Keith Olbermann's Campaign Comment: McCain, Step Up!

Another Countdown with Keith Olbermann "Campaign Comment," another contented blogger. I love when he gets fired up, and he's right. It's high time John McCain stood up and shouted down the worst elements of his party. The frenzy the right-wingers were thrown into by the Ashley Todd hoax just scratched the surface of their irrational hatreds. McCain should say something about it.

McCain Campaign Pushed "Mutilation" Hoax

You know that sad, John McCain worker who hoaxed Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania police (and the rest of us) with a story that a Barack Obama-supporting mugger carved a "B" into her face? Well, it appears that the McCain-Palin campaign pushed this story into the media before getting all of the facts. What is most striking to me, is that McCain is making a Pennsylvania push, trying desperately to flip the state back to red. Is it a coincidence that one of his workers perpetrated this hoax in western Pennsylvania?

McCain Supporter Attack a HOAX

I was right! I put up a highly skeptical post yesterday, one hyped to the rafters by The Drudge Report, about a young McCain supporter who was mugged, robbed, beaten and "mutilated" (actually a scratched, backwards "B" on her cheek) at an ATM in Pennsylvania. The story had holes, but I didn't want to dismiss it outright and come off like a heartless bastard (not that I'm not one, I just don't want to appear so!).

It turns out the whole thing was a hoax. Which is just the latest embarrassment for Drudge, and for highly reactionary wing-nut sites like Free Republic. When I viewed initial reaction to the story on FR, only minutes after the breaking news, they were in a frothy lather, ready to bring on a full-scale race war, and planning to stock up on ammunition this weekend. That's because the hoaxster described her attacker as a big, black Barack Obama supporter. Nice, right? It's not as funny as the faux outrage over Obama's use of an "Obama Flag" that turned out to be a State of Ohio flag, but it is predictable.

This story stunk pretty badly, and I'm not surprised that it turned out to be a hoax. But will the crazed reactionaries take back what they said yesterday? Somehow, I doubt it.

[Excerpt]

KDKA: Police say Ashley Todd Assault a Hoax

Ashley Todd's assault has been confirmed to be a hoax, according to KDKA. Police reportedly admitted Friday the attack was a hoax.

20-year-old Ashley Todd was facing a polygraph test to be administered by officials after claiming she was brutally beaten over her political views. . .

Read more at: The Post Chronicle