Saturday, October 25, 2008

The Aftermath of the "B" Hoax


Ashley Todd carved a "B" in her own face, and Matt Drudge soon had egg on his -- having pushed this demented story when he thought she was telling the truth about her "attack," salivating at the thought of it becoming a scandal to bring down Obama.

We talked a lot on the show Friday about the disturbing and vicious hoax by the 20-year-old McCain campaign volunteer who carved the "B" in her face and said a "a big black man" did it after seeing she was a McCain supporter.

The report of an attack first off should have stayed as a local Pittsburgh story. But it went national because the right and its scandal purveyors like Drudge -- and the McCain campaign, which told reporters about it -- pushed it big when they thought she was telling the truth (without, once again, any vetting) and then it blew up in their faces.

Jay Bookman describes some of the various bloggers and commentators on the right and how they gleefully pushed the story:

Andy McCarthy at the National Review’s Corner responded with a post so embarrassing he has now taken it down so nobody can see it.

Dan Riehl at riehlworldview.com posted under the headline “Thugs for change,” claiming that “Obama’s run his campaign just like a street thug out of Chicago. Now we get to see what some of his worst supporters are like.”

Noel Sheppard at newsbusters.org chastized AP for daring to be skeptical of the initial report. Most of all, he wanted to know why the AP didn’t report that the alleged perp was black. How dare they exclude a detail that had no bearing whatsoever on the alleged crime!!

Josh Painter at redstate.com blamed the attack on Barack Obama, suggesting an “Obama thugocracy” was coming: When Obama “urged his supporters to get in their face, did it not occur to him that some of his more deranged followers might take him literally?” Painter asked.

He was echoed by fellow redstater Erick Erickson, who wrote: “Hey! The dude was just doing what The One asked him to. Full pardon on January 21st.”

At Atlas Shugs, they posted the woman’s photo and called it “the new face of the Republican Party.”

“Shame on those that doubted this poor girl,” the post read. “Always ready to jump on the side of the leftists and thugs. ugh. Americans, I implore you to get off your asses and save this country from the radical left coup on the White House, Senate and House…. Perhaps the Obots misunderstood Obama urging his followers to Get In Their Face and GET IN THEIR FACES!” They got the advanced course of Camp Obama to cut up their faces.”


None of these people of course commented on the actual true accounts -- one after another after another -- of the McCain mobs and their racist and violent rhetoric.