My Bad

As several bloggers have rightly noted, I erred yesterday on MSNBC when discussing Karen Tumulty's piece about the Obama campaign's efforts to combat rumors and smears. I said the rumor about Michelle Obama making a derogatory comment about whites was started by conservative bloggers. That was a mistake. As Tumulty wrote in her piece, the Obama campaign believes that particular rumor "apparently first made a big splash on the Internet in late May in a post by pro-Hillary Clinton blogger Larry Johnson." Johnson said he heard it from someone in touch with "a senior Republican", whatever that means. Its actual origins are unknown. But while the rumor was picked up and spread by conservative bloggers, pundits, operatives and talk show hosts, they were not the first to inject it in into the Internet bloodstream. My thanks to those who set me straight.