Smoothing the Hallers

Thank you, Tom Coburn. Amidst the outrage over health care reform and hysteria about armed IRS agents comin' to getcha, the Senator urged town hall attendees towards civility and consideration of more than one news source on a given issue (e.g., "don't just rely on the folks who agree with you").

Rumor Central: Obamacare (Updated)

Taking a break from The Project to post some links regarding the plethora of rumors on health care reform.

1. For seniors concerned about Medicare and the fears of the government controlling "life and death decisions": the AARP has a page on "Myths vs. Facts"

2. "Health Insurance Reform Reality Check" addresses the claims that health insurance reform will:

-lead to a "government takeover" of health care or lead to "rationing."
-would encourage or even require euthanasia for seniors.
-will affect veterans' access to medical care.
-will harm small businesses.
-would be financed by cutting Medicare benefits.
-will force people out of their current insurance plans / force them to change doctors.

3. The rumors and distortions--on both sides--have kept Factcheck.org pretty busy. See the entries under:

"Health Care"
"Health Insurance"

4. The Truth-O-Meter at Politifact goes wild in the "Health" category.

5. The Associated Press fact checks rumors about "death panels" and clarifies the bill's statements on advanced care planning.

6. The Institute for Southern Studies corrects some of the misinformation presented by, among others, The Liberty Counsel (you can see the Liberty Counsel's full list of talking points here. This list appears to be one of the sources for Sarah Palin's much debunked claim about government run "death panels").

Note: Politifact approached the Liberty Counsel about a particularly specious claim on the list: that the health care bill "'will establish school-based 'health' clinics. Your children will be indoctrinated and your grandchildren may be aborted!". . .the bills now before the House say nothing about the school clinics being able to offer abortions." Politifact "spoke with Sarah Speller at the Liberty Counsel, who told us that the group had been getting a lot of calls about the memo and that everyone there was very busy as a result. However, she assured us that 'as far as our office can tell, everything in the overview is accurate. That's about all I can tell you,' she said. 'I'm just relaying what I've been told to say.' [Politifact] see no language in the three main versions of the bill that would allow school-based clinics, which have a long history of providing basic health services to underprivileged students, to provide abortions. Nor would the clinics even be new — they have been around for three decades. So we rate the claim Pants on Fire!

7. McClatchy publishes "Headed to a health care 'town brawl?' Read this first," a brief guide to wild claims about health care reform.

8. C Q Politics does a decent job at "Vetting the Health Care Rhetoric."

9. Factcheck has a fresh entry tackling a chain-email currently making the rounds: "Twenty-Six Lies About H. R. 3200." Factcheck notes that the email makes 48 claims. Of these, 26 are demonstrably false, 18 are misleading, and 4 are true.

If you find yourself in a muddle from all the misinformation floating about, the sites included above offer some clarity.

And it's back to The Project.

Hawaii Reaffirms Obama Legitimacy

For the second time (the first was in October 2008), Hawaii's Director of Health, Dr. Chiyome Fukino, verifies that President Obama was, indeed, born in Hawaii, per The Honolulu Advertiser.

The Honolulu Advertiser story also offers details on how the state deals with vital records, including who is, or isn't, permitted to view the original versions of items such as birth certificates, and how the state's COLB formatting has changed over time (the COLB posted online by the Obama campaign reflects the most recent incarnation of the COLB).

It also deflates theories that the Obama birth announcements, which appeared in the Advertiser as well as the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, were "phoned in" from elsewhere: Janice Okubo, the spokesman for the Hawaii Health Department, confirms that such announcements "were not sent to the newspapers by the general public but by the Health Department, which received the information directly from hospitals," (HA). She adds that: "Birth announcements from the public ran elsewhere in both papers and usually included information such as the newborn's name, weight and time of birth" (HA).

So there you go.

Aside: Here is The Guardian's overview of the Birther movement.

McCain's Camp Checked Out Birther Claims

And came up with nada.

