Andy McCarthy, just askin’ questions

Seriously, National Review. This is getting embarrassing:

I didn’t suggest that Bill Ayers is the author of one of Barack Obama’s biographies — I reported that someone else had made the suggestion and had made an interesting case . . .

JFK also made “an interesting case,” but I rather doubt that anyone is devoting precious column space to Oliver Stone’s pet conspiracy theories. This is also rich:

I did not defend the ‘birther movement’s’ claim that Obama was not born in Hawaii — I’ve stated that I believe he was born in Hawaii. What I’ve argued is that Obama was born a dual citizen (of Kenya and the U.S.), almost certainly became an Indonesian citizen, and has not been forthcoming about his past.

You see, McCarthy’s a respectable conspiracy theorist. He’s presumably referring to this paragraph from his infamous, un-sourced descent into conspiracism last January (thoroughly debunked here):

Shortly after divorcing Barack Obama Sr., Obama’s mother, Stanley Ann Dunham, married an Indonesian Muslim, Lolo Soetoro Mangunharjo, whom she met — just as she had met Barack Sr. — when both were students at the University of Hawaii. At some point, Soetoro almost certainly adopted the youngster, who became known as “Barry Soetoro . . .”

Obama attended Indonesian elementary schools, which, in Suharto’s police state, were generally reserved for citizens (and students were required to carry identity cards that matched student registration information). The records of the Catholic school Obama/Soetoro attended for three years identify him as a citizen of Indonesia. Thus Obama probably obtained Indonesian citizenship through his adoption by Soetoro in Hawaii.

This “analysis” is based on a report from the epicenter of the ‘Birther’ conspiracy, World Net Daily, which relies on unnamed “Indonesian legal experts” (they have those on staff?) to determine if Obama qualified for Indonesian citizenship. You’ll forgive me if I don’t find this credible.

It gets better. McCarthy also cites Obama’s college trip to Pakistan as evidence of his Indonesian citizenship:

By contrast, the question whether Obama ever was an Indonesian citizen is still unresolved, as are such related matters as whether the foreign citizenship (if he had it) ever lapsed, and whether he ever held or used an Indonesian passport — for example, during a mysterious trip to Pakistan he took in 1981, after Zia’s coup, when advisories warned Americans against traveling there.

My mastery of a highly-specialized academic database has unearthed this obscure report, demonstrating that the travel ban story is complete nonsense State Department is complicit an a vast conspiracy to hide the truth about Obama’s citizenship:

“We have no record of any travel ban between America and Pakistan during that period or since,” said Noel Clay, a spokesman for the State Department.

There was no “travel advisory,” either. In fact, the U.S. consul general in Lahore was actively encouraging Americans to visit Pakistan in 1981.

Then there’s this gem from McCarthy (which, to the best of my knowledge, has never been retracted or even amended):

There’s speculation out there from the former CIA officer Larry Johnson — who is no right-winger and is convinced the president was born in Hawaii — that the full state records would probably show Obama was adopted by the Indonesian Muslim Lolo Soetoro and became formally known as “Barry Soetoro.”

It’s true – Larry Johnson is no right-winger. He is also the crazed purveyor of the “whitey tapes,” which purported to show Michelle Obama going off on some crazed, racially-charged rant. Needless to say, these were never produced.

So yes, Andy McCarthy is not a birther. He’s just asking questions.