Naturally, this information discovered by David Weigel, regarding the origins of the birther movement were never actually reported on. Instead, the rumor was brushed off as more right-wing conspiracy talk, but as recent conspiracies have proven, they’re usually true. What matters isn’t the story that Weigel didn’t write, but his research.
Here’s what Weigel doesn’t tell his readers:
The Obama campaign believes the photo came from the Clinton campaign.
Another left-wing source:
Obama’s campaign manager, David Plouffe, described it as “the most shameful, offensive fear-mongering we’ve seen from either party in this election”. Obama has had to spend much of the campaign stressing he is a Christian not a Muslim and did not study at a madrassa. …
Plouffe described circulation of the picture as part of “a disturbing pattern”. “It’s exactly the kind of divisive politics that turns away Americans of all parties,” he said.
Again, Weigel ignores crucial information published by one of his own employers, in this case his former-employer Slate.
After the Drudge splash, Plouffe released the statement above condemning the Clinton campaign at 9:29 am. Less than two hours later, Clinton campaign manager Maggie Williams shot back with a response that, as Slate notes, “never refuted Drudge’s piece.”
Then, at 10:54 a.m., Clinton’s campaign manager, Maggie Williams, pierced the quiet with her own release . “Enough,” she wrote. “If Barack Obama’s campaign wants to suggest that a photo of him wearing traditional Somali clothing is divisive, they should be ashamed. Hillary Clinton has worn the traditional clothing of countries she has visited and had those photos published widely.” She goes on to say Obama is trying to “distract from the serious issues.” Note that they never refuted Drudge’s piece. (More detail on that piece of the story is trickling in .)
Let’s take a moment to review: Obama’s campaign thinks Clinton is trying to be divisive by encouraging the Obama-is-a-Muslim myth. Clinton’s campaign thinks the Obama campaign is being divisive because it thinks Clinton’s campaign is being divisive.
The Clinton campaign would eventually deny sending the photo, but only after it became obvious that the release of the photo was blowing up in their face.
Mushroom Cloud: Hillary’s “As far as I know,” or Weigel’s ‘Big Lie’ of Omission
In his attempt to let Hillary off the hook, it is imperative that Weigel not remind his readers that in March of 2008, in the middle of her campaign’s Birthernado, and on no less than “60 Minutes,” Hillary herself stoked the Birther rumors.
Obama is not a Muslim “as far as I know,” Clinton told Steve Kroft.
Hillary Clinton Is Birther Zero
My singling out of Weigel is a bit unfair. But it was his reporting that put the final details into place. And what he’s attempting to do is what most of the mainstream media is attempting to do: protect Hillary from her own racist past with half-truths and the omission of facts.
Once you do what the mainstream media refuses: put all the facts together as I did here, only those who don’t believe in science would let Hillary off the hook.
Here are the facts:
- More than a full year before anyone would hear of Orly Taitz, the Birther strategy was first laid out in the Penn memo.
- The “othering” foundation was built subliminally by the Clinton campaign itself.
- Democrats and Clinton campaign surrogates did the dirtiest of the dirty work: openly spread the Birther lies.
- Staffers in Hillary’s actual campaign used email to spread the lies among other Democrats (this was a Democrat primary after all — so that is the only well you needed to poison a month before a primary).
- The campaign released the turban photo.
- Hillary herself used “60 Minutes” to further stoke these lies.
Of course Hillary Clinton is the grandmother of the Birther Movement. But now that she might be the only thing between a Republican and the White House, Dave Weigel’s reverting back to JournoList form, as is the rest of the media.
And there you have it. Hillary Clinton started the birther movement. The only question that needs answering now is why she didn’t tell anybody about it.
Source: breitbart.com