David Weigel reveals that lawyers working with the McCain Campaign's general counsel "monitered" the Birther lawsuits. They did a little investigating of their own as well:

While they ruled out any chance of the ‘birther’ lawsuits holding up in court, lawyers for the McCain campaign did check into the rumors about Obama’s birth and the assertions made by Berg and others. “To the extent that we could, we looked into the substantive side of these allegations,” said [Trevor] Potter. “We never saw any evidence that then-Senator Obama had been born outside of the United States. We saw rumors, but nothing that could be sourced to evidence. There were no statements and no documents that suggested he was born somewhere else. On the other side, there was proof that he was born in Hawaii. There was a certificate issued by the state’s Department of Health, and the responsible official in the state saying that he had personally seen the original certificate. There was a birth announcement in the Honolulu Advertiser, which would be very difficult to invent or plant 47 years in advance.” (Washington Independent)

It's worth your time to read Weigel's entire article, which soundly (and sanely) debunks most of the various Birther claims. While this won't stop the more fervent Birthers, it might help check the mainstream "interest" in the story.

FBI: No Palin Investigation

There's been a flurry of speculation over Palin's decision to resign her office. One supposition might now be struck off: an FBI agent flat out denies any investigation into the Governor's dealings:

the FBI's Alaska spokesman said the bureau had no investigation into Palin for her activities as governor, as mayor or in any other capacity.

"There is absolutely no truth to those rumors that we're investigating her or getting ready to indict her," Special Agent Eric Gonzalez said in a phone interview Saturday. "It's just not true." He added that there was "no wiggle room" in his comments for any kind of inquiry. (L A Times)

Pretty unequivocal.

Mousavi NOT Arrested (Updated)

Interesting how Twitter is quickly acting to turn misinformation into "real" news (because people are unable or unwilling to vet sources), and how eager some young Americans are to engage themselves in the Iran protests, but who get so caught up with revolutionary fever that they forget to think. Even well-intentioned misinformation remains misinformation, and in a situations as impassioned as Iran's, that misinformation can be destructive. Case in point:

Earlier today, someone on Twitter posted a link to an article at The Guardian by a friend of Mr. Mousavi's named Mohsen Makhmalbaf, which said the following:

I have been given the ­responsibility of telling the world what is happening in Iran. The office of Mir Hossein Mousavi, who the Iranian people truly want as their leader, has asked me to do so. They have asked me to tell how Mousavi's headquarters was wrecked by plainclothes police officers. To tell how the commanders of the revolutionary guard ordered him to stay silent. To urge people to take to the streets because Mousavi could not do so directly.
[. . . .]
Some suggest the protests will fade because nobody is leading them. All those close to Mousavi have been arrested, and his contact with the outside world has been restricted. People rely on word of mouth, because their mobile phones and the internet have been closed down. That they continue to gather shows they want something more than an election. They want freedom, and if they are not granted it we will be faced with another revolution.

The person who Tweeted the link to this article posted it with the assertion "MOUSAVI ARRESTED!!! RT RT RT," and

Okay, maybe I need to repeat this loudly to get it RTed: MOUSAVI AND STAFF HAS BEEN ARRESTED

As you can imagine, this caused a bit of a stir. When Twittering skeptics confronted the poster, he reacted with something like outrage at being challenged:

@[redacted] No, because I have as much confirmation on this (if not more) as on many other "confirmed" things. [he had one article that he misread]

@[redacted] Would you rather I stop reporting the news and leave you to wait 2-3 days if not longer for CNN to cover it?

Eventually, he admitted to misreading the article, apologized, and proceeded to retract the posts that directly asserted Mousavi's arrest. However, others remain, for example:

Mousavi's offices are trashed, Mousavi's staff in police custody, Mousavi is missing. #iranelection #gr88 #clarification

However, those posts caught the attention of others. It's now appeared at Daily Kos, and at least one American news personality (I will keep her anonymous) signaled interest in the story. If Ed Henry picks it up, Lord know what it will turn into (I think he still insists that the State Department shut down Twitter on Tuesday).

