The "Whitey" thing. Yes, that. Again.

The various Obama sub-scandals have grown too numerous to track. I should have discussed the latest "whitey tape" developments earlier. Yes, we have new info about the most infamous rumor of the campaign season.

Time magazine did a story on the rumor, and on the Obama campaign's attempts to battle what it calls the "smears."

When the Obama campaign got wind of the rumor in April, Michelle's close friend and adviser Valerie Jarrett asked Michelle if there could be anything to it; the candidate's wife dismissed it out of hand. But by mid-May, it was picking up steam on the Internet, and Michelle's advisers decided it was time to have a serious talk with her about it...

If this were an episode of Ally MacBeal, the sound effects editor would insert the "LP record screech" at this point.

Larry Johnson was the first to mention the tape in public -- on May 16. He insists that he did not get wind of the tale until that month. No evidence suggests that he or any other anti-Obama writer had heard the rumor before that time.

A strange situation. Whoever decided to spread this story spread it to the Obama folk first. In effect, Time magazine has verified that Johnson did not concoct the claim.

Does this mean that the claim is true? No. Not necessarily.

As you know, Johnson's story holds that he learned of the tape at second hand, from sources who knew of screenings held by Republicans for the benefit of rich donors. In the past, I've speculated that a fake tape was put together to help loosen fatcat wallets.

(Obots -- who have repeatedly demonstrated an inability to read the English language -- will probably interpret the previous paragraph as an announcement that the tape is real and that I'm screening it in my living room next Saturday right after Family Guy.)

On a campaign swing through Oregon, Michelle's chief of staff Melissa Winter grilled her on the particulars of the various versions. Had she ever spoken at Trinity Church? Could she ever recall having uttering that racial epithet? No, no, Michelle answered again and again. Additionally, she said, "whitey" is simply not a word that African Americans of her generation tend to use — or that she herself would ever say.

This is one reason why the "fake video" thesis appeals to me. On the other hand, I'm ill-disposed to believe anything from the Obama camp -- not after the NAFTA lies, the Rezko lies, the Iraq war lies, the campaign financing lies, the FISA lies, and all the other lies.

Even after Time's revelation, Obama's band of fanatics will probably continue to presume that this whole business is nothing more than a Clintonian scheme. Of course, progressives blame the Clintons for hurricanes, floods, and the final episode of the X-Files.

But why would the Evil Clinton Conspirators spread a false story of this sort to the Obama camp -- a month before any public mention? What purpose would that serve? For that matter, why would a Clintonian rumor-meister use Larry Johnson as a cut-out -- one month later? Without actual evidence, such a story could not impact the campaign. The only predictable outcome would be to discredit Johnson -- if the tape does not show up as the proverbial "October Surprise."

The likeliest answer is that the "whitey tape" story has its origin point with people inside the Republican party. For what it is worth, Roger Stone says he learned about the tape from Republican sources. The tale, true or untrue, began somewhere within the innermost ranks of the GOP.

Conceivably, Rovian forces created the story in order to stoke the fires of animosity between Obama and Clinton. We have good reason to believe that the Obamas genuinely share the Kossack paranoia about all things Clintonian. This theory would explain why the rumor reached Valerie Jarett before it reached Larry Johnson.