On the whole whitey thing. Here's the bottom line:

Somerby:

For whatever reason, Obama’s campaign had peddled some ludicrous swill which came to them straight from the Murdochs*. But so what? ...

Your culture—your post-Enlightenment culture—turns on a few basic notions. One such notion would be this: You aren’t allowed to make sh*t up. There are basic interpretive rules you must apply if you’re searching for truth—for the facts. And if you are a decent person, you won’t rush to imagine the most evil things about candidates you may not prefer.

Our culture will disintegrate under [the current] regimen. When a culture can’t honor its most basic precepts, then, as written: Things fall apart. In this century, the Chinese will have values and emphases which differ from ours. But as a rising power, they won’t clown as they pursue their values, as we now clown around about ours.

Bingo. Or, perhaps....

[For those who came in late, the baseless, defamatory, and grotesque charges propagated by the NY Post and the Obama campaign, that Hillary wishes for Obama's death, just like RFK's, began with an interview Hillary gave to the Argus editorial board.]

What's wrong with the Argus editorial board? Don't they realize, like anybody who is anybody, that Hillary wants to kill Obama? All the Serious people are saying so! The A list is saying so! Keith Olbermann said so! Why, I heard important Villagers at parties saying so! And yet, shamefully, these people have endorsed her! Have they been affected by Clintonian Mind Control Rays™ beamed from Mount Evil? [Avarosis, fondling orchids: Hmmm.....] Are they, too, insane, to endorse this horrible person? Are they bitter? Do they cling to? Are they consumed by hate for the Unity Pony? [Axelrod makes note to self: Is there any way to suppress SD's votes?] What's wrong with them?

Oh, yeah, the Argus Leader endorsement:

Family story: When our VW bug's head gasket blew in the summer heat, we ended up stranded at a cheap hotel in Terra Haute, Indiana -- we were moving to a new town because my father's department was no longer tolerable after it split down the middle on the VietNam war -- and on that day RFK was shot.

And when we got to our new house, I remember unpacking with the black-and-white TV on, as I watched RFK's funeral train make its grainy, slow way up the Northeast Corridor to New York.

A line had been crossed: MLK's assassination, RFK's assassination, the war, the Democratic Convention in Chicago, all the lying, and of course, my own childish loss of friends and home... A line had been crossed. Nothing was solid; everything was permitted. And once you're over the line, there's no way to get back.

Like now.

Like now, I feel, as do, I suspect, others. The way the Obama campaign, (many of) Obama's supporters, the OFB, and our famously free press smeared Hillary on her Argus interview crossed the line.

Now we know where we are.

We live in a political system where Obama's faction of the party -- the Democratic Party -- enthusiastically endorses the vile and baseless accusation that Hillary Clinton wishes, indeed has called for, Obama's death; that she wishes for Obama to be assassinated, just like RFK was, in June 1968. Never mind that this same faction also believes that every word of Hillary's is calculated, and that only an idiot -- and whatever else these lunatics believe about Hillary, they don't believe she's that -- would announce, in advance, that she'd prefer for a political opponent to be shot. And never mind that this same faction is also trying to buy off this supposed would-be murderer with offers of any other office than President -- like Senate Majority Leader, or a position on the Supreme Court. That's doublethink, the ability to hold two contradictory ideas in one's mind at the same time, which is becoming an increasingly prominent feature of the political landscape on the side that I thought I was on.

Never mind all that. The key point is this: Hillary did not say what her enemies claim she said. She simply did not say it. The accusation is not true. The people who propagate it are lying liars. In fact, they are propagating a Big Lie, just like the Republicans we thought we were the only "real enemy." Remember this classic from Ron Suskind? Years ago, it seems:

The aide said that guys like me were "in what we call the reality-based community," which he defined as people who "believe that solutions emerge from your judicious study of discernible reality." I nodded and murmured something about enlightenment principles and empiricism. He cut me off. "That's not the way the world really works anymore," he continued. "We're an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality. And while you're studying that reality -- judiciously, as you will -- we'll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and that's how things will sort out. We're history's actors . . . and you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do."

So, read the Howler how the Obama campaign and the press propagated this latest Big Lie. It's instructive and very familiar:

From the paper that brought you Judith Miller, Michael Gordon, Tom "Suck on This" Friedman, and Jayson Blair:

Is it even possible that Mrs. Clinton thinks someone out there was not offended by her remark, Kennedy relative, Obama relative, or just plain folks?

