Larry Johnson

New York Times reporters Julie Bosman and John Broder gave Barack Obama defenders a boost on Friday with "Obama's Campaign Opens a New Web Site to Strike Back at ‘Dishonest Smears.'"

Called Fight the Smears, the website was apparently inspired by unfounded rumors that a recording exists of Obama's wife Michelle ranting about "Whitey" at the pulpit of the radical Trinity United Church of Christ, which the Obamas attended for 20 years until Barack Obama came under fire for the anti-American raving of Rev. Jeremiah Wright.

Showing early signs of a bad habit, the Times strongly implied that the rumor originated with conservative bloggers, even though all evidence suggests that it first broke in the blogosphere in mid-May at the blog of a Hillary Clinton supporter.