Obama & Right-Wing Conspiracy Theorists

New Republic: Why Anti-Obama Hate Will Be Different Than Anti-Clinton Hate

(The New Republic)  This column was written by Michael Schaffer.

---

They don't have political rallies to bring them together anymore, but it's no secret that a lot of people out there don't much like Barack Obama. The president-elect, according to his more fervent campaign-season detractors, has a raft of unforgivable faults: He's a socialist, a Muslim, an actual love-child of Malcolm X. His birth certificate was missing, his book had been ghost-written by William Ayers, and his wife, "Mrs. Grievance," as a National Review cover dubber her, was perennially on the cusp of getting caught ranting against the white man. The only thing keeping the Illinois senator's infamy from going public is the quiescence of the liberal media. Perhaps you remember.

Whatever its effectiveness ahead of Election Day, the right-wing hate campaign made for a nice exercise in nostalgia. For eight years, opposition politics have mainly involved attacking the president for, like, things he's done or wanted to do in office----and not, say, secret religious view he holds or convoluted murders involving his wife. Now, after an administration in the wilderness, they were back--the conspiracy theorists, the paranoiacs, the fringe figures whose dubious relationships with the truth weren't enough to disqualify them from star turns in the right-wing media. The last Democratic president had spent his White House years in perpetual battle against well-funded crackpots peddling far-fetched theories, and now this one would, too. So much for change.

The clean-up crews were probably still sweeping confetti from Grant Park, in fact, when the first wave of paranoiac Obama-reaction hit the press: A run on gun-shops by disaffected red-staters convinced that the 44th president would do to the Second Amendment what Bill Ayers tried to do to New York City Police Headquarters. "He wants to take our guns from us and create a socialist society policed by his own police force," Jim Pruett, a Houston-based radio-personality-turned-gun-dealer, told the New York Times.

Obama's political team may be trying to avoid another eight years of wrestling with presidential haters, but they'd be lucky if kooky, easily disproven charges like Pruett's come to represent his presidency's antagonists. The last Democratic president wasn't so fortunate. It's hard to remember now, after all the trouble Clinton got himself into, but the similarly nutty campaign-trail hyperventilation directed at the Arkansas governor concerned things that didn't go on to become major issues once he took office. Back in 1992, the sharpest of the Republican election-season barbs concerned Clinton's alleged draft-dodging, marijuana-inhaling, and, especially, his participation in anti-Vietnam protests while living in England as a Rhodes Scholar. Rumor spread that the Democrat had at one point sought to renounce his citizenship; a GOP political appointee at the State Department was later disciplined for improperly searching Clinton's passport files in search of evidence.

The meme was also spread by the man at the top of the GOP food chain, Clinton's opponent on that year's ballot. "I say level with the American people on the draft, whether you went to Moscow, how many demonstrations he led against his country from a foreign soil," President George H.W. Bush told Larry King weeks before the election, sounding more than a little like this year's Republican candidate. "Level, tell the truth and then let the American voters decide."

Unfortunately for Clinton, that sort of self-parodic allegation didn't follow him into the Oval Office. This reflects one basic drawback of the attacks: The most sensational charges were baseless. But it also reflects a bigger problem with the whole patriotism-and-cultural-radicalism shtick that is central to Republican campaign strategy: It works well when it comes to disqualifying a Democratic wanna-be from getting elected, but it doesn't work so well against a sitting President of the United States. Once he was living in the White House and flying around on Air Force One, Clinton became a symbol of the country, for better or worse, and attacks on his love for America became a lot less credible. And for all his faults, he also became the rapidly graying man in a suit on TV every night rather than a bearded hippie whose (fake?) marijuana-smoking represented a Main Street worry.

The same thing will happen to President Obama. Once he's the man at the lectern with the presidential seal--the real one--he's pretty hard to dismiss as a frightening outsider. Just last week, Al Qaeda put out a statement attacking the president-elect. Every attack like that further cements his place at the center of mainstream American identity. Dissing his patriotism isn't a winning political recipe. In 1993, Clinton's detractors branched out into investigating the back-country of Arkansas, the bureaucracy of Washington, and especially the places where they intersected. In 2009, Obama's will move elsewhere, too. But where?

The good news for Obama is that it's unlikely that he--or, for that matter, any other human being--could be as much of an ally to his tormentors as Clinton was. Possibly even better news is that any organized anti-Obama efforts may have to make do without a sugar daddy. During the Clinton years, right-wing moneybags like Richard Mellon Scaife spent actual money on the investigative efforts that helped trip up the 42nd president, and that represented a prerequisite for getting the ensuing dirt into the conservative media slipstream. If right-wing 527s barely stepped up during the campaign, who's going to shell over the bucks now?

