More Rumors About The “Whitey” Videotape

SCROLL DOWN FOR UPDATES.

I’m sure most of you are getting bored with this already, but I’m getting the distinct impression that there is indeed a very damning tape out there of Michelle Obama railing against “Whitey”.

Dem strategist, Bob Beckel mentioned it this morning on Fox and Friends:

According to Beckel, tomorrow is supposed to be the big day.

And Larry Johnson is adamantly insisting that his sources are good, and the tape is out there in Republican hands:

I never cease to be astonished by the base ignorance of the Obama crowd. They have spread the word claiming that I said I have the tape and was going to produce it. What? Nope. Nevr wrote that. They have a reading comprehension problem. If I had the tape I would put it up in a heartbeat. While it is true I am relying on second hand sources, my immediate sources are trusthworty. They are not related to each other. They hold different political views. But all tell the same story–there is a tape of Michelle Obama appearing at a conference with Louis Farrakhan had she says some very disparaging things about white people.

He says the tape appears to have been made in June 2004, and it wasn’t part of a religious service, but at a conference.

UPDATE:

On the other hand, Michelle Malkin says Larry Johnson is “not not not to be trusted”, and huffs:

To all of you who keep bugging me about this subject, please stop sending me e-mail. Until and unless anyone actually produces a video, I’m not going to mention it again.

Well alrighty then!

UPDATE II:

Here’s the latest from Hillbuzz via *guess who* again:

Here’s what’s known so far:

The Michelle Obama Rant Tape was filmed between June 26th – July 1st 2004 in Chicago, IL at the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition Conference at Trinity United Church: specifically the Women’s Event.

Michelle Obama appeared as a panelist alongside Mrs. Khadijah Farrakhan and Mrs. James Meeks.

Bill Clinton spoke during the Conference, as did Bill Cosby and other speakers, but not at the panel Michelle attended.

Michelle Obama spoke at the Women’s Event, but referenced Bill Clinton in her rant — his presence at the conference was the impetus for her raving, it seems.

For about 30 minutes, Michelle Obama launched into a rant about the evils of America, and how America is to blame for the problems of Africa. Michelle personally blamed President Clinton for the deaths of millions of Africans and said America is responsible for the genocide of the Tutsis and other ethnic groups. She then launched into an attack on “whitey”, and talked about solutions to black on black crime in the realm of diverting those actions onto white America. Her rant was fueled by the crowd: they reacted strongly to what she said, so she got more passionate and enraged, and that’s when she completely loses it and says things that have made the mouths drop of everyone who’s seen this.

More at site.

Oooooh wee!

UPDATE III:

Ace thinks the Hillbuzz story looks pretty shady:

DrewM. wants to know if the tape enjoyed such large-scale circulation (or at least was easily downloadable) it hasn’t leaked yet. It would be in at least several dozen hands, wouldn’t it?

The HillBuzz blogger says all that’s necessary is for reporters to track the tape down and watch it. But that presumes it exists in the first place, and this latest nugget (which seems, I don’t know, kinda just made up) makes that proposition even more dubious than before.

I don’t like how this isn’t sourced at all — “here’s what’s known,” as if knowledge just floated about in the air — nor do I much like how we are being offered more and more details about the tape — where, when, why — without actually being offered the tape. If so damn much is known about the tape, then someone has it, and if someone has it, then where the hell is it?

I have to agree with Ace on the (non) sourcing. But I think that if it’s Republicans who have the tape, it’s not in their best interest to reveal it to the world right now. That may be the reason we’re not seeing it, yet.

UPDATE IV:

Here’s a very good debunking by Sweetness And Light from June 2nd that very effectively throws cold water on the whole thingy.

UPDATE V (June 6):

But wait! Hillbuzz has more:

Thinking back to 2004, and the period surrounding the Democratic Convention, several of us here in Chicago remember hearing something about the wife of a politician who said nasty things about Bill Clinton shortly before the Democratic Convention. At the time, we didn’t pay any attention to this, because we had no idea who the wife was (Michelle) or who her husband was (Barack); even after he gave his keynote address, we didn’t really pay any attention to the issue of this “wife of a politician” saying hateful things about Bill Clinton and Africa shortly before the Democratic Convention. However, in the last week or so, once the connections started being made that (1) the GOP was rumored to have a tape of Michelle ranting and raving, (2) the tape mentioned President Clinton, and (3) the tape was from 2004, the pieces fit together and we realized the person who we remembered saying horrible things about President Clinton in Chicago shortly before the Democratic Convention in 2004 was actually Michelle Obama (someone we had never heard of at the time).

Following up on this, we spoke with several people — 5, to be exact — who were in Chicago in the summer of 2004: 2 of whom went to the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition Conference (but who did NOT attend any women’s event). Each of them remembered hearing something about what was said (as noted above) about President Clinton, Africa, and the rest — by what really does appear to be Michelle Obama. YouTube was not around back in 2004, at least not like it is today, so we have no idea if there is a way to check for all the Chicago local and national media news broadcasts for any mention of “the wife of a Senate candidate” saying these negative things about President Clinton.

Also:

It’s also being reported that ABC-7 news anchors moderated a panel at the Conference that appears to be the one Michelle Obama participated in. If so, then it’s reasonable to believe ABC-7 in Chicago has footage from the panel discussion. It’s also been consistently said on the blogs since word of this “tape” first broke that a network has the footage and is sitting on it — and that the network in question is ABC. Once again, if ABC-7 does have tape from this panel discussion, they could solve this mystery today by releasing it all on their website — particularly the 30 minutes or so of Michelle Obama speaking — so we can see once and for all exactly what she said that day. The ABC-7 anchors who moderated could also come out and definitively say what Michelle Obama said on the panel (or Michelle could come out herself and recount what she said). That would get to the bottom of this.

And

No Quarter:

If someone was accusing my wife of saying something racist that was not true, and you asked me in public, I would say emphatically and clearly, “it is not true.” So what is Barack’s problem. He was asked about this today and here is his reply:

We have seen this before. There is dirt and lies that are circulated in emails and they pump them out long enough until finally you, a mainstream reporter, asks me about it,” Obama said to the McClatchy reporter during a press conference aboard his campaign plane. “That gives legs to the story. If somebody has evidence that myself or Michelle or anybody has said something inappropriate, let them do it.”

Asked whether he knew it not to be true, Obama said he had answered the question.

Huh? Are you kidding me? If it ain’t true say so.

But when a politician tap dances on nuance–Baby it is true. My sources have not backed off. They maintain they have a tape and will drop it on the Dems in the fall. Now if Barack said, “No, and hell no” I would be wondering about my sources. But he punted. He went for the weasel word. The non-denial denial.

If these guys are lying, they’re damn good liars.

Nice Deb is leaning…..there’s a tape out there and it’s DYNAMITE!

UPDATE VI (June 6):

Hmmmmmm….Jim Geraghty at the campaign spot thinks the “Whitey” story closely resembles the plot of a 2006 novel.

Dang, what a rollercoaster ride this has been.

UPDATE VII (June 8):

Eh, I changed my mind. Now I think it’s a bullcrap story. Too many inconsistencies.

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