http://www.therightsideoflife.com/?p=1703
Posted on 07/26/2009 1:17:40 AM PDT by FTJM
CNN/US president Jonathan Klein is rebuffing the mounting criticism of the network over Lou Dobbs’ continued airing of “birther” theories, saying that Lou runs “his own show” that merely hosts “panels” with birther theorists and asserting that CNN respects viewers enough to let them “make up their own minds.”
Klein, in an interview with me just now, also took a shot at Dobbs’ critics, saying they’re politically motivated: “I understand that people with a partisan point of view from one extreme or another might get annoyed that certain subjects are aired.”
CNN is under mounting pressure to get Dobbs to stop giving airtime to birther theorists and suggesting there’s something to their case, which he’s been doing even though the network has repeatedly debunked the theories. Jon Stewart recently mocked Dobbs for not even watching his own network. Media Matters has blasted CNN for “mainstreaming the fringe.”
The Southern Poverty Law Center called for Dobbs’ firing today, and MoveOn is demanding CNN apologize for Dobbs’ “helping to spread hate and fear.”
“Look, Lou’s his own show, and CNN in general has repeatedly and thoroughly reported on the facts behind this situation,” Klein said to me, adding that Lou had merely hosted “a few conversations with people representing a wide range of opinions.”
Klein said that Dobbs has repeatedly stated that he believes that Obama was born in Hawaii, and has simply been examining the “phenomenon that for some people this won’t go away.”
Asked if CNN is concerned that Dobbs’ repeated granting of airtime to theories the network has conclusively debunked amounts to overkill and could harm CNN’s credibility, Klein brushed off the possibility. “We respect our viewers enough to present them the facts and let them make up their own minds,” he said, adding that what Dobbs does is “his editorial decision to make.”
Klein sent a private memo to Dobbs staffers yesterday saying the birther story is “dead” and questioning its legitimacy, but Dobbs has continued to discuss it on the air, anyway. Klein said the memo wasn’t a sign of concern, however, calling that conclusion “overblown.”
Asked if CNN would take any action if Dobbs continued airing the birther theories, Klein said No: “I think no good journalist would ever say that a particular story will never be covered again. Every day brings new facts, new pegs.”
Sounds as though Klein got a good look at the ratings for Dobbs’s show and changed his mind about scrubbing the BC issue.
at least he keeps an open mind. nothing has debunked until the birth certificate is produced. a newspaper announcement does not cut it. a certification that a birth certificate exists does not cut it. produce the actual birth certificate which contains important historical facts concerning our current president, some of which has never been exposed. NO ONE even knows what hospital BHO was born or who delivered him. I am not even sure we know his real name.
Back on the island we know him as Barry the commie.
Asked if CNN would take any action if Dobbs continued airing the birther theories, Klein said No: “I think no good journalist would ever say that a particular story will never be covered again. Every day brings new facts, new pegs.”
He backed off saying the story is dead and no mention of Hawaii destroying original documents. Hmmm...
This is same guy who was telling Dobbs to stop running “birther” stories. My, what a difference a day makes.
http://www.therightsideoflife.com/?p=1703
Here’s a transcript of the Lou Dobbs show, specifically pertaining to that report.
Meanwhile the State of Hawaii says it can’t release a paper copy of the President’s original birth certificate, becasuse, they say the state government discarded the original document when the Health Department records went electronic some eight years ago.
Face Off: Obama’s Birth Certificate
Thursday, 7/23/2009
President Obama promised transparency in government… yet the White House won’t release his original birth certificate. Many Americans are asking… why not? The mainstream liberal media is attacking me for simply asking the question. Meanwhile… the state of Hawaii says it cannot release a paper copy of the president’s original birth certificate because it discarded the original document when its health department records went electronic eight years ago. That explanation has not satisfied critics though. Joining Lou: Roland Martin, CNN contributor and syndicated columnist, and Congressman Ted Poe.
Here’s the link, but shows “roll off” so this is a link from the date of 7/24/2009. I can’t say the link will display this show (as I give you above) in the days to come.
