later.)

FAKE SHEEP

1997 Scientists in Scotland announced they had succeeded in cloning an adult mammal, producing a lamb named Dolly. (Dolly, however, was later put down after a short life marred by premature aging and disease.)

JURIES

2007 A Mississippi grand jury refused to bring any new charges in the 1955 slaying of Emmett Till, a black teenager who was beaten and shot after whistling at a white woman, declining to indict the woman, Carolyn Bryant Donham, for manslaughter.

BORN

1633 English diarist Samuel Pepys (The Great Fire of London) was born in London.

1865 Barney Dreyfuss baseball owner (Pittsburgh Pirates).

BIRTHDAYS

Country songwriter Bob Willis is 74. Actor Peter Fonda is 68. Author John Sandford is 64. Singer-musician Johnny Winter is 64. Country-rock musician Rusty Young is 62. Actress Patricia Richardson is 57. Rock musician Brad Whitford (Aerosmith) is 56. Singer Howard Jones is 53. Rock musician Michael Wilton (Queensryche) is 46. Country singer Dusty Drake is 44. Actress Kristin Davis is 43. Tennis player Helena Sukova is 43. Actor Marc Price is 40. Actress Niecy Nash is 38. Rock musician Jeff Beres (Sister Hazel) is 37. Country singer Steve Holy is 36. Rock musician Lasse Johansson (The Cardigans) is 35. Actress Dakota Fanning is 14.

DEATH

1848 The 6th president of the United States, John Quincy Adams, died in Washington, D.C., at age 80.

1884 Tambo Tambo Australian aboriginal/US circus attraction, dies at 23.


February 23, the 54th day of 2008. There are 312 days left in the year.


compiled by Mondoreb
Source:
* Today in History
* Today in History



Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page.

Dog the Bounty Hunter: Big Rumblings from the Rumor Mill

There has been no news on the Dog the Bounty Hunter. All the news lately has been of the different efforts of the Dog's fans in their quest to get the Dog the Bounty Hunter show back on the airwaves.

So, we scoured and called and wrote. What we came up with was rumblings and rumors.

But, several of the rumors we heard, we heard in more than one place--from more than one source. So we thought that we'd present some of the things we heard and let the readers decide what they thought.

Maybe some of you have heard the same thing, or have information that we don't have.

Here's some of what we heard after a day of Dog info hunting and what we think about it. We know the readers won't be shy about what they think.

[Truth-O-Meter Ratings: 0 (it's probably a lie) to 10 (bet the ranch)]

* The Dog's been laying low.
Not much of a rumor here. It's a fact. Duane "Dog" Chapman has been out of the spotlight for several weeks now.

This is not very surprising, either. In Dog's case, "No News is Good News" right now.
[Truth-O-Meter Rating: 10.0]

* The Dog will be back in the public eye soon..
Again, this bit of information is easy to believe. The Dog won't stay hidden forever and has got to surface again sometime.

How soon is soon?

For many fans of the Bounty Hunter, it can't be soon enough. One of the common themes, in both comments left at this site and emails we've received, is that people feel a hole has developed in their regular TV viewing habits without their weekly 'dose of Dog'.
[Truth-O-Meter Rating: 8.5]

* The 'Dog the Bounty Hunter' show will not in the future and may never return to the airwaves.
We don't believe this. We don't believe anything in the world of TV, driven as it is by ratings, is set in stone. Duane Chapman's show was popular and a mainstay in the A & E Network's line-up.

This was one rumor we heard only one time. And we don't even like the guy who said it.
[Truth-O-Meter Rating: 3.0]

* There has been a "reaching out" to Dog by Afro-American groups.
This one we can believe. From the amount of email and comments we've received from ordinary black folk, there is a great rolling of eyes about what Dog said: but no acrimony, and certainly no hatred.

A great majority of our mail begins, "I'm non-Caucasian and you can tell that Dog is not a racist. He shouldn't have said what he said, but he didn't say it in anger." Or some variation of those thoughts.

If memory serves, there was no outcry against Dog and what was said during his private cellphone conversation by Black America.

Make no mistake: they were not happy, but judging from what we read, they shrugged their shoulders and shook their head at a man using ill-considered bad language.

