The Cold Case Posse’s “Universe Shattering” Evidence
Opinion: By Brian Reilly To: Kevin Davidson, Dr. Conspiracy
In my last article, published on this site, through the courtesy of Dr. Conspiracy, it was necessary for me to establish the fact that I indeed came up with the idea to request Sheriff Arpaio to investigate what I believed were anomalies that I saw on the PDF copy of President Obama’s birth certificate that was posted on the White House website, April 27, 2011. It was my belief that the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO), reported to be the third largest in the nation, would have had the resources to give me answers regarding the authenticity of the purported Obama birth certificate document. It was also my belief that Sheriff Arpaio was among the few who would have the will to take on the project. Unfortunately, the MCSO didn’t do the investigation. On August 22, 2011, Sheriff Arpaio decided to turn the “investigation” over to Commander Mike Zullo and his all volunteer “Cold Case Posse Inc.” so that, as I was told by Arpaio, no tax payer dollars would be spent on the project. As we all know, Commander Zullo’s first trip to Hawaii incurred approximately $9,600.00 in taxpayer funded expenses. The non-profit Cold Case Posse Inc. was supposedly operating only on public donations. But as we have learned, the Cold Case Posse has filed no Form 990s with the IRS and the Sheriff when interviewed said that his office has no financial oversight of the CCP. The CCP finances remain an enigma with zero accountability to the public.
Shortly after it was announced by World Net Daily that the Cold Case Posse would undertake the Obama birth certificate investigation, I was contacted by Sheriff Richard Mack (Ret.), and he informed me that it was his opinion Sheriff Arpaio was not taking the Obama birth certificate investigation seriously as he had assigned the investigation to volunteers and not the MCSO. Mack then offered to do the investigation himself, for the Surprise Tea Party Patriots, for a price. I found Mack’s offer unsettling, considering Mack no longer had any law enforcement authority. I politely declined Mack’s offer. I defended Arpaio’s decision to Mack, while having some private concerns about what was beginning to unfold. This should have been my first warning that things weren’t right with the direction of the CCP investigation.
As the Surprise Tea Party liaison with the MCSO, I began to work closely with Commander Mike Zullo. As a private citizen, I traveled with him and I did research for him for about 7 months. Eventually, Zullo asked me to become a sworn member of his Cold Case Posse team. How could I be asked to join an investigation, when I asked for the investigation? Wouldn’t that be a direct conflict of interest? Wouldn’t that indicate a bias? I was told by Zullo that I had “uncanny” research skills. He said my idea for the birth certificate investigation was “brilliant.” He said that he had hand picked me over 3,000 existing Sheriff’s Posse members and I would be sworn into the CCP by Sheriff Arpaio. On the one hand I was more than flattered to be chosen. On the other hand, I was concerned about the appearance of a conflict of interest and the appearance of fairness. Zullo said he had never thought about a possible conflict of interest with me becoming a CCP member. That being said, I joined the Cold Case Posse to see things from the inside. In reality, I believe now, looking back, Zullo’s acceptance of the appearance of a conflict of interest was the second warning that should have told me things were not quite right with the CCP “investigation.”
Once I got inside the investigation, I saw that only Birther sources were being used to build cherry picked “evidence.” The “investigation” in my opinion, was not an investigation. In my opinion it was biased, politically motivated, and it turned into a magical cash cow for donations. At one point, to offer the illusion that the investigation was impartial, the Romney for President campaign was contacted and a request was made to send a copy of Romney’s birth certificate to the CCP, with the expressed caveat to not send Romney’s birth certificate if there was a problem with the document. To my knowledge, the CCP never did receive a copy of Romney’s birth certificate. Dr. Corsi was doing most if not all of the “research” and sending us down many endless rabbit holes, while writing stories about our efforts at WND. Zullo collated the “evidence.” WND continued to also raise donations for the effort and promote Zullo‘s and Corsi‘s e-book. Funds were also, I’m told, allegedly provided to Zullo, by an interested benefactor for Zullo’s personal use. Zullo referred to Dr. Corsi as the “Puppet Master.” I got the impression that Dr. Corsi really was pulling the strings and we were his “puppets.” I often told Zullo, this was supposed to be his investigation, not Dr. Corsi’s. To this day, I honestly can’t say whether Dr. Corsi had been sworn into the CCP. He never showed me a CCP badge or an ID card but Corsi was very interested in my badge and wallet ID card. Dr. Corsi was at the center of the “investigation.”
Much has been said and written about the fateful July 17, 2012, Cold Case Posse / MCSO press conference. I had decided to resign from the CCP, just weeks prior to the press conference. I had lost faith in the CCP effort. Zullo’s behavior was not a confidence builder and the growing questions about liability and the financial record keeping of the CCP was deeply concerning to me. The Hawaii Verification of Birth had also arrived at Secretary Bennett’s office. Both my wife Denise and I turned down Zullo’s invitation to attend the press conference. Once I saw the video of the press conference, I was incensed about the information Zullo presented. I wrote the following in an August 31, 2012 letter mailed to Sheriff Arpaio:
“…it would appear that the statement made [by Zullo] at the July 17, 2012 press conference that the number 9, hand written in pencil, for “Race of Father” meant “unknown or not stated” and the box “Race of Father” should have been left blank is erroneous. It would seem probable that with Obama’s alleged father having been born in “Africa” and considering he was black, his race designation as “African” with the hand written code number 9, meaning “other nonwhite” could be a correct entry in 1961. It would appear that the erroneous information stems from the improper use of a 1968 code chart, instead of the correct 1961 code chart representing a 1961 birth. I believe that the punch coding evidence for 1961 should be revisited and the finding corrected as necessary. If my research is correct, the July 17, 2012 press conference error will eventually impact the credibility and veracity of the entire Obama Certificate of Live Birth investigation. In my opinion, this is potentially a very significant flaw.”
