No "Birther": Congressman Murphy Says Obama is Citizen

"Here is Congressman Murphy's position: President Obama is a natural-born citizen of the United States, period."

That unambiguous statement comes from Congressman Tim Murphy's Chief of Staff for Media Relations in Washington DC, Susan Mosychuk. She was returning my call, in which I asked whether Murphy had sent out any messages to constituents on this topic.

Both MSNBC's Rachel Maddow Show and the Pittsburgh area blog 2 Political Junkies reported that Congressman Murphy sent a lengthy message to some constituents acknowledging the concerns of those who question President Obama's citizenship, but not taking a stand himself on the matter. Chief of Staff Mosychuk told me that Murphy's office has done no mailing on this topic; she says that the congressman is focused on the issue of health care.

When I pressed and asked whether Congressman Murphy had sent out any e-mails on the subject, Mosychuk said she would not respond to blogs or videos that have appeared on the Internet. When I asked the chief of staff whether she was saying the alleged message from Congressman Murphy was bogus or a fabrication, she chose not to answer directly. She instead repeated her statement: "Congressman Murphy's position is that President Obama is a natural-born U.S. Citizen".

Mosychuk says that Congressman Murphy has never aligned himself with any "fringe movements" or "conspiracy theories". She says he is not among those who have come to be known as "birthers" -- those who question President Obama's citizenship and constitutional qualifications to legally serve as president.

.

Read More...

Summary only...

Ashley Todd Leaves Jail, Won't Talk

Here's a link to Tara Edwards' story on Channel 4 Action News last night.

.

Read More...

Summary only...

"B" Hoax Update: Ashley Todd

Ashley Todd is getting out of jail and getting out of town. She waived her preliminary hearing and will be allowed to leave the state without posting a cash bond. WTAE Reporter Ari Hait tells us Todd must provide proof every two weeks that she's getting psychiatric care. If she eventually clears Allegheny County's accelerated rehabilitative disposition program (ARD), her record can be expunged.

.

Read More...

Summary only...

Ashley Todd "B" Hoax -- Behind The Cameras

A post in three parts:
Cameras Over Bloomfield, Elite or Deceit, Anatomy Of A Story

Cameras Over Bloomfield

Let's start with a story I was working on that was eclipsed by Ashley Todd's confession that there was no knife-weilding, "B" carving attacker. it reveals some of the facts available to Pittsburgh Police during their questioning of the of young woman.

It turns out that Todd picked a Pittsburgh neighborhood business district with a heavy concentration of surveillance cameras as the location for her fictional attack.

I confirmed Friday that private security cameras operated by members of The Bloomfield Business Association monitor the stretch of storefronts and sidewalks from the Bloomfield Bridge to West Penn Hospital -- including the site of McCain campaign volunteer's fabricated assault.

Bloomfield Business Association President Ben Foreman tells me the cameras are maintained by organization members in a program funded with help from the Allegheny County District Attorney's Office and other community leaders.

He says that up to three cameras covering the area in question are maintained by Father John Dinello, pastor at St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Church, which is across the street from the spot in question. Foreman tells me that Citizens Bank has at least one other camera in the front of its Bloomfield branch, in addition to the one inside the ATM where Todd claimed she'd been attacked.

Foreman could not say whether Pittsburgh Police had checked video from the additional cameras. He describes the crime rate in that area as "very low". Father Dinello did not return calls for comment.

John Carman has since updated the Bloomfield Business Association's website with a post called "B" is for Bloomfield.


Elite Or Deceit?


The Daily Kos' Sean Oliver argues the case that Todd is "a lot more than just a 'low-level McCain volunteer', noting that she was "recruited to join an elite, prestigous College Republican leadership team, the 2008 Field Represenative Program."



Oliver links to College Republican National Committee's Field Rep website, which indicates :

"For the past 20 years, the Field Representative Program has been the cornerstone of the College Republican National Committee. With programs in the Fall and the Spring, we deploy dozens of young, highly trained field operatives across the country to recruit new students to join the College Republicans..."

"...The 2008 Field Team is by far the most ambitious in our organization's history. 50 field reps are deployed from coast-to-coast, equipped with cutting edge technology and innovative recruitment tools to help them accomplish their mission."

The American Spectator looks Behind the Ashley Todd Hoax, with Robert Stacy McCain quoting College Republican sources who say they had:

...no indication she might be capable of such deceit.
"It's just a bizarre, bizarre situation," said one source.
There was "never any inkling" that Todd was dishonest or emotionally unstable..."

The College Republican National Committee fired Todd on Friday.


