Senator Obama’s overt and explicit charge that McCain-Palin rally supporters have shouted “Kill him” when Obama’s name had been mentioned is pure Pulp Fiction, a story concocted by a Scranton newspaper journalist.
The agent in charge of the Secret Service field office in Scranton said allegations that someone yelled “kill him” when presidential hopeful Barack Obama’s name was mentioned during Tuesday’s Sarah Palin rally are unfounded.
The Scranton Times-Tribune first reported the alleged incident on its Web site Tuesday and then again in its print edition Wednesday. [Ed.: Making ‘Pulp Fiction’ a literal description.] The first story, written by reporter David Singleton, appeared with allegations that while congressional candidate Chris Hackett was addressing the crowd and mentioned Oabama’s name a man in the audience shouted “kill him.”
News organizations including ABC, The Associated Press, The Washington Monthly and MSNBC’s Countdown with Keith Olbermann reported the claim, with most attributing the allegations to the Times-Tribune story.
Agent Bill Slavoski said he was in the audience, along with an undisclosed number of additional secret service agents and other law enforcement officers and not one heard the comment.
“I was baffled,” he said after reading the report in Wednesday’s Times-Tribune.
He said the agency [Secret Service] conducted an investigation Wednesday, after seeing the story, and could not find one person to corroborate the allegation other than Singleton.
Clear enough? The only one with such a description is the reporter who originated the tale. Not one of the 40 Secret Service agents, not one of any of the other security officials, not one attendee, and not one other journalist. Not one.
And the print and broadcast criticism against bloggers is what, again?
NOTE: Just to be clear here, there are but two sources for this baseless accusation.
- The Scranton reporter in his newspaper (Pulp) – substantiated by no one, not a single Secret Service agent, security official, attendee or (key here) a single other journalist of the dozens covering the same event.
- Barack Obama on national television, who likely effectively garnered concern and sympathy in promoting a lie (Fiction).
And note that the story debunking the pulp fiction made national is another local Pennsylvania newspaper. Don’t hold your breath waiting for parrots “ABC, The Associated Press, The Washington Monthly and MSNBC’s Countdown with Keith Olbermann” to revisit the Pulp Fiction with clarification and correction of their records.
With thanks to Jonah Goldberg for the link.
