May 28, 2008

Myrtle Beach Online)

Buddy Witherspoon is a dentist from Columbia, South Carolina who's challenging Senator Lindsay Graham, and he's apparently basing his campaign around opposition to illegal immigration and also opposition to the North American Union.

Rather than asking for evidence of plans for a NAU and doing research, Beth Brotherton from WYFF News 4 turned to Graham:

"I think most Americans would find it hard to believe, it is hard to believe, a baseless Internet rumor... People on the Internet talk about a highway built from Mexico to Canada, the countries merging, a secret plan to create a new currency, I don't know where these things come from... But the U.S., Canada and Mexico merging into one country is nothing to worry about."

(It doesn't help that Witherspoon refers to the "trans-NAFTA highway" rather than the term everyone else uses, "NAFTA Superhighway".)

A slightly less disreputable article is from Robert Morris/Myrtle Beach Online, who offers "Graham foe against any merger with Mexico" (link):

"They could be carrying illegal aliens, they could be carrying smart bombs, they could be carrying munitions or they could be carrying drugs," Witherspoon said, although he never professed a firm belief in any such union. "We don't know. But if that happens, you might as well kiss your sovereignty goodbye."

Similar theories were promoted by Republican Presidential candidate Ron Paul, leading to an article called "Wrong Paul" on the nonpartisan Factcheck.org. That article calls the highway a "myth" and states that there are no plans for such a union.

Graham campaign manager Scott Farmer said Thursday night he was unaware of any secret plan or government conspiracy to merge the three countries into one, or any new international currency intended to replace the dollar.

The referenced article (factcheck.org/elections-2008/wrong_paul.html) is from Joe Miller and it's a stock dose of mockery and intellectual dishonesty. Surely, if Robert Morris were interested in the truth he could have mentioned that other sites offer supporting evidence.

Posted to NAU at May 28, 2008 04:30 PM