BlogHer - Don't Believe the Hype! The Media and the Truth: Clinton, Obama and Jay-Z Edition - Comments

Obama Wiki

Yvette Perry — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 14:35:50 -0600

Kim, there already is such a site, with a focus on rumors and attacks started by the Clinton campaign/supporters: http://clintonattacksobama.pbwiki.com/

Six Impossible Things Before Breakfast

I completely agree, Erin

Maria Niles — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 01:12:02 -0600

Beautifully said. I second everything in your comment. Thank you.

PopConsumer
Beyond Help

Let me know how I can help persuade you Dana

Maria Niles — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 01:08:53 -0600

Dana - my sister! Just let me know what you need to to get you past those few issues and join us. Does your state have an open primary ;-)

Seriously, no matter what candidate you end up voting for I applaud you for setting such a fine example of investigating the issues and the candidates and thinking for yourself. You are my hero tonight.

PopConsumer
Beyond Help

Dusting myself off

Erin Kotecki Vest — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 00:30:50 -0600

Sorry, now that I've picked myself up from the floor after reading Republican Dana's comment.....

I'm trying to imagine why anyone a)prints this story and b)stands by it. The best I can come up with is it's a tabloid and old ideas die hard. The worst I can come up with...well, racism, sexism, organized oppression via mass media, reinforcing stereotypes....ugh. It goes on.

I want to believe we're all smarter than this. That we don't see something and just take it at face value. I know when I saw it and commented on it, I believe I said something like "this can't possibly be true" and low and behold, it was NOT.

The ugly and dirty secrets of this country, that are really NOT so very secret to anyone of color or any woman -are coming out of the woodwork in this election. I say let's exorcise all these demons right here and now through this election and heal and move on.

If only it were that simple, right?

Something is going to change one way or another in November. I think it's clear this country is about to be tested on all the things we preach but don't do-on all the talk of tolerance and sexual harassment and really BELIEVING we are all equal. There is just no whispering and sweeping this one under the rug. There is no patting it on the butt and sending it to make a sandwich in the kitchen. The yellow cab doesn't have a choice and has to stop for this passenger.

America is shifting uncomfortably in it's chair and it's showing.

The Hillary neckline/tears/mannish articles will continue and the Obama muslim/thug/change-white-house-to-black-house crap will go on-

I'm thankful for BlogHer's amazing coverage of these issues. I am PROUD of BlogHer's coverage of these issues. This community is tackling all of these uncomfortable topics head on, calling them out, and using the responsibility, the care, and the thought they deserve. It's also doing it with a variety of voices.

I'll stop gushing now, and go read Dana's comment again because it tickled me to death to think she may vote Obama.

Politics & News Contributing Editor
Queen of Spain

If I were asked tomorrow, to

Dana J. Tuszke — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 23:19:19 -0600

If I were asked tomorrow, to vote for the next President, I would have to choose Barack Obama. Not a single Republican candidate is doing it for me.

Hillary still intimidates me at this point, and John Edwards isn't really tripping my trigger either. Although he's got some really clever ads out that I liked.

After that insane e-mail flew around, I discovered a lot about Obama and I really think he's the man for the job.

If only I could get past a few issues I don't agree with him about, life would be grand for me.

Astonishing leap of logic, eh?

Maria Niles — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 20:55:17 -0600

Thank you, Megan.

Several blogs pointed out Marsh's dubious reasoning but I went back to check to see if she had backtracked but no, she updated the post with a note that she spoke to the editor of Page Six who continues to stand by his story also because Obama's campaign hasn't demanded a retraction! Good on Obama for not dignifying this non-story with a response. I mean it is ridiculous enough that Obama had to dignify the ludicrous email circulating about him and the repeated accusations based on his middle name of all things during a nationally televised debate.

Watch the video - the lie is demonstrably false! I would like to try that serum of denial they apparently are both sipping. It must make it easy to sleep at night.

I despair the gutter in which our politics now seem to well.

PopConsumer
Beyond Help

Thanks, Lisa

Maria Niles — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 20:45:39 -0600

I appreciate your comments and kind words.

Further to the point you highlighted... If someone is so eager to believe that Obama was sufficiently desperate and insecure enough to take a really indirect shot at Clinton by playing a song that is misogynistic (and seemingly in reference to a girlfriend figure) in the presence of his wife (and daughters) has some seriously effed up issues (including self loathing if they are a woman) and they need to work that ish out. As the kids would say ;-)

PopConsumer
Beyond Help

Lies all around

Maria Niles — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 20:38:00 -0600

Thanks, Kim.

It does seem to me that Obama is bearing the brunt of the lies but South Carolina, especially among the Republicans, really seems to have brought out the dirty tricks this campaign cycle with McCain once again being attacked on multiple angles. And, to your point about these lies backfiring, McCain won South Carolina this time.

Oh, and, meant to say that it was that this came from a major newspaper who not only printed it (when it would have taken about 15 seconds of searching on YouTube to fact check) but seemingly hasn't retracted the lie that really blew my mind. I expect spin from the press and lies from the campaigns but not lies from the press.

PopConsumer
Beyond Help

Always Question The Messages and The Messengers

Megan Smith — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 20:09:43 -0600

Maria, Thanks for a very important post.

My favorite part?

