Prof. Ogletree: I Was Joking About Obama Video Clip

Another huge fail for the race-baiting Breitbart goons

WingnutsMarch 2012 • Views: 29,909

The heirs to Andrew at breitbart.com just continue to lie about Prof. Charles Ogletree, in a pitiful attempt to shore up their failed BOMBSHELL revelation. They’re still claiming that Ogletree “admitted” hiding the dreaded Harvard video — even though: 1) it wasn’t hidden at all; it was posted on YouTube in October 2008, and also on the PBS website, and 2) Prof. Ogletree did not “admit” to anything; he was joking, as LGF author “Tundra Boy” pointed out yesterday in a great LGF Page with video proof.

Today, in response to this absurd and wholly dishonest smear, Prof. Ogletree tells the Boston Herald what’s already obvious to anyone who watches more than the deceptive excerpt posted by breitbart.com: Ogletree: I Was Joking About Obama Video Clip.

Harvard Law Professor Charles Ogletree told the Herald he was just kidding when he suggested that a decades-old clip of a young Barack Obama praising and embracing controversial Professor Derrick Bell was kept hidden from voters during the 2008 campaign.

“It was a big joke,” Ogletree said. “If you watch the tape, the audience is laughing when I’m laughing.”

Conservative website breitbart.com, a week after the death of its founder Andrew Breitbart, posted the video online yesterday, offering it as proof of Obama’s radicalism, arguing Bell had close ties to the Rev. Jeremiah Wright. breitbart.com also claimed Obama taught Bell’s writings at the University of Chicago. breitbart.com called it “the latest in a pattern of Barack Obama’s associations with individuals who promoted a racially divisive America.”

“It’s much to do about nothing,” said Ogletree, who insisted the clip has been public for years. “It’s not the breaking story that some who want to criticize the president claim it is.”

This truly has been a week of monumental failures for the mini-Breitbarts. About now, they might be needing a hug.

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30 comments

Vicious Michigan Union Thug Fri, Mar 9, 2012 10:15:27am

When he said they "hid" the video, he meant he didn't want the people in it to feel bad about how much they have aged in 20 years.

lawhawk Fri, Mar 9, 2012 10:15:39am

A hug and a new IT department. Biggovernment my ass. More like BigFail.com.

jamesfirecat Fri, Mar 9, 2012 10:16:11am

Break out the calliopes folks, the circus has come to town and its not leaving any time soon.

Kragar Fri, Mar 9, 2012 10:16:51am

Wingers don't get comedy.

erik_t Fri, Mar 9, 2012 10:16:59am

Frankly, it seems like it'd be easier to make up a scandal out of whole cloth. The number of irrational jumps one must take in order for this to, you know, matter... and for all that, it's still a massive and profound shrug.

Gus Fri, Mar 9, 2012 10:17:17am

Yo Breitbartians! U mad bro?

Simply Sarah Fri, Mar 9, 2012 10:17:36am

re: #4 Kragar

Wingers don't get comedy.

It's true. Remember the Half Hour News Hour?

Kragar Fri, Mar 9, 2012 10:18:22am

Jon Stewart Promises To Expose The Real Sean Hannity

wrenchwench Fri, Mar 9, 2012 10:20:30am

Another bombshell has turned out to be a dud:

Did Professor Derrick Bell Visit the White House?

[...]

There are two problems with the Heritage post. One: it excludes some details from the visitors’ logs. There are 28 columns on the publicly released records, the Heritage blog lists seven. The data they omit includes a description of what the visit was four [sic]: in this case, for both visits: TOURS. A White House tour – not MEETING or APPOINTMENT. Another data point: TOTAL PEOPLE. This is a reference to how many people were present for the tour, meeting or appointment – in this case 304 people and 282 people.

