The meme that will not die
Text and photograph from the 15th Anniversary publication of Acton & Dystel's literary clients (1991)
A few months ago, Sheriff Joe came right out and said Obama’s birth certificate was a “forgery.”
Today, Brietbart.com is continuing its ‘vetting’ of President Obama’s background by publishing pictures from a 1991 publication by Obama’s then literary agent. The book lists Obama as one of Acton and Dystel’s literary clients and provides a biography of Obama that reads,
Barack Obama, the first African-American president of the Harvard Law Review, was born in Kenya and raised in Indonesia and Hawaii. The son of an American anthropologist and a Kenyan finance minister, he attended Columbia University and worked as a financial journalist and editor for Business International Corporation. He served as project coordinator in Harlem for the New York Public Interest Research Group, and was Executive Director of the Developing Communities Project in Chicago’s South Side. His commitment to social and racial issues will be evident in his first book, Journeys in Black and White.
Apart from the obvious fuel that this biography will add to the birther fires, it reveals once again that Obama – like his purported string of girlfriends – is a composite of several different figures. In many speeches, Obama has told the world of his limited upbringing and the tight financial strictures he and his mother endured. In this publication, however, his mother is described as an “anthropologist” and his father a “Kenyan finance minister.” In another article, we learn that while he attended college, Obama had a crew of Mexican maids who were responsible for cleaning up the destruction from his 40+ hour long parties. Hardly the lifestyle of a destitute and disenfranchised child.
This biography, along with other recently revealed stories, again bring to light the fact that there is not one Barack Obama, he is a continually “evolving” composite of people, made up to suit whatever situation he happens to encounter.
Looking back to the birther issue, the sad thing is that Obama could have easily defused this entire situation by approving the public release of his actual birth certificate when the initial furor started. He (and his handlers) have perpetuated and fostered this silliness for several years now. Apparently they believe the continued headlines are winning them supporters. However, releases like this Acton & Dystel client list are going to have the long-term impact of chipping away at his credibility.
By encouraging the game and refusing to release original documents, Obama may have actually done far more damage to his political career than any birther ever could have.
