Last night I saw the recent ad put by Democracy For America, and Brave New Films.  It contains a former Navy POW, Phillip Butler sitting in a chair and saying that ones experience as a POW isn't a great experience for a President, that McCain has issues with his temperment, and that he is unfit to lead.

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The emphasis is mine:

When a rumor about a tape of Michelle Obama ranting and raving at Trinity first hit the blogs, we wondered if there was any truth to it. So, we just used Google to try as best we could to piece together her public schedule for the last few years, cross referencing that with the other clues that started coming out about what Michelle supposedly said, and who was with her when she said it. We just looked for times she was in Chicago before the national media would have been paying any attention to her (so, basically, everything prior to Barack Obama's speech at the DNC Convention in 2004: logic dictates she would be less inclined to rant and rave in public after she and her husband had a national profile). The break came when it was noted on the blogs that Michelle made her remarks with Mrs. Farrakhan at a panel discussion at Trinity. Having that, another Google search turned up the Jet magazine article, a trip to the Library to check out the microfiche of that issue got the photo of Michelle and the other panelists (with all their names), a Google search of those names all together got the schedule of events for the 2004 Rainbow/PUSH Coalition Conference, and that schedule ultimately led to the rest.

We have no idea if we are right, because we've never seen the tape. But, we don't understand why a journalist couldn't get the tape of Michelle's panel discussion to check if she does, in fact, rant and rave on this panel the way it's been described.

It doesn't seem to need a Woodward or Bernstein: just someone who knows how to use Google and who can sit down with a pad of paper and figure out when Michelle Obama would have had an opportunity to do something like this. Once that is known, journalists just need to get the tapes from her appearance at the 2004 conference to see what she said and how she said it.

Do we still have any journalists in this country?

That last bit is a very good question. Please note that at no point did they make any attempt to prove that the remarks actually occurred, they just found a point at which Michelle Obama and Louis Farrakhan were at the same event (which, considering it also had Bill Cosby and Clinton, isn't that remarkable). If the tape exists, then now we know where to get it, either to debunk or prove these charges. But then again, even if someone does, it doesn't matter, because then it just becomes somewhere else that these comments were made. A different time, different place, different attendee, different google search.

UPDATE: I just did a search of my own... on LexisNexis. Found that JET article. Michelle Obama is not named ONCE in the article. That picture they have is the only evidence to be found. And there's no other mention in any other publication I can find. So perhaps there is video of this meeting, perhaps there is some sort of evidence that something was said. Somehow I don't think so. The fact that No Quarter jumped immediately onto this bit of gossip speaks volumes.

UPDATE 2: Thanks to soyousay for providing a link to the program that debunks this thing even further. Ms. Farrakhan was not featured at that conference. Here is the list from the program:

Womans Luncheon

M.C.’s: Cheryl Burton and Karen Jordan, ABC 7

Keynote Speaker: Reverend Jesse L. Jackson, Sr.

Special Guests:
Shoshana Johnson, Retired United States Military
Michelle Obama, University of Chicago

Not only was the keynote speaker Jesse Jackson, Michelle Obama is listed as a special guest. Not even as the actual host. Kinda hard to believe she would be allowed to ramble on for half an hour, huh?

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AAPP: The Color Aroused and bigoted Swift Boating of Barack Obama started ironically by Bill and Hillary Clinton has now taken off! Get ready for the ride Obama, Obama supporters, and average Americans, this swift boat action may take us down a social and political road America has not experienced in 200 years.

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The Michigan governor race is just appalling. I don't even live in Michigan, but the extremist tactics going on there demand your attention, especially now that recent polls show Republican nominee Dick DeVos running even with Governor Granholm.

And this is the second time in a month that a far-right group pushing a hateful agenda is trying to hurt Jennifer Granholm.

Full explanation after the jump, including a JPG of a flier that should be seen by every Michigan voter.

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The Michigan governor race is just appalling. I don't even live in Michigan, but the extremist tactics going on there demand your attention, especially now that recent polls show Republican nominee Dick DeVos running even with Governor Granholm.

And this is the second time in a month that a far-right group pushing a hateful agenda is trying to hurt Jennifer Granholm.

Full explanation after the jump, including a JPG of a flier that should be seen by every Michigan voter.

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