In a recent post, I exposed a quote attributed to John Maynard Keynes as a fraud. Such villainy, which is an unfortunate artifact of a free society and a free internet, demands a squinty eye and a Missourian’s “show me” attitude.
Today, an email that has been circulating for several months came to me. It included a statement purportedly made by Barack Obama about his relationship to ousted Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich:
“I only saw Rod Blagojevich one time …. And that was in the stands and from a distance at a Chicago Bears Football Game.”
Just like the Keynes quote, it is bogus.
This “Obama” quote (with the words “Football Game” strangely capitalized) is all over the web, usually accompanied by several authentic photographs of the two men together. Like the Obama birth certificate scam, it “proves” that the President is a liar. But not one of the web villains references where, when, or to whom Obama was speaking when he made this statement. And none of the major news agencies mentions 
this quote in any story about Obama and Blagojevich. Think about this: were it valid, is it conceivable that Fox News would ignore such a statement?
Citizens have a right to disagree. But democracy works when the populace decides based upon truth, not misrepresentation or slander.
Thanks, Steve. Frankly, this is one of the most asinine rumors I’ve ever heard. You would think that the recipients would first ask themselves if it passes the “smell test” before shotgunning it off to their friends, who in turn shotgun it to their friends. Blagojevich was the Governor of Illinois while Obama was a state Senator, then a U.S. Senator. Their paths crossed many times. Obama endorsed Blagojevich in 2002 and 2006, and was an adviser to him in his first 2002 run for the state house. Then he began distancing himself from Blagojevich to the point where they had not spoken to one another in the year before the scandal became news.
http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/12/questions-arise.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/11/AR2008121103936.html?hpid=topnews
The point is not that they have never been together; they have – - many, many times – - the point is that Obama never said he had only seen him once. That’s just crazy.
HH-
Why would you quote such proven unreliable sources as abc news and the dc post in making a point on truthfulness; ipso facto is not a city in Iceland….why not quote carville or dean?…equally reliable sources on providing cover for the incompetent…
freddy–
I believe the point HeavyHitter was making is the same as mine: the Obama quote is bogus. Referring to ABC News or the Washington Post does nothing to undercut that assertion.
I certainly do not think the corporate news operations are pure truth-tellers. In a previous post I blasted CBS News for lying.
http://stevecotler.com/tales/2008/07/24/cbs-manipulates-the-news/
The point I made in this post, and HH echoed, is that not one of the major news purveyor picked up the purported quote. You must admit that if true, the quote is juicy material that would not be overlooked. Glenn Beck would have salivated.
Truthfulness of your messiah:
http://www.breitbart.tv/obama-in-03-id-like-to-see-a-single-payer-health-care-plan/
I miss the point of your comment. What does Obama’s previous support of a single-payer health care plan have to do with this post?
B. O. gives one many opportunities to catch him in actual lies:
“Asked what contact he’d had with the governor’s office about his replacement in the Senate, President-elect Obama today said ‘I had no contact with the governor or his office and so we were not, I was not aware of what was happening.’
“But on November 23, 2008, his senior adviser David Axelrod appeared on Fox News Chicago and said something quite different.
“While insisting that the President-elect had not expressed a favorite to replace him, and his inclination was to avoid being a ‘kingmaker,’ Axelrod said, ‘I know he’s talked to the governor and there are a whole range of names many of which have surfaced, and I think he has a fondness for a lot of them.’”
http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/12/questions-arise.html
Steve B.–
You neglected to include the updates tacked onto the bottom of the ABC news report you cited:
(UPDATE: An Obama Transition Team aide says that Axelrod misspoke on Fox News Chicago.)
(UPDATE #2: Axelrod this evening issued a statement saying. “I was mistaken when I told an interviewer last month that the President-elect has spoken directly to Governor Blagojevich about the Senate vacancy. They did not then or at any time discuss the subject.”)
It would be neither dishonest nor illogical to opine that Axelrod’s denial sounds like a lie. There was a real statement and a real counter-statement. But since there doesn’t seem to be any hard evidence supporting whether Axelrod lied or misspoke, it comes down to personal interpretation.
But that is quite different than manufacturing a bogus quote and attributing it to Obama.
How do you know if a politician is lying?
He is talking or writing something!