A Tale of Two (Half) Witties — REVISED

It’s rare that you get the nocturnal and diurnal Republican anvil chorus in a double-header, but yesterday was a masterwork of shame to the shameless.

Once upon a time …

Part i. In Which Doris Gets Her Oats

Are they KIDDING us? For the past two days, Memeorandum has been in a Genuflecting to Oligarch Pedophiles’ blogswarm over Obama “gaffes” that fill out the Rightie Blogosmear™ dance ticket, with only a few “progressives” like Taylor Marsh, Jeralynn of TalkLeft and Pamela Leavey of The Democratic Daily joining the anvil chorus of jeers, the Jukes’ and Kallikaks’ catcalls. Scratch the surface of a spoiled White Democrat Woman and you’ll find a Republican Shrew yearning to break free, it seems.

“Keep, ancient hands, your storied pap!” cries she
With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your cash-poor,
Your humbug’d crasses yearning to be tax-free,
The wretched richies of your teeming store.
Send these, the debenture bond-less, IPO tempest-tost to me,
I lift my skirt beside the gold futures’ door!”

– Ronald Reagan, 1883

Seriously: these amoral, evil bastards have backed every evil play of George W. Bush for the past EIGHT YEARS (remember, they played “MEETOO” to his 2000 presidental bid, the theft of the Florida election and THEN the really, really evil stuff). And any time anyone has raised a voice about the egregious, hateful, moronic and brain-dead Bush gaffes, they’ve had to endure a shitstorm of criticism from the Bloviating Wingnuts of the Right. But suddenly, “gaffes” are a major sin? Really? (And they wonder WHY their credibility is in the toilet, with their electability leading the expedition to find the bottom of the septic tank that is the GOP mind.)

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way–in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only. (Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities, 1859)

You see, when George Gaffes, it is the best of times. When Obama gaffes, it is the WORST of times. For America. For Truth, Justice, The American Way, and Restricted Country Clubs everywhere. And in this case, it is the age of foolishness MASQUERADING as wisdom. From the “Wise” pundits of the Rightie Blogosmear™ at Six Post Meridian, Eastern Daylight Time.

Here’s a “brilliant” courageous person named “The Purple Avenger” on Ace of Spades (a prominent rightie “mil-blog” generally composed entirely in wax crayon):

May 27, 2008
Obama rewrites WWII history
Update: WaPo Quotes Him Making Lesser Claim
Update: Disregard My Last Update, He Said His Uncle Helped “Liberate” Auschwitz

In one of his more egregious and easily demonstrated lies, made even more so by the day he decided to let it loose on, Obama has rewritten WWII history such that the allies liberated Auschwitz.

…Obama also spoke about his uncle, who was part of the American brigade that helped to liberate Auschwitz…

Auschwitz of course is in Poland. It was liberated by the Red Army on Jan 27 1945. Poland, on most maps is usually placed to the east of Germany, although we may need to investigate the geography textbooks the Messiah used as a child…

The Allies were wrapping up the battle of the bulge in late January of 1945 — the Rhine crossings were still well into the future when Auschwitz was liberated. The first, the Remagen railway bridge which was discovered intact, was crossed on March 7 1945.

Of course it goes without saying that the media has thus far failed to call the Messiah on this apparently obviously outrageous lie. Unless Obama’s “uncle” was serving in the Red Army, its a pretty safe bet he was many hundreds of miles from Auschwitz on its day of liberation.

Other hyenas joined the bray. LOTS AND LOTS:

Purple Avenger / Ace of Spades HQ:
Obama rewrites WWII history — In one of his more egregious and easily demonstrated lies, made even more so by the day he decided to let it loose on, Obama has rewritten WWII history such that the allies liberated Auschwitz. … Auschwitz of course is in Poland. It was liberated by the Red Army on Jan 27 1945.

