Obama's new anti smear site

mlurp · #1 (**permalink**) 06-12-2008, 12:58 PM

Guess it is going to get tough. I like the idea myself.

Obama launches online campaign against 'smears' 2 hours, 8 minutes ago

Obama launches online campaign against 'smears' - Yahoo! News

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Democratic White House hopeful Barack Obama launched a new website Thursday devoted to dousing "smears" against the first African-American with a serious shot at the presidency.

The site at www.fightthesmears.com debunks false rumors doing the rounds of the Internet and right-wing media outlets -- including one recent assertion that Obama's wife Michelle has been caught on tape slurring white people.

Obama's main campaign website already had a fact-check section to refute rumors such as the Christian candidate is a secret Muslim. But aides said the new site went further in inviting supporters to spread the word.

"We created an interactive tool to allow our supporters to fight back against these smears in the same way that they received them -- on the Internet," campaign spokesman Tommy Vietor said.

saltwn · #2 (**permalink**) 06-12-2008, 03:01 PM

I heard about that on one of the news channels today. I think it is a good idea for his campaign. It won't make me vote for him, but I am not voting for McCain on the basis of rumors about Obama.

cnredd · #3 (**permalink**) 06-12-2008, 03:06 PM

I just took look-see...

Looks like a whinefest...Check this line out...

Quote:

Lie:
On May 30th, Rush Limbaugh said he had heard a rumor that a tape exists of Michelle Obama using the word “Whitey” from the pulpit of Trinity United Church of Christ.

Truth:
No such tape exists. Michelle Obama has not spoken from the pulpit at Trinity and has not used that word.

Ummm...

Where is the lie?...Of course, there isn't any...It specifically says that Rush HEARD A RUMOR...

He did NOT say the tape exists...Just that he HEARD a tape exists...

Now if he told people that a tape DID exist, then there'd be a lie (or that Rush's sources are liars and he perpetuated the lie)...

But that's not what happened, making the term "Lie:" at the top the actual lie...

Spencer Collins · #4 (**permalink**) 06-12-2008, 03:51 PM

I also visited the site and it should have been setup in a Rumor: - Fact: format.

cnredd · #5 (**permalink**) 06-12-2008, 04:35 PM

The site's been up for ONE DAY and it's already been hacked...

Apparently, they asked the Keystone Cops to provide computer security...

UPDATE - They weren't hacked, but Obama's campaign neglected some important steps at prevention...

The screencap above was from www.fightthesmears-ORG not www.fightthesmears-COM

In other words, it's a parody site...

But it does show a rookie mistake for not cornering the market on domain names...This same this happened during a VP debate in 2004 when Cheney meant to say "factcheck.org", which is a legitimate bi-partisan site that shows the facts in political discussions, but accidentally said "factcheck.com", which was a liberal website...

foundit66 · #6 (**permalink**) 06-12-2008, 04:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cnredd

Where is the lie?...Of course, there isn't any...It specifically says that Rush HEARD A RUMOR...

Suppose somebody said "I heard that John McCain had a black baby..."
While the person saying that may have "phrased" it to remove a "lie" from a "false statement", it should be obvious that the ORIGINS of that statement are actually a lie.

The first person to START the "rumor" would have been "lying".
Obviously, the CLAIM would be a "lie", although repeating it, as long as you preface the false claim with "I heard..." makes it "not" a lie...

On another note, one of the ten commandments involves "not bearing false witness against a neighbor".
Some interpretations (like specifically a Lutheran one I have seen) translate that this means even gossip is a "no-no".

And there's another standard in the realm of journalism where you substantiate and verify things before you repeat them.
But for a lot of these incidents (on both sides of the field), journalistic integrity is in short supply...

saltwn · #7 (**permalink**) 06-12-2008, 04:40 PM

Gospel not gossip!
-brother Sebastian

cnredd · #8 (**permalink**) 06-12-2008, 04:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by foundit66

Suppose somebody said "I heard that John McCain had a black baby..."
While the person saying that may have "phrased" it to remove a "lie" from a "false statement", it should be obvious that the ORIGINS of that statement are actually a lie.

The first person to START the "rumor" would have been "lying".
Obviously, the CLAIM would be a "lie", although repeating it, as long as you preface the false claim with "I heard..." makes it "not" a lie...

On another note, one of the ten commandments involves "not bearing false witness against a neighbor".
Some interpretations (like specifically a Lutheran one I have seen) translate that this means even gossip is a "no-no".

And there's another standard in the realm of journalism where you substantiate and verify things before you repeat them.
But for a lot of these incidents (on both sides of the field), journalistic integrity is in short supply...

Do you even understand what a rumor is?....

A rumor is NOT a lie...A rumor is a a statement that is UNYET verified...It stops becoming a rumor when it IS verified either way...

In order for Rush to be lying, you'd have to make the assumption that he ALREADY KNEW it was a lie, but said it anyway...THAT would be perpetuating...

But there's no evidence of that whatsoever...You accuse Rush of phrasing it to remove himself from a false statement, but you can't provide us with any information as to how Rush knew it was a false statement in the first place...

foundit66 · #9 (**permalink**) 06-12-2008, 05:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cnredd

Do you even understand what a rumor is?....
A rumor is NOT a lie...A rumor is a a statement that is UNYET verified...It stops becoming a rumor when it IS verified either way...
In order for Rush to be lying...