Sheriff Arpaio never responded to my letter and the erroneous coding information to my knowledge was never used by Sheriff Arpaio or Commander Zullo in any of the many affidavits they prepared. Dr. Conspiracy, much to his credit, is to be congratulated for being among the very first to reveal the errors of the July 17, 2012, CCP press conference. Birthers did everything that they could to conceal the coding errors presented by Commander Zullo. The truth didn’t fit the Birther narrative or, for that matter, the CCP narrative. The Zullo error was conveniently ignored by Birthers. After the July 17, 2012, press conference, I more fully understood my prior admonition by a prominent CCP member that I “needed to learn how to lie.” On March 30, 2014 Commander Zullo was quoted by Carl Gallups: “If people don’t hear it from me, it isn’t true.” Mr. Zullo, how do you reconcile this recent quote with your comments to the press on July 17 & 18, 2012?
Zullo Quote:
http://ppsimmons.blogspot.com/2014/03/zullo-on-release-date-ppsimmons-will.html?m=1
To those Birthers who still may be open to the truth, I would ask that you review the July 17, 2012 CCP press conference video to see the importance that Commander Zullo gave to his erroneous revelation about the birth codes being indicative of forgery. His statements were, in my opinion, wrong and have never been corrected to this day. The second link is Zullo’s remarks to ABC Phoenix, July 18, 2012. Zullo has never apologized for the errors he presented in his July 17, 2012 press conference.
July 17, 2012 Cold Case Posse Press Conference:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=alVzyfptF80
July 18, 2012 ABC Interview with CCP Commander Mike Zullo:
http://www.abc15.com/news/region-phoenix-metro/central-phoenix/video-arpaios-lead-investigator-talks-obama-birth-certificate-to-abc15
I think that it is appropriate for this letter to be published on April Fools Day. For the Birthers who still have a mind to think, I would ask you to consider what I have written. In my opinion, you and the American public have been misled by the so-called “investigation” and by the associated solicitations for financial donations by the Cold Case Posse and its hardcore Birther allies. If you no longer have the ability to discern the truth for yourself, I would suggest that you have already become fools, or as some would say, “useful idiots.” To those hardcore Birthers who have duped so many of the gullible into following their evil deception I would simply leave you with the following:
Lying lips are abomination to the Lord: but they that deal truly are his delight.
– Proverbs 12:22 (KJV)
The heart of him that hath understanding seeketh knowledge: but the mouth of fools feedeth on foolishness.
– Proverbs: 15:14, (KJV)
The Verification of Obama’s Birth sent by the Hawaii Department of Health to Kansas, Mississippi, and Arizona is the “knowledge,“ that will free you from the bondage of Birther “foolishness.”
I want to once again thank Dr. Conspiracy for allowing me to express my thoughts on his site. I also want to thank the members of this site for the courtesy and hospitality that they have shown me. I also want to congratulate you all for your search for the truth.
Regards,
Brian Reilly
Thanks again Mr Reilly. I see that you’re trying to help people understand that the CCP is only a scam, being backed by the County Sheriff. I just wish a few people who have donated to this scam would sue and force Zullo into a court and onto the stand to testify under oath. THAT would put an end to this farce.
“After the July 17, 2012, press conference, I more fully understood my prior admonition by a prominent CCP member that I “needed to learn how to lie.”
If that’s true, whoever that was needs to be named.
” On March 30, 2014 Commander Zullo was quoted by Carl Gallups: “If people don’t hear it from me, it isn’t true.” Mr. Zullo, how do you reconcile this recent quote with your comments to the press on July 17 & 18, 2012? ”
There is of course the obvious… if you do hear it from Mr. Zullo is isn’t true. That’s been proven over and over.
Thanks again, Brian, for attempting to shed some light on what we hear and a few other places have known since day one was a sham.
“Lying lips are abomination to the Lord: but they that deal truly are his delight.
– Proverbs 12:22 (KJV)”
This is all pretty hypocritical for the man who has lied about Obama care. And it appears that you love the limelight and the attention.
Also during the ABC interview Zullo says that there is a journal article by a guy named Bennett which was written about 10 years ago and that verifies their certification numbering scheme.
Except the article by Dr. Bennett was written in 1955 and never mentions the certification numbers.
In the same interview Zullo claims that the President’s BC number is out of sequence but he already has the BC number from the woman born August 23, 1961 with an even lower number than the Nordykes or The President.
Mr. Reilly when you were with the CCP aware of this BC with the lower number? Dr. Corse wrote about it in September, 2011.
http://www.wnd.com/2011/09/342937/
In terms of Proverbs applicable to Birthers and the Tea Party, my favorite is 11:29:
“He that troubleth his own house shall inherit the wind,
And the Fool shall be servant to the Wise in heart.”
Commander?
Thank you again, Mr. Reilly.
This is truly an indictment of Arpaio, Zullo, Corsi and the entire birther scam.
It’s the title of the posse leader….not a rank.
In the other posses the commander is elected by the members. In this case it appears Zullo elected himself.
In my opinion, I don’t believe you’re being quite fair to Mr. Reilly.
You state that he has “lied” about Obamacare. What you characterize as “lying” looks more likely to me to be a difference of opinion or understanding.
Even if – for the sake of argument – even if someone makes a statement that is not true, such a statement is a mistake rather than a lie unless the person making the statement knew it was untrue, or made it with the intent to deceive.
Personally, I don’t think Mr. Reilly would be publicly quoting the proverb above if he believed or knew that he himself had been deliberately making false public statements.
I laugh everytime I hear something about the ‘anomalies in the the PDF copy of President Obama’s birth certificate’. It just confirm that the speaker has no idea what s/he is talking about.
Has anyone ever explained the issue of authenticity of documentary evidence?
And what is your purpose in this post?
Do you have anything of substance to add to the conversation? Anything that might help everyone understand the situation or are you just going to be the little yippy dog running around while everyone else is trying have an adult conversation?
It appears to me his purpose is pretty clear. He expressed his opinion on Mr. Reilly’s statement re Obamacare and in addition his opinion of Mr. Reilly.
