And If Bill Clinton Read More

Up at Yale Bill Clinton spoke out against the media cocoons in which we envelope ourselves, but used an inapt example:

“The only place where we’re bigoted now is we only want to be around people who agree with us,” Clinton said. “In our media habits, we go to the television shows, we go to the radio talk shows we go to the blog sites that agree with us. And it can have very bizarre consequences.”

The former president pointed to the “birthers” an example of one of those “bizarre consequences.”

“Hawaii, the state where President Obama was born, has done everything they can to debunk this myth that he wasn’t born in America,” Clinton said. “They’ve done everything but blow up his birth certificate, put it in neon lights and hang it on the dome in the Capitol.”

Strictly speaking, he is correct - the State of Hawaii has done all they can, since state privacy laws oblige them to sit on the full Obama vital records file.  Obama, of course, could get the complete file tomorrow and release the whole thing, but apparently prefers to keep this "controversy" alive in order to score political points.  Transparency and bringing people together will happen later in his Administration.

Andy Barr of The Politico plays along with Clinton's pretense, which is pretty normal for the MSM, although the Times had a crack in the wall in this recent story.  From The Politico:

Responding to rumors during the presidential campaign about Obama’s place of birth, Hawaii state officials posted his birth certificate online.

The move, however, did not stop lawsuits and other queries examining Obama’s birth, prompting Hawaii Gov. Linda Lingle, a Republican, to recently sign into law legislation allowing state employees to ignore requests for proof of the president’s citizenship.

So why the Obama coverup?  My official Editorial Wild Guess is that Obama is concealing this from force of habit - we haven't seen his college transcripts, his senior thesis, his law firm billing records, or much of anything else documenting his past.  His team wants to maintain tight control of the Obama brand, which rests on his glorious biography as told by Obama.  Actual facts and evidence will only confirm or undermine that story, but they won't enhance it.  Beside, Obama will want fresh material to justify his eight-figure post-Presidential book deal, so maybe we will see this file then

That said, my Official Editorial Back-up Guess is that Obama is hiding something awkward in the file - maybe he changed his name from "Barry" to "Barack" during his quest for authenticity in high school, and forgot to mention that minor detail in "Dreams From My Father".  (FWIW, the contemporaneous birth announcements don't mention a name, and the newly released Certification of Live Birth would, presumably, reflect his current name rather than his given name at birth.)

If we don't see it in his upcoming books I assume Barack or his heirs will eventually get that file moved to his Presidential Library, so this mystery will be solved one day.

ONE WONDERS:  How would Bill Clinton's theory explain the Truthers?  They weren't fueled by Hate Radio, unless he thinks Air America had that much clout. 

Comments

[PD]

Ras -20 today. Obviously more people need to come out of their bubble and adore His Grace.

[PDinDetroit]

I think there is no birth certificate since he was obviously hatched.

[Danube of Thought]

42-56 overall.

[Melinda Romanoff]

Yep, that file will see the light of day right after the Kagan files come out of the Clinton Library.

[centralcal]

Well, Barry Dunham doesn't have quite the "ring" as Barack Hussein Obama.

[Porchlight]

Is 42 an all-time low?

[PDinDetroit]

Per Drudge, 42 is an all-time low for Barry the Hatchling.

[Clarice]

What's interesting is how little this Obama dive gets by way of press coverage. Instapundit has written of the "cascade effect"--how totalitarian regimes keep a lid on real attitudes and when they no longer can and the peoples' real views are known the tide turns quickly. Only the far less disastrous Gallup carp even gets mentioned.

[Porchlight]

Drudge: SOURCE: Obama skipping Memorial Day ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery. 'He'll be on vacation in Chicago'...

If this is true, I think I officially hate Obama now. Even if he changes his mind and decides to attend anyway.

[Janet]

Our media is just stupid. Birth certificate vs. birth certification...they don't know there is a difference...or maybe just don't explain the difference to the public. Just like the frantic meme that the religious nuts are against stem cell research!!!...never distinguishing between adult stem cell research & embryonic stem cell research.
I must stumble upon a site like JOM to hash out the word games being played by our media.

Are the media people stupid, or just plain liars?

