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.