August 13, 2008

Jerome R. Corsi's #1 bestseller "The Obama Nation: Leftist Politics and the Cult of Personality."

Jim Rutenberg and Julie Bosman discuss the book and interview the author, who also wrote "Unfit for Command" (the notorious "Swift Boat attack" that hurt John Kerry so much in 2004).

Corsi openly admits his "goal is to defeat Obama," which seems to mean it should be read as a polemic, but Corsi calls his book "investigative" and denies that he set out to write "a political book." And his editor — Mary Matalin — calls it "a piece of scholarship."

Though books are generally viewed as loftier than journalism, NYT journalists Rutenberg and Bosman look down on books like this. It seems especially galling to them that books gain prominence via the NYT bestseller list (or as they say in the NYT "best-seller list"):
[B]ooks like “Unfit for Command,” which remained for some 12 weeks on the Times best-seller list, and, now, “The Obama Nation,” have become an effective and favored delivery system for political attacks.
Ha ha. Books are a "delivery system for attacks." The pen is mightier than the sword, and the book — look out! — is a veritable missile.
There have been anti-Clinton (both Bill and Hillary) and anti-Bush books too numerous to name. The sensational findings in these books, true or dubious, can quickly come to dominate the larger political discussion in the news media, especially on cable television and the less readily detectible confines of talk radio and partisan Web sites.

Fact-checking the books can require extensive labor and time from independent journalists, whose work often trails behind the media echo chamber.
Imagine! A book is able to get out in front of the usually nimble "delivery system" of the newspaper. And isn't it annoying that book authors get into the media and say things that require fact-checking? Who are these people? Who let them in? How dare they impose extensive labor on journalists!

This is a long set-up for showing us the results of the imposed fact-checking task that Rutenberg and Bosman apparently find so irksome. Let's have it:
... Mr. Corsi writes that Mr. Obama had “yet to answer” whether he “stopped using marijuana and cocaine completely in college, or whether his drug usage extended to his law school days or beyond.” “How about in the U.S. Senate?” Mr. Corsi asks.

But Mr. Obama, who admitted to occasional marijuana and cocaine use in his high school and early college years, wrote in his memoir that he had “stopped getting high” when he moved to New York in the early 1980s. And in 2003 The State Journal-Register of Springfield, Ill., quoted him responding to a question of his drug use by saying, “I haven’t done anything since I was 20 years old.”

In an interview, Mr. Corsi said “self-reporting, by people who have used drugs, as to when they stopped is inherently unreliable.”
So the statement that he hasn't answered is wrong, and Corsi's point should have been that Obama once used drugs, and we might want to be suspicious of the assertion that he stopped when he says he did. In saying this, Corsi reminds me of those Bush antagonists who speculate that he still drinks or that he is somehow dogged by the "dry drunk" effects of not drinking. Let's see if all the bloggers can be non-hypocritical. Treat Obama exactly the way you've been treating Bush on the substance-use issue.
In exploring Mr. Obama’s denials that he had been present for the more incendiary sermons of his former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr., Mr. Corsi cites a report on the conservative Web site NewsMax.com that Mr. Obama had attended a sermon on July 22, 2007, in which Mr. Wright blamed “the ‘white arrogance’ of America’s Caucasian majority for the world’s suffering, especially the oppression of blacks.”

Mr. Obama, however, was giving a speech in Florida that afternoon, and his campaign reported he had not attended Mr. Wright’s church that day.

William Kristol, a columnist for The New York Times, had cited the same report in a column, and issued a correction. “There is a dispute about the date, and Kristol chose to side with Obama,” Mr. Corsi said. “We can nitpick the date to death,” he added, saying his “fundamental point” was Mr. Obama’s close association with someone ascribing to “black liberation theology.”
So Corsi is faulted for citing a report that the campaign disputes and — perhaps, I can't tell — not also stating that the fact is in dispute. (I need to look at the book, which I don't have at hand.)
Mr. Corsi described most of the critiques of his book as “nitpicking,” like a contradiction of his claim that Mr. Obama had failed to dedicate his book “Dreams of My Father” to his family; Mr. Obama dedicated the book to several family members, in the introduction.
And that's the third and last of the picked nits Rutenberg and Bosman report. Are there more? Why isn't this article more of a fact-check by the NYT? It can't be enough that Media Matters is fact-checking the book. I'm inclined to assume the NYT didn't find any more mistakes or they'd have told us about them. That looks pretty good for Corsi. He is such a huge target. He destroyed Kerry and his book on Obama is #1!
Mr. Obama’s campaign has yet to weigh in heavily on Mr. Corsi’s accusations. It appears to face the classic decision between the risk of publicizing the book’s claims by addressing them and the risk of letting them sink into the public debate with no response.
But the Obama campaign made a big deal about how they were not going to let themselves be "Swift Boated." The "Fight the Smears" web site was supposed to jump on everything right away. Now, they're weaseling about not wanting to draw attention to the book? That's a complete contradiction.... which has to make us think that they don't have answers to the charges.

ADDED: If you want to buy the book, buy it by clicking here, and you'll support this blog (without paying any extra).

MORE: Roger Kimball has a post titled "NY Times tries to torpedo anti-Obama book; succeeds in spreading its message."

80 comments:

bleeper said...

Are menthol cigarettes considered drugs?

vbspurs said...

Here is the Kindle book version, in case someone wants to buy Corsi's "Obama Nation".

I'm going to click on the link and buy it after posting, so that Ann MIGHT get credit.

Note, I had already bought David Freddoso's The Case Against Barack Obama: The Unlikely Rise and Unexamined Agenda of the Media's Favorite Candidate, but haven't read it yet.

And don't worry, I don't just concentrate on anti-Obama books.

I also bought Matt Welch's "McCain: Myth of a Maverick".

Get a load of the absolutely evil photo of McCain on the cover.

Oh and Bleeper, have you seen this photo of Obama with a fag hanging from his lips?

Wonder if it's legit.

Cheers,
Victoria

TJ said...

"Well, everyone knows Obama stopped using drugs. What this book presupposes is . . . maybe he didn't?"

Tim Agazio said...

You know, I'm not really that impressed with Obama either, but after reading about Corsi I may just vote for him out of spite.

Simon said...

vbspurs said...
"Oh and Bleeper, have you seen this photo of Obama with a fag hanging from his lips?"

Of all the things that I dislike about Obama, I can't say that his being a smoker even registers a blip. Scalia smoked a pipe through his confirmation hearings and he looked damned cool. /shrug/

bleeper said...

VB - that is yet another picture that won't show up in the MSM.

I agree, smoking or not smoking is virtually a non-issue. But lying about it reveals one's character. It's not the smoking (or producing an outside family) that's the issue, it's the coverup. Watergate was a long time ago, yet politicians have learned little, it seems.

michilines said...

