Politico pubished an article titled GOP headache: The birther issue in which 9/11 'conspiracy theories' were discounted by elected reps and GOP pundits. The article is about Obama's birth certificate, or lack thereof, but noteworthy in the article is the establishment's (both republican and democrat's) admitted fear of real unmoderated discourse as well as their fear of potentially mass internet communication and videocameras.
Out-party politicians have long had to deal with conspiracy theorists on their side — the people who think that the Clintons killed Vince Foster or that the Bush administration helped orchestrate the Sept. 11 attacks. “Twenty-five percent of my people believe the Pentagon and Rumsfeld were responsible for taking the twin towers down,” said Rep. Collin Peterson, a Democrat who represents a conservative Republican district in Minnesota. “That’s why I don’t do town meetings.” But the birther phenomenon may present a bigger challenge — a potent blend of race and politics, fueled by conservative TV and radio pundits, and played out in a day when all that stands between a town hall meeting and Web omnipresence is a $100 flip cam.
Republican pollster Whit Ayers says that a member confronted with birther questions should immediately pivot the conversation back to big issues. “You simply indicate that in a country where our fiscal policy is driving us toward bankruptcy, where we are wrestling with major issues of health care reform and fighting two wars for our safety, you don’t have time to deal with wild conspiracy theories,” he says.
Collin Peterson later apologized for his 9/11 remark; [See Rep. Peterson in hot water over 9/11 crack], stating
"I certainly wasn't trying to make fun of anyone," he said in a release. "What I was talking about was simply that there are the people in Minnesota's Seventh District who have called me and talked to me about this question. The other point I was trying to make is that there are people in the Seventh District who freely identify themselves as outside the mainstream -- on the left and on the right -- who try to hijack public forums like town hall meetings."
Peterson may be reached here: http://collinpeterson.house.gov/
Also interesting to note that politico misspelled the name of government apologist and Republican pollster Whit Ayres, who is profiled on their own site here.
Politico lists Sen. Lyndsey Graham among Ayres 'political clients'. Graham said in this short clip that "we are not going to build this (GOP) party around libertarian ideas", and also tried to disparage Ron Paul.
A letter Ayres recently wrote and posted on his website gives insight to his attempted derision of 9/11 truth: "while harsh interrogation techniques of detainees should be used only rarely, they may be necessary in exceptional situations to protect the country. Those techniques are justified when they are the only way to stop the murder of another 3000 innocent Americans in another 9/11."