Now Kurtz blames Matthews, rather than Dobbs, for birther nonsense
July 29, 2009 1:11 pm ET by Jamison Foser
Howard Kurtz seems to be committed to making his conflict of interest as obvious as possible. Here's Kurtz during an appearance on the conservative Hugh Hewitt radio show:
HUGH HEWITT (host): The second story, the birthers. Today, the National Review joined me, [radio host] Michael Medved, most every center-right responsible conservative I know in denouncing the idea that the president isn't a citizen. But yet this story continues to have legs. Today, the Hawaii guy came out and said, no, we got his birth certificate, how long does this go on, Howard, and do you sense that the media is - and by that I mean, mainstream media, is having fun with this because it has the potential to embarrass some conservatives because of the, in the way that the [9-11] Truthers embarrassed some Democrats?
KURTZ: Probably in some quarters. I applaud the conservatives who have stood up and said basically this is wacko stuff, there's not a shred of evidence, I don't want to associate with these folks. I don't understand why this has gotten so much prominence, particularly on cable television in the first place if we make a judgment as journalists that this is basically a lot of garbage, then why do we have to spend a lot of time flogging this horse? The guy who has been flogging this the most, it seems to me, is Chris Matthews on MSNBC. And while I agree with his general point of view on this, which is that it is a load of baloney, he - I don't think there's been one show in the last seven where he hasn't dragged somebody on - G. Gordon Liddy, whoever - in order to beat up on that person. So -
HEWITT: I think he does it because --
KURTZ: -- I think it's got enough attention.
HEWITT: -- It's low-hanging fruit. It's such an easy target. It's making fun of people with marginal grasp of logic and so I think it's just too easy for him, but I hope it goes away soon because it does divert from the key discussion, and this is the question, is healthcare being covered the right way.
No mention of CNN. No mention of Lou Dobbs. No mention of Jonathan Klein's defense of Dobbs. Instead, Kurtz singles out Chris Matthews, who has been debunking the birther nonsense, as the person primarily responsible for it, rather than Lou Dobbs, who has been promoting it.
And, as I'm sure you know by now, CNN pays Howard Kurtz a nice chunk of change. Might that have anything to do with his refusal to hold CNN -- whose president, Jonathan Klein, defends Dobbs' promotion of birther conspiracy theories -- responsible for their conduct?
How could it not?
(See also InstaPutz)
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Great question.
The state of media today is they allow people to come on and lie day after day without challenge.
We're in the midst of an economic crisis and don;t have time for this foolishness
Well done. I hope you are making minimum wage, Kurtz. You're barely worth that much. This country would doubtless be better served if you were flipping burgers somewhere.
Subject: Dobbspicable
Reporting ABOUT a crazy DANGEROUS conspiracy theory is a FAR CRY from legitimizing, feeding and spreading it around like manurer. And you, Mr. Klein, as well that bloviating dumbass Dobbs, know the difference. The country has grown tired of intellectual dishonesty. FYI -- I watch CNN all day UNTIL Lou Dobbs comes on. Then I can't switch the channel quick enough lest the nausea sets in. He is filthy and I feel dirty after watching him speak.
[I lied -- actually I have BOTH MSNBC and CNN on with picture in picture, switching back and forth all day long. Then at night, for laughs I'll catch a little O'Lielly or Insannity on FauxNews. Oh the joys of working at home!]
No it isn't. It's another conspiracy theory video that itself lies. You keep stating that the Hawaiin officials won't say whether Obama was born in Hawaii because it would be illegal for them to do so. This is an outright lie. In fact, Janice Okubu, the director for the Dept. of Health in Hawaii, has said that the birth certificate Obama posted, and which states he is born in Honolulu, is valid. You clearly must know this.
So you are either lying, or so entrenched in your own conspiracy theory that you can't see the truth.
1. At one time, she said he was born there. She won't say that now. In fact, nowadays she says it would be illegal and she'd not qualified to speak to this. I happen to have spoken to the supposed reporter who got her to say the first, and it isn't pretty in that it was based on her imaginings rather than any facts.
2. On one Politifact page, she said the cert they emailed her looked real, then she reversed herself at the end of the article and said she can't really say what the image they emailed her represents.
On other occasions, she's given contradictory information; she's not a credible source and she's just a spokeswoman.
Pardon me, but either I'm missing something, or Hewitt is engaging in a bit of selective senility here. The 9/11 Truthers were the ones who made ridiculous claims about the twin towers being brought down by carefully-placed explosives within the buildings, that the Pentagon was attacked by a truck bomb rather than an aircraft, etc. This was a small group of conspiratorial nutcases who wouldn't accept reality, which aligns much more closely with fringe right-wingers (it's no coincidence that one of the most prominent 9/11 Truthers is also a prominent Birther). Just who are these "some Democrats" who were embarrassed by this group?
Kurtz, of course, misses the opportunity to correct Hewitt, or intentionally chooses not to.