The Strange Case of the African Press International

In the spirit of charity, I’d like to state for the record that all right-wing bloggers are not liars. But I now have no doubt that they are absolutely fucking insane. An outfit calling itself the African Press International (note the wordpress.com domain) claimed, three weeks before the election, that it had received documents from an imam proving Obama was born in Kenya. It also clamed to receive an angry phone call from Michelle Obama, denouncing them for their negative coverage of her husband. Here’s what she allegedly said:

“African press International is supposed to support Africans and African-American view,. It is strange that API has chosen to support the racists against my husband. There is no shame in being adopted by a step father. All dirt has been thrown onto my husband’s face and yet he loves this country. My husband and I know that there is no law that will stop him from becoming the president, just because some American white racists are bringing up the issue of my husband’s adoption by His step father. The important thing here is where my husband’s heart is at the moment. I can tell the American people that My husband loves this country and his adoption never changed his love for this country. He was born in Hawaii, yes, and that gives him all the right to be an American citizen even though he was adopted by a foreigner.”

Please note the English in this tirade. Are we to believe that Michelle, in her anger, forgot that she had been educated at Princeton and Harvard, and spoke like, well, someone who would work for something called the African Press International.

Days passed and yet no audio of this conversation ever materialized, even though we were promised by the API that the tape existed. In a brazen move of staggering confidence, the API claimed that it had, on the advice of right-wing bloggers, sent the tape to Fox News. They also claimed that Obama’s campaign manager (who is not named) offered them three million dollars to suppress the tape. Fox denied ever receiving the tape, which, despite an ultimatum from API, was obviously never aired.

All of which leads to this brilliant Q&A today with the editor of API. The guy is obviously a liar enjoying his brief tryst with fame. He evades every question, claiming at various points that he is scared of what the Kenyan government might do to him and, hilariously, that Fox never aired the tape because they are too pro-Obama. For questions he cannot answer, we are told that his English is not very good. We also get a fascinating glimpse inside the psyche of the extreme anti-Obama section of the US. Among the questions posed to the editor, all of which show extreme paranoia:

Have you researched/read into BO being the antichrist in regards to the revelations and nostradomas? If so what are your feelings on this?

Did Saudi Prince Aliweed have anything to do with preventing the airing of tape on Fox?

In the tape with MO, is there anything that would indicate to the American public that BO is Muslim? Is there anything in the tape that indicates that his plans for America are less than noble?

Did Michelle Obama say anything of Sharia Law in her call to you?