Althouse: "Now, they're weaseling about not wanting to draw attention to the book? That's a complete contradiction.... which has to make us think that they don't have answers to the charges."

Where is there anything in that article that states what Obama's campaign has decided or not decided to do wrt this book? Have you or any of your dear readers bothered to see if any of the points in the book have already been addressed at the stop the smears website? What in the article (or in your imagination) makes us think anything of the kind?

A better phrase would be: "I'm also too lazy to check anything for myself, so I'll just make a bunch of assumptions based on my preconceived notions." Yeah, that's much more accurate.

Rich B said...

Well I guess the NYT is getting smarter. They tried to ignore the SBVs and look how it turned out. Obumble and his campaign are a bit slow to react, too.

vbspurs said...

Simon wrote:

Scalia smoked a pipe through his confirmation hearings and he looked damned cool.

But pipes are rare enough to look professorial, and therefore adds to the distinguished air. Think Alistair Cooke or Nigel Bruce. Retro-cool.

You may know my father is an Oncologist. He is also a typical '60s Lefty.

He asked me if it what he had heard was true: that Obama was a smoker?

(Like Bleeper said, news media refuse to publish that photo of Obama smoking, so it's just hearsay for most people)

I told him that though he claims to have given it up to run for the Presidency, that he was a smoker since the age of 13 (as per his own admission).

My father is the most severe anti-smoker I've ever met in my life, both for professional and personal reasons. He told me he would disinherit me if I ever smoked. No worries. I never liked the stuff anyway.

Though he didn't say anything afterwards, I don't think he'll vote for Obama based on this one foible.

Cheers,
Victoria

Randy said...

The author is not credible. It was his choice to be accurate or not about the easily verified items, and he chose to be inaccurate. Not a compelling argument to bother reading, much less believing, the book.

NOTE TO VICTORIA: Like you, I suspect Obama may be still smoking, but I do believe that picture is not recent. He looks MUCH younger. Do you have a date for it?

Pat said...

You might want to look into what Corsi's been doing between "Unfit" and "Obamanation", Ann. He's been hanging out in the fever swamps of the conspiracy theory crowd. His last book was a "Stop the North American Union" screed. He appeared regularly on Alex Jones, and on January 29, 2008 he endorsed the 9-11 Truthers, saying he was convinced by the "evidence" offered by Steven Jones. He's a thorough nutbar.

Zekarias said...

I am going click on the link and buy it after this posting, Ann, I like your blog so much I am buying the book via your blog. I alreday plan to buy it anyway.

You are good, Ann.

Kirby Olson said...

I've read the book. I think it's going to be a significant takedown for Obama, but not because of the few tiny facts that are mentioned here on Ann's blog.

Corsi documents extensive Muslim education in the first chapters, and goes into enormous length and clarity regarding Obama's father and the Kenyan politics into which Obama has inserted himself on the side of the Muslim minority.

There is a huge excavation of Obama's link to Ayers (VERY extensive, and quite chummy) and they are both linked extensively to Saul Alinsky.

The book is amazingly clean, clear, and credible.

If you have a Borders card, you can get one for 40% off. It's in most of the B & N and Borders bookstores, right in the front.

I think I got my copy for 17 dollars after the 40% discount.

Corsi WAS the co-author on the Swift Boat book. He admits as much on the first page of his introduction.

He spent six years doing the research for this book.

It's an amazingly extensive and careful book. Corsi has a Ph.D., and it shows. The book reads like a combination of very tight journalism, and very good scholarship.

He will probably make a few errors along the way, but he is trying to make a good case, and in doing so, he knows better than to be sloppy or to try to exaggerate facts.

The most interesting thing in the book to me was that Saul Alinsky (Obama's truest mentor, according to the book), argued that truth doesn't matter, and if logic and truth aren't on your side, just use ridicule and lampooning, and use the race card, or the class card, or anything that silences your opponent.

I wasn't aware that this was an actual tactic of the left. I just thought they were vicious nuts who didn't have the ability to reason. Apparently this is an actual time-honored tactic.

At any rate, this isn't just a history of Obama. It's a history of the Democratic party and its love affair with the left, which has resulted in Obama, and may yet result in the Obama Nation.

Beth said...

In saying this, Corsi reminds me of those Bush antagonists who speculate that he still drinks or that he is somehow dogged by the "dry drunk" effects of not drinking. Let's see if all the bloggers can be non-hypocritical. Treat Obama exactly the way you've been treating Bush on the substance-use issue.

Sure - so if Obama shows any "dry drunk" equivalent behaviors for drug users, I'd expect to see that kind of treatment. The Bush speculation is based on behaviors that make it appear he might be drinking. If Obama's got a drippy, red nose or is twitching like he's tweaking, then by all means, let's pile on.

Beth said...

Corsi openly admits his "goal is to defeat Obama," which seems to mean it should be read as a polemic, but Corsi calls his book "investigative" and denies that he set out to write "a political book." And his editor — Mary Matalin — calls it "a piece of scholarship."

That's a lot of equivocating -- "seems to mean"? Who cares what he calls it or her political operative editor says?

Peter V. Bella said...

In 2000 and again in 2004 anti Bush books were supposedly #1 best sellers. The books stores were jammed full of them. For awhile, anti Hillary books were doing a land office business.

Amazing. Anti anything or anyone books are best sellers. Pro books are losers.

bleeper said...

The first time I heard Obama speak in a radio ad I thought - that guy is winded - he sounded like he had just run a mile. That, and the way his voice sounds, made me think he was a smoker, long before I even knew that he was denying that he smokes. His gasping gave him away.

Slap on some more nicotine patches, Emperor, you are going to need them.

Melissa said...

I’m pretty sure that Obama would be a disastrous president, but I’m pretty much against reading books like this on principle, for many of the reasons that Ann discussed. (I’m not saying that people shouldn’t write them or that they’re bad- I’m a big fan of the First Amendment- I just don’t think that one can gain much by reading them.) They’re too difficult to fact check in most cases, and there is almost no way that you can tell what is true and untrue. And, thanks to New York v. Sullivan, Obama himself can’t even take much action, other than flat out denials, against a writer who tells outright lies.

William said...

I am willing to credit Obama with being at bedrock an intelligent person of decent values, but, good grief, the fanciful structure that has been built upon that bedrock begs for a wrecking crew.

Eric Muller said...

Of all of your neutral writing on Obama thus far, this has to be the cruelest.

Paddy O said...

Pro books are losers.

Tell me about it. :-D

ron st.amant said...

I think there's a difference between combating negative advertisements on TV which have a far wider audience and more visceral effect, and a book which doesn't really carry the same immediate impact.