Discussion: Weekly Standard Blog, No More Mister Nice Blog, Rachel Lucas, Wonkette, Stop The ACLU, NewsBusters.org, Hot Air, Flopping Aces, Confederate Yankee, American Power, Nitpicker, The Daily Gut and Sister Toldjah
–
Discussion:
Samantha Sault / Weekly Standard Blog: Daily Blog Buzz: Obama’s Memorial Day
Steve M. / No More Mister Nice Blog: ZOMG! HE SAID “AUSCHWITZ” INSTEAD OF “BUCHENWALD”!!!!!!
Rachel Lucas: Your next president is not a smart man.
Jim Newell / Wonkette: Obama’s Uncle Takes Credit For Communists’ Work!
G.F. / Stop The ACLU: Barack’s latest lame appeal to Jewish voters? …
Noel Sheppard / NewsBusters.org: Will Media Report Obama’s Claim His Uncle Helped Liberate Auschwitz
Ed Morrissey / Hot Air: The Young Gaffer sees dead people
Curt / Flopping Aces: The Messiah’s Gaffes & The MSM Who Ignores Them
Confederate Yankee: Dumber Than Bush, Dumber Than Quayle
Donald Douglas / American Power: Americans Liberated Auschwitz, Obama Claims
Nitpicker: Idiot — The Purple Avenger—paging Dr. Freud!—goes after Obama.
The Daily Gut: TAKING A PAGE FROM HILLARY…
Sister Toldjah: Obama gaffe-orama — Even though most of us were enjoying …
» All Related Discussion
RELATED:
Maria Gavrilovic / CBS News:
Obama Talks of Family’s Military Service — From CBS News’ Maria Gavrilovic: — LAS CRUCES, N.M. — Despite not having served in the military himself, Barack Obama used his Memorial Day remarks to speak about his family’s service. “My grandfather marched in Patton’s army …

Discussion: TownHall Blog, Little Green Footballs, Wizbang, Confederate Yankee, Media Blog and Pat Dollard

Discussion:
Amanda Carpenter / TownHall Blog: Obama’s Faulty Family History
Little Green Footballs: Obama: My Uncle Helped Liberate Auschwitz (Bzzt! Wrong!) – Update: Video Added
Cassy Fiano / Wizbang: Obama reinvents WWII for political pandering
Confederate Yankee: Barack’s Imaginary Uncle, Bad Memory, or Bad Reporting?
Media Blog: Obama and Auschwitz — Senator Obama’s latest gaffe has his uncle liberating Auschwitz:
Bash / Pat Dollard: Hussein The Liar: “My Uncle Went Insane Liberating Auschwitz” – With Video
Ben Smith / Ben Smith’s Blogs:
Obama’s World War II history — Earlier, the Republican National Committee pounced on Obama’s improbable statement that an uncle had served in the unit that liberated Auschwitz. — In fact, campaign spokesman Bill Burton says, his great uncle was a member of the 89th Infantry Division …

Discussion: The Swamp, Hot Air, NO QUARTER and Writes Like She Talks
–
Discussion:
Christi Parsons / The Swamp: Obama misspoke on Auschwitz, aide says
Allahpundit / Hot Air: Obama camp on Auschwitz: Sorry, he meant Ohrdruf
Truthteller / NO QUARTER: Obama O’Trauma — Only a desperate candidate raises the specter …
Jill Miller Zimon / Writes Like She Talks: [updated] Righty blogs attack Obama assertion that uncle liberating …
Allahpundit / Hot Air:
Obama: My uncle liberated … Auschwitz? Update: No mention in 2002 speech; Update: Video added; Update: New video — The meme about Obama’s many gaffes is fun and useful as an antidote to the media myth of St. Barack’s infallibility on the stump, but I think we’ve reached the point of diminishing returns …

Discussion: Marc Ambinder, The Trail, Weekly Standard Blog, Real Clear Politics, Gateway Pundit, CANNONFIRE, The Campaign Spot, Rezko Watch, PrestoPundit, JustOneMinute and A Blog For All
–
Discussion:
Marc Ambinder: Jack-In-The-Box Politics: Obama’s Uncle
Steven Ginsberg / The Trail: Obama Speaks with ‘Deep Humility’ on Memorial Day
Dean Barnett / Weekly Standard Blog: Why Does Obama Make So Many Gaffes?
Tom Bevan / Real Clear Politics: Obama’s Uncle Tale
Gateway Pundit: Obama Repeats Auschwitz Gaffe on Memorial Day
Joseph / CANNONFIRE: Camp memories: Obama and Reagan
The Campaign Spot: Have We Heard of Obama’s Uncle Before?
Rezko Watch: Klein: Obama caught in Holocaust gaffe. …
Greg Ransom / PrestoPundit: ANOTHER OBAMA MYSTERY. Obama repeatedly tells us that his …
Tom Maguire / JustOneMinute: Obama: He’s Ready To Tell Us His Secret
Lawhawk / A Blog For All: Obama: The Gaffe-maker UPDATE: [CBS Gaffes?] Confirmed With Video
Michael Dobbs / Fact Checker:
WHERE IN THE WORLD IS AUSCHWITZ?

