Political extremes: Could bin Laden be a political hoax?
Could they have faked it? President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and members of the administration’s international security team receive updates on Osama bin Laden as the mission unfolded. White House photo by Pete Souza provided for public use.
Photo courtesy of White House media.
Editor's note: This post is part of a series by Dr. Baker on Our Values about core American values. This week, Dr. Baker is discussing results from a new poll by the Pew Research Center, and what they mean about America and where we’re headed.
Is it possible that the Obama administration faked the death of Osama bin Laden? Al Qaida says bin Laden is dead. Even former Vice President Dick Cheney — no fan of Obama — says so. Cheney actually praised the president on Fox News for making the decision to send in the Seal team.
But not everyone thinks it’s true. It could be — it just might be — a political trick. There are Americans who wonder if bin Laden’s death is an elaborate hoax perpetrated to boost the president’s sagging approval ratings. If it’s not a hoax, they ask, why won’t Obama publish the photos?
They use a similar line of reasoning to be skeptical about the president’s country of birth. If he really was born in the U.S., why did it take so long for him to produce his long-form birth certificate?
These skeptical Americans are among the Staunch Conservatives who intensely dislike and distrust Obama. Now, I want to be clear that this is not Pew’s finding. Their survey, which is the basis of our discussion this week on OurValues.org, was conducted prior to the raid on bin Laden’s compound or the release of the birth certificate.
But I’ve observed the skepticism among the Staunch Conservatives I know. They have doubts about the death of bin Laden and wonder about the veracity of the long-form birth certificate.
Pew finds that 84 percent of Staunch Conservatives strongly disapprove of Obama’s job performance. And 70 percent rate him very unfavorably personally. Pew researchers call strong disapproval of Obama a “powerful unifying factor among fervent conservatives.”
Solid Liberals have favorable feelings about Obama and his job performance, but their love of the president is no match for the Staunch Conservatives’ disdain.
You might applaud those who doubt bin Laden is dead, or that Obama was born in the U.S. — or you might be appalled that anyone could have such doubts. Either way, the fact is our beliefs are based on faith.
We really don’t know if the Al Qaida leader is dead. We weren’t there. We didn’t see it with our own eyes. Even photos would not be enough. Hollywood’s special-effects wizards could conjure images that look like the real thing. And the same is true for the long-form death certificate. That, too, could be faked and we wouldn’t know it.
The facts are always subject to interpretation, and our interpretations are colored by the lens though which we see the world. Our values are elements of the lens and influence the acceptance or rejection of any “facts.”
Dr. Wayne E. Baker is a sociologist on the faculty of the University of Michigan Ross School of Business. Baker blogs daily at Our Values and can be reached at ourvaluesproject@gmail.com or on Facebook.
Comments
bedrog
Mon, May 16, 2011 : 2:09 p.m.
It's outrageous that a featured columnist and an academic would in any way legitimize/fuel the kooky conspiracy theory lunacy of which there is already way too much.
jaylen
Fri, May 13, 2011 : 12:04 a.m.
Honestly, it is shocking to read this article considering it's coming from a professor at a highly reputable university. I am not the one to believe everything our government tells the public and personally I like a good conspiracy theory but this accusation is extremely far-fetched. If what you're saying were the truth then why would the White House pick May 1, 2011 to perpetrate this hoax? Why not wait til late October 2012?? Furthermore, the damage that would result if this were the case and the truth somehow came out would far outweigh the perceived benefits. I am not a huge Obama fan for many reasons but my disagreement on many of Obama's policies doesn't affect my ability to be rational and logical. Give Obama credit for making a gutsy call and leave it at that. Osama bin Laden is in fact dead. His own terrorist network has admitted as much as well as witnesses who were at the compound. Unless you believe Al Qaeda is playing along and Pakistan has decided to be complicit with the hoax. What benefits or strategic advantage would either one of these players at the table gain from perpetuating this hoax? If anything, Pakistan would love to admit that bin Laden is still alive and not being harbored a short distance from their capital city. The political fallout for their government would in no way be worth playing along for the sole benefit of Obama. Releasing some photos of bin Laden with his brains hanging out is not going to quiet the conspiracy theorists. They'll simply say the photos were doctored and in fact not real. No matter what the government does or says regarding this situation, there is always going to be doubters. This is just the way of the world and human nature. If you want to write about a conspiracy theory then at least pick a good one such as the Roswell incident in 1947 or the JFK assassination. The killing of Osama bin Laden simply doesn't qualify. You're better than this at least judging from your credentials.
tegel
Thu, May 12, 2011 : 5:53 p.m.
This article is complete rubbish. Leading statements like "But not everyone thinks it's true. It could be — it just might be — a political trick." do nothing but fan the political flames by providing a guise of legitimacy to the "question". If one bothers to read the entire article, they might discover the main premise: People believe what they want to believe. Now, that's a real shocker! I'll be interested to read Dr. Baker's article on why, despite all evidence to the contrary, people hold such beliefs. Responsibility to the truth is something severely lacking in our politics and news outlets, and unfortunately, articles like this do little to help matters.