[maryrose]

Obama doesn't respect or admire the military. Skipping a Memorial Day ceremony means nothing to him because it isn't about him. It commemorates our wonderful soldiers service to their country and he can't relate to that because no one in his family or Michelle"s has ever served.His recent speech at West Point where he condescendingly addressed our cadets is all the evidence you need tocatch a glimpse of Obama's new world order. He is still and will always be soft on terror and Islamic jihadism.

[Ranger]

Obama skipping Memorial Day ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery. 'He'll be on vacation in Chicago'...

Just confirms that he never really wanted to do the job of president, he just wanted all the trappings of the office.

[Janet]

and in 1961 did they really use African as a race choice?

[bunkerbuster]

Obama's smart enough to understand how irrelevant his birth certificate is to the "birthers" psychological issues.
Tom asserts: ``Transparency and bringing people together will happen later in his Administration.''
Obama's birth certificate has no bearing on the workings of government. He was approved to compete in the election and won. There is no question of transparency because his place of birth has no bearing whatsoever on the workings of government.
And "bringing people together." How disingenous can you get. The minute Obama provided his birth certificate, the birthers would start screaming for his college transcripts. As soon as he provided those, they'd demand his thesis. When that's made public, they'll want his grades, his driving records, his dental history and on and on.
The outrageous, if revealing, dishonesty here is that wingnuts disapprove of Obama because they think he was born in Kenya. The reality is they don't like him because he's a liberal. The birth certificate issue is only relevant to the extent that it demonstrates how desperate Obama's critics are for any tiny, insignificant speck of an issue they can grab at to try and use against him.
Plenty of legitimate reasons to oppose Obama, but it's obvious that many wingnuts are neither informed enough nor rational enough to make those arguments, so instead, they reach for cockamamie conspiracy theories...

[PDinDetroit]

bb - the fact that he has not provided any of those items you list, doesn't that at least peak your curiosity?

[Captain Hate]

Why does anybody bother listening to the smartest boy predator from Hope, Arkansas? He's incapable of not lying and everything he says is self-serving.

[narciso]

Tell that to the murderous excon who alleged drug use about GW, the person who manufactured
documents about his NG service, among just a few examples I recall, not too mention the ones who insinuated the President would commit
mass murder to provoke a war

The outright lies, still being promulgated against a former vicepresidential candidate,
too this very day. By this standard we know
little about Barak Obama, we suspect a fair
amount, and very little of it is good

[Dave (in MA)]

Porchlight, he'll probably try to deflect from this by swinging by a Chicago cemetery and flinging a couple of wreaths at a headstone or two before heading out to the links.

[PD]

Are the media people stupid, or just plain liars?

Why do you use "or"?

[Porchlight]

Dave (in MA), you're probably right, and Michelle either won't bother to show or will arrive in some hideously inappropriate outfit which the MSM style pundits will swoon over.

These guys can get away with anything. So far, anyway.

[Captain Hate]

Just confirms that he never really wanted to do the job of president, he just wanted all the trappings of the office.

I hope Sarah Palin shows up at Arlington in his absence. The purple-lipped imbecile would torch a carton of Kools on the golf course if informed about that.

[centralcal]

Actually, I think it is good that he goes golfing and skips out on Memorial Day. It reflects more of who he really is, rather than the phoney baloney preening for the cameras and trying to pretend an emotion he doesn't feel. One less media swoon event.

[Thomas Collins]

OT alert and 24 spoiler alert (if you didn't watch it ysterday and plan to watch it online).

Ann (I am answering a query from another thread), I thought the ending was great. I didn't know whether Jack was actually going to go through with knocking off Suvarov, and whether Taylor was going to sign the peace deal. So I think the suspense was there. I also enjoyed the fact that the ending didn't quite wrap everything up but had a typical 24 season ending (Jack troubled and on the run). I thought Ortiz wouldn't survive, but now that he has, I hope he makes it into the movie. Actually, the way the season ended, 24 could go to its ninth season if the writers and producers change their mind (I don't expect that to happen, but hope springs eternal).

I wonder whether Taylor will be in the same prison facility as her daughter when the movie (or, in my wildest hopes, season 9) begins.

[Danube of Thought]

Why isn't he doing something about the oil spill? The nation grows impatient. The media are beginning to doubt him.

[Porchlight]

True, I hate to think of him at Arlington spouting off his typical insincere, barely-veiled contempt for all things military. Let him go back to Chicago where he belongs.