Discussion: TalkLeft, BBC and Sweetness & Light
–
Discussion:
Jeralyn / TalkLeft: Obama’s Auschwitz Gaffe*

[* NOTE: It's truly amazing to see Jeralynn become a Republican. Sort of like Ann Althouse did. After all, since March she's been regurgitating GOP talking points like a good little Goldwater Girl. But, since shameless, brazen hypocrisy is the Greedy Oil Parasites' hallmark these days, perhaps she'll feel more at home therein.]

BBC: 1945: Auschwitz death camp liberated
Sweetness & Light: Obama Claims His Uncle Liberated Auschwitz
See-Dubya / michellemalkin.com:
Obama’s uncle did what? — CBS: … Purple Avenger, blogging at Ace of Spades:

Discussion: Salon, Redstate, The Campaign Spot and Flopping Aces
–
Discussion:
Alex Koppelman / Salon: Obama and the Holocaust
Redstate: Obama Lies About Holocaust for Political Gain.
The Campaign Spot: Well, Maybe Obama’s Uncle Was in the Red Army (UPDATED)
Mike’s America / Flopping Aces: Obama Going for Dead Vote?
Fox News:
Recollection of Obama Uncle’s War Service Missing Key Details

Discussion: Redstate and Commentary
–
Discussion:
Redstate: A Pathological Need to Be a Part of History
Jennifer Rubin / Commentary: Not So Good At History — A number of blogs (and now cable …
Mark Hemingway / The Corner:
Yet Another Embarassing Obama Gaffe

Discussion: Matthew Yglesias

OK, that’s a LOT. (To read, click here for the cached page, with clickable links. No point in reformatting all night.)

They range from the merely odious, to the junior-high-school and/or Pee Wee Herman to the low and vile:

Redstate: Obama Lies About Holocaust for Political Gain*

[* RedState is owned and operated by Tom Phillips' publishing empire, Regnery Books, Human Events, The American Spectator, etc. etc. as in "©2008 Eagle Publishing, Inc." at the bottom of all RedState pages.]

To wit(less):

A Pathological Need to Be a Part of History
By Jeff Emanuel

Exaggerations and fabrications are, and always have been, part of political and campaign rhetoric. From John Edwards’ ridiculous and pathetically exploitative declaration in 2004 that, under a President John Kerry, “people like [paralyzed Superman actor] Christopher Reeve” would “get up out of that wheelchair and walk again,” to Hillary Clinton’s high-profile Bosnia “sniper fire” lie earlier this year, politicians on the campaign trail often succumb to the deadly combination of a yearning to promise a utopian future and a shameless, almost pathological need to be a part of the Great Events of History declarations of historical greatness….

OK, Obama said his great uncle helped liberate Auschwitz. And, as in the Private Beauchamp flap, the Righties were out in force, dominating the “upper” blogosphere. If you’ll look closely, there are VERY few progressive blogs responding.

And so, as with Right Wing talk radio, Faux Nooz™ and the op-ed pages of far too many newspapers, the Rightie talking point is endlessly echoed throughout the blogosphere, and the few blogs who dare oppose the stampede of elephantine sneery snark masquerading as wit are simply trampled under the weight of those with the intellectual equivalent of Anorexia Nervousa:

Mentalrosa Bulbosa (Bloviasis)
(not an official disease, a parody)
Typical symptoms are:

The patient will not maintain a minimum factual base

Despite being under-informed, the patient intensely fears and avoids facts.

Self-perception of the brain is abnormal, shown by at least 1 of:

Unduly emphasizes intellect or sanctimony in self-evaluation.
(Hannity-Limbaugh Syndrome, see at 87)
Denies seriousness of lack of education.
Has a distorted perception of own brain or erudition. (Medved-Horowitz Disease, see at 88 )

ii. The Game Is A Foot (Or looks like one)

This is important, so pay attention: This is the harbinger of the fall campaign. Massive blog swarms over ANY kind of mistake from Obama, any slander, any accusation.