But Bell surely could have taken a tour or two and then met with President Obama, right? Sure, it’s possible – and I asked the White House about it. The answer from a White House official: this was not the same Derrick A. Bell. He [sic] one had a different birthday than the late law professor, whose birthday was November 6, 1930. That would seem to undermine the significance of this visit.

Simply Sarah Fri, Mar 9, 2012 10:21:36am

re: #9 wrenchwench

Another bombshell has turned out to be a dud:

Ooooooooops.

Obdicut Fri, Mar 9, 2012 10:22:41am

That's why everyone laughed. Because it was a joke.

I mean, it should have been obvious to the wingnuts too, right? That the audio was cut so short, isn't that a tip-off to them yet that they're being lied to?

Except, that's right, they actually want to be lied to.

Weird.

lawhawk Fri, Mar 9, 2012 10:22:59am

And it's hidden in plain sight - easily viewed and accessible at YouTube for anyone who wanted to find it all these years. Not exactly groundbreaking "journalism" either.

If the Jeremiah Wright issue didn't derail Obama in 2008, why do they think it will have any effect in 2012, when Obama has a record on which an opponent can target (in 2008, his contacts and associations were relevant since he was a relative unknown quantity and lack of known positions meant that his associations could shed light on his worldview). Now, we know what Obama has done and where he stands on many issues - kill terrorists? Yup. He's for that. OBL? Dead. Awlaki? DOA.

Health care reform? Done. Not the best package by a long shot, but far more accomplished there than any president in generations to adjust how health care insurance/payment will be done in coming years. And many of the features are ripped from former GOP positions to boot.

The economy is generally improving with unemployment coming down, real estate markets seeming to stabilize, and while high gas prices are a drag on the economy, it's holding its own.

Obama has taken a moderate/centrist position on most issues, and continued with Bush Administration policies on foreign policy - going even further in its use of UAV strikes than Bush did, and after all, he authorized the OBL raid into Pakistan.

Bell is now an issue?

I think this is more smokescreen for the fact that the GOP is pretty much toast in 2012, and they're trying to hide the fact that they've got a crummy cast of candidates running against Obama.

erik_t Fri, Mar 9, 2012 10:23:10am

re: #9 wrenchwench

Another bombshell has turned out to be a dud:

Should have checked the long-form!

Derp.

Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton Fri, Mar 9, 2012 10:23:59am

re: #9 wrenchwench

Deja vu all over again. This "bad guys visits the WH" argument has already been employed.

erik_t Fri, Mar 9, 2012 10:24:27am

re: #12 lawhawk

OBL? Dead! Awlaki? Dead! Niedermeyer? Dead!

Interesting Times Fri, Mar 9, 2012 10:25:30am

And on a related-to-this-nontroversy note, I just got my first celebrity retweet! From Soledad O'Brien:

@Soledad_OBrien the whiny, histrionic vitriol you're getting from rightwing wanks just shows how correct you were, so thanks :)
— Interesting Times (@intrstngtimes) March 9, 2012

Screenshot of it in her timelime

Simply Sarah Fri, Mar 9, 2012 10:26:55am

It's sad, really. I'm pretty sure the Left has, on average, been pushing better, more reasonable complaints against Obama than the Right has. The wingnuts really need to pick up their game.

Simply Sarah Fri, Mar 9, 2012 10:29:10am

re: #16 Interesting Times

And on a related-to-this-nontroversy note, I just got my first celebrity retweet! From Soledad O'Brien:

Screenshot of it in her timelime

Congratulations. Looks like you're moving up in the world. ;)

RadicalModerate Fri, Mar 9, 2012 10:29:47am

re: #8 Kragar

Jon Stewart Promises To Expose The Real Sean Hannity

So, does Stewart have footage of Hannity with his buddy Hal Turner?

Kragar Fri, Mar 9, 2012 10:31:44am

Homophobic Anti-Choice group accidentally invited to HS assembly

An Eastern Iowa superintendent is doing major damage control after an unexpected message in a school assembly.

