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August 15, 2008
The Obamanable (sic) Sleaze Monster
Greetings to my remaining (woefully) neglected readers! Is that ((crickets)) I hear? (heh)
Ok, I have emerged from semi-retirement (from blogging, not working for a living or even writing, since I am rewriting a one-act play I hope will be produced off-Broadway next year; wish me luck!) to comment on a newly released book on Barack Obama entitled Obama Nation by Jerome Corsi, the co-author of a similarly defamatory (and debunked) propaganda piece on John Kerry in 2004, as well as other crackpot treatises too silly to mention. Corsi’s new fish wrapping, which premiered #1 on the NY Times best-seller list this week, is ludicrously touted as:
Meticulously researched and documented, THE OBAMA NATION is the definitive source for information on why and how Barack Obama must be defeated—not by invective and general attacks, but by detailed arguments that are well-researched and fact-based.
One of many reasons this promotional blurb is funny is the premise that this birdcage lining isn’t simply rehashed “invective” and “general attacks” on Obama, mostly specious, many proven false, and all irrelevant to the salient question of who among the candidates for president (Obama, McCain, or various third- and fourth-party fringe nominees) would best lead this nation after eight years of economic, foreign-relations and Constitutional disaster.
What do we know about Jerome Corsi? I’m ashamed to admit he’s a native of Cleveland, a graduate of an esteemed University (Case Western) and a PhD from Harvard, his newest nemesis’s alma mater. Corsi was no slouch as a student, but his current “scholarship” leaves a lot to be desired. According to many unflattering reviews of his book, the “over 700 footnotes” that comprise his references are often links to dubious right-wing blogs, or to his own material, which I believe would be rejected by any good sixth grade teacher, never mind a publishing house like Simon & Schuster. But wait! His editor was none other than Cheney groupie-right-wingnut-pundit Mary Matalin. That ‘splains it.
Mr. Corsi is an admitted practicing Catholic (which is a Christian denomination; you know, followers of Jesus Christ, the guy who promoted "peace" and "love thy neighbor" and "turn the other cheek", the last time I checked) but referred to the late Pope John Paul II as “senile”, and bases most of his fear-mongering about Obama on the unsubstantiated allegations that Obama is closely tied with Islamic radicals because his natural father and step-father were nominal Muslims. The idea that religion (whether practiced or eschewed) should continue to be a pseudo-issue in this campaign is getting more and more ridiculous. After all, look what a so-called recovered-alcoholic born-again Christian has done to this country. I rest my case.
And speaking of recovered alcoholics, Mr. Corsi told Larry King (The Unthawed) that Obama’s statement that he hasn’t used drugs since he was 20 is unverifiable because “self-reporting, by people who have used drugs, as to when they stopped is inherently unreliable.”
So, using that logic, are we to believe that Dubya is still drinking? (The least of my concerns.) Or that the millions of Baby Boomers who stopped getting high when they starting investing their weed money into mutual funds are still closet dopers? Come on. Seriously! Either Corsi is incredibly ignorant about drugs, or he’s deliberately playing to the great unwashed masses of bigoted buffoons who wouldn’t vote for Obama in any case because he’s black, he’s “arrogant” (read: uppity), he’s “elitist”, or because he’s the boogey man Muslim about to turn our republic over to the islamofascists. (By the way, does that word make any sense? Do the coiners of such non-words even know the meanings?)
Interestingly (at least to me), Mr. Corsi was a frequent commenter on the forum, Free Republic in 2004. Remember we were introduced to the Freepers back during the Peterson case, when some of their typically vituperative members brought politics into my blog and later became Mutts? Ahh, yes. The good old days. I loved being attacked by Freepers like Jeanne (Valerie) Paredes (aka Just Amazed) when she warned me that she would be my “worst nightmare” while claiming the moral high ground in issues of childrearing, internet privacy and integrity. Yes, this is the same kook who sent the cops to my house when I revealed her identity on Usenet after one of the many people she offended online gave me the goods on her. But, I digress. This is simply a good example of the kind of nutcases who comprise Corsi’s constituency. Other frothing maniacs that come to mind are Sean Hannity, Bill O’Reilly, and Glenn Beck – another “recovered” alcoholic who is probably still going on benders, if you believe in The World According to Corsi.
One can hope that thoughtful readers, voters and the literate among us will reject this wholesale nonsense and demand issue-based debate in our elections. Yes, one can hope. Meanwhile, I cannot compose a better fisk than the one Obama’s campaign has devised here:
Good thing I am not actually running for Vice President. It would be a full-time job pointing out the countless false accusations made against me by bigoted, misogynist, xenophobic, sanctimonious, mendacious hypocrites. Oh, wait…never mind.