[Melinda Romanoff]

Dave-

If he goes to a Chicago (area) cemetary, he could go to one of the "Oaks", either the tragic Burr Oak Cemetary or the more touristy Oak Woods Cemetary with an unusually empty attraction.

Either one is dishonorable.

[Ranger]

Well, the poll numbers suggest that Obama has finally hit the "but you can't fool all of the people all of the time" wall.

I have to agree with TM on this one. I am sure the reason Obama keeps this secret is that he must be the only one to tell the Obama story. There may be nothing embarassing at all, but Obama can not allow something this personal to be in public view.

[Ranger]

Why isn't he doing something about the oil spill? The nation grows impatient. The media are beginning to doubt him.

Posted by: Danube of Thought | May 25, 2010 at 10:50 AM

Yes, a shot across his bow by the MSM. And it looks like it worked. After 307 days, Obama will actually do a press conference. I have a feeling this is not going to go well for him. He will try to limit the questions just to the oil spill, and that will make him look evasive, especially with the Market Meltdown under way, and a possible new Korean War brewing. I anticipate and walk off with dismissive hand wave and a "look guys, I already answered like eight questions."

[Cecil Turner]

The media are beginning to doubt him.

Yes, this is a hopeful sign (at least for accountability). CBS, ABC and NBC all criticizing the government role in the oil spill. Of course, the utterly feckless government response is becoming hard to ignore. And now we have the EPA">http://json8.nytimes.com/pages/science/earth/index.jsonp&adxnnlx=1274799764-GNS8v6vTaAKrT/IGNbH3qQ">EPA carping about methods . . . but offering no workable alternative.

[NK]

Ranger--

I think you're right about this presser. W. went into every presser knowing all but 1 maybe 2 questioners were hostile. Barry O. assumes he owns all of them. But, the press gang love one thing more than Barry O.-- their incomes. He is freezing them out and mocking them, if he is as evasive as ever --Blame Bush, Big Oil Blah Blah Blah-- the follow up questions will get hostile-- NOT W hostile but prickly. Barry O will be shocked and outraged, and it will show. Might even be entertaining

[Pagar]

"Is 42 an all-time low?"

Not low enough. I don't think we can get to 102, The dead voters problably won't respond. But 92 ought to be an achievable goal.

[Porchlight]

Horrible internal polling on the oil spill can be the only reason why he is finally giving a presser. I expect another full court attempt to paint BP as villains. Maybe even an angry Katrina reference. He's just that inept.

[Porchlight]

Ranger, NK, you guys are way ahead of me. It'll be interesting to see how Thursday goes for him (and what the market will do between now and then).

[Pofarmer]

I hope Sarah Palin shows up at Arlington in his absence. The purple-lipped imbecile would torch a carton of Kools on the golf course if informed about that.

Oh my, Oh my, Oh my.

Can't. Even. Imagine.

[Danube of Thought]

Figure his approval among the non-black population is about 30%.

[Melinda Romanoff]

DoT-

I would wager it's between 22-26%, the core size of the "Progreesive" base.

[matt]

captain, a classic....and good morning to you all....

out here in looneyland, w have the spectacle of Rep. Linda Sanchez doing the important job of government and breaking new ground by holding hearings about teams hiding sports injuries...

Her sister is, I believe, turning tricks on Harbor Boulevard down the street from Disneyland.

In the meantime, the press is playing up a story about a bunch of union goons chartering a bus to Arizona to troll for errant law enforcement officers practicing racial profiling....

[peter]

Meth and porn in use at drilling agency watchdog. Your tax dollars at work. Would love to hear a question about this at the presser. LUN

[Captain Hate]

Despicable POS and friend of Il Douche Kwame Kilpatrick sentenced to 1.5 to 5 years in the slam for violating parole. Mixed message for Detroit area "escort services": Future revenue streams decrease but workplace safety improved.

[Thomas Collins]

I'm thinking that this is not going to turn out well for Joe McGinniss. See LUN (via Instapundit).

I wonder whether the Palins will invite McGinniss over for mooseburgers.

[matt]

It seems that, while in Chicago, the President may attend a play about the civil rights movement called "The Good Negro". I am not making this sh*t up.

He will then visit the Elwood National Cemetery on Memorial Day. Is this Freudian in some way? Is it near the Jake National Cemetery?

when do we march?

