I am shocked that it is left to the Chicago Sun-Times to fight back against Barry OCarter's smear of Rush Limbaugh.News item: Barack Obama campaign starts new Web site to fight smears from political opponents at www.fightthesmears.com.The funny thing about this is -- as Mark pointed out here -- it was Clinton-supporting Democrats Larry Johnson and Bob Beckel who peddled this stuff.
The first smear mentioned:
"LIE: Rush Limbaugh says a tape exists of Michelle Obama using the word 'whitey' from the pulpit of Trinity United."
Well. No. This is what Limbaugh said:
"The rumor is -- and we don't like dealing with rumors here -- but the rumor is that Michelle Obama from the pulpit of this church used the term 'whitey.' Some are saying be very careful with this because she might have said 'why'd he,' why did he, the contraction 'why'd he' instead of 'whitey.' "
He added: "I can't find anybody who's seen it."
So while Limbaugh was happy to wallow in the rumor, he was careful not to claim the tape exists.
More on this when someone gets around to creating www.clarifyfightthesmears.com.
The problem with a "rapid response" website is that you have to be very careful to get your own fact-checking right on the money. Otherwise, you are left with the impression that the response is of the same character as the rest of the campaign...lacking in merit or truthiness.
UPDATE: Now Bob Beckel is trying to smear right-wing bloggers for promoting the tape... That guy is unbelievable!
