Intellectual Property Law

Faced with a new crop of deceptive online smears, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama ratcheted up his online counteroffensive Thursday with a new site aimed at debunking the latest web and e-mail rumors about him and his wife.

Barack Obama's campaign on Thursday ratcheted up its effort to fight lies spread online about himself and his wife.
Credit: Fightthesmears.com

The site, called Fight the Smears, launched listing four claims against Obama. It counters each with a rundown of the facts, in some cases accompanied by supporting video footage.

Like a previous effort, the site allows supporters to upload their address books to spam the site to their friends.

The top item on the page debunks a  rumor that Obama's wife, Michelle, was once caught on videotape using the word "whitey" during a talk at the Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago.

As with previous smears, the rumor festered and grew online, and then jumped to talk radio, and then to television. The supposed videotape has never surfaced.

The new effort follows Obama's "Fact Check Action Center," a similar, but less polished, website launched with the same intention in January. That site now appears out of date: It still refers to Trinity United as Obama's church.

Obama resigned from his church May 31 after the Catholic priest Rev. Michael Pfleger was taped mocking Hillary Clinton during a guest sermon at Trinity.

"We don't want to have to answer for everything that's stated in the church," Obama said of his decision at the time. "We also don't want the church subjected to the scrutiny that a presidential campaign legitimately undergoes."

See Also:

• Willie Horton Ad Maker Goes Web 2.0 With Attacks Against Obama
• North Carolina Radio Host Reports Anti-Obama Chain E-Mail as Fact
• Christian Soldier Is Behind the Obama Smear Video
• Report: Hoax Anti-Obama E-Mails Still Fool Dumb White Guys