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Michael Smerconish

Michael Smerconish

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Donald Trump, Birthers, and O.J. Simpson

Posted: 04/ 8/11 08:55 AM ET

Every time I hear Donald Trump talk about President Obama's birth certificate, I think of O.J. Simpson.

The conspiracy theory invented by Simpson's defenders was every bit as loopy as the fantasies concerning Obama. Remember the O.J. defense ruse?

Years before the murder, conspirators would have had to incite Simpson to commit domestic abuse, laying a foundation for a future motive.

Several weeks before the murder, an O.J. doppelganger would have purchased a knife exactly like the weapon used in the slayings.

The night of the murder, someone would have to take the eyeglasses of Nicole Brown Simpson's mother, providing the reason for Ron Goldman's presence.

And Brentwood resident Jill Shively would have to be falsely convinced that she had seen O.J.'s Bronco speeding away from Nicole's house.

The first police responder would have to know to call Mark Fuhrman, so he could discreetly get blood from the crime scene while also picking up one of the real murderer's gloves.

Then Fuhrman would've needed to head over to Simpson's to sprinkle blood on the driveway, in the white Ford Bronco, and on Simpson's socks somewhere inside the house. He would also need to deposit the bloody glove behind Kato Kaelin's apartment.

Then, four days after the murder, after O.J. serendipitously cut his hand and volunteered an incriminating statement to police, one of the conspirators would have had to put cash and a disguise in the Bronco, and programmed the vehicle to drive toward Mexico with O.J. inside.

I don't know why prosecutor Marcia Clark's summation did not more cogently articulate the absurdity of this defense. I'm also not sure it would have made any difference. Perhaps the same is true of any birth-certificate analysis, but consider nevertheless what's needed to hold this conspiracy together:

The plot would need to span five decades.

It begins with the future president's birth in Kenya eight months after his parents had gotten married in Maui. (Why, I wonder, didn't their handlers simply ask mom and dad to stay in Hawaii for a couple of months?) Instead, having been born in Kenya for no purpose other than to complicate what would have been a rather straightforward plan to take over the world, the boy was quickly shuttled back to Hawaii, where the boy's grandparents resided. (The plan also called for Obama's grandfather to fight with Patton so as to enhance the future commander-in-chief's military credentials.)

Then, the plotters planted a bogus notice in the Aug. 13, 1961, issue of the Honolulu Advertiser, announcing the birth of Barack Obama on Aug. 4, 1961. This trail of official records and newspaper accounts would provide the necessary cover for the child's madrassa training, as he was ushered to Indonesia (or, according to Mike Huckabee, to either Kenya or Indonesia), where he would be schooled in the lessons of the Mau Mau Revolution until such time as he could resume his American mission.

That mission included getting accepted to Harvard Law School, and eventually publishing a best-selling book about (of all things!) his ancestry. And it explains why, on Page 26 of the memoir, Dreams From My Father, there is the suspicious passage: "I discovered this article, folded away among my birth certificate and old vaccination forms, when I was in high school."

Knowing that the young-Kenyan/Indonesian/Hawaiian candidate would begin his quest for the presidency, the conspirators enlisted two more participants in their nefarious scheme: Hawaii's health director, Chiyome Fukino (a Republican appointed by Republican Gov. Linda Lingle), and its state registrar, Alvin Onaka. Both would personally verify that the health department holds the president's original birth certificate.

Jess Henig and Joe Miller would be planted into the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania, where they would declare in 2008 that they had "seen, touched, examined, and photographed the original birth certificate" and that it "meets all of the requirements from the State Department for proving U.S. citizenship."

The conspiracy would include spies within the GOP who would guarantee that the 2008 Republican nominee would be born outside the United States, and understandably be unwilling to make "natural born" citizenship an issue.

The final assist would be provided by two surprise co-conspirators, President George W. Bush and Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson, who would preside over an eleventh-hour financial meltdown. The economy in ruins, the desperate nation would welcome this strange outsider.

Mission accomplished.

This post appeared first at Philly.com

 
 
 
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11:25 PM on 04/16/2011
Personally, reading so many people talk on and on and on about President Obama's birth certificate, is the single most joy. The more Donald Trump brings up the subject, the more Republicans talk about it and will lead to independants being sickened by such behavior.

