A little payback to the Trig Truthers

- By Thomas Lamb

Ben Smith wasted no time at Politico in trying on Sarah Palin's answer to the birth certificate question she was asked in Thursday's interview on The Rusty Humphries Show. Here's a transcript of that segment of the interview:

Would you make the birth certificate an issue if you ran?

I think the public, rightfully, is still making it an issue. I don’t have a problem with that. I don’t know if I would have to bother to make it an issue ’cause I think there are enough members of the electorate who still want answers.

Do you think it’s a fair question to be looking at?

I think it’s a fair question, just like I think past associations and past voting record — all of that is fair game. You know, I’ve got to tell you, too: I think our campaign, the McCain/Palin campaign didn’t do a good enough job in that area. We didn’t call out Obama and some of his associates on their records and what their beliefs were and perhaps what their future plans were. And I don’t think that that was fair to voters to not have done our jobs as candidates and as a campaign to bring to light a lot of the things that now we’re seeing made manifest in the administration.

I mean, truly, if your past is fair game and your kids are fair game, certainly Obama’s past should be. I mean, we want to treat men and women equally, right?

Hey, you know, that’s a great point, in that weird conspiracy-theory freaky thing that people talk about that Trig isn’t my real son. And a lot of people say, “Well you need to produce his birth certificate! You need to prove that he’s your kid!” Which we have done. But yeah, so maybe we could reverse that and use the same [unintelligible]-type thinking on them.

Smith's Palin barrage balloon went right up:

Palin: Obama birth certificate 'a fair question'

Speaking to the conservative talker Rusty Humphries today, Sarah Palin left the door open to speculation about President Obama's birth certificate.

[...]

McCain's campaign counsel has said the campaign did look into the birth certificate question and, like every other serious examination, dismissed it.

Palin suggested that the questions were fair play because of "the weird conspiracy theory freaky thing that people talk about that Trig isn't my real son -- 'You need to produce his birth certificate, you need to prove that he's your kid,' which we have done."

"Maybe we can reverse that," she said, returning to Obama's birth certificate, describing the type of thinking involved with a word that isn't clear in the audio.

Sarah Palin shot back at the lamestream media on her Facebook page:

Stupid Conspiracies

Voters have every right to ask candidates for information if they so choose. I’ve pointed out that it was seemingly fair game during the 2008 election for many on the left to badger my doctor and lawyer for proof that Trig is in fact my child. Conspiracy-minded reporters and voters had a right to ask... which they have repeatedly. But at no point – not during the campaign, and not during recent interviews – have I asked the president to produce his birth certificate or suggested that he was not born in the United States.

But if anyone thought that would put the lamestream media outrage to rest, we know where they can get a good deal on some shares of Opel stock. On its First Read blog, the cable channel where the U.S. Military Academy is considered to be "enemy territory" hit back at former Gov. Palin:

*** Palin watch: According to Politico, Sarah Palin tipped her hat to the so-called “birther” movement. "Would you make the birth certificate an issue if you ran?" she was asked on a conservative talk-radio show. Her answer: "I think the public rightfully is still making it an issue. I don't have a problem with that. I don't know if I would have to bother to make it an issue, because I think that members of the electorate still want answers… I think it's a fair question, just like I think past association and past voting records -- all of that is fair game.” Yet on her Facebook page, Palin later reversed course: “[A]t no point -- not during the campaign, and not during recent interviews -- have I asked the president to produce his birth certificate or suggested that he was not born in the United States.” Trying to have it both ways?

Reversed course? Trying to have it both ways?

Not quite. Captain Andrew Sullivan and his ship of fools have demanded that Sarah Palin prove that her son is her son, yet they dismiss anyone who isn't convinced that a genuine Obama birth certificate has been made public. Who is it who's trying to have it both ways again?

Sarah Palin's point was obviously lost on the network of Olbermann and Maddow. And if she wanted to deal out a little payback to the Trig Truthers, we figure she has it coming. And then some.

- Tom