# 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:** 5
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2008, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-sets-up-office-to-counter-rumors-will-this-work/452801/81 "2008-06-17T03:41:40Z")
[Relevant MPSIMS thread.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=471825) You’ll be amazed. ---
**Author:** ![Lakai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de0a6/32.png) [@Lakai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lakai)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2008, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-sets-up-office-to-counter-rumors-will-this-work/452801/82 "2008-06-17T04:31:35Z")
[QUOTE=jsc1953] You can create smears & rumors faster than they can be refuted. If Obama misses one, he’s open to “Obama fails to refute ties to Alien Overlords”. [/quote] This “don’t deny it or you give the rumors credit” thing is nonsense. The rumors on the website _already_ have credit. If you don’t refute them people are going to continue to believe them. It’s the rumors that don’t have credit that you can avoid denying. Judging this is up to the politician, but sadly too many people believe Obama is a Muslim or a racist for the camp to do nothing about it. I even believed the Swift Boat ad when it ran four years ago. I just didn’t think that people could lie so blatantly about something like that. I though the Republicans had genuinely caught Kerry in a lie. I realize the truth only after Al Franken exposed it. If I were someone who didn’t listen to Air America, then I don’t know if I would have heard anything about it. > [@](#): > > And…the swift response to the “whitey” charge makes me a bit nervous, because I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if some grainy cell-phone video appears showing exactly that. Everybody has said something at some time that they fervently hope is never made public. If such a tape existed Karl Rove would shed about 20 pounds sprinting to every mainstream news station in America. Last I checked he was still a fat turd. So we have nothing to worry about. ---
**Author:** ![What\_the](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f4b2a3/32.png) [@What\_the](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_the)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2008, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-sets-up-office-to-counter-rumors-will-this-work/452801/83 "2008-06-17T17:11:20Z")
[QUOTE=Diogenes the Cynic] No, the “whitey” thing has no believability at all. Wright never said anything racist, nothing in Michelle Obama’s history remotely comports with the notion that she has ever even expressed a racist thought, much less gone on an ungrammatical rant aginst “whitey.” The “proud of my country” thing is incredibly specious and would not equate to racism even if it was taken the way the right desperately wants it to be taken. [/QUOTE] No? How about her [America is downright mean](http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/03/10/080310fa_fact_collins?currentPage=3) statement Mean to who? Black folks and other minorities of course. Who’s mean? Other black folks? No … white folks of course. ---
**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 17, 2008, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-sets-up-office-to-counter-rumors-will-this-work/452801/84 "2008-06-17T17:30:44Z")
[QUOTE=What the … !!!] No? How about her [America is downright mean](http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/03/10/080310fa_fact_collins?currentPage=3) statement Mean to who? Black folks and other minorities of course. Who’s mean? Other black folks? No … white folks of course. [/QUOTE] The New Yorker article gives no context for that statement, but she was talking about poor and working class people, not race, and since that statement would be truthful with regards to racial minorites anyway, it wouldn’t be racist even if she _had_ been talking about race (which she wasn’t). You can’t find anything to point to in Michelle Obama’s background which even comes close to suggesting that she’s a racist, much less which could possibily lend any believability to an absurdist “whitey” rant. ---
**Author:** ![Lakai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de0a6/32.png) [@Lakai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lakai)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2008, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-sets-up-office-to-counter-rumors-will-this-work/452801/85 "2008-06-17T17:35:55Z")
[QUOTE=What the … !!!] No? How about her [America is downright mean](http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/03/10/080310fa_fact_collins?currentPage=3) statement Mean to who? Black folks and other minorities of course. Who’s mean? Other black folks? No … white folks of course. [/QUOTE] Are you just making this up? For context: > [@](#): > > Obama begins with a broad assessment of life in America in 2008, and life is not good: we’re a divided country, we’re a country that is “just downright mean,” we are “guided by fear,” we’re a nation of cynics, sloths, and complacents. “We have become a nation of struggling folks who are barely making it every day,” she said, as heads bobbed in the pews. “Folks are just jammed up, and it’s gotten worse over my lifetime. And, doggone it, I’m young. Forty-four!” Where does it say she is talking about white people being mean to black people? ---
