Like much of the international press, the Malkins fell for that story about Comrade B. Hussein O. X. gifting a $30k ring to his wife. It’s not true, and although all the sites linked to in the MM.com post have updated to correct the story, Michelle put up a glib, “Update: Not true?”

A few things:

• The Malkins sarcastically asked, “How long before someone screams RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACIST?” referring to the hard-right position that racist criticisms of Barack Obama shouldn’t be called racist. I don’t think the fake story itself is racist, but Michelle’s use of “Bling” as a caption for the jewelry graphic is: Would Michelle have chosen “bling” had this been President-elect Clinton purchasing her husband a comparably priced watch? No.
• Michelle Malkin is displaying a remarkable bitterness stemming from the abject failure of her savior, The Gov. Palin, and she’s taking it out on her own credibility. When something so trivial as a tale about a fake ring comes up, and Obama doesn’t merely decline to comment, but denies the report, she can’t take him at his word. Yes, Pres. Bush received similar treatment, but only after building a strong reputation as a poor manager and a liar. Michelle could at least let Obama do that first.
• Michelle’s post actually has the word “criminey” in it. This term falls slightly ahead of “fiddle sticks” but behind “tarnation” on the Absolute Profanity Scale published biannually by the American Enterprise Institute in concert with Charles Krauthammer’s upper lip.

Michelle (and, I believe, Jesse) Malkin propelled a video of an undercover report on Planned Parenthood of Indiana. The PP staff member is apparently shown covering up for a reported statutory rape. If true, she should be held accountable to her employer and the state.

That said, the Malkins tend to treat sources from the “other” side as dubious. Her treatment of the Murtha-Haditha Massacre and Jamil Hussein scandals are the most notable case. The former she got almost right, the latter totally wrong.

Here the perspective is switched. The video running on MM.com has obvious signs of heavy editing and poor camera work. (I’m sure the investigators would be willing to hand over the original tapes if the state needs that evidence.)

I know Bloomington, Indiana pretty well, and I have been in that Planned Parenthood building. It is not an “abortion clinic” as claimed in Live Action Films’s press release (reprinted at the Malkin link above). As far as I can recall, there are no doctors in Bloomington who perform abortions. The building does not have the facilities required to perform surgical procedures. If Michelle and Jesse held this exposé to the same standards they hold the Associated Press and CNN, they would be posting the phone numbers and home addresses of the anti-abortion students behind the video, because, honestly, they need to “grow up and take responsibility.“