Birtherhood: The Big Lie That Just Will Not Die

It's time to Break It Down!

It is not unusual for a fringe element to catch the imagination of the uninformed, the lazy, and/or those with a malevolent agenda. In fact, it is to be expected. Consequently, when a group of individual clearly fits into one of the preceding categories, what often sounds like lunacy can be dismissed…easily! However, when an erstwhile responsible party puts forth some variation of the fallacious notions commonly held by questionable sources, one is apt to be left to wonder, what is the point; where did that come from?

This past Monday, former Arkansas Governor, GOP Presidential hopeful, and Fox News commentator, Mike Huckabee entered this arena. While being interviewed by WOR radio host Steve Malzberg, Governor Huckabee, in responding to a question about where he stood on the Birther Movement, delivered an extensive, layered, and nuanced response that indicated he believed President was raised in Kenya. In a recent Fox News Poll, Huckabee was cited as the front-runner among Republican hopefuls for the 2012 Presidential Campaign.

Like Bill Clinton, one of his predecessors as Arkansas Governor, Mike Huckabee was born in Hope, Arkansas. He was The Natural State’s 44th Governor; the same enumeration as President Obama in the Oval Office. Mr. Huckabee, an alumnus of Ouachita Baptist University is an ordained minister, and was a candidate for the GOP Nomination in 2008. In his interview with Mr. Malzberg, Governor Huckabee stated that he disagreed with virtually position President Obama has taken.

In an interesting twist on Birtherhood, Mr. Huckabee’s response to Malzberg, who framed the question like a dyed-in-the-wool Birther, seemed to be a concession that he believed Mr. Obama was born in Hawaii. He added that if he had not been the Clintons, whom he knows, and whom he knows thoroughly researched the question, would have revealed it. Then he went on to say of President Obama:

“I would love to know more, but what I know is troubling enough. And one thing that I do know is his having grown up in Kenya, his view of the Brits, for example’s very different than the average American.

The Governor continued by noting that President Obama’s perspective was shaped by being raised in Kenya, by Kenyans.

In adding depth to his response, the Governor underscored his points by explaining that President Obama’s 2009 decision to remove a bust of former Prime Minister Winston Churchill from the Oval Office was an affront to the citizens of Britain.

“The bust of Winston Churchill, a great insult to the British, but then if you think about it, his perspective as growing up in Kenya with a Kenyan father and grandfather; he probably grew up hearing that the British were a bunch of imperialists who persecuted his grandfather.”

In one final flourish, in a reference to Hussein Onyango Obama, the President’s paternal grandfather, who was detained in a 1952 uprising against British rule, Governor Huckabee said childhood stories of the Mau Mau rebellion would lead President Obama to want to remove from the Oval Office the bust of Churchill, who ordered a crackdown against that uprising.

In an inexplicable fit of coincidence, he did not note that President Obama replaced the Oval Office fixture with a bust of one of his American hero’s, President Abraham Lincoln, or that the Churchill bust was relocated to the White House residence.

Of course, conventional wisdom, as well as the historical record both quite clearly enunciate the facts associated with the key questions here. Responsible media and a plethora of fact checking apparatuses have stated, frequently and consistently, Barack Obama:

• Was born in Hawaii in 1961

• Is an American citizen

• Met his father, Barack Obama, Sr., only once, briefly; hardly knew him

• Never met his Kenyan grandfather, Hussein Onyango Obama

• Did not visit Kenya until 1987; 8 years after his grandfather’s death

• Was raised by his Kansas-born mother, Ann Dunham, Ph.D., and his maternal grandparents, Stanley and Madelyn Dunham, principally in Hawaii

• Spend 5 years (from age 5-10) in Indonesia while growing up his mother, Ann Dunham, and stepfather Lolo Soetoro

• Is Christian; not Muslim

• Has never subscribed to Islam

• Posted a copy of his birth certificate on his website during his Presidential Campaign

All in all, Governor Huckabee’s newly acquired take sounds eerily similar to an old take by former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Newt Gingrich. In September, 2010, Mr. Gingrich, also thought to be a prospective 2012 GOP Presidential candidate, accused President Obama of operating with from a Kenyan, Anti-Colonial Worldview (which I blogged about at the time). As I noted 6 months ago, the genesis of Mr. Gingrich’s ruminations seemed to be a postulation put forth by conservative author and speaker, D’nesh D’Souza.

So why ascribe newly acquired to Governor Huckabee’s position? In the past, the Governor has consistently asserted that the Birther argument is a waste of time, and moreover, the province of the fringe element. That he now seems poised to join the movement is interesting to say the least. What could account for such an about-face?

At the outset, I offered 3 typical bases for spreading ridiculously mythical misinformation, such as this:

1. To be uninformed

2. Laziness

3. Malevolence

Mr. Huckabee, by most assessments qualifies as a reasonably educated and intelligent man. He has spent the last several years navigating the American political stratosphere, and is currently considered among the Republican Party’s Most Likely to Succeed in the quest for the 2012 GOP Presidential Nomination. Uninformed? I don't think so.

The Governor has worked tirelessly and smartly to earn his early front-runner status. His position is one almost impossible to come by without an energetic, if not tireless work ethic. Lazy? No way.

It has often been said, “Politics makes strange bed fellows.” Another oft repeated truism is “All is fair in love and war;” politics is a blood sport that many equate with war. From this vantage point, it appears Mr. Huckabee has decided if he is going to compete with the Republican field, which may include the likes of Mr. Gingrich, and have a chance to win, he must resort to a wider array of devices, including bending, misstating, and omitting facts. Malevolence; check; we have a winner!

In an attempt to walk-back the statements, Hogan Gidley, director of Mr. Huckabee’s political action committee, said, “Governor Huckabee simply “misspoke;” he meant to say the president was raised in Indonesia, and he believes the Mr. Obama was born in Hawaii. Of course, none of that explained the Governor’s allusion to Mr. Obama’s grandfather and the Mau Mau uprising.

The 2012 Campaign season is in its infancy. However, one thing is already crystal clear; tricknology is alive, well, and sure to be in full-force. It will be incumbent upon all truth-seekers to remain vigilant. Today, thinking people are confronted by Birtherhood: The Big Lie That Just Will Not Die! Rest assured, tomorrow, next week, and for the coming 21 months, the proverbial “Hits will keep on coming.”

I’m done; holla back!

Read my blog anytime by clicking the link: http://thesphinxofcharlotte.blogspot.com. A new post is published each Wednesday. For more detailed information on a variety of aspects relating to this post, consult the links below:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Huckabee

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ouachita_Baptist_University

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arkansas

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Malzberg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WOR_(AM)

http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_theticket/20110301/ts_yblog_theticket/huckabee-falsely-claims-obama-was-raised-in-kenya

http://www.wor710.com/topic/play_window.php?audioType=Episode&audioId=5190131

http://www.foxnews.com/projects/pdf/021111_2012_election_web.pdf

http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2011/mar/01/us-huckabee-obama/

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/01/huckabee-questions-obama-birth-certificate-claims-he-was-raised-in-kenya/

http://www.examiner.com/pop-culture-in-hartford/huckabee-questions-obama-s-birth-certificate-and-says-he-was-raised-kenya

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barack_Obama

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Clinton

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newt_Gingrich

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dinesh_D'Souza

http://blogs.abcnews.com/thenote/2011/03/mike-huckabee-falsely-suggests-obama-grew-up-in-kenya.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winston_Churchill