Comments
Good to see you back in fine form!
I have had to walk away from people spouting stuff similar to what seems to be in that book.
I want to hear the candidates talk about health care, the future of the war, the Constitution, the economy, and alternative fuel sources. For starters. I want to know what they really plan to do, not what they think I think I want to hear.
I am totally fed up with the "sound-byte" politicking, and the focus on trivialities. I want to know who is going to really do something, and not just spout promises to get my attention.
Posted by: vero | August 15, 2008 11:12 PM
Good to see you back. I missed reading your points of view.
Posted by: Anne | August 15, 2008 11:52 PM
http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/archives/2007/11/authors_sue_regnery/
Interesting - Corsi sued the publisher of his former book for ripping him off, then he went and used them again.
Posted by: loretta | August 16, 2008 02:17 PM
A great critique from HuffPost (and a great critic, I might add, who also fisked the other anti-Obama book out.)
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-k-wilson/jerome-corsis-lies-inside_b_119036.html
Bravo, John.
Posted by: loretta | August 16, 2008 03:38 PM
Yes, it happened (as I predicted before I posted this entry) - someone emailed me to remind me that Corsi thinks the WTC were brought down by controlled demolition, so he is on the same page as I am about that particular event.
However, my response is: Even a blind squirrel finds a nut now and again!
Posted by: loretta | August 17, 2008 07:20 PM
Hey...just because you agree on one issue doesn't mean you're committed to agreeing with everything he says. We are independent thinkers, right?
Don't know why that's so hared to grasp.
Posted by: vero | August 17, 2008 11:12 PM
Closing in on Jason Young?
Posted by: loretta | August 18, 2008 07:28 PM
But WHY no charges, arrests or anything to that matter?
Strange, really strange. He is/was the main suspect since Nov'2006 and nothing has happened. Even with DNA evidence.
What your thoughts?
Posted by: Anne | August 18, 2008 11:18 PM
Very damning!
http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/3365337/
Hotel surveillance video
Wake County sheriff's investigators seized computer records and video from 14 surveillance cameras from the Hillsville Hampton Inn in Virginia – more than 170 miles from Raleigh – where Jason Young claimed to be at the time of his wife's death.
The affidavits stated that video shows Jason Young in the lobby of the hotel between 10:49 p.m. and 10:51 p.m. on Nov. 2, 2006, wearing a light-colored, long-sleeved shirt with buttons at the neck. He is visible again on video recorded at 11:59 p.m. wearing a dark, long-sleeved shirt with a light-colored horizontal stripe.
Shortly after his second appearance, he is shown headed toward a side exit where hotel employees discovered a rock had been placed in the door jam to keep the door from closing and automatically locking, investigators said.
"It also made it unnecessary for anyone to use their keycard when re-entering through this door. This is important because the keycard system records when a keycard is used. It also records to whom the keycard has been assigned."
Jason Young's key card was used on one occasion, approximately six minutes after he checked into the hotel, according to the affidavits.
On the day of Michelle Young's death, Jason Young went to his mother's house in Brevard. His mother, Pat Young, and stepfather, Gerald McIntyre, told investigators that Jason did not remove any luggage from his SUV while at their house and did not wash, change or throw away any clothing.
After learning of Michelle Young's death, he headed back to Raleigh with his parents, sister and brother-in-law, the warrant states. Upon his arrival at the home of his sister-in-law, uniformed deputies searched his car and seized the contents. According to the warrant, the dark shirt seen in hotel video was not recovered.
Posted by: CountryGal | August 19, 2008 01:45 AM
http://dig.abclocal.go.com/wtvd/youngwarrants.pdf
Search warrant
Posted by: CountryGal | August 19, 2008 02:10 AM
Like Peterson, it's all circumstantial, and the JII crowd tears it down point by point. Like Peterson, they won't see the totality. Now they have a witness that places a "light-coloured SUV" at the scene around 4:30 AM, but the JIIs are arguing that, too, as Jason's is WHITE.
Go figure.
It's frustrating...going on two years now!
Posted by: vero | August 19, 2008 08:44 AM
Yeah, now they know that Jason left the hotel that night and the shirt he was wearing just happened to be missing. His bloody shoe print was left at the scene--hard to do when he wasn't there, right?
He set Michelle's sister up to find her body and left his little girl alone in the house with her mother's murdered body. What a guy!
Posted by: CountryGal | August 19, 2008 12:27 PM