I'd like to add this: Mr. Makhmalbaf's column repeats old news.
1) Mousavi's office was "looked over" earlier this week (Sunday), and members of the opposition (e.g., "those who are close to him") have been arrested over the course of the week.
2) Mousavi has been pretty low key all week. Recall that similar reports of him being under house arrest showed up earlier this week). He's not addressed the media, and, excepting his appearances at rallies, he communicates to his followers via the Internet and through others (hence The Guardian article). Also, as he's been quiet over hte past day or so, it's useful to recall that recent news reports announced that Supreme Leader Khatemei had directed Mousavi to be quiet or else. It rather makes sense that he's keeping a low profile in the runup to Saturday's rally. Anyway, there's a difference between being arrested, being ordered silent, and being pragmatic (e.g., playing your cards close to your chest). My guess is it's a bit of the latter two mixed together.

Added: Mr. Makhmalbaf spoke with the AP via telephone today; the AP reports:
Mir Hossein Mousavi is not under arrest, but cannot talk with journalists, take phone calls or stand at a microphone at his rallies, his spokesman said Friday from Paris.

Faced with the limitations at rallies, Mousavi has had to speak "into a megaphone that can maybe be heard by 100 people, if everyone is quiet,"
[. . . .]
Authorities are closely watching Mousavi because arresting him would spark further outrage among his supporters, he said, speaking in Farsi. Makhmalbaf said he is in contact with people close to Mousavi in the capital Tehran, but it's become increasingly difficult to reach them.

Mr. Mousavi and the opposition have undergone an horrific week; that's for certain. My concern is that the tenor of the posts seemed design to inflame rather than inform, and that the poster's outrage at being questioned by skeptics illustrates that some people are relying on Twitter to become the news (e.g., so eager to "break" a story that he or she puts it out there without really thinking). Moreover, the story itself, coming after Supreme Leader Khamenei's uber-aggressive oratory, and at an especially heated, anxious moment in Iran, could have resulted in even more news--and little of it pleasant. Think--and verify--before you Tweet.

Caveat: I've not linked to the Tweeter, nor given his name, because he has been helpful to the opposition, and I don't want to embarrass him further.

Further: Several credible people in Iran have claimed that Mousavi is safe, and that the rallies planned for Saturday will proceed.

Update: 6/21: Mir-Hossein Mousavi still not under arrest. This rumor emerged early last week, gained new life late last week, and refuses to go away. Approach Twitter with caution. There's some solid, verifiable material there, but there's a significant amount of disinformation as well (some of it from misinterpreting information [see below], some of it aimed at misdirecting protesters, but some of it for lulz: one Tweeter who sent out a version of the latest Mousavi "arrest" story, declaring that it had been "confirmed by BBC and CNN," has the following on his feed:

hipsters sitting at Starbucks tweeting about Iran, envisioning themselves as players in a revolution. Viva la revolucion! #IranElection
--

you RETARDS! There aren't "Spies" on Twitter - we're just dudes on computer fucking with you. Hee hee, "Spies" #IranElection

Worth keeping in mind.

Iran: Friday Opposition Events

News about Friday's events in Iran have been in something of a flux: it looks as though someone has been sending misleading information about the opposition leaders' plans for Fridays. Mir-Hossein Mousavi's website appears to have been hacked earlier today, and someone has been tweeting and retweeting misinformation over Twitter. The best I can ascertain :

People should attend Friday prayers.
and
All rallies have been postponed until Saturday, 4:00 pm (I'll post more later).

There seems to be a consensus about no Friday rallies. For information on Friday prayers, I've relied on reliable Tweeters as well as news sources that excel at vetting information, such as NiacINsight (a blog for the Iranian-American community) and Nico Pitney at The Huffington Post. See the following posts on Friday prayers:

From NIAC:

6:32 pm: What’s going on here?

Earlier in the day, we saw a message posted on Mousavi’s facebook page saying “Mousavi & Karoubi ask supporters NOT to attend Friday prayers (which is being delivered by supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei).” We thought this was strange, since they were saying exactly the opposite just a little while ago. Now, Nico and the NYT both have commented about the same message going up on Twitter. [ed: NYT only posted the Tweeted message. No commentary]

Just as we were trying to figure out what was going on on Mousavi’s facebook page, the message was removed. This appears to be an organized attack on Mousavi and Karroubi’s facebook and twitter accounts to send misleading messages to supporters. We got the impression that they were trying to take these messages down as fast as possible, so we are pretty convinced they’re not legitimate.