The New Republic's Jonathan Chait writes "Ashley Todd, We Hardly Knew Ye", a blog post whose illustration evokes "To Kill a Mockingbird":

Chait: "I don't think the actions of one sick volunteer say anything at all about John McCain or his campaign. They do, however, tell us a lot about right-wing yellow journalists, from Drudge on down, who manipulated primitive racial-sexual fears for partisan gain."

The Post-Gazette reports that Todd's friend Dan Garcia was not the one who spread them on the internet.

Mr. Garcia took the widely published picture of Ms. Todd with her injuries. He said he took several photographs with a digital camera to document what had happened. He said he only gave copies of the photos to police and Ms. Todd's employer, the College Republicans.

Pittsburgh Police did not make the photos public.


Anatomy Of A Story


Meanwhile, Talking Points Memo is questioning whether anyone in the McCain campaign worked to feed inflammatory false details to Pittsburgh news media.

Josh Marshall writes:

It is time for the McCain campaign to come clean about what role any of its staffers may have had in hyping or pushing the press to hype the charges stemming from Ashley Todd's vicious and reprehensible hoax.

TPM is pressing its story in four installments, so far:

"McCain Communications Director Gave Reporters Incendiary Version Of "Carved B" Story Before Facts Were Known"


"McCain Campaign Blames Reporters For Spokesperson's Peddling Of Incendiary "Carved B" Story"


"Who Do You Believe?"


"Time for Answers"

.

Read More...

Summary only...

Update 1: RECANTED -- McCain Volunteer Says Knife Attack Did Not Happen

Pittsburgh Police confirm to WTAE Channel 4 Action News Reporter Paul Van Osdol: Ashley Todd now tells investigators she made up the story. She will be charged with filing a false report.


UPDATE 1: Here's the Pittsburgh Police news release:

OFFICE OF THE CHIEF
1203 Western Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15223

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: CONTACT: PIO Diane Richard
October 24, 2008

UPDATED INFORMATION
WOMAN ROBBED AND ASSAULTED IN BLOOMFIELD

PITTSBURGH - On Friday, October 24th, 2008 Ashley Todd was asked to return to the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police Headquarters to be re-interviewed and do a composite sketch. During the subsequent interview with Detectives, Ms. Todd stated "she just wanted to tell the truth."

At that time Ms. Todd stated that she made up the story which snowballed and got out of control. Ms. Todd stated that she was not robbed and there is no 6'4" black male attacker.

She indicated that she has had a prior mental problems and she does not remember how the backward letter "B" got on her face. She stated that she thinks she may have done it herself because she was the only one in the car.

When she looked in the rearview mirror and saw the "B" on her face she said she thought of Barrack. Once she told her friend the story and once the police were called she had to stick with it.

Todd will be arrested and charged with Filing a False Police Report (M3).
We are conferring with the Allegheny County DA office on what charges will placed against her.

Meanwhile, here are the police news releases from earlier today. Click to enlarge them.

Read More...

Summary only...

UPDATE 3 -- Questions Raised About McCain Volunteer's Alleged Knife Mutilation

Ashley Todd

Update 3: New Channel 4 Action News video: the Pittsburgh Police spokeswoman says "the victim's statement has a few inconsistencies in it -- and her statement has changed". Todd now is telling police that she was also sexually assaulted, that she "lost consciousness", and that when she awoke she "had a stinging sensation on her face". Earlier updates are at the end of this blog post.

Conservative commentator Michelle Malkin is among those questioning the truth behind the story of what happened to McCain volunteer Ashley Todd here in Pittsburgh Wednesday night. Todd claims a robber carved a "B" (as in "Barack Obama") into her face after spotting a McCain bumper sticker on her car parked nearby.

Malkin writes on her website, in a post titled "Why that McCain volunteer’s 'mutilation' story smells awfully weird":

"Maaaaybe the alleged robber straddled her upside-down while carving it into her face."
"Maybe."
"But I’ve got my doubts."

You can read the rest of Malkin's post at this link. Her readers take up the discussion in the comments section. As of this posting, major national liberal bloggers haven't touched the story. Watch for updates at the bottom of this post.

The skepticism appears to be fueled in part by the fact that the wound allegedly made during an attack appears to be remarkably symmetrical, neat, and uniformly minor. And it's backwards -- though it wouldn't appear so when looking at it in a mirror.

My first reaction when I saw the photo of McCain volunteer Ashley Todd: someone mistakenly reversed the image... but, no. The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review story reports that "the man then carved the 'B' into Todd's right cheek", as it appears in the photo.

Ashley Todd has now locked down her Twitter account updates, but here's a screenshot of her messages both before and after the reported incident, courtesy of her participation in a College Republicans group blog.

