As many of you know, I've been trying to track down the fabled video in which Michelle Obama allegedly rails against "whitey."
The story began with Larry Johnson of No Quarter, who heard about the existence of such a video from five sources, all Republicans. The sources said that the video showed Michelle with Louis Farrakhan, and that Karl Rove was holding it in reserve for just the right moment.
From there, the story was picked up by Republican operative Roger Stone and pro-Obama FOX broadcaster Bob Beckel. Both claimed to have heard about the tape from their own sources, which may or may not be the same as Johnson's. Stone said that a TV network possessed the tape; soon after he spoke, a rumor spread that the network was ABC.
Last night, a site called
HillBuzz supplied a highly detailed account of the tape, which supposedly was made on June 28, 2004, at the Sheraton Hotel in Chicago. The occasion was a Women's Luncheon held as part of the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition Conference. HillBuzz illustrated its story with an eye-opening photograph of Michelle Obama (then the wife of an aspirant to the U.S. Senate) and the
wife of Louis Farrakhan.
Perhaps (I reasoned) Johnson's sources misinterpreted a reference to the wife as a reference to Farrakhan himself.
HillBuzz went on to provide a surprisingly detailed of what Michelle Obama said on that occasion. (More on those details later.) Larry Johnson reprinted the HillBuzz effort approvingly -- although, needless to say, he does not bear responsibility for the words written by others.
It occurred to me that we may not need a video to learn what occurred at a public event. Eyewitness testimony would do nicely. The event was emceed by ABC 7 broadcasters Cheryl Burton and Karen Jordan, and ABC had videotaped the entire luncheon.
Thus, I made it my duty to track down Jordan, Burton, or anyone else who was there.
This task proved difficult -- so much so that I started to get suspicious.
And
tired.
When I began this quest, in the early A.M., I was propelled by partisan enthusiasm and the thrill that comes when one feels oneself to be on the verge of a breakthrough. Twelve hours later -- after an epic search for
anyone in that room on that date -- I stopped being certain and simply became desperate for a solution.
Any solution.
Dining on crow, if it came to that, would be a relief, as long as the mystery found closure.
Finally, a representative of ABC News 7 in Chicago got back to me. Here is the official reply:
ABC 7’s Karen Jordan and Cheryl Burton emceed the 2004 Rainbow-Push Women’s Luncheon. Other employees of ABC 7 attended along with hundreds of Chicago area civic, professional and media representatives. No one recalls Michelle Obama speaking at this luncheon and our archived video does not show Michelle Obama.
The last bit is much less probative than you might think.
While ABC News did cover the entire event, they did not keep the raw footage for very long. The only bits they retained were the brief clips intended for use on the news that night. The clips showed speakers Shoshana Johnson and Jesse Jackson Sr. (I questioned the ABC News representative carefully on this point.)
However, we have no reason to doubt the integrity of Jordan and Burton. We must trust their recollections.
Does
that settle
that?
Conceivably, Michelle spoke informally after the proceedings had wound down, and after Jordan and Burton had left the room. Such things do happen. Some of my readers will consider this suggestion a stretch, others will not.
Should we conclude that the sources who told Johnson, Stone and Beckel about an inflammatory Michelle Obama video are hoaxing? Not necessarily: Those sources are not responsible for the things written on
HillBuzz. Or so I presume...
We must now consider a cognate mystery. Just who
is responsible for
HillBuzz?
The proprietor of that site divulges neither name nor contact info. He or she will not allow comments. Few other sites, even within the pro-Hillary blogoverse, link to HillBuzz. The site seems to have popped into existence of its own accord.
Consider, once more, the HillBuzz description of Michelle's alleged rant on June 28, 2004:
For about 30 minutes, Michelle Obama launched into a rant about the evils of America, and how America is to blame for the problems of Africa. Michelle personally blamed President Clinton for the deaths of millions of Africans and said America is responsible for the genocide of the Tutsis and other ethnic groups. She then launched into an attack on "whitey", and talked about solutions to black on black crime in the realm of diverting those actions onto white America.
The reference to the Tutsis and Africa has no parallel to any published or broadcast statement made by Johnson, Stone or Beckel. This description is
new stuff. And it indicates that the writer has interviewed someone who has actually seen the video tape.
And yet --
if a tape exists, it almost certainly was not taken at the event described by HillBuzz! So just where did HillBuzz get those references to Africa and black-on-black crime?
Before calling the mysterious proprietor of that site a hoaxer, I would prefer to allow some time to pass. Perhaps an explanation will come.
So, this day began with excitement and ended in perplexity. I'm glad to have tracked down the eyewitnesses -- otherwise, the HillBuzz version of events might have lingered for days or weeks or months. Still, the story did conclude with some magenta in cheek.
Has the entire "Michelle video" story been disproven? Nope.
We're back to where we were on Tuesday morning. She may have spoken intemperately on some previous occasion. One could argue that she was more likely to speak without thinking before her husband ran for the Senate. One could also argue that someone has fibbed to Johnson, Stone and Beckel.
Yes, I'm frustrated and annoyed to have been misled by the HillBuzz report. The level of detail in that report convinced me that this investigative trail would lead somewhere.
A friend assures me that when dining on crow, one should use plenty of barbecue sauce. Less gamy that way.