Please check out this link to boycott all things Donald Trump: http://www­.facebook.­com/pages/­Dump-The-D­onald-Boyc­ott-Donald­-Trump/194­5678039125­16”
11:20 AM on 04/15/2011
please Michael you to neglect to take into consideration the fact that all possible through UFO's and time travel
08:18 PM on 04/11/2011
+The very fact that Donald Trump would cite such ridiculous birther story is a reflection of his own character (of lack thereof). It is a sad commentary on the system of democracy where so many seeminly not ignorant people would subscribe to such fantastic lies. To those self avowed Christians,
I urge them to remember the 9th commandment!
02:09 AM on 04/12/2011
Donald Trump appears dazzles for lack of a workable platform to run for President of America. He was adament about a reality show to find a woman a suitable suitor. He appears adament about his idea to join a group of folks who are playing politic without really learning the rules of the game. Does he equate running for President as a Cosino game? We need to get real about educating The American People about the makings for a President and stop these folks from slinging their fortunes in the faces of us poor Americans as an effort to make us THINK their shanangans is what it takes to become a President. No Mr Trump never appeared to have, nor doesn't appear to have a trump card now to suffice as a platform to resolve the problems of American People, including his own.
05:37 PM on 04/11/2011
There was a candidate in our last presidential election that wasn't born in this country. His name is John McCain. As long as one of the child's parents was a resident and citizen of this country is all that is needed for the child to be deemed an American and able to run for president. Would they have questioned McCain credentials because he was born near the Panama Canal?
07:33 PM on 04/11/2011
McCain was asked to prove eligibility with which he complied. Born in Panama on a United States Military base to parents who were both US Citizens and actively serving in the US NAVY. That = US Citizenship Bucko. Verified by producing a LONG FORM original birth Certificate and verified through US Courts. Do your homework before you post crap that is easily refuted or verified. Apparently something that cannot be done with ANY record of Obama.
10:57 PM on 04/11/2011
McCain only showed one reporter his birth certificate and it was not made public. http://voices.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2008/05/john_mccains_birthplace.html Senate Resolution 511 verified his eligibility not the US Courts.

By the way, you can do some homework and see Pres Obama's official birth certificate issued by the State of Hawaii at http://factcheck.org/elections-2008/born_in_the_usa.html
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01:13 PM on 04/12/2011
Mr. Obama's COLB is signed, sealed and triple-verified.

What part of absolute proof don't you understand?

Also, you snottily berate another person for being "uninformed" when you are spouting disinformation.

According to the Bush administration, military bases in foreign countries are NOT "American Soil", a la Gitmo.
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davidinct
Harmony, despite the sharps and flats.
04:44 PM on 04/11/2011
Let's not forget the master stroke of this supposed conspiracy... the baby who would become the future president was given the name Hussein, thereby raising suspicion among Christians regarding Obama's TRUE religious identity!
07:39 PM on 04/11/2011
that also would include rummy and company propping up and supplying weapons to Saddam Hussein in the 1980s
04:28 PM on 04/11/2011
However you paint it, using the OJ Simpson trial (of which he was declaired not guilty) was a foolish analogy.

This analogy leaves people like me (young Black Men) scratching our heads wondering what is this weird fascination - or should I say obscession, that just about every middle aged caucasian talkshow host seems to have with OJ Simpson ?

By the way, OJ Simpson's defence wasn't that there was "conspiracy", but that the case was handeled foolishly, and mistakes were made.

He was declaired Not-Guilty, live with it.
.....evidently people couldn't live with it which is why he was sent to prison for at least 9 years when most others would be eligible for parole in about 3 to 4 years.

I get the point, that the conspiracy to lie about President Obama's birth is downright silly..but perhaps Michael Smerconish can next time use better judgement and allude to something other that a trial that is still seen different by Black Communities than White Communities.
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Fred Manster
06:39 PM on 04/11/2011
OJ did it, and you and I both know it. That Bronco ride wasn't the behavior of an innocent man was it?
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01:18 PM on 04/12/2011
How do innocent men accused of capital crimes behave?
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davidinct
Harmony, despite the sharps and flats.
04:15 PM on 04/11/2011
And, of course, the master stroke of giving the baby Hussein as a middle name, thereby stirring up doubt among future Christians regarding the true central faith of this Presidential interloper!!
04:06 PM on 04/11/2011
Would be good to get it cleared up so even the Right can't peddle it anymore...
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davidinct
Harmony, despite the sharps and flats.
04:39 PM on 04/11/2011
In the eyes of most reasonable people, there is no "it" to get "cleared up". And, in the eyes of people who still question the citizenship of Pres. Obama, there is simply nothing out there that WOULD "clear up" this controversy - whatever further supporting evidence were presented would itself be brought into question, just like every supporting document so far produced.
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01:19 PM on 04/12/2011
What part of signed, sealed, and triple-verified don't you understand?
03:40 PM on 04/11/2011
I think we've missed the most important problem with the birthers' Manchurian Candidate hypothesis: The year is 1961 ... Martin Luther King's Dream is yet two years in the making ... and the conspiracy hangs on the promise that a black baby freshly arrived in Hawaii is going to be President.
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Fred Manster
06:46 PM on 04/11/2011
I think you're so off track on this you're 4 wheelin'
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01:19 PM on 04/12/2011
Where do you think President Obama was born?
cabinetmaker
made in USA
03:08 PM on 04/11/2011
all that and the end result was flippped-flopped
you didn't prove anything other than anything is possible
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GHARDY
01:57 PM on 04/11/2011
Tell why O.J. Simpson was the first person to come to mind, when you need an analogy about the president.
02:53 PM on 04/11/2011
If you read the article you wouldn't need to ask the question.

