# Obama sets up office to counter rumors; will this work? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [June 13, 2008, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-sets-up-office-to-counter-rumors-will-this-work/452801 "2008-06-13T13:45:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2008, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-sets-up-office-to-counter-rumors-will-this-work/452801/41 "2008-06-13T19:48:33Z")
The only McCain smears I’ve seen have come from the right (there was some pretty vicious stuff out there during the early days of the primaries). If anything has come from the left, I haven’t seen it. ---
**Author:** ![stolichnaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bcef8e/32.png) [@stolichnaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stolichnaya)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2008, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-sets-up-office-to-counter-rumors-will-this-work/452801/42 "2008-06-13T19:51:44Z")
Bush’s weakness is not really that he’s stupider than average, I don’t think, rather that he is pathologically incurious. That said, there’s some evidence that his intellect has dulled significantly over time. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2008, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-sets-up-office-to-counter-rumors-will-this-work/452801/43 "2008-06-13T19:53:33Z")
[QUOTE=Giles] So, who was that lady you were beating last night? [/QUOTE] “That was no lady, that was my babymama.” ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2008, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-sets-up-office-to-counter-rumors-will-this-work/452801/44 "2008-06-13T19:56:25Z")
[QUOTE=Quartz] But surely smearing has been SOP for both sides? [/quote] No, it really isn’t. The kind of viral emails and invented stories we’re talking about only seem to come from the right. If it happens on the left, I haven’t seen it. > [@](#): > > There’s the Bush / stupid smear, for instance That’s not a smear, it’s an observation. The tactic of making up stories out of whole cloth and speraeding them around the internet is (as near as I can tell) almost entirely a right wing practice. Even when it was done to McCain, it was done from his right. Perceptions of candidates as “dumb,” or “elitist,” or whatever are not the kind of thing we’re tlking about. We’re talking about the absolute fictions. Bush really did go AWOL, that’s not a fiction. Accusations that Barack Obama is a Muslim or that John McCain fathered a black baby are pure fictions and smears. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_and\_a\_Half\_Inches\_of\_Fun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ea666f/32.png) [@Two\_and\_a\_Half\_Inches\_of\_Fun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_and_a_Half_Inches_of_Fun)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2008, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-sets-up-office-to-counter-rumors-will-this-work/452801/45 "2008-06-13T20:07:34Z")
[QUOTE=Diogenes the Cynic] No, it really isn’t. The kind of viral emails and invented stories we’re talking about only seem to come from the right. If it happens on the left, I haven’t seen it. That’s not a smear, it’s an observation. The tactic of making up stories out of whole cloth and speraeding them around the internet is (as near as I can tell) almost entirely a right wing practice. Even when it was done to McCain, it was done from his right. Perceptions of candidates as “dumb,” or “elitist,” or whatever are not the kind of thing we’re tlking about. We’re talking about the absolute fictions. Bush really did go AWOL, that’s not a fiction. Accusations that Barack Obama is a Muslim or that John McCain fathered a black baby are pure fictions and smears. [/QUOTE] > **[George W. Bush Refuses to Sell Home to Blacks](https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/bush-whacked/)** > > Did George W. Bush refuse to sell his home to blacks? > **[Bush and French Word For Entrepreneur](https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/french-lesson/)** > > Did George W. Bush say the problem with the French is they have no word for entrepreneur? > **[snopes.com](https://www.facebook.com/snopes/)** > > snopes.com. 888,504 likes · 34,831 talking about this. The internet's definitive fact-checking resource. > **[President Bush Prays](https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/the-evangelical-prez/)** > > Did George W. Bush set aside glad-handing supporters at a dinner to witness for Christ for half an hour to a teenager? > **[George W. Bush Waved at Stevie Wonder?](https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/catch-the-wave/)** > > Did George W. Bush wave at blind musician Stevie Wonder at the 2002 Presidential Gala? > **[Presidential Prayer Team](https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/presidential-prayer-team/)** > > Has President George W. Bush sponsored a Presidential Prayer Team? > **[Eminem and President Bush](https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/eminem/)** > > Did George W. Bush once describe rapper Eminem as the most dangerous threat to American children since polio'? > **[Bush 'Feces' 'Fetus' Confusion](https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/fetal-matter/)** > > Did President Bush misspeak and say 'feces' instead of 'fetus'? > **[Premium Increase](https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/premium-increase/)** > > Is President Bush responsible for a 17% increase in Medicare premiums? ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2008, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-sets-up-office-to-counter-rumors-will-this-work/452801/46 "2008-06-13T20:09:19Z")