The band Junkyard Prophet and a group known as You Can Run But You Cannot Hide was invited to speak at Dunkerton High School Thursday morning.

Administrators thought the group was speaking about provocative lyrics in music and making good choices. But then, the subject matter turned to potentially offensive opinions on homosexuality and abortion.

"We work hard to teach tolerance in our classrooms," Superintendent Jim Stanton told students at a second assembly Thursday afternoon.

The afternoon gathering was not originally part of the superintendent's plans Thursday, but proved necessary after the first one went awry.

erik_t Fri, Mar 9, 2012 10:34:03am

re: #20 Kragar

Homophobic Anti-Choice group accidentally invited to HS assembly

What the shit. Seriously, who names an innocent, non-provocative happy friendly group something like 'You Can Run But You Cannot Hide'? Did this seriously not tip anybody off?

nines09 Fri, Mar 9, 2012 10:35:03am

Delusional people acting delusional. Who would.ve thought that?/

nines09 Fri, Mar 9, 2012 10:36:04am

re: #21 erik_t

What the shit. Seriously, who names an innocent, non-provocative happy friendly group something like 'You Can Run But You Cannot Hide'? Did this seriously not tip anybody off?

It's like booking 'The Mother Lovers" and being shocked?

lawhawk Fri, Mar 9, 2012 10:36:45am

Gawker also tracked this stuff down, and noted that folks like Jonah Goldberg and Hannity (via an appearance with Dick Morris) noted the Bell links back in 2007-2008, but didn't particularly catch on then.

It's not like these videos and associations (casual or otherwise) weren't known.

Gus Fri, Mar 9, 2012 10:39:57am

This is gonna hurt! Well, the unpatriotic wingers that is.

Obama Jobless Rate Falls Faster Than Reagan’s: Chart of the Day

Interesting Times Fri, Mar 9, 2012 10:43:20am

re: #18 Simply Sarah

Congratulations. Looks like you're moving up in the world. ;)

Isn't it kind of freaky, though, when you think of how social media has "democratized" the world? Being in my mid-30s, I remember the world before the Internet - chances to directly contact a TV personality out of the blue, so quickly and easily, were non-existent.

_{Of course, with this new-found "power" comes responsibility - depending on the timing and circumstances, one little tweet could set quite a "butterfly effect" in motion...}

Slumbering Behemoth Stinks Fri, Mar 9, 2012 11:23:56am

I only wish that Andrew were still alive to suffer these embarrassments. But who am I kidding? He was never embarrassed by his deceptive fails.

Quite ironic that his only 'win' in the last few years was a picture of a turgid prick.

Ming Fri, Mar 9, 2012 11:57:18am

I've always been very much opposed to affirmative action, reverse discrimination, any factoring of "race" into how people are evaluated. I basically haven't changed my mind about all that.

But with all the past and current right-wing hostility to President Obama and any and all African Americans Mr. Obama has known over the years, I must admit I'm beginning to get a new perspective about race in America. Sometimes it seems that the Civil War hasn't quite ended.

I haven't yet read anything by Professor Bell, but I'm a lot more open to reading him than I would have been a year or two ago.

wrenchwench Fri, Mar 9, 2012 12:05:24pm

re: #28 Ming

I've always been very much opposed to affirmative action, reverse discrimination, any factoring of "race" into how people are evaluated. I basically haven't changed my mind about all that.

But with all the past and current right-wing hostility to President Obama and any and all African Americans Mr. Obama has known over the years, I must admit I'm beginning to get a new perspective about race in America. Sometimes it seems that the Civil War hasn't quite ended.

I haven't yet read anything by Professor Bell, but I'm a lot more open to reading him than I would have been a year or two ago.

May you continue to learn, grow, and change.

Romantic Heretic Fri, Mar 9, 2012 1:22:57pm

They won't take a hug. Hugs are gay and gays are almost worse that those people. /

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Prof. Ogletree: I Was Joking About Obama Video Clip

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