Breitbart.com senior management state Andrew Breitbart never Birther, Tom Ballantyne Jr letter nails Breitbart staff and Arianna Huffington legacy
“If in the opinion of the People, the distribution or modification of the Constitutional powers be in any particular wrong, let it be corrected by an amendment in the way which the Constitution designates. But let there be no change by usurpation, for through this in one instance, may be the instrument of good, it is the customary weapon by which free governments are destroyed.”…George Washington
“Nothing can now be believed which is seen in a newspaper.
Truth itself becomes suspicious by being put into that
polluted vehicle.”…. Thomas Jefferson
“The function of the press is very high. It is almost Holy.
It ought to serve as a forum for the people, through which
the people may know freely what is going on. To misstate or
suppress the news is a breach of trust.”…. Louis D. Brandeis
From The Western Center for Journalism and Tom Ballantyne, Jr. May 23, 2012.
“An Open Letter To The “Senior Staff” At Breitbart.com”
“Let’s get a few things straight here. As much as we all loved Andrew Breitbart’s moxie, he, like virtually every other national Conservative who was or is a part of the “establishment” (read, those who have established themselves financially, and been acknowledged by their peers) had avoided the issue of the Constitutional eligibility of the president of the United States. Much like Sewanee, the University of the South, has avoided gridiron rematches with Texas, Tennessee, Texas A&M, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Auburn, LSU, and Ole Miss since beating all eight (along with four other schools) in their 12-0 1899 season. Far better to boast that they had once proved their mettle on the playing field than to have to do it again…in real time.
So, like the mythically-fearless Michelle Malkin, or the once-cocky and courageous Ann Coulter, the “Senior Staff” at Breitbart prefers to live off of past – and in their case, borrowed – glory. And, given their namesake’s own calculated denial of this historic issue, the youngsters at Breitbart apparently believe they can get away with it. But it’s tough trying to be all things to all people – especially when the views encompassed are diametrically opposed.
So here come the princes of political archeology – they can hardly be called monarchs in their own right – and they have a find…but it’s a sticky one. You see, the recognized king of sequestration, the billionaire financier of burying (not excavating) the past, has declared certain digs “off limits.” Those would be any that might uncover relics from the entombed past of the current Occupier-in-Chief. So…to disclose or not to disclose? Such a dilemma! The heady thrill of breaking a story of potentially enormous national interest, as well as consequence…but on an officially quarantined (and hermetically-sealed) topic…. How to proceed?
Ah, the obvious approach…to break the story, but make sure that the purse-strings-that-be know that you yourselves don’t take it seriously. Heaven forbid! Bittersweet, but what could be more important at this point than one’s Arianna-approved “intellectual” (press) credentials – even if such a notion is in its very essence oxymoronic…or, just plain moronic? So here we have it, in their own contortionist’s attempt at simultaneously claiming credit for, and dismissing, the obvious implications of a recently unearthed find:
Note from Senior Management:
Andrew Breitbart was never a “Birther,” and Breitbart News is a site that has never advocated the narrative of “Birtherism.” In fact, Andrew believed, as we do, that President Barack Obama was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, on August 4, 1961.
Yet Andrew also believed that the complicit mainstream media had refused to examine President Obama’s ideological past, or the carefully crafted persona he and his advisers had constructed for him.
It is for that reason that we launched “The Vetting,” an ongoing series in which we explore the ideological background of President Obama (and other presidential candidates)–not to re-litigate 2008, but because ideas and actions have consequences.
It is also in that spirit that we discovered, and now present, the booklet described below–one that includes a marketing pitch for a forthcoming book by a then-young, otherwise unknown former president of the Harvard Law Review.
It is evidence–not of the President’s foreign origin, but that Barack Obama’s public persona has perhaps been presented differently at different times.
Wow! Where to begin…? Let’s start with disclaimer #1: “Andrew Breitbart was never a ‘Birther,’ and Breitbart News is a site that has never advocated the narrative of ‘Birtherism.’”
Reading this makes me want to ask in bemused wonder: How old are you? (I could, of course, ask the same question of Anderson Cooper, Bill O’Reilly, Mark Levine, Neal Boortz, or Glenn Beck – who are clearly much older to a man.) But seriously, how immature – or insecure, at least – must one be to be so concerned with what the cultural elites think of them? Young Ben Shapiro (twenty-eight, and reportedly the youngest nationally syndicated writer in the country) went to Harvard Law. One wonders if he had been president of the Law Review if we would have ever seen one of his publications…but I digress. Joel Pollak…sure enough, went to both Harvard and Harvard Law – just as I had expected.
While I must congratulate the two on emerging from that milieu with any non-collectivist values, it seems that neither of them escaped with a penchant for identifying and confronting the Alinsky staple of marginalization…or, they accept the practice so fully that they simply can’t bear the thought of being on the receiving end thereof. Well, grow up, boys! If what Media Matters says about you is a concern (and it clearly is), then perhaps you should choose another line of work.
(I recently observed with some pride that the highly-irrelevant New Times – I believe it was – a radical statist rag, no doubt printed in an abandoned warehouse somewhere near the ASU campus, had called me a “birther.” I wouldn’t have known it except that in checking up on the circulation of some recent video productions I stumbled across it. My point being that it made me laugh…not cry. Why would I – or anyone over the age of, say, thirteen – care? Short answer? He wouldn’t…that is, if he had any sense of his own self-worth; and I thought that was all they taught in school these days!)
So, the timorous teens immediately jump on the pejorative (and proverbial) bandwagon with “Birther” and “Birtherism.” What does that mean, Joel? Are you referring to those who not only profess to believe in the Constitution, but are actually willing to defend it? I suppose we should just cut to the chase then, and call John Jay “the original birther” – rather than Hillary supporter, Phillip Berg. (It was – they were – actually, Lawrence Turley and Gabriel Chin, two highly regarded law professors, from Georgetown and the University of Arizona, who originally raised the issue with respect to Senator John McCain with the full support of the national media…and without derision, just respectful awe for this serious Constitutional inquiry, which they said must be undertaken. According to Chin, nothing less than “the rule of law” was at stake! See Chapter 17: “The Final Word from Professors Turley and Chin,” in the newly-released Oh Really, O’Reilly! – Part I of II.)
Why John Jay? Because it was he who, in a letter penned to Constitutional Convention President George Washington, on July 25, 1787, queried: “Permit me to hint whether it would not be wise and seasonable to provide a strong check to the admission of foreigners into the administration of our national government ; and to declare expressly that the command in chief of the American army shall not be given to, nor devolve on any but a natural born citizen.” (Emphasis added.)”
Read the rest of the article here:
http://www.westernjournalism.com/open-letter-senior-staff-breitbartcom/
Thanks to The Western Center for Journalism and Tom Ballantyne, Jr. for this well written and much needed letter!