**Author:** ![stolichnaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bcef8e/32.png) [@stolichnaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stolichnaya)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2008, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-sets-up-office-to-counter-rumors-will-this-work/452801/86 "2008-06-17T17:56:36Z")
Duh, she’s black and unhappy about stuff. OF COURSE she’s talking about white people. In fact, I should check to see if my car is still parked outside. Somebody’s been watching Hannity’s America. ---
**Author:** ![What\_the](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f4b2a3/32.png) [@What\_the](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_the)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2008, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-sets-up-office-to-counter-rumors-will-this-work/452801/87 "2008-06-17T18:26:37Z")
I’m making no attempt to prove anything…just saying it isn’t a major stretch. Speaking of smears… I heard that Obama isn’t too unhappy that gas prices are as high as they are. ---
**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 17, 2008, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-sets-up-office-to-counter-rumors-will-this-work/452801/88 "2008-06-17T18:30:35Z")
[QUOTE=What the … !!!] I’m making no attempt to prove anything…just saying it isn’t a major stretch. [/quote] Well, anybody can just _say_ anything, can’t they? ---
**Author:** ![What\_the](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f4b2a3/32.png) [@What\_the](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_the)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2008, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-sets-up-office-to-counter-rumors-will-this-work/452801/89 "2008-06-17T19:03:34Z")
[QUOTE=Diogenes the Cynic] Well, anybody can just _say_ anything, can’t they? [/QUOTE] Good comeback! It was you who said there was “no believability” that Mrs. O could utter the word “whitey” wasn’t it? ---
**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 17, 2008, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-sets-up-office-to-counter-rumors-will-this-work/452801/90 "2008-06-17T19:19:34Z")
[QUOTE=What the … !!!] Good comeback! It was you who said there was “no believability” that Mrs. O could utter the word “whitey” wasn’t it? [/QUOTE] In response to you saying it _was_ believable. There is nothing in Michelle Obama’s past which makes that allegation credible. ---
**Author:** ![LilShieste](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9f8e36/32.png) [@LilShieste](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LilShieste)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2008, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-sets-up-office-to-counter-rumors-will-this-work/452801/91 "2008-06-17T19:31:17Z")
[QUOTE=What the … !!!] I’m making no attempt to prove anything…just saying it isn’t a major stretch. [/QUOTE] But it _is_ a major stretch. It’s as big of a stretch as someone accusing Dick Cheney of hunting children, simply because he hunts. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2008, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-sets-up-office-to-counter-rumors-will-this-work/452801/92 "2008-06-18T01:42:15Z")
[QUOTE=What the … !!!] No? How about her [America is downright mean](http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/03/10/080310fa_fact_collins?currentPage=3) statement [/QUOTE] She but speaks the truth – you have a problem with that? ---
**Author:** ![Lama\_Pacos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Lama\_Pacos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lama_Pacos)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2008, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-sets-up-office-to-counter-rumors-will-this-work/452801/93 "2008-06-18T04:10:01Z")
I’m a little bothered by the response to the “Obama is a Muslim” entry. It _should_ be enough to categorically deny a blatant lie, but the fact is, in our current social climate, it strikes me as irresponsible to not append “…but it would be ok if he were!”. Obviously there are reasons why Obama’s campaign doesn’t want people thinking he’s a Muslim; I’m sure someone out there has claimed he is Amish, which is equally untrue, but the reason that it’s not on the website is that it’s irrelevant. The issue needs to be framed in terms of his opponent’s ignorance, rather than in terms of a judgement, and in using so few words the entry on the website seems closed-minded. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2008, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-sets-up-office-to-counter-rumors-will-this-work/452801/94 "2008-06-18T07:22:31Z")
