Oh, damn. Did she just say 'white people'? Part II

So the latest rumor and innuendo surfing around the blogosphere is that there exists a tape of Michelle Obama railing against 'whitey' at the Rainbow Coalition/PUSH conference in Chicago in 2004. The rumors have grown so persistent over the past few days that Obama's campaign was forced to create a website specifically aimed at dispelling these and other allegations - he calls them smears - against himself, his wife and his campaign.

If such a tape exists, the inability of the blogger who first broke the 'story' to produce it is starting to make it look as if this is more of the same old sexism that used to be directed at Hillary Clinton now redirected at Michelle Obama and wrapped up with a shiny new bow of racism to boot. Additionally, the Obama camp's website points out so obviously false details of the story. Yes, there was a Rainbow/PUSH conference held in Chicago in the summer of 2004. However, contrary to the blogger's claims that part of the conference was held at Trinity Church, the conference program shows that the event was held at the Sheraton. Michelle Obama did attend the "Women's Luncheon" at which it is alleged she made the "whitey" comments, however she is listed as a special guest rather than as the keynote speaker.

Unfortunately for the Obama campaign, their attempts to dispel these rumors are not enough to make the story go away. The website that they present as evidence of the conference schedule was obviously retrieved from an archive and is at best incomplete. Additionally, they have the impossible task of proving a negative - proving that a tape does not exist - while the blogger who started the rumor only has to quietly insist that one does for the story to persist.

The best course here would be to scour the countryside for someone who does have a tape of the event - surely video record was made of it somewhere - and get it out for all and sundry to see. More than likely, it shows Michelle Obama eating a salad and buttering bread for an hour and a half. A video full of that kind of boredom and inanity would be sure to end this rumor for good.