Jon Klein clearly understands how the "Birther" scam helps Obama divert his political opponents.
". . . the main job of the organizer is to bait an opponent into reacting. The enemy properly goaded and guided in his reaction will be your major strength."
– Saul Alinsky
After CNN's Lou Dobbs last week demanded Obama's original birth certificate, CNN/U.S. President Jon Klein apparently has told staffers of "Lou Dobbs Tonight" that the issue is a "dead" story.
Any such public announcement would of course have the effect of making the conspiracists even more certain that the truth is being suppressed by the media . . . but it gets worse.
According to Media Bistro's TVNewser webblog:
Klein asked CNN researchers to dig into the question of why Obama couldn't produce the original birth certificate. The researchers contacted the Hawaii Health Dept. and confirmed that paper documents were discarded in 2001 when the department went paperless. That reportedly includes Pres. Obama's original birth certificate.
The Los Angeles Times confirmed TVNewser's account.
The Hawaii DoH director sharply denies this, stating that she has personally seen Obama's original birth certificate. According to the Honolulu Advertiser:
In 2001, Hawai'i's paper documents were reproduced in electronic format but "any paper data prior to that still exists," Health Department spokeswoman Okubo said.
Okubo would not say where Obama's original birth certificate is, but said "we have backups for all of our backups."
And so the Democrat propagandist Klein, head of CNN's pro-Obama propaganda operations, is now creating and spreading a new lie about the birth certificate — the false claim that Hawaii has destroyed all paper records.
CNN talkers under Klein – including Paul Begala and James Carville — are part of Obama Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel's daily conference call. Is Klein also on that call? Has the White House asked for the upsurge in Birther coverage in order to mask the collapse of Obamacare? Don't hold your breath for reporters to ask Klein this question.
The other network keeping the "Birthers" alive? MSNBC, of course. Even further to the left than CNN, MSNBC personnel clearly can see how the "Birther" scam helps Obama divert his opponents.
Klein's role is entirely logical because Obama benefits from the diversion of his opponents away from substantive issues — such as Socialist Medicine — into birth certificate conspiracy theories. In fact the "Birthers" are a movement started by Democrats and 9-11 trooothers such as Phil Berg and $1000 Democrat donor Orly Taitz — whose website publishes articles by anti-Semite and 9-11 trooother Devvy Kidd.
RELATED: Don't be fooled: Obama was Born in Hawaii
Republicans, like Nixon, have been hounded out of office on far more trivial issues than whether Obama lied, in his oath of office, to defend the Constitution. The issue of whether Obama is indeed a US, rather than Kenyan or Indonesian, citizen is directly relevant to the other issues of the Stimulus package, Cap-and-Trade, and Health Care “Reform”, since his administration is trying to cover up their content as well!
Actually, CNN itself provided reasons for the story to be dead besides executive fiat: http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2009/07/who_do_you_trust_more_jon_stew.php
But you may be right that the ‘Birther’ thing is causing trouble for the Republican party: http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2009/07/birthers_on_parade.php
Seems to me that the Omessiah could end the controversy and show the long form birth certificate which is the only document from Hawaii at that time suitable to make a determination of natural born citizen. If he is intending just to use this issue as a distraction he is spending a large amount to keep it alive. The interesting issue that lurks in this entire controversy is that there are other potential issues that could be dug up that would make the Omessiah not even a citizen. Seems to me that this issue is not even valuable as a distraction unless there is some substance hidden in the allegations.
I consider it a non-issue, however the birthers have raised some interesting legal points, including immigration law in effect at Obama’s birth, which really should be considered. All the birthers have encountered is a legal system claiming that citizens “lack standing” to pursue their quest for an answer.
Where is it going to end up? Who knows, however the longer this issue continues the more damage it will do to Obama and may even end up costing him the presidency, if not now in a reelection bid.
This is crazy. they can just check Obama’s mom travel records and see if she was out of the country.If she was in the U.S. then they can explain how Obama can be born in Kenya when his mom is in the U.S.
By the logic of this article, Alan Keyes has also been co-opted by the liberal media establishment since he’s working as hard as they are to keep this story alive.