AFAIK he’s entitled to do so. You’re entitled to disagree.
End of story.
Mr. Friegen, it is not yet proven that Mr. Reilly has lied about Obama care. He stated with his first letter that he had “lost his health insurance because of Obama care” and has since then been silent to that. Yes, some people would like to know some more facts about that loss. Especially because other people have lied about that topic.
As a second thought it seems that Mr. Reilly’s disgust of everything Obama must have been very strong.
That is the only explanation for the fact that he saw “anomalies” on the PDF copy of President Obama’s birth certificate that was posted on the White House website and that these anomalies made it necessary to question his President’s birth as reported.
Mr. Reilly, if I would send you a PDF of a photo of the MonaLisa and you realize that this PDF has layers and that with these layers you can freely move her eyes wherever you want – would you question the authenticity of the painting hanging in the Louvre and ask the question “did Leonardo da Vinci ever live” ?
After all this time I find it difficult to understand how anyone sincerely believed there was some sort of conspiracy to coverup Obama’s birthplace. The thought is just plain silly (to me anyhow). A candidate for POTUS is scrutinized beyond belief and would surely be outed — it’s not something he/she could keep secret and would have to be very, very stupid to think they could get away with it. Billions of dollars are at stake.
As soon as the COLB was released Birthers became a mere punchline.
I have to agree. Lots of people “lost their health insurance” under the Affordable Care Act. The question is whether he became uninsurable under the ACA.
I crunched the numbers for myself (I’m Reilly’s age) and insurance is pretty pricey for me because unlike a company group policy where everybody pays the same, the cost of Insurance on the exchange is based on age. Young folks pay a fraction of what an older person pays. It might be that Reilly had a really crappy policy and that under the ACA a qualifying plan could be a lot more expensive.
Having said all of what I said above, I think a reasonable person may well conclude that someone involved with the Cold Case Posse did in fact lie to the public at the July 2012 press conference.
Why? Because they made certain very clear and very specific claims: “We have the 1961 Vital Statistics instructions manual from the federal government. And that manual says that the number ‘9’ for race means ‘not stated.'”
Obviously, that was a FALSE statement.
Theoretically, it would have been possible for some member of the Cold Case Posse to make that statement innocently. But that requires certain conditions.
That person would have to have believed the statement was true. This would have been possible if the person making the statement had no direct access to the supposed evidence – perhaps because of holding a powerless position in the Posse, and had a complete and naive trust of the person who had told him what the evidence supposedly said.
On the other hand, it does NOT seem possible for anyone who had even the slightest modicum of competence and honesty, who had access to the so-called “evidence,” to have made such a statement innocently.
In other words: It’s very very difficult for a rational person to come to any conclusion other than that SOMEONE in the Cold Case Posse flat-out lied.
And since Mike Zullo was obviously in a position, as “Commander” of the Posse, where full access to the evidence was his for the asking, then Zullo himself must be either a deliberate liar, or an imbecile who makes Inspector Clouseau look like a competent detective.
So which is it? Enquiring minds want to know.
I get the impression that Brian Reilly is a real “straight arrow” kind of guy. “Commander” is the official title of the leader of a MCSO posse. It’s an organizational title, not a government title. In a lot of my writing I try to use proper titles for things too.
Does Zullo actually command anyone these days? That is, is he the only member of the posse actively involved in investigating the President?
It looks more like a possum than a posse to me.
Thank you.
Incidentally, as regards Sterngard Friegen’s statement that Mr. Reilly “loves the limelight and the attention,” again I would have to disagree.
Reilly waited nearly 2 years after July 2012 before finally coming forward with his birtherverse-shattering inside revelations. That doesn’t seem to me the action of a publicity hound.
Once again, Brian Reilly has opened a window on the Cold Case Posse. And once again, that window has confirmed what we already knew. Arpaio’s “investigation” was a total sham from the very beginning. A politically-motivated, dishonest, fraudulent fake.
The mystery is why anyone still puts hope in these clowns. It’s sort of an “open” mystery, as quite a few people tend to only listen to the news sources that say what they want to hear, and quite a few people will tune out the truth in favor of listening to whatever con man will tell them what they want to hear.
Still, even so, it’s a bit of a mystery how they can tune out the truth when the truth is this obvious.
BTW: Thanks again, Mr. Reilly.
Very good!! The Cold Case Possum. (Doc can insert appropriate graphic of possum playing dead here.)
More a cross between Mr Magoo and Detective Clousseau to me…blind and stupid
Nailed it (as usual), Publius.
Oh, how I’d love to switch on ’60 Minutes’ some Sunday evening and see Mr. Reilly being interviewed. I’m picturing Mr. Zullo refusing to answer questions as he dashes for the safety of his Crown Vic.
I guess this *is* a little universe shattering, isn’t it! (Assuming it’s not an April Fool’s prank, that is! 🙂 )
The idea that the Maricopa CCCP cherry-picked the parts they would use for their “investigation” isn’t surprising in the slightest. It was obvious from day one that was going to be the case. Nor is the fact that Jerome Corsi was into it up to his face rash. Almost everyone involved in this – Arapaio, Corsi, Zullo, Gallups, etc., has some tie to World Net Daily and the cadre of “experts” they tout.
But it’s also normal for the birthers. If they don’t actively cherry-pick what they believe or disbelieve, they uncritically believe what those who DO cherry-pick claim.
Brian Reilly fell into that second category. The fact he now has his blinders somewhat off doesn’t change the fact he was willing enough to believe those claims early on.
Official … how? Is that a title bestowed by the posse’s articles of incorporation or its by-laws?
Zullo is an officer and director, sure. But “commander” seems to be as much puffery as “lieutenant.”
idunno if it was posted, but Doc’s blog was linked by Phoenix New Times. 🙂
Joe Arpaio’s Birther Squad Fails to Provide Any Evidence Yet Again
By Matthew Hendley Tue., Apr. 1 2014 at 11:42 AM
Categories: News
http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/valleyfever/2014/04/joe_arpaio_obama_birth_certificate_universe_shattering_evidence.php
I think it is in a video somewhere but didn’t Sheriff Joe say somewhere that this was a criminal investigation. How “official” does that make it?
