Politically Motivated Attack Was a Hoax
By Alan Stewart Carl | Related entries in News
As any of you who are news junkies already know, a story broke yesterday about a woman who was allegedly attacked by a Barack Obama supporter for having a McCain bumper sticker. She distributed pictures of herself with bruises and a letter “B†carved into her cheek.
Turns out, it’s a hoax.
This is not usually the kind of story I write about, but it seems to be leaking into the mainstream quickly and could become one of those distracting, last-minute conversation pieces. It shouldn’t be. But let’s get it out there because, God knows, we at Donklephant don’t want to lose our blog license for being the only blog not to write about this story.
If you want some solid coverage, head over to Hot Air. They’ve got all the pertinent bits.
Ed Morrissey cautioned from the beginning that Republicans shouldn’t use the attack to paint Obama supporters in a negative light, and added today:
“And let’s remember that even if the story had been true, it still didn’t say anything about Obama and the people who support him.â€
I think it’s important to add that this hoax doesn’t say anything about McCain or the people who support him. This is clearly the act of an unstable woman who made some very poor decisions in order to get attention.
I hope she gets the help she needs.
This entry was posted on Friday, October 24th, 2008 and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
October 24th, 2008 at 4:29 pm
I’m surprised it took this long for people to figure out it was a hoax. The second I saw the backwards “B” etched on her face I thought, “Well golly, one would think that she did it to herself while standing in front of a mirror!”
October 24th, 2008 at 4:31 pm
I think the real lesson here was how quick the MSM was to jump on something unsubstantiated to get a juicy story. I honestly agree that this didn’t necessarily reflect on either candidate, but the way it unfolded may bite McCain.
Speaking of stories that probably shouldn’t matter but will, what was with McCain’s brother? I’m constantly amazed how family members can’t seem to behave close to an election. If my brother, mom, dad, or even cousin were running for President, I’d like to think I’d smile and keep my mouth shut.
October 24th, 2008 at 8:15 pm
Have you guys seen this?
Its hilarious
http://www.cnnbcvideo.com/index.html?nid=_X3×63HNJg6VMROmaloMFzM5MDE2Mjk-&referred_by=11251312-pap8GLx
October 24th, 2008 at 8:41 pm
Dr. Pete: “I think the real lesson here was how quick the MSM was to jump on something unsubstantiated to get a juicy story.”
Of course, it probably didn’t hurt that McCain’s Pennsylvania Campaign Communications Director appears to have been trying to give the story a bit of a nudge.
October 24th, 2008 at 11:14 pm
Guys,
The story was pushed by the McCain campaign, Fox, the Pittsburgh Post, and Newsday. Right Wing Radio Nation went to town on it.
CNN didn’t report it until it started to go south. I personally picked it up from TPM.
October 25th, 2008 at 3:34 am
I first ran across this story on one of those pro republican blogs and I was amazed at all of the other blogs that linked to the story, it seemed every blog I visited spun this story more and more until it became clear how much unveiled anger there appears to be on some blogs. It is nice to see that Donkelphant maintains an air of sensibility in its reporting. What worries me, after reading some of the vitriol spun by others on different blogs is that those fringe supporters of McCain (although I’m not sure they are for McCain or just pushing their own agendas) are a larger group than has been reported. I’ll be glad when this campaign is over but until then I remain hopeful that wiser heads will prevail and everyone can focus on the real issues at stake in this election.
October 25th, 2008 at 3:49 am
Mark, that’s what we strive for, and Alan is one of the best in the blogosphere at presenting an even handed response to the news of the day.
Also, it’s my hope that we’ll always continue to “focus on the real issues” as we continue with this great multi-partisan experiment.
Many thanks for your comment and your patronage of Donklephant.
October 25th, 2008 at 6:05 am
[...] At this point, I think he could get more than that. Especially after that weird hoax story. [...]
October 25th, 2008 at 1:21 pm
>> think the real lesson here was how quick the MSM was to jump on something unsubstantiated to get a juicy story.
I followed this story from nearly the start, and the initial reaction amongst the blogs (almost all strong right-leaning blogs) was that the MSM was deliberately IGNORING the story, yet here you are saying that they jumped on it too quickly. :odd:
October 26th, 2008 at 1:49 pm
[...] you hear about the woman who was supposedly attacked by an Obama supporter? Turns out it’s a hoax. Read more [...]