Click to Enlarge

At Steve Huff's True Crime website, bloggers and commenters are also parsing the details of the story.


Let's check out the scene of the incident with Google Map's Street View. Clicking in the image below allows you to zoom in, out, and around in a circle. Two clicks of the clockwise arrow, followed by two clicks of the plus button will show you the ATM.


View Larger Map


The area appears to be part of Bloomfield's business district -- between West Penn Hospital and the Bloomfield Bridge -- and appears to have restaurants and bars nearby.

Among my questions: are there any witnesses? How busy is that area at that time of evening? There does not appear to be a drive-through ATM at that location; where was the woman's car parked in relation to the sidewalk ATM? Was the McCain phone bank office where the victim was working near the scene? Is it clear why the robber stayed around to watch her go to her car instead of running off with the $60? Did she go back into the phone bank office or into any nearby business after the attack? Some news reports say the woman drove to a friend's home; how far is that from the scene? Other reports say the woman declined treatment at the scene -- is that correct? Who offered treatment and at what point? Another report says the attacker said "you're with the McCain campaign"; is that an accurate quote from the victim to police of the attacker's words? Does she know how he knew she was with the campaign, and not simply a person with a bumper sticker?

Two More Snapshots of Google Street View. Click to Enlarge.

Update:

The Smoking Gun includes more posts from Todd's Twitter account at the bottom of its website's story.

Andrew Sullivan weighs in here with his "Joe The Mugger?" post.

Update 2:

Huffington Post now has this entry by Jeffrey Feldman dealing with The Drudge Report's spin on the story. You can also read his analysis on Frameshop.

.

Read More...

Summary only...

Drudge Sucker Punches Oprah

Is The Drudge Report's claim that Oprah Winfey "banned" Republican Vice Presidential Candidate Sarah Palin from her show a planted fabrication, intended to divert attention from the McCain campaign's refusal to allow Palin do any interviews with anyone? [See Time Magazine's website.]


Launched with breathless unattributed Drudge quotes -- "One executive close to Winfrey is warning any Palin ban could ignite a dramatic backlash!" -- , the original Drudge story's tracks are quickly being covered over. The main link for it on The Drudge Report now takes you to other news outlets' coverage, but look closely. The stories to which Drudge links are quoting... Drudge.


Meanwhile, Winfrey's actual response is spun elsewhere to give the story new legs. Coverage like this from the Los Angeles Times website make it sound as though there's an Oprah ban targeting Palin instead of an across-the-board decision not to have any of the candidates appear during the election cycle.

Oprah Winfrey: "The item in today's Drudge Report is categorically untrue. There has been absolutely no discussion about having Sarah Palin on my show. At the beginning of this Presidential campaign when I decided that I was going to take my first public stance in support of a candidate, I made the decision not to use my show as a platform for any of the candidates. I agree that Sarah Palin would be a fantastic interview, and I would love to have her on after the campaign is over."

Let's fact check. Has Senator Obama been on Oprah since he declared his candidacy ? Has Democratic Vice Presidential Candidate Joe Biden been on her show ? The answer to both questions is "no"; those facts lend credibility to Winfrey's response. Obama appeared on her program in January 2005 and again in October of 2006. He declared his candidacy in Febuary of 2007.

As a reporter, would I like to see Governor Palin on Oprah? Absolutely. I was once a 14 year old kid who spent the waning days of summer vacation before starting high school watching the 1968 political conventions on TV. In my first summer of cable TV, I enjoyed watching C-SPAN's live coverage of the congressional debate over the impact on farmers of Daylight Saving Time. Media criticism? I love it, but I have little patience for disingenuous "blame the media" games.

UPDATE #1:

McCain Campaign Tells Fox News Palin Won't Do Interviews Until It Knows She'll Be Treated With "Deference"



UPDATE #2:

Palin To Sit Down With ABC News' Charlie Gibson

.

Read More...

Summary only...

Hart's 2 for 1 Shot At Altmire & Obama

UPDATES:
• The New York Times picks up the theme, with a western Pennsylvania reference late in its story.
• The link to the Post article is now repaired.

Republicans are spotlighting Melissa Hart's anti-Barack Obama web-only ad for the national media, but Hart is not calling media attention to it locally.


The Washington Post reports "Republican party committees and candidates have launched a series of ads this week linking Democratic candidates for lower offices to controversies surrounding Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, signaling that a racially tinged campaign may lie ahead, should the senator from Illinois secure the Democratic nomination."

