File This Under ‘Thank God for Disclaimers’

Following the news conference staged this afternoon by Larry Sinclair at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., I thank God that He gave me the wisdom to include the following editor’s note — call it a disclaimer — at the end of a post, Man Claims He Had Sex, Used Drugs With Obama, published Monday:

Until this point in the 2008 presidential race, I’ve avoided any mention of Sinclair and his allegations — contained in this video posted Jan. 18, 2008 — of same-sex activities and illegal drug use with the prospective Democratic Party presidential nominee. Today, in light of the fact that the video has been viewed nearly one-million times, I feel obligated to report these claims and encourage you to follow this story (i.e., “I report. You decide.”).

Rather than explain the reasons for my thankfulness by describing the news conference in blow-by-blow fashion, I’ll point instead to some very good write-ups about the event that turned out to be a non-event.

Perhaps the best after-the-fact description of Larry Sinclair’s afternoon news conference at the National Press Club was offered by Joe Gandelman, editor-in-chief at The Moderate Voice. In The Sinclair Allegations: Sometimes the Desire To Discredit Discredits The Wannabe Discreditors, he likened the event to the bar scene from Star Wars.

Thank God for disclaimers.

Gandelman’s effort came several hours after an early-morning effort by Ben Smith at Politico about Sinclair’s long criminal history under the headline, Obama accuser has long rap sheet. Had he read it, Sinclair would have realized he should have stayed in bed. But, apparently, he did not.

Thank God for disclaimers.

In the “Hit & Run” column at Reason Online, David Wiegel hit the nail on the head with More Fun in Obamaconspiracyville: In Which Larry Sinclair Gets Arrested.

Note to Larry Sinclair: Never hold a news conference when you have a warrant out for your arrest, because the authorities will find you. And they did.

Again, thank God for disclaimers.

-- Bob McCarty Writes