Note: The story below has been corrected to remove the insinuation that being Muslim should be considered a "smear".  

Well, it's about time. After months of being assaulted with false innuendo, dubious rumors and outright lies, the Barack Obama campaign is finally taking the offensive with a new web site, "Fight the Smears," which debunks the slew of ongoing myths perpetrated by the likes of Rush Limbaugh and various bloggers who have made a mission of spreading lies about the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee.

Limbaugh, who drew fire last year for perpetrating the "Barack the Magic Negro" routine on his radio broadcast, is now among those spreading a rumor about a mythical tape exists of Michelle Obama using the word "whitey" from a church pulpit, allegedly filmed between June 26 and July 1, 2004, at the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition Conference at Trinity United Church in Chicago. But that's a lie, according to Obama's anti-smear web site.  

Obama himself has adamantly denied such a tape exists, reports the Financial Times. "If somebody has evidence that myself or Michelle or anybody has said something inappropriate, let them do it. We have seen this before. There are dirt and lies that are circulating in e-mails," he says.

The tape hoax appears to be just part of an ongoing campaign that many news outlets, including DiversityInc, have investigated over the course of the past several months. Among the early charges were misleading statements that Obama is a Muslim. In the early days of the campaign, an e-mail circulated stating the following: "Let us all remain alert concerning Obama's expected presidential candidacy. The Muslims have said they plan on destroying the U.S. from the inside out, what better way to start than at the highest level- through the President of the United States, one of their own!!!"

This was and has always been false. As most are well aware by now, Obama and his family were, until recently, members of the United Trinity Church. It was Obama's involvement with the Rev. Jeremiah Wright's church that threatened to bring a halt to his presidential aspirations.

Then there were the charges that Obama simply wasn't Black enough. His response at a debate: "We should ask ourselves why that is. It is not because of my physical appearance, presumably. It's not because of my track record ... I think in part we're still locked in this notion [that] if you appeal to white folks, there must be something wrong."

There was also the issue of Obama not being patriotic. This stemmed from the brouhaha caused by Obama's not wearing an American-flag lapel pin at certain public functions as well as misinformation about him not placing his hand over his heart during the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance. In truth, the event in question was the singing of the National Anthem. But the incident warranted so much attention that Obama felt inclined to post on his own web site the following response: "My grandfather taught me how to say the Pledge of Allegiance when I was two. During the Pledge of Allegiance you put your hand over your heart. During the national anthem you sing."

Among other rumors the new web site proves incorrect are charges that Obama's two books contain "racially incendiary remarks." One e-mail chain alleged the following quote from "Dreams from My Father": "I found a solace in nursing a pervasive sense of grievance and animosity against my mother's race." That quote appears nowhere in Obama's book, reports the site.

Another line circulating out of context from the book is "There was something about him that made me wary, a little too sure of himself, maybe. And white." The full context of the statement, which appears on page 142 of the book, reads: "He offered to start me off at ten thousand dollars the first year, with a two-thousand-dollar travel allowance to buy a car; the salary would go up if things worked out. After he was gone, I took the long way home, along the East River promenade, and tried to figure out what to make of the man. He was smart, I decided. He seemed committed to his work. Still, there was something about him that made me wary. A little too sure of himself, maybe. And white--he'd said himself that that was a problem."

Readers' Comments

digg this | mixx! | reddit | del.icio.us | Newsvine  e-mail article |  print | post comments | NEWSLETTER

Send Your Comments About This Article Now