Or are you one of the very few people on this earth that thinks OJ didn't do it?
11:13 AM on 04/12/2011
FYI: The OJ jury was not asked if they thought he "did it.". (They did.) they were asked if the State PROVED he committed murder beyond a reasonable doubt. Adhering to California's Rules of Evidence, which instructs jurors to dismiss any testimony or evidence provided by proven liars, they dismissed all of Mark (The Perjurer) Fuhrman's evidentiary input: POOF! Gone were the gloves, the hat, the blood on the gate - all furnished by Fuhrman.

Blame Marcia Clark, who knew all about Fuhrman's racism but decided it was 'too incendiary' for black female jurors and so decided to lie about it. FAIL. As jury forewoman Amanda Cooley succinctly said, "Being a racist doesn't make you a liar. Lying under oath to pretend you're not a racist does." If Clark hadn't chosen to conceal Fuhrman's racism she would have won her case. Lying to the jury about his racism under oath in response to Clark's questions is what tainted Fuhrman's evidence in the jury's eyes.

Bottom Line: Our judicial system is designed so that a guilty man walks free from court if there's not enough admissible proof of his guilt to persuade a jury. So what's your problem with that? What sustem do you want instead?
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Maezeppa
Happy-Happy Joy-Joy
03:06 PM on 04/11/2011
It's not an analogy about the President - it's an analogy about masses of people ignoring evidence and embracing fantasy.
 
People who wanted to believe OJ was innocent ignored mountains of evidence in favor of far-fetched theories about how he was framed.   People who want to believe President Obama is not a citizen ignore the mountains of evidence he was born in Hawaii in favor of far-fetched theories about how he was born in Kenya and then snuck into the country.
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01:18 PM on 04/13/2011
Very few people think that Mr. Simpson didn't kill Mr. Goldman and Ms. Brown.

Very few informed people think that Mr. Simpson should have been convicted of first degree murder based on the evidence.

Lying policemen. Planted evidence. Lying prosecutor. Felony perjury by the "detective" who kept wandering off and "finding" evidence all by himself.

If that had been done to you, you'd be screaming. But it's OK for you-Mr. Simpson is black and should be overpunished for killing white people, and the police should be admired for lying and planting evidence, because it was in the cause of the greater good.

As you wrote in your other post racism is good if you think you have a really, really good reason.
Paul1965
righties if we agreed with you we'd all be wrong
10:10 AM on 04/11/2011
Donald Trump, Birthers, and OJ Simpson

"Things I don't like for $200, Alex"
09:29 AM on 04/11/2011
O.J Simpson is having problems in prison because inmates are saying he is not a killer. The killers say they know their trade and O. J. is not one of them. Being a fake killer in prison gets no respect. it is said that all humans have been accused of something they know nothing about. If your luck is bad it could be as bad as murder. If there wasn't already over 200 people released for being falsely accused I would say O.j. was the first but it looks like it can happen everyday.
12:08 PM on 04/11/2011
You sound like you have a lot of contacts in jail with OJ. Or did you read this somewhere you can share with us?
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01:22 PM on 04/12/2011
OJ to a reporter when he walked into the court for sentencing: "You know what this is really all about."
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AuntInAZ
Hypocrisy is one of my pet peeves.
04:17 AM on 04/11/2011
Thanks for this! I'm trying not to laugh at the absurdity of it all, especially when there is such a lunatic fringe out there still spouting this BS. And thanks also for the reminder of the absurdity of the O.J. Simpson conspiracy!
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Maezeppa
Happy-Happy Joy-Joy
03:13 PM on 04/11/2011
 I had a real moment of genuine cognitive dissonance yesterday when I encounterd a person here who is anti-birther but believes OJ was framed.    Made my head spin.
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01:22 PM on 04/12/2011
The police frame people both guilty and innocent every day.
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denicci1977
35 yrs, female Georgia early voted 4 Obama2012!
12:55 AM on 04/11/2011
The birther tin foils don't live in reality. They told me they believe President Obama is planning on making all Americans be implanted with a tracking chip and Malcolm X is his real dad. It is a waste of time trying to explain and attempt a reasonable conversation with these people.
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01:23 PM on 04/12/2011
OT-the SNL episode where Sen. McCain does a skit as AG Ashcroft with the remote control is really funny-it might be on Hulu.