‘B’ Hoaxer Ashley Todd: Why Did She Do It?

There has been a lot of talk about Ashley Todd actions in lying to authorities and everyone else in the ‘B’ Hoax, but what we are not hearing as much about is her motives – what drove Ashley Todd. We find that Ashley was a telephone operator for the McCain/Palin campaign. When people think of telephones at the McCain camp lately – they think about robocalls – and the damaging hateful, and more to do with this case – deceptive calls.

Unfairly attacking Obama has been a normal part of the McCain campaign, blatantly misrepresenting the facts has been the norm in the McCain campaign, from the light – by saying Obama’s going to raise your tax – to the more extreme – saying Obama pals around with terrorists. Could this young woman have felt that she could possible take – this effort one step further – and concocted this whole mess in order to assist the McCain campaign which was clearly falling behind in the presidential race. And for a while it did help the McCain campaign – when they desperately leaped all over it without thoroughly checking.

Pro-McCain Supporters Inspirational pic.

Another area which could be looked at is some of the sites Todd might have visited. Take a look at the one below – the Sarah’s Army Blogspot – reading through this entry is depressing – but it is very much like the landscape at present on other pro-McCain/Palin sites. There are almost no real arguments on things like health care and taxes, just attack after attack on Obama – often veering off onto the irrational or insane.

Perhaps it is a sad indictment of the manner in which the McCain campaign has been conducted that a young woman could think that by saying that a black man had robbed, mutilated and then sexually assaulted her could be of assistance – in any way at all – to Mr. McCain’s run for the White House.

Enlarge+

Advertisement

The Backwards ‘B’ Mutilation Hoax: Media Handling (Video)

The big political story of the day revolves around what turned out to be a non-story. Several media outlets (the vast majority conservative) were left with egg on their faces after they trumpeted up the tale of a McCain volunteer who claimed to have been assaulted by a large black man because of a McCain bumper sticker on her car. On her face was carved a backwards ‘B’ (meant to represent Obama’s name). The Drudge Report called it “mutilation.”

It was a hoax. And now, some in the fourth estate are left to explain why they pushed this apparent political ploy. Those in the business who showed some prudence are calling out their competitors for taking the bait.

On CNN today, anchor Rick Sanchez did just that, naming the outlets that not only reported but actively pushed the story of Ashley Todd. In addition to explaining why his station didn’t report the story, Sanchez dug the knife in a bit deeper when it came to Hugh Hewitt, the conservative radio talk show host who appeared on CNN Thursday and blamed “that side” (i.e. the Democrats) for engaging in “extraordinarily” disturbing acts.

“Part of the story is the fact that it was reported by the media,” said Sanchez. “We would not be telling the story now had it not been carried by so many outlets. As I mentioned before, it was mentioned on, as a matter of fact I have a list and not to mention names, but the initials of the news organizations are Fox News, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and Newsday. And also radio talk show hosts went on their radio stations and talked ad infinitum about the story yesterday, one of them even seemingly being a braggadocio about it when he was on the air with our own Wolf Blitzer yesterday.”

Source: HP

FOX Spreads The ‘B’ Mutilation Hoax
JedReport

Sucking it up
Separately, the College Republicans — a group of which Todd is a member — sought to distance themselves from the whole affair, telling the Huffington Post: “When Ms. Todd initially contacted us claiming to have been attacked, our first reaction was obviously to be concerned for her safety … We are as upset as anyone to learn of her deceit. Ashley must take full responsibility for her actions.”

Keith Olbermann goes after Fox News ‘TALKING POINTS’ email – exposing the nasty measures that station is willing to use in this election.