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Where Obama won't be on the 4th of July

<p>&lt;p&gt;Both parties&amp;#039; presidential campaigns, in their never-ending quest for more contributions, routinely reach out to Americans living abroad.
Obama will be nowhere near the Eiffel Tower this week.
Obama will be nowhere near the Eiffel Tower this week.

Both parties' presidential campaigns, in their never-ending quest for more contributions, routinely reach out to Americans living abroad. It's legal, routine, and uncontroversial. Politico did a big item about a week ago noting President Obama's "overseas power centers," but Mitt Romney has done plenty of fundraising of his own in Hong Kong and Singapore.

With this in mind, there was a report last week that some Americans living in Paris will honor the 4th of July with a fundraiser for the president. A conservative site took that news and put a deceptive little twist on reality.

Apparently tiring of US soil as a source of campaign dollars, the Obama campaign is headed overseas -- with its celebrity friends in tow. The European Obama campaign starts next week in Paris on July 4 with a reception organized by various fundraising heavy-hitters. Independence Day fundraisers in Paris -- now that's a flag-waving campaign. [...]That also may be the only place Obama can still find cheering throngs.

Some in Republican media interpreted this to mean that the president himself would leave the country this week, and head to Paris on the 4th of July. And by "some," I mean Karl Rove and National Review.

Rove and NR, regrettably, failed to get the facts straight, which is a little too common for both. The reality is simple: neither the president nor his family are going to Paris for the 4th of July. They will, of course, be in the United States, celebrating the holiday at the White House, hosting an event for military families.

Republican media outlets reporting otherwise are lying.

Postscript: There is, of course, an underlying smear here, with the right falsely trying to connect Obama to France. But I'm curious: if a Parisian fundraiser from American donors is controversial, why aren't Romney's fundraisers in communist China equally problematic?