Clueless McClatchy reporter blames “Republican blogs” for the Michelle Obama “Whitey tape” rumor

William O. Douglas is another McClatchy reporter who can be counted on to run interference for the Obama campaign. Yesterday Douglas wrote a piece which blames "Republican blogs" for the Michelle Obama "Whitey tape rumor."

In June, the Obama campaign, on a Web site it had created to debunk rumors, said that Michelle Obama had never spoken from the pulpit of Chicago's Trinity United Church of Christ and used the phrase "whitey." Rumors were circulating on conservative Republican blogs and talk radio shows that she'd launched into such a diatribe at the controversial Rev. Jeremiah Wright's church and that it was captured on tape.

Bunk. Do a few minutes research and you'll discover the proponent of the “Michelle Obama “Whitey tape” rumor is Larry Johnson, an anti-Obama Democrat who publishes the "No Quarters" blog. It doesn't fit with the Liberal/McClatchy boilerplate about "mean ole Republicans" but the inconvenient truth is that Larry Johnson is a Democrat. Johnson started the rumors and pushed the rumors (said the tape "was in Karl Rove's hands"). The other guy pushing the rumor was Clinton operative Bob Beckel.

Here are a few sample posts from Larry Johnson's blog about the Whitey tape:

About the “Whitey” Tape »
‘Whitey’ Source Revealed? »
Barack Punts on Denial of Michelle Tape »
Thread #2: Larry’s HillBuzz Story »
Thread #3: Desperate Obama Disinformation Over Michelle “Whitey” Video »
Desperate Obama Disinformation Over Michelle “Whitey” Video »

This took me just a few minutes of research. Douglas apparently got the word ("lie") about mean Republican blogs directly from the Obama anti-smear web site. Nice job fact-checking there, McClatchy.

You see how this works, don't you? Instead of doing actual research himself, ace McClatchy reporter Douglas simply took talking points from the Obama web site and parroted them. Zero fact-checking. (No surprise, the reporter doesn't grasp the irony that Obama smears right wing blogs on his anti-smear web site.)

Here's another point lost on the MSM -- not only did Democrats, not Republicans push the Whitey tape rumor, the big Republican blogs almost universally debunked – or doubted - the rumor.

Strata-Sphere is a conservative blog that has been saying for months the Whitey tape is almost certainly bogus. The most recent Strata-Sphere post on the White tape: "The Mythical Michelle Obama “Whitey” Video" Other big GOP bloggers who debunked: Patterico Pontifications (here), Michelle Malkin (here), The Sundries Shack (here). I could go on. And do the GOP bloggers get credit for debunking the rumor? No, they get blamed for starting it. Jim Geraghty at NRO nailed it back in June:

The behavior of the mainstream media is sending a clear message to those of us on the right: do not ever help out the Obama campaign, even if you think the world would be well-served by debunking a ridiculous accusation, because no one will ever remember your efforts to get to the truth. Instead, you'll get blamed for spreading the malicious rumors.

When you think of it, McClatchy reporter William Douglas and Larry Johnson have alot in common - both are perpetuating smears. The GOP bloggers are giving readers more truth and better information than the genius reporters like McClatchy's Douglas. Which is another example why the mainstream media -- incuding McClatchy -- is in freefall.
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