And from Pitney at HuffPo:

5:58 PM ET -- Fishy. This was just posted on Mousavi's official Twitter account. "Mousavi & Karoubi ask supporters NOT to attend Friday prayers (which is being delivered by supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei)." This seems quite unlikely to me, trying to get to the bottom of it.

Update: Patrick Disney from the NIAC says this message was also posted on Mousavi's Facebook page and then removed a little later. Seems like someone outside is trying to cause trouble.

Like I said, the message that Pitney posts has been tweeted and retweeted all night long, and it seems to have overwhelmed messages noting that Mousavi's sites have been hacked.

Ohio Man Attacked. . .By Iran?

Here's a potentially frightening scenario--Iranians in the USA assaulting Americans sympathetic to the opposition.

Someone who has been truly helpful at helping Iranians with proxies announced on Twitter that he'd been on his way to university in Ohio was attacked by "Iranian or Lebanese" men. This appeared on one Twitter feed:

Leaving for college now. Not sure if I'll be permitted to tweet from class. If not, will write full summary of events between classes.

Am safe, hidden away. Will continue to post reports from Iran, no more info about me.

Details: was attacked by single vehicle throwing rocks while walking. Am safe now, though not in contact with anyone in Iran.

@[redacted] No, I live in America.

I'm fine, filed police report (though they seemed uninterested) Huffington Post will be posting more details at some point.

In an interview with a DailyKos diarist, the man elaborated, saying that his attackers were "a group of men that seemed to be either Iranian or Lebanese [. . . .] They drove up besides him and threw rocks at him while shouting, "Mousavi Fraud." Also, the man told the interviewer "that his personal information was leaked, and is currently being spread both online and inside of Iran amongst the government." The interviewer took this as "a strong indicator of how international in scope these events are. A [sic] American on American soil has already been attacked due to these protests in Iran."

As the man alerted folks on Twitter, The Huffington Post did post more details.

10:35 AM ET -- A word of caution. This DailyKos diary, now featured in the "recommended" section, reports that a man in Ohio who has been helping Iranians on Twitter had his personal information leaked, and then was harassed by three men shouting anti-Mousavi slogans as he walked to his university.

We heard the same rumors yesterday, and my colleague Sam Stein tried to figure out what happened. The Ohio college that the man told us he attended said they had no record of him as a student. And after saying he had called 911 to report the incident, the man gave a reason for why he thought that the police wouldn't end up having a record of the 911 call.

It's certainly possible that this attack occurred, which would obviously be unfortunate and disturbing. But more confirmation is definitely needed.

Indeed. It's horrific that this might happen; there's every chance that it did occur. However, it's troubling that nobody, besides Nico Pitney and Sam Stein, seems to have checked up on this story (e.g., checking with sources other than the alleged victim). People seem to prefer stoking paranoia.

Confirm. Verify.

Update: The story has now appeared at Democratic Underground and the commentators are, well, skeptical. It's also appeared at Slashdot, where the commentators are a bit more accepting. It's also being posted at Rush Limbaugh's site, as well as a few other places.

And The Rumor Mill Keeps A-goin'

Salon has compiled a useful list of myths about Obama--from the truly whacked out to the snoringly mundane.

Each entry details a rumor, who introduced / spread the story, and how well the story reflects reality (which isn't often). The list includes everything from Nostradamus "predicting" our President and "Obama is the Anti-Christ" to "Obama targeted Republican-owned car dealerships"and "Obama wants to get rid of the second amendment."

And there's a nice bit about the "President Teleprompter" thing as well.

About that Sarah Obama Tape. . . .

Claims that Sarah Obama, the President's step-grandmother, attended the President's birth--in Kenya--have been floating around for a while.

The allegations stem from a recorded telephone interview Ron McRae conducted, via a translator, with Sarah Obama. The interview has been made available on the internet, but it's been edited to conform to the "eligibility" conspiracy (see this example of an incomplete transcript that seems to confirm the citizenship rumors; in reality, whoever posted the piece failed to include Sarah Obama's clarifying remarks negating the rumors).

The good doctor at Obama Conspiracy has posted a link to an unedited version of the tape as well as a link to an independent transcript of the conversation. Dr. Conspiracy's current post supplements an earlier post on the same topic.