I’m with Stern. That’s awesome that many of you can dismiss Reilly’s late confession with welcoming arms, that’s your prerogative. Some of us remember what his initial actions caused, attempting harm to both the Presidency and the country. His actions brought ALL of this about. And who knows if he is lying about health care, the fact is, he just couldn’t help taking another dig at a duly elected President with his claim, like a petulant child. If Mr. Reilly could find a path to usher this president out of office right now, he would do so – Count on it. So you’ll have to excuse some of us for not heaping praise.
I had sent him the links earlier in March. Hopefully, a few more Phoenix papers will pick up on this. Think I’ll link this article in the comments section.
There’s no “may well” about it: you must conclude they lied.
In the video (which is still on youtube in Gillar’s channel), starting about 30 seconds in, they show what they say are the coding instructions. Those instructions say “Unknown or not stated” and “(Race of parent only)”. The voice-over says they say “Not stated”. Later in the video, they prove that that wasn’t just a paraphrase by claiming the “9” means some fields should be blank, and they apply the coding instruction to father’s occupation field.
I think that probably started as a mistake: they got the wrong impression of what the “9” meant. But, after discovering the mistake, they presented the video and its false claims, anyway.
That clearly a lie, and I think it should be part of their fraud prosecution.
True. And he was obviously correct (and acted prudently) regarding the non-insurance of the CCP vehicles.
My only comment (call it a complaint if you like) is that if he’s going to “come out” as it were, regarding the sham that is the CCP, then he needs to come out… completely. Name names (such as who told him he needed to learn how to lie).
If it’s all a sham, why not reveal what they did in WA, for example, and all he knows of what went on in HI, if anything, etc.
No half-assed coming out, either lay it all out or not. And of the things he chooses to lay out (if indeed he’s going to equivocate on some) at least on those he does say he’s willing to divulge, do so in full.
/rant 🙂
The only question is what the lie was.
I think it unlikely Zullo knew the codes were fake if for no other reason than it was too big of a risk of easy exposure. Even “we have the manual” could be true if Zullo considered Jerome Corsi as “we” and believed that Corsi had the manual.
The core lie behind all other lies is that the Cold Case Posse was conducting an investigation using law enforcement standards and competent personnel. In fact, despite their cop car and their posse badge, the Cold Case Posse is no better than any birther keyboard commanders on the Internet.
Would a couple days in the Obama Conspiracy Theories stocks make you feel better? (Appropriate picture, Doc?)
Seriously…..he saw the error of his ways. If he hadn’t or if he had and didn’t speak up where would we be now?
I find Mr. Reilly’s experience to be an interesting look into the mindset of the gullible and partisan. For most of us, birtherism was an obvious joke from the start, especially when the underlying story and legal theories kept changing and morphing as they were debunked one by one.
In addition, anyone who understands ANYTHING about technology understands that a PDF file is a reconstructed electronic duplication of an original document, inherently will have layers and that those “anomolies” are utterly meaningless for determining whether the original document is authentic. And of you don’t understand that, 30 seconds in an openminded discussion with any tech-savvy person can clear up the issue for you.
Yet Mr. Reilly bought in, because he was blinded by his partisanship. He bought in so deeply that he worked FULL TIME FOR NO PAY FOR ALMOST A YEAR for the CCP before finally seeing the light and bowing out. That is amazing to me. I understand why grifters like Corsi and Zullo do what they do. It is their followers that I don’t understand. How can you be so gullible? Was your fear of Obama so intense that you were willing to believe ANYTHING about him?
Of course, I never understood religious cults either. The behavior sure looks similar.
Mr. Reilly, I’m glad you saw reality eventually. I hope for your sake that you aren’t falling for similar partisan nonsense in every other aspect of your life. I hope you aren’t falling for Nigerian email scams or fowarding dubious email stories about Agenda 21.
That’s not a “fact”: that’s your inference. And, based on the attitudes he’s expressed, and the demeanor he’s shown, I think it’s far more likely that was his way of showing that he hasn’t experienced some dramatic conversion, and is still strongly anti-Obama politcally, even though he’s no longer questioning his “legality”.
Again, merely your inference. My interpretation is that he’s accepted electoral defeat. And my guess is that he knows such a move would cause more harm than good, even for his own ideological objectives, and is opposed to the efforts of people like Klayman and Riley who want to undo the election just because they don’t like Obama. Have you actually seen him spouting any of that hysterical Marxist-Muslim-tyrant-who-must-be-deposed nonsense?
“The Verification of Obama’s Birth sent by the Hawaii Department of Health to Kansas, Mississippi, and Arizona is the “knowledge,“ that will free you from the bondage of Birther “foolishness.”
You mean the verifications where the Place of Birth and DOB were not verified ON THE RECORD and that SOS Bennett “magically forgot” to ask for these items to verified.
Mmmm, no: many, probably even most, people with only a modest understanding of technology don’t know about the details that are crucial to recognizing that the CCP theories are, not just “mistaken”, but (as Gallups would say) “10000% crap”.
Most people on the birther side of the argument do seem to believe that a PDF is a “duplication”, so they can do all the silly typographic analyses. But most PDFs, especially the ones stored online, are not: they’re “depictions”, like MP3s or JPEGs, intended to give a human senses a realistic impression of the original, not to duplicate it. Some PDFs, especially archives of legal or medical records, do strive for “duplication”, but the norm is to go for “good enough”.
And the experience of most people, who buy their scanners (if they have one at all) from Wal-Mart or Best Buy, is that they don’t produce multi-layered PDFs directly, and probably not even with the included software.
Additionaly, they’re not really well-equipped to tell who’s “tech-savvy”. Take Mara Zebest: she has orders of magnitude more experience using tools like Photoshop than I do, and has literally forgotten more than I’m likely to learn about making pretty pictures with them. To the average person, she probably looks like a “technology expert”, even though I’ve forgotten more than she’ll even learn about what goes on under the hood.
