This week, our corner of the lefty interwebs has been clogged up with folks forwarding a story from Phoenix’s CBS 5 about, once again, Ken Bennett’s flirtation with birtherism. In the story, Morgan Loew talks about the two folks who encouraged the e-mails to Bennett that started this whole sideshow: Joseph Farah and Tom Ballantyne.
Farah is the man behind World Net Daily, a clearing house for bat guano conspiracy theories and allegations for the far right. Think of it as a superconducting supercollider for Godwin’s Law: it can be observed there under ideal and accelerated circumstances.
Interestingly, WND has put forward the allegation that Obama was born in Kenya, but has also alleged that Obama’s father was a communist named Frank Marshall Davis. I guess I should admire that these guys can hold contradictory ideas comfortably in their neanderthal skulls.
Anyhow, Loew couldn’t get Bennett’s office to acknowledge whether or not they knew that Farah and his followers were behind the the supposed groundswell of grassroots concern that prompted his action.
Here is my question: would Bennett have done the same had, say, MoveOn.org generated the e-mails? Or is this just a service he provides for candidates he’s on the steering committee for?
One Comment
It’s all about the smear. Bennet knows that voters have short memories. It’s win – win for him. Too bad for Arizona.