Michelle Not Getting Ring After Leak to Media

Follow along with me and I'll walk you through a chain of events. This morning, a friend of mind explodes in a fit of rage as she's watching Fox News on TV. In a short, flippant story she sees, Obama was reported to be buying his wife a $30,000 ring for helping him win the presidency. My friend is enraged that Obama would blatantly flaunt his abundant wealth in the face of a great many people facing foreclosure, loss of jobs, worry about feeding kids with a ring priced for more than the average yearly wage in Arkansas. She said the only thing the news anchors said was, "well, it's not a surprise now." She's not the only enraged person commenting on the Internet as many others had the same reaction to this frivolous gift from a man who called himself "one of us" to win the election.

Sifting through AP, Reuters, AFP, NPR and Christian Science Monitor, I find nothing about this story. In the meantime, on another call with my friend, I have her look at Fox News too. Lo and behold, though they aired the story this morning, there is nothing on their news site about it. Digging a bit deeper, it turns out that the London Daily Mail broke the story, which was picked up by the Drudge Report, which is also aired on Fox News. (I did not verify Drudge Report or Fox News myself.)

At 6:42 p.m., the Daily Mail Online released a story in retraction after the AP released a Fact Check that said an Obama spokesman denied it, the jeweler denied it and it was all because of the Drudge Report that the story hit the waves.

Tommy Christopher, from AOL News, did his own fact check. He contacted the Obama Press Office and was told, "The story is not true, there is no $30,000.00 ring." And, when he contacted the jeweler Bosco Giovanni, his spokesman replied back with this:

I regret to inform you that because of reports so wrong and clearly different from the reality of our statements, we decided to not issue statement on this matter.

Unfortunately, we were negatively affected by read on national and foreign media news stories that have no basement[sic], and in excess of the objective reality.

I inform you that we have no intention to disseminate more information about this story.

What?

In the 'retraction' story the Daily Mail ran, it said Mr Giovanni himself told them that "Our agent in the United States was asked by Mr Barack Obama about the ring because he wants it as a thank you gift for his wife Michelle for her support the last two years."

The ring in question is called The Harmony Ring that is made from black gold (rhodium) and chipped diamonds. Ordering one now would mean a rush on the production of such a ring, but the jeweler would have it ready by Jan. 20 for Obama to present to his wife on Inauguration Day.

What strikes me about all this is that there is no denial that Obama contacted the jeweler's US agent. There is no mention of whether an order for the ring was placed. Now, having the story break in London first and mysteriously absent from US news sources has me wondering, especially since Fox News took the jump and aired it this morning then made it disappear by this afternoon.

It appears as though someone, something wants Obama protected from the media in a bad way. Even before taking office, he's gone way beyond a cigar and wet spot that got the last Democrat president impeached, and many times over. I say, follow the money trail. Besides, that's one fugly ring.