Brilliant sleuthing, Captain.
This is a non-issue. Congress is not going to take the issue up (even if the Republicans regain power in 2010). SCOTUS is not going to let the issue reach them. The media is not going to promote it. Etc. Etc.
Assume it’s true though, for the sake of argument. If Obama is forced out of office, Biden becomes President. Assume somehow the Obama-Biden ticket itself is nullified, then Pelosi becomes president.
There’s no practical, pragmatic change that results from pushing and “proving” this story. And given the fact that it’s unlikely to be proven anytime soon, it simply allows the other side to labe its proponents as kooks.
Politics is about the acquisition and exercise of power. This is not the way to reduce Obama or the Left’s power.
The media is just now beginning to look at this issue. They are woefully ignorant. There are many twists, turns, and traps in this story.
I have been researching this story for over a year. In the beginning I fell into several of the traps myself.
I honestly believe that I now know as much as anyone about what is true on this issue and what is not.
If you have not done so please look at the latest version of my collected research. It is 6000 words so grab a snack and a drink.
Somehow, you know its coming. That OMG moment is just around the corner. You can feel the inescapable reality creeping up on you. Something will leak. Someone will spill the beans.
“For nothing is hid that shall not be made manifest, nor anything secret that shall not be known and come to light.” Luke 8:17
http://thesteadydrip.blogspot.com/2009/04/aka-obama-fans-all-together-now-say-omg.html
How about a little personal history for what is behind me being a “birther”
I read the “Warren Report” and I believe that Lee Harvey Oswald was a lone gunman.
I have never seen a flying saucer, even though I have been a pilot and an air traffic control man.
I don’t believe that “Big Foot” exists.
I think Islamic terrorists took down the World Trade Center.
I don’t believe FEMA is planning to round up citizens and put them in concentration camps, and I don’t think swine flu is an international conspiracy.
The Lock Ness Monster is a fantasy.
I am certain that the Apollo mission actually went to the moon.
There are no more missing aircraft and ships in the so called “Bermuda Triangle” than in any other part of the earth with equivalent traffic.
I have a PhD, and am in private practice as a psychotherapist, so more than likely I am not crazy.
I am a life time member of Mensa, so I am not stupid. Membership # 1061487
The guiding principles for my professional research for articles and books I write are the usual protocols of epistemology, scientific methodology, and rules of logic and the rules of evidence.
However, I am firmly convinced that AKA Obama is not eligible to be POTUS, and here is why:
If you read the articles at the link, and review the citations at the embedded links, you will be “literate” about the facts of the “eligibility” story and will be able to inform the public objectively.
“The other network keeping the “Birthers” alive? MSNBC, of course. Even further to the left than CNN, MSNBC personnel clearly can see how the “Birther” scam helps Obama divert his opponents.”
Is Fox also part of this left wing conspiracy to keep the Birthers alive? Have you maybe discovered the greatest consipracy of them all? That Rupert Murdoch is a closet-liberal who set up a news channel that initially appeared to be right wing only to be able to feed the right-wing conspiracy nuts and keep the birther movement alive, thereby distracting everyone from Obamacare? Or is this just yet another waste of web-space from someone desperately looking for something new to write about? Does anyone else here think that blog writters should spend a little more time thinking before they write? Does anyone else see the irony of this article being posted under “Intelectual Conservative”?
… I’ll stop asking questions now.
The well-known liberal magazine “National Review” thinks Obama was Born in the U.S.A. – but as I said, they’re liberal.
Phil, I totally agree with your assessment. Whether or not it is true, whether Democrats cooked it up to keep us off balance or are just exploiting it to accomplish the same, there is no up-side to pushing it, and makes us look darn silly.
Don’t take the bait guys, even if it was our bait to start with. We have better fodder with which to turn the tables (Bailouts, Porkulous Deal, Obamacare, Homeland Insecurity, Global Warming fizzle, Cash-to-Drive-Roadkill, Fairness Doctrine, &c). Hardly a month goes by the Democrats don’t hand us something new we can use.