Kathy seems to have a pretty trustworthy source who claims that this video does exist. But there are two problems. 1.) "Whitey" seems really really archaic. These days, black folks don't even have a real slur for white people. "White folks" or "White people" seems cutting enough. 2.) If this video does exist, it stands to reason that McCain wouldn't be the only one who had it, no? There must be reporters and bloggers hunting this thing down. Furthermore, at the very least, it would seem that the Obama campaign would have the video, and would just release it themselves. The likely scenario, I think, is that there may be a video of Michelle that's in the "first time in my adult life, I'm proud of America" category. I just can't see it being much bigger than that.
UPDATE: The more I think about this, the fishier it sounds. First off, even in the worst Jeremiah Wright videos, there is no evidence of "denouncing whitey." If we remember his worse offenses are denouncing America. But there is no "kill whitey" or "goddamn white people" talk in any of the tapes. Contrary to popular belief, black people do very little denouncing of whitey. In fact this sounds like the sort of thing that would be ginned up by --and for--someone who doesn't actually have much substantive contact with black people.
It also doesn't square well with what we now about Michelle Obama. I'm not saying we know much, but isn't it convient how the tape more stands in line with some of the more baseless whispering which has held Michelle to be black rage incarnate? Meanwhile the real Michelle Obama's children have a white grandmother, and her and Barack have long moved in very integrated circles. I'm not making the "I have white friends too" argument, but taken as a whole, this thing sounds highly, highly suspect. The worst part about it is, much like the Muslim rumors, it doesn't need to be true. No tape ever need be discovered, for the idea that Michelle said this to take hold in the popular conscience. I think that's why we haven't heard this in the MSM. It's also probably why I should just shut up now.
« Managing My Blogroll | Main | Yo New York: Ta-Nehisi Live » The Michelle Obama "Whitey" Video25 May 2008 03:16 pm Comments (25)
This is the worst sort of BS being peddled by Larry Johnson for weeks now. He's even been offering $1 million for it via some rich Republican, or so he says. I don't believe it. If it existed it would have been put on YouTube already. They just made it up to get more people scouring the archives of Rev Wright's church hoping they would turn up anything in the process. it's an act of desperation from Larry Johnson and his ex-CIA buds who all seem to hate Obama (I think they are scared he won't keep the agancy's skeletons hidden). Take, for example this tidbit about who was behind the madrassa story: McLatchy: Where did the Web rumors about Obama come from? In late 2006, convinced that an Obama presidency would be disastrous for America, he decided to start an anti-Obama operation. He combed the public record on Obama. He used a couple of allies and informants — half-jokingly dubbing his group "The Crusaders" — to learn about Obama's background, especially his Africa connection and how he came to be the editor of the Harvard Law Review. He assembled a dossier on Obama, including allegations that Obama attended a madrassa, or Islamic religious school, in his youth in Indonesia. ..."
This is the worst sort of BS being peddled by Larry Johnson for weeks now. He's even been offering $1 million for it via some rich Republican, or so he says. I don't believe it. If it existed it would have been put on YouTube already. They just made it up to get more people scouring the archives of Rev Wright's church hoping they would turn up anything in the process. it's an act of desperation from Larry Johnson and his ex-CIA buds who all seem to hate Obama (I think they are scared he won't keep the agancy's skeletons hidden). Take, for example this tidbit about who was behind the madrassa story: McLatchy: Where did the Web rumors about Obama come from? In late 2006, convinced that an Obama presidency would be disastrous for America, he decided to start an anti-Obama operation. He combed the public record on Obama. He used a couple of allies and informants — half-jokingly dubbing his group "The Crusaders" — to learn about Obama's background, especially his Africa connection and how he came to be the editor of the Harvard Law Review. He assembled a dossier on Obama, including allegations that Obama attended a madrassa, or Islamic religious school, in his youth in Indonesia. ..."
Wow, sorry for the double post. Don't really know how that happened. I swear I didn't repost anything. btw, here's someone named Liz Trotta joking about killing Obama today on FOX News. Unbelievable. Here's a longer clip for more context:
A second-hand 'reliable source' in an environment in which innuendos are flying all over the place. I need more.
I am skeptical. It would have come out by now if it existed. Clinton combed through Obama's KINDERGARTEN records, after all. I'll bet we'll see it as an urban legend whisper campaign though. Right wingers will repeat it ad nauseum, someone will link to the "proof" with a "sorry link has expired" page, and some people will believe it anyway because it's what they want to believe. The General Election will get that ugly, sorry to say. I expect the right to attack Michelle, as a strategy. They're gross like that.
Yeah, I saw that post at the G-Spot and decided it was time to remove Kathy from my rounds of websites I visit. She doesn't actually say what her "reliable source" has confirmed: that the tape exists or that there is a rumor that the tape exists? And she didn't even notice that this is being pushed by Larry Johnson? She just felt it necessary to advise the Obama campaign that that should deal with it, if there's anything there. Not very impressive at all.
Meh, that's harsh. She may well have a line on it. I just strongly suspect that the tape isn't what people think.
I don't buy it either. As you said, it's an out of date slur that I can't imagine Michelle using. And how often does a parishioner get to speak from the pulpit, unless its a bible reading or funeral?
Dude - I had more respect for you than this. I don't know or care who your friend is for this, but I am struck by the credulity of a very smart man. There is no video of Michelle Obama talking about "whitey." You realize that, right? My hunch is that you are young enough not to appreciate the cut-throatness of politics. Cicero got his head cut off. Obama needs strong supporters. Pull yourself together, please. These video stories are bullshit. They need to be called out, not indulged.
