"Birther" Infomercial Hits the Airwaves
5182726The suspicion that President Obama was born outside of the United States has been written off as a conspiracy theory, but that hasn't stopped the so-called "birther" movement from keeping their theories alive.
A fundamentalist Christian Web site LivePrayer.com has produced a 28-minute infomercial dedicated to questioning where the president was born. It has run at least once on a CBS affiliate in Lubbock, Texas.
LivePrayer.com was founded by Christian minister Bill Keller, who committed his life to God after spending time in prison for insider trading, according to his site. The infomercial is also the work of attorney Gary Kreep, executive director of the birther group United States Justice Foundation, Talking Points Memo reports. He reportedly said the infomercial will run for at least two and a half weeks on stations around the country.
Mr. Obama has "vigorously fought.. to keep his birth information secret," Keller says in the program. "What is he hiding?"
The half hour spot encourages viewers to call a phone number to add their names to a list petitioning GOP leaders to "force President Obama to obey the law." In thanks for their support, viewers will receive a "Got a birth certificate?" bumper sticker. It also informs viewers that for just $30, they can have a fax sent on their behalf to all 50 state attorneys general and U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder demanding they force President Obama to supply his official State of Hawaii birth certificate.
"Join hundreds of thousands of Americans who simply want the truth," Keller says.
Keller may be right about the persistence of the rumor -- a recent poll showed that that 42 percent of Republicans believe Barack Obama was born outside of the United States while 22 percent said they were unsure.
And while the White House has, of course, dismissed the theory as "totally crazy," some Republicans have quietly perpetuated the myth. California Rep. John Campbell co-sponsored a bill (with at least nine others) requiring presidential candidates to submit a birth certificate and refused to give a straight answer when asked whether he believed the president was born in the United States.
