Topic: WorldNetDaily
WorldNetDaily columnist Jack Cashill is apparently counting on his readers to have very short memories.
In his Sept. 21 column, Cashill attacks the Huffington Post's Sam Stein for dismissing the idea that Bill Ayers ghost-wrote Barack Obama's book "Dreams From My Father" as the conspiracy theory it is (and, perhaps more importantly, not giving Cashill credit as its originator). Cashill then calls in his character witness to back up his conspiracy:
As a self-professed “deplorable,” however, I can understand why Stein would overlook the tons of evidence I gathered proving Ayers’ involvement.
Christopher Andersen is another story. An establishment journalist with credentials of the first order – Time, People, Vanity Fair – Andersen had written 13 New York Times best-sellers in the 20 years before his 2009 book, “Barack and Michelle, Portrait of an American Marriage.”
This book was not a hit job, far from it. USA Today accurately described it as “a glowing ‘Portrait’ of the Obamas’ rock-solid marriage.”
Andersen did not talk to me, but his sources in Chicago’s Hyde Park led him to the same conclusion I reached through analysis of the text.
As Andersen tells the story, Obama found himself deeply in debt in the early 1990s despite a generous book contract and “hopelessly blocked.”
At “Michelle’s urging,” Obama “sought advice from his friend and Hyde Park neighbor Bill Ayers.” What attracted the Obamas were “Ayers’s proven abilities as a writer.”
Noting that Obama had already taped interviews with many of his relatives, both African and American, Andersen elaborates, “these oral histories, along with his partial manuscript and a trunkload of notes were given to Ayers.”
In fact, Andersen specifically quoted Cashill in his book to support his claim that Ayers made a significant contribution to Obama's book. What Cashill is doing here is circular: He's claiming he's right because Andersen -- who cited him as a source -- came to the same conclusion.
Cashill is also conveniently ignoring the fact that Andersen unambiguously backed off the key part of Cashill's conspiracy, that Ayers secretly wrote the book. In a 2009 interview with Howard Kurtz, then with CNN, Andersen said: "I definitely do not say he wrote Barack Obama's book. Again, I'm putting up, you know, the accurate picture, which is that they knew each other, they -- he helped a little bit, gave his opinions. That's all I'm saying. And in fact, he did not write Barack Obama's book."
This was all pointed out at the time Andersen's book came out, but Cashill is pretending it doesn't exist -- and he could very well also be lying about Andersen not talking to him. Does Cashill not know the Internet exists?