The bad news for the president-elect is that things that required money back in 1993 now come very cheap. Why pay for duplicating and distributing Vince Foster murder videotapes when you can just post them on YouTube? Of course, some results are easier to find on the cheap than others. Finding alleged sexual-harassment victims takes some shoe-leather. Finding policy screw-ups by the president or his aides, on the other hand, has gotten easier, thanks to the Internet. Which suggests that, in the end, the Obama haters of the next four years may end up being less like Clinton's crazy--if sometimes accurate--wingnut detractors, and more like the folks who dedicated themselves to critiquing George W. Bush. Instead of focusing on, say, rumors of Bush's drug abuse, Bush antagonists mainly set themselves at criticizing bungled wars and drowned cities. For Obama, that happy precedent would mean the only thing he has to do now is govern well.

[hinnis]

ausus: I said GOOD reasons, not excuses. It''s back to the drawing board for you. By the way, you expect us to take the word of factcheck.org about Obama''s alleged certification of live birth? Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha, stop, you''re killin'' me, ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha, wait, I can''t stand it, ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha

On a serious note, a certification of live birth, even if it were not fraudulent, is not the same thing in Hawaii as a birth certificate. The actual birth certificate has much more information on it; for example, the hospital in which one was born. Again, give me one good reason why Obama refuses to disclose his complete birth certificate to the American public. I''ll be waiting . . .

[stonerscum]

wombat681, you wrote you got your information for your theories on Obama''s birth from Jerome R. Corsi, have you done any research on your source? Jerome R. Corsi believes in nearly every conspiracy theory out there, he believes in the North American Union conspiracy, he believes in the 9/11 conspiracy in other words, he''s a nutball! He went to Kenya, claimed to have found ''proof'' of Obama''s connection to the Kenyian leadership with an email which was found to be a hoax & not even a very good one. Jerome R. Corsi also stated that Obama still does drugs & never said when he stopped doing them when Obama had stated quite openly about when he took & stopped doing any drugs & If i''m not mistaken Jerome R. Corsi changed his mind later in the election & now believes Obama is the child of Malcolm X....if anyone uses Jerome R. Corsi or Andy Martin (the guy who started the Muslim rumor) as their source for the ''shocking'' revelations about Obama, they deserve to be fooled & treated as fools.

[ausus-2009]

hinnis,

I looked at the Fact Check website and as far as I am concerned the case is closed.

You might have to wait until after Obama is inaugurated to find something else to complain about.

[cjrotolo]

to ''hinnis'' and anyone else that still dangles the citizenship red herring:

http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/born_in_the_usa.html

really, folks, get a clue - grow up.

[ausus-2009]

hinnis,

I will give you three.

1. He might think such a trivial lawsuit is beneath his dignity.

2. Hawaii might have had poor record-keeping at the time and a proper document might not exist.

3. If there was a document to prove he was not born in Hawaii, I am surprised that no journalist has turned it up through FOI or other means.

[hinnis]

ausus: Yes, there is a presumption of innocence, however, that does not mean that one does not have to answer a lawsuit or a criminal prosecution. First, information is gathered in a process called "discovery," and if the evidence does not show guilt or liability, then the party is found to be innocent. In this case, Obama is refusing to disclose information without which one cannot discern his innocence or guilt. That is the problem. By the way, can you give me one good reason why Obama refuses to disclose his complete birth certificate to the American people? Can you give one good reason why he would rather spend tens of thousands of dollars fighting multiple lawsuits over this issue, rather than $12 on a certified copy of his birth certificate. Just ONE good reason?

[ausus-2009]

Under British law, from which US law is derived, a person is innocent until proven guilty.

We must take Obama''s word that he is a natural born US citizen. He has nothing to prove. It is up to others to prove otherwise.

[hinnis]

dburfears: Please give us one good reason why Obama refuses to disclose his complete birth certificate to the American public, and why he would rather spend tens of thousands of dollars fighting these lawsuits to the Supreme Court, rather than merely $12 for a certified copy. Thank you for your cooperation.

[dburfears]

An article about Right Wing conspiracy theorists, with postings by the same. What a hoot!

It''s wonderful to see that the election of Obama has brought out, in force, the tiny minority of easily dismissed morons who also think space aliens are running the NBA. They are the only ones with the motivation to post their insane babbling over and over again.

