by Darby Minow Smith
Monckton at the Copenhagen climate talks. Photo courtesy Matthew McDermott via FlickrInfamous climate change denier Lord Christopher Monckton briefly
fixated on another googly-eyed theory at a Tea Party event yesterday.
In his speech, Monckton made the tea baggers choke
by joking, “America!
Land of opportunity! You can be born in Kenya
and end up as president of the United
States!”
After calling climate activists “Hilter Youths” at the
Copenhagen Climate Talks, it’s no surprise that Monckton would affiliate
himself with a party known for brandishing posters of Obama as the Führer.
And Monckton did, after all, make his name (and money) by
denying facts.
But really? Birther theories? That may be a little too weird
and wide-eyed even for Lord Crazy-pants. When reporters from the Washington Post and USA Today questioned Monckton after the
event, the good Lord backed off a bit.
“I have no idea where he was born,” he conceded. “What
I do find strange is that the public records of his Hawaiian birth have been
sealed, and can not be obtained by the public. His lawyers have spent a lot of
money trying to seal the records of his public life. All of those records
should be open to the public, as they always were for previous
presidents.”
When the Washington
Post reporter pointed out that the state of Hawaii did release Obama’s birth certificate—two years ago—Monkton was,
well, you decide: “The effective classification of all of these documents of
his early life is surely contrary to the spirit of freedom and openness in the
Democratic west. It’s bound to raise questions in some peoples’ minds. However!
I have no idea where he’s born, but it made a nice joke.”
Chortle chortle indeed, Lord Debunkedton.
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