Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Jim "RaceBannon" Bancroft: Birtherism's Forrest Gump

One of the great legends of Birtherdom, particularly over at FreeRepublic, is a story spun by Jim "RaceBannon" Bancroft. Bancroft was calling Obama's birth certificate a forgery within ten minutes after it went online, so it's no surprise that he went on to be a vocal Birther. What sets him apart is that he's a Birther with a tall tale.

Although he was preaching the 'Born in Kenya' gospel in the summer of 2008, it wasn't until November 2009, over a year after the Presidential election, that Bancroft made a stunning announcement: he had met teenage Obama in a Hawaii shop in 1980, and teenage Obama had personally told him that he was born in Kenya.

Indeed, according to Bancroft, teenage Obama told him that he was born specifically in Mombasa. And that he was from mixed-race parentage. And that he grew up in Indonesia. And that he wanted to be President when he grew up.

In subsequent tellings, teenage Obama's confessional to Bancroft grew even more thorough, with the young man also saying that he was living in Hawaii with people who weren't his parents and stating that the old black cook in the shop was his father.

Oh, and when he finally decided to share his story with the world on November 16, 2009, where did Bancroft first publish it? At Alan Peters' Anti-Mullah. Yes, at the blog of the same man who began the 'Born in Kenya' rumor the year before. Indeed, Bancroft and Peters have been affiliated with each other since at least 2005. They've even appeared on the radio together.

Still, it wasn't the details of Bancroft's Obama story that impelled this post. Nor was it his friendship with Alan Peters. Nor was it his fanciful claim of having named the Tamil Tigers.

No, what drove this post was Bancroft's story of meeting another politically-connected person in 1980. In the same story that appeared on Anti-Mullah, Bancroft wrote:
I met the son of G. Gordon Liddy on board the USS Okinawa in 1980 when we were heading to Iran.

My ship was part of the 31st Marine Amphibious Unit, deployed in January 1980 from Pearl Harbor as normal, and once in Subic Bay , Philippines , President Jimmy Carter announced what is now called, “The Carter Doctrine”. As I remember it, some group of men were standing near the port side of the hanger deck, just milling around near some open hatchway, and I noticed they were inspecting some military equipment, don’t remember what, but I saw this person’s name written on his trousers, “LIDDY”...

So, I find myself standing next to a 6’2” man about 28 or so with the name LIDDY on his trousers, and I asked him, “Hey, are you related to Gordon Liddy?” His answer surprised me totally, “Yes, that's my father”. The likeness was now apparent and unmistakable and since then, I have read how one of his sons was a Navy SEAL at that time, so, that is who I met. What was embarrassing for me, was I was struck, he was among the famous persons I met while in the Corps, I commented how his dad never ratted anyone out, and he said, “No, He didn’t”. I was filled with wonder at meeting him and I told him that it felt like I was talking to a celebrity. That didn’t go over too well, his face changed it’s stoic expression to one of , “You’re annoying me” and a blonde man next to me spoke up, “Uh, You’re talking to my Lieutenant here…”
Sounds plausible enough, right? Certainly more plausible than a random encounter with a teenage Obama who spilled his entire life story and personal secrets to a random stranger. I'd always written the Liddy story off as a perfunctory detail in the story, an attempt to disguise the piece's Birther motivations.

Except the Liddy story is undeniably false, it is provably so. James G. Liddy is a former Navy SEAL and the son of G. Gordon Liddy. How do we know that James Bancroft absolutely did not meet him in the summer of 1980?

1) Jim Liddy was 20 in 1980, not 28.
2) Jim Liddy was not on the USS Okinawa in 1980.
3) Jim Liddy was not a Lieutenant in 1980.
4) Jim Liddy was not a Navy SEAL in 1980.
5) In fact, Jim Liddy did not even join the U.S. Navy until 1985.

Yet Bancroft quotes the young man as confirming a familial relationship and says that "the likeness was now apparent and unmistakable." Basically, the entire story is utter crap from top to bottom.

The first of these discrepancies was brought to Bancroft's attention within a matter of days. His reaction was to stand by his supposed memories, but claim the officer lied to him about being the son of a convicted felon.

And so when Bancroft published a "revised" version of his story a few days later on another website (which had posted his original version the day after Alan Peters did), he made some changes to the Liddy part of his tale:
While on ship, I met the son of a famous political figure connected to the Watergate scandal on board the USS Okinawa in 1980 when we were heading to Iran....I saw this person’s name written on his trousers, the same name as that political figure.

This political figure was the chief of certain operations in the Nixon White House....So, I find myself standing next to a 6’2″ man about 28 or so with the name on his trousers, and I asked him, “Hey, are you related to that man” His answer surprised me totally, “Uh, Yes, he’s my father”. The likeness was now apparent and unmistakable and since then, I have read how one of his sons was in the military at that time, so, that is who I met.
He simply removed all the references to the name "Liddy." The entire description of the event remains the same. His claim that he met the son of a convicted Nixon conspirator remains the same. Even the "apparent and unmistakable" family resemblance is still there.

