The Birther-9/11 Connection
By Robert Schlesinger, Thomas Jefferson Street blog
As I mentioned yesterday, the video of Mike Castle getting ambushed by a "Birther" (as in Barack Obama's birth took place somewhere beside the United States of America) has given the televised media an excuse to more closely examine the puzzling movement. Chris Matthews has been on it a couple of nights in a row now and I've heard Republicans play it off a couple of times as fringe-nuts analogous to liberals during the Bush years who said that W had broken laws and/or should be impeached. But that's not correct: There is a serious argument to be made that Bush overstepped the laws and the Constitution in his exercise of presidential power while in office; you might disagree with the assertion, but it's on-its-face, slam-dunk nutty in the way Birther theory is.
Rather the Atlantic's Jeffrey Goldberg comes up with the proper analogy: The birthers are the equivalent on the right of the "truthers" on the left—people who believe that the U.S. government was secretly behind the September 11 attacks. In both cases you've got people who believe that the press is complicit in a government conspiracy to assault society.
I think more broadly that Time's Joe Klein has a good point about the Birthers:
Let me tell you what this is all about: The President of the United States is named Barack Hussein Obama. He is the first chief executive of this grand and good nation not to be melanin-deprived. There are a fair number of frightened, ignorant, idiot white folks still prowling the streets. They listen to right-wing talk radio. They show up at Republican town meetings. They can not believe that a man named Barack Hussein Obama could actually have been elected President. I must admit, I relish their discomfort. But I wish they'd go away.
And of course as with all such stories, there's this:
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Tags: 9/11 | Barack Obama
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Reader Comments
The 9/11 Truth for Peace Movement
I am a member of the 9/11 Truth movement, and we seek an independent, objective investigation into the events of September 11th. We were created by members of the victims’ families, who were snubbed when the 9/11 Commission left over 70% of their questions unanswered. In fact, a 2006 Zogby poll indicates that less than half of America believes the official 9/11 conspiracy theory (www.rawstory.com/news/2006/Less_than_half_of_Americans_satisfied_0523.html).
We currently have 728 architectural and engineering professionals who question the official story and maintain it does not conform to the basic laws of physics (www.ae911truth.org).
Additionally, we have numerous firefighters (www.firefightersfor911truth.org), pilots (www.pilotsfor911truth.org), military officials (www.patriotsquestion911.com), political leaders (www.pl911truth.com), veterans (www.v911t.org), religious leaders (www.rl911truth.org), medical professionals (www.mp911truth.org), lawyers (www.l911t.com) and scholars (www.stj911.com) who express doubt over the findings of the 9/11 Commission Report.
In 2009, a paper was published in The Open Chemical Physics Journal, a peer-reviewed scientific journal, by a team of independent scientists, including Dr. Steven Jones of Brigham Young University and Dr. Niels H. Harrit of the University of Copenhagen. In this paper, four samples of WTC dust from Ground Zero were examined. The dust contained high-tech, explosive thermitic material. You can read the paper (www.bentham-open.org/pages/content.php?TOCPJ/2009/00000002/00000001/7TOCPJ.SGM), which has also been published in the Journal of 9/11 Studies (www.journalof911studies.com).
I take exception to being compared to the "Birther" movement, and I certainly don’t appreciate being labeled as crazy. Journalists should encourage systems to ask questions and demand answers.
For further information, I recommend viewing the 90 minute documentary 9/11 Mysteries, which can be viewed for free on Google Video:
www.video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8172271955308136871
9/11 Truth Movement and issues
Mr. Schlesinger,
the real issue regarding 9/11 is the irrefutable scientific evidence, and very common sense dictating and proving conclusively that this tragic event was a controlled demolition.
http://ae911.org - http://911blogger.com - http://911UnitedWeInvestigate.blogspot.com
Thank you,
Sincerely
Petr Buben
"Birther" issue
The Constitution does not require that, to be eligible for the Presidency, one must be born on U.S. soil, only that one be "native-born" (a redundant phrase in itself). The USA has "jus sanguini" as well as "jus soli," so that a person who has at least one parent who is a USA citizen is automatically as USA citizen him/herself, wherever in the world he/she may have been born. John McCain was born in the Canal Zone, which is (and always has been) in Panama, but nobody questioned his right torun.
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