Fairyland December 29, 2015 – Despite repeated entreaties from a young boy who had several times in the past cried “wolf” when there was no wolf, both local and national news media failed to carry his latest claims.
That’s what came to mind when I read Sharon Rondeau’s latest article at the Post & Email that included:
The Washington Post, as with the mainstream media at large, has not investigated the Cold Case Posse’s findings nor sought to interview Arpaio or posse lead investigator Mike Zullo directly following either of two 2012 press conferences in which their conclusions were detailed.
On those two occasions when Mike Zullo and Sheriff Arpaio indeed did cry “wolf,” there was some media reaction, including an in-studio interview with Mike Zullo on ABC TV News 13:
CBS 5 in Phoenix gave it over 9 minutes, including another interview with Mr. Zullo1:
But Zullo sowed the seeds of his own loss of credibility in that interview when he said:
You can take the document apart out of the same file released by the White House. You can’t just do that if you scan in a birth certificate.
Anyone with a high-end office machine, or a copy of Adobe Acrobat standard, can scan in a birth certificate and get something that can be taken apart. Zullo hadn’t a clue what he was talking about, and anybody who bothered to check his claim could see that. In the best of all worlds, Zullo had one chance, and he blew it.
CNN put it rather well by tearing up the sheet of paper from which they were reading about the Arpaio birth certificate investigation, and saying “this is what it deserves.”
Law enforcement saw through it:
The so called arpaios investigation deal is complete bullshit! Just Like arpaios and his clown squad … Arpaio , zullo ect are a joke
– Chief Mark Kessler
The Arpaio/Zullo press conferences came following a long line of crackpot image analysis of Obama’s birth certificate that fell apart under scrutiny. No wonder the media was averse to one more “wolf” story, again by someone with a history of spurious attacks against political opponents, and an axe to grind against the Obama administration.
Following those fateful press conferences containing direct lies, deliberately misleading statements, and sheer incompetence, Zullo kept promising some real evidence, month after month for years, acknowledging that skeptics were not convinced by what came before. Zullo even lost credibility among many birthers who correctly observed that he was just stringing them along. William said at Birther Report earlier this month:
I have watched Zullo and Carl as much as I have paid attention to the growth of my back yard forests.
If something cracks and falls, someone else would have to inform me of it.
So yes, the mainstream media has largely ignored Mike Zullo and his one-man struggle to do the impossible with nothing. There is no reason for the media nor anyone else to take him seriously. For the right-wing nut jobs, there has been ample coverage by outlets such as InfoWars and WorldNetDaily in addition to the blogs like Birther Report and The Post & Email.
“Boy cries wolf” is not news for the rest of us.
1See also multiple news reports documented by the Huffington Post.
Here is the ABC15 interview with Zullo from July 18, 2012.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BMOw8tqooc
That’s the one. Thanks!
I was watching the ABC15 interview with Zullo and after it ended YouTube started to play the episode of Running Wild with Bear Grylls with President Obama.
This exchange at 28:20 was interesting.
President Obama: “You don’t expect a kid of a single mom, born in Hawaii, named Barack Obama to end up being the president, that’s not something you generally bet on.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RkxiroXovf4
Birther articles generally use anything to lead into their general rant on the media ignoring them. Rondeau’s article started as an observation on the Washington Post article about things in Hawaii not being renamed for Obama. One blog headline put it:
Hawaii declines to name vacant lot after Obama.
We’re all still waiting for the apology from the boy who cried wolf.
Maybe they should rename Birther Report “Waiting for Zulot.”
While most Americans agree and certainly can see the point of this Story. Arpaio and Zullo’s press conferences were motivated to assist Congress to pick up where they left off. This of course would include measuring the Qualifications of the Office of President.
There is a high degree of responsibility to Standing also represented as a hurdle for any further warranted investigation.
The problem has always been not enough intelligence resources, much more so than the burden of proof being represented as a guilty verdict. Arpaio, a county sheriff, pled for more resources from Congress after his were exhausted. Far different than a “cry of wolf” of a guilty verdict.
The understanding of investigation is not a presumably verdict. It simply warrants more investigation. I fail to see this as a False Cry of Wolf, originally formatted as a cry without any evidence whatsoever.
There is a burden to investigate. The lack of integrity for Congress to do just that with its resources publically has resulted in Fuel of the anti establishment in this e[j]ection cycle.
The Court of Public Opinion has been left without integrity. This is the Fault of Congress and without integrity of honor towards it through hearings, of course the Flow of Discord flows down. It doesn’t stop. Only the foolish think it’s over.
AMERICAN VOTERS don’t just want a non-insider like Trump for president, they want revenge on the Usurpation of Information representing at the heart, Obama’s Fraud and preferred methods. He’s spied on Congress, Allies, and You. #Democrats HE OBAMA has no TRUST ACCOUNT. He’s bankrupt.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-spy-net-on-israel-snares-congress-1451425210
Barnett, Keyes et. al. v Obama, et. al. Judge David O. Carter, U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, 10/29/09:
“The Court observes that the President defeated seven opponents in a grueling campaign for his party’s nomination that lasted more than eighteen months and cost those opponents well over $300 million. Then the President faced a formidable opponent in the general election who received $84 million to conduct his general election campaign against the President.
It would appear that ample opportunity existed for discovery of evidence that would support any contention that the President was not eligible for the office he sought. Furthermore, Congress is apparently satisfied that the President is qualified to serve. Congress has not initiated impeachment proceedings, and, in fact, the House of Representatives, in a broad bipartisan manner has rejected the suggestion that the President is not eligible for office. See H.R. Res. 593, 111th Congress. (2009) commemorating, by a vote of 378-0 the 50th anniversary of Hawaii’s statehood and stating “The 44th President of the United States, Barack Obama, was born in Hawaii on August 4, 1961.”
