Fighting for Working Families
Obama Birthers Rebuttle 1 of Many (Snopes.com)
Trip Wire
Claim: A June 2004 Associated Press article identified Barack Obama as "Kenyan-born."
 |
FALSE |
Example: [Collected via e-mail, October 2009]
What most people know is that the Associated Press (AP) is one of the
largest, internationally recognized, syndicated news services. What
most people don't know that is in 2004, the AP was a "birther" news
organization.
How so? Because in a syndicated report, published Sunday, 2004, by the Kenyan Standard Times, and which was, as of this report, available
here.
The AP reporter stated the following:
Kenyan-born US Senate hopeful, Barrack Obama, appeared set to take over the Illinois Senate seat after his main rival, Jack Ryan,
dropped out of the race on Friday night amid a furor over lurid sex
club allegations.
most people don't know that is in 2004, the AP was a "birther" news
organization.
How so? Because in a syndicated report, published Sunday, 2004, by the Kenyan Standard Times, and which was, as of this report, available
here.
The AP reporter stated the following:
Kenyan-born US Senate hopeful, Barrack Obama, appeared set to take over the Illinois Senate seat after his main rival, Jack Ryan,
dropped out of the race on Friday night amid a furor over lurid sex
club allegations.
Origins: A popular item of "birther" chatter in October 2009 concerned the discovery of an archived copy of a 2004 article from the web version of the Kenyan-based Sunday Standard newspaper. The article was a
|
|
from the race for a seat representing Illinois in the
paving the way for the Democratic contender, Barack Obama, to win the
election. Why this article was of particular interest to birthers was
its lead-in sentence, which referred to Barack Obama as "Kenyan-born."
Surely, claimed birthers, such an august news agency as the Associated
Press would not have identified Barack Obama as "Kenyan-born" if they
did not have ample evidence to support its use of that term.
However, the Associated Press made no such reference; the identification of Barack Obama as "Kenyan-born" was added to the Sunday Standard's
version of the AP story by someone else (who misspelled the
politician's given name as "Barrack" in the process) and is apparently
unique to that publication. The full text of the "Jack Ryan Abandons
Senate Bid" article as originally issued by the Associated Press is
retrievable from the LexisNexis archive of global news sources, and it
contains no reference (in the or elsewhere) to Barack Obama's being "Kenyan-born":
Associated Press Online
June 25, 2004 Friday
Illinois' Jack Ryan Abandons Senate Bid
BYLINE: MAURA KELLY LANNAN; Associated Press Writer
SECTION: NATIONAL POLITICAL NEWS
DATELINE: CHICAGO
Illinois Senate candidate Jack Ryan dropped out of the race Friday amid
a furor over lurid sex club allegations that horrified fellow
Republicans and caused his once-promising candidacy to implode in four
short days.
"It's clear to me that a vigorous debate on the issues most likely could not take place if I remain in the race," Ryan, 44, said in
a statement. "What would take place, rather, is a brutal,
scorched-earth campaign - the kind of campaign that has turned off so
many voters, the kind of politics I refuse to play."
The campaign began to come apart Monday following the release of embarrassing records from Ryan's divorce. In those records, his
ex-wife, "Boston Public" actress Jeri Ryan, said Ryan took her to kinky
sex clubs in Paris, New York and New Orleans and tried to get her to
perform sex acts with him while others watched.
Ryan disputed the allegations, saying he and his wife went to one "avant-garde" club in Paris and left because they felt
uncomfortable.
In quitting the race, Ryan lashed out at the media and said it was "truly outrageous" that the Chicago Tribune got a judge to unseal
the records.
"The media has gotten out of control," he said.
Top Illinois Republicans immediately began the work of selecting a new candidate. Their choice will become an instant underdog
against Democratic state Obama in the campaign for the seat of retiring GOP Fitzgerald. Obama held a wide lead even before the scandal broke.
"I feel for him actually," Obama said on WLS-AM. "What he's gone
through over the last three days I think is something you wouldn't wish
on anybody. Unfortunately, I think our politics has gotten so
personalized and cutthroat that it's very difficult for people to want
to get in the business."
Ryan had faced mounting pressure to quit from party leaders, who met several times in Washington this week to discuss whether the
campaign could survive.
"He really was a dead man walking," Gary MacDougal, former Illinois Republican Party chairman.
Ryan conducted an overnight poll to gauge his support. After reviewing the results, Ryan's advisers told the candidate that the only
way to survive would be wage an extremely negative and expensive
response.
"Jack Ryan made the right decision. I know it must have been a difficult one," said House Speaker Dennis Hastert of Illinois, who made
his feelings known by canceling a fund-raising event scheduled for
Thursday with Ryan.
Ryan was a political neophyte when he got into the race - a millionaire investment banker who had left business four years ago to
teach at an all-boys parochial school in Chicago. He spent of his own fortune to win the primary.
With his good looks and Harvard background, Ryan was seen by many as
the party's best hope for revitalizing the Illinois GOP. The party lost
control of the governor's office and nearly every statewide office two
years ago in the wake of a corruption scandal involving Ryan, who has since been indicted. He is not related to Jack Ryan.
During the primary, Ryan waved off rumors of damaging sex allegations
in his sealed divorce records, assuring state officials there was
nothing in the file to worry about.
But the Tribune and Chicago TV station WLS sued for the records' release, and a California judge ordered them unsealed. The
couple fought to keep the records sealed, saying the release could harm
their 9-year-old son.
"The fact that the Chicago Tribune sues for access to sealed custody documents and then takes unto itself the right to publish
details of a custody dispute - over the objections of two parents who
agree that the re-airing of their arguments will hurt their ability to
co-parent their child and hurt their child - is truly outrageous," he
said.