So it’s not fair to dismiss them as “gullible” just because they don’t have the background needed to tell which “expert” they should believe, or to understand the jargon-saturated debate that goes on between the dueling experts.
It’s like a lot of other political topics that involve science or high tech, where people fall for charlatans because “common sense” says their limited knowledge is sufficient to understanding the issue when it’s not.
Grasping at straws, john?
Sorry John, can’t hear you over the sounds of you sobbing into your official Zullo plush doll. They accepted the verification that Hawaii issued. It doesn’t have to pass YOUR inspection. You’re not a Secretary of State.
I wonder what Reilly’s opinion is on the following things:
Loretta Fuddy’s Death
Obama Pamphlet born in Kenya bio.
John… Wrong again!! HI verified everything to Ken Bennett.
http://azcapitoltimes.com/wp-files//verification-in-lieu-of-certified-copy.pdf
I’m assuming you can read, though that may be incorrect on my part.
Wanna retract your ridiculous statement/lie?
I thought you knew everyone on the posse, john. Why don’t you just ask him directly?
In the meantime watch out.;…..your strawman is looking downright anorexic.
The birther relents: Obama to be on Arizona ballot
Posted on May 22, 2012 | By Joel Connelly
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Arizona Sec. of State Ken Bennett, who said a week ago it was “possible” he wouldn’t put President Obama on the fall ballot, on Tuesday relented from his “birther” inquiries amidst a torrent of ridicule.
“If I embarrassed the state I apologize, but that certainly wasn’t my intent,” Bennett, a Republican, told Phoenix radio station KTAR.
Bennett had demanded “verification” from Hawaii that President Obama’s birth certificate was authentic. He claimed to be responding to a torrent of letters raising questions about the 44th President’s birthplace.
All sorts of things happened. Officials in Hawaii demanded verification of Bennett’s authority to make the request. Democrats began sending Bennett letters demanding that he seek verification that Mitt Romney was born in the U.S. A. And it was disclosed that Bennett is co-chairman of Romney’s campaign in the Grand Canyon State.
“He’s on the ballot as long as he fills out the same paperwork and does the same things that everybody else has,” Bennett said Tuesday. Bennett said he would make an amended request to Hawaiian officials.
The birther silliness is not totally stilled. Maricopa Count (Ariz.) Sheriff Joe Arpaio has sent two “investigators” to Hawaii to look into the President’s birth records. The far-right Drudge Report web site has published an item designed to reawaken the issue. Iowa’s Republican Party has a birther plank in its platform draft.
Bennett, meanwhile, is asking for sympathy.
“I feel like I was just trying to glue the far little corner of the carpet down,” he said, “and as soon as you just touch the carpet, the whole floor buckles.”
http://blog.seattlepi.com/seattlepolitics/2012/05/22/the-birther-relents-obama-to-be-on-arizona-ballot/
You obviously never read the verification because the Place of Birth was verified in a line item. The Date of birth was verified in the statement that further all the information contained in the PDF bennett attached matches what was in the original.
Plane crash combined with being old and the shock of the water landing. No relation to Obama at all.
The writer of the bio said it was her mistake. Now John back to you claiming you would give up this nonsense if the CCP produced nothing in march as they promised.
‘I have no doubts now,’ [Kansas Secretary of State] Kobach says of Obama’s birthplace
By BRENT D. WISTROM
Wichita Eagle
http://www.kansas.com/2012/09/17/2492998/kansas-expects-to-end-challenge.html
my bet is on:
A): tragic.
B): “of no concern”
I guess Place of birth was verified. But, the DOB has never been verified ON THE RECORD. Every element of Obama’s birth has been verified on the record EXCEPT the DOB. The statement and other verifications don’t help either. They speak of “information” but don’t qualify. The DOB is there merely “Assumed” and isn’t actually verified on the record. This become a especially important point when you consider the Arizona Verification. Be that as it may, SOS Bennett “Magically Forgot” to ask for the State of Hawaii the verification of DOB. While some may see this as total incompentance, I see this as probably by design. My theory is that SOS Bennett was notified by a source, perhaps Hawaii, that Hawaii could not verify the DOB and Bennett should not ask for it in his verification leading to his “magical forgetfulness”. Nevertheless, Bennett submitted the verification request not withstanding probably to get the birthers off his back. Once Hawaii came back with the verification (Without the DOB of course), Bennett could say he appeased the birthers and get the issue off of him.
There is a literally infinite number of irrelevant topics about which Reilly has no personal knowledge; you have named only two. What makes them different?
*sigh*
This again “john?”
I would like to make two points, john.
1) On two other verifications the url address for the PDF of Obama’s birth certificate is listed in the verification and it certifies the information published on that document matches the information contained in the original they have on file at the DOH in Hawaii.
You are aware, of course, that the birth date is on that file published at that URL. You simply cannot argue that it is not. So, to argue that the DOH of Hawaii has not verified the birth date is a down right lie. Even if you want to argue that they had not verified it in the Arizona verification, which they actually did, you cannot deny that they did so in the other two verifications.
2) If you have a problem with the fact that Bennett did not request the birth date in his request for verification, then shouldn’t you take that up with him?
Not sure if anyone saw this article from the Phoenix times…
Joe Arpaio’s Birther Squad Fails to Provide Any Evidence Yet Again
http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/valleyfever/2014/04/joe_arpaio_obama_birth_certificate_universe_shattering_evidence.php?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter
Hawaii has never verified the DOB on the record per se. The other verifications simply speak of “information” and merely assumptions that DOB has been verified. Again, Hawaii can’t and won’t verify the DOB on the record. This has been proven by the Arizona Verification.
That one seems to be one of John’s favorite memes.
Running out of time, John, only 2 1/2 more years to get him out before he gets out of office.
Ah, but even if he leaves in 2017, the Magic Reset Button still awaits the mashing of the One Honest Judge.
