Today’s opening snark courtesy of Journolister Dave Weigel from his Slate perch:
Big Government breaks the news that Bill Ayers hosted a fundraiser for Barack Obama; well, this was broken by Ben Smith in 2007, but still.
I call it a “snark” because the word “lie” feels a little harsh during this holiday season. However, it’s just a fact that Big Government didn’t position the piece as “breaking news” and as far as I can tell it wasn’t even a featured story. But you have to admire a guy like Weigel who poses as an objective journalist and yet sees no news value whatsoever in new video of a notorious domestic terrorist speaking openly about his relationship with a sitting President of the United States.
But is it really that Weigel saw no news value in it or that he knows that Obama’s re-election could be in even more trouble were he to receive the kind of vetting Journolisters like Weigel did everything in their power to prevent in 2008?
Naturally, Weigel isn’t alone. Here’s Politico’s Ben Smith joining in on the wrist-flicking of the new Ayers video:
Oh, and did you know Ben Smith was also a member of Journolist and that something he didn’t find at all, uhm, “footnote-y” was the possibility that Sarah Palin might own a tanning bed.
Priorities.
Except a funny thing happened between all that snark and footnotery. Breitbart TV Editor-In-Chief Larry O’Connor did the digging Journolisters fear (My God man, what if we find something!?!?!) and came up with an actual story:
In 2008 the Barack Obama for President campaign went into full denial mode accusing the McCain/Palin campaign of lying about a fundraiser held in domestic terrorist Bill Ayers’s home for Barack Obama’s Illinois State Senate campaign.
Watch this clip from October 15, 2008 where spokesman Robert Gibbs flat-out denies the fundraiser story to an inquiring Chris Matthews. Then watch Bill Ayers, in his own words, admit to the event himself.
Either Mr. Gibbs lied to Mr. Matthews, or Mr. Obama lied to Mr. Gibbs.
Here’s the clip:
But wait–there’s more! In October of 2008, in the heat of the campaign, NPR all but called Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin a liar for how she characterized the relationship between Ayers and Obama. Here’s a juicy NPR nugget: [emphasis mine]
To help Obama in the Democratic primary race to succeed her, Palmer organized a few informal meetings to introduce Obama to her supporters in the fall of 1995, including the gathering at Ayers’ house. It was not a fundraiser, as some reports have stated. And it was not the meeting that launched Obama’s political career, as other Obama critics have alleged.
Well, gee, NPR, the domestic terrorist disagrees.
And here’s the Huffington Post in October of 2008:
LIE: “Obama was feted at a fundraising event” at Ayers’ home.(“Hype: The Obama Effect”)
TRUTH: Obama never had a fundraising event at Ayers’ home.
And here’s our friend Ben Smith again, assuring us in February of 2008 that Obama only “visited” with Ayers … Once. I do hope Michelle Obama sent him a thank you note in the form of a fat-free fruitcake or something.
Which begs a question the MSM dare not ask. In 2008, who passed on the information that the Ayers event wasn’t a fundraiser? Did the Obama campaign lie to NPR and the Huffington Post and Politico in 2008 (not that they weren’t told what they wanted to hear) or is Bill Ayers lying today?
But who cares? That was three whole freaking years ago. History. Water under the bridge. Bygones. After all, Weigel and Smith can’t be bothered with old stuff involving a sitting president possibly lying about his relationship with a domestic terrorist. They have 24 year-old rocks to write about, 15 year-old allegations of sexual harassment, and 42 year-old papers…
Stop whining electorate, our Media Overlords know what’s best for us.
P.S. Hey, Ben and Dave: I’m guessing any digging into this is out of the question. Yeah, you’re probably too busy going over Newt Gingrich’s 15 year-old divorce documents.
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