These are coordinated, and shove all other information aside to perch above the political blogosphere magazine&newspaper-osphere. Newspapers have recognized the nature of the blogosphere. Articles were written last week of the “power of Drudge” in breaking the “RFK assassination” story.

It’s always been about controlling the information, or, in that sick term that’s indicative of the perversion of news — “narrative” — which is openly an admission (whether consciously or not) that they’re weaving a story, a “context” and that whoever controls the “narrative” is actually not as interested in “news” which is, according to one’s priorities, a means of gathering collective information about what’s most important to one.

Got that?

We already know that they issue their daily talking points, and that Karl Rove is an “informal” advisor to McCain’s campaign, all the while as a regular contributor to Faux Nooz™ and Newsweek (owned by the Washington Post, as is SLATE.com) playing hands-on pundit, ever the Mayberry Machiavelli. This is a practiced form of swiftboating, with a whole new media to play with.

Consider that the most popular rightie blogger dropped his blog and is now blogging exclusively for Michelle Malkin’s HotAir. That would be “captain” Ed of Captain’s Quarters. You have to wonder why he’d shut down a blog that the White House treated as a “player.” The inducements were probably very … inducing.

Now, add to that the presence of paid agents provocateurs on the blogs and calling in to the few remaining “Progressive” talk shows and a picture begins to emerge. Sure, these are guesses, but they are educated guesses based on a modus operandi that we’ve all seen before.

Remember the columnists that the Bushies were paying under the table? (And, as Scott McClellan, Bush’s Press Secretary from 2003 to 2006*, is famously — more like infamously — criticizing today, the Bush administration chose to govern in permanent campaign mode: where you fight to control the narrative, and, hence, the facts.)

[* also: deputy press secretary from 2001to July 15 2003, AND traveling press secretary during the 2000 Presidential election.]

Consider Global Warming — which was declared a MYTH, even as the Geezer Oligopoly Party slinks back into the sunlight of facts, petulantly calling it “global climate change” so as not to appear to have been COMPLETELY wrong. Their brainwashed sycophants STILL take the fact that Al Gore was fun to make vicious fun of, and using the transitory property of contempt — Al Gore said it. And Al Gore is a smarty pants and everything he says is wrong (Rush said so), therefore if he says there’s global warming there can’t be global warming and they gave him that Nobel Prize because they hate George Bush and besides they’re foreign. (Probably liberals) — they “prove” there’s no such thing.

Such is the power of this nitwit gestapo that National Public Radio was interviewing a contrarian JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL girl on global warming not many Sundays past. A 13-year-old girl says global warming’s a myth on her website. I guess that pretty much wraps it up. But consider that NPR was giving her SERIOUS consideration as a serious spokesdumbass, and not as an object of pity and compassion. Behold, a Baby Coulter is born.

Do you SERIOUSLY think that NPR would blather such a travesty were not the Bush Administration’s foreman cracking the whip?

Them what’s in charge takes they media much seriously, and in two ways:

They attack: AirAmerica has been under continual assault since its launching. And while the Randi Rhodes hassle was going down, an eerily similar attack on Ed Schultz was taking place. At a campaign event, Ed introduced Barack Obama. Schultz noted in his good old barn burning political rant (you know, the kind that you ALWAYS heard behind closed doors at banquets, fundraisers etc.) that John McCain was a warmonger.

And the righties took that as a signal to attack Ed Schultz.

They defend: in positively “spinning” everything to THEIR “narrative.” They speciously promote their “ideas” and attack all that disagree, ofttimes covertly.

No: these attacks are coordinated. On Saturday it was ANOTHER, smaller blog swarm on Obama, this time for Jake Tapper’s (Tapper is the fellow who “smelled cigarette smoke” on Obama and reported same in faux-sinister detail, as I reported HERE.) ABC news blog, “What the FARK was Obama talking about?” (While everyone else was focusing on Hillary’s “RFK Assassination” gaffe) Tapper was clearly TRYING to refocus the debate on OBAMA, but didn’t get a lot of takers.

