By The Bard of Wilmette from Eyes on Obama:
There are few things in political discourse more contemptible than spreading lies about the family of a public figure. It is bad enough, for example, to imply that Barack Obama is not patriotic because of his ties to a minister or professor whose own patriotism might be subject to question.
There are few things in political discourse more contemptible than spreading lies about the family of a public figure. It is bad enough, for example, to imply that Barack Obama is not patriotic because of his ties to a minister or professor whose own patriotism might be subject to question. As for Michelle Obama's alleged lack of patriotism, it is no lie to quote her exact words about being "really proud" of her country for the first time. Her remarks were taken out of context to make her sound much worse than what was intended, but that is a distortion rather than a lie, and it is part of politics. My objection there is not that Obama's political opponents would do this, but that so many in the supposedly objective media did the same thing.
More recently, Michelle Obama is being trashed for thingsthat she never said at all, rather than something she did say in an awkward manner. Some of the right wing talk radio people have made the claim that Michelle used the term "Whitey" in a public forum, in a derogatory reference to us pale faced folks. They have made the assertion, and claimed to have the evidence to back it up, but of course there is no evidence. Quite simply, these people are making a personal attack - not on the candidate himself - but on a member of his family, and the allegations are both false and malicious.
In theory, the Obamas could file a libel suit against those who have made these false claims, but as a practical matter, such a suit would be far more trouble than it is worth. That is why the celebrity gossip magazines are in effect above the law. The targets of their slander almost never find it worthwhile to pursue litigation, due to all the unwanted publicity. There at least used to be (I do not know if this is still the case) a rule that broadcast radio and television stations that allow false and malicious statements by their on-the-air personnel could lost their broadcast licenses. If such a rule still applies, I think it is appropriate to put some pressure on the broadcasters who allow this to go on.
If Michelle Obama ever used the term "Whitey," my best guess is that it was done in a context having nothing to do with racial slurs. For example, maybe she was recalling some old TV shows with a few friends, pulling out tidbits of trivia. Then, somebody challenged Michelle to name three of Beaver Cleaver's friends. "Okay, let's see. There was Larry, and Gilbert... and Whitey." If something like this happened, it would not be too difficult for somebody to carefully splice an audiotape, making her use of the term "whitey" appear to come in a different context.
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