This book and the others before and sure to follow, especially if Obama becomes President, just feed the deranged Obama haters, and serve as material for Limbaugh, O'Reilly, Hannity, and the other moonbats on the right.

AllenS said...

IIRC the reverend Jeremiah Wright is going to be writing a book this fall.

garage mahal said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
garage mahal said...

That looks pretty good for Corsi. He is such a huge target. He destroyed Kerry and his book on Obama is #1!

Awesome! We're all Swift Boaters now.

Roger J. said...

Wow--and I thought Hillary banned smoking anywhere in the WH shen she was first lady! Obama smoking there is gonna hurt.

Brad V said...

Bosman is a Badger alum and former EIC of the Badger Herald. She was at the helm during the Horowitz ad conflagration.

EnigmatiCore said...

No thanks. I've already decided that I won't be voting for Obama, so there is no reason for me to read a book that would discourage me from voting for him.

What McCain needs to do, at least for voters like me, is to give me a reason to vote for him. That is, unless he is satisfied with people like me sitting at home.

Christy said...

Beth, Sure - so if Obama shows any "dry drunk" equivalent behaviors for drug users, I'd expect to see that kind of treatment. The Bush speculation is based on behaviors that make it appear he might be drinking. If Obama's got a drippy, red nose or is twitching like he's tweaking, then by all means, let's pile on.


So how does he stay so skinny after 18 months on the campaign trail, eating foods like French Toast? I learned in my Overeaters Anonymous meetings that coke is a great way to keep the weight off. By 47 even skinny young men begin to fill out. Why hasn't he?

I'm not saying he has, just that my speculation is every bit as valid as accusing Bush of being drunk every time he trips.

Brian Doyle said...

Kirby: "He spent six years doing the research for this book."

Why would Mr. Corsi have started researching a book on Obama in 2002? Pretty lucky for him that his subject turned out to be the '08 Dem nominee.

Beldar said...

I blogged a LOT about the SwiftVets in 2004.

Corsi was actually only a co-author of "Unfit for Command." The first-listed author -- who had first-hand credibility as the Swift Boat commander who took over Kerry's boat -- was Houston attorney John O'Neill. My strong hunch is that O'Neill was responsible for the bulk of the book, including most of the discussion about the combat missions, with respect to which Corsi was comparatively unqualified to opine. Corsi probably wrote some of the comparatively weaker material near the end of the book, especially the chapter which argued that the Vietnamese Communists have a shrine to Kerry's anti-war activities in a war museum.

Personally I think Corsi's association with the SwiftVets ended up detracting from their efforts, and some of his personal history (which included some very ugly racially-charged statements) made it possible for Kerry surrogates to tar men like O'Neill whose military careers compared very favorably to Kerry's. Although I continue to be a fan of the SwiftVets, including John O'Neill, I do not consider myself a fan of Jerome Corsi. I haven't read his new book, and don't intend to, but he's been very imprecise and overbroad in some of the statements I've heard him make on talk radio shows in which he's been promoting this book/attacking Obama (e.g., significantly overstating the facts and drawing wild conclusions regarding Obama's attendance at a school in Indonesia that included Muslim instruction).

Randy said...

Why would Mr. Corsi have started researching a book on Obama in 2002?

Clairvoyance is one of his sideline hobbies, I imagine.

Mitch H. said...

I'm with Beldar. Corsi is a crank, and he dragged down the rest of the Swift-boat people by association back in 2004. Since then, his name's been associated with a lot of crazy wingnut rantery, mostly of the "North American Union" black-helocopters variety.

Randy said...

Why Ann chooses to associate herself with his book is another question.

ricpic said...

No one has to prove that Obama ever heard Wright spew his patented hate America hate whitey rhetoric.

It strains credulity that Obama sat in the pew of Wright's church for twenty years and didn't catch him spewing, not once.

former law student said...

The credibility of Dr. Corsi's monographs may be a wee bit lacking. From a blurb from his Black Gold Stranglehold:

n "Black Gold Stranglehold," Jerome Corsi and Craig Smith expose the fraudulent science that has made America so vulnerable: the belief that oil is a fossil fuel and that it is a finite resource. ... oil is not a product of fossils and prehistoric forests but rather the bio-product of a continuing biochemical reaction below the earth's surface that is brought to attainable depths by the centrifugal forces of the earth's rotation.

http://shop.wnd.com/store/item.asp?ITEM_ID=1769

Holy jeepers Dr. Science! What will those Middle Eastern oil sheiks do now?!?

Stephen said...

So the statement that he hasn't answered is wrong, and Corsi's point should have been that Obama once used drugs, and we might want to be suspicious of the assertion that he stopped when he says he did. In saying this, Corsi reminds me of those Bush antagonists who speculate that he still drinks or that he is somehow dogged by the "dry drunk" effects of not drinking. Let's see if all the bloggers can be non-hypocritical. Treat Obama exactly the way you've been treating Bush on the substance-use issue.

Okay, let's see: Obama admits to using drugs in his youth and stopped about the time he was 20. With no evidence of continued drug use other than cigarettes, Corsi speculates that Obama is lying and may have been using drugs since he's been elected to the U.S. Senate. Because he hasn't specifically denied using drugs in the Senate.

George W. Bush had a documented drinking problem for several decades and stopped quite suddenly when he was 40, quite a trick if he was a heavy drinker. Some liberal speculated that this sudden change may have consequences on Bush's behavior.

And Ann wants to paint a near equivalence to these two scenarios?

Corsi, based on his past work, is not a credible "scholar." He is a conservative political activist. I doubt this book reaches even the bare minimum of "scholarship." It's a political hit piece, nothing more.

Sloanasaurus said...

The swift boat campaign was devastating for Kerry because it was true. Kerry held himself out to be a war hero. Yet, not one single fellow officer would stand up for him. Instead they all said he was a phony. That was devastating to Kerry's character. This character flaw manifested itself in other places. For example, I recall Althouse pondering why Kerry didn't get in to Harvard and instead attended BU. He had everything else going for him considering he was an activist war hero and well connected Bostonian so it must have been because he didn't meet the minimum requirements. Althouse speculated that it was because Kerry had bad grades. Only later after the election did Kerry release his records and we found out that Althouse was right and that Kerry actually had worse grades than Bush at Yale.

