May 16 2008

Clinton Camp Digs Down Into The Muck

Rumors of a devastating tape of Michelle Obama are being spread by the Clinton shock troops:

And from whence does it come. Well from Hillary Clinton supporter and somewhat veracity-challenged Larry Johnson, at “No Quarter”, who, quite naturally, implies it is the Republicans (but seems quite happy about the possible result none-the-less) playing this card:

I now have it from two three four sources (three who are close to senior Republicans) that there is video dynamite–Michelle Obama railing against “whitey” at Jeremiah Wright’s church. Republicans may have a lousy record when it comes to the economy and the management of the war in Iraq, but they are hell on wheels when it comes to opposition research.

Johnson is a political hatchet man who covered for Valerie Plame and her lying husband Joe Wilson. All of Larry’s claims proved wrong in the end – he prides himself on his ability to lie and intimidate. Too bad he’s a about 100 IQ points short of actually being as clever as he thinks he is.

For example: why would any GOP source uncover this October Surprise Atom Bomb now? Obama is in, Clinton is out – keep the powder dry on this one and we get President McCain. All this does is help Clinton – not the GOP. There probably IS a tape, but clearly it is in the hand of the Clitonistas. Let’s break down Larry’s comments to see if he actually says anything, other than there is this tape?

First sentence: “I now have it from two three four sources (three who are close to senior Republicans) that there is video dynamite …”. He has three sources from Congress. They are close to senior Reps. Senior Dems are ‘close to’ senior Reps. Dem Staffers are ‘close to’ senior Reps. Maybe his sources are Rep Staffers getting word from Dem staffers who favor Clinton? Who knows, but Johnson is CIA trained on the art of misdirection, so read his words carefully. He does not say what party or candidate his sources are from, and he doesn’t say who has the tape. He has just allowed the mind of the reader to draw conclusions that are not there.

Second sentence: “Republicans may have a lousy record when it comes to the economy and the management of the war in Iraq, but they are hell on wheels when it comes to opposition research.” Think this has to be connected to the first sentence? Not really. I have seen this done many times. For example, I have seen someone present details of a SW architecture, then present on best practices, and then go onto something else. The funny thing was, when I asked if they used the practices the presenter said not completely, he was just presenting context.

Another example was in the Valerie Plame Game, where there was a lot of discussion about Joe Wilson debriefing the VP about his visit to Niger Turned out Wilson never debriefed Cheney, and neither did the CIA. Also turns out Wilson did not report back to the CIA, but actually debriefed an two officers at his home with Valerie serving tea (though she claimed she was not involved with Wilson’s report). You have to watch these people, they are great at making you think there is connection when there isn’t.

So why do this now? Well, Hillary needs to cripple Obama ASAP. She needs to make sure his unelectable before the convention. What this news does is force Obama back on the defensive. Without the tape he is trying to deny a negative, or an unknown. And now everyone is going to start digging through videos to see if they can find this atom bomb. Checkmate. How can Obama deny something he hasn’t seen? If he does have it he has to make it public and then deal with it. If he doesn’t find it others will. If it is a myth the rumor cannot be squashed.

Classic Clinton Dirty Tricks – executed by a dirty trickster himself. H/T to Q and O

25 responses so far

25 Responses to “Clinton Camp Digs Down Into The Muck”

  1. ivehadit says:

    AJ, this also can explain why Obama et al came out in such a frenzy yesterday…knowing that this could possibly be coming out.

    hill and bill have nothing to lose now-the party has abandoned them. So they will just fire away, all in the name of republicans.

    /\

  2. ivehadit says:

    Expect a LOT more of this triangulation for the next 5 months. We will have to work hard and expose it for what it is.

  3. conman says:

    Boy, this rumor story reeks of desperation. Is this what the GOP is left with – sitting around tracking down rumors and praying to god that there is some silver bullet video out there that will irreparably damage Obama? After pushing the Rev. Wright tapes in the Mississippi election this week and getting their asses handed to them in a traditionally conservative district, you would think that you folks would think of a different strategy.

    Divisive, partisan politics and fear-mongering worked well for the GOP in 2000 and 2004, but it is painfully obvious that it is no longer playing well given the current state of the GOP. The GOP has to stand for something other than “be really afraid if the boogy man Demoncrats get elected.” I wonder how long and how many lost elections it will take before you folks realize that.

  4. Terrye says:

    Conman:

    Larry Johnson is not a Republican.

  5. crosspatch says:

    “why would any GOP source uncover this October Surprise Atom Bomb now?”

