Politico Falsely Accuses the AIP of Smearing Barack Obama

The American Issues Project launched a new television ad questioning Barack Obama's relationship with former Weather Underground bomber Bill Ayers. "Why would Barack Obama be friends with someone who bombed the capital and is proud of it?" a voiceover in the ad asks.



But for some reason or another - as Confederate Yankee points out - Ben Smith of the Politico blog falsely accuses the ad of smearing Barack Obama and tying him to Islamic terror.

"The use of 9/11 imagery links Ayers, and Obama, to the American conflict with Islamic terror," Smith says, "which is the subject of many viral e-mails attacking Obama."

Of course, that's not true. The ad does not link Barack Obama to Islamic terror. But sometimes, Conservative pundits, in an effort to portray themselves as mainstrean journalists, will distort the facts in order to enhance their "journalistic" credentials. Perhaps, it was only carelessness on the part of Mr. Smith, but these kind of mishaps are more likely to occur when a journalist feels the need to portray himself as a member of the "mainstream" media.