Spoken like a true butterdezillionaire. I take it you are old money, not a mere parvenu.
Again, the verification doesn’t have to pass your scrutiny, just the SOSes of the states it was sent to. And lookit! Each one of them went “Well, that’s good enough for me!” This is me, rubbing your chump face in it, John. No amount of protesting or nitpicks, or “Show us your papers, BOY!” from you will ever remove Obama from office. He is the President of these United States until inauguration day 2017, and there’s not a damned thing you can do about it.
I can’t speak for Mr. Reilly, but my opinion is that Ms. Fuddy died as the result of a tragic accident. The fact that you want people to believe that foul play was involved is offensive.
When you converted to Catholicism, didn’t they teach you about bearing false witness?
Hawaii has repeatedly verified that Mr. Obama was born in… Hawaii.
Officially.
By the way, what does it feel like to be an unpaid shill for charlatans and frauds?
Do you doubt that Barack Obama is 35 years of age and thus old enough to be president? If Sec. of State Bennett in Arizona or any other state’s Chief Elections Official or if any member of Congress or any judge wants Hawaii to verify the Obama date of birth, they can ask Dr. Onaka for yet another Certified Letter of Verification in Lieu of Certified Copy.
Hawaii’s verification was sufficient for everyone who matters.
So what exactly is your claim? That Obama was younger than 35 when he was first elected in 2009? That Obama was born before Hawaii became a state?
You just keep moving goalposts – “even if I accept he was born in Hawaii and is an NBC, he might have been born too late / too early”. Yeah right.
I’m actually more surprised you don’t complain Hawaii didn’t confirm the names of the parents. Because doubting Obama’s parentage has been all the rage in Birtherstan for more than 5 years now (Frank Marshall Davis? Malcolm X? The Subud cult founder? Dunham sr. and a Hawaiian street hooker? We’ve heard it all!).
From comments that he left at B.R., it appears john knows that Arpaio/Zullo have let him down. Perhaps his current flailing is a final attempt to hold on to the myths that sustained him for so long.
Big Fat Lie… again.
Of course, they’ve verified the DOB and everything else on the BC. More than once.
I appreciate Brian Reilly’s postings and his insight into the activities of the Cold Case Posse. That being said, I think Brian needs to critically examine why it is that he would believe such foolishness.
I came to this topic when a friend told me about the Grandmother tape. I listened to it and read a transcript. I told him that it was simply not believable (it starts in the middle, doesn’t identify who is there, etc.) and, in any event, later in the tape she says that Pres. Obama was born in Hawaii. When I reported back that day my friend pointed me to Dr. Taitz. I read her web site and came to a quick conclusion that she was not capable of taking down a President, even for good reasons, and that she had issues. Perhaps she should not be allowed outdoors for her own safety. Surely accusing everyone who disagrees with you of treason is a good indication of a mental disease. Then I was pointed to the Minor case, and that seemed to actually be useful, since the quote I was given made clear that Pres. Obama was not a natural born citizen. But one need not be a lawyer to read cases, so I searched for the case and read it, and found that the quote I was given was incomplete. I reached the conclusion that the self-described “Birthers” were nuts. untruthful, deceitful, and, ultimately, despicable.
When the long form was released, the short form birth certificate was out there, for years. Hawaii’s web site was out there for years. There were the billboards demanding the birth certificate, but it was produced, and Savannah Guthrie touched it. WND’s White House reporter, whatever his name is, pronounced himself satisfied.
When, in a few days, the question of layers was raised, I took a paper off my desk and scanned it, and then looked at it in some Adobe program I had. Layers. A few days later when in our California offices I asked our guy who prepares our presentations about it, and he demonstrated layers in a randomly selected document off my desk.
I’m a conservative Republican. I did not vote for Pres. Obama either time. There a lots of reasons I think he is not as good a President as Sen. McCain or Gov. Romney would be. That’s not the subject of this blog. But this whole birth certificate nonsense is just that, nonsense, and it has always been nonsense, and Brian ought to examine why he devoted so much time out of his life to trying to advance nonsense that was never, ever going to change what Hawaii said, that Pres. Obama was born there. Someone who chases around several Western states searching for this will of the wisp really needs to examine his basic decision making approach to life before going outdoors or using sharp instruments.
So I appreciate Brian’s reports, but I simply cannot fathom why someone with a reasonable modicum of intelligence would devote so much of his time and effort in pursuit of obvious nonsense.
Bravo,
Mr. Reilly (John). I tried to say the same before. You said it so much better.
Your European
Hear, hear!
I could add to your list of falsehoods the distorted quote from Vattel claiming he came up with the “two citizen parents” nonsense when he fact he said the very opposite.
I agree with your evaluation of Brian’s shortcomings in applying critical thinking soon enough to his involvement with the CCP and their sham “investigation” of Obama.
Regular readers here should know that I don’t suffer Birthers gladly. But, truthfully, we all have put faith in foolishness at least momentarily over the course of our lives. Critical thinking allows one to correct that course much faster, if one bothers to apply it.
But when a script is as superficially and richly tilted as the Birther screed has always been, if one naively assumes that damning anthem was GENERATED by HONEST folks who HAD applied critical thinking to the process, and WERE BEING OBJECTIVE in their analysis and conclusions, one could carelessly be misled to join the hanging posse, especially if the stated objective is seemingly “just” to see a document or provoke an official inquiry by law enforcement, the courts, or the Congress.
Brian eventually let the inappropriate things he observed the CCP actually doing and the appropriate things they were NOT doing, trump the self-serving lies told by Zoo Low to support the sham “investigation”. He’s called them out. Better late than never, and maybe more difficult a thing to do, than those of us who might be more consistent critical thinkers, remember it being in our more impetuous earlier days.
I think he deserves more credit for changing course than scorn for joining a morally, logically, and factually bankrupt cause to begin with. I’m sure many other follower Birthers have come to realize they have been too easily deceived, but don’t have the intellectual integrity to now admit it. Brian’s example is a fortunate model for others so situated, demonstrating by contrast with the lunatic Birther-bunker hold-outs, the power of sanely turning to the factual truth to produce a narrative, and away from obvious lies and rumour.