Pro-Clinton political blogger Taylor Marsh passed this story along and continues to stand by it because she claims Obama's camp hasn't demanded a retraction therefore the story must be true...

So, I guess because I haven't publicly denied I'm eighty years old, that must be true too.

Megan
BlogHer Contributing Editor, TV/YouTube

Personal Blog: Megan's Minute

Amen!

Lisa Stone — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 15:03:36 -0600

To this:

If it was played while entering with his wife and daughters couldn't it possibly be construed as referring to them?

And your entire closing paragraph.

I see here a sad collision of sensationalist non-reporting by outlets that care less about the election than they do about making a buck with renewed voter interest in Election 2008. If we want better coverage we need to demand it AND provide it. Kim's absolutely right -- your post, Dana's, Mata's are essential steps in the right direction. I know I'll be emailing this one to friends and family, thank you!

Lisa Stone
BlogHer Co-founder
Surfette

Preach!

Kim Pearson — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 14:37:00 -0600

I've thought about creating a website that just collects and debunks lies about Barack Obama, but I don't have that much time on my hands. Thankfully, you, Dana, Mata and others are in there pitching. What's mystifying to me is why the anti-Obama folks who are spreading this stuff don't recognize that there are people who are going to be motivated to vote for Obama because of all of these spurious attacks. Meanwhile, serious and legitimate questions about his and others' candidacies are ignored.

Thanks for this, Maria.

Kim
BlogHer Contributing Editor|Professor Kim|

Don't Believe the Hype! The Media and the Truth: Clinton, Obama and Jay-Z Edition

Maria Niles — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 14:13:02 -0600

Trust none of what you hear, and less of what you see... "Magic" Bruce Springsteen

Did you hear that Barack Obama called Hillary Clinton a bitch? (For the record he did not.) However, you might not have heard this claim before it was resoundingly debunked and forgotten since the media decided it was more fun to play race war than gender war.

On January 14 the New York Post reported:

As Obama and his wife, Michelle, strolled triumphantly into his victory party in Des Moines, Iowa, on Jan. 3, Jay-Z's "99 Problems" was blaring. In it, Jay raps, "I got 99 problems, but a bitch ain't one."

Now, New Yorkers are probably well aware that the Post is a tabloid, owned by conservative Rupert Murdoch (owner of Fox News) who apparently has an odd crush on Hillary Clinton, was called "a force for evil" and given that this tidbit was found in the Page Six gossip column, its truthiness is suspect. Outside of New York, however, people may just be aware that it is one of the oldest papers in the United States and possibly reputable.

If, as I've seen claimed, CNN reported this story, then folks might be inclined to believe. Hopefully no woman is relying on getting their political news from the comediennes at The View but they also passed this story along unchecked as well. Heck, even if you don't watch or trust the M$M, liberal alternative news and blog sites like Huffington Post and AlterNet picked it up and passed it along to readers without verifying the accuracy of the story.

Anne Schroeder at Politico blogged it and adds the comparrison to Hillary Clinton's supposedly more positive rally songs.

Pro-Clinton political blogger Taylor Marsh passed this story along and continues to stand by it because she claims Obama's camp hasn't demanded a retraction therefore the story must be true despite video evidence (see below), despite a comprehensive refutation from Geekesque at Daily Kos, despite the facts (Obama consistently enters to "City of Blinding Lights" by U2 and departs to "Signed, Sealed, Delivered" by Stevie Wonder) and despite common sense (If it was played while entering with his wife and daughters couldn't it possibly be construed as referring to them? Plus this sort of subtle musical jab from someone who claims he's hip to the youngun's music because he likes "Crazy in Love" by Beyonce? Lawdy, think people - you like "Crazy in Love" and you don't listen to Jay-Z).

Perhaps "Magic" should be our collective theme song for Election2008. So far, here at BlogHer.com, Kim Pearson has taught us how to separate the candidate's spin from fact, Dana Tuszke has shown how to deconstruct e-mail forwards and give friends and family the truth, and Mata H. cuts through the conventional wisdom and spin from all sides of faith and politics.

I'm here to tell you to question critically everything the media tells you about candidates. Often it is at best spin but at worst we are given flat out lies. It is a sad state of affairs when the same press we rely on to dig up and report the truth is now just another tool of corporations who rely on playing to our stupidity and worst instincts in order to make money. I certainly understand that corporations are in the business of making as much money for their shareholders by any legal means necessary. But I am saddened that we as citizens have become so numb that we do not question what is being sold to us, that we do not demand truth telling from the fourth estate and that instead of asserting our collective control over the public airwaves we simply swallow the bull we are fed and instead give in to our basest instincts and ugliest fears and turn on each other instead.

And, most of all, we are choosing a President to lead the United States at a time where it has real implications for the lives of people around the world. Please, I beg of you my fellow citizens, do not allow your vote to be swayed by hype about utterly meaningless crap like what music candidates play at their rallies. There are real issues to consider and it will be hard work to get to them and to dig up the truth in order to make a decision but what is at stake is too important to not make that effort. And, because you are here reading this post you are in a position that many are not, therefore I urge you to help those around you with less access to tools and resources to do the digging. Follow Dana's lead and help them. Regardless who they decide to vote for, I would rather everyone vote on the basis of real issues and facts.