About That "17 Page Congressional Report" on Obama. . .

Remember that "17 page report by a Congressional investigator" that Cristi Adkins (of Clintons4McCain and The Coalition Against Anti-Christian Rhetoric) mentioned on Hardball the other week? Apparently, it's all bunk. Adkins sent a copy to The Huffington Post, along with a second "report," written by a "Judah Benjamin,"* that makes the case that Senator Obama is ineligibile for the presidency. Anyway, after some careful research and interviews with Adkins, her fellow Clintons4McCainer Evelyn Adams, and several attorneys (including the esteemed Erwin Cherminsky), the HuffPo concludes both documents are of "doubtful authority" and consist of "flimsy and biased arguments." Read the article by Elizabeth Rauber here.

Ah, who is the Congressional investigator? It's not Dave Bossie. It's Paula Abeles. I. am. not. making. that. up.

* In this case, "Judah Benjamin" appears to be a pseudonym. You might be interested to know that the original Judah Benjamin (1811-1884) was a major architect of the Civil War:

A founder of the Illinois Central Railroad, a state legislator, a planter who owned 140 slaves until he sold his plantation in 1850, Judah Benjamin was elected to the United States Senate from Louisiana in 1852. When the slave states seceded in 1861, Confederate President Jefferson Davis appointed Benjamin as Attorney-General [. . . .] Benjamin later served as the Confederacy’s Secretary of War, and then Secretary of State.

Apparently, when Lincoln was assassinated, "[Jefferson] Davis and Benjamin were suspected of having plotted the event." The rumor was ill-founded, but Benjamin fled the country following the war's end as he feared he couldn't "get a fair trial if charged with Lincoln's murder."

Isn't it curious that this "historian," one who is determined to prove that Obama is legally prohibited from becoming president, adopts this man's name as a pseudonym? It sort of adds to his credibility, doesn't it?

(Aside: Abeles was in the news last month when she claimed that she witnessed Democratic volunteers offering to pay people to register to vote. According to No Quarter, she's also involved in a group called "Real Democrats USA," which speaks out against the DNC's treatment of Senator Clinton).

L A Times: "A Few PUMAs On The Loose"

Meghan Daum's story in the 30 August issue of the L A Times is well worth a read. Here's a taster from Daum's (none too flattering) column:

That's right, cable TV viewers, talk-radio listeners and blog readers of America: Just when you thought Clinton's most ardent supporters had finally worked their way through the stages of grief and were ready to get behind the nominee, along comes evidence that they're not just angry feminists moping because they won't see a female president in their lifetimes, they're self-sabotaging lunatics!

I mean, did you see them? There they were, foaming at the mouth and cropping up in more of the coverage than many actual convention speakers.

She continues with examples of die-hard Hillary supporters, including Elizabeth Joyce and Cristi Adkins, on Hardball, The Daily Show, and Larry King. Thankfully, she notes (finally someone in the MSM does!) that although PUMA's numbers seem plentiful, there are actually few of them: it's simply that they are a noisy few. I'm not saying that all PUMAs are kooky, or loud, or loud and kooky. Some do remain dignified in their anger and frustration and try to effect change using the system (cf. Will Bowers' current plan); unfortunately, the kookier PUMAs' noise drowns out the sensible PUMAs' efforts.

One other thing: I've never heard so many wisecracks about repealing the nineteenth amendment as I have this week. Something about female hysteria not mixing with politics keeps coming up. I wonder why.

Cristi Adkins on Hardball (8/25/08)

I'll confess that I missed seeing this on television, but a reader alerted me to Cristi Adkins's appearance on Hardball tonight.

Clutching a "Clintons4McCain" banner with two other women, she entertains (?) a dumbfounded Chris Matthews as she revisits some familiar memes about Obama, Islam, citizenship, and so on. Ms. Adkins also claims that she has access to a special "17 page" report on Obama by a Congressional investigator. Here is the clip via YouTube (although it seems that Jezebel posted it online first).


UPDATE: Apparently, Ms. Adkins forwarded a copy of the "17 page Congressional report" to The Huffington Post; go ahead and review writer Elizabeth Rauber's research. Bet you can't guess her conclusions.