Obama's biggest risk is not drugs. The risk to Obama is that he turns out not to be the post racial candidate he claims to be and he turns out to be the radical that he claims not to be. This is why his connection to Rev. Wright and Ayres are so damaging. One video of Obama cheering on one of Rev. Wright's hate America and white people speeches would end Obama's chances for all time. The thing is, that we all know Obama was in that church cheering on Rev. Wright during one of those speeches He even wrote about cheering on Rev. Wright in his first book. We all know that Obama was into black liberation theology. Why else would he join Wright’s church and not a more traditional black Christian Church. In Obama’s first book he recounts how Wright told him about their church being radical. Yet Obama joined it anyway and recounts how he had tears falling down his cheek during one of Wrights chants. Obama was in that church for 20 years listening to Wright. Obama called Wright his spiritual mentor. Lets get real, how could it be that Obama never knew what Wright was talking about in that Church. How likely is it that Obama wasn’t cheering on every drip of black liberation theology coming from the lips of Reverend Wright. Moreover, we know Wright himself knows that Obama is lying about it, which is what prompted Wright to refer to Obama as just another politician at the National Press Club. Imagine Wright's feelings to have Obama slam him after cheering on black liberation theology for 20 years.

All we need is the video. Is it out there? Maybe. If I had it I would charge $10 million for it and it would be worth every cent.

If I were republicans I would run commercials with Rev. Wright all day long during October in places like Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virgina, etc.. and ask the question: Why did Obama stay in his church for 20 years listening to this anti-white and anti-American hate speech? There is no reasonable answer other than Obama stayed there because he didn’t object to it.

EnigmatiCore said...

"And Ann wants to paint a near equivalence to these two scenarios?"

I don't see a near equivalence. I see a total equivalence. Both are completely and utterly irrelevant to my voting choices unless there is evidence that they are doing it now or had been doing it in the very recent past to where there is reason to doubt they have put it behind them.

Ann Althouse said...

Why am I "associating myself" with this book? I read a NYT article about it and I wanted to parse through that article and figure out what was going on. That makes a blog post. I haven't read the book and am not recommending it. I give an Amazon Associates link to make a percent for myself, because that's my standard practice (unless I forget) whenever I write about a book.

Randy said...

Perhaps I missed numerous similar amazon links attached to your post about some book, but this was the first time I can recall you doing it.

Host with the Most said...

I won't be voting for Obama, but I don't need Corsi's book(s).

The McCain camp is on the right track right now. Job #1: Remind America - by continually using Obama himself - of how empty, inexperienced, morally-confused, judgment-challenged and ultimately unfit he is to be President.

Barack Obama is the least qualified major party candidate to ever run for President in the entire history of the United States.

vbspurs said...

Randy wrote:

Like you, I suspect Obama may be still smoking, but I do believe that picture is not recent. He looks MUCH younger. Do you have a date for it?

Yes, I'm glad you understood my tone of doubt about his claim.

For the record, I'm not crazy about the fact Obama was a 2-pack a-dayer, but I can live with it. No less a person than Laura Bush smokes, after all. Who cares?

I WOULD care if he's said he's stopped, and it turns out he lied.

I read in a Lefty blog that the cigarette pic was Photoshopped. I wish someone here who was an expert could ascertain if it could've been.

Either way, no I don't know the date, alas, Randy.

His face started to change in the early 90s, to an Akhenaten-shaped one. I'd say this was 2005ish.

Cheers,
Victoria

Simon said...

Randy - click on the "books" label and scroll through the posts archived under it.

save_the_rustbelt said...

Calling Corsi a scholar is akin to calling the Detroit Lions a football team.

False advertising.

Conservatism is rapidly becoming a bunch of slobbering, jabbering dittoheads.

We deserve to lose.

Randy said...

Thanks, Simon. I'll definitely be more careful reading any book reviews here in the future.

TJ said...

Host with the Most: Why no caps for "ENTIRE" this time? Maybe try bold or italics, too. Or try emphasizing additional words like "least" or "ever." This kind of variety in your raving is bound to increase its effectiveness. Street corners are also good places for this kind of repetition.

Anonymous said...

After having read Corsi's book, I must confess - I think Obama is a MUCH better writer (see The Audacity of Hope by Barack Obama - link to ebooks version if you haven't read anything by him). After the Swift Boat book, Corsi just seems like he is anti-Dem, which makes him less credible.

Palladian said...

"I read in a Lefty blog that the cigarette pic was Photoshopped. I wish someone here who was an expert could ascertain if it could've been."

That smoking picture is fake, Victoria. Here's the original. The fake version is cropped, flipped horizontally and blurred a bit to try and cover up the manipulation. It would be harder to spot as a definite fake if not for the relative ease of finding the original.

Not to worry, this one looks legit. I'm not saying that it is, but it's a bit more convincing. There aren't any verifiable pictures of him smoking that I can find, which isn't unusual for someone who's lived his life preparing to be a politician.

Randy said...

Palladian, that one looks pretty fake to me. No smoke, for example.

Palladian said...

"Palladian, that one looks pretty fake to me."

Oh it looks fake to me too, but not as fake as the puffy-faced blurry one.

Kirby Olson said...

Obama is a very lyrical writer, but he never makes a stand on any point.

Corsi makes a clear stand, and then proceeds to give you the facts as he knows them. Every fact is documented in his extensive bibliography.

I think he's holding back quite a bit, and even manages to say some things that are in Obama's favor. For instance, he does say that Obama is probably not a Muslim (many people are trying to claim he is). Corsi argues that that's unlikely, since he's attended a sort of Christian church for 20 years, and besides he says that he isn't.

At least at that point he takes him at his word.

Corso said he realized that Obama was going to be a significant player already in 2002 because even then there was a terrific buzz about him. By the time of the August 2004 convention he was the only figure with any charisma on the left.

Along with Edwards, and to some extent, Hillary.

Edwards is out of the picture now.

Hillary, too.

I imagine that Corsi had extensive files on all three of them so that if one of them became the final candidate, he could give voters the information they need.

No one else seems to be able to provide it.

Corsi's facts in the Swift Boat book that were brought up here -- for instance that the Vietnamese honored Kerry for his work on their side, are the kinds of facts he martials here, too.

He may not be the most objective scholar (he admits that he has an axe to grind on p. 1).

However, he IS a scholar, and he is making a case.

He is not nearly as eloquent a writer as Obama (who is?), and yet, on the other hand, Corsi does manage to paint a real portrait of what he thinks that Obama thinks, which is better than Obama can do.

veni vidi vici said...

This and the raft of similar anti-Obama books coming out right about...NOW! are bound to be disappointing to most apart from the red-meat-eater partisans.

Especially in the case of Obama, whose resume is pretty light on "real" experience doing anything besides social work. There's not enough of a record to build a novel-length polemic on, so why even bother?

Corsi's effort reeks of the lamest, lowest form of partisan hackery. I hope the republicans aren't dumb enough to get caught up promoting the screed. One would think they can fashion a decent argument for their own and against Obama's election without falling back on this type of thing offered up by this writer.

They can't "swiftboat" Obama because he doesn't have anything to "swiftboat" him for; all attacks of that type will mirror back on the attackers.