I say, encourage them! The more these people come to represent the GOP in the eyes of average Americans, the sooner the GOP will be changed. Eventually, we can hope for rational conservatives to take over from the frothing-at-the-mouth far right evangelical and neocon nutcases. Only then will the GOP become a national party again, and not a rump party of the old ignorant South.

[hinnis]

fsw3: Please give us one good reason why Obama refuses to disclose his complete birth certificate to the American public, and why he would rather spend tens of thousands of dollars fighting these lawsuits to the Supreme Court, rather than merely $12 for a certified copy. Thank you for your cooperation.

[nursesings]

Shouldn''t we all want to see a birth certificate? When there was talk about trying to change the constitution so Arnold could run for president, I said no way, even though I am a right-winger! If the Constitution is meaningless, then Democrat or Republican, we are all lost.

[hinnis]

I think that CBS is doing their job with this article, which is reporting on events in a manner which puts Obama in the best light. Unfortunately, that has been the job of the mainstream media during this whole election process. Where is the mainstream media on this issue? Why hasn''t the mainstream media paid any attention to the fact that the Obama campaign purposefully disabled the "address verifications system" on his website, which facilitated illegal contributions from overseas, as well as the U.S.? Why hasn''t the mainstream media reported on the true nature of Obama''s so-called "religion," black liberation theology? The mainstream media no longer deserves the moniker of the "Fourth Estate." They have become nothing more than a mouthpiece for Obama and his supporters. The media''s efforts to fix this election are more than merely despicable, they are downright treasonous.

[mediaspy_nv]

99% of the "facts" and "data" surrounding the birthplace/birth certificate controversy came from Corsi''s despicable book, The Obama Nation. We can thank him for this bull****. I got a used copy of that book, read most of it, then threw it in the woodstove and burned it. It was totally disgusting. Anyone who buys into Corsi''s fairy tale is definitely sick in the head. Sick sick sick.

A "natural born citizen " as defined by the constitution consists of having a father and mother who both are US citizens at the time of birth AND being born on US soil.

Posted by DrJim6 at 11:47 PM : Nov 30, 2008

Wrong. It has no such definition.
And if you interpret "natural born citizen" that way, then John McCain isn''t one, either. He was born in Panama.

[johnqadams1]

Obama and his legal team have sealed all of his records. Obama has refused to pay $12.00 and produce a copy of his birth certificate. All Obama has produced is a Certification of Live Birth, which is not sufficient to even get a passport. Obama''s half sister was born in Indonesia and her parents registered her in Hawaii just like Obama. She can produce a Certification of Live Birth just like Obama, does that mean she was born in Hawaii? Here is what the State of Hawaii has to say about the difference between a Certification and Certificate:

http://hawaii.gov/dhhl/applicants/appforms/applyhhl


"In order to process your application, DHHL utilizes information that is found only on the original Certificate of Live Birth, which is either black or green. This is a more complete record of your birth than the Certification of Live Birth (a computer-generated printout). Submitting the original Certificate of Live Birth will save you time and money since the computer-generated Certification requires additional verification by DHHL."

[jsmithcsa]

You''re right about sore losers -- if you''re talking about the gay rights folks in California (and elsewhere) who are disrupting churches, threatening people, and costing people their jobs. Otherwise, just more CBS strawmen.

[hinnis]

It''s not about being a sore loser, it is about adhering to the Constitution. If Obama qualifies to serve as President, then so be it. However, if Obama has been running a scam on the whole country, and is not a "natural born citizen," then he must step down.

[usclimey]

With Obama, this citizenship thing popped up and it''''s too good to let slide. It MUST be resolved.

Posted by m4surveys

It has been resolved to the satisfaction of the entire world except for mouth-breathing retards such as yourself.

[m4surveys]

It''s not about "hate", that''s a cop-out.

It''s about right vs left, republicans vs democrats, obeying The Constitution or not?

If Hillary or any other democrat won, "we" would be all over them too, looking for any edge to dampen their power.

With Obama, this citizenship thing popped up and it''s too good to let slide. It MUST be resolved.

[ausus-2009]

Centerfall94,

I am not accusing you of using those terms, but plenty of those who believe as you do have. They include grumpas, sparkes224, brianbwb, jbrown88889, Irmcvet97 and others too numerous to mention.

My point is that name-calling, whether it is the milder form you use or the more aggressive verbiage of the others does not add to the debate.