Buckland's blog

(Satirical New Service Wire) SNN has learned that Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano has decided to place the state of Wyoming on the domestic state sponsors of terrorism list. This list, modeled on a similar list of national terrorism sponsors maintained by the State Department, was created to better prepare the nation against domestic terrorist threats.

When asked about the designation, Secretary Napolitano stressed that she had no choice in the designation. "The recent DHS report on Rightwing Extremism made it clear that this is a risk that we as a country cannot ignore. Wyoming is a boiling cauldron of ethnic hatred -- Whites, Sioux, Hispanics. These groups have been at war for hundreds of years and we cannot allow that to spill out into the country as a whole." She also stressed that the report wasn't a political document, but was assembled by the department's career security professionals. "These people have no political axe to grind. Their only job is to protect the American people."

Secretary Napolitano was joined by Obama Budget Chief Peter ORszag. Noting that Wyoming has projected a budget surplus for 2009 he stated "This type of national terrorism cannot be tolerated. In today's economy, budget deficits are patriotic. Wyoming's lack of participation harms all Americans."

In a written statement, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton agreed with the designation. "During the recent campaign, my plan to campaign in Wyoming was thwarted on our approach to the Cheyenne airport. Sniper fire was common at the airport, and the decision was made that the risk was too great to land. We diverted to Butte, Montana and drove to Wyoming for the campaign event."

The consequences of the designation are currently unclear. Currently FEMA personnel are en route to Wyoming to setup monitoring centers. "We will stay on top of the situation" said Secretary Napolitano, "We want to be proactive in dealing with these situations as they arise."

Over the last few days, Jim Geraghty at National Review Online has a couple of posts speculating on why the Obama campaign refuses to release his birth certificate. He has a few interesting ideas on the subject (Name change?  Religion on birth certificate?, etc.).

Karen Tumulty of Time has weighed in on the issue, essentially accusing Geraghty of spreading rumors about Obama. Tumulty's concerns do seem a little over the top, especially considering Geraghty's piece is mostly just thinking through the possibilities on why they would attempt to keep it a secret.

This morning I read another piece by Tom Bevan of RealClearPolitics.com. It mentions another Tumulty piece about Obama fighting rumors by setting up a website to spread their version of the truth.

What I thought was interesting was looking at Bevan's quoted version of Tumulty's quote versus what's actually on the Time site now (hilights added):

RCP Bevan's version of the Time piece:

The rest of fightthesmears.com is designed to be a guided tour of other sensational rumors circulating on the Web about Obama and his family. Click on the claim that Obama attended a "radical madrasah," for instance, and it takes you to a CNN feature on the very ordinary-looking elementary school he actually went to as a child in Indonesia. The rumor that Obama was sworn in to the U.S. Senate with the Koran yields a photo of him with his hand on a family Bible. Also featured are videos of Obama saying the Pledge of Allegiance, to combat claims that he refuses to. And, yes, there is a pdf of his birth certificate. Near each rumor will be a fight-back button, offering suggestions as to where and how Obama supporters can call or e-mail to counter the rumors. The site will also have a spot where Obama supporters can alert the campaign to any new rumors they may be seeing on the Web or in their mailboxes or hearing on the telephone.

Tumulty's current Time version:

The rest of fightthesmears.com is designed to be a guided tour of other sensational rumors circulating on the Web about Obama and his family. Click on the claim that Obama attended a "radical madrasah," for instance, and it takes you to a CNN feature on the very ordinary-looking elementary school he actually went to as a child in Indonesia. The rumor that Obama was sworn in to the U.S. Senate with the Koran yields a photo of him with his hand on a family Bible. Also featured are videos of Obama saying the Pledge of Allegiance, to combat claims that he refuses to. And, yes, the campaign plans to post a .pdf of Obama's birth certificate. Near each rumor will be a fight-back button, offering suggestions as to where and how Obama supporters can call or e-mail to counter the rumors. The site will also have a spot where Obama supporters can alert the campaign to any new rumors they may be seeing on the Web or in their mailboxes or hearing on the telephone.

Two possibilities here: Either Tom Bevan of RCP altered the quote from Time (not at all  likely) or Time changed the story after the initial publication.

Assuming this was a late edit, what does that say about the Ms Tumulty's thoroughness? She essentially put in an Obama talking point without even checking the website to see if it had any basis in fact. This was easily verifiable, but Ms Tumulty assumed that since it came from the Obama campaign it must be true and would be a waste of time to verify.

Can you imagine any reporter doing the same for McCain?