The case of the missing thesis

NBC's Jim Popkin:

The hunt for Obama’s senior “thesis” began with a throwaway line in a newspaper article last October. The New York Times story, on Obama’s early New York years, mentioned in passing that the presidential contender had majored in political science at Columbia and had spent his time “writing his thesis on Soviet nuclear disarmament.”

Journalists began hounding Columbia University for copies of the musty document. Conservative bloggers began wondering if the young Obama had written a no-nukes screed that he might come to regret. And David Bossie, the former congressional investigator and “right-wing hit man,” as one newspaper described him, took out classified newspaper ads in Columbia University’s newspaper and the Chicago Tribune in March searching for the term paper...

The Politico's Ben Smith adds this tidbit:

During the last year, Obama's old friends and Harvard classmates were requested not to talk to the press without permission.

Courage!

On the other hand, Michelle Obama's thesis is readily available is readily available.

Hat tip: Larwyn