No kidding. Thanks, Slings and Arrows.
Also...
—
FRIDAY, JUL 24
Jon Klein on Birthers: “It Seems This Story is Dead”
TVNewser has learned CNN/U.S. president Jon Klein sent an email to a handful of “Lou Dobbs Tonight” staffers last night regarding the coverage of the so-called birthers and the validity of Pres. Obama’s birth in the U.S.
In part, Klein writes, “It seems this story is dead- because anyone who still is not convinced doesn’t really have a legitimate beef.” Klein asked CNN researchers to dig into the question of why Obama couldn’t produce the original birth certificate. The researchers contacted the Hawaii Health Dept. and confirmed that paper documents were discarded in 2001 when the department went paperless. That reportedly includes Pres. Obama’s original birth certificate.
And for y’all — “BIRTH CERTIFICATE CENTRAL”
Here’s a news outlet for you — all you readers... this is “Birth Certificate Central”... at WorldNetDaily...
No..., I really like WorldNetDaily. This is not any kind of derogatory remark about them. They are an excellent news site on the web. I’ve followed them for years. They have a Christian worldview outlook and I would recommend them to all readers, regardless of the birth certificate issue that they go after all the time.
As I’ve posted elsewhere... below...
Every time I see the birth certificate issue, I’ve got to pump up WorldNetDaily, since they are on this issue *all the time*...
If you want to go to a legitimate news source that has been on the Obama birth certificate issue for a long time now and does so *consistently* — go to WorldNetDaily...
WorldNetDaily
http://www.wnd.com/
They even pay to have billboards put up around the United States asking “Where is the Birth Certificate?”... I don’t know of any other news source anywhere that has paid to put up these kinds of billboards all over the country.
If you’re interested in the Obama Birth Certificate issue, you’ll find a lot of older articles from them on it, and they always have new articles coming up all the time. They are always hammering away at this issue and it’s a new source that is well worth supporting by going and clicking on their links.
Keep up on the birth certificate issue on WorldNetDaily...
[... I love WorldNetDaily, as they’re a fine news website... :-) ...]
That is because Hawaii hasn’t destroyed any documents, and copies of birth certificates are kept by various agencies.
Sometimes the correct thing gets done or the results are embarrassing.
Yeah, sorry about that.
Interesting. Obama perjured himself.
2 more big issues remain, however:
One, did Zero apply as a foreign student at Occidental and / or Columbia and also received financial aid as a citizen of Indonesia???
2, Zero did travel to Pakistan in 1981. And in doing so did he enter Pakistan as a British citizen or an Indonesian???? Pakistan was a 'no travel' country by US citizens in 1981.
“helping to spread hate and fear”...Hmmm...Isn’t this what Obama does?
They are running scared and Dobbs has the upper hand here with the network. He has ratings and a radio show independent of CNN. CNN has to tread lightly. My guess is that whoever leaked the memo has been fired already.
Without getting into all those points, there is just one little thing that I know other FReepers have commented on. Some FReepers (that I’ve seen) swear *absolutely* that Pakistan was never off limits to US citizens.
Now... mind you, that’s not me saying this... LOL... because I really don’t know. What I’m saying is that I’m hearing conflicting stories on this from FReepers, right here on Free Republic...
The bottom line for me is that I would just like to know which it is...
That’s the one that triggered my snarking reflex, yep.
I wonder if Indonesia still has original documents pertaining to Obama and his citizenship.
I’ve been puzzled by that, too. People have said different things. I think that perhaps it wasn’t strictly forbidden to go there, but there might have been a travel advisory because Pakistan was having one of its bursts of anti-Americanism. In that case, someone who had another passport would probably have preferred to use it.
BTW, I read some place that Obama had to get a US passport when he went into the Senate. I guess he had to or wanted to travel somewhere at that time. He seems to have been all over the place when he was a child and a teenager, but then he didn’t travel very much until now, when of course he is always touring the globe. In any case, I have seen this described as his first US passport.
So what was he traveling on before that time?
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