(Seriously--how many tapes, or rumors of tapes, is this now? There was "whitey," there was API, and now this. . . perhaps that's it. Or perhaps there are more--if not now, I'm sure there soon will be).

Ben Smith: Meet "the Birthers"

"The Birthers" are in the MSM, and they're not going to like it.

In "Culture of Conspiracy," Politico's Ben Smith takes on "the Birthers," a group of people who claim, in lawsuit after lawsuit, that President Obama is ineligible for his office because, they argue, he is not a "real" citizen. Smith summarizes their arguments and debunks a few rumors (for example, that the state of Hawaii won't confirm Obama's birth, that President Obama is paying millions of dollars to attorneys to block the various Birther lawsuits. Obama's attorney in one case, Fredric Woocher, is working pro bono, and says "[t]here is absolutely no truth to the stories about the untold millions supposedly being paid to us" [Smith]).

Smith also cites some fairly influential conservative folks on how this conspiracy movement is, well, cracked. Michael Medved, for instance, suggests that the Birther movement might simply be a conspiracy designed to undermine/discredit the conservative movement. This does make some sense (and I wouldn't be surprised to discover that some liberals are deliberately stoking the fire) because the conspiracy is so far-fetched and because the movement's spokespeople tend to speak in such outrageous terms (cf. Alan Keyes's recent declamation). The fact that courts continue to dismiss the Birther lawsuits, that the vast majority of legal scholars reject or mock the "evidence" presented by Birthers, suggests that the people driving the movement are motivated by an antipathy for Obama rather than anything else--especially patriotism. How do you otherwise explain their often-expressed wish for civil war or for the military to "do something"? (Yes to Democracy maintains and regularly updates a collection of "the Birthers'" seditious dreams). I've said it before, but I don't recall the most rabid of "Bush derangement" (or even "Clinton-derangement") sufferers plotting to overthrow the country.

Aside: Tom Fitton of Judicial Watch, explains that "he hadn't 'seen any credible evidence Barack Obama is not a U.S. citizen eligible for the presidency'" despite being contacted by "untold numbers of people" (Smith). Let's just say that Judicial Watch hardly qualifies as a liberal organization, and it seems likely that, should they have seen anything resembling "credible evidence," they'd have hopped onto this case months ago. Take away quote by Fitton:

"If people understood better what the law is, I don't think they'd be as concerned as they are."

Update: One of the lawsuits questioning President Obama's eligibility, just got shot down by D. C. District Court Judge James Robertson. Judge Robertson included some choice comments for the plaintiffs. You can read about it here, and the followup comments. . .well, they're a hoot. A little scary at times, but pretty revelatory of the "Birther" following.

Did Shelby Bite the COLB Fruit?

According to an Alabama newspaper, The Cullman Times, Richard Shelby, the state's senior U. S. Senator, has chosen to bite at the "Obama-is-ineligible" rumor. Apparently, he did so in quite a public way--in response to a question at a town-hall meeting:

[a] local resident asked Shelby if there was any truth to a rumor that appeared during the presidential campaign concerning Obama’s U.S. citizenship, or lack thereof.

“Well his father was Kenyan and they said he was born in Hawaii, but I haven’t seen any birth certificate,” Shelby said. “You have to be born in America to be president.”

According to the Associated Press, state officials in Hawaii checked health department records during the campaign and determined there was no doubt Obama was born in Hawaii.

The nonpartisan Web site Factcheck.org examined the original document and said it does have a raised seal and the usual evidence of a genuine document. In addition, Factcheck.org reproduced an announcement of Obama's birth, including his parents' address in Honolulu, that was published in the Honolulu Advertiser on Aug. 13, 1961. (CT)

When Politico's Ben Smith contacted Shelby's office to ask about the story, a spokesperson backtracked on the Senator's statements and claimed that the paper had "distorted" the Senator's remarks. The paper stands by its story and has requested that anyone with audio or video of the event get in touch. We'll have to wait until the paper finds and posts such evidence, but there's little doubt the paper's story has energized folks on both sides of the issue: the conspiracy theorists as well as those who see the GOP as focused on harming the president rather than fixing the nation.

