That phrase was used by Joe Arpaio's Chief Investigator Mike Zullo, in referring to the Hawaiian practice of registering non-Hawaiian births on Hawaiian birth certificates, under certain circumstances.
The quote is from the much-hyped Sheriff Joe Arpaio press conference earlier today, in which the 'Cold Case Posse' investigation results were announced.
It's sad but very telling that this event garnered very little notice in what we cynically call the 'mainstream media.' They are not what they purport to be; they are not interested in ferreting out truth in an objective fashion. They are ideologues, lackeys, lapdogs. And those are the nicest things I can think of to say about them.
It's in great part thanks to the dereliction of the 'mainstream media' that blogs have flourished, and it's to the MSM's discredit that the American majority is ill-informed and full of half-baked left-wing notions, which they are not capable of questioning. Most Americans prefer 'bread and circuses' to taking a responsible interest in the important events of the day, and many Americans of all colors treat elections as another kind of entertainment. Voting in elections is on a par with picking your favorite on American Idol or whatever other vapid entertainment is the flavor of the minute.
This is how we reached our present predicament. Our founding ancestors knew that a truly free press was vital to the functioning of a representative form of government, as well as to an informed society. Our enemies know this also; that's why they determinedly monopolized our media and our educational system; the goal was a stupid and complacent populace who would be led easily.
There is a persistent chorus -- even on the ''right'', that repeats talking points about how Sheriff Joe's efforts are misguided and worthless because ''nobody cares'' or because ''it won't do any good; it won't change anything.'' The cynics among us, especially the semi-informed ones who can sound somewhat knowledgeable, are an albatross around our necks. If our forefathers had that attitude, would any of us be here today? Would our folk ever accomplish anything if we habitually shrugged our shoulders and proclaimed the futility of it all?
And what about the truth? What about principles? Do those things matter to no one anymore, or is it simply out of fashion to do anything but strike a resigned and fatalistic pose, while wrong prevails?
Principles matter. Truth matters. Justice matters. We can't cede the field to the 'other side.' Just as Yeats wrote, ''the best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity.''
As for the technicalities regarding the documents (or lack of crediblity thereof) I grant you that many people are turned off by this kind of thing, and only focus on very surface things like the 'newspaper announcements', which are hardly proof positive. Oh, but if it was in a newspaper, it's surely true, isn't it? It's hard to believe that anybody could display such wide-eyed credulity these days, but there are many who do believe that -- or feign belief, anyway.
Announcements in many newspapers used to be (and in some cases, still are) submitted by local readers: announcements of births, included, as when grandparents announce a birth of their grandchild, which may have taken place in another town or state. Those announcements are not legal proof. But the Snopes.com ''debunkers'', and their ilk, have convinced people that they are, or at least as good as.
This story is important; if requirements for candidacy to such a high office are allowed to be flouted, or if specious documents are considered acceptable, what next?