Thus, the Democrats appear to be on the verge of picking a perfectly opaque cipher-candidate. On the other hand, that thinking may turn out to have been of the "fighting the last war" variety if the GOP is capable of finding novel ways to campaign and beat candidate Obama.

However, based on the GOP's recent record of governance and administration, I'm not getting my hopes up.

former law student said...

However, [Corsi] IS a scholar, and he is making a case.

No, I think Corsi's work on Black Gold Stranglehold pretty much put any notion of his scholarship to rest. My father would have described him as someone who wasn't wrapped too tight.

bleeper said...

I have read articles about geologic sources for oil rather than biological sources. I wouldn't be so quick to toss out that theory based on what I have read in the WSJ and other places.

http://www.autobloggreen.com/2008/04/20/is-tectonic-activity-the-real-source-of-oil-should-we-be-using/

That's the only link I could find in a few minutes of searching. Not taking a stand one way or the other, but I am not convinced that only decomposition of organic matter is the only source of petroleum.

Stephen said...

However, he IS a scholar, and he is making a case.

I'll agree that he's making a case, though it's likely to be a weak one. Calling him a scholar is a bit of a stretch.

Corsi makes a clear stand, and then proceeds to give you the facts as he knows them. Every fact is documented in his extensive bibliography.

His stand is clear: he's out to discredit Obama for political ends. I have not read the book, and probably won't, but excerpts I have read are light on "facts" and heavy on speculation that is "assumed" to be true and often treated as fact. That he has a bibliography and footnotes does not make his book scholarly or even true. That he uses as sources "newsmax.com" does not inspire confidence.

As for scholarly credentials, he has not held an academic post since 1982 and he's now a senior writer for WorldNetDaily, essentially a journalist.

Instead of being a scholar, his real job title should be professional conservative.

That he's clear about his agenda should cause readers to view this book with caution: in light of his goals, he should be held to a higher standard.

knox said...

I heard Corsi interviewed on the Dennis Miller show. He made a big deal about Obama's early Muslim education, and it seemed really forced. Obama has been a Christian for a long time now, it's time to move on. (dot org)

He did talk a lot about Obama's close friends and associates: Ayers, Wright, and the like, including Frank Davis, a bona fide communist who was the principle mentor for Obama while building his career as an activist/organizer (or whatever his "job" was before he became a senator).

There are legitimate questions about Obama's judgment in liking these people -- not to mention how these far-far-leftists informed his own political tastes ... but from what I heard, Corsi muddies the waters by bringing up issues like the Muslim thing.

###

Palladian, that one looks pretty fake to me. No smoke, for example.

Where's Chip Ahoy? I'm seeing a wafting vortex of smoke, maybe an ashtray close at hand...

Kirby Olson said...

Most so-called scholars are professional leftists so I don't know how that disqualifies one "professional conservative" from entering the fray.

Corsi attacked Bush for neglecting the border in his book on the Minutemen, published in 2006.

He has not endorsed McCain, and has said that he won't.

He documents Obama's extensive experience with Marxist and Islamic groups, but he states quite clearly that we should take Obama at his word that he's a Christian. But then of course he goes on to ask what kind of Christian: either he's the most naive person at Trinity Church to not understand what was being preached, or else he's a liar.

If he's a liar on that issue, then what else is he lying about? Why won't he come clean?

The book asks questions about what Obama is likely to be thinking based on things he's said, people with whom he's been close for decades, and his roots in leftist activist circles.

I guess I'm the only person around here who's actually read it (it's only been out for two weeks) but since it's the bestseller at the NY Times Sunday list, I suppose I'm not alone.

The book is excellent in every possible way.

veni vidi vici said...

I'm convinced that the "Obama is a closet Muslim" meme is something someone created in a lab somewhere to function as a dumbass-identifier in the manner that foaming mouths identify rabid dogs.

Does anyone in this tolerant USA really want to advance that paranoic-tinged and ultimately "hostile in a Shirley Jackson's 'The Lottery' way" argument as the basis for their opposition to a candidate? Especially one that's been attending a church -- even a Black Liberation Theology church -- for 20 years, and who hasn't had his Muslim dad around for most of his life?

Trying to make that argument does more damage to the arguer than to the candidate. Sorry, that's just the way it is. Seriously fever-swamp nonsense; move on please.

former law student said...

I guess I'm the only person around here who's actually read it (it's only been out for two weeks) but since it's the bestseller at the NY Times Sunday list, I suppose I'm not alone.

Along with works such Tori Spelling's autobiography, the sales total includes books ordered in bulk from bookstores. The author of "A Child Called It" reputedly manipulated his books up the NYT List via judicious bulk ordering. So who knows how many people have actually read it yet?

Unknown said...

Drugs, Muslims, and Reverand Wright... Oh my !!!

Really ?!?! Don't you have any real dirt? Really ?!?! Do you not have any substative and interesting issues to discuss... Let's see...hmmm... Globalization.... Global Warming... Clean, Sustainable, and Renewable Energy... Overpopulation... Pollution... National Debt... Torture being used by America in the war on terror... or vehicles that, after a century of technological and scientific advances, only get 30-35 MPG... or why did special interest groups lobby against electric vehicles in the 1970s... But NO !!! Let's talk about things that we can gossip about !!!

Smoking ?!?! Really ?!?! I didn't realize that tobacco was evil or had a direct effect upon a persons ability to lead. I guess we should have impeached all 20 of the past 43 presidents who have smoked cigars. How could we have been so foolish to have elected any of them President. Neither did I realize that the Native American ritual of smoking a peace pipe was inherently evil. Or the thousands of good old country boys that carry a pack of chew in their back pocket were also evil.

Drugs ?!?! Drugs have been used by cultures for spiritual rituals for thousands of years. They are still part of religious spiritual rituals being used to this very day (Mescaline, Peyote). If I'm not mistaken, Jesus turned several jugs of water into wine at a marraige party (wine is a 5,000 year old drug). Jesus went to a wedding. When the wine ran out, Jesus turned water into wine... I didn't know that the use of *DRUGS* was so inherently evil... I am going to flush all of my prescription drugs as soon as I finish my post! Join me, won't you in Prohibition !!!

Muslims ?!?! Really ?!?! I didn't know that *ALL* Muslim's were so inherently evil. Thanks for enlightening me. I will begin my campaign to persecute all Muslims as soon as I am done posting. Now that I have finally seen the light I can start working on helping to enlight others to the horrors of diversity and the frightening knowledge of other cultures!

Reverand Wright ?!?! I'm sorry, did he shock you? Is this the first time you've ever paid any real attention to what any black person has said? Or is this the first time you ever heard someone say something shocking...like... oh, I don't know...(a radio talk show shock jocks). Maybe your outraged that he didn't molest children like some Catholic Priest did while the Catholic Church covered it up or looked the other way! Maybe your afraid Obama will turn out to be just like Oprah because she went to the same church... AND We all know how *EVIL* she is.