    And why would ANY GPO SOURCE even talk to Johnson? Practically everyone in the GOP *hates* Johnson and the feeling is mutual. I smell setup here. Johnson is going to give “credit” to the Republicans for something that is going to turn out to be phony. So my guess is that he is making it look like a nice hit piece on Michelle Obama but he knows full well it is fake and he hopes he can position it so it ends up looking like the GOP was trying to pull a fast one.

    Trouble is that it doesn’t pass the smell test. NOBODY is going to talk to Larry Johnson. He is as nutty as a fruitcake and about as connected to Soros money as one can possibly be. Nope, I am not buying it.

    The ONLY way this could be true is if it had been “around” the cocktail circuit in DC for quite a long time and has been general knowledge in those social circles and Johnson found out about it that way. Sort of the same way the fact that Joe Wilson was Valerie Plame’s husband was common knowledge in the “national defense and intelligence” cocktail circuit long before it was published.

  6. kathie says:

    Does it matter if the republicans gave him the information or Hills camp…..MSM will claim it came from the republicans over and over again until it is a fact. One more nail in the republican coffin, how do you deny it if no one will print the denial.

  7. 75 says:

    Who cares who did it? Is anyone here actually surprised this woman would say this?

  8. crosspatch says:

    also note that the last time I looked only something like 1% of voters even looked at political blogs. So unless this shows up on the “top of the hour” news on the commute hour traffic report station, 99% of America is never even going to know about it.

  9. Redteam says:

    IF it’s true, it’ll be all over the world, not just blogs

  10. 75 says:

    Not a chance it makes the news. Fox, maybe but I doubt it.

  11. W-GIRL08 says:

    My local talk show (http://www.schnittshow.com/main.html) picked up on this story on Friday and actually called Larry Johnson. They did a live interview with him on the show —

    He sounded like a very creditable guy !! They asked him about his background … former CIA, once a FOX News consultant and presently working for some security agency. He did not come off as a hysterical liberal with an agenda. He admitted he was a Clinton supporter but also said he had no connections to her campaign (paid or unpaid).

    He was very critical of the Media and basically said they have not looked into Obama’s associations or background sufficiently. The most interesting part of interview was that Johnson hinted at the possibility there might be more to Obama’s connection with Hamas. That there might be an Obama connection with Jimmy Carter’s recent visit to the region. He said there are people looking for more information on this because he believed Obama has spent more time in the Middle East region than has been previously disclosed.

    It was very interesting to me, probably because I have a deep desire to see Obama blown out of the water and the liberal nut cases & Media go hysterical …like they did over Rev Wright !! Since they have put all their eggs in the Obama basket, on a candidate that has been unvetted, sure would be nice to have it all blown up in their faces ….especially the MSM who always KNOW sooooo much !!

  12. missy1 says:

    W-GIRLo8, google Larry Johnson, Seixon, wealth of information at your fingertips.

    AJ probably also has information about him here or check out the links in this Patterico thread:

    http://patterico.com/2006/07/26/larry-johnson-returns/

  13. W-GIRL08 says:

    Thanks Missy1……OK, I believe you guys !!

    However, I will still be hoping for “Hillary’s Nuclear Option”

    http://www.americanthinker.com/2008/05/hillary_clintons_nuclear_optio.html

  14. dhunter says:

    If there’s such a tape rest assured the GOP won’t use it although they may be blamed and refuse to defend themselves for it.

    Hell, they won’t even use Barack HUSSEIN Obamas’ middle name, they will comdemn any state party that does.

    Still think Hillary’s done? She’s gonna drop out?

    Shes’ got more balls than the NBA and Republican National Committee COMBINED. If she uses this tape I might just vote for her I’m tired of compassionately loosing.

  15. dhunter says:

    AJ ,I don’t agree with your stances vs. conservatives most of the time but I love your new format and hope it loads on my work computer without locking up as the old format did while loading.

    It’s cool so far.

  16. […] and somewhat veracity-challenged Larry Johnson, at ???No Quarter???, who, quite naturally, imphttp://strata-sphere.com/blog/index.php/archives/5434Tariff suspensions debated The Post and CourierWith little fanfare or public debate, First District […]

  17. […] (though I seriously doubt his version of things – the man is a professional liar for hire).  Recently he hinted at a GOP held tape of Michelle Obama railing against Whitey inside Rev Wright’s Trinity Church […]

  18. […] (though I seriously doubt his version of things – the man is a professional liar for hire).  Recently he hinted at a GOP held tape of Michelle Obama railing askepticalgainst Whitey inside Rev Wright’s Trinity […]

  19. […] two previous posts on this matter can be found here and […]