And then Tuesday, we began with top story Powerline’s attack on Obama’s Memorial Day speech*, at 11 AM EDT, the attack peaked. Then, by 1 PM EDT, aforesaid “Purple Avenger” topped the traffic and the blogosmear™ and the shrieking continued through the rest of the day. See how it grows. 11 AM. 1 PM. 6 PM. 11 PM.

[* 10:20 PM Hindrocket / Power Line: MEMORIAL DAY: A CONTRAST — Barack Obama must be the most …]

And, as usual, it’s bullshit. Ben Smith’s blog at Politico:

May 27, 2008
Categories: Barack Obama

Obama’s World War II history

Earlier, the Republican National Committee pounced on Obama’s improbable statement that an uncle had served in the unit that liberated Auschwitz.

In fact, campaign spokesman Bill Burton says, his great uncle was a member of the 89th Infantry Division that liberated the Ohrduf camp, part of Buchenwald and, according to the Holocaust Museum, the first concentration camp liberated by U.S. troops.

The soldier in question, Burton said, is Obama’s grandmother’s brother, who’s still alive.

UPDATE: “Senator Obama’s family is proud of the service of his grandfather and uncles in World War II – especially the fact that his great uncle was a part of liberating one of the concentration camps at Buchenwald. Yesterday he mistakenly referred to Auschwitz instead of Buchenwald in telling of his personal experience of a soldier in his family who served heroically,” Burton says.

UPDATE: RNC spokesman Alex Conant, who said earlier that Obama’s mistake raised questions about his “readiness to lead”, moderates a bit: “At times it appears that Barack Obama inaccurately recalls his own history and American history, so it’s important that we point to the facts. In this case, we’re happy to see that he took the time to set the record straight.”

Er, whoops.

But, as you could see in the Indiana, West Virginia and Kentucky “man in the street” — OK, more like “morbidly obese woman heading down the dirt path to the half moon house” — interviews, the sheer volume of cleverly racist “non-racist” crap has taken its toll: Obama is a Muslim. He has a crazy, America-hating preacher. His wife hates America. etc. etc. Now, he’s “stupid,” in that typical Rightie automatic reversal of any legitimate criticism.

Does anyone actually think that Barack Obama is unintelligent? Really?

But facts never bother the Wingnut Blogosmear™. They LIVE to distort facts to their fantasies. (Which is why America is in such dire straits. Refusing to admit there’s a problem is exactly the same as refusing to solve that problem.)

I mean, when you think about it, Obama has been on the receiving end of a tsunami of sheerest trivial bullshit since March. Every wild accusation that could be made has been made. And, perhaps it’s been successful to a degree:

The White “working, non-college educated” folks won’t vote for him. His minister hates America. His wife hates America. He isn’t patriotic. And, (again) he’s actually a Muslim. Jews shouldn’t trust him. Latinos won’t vote for him. Hillary’s voters won’t vote for him. He doesn’t wear a lapel pin. Etcetera etcetera etcetera.

They’ve even got cyber-stalker crazy Larry Sinclair claiming that Obama was smoking crack cocaine while performing oral sex on the Candidate to Be. It’s as gross as it is grotesque, but WorldNetDaily has picked up the tale, and it’s being carefully stoked in the wingnutosphere.

They’ve managed to use the divide and conquer strategy to divide: Women, Blacks, Jews, Latinos, “Working Class” versus “elite” college-educated, well-to-do yuppies from displaced factory workers, white men from everybody, etcetera.

This crap doesn’t come about by chance. It only happens as a result of deliberate calculation. The ocean of meaningless garbage thrown into this campaign as intentional manipulation is truly staggering.

I mean, black sexual kink and, of course, Obama, being an uppity n**** would smoke crack cocaine. Are they KIDDING us?

Remember, as I placed the sound bite from Rush and Hannity’s crazy black preacher a few days ago (”Osama bin Limbaugh“), he accuses Rev. Wright, Oprah and Obama of all being homosexual, and Wright and Obama of engaging in a long-term gay affair. Gay and Muslim need to be added to “Black” evidently, to make sure the mud gets good and thick. And, alas, credulous imbeciles believe this noxious crap — often spread to them virally by a fellow church member in those “pass it on” emails that the GOP is becoming proficient in.

