Home Girl

 “Many readers have demanded that we retract the essay,” the editors of Newsweek magazine wrote, “but we believe in being transparent and are therefore allowing it to remain online, with this note attached.” 

Transparent. As in "see-through." The essay in question is an op-ed entitled "Some Questions for Kamala Harris About Eligibility." It was written by John C. Eastman, a professor of Law at Chapman University and Senior Fellow at The Claremont Institute. Before we discuss the "content" of the opinion piece, as it was clearly marked, let's take a quick look at professor Eastman. The institute to which he belongs is a conservative think tank, located in Upland, California. Their mission is to "recover the American Idea." In this particular case, it would seem that the American Idea they he is most interested in recovering is a tired lie from 2008. Remember all those folks who were saying that Barack Obama was born in Kenya and therefore not eligible to become President of the United States. And in 2011 there was a (checks notes) Donald J. Trump who felt the need to bring it back for a return engagement. 

In case you missed it, this did not stop Mister Obama from being elected and then re-elected to the highest office in the land. Now the folks at Newsweek thought they'd give Professor Eastman a shot at doing the same favor for Democratic Vice Presidential candidate Kamala Harris. He begins by muddying the waters wondering if  Senator Harris is a "natural born citizen" of the United States. If she isn't, then she's ineligible for the job. Then, in the next paragraph, he seems to refute himself by pointing out that she was born in Oakland. Then he doubles back again to start babbling about the fourteenth amendment and a lot of other legal precedents that are easily refuted. But here they are, printed in a "news magazine," and worse yet, available on Al Gore's Internet. Which is where this weak sauce gets whipped up and up and repeated to dull types who can only repeat the "questions" without searching for the answers themselves. "Indeed, the Supreme Court has never held that anyone born on U.S. soil, no matter the circumstances of the parents, is automatically a U.S. citizen," drones the Professor. 

This racist dog whistle was just loud enough to be audible to the current "president," the once and future birther Donald J. Trump. “I heard it today that [Harris] doesn’t meet the requirements,” he said Thursday. Notice that he didn't say that he read an article or op-ed, he "heard." Which relieves him, as usual, from taking any responsibility for what he repeats. 

He did not repeat any or all of the apology Newsweek magazine had to make on behalf of their misguided editorial decision. The one that concludes, All of us at Newsweek are horrified that this op-ed gave rise to a wave of vile Birtherism directed at Senator Harris. Many readers have demanded that we retract the essay, but we believe in being transparent and are therefore allowing it to remain online, with this note attached." So they apologized, but left the article hanging out there to be chewed up and regurgitated until the next shiny object comes along to distract the trolls who traffic in such drivel. 

Of course, the evolved view might be that the last couple of times this strategy was floated out there, it resulted in two terms for a Democratic president. 

Thank you, Professor.