I hate to break it to you, Times Editorial Board, but you are fucked in the head.

The "liberal" who makes you wish Pat Buchanan got more airtime speaks:

I think that it makes you think that it would be very awkward for a vice president to be on a ticket—for a vice presidential candidate to be on a presidential candidate's ticket after she's made repeated references to his potential death. Yes, that would be weird.

[Since zombie lies never die, I'm updating to include:

* A link to Lambert's debunking post
* A link to all posts in this series]

Please watch the video of Hillary's comment regarding Robert F. Kennedy's assassination.

Do you think she's intimating something ominous about Barack Obama?

If you answered "yes," you might want to consult with a medical professional, to see if you're fucked in the head.

Since the Democrats' frontrunner doesn't support universal healthcare and speaks disparagingly about "socialized medicine," you might want to save money by taking this handy home test.

It will show how fucked-in-the-head you are, measured by how much evidence contradictory to your fucked-up perception your fucked-up head chooses to ignore.

Hillary writes an Op-Ed in the NY Daily News (the exclusive is a nice touch. As is the choice of newspaper itself).

First, she deals with the latest smear from Obama and his lying liars*:

This past Friday, during a meeting with a newspaper editorial board, I was asked about whether I was going to continue in the presidential race.

I made clear that I was - and that I thought the urgency to end the 2008 primary process was unprecedented. I pointed out, as I have before, that both my husband's primary campaign, and Sen. Robert Kennedy's, had continued into June.

Almost immediately, some took my comments entirely out of context and interpreted them to mean something completely different - and completely unthinkable.

I want to set the record straight: I was making the simple point that given our history, the length of this year's primary contest is nothing unusual. Both the executive editor of the newspaper where I made the remarks, and Sen. Kennedy's son, Bobby Kennedy Jr., put out statements confirming that this was the clear meaning of my remarks. Bobby stated, "I understand how highly charged the atmosphere is, but I think it is a mistake for people to take offense."

I realize that any reference to that traumatic moment for our nation can be deeply painful - particularly for members of the Kennedy family, who have been in my heart and prayers over this past week. And I expressed regret right away for any pain I caused.

But I was deeply dismayed and disturbed that my comment would be construed in a way that flies in the face of everything I stand for - and everything I am fighting for in this election.

As anybody with any sense of justice or simple human decency would be. If anybody has any links from Obama supporters calling bullshit** on this latest smear, would they please leave them in comments? I'd like to have my waning faith in sanity restored. Readers?

So, that's sorted. Now for the real message the lying liars are trying to obscure:

Why I continue to run

[Welcome, Confluence readers! Additional evidence for the prosecution may be found at Argus smear and Fucked In The Head Watch -- lambert]

From CBS:

This afternoon, Barack Obama responded to Hillary Clinton's comments yesterday when she referenced th assassination of Robert F. Kennedy as a reason she's staying in the race this year. Obama said he believes that Clinton was not trying to be offensive.

Watching the feeding frenzy over Hillary Clinton's completely innocuous RFK comment, I am now officially afraid.

CDS, the derangement syndrome that fuels psychotic hatred of all things Clinton, has verifiably (re)infected our entire media apparatus and much of the Democratic Party.

If it's not Day of the Dead, it's certainly Time of the Truthy.

Remember the helpless dread you felt when the GOP willfully drove us off the rails of reality?

This is why she's scary smart:

What is my point here? Namely, that the Left Blogosphere has always behaved like this, they have always swarmed and spewed at their favorite target of hate, the Clintons, and that their embrace of Obama is purely instrumental. They don't give a damn if he can win the general. They are obsessed with preventing the Clintons from returning to power. If he can do that, then they'll be back to bashing him since he will have served his useful purpose.

There is always hope, and we are never defeated, as long as truth survives.

[Welcome NY Times "The Caucus"* readers!]

Via Hillary's campaign, RFK Jr's statment:

“[RFK JR] It is clear from the context that Hillary was invoking a familiar political circumstance in order to support her decision to stay in the race through June. I have heard her make this reference before, also citing her husband’s 1992 race, both of which were hard fought through June. I understand how highly charged the atmosphere is, but I think it is a mistake for people to take offense.

Freely translated: Stop your wanking!

Or if that's not possible...

It is clear that Senator Clinton did not imply an assassination attempt against Senator Obama. Listen to the clip.

[Welcome, Cheetopians! Paper towels?]

Cue the lekkage. Hillary's statement: