Dave Weigel lies about Obama certificate issue *again* (Rachel Maddow, "Birthers")

Dave Weigel of the Washington Independent appeared on the Rachel Maddow show to discuss the "Birther" movement a couple days ago; the video is attached. If you trust Weigel's reporting, keep reading because, in addition to being disingenuous, he uttered two major lies.

Weigel said reporters should call Hawaii and "get this thing verified", that "it's very straightforward". What Weigel didn't mention is that it would be illegal for Hawaiian officials to verify that Obama was born there, as Hawaiian officials have repeatedly stated. Weigel is being disingenuous.

Weigel then claimed that Hawaii said the certificate on Obama's site was not forged. That's completely, absolutely false. Once again: it would be illegal for them to verify that the picture on Obama's site matches what they have on file. On one Politifact page [1], Hawaii Department of Health spokeswoman Janice Okubo said of an emailed copy of the image shown on Obama's site, "It's a valid Hawaii state birth certificate." Then, near the end of the page, she reversed herself: "I don't know that it's possible for us to even say beyond a doubt what the image on the site represents." In other words, she can't say whether the image on his site is forged, and no other Hawaiian officials have spoken to that matter.

Then, he said that Hawaii said they had another different copy on file that "says the same stuff". That too is completely, absolutely false. Hawaii has never said anything like that. Weigel just made that up.

Moving on from lies, he promoted Kitty Pilgrim's CNN episode where, attempting to "debunk" this issue, she also lied. He claims that Alan Keyes and Orly Taitz "rambled" in that episode, yet both made completely defensible, level-headed comments. They were met with childish, disreputable ridicule from Pilgram, Errol Louis and John Avlon.

For more, see our completely fact-based coverage of this issue on the Obama citizenship page. And, if you want to do something about this, leave a link to this post on Weigel's entries about this issue at the Washington Independent and at other sites that rely on his reporting. And, please contact Weigel and let him know that you know he's a liar.

[1] politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2008/jun/27/obamas-birth-certificate-part-ii

Thu, 07/23/2009 - 22:09 · · Importance: 4