Palin/Africa-gate Was a Hoax!

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Apologies for all the baseless guffaws I've incited since the "news" that Sarah Palin didn't know Africa was a continent. Apparently it was an elaborate hoax that's been carried on for months and I fell for it hard, telling virtually everyone I know about it.

From the NY Times article:

“Turns out it was Martin Eisenstadt, a McCain policy adviser, who has come forward today to identify himself as the source of the leaks,” Mr. Shuster said.

Trouble is, Martin Eisenstadt doesn’t exist. His blog does, but it’s a put-on. The think tank where he is a senior fellow — the Harding Institute for Freedom and Democracy — is just a Web site. The TV clips of him on YouTube are fakes."

I actually have an interesting anecdote about another instance where the news didn't check their facts. A friend of a friend of mine, one Benjamin Vanderford faked a beheading video awhile back. The video was hosted on a plain ol' Web site with no evidence of a physical tape, or letter from the terrorists. It's of very low quality. And, here's the kicker, he states his name AND address clearly in the video. Despite all this, the media ran with it, assuming it was true without a single attempt to verify the authenticity.

When it was revealed that it was a hoax, he did a number of interviews. A notable quote about Ben was from Geraldo Rivera: "If i met this man in real life I would give him a good ass kicking". Here's a Google search for Brandon to give you an idea of the scope of the story.