Although most party leaders abandoned Ryan, Fitzgerald said Friday that he had encouraged him to stay in the race. "I think the
public stoning of Jack Ryan is one of the most grotesque things I've
seen in politics," the senator said.
He said the party's bigwigs pushed Ryan out: "It was like piranhas. They smelled blood in the water and they just devoured him."
Ryan won the GOP primary by more than 10 percentage points over his two closest rivals, dairy owner James Oberweis and state Sen. Steve
Rauschenberger.
Both Oberweis and Rauschenberger said this week that they would step in as Ryan's replacement if party leaders asked. Other
possible candidates mentioned include Patrick Fitzgerald, former Edgar and though all three have said they are not interested.
June 25, 2004 Friday
Illinois' Jack Ryan Abandons Senate Bid
BYLINE: MAURA KELLY LANNAN; Associated Press Writer
SECTION: NATIONAL POLITICAL NEWS
DATELINE: CHICAGO
Illinois Senate candidate Jack Ryan dropped out of the race Friday amid
a furor over lurid sex club allegations that horrified fellow
Republicans and caused his once-promising candidacy to implode in four
short days.
"It's clear to me that a vigorous debate on the issues most likely could not take place if I remain in the race," Ryan, 44, said in
a statement. "What would take place, rather, is a brutal,
scorched-earth campaign - the kind of campaign that has turned off so
many voters, the kind of politics I refuse to play."
The campaign began to come apart Monday following the release of embarrassing records from Ryan's divorce. In those records, his
ex-wife, "Boston Public" actress Jeri Ryan, said Ryan took her to kinky
sex clubs in Paris, New York and New Orleans and tried to get her to
perform sex acts with him while others watched.
Ryan disputed the allegations, saying he and his wife went to one "avant-garde" club in Paris and left because they felt
uncomfortable.
In quitting the race, Ryan lashed out at the media and said it was "truly outrageous" that the Chicago Tribune got a judge to unseal
the records.
"The media has gotten out of control," he said.
Top Illinois Republicans immediately began the work of selecting a new candidate. Their choice will become an instant underdog
against Democratic state Obama in the campaign for the seat of retiring GOP Fitzgerald. Obama held a wide lead even before the scandal broke.
"I feel for him actually," Obama said on WLS-AM. "What he's gone
through over the last three days I think is something you wouldn't wish
on anybody. Unfortunately, I think our politics has gotten so
personalized and cutthroat that it's very difficult for people to want
to get in the business."
Ryan had faced mounting pressure to quit from party leaders, who met several times in Washington this week to discuss whether the
campaign could survive.
"He really was a dead man walking," Gary MacDougal, former Illinois Republican Party chairman.
Ryan conducted an overnight poll to gauge his support. After reviewing the results, Ryan's advisers told the candidate that the only
way to survive would be wage an extremely negative and expensive
response.
"Jack Ryan made the right decision. I know it must have been a difficult one," said House Speaker Dennis Hastert of Illinois, who made
his feelings known by canceling a fund-raising event scheduled for
Thursday with Ryan.
Ryan was a political neophyte when he got into the race - a millionaire investment banker who had left business four years ago to
teach at an all-boys parochial school in Chicago. He spent of his own fortune to win the primary.
With his good looks and Harvard background, Ryan was seen by many as
the party's best hope for revitalizing the Illinois GOP. The party lost
control of the governor's office and nearly every statewide office two
years ago in the wake of a corruption scandal involving Ryan, who has since been indicted. He is not related to Jack Ryan.
During the primary, Ryan waved off rumors of damaging sex allegations
in his sealed divorce records, assuring state officials there was
nothing in the file to worry about.
But the Tribune and Chicago TV station WLS sued for the records' release, and a California judge ordered them unsealed. The
couple fought to keep the records sealed, saying the release could harm
their 9-year-old son.
"The fact that the Chicago Tribune sues for access to sealed custody documents and then takes unto itself the right to publish
details of a custody dispute - over the objections of two parents who
agree that the re-airing of their arguments will hurt their ability to
co-parent their child and hurt their child - is truly outrageous," he
said.
Although most party leaders abandoned Ryan, Fitzgerald said Friday that he had encouraged him to stay in the race. "I think the
public stoning of Jack Ryan is one of the most grotesque things I've
seen in politics," the senator said.
He said the party's bigwigs pushed Ryan out: "It was like piranhas. They smelled blood in the water and they just devoured him."
Ryan won the GOP primary by more than 10 percentage points over his two closest rivals, dairy owner James Oberweis and state Sen. Steve
Rauschenberger.
Both Oberweis and Rauschenberger said this week that they would step in as Ryan's replacement if party leaders asked. Other
possible candidates mentioned include Patrick Fitzgerald, former Edgar and though all three have said they are not interested.
Likewise, archived versions of U.S. newspapers that the same AP wire story (such as the San Diego and the ) do not include identifying Barack Obama as "Kenyan-born."
Last updated: 19 October 2009
Urban Legends Reference Pages © 1995-2010 by Barbara and David P. Mikkelson.
This material may not be reproduced without permission.
snopes and the snopes.com logo are registered service marks of snopes.com.
 |
Sources: |
Lannan, Maura Kelly. "Illinois' Jack Ryan Abandons Senate Bid."
- Associated Press. ; 25 June 2004.
Tags: Barack, Birth, Birthers, Born, Citizen, Kenya, Obama, States, United
Comment
About
© 2010 Created by Tom Webster on Ning. Create a Ning Network!
You need to be a member of Kern County Democratic Party to add comments!
Join Kern County Democratic Party