The outcry came from certain White Americans eager to throw another person under the Political Correctness bus. This outcry came from the same quarters that attempts to stifle speech on college campuses, shout down disagreeable opinions and speakers and regulate Internet bloggers.

To them, this had nothing to do with Dog the Bounty Hunter; many of them wouldn't know Dog Chapman from a carburetor. Duane Chapman was only a means to an end.

Muzzling the Dog was their way of flexing their PC muscles.

Thankfully, those people are a small, if noisy, segment of the American population.

This rumor has substance because: Black or White, no one likes to see a person get railroaded. And Duane Chapman got railroaded.
[Truth-O-Meter Rating: 7.5]

* Duane Chapman hasn't so much as swore in the last month.
As unbelievable as this might be when first heard, we heard this from multiple sources. Dog is trying hard to clean up his whole language act.

We smiled the first time we heard this; our eyes opened wide, the second time; but the third time, well, what could we say?

As one source told us, "the Dog causing hurt and heartache among some of his fans really hit home with him on the need to clean up his language. He kept saying he was going to clean it up, but I'd heard that before."

"But this time--he accepted the challenge. I'm not saying he won't ever slip up ever again--he's human--but I haven't heard him swear in over three weeks."

One source even told us the Dog's swear-free and said "I swear it!"

After hearing this from three different people, we tend to believe it: after all, if it wasn't true, the National Enquirer would have had it on their front page by now.
[Truth-O-Meter Rating: 8.0]

* The Dog and Beth are getting a divorce over this whole mess.
I think this guy got Dog confused with another TV show star.
[Truth-O-Meter Rating: 2.0]

So that's it. After a whole day spent on the phone, this is what we dug up.

There was a few other things, but we're going to be doing some more checking on those items over the weekend.

Has anyone heard any of these? Does anyone have any additional information to offer? We'd like to know!

In the meantime, one source had this to pass on to Dog's fans: "Keep your chin up and your ears open."

by Mondoreb

[NOTE: We'll have a follow-up to our "Bring Back Dog" Petition to A & Network in the next 48-60 hours.]

Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page.

Hillary Clinton's Lesbianism: It Would Set Gay Rights Back 50 Years

Hillary's possible lesbianism: Only whispered about til now?
Hillary Clinton a lesbian?

With her "personal" aide who's been described as "mysterious" and "glamorous"?

The speculation that the former first lady has a thing for ladies has the pundits panting. The rumblings from the edges of the press brigades are gathering force as the smell of scandal to the press is like blood in the water to pirhanas. The story is that the Los Angeles Times is sitting on a major sex scandal involving one of the candidates. Given the fact that if it involved a Republican, it would have appeared well before any facts were fully gathered, attention turns to the Democrats.

Now someone in the government, a Department of Justice official speaks--off the record, of course--at Big Head DC:

“I am close enough to Hillary and [her personal aide]Huma [Abedin] to tell you that this ‘rumor’ is true,” the official says. “It is well known inside her campaign that Hillary and Huma are an item.

“If you call Hillary’s residence in DC first thing in the morning, Huma answers the phone,” the official continues. “Same thing late at night and on the road. It’s a closely guarded secret that Hillary’s inner circle guards at all costs.”

Now the story turns to the argument: Are you born gay or do you "turn"?
Luke Ford makes more observations and sense:

Like the rest of us, Hillary needs love. Unlike the rest of us, Hillary is powerful enough to get what she wants.

Like any woman, Hillary needs hugs and comfort and solace. She’s not had that regularly from Bill for many years. Where’s it coming from? Huma is the source that makes the most sense.

So to sum up, we've got one unnamed source in the Justice Department, an array of bloggers chomping at the bit, plenty of rumors and one L.A. Times story that's supposedly sitting in the hopper. No proof yet, but the story should be the concern in the Gay Community if Hillary turns out have bitten by the love that dares not speak its name.

The mere thought of Hillary being Gaydom's most celebrated spokeswoman should be enough to spark demonstrations in the streets of San Francisco. Anyone tortured by confusion about their sexuality would double over in pain after watching her torture the question of her vote for Iran. To have her explain her position on lesbianism, whether she was one, or was for or against it--doors across America would be slamming as people jumped back into the closet.

Hillary Clinton a lesbian? It would likely set their whole movement back 50 years, minimum.

by Mondoreb

MORE links on:
Hillary and the Love that Dare Not Speak its Name



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