At Reason magazine’s Hit & Run blog, David Weigel provides a handy timeline of “Crazy” Larry Johnson’s rumor-mongering regarding the vaporous Michelle Obama video, showing that Johnson’s story has been “evolving” faster than Barack Obama’s position on Iran. It ends, as all good Johnson tales must, with Larry dropping an F-bomb — which seems as close to a bombshell as he is likely to drop on this subject.
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Regardless of whether the tape, DVD, or cassette exists, having listen to Mrs. O! it easy to believe she is capable of uttering such a tirade. That’s a problem.
about that evolving position on Iran
here:http://www.suntimes.com/news/politics/281249,CST-NWS-OBAMA03.article
How many business hours?
*rolls eyes*
dre: That’s a problem.
AhSo. The problem is with you and your way of thinking. It’s simple.
June 05, 2008
Categories: Barack Obama
Obama denies a rumor and questions the question
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.â€Â
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.â€Â
So was it even acceptable to ask the question?
Before Obama could answer, communications director Robert Gibbs interjected: “You just did.â€Â
“That is my point,†Obama said. “I just think people have to think about it before they ask.â€Â
NOTE: Obama’s clearly right that this is how stories for which there’s no evidence at all make it into the public eye. So I’m not linking or detailing the rumor, since there’s just zero credible evidence for it. This is probably a silly old media vestige, of course; Google has no such standards. And Obama’s discussion of it is, more broadly, news: As he acknowledged yesterday, beating back whisper campaigns is perhaps the central challenge his campaign faces.
http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0608/Obama_denies_a_rumor_and_questions_the_question.html
I think, Karl , you may like to read this:
http://blogs.suntimes.com/sweet/2007/03/obamas_aipac_speech_text_as_pr.html.
Do you think this may change your position on Obama’s views evolution on Iran?
I don’t see a “no” anywhere in there. ;D
sashal,
O! has said the stuff he said to AIPAC before.
Can you tell me if he means it today? How about tomorrow?
yes, he means it.
And AIPAC thinks too…
Any doubts that he does not mean it?
Can we judge any presidential candidate by the same standard?
If the mean, what they repeatedly say
sashal,
Of course there are reasons to doubt he means it. Lieberman laid them out at AIPAC. O!s voting record and his other recent statements run to the contrary. He surrounds himself with advisers who think otherwise. The list goes on and on.
Put another way, the text of the Soviet Constitution was nifty; the Soviet reality wasn’t.
So you believe what someone says over what they do.
it was nifty, sure , but remember how the text started ?
That communist party of the Soviet Union is one and only , people’s guiding star(approx translation).
the rest was just decoration for that unilateral authoritarian premise.
Look who is talking, Rob.
Did you vote for Bush in 2000?
One of the comments on Reason:
…and then, when you develop your film, you see a picture of Michelle Obama with your toothbrush in her ass.
Keep it up, jokers.
LMFAO!!!!
that is hilarious, Lisa.
Yeah but you gotta admit that Ms. Obama gets that look on her face that says she forgot who’s toothbrush was who’s and evidently put her own in there by mistake.
OK maybe it should by whose…. either way, the person that looks like she just tasted butt is Michelle
I noticed in the Timeline that Reason forgot the most priceless Gem of May 17th – where Larry claims his CIA buddy has SEEN the tape (along with a lawyer) and he invents the sinister GOP billionaire who wants to buy for a million – no one’s found the billionaire either — pasted for entertainment – not gonna link the lug head
Comment by thor on 6/5 @ 6:49 pm #
Don’t read Scary Johnson’s interpretation of that exchange. He said it’s proof there is a tape because Obama refused to deny there was.
TSK9 – Remind me again why anyone should believe anything Scary Larry has to say. Is he still trying to be Valerie Plame’s tampon?
Daley
You want to know the funniest thing about Larry’s Siamese twin – Joe that made him so disillusioned with his beloved GOP?
The McCain had a black baby rumor campaign
He helpfully spent like 85 pages gushing ove MccIn in his 89,283 page “memior” Politics of Joe Wilson Hair
Thor: I think Larry Johnson is a useless sack of putrid flesh and shouldn’t be counted as a reliable source as to the color of the sky. I also think that the rumors of this tape are bullpucky and a reporter asking a question of a presumtive nominee for the presidency should know better than to ask him a question about a “rumor” so completely without foundation.
However…
Obama’s answer is infuriating. He says the right things as far a slapping the reporter down for even asking the question and framing the inquiry as a “what’s wrong with politics” message. The one thing he leaves out (and it appears to be a conscious decision) is a staement like “oh, and by the way this rumor is patently and completely false. There is no basis for it and it is the worse sort of lie and this will be the last time I address it.”
Why not? Why does he allow this thing to sit in the corner like a moldy bagel when, once he was asked, he should have squashed it like a bug? Oftentimes I find Obama too cool and too “prepared” for his own good. No one (other than Larry Johnson) would blame him if he flashed a little anger at the absurdity and unfairness of this “rumor.” By not explicitly denying the existance of the tape he leaves the door ajar with the tweinkling of an idea that he’s hedging his bets.
it was nifty, sure , but remember how the text started ?
That communist party of the Soviet Union is one and only , people’s guiding star(approx translation).
the rest was just decoration for that unilateral authoritarian premise.
/
Larry Johnson worked for the CIA for four years, and has been milking that four years for nearly two decades. Either he’s not as dumb as he looks, or he’s found a bunch of dumb people to believe in him. I’m going with the latter.
TSK9 – How can you believe anything somebody who has haircuts as bad as Larry Johnson says, when you get right down to the substance of the matter. The man should be ashamed. I think the only TV gig he can get any more is Olberdouche.
#
Comment by BJTexs on 6/6 @ 5:03 am #
Thor: I think Larry Johnson is a useless sack of putrid flesh and shouldn’t be counted as a reliable source as to the color of the sky. I also think that the rumors of this tape are bullpucky and a reporter asking a question of a presumtive nominee for the presidency should know better than to ask him a question about a “rumor†so completely without foundation.
However…
Obama’s answer is infuriating. He says the right things as far a slapping the reporter down for even asking the question and framing the inquiry as a “what’s wrong with politics†message. The one thing he leaves out (and it appears to be a conscious decision) is a staement like “oh, and by the way this rumor is patently and completely false. There is no basis for it and it is the worse sort of lie and this will be the last time I address it.â€Â
Why not? Why does he allow this thing to sit in the corner like a moldy bagel when, once he was asked, he should have squashed it like a bug? Oftentimes I find Obama too cool and too “prepared†for his own good. No one (other than Larry Johnson) would blame him if he flashed a little anger at the absurdity and unfairness of this “rumor.†By not explicitly denying the existance of the tape he leaves the door ajar with the tweinkling of an idea that he’s hedging his bets.
Maybe the door’s ajar if the jar’s a door! (I love that line enough to inject it whenever possible)
I can’t answer for Barack Obama’s framing of answers. True, he’s unusually cool and collected most of the time. I like his style, others don’t. Maybe it’s just taste.
Or it could be sheer gullibility.
Anyway, Geraghty discovers this tape thing is the plot of a novel.