[PDinDetroit]

CH - and here Captain Zero stated that KK was the future of the Democrat Party. Oh, the irony of frog march today and those yet to come!

BTW - 1.5 years is not nearly enough for this dirtbag. The comments at LUN are priceless though...

[Sharon Warren]

OT-
My favorite Walt Williams sitting in for Rush today.

[Captain Hate]

PDiD, I'll be checking in on the Freep site periodically because the comments are always great. Regarding a Granholm pardon that somebody mentioned as she stumbles out the door concerned about her future: I don't think even that ditz is stupid enough to do that, but if anybody could surprise me by the full extent of her dumbassery....

[Ranger]

For those of us interested in polling and elections, campaign spot as a good one up now on O's approval numbers, what might be driving them, and the implicaitons for November:

< a href=http://www.nationalreview.com/campaign-spot/56013/another-big-dip-obamas-approval-ahead>Is Another Big Dip in Obama’s Approval Ahead?

[Dave (in MA)]

Thomas Collins, James Lileks recaps 24 as only he can, over here.

[Janet]

Meth and porn in use at drilling agency watchdog.

So? Porn is their 1st amendment right, and meth should be legalized and taxed so we can have more government programs. There, problem solved.

[Dave (in MA)]

Got a new machine and T*p*p*d seems to be preventing me from posting with a link.

[Ranger]

Carp! Corrected link:

http://www.nationalreview.com/campaign-spot/56013/another-big-dip-obamas-approval-ahead>Is Another Big Dip in Obama’s Approval Ahead?

[Threadkiller]

Oh no! Do I ask Natural Born questions to Bunkerbuster and have him not answer or do I let this one go?

I will put this up to a vote.

[PDinDetroit]

Tk - let it go, he couldn't even answer my "common sense" question about curiosity in Obama's Silence.

[PDinDetroit]

OT - After the recent Detroit police shooting of a 7 yo girl, Mayor Bing announces new Police Procedure to alleviate the issue. LUN.

[Captain Hate]

Tk, don't waste your time.

PDid, is Bing well regarded in Detroit? I think he's got an impossible task but I think at least he's a trustworthy mayor. Btw, have you heard any of the rumors that Dan Gilbert might sell the Cavs and buy the Pistons? If that happens it would be worse for Cleveland than LeBron leaving; they might as well get rid of all the pro teams and rename the city Toledo 2. Or Jacksonveel in honor of the mayor who looks and talks like a homeless person in a suit.

[Danube of Thought]

I have long since stopped responding to, or even reading, that guy's adolescent posts, and I encourage others to join me.

[narciso]

So, Robocop was not a prescient satire after all, yikes

[Janet]

Dave (in MA)- that happened to me the other night for no reason. The next morning I could post with LUN. I don't know why sometimes yes, and sometimes no.
Comment purgatory.

[Manuel Transmission]

Dave (in MA) - I just had that happen to my iPhone. WTF?

[Jane]

Kwame Kilpatrick just got 5 years.

[Captain Hate]

Jane, we've been laughing at Kwame for about an hour.....

[Dave (in MA)]

Janet, apparently the trick is to post a followup comment complaining about a prior comment not showing up. As soon as the complaint appears in the thread... ~voila~ - there's the missing comment in front of it.

[Jane]

Oops - sorry Cap'n

[Captain Hate]

That's ok, Jane; better to mention it twice than not at all...

Kwame is such an incredible idiot. A buddy of mine who has been following his travails said that he'd been getting kickbacks from Compucom for steering so much business their way and that when he was on probation he got a consulting gig from them in Dallas to essentially do nothing. That would be bad enough in a legal kind of way but thug moron Kwame decided he didn't have to report the income which is what really steamed off the judge.

If they ever do an honest documentary of that brainless douche it will make Amos 'n Andy look PC.

[PD]

How disingenous can you get. The minute Obama provided his birth certificate, the birthers would start screaming for his college transcripts. As soon as he provided those, they'd demand his thesis. When that's made public, they'll want his grades, his driving records, his dental history and on and on.

Actually, there have been quite a few people wondering why he doesn't release his transcripts, thesis, grades, etc. The Transparency Candidate was remarkably opaque, and this has been remarked on for a long time.

