November 13, 2008
The Africa thing was a hoax...
New York Times: A Fake Expert Named Martin Eisenstadt and a Phony Think Tank Fool Bloggers and the Mainstream News Media
It was among the juicier post-election recriminations: Fox News Channel quoted an unnamed McCain campaign figure as saying that Sarah Palin did not know that Africa was a continent.
Who would say such a thing? On Monday the answer popped up on a blog and popped out of the mouth of David Shuster, an MSNBC anchor. 'Turns out it was Martin Eisenstadt, a McCain policy adviser, who has come forward today to identify himself as the source of the leaks,' Mr. Shuster said.
Trouble is, Martin Eisenstadt doesn't exist. His blog does, but it's a put-on. The think tank where he is a senior fellow — the Harding Institute for Freedom and Democracy — is just a Web site. The TV clips of him on YouTube are fakes.
And the claim of credit for the Africa anecdote is just the latest ruse by Eisenstadt, who turns out to be a very elaborate hoax that has been going on for months. MSNBC, which quickly corrected the mistake, has plenty of company in being taken in by an Eisenstadt hoax, including The New Republic and The Los Angeles Times.....
Tim Blair is still catching "journalists" reporting the lie that President Bush posed with a plastic turkey in Iraq in 2003! Perhaps he can start a Palin/Africa watch too, since I'd guess a lot of people will find this "too good to check" even after it's been checked and debunked...
Hmmm. Perhaps I should bill myself as a "Fellow of the Harding Institute for Freedom and Democracy!" It has a nice sound. Maybe "Senior Fellow." Or perhaps "Visiting Scholar?" That's nice and slippery, hard to pin-down... What do you think?
Posted by John Weidner at November 13, 2008 06:58 AMThe Africa thing was NOT a hoax. The hoax was who they attributed the leak to. The guy claiming credit is a fake, not the original leak.
Posted by: Monty Apollo at November 13, 2008 09:11 AMYou see that, John? Sarah Palin did so say she thought Africa was a country? See? She's dumb dumb dumb! Totally! I mean, it was on the internet and everything, and Real News™ people said it, and some guy calling himself "Monty Apollo" believes it, so it has to be true!
Posted by: Andrea Harris at November 13, 2008 10:28 AMWell, there's no arguing with facts! But my guess is that Sarah's going to, as my Mom says, "Cry all the way to the bank."
Maybe I should be a "Scholar Emeritus." I'm an old timer, after all, and then I won't have to do any work....
Posted by: John Weidner at November 13, 2008 11:38 AMBrain teaser for Monty: If Sarah Palin lands in Nigeria. Did she land in the country of Nigeria or the continent of Africa?
Andrea, the point is that none of this has anything to do with whether or not Palin said that Africa was a country. I'm not saying she did; some McCain advisor said that. He might be lying, but this has nothing to do with the hoax.
The "hoax" part was that somebody claimed to be this previously unnamed advisor. This unnamed advisor and his claim still exists; the hoax part is in MSNBC claiming they figured out who it was when the guy they pointed the finger at is just some actor.
This blog however seemed to be interpreting it as though the whole "Africa thing" was a hoax. I'm not that political and was just responding to the questionable reading comprehension. After reading your response, I would not be surprised if there was some politically inspired blinders there too.
PS - contrary to your "interpretation", I do not believe that Palin said that Africa was a country. It won't matter what anybody says on the internets or "Real News" if people are incapable of comprehending.
Posted by: Monty Apollo at November 13, 2008 01:48 PMNmLd2P bnpadsymgtgl, [url=http://avorugyseeem.com/]avorugyseeem[/url], [link=http://ivzwheixlozc.com/]ivzwheixlozc[/link], http://wfjkznzdaqxs.com/
Posted by: pnxtjzxod at November 21, 2008 12:15 AM