This could get interesting. Unfortunately, it's also interfering with the nation's real problems--the economy, for example--by muddying the waters with rumor and innuendo.

Update: I'm thinking that Shelby didn't bite; his comment on the citizenship issue is starting to look like a mangled response to the constituent's question. Folks who attended the event offer differing recollections of the Senator's statements:

Dave Ozment, chairman of the Cullman County Republican Party, who attended the meeting, said he remembered some of Shelby’s comment on Obama’s citizenship.

“[Shelby] was not saying and I’m not saying he (Obama) is or isn’t [a U.S. citizen], he was just saying he hasn’t seen one (a birth certificate),” Ozment said.

Cullman Airport Manager Bob Burns, who was also at the meeting, recalled the question and answer as well.

“It sounded to me like he really didn’t want to go there,” Burns said about Shelby. “He said he hadn’t seen his birth certificate. He said something to the effect that it had been certified in Hawaii.” (Cullman Times)

Unless audio/video surfaces to dispute this, suffice it to say this story is over. It certainly doesn't warrant either jubilation amongst conspiracy theorists or ire amongst the anti-"birthers."

If I Wanted to Visit Pakistan in 1981. . .

Well, let's suppose on the morning of 14 June, 1981, I'd picked up a copy of The New York Times and began reading an article titled "Lahore, A Survivor With a Bittersweet History." I might be intrigued, but, considering all the instability in the region, I might be unsure whether or not I, as a U S citizen, could actually go to Pakistan on my USA passport. But then the article answers my uncertainties: "[t]ourists can obtain a free, 30-day visa (necessary for Americans) at border crossings and airports" (NYT). Ah, so I can visit Pakistan? But let's make sure. Let's say I head down to the passport office just to double check, and sure enough, there is a travel advisory for American citizens wanting to travel to Pakistan on USA passports! It says:

Before traveling to Pakistan, American citizens should be aware of the following updated visa requirements: 30 day visas are available at Pakistani airports for tourists only (Department of State).

So in 1981, I could travel to Pakistan, legally and everything. I certainly wouldn't need to travel under a foreign, let's say (for the heck of it) an Indonesian passport--a simple USA passport would do nicely, thank you.

But seriously, I can't believe that this particular Obama rumor--that in 1981 he couldn't have possibly traveled to Pakistan on a US passport--is still around when it's so easily disproven.

H/T to Dr Conspiracy for the DOS link.

Rumor Central: They Keep Coming

FactCheck has released a post-Election Day summary of misinformation fomented by partisans on both sides of the aisle. Although the primary emphasis focuses on items related to the automaker bailout, several residual rumors election-related rumors remain.

FactCheck finds:

· It's not true that unionized auto workers at Detroit's Big Three make more than $70 an hour, as claimed by some opponents of federal aid.

· And no, 3 million workers won't be tossed out of work if aid is not forthcoming, as claimed by those favoring a taxpayer bailout.

· President-elect Obama never promised to seek a ban on all semi-automatic weapons, as claimed by some fearful gun owners.

· And no, Obama did not propose a Gestapo-like civilian security force as claimed by a Republican member of Congress from Georgia and any number of overwrought bloggers.

· Democrats in Congress are not discussing any plan to confiscate the assets in 401(k) retirement accounts, another falsehood spread about by chain e-mails and Internet postings.

· House Speaker Nancy Pelosi did not demand a 757-size personal jet, a false claim resurrected when Democrats criticized Big Three executives for flying to D.C. on their own private jets to beg for aid.

· And Pelosi's husband doesn't own a $17 million stake in a food company that she may (or may not) have tried to help with an exemption from a new minimum wage law.

Also worth a read, FactCheck’s article, “Our Misinformed Electorate.”

What amazes is that so many of these items originate as unsubstantiated stories on the Internet, then are picked up and reiterated by people who should know better—people who have access to “real” researchers (e.g., Representative Paul Broun [R-GA]). It’s more than evident that these stories are perpetuated by pathos—emotive appeals lacking in factual support—the problem is, we’ve seen rumors of this ilk stimulate some very real hysteria that extends beyond both the Clinton- and Bush- Derangement Syndrome. People convinced that “our way of life” is under threat are calling for rebellion and for secession; some of these accompanied by veiled threats against the President-Elect himself (Here's a CSM story from about a month ago that touches on these issues; Googling reveals more recent examples, and this blog is always on top of these things amongst the PUMA groups).