...context people, context !!!

Palladian said...

"Do you not have any substative and interesting issues to discuss... Let's see...hmmm... Overpopulation"

Yes. Let's discuss that one. I have an idea. Why don't you kill yourself? Think globally, act locally!

blake said...

Palladian,

Just as the liberal thinks the problem is that other people have too much money...

...the Malthusian thinks the problem is that other people are taking up all the resources...

Hence charity (or suicide) is never the answer.

NotWhoIUsedtoBe said...

Books preach to the choir. Who is going to go spend $30 on a book they disagree with? Or, if someone is undecided, that's a lot of money just to hear a partisan argument.

It's just true believers.

Unknown said...

Palladian,

"Why don't you kill yourself?"

--

- McCain graduated near the *BOTTOM* of his class at the us naval academy
- Mccain voted *AGAINST* a national holiday in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
- McCain *IGNORED* the NIE report on Iraq that presented information counter to the administrations assertions

- Obama graduated from Harvard with honors near the *TOP* of his class
- Obama was the *FIRST* black president of the Harvard Law Review
- Obama *TAUGHT* constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School for twelve years
- Obama *WARNED* that the Iraq war would require not just military intervention, but also a political solution

...Come on you know you love me!

Unknown said...

Right-wing lunatic and Republican hero Jerome Corsi, on Catholics and the Pope:

CORSI: Maybe while he's there he can tell the UN what he's going to do about the sexual crimes committed by "priests" in his "Church" during his tenure. Or, maybe that's the connection -- boy buggering in both Islam and Catholicism is okay with the Pope as long as it isn't reported by the liberal press. (03/03/2003)

CORSI: So this is what the last days of the Catholic Church are going to look like. Buggering boys undermines the moral base and the laywers rip the gold off the Vatican altars. We may get one more Pope, when this senile one dies, but that's probably about it. (12/16/2002)

On Islam and Arabs

CORSI: Let's see exactly why it isn't the case that Islam is a worthless, dangerous Satanic religion? Where's the proof to the contrary? (04/24/2004)

CORSI: Islam is like a virus -- it affects the mind -- maybe even better as an analogy -- it is a cancer that destroys the body it infects... No doctor would hesitate to eliminate cancer cells from the body. (11/26/02)

CORSI: Islam is a peaceful religion as long as the women are beaten, the boys buggered, and the infidels killed. (11/22/2002)

CORSI: How's this as an analogy -- the Koran is simply the "software" for producing deviant cancer cell political behavior and violence in human beings. (02/15/2002)

CORSI: Think the liberal press will ever let out that these 2 were lovers -- typical Islamic boy-buggering -- older man, younger man -- black Muslims? I doubt it. Not a pretty picture, but one certain to be hidden by PC media. (11/08/2002)

CORSI: Isn't the Democratic Party the official SODOMIZER PROTECTION ASSOCIATION of AMERICA -- oh, I forgot, it was just an accident that Clintoon's first act in office was to promote "gays in the military." RAGHEADS are Boy-Bumpers as clearly as they are Women-Haters -- it all goes together. (11/18/2001)

There is much more.

This is all mainstream Republicanism. Standard fare from the Party of Hate, the party of bigots. The Party of Althouse. So there's nothing unusual about what Corsi is peddling. It's fits perfectly with the conservative movement.

knox said...

Derve's back

Simon said...

John Lynch said...
"Books preach to the choir. Who is going to go spend $30 on a book they disagree with?"

*Raises hand.* I bought Jeff Rosen's and Mark tushnet's books about the court, knowing I was going to think it was totally wrong. I was given Jeff Toobin's book, and I strongly encourage publishers to do that more often, while urging a better quality of book.

Peaceful said...
"Mccain voted *AGAINST* a national holiday in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr."

Two and a half decades ago. And has since said he was wrong and apologized.

"Obama graduated from Harvard with honors near the *TOP* of his class"

Obama graduated from Harvard with honors *NEAR* the top of his class. You think that those who finished ahead of him are qualified to be President too?

"Obama was the *FIRST* black president of the Harvard Law Review"

So what? Is that somehow particularly admirable?

"Obama *TAUGHT* constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School for twelve years"

So what? You think that because he taught it he has some special respect for the Constitution? Many lawprofs have no such thing - want to change it and write articles that are squarely athwart it. Moreover, as I understand it, Obama didn't teach conlaw, he taught a very narrowly-focussed seminar on rights conlaw - the exceptions, not the rule! So why would that mean he has any particular understanding of the Constitution more generally?

"Obama *WARNED* that the Iraq war would require not just military intervention, but also a political solution"

Obama wouldn't have gone there in the first place, so he was wrong from the beginning.

I understand and share the desire to have a President who can speak in complete sentences, but it seems as though Obama supporters are letting that desire overwhelm any kind of critical thinking skills.

Unknown said...

But, Simon, you give us no reasons why we should support McCain. You see, we have to choose, and out of the two, Obama seems like the obvious choice.

Unknown said...

Also, Simon, why do you have a weird picture of Scalia and the word "sensei" next to it. Talk about a Cult of Personality.

Unknown said...

Simon,

Obviously you voted for Bush twice in a row...Thanks I guess!

--

I mean, despite Republican President, George Bush's low poll ratings, he has actually accomplished quite a bit...

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NATIONAL DEBT
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

t r u t h o u t | Cost of Iraq War Skyrockets to $8 Billion a Month
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/012007A.shtml

US debt tops $9 trillion for first time-Treasury | Markets | Bonds ...
http://www.reuters.com/article/bondsNews/idUSN0754579020071107

U.S. National Debt Clock
http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock/

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WORLD OIL RESERVES
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

M. King Hubbert accurately predicts United States oil production would soon peak
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peak_oil
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hubbert_curve

As the population of the world continues to grow exponentially...
http://wilderdom.com/images/WorldPopulationGraph.jpg

...the world's remaining oil reserves are being used up at an alarming rate
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Hubbert_peak_oil_plot.svg

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ENERGY POLICY
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Energy - Issues - Politics - news
http://www.wikio.com/politics/issues/energy

American Energy Policy, Asleep at the Spigot - NYTimes.com
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/06/business/06oil.html

Bush’s Approval Ratings Plummet As Oil Skyrockets
http://www.contrarianprofits.com/articles/150-a-barrel-oil-now-a-reality/3343

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
GLOBAL WARMING
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

November 15, 2001: Rising Sea Level Forcing Evacuation of Island Country
http://www.earth-policy.org/Updates/Update2.htm

Scientists discuss the effects of burning fossil fuels and Global Warming in 1957
http://firstmention.com/globalwarming.aspx

ABC News: Did Bush Administration Censor Science?
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/Story?id=3979695&page=1

