Monday, June 02, 2008

Video follow up (UPDATE)

Following up on the previous post: Larry Johnson now claims that the Obama campaign has called the video allegations a "scurrilous lie." Perhaps so, but no official denial has appeared anywhere else on the web.

Johnson also says that the Obama forces are behind the alleged transcript, which (says LJ) is false. He says that this transcript was designed to mislead pro-Obama writers into thinking that "whitey" was a mis-transcription for "why'd he." See here for an example.

Johnson presents no evidence that Obama's team was behind the email. That suggestion makes some sense, but a suggestion is not proof. Also, I believe that right-wing sites, such as Free Republic, were the first to publish the transcript.

If you feel inclined to comment, try to come up with something original or meaty. Or at least funny. I've deleted about two dozen anonymous drive-bys offering mindless variants on the "CIA disinformation plot" meme. I'm not asking people to agree with my stance, since right now, I don't have one. But I am asking for either new facts or a new angle.

(Maybe Michelle was telling her dog to sit...?)

UPDATE: I just talked to a representative of the Obama campaign. He told me that the campaign has not offered any kind of official response and won't until an actual video shows up. He also said that "as far as I know, it's a hoax."

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

According to the Hillary rules, when his representative said as far as I know, he was intending to suggest it is NOT a hoax.

...sofla

Anonymous said...

"Perhaps so, but no official denial has appeared anywhere else on the web."

Nor has a video, even when a release deadline for it was given, then broken.

Well, not it. Just LJ's assurance of what it contains. The blogger with the Obama Nazi Salute book promo on his blog.
Who you're still citing as though his words are worth repeating.

A good rule of thumb is if a blog you're quoting has more dark warnings about the horror that is Obama on it's front page than Stormfront does, give it a pass.

Joseph Cannon said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Joseph Cannon said...

Kilo, nobody ever gave a release deadline for it. You must have been smoking a kilo.

This situation is weird. Really weird. Both Obots and Hillaryites are under the impression that Johnson possesses the video in his desk drawer -- and that that he reneged on a promised public showing.

Nothing of the sort is true. He never made such claims. Alas, not even a surgical operation can extract these notion from the collective cranium.

The weird thing is, when I say this, idiots of a certain strip accuse me of being part of Johnson's grand CIA disinfo scheme. Actually, I don't think he likes me , to the extent that he knows of me. (This is due to some behind the scenes stuff.)

Then there are idiots of another sort who presume that I must be part of some grand scheme AGAINST Johnson, because I have expressed a skeptical view.

The world has gone mad.

Reality is whatever we wish it to be, and anyone who suggests that it might be otherwise is presumed to operate in bad faith.

I strongly disbelieve that Johnson is making the story up. For one thing, the motive is lacking. For another, I know that other journalists have talked to sources (perhaps the same sources) making this claim.

Are the SOURCES fibbing? Very possibly!

orionATL said...

joseph -

you've said it before,

but if the obama team knows this is a political scam,

they can come out and say:

"there is no such video."

easy, very simple denial.

no other argument would need to be made.

for me,

the central question is:

does the video exist or not?

repeat question:

does the video exist or not?

we proceed from the answer to that question,

or from the obama campaign's efforts to avoid answering that question.

Anonymous said...

"Kilo, nobody ever gave a release deadline for it. You must have been smoking a kilo."

So what, the rest of the blogosphere all just came together and made same assumption this info would come out at precisely 9am by themselves ?
Including Johnson ?

Yeah, it's me that's on something, you're just fine.

Joseph Cannon said...

Vast swaths of people simply don't know how to read.

I notice that you shy away from providing a direct quote, which would settle the mate, wouldn't it?

I never presumed anything.