All we’re missing is the watermelons, tap dancing and fried chicken.

But what’s most damning AND frightening is this: The Rightie Blogosmear™ not only DIDN’T comment on Hillary’s Friday “RFK assassination” gaffe — which would be unimaginable were there not SOME specific coordination going on — but did EVERYTHING they could, en masse to CHANGE THE FOCUS from Hillary to Obama. This is entirely in keeping with Rush Limbaugh’s “Operation Chaos” strategy, which I seriously doubt that Rush is more than an errand boy for.

THINK for a moment: HOW could the Clinton-haters of the Wingnut Kind IGNORE such a juicy and indefensible statement and defense? HOW COULD THEY?

Er, unless they are acting in concerted discipline for the same tactical end. Keith Olbermann noted tonight, I am reliably informed, that they use the SAME WORDS to make the SAME POINTS.

(And here I was beginning to wonder if I was the ONLY one who was noticing.)

We have to engage in blog warfare on this crap; we have to stop hiding our heads in the sand and get proactive.*

[* That meaningless buzzword that ineffectually attempts to take the place of "take the initiative," "do something" and "get things done." When the term is used, generally Benjamin's Law applies: "When all is said and done, more is said than done."]

Moreover, we need to be ORGANIZED. The few blogs that fired back on the phony “Auschwitz exaggeration and lies” story were too few and too late. Screaming the lie has the same effect as telling the truth, as far as they’re concerned, and we need NOT be nice.

Just remember, when an organized army of buffoons meets a bunch of freelance warriors, the organized idiots nearly always win. Happened in Gaul. Happened in Wales. Happened in Scotland. Happened to the American Indians.

This needs to be THEIR Little Big Horn. But, like the Sioux, Cheyenne, Arapahoe, Blackfoot, et al, WE have to stop being little roving bands of bloggers squabbling among ourselves and unite against the common enemy.

Right, Lt. Col. Custer?

iii. The Right Retreats Without Changing Their Narrative.

OK. The blogswarm’s story was false.

Obama was correct and used the wrong noun. This happens all the time. Everyone misspeaks. But he was accurate and historically true. But …

The Righties owned it and then the facts came out. What did they do with their “whoops”?

Faux Nooz™ managed to note the correction, but not before baptising him in a font of innuendo. He’s “SCRAMBLING” and there are “problems” with his story. You see? Obama is a suspicious character, and oh, by the by, he wasn’t lying. He just mixed up Concentration Camp names. But the narrative remains intact:

Obama Campaign Scrambles to Correct the Record on Uncle’s War Service
by FOXNews.com
Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Russian troops liberated Auschwitz in January 1945.

Barack Obama’s campaign scrambled Tuesday to set the record straight after the Democratic presidential candidate said on Memorial Day that his uncle helped liberate the Auschwitz death camp at the end of World War II.

There were two obvious problems with the tale: Auschwitz was liberated by the Soviet Army, and Obama’s American mother was an only child.

As the Republican National Committee seized on the discrepancies, Obama’s campaign clarified that the Illinois senator was actually referring to his “great uncle” ….

Gee. I guess facts aren’t really the issue here. Obama is a lying SOB, therefore any misstatement “proves” that he’s “pathological” — according to our artistic-licensed pud-puller Jeff Emmanuel and the brave, accomplished Purple Avenger. Yeah.

So let’s look at the “whoops!” landscape at 11 PM EDT Tuesday night (Memeorandum):

See if you can guess whose sleazy blog THIS is:

Obama Flubs Concentration Camp Claim
May 27, 2008 6:09 PM

** Sen. Barack Obama erred on Monday in referring to a Nazi concentration camp that a family member helped liberate, his campaign acknowledged Tuesday.

Oooh. He “erred.” See? It’s HIS fault and you don’t even know what “it” is.

In a Memorial Day speech in New Mexico, Obama, D-Ill., touted the service of his grandfather and other family members during World War II, and added a few details about a great-uncle.

“I had a uncle who was one of the, who was part of the first American troops to go into Auschwitz and liberate the concentration camps,” Obama said, “and the story in our family was is that when he came home, he just went up into the attic and he didn’t leave the house for six months, right. Now obviously something had really affected him deeply but at that time there just weren’t the kinds of facilities to help somebody work through that kind of pain.”