[QUOTE=Diogenes the Cynic] The tactic of making up stories out of whole cloth and speraeding them around the internet is (as near as I can tell) almost entirely a right wing practice. [/QUOTE] This is simply not true. I even gave you a second example in my earlier post - the smears about Bush’s National Guard service, culminating in the memo that got Dan Rather in such trouble? And the Bush / stupid meme was and remains most definitely a smear, and you are being disingenuous if you paint it any other way. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2008, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-sets-up-office-to-counter-rumors-will-this-work/452801/47 "2008-06-13T20:49:45Z")
[QUOTE=Quartz] This is simply not true. I even gave you a second example in my earlier post - the smears about Bush’s National Guard service, culminating in the memo that got Dan Rather in such trouble? [/quote] That wasn’t a smear, it was true. The content of the story was all true (and well known even before that story). The veracuty of one document was called into question, but it was never actually proven to be a forgery and the secretary involved said it was an accurate facsimile. Every factual claim about Bush deserting his Guard service was true. > [@](#): > > And the Bush / stupid meme was and remains most definitely a smear, and you are being disingenuous if you paint it any other way. That’s not a smear, it’s a perception based on observation. Maybe you look at Bush and see a razor sharp mind, but most people see a dolt. People think Bush is stupid because of how he speaks and acts, not because of any email campaigns. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_and\_a\_Half\_Inches\_of\_Fun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ea666f/32.png) [@Two\_and\_a\_Half\_Inches\_of\_Fun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_and_a_Half_Inches_of_Fun)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2008, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-sets-up-office-to-counter-rumors-will-this-work/452801/48 "2008-06-13T20:55:46Z")
[QUOTE=Diogenes the Cynic] That wasn’t a smear [/QUOTE] How about the links I posted? ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2008, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-sets-up-office-to-counter-rumors-will-this-work/452801/49 "2008-06-13T21:01:29Z")
[QUOTE=Two and a Half Inches of Fun] How about the links I posted? [/QUOTE] Some of them were pro-Bush glurge, one of them was Bush Sr. A couple of them were genuine examples of false “Bush is stupid” stories, a couple were clarifications of _perceived_ stupidity (like the waving at Stevie Wonder), but nothing you linked to approaches the kind of aggressively vicious slime engaged in routinely by the right. I bet the ratio of viral emails is tilted at least 4-1 to the right. ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2008, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-sets-up-office-to-counter-rumors-will-this-work/452801/50 "2008-06-13T21:02:36Z")
I think it is a good idea as long as it doesn’t try to react to every little thing that gets said. Certain mem es persist throughout and need to be dealt with appropriately, but one doesn’t wnat to seem to knee-jerkish either. ---
**Author:** ![GomiBoy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b2d939/32.png) [@GomiBoy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GomiBoy)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2008, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-sets-up-office-to-counter-rumors-will-this-work/452801/51 "2008-06-13T21:08:00Z")
[QUOTE=Two and a Half Inches of Fun] How about the links I posted? [/QUOTE] I seriously doubt any of those smears were of the same league, or as well organized or reported, as any of the current crop of Obama smears. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_and\_a\_Half\_Inches\_of\_Fun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ea666f/32.png) [@Two\_and\_a\_Half\_Inches\_of\_Fun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_and_a_Half_Inches_of_Fun)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2008, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-sets-up-office-to-counter-rumors-will-this-work/452801/52 "2008-06-13T21:10:12Z")
[QUOTE=Diogenes the Cynic] Some of them were pro-Bush glurge, [/quote] Which one was pro-Bush? He is acting like an idiot in most of them by misspeaking or doing some dumb ass prayer thing. > [@](#): > > one of them was Bush Sr. He is a conservative. > [@](#): > > I bet the ratio of viral emails is tilted at least 4-1 to the right. Can you provide a cite for that. ---
