The liberal media tends to characterize Obama vs. Conservatives as Idealistic Truth vs. Cynical Falsehood. But at his terrific Campaign Blog at NRO, Jim Geraghty has exposed an embarrassing need for fact-checking in Obama's fact-checking "fight the smears" reports.
It would help Obama's campaign if they, while trying to refute Corsi, did not refer to Bob Beckel as a Republican strategist. Twice.
Republican Strategist Bob Beckel Said That He’s Convinced Michelle Obama Meant That She Had Seen People Unify Around The Basic Issues And It Made Her Proud.
Republican Strategist Bob Beckel said about Michelle Obama’s comment, “She should not have said it the way she said it, but in fairness to her, she said that she had seen people unify around the basic issues and it made her proud. But she was talking about was the fact that she was proud that people were starting to deal with politics from the top down. I am convinced that she meant it that way.” [Fox News Roundtable, 2/19/08]
Beckel, of course, managed ultra-lib Walter Mondale's campaign for president in 1984, the one that got steamrollered by Reagan. Now he'll have to fight off the Obama smear. Geraghty jokes: "Attention, Obama campaign: Not everyone who appears on Fox News is a Republican."
At NRO's Media Blog, Greg Pollowitz has his own favorite snippet, what he calls the Bacon Test of Obama's family ties to Islam:
LIE: “Obama always acknowledged his stepfather was Muslim, though he did his best to downplay Islam as an important force in his stepfather’s life.” [p 58]
REALITY: LOLO WAS A NOMINAL MUSLIM
Lolo Soetoro Was A “Nominal Muslim” Who Enjoyed Bacon. “The grandparents who helped raise Mr. Obama were nonpracticing Baptists and Methodists. His mother was an anthropologist who collected religious texts the way others picked up tribal masks, teaching her children the inspirational power of the common narratives and heroes. His mother’s tutelage took place mostly in Indonesia, in the household of Mr. Obama’s stepfather, Lolo Soetoro, a nominal Muslim who hung prayer beads over his bed but enjoyed bacon, which Islam forbids.” [New York Times, 4/3/07]
Isn't it funny how the Obama campaign thinks that the best authority on his stepdad's religiosity is the New York Times? But this passage does NOT disprove Corsi's "lie," but completely verifies it. Corsi claims Obama does his best to downplays Lolo's religiosity, and then the Obama "correction" downplays Lolo's religiosity.
Greg added:
The 9/11 hijackers drank alcohol at strip clubs in Florida, another practice forbidden by Islam. Were they "nominal Muslims," too?
Either way, this 41-page document is more of a reference guide for the media, lefty pundits and lefty bloggers than it is an actual "we won't be swift-boated" response. If this is all he has with which to answer Corsi, consider Obama already 'boated.