Did you even read what I said?
I never said Rush was lying.

Somebody STARTS a rumor. Somebody STARTS by saying "I heard ..." when they never "heard" anything of the sort, or they START by saying it's true, when they have little to no reason to believe it to be true...

You aren't even responding to anything I actually said.
The point was that pointing to the "technicality" of whether or not it was a "lie" is meaningless in the bigger picture.
A bigger picture you obviously want to ignore...

Quote:

Originally Posted by cnredd

But there's no evidence of that whatsoever...You accuse Rush of phrasing it to remove himself from a false statement, but you can't provide us with any information as to how Rush knew it was a false statement in the first place...

I accuse Rush of irresponsibility.
People who are in a "journalism" position shouldn't be repeating things that are JUST "rumor".
Journalism is about the facts.
Or at least it should be...

Next time I hear somebody pipe up about "what happened to this country", I want a finger pointed back at anybody who defends Rush's underhanded techniques with technicalities on what is a "lie"...
It's barely a step up from Clinton's "What is sex?" approach...

cnredd · #10 (**permalink**) 06-13-2008, 04:37 PM

Rush sounds off on the attacks on him...that he was somehow one of the kingpins who started the "Whitey" tape rumor...

Rush Blamed for "Whitey" Rumor

Quote:

RUSH: How old is this story? Obama denied this ten days ago or sometime last week. Obama denied this last week. All of a sudden I started noticing this last night on my RSS feeder. There must have been 35 newspapers last night which had the same AP story in it, so I got all 35 newspaper versions and some TV stations like this. I was last in line on this one. I was a nonfactor on this. But, what happens is, this is as far as the Drive-Bys are concerned, folks, and this is an example of the power of this program. When the Drive-Bys are looking at Republicans or conservatives to really nail us to the wall, until I mention it, it doesn't matter. 'Til I bring it up, it doesn't exist. Well, I mean what the hell, I was last in line.

For those not in the know, the rumor of the tape was started by...wait for it...

a NON-REPUBLICAN!!!!...

(Larry Johnson at the KOS convetion listening to Joe Wilson)

Yup...Hillary diehard Larry Johnson, not only created the controversy, but actually went sofar as saying he'll provide all of the details...Look how he attacks Obama on other issues, too...

Michelle Obama and Louis Farrakhan Take On Whitey

Quote:

Larry Johnson

I learned over the weekend why the Republicans who have seen the tape of Michelle Obama ranting about “whitey” describe it as “STUNNING.” I have not seen it but I have heard from five separate sources who have spoken directly with people who have seen the tape. It features Michelle Obama and Louis Farrakhan. They are sitting on a panel at Jeremiah Wright’s Church when Michelle makes her intemperate remarks. Whoops!! When that image comes out it will enter the politcal [sic] ads hall of fame. It will be right up there with the little girl plucking daisy petals in the famous 1964 ad LBJ used against Barry Goldwater.

Barack may have quit his church but his religious problems are not over. Barack Obama has a Nation of Islam problem that will receive more attention in the coming days. Before Barack came on the scene, THE MAN in his political district was Louis Farrakhan. No one could take Alice Palmer’s seat without Farrakhan’s blessing. No one. I do not fault Barack Obama for seeking out the blessing of Farrakhan, but the story of what was done behind the scenes to get rid of Barack’s predecessor—Alice Palmer—has not been told. A knowledgeable source tells me that Tony Rezko played a direct role in this feat. And Rezko has been tight with Farrakhan.

It also should come as no surprise that Barack hired two members of the Nation of Islam to work on his staff—Jennifer Mason and Cynthia K. Miller. (And no, I am not merely recycling info initially reported by Debbie Schlussel. I have two independent Chicago sources for this info.) If Jeremiah Wright and Michael Pfleger had kept their yaps buttoned none of this would mean much. But the fact that both men have been—until scrubbed from the website in recent weeks—listed as spiritual advisors to Barack Obama and also are very close to Louis Farrakhan, forces the question about Barack’s faith and beliefs.

In probing those matters we begin to understand that the Nation of Islam has been a critical component of Barack Obama’s base of support. And, I am told, Louis Farrakhan has been careful to use Tony Rezko as the intermediary in his relationship with Barack. This is not guilt by association, this is guilt because of actual relationship. Farrakhan, Wright, and Pfleger are each on tape in various settings spewing the most vile racists garbage in the guise of preaching. Barack Obama, up to this point, has tried to pretend he had no idea that these men had these thoughts or said these things.

NONSENSE!! He knew and he knows. And the gig will be up when the Michelle tape hits the airwaves. One source described how this tape was acquired. Let’s just say that one of the republican [sic] candidates who is no longer in the race, but had a dandy oppo research capability, uncovered this gem. If Republican poohbahs have their way the tape will remain on ice until October. But when it comes out, Barack will be permanently branded with the Nation of Islam. That’s not a winning platform in November. And Barack’s bundlers understand this threat. I also have learned some major financial backers are asking the Barack team about the tape and are being stonewalled. It is a wild card in the political campaign that has not yet played out.

But listening to the stories about this gives everyone the impression that the Republicans set this whole thing up...

Lies...SOP...

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