The Obama Conspiracy Theories blog started in December of 2008. The first post was on December 1. As I’ve said several times: I never expected to be here talking about the same topic years later. I thought it would die down after the inauguration in 2009. After all, what’s done is done.
On this date in 2008, I wrote the following comment that I rather like:
I don’t see how a few bloggers with fringe ideas about the definition of “natural born citizen” make a
constitutional crisisnor why there is a snowball’s chance in hell Obama will not be inaugurated on schedule accompanied by singing children, marching bands and the adulation of the people. It think to have a constitutional crisis, the participation of at least one branch of government is needed.
As a liberal-minded person I cultivate the appreciation of viewpoints other than my own. In the case of birtherism, though, I have not been able to find value. Birtherism really isn’t so much a viewpoint as it is a compilation of misinformation and faulty logic. It’s aberration rather than variation. It is something to be prevented rather than preserved. I’ll continue my retirement career here with the CDC (Center for Delusion Control) a little longer.
Well, Doc, I for one hope you hang around through the election cycle. On one hand, I certainly hope the site rolls to a stop due to lack of fresh material. On the other, thanks to my faith in human nature, my hopes for a fresh outbreak of crazy remain high!
Although a late arrival to the party, I have appreciated your work, and will continue to do so. Many happy retirements, sir!
Oddly, Hallmark does not yet make a card for this occasion.
Hey, Trutherism is still going strong after 10 years, and conspiracy theories about the Kennedy assassination continue after 48.
I can see Birtherism having a limited lifespan though; I can’t see why they would still care after Obama leaves office in either 2013 or 2017. Perhaps the obsession will shift from “remove the usurper from office” over to “prosecute the man who was fraudulent president or 4/8 years”.
Congratulations (or condolences?) Doc. If January 2012 is typical it is going to be an interesting year. Birtherism will not go away because it is based on core principles of racism, isolationism, and religious bigotry that are all too prevalent in a small group of people.
This is right on the money, Doc.
I just reread the first Obama thread on the Obama eligibility issue at the Turley blog, beginning on December 4th, 2008.
http://jonathanturley.org/2008/12/04/eligibility-questions-can-clinton-serve-obama-and-can-obama-serve-the-country/
Professor Turley gave Leo his first national exposure on Olbermann’s show, and was careful to distinguished Leo’s dual-jurisdiction argument from the born-in-Kenya argument. Over the years, he has never endorsed Leo’s theories.
It started on December 4, with Leo’s suit. It was predicted that Leo’s case would be declined by the Supreme Court, as it was on December 8th. The Justices must have been reading the posts [ha!].
This is deja vu all over again. The exact same issues that were raised by the birthers and refuted by Doc Conspiracy and others at the time are still popping up
congratulations dr. conspiracy
Congratulations, Doc! Can you provide a link to the first thread on this blog? I know that I wasn’t here at the very beginning, so I’d be interested in reading the earliest comments.
Congratulations on your extreme intestinal fortitude, Doc!
And to all the merry pranksters reading the pixels of truth published here:
Felix Chanukkah y Navidad y Ano Nuevo.
My gift to you is A Christmas Song to help kick your celebrations off properly.
That’s a really good line, good thought, way of putting it: “aberration rather than variation.”