Bush's Misuse of Science : Distorting & Suppressing Climate Change Research
http://www.webexhibits.org/bush/5.html

When it Comes to Kyoto, the U.S. is the "Rogue Nation" - TIME
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,168701,00.html

America actually booed at climate conference. - Page 3 - U.S. ...
http://www.uspoliticsonline.com/environmental-issues/42583-america-actually-booed-climate-conference-3.html

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PROJECT FOR THE NEW AMERICAN CENTURY - PNAC
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Project for the New American Century - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_for_the_New_American_Century

Dark Passage: PNAC's Blueprint for Empire
the Republican PNAC's Neoconservative Ideology - Sunday, March 27, 2005
http://empireburlesquenow.blogspot.com/2005/03/dark-passage-pnacs-blueprint-for.html

A New Pearl Harbor
Project for the New American Century: A roadmap for global domination
http://www.terraknowledge.net/news/terrak040503a.htm

The president's real goal in Iraq
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article2319.htm

BBC NEWS | Programmes | Newsnight | Secret US plans for Iraq's oil
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/newsnight/4354269.stm

The Bush administration relies heavily on the ideology of the Project for the New American Century
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Bush_administration:_Project_for_the_New_American_Century

"...absent some catastrophic and catalyzing event - like a new Pearl Harbor..." pg 51
http://www.mapcruzin.com/download/RebuildingAmericasDefenses.pdf

--

PNAC Members include several top officials of the Bush Administration

Jeb Bush - George Bush's brother
Dick Cheney - George Bush's Vice President
Scooter Libby - chief of staff to the Vice President
Donald Rumsfeld - Secretary of Defense
Elliott Abrams - Deputy Secretary of State
Paul Wolfowitz - Deputy Secretary of Defense
Paula Dobriansky - Under Secretary of State for Global Affairs
Stephen Cambone - Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence
John R. Bolton - Bush's nominee as ambassador to the United Nations

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_for_the_New_American_Century#Signatories_or_contributors_to_other_significant_letters_or

_reports.7FUNIQ3c24e3df3953dec-nowiki-000001A5-QINU.7F23.7FUNIQ3c24e3df3953dec-nowiki-000001A6-QINU.7F

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
IRAQ PRE-WAR INTELLIGENCE & WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION - WMDS
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

NewsHour Extra: Millions Protest Potential War With Iraq - Feb. 18, 2003
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/features/jan-june03/protests.html

Online NewsHour Update: U.N. Inspectors Say They've Found No ...
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/iraq_01-09-03.html

"We will find there are still massive amounts of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq"
2003 - Remarks by John McCain prior to the U.S. invasion of Iraq
Source - http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Remarks_by_John_McCain_prior_to_the_U.S._invasion_of_Iraq

Which Senators voted to authorize the Iraq war?
http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=107&vote=00237&session=2

Did Senators Read Pre-War Iraq Intel Report?
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3827/is_200407/ai_n9457968

ABC News: Senate Regrets the Vote to Enter Iraq
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Politics/story?id=2771519

CNN.com - Iraq war wasn't justified, U.N. weapons experts say ...
http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/03/21/iraq.weapons/

'60 Minutes' Identifies 'Curve Ball' Source Who Led U.S. to Invade Iraq
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,307479,00.html

Saddam Hussein's nonexistent link to Al-Qaeda
Confession that formed base of Iraq war was acquired under torture: journalist
http://rempost.blogspot.com/2006/10/confession-that-formed-base-of-iraq.html

Saddam Hussein and al-Qaeda link allegations
"There was no evidence of ties between Saddam Hussein and al-Qaeda"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saddam_Hussein_and_al-Qaeda

Saddam Hussein's nonexistent WMDs & nuclear weapons program
Iraqi's Fabricated Story Of Biological Weapons Aided U.S. Arguments For Invasion
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/11/01/60minutes/main3440577.shtml

Bush-Blair 2003 Iraq memo - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Intent to invade Iraq whether or not WMDs are found
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bush-Blair_memo

The intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy
http://dir.salon.com/story/news/feature/2005/05/19/lies/index.html

FOXNews.com - White House Defends Prewar Iraq Intelligence
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,91513,00.html

Senate Report's New Findings on Pre-War Deception | Newsweek Voices - Terror Watch | Newsweek.com
http://www.newsweek.com/id/141009?from=rss

Senate Report on Pre-war Intelligence on Iraq - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Senate_Report_of_Pre-war_Intelligence_on_Iraq

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PLAME AFFAIR
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Bush Administration leaked the identity of Plame, a former CIA officer, as retailiation in 2003 after her husband, Joseph Wilson, raised serious questions about the administration's claims that officials in Niger were trying to sell yellowcake uranium to Iraq

McClellan: Cheney's role in CIA officer's outing suspicious
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/homepage/story/41771.html

Washington jury convicts top Cheney aide of four felonies
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=5017

Libby Given 21/2-Year Prison Term - washingtonpost.com
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/05/AR2007060500150.html

Bush commutes Libby's prison sentence - CNN.com
http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/07/02/libby.sentence/

Bush commutes Libby's sentence after authorizing Libby to betrays Americans
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v._Libby#Presidential_commutation_of_Libby.27s_prison_sentence

Plame sues Cheney, Libby, Rove - Security- msnbc.com
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13845613

Libby Claimed Bush Authorized Plamegate Leak - April 6, 2006
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/0406061libby1.html

What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington's Culture of Deception
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/What-Happened/Scott-McClellan/e/9781586485566/

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TORTURE - HARSH INTERROGATION
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Confession that formed base of Iraq war was acquired under torture: journalist
http://rempost.blogspot.com/2006/10/confession-that-formed-base-of-iraq.html

FRONTLINE: the torture question: transcript | PBS
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/torture/etc/script.html

White House Mum On Destroyed CIA Tapes
Congress Presses For Answers On Destruction Of Terror Interrogation Videotapes
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/12/10/national/main3598103.shtml

Online NewsHour: Analysis | Memo Surfaces on Interrogations | April 2, 2008 | PBS
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/terrorism/jan-june08/harsh_04-02.html

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SPYING AND WARRANTLESS WIRETAPPING
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

FRONTLINE: spying on the home front: watch the full program online ...
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/homefront/view/

Bush Lets U.S. Spy on Callers Without Courts - New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/16/politics/16program.html

Simon said...

Mixalhs said...
"But, Simon, you give us no reasons why we should support McCain. You see, we have to choose, and out of the two, Obama seems like the obvious choice."