The odd thing is, people write that, because fringe elements pushed the anti-Bush envelope, this deserves a retributive anti-Obama stance (Google "Obama is not my president" for a whole lotta testifying to this). “Because you didn’t support my president, I’m not supporting yours,” etc. Not only is this tit-for-tat juvenile in the extreme, the self-righteous “not my president” nonsense only helps partisans maintain some sense of superiority over others. If you object to a process or to a proposal, find a way to help enact change that utilizes reason and analysis (what gifts these are!) instead of having what is, essentially, a temper tantrum. It doesn’t matter who started it; the fact is, it’s got to end if we’re to climb out of this hole we’re in.

Nutjobs Convene at the NPC

A selection of "prominent" anti-Obama conspiracy theorists descended on the National Press Club Monday afternoon. David Weigel was there and he's got the goodies here.

Rumor Central: Obama Ring Thing

Rather Silly, Isn’t It?

So a London tabloid runs a story that Barack Obama purchased a $30,000 rhodium ring from a fancy jeweler for his wife Michelle. Shortly thereafter, Obama spokespeople and the alleged jeweler confirm that Barack Obama did not purchase a $30,000 rhodium ring for his wife Michelle (nor, it must be said, for any other lady). It’s been days since the story has been debunked, but does it cease to exist? Err…no.

I expect you can’t permit common sense or lack of facts interfere with a good old self-righteous rant about Obama’s alleged hypocrisy.

(pedantic aside: the headline for The Daily Mail’s story, originally titled “Barack Obama to buy rare £20000 rhodium ring for his wife to say thanks for support,” now states, “Barack Obama denies claim to buy rare £20000 rhodium ring for his wife to say thanks for support”)

Old One Ball

Ron Rosenbaum breaks down an unending urban legend and questions our near-obsession with Hitler's sex life--and how "experts" (and others) offer up Hitler's sexual preferences and abilities as reasons for his derangement. Read “Everything You Need To Know About Hitler's ‘Missing’ Testicle.”

Rumor Central: Obama, Emanuel, and Conflicting Conspiracies

Ben Smith headlines an item “Internet Rumor Meltdown,”in which a reader explains that a relative believes:

1) President-Elect Obama is a “closet Muslim”
and
2) President-Elect Obama’s white House Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel, “is a top Mossad double agent.”

Delightful.

Plumbing the Depths

I’ve not really commented on the "Joe the Plumber" newsiness because a) he had every right to question Obama, b) McCain had every right to draw on “Joe” and Obama’s meeting, and c) the media had no right to expose “Joe’s” private information on such a wide scale.
However.
“Joe the Plumber” (Samuel. J. Wurzelbacher) has embraced his status as public citizen. He's appeared regularly on television to expound on his political views, which means, unfortunately, that he’s gone from symbolizing the plight of blue-collar Americans to symbolizing the “Obama is anti-Semitic and un-American” paranoia that’s out there (with a dash of racism thrown in).

First of all, in a telephone interview with CBS News he said that Obama "‘tap dance[d] ... almost as good as Sammy Davis Jr.’ in their conversation.” (qtd. in Weiner). Rather a loaded comparison, but okay. Maybe it was a "whoops!"

Secondly, when he endorsed Senator McCain, he eagerly agreed to a bystander’s assertion that an Obama presidency would result in the death of Israel. The next day, Wurzelbacher appeared on Fox News with Shepard Smith, and:

[f]or five painful live-on-Fox minutes [. . .] Mr. Smith repeatedly asked Mr. Wurzelbacher what evidence he had to back up that charge. Mr. Wurzelbacher refused to answer. He said it was up to Mr. Smith’s viewers to figure out why he, Joe the Plumber, thought Mr. Obama was a menace to Israel.

Looking incredulous, Mr. Smith gave up. He read a statement from the McCain campaign praising the plumber’s “penetrating and clear analysis.”

