Barack Obama's campaign says the best-selling book "The Obama Nation" was written by a fringe bigot peddling rehashed lies. The campaign has posted a hard-hitting 40-page rebuttal of assertions by author Jerome Corsi. Corsi, who co-authored a book targeting John Kerry during the previous presidential campaign, catalogs various allegations that have haunted Obama on right-wing blogs and anonymous e-mails.
Those assertions question Obama's religion, brand him a dangerous radical, and suggest there's a
black rage hidden beneath the surface. Corsi also dwells on Obama's mother marrying Obama's African father and later marrying someone from Indonesia - whom Corsi describes as "a second man of color to be her mate." The campaign says the description is 1 of many examples of Corsi's "offensive language" in the book.
The campaign's rebuttal is entitled "Unfit For Publication." The title is a play on the anti-Kerry book called "Unfit for Command." The rebuttal is being posted on the campaign's rumor-fighting Web site, FightTheSmears.com.
Senator John F. Kerry yesterday rejoined the battle with one of his fiercest antagonists from his 2004 presidential bid, launching a website to combat a new book highly critical of Barack Obama, his party's presumptive nominee this year.The initial target is Jerome Corsi, who wrote "Obama Nation" and also was coauthor in 2004 of "Unfit for Command," which attacked Kerry's Vietnam War record in 2004. But Kerry's website - called "Truth Fights Back" - will also seek to counter assaults on other Democrats this election.
"John Kerry can and will fight for the truth on cable news, but we need all of us to battle against the smears in every way," it says on the website. "By signing up, you'll stay on top of the right-wing smear machine and help us battle it back! This site is designed for activists like you to take back the truth from the Bush/McCain politics of Karl Rove that have come to dominate the GOP. So sign up and join in the fight, and start reporting in some smears!" The website will be funded by Kerry's political action committee, and could bring more supporters to the senator, who is seeking reelection in Massachusetts.
The site is similar to the Fight the Smears website that the Obama campaign itself launched in June to truth-squad the raft of Internet-fueled rumors about his alleged lack of patriotism and that he is "a secret Muslim." As of yesterday, Obama's site did not directly address Corsi's new book, "Obama Nation." The New York Times reported yesterday that the book will debut at No. 1 on the Times nonfiction hardcover bestseller list on Sunday, despite challenges to the accuracy of its assertions, among them that Obama is a stealth radical who might have never ceased his youthful experimentation with drugs.
"The goal is to defeat Obama," Corsi told the Times. "I don't want Obama to be in office."
Since his razor-thin loss to President Bush four years ago, Kerry has often said he didn't react quickly and forcefully enough to attacks on him, most notably by Swift Boat Veterans for Truth and by Corsi. The attacks helped undermine Kerry's standing as a decorated veteran with substantial foreign policy and national security expertise. In a message to supporters yesterday, Kerry said, "We know the game, we've learned some things . . ."
"You can't just play defense against smears, pointing out how they aren't true," the message continued. "You've got to play offense, too, exposing the whole cynical game for what it is: an attempt to keep us from talking about the real issues and ultimately changing our country for the better. The Republicans have nothing to run on, no ideas to push, no solutions for America. They'll run a campaign of laughable gimmicks and outright distortions and lies. But we can fight back with the truth - and the truth can win this time. Let's do it."
So it is clear that the new book about Obama is a threat to Obama's candidacy and while I have not read either book on Obama or Kerry written by Corsi, I am now intrigued to perhaps pick up both books since they are filled with lies but perhaps they are filled with lies and truth. Remember sometimes, some lies are not complete lies and even some truths are not complete truths. It sounds funny but remember when you were a kid and your parents would ask you to tell the truth but you told the truth as you saw it perhaps leaving out a tiny bit of the story in order to avoid an even worse punishment or further trouble. Well remember although you told the truth, it wasn't the whole truth so you partially lied. That could be the case with Mr. Corsi's books. I am not advocating anyone to believe Mr. Corsi but be the judge for yourself whenever you read any non-fictional book. There could always be a bias in any book that is written by man because we are imperfect and no matter how perfect we present ourselves as, we are imperfect human beings.
With that said, I look forward to reading Mr. Corsi's books and looking at both Kerry's and Obama's websites that contradict Corsi's books. Smear Tactics are sadly apart of America's politics and hopefully one day it will go away but for now, Obama has to remain feisty and fight against it by all cost. At the same time, the Republican Party should stop with smear tactics and simply fight about the issues and a person's stances on the issues not a person's character unless it has something to do with judgement.
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