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Thursday, October 30, 2008

2008 The Story (Some of) You All Have Been Waiting For

Posted by Eli Sanders on Thu, Oct 30, 2008 at 4:20 PM

In the last issue of The Stranger, I attempted to evaluate the worthiness of some of your darkest fears about how the election will go. You know, things like: Will the October surprise turn out to be that Obama faked his U.S. citizenship? Will martial law be declared so Bush can have a third term? Will the Bradley effect dash the Democrats' dreams?

Today, overlapping slightly with what I wrote, but providing a far more detailed debunking of fears and rumors, is a new Politico piece by Ben Smith. In it, he takes on all the nastiest alleged stories that emailers have been demanding reporters write about so that the public can know THE TRUTH before Election Day.

It's a pretty great list, and a very interesting read, covering such topics as: Obama's citizenship (also explored here), "the C-word," that Whitey Tape from way back when, and some other things you may not have known you needed to worry about—the Forrestal incident, Raila Odinga, and a sexy holiday in Fiji for example.

If you're sending or receiving impassioned emails about political cover-ups that the press is ignoring, defintely read this before you do any more fretting.

Comments (10) RSS

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I'm surprised there's nothing about John Marx McCain being born in Panama and having a Marxist Nanny until he was 10. Guess they missed that one.

Posted by Will in Seattle on October 30, 2008 at 4:25 PM

Here's your worst fear: that no matter who wins, things go well for most Americans. Salaries rise, house prices decline. Suddenly there is a middle class again. Alternative energy hydrogen cleans the air at a lower cost. Children sing and play happily in neighborhoods. Couples fall in love. An old man walks down the street in safety. It is your own personal horror story.

Posted by John Bailo on October 30, 2008 at 5:34 PM

Again, lumping in entirely legitimate concerns about the integrity of elections based on factual accounts of previous election cycles and observation of the current round with every crazy-ass "theory" ever circulated in a chain email really does not serve the cause of journalism. Just because it's horrifying to think that American elections can be (and have been) stolen does not mean that it can't be true. And enough with the doctrine of equivalency that says if we print an allegation from the left (such as "hey, the voting machines built by Republican cronies seem to 'accidentally' flip votes to Republican candidates more than a statistically likely number of times") must be balanced again a claim from the right ('Hey did you know Obama only converted to Christianity because his wife made him so he could get elected president?') For fuck's sake. Facts matter.

Posted by flamingbanjo on October 30, 2008 at 5:44 PM

It's mentioned, Will.

Posted by w7ngman on October 30, 2008 at 5:58 PM

Dang, I was hoping they hadn't picked it up yet. (chuckles at a successfully planted rumor)

Posted by Will in Seattle on October 30, 2008 at 6:08 PM

superwill in seattle: i can't believe how big a douche you are. give it up. you aren't funny, you have nothing relevant to say, and your credibility was shot down long ago. everything you type is either moronic or bullshit, and everyone knows it. even PC & DBK have rational points once in a while. why do you even try anymore?

Posted by you're a douche on October 30, 2008 at 7:00 PM

October surprise has to come early Saturday morning, Eastern Time. Possible sources: Republican party, rednecks, foreigners. 2/3 chances for domestic terrorists.

Posted by Amelia on October 30, 2008 at 7:17 PM

I still keep looking in dumpsters for giant bags of "lost" mail.

Posted by A paranoid UnCommonSense on October 30, 2008 at 8:39 PM

I remember there was a slow groundswell of Republican support to amend the Constitution to eliminate the "natural born" requirement, obviously with Arnold Schwarzenegger in mind. Ever since the rumormongering about Obama's birth, the rhetoric they were using around this has been totally stifled.

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