Cristi Adkins Hits the MSM

(a repost with updates & additions)

So what’s the easiest (laziest) way to dismiss reports of pro-Hillary/anti-Obama activist Cristi Adkins’s apparent involvement in political smear jobs? Claim they are lies perpetuated by “Obama’s paid bloggers." So what do you call it when the MSM starts asking questions? Let’s look at two articles: one from NPR and the other from The New York Observer (we’ll not include Hardball here, but check out her appearance with Chris Matthews if you’ve not seen it. Heck, check out Adkins on The Daily Show while you’re at it. You can also review the "frequent Fox News Channel television and radio contributor['s]" appearances on programs such as Hannity and Colmes and Neil Cavuto's show).

A reporter at National Public Radio has written the piece, Strange Bedfellows Behind Anti-Obama 'Turban' Ad. It's part of NPR’s "Secret Money" project, which tracks and reports on Democratic and Republican pacs and 527s. This particular well-researched article focuses on Cristi Adkins, fellow pro-Clinton organizer Mike Donovan, and the group, The Coalition Against Anti-Christian Rhetoric. You might recall the The Coalition Against Anti-Christian Rhetoric produced a notorious anti-Obama ad based on the re-editing of a speech Obama gave in 2006. The ad was timed to air just prior to the Montana and South Dakota primaries. Do take the time to read the NPR piece to get the full scoop. For now, let's focus on a few key points.

The Coalition Against Anti-Christian Rhetoric ad was pulled after one showing. According to the article, the real reason behind the pull is that nobody paid the television station for airing the ad (it appears that the ad’s producer, Mike Donovan, is to blame for this). Once it became evident that there was no money to pay for broadcast, Allen Media Services "canceled the buy." Allen Media Services is owned by Cristi Adkins’s husband, Burke Allen (Adkins). Allen also provided a voiceover for the ad, by the way. Additionally, the ad’s videographer was left high and dry: he had to chase people down in order to get some sort of reimbursement for services.

Another point of interest in the article:

[the videographer] says Adkins originally wanted to depict Obama with devil horns juxtaposed with images of Hitler [. . . .] Adkins acknowledges she wanted to show the disturbing similarities she saw between audience reactions to Obama and Hitler. As for the horns, the hypnotherapist says, "I might have said, 'Can you put a subliminal shadow in?' I don't know that I said put devil horns.

Nice evasion there. Note that the imagery mentioned in the article--the mish-mash of Satanic and Nazi symbols. While that didn't make the CAACR ad, it certainly made another site that Mie Donovan appears to have played a role in: Obama Hate Speech (see images here and site registration here).

By the way, Adkins declines to mention who made up The Coalition Against anti-Christian Rhetoric. Was there ever a "roll call" of members? Who were the Coalition's officers? Did any MSM reporters contact or interview any of the group's members? We seem to have hit a blank here. In the NPR article, we learn that the videographer believes the "coalition" was Adkins. This might make some sense when, rather than distance herself from the Coalition and its controversial ad, Adkins claims that, once her newer organization, Clintons 4 McCain, " own[s] the ad" they "might use some form of it to blast Obama again." Consider yourselves forewarned, then.

Someone posted a comment or two here the other week claiming that the NPR story would vindicate Adkins. Not so. It's an objective piece, but it confirms Adkins's involvement with this scurrilous political action.

Also take a peek at “Encyclopedia Google and The Case of The Anti-Obama Hypnotherapist” at The New York Observer. This article gathers in the NPR report, Adkins’s appearance on Hardball, and a few other items in an attempt to answer the question: who is Cristi Adkins?

Added: Elizabeth Rauber at The Huffington Post has analyzed, and discredited, the "report" Ms. Adkins referenced on Hardball.

In the past week, since the news broke, several blog posts have appeared aiming to paint Ms. Adkins the victim of a pro-Obama blogging collective. But it's worth asking: is it this sudden rush to protect and defend Adkins simply a means of deflecting the fact that she’s been discovered as an active participant in a cynical anti-Obama smear job?

And, for Heaven's sake, will you conspiracy theorists get over yourselves already? Obama and his campaign have nothing to do with m, p, & g s. (heads up: there are no "paid bloggers").

Added: The New York Times has published brief details on the Coalition Against Anti-Christian Rhetoric's ad, titled "Obama Godlike," here.