I absolutely agree - and believe it or not I find it refreshing to see someone else saying so - that the issue isn't whether the candidates are good but which is better. Nevertheless, I disagree that Obama is the obvious choice. The primary reason to support McCain is the Supreme Court: Justice Stevens' departure during the next President's term is highly likely, and if McCain is the President, we'll finally claw our way back to a legalist majority. Even liberals should welcome such a result, not least because it will render Anthony Kennedy irrelevant, a service of incalculable value. Lower down the totem pole, but still very important, is that whatever McCain may or may not do, he certainly won't do most of the things that Obama has promised to do, things that I think will be ruinous to this country. Precisely because you're right about it being a two horse race, I don't think it's valid to say that one must put forward a case that McCain has positive policy propositions that are ideal; I don't claim McCain is a perfect candidate, just that he is far and away a better pick than that other guy.


"Also, Simon, why do you have a weird picture of Scalia and the word 'sensei' next to it. Talk about a Cult of Personality."

It's just a bit of tongue-in-cheek humor, although kudos on reading the kana. :) Still, describing it as being a cult of personality seems very far from the mark. One wouldn't say that Kelly Clarkson has a "cult of personality" simply because she has fans.

Simon said...

Peaceful - you're welcome. By the way, you should know that there's nothing more persuasive -- nothing that more effectively shows you to be a thoughtful person worthy of being listened to -- than verbatim copy-and-paste jobs. Bravo.

Unknown said...

Simon,

I am glad that you approve of my research. Thanks!

--

The following is additional information others might find interesting as well.

--

McCain said, 'Our dangerous dependence on foreign oil has been 30 years in the making, and was caused by the failure of politicians in Washington to think long term about the future of the country.'

Senator McCain neglected to mention that during those 30 years, he was in Washington for 26 of them. And in all that time, he did little to reduce our dependence on foreign oil.

--

In conclusion, Senator McCain decided to stand with George Bush 95 percent of the time.

- Source: http://www.cq.com/find.do?dataSource=member&memcodes=26#VOTING%20STUDIES

blake said...

Jesus, peaceful, get a blog. Don't spam someone else's. It's rude.

Simon said...

"Senator McCain decided to stand with George Bush 95 percent of the time."

The methodology of the study on which your claim rests could use some scrutiny. The study "only track[s] votes when the President has an explicit, stated opinion on a bill." So we need to see the source data, particularly how many votes are taken into account in compositing that 95% figure. If McCain voted Bush's way [i]once[/i], that would give him a 100% rating if every other vote he placed was on bills excluded from the survey by its matching criteria of needing an "explicit, stated [Bush] opinion." Another question that jumps to my mind: what do we do with procedural votes? John Kerry got hung by that, which I always thought was a little unfair. Did McCain vote for Bush, for purposes of the study, if he voted against cloture on a bill that Bush opposes? Against him? Neither?

smc said...

Ann
Just stumbled across your blog and this post.

Instead of focusing on the book, you’re shooting at the critics, so to speak which apparently was your only option given that you haven’t read Corsi’s book. (You’re writing a review of a review of a book you haven’t read.) That aside, here’s a simple analogy. You walk outside. A house across the street is on fire. Firefighters show up to put it out, walk away grumbling about how that was awful and dangerous and they wished it hadn’t happened since even though they put it out some damage was done. Do you lecture the firefighters for being pissed about a fire? Yes it’s their job but there are many, many legitimate fires (to extend the analogy) that deserve attention and having to devote energy to responding to such garbage should make journalists (and the rest of us) angry.

Because the book reviewers did not write a 10,000 word article you equate that with meaning Corsi’s claims are correct. Where’s your sense of logic? Corsi’s repeated a bunch of old, debunked crap. How many times are all of us required to dutifully respond to morons?

You say you don’t recommend it --- but you are willing to profit off it. By providing a link and hoping to make a little money off of garbage (enjoy that twenty bucks in calculated click-through rates) you willingly embrace and wish to profit from intellectual stupidity. You just became a Swift Boater, even though you’ve admittedly not read the book or dug into any of the supposed facts or looked into anything about Corsi. (And to the poster impressed by the fact that he has a PhD: that’s really not such an accomplishment if one has the privilege and energy to jump through the hoops. Funny how the right loves to demonize academics unless one of their own has an advanced degree.)

Just noted the two photos of Obama “smoking.” Here’s two reasons why they haven’t been published. (1) Who cares? (2) They aren’t associated with a news event (3) They are obvious Photoshop jobs (unless he’s smoking “smokeless” cigs), quite the metaphor for this entire post and discussion. Come on, people, focus.

Unknown said...

Blake,

Jesus, peaceful, get a blog. Don't spam someone else's. It's rude.

--

Please excuse everyone for my rudeness.

I don't know what came over me.

Can you believe I actually thought that blogs were places that people were allowed to leave comments?

Silly me.

--

Blake, don't you really mean if someone posts something that you don't like or agree with then it is *SPAM*.

Blake, don't you really mean if someone posts something that you don't like or agree with then it is *RUDE*.

--

You see, Blake, in fact there are American soldiers fighting and dying, at this very moment, so that you and I both can have a chance to voice our opinions in a civilized debate. I didn't realize this was a high school blog with clicks and such.

--

Let's see...dictionary definition of SPAM. Ahh, here it is...

SPAM: Spamming is the abuse of electronic messaging systems to indiscriminately send unsolicited bulk messages.

Unsolicited bulk email (UBE) or unsolicited commercial email (UCE), is the practice of sending unwanted e-mail messages, frequently with *commercial* content, in large quantities to an indiscriminate set of recipients.

--

If you are still not satisfied with my post, well then, excuse me for not being part of your little click.

I'm sorry I haven't called anyone names, or even told them they should kill themselves (wink) right Palladian.

--

That's the beauty of living in America. People defend our rights as citizens so that we can practice then in principle.

It is called Freedom of Speech.

blake said...

I don't know what you posted; It took me long enough to scroll past it. I don't let strangers dictate my reading material. A lot of people here have earned my respect and I will chase down their links--but if you'll notice, the regulars don't do what you did.

Only missionaries who come in to civilize the natives.

Also, only a noob invokes the First Amendment. It does not apply here. Ultimately, Althouse can delete you if she feels like it. (Which she probably won't. That doesn't make it any less rude.)

Unknown said...

"Fact-checking the books can require extensive labor and time from independent journalists, whose work often trails behind the media echo chamber."

"Imagine! A book is able to get out in front of the usually nimble "delivery system" of the newspaper. And isn't it annoying that book authors get into the media and say things that require fact-checking? Who are these people? Who let them in? How dare they impose extensive labor on journalists!"

Do you really teach law, or are you normally that obtuse? You totally missed the point of that sentence.

The phrase in question directly relates to smears being released into the wild as true before they can be verified. People say untruths in a book, they get repeated, they become fact for low-information consumers. No amount of refutation will be able to reach them.

See Michelle Malkin on Chris Matthews for a visual explanation.