More from The Post:

In western Pennsylvania, a GOP challenger unveiled an ad on a campaign Web site accusing freshman Rep. Jason Altmire (D-Pa.) of defending Obama after he told donors in San Francisco that white working-class voters "cling" to gun rights and religion because they are "bitter."

"Barack Obama said our bitterness makes us cling to our religion, and our guns. This was simply an insult. But maybe the biggest insult of all is how Jason Altmire continues to defend Barack Obama," says Melissa Hart, the former representative who was ousted by Altmire in 2006 and faces a rematch this fall.

...and The Atlantic Online:

Former Rep. Melissa Hart is testing the effect of Sen. Obama's "bitter" comments against Rep. Jason Altmire in PA's 4th congressional district with this web ad.

HART: I'm Melissa Hart and I approve this message.

ANNC: Barack Obama described small town, hardworking, God fearing, Second Amendment-respecting families of western Pennsylvania as bitter. Barack Obama said our bitterness makes us cling to our religion, and our guns. This was simply an insult. But maybe the biggest insult of all is how Jason Altmire continues to defend Barack Obama. Jason Altmire. Just how much of the liberal Kool-Aid did he drink?

The Post also reports:

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee dismissed the building wave of ads against Obama, or even against Clinton, if she's the nominee. "This is just more of the same from National Republicans so disconnected they believe there has been great economic progress under George Bush," said DCCC spokesman Doug Thornell. "The reality is the American people simply don't trust Republicans and won't buy their false attacks launched from the gutter against strong Democratic candidates with independent records of getting things done."

.

Read More...

Summary only...

What A Difference A Day Makes: Ravenstahl Clinton Endorsement?

UPDATE # 3: e-mailed at 11:46 AM. The message is re-sent, this time from Sirk's personal Yahoo e-mail account. The previous message was from her City of Pittsburgh e-mail account. The final version is the same quote from Mayor Ravenstahl, prefaced with the headline "LUKE RAVENSTAHL: PITTSBURGH'S MAYOR. OFFICIAL STATEMENT OF ENDORSEMENT FOR SENATOR HILLARY CLINTON FOR PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES".

UPDATE # 2: e-mailed at 11:16 AM:

Sirk, Alecia would like to recall the message, ""

UPDATE: The following statement from Mayor Ravenstahl was e-mailed by his press secretary Alecia Sirk at 11:12 AM today:

“I am pleased to have the opportunity this afternoon to voice my support for Sen. Hillary Clinton as the next president of the United States,” Ravenstahl said. “In one of her speeches, Sen. Clinton said something that had particular meaning for me: she said ‘wait a minute, Wall Street; you’ve had your president. Now we need a president for Main Street.’

“That statement reflects my approach to government: putting neighborhoods first, bolstering job opportunities, ensuring that residents can thrive and grow families in Pittsburgh and other cities like ours. With Sen. Clinton in the White House we will have a partner in the White House who will champion programs that will help Pittsburgh thrive.”

When I asked, Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl insisted repeatedly during a news conference Tuesday that he had not decided between Senator Hillary Clinton and Senator Barack Obama. Within hours, Clinton campaign sources were widely quoted as saying that in fact Ravenstahl will be endorsing Senator Clinton today.

You can watch the raw video from WTAE Channel 4 Action News on The Pittsburgh Channel website. Click here to open it in a new window. I'm also posting some of my questions and the mayor's answers below. The video also includes City Controller Michael Lamb's endorsement of Senator Obama.


Q: In your role as a super delegate, do you anticipate, have you made a decision on which candidate you're backing? If not, to you anticipate doing that prior to primary day? Why or why not?

A: I have not made a decision. I can tell you that I don't know if I'm a super delegate. I know that Rich (Lord of the Post-Gazette) reported as much. As a result of that, we've had some back and forth, and I don't know if I'm a pledged delegate or a super delegate, so I don't want to be -- I guess I don't want to say that I'm a super delegate. But I can tell you just generally, overall with the race, you know, I haven't made a decision yet. I'm in the process of having discussions with both campaigns and we'll go from there. I do anticipate making an endorsement at some point in time. When that will be, I'm not sure yet. But I think it's important for the mayor the city to make an endorsement at some point, and when I make a decision I'll make sure you guys are the first to know.

Q (from a second reporter): Will you be making the rounds with Senator Clinton tomorrow and Saturday?

A: You know, I don't even know what that means at this point. I don't know what the rounds are. I know she's going to be in town, but other than that I don't have any specific information. So, as of now, I don't know but I'm not planning on it at this point. It depends on what the specifics are and I don't have any of them at this point.

Q (from the second reporter): Has she talked to you recently about supporting her?

