Congressman Cannon questions Obama authorship

Salt Lake Tribune ^ | 11/3/08 | Tom Burr

[pissant]

WASHINGTON - Rep. Chris Cannon, R-Utah, and his brother-in-law attempted to prove last week that former terrorist William Ayers ghostwrote Illinois Sen. Barack Obama's autobiography by asking a British professor to study the alleged link.

Cannon says the allegation intrigues him but that he didn't set out to unjustly vilify the Democratic presidential candidate days before voters go to the polls.

"I think that it's clear, absolutely clear that Obama has minimized his relationship with a guy who is a terrorist and Marxist, and did I go out and try to prove that [he wrote Obama's autobiography] in the last week of the election?" Cannon asked Sunday. "Hey, if someone can come up with evidence, that would be interesting."

The Oxford professor, Peter Millican, meanwhile, says a quick analysis shows that it is highly improbable that Ayers helped write Obama's book, "Dreams From My Father."

Cannon, who lost the his re-election bid in the Republican primary earlier this year, charges that Millican, a philosophy professor at Oxford's Hertford College who devised a computer system to compare writing styles, is "miffed" and drawing inaccurate conclusions because he didn't receive the negotiated $10,000 fee to compare Obama's book and Ayers "Fugitive Days" memoirs.

Cannon's brother-in-law, California businessman Robert Fox, dismisses the idea that he was helping to orchestrate a "Republican plot" against Obama. He says he felt compelled to explore the allegation but that no one else was behind the effort.

"This is no last-minute smear," Fox said. "I'd say it's a desperate attempt to save the republic [from Obama]."

Ayers, now a professor at the University of Chicago and neighbor of Obama, co-founded the radical group Weather Underground that was responsible for bombing the U.S. Capitol, the Pentagon and other public buildings during the Vietnam

[pissant]

A GOPer with balls ALERT!!

[pissant]

PONG

[B Knotts]

It’s nice to see that Cannon is not so bitter about his defeat to jump ship.

[johnthebaptistmoore]

If I’m correct, Rep. Chris Cannon was already defeated in Utah’s GOP Primary by a “pro-enforce all of the present laws dealing with illegal immigration” candidate.

[dr_lew]

Cannon, who lost the his re-election bid in the Republican primary earlier this year, charges that Millican, a philosophy professor at Oxford's Hertford College who devised a computer system to compare writing styles, is "miffed" and drawing inaccurate conclusions because he didn't receive the negotiated $10,000 fee to compare Obama's book and Ayers "Fugitive Days" memoirs.

Huh? They stiffed him and he's "miffed" ?

[LucyT]

Thanks! How ‘bout this!

Ping.

[AmericanVictory]

And here's what you get if you hire a recognized linguistic expert and do pay him his fee, it appears, or perhaps he just found it worth doing without a fee. In any case he appears to have made a more thorough analysis. linguistic analysis establishes Obama's two claimed books written by different authors and one is written by same guy who wrote one of Ayers' books.

[Fishrrman]

“A GOPer with balls ALERT!!”

Yes, but why weren’t they talking about this weeks ago?

It’s gettin’ a little late for “balls” NOW....

- John