Daily Caller Has 'Exclusive' Report On News That Broke Several Years Ago

The Daily Caller has an "exclusive" report Tuesday that sounds an awful lot like an "exclusive" report from many, many years ago, but here goes: President Barack Obama wrote a book called "The Audacity of Hope," and the title comes from a sermon given by a preacher named Jeremiah Wright, who is something of a controversial figure. And there's a video of Obama confirming all of this. (I gather that the video is the "exclusive" here, not the information.)

So all we need now is to build a time machine and travel back to 2007, and this news might be some sort of election-year game-changer, right? (NOTE: This news actually ended up being not much of an election-year game-changer in 2007.)

Here's Nicholas Ballasy with some stuff you already knew:

Video obtained exclusively by The Daily Caller shows Illinois Senator Barack Obama, then campaigning for Democrats before the 2006 midterm elections, praising Reverend Jeremiah Wright and telling an audience that he "stole" the title of his book "The Audacity of Hope" from Wright's sermon of the same name, which he "loved." Obama also referred to Wright as "my pastor."

"I'm not plugging the book, but the title of it, 'The Audacity of Hope.' Some people have noticed that I actually used that line in the speech that I gave at the 2004 Democratic Convention," Obama said on November 4, 2006 in Bristol, Pa., at a rally in support of Patrick Murphy, who went on to serve two terms in Congress. "But I tell you what: I'm confessing to all of you here today -- it's a big crowd, 2,000 people -- I'm confessing in front of the TV cameras: I actually stole this line from my pastor, Dr. Jeremiah A. Wright, Jr."

I'll tell you right now: This video actually catches Obama fibbing! He did not actually "steal" the phrase "the audacity of hope." He actually borrowed the phrase "the audacity to hope" from Wright's sermon and changed one of the words for his 2004 convention keynote and the aforementioned book. Outside of that, there's not much here that you didn't already know -- Obama wrote a book, he had a pastor, he and that pastor have since had a falling-out, Patrick Murphy was a guy who served in Congress, etc. Wright's sermon containing that phrase has been on YouTube for many years.

Hey, Dave Weigel, what else is going on this morning?

Big Government breaks the news that Bill Ayers hosted a fundraiser for Barack Obama; well, this was broken by Ben Smith in 2007, but still.

Heck, I'm somewhat nostalgic for the year 2007, too! The Simpsons movie came out, Rihanna released "Umbrella," the economy hadn't yet gone ass-over-teapot ... good times, relatively speaking.

Anyone found the "Whitey Tape" yet? Anybody? Well, keep working on that, guys.

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Comments

[p47nandmosquito]

06:24 PM on 11/29/2011

While I agree that this does seem rather pointless, I would say that sometimes things do bear repeating. I'll take climate change as an example. The scientists who do actual research on the question produce one or two papers a year at most. The politicians who claim that it doesn't exist get on TV and make that claim almost every day. If you only report on something when it happens, as often happens, then that will horribly distort the coverage. The trick is bringing it back when it's relevant to the events of the day.

[Christmas Tree]

02:21 PM on 11/29/2011

Just think, Jason, if it wasn't for politics, you would be out of a job! :-)

[saltpeter]

01:57 PM on 11/29/2011

That's okay if the The Daily Caller is reporting stories over 4 years old and calling them "exclusives". Most of their readers live in the 19th century where the thought of a Black President is downright inconceivable so it's NEWS to them that there is a BLACK MAN capable of writing a book let alone becoming President.

[Christmas Tree]

02:20 PM on 11/29/2011

Um... I'm afraid that's still the case in the 21st Century!

[saltpeter]

02:28 PM on 11/29/2011

Unfortunately true.

[adnull29]

01:36 PM on 11/29/2011

Wee widdle Tucker is behind the times? I'm shocked. Maybe he even showed up at MSNBC or one of his previous employers by mistake too.