I’ve gotten the [50 Lies](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=468973&highlight=obama+liar) email about Obama twice in the past few days. However, while it’s almost exactly the same as before, it’s now called _The 50 “Not Exactlies”_ [sic]. I’ve wondered if this is because [Snopes](http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/50lies.asp) (though I’m always surprised how many net surfers and even urban legend enthusiasts aren’t familiar with Snopes) and threads such as the one linked and blogs have taken on correcting the list, so that googling “obama’s 50 lies” brings up several such hits while googling “50 Not Exactlies” doesn’t bring up anything. In either case, Snopes is now “on” the 50 Lies thing, which I’m glad of, and I hope somebody at Camp Obama links to it or reproduces it (with permission of course, which I think the Mikkelsons would gladly give in exchange for the credit) since that’s a particularly common one that I haven’t seen addressed on their site. ---
**Author:** ![What\_the](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f4b2a3/32.png) [@What\_the](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_the)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2008, 10:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-sets-up-office-to-counter-rumors-will-this-work/452801/95 "2008-06-18T10:55:27Z")
[QUOTE=Diogenes the Cynic] In response to you saying it _was_ believable. There is nothing in Michelle Obama’s past which makes that allegation credible. [/QUOTE] No reason to think that Mrs O ever uttered the “W” word but, I’d bet you wouldn’t be so skeptical if the same rumor was started that a conservative had uttered the “N” word . Even given the fact that the “N” word is the epitomy of evilness. ---
**Author:** ![What\_the](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f4b2a3/32.png) [@What\_the](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_the)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2008, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-sets-up-office-to-counter-rumors-will-this-work/452801/96 "2008-06-18T10:56:34Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] She but speaks the truth – you have a problem with that? [/QUOTE] About America being so mean to the poor and downtrodden … I hope they run on that. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2008, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-sets-up-office-to-counter-rumors-will-this-work/452801/97 "2008-06-18T13:09:57Z")
[QUOTE=What the … !!!] No reason to think that Mrs O ever uttered the “W” word but, I’d bet you wouldn’t be so skeptical if the same rumor was started that a conservative had uttered the “N” word . Even given the fact that the “N” word is the epitomy of evilness. [/QUOTE] When conservatives focus on purported instances of liberal hypocrisy or simply inconsistency, it’s a clear sign that even they know they’ve run out of defensible rational arguments for their own positions. When they serve the purpose with mental contortions like the above, the sign has a big flashing light and bells hung on it. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2008, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-sets-up-office-to-counter-rumors-will-this-work/452801/98 "2008-06-18T14:26:45Z")
And when a liberal simply announces that he has won an argument without being able to back it up, he has lost the argument. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Lightnin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightnin/32/180_2.png) [@Lightnin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightnin)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2008, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-sets-up-office-to-counter-rumors-will-this-work/452801/99 "2008-06-18T14:34:08Z")
[QUOTE=Shodan] And when a liberal simply announces that he has won an argument without being able to back it up, he has lost the argument. [/QUOTE] I thought it was just [conservatives who did stuff like that](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mission_Accomplished). ---
**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 18, 2008, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-sets-up-office-to-counter-rumors-will-this-work/452801/100 "2008-06-18T14:34:38Z")
[QUOTE=What the … !!!] No reason to think that Mrs O ever uttered the “W” word but, I’d bet you wouldn’t be so skeptical if the same rumor was started that a conservative had uttered the “N” word . Even given the fact that the “N” word is the epitomy of evilness. [/QUOTE] It depends on the individual, but as a mater of fact, I would be _very_ skeptical about an allegation that any politician used the word in a public address, and I would be skeptical about many Republicans use it at all. For instance, I would not believe it if GWB or John McCain were accused of using it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-sets-up-office-to-counter-rumors-will-this-work/452801.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-sets-up-office-to-counter-rumors-will-this-work/452801.md?page=6)