With the DNC rules committee job over and Clinton still not able to pull a hat out of a rabbit to win the Democrat nomination, the stage is now set for the Clinton smear machine to go into full gear. Spearheading this political hit job is Clinton supporter Larry Johnson, who two weeks ago first hinted at having heard about a bomb-shell video of Michelle Obama ranting against “whitey” at the Obama’s Trinity Church (I posted on it here).

As I noted when the rumor first came out, Johnson’s cover story – that this tape was being held by the GOP and was meant to torpedo Obama in the fall – was simply incoherent. Johnson claimed both Dem and Rep sources had seen the tape – which makes no sense at all if you know how DC works. If the GOP had this atomic political bomb they would hold it close and unleash an October surprise (e.g., George Bush’s DWI charge which hit the news right before the 2000 election).

No one in the GOP would give a heads up to any Democrat. Larry tried to explain this away by claiming some millionaire out to hurt McCain wanted Hillary to win the nomination, and therefore was trying to get the tape out now, since now is when it benefits Hillary most. If that makes sense seek psychiatric help.

In subsequent updates (which I posted on here and here) Johnson admits an Obama supporter has seen the tape. This was when Johnson’s lies caught him.

I had my doubts any tape existed, but if it did I knew it had to come out now to help Clinton stop Obama. She has one shot at the Presidency, whilst Obama could have a couple of shots in coming years. The Clinton’s are desperate to avoid the historic comparison between Bill and W, because one allowed a national threat to grow while the other faced it down and turned it from the future of Islam to the enemy of Islam. I am of course speaking of al-Qaeda and 9-11, which turned Bush into a strong and historic leader, and shrunk Clinton by comparison.

The Clintons have to get back into the White House, they are desperate to. The reason Johnson’s BS excuses don’t fly is you have to know how things are shopped around DC for public dissemination. The best of all worlds would be if the GOP did Clinton’s dirty work, which is why someone in the GOP could have been shopped the video and that is why they can tell Johnson they have seen it.

If there was no one in the GOP willing to bite and face the backlash from the African American community (and few would be so dumb as to get into this kind of smear against the wife of a top black leader) then the next logical step is to show it to Obama Super Delegates to see if you can cause a rush to the exits (Obama still needs the Super Delegates to seal the nomination). This is how Larry was able to find an Obama supporter who had seen the video. Whoever is the puppet master (and make no mistake about it, Johnson only as the IQ points to be the puppet here) tipped Larry to the video and who to call (who it had been shown to so far) to get confirmation of the tape. Larry probably doesn’t get it, but one of his sources is the one pulling his strings.

The video can’t be all that damning, because the Super Delegates are still heading to Obama and the GOP is not going near the tape. So what’s happening now? Johnson finally admitted yesterday that the timing of any release of the tape right now is optimal for the Clinton Camp. Yesterday Johnson came out with “BREAKING NEWS” post on the video, except most of the post is now not available at his website. But another blogger did post much of what was originally posted:

“New and dramatic developments. This is a heads up. I’ll post the news Monday morning by 0900 hours. Now I know why people who have seen the videotape say it is stunning. Barack’s headaches are only starting.”

… Again, at this point, this is still a rumor. And I do note that he does not promise to release the video no Monday, but to update us with news.

But if the Clinton campaign does have video of Michelle Obama saying this, Monday would be a good time to leak it. Here’s why:

1. In politics, you never want to release all the bad information about your opponent at once. Obama just resigned from his church under duress. His goal was to separate from the church. But a new video featuring Michelle would demonstrate that the problem wasn’t merely the church — that his family was enmeshed in this radical ideology.

2. Hillary will win Puerto Rico today, giving her some momentum. Obama is rumored to be announcing a large number of superdelegate endorsements on Monday, so that his victories in the Mountain West can be what puts him over the top in terms of the delegate count. This video (or confirmation that a video exists) could cause some of the superdelegates to get cold feet, or — depending how bad it is — even consider reversing course.

Another option might be to “suspend” (but not dissolve) her campaign, and release the video before the convention. I can’t see why holding the video until then would be prudent — but you never know what else she might plan on releasing in the next few weeks.

Again, this all may, or may not, be true. So far, it’s rumors on the internet. But the source (whom I’ve spoken to on the phone) seems to be credible. And it certainly does not seem unrealistic to believe that such a tape exists. Stay tuned …

Emphasis mine. Johnson notes how an insider would optimize the release of the tape to nicely fold into and extend the current news cycle. It is interesting, and a bit coincidental, that Obama decided to quit his Church this weekend after standing by it for so many painful months. But it could just be coincidence. All I know is Johnson has finally shed the canard (for now) that this is a GOP hit job – it is not. He clearly indicates the Clinton Camp has the video. His puppet master was not careful enough to make sure Johnson didn’t mess up the message (which is why I think most of the post is now missing over at Johnson’s blog).

Update: Sorry folks, clearly the comment about the Clinton camp was from the blogger I linked to (missed the quotation marks). However – I still think this is a Clinton Camp hit job, so everything else I posted still seems to be in play from my perspective. We will see tomorrow. – end update

It looks to me like the Clinton’s tried the GOP, tried to persuade Obama supporters, and probably even tried the news media. None of the conventional propaganda paths have worked, probably because the tape is too hot or the hype around it is too hot. That left them with Larry Johnson – buffoon. This is why this is an act of desperation, the methodology being employed just doesn’t make sense for the Clintons who have access to all sorts of media outlets and ears. Seems they are going to have to throw this mud all on their own – so to speak.

Addendum: Seems the tape was the subject of Geraldo on Fox this morning:

Geraldo Rivera discussed the Michelle Obama Racist Rant Tape this morning on FOX News, with guest Roger Sloane, who stated this tape does exist, showing Michelle Obama off on a crazed, racist, anti-American rant, and that “a network” does in fact have the tape.

Roger Sloane is the man who broke the Elliott Spitzer prostitution scandal.

Well, we know what will be pushing the success stories about Iraq of the news this week, now don’t we?