“There may very well be a legitimate role for the judiciary to interpret whether the natural born citizen requirement has been satisfied in the case of a presidential candidate who has not already won the election and taken office. However, on the day that President Obama took the presidential oath and was sworn in, he became President of the United States. Any removal of him from the presidency must be accomplished through the Constitution’s mechanisms for the removal of a President, either through impeachment or the succession process set forth in the Twenty-Fifth Amendment. Plaintiffs attempt to subvert this grant of power to Congress by convincing the Court that it should disregard the constitutional procedures in place for the removal of a sitting president.
The process for removal of a sitting president– removal for any reason–is within the province of the Congress, not the Courts.
Just like Orly’s case before Judge Malihi, including both the memorable “Is this all you got?” quote and Orly snatching defeat from the claws of “victory” (in a very narrow sense), the only one birthers could ever have dreamed of having.
Birthers didn’t pay attention when the reason behind separation of powers was discussed in school. The birther interpretation would make the courts the undisputed prime force in the country since they could (as that interpretation goes) overrule anything Congress does (since SCOTUS is the highest instance in the legal system, there would be no way to appeal/change a SCOTUS ruling that clearly violates the Constitution).
The thing is, in such a system, two powers keep the third in check, mutually.
It’s not designed for one power to control the other two whenever “someone” decides those two other powers are wrong, or overthrowing the system, simply because such an interpretation would allow precisely what checks and balances are made to prevent – one power trying to abuse it (here: courts).
And birthers don’t get to pick based on preference – if the courts said Obama is eligible but Congress said he isn’t, they would no longer claim courts overrule Congress.
I love watching old videos and listening to old radio interviews with Mike Zullo. He was such an arrogant and self-important boob. And, nowadays he’s an irrelevant non-entity.
Imagine living a life where your one and only accomplishment was getting suckered by a myth.
CRJ:
“Arpaio and Zullo’s press conferences were motivated to assist Congress to pick up where they left off.”
How do you know what his political motivation was and is for his faux investigation?
“The problem has always been not enough intelligence resources,”
The problem has always been the motivation for the faux investigation and it’s use of intellectually dishonest and biased resources to allegedly “clear the president.”
“Arpaio, a county sheriff, pled for more resources from Congress after his were exhausted.”
Arpaio used the very limited resources of a free, volunteer, former used car salesman to sell the public on the idea that Arpaio was taking a stand against Obama. Arpaio, according to all accounts, didn’t use the resources of the MCSO because it would have necessitated the use of tax payer dollars. Arpaio never exhausted all of his resources because they weren’t used.
“I fail to see this as a False Cry of Wolf, originally formatted as a cry without any evidence whatsoever.”
That’s because you were sold on the idea that there was an official law enforcement investigation with official evidence developed utilizing the full resources of the MCSO, You were fooled just like the rest of the birthers. You foolishly believed that the sky was falling based on the claims of a former used car salesman.
“There is a burden to investigate.”
I hate to dash your hopes and dreams, but this investigation was nothing more than a political ruse put together for political theater to politically benefit Joe Arpaio. He won, and you lost, especially if you donated to his campaign or the former used car salesman’s volunteer posse of one.
Congress has spent millions of dollars “investigating” Fast & Furious, the IRS, Benghazi, etc. — all politically motivated attempts to embarrass President Obama, and all failed to find any substantive wrongdoing despite all the money spent.
If Congress wanted to investigate President Obama’s birth certificate, it doesn’t need Arpaio’s help. That Congress won’t touch the “work” of a singular sheriff ought to be a clue to birthers like Judy.
Oh, come on bob, that’s way too sensible and reasonable a conclusion for either birfers or Judy to come to, or even get close to. Reality and rationality ARE NOT their strong suits, well that and critical thinking of any kind.
False.
The whole shebang was motivated by the Sheriff’s need to keep his dwindling voter base on side long enough to get himself reelected.
Nothing more, nothing less.
OK, maybe a little bit more: he also wanted to attract money, lots of money, not just from Arizona but from the entire country – and what better way to attract the Koch Brother’s attention, hey? Of course the money had to do with getting reelected – but I don’t doubt that some of these folks have found a loop hole that lets them sock it away for their retirement.
Nonsense.
If Arpaio and Zullo really wanted to “assist” Congress, they would have done the obvious thing and presented their “evidence” to Arizona’s Congressional delegation. But they didn’t do that.
No, the problem has been not enough intelligence, period: we have too many people who are too stupid to see through Arpaio’s scam.
Bull: Arpaio has never asked Congress for resources. He has variously claimed that his investigation was complete, so Congress should act on it, and that it was ongoing, so people should donate more money.
That’s exactly what this is. Arpaio’s own county attorney told him he had no evidence. Dozens of debunkers told him he had no evidence whatsoever. His own MCSO professionals should have told him that (though the Melendres testimony suggests they might have been afraid to do so). He should have known that, himself: he may not be able to use Twitter, but 50 years as a LEO should have been enough for him to learn the difference between “a document” and “a picture of a document”.
There are really only two credible explanations for his behavior:
a. He’s so incompetent he makes Barney Fife look like Sherlock Holmes, or
b. He’s a cynical con artist, suckering the clueless birthers out of their money.
This article was updated to replace the BR comment by Logical Patriot (an Obot) with one from a genuine birther, William. We strive for accuracy, authenticity and fairness.