I’ve been resisting the temptation to comment on this bizarre Ashley Todd mugging hoax fiasco, but I just can’t hold it in anymore.
Well, on second thought, I think instead I’ll comment on the stupidest of the stupid things I’ve seen said on the subject. After visiting dozens of blogs and news sites, and watching the coverage on the cable news networks, I’m going to give the prize to none other than the VP of Fox News, John Moody, posting this (before the fact that the gal made it all up came out):
If Ms. Todd’s allegations are proven accurate, some voters may revisit their support for Senator Obama, not because they are racists (with due respect to Rep. John Murtha), but because they suddenly feel they do not know enough about the Democratic nominee.
If the incident turns out to be a hoax, Senator McCain’s quest for the presidency is over, forever linked to race-baiting.
So let me get this straight. Mr. Moody was making the claim that the outcome of this 2-year long campaign could hinge on this singular, isolated incident? Forget, for a moment, that the incident was later revealed to be a hoax, what the hell kind of ridiculous notion is that? Because his network made a big deal out of it?
And why in the world would voters “revisit their support for Senator Obama” based on an ugly mugging? I just don’t get it. The only thing that makes sense to me is that this guy is really revealing his inner thoughts, and not offering some insight on what he feels “some voters” might think. It looks like a strawman concocted by -as Andrew Sullivan put it- a racist of massive proportions (and my readers would know that I certainly don’t toss the “racist” label flippantly). Or, put another way, Moody is attempting to convince his readers that Obama supporters like myself should revisit our support because of the alleged actions of one big crazy black man. And not because we’re racist, of course, but because it seems logical?
The bottom line is this: Any objective observer can see that, real or staged, this incident has no bearing on the candidates, the campaigns, or the myriad of important issues of the day, regardless of what the Drudges or the Fox VP’s of the world want.
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