This is exactly the sort of post this blog needs more of. Being wrong, but not irredeemably so, is a great way to build participation in comment threads.
I think its an internet rumor. I can't believe that something like that will/can stay hidden until October. However, in this election, the rumor is just as vicious. I agree with nepat. This needs to be called out as the bullshit that it is or ignored.
Nepat, I'm not sure what the beef here is. Did you read the post? I never claimed to have a friend who'd seen the video...
I don't buy it at all. Her source is "a liberal, pro-Obama journalist." Why would someone like that have inside information on what the McCain camp has, and what they plan to do with it? And as KRK says, she's vague as to what her source told her. If all the source said is that he or she has heard the tape exists, then it doesn't matter how reliable he or she may be. And as you note, "whitey" sounds much more like a white person's fantasy of what goes on in black churches than anything Michelle Obama would be likely to say.
I'm not prepared to consider buying this until some blog posts "I have seen the video" (as opposed to "I have spoken to an unnamed but reliable person who has seen the video."). At this point, it's at the level of an urban legend peddled with the opening line: "I know this happened, because my best friend says it happened to his uncle." When a reliable blogger posts they've seen it, I'll worry about it. I still won't be convinced, but it'll seem more than an urban legend at that point.
If this thing really is out there, it's time (and it may have already happened) that one of Obama's people explained to McCain, in private, that if he runs against Michelle Cindy is fair game. Republicans always think in terms of targeting a candidate's wife--it's time Democrats learned to.
Couple of things... Kathy G seems to be initially unaware of the Larry Johnson post. That post has been "out there" as they say for about a week. Isn't it possible that Kathy's source saw or heard about Johnson's post? Rumors like this positively fuel themselves in the "yeah, I heard that too" kind of way. Of course it could exist, (anything is possible, right?) and if it does I can't imagine that the Obama campaign would get it out now to diffuse it for the general. It might be bad, but I don't think they'd roll the dice on having it play out in October. This reminds me of something that happened here in Jersey right before Corzine's election as Gov. A rumor surfaced on politicsNJ.com that there was a video of a drunken Corzine making racist remarks. The video never surfaced. Guess we'll see....
Can we talk about some real stories? Like the Paul v. Clinton campaign finance fraud case that has gotten a virtual blackout in corporate media and even on blogs?
sfsinger. link?
Ta-Nehisi - Thanks for the reply. I did read the post - albeit maybe after a little too much holiday weekend vino! My only real point is that the effectiveness of whisper campaigns is measured in direct proportion to the willingness of serious-minded folks to startwhispering. I'm just concerned that you're legitimizing something here that is nothing more than speculation and, in the process, helping to crystalize the Angry Black Michelle stereotype (which doesn't need much assistance at this point). That's all. Over and out.
No you're right. I debated whether to even post about. The mere discussion of it seems to give it legitimacy. The other side of course is do you just let this thing sort of fester out there. For instance, should we just not discuss the idea that so many Americans think Obama is a Muslim?
Ta-Nehisi - I agree it's time to drop this one. There's plenty of extant stuff out there that requires aggressive debunking... like the Muslim stuff! My wife's family are hardline Texas Republicans and forward us via email all the crazy Obama stuff. In fact, email has become a jukebox of anti-Obama hits in this election cycle in our house. We ignored them initially, but they kept coming. We decided now to reply with links to sites that actually debunk all the myths, one by one. Will it work? No idea, but at least we've taken the battle into the email channel where the smear campaigns have had their biggest impact (esp. among seniors).
"I hate the gooks," McCain said yesterday in response to a question from reporters aboard his campaign bus. "I will hate them as long as I live." McCain, a former Navy pilot who spent five years in a Vietnamese prisoner of war camp, was questioned about the language because of a story last month in the Nation magazine reporting his continued use of the slur. Since then, reports of McCain's language have been circulating on Internet chat sites and e-mails among Asian Americans, many of whom find the the term offensive and inappropriate for an elected official. "The use of a racist slur can't be acceptable for any national leader, regardless of his background," said Diane Chin, executive director of the San Francisco-based Chinese for Affirmative Action. "For someone running for president not to recognize the power of words is a problem." While McCain's words may have little effect in conservative South Carolina, where few Asian Americans live, they could come back to haunt him in other states. "Historically, straight talkers who say things off the top of their heads eventually hang themselves with those sorts of remarks," said Bruce Cain, a political scientist at the University of California at Berkeley. "While it might not hurt him now, Democrats are not going to have any hesitation about using this stuff to string him up later."
"I was referring to my prison guards," McCain said, "and I will continue to refer to them in language that might offend some people because of the beating and torture of my friends." McCain made it clear that his anger extends only toward his captors. As a senator, he was one of the leaders of the postwar effort to normalize U.S. relations with Vietnam. "If people understood the context, they wouldn't be upset," Mike Murphy, a senior adviser to the campaign, said last night. But the racial slur used by the senator has a long, painful history that is felt by many Asian Americans. The word "gook" was first used in 1899 by American soldiers fighting Filipino insurgents. During the Korean War, the term was aimed at Koreans and Chinese. It was directed at the Vietnamese when Americans were fighting in Vietnam. It is now used as a slur toward any Asian or Pacific Islander.
deapp: you forget, it's OK if you're a Republican.
Michelle Obama is probably somewhat bigoted agaist us "Whitey's".
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Do you qualify her source as "trustworthy" because you know who it is ?
Did that trustworthy source say "There is a video" or "I heard there is a video" ?
Posted by Benjamin | May 25, 2008 4:16 PM