In today’s New York Times, conservative columnist Bill Kristol falsly claims that “Obama was in fact in the pews,” when his pastor Rev. James Wright made several controvesial statements about the state of race in America. In reality, Obama was on his way to campaign in Miami on the day Wright gave the sermon. Kristol was duped by a false report from the far-right NewsMax.

Kristol’s shoddy journalism reminds progressives that while Obama has enjoyed consideable success this primary season, he is still dogged by biggotted, prejudicial rumors as a result of his ethnic background. Google’s search suggestions (which are based on frequently used phrases in search requests), betray the breadth of the smear campaign being perpatrated against Obama.

Can you spot the difference?

Of the various patriotic displays in which Obama will allegedly not participate listed above, only one is based in fact. Obama refuses to wear a flag pin on his lapel. Instead, Obama says, “I’m going to try to tell the American people what I believe will make this country great and hopefully that will be a testimony to my patriotism.”

Tonight, during an exclusive interview with Sean Hannity, former Gov. Mitt Romney (R-MA) promised to campaign for Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) “to make sure we have conservative leadership running our country.”

How quickly things change. A little more than a month ago, Romney attacked McCain’s conservative credentials. In the lead-up to Super Duper Tuesday, Romney claimed that McCain’s immigration policies, “and his support for a cap-and-trade program” demonstrated that McCain would follow a “liberal Democratic” course if elected. “I don’t think those liberal answers are the ones Americans are looking for,” Romney said at a Fort Meyers event in late January.

Days later, during a contentious debate at the Reagan Library, Romney said that McCain’s policies “are outside the view of mainstream Republican thought.”

And I guess I’d also note that, if you get endorsed by the New York Times, you’re probably not a conservative.

Even after ending his bid for the White House, Romney remains, as McCain once described him, the candidate of change.

Tonight, Fox News’ Hannity and Colmes did a segment about the supposed “fall out” over Sen. Barack Obama’s (D-IL) minister’s connections to Rev. Louis Farrakhan. During an interview with Rev. Al Sharpton, Sean Hannity argued that Obama should distance himself from his minister and denounce his associations with Farrakhan.

But when Sharpton challenged Hannity to similarly condemn the anti-Semitic statements of Rev. Billy Graham, Hannity claimed to have no knowledge of Graham’s anti-Semitic past and warmly praised the minister.

Despite Hannity’s ignorance, Graham’s anti-Semitic comments were widely publicized in 2002, after the National Archives released transcripts of conversations between Graham and President Richard Nixon. Graham, who has since publically apologized for his remarks, made the following statements during a 1972 meeting in the Oval Office:

GRAHAM: This [Jewish] stranglehold [on the media] has got to be broken or the country’s going down the drain.

NIXON: You believe that?

GRAHAM: Yes, sir.

NIXON: Oh, boy. So do I. I can’t ever say that, but I believe it.

GRAHAM: No, but if you get elected a second time, then we might be able to do something.

[…]

GRAHAM: A lot of Jews are great friends of mine, but they don’t know how I really feel about what they’re doing to this country.

Hannity’s selective disgust with anti-Semitism exposes his true motives. His charges are part of an orchestrated conservative smear campaign designed to portray Obama as a radical. In reality, Obama has repeatedly denounced Farrakhan’s anti-Semitic remarks and has said that he sometimes disagreed with his minister.

Even Dick Morris, who appeared after Sharpton, criticized Hannity for trying to smear Obama with “guilt by association.” But Hannity remained undeterred, arguing that his attacks against Obama would allow the McCain campaign to focus on the issues and “stay away from this other stuff.”

On the campaign trail, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) has repeatedly denounced and mocked a federally funded study of grizzly bears in Montana, calling the project wasteful and unnecessary. McCain even ran campaign ads attacking the study:

But this morning, the Washington Post reports that the project, which found that conservation efforts have successfully protected the grizzly bears in northwest Montana from extinction, was financed through an earmark from “Montana’s three-term senator, Conrad Burns, a Republican who was defeated in his reelection bid in 2006.” Incidentally, “Burns is now chairman of McCain’s campaign in Montana.”

According to an advanced manuscript of former undersecretary of defense Douglas Feith’s upcoming book, War and Decision, President Bush decided that war with Iraq was “inevitable” on December 18, 2002,”weeks before U.N. weapons inspectors reported their initial findings on Iraq and months before Bush delivered an ultimatum to Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.”

Feith’s revelation contradicts the president’s public statements. Throughout late 2002 and early 2003, Bush repeatedly claimed that “every measure has been taken to avoid war” and that by disarming and complying with UN Resolution 1441, Saddam Hussein can avoid war.

December 31, 2002: “I hope this Iraq situation will be resolved peacefully. One of my New Year’s resolutions is to work to deal with these situations in a way so that they’re resolved peacefully….I hope we’re not headed to war in Iraq. I’m the person who gets to decide, not you. I hope this can be done peacefully.”

January 2, 2003: “First of all, you know, I’m hopeful we won’t have to go war, and let’s leave it at that.”

February 10, 2003: “But Saddam Hussein is—he’s treated the demands of the world as a joke up to now, and it was his choice to make…He’s the person who gets to decide war and peace.”

March 6, 2003: “Hopefully, this can be done peacefully…I want to remind you that it’s his choice to make as to whether or not we go to war. It’s Saddam’s choice. He’s the person that can make the choice of war and peace.”

March 8, 2003: “We are doing everything we can to avoid war in Iraq. But if Saddam Hussein does not disarm peacefully, he will be disarmed by force.”

March 17, 2003: “Should Saddam Hussein choose confrontation, the American people can know that every measure has been taken to avoid war, and every measure will be taken to win it.”

Feith’s claim also supports earlier press reports and accounts which dated Bush’s decision to invade Iraq to early 2003. In his book Plan of Attack, Bob Woodward claims that in January 2003 Bush told then Secretary of State Colin Powell that “The inspections are not getting us there…. I really think I’m going to have to do this.” Similarly, on February 23, 2003, Bush reportedly told Spanish prime minister Jose Maria Aznar that “we have to get rid of Saddam.”

Earlier today, during a campaign event in Atlanta, Georgia Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) said that he would not consider Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) for the VP slot, despite being offered the position on Kerry’s ticket in 2004.

After the event, New York Times reporter Elisabeth Bumiller confronted McCain with a May 2004 New York Times story in which McCain denied ever meeting with Kerry to discuss a joint ticket.

In a testy exchange, McCain questioned Bumiller’s source and denied ever considering Kerry’s offer.

Everybody knows that I had a private conversation. Everybody knows that, that I had a conversation….And you know it, too. No. You know it, too. No. You do know. You do know…John Kerry asked if I would consider being his running mate and I said categorically no, under no circumstances. That’s all very well known.”

Watch it:

But in March 2004, McCain seemed to ‘entertain’ the possibility of running on the Democratic ticket. Speaking with ABC’s Charles Gibson McCain said, “John Kerry is a very close friend of mine, and we’ve been friends for years. Obviously I would entertain it…”Watch it:

Moreover, on at least two occasions, in May and July of 2004, McCain denied discussing a possible VP run with Kerry.

- “Asked if Senator Kerry had made such an offer, Mr. McCain said no without hesitation. But asked if the two men had ever discussed it, even casually, he paused for a moment.” ”No,” he said finally. ”We really haven’t.” [NYT, May 15, 2004].

- During an interview with Fox News Radio’s The Tony Snow Show, McCain claimed that Kerry “never offered” him the VP slot. [Fox News, July 8, 2004]

The media’s constructed image of McCain as a straight talkin’ maverick is looking thinner than ever.