And thankfully, he’s a jewel in the crown that proclaims that we were right about the CCP’s investigation of Obama being a sham all along!
The Birthers extraordinary LACK of intellectual integrity collectively illustrates why ALL of the Framers would have agreed that no Constitution, or statute would mean anything at all, unless the process used to settle disputes about such laws was official, and executed with intellectual integrity. Similarly, amicable social accord among citizens of a nation who disagree about issues, depends on discussions and dialogue that is also characterized by intellectual integrity.
Unable to prevail in such a sanely based forum with their lunatic premises, Birthers and other types of anarchists, are forced to try to turn every exchange and the entire debating environment into a food fight of vilifying charges and name-calling.
To the extent that his action in “coming out” has ended up celebrating eye-witness intellectual integrity by debunking CCP disinforming “information” about Obama’s Presidential eligibility and alleged criminality, Brian has demonstrated the power of intellectual integrity and increased its presence in this discussion.
That can only be good for the good guys.
That’s pretty well said.
While I think it’s safe to say that the majority of commenters at this site are on the left / pro-Obama side of the political spectrum (with a few being fairly stridently so), I want you to know that’s by no means true of anything approaching all.
Some of us, like you, are not necessarily pro-Obama at all. So-called “Obots” include conservatives and libertarians and even some from other countries who don’t have a dog in the American political fight at all.
And as I’ve said before, I myself would not consider myself pro-Obama. I’m simply pro-sanity.
Well said.
Again, well said. It takes guts to stand up and say, “I started on this course, but I found out I was on the wrong path.” That takes guts, and there are very few with the manhood to do it.
Far more typical is the person who, realizing he promoted a load of bs, slinks quietly away and is just never heard from again.
And even that is a big step above folks like john, who can’t bring themselves even to face the truth.
I supported Obama in 2008, but I admit that I was troubled when I first heard allegations about they mythical Pakistan travel ban. This was before I found this blog. Then I learned about the 1981 New York Times article about traveling to Pakistan and I found a 1981 photo of a Pakistan International Airlines plane parked at a gate at JFK Airport. Why would PIA have flights from New York to Pakistan if Americans weren’t allowed to travel there?
At that time I was naive enough to believe that the people who were spreading the stories about Obama having a foreign passport would change their tune when provided with evidence to the contrary, but we all know how often that happens.
So I will give Brian Reilly credit for being one of the few birthers to see the light, or at least publicly acknowledging that he has seen the light. That said, I still wish that he would be more forthcoming about exactly how Obamacare has affected him. If his health insurance was cancelled because it was non-compliant, he certainly had more than a few options available to him. Of course, it didn’t help that Governor Brewer refused to set up a State-run exchange and forced Arizona residents to rely upon the Federal exchange.
Just in case you ever need the name again……the WND reporter was Les Kinsolving.
You would think that people who had taken up a false idea, when presented with clear evidence that it was total nonsense, would say, “Oh, okay. Never mind.”
Wouldn’t you?
Sorry, that’s not the way it works with birthers.
Nope. I then went into debunking mode on the birthers I met around the web. The most fun is when you get them talking and talking and they end up debunking themselves! Of course, then they ignore the fact they debunked themselves and continue on their circular logic, but it’s still there even after 5+ years.
That statement is contradicted by the entire history of human civilization.
I suppose so. 🙁
For an informative read try Barbara Tuchman’s “The March of Folly.” For people who only respond to visual, try the movie “The Fog of War,” or a new movie coming out featuring an interview with Donald Rumsfeld. Birthers are not the only ones who make bad decisions. We can do so as a society.
I heard about Vattel much later in the process. Once again a friend sent me something. I’m tempted to say it was part of a legal brief, quoting Vattel, but I’m not sure. My friend said something to the effect of Obama is not eligible because his Father was British. It was an OMG moment. My first thought was that my friends used to be concerned with anchor babies, the hordes of foreigners coming to Cook County General to have babies, get them American citizenship, and then leave. So I asked about that and I learned that there are multiple different categories of citizens. News to me.
I observed that I didn’t remember the Indiana school system taught anything about Vattel. After all, why are we concerned about some old Swiss guy. So I learned that the title of his book made it into the Constitution. You know, sort of like one of those puzzles in USA Today where you try to circle all of the words in a seemingly random grid of letters. (I spend a lot of time in airports and hotels.) I said this wasn’t covered at the Academy, either. News to my wife, too, but she teaches younger children so maybe this stuff is too sophisticated for her charges.
Soon enough, thanks to our friend Lupin, I learned the correct translation. And someone, perhaps Lupin, noted that Vattel had a section saying the English did it differently.
So I asked my friend why are we bound by some old Swiss guy from a country which drinks Rivella. (They do have a great air force, though.)
And I noted that the Swiss had national healthcare offered through private insurance companies who are not permitted to profit from the business. I asked him besides Vattel, national health care, Swiss cheese, and Rivella, was there anything else Swiss we should incorporate into our Constitution. If we read down or on a diagonal will we find Rivella hidden in the Constitution like it was some Tarot card?
And then I got serious with him. I noted that the fellow who pulled me from my damaged aircraft in Afghanistan was Mexican-American, born at Cook County General to illegal alien parents. And he was as much a natural born citizen as this Irish-American whose ancestors came over during the famine 160+ years ago.
So I do appreciate Brian Reilly’s postings, and his insight into the Cold Case Posse, but some of us live in the real world where decisions we make can have life and death consequences. Think Obama wasn’t born here? Go online on your smart phone, look it up, all in less time than it takes Starbucks to made a coffee. Why on Earth would you drive all over tarnation for months talking to people when all you need is an iPhone and a good signal?