Then Mr. Smith said: “I just want to make this 100 percent perfectly clear. Barack Obama has said repeatedly and demonstrated repeatedly that Israel will always be a friend of the United States no matter what happens once he becomes president of the United States. His words.”

“The rest of it,” he said, “man, it just gets frightening sometimes.” (qtd. in NYT).

Finally, Mr. Wurzelbacher has returned to the “Obama is a traitor” meme so recently exploited by Governor Palin (and some excited crowds). He claimed on Fox News today that “people shouldn't vote for Obama because he doubts Obama's ‘loyalty to America’ (see video at TPM):

"McCain has fought and bled for our country, loves our country," said Joe Wurzelbacher, aka "Joe the Plumber," who has campaigned throughout Ohio with and on behalf of Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. "There's too many questions with Barack Obama and his loyalty to our country. And I question that greatly."

Fox News' Neil Cavuto tried to clarify: "You're not doubting that he's a good American. Or you are?"

"His ideology is completely different from what democracy stands for," said Wurzelbacher (qtd. in Tapper).

So much for “penetrating and clear analysis”by Senator McCain's "role model."

Just a few weeks ago Senator McCain was negating this kind of rhetoric when espoused by supporters in his town halls (a rhetoric that probably contributed to his decision to discontinue the town hall format). It’s unfortunate that McCain’s representative for “the everyman,” someone who, as Josh Marshall asserts, is now a “McCain campaign surrogate,” has chosen to revisit this line of character assassination to present Barack Obama as a "traitor."

Rumor Central: API & Michelle Obama

Here’s another little Internet-based rumor that’s been around for a while.

Allegedly, an obscure, Norway-based organization, African Press International, received a phone call from Michelle Obama last month. According to API, the phone call featured an angry Mrs. Obama raging against all manner of perceived injustices--most significantly, those committed against her husband. API claimed that it had recorded the phone call, and, for hte past month, has promised to release it “any day now.” It hasn’t emerged so far.

After nearly a month of setting dates for, and then delaying, the tape's release, API announced that Fox News would air the recording on either Hannity & Colmes or On The Record with Greta Van Susteren. This news prompted Van Susteren to post on her blog:

THIS IS SIMPLY A LIE ABOUT ME AND I HAVE NO IDEA IF A LIE ABOUT FOX AND / OR SEAN HANNITY BECAUSE I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THIS STUFF BELOW IS. I HAVE NO IDEA WHO API (AFRICAN PRESS) IS…this is the first I have heard about them….BUT I DO WANT TO “KILL THE VIRUS” LYING ABOUT ME.

Van Susteren then quotes a website perpetuating API’s claims. Additionally, TV Newser offers this denial from Fox News on whether the network has anything to do with API:

An FNC spokesman tells TVNewser: "API's dubious claim that FOX News has purchased a supposed audio tape to be aired prior to Election Day is absolutely false."

Van Susteran’s and Fox’s public negation of any deal hasn’t stopped API. Its website declares that the group has a written agreement with Fox, and that Fox will air the tape prior to election day. Don’t count on this happening.

This seems little more than a regurgitation of the “Whitey tape” story: last summer, some wags began propelling a story that Michelle Obama was caught “railing at white people” on tape. Various websites proclaimed that the tape was going to be released “any minute now.” Several specific dates of release were announced, but the tape never materialized.

The similarities between the API rumors and the “Whitey” rumors are numerous (so numerous that Ben Smith at Politico seems to have confused the two). As such, it's rather surprising that the people who believed fully in the “Whitey” tape’s existence, and who were disappointed in its non-appearance, would have fallen for a similar, albeit incredibly unlikely, story just a month or so later.

Added: Mr. Smith has amended his fine report on some of the campaign's ugliest rumors; he notes that there are two "phantom tapes."

By the way, in August, Paula (or Paulie) Abeles submitted her debunked allegations about Obama’s ties to Kenyan politics to the site, where they duly appeared as an API article under her byline (cached page here). That about spells out API’s credibility: if it were a legitimate news source, it would have researched Abeles’s claims prior to publishing them.

Heads up: Mountain Sage (no Obama supporter) has researched and published online a plethora of material on API. Take a look.