Since you are evidently not paying attention, it seems safe for us to assume your "rejoinders" are based in ignorance.

[Pagar]

"consulting gig from them in Dallas to essentially do nothing".

Where does one go to find these type of Jobs? I don't see much difference between what someone did for Kwame and what someone did for Obama.

"Help arrived in early 2001 from a significant new legal client -- a longtime political supporter.

Chicago entrepreneur Robert Blackwell Jr. paid Obama an $8,000-a-month retainer to give legal advice to his growing technology firm, Electronic Knowledge Interchange. It allowed Obama to supplement his $58,000 part-time state Senate salary for over a year with regular payments from Blackwell's firm that eventually totaled $112,000.

A few months after receiving his final payment from EKI, Obama sent a request on state Senate letterhead urging Illinois officials to provide a $50,000 tourism promotion grant to another Blackwell company, Killerspin.

Killerspin specializes in table tennis, running tournaments nationwide and selling its own line of equipment and apparel and DVD recordings of the competitions. With support from Obama, other state officials and an Obama aide who went to work part time for Killerspin, the company eventually obtained $320,000 in state grants between 2002 and 2004 to subsidize its tournaments."

If you want to read the Link, One has to scroll down to the BLACKWELL heading.

[Jim Rhoads a/k/a vjnjagvet]

Not low enough. I don't think we can get to 102, The dead voters problably won't respond. But 92 ought to be an achievable goal.

I think we ought to shoot for 110. Remember Churchill's story about a man who lost his motherinlaw. When asked about the disposition of her remains, the grieving man instructed, "[e]mbalm, cremate and bury at sea. Take no chances".

[glasater]

Walt Williams is just an inspiration to listen to as I was going along this AM.
Thanks for the heads up Sharon.

[Jim O'Sullivan]

Whenever someone acts like he has something to hide, he has something to hide. This is natural law. A constant. But that tells you little or nothing about what he has to hide. Saddam Hussein had something to hide from weapons inspectors in the late 90's - early 00's, but it turned ourt to be the exact opposite of what almost everybody thought.
Here, it's not that he was born in Kenya. Stop and think for a minute. If he wasn't born in Hawaii, how could the state issue even a cerificate of live birth, which it has already done!?
So I plead guilty to Bunkerbuster's charge, supra. I want to know what it is he has to hide. He's my President, goddamit. Bunkerbuster is, for better or worse, apparantly a person of remarkably little curiosity.
BTW, it may be something a simple as that it would make it painfully obvious that his mother was impregnated with him when she was stil 17 and still unwed. That's already inferable from the known facts, but why highlight it, our Prez may be thinking.

[Jim Miller]

Tom - There's another detail that supports your argument that Obama wants to keep the controversy alive.

As I recall, the Obama campaign did not release the short form directly, but through a leftist blogger. They must have known that passing it out that way would be more suspicious than releasing it directly to the press.

(Your two guesses about why they are doing this seem as plausible, at least to me.)

[Pofarmer]

The minute Obama provided his birth certificate, the birthers would start screaming for his college transcripts. As soon as he provided those, they'd demand his thesis. When that's made public, they'll want his grades, his driving records, his dental history and on and on.

In other words. All the Stuff McCain and Palin supplied.

[bunkerbuster]

``troll for errant law enforcement officers practicing racial profiling....''

Hey, is Andrew Breitbart's rentboy O'Keefe in jail yet?

[Tom Maguire]

Are the media people stupid, or just plain liars?

I deplore these false choices - why not "Both"?

[Clarice]

O'Keefe's charge has been dropped to a misdemeanor--entering a federal bldg under false pretenses..

[Stephanie says Obama sux]

"rentboy" ????

A slur for a gay man?

I thought you progs were so open and tolerant and would never use a homosexual term to attempt to slander someone. I'm shocked, shocked I tell you. Or is using homosexuality as a slur ok?

What do you have against homosexuals that you would use a derisive term about them as a put down in your comments?

Inquiring minds want to know.

[Melinda Romanoff]

Stephanie-

Put the rock back. Something insignificant slithered just then...

[bgates]

O'Keefe's charge has been dropped to a misdemeanor--entering a federal bldg under false pretenses..

Obama, Biden, Pelosi et al enter federal buildings after having sworn to preserve and defend the Constitution all the time....