Bancroft had already learned that his story of meeting Liddy's son could not possibly be true, but his response wasn't to cut the anecdote or even to rewrite it to propose he had been the target of a joke. No, he left the anecdote in, continued to treat it as factual, and simply scrubbed it of all the specific references that could be used to show it was an impossible event. He continued to tell the story, even as he knew it was completely false.

In short, Bancroft's story spotlighted two supposed celebrity encounters in 1980. One (Obama) with absolutely zero confirmable details, and another (Liddy) that was capable of independent confirmation. And the one that was capable of independent confirmation was independently, and conclusively, debunked. Moreover, Bancroft's response to the debunking was not to drop the anecdote; it was to scrub the anecdote of the specific details that made such a debunking possible.

And amazingly, other FreeRepublic Birthers continue to promote Bancroft's personal myth on the grounds that he is a "credible" source.

2 comments:

  1. I disagree with the general tone of your article, but I have only tonight found out that you were correct and I was lied to 30 years ago and have been repeating that lie as a funny story of peopel I met while serving as a Marine.

    The following story really happened, but I have since learned as of Nov 21, 2011, that I was lied to. I knew from previous readings of news articles, that Gordon Liddy had a son, James Liddy, who was a Navy SEAL. Because of the incident I am recounting below, I believed that was who I must have met. I have learned as of today, however, that I was lied to. James Liddy entered naval service in the late 1980’s and went through BUDS School in 1987 or so. This information was confirmed through the SEAL Database. Because I had no reason to doubt the sincerity of the man who said these things, nor the word and defense from his fellow Sailor, I have been believing something that was factually in error and also repeating this error for 30 years by word of mouth, and in the last 2.5 years through the original writing of this account of interesting persons I met while a Marine. I ask your forgiveness, and I include the original account in italics, which is in error, to show the original writings.

    “”While on ship, I met the son of a famous political figure connected to the Watergate scandal on board the USS Okinawa in 1980 when we were heading to Iran. My ship was part of the 31st Marine Amphibious Unit, and deployed in January 1980 from Pearl Harbor to be sent to the Arabian Sea at what we all now call The Hostage Crisis. As I remember it, some group of men were standing near the port side of the hanger deck, just milling around near some open hatchway, and I noticed they were inspecting some military equipment, don’t remember what, but I saw this person’s name written on his trousers, the same name as that political figure.




    This political figure was the chief of certain operations in the Nixon White House. During the Watergate scandal, many secrets of the Nixon administration were revealed, most of them known to be performed by both political parties, but, the media wanted to show support for the Democrats and every slight that could be connected to Nixon was done and this figure was questioned before Congress. This person balked and refused to rat out his friends and associates, manned up, admitted his actions, and was found guilty and sent to jail.




    So, I find myself standing next to a 6’2” man about 28 or so with the name on his trousers, and I asked him, “Hey, are you related to that man?” His answer surprised me totally, “Uh, Yes, he’s my father”. The likeness was now apparent and unmistakable and since then, I have read how one of his sons was in the military at that time, so, that is who I met. I commented how his dad never ratted anyone out, and he said, “No, he didn’t”. I was filled with wonder at meeting him and I told him, “Gosh, it’s like standing next to a celebrity”. That didn’t go over too well, his face changed from it’s professional military bearing to one of, “Asshole, you’re annoying me” and a blonde man next to me spoke up, “Uh, You’re talking to my Lieutenant here…”




    Well, that proved embarrassing, so I quickly apologized and stepped back, I honestly didn’t know he was an officer and wouldn’t have spoken up otherwise, but the blonde guy stood next to me after I stepped back, sort of watching me. I remarked to him, “That must happen a lot”, but the blonde guy looked at me and said, “Uhhh, nooooo…” I took that as a hint and about faced after another quick apology””

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    Replies
    1. "but I have only tonight found out that you were correct and I was lied to 30 years ago and have been repeating that lie as a funny story of peopel I met while serving as a Marine."

      Only tonight? Really? Either you're lying (not good for your credibility) or your memory is seriously faulty (equally not good for your credibility).

      Because you didn't find this out when you read this blog post. You were told this, and explicitly acknowledged it, WAY back on December 1, 2009. Just two weeks after you first posted it:

      http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2397370/replies?c=106

      When you RE-posted your story two days later, at Gathering of Eagles, you didn't remove the Liddy story that you had just admitted had to be false. Instead, the anecdote was still there, but all the references to Liddy's name were suddenly scrubbed:

      http://nygoe.wordpress.com/2009/12/03/barack-obama-sighting-hawaii-1980-revised/

      And when this scrubbing was brought to your attention at FreeRepublic, you claimed that it was because you had removed ALL the names from the second version:

      http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2809790/posts?page=146#146

      Except that's a lie too. Because in the second version, you not only retained people's names from the first version, but you even ADDED names. But you only removed ONE name, and that name was "Liddy":

      http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2809790/posts?page=181#181

      So yeah...I don't believe you. And no one else should either. Especially since you've also admitted that that only people who could validate any portion of your Obama story (i.e., your fellow Marines who you claim you told about sharing Mombasa photos with the kid) have told you that that never happened. Maybe you sincerely believe it happened, maybe not. But either way, stop deluding yourself and others with the notion that this really happened the way you tell it.

      Delete