A: Not personally she hasn't, no. I talked to the president last week and Senator Obama this week and their campaigns respectively but I haven't directly spoken with her.

Q: Have you directly spoken with Obama, you said?

A: Yes I did.

Q: And what -- tell us about that conversation.

A: Just very vanilla. Obviously asking for support, and just looked forward to being in Pittsburgh and meeting me and, you know, spending some time in the state and the city.

[...later in the news conference...]

Q: Some people presume that Hillary Clinton would have the inside track for getting your support; is that not the case?

A: You guys are all speculators. I don't -- again, I like them both. It's a very difficult situation to be in. I think Democrats across the country are struggling with this. We've seen that when Senator Clinton got ahead, then all of a sudden here comes Senator Obama, and vice versa. So I think it's good healthy dialog and debate for the Democrats because we understand as a party, I think, what I just illustrated: that we need a change in this country and I think that's what you've seen happen over the course of time and certainly will happen in Pennsylvania over the next six weeks.

[...still later in the news conference, on the topic of whether he is a super delegate...]

A: "...in my discussions with the county executive, he suggested I was not a super -- I don't know what you reported, but his understanding of what you reported was not accurate. Now, I don't know what that means, I don't know -- I haven't talked directly to the state party. So, I think I am some form of a delegate, but I don't know that I'm a super delegate to speak my mind as I see fit.

Q (from a third reporter): I wasn't told you were a super delegate, but a PLEO, which is something different.

A: The distinction that he suggested -- and I didn't get a chance to read the e-mail from the state party -- but was that I was not free, necessarily, to speak my mind as I see fit. So, I'm pledged, in that I may have to, you know, whatever the state does or the city does, have to go that way. So I don't know that I'm free to speak my mind, is I guess the caveat that's different than perhaps what was reported. But I'll try to find out today, if I can.

.

Read More...

Summary only...

Obama & Spam

It appears that the presidential primary campaigns are getting into gear here in Western Pennsylvania. The e-mail exchange below pretty much speaks for itself. I didn't mind the sender's honest mistake, though I thought it was best to blog about it since my work e-mail address is now publicly circulating on a campaign mailing. This implies no disrespect for the Obama campaign. I'm an old-fashioned reporter who doesn't take sides and loves learning about all sides.

Does this mean I should accept the Facebook friend invitation I've received from a conservative speaker I've booked for the event? I suppose the alternative to maintaining public neutrality by not being on any group's mailing list is to be on a wide variety of groups' lists instead.




From: Bob Mayo
Sent: 02/02/2008 11:19 AM EST
To: [Name & E-Mail deleted for this blog post]
Subject: Re: PA Supporters - OBAMA needs your help this weekend



[Name Deleted],

I'm a reporter for WTAE, and apparently my attempt to reach a media contact for the national campaign some weeks back resulted in more than one of my e-mail addresses being put on campaign e-mail list for intended for supporters instead. I was letting it ride for a while, to see when -- if ever -- an actual person would contact me. You're the first, but unfortunately it was not in response to my request. I was trying to arrange for reps of the various Democratic and Republican campaigns to speak on a panel at an upcoming regional conference of journalists here in Pittsburgh.

Could you do me a favor? Please let whoever provided you with my e-mail address know that it belongs on a media contact list and not a volunteer or fundraising list. Please also let them know that I'm still waiting for an answer to my original phone calls and e-mails.

(Reporters sometimes don't mind being on organization mailing lists, if they provide a window into what the campaigns are doing. That's why I wasn't in any hurry to stop the spam from the national campaign. It was disconcerting to see my e-mail address visible on a local mailing intended for supporters, however. That's through absolutely no fault of yours. )

Thanks.


Bob Mayo
Reporter
WTAE-TV
--------------------------
Sent from my BlackBerry Wireless Handheld

----- Original Message -----
From: [Name & E-Mail deleted for this blog post]
Sent: 02/01/2008 07:56 PM EST
To: [A long list of e-mail addresses appeared here. It was visible to everyone on the list.]
Subject: PA Supporters - OBAMA needs your help this weekend



You are receiving this email because you have previously shown support for Senator Obama. He needs your help now. Please volunteer a little time this weekend and come sign his petitions. [The message continued with the details.]

A footnote: As I was typing this, a new spam arrived from "David Plouffe, Campaign Manager, Obama for America" asking me to help get out the vote on Super Tuesday. This one was addressed to my G-Mail account. Argh.

Inclusion of the Monty Python "Spam" YouTube video above does not necessarily imply either endorsement of or disdain for quirky British humor in any form.

.

Read More...

Summary only...