Watch the VIDEO HERE.

After several conservative bloggers and Fox News Channel pointed out that the Auchwitz concentration camp was liberated by Soviet soldiers, not Americans, Obama’s campaign clarified the statement.

In case you were wondering, the Fox News Channel link is THEIR link, and is TO the story cited above. So, we know where the “approach” comes from.

“Senator Obama’s family is proud of the service of his grandfather and uncles in World War II –- especially the fact that his great uncle was a part of liberating one of the concentration camps at Buchenwald,” spokesman Bill Burton said. “Yesterday he mistakenly referred to Auschwitz instead of Buchenwald in telling of his personal experience of a soldier in his family who served heroically.”

Buchenwald was liberated by American soldiers in April 1945.

Adding this detail makes no real sense, UNTIL you realize that they’ve been reading the whole “the Soviets liberated Auschwitz in January 1945″ and the “obvious” deduction that Obama is a liar, is “pathological” and that’s one of the NICEST things that this group of self-appointed Einsteins has to say about Obama’s Memorial Day Speech in New Mexico. (May 27 10:55 AM: Ed Morrissey / Hot Air: The Young Gaffer sees dead people)

And they END it with this:

Said Republican National Committee spokesman Alex Conant: “At times it appears that Barack Obama inaccurately recalls his own history and American history, so it’s important that we point to the facts. In this case, we’re happy to see that he took the time to set the record straight.”

So. Who do you suppose this masterpiece of propaganda, sleaze and innuendo came from? (With heaping cribbings from the Fox News story AND the Ben Smith blog, as you may nave noticed.) Some Rightie blog? Some rightie “news” source, like, say WorldNetDaily, or Human Events, or National Review Online or Cybercast News Service? Nope.

It was ABC News. Here’s what I took out of the beginning of the story at **:

ABC News’ Rick Klein and Sunlen Miller Report

Yeah Say what you will, but when I have the data points of “investigative reporter” Brian Ross releasing the “Reverend Wright tapes,” Jake “Big Shot Reporter” Tapper going to absurd lengths (cigarette smell) to belittle and attack Obama, the George Stephanopolous/ Charlie Gibson “Worst and Most Evil Debate Ever” debacle, and THIS crap, I have a pretty good idea that ABC TV is ideologically committed to McCain and will try any underhanded crap to derail Obama. Note that Wright had made his comments years ago, but that Ross carefully timed the release of the tapes to do the MOST possible damage to Obama’s campaign, and, hopefully, drive him from the contest.

This is corrupt and criminal. But, I have to emphasize, we have to work together and we have to attack these righties.

Most of us live in a state of moral shell shock these days — the weight of criminalities, of offenses, of incivility and outright barbarism makes outrage impossible, seemingly — but we have to arouse ourselves from our torpor. The Righties not only understand how important the blogosphere is, but they’re moving aggressively into controlling the volume and the debate, both through paid trolls to disrupt US, and in coordinating THEIR smears for maximum effect.

Which is exactly what we saw Tuesday: No whoops. Guaranteed repeat performance.

Which means that we have to stop ignoring this crap. If there are to be prosecutions, accountability and oversight, a democratic president MUST be elected. But he’ll need YOUR help to bust up these tactics, YOUR faith to NOT start intramural squabbles (”The Circular Firing Squad”) and placing McCain Unable into the center of the debate, and not this avalanche of trivial, specious and just plain mean “analyses” of Obama.

More on the moral shellshock later, but yesterday, we watched a mountain made of a molehill, collapse and then those who puffed up the mountain selling “souvenirs” of the vanished peak. As IF it ever existed.

Which it did not. No president of human will ever be perfect. And it is absurd to hold anyone to that standard. BUT there is a difference between an actual gaffe and a ginned-up, phony gaffe.

Besides: this hyper-parsing is astonishing, given the “pass” they’ve given the moron-in-chief, lo, these past eight years, and the tolerance that they beg of us they never cede to us in return. We need to understand that tolerating intolerance is a deadly oxymoron.

These low scum deserve no quarter, no civility. In the latter case, it would be like explaining “color” to a woman blind from birth.

As is justice blind.

Courage.

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