Hate to burst your bubble, but technically a PIA plane in the US does not prove the plane flies to Pakistan or accepts American citizens on board. This would be the kind of birther logic like “the fact that one Kenyan flew to Hawaii in 1961 proves it was baby Obama”. It’s an easy fallacy to equate “this makes it possible” or even “this makes it unlikely it didn’t” with “this proves it”.
In case of the “travel ban”, the burden of proof is of course on those who claimed there ever was one.
Freedom Fries
Critical thinking is only possible if you are prepared to critically examine your own assumptions, and that’s why for most birthers critical thinking is anathema. Or as Falcon puts it:
“Whenever someone use(sic) the term critical thinking I just throw-up and disregard any points. Liberals are critical thinkers . . .”
Hey, I’m actually proud of our own “john” (writing as [real name redacted. Doc] at B.R.)! Look at what he posted today about the CCP:
“The CCP must refute the Xerox. It is damning: http://rcradioblog.wordpress.com/2014/04/01/new-x…
Birther Hermitian puts a valent fight but fight alone. No one helps.”
Of course, B.R.’s head of ideological purity quickly weighed in:
“★FALCON★
They don’t have to do any such thing. And it’s not damning. It’s a phantasm created by sycophants.”
http://www.birtherreport.com/2014/04/team-arpaio-lfbc-tip-of-iceberg-sheriff.html
john, if you read this, remember: by choosing reason over delusion, the only thing you lose is your chains.
John,
If you choose the quick and easy path as Zullo did – you will become an agent of evil.
Darth Vader at least got a sweet TIE Fighter in the deal.
But that didn’t end well.
COME TOWARD THE LIGHT, JOHN
Technically, yes, but at the very least it is highly improbable that any airline would have flights from New York to Pakistan if no American citizens were allowed to board.
Diplomatic flights for U.N. Delegates and Staff?
At the time of the supposed Pakistan travel ban no commercial plane could travel non-stop between New York and Pakistan. The point of a Pakistan plane at JFK was most likely the same as it is today for several national airlines: show the flag.
It’s entirely possible for a Pakistani airline to have a regular “New York – Sydney” flight without ever going to Pakistan (except for decommissioning the plane).
Maybe not likely, but we were talking about proof level, not probability level. 😉
Then, as John Reilly said, not being allowed to travel to Pakistan (the “travel ban”) does not equate not being allowed to board a Pakistani plane as long as you get off the plane on an intermediate stop.
And finally it’s possible the plane was only allowed to let people get *off* board but non on board.
That’s why I said it’s dangerous to call something “proof” to quickly.
Well, in 1980, PanAm had non-stop service from Frankfurt to Karachi, W-F, listed in their flight schedule with no special notations.
http://www.departedflights.com/PA042780p12.html
I imagine that’s because a non-stop between NY and Pakistan would be a tremendously long flight with very few passengers. PanAm (above) only flew one flight 3 days per week from Frankfurt and no other airport — that doesn’t seem like a high-demand route.
From the Website History of PIA http://www.historyofpia.com/ ,
Continued from above (the edit window closed on my foot. Ow. )
The History of PIA site doesn’t say anything about suspending NYC service after 1972. I haven’t found anything to indicate that passengers weren’t allowed to get on in NY and get off in Pakistan.
The site has a forum, if anyone wants to discuss further.
What are we trying to prove again? There was no travel ban in 1981 and flights regularly serviced Karachi from London and Frankfurt, with stops or changes in at least London (PIA) and Frankfurt (PanAm).
Phoenix New Times linked to this post in their article: “Unmarked Posse Cars to Ditch Government Plates After Birther’s Tell-All Article” http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/valleyfever/2014/04/unmarked_posse_cars_to_ditch_g.php
Some further background may be interesting. Remember that the Cold War was in full swing during the travel ban that wasn’t.
In the early 1960’s an American company, International Business Machines (now IBM) was keen to sell computers to India. India was keen to buy computers from IBM. Sounds like a deal made in international trade heaven right?
Unfortunately the computers IBM wanted to sell were the IBM 1401 computers that their customers had traded in for the shiny new IBM 360 computer line. IBM had a lot of 1401s on their hands and they were trying to find a market for them.
The fly in the ointment was that India didn’t want 1401s; they wanted new technology 360s like everyone else. IBM wouldn’t sell 360s to India (they probably couldn’t build them fast enough anyway), and got the U.S. Government to give them a ‘good’ excuse by putting a technology export ban in place.
As a result, India bought Ryad computers from the Soviet Union. Ryad computers were reverse-engineered knockoffs of the IBM 360. In response, the U.S. moved closer to India’s subcontinent rival, Pakistan. Pakistan was happy with the 1401s; it was happy with any computers, especially free ones.
To this day, Pakistan is closer to the U.S, and India is closer to Russia. While that alignment is weakening, it was still strong in 1981, when the Cold War was still very, very, strong. The idea that the U.S. would issue a travel ban to Pakistan under such circumstances is ludicrous.
The idea that a nation attempting to build international reputation would not fly its national airline into the worlds biggest markets is even more ludicrous. Nations like Pakistan fly into New York not because the route necessarily is profitable, but because they have to in order to maintain landing rights, influence on international aviation agreements, national pride, development of technical skills (piloting, stewarding, maintenance, etc), and a whole host of other reasons. Profitability for these airlines would be nice, but it is often the least of their interest.
Of course the proof that US travel to Pakistan was possible is the 1981 State Department travel advisory on visa requirements for travelers to Pakistan.
For more than you probably want to know about the faux travel ban, see:
http://www.obamaconspiracy.org/2008/12/barack-obama-traveled-to-pakistan-on-an-indonesian-passport/
In fairness to myself, in my original note I said:
Then I learned about the 1981 New York Times article about traveling to Pakistan and I found a 1981 photo of a Pakistan International Airlines plane parked at a gate at JFK Airport.
It was never my intention to assert that the photo alone proved that PIA flew Americans from New York to Pakistan. It was in conjunction with the New York Times travel article.
Subsequently somebody found the U.S. State Department advisory which made it clear that Americans could travel to Pakistan in 1981.