**Author:** ![GomiBoy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b2d939/32.png) [@GomiBoy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GomiBoy)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2008, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-sets-up-office-to-counter-rumors-will-this-work/452801/53 "2008-06-13T21:15:00Z")
[QUOTE=Two and a Half Inches of Fun] Which one was pro-Bush? He is acting like an idiot in most of them by misspeaking or doing some dumb ass prayer thing. [/quote] Clearly you’re not an Evangelical Christian, who might well see it as their duty to ‘witness’ for nearly anyone who asks. That sort of story is propping up Bush Light as the go-to guy for Evangelicals and casts him in a very positive ‘man of the people’ ‘good Christian who knows where his bread is buttered’ sort of way. > [@](#): > > He is a conservative. Yes, thanks. And? Still not all that many Liberal smears of Conservatives floating about. A lot of Conservative smearing Conservative, and a metric shit-load of Conservatives smearing Liberals. > [@](#): > > Can you provide a cite for that. I’ll leave this to DTC; I’m sure not a whole lot of googling will get us there in very short time. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_and\_a\_Half\_Inches\_of\_Fun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ea666f/32.png) [@Two\_and\_a\_Half\_Inches\_of\_Fun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_and_a_Half_Inches_of_Fun)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2008, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-sets-up-office-to-counter-rumors-will-this-work/452801/54 "2008-06-13T21:18:31Z")
[QUOTE=GomiBoy] Clearly you’re not an Evangelical Christian [/QUOTE] I like to think I am not retarded, but one never knows. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2008, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-sets-up-office-to-counter-rumors-will-this-work/452801/55 "2008-06-13T21:18:33Z")
[QUOTE=Two and a Half Inches of Fun] Which one was pro-Bush? He is acting like an idiot in most of them by misspeaking or doing some dumb ass prayer thing. [/quote] The stopping to witness to a kid story is pro-Bush glurge, for sure, The prayer clb thing struck me that way to. > [@](#): > > He is a conservative. That story wasn’t even really a smear. It was about a public perception based on a genuine image (Poppy looking befuddled at a supermarket scanner). None of these examples have the quality of the “Obama is a Muslim” emails or the accusations of serial murder against the Clintons. These are are not in the same league. > [@](#): > > Can you provide a cite for that. I didn’t say “I know,” I said “I bet.” ---
**Author:** ![Two\_and\_a\_Half\_Inches\_of\_Fun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ea666f/32.png) [@Two\_and\_a\_Half\_Inches\_of\_Fun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_and_a_Half_Inches_of_Fun)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2008, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-sets-up-office-to-counter-rumors-will-this-work/452801/56 "2008-06-13T21:20:00Z")
[QUOTE=Diogenes the Cynic] That story wasn’t even really a smear. [/QUOTE] It is a smear. It says look how out of touch and stupid this guy is. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2008, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-sets-up-office-to-counter-rumors-will-this-work/452801/57 "2008-06-13T21:21:15Z")
[QUOTE=Two and a Half Inches of Fun] It is a smear. It says look how out of touch and stupid this guy is. [/QUOTE] It says that people looked at a piece of authentic video and _thought_ that. The video was not faked, though. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_and\_a\_Half\_Inches\_of\_Fun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ea666f/32.png) [@Two\_and\_a\_Half\_Inches\_of\_Fun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_and_a_Half_Inches_of_Fun)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2008, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-sets-up-office-to-counter-rumors-will-this-work/452801/58 "2008-06-13T21:29:09Z")
[QUOTE=Diogenes the Cynic] It says that people looked at a piece of authentic video and _thought_ that. The video was not faked, though. [/QUOTE] So all bullshit commentary on this photo: [http://blogs.usatoday.com/onpolitics/images/2008/02/25/obama\_kenya.jpg](http://blogs.usatoday.com/onpolitics/images/2008/02/25/obama_kenya.jpg) was not a smear because the real photo is real and they were just interpreting it? ---
**Author:** ![GomiBoy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b2d939/32.png) [@GomiBoy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GomiBoy)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2008, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-sets-up-office-to-counter-rumors-will-this-work/452801/59 "2008-06-13T21:32:53Z")
[QUOTE=Two and a Half Inches of Fun] I like to think I am not retarded, but one never knows. [/QUOTE] No, one doesn’t. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2008, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-sets-up-office-to-counter-rumors-will-this-work/452801/60 "2008-06-13T21:52:58Z")
[QUOTE=Quartz] And the Bush / stupid meme was and remains most definitely a smear, and you are being disingenuous if you paint it any other way. [/QUOTE] It’s an opinion; if repeated widely as fact could be perhaps seen as a smear. But it’s not an outright factual lie, as all of the actual smears mentioned above are. Big difference. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-sets-up-office-to-counter-rumors-will-this-work/452801.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-sets-up-office-to-counter-rumors-will-this-work/452801.md?page=4)