“OBAMA PURGING MILITARY LEADERS WHO WON’T FIRE ON U.S. CITIZENS?” CONSERVATIVE RUMOR CONTROL
“I believe virtually everything I read, and I think that is what makes me more of a selective human than someone who doesn’t believe anything.”
David St. Hubbins, and a frighteningly increasing number of conservatives
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Hidely-ho, conservarinos! It’s your long-suffering pal, Conservative Rumor Control (CRC), fighting a losing battle against false memes and idiotic rumors in our community. My latest post is sure to get me tarred-and-feathered (a better fate than last week’s attempted draw-and-quartering), so here goes! And start heatin’ up that tar!
The meme we’ll be tackling today is the assertion that Obama is purging the military of any top military leaders who won’t pledge their willingness to fire on U.S. citizens. Now, to a legitimate reporter of news, one lesson that should always be followed is “extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.” The more extraordinary the claim, the more you have to, um, what’s that word…oh, right – PROVE it.
But for the
Obama military purge story, we have to rely solely on the word of one “Dr.” Jim Garrow. Yep, that’s it. Jimmy Garrow claims he heard it from a former senior military leader who is one of “America’s foremost military heroes.” Of course, Jimbo can’t tell us WHO that “military leader” is, because, well, why wouldn’t we just take his word for it? I mean, Jimster is a “2009 Nobel Peace Prize nominee” and a “renowned author and activist.” And he has “Dr.” in front of his name. Case closed – time to pre-register for those Obama concentration camps, ‘cause the military purge MUST be real!
On the other hand, since “Dr.” Garrow expects us to take his word for everything, he has legitimately opened himself up to questions about his integrity and character. See, I try to painstakingly research everything I write about, specifically so that I don’t ask readers to take anything on my word alone.
But not Jimmy. So let’s look at this fellow who is asking us to take his extraordinary claim on absolutely no evidence beyond his word.
Jimmuh has an interesting history of pulling the whole “I heard it from an important dude…who I can’t actually mention” thing. It’s not even always political – it’s just the way he rolls. In August 2010 he told the
Guelph Mercury (an Ontario, Canada daily newspaper, published since 1854) that a major motion picture was being made about his life, and it would star a “famous actor.” Who? Garrow wouldn’t say, but he assured the paper “you’d know him.”
Of course, no movie was ever made.
Same goes for that “Nobel Prize nominee” thing. See, the Nobel committee, as policy, does not release the names of nominees until FIFTY YEARS after the year they were nominated. So, anyone can claim to have been nominated in 2009. Trust me, I try to get laid constantly by using that line (although I claim to have been nominated every year since 1998…and no, no woman has ever bought it).
The Mercury asked Jim if he could name the person who nominated him (there are no rules against doing that). He told the paper that the man was “the head of a Chinese university,” but, again, no, he “can’t reveal the man’s name, the university he heads, or the province he’s from.”
So, with the military purge, the Nobel Prize nomination, and the “famous actor,” Jimmo has the same answer – just take my word for it.
But he’s still got that “Dr.” in front of his name, right?
Well, kinda no. His “degree” is from a North Carolina diploma mill (an unaccredited “theology school” that’s been
accused of defrauding Christians), but that’s not even the worst part. He told the Canadian newspaper that it’s only an
honorary degree! An “honorary degree” from an unaccredited “pay-to-play” diploma mill. Wow.
But what about Jimmer’s heroic work rescuing children in China? I mean, this is the reason he said that phantom university head nominated him for the Nobel. Well, the Mercury interviewed adoption activists who checked his references (the ones he provided to them), and couldn’t find any proof this guy was doing jack-spit in China.
Brian Stuy, an adoption activist from Salt Lake City who runs
Research-China.org, told the Mercury: “I talked with Jim Garrow a lot about the program. He indicated areas in China where he works, and I’ve made contact with orphanages in those areas and have been unable to substantiate anything he’s said.”
Garrow’s response is the main thing that came to convince me he’s full of crap: “Garrow says he’s not surprised his work isn’t known in China because his organization tries to keep a low profile there. He says he can’t reveal which orphanages or even geographical areas his organization works in for good reason. ‘We are doing stuff that is illegal in China,’ Garrow says.”
Okay, if you’re running a foreign organization conducting illegal activities in China – activities so illegal that you have to keep your operations underground, YOU DON’T ANNOUNCE TO A NEWSPAPER THAT YOU’RE CONDUCTING ILLEGAL ACTIVITIES IN CHINA.
I mean, that’s just elementary. The Chinese government is not fond of foreign enterprises that conduct illegal operations in their country, and, more than that, they are especially harsh on organizations that try to shed light on the country’s draconian one-child policy and female orphan issues. So, if you’re actually IN CHINA doing illegal things, you don’t blare it with a bullhorn. The very fact that Jimski is willing to publicly state that his organization is breaking Chinese laws tells me he’s not doing anything of the sort.
And while we’re speaking of illegal…Jimmy’s “child rescue” organization (“Pink Pagoda”) is not a registered charity, and he told the Mercury that he does not ask for or accept donations…to which the Mercury responded by revealing text from the organization’s website clearly soliciting donations.
Jimmy claims his organization is funded by “private business interests” in China. When asked by the Mercury to name any of them, his reply? “You don’t need to know that. It doesn’t make the story better.”
Ah, once again – “take my word for it.”
The
Mercury article goes into way more detail, including Garrow’s costly failed Internet ventures, his teaching career (which ended when his teaching certificate was suspended), and his unregistered “flying school” which was shuttered after a civil aviation tribunal ruled that he had intentionally deceived his instructors.
Oh, and this is funny. The one time Jimbo does “name names,” he’s caught lying. In 2009 he claimed to have brought in respected attorney Kenneth Xue, senior partner in the Grandall Legal Group, as his organization’s legal advisor. Reached by the Mercury, Xue replied, “I have never been involved with Pink Pagoda and have no….idea about this organization. I am really angry with this guy.”
So, my fellow conservatives, make your own call about whether we should be taking Jim Garrow’s word for such an extraordinary claim as the “Obama military purge.” Is this a case of a stopped clock finally being right, or a clever, self-promoting individual who’s realized that post-2012 conservatives have debased themselves into a mass of undiscerning, gullible followers who will believe anything, from anyone, if it’s sufficiently anti-Obama?
You decide.
I’ll close with my opening theme – Jim Garrow made his character and integrity an issue by asking us to take him solely at his word for his startling claim.
