This Conspiracy-Toting Conservative Blogger Could Be Headed to Congress
Wes Riddle's campaign says President Obama gave seven islands to Russia, and he's written that slavery was a net positive for blacks. Could he make it to Washington?
| Tue Jul. 24, 2012 3:00 AM PDT
In mid-May, Texas Republican congressional candidate Wes Riddle posted a new note
on his Facebook page. It was written by his spokesman, Garrett Smith,
and it was dire. "The reasoning for President Obama's impeachment,"
Smith wrote, "begins with the fact that the State Department is giving
away seven strategic, resource-laden Alaskan islands to Russia."
According to the statement, Riddle—who has Rep. Ron Paul's endorsement
and stands a good chance of winning in November if he can make it out of
next Tuesday's runoff—believed that Obama's unprecedented giveaway
included at least one island the size of Rhode Island and Delaware
combined, "billions of barrels of oil" from offshore deposits, and
unknown strategic advantages.
"The agreement was negotiated in total secrecy, not allowing the
state of Alaska to participate in the negotiations, and…the public was
not given any opportunity to comment," he wrote.
There were a few problems with this indictment of Obama: The
president hadn't given away any islands; the treaty in question had been
signed by President George H.W. Bush in 1991; none of the islands,
which are well on the other side of the international boundary, had ever
been officially claimed by the United States; and Alaska's two US
senators at the time had publicly endorsed the measure. Smith's rant,
much of which was copied word for word from a WorldNetDaily article, was based on a falsehood.
