Stop the presses:  there are a lot of crazy and/or angry people out there.  One of their current obsessions is their belief, based on absolutely zero evidence, that Obama was not born in this country.  The abundance and persistence of conspiracy theories - especially during times of change and challenge - is nothing new, of course.

What is different about the current era is that conspiracy theories that once would be relegated to the fringe or shout radio are often kept alive by the mainstream media - especially cable TV.  So, as reported in the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times, the good folks at CNN, MSNBC and others continue to devote considerable time to the Obama non-story. Why?  Are you kidding?  Ratings, naturally, and the need to fill time with attention-getting material that doesn’t require effort and expense, i.e. real reporting.

As usual, the network execs offer only disingenuous excuses that betray the dangerous self-perpetuating nature of their networks’ “reporting” on the non-issue.  MSNBC president Phil Griffin, as quoted in the Times, says the coverage is legitimate “in that there’s a segment of our population that believes this and keeps bringing it up.”  Yes, and there is also a segment that believes that the moon landing was faked and that live aliens are being dissected in Area 51.  Incredibly, Griffin even acknowledges that the Obama conspiracy theory is racist.  Then there is Jon Klein, president of CNN’s domestic operations, who reportedly told enabler Lou Dobb’s producers that the story is “dead” but also defended Dobbs’ show by saying, “what we do here all the